HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-08-18 TranscriptionAugust 18, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present:
Staff Present:
Others Present:
Botchway, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Markus, Fruin, Dilkes, Karr, Havel, Boothroy, Laverman, Nations, Hall,
Bockenstedt, Hightshoe, O'Brien, Dulek, Hargadine, Howard, Ralston,
Knoche
Neal (UISG)
Questions from Council re: Agenda Items:
Hayek/ Want to welcome everyone to our August 18, 2015, work session. First bullet point is,
uh, any questions from Council regarding agenda items.
ITEM 4d. ROOFTOP SERVICE AREAS — ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 14:
ZONING TO ZONING TO ADD A DEFINITION FOR "ROOFTOP SERVICE
AREAS" AND ESTABLISH STANDARDS FOR SUCH USES.
Botchway/ Item 4d, uh, rooftop service areas. I can't remember whether or not I saw this or not,
but obviously there's approval recommending standards for this to happen, but, um, have
we ... when we talk about rooftop access areas or service areas, um, has there been some
type of discussion as far as ADA compliance... from a ... from an elevator standpoint, and
this actually came up in Coralville and so ... or lack thereof, um, for a particular location in
Coralville and so I just wanted to make sure we were doing our due diligence.
Fruin/ Yeah, there ... there are exemptions in the ADA law, um, and ... for the provision of
elevators, and it depends on square footage and number of levels, uh, in the building, um,
so there ... (mumbled) is a common example and um, Coralville it does not have an
elevator. There was an exemption available to them. Uh, Film Scene is the example here
in Iowa City. They did not, uh, they were not required to put one in.
Markus/ But I think they had one (mumbled)
Fruin/ Not to the rooftop. Um, the ordinance that's being recommended, uh, to you this evening,
um, goes above and beyond what's required, and under the ADA and says you must
provide an elevator. So even if an exemption would normally be available to them, they
would still have to put in the elevator.
Botchway/ Okay!
Hayek/ Yeah, I mean, it's ... it's squarely addressed on the front end of the criteria that the RSA
shall, among other things, be ADA compliant (mumbled) include elevator service.
Throgmorton/ Right. (several talking in background)
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Hayek/ Any other questions on that item, I'm sure staff can speak to it if (mumbled) to.
Throgmorton/ Different topic.
Hayek/ Um, on ... on that, on the RSA issue, you know, went ... went through a round and now
what we have is a much more rule -intensive ordinance, um, but it's my take on it that
despite even ... despite the addition of more, um, restrictions and criteria, the ... the business
community that was requesting this is still ... uh, on board and ... and very supportive.
That's my read of it.
Fruin/ I believe that to be accurate, yes.
Hayek/ (mumbled)
Fruin/ That's with any, you know, we say this all the time, but that's with any new regulations,
whether it's rooftop service areas or taxicabs. We expect that we're going to be back
before you to tweak this, after we get some experience with it, and so, um, we think that
this was a good starting point, and until we really experience it out in the streets, so to
speak, um, we're ... we're comfortable, but don't be surprised if within a year or so we're
back, looking to tweak something. Either because there's nuisances or because we think
we can open it up a little more and expand opportunities.
Throgmorton/ I guess I should follow up on that, uh, I thought we were going to talk about this
later on in the formal, but ... but here we are! Uh, with regard to non -conforming drinking
establishments, I'm just wondering what the rationale is behind enabling vertical
expansion, if I understand correctly. Vertical expansion of drinking establishments.
I ... I'm thinking of Joe's for example, which I go into fairly often, uh, but why ... why are
we doing that?
Fruin/ Well the ... the discussion that we had at the staff level was, you know, going back to the
intent of that 500 -foot rule and um, one of the ... one of the primary intents is ... as I
understand it, was to ... to make sure that there wasn't, uh, increased proliferation of bars
taking up storefronts. So the diversity of businesses, um, was important for ... for the
health of the downtown district, and so ... um, we're still limiting the horizontal growth to
where new storefronts would be taken by drinking establishments, um, and ... and I think
that meets the primary intent of that 500 -foot. We are allowing them of course now to go
up, only with seasonal, temporary use, such as a rooftop service area, not a permanent
use, and so they ... they couldn't expand up with an indoor space that expands their ... full-
time, permanent capacity, but we felt the temporary was okay (both talking)
Throgmorton/ There are very few places that could expand vertically, because there's that
requirement about ... not having a residential or office use in between?
Fruin/ Yeah, that's correct. So the adjacency of other uses, and then even if...even if there are no
other uses adjacent, um, you have to look at whether the, you know, first can you provide
an elevator in that space? Can the roof support a ... a rooftop service area
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without... incredible investment. In a lot of cases there's HVAC equipment on the roof
that would have to be relocated. So, we do think that the op ... you know, the options or
the, uh, number of businesses that could take advantage of this is probably fairly limited.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Thanks!
ITEM 2f(1) Nanci Kohl: Road diet concerns
Payne/ I have a question on 4 ... or 2f(1), which is Nanci Kohl's letter about the road diet
concerns. I've heard lots of negativity regarding the road diets.
Hayek/ (noise on mic) (mumbled)
Payne/ Specifically on Mormon Trek, more so than First Avenue. Um...just wondered if the ... if
the staff had any comments to that.
Markus/ Kent's here. He can address those kinds of concerns.
Ralston/ Yeah I can. Thank you. Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. Uh, we've also received
some of those negative comments, as well as some positive ones, um, mostly with respect
to Mormon Trek, like you said. Um, you know, I ... I think, uh, there's a growing body of
research that shows road diets in general are four -lane to three -lane conversions, as
they're known. I think improve safety greatly and I think we're seeing a lot more of that
research, uh, nationally and a lot of better examples, uh, nationally. Um, the thing I want
to mention is, uh, this fall when the City engineer starts the design work, we will be
looking for that consultant to provide some more traffic modeling. So I don't think either
the First Avenue or the Mormon Trek, um, road diets are slam dunks necessarily, but we
did enough preliminary investigation, um, last winter to go ahead and apply for the two
TSIP grants, the Traffic Safety Improvement Program grants, that we received from the
DOT. So we've got some preliminary investigation done. I think they'll probably work
for both, but I think both the City engineer and I would both like to see, um, some
additional modeling, like I suggested, just to make sure that they're going to work, and
really the ... I think the, um, the only concerns that I really have are literally the traffic
volumes, and the ... the DOT, the Iowa DOT, suggests that anything about 17,000, um,
average daily traffic or less is a good candidate, and we're sort of pushing those
thresholds at certain times of the year on both of those corridors. So we'll have to do a
little bit more research and see if traffic queuing or ... or other things can, um, become
problems. Uh, but there are the benefits, of course, of adding bike lanes on either one of
those corridors, uh, should they work. Um, they're a little bit safer for pedestrians cause
you don't have so many lanes of through movements to cross and so forth, so...
Payne/ One of the comments that, uh, somebody said to me in person was ... when you have the
three lanes and the two bike lanes, then there isn't room for the car to move over to get
around the bicycle. So basically you stay in your lane and then the bicyclist is angry that
you haven't moved over to go around them.
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Ralston/ I've heard the same thing. Yeah, I don't know if that's a common perception, but I think
certainly for some it would be.
Payne/ Okay. (several talking)
Markus/ ...talk about the permanency of the curb and gutter versus the painted lines. That these
can be changed back.
Ralston/ Yeah, yeah, that's the ... the sort of beauty of...of a four -lane to three -lane conversion is
the cost is fairly minimal. Uh, the cost for the Mormon Trek would be a little higher
because we've also done some research that shows that we need a northbound, uh,
dedicated right turn lane at Benton. So that's the majority of that cost. Uh, otherwise, uh,
really all of what we're doing is within the curb line, so we're really ... it's the cost of paint,
maybe some signal head, uh, movings of some signal heads and things but the costs are
fairly low, and that's really the beauty. So ... so the actual improvement and safety per
cost, uh, is very good and that's one of the things the Department of Transportation
looked at when we got our grants, our Traffic Safety Improvement Program grants, is
actually a benefit to cost ratio and ours, uh, and either one of these corridors were
extremely high and that's why we were successful in getting those grants.
Markus/ But if you had to convert back, it wouldn't be a (both talking)
Ralston/ Yeah! That's (both talking) Yeah, sorry, I missed that point. Yeah, if you had to
convert back, the pavement's still there. You really haven't taken away the capacity, um,
and in fact, even with the four -lane to three -lane conversion, the capacity doesn't really
change a whole lot. Uh, it's hard to conceptualize, but really, uh, because especially on
four lane roads that aren't divided and don't have dedicated turn lanes, that inside lane
sort of acts like a turn lane anyway, and as you've all experienced I'm sure, if you're in
that inside lane on either First Avenue or Mormon Trek, you get stuck behind that turning
traffic. So, yeah, if we ever wanted to change them back, I mean, it's not a huge issue.
There is some cost to it, but we're really not taking away that capacity if we change our
minds in the future.
Hayek/ Is there a claw -back on the State funds we would receive, to go from four to three?
We ... would we have to return monies?
Ralston/ Um ... no, I mean I think the money ... no, I don't think that ... I don't think there would be
any, um, issue with that. I ... I don't think they'd care to see us change that back, you
know, within a short period of time, but I don't know how exactly that would work. I
think ... I think with our additional modeling work we'll get this fall, we'll be confident one
way or the other whether or not we should actually move forward, and ... and that's
something we would be working with the Council on.
Markus/ So that... the... the comments I keep hearing is ... is this going to work and is the idea
sound, and you really have an opportunity to run this out there, try it, and show people
that it will work, and that if it didn't, you do have a default position where you could
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come back and alter it, and it could be altered, you know, not just in a complete
reversion, but maybe some other step process as well.
Ralston/ Yeah, and these ... and these, there's ... I was talking to Council Member Throgmorton
about this before the meeting. I mean nationally there are a lot of good examples, and I'd
be happy to share some of those with ... with the Council, uh, when the time comes. I
mean there's, this would not be a new thing. It's new for us, but nationally, I mean, these
are ... these are very common, uh, even in the state of Iowa they're very common. Um, on
south Sycamore we've implemented a four to three -lane conversions, without the bike
lanes, uh, because they weren't really necessary at the time of that conversion, but now
with the ... the school on south, uh, Sycamore, um, I know the City engineer's actually
looking at adding bike lanes to that section too, if there's enough width, so .... um, also on,
um ... on Lower Muscatine, uh, out towards the McDonald's and Mall Drive. Uh, that was
a four -lane to three -lane conversion. Again, not with bike lanes, uh, it's an arterial street
and we didn't see the need at the time, but that was another successful, uh, four -lane to
three -lane conversion, so there are some good examples locally.
Payne/ Right, and I think more... the... the comments I have heard are more about the bike lanes,
not necessarily the (both talking)
Ralston/ Right!
Payne/ ....conversion. I mean, Lower Muscatine, I think, is a good example of something
that ... that the conversion did work and the traffic actually flows better. I drive it all day, I
mean every day, so it ... the traffic definitely flows better.
Ralston/ Yeah, and in ... and in my mind the bike lanes on both these corridors, um ... are sort of
secondary to the reason why I think we approached these originally and that's for safety.
Uh, there are a number of intersections and mid -block locations on both Mormon Trek
and First Avenue that rank as some of the worst with respect ... and this is in the metro
area, uh, with respect to collision rates, severity of collisions, and ... and sheer number of
collisions. So I think that's the real crux of why we're looking at this. Bike lanes in this
case are sort of, uh, you know, an extra I think, but a good extra at that!
Throgmorton/ So I have a slightly different view about this, as you can imagine, Michelle. As a
bicyclists, I'd say what's crucial is to ride in the bike lane, not ... not to drift to the left
beyond the white line.
Payne/ This (both talking)
Throgmorton/ And as a drive I'd say the crucial thing's to slow down!
Payne/ Right and (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...somebody on a bike (both talking)
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Payne/ ...that talked to me, not a ... not a vehicle person. It was a bicyclist. So (both talking)
Throgmorton/ All the bicyclists I talked to say why are you starting with these two roads, instead
of Gilbert Street and others. But ... we know there's traffic research going into those other
places.
Dobyns/ As someone who routinely bikes on Mormon Trek and fears for his life, um ... I was
talking with some of you about the letters we've got, but you know I ... I was recalling, I
was actually discussing with people cause I was ... for some reason I had to go out and get
signatures the last couple of weeks and every place I was..was within a block of Mormon
Trek, and um, you know, as I engaged people at the doorstep we were talking about these
sorts of issues, and it was about split, mostly just wanted information about what was
going on on Mormon Trek. Um, the issue was that with ... that was negative about it was
that it's not so much a bad idea but, Rick, do you realize that as opposed to the east side
of Iowa City, this is our only north -south arterial, um, on the west side of town. Um,
Slothower Road is not going to go through any time soon, um, and so because of, uh,
Highway 218, you know, we're sort of...as opposed to the other side of Iowa City. Um,
it's sort of a problem ... that was what some of the concerns were.
Throgmorton/ Sure.
Dobyns/ Um ... for the people who do bike, there was an appreciation that there would be bike
lanes because the 8-, 10 -foot sidewalk is not continuous, um, all the way to Terry
Trueblood, and the fact that if you're on two lanes and you're a bike, you don't know
which lane to put yourself on, to put yourself in danger. Do you want to get killed in one
lane or you want to get killed in the other one? Um, but having a bike lane that's so
designated, um, you know, would be helpful. At least from my point of view. So I didn't
get as much, I mean, people were concerned, had lots of questions, but I didn't get as
much push -back as I thought I would.
Ralston/ Right, and sort of the impetus for, again, the Mormon Trek, um, example is that
in ... there was an unfunded project in the 2010 CIP that was actually to five -lane that
section, and again it was unfunded, but that's sort of when we started to look at this. Do
we really need five lanes, and as you can imagine that was an extremely, uh, expensive
capital improvement, and then we started to look into it and it's, well, maybe we can get
away with three lanes, uh, or leave it at four if...if necessary with some spot
improvements, but ... I think it's, uh, I think we'll know more this fall after we get a chance
to do some more traffic modeling.
Hayek/ So before we move on, I think (clears throat) I think it will be good at the appropriate
junctures to get more of this information out to the public.
Ralston/ Sure!
Hayek/ I think it's counterintuitive to many people to think about reducing from four to three,
and I suspect that drives some of the hand -wringing.
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Ralston/ Yeah, and I think ... and I think part of this was, uh... may ... maybe on staff, because when
the TSIP grants came to you all, uh, then there was an article in the paper and it sort of
generated some fears that we weren't going to include the neighborhoods and so forth,
and we just hadn't really gotten to that point yet, so...
Hayek/ Yeah.
Ralston/ Good point!
Hayek/ Thanks, Kent!
Payne/ Thank you.
Ralston/ Thank you!
ITEM 2f(2) Petition signed by 32 people: End Discrimination against black youth in
Iowa City and its public spaces [additional signatures since July 27 meeting]
ITEM 2f(14) Venson Curington 11: Request for Work Session [Council response
included]
Throgmorton/ So, I ... (several talking) Item 2f(2), the petition from'Black Kids Play Too,' and
the related exchange, memo exchange, involving Venson and ... and Susan. Uh... I'm
wondering how ... the rest of you think we should be responding. Should, you know,
should we do what Venson suggests, and I know he's in the room out here, or do you
want to do something different or ... what do you all think? Susan, I know (both talking)
Mims/ ...I think it's up to individual Councilors to decide any time that they want to meet with a
member of the public, and if and when it meets their schedule, and I know six out of the
seven of us work full-time, so it can be very difficult for people to do that. I have set up
the meeting for later this week myself, um ... so I think it's ... other people just need to do
what they think works best.
Throgmorton/ I was aware that Venson had asked that we, uh, schedule meetings between the
group and groups of three Council people. So that's not ... not what you're (both talking)
Mims/ Well I had just made it clear to him that we could not do more than three, in ... in some of
my correspondence, which I did not ... which I think was in the late packet. I did not copy
it back to everybody else at the time because of (mumbled) issues, so ... um ... so, I mean,
whether people want to do it in those groups or, uh, do something smaller or ... just
depends I think on people's schedules and what can possibly work. I think one of the
things we have to be careful of is ... I mean, any time that we have, you know, we have
issues in the community and you, I mean we could get a group of bikers here or whatever
and, um ... you know, if...if somebody comes forward and says, well I want to meet with
every single Council Member and this is how I want to do it, I think we have to be very
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careful about, you know, kind of the precedent that we set in terms of...of how we make
ourselves available and in what kind of...groupings we make ourselves available. Um, I
responded to this because it ... I felt it was important and wanted to meet with them
and ... um, but I also am sensitive to the fact that we, you know, we can't violate the open
meeting's law. We don't want to, and I also respect the fact that, as I said, six out of the
seven of us work full-time and I'm not going to sit here and ... commit other Council
Members' time, um, when it may or may not be necessary. It may be that one or two or
three of us can meet with a couple of different meetings and certainly bring back the
information, um, and share it with staff and the rest of the Council. You know,
additionally ... I think, uh, staff had a very good memo in the late handouts in terms of
things that are already being done and, um, and also ... way back from the Ad Hoc
Diversity and from the Diversity Report out, um, I'm losing my thought process, but the
group (laughter) that you got together...
Markus/ We created a roundtable.
Mims/ The roundtable (several talking) Yeah! The roundtable, where top level staff is ... is
meeting regularly with people from some of the major organizations, black organizations,
in the community, and so I think that is ... certainly a very, very positive thing and one that
we don't want to, um, either subvert or diminish its importance. At the same time, I don't
want anybody else in the community to feel like they can't talk to us as well, and so that's
why I have gone ahead and set up a meeting for Thursday morning. So, I just leave it to
the rest of the Council to make your own decisions about what you want to do and when
you can do it and ... if there is one or two others that want to and can do it on Thursday,
um, obviously let me know, but we ... cause we obviously can't have more than three of us
there, so...
Throgmorton/ Uh huh.
Hayek/ Yeah, I guess I take the same view, I mean, these emails came in. I was out of town, but
I made sure that ... that they were responded to, and I know that they were, um, and then I
got a voicemail this afternoon, uh, about 3:00 that I haven't responded to yet, and I ... I
generally make an attempt to meet with people who ask to meet with me. But I ... I share
your concern, Susan. I think at least right now it's probably more productive for people
to have one-on-one or ... or small group meetings, as you describe, and I appreciated the
City Manager's memo, which I thought really went to a lot ... lot of the points, and ... and I
think we do need to keep that equity roundtable, um, moving and ... and uh, to maintain
that meeting structure there. So that ... that'd be my thoughts, but ... and I'll get back to the
voicemail that was left for me an hour ago, two hours ago.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I guess I'd ... I'll just repeat what I said to Venson earlier, before our meeting
started. I ... I'd be very happy to meet with you and ... and members of your group, Venson.
I do think though if we were going to have say two groups of three officially meet, that it
would be really crucial to also invite members of the Coalition for, uh, Racial Justice and
the Black Voices Project because we've worked so hard to build and strengthen, improve
those relationships over the past four years. So I ... I think, uh, it would be
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counterproductive to suddenly meet with, uh, Black Kids Play Too as ... as one group and
exclude the other two that we've been workin' with so hard. So, but I ... I'm eager to meet
with you, Venson, and with, uh, with the Black Kids Play Too group.
Markus/ And ... and in that regard, I think that's what we were attempting to suggest to Council is
that we have this roundtable where Black Voices and, uh, the different coalitions meet
with us to discuss these things. I don't have an issue with Council Members meeting with
various members of the public, but I think some of the items that the petitioners
suggested may require more detailed vetting in terms of how we would go about
accomplishing some of those things, and I think that roundtable might be a better venue
for that kind of, uh, discussion. It doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be both.
ITEM 2f(7) Johnson County Board of Supervisors: Minimum Wage Ordinance for
Johnson County
Botchway/ So I guess we're basically just saying (mumbled) own individual account to follow up
with Venson and his email. (several responding) Okay. But I do, I mean, for the
particular group discussion, you know ... I'll leave it at that. Never mind! I was going to
say something else (mumbled) I want to move on to something else. Um ... Item 2f(7).
So my question is is ... what's up, like what ... I mean have we looked at it from a legal
standpoint? From a ... uh, minimum wage ordinance... for Johnson County. From legal
standpoint, from a ... a contractual obligation standpoint. I know that, I mean, in my own
job, it might not be problematic based on what they're proposing, but if we did have an
agreement, um, with a particular employee group, that was at a partic... that was at a level
lower than what the Board was, um, discussing, I believe our situation would trump
whatever they were going to, um, propose, from a minimum wage orig ... ordinance
standpoint and so I just don't know what the City is doing in regards. I'm assuming
you're having discussions, but I don't know where we weigh in. I know that they sent the
email as far as Councils coming together and talking with them. So that's ... so I'm asking
two parts — one, obviously you're doing something and so if there's any update from that
stand and then from a Council Member's standpoint, whether or not it's even worth it to
even have the discussion, seeing that the decision's kind of already been made.
Hayek/ Well I'm ... I'm not sure a decision has been made. I mean, it's my ... my read that it's still a
moving target. They've got a draft that they're looking at. They're trying to figure out
their enforcement mechanisms. So I'm not sure we're in a position as a city or any other
city in the county to ... to ... to look at it really cause we don't know yet what it is we're
looking at. Has ... hasn't been finalized, right, I mean ... do I have that right, that the County
has not (several talking)
Markus/ ...tomorrow to discuss (both talking)
Dilkes/ My understanding is that, um ... the County Attorney has provided a ... a ... a detailed legal
opinion to them, as well as a new draft ordinance that they're gonna be talking about
tomorrow.
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Botchway/ So I guess to (both talking)
Hayek/ At some point I think your...
Botchway/ Well I guess to your point, you're saying we should wait until after they've... finalized
the, or done a motion or whatever the case may be on the ordinance?
Mims/ At a minimum, I would think.
Hayek/ I would think we'd want to know what we're reacting to, what we're ... what we're sort of
wrapped up into as a municipality within the County.
Throgmorton/ So the late handout contains, uh, a ... an email from, uh, Andy Johnson in the
County, uh, and it all ... and that has attached to it a draft ordinance. Uh, so I ... I suppose
that's the one you were just referring to, Eleanor, but I don't know.
Dilkes/ No, they ... the County, the Board, made some requests of the County Attorney to make
some revisions to the draft. That, as my understanding, has now been provided to them
and they are going to talk about that at their next meeting.
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Markus/ It seems like until you have the adopted ordinance of the County, that you might be
speculating a lot about what would be in that ordinance and then reacting to things that
may not ultimately be placed in that ordinance. So ... the discussions we've had are that
we should really wait to see what they come back with, including the County Attorney's
opinion on the legality of...of the potential ordinance.
Throgmorton/ She seems to have spoken about that, at least. (several talking)
Markus/ I think there's some nuances to (several talking)
Dilkes/ This is a legal opinion, as opposed to a ... a conclusion. (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Of course...
Dilkes/ It's a multi -paged memo that goes into her analysis.
Botchway/ Okay. I just wanted to make sure.
Hayek/ Other, uh, agenda items?
ITEM 2e(3) REZONING BENTON ST / RIVERSIDE DRIVE — MOTION
SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR SEPTEMBER 1 ON AN ORDINANCE
CONDITIONALLY REZONING APPROXIMATELY 1.45 ACRES OF
PROPERTY FROM COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL (CC -2) TO RIVERFRONT
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CROSSINGS - WEST RIVERFRONT (RFC -WR) ZONE LOCATED AT THE
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF BENTON STREET AND RIVERSIDE DRIVE
(REZ15-00015)
Karr/ Mr. Mayor, I'd just like to note a ... a correction to Item 2e(3), the motion setting a public
hearing. Uh, the property, second line of the item, is located at the northwest corner of
Benton Street. The item reads southwest; should be northwest. Just so we don't get...
Mims/ Kinda wondered!
Karr/ Uh huh!
Throgmorton/ Sorry, which ones? 2e(3)?
Mims/ Yeah.
Karr/ Uh, that is the Kum 'n Go gas station.
Throgmorton/ Oh, right, yeah.
Karr/ So the ordinance and the notice will be corrected, but ... just the agenda item.
ITEM 2e(7) WILLOW CREEK / KIWANIS PARK RENOVATION PROJECT —
RESOLUTION SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 ON
PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF
COST FOR THE WILLOW CREEK/KIWANIS PARK RENOVATION
PROJECT. DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE OF SAID
HEARING, AND DIRECTING THE CITY ENGINEER TO PLACE SAID PLANS
ON FILE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION.
Dobyns/ I did want to discuss about Willow Creek Park, uh, the baseball backstop. Um, is there
a...
Markus/ Zac Hall's here to speak to that.
Dobyns/ Uh, Zac, um, thanks, it urn ... where is the backstop being planned? Where the old
current one is?
Hall/ Correct, and actually in the design plans that we have so far, we'll be adding a second
backstop. So it'll be in the same general location as the current one, but obviously with
adding a new feature, or an ... added feature, um, that configuration will change somewhat,
but ... in the same location generally.
Dobyns/ I didn't have a chance to read the, uh, Park and Rec Committee, but my understanding
there over the years is that, um, there's been a backstop there and theoretically, um, you
could play softball, baseball there. No one really has. It's usually used by football,
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soccer, Kicker's Soccer, but most of the people who use it is cricket. Um ... yeah, um, I ... I
guess for the 25 years I've lived there, it's a center for cricket activities for our
international, um ... uh, community members. And so my concern is there ... is there a
possible way to reconfigure that now ... to go into the differences of the cricket field and
the baseball field. Urn ... I mean, I've watched the cricket game and I can tell you in 20
years I still cannot explain it to you (laughter) um ... but I ... I guess my concern was that,
um ... uh, baseball field might, um, make it difficult for our people who enjoy playing
cricket, which is fairly sizable to be able to do so. So if there's a way that perhaps it can
be configured so both things could happen, without going at the expense of another.
Hall/ Yeah, I think we can definitely look at that as far as our design plans. Um, if you have any
specific contacts, that would be helpful. Um...
Dobyns/ Okay.
Hall/ I know with our recreation program supervisors, um, we've looked at that as far as
increasing our t -ball, uh, programming in that area, but if we obviously have another, or
an alternate use for it (both talking)
Dobyns/ Yeah, and I think there's a constituency that probably doesn't make a whole lot of noise
(both talking)
Hall/ Sure!
Dobyns/ ...in terms of, you know, what their ... their needs are. Urn ... but, uh, when would the
construction start? Next spring and...
Hall/ Um, actually that ... that was the second piece of the resolution is that we're, urn ... uh,
looking at starting the construction this ... this fall and then, uh, extending out into the
spring. Our original, um, design plans had that, uh, wrapping up in the fall, so we had a
tighter schedule, um, and we've extended that ... that deadline to get some better pricing,
you know, more flexibility with contractors.
Dobyns/ So I better get on task and find the batsman! Okay. All right. Um, the other issue is
(mumbled) the waterpark, when is ... is that still, uh, on line to go up in the, uh, I guess the
Kiwanis Park area of the Willow Creek Park?
Hall/ Um, the water feature I think that you're speaking of is, uh, splash pad or...
Dobyns/ Splash pad!
Hall/ ...spray pad.
Dobyns/ The water thing, yeah. (laughter)
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Hall/ Um, we have two different water distinctions, a spray pad and a splash pad now in our
community. Um, so the splash pad that was originally on the, um, the original vetting
through the public process, that ... that got pretty much put into potential add alternates for
Phase 3.
Dobyns/ Okay.
Hall/ ...because of cost and ... and uh, public input. So, um...
Dobyns/ Okay.
Hall/ That won't occur in Phase 1.
Dobyns/ All right. I'll try and get back to you guys about the other item. Thank you.
Hall/ Yep! Any other questions?
ITEM 2d(1) 2015 PCC PATCHING — RESOLUTION AWARDING CONTRACT
AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND THE CITY CLERK TO
ATTEST A CONTRACT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE PCC PAVEMENT
REHABILITATION PROJECT 2015.
Throgmorton/ Matt, I have an unbelievably short question about Item 2d(l), the pavement
rehabilitation project. Call me naive, but what's PCC? It's a PCC pavement rehab
project.
Knoche/ Portland Cement Concrete.
Throgmorton/ There ya go! (laughter and several talking) I thought it was an area! I didn't
(laughs)
Markus/Politically Correct Concrete!
Hayek/ Any other agenda items? Okay, let's move on to the nuisance and property management
standards item. IP3 in the Info Packet, and Stan and Doug are here, among others.
Welcome!
Discuss nuisance and property management standards in neighborhoods [IP # 3 Info
Packet of 8/13 info packet]:
Boothroy/ (several talking) Works so much better than ... last time when you were getting up and
going to the controls. Uh, last spring and even before that, uh, Matt, Susan, and Stan and
I have talked about some housing code changes that deal with the stabilization of the,
uh... uh, University -impact neighborhoods, uh, the Northside in particular. If you want to
go to the next, and so ... uh, what we're talking about, uh, tonight is ... (several talking in
background) We're having a color problem here. Uh, we're talking about the, uh,
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University -impact area and ... uh, looking at the stepped-up code enforcement, the housing
code in particular, but we would continue to look at the nuisance code and the, uh,
nuisance property code, which deals with, uh... uh, tenant behavior, uh, in these particular
areas and ... in a minute we'll go through Stan's, uh... uh... uh, suggestions. There are two
types of suggestions. One is additional inspections in ... in essence and additional
meetings with neighbors to try to get a feel for what the neighborhood conditions, uh, are
on a more regular basis, as well as meeting with the neighbors to ... to assess those
priorities on a more regular basis, and ... and a more frequent basis. And then the other
part of it is to ... to make some code changes that would provide some, uh, support for the
inspectors, uh, when ... or if they cite somebody, uh, for these types of violations.
(mumbled) So one of the things I wanted to point out first before we got into ... and Stan
got into discussing the details is that ... one of the changes in this more proactive approach
is that we would treat all properties in the University -impact area equally in the sense
that, uh, they would all be inspected. We would look at the exterior maintenance issues,
uh, and uh, both, uh... uh, rental and owner -occupied properties would need to comply.
Now the housing code is written such that all properties are required to comply with it,
however, uh, the way it's, uh, well, the way it delineates between the two is that, uh, non -
owner occupied properties or rental properties are required to go through a systematic
inspection every two years with a rental permit, whereas owner occupied properties,
while they're required to comply with the housing code, they're only required to comply
up on a ... based on a complaint basis. So ... the way that's handled administratively over
the years is that we do all of our systematic inspections with our rental inspectors, but we
typically, uh, don't do owner -occupied properties unless somebody complains about the,
uh, maintenance, uh, of that particular property to the City, and so a lot of properties that
are owner -occupied, uh, in the University -impact area may not have come to our
attention, simply because we're not citing them or we're not involved with the property
owner dealing with the maintenance, and they also contribute to the character of the
neighborhood, as well as the, uh, the rental properties. And ... and frankly over the years,
uh, the, uh, the landlords of Iowa City have criticized the City a bit about having a double
standard that they have to meet a higher standard because they're inspected every two
years and the owner-occupieds aren't. So, one of the changes that we're, uh... uh, doing
here with this process of trying to improve the stabilization of these areas, to try to
improve, uh, property maintenance, through property maintenance, and deal with
nuisances and stuff like that is to treat all properties equally and I mention this at the
beginning because it's a change for those who own property and there may be some
criticism, uh, and a little bit of push -back because of that. With that I think we'll let Stan
get into the details.
Laverman/ So the first thing that we were looking at, uh, that won't require any code changes, uh,
is just increasing our communication and part of that is creating some listening posts, uh,
in the months of March and August, which are usually high times for nuisance
complaints as students are either, uh, coming out of their shell for the spring and, uh,
adding a little activity to the neighborhood or they're moving into the neighborhood in
August. Um, and we've identified the College Hill and the Northside and the Goosetown
neighborhoods as neighborhoods that would benefit from having a listening post where
people can come and tell us what they're seeing as issues in the neighborhood. Also, uh,
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in the past year we've seen the rise of a ... a web site called'Nextdoor.' The City's been
using that but we would really start pushing more information out, uh, on Nextdoor to
people that maybe wouldn't come to a listening post event but are well connected on
social media, uh, so they could communicate with the City that way. There is some items
that we would, uh, we believe could benefit from some increased emphasis. Uh, we've
heard a lot about sidewalks and sidewalk repairs. Um, Public Works has a systematic
inspection, uh, throughout the entire city. Uh, it's my understanding they get through a
neighborhood once every 10 years. Obviously we're out, uh, in these prop ... these
neighborhoods every day, uh, and we would be inspecting these properties every two
years. Uh, I feel the University -impact areas would really benefit from this in that, uh,
highly pedestrian community, walking through these areas, and there's sidewalks that
need to be taken care of. Additionally we hear a lot of complaints about parking, uh, and
parking on the grass on the weekend. Obviously my housing inspectors work, um, 8:00
to 5:00, Monday through Friday, um, but we ... we have, uh, increased our use of the
icgovexpress mobile application over the past years and this is available to the Police
Department and we would work with educating them on how to document complaints on
the weekend, uh, and we would follow up with them in the following work day. And
a ... a bigger change is that we would consider suspension of the rental permit for up to six
months when rental properties are found to be over -occupied. Right now the ... the fine for
being over -occupied is $750 when we can prove it. And we have landlords that are
regarding this as a cost of doing business. It's not a deterrent. Um, six months, uh, which
is in our code now, um, would get their attention. Took some pictures today. This is just
some of the sidewalk conditions that do exist, uh, that we would be addressing. Again,
we're looking, um ... at doing a little bit more documentation and a little bit more, uh,
proactive inspections, uh, we'd like to do a walking survey concerning exterior conditions
in the University -impact areas. Uh, we do a lot of driving through, but in the ... the
neighborhoods look pretty good from a street view, as you're driving through, but once
you get out there and walk, you can see a lot of things that maybe need attention, uh, and
again, we would be doing monthly nuisance code inspections, uh, in these areas. Some
other things that I saw today, uh, the property on the left is a rental property. Uh, it is in
the ... the, it had a rental permit or it was inspected last year. It has a rental permit.
Obviously there's not much attention being paid to the gutters while we're not there. This
is something that we need to change. We need to stress to, uh, property owners and
managers that these properties need to be in compliance at all times, not just when we're
visiting. Um, the property on the right is an example of an owner -occupied property on
the Northside that, uh, we're aware of, um, but we don't receive complaints on, but uh, if
you look closely the roof is in serious disrepair. Uh, we've got branches and trees
rubbing up against the house, creating a lot of damage. The paint's in bad shape. This is
an example of what we would be taking care of in our systematic nuisance inspections.
We'd like to clarify how we look at paint. Um ... and also look at, uh, bare treated lumber.
So when we're talking about not uniform color consistent (mumbled) here's a couple of
good example, um ... the banding through the middle, they had some peeling paint and
that's the areas that they painted. Um, in the ... in the one on the right you can see that
they've ... they seem to have pa ... painted the areas that were peeling, uh, but if you look at
the windowsills, there's ... it's peeling already. Uh, talking about a paint job that wasn't
prepared well, um, and it doesn't last for a long time. We ... we need to address this in our
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code. Here's some examples of paint jobs that are acceptable, uh, and these have been
painted in the last year. Um, there's nothing outstanding about these jobs. They're
complete, uh, the ... the surfaces were well -prepped and they should last for a good period
of time. Obviously these are excellent examples, uh, but when we're talking ... I brought
these because we talk about color consistent, and these ... that's not the type of color
consistency we're looking for. This is ... this is acceptable. Um, when we're talking color
consistency, we ... we want to get back to, uh, this slide and where you have, uh, faces that
are multi -colored, uh, that are just spot painted. That obviously would be acceptable;
those are beautiful. Um, here's an example of a paint surface that was not prepped
correctly. Uh, it wasn't scrapped. Uh, it basically starts peeling immediately. Another
change would be to prohibit bare treated lumber in the historic and conservation districts.
Uh, the staircase there on the right is brand new. It's ... it's safe. Uh, unfortunately, uh, it
doesn't take long for it to look like the staircases on the left, um...
Hayek/ Can I ask, wh... why that, uh, approach only is historic and conservation districts and not
generally speaking?
Laverman/ We felt we would start there. Um, and see ... uh, if we were successful in it. Uh... you
know, we ... we see a lot of deterioration. It's more evident in, uh (mumbled) or historic
districts that the ... it's out of context.
Boothroy/ And I think, Matt, the other thing is that the ... the, uh, historic and conservation
districts are ... already identify those as important ,uh, factors, and so we can ... as we start
there, we base the housing codes, uh, legitimacy, if you will, on this particular point on
the zoning codes, uh, calling out these ... these. So they're not necessarily getting a
building permit for these things, but when they do these repairs, they would have to
comply. We could expand it to the other districts but this was just... what... what we
thought we'd start with.
Laverman/ And Karen just reminded me that in multi -family, uh, developments, that standard is
in there already, that's it's required to be painted. Issues of siding not being maintained,
uh, whether it be, uh, mold or mildew or, uh, the siding coming apart. That was
addressed. Um ... we have some changes, uh, well, porches and decks, what we wanted to
get away with, a lot of times you ... you catch underneath porches, that they collect trash
and debris. We want to make sure that those areas are screened off, uh, to prevent that.
There's some changes that might be coming with dumpsters and, uh, recycling facilities
in multi -family units. Um, as we move forward there and add more dumpsters, we want
to make sure those areas are screened. And again, the storage of landscaping and
construction materials is not permitted in areas visible from the street, facing the right-of-
way. Right now we prohibit construction equip ... or material but not landscaping
materials is not, um ... spelled out. So I mean if you're mulching over the weekend or a
little white, that's not the issue we're looking for but when your neighbor moves in the
pile of mulch for weeks on end, we ... we'd like a little bit of ability to enforce that. Here's
examples of under -porch screening. The one on the left would not, uh, be approved by
the City. Uh, we're looking for a little more substantial screening than that, and then
obviously the one on the right, the ... the screening is gone completely or not a ... added at
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all. Examples of dumpsters that are floating out into our right-of-way or along the
property line. And the one on the right also kind of gives you a good example of why we
want those screened and enclosed because here we have trash that's ready to blow
through the neighborhood. Again, fencing and screening, uh, we're looking for it to be
safe and structurally sound, um ... and then we want to regulate the storage and use of
furniture on surfaces, essentially on roofs. Um, here's an example of retaining wall that's,
um ... not level, not square, falling into the ... the adjoining property. Uh, and then a ... the
sidewalk retaining wall that's falling into the sidewalk. And when we're talking about no
furniture allowed on roofs, this is what we'd like to avoid. Mainly ... from a ... one is an
aesthetic reason, but also when you have ... uh, tenants out on that roof, that is a huge
safety hazard.
Boothroy/ They do have orange, uh, control cones up there, so that might add to the safety
(laughter) but...
Laverman/ This is not Doug's house! (laughter) Questions?
Throgmorton/ Yes, uh, you know, as representative for District C, I know the area pretty well
and I have considerable interest in it, so my first question ... oh, and I want to thank you
for, uh, the work that, uh, was done on the east Davenport house that, uh, I connected
with you about. Uh, it's the kind of house that you're referring to. It needed work and it's
gotten work done, thank you! Uh, but also, I ... I want to ask a basic question. Seemed to
have knocked this thing off. Uh, have you had a chance to (noises on mic) vet this
proposal with the neighborhood associations, the affected neighborhood associations
(noises on mic)? Uh, never mind.
Laverman/ No, I mean, we ... we're starting the conversation here. Uh, and we haven't vetted it
with the apartment owners association either. They're ... they have a copy of the memo
that was sent. We will start that process, based off of our response here.
Throgmorton/ I think it's absolutely crucial that it be worked through the neighborhood
associations, uh, and the apartment owners association.
Laverman/ Sure!
Throgmorton/ Uh, partly bec... I'm saying that partly because I've gotten some negative feedback
that's based on fear, and the gist of the fear is this. If you come down hard with a code
enforcement hammer, that will... either force people to spend money they don't have to
upgrade their existing structures, or force them to sell their existing structures to someone
who would want to tear it down and replace it with something else. So I think we need to
be really careful with this and the way to be really careful about it is to get that ... uh,
insight from, uh, the neighborhood associations before we get to the point where we're,
you know, a ... actually literally considering an ordinance and putting it on our formal
agenda and so on.
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Markus/ Jim, I think the other thing too is ... because the department is linked with housing
initiatives as well ... with staffing, that we may be able to link, um, homeowners who may
need financial assistance, uh, and make those connections so that those improvements can
be done, so that they don't stand the economic threat of losing (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, this is ... this connects the ... the only other point I really wanted to raise, uh,
I ... I would... not ... I wouldn't really be happy if all we did was adopt a ... amendments to the
code that said you must not ... you must do this, you cannot do that. I think we need to
match that, uh, to balance it, temperate it with, uh, some financial and technical
assistance that's made available, especially to people who are ... have limited... access to
limited amounts of capital, cause there are a lot of older people, don't have a whole lot of
money who own their homes up there in ... in those neighborhoods. I don't mean'up
there.' Just in the affected neighborhoods, and ... it ... we .... we could do something like is
quoted in the downtown ... I mean in the Press -Citizen this morning about the downtown
area. It's an excellent article and ... there's lots of good work there, but one of the key
things is that technical assistance is being provided, or made available, to the ... to the
business owners downtown so that they can figure out what the cost is, how to do it, that
kind of thing. (both talking)
Markus/ I think the staff has gone towards a much more customer -service focus in trying to
facilitate how to get something done, rather than just make a demand, rather than just
dictate that, yeah, the code says you can or you can't do something. They are very ... I
think they've advanced tremendously in terms of their facilitation efforts (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, if we can do those two simultaneously then that creates a real likelihood
that we will, um, significantly improve the affected neighborhoods, rather than doing
certain things that endanger particular homeowners, etc., in those neighborhoods.
Laverman/ Sure, and ... and one of the beauties of the merger with Planning is, you know, I'm now
part of Neighborhood Services, so obviously I wrote this memo with Tracy Hightshoe
who has a lot of experience with housing rehab and the money that's available, uh, to
citizens, low-income, moderate -income citizens, um, and yes, we would work directly
with them to make resources available.
Dobyns/ I ... I think the concern I have, Stan, is that if you ... the devil's in the details about how
you would enforce this. I mean, as you, um, increase the consequences, um, I think the
push -back could be heavy. Um, I mean if...you'll get their attention, um, if we change the
consequences to a six-month revocation of license. It depends on what they do ... what the
City does with that attention. Are they going to work with you and attempt to figure out
what they can do? Is the City going to be reasonably flexible? Um, if the City is not
flexible about things, which I think are quite subjective, then I could see what Jim thinks
— the gentrification of this area would make it, uh, even less affordable for these people to
live in. The sense I have is that, um ... why we're putting forth ... this forth is that maybe
we're not getting people's attention, urn ... is ... is that the sense we have?
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Laverman/ With over -occupancy, uh, it's a struggle. Uh, it's time-consuming to prove. Uh, the
burden of proof is high. Uh, and the $750, um ... fine that we can levy is ... minimal when
you're talking about a place that can rent for 1,500, 2,000, 2,500 a month. So (both
talking)
Dobyns/ My concern is that if we really push this is that the City Attorney's office is going to get
field a lot of complaints and then we're going to have to adjudicate a lot of different
matters. Um ... I ... I like this, um, but as long as we're pretty flexible in terms of, um, you
know, the ultimate consequence.
Boothroy/ Well in .... we're really talking about repeat offenders here. We're talking about, uh,
landlords that (noises on mic) for, uh, that we've had more than one over occ... occupancy
fine within a year. Uh, that we have caught them in the act, uh, and that they've been in
the community, uh, as landlords, cause I'm thinking of two or three, uh, for 30 years.
They ... they have a rental permit that says specifically what their occupancy is, they sign
an information disclosure form that we've put in place, so that all their tenants ... and they
know what the occupancy is, uh, and so ... it is not a surprise to find out that they're only
allowed to have three renters and they're renting five.
Dobyns/ And I think that's what the neighborhood needs to hear (both talking)
Boothroy/ And then that's what we're ... that's what this is about.
Dobyns/ (both talking) ...don't hear that, or they don't trust it, then I think a lot of the people that
Jim's talking about are going to be pretty upset. Um, because you're not going after them.
You're going after others.
Boothroy/ We're trying to have consequences that are meaningful.
Markus/ But you're not just talking about rental properties. You're talking about maintenance of
all structures within these areas. (noises on mic)
Laverman/ Correct.
Markus/ And ... you know... you're... you're all aware that it wasn't just an urban legend, but that
there was a You Tube out there, how to beat the system, uh, about occupancy, and uh,
when the inspectors come, you know, everything gets tidied up so that you don't know
that it's being over -occupied. Well the over-occu ... over -occupying of these buildings
creates all sorts of maintenance issues, as well, and I think that ... that's part of the issue.
The other part of the issue is that there are some, you know, maintenance standards that
probably have been ... that have been let go for a while, and I think you ... you know, you
evolve that back to a better maintenance of these neighborhoods, um, the neighborhood,
you know, all gets lifted up by all of those activities, but that doesn't mean you can go in
with a heavy hand and do all those things. You know, you start in a ... kind of an evolving
way and bring that up. To just go out and start blitzing an area with ta... uh, tickets is not
going to be well received and it's not going to work!
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Laverman/ That's not how we proceed. I mean, we're looking for compliance and we've spent a
lot of time working with people to gain that compliance, either owner -occupied or rental.
Markus/ But at this ... this stage, we're kind of in a process where we sit and wait for a complaint.
There's no proactivity on the part of the operation, and ... you know, people are, you know,
people are pretty generous around here. They don't, you know, report on neighbors,
but ... you know, there's ... that doesn't mean they aren't irritated by sometimes the property
conditions that exist in the neighborhoods. And I think we need to be more proactive to
work with them, to bring it up to a ... an acceptable standard.
Dobyns/ Tom, there are people who, um, can't afford it and they need to be determined
like ... found out like Doug was alluding to, but there are people who legitimately are
having problems affording it. I mean, we look for grants for, um ... retailers in the
Downtown District.
Markus/ Right.
Dobyns/ I mean, are there opportunities for grants for people who legitimately cannot afford to
make the improvements we suggest?
Markus/ There ... there are programs and if there aren't, there is the potential to create them. I
mean, we have the whole UniverCity program...
Dobyns/ Uh...
Markus/ ...where we try to infuse back ownership into neighborhoods that have shifted too far
away from rental. I mean, you can do a lot less expensive program and keep the people
that are there in their homes and ... and accomplish the same thing by upgrading the
maintenance of those areas.
Hayek/ You know the ... we're talking about the Univercity-impact area, which is ... which has a
high degree of rental ... in it, and so the ... the ... a portion of the Univercity-impact area that
is owner -occupied is a subset of the total. The ... the portion of that, uh, of...of those
houses that are under -maintained or poorly maintained is a subset of that, and a portion of
that subgroup that can't afford some basic things and would need financial help is a
subset of that, and I'm confident we can figure out ways to reach that population with
some ... some targeted assistance. Um ... you know, we've ... we talk about neighborhood
stabilization. It's been a .... it's been a objective of ours for several years now. We've
done a lot of things; we've put a lot of resources into the public amenities in those areas.
I think the neighborhood groups would tell you that a lot of what drags down some of
these fragile areas is ... is the ... is the maintenance of the structures, not ... not the public
infrastructure. But the .... but the private structures, and historically we've been very good
at, um, the life safety issues, making sure that ... that the smoke detectors are there and the
ingress -egress is there and all of those things, but... but... but the basic upkeep, the curb
appeal, aesthetic issues, which go very much to the stability of a neighborhood and the
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perception of that neighborhood, um, and I think the overall health of. -of that
neighborhood is ... is where this goes to, and with... with... with occupancy rates, you know,
that are as low as what we see in Iowa City, landlords are ... are in a great position
and ... and they do very well. Not every last landlord, but I think as a group, um, property
owners in ... in this market, uh, do ... do quite well and they are at the end of the day
extracting wealth from... from... from property. Um, and ... I ... I think this is an appropriate
thing for us, uh, to do and ... and I think we need to view property ownership, you know, I
think we need to view, uh... rental property ownership, um, to some degree as a ... as a
privilege (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) and not just a right, uh, and we do that
through our rental permit process. Um, and ... and I ... so ... so this seems appropriate to me
and ... and, you know, I've kind of carped on this for years, but I've always had concerns
about how effective our reactive complaint -based approach to these issues, um, has ... has
been over time. Maybe people just get used to living in a college community and they
expect neighborhoods to ... or ... or particular houses to look the way they do, um, I don't
think that's enough, and I'm ... one of the things I'm pleased to see here is ... is, uh, is a
proactive approach where we're out (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) some resources
and how we do that, uh, would be up to staff to figure out, but ... to ... to identify these
issues and then work with the property owners, um, to get them corrected. I agree we
have to go in with, uh, with ... with some, uh, some tact and ... and some discretion, but I
think it can be done. I ... I ... I think we need to set a higher, uh, expectation for the
neighborhoods that, uh, we have identified as, uh, particularly fragile in the community.
Mims/ I would agree and especially in our ... if we want to continue to move some of these
neighborhoods towards a better balance of ownership, who wants to go in and buy when
the properties are not necessarily being well maintained. I mean who wants to move into
that neighborhood when, you know, houses aren't being painted and roofs aren't being
maintained, etc., and so I think to ... to step this up, and as you said, Matt, and ... and Stan,
you presented to be more proactive in looking for these things, um, with that sensitivity
that we've talked about for those, uh, owner -occupied situations where they may have
financial problems with maintaining, um, and to have that sensitivity and try to help them
find the resources to do those things that maybe they can't do, I am absolutely 100%
supportive of. I think we need to make these neighborhoods, um, look better and be
more, um, attractive to homeowners so that we can get that balance between rental, um,
and home own ... owner -occupied. Regarding the ... the potential for a six-month, uh... uh,
suspension of the rental permit when these are repeat offenders, I've got no problem with
that! Um ... I'd say that's the minimum! (laughs) Like you said, they are extracting
thousands upon thousands of dollars, and some of them millions of dollars out of the
properties in this community, and ... to put people, um, quite frankly in a safety, a health
and safety issue, as well, when they are over -occupying, um, is of great concern and so
when we can document it repeatedly, which I realize is difficult, uh, that they are, um,
over -occupying, then to give them a six-month suspension of their rental permit, I think,
is perfectly fine. I have no problem with that.
Botchway/ Do have a clarifying question. And so we're ... we're specifically focusing on the
University -impact area.
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Laverman/ Correct!
Botchway/ And so I ... I guess ... and Doug and I have had these con ... same conversations before,
um, speaking about rental properties, but just in some of the other areas, um, throughout
our city more east, um, you know ... whether or not we're still going to ... I mean, loo a
policy, maybe this is just a start, uh... (several talking) Okay, all right. That's why I
wanted to make sure.
Laverman/ Yeah.
Hayek/ Yeah, that's a fair point (several talking) cause there are certainly problem properties
outside of that area.
Laverman/ Right. I don't want to over -promise resources though (both talking)
Botchway/ ...even thinking about it from a capacity (both talking) tough to do, so...
Laverman/ Right.
Throgmorton/ So 10 years ago my wife and I bought a ... a single-family house that had been used
as a rental unit for 20 years. Feel free to come by and take a look any time. It's possible
to buy such a house in such a neighborhood and ... see it turn around, and look at the other
houses on that block. You'll see every single one of 'ern has, uh, has improved over the
past 10 years. So it's a matter of investing in a way ... that turns in the direction of
improvement, rather than in the direction of dis-investment and decline. That's the
challenge before us, and it seems to me that what we need to do, and I really hope you do
this (laughs) is connect with the neighborhood associations, talk through this proposal
with them, get their feedback, incorporate the feedback into what really comes to us, and
when it comes to us, balance the code enforcement with some financial and technical
assistance that is meaningful, not ... not just a dribble and a drabble, or what ... (laughs)
Drabble, what's a drabble (laughs) whatever that is, so that they can see both would be
coming, not just the code enforcement.
Hayek/ What else on this? Team? Those ... those photos were very helpful, um ... they ... I went
around with my son, I don't know, six or 12 months ago and tried to take some (laughs)
and we hit some of the same houses, those two (laughter) urn ... but ... but the photo...
Laverman/ It didn't take me as long as I expected, which... says a lot probably.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Dobyns/ That's a good thing you're Mayor! (laughs)
Hayek/ Well ... yeah! (laughs)
Laverman/ And I didn't take any pictures of Matt's house either. (laughter)
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Hayek/ So, all right, thank you for this. I think this is the right direction, um, and I think it sets a
proper expectation, uh... uh... for at least these neighborhoods and maybe some day it's
expanded beyond that. So ... thank you very much! Next item, STAR community rating
system.
Botchway/ Oh I had a quick ... oh!
Hayek/ Yeah, go ahead. Is that complaint process anonymous? From a rental property
standpoint?
Fruin/ It can be. (several talking) Um, it doesn't... yeah, you can submit through icgovexpress
and remain anonymous.
Botchway/ I'm not going to complain right now (both talking)
Hayek/ (mumbled)
Botchway/ (laughs) make that note about it (laughs) (several talking) No, no, I just (several
talking and laughing) if I remember.
Dickens/ I'm outside the Univercity-impact area.
Hayek/ Hi, Brenda!
STAR Community Rating System UP # 4 Info Packet of 8/13 info packetl:
Nations/ Hi! I'm Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator. Um, I'm here tonight to give an
update on our STAR community rating system progress. We signed up to be a part of the
leadership program that's a year-long program that, um, we are involved in that started in
March. During the year time, we're going to be collecting information in these seven
goal categories of the STAR community program. The STAR program is the first
national certification program for cities, uh, to measure sustainability progress, and so it's
a very, very thorough, um ... uh, undertaking. You can see there are seven goal areas that
covers not just environmental issues but also, uh, economic, uh, issues and also social,
things like health and safety and equity. So it's very complete, uh, program. So, uh,
within these seven main categories, um, there's 44 different objectives to look over for
the City, and within these objectives there's, uh, several things that I'll be going into in
the ... in just a little bit. So, uh, you can see it covers a lot of the topics that we're really
involved in, uh, like civil and human rights, um, historic preservation, uh, affordable
housing, uh, waste minimization. So, um, many of these things have been, um ... uh,
looked over by experts. It took a four-year period to develop this, uh, by over 200
people, and it was developed specifically to be able to look at a community and see, uh,
where they're doing, uh, as far as assisting ability goes. So out of all those categories
we'll be collecting over 500 different (mumbled) information. So, um, that's, uh, policies,
programs, uh, different data, partnerships, outreach programs, things like that. So, uh,
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why would ... why would we do that? So, um, well first of all it demonstrates our
commitment to sustainability, um, once we're done we'll have a really complete, uh, view
of all the areas that we're doing really well in. We'll also receive national recognition for
these achievements. We'll be, uh, a STAR certified community. We'll also gain
competitive advantage. Uh, lot of communities after they're done are able to attract
funding, especially in those areas that they may not be doing so well in and ... and they've
shown a need for that. It also improves transparency, especially with the public who may
think that we're not doing well enough in some areas and we can say, you know, we're
doing, um, very well in this compared to, uh, national standards or we can say, yes, we
see that we, uh, need, uh, to improve in that area. Uh, anybody can look at, uh, once their
community's certified, anybody can look at it online and see what areas, um, a city has
done well in and ... and, uh, how they've scored. Um, it also allows us to build and
strength... strengthen partnerships, um, both within our City government and with external
partners as well, so ... um, one of the other benefits of STAR, I know you can't see this in
detail, but it shows the inter ... interwovenness of all the objectives and how all these ... all
these different, uh, circles are different areas in STAR and it shows the connectedness
of...of these different areas. Several of the things overlap into different, uh, areas, like
say, um, we're working on getting a bike -share program. It counts for, uh, in the healthy
living area and it counts in the transportation choices. It may count in, uh, green house
gas area too, but there's a lot of overlapping and, uh, connectedness. Um, this is an
example, I'll just show you a quick example of what it looks like online. For each of
those 44 different categories, um, there's outcomes. There's an outcome section and it has
one to five different areas of what you hope to be achieving in your success. So, uh, this
is sa... example is, uh, waste minimization, which is one of the 44 categories, and this is
one that we've completed. So I feel comfortable in ... in, uh, showing this as an example.
So with this, uh, what we have to enter is there's a ... Excel spreadsheet, so we enter, um,
the amount of waste that's been going to our Landfill over a certain period of time, and
we are supposed to meet the objective in this ... I'm sure you can't see it, is ... shows that
we're doing 100...100% reduction by, uh, 2050 and you plug in your numbers and it
shows the trend line, and for this particular one, we didn't meet. Um, so, uh, we move on
to the action area, and these ... the actions, uh, it's not so much important what these
specific ones are, but for an example, these are the things that you do to reach the
outcomes. So, there's an outcome you're trying to achieve and the different actions that
you do to get there. So, for our waste minimization out of these nine actions, we have,
uh, seven of them in place, and so it helps, um, it helps a community make better
informed decisions, like you look at the ones that are left and you think, uh, is it more
effective to get to our goal to reduce waste in ... in adopting a specific ban like plastic bags
or something like creating a materials -recovery facility, which you know you'd have to
compare those things and ... or maybe you choose not to even do something on this list,
but you would know, um .... uh, what areas that you might want to focus on and so for the
waste minimization, there's 15 points possible and we've reached, um, 7.2 at this point.
So, um, this is one of the ones that were ... were done. So, when all of the, um, all of the
information is uploaded and gathered by staff, um, this is taking, uh... uh, information
from many of our different departments, uh, Police, um, Fire, uh... Human Rights. Uh,
we've ... we'll be getting to Parks soon, uh, Neighborhood and Development Services,
Public Works, pretty much all City departments, and also we'll be working on gathering
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information from, um, other partners and ... and, uh, agencies around town. So, um, once
it's all uploaded, it'll be reviewed by a third party, which is the STAR staff, and then
they'll go over, make sure that we meet the criteria or not, and then we'll be awarded, uh,
a ... a star, a certain level of certification, and we're about ... at this point, I think we're about
half -way done and we have almost about 200 points that are uploaded so far. So, I'm sure
we'll get at least a ... a 3 -star community rating and um, hopefully as much as 4 -stars. It's
really difficult to get a 5 -star rating. That's something to aspire to, but um, once we get
this certification, um, it should last three years, until we chose to recertify again or not.
So ... um,there's about 30 communities in the United States that have so far gotten
certification. Four of them ... three of them are in Iowa so far, so, um, they're all..."D"
cities — Des Moines, Dubuque, and Davenport have already gotten certification. So ... um,
so this is things that other cities are doing within the midwest and within Iowa, so ... um,
so hopefully after, um, it takes about three months to go through all of our information
that we've uploaded and after we get the rating. The ... the important thing is not so much
the rating as what we do with it after that and so once we see, uh, where ... where we want
to focus our energy, we have some ideas with the list of what we might do with different
policies and plans and outreach, or we can choose to do something, uh, different if we
want to move the dial in these areas. So, um, at the end a lot of cities have taken this and
shaded it, uh, depending on, uh, how ... how many points they have in each of these areas
and how well they've done in the area so they can see which areas that, um, that they can
improve upon. So, um, also, um, the University of Iowa has done the STARS, with an
"S" and that's for what, uh, universities and colleges often do, so this seems to be a trend,
not only with cities but also, uh, universities and they have completed, um, that. So ... so
are there any questions?
Payne/ So, I do have a question. Davenport, Des Moines, and Dubuque — do you know what
STAR rating each one of them got?
Nations/Yep! Yeah, I do (laughs) and you ... anybody can learn, uh, look online and you can see
specifics too. Um, Dubuque and Davenport both got 4 -star rating and Des Moines was
one of the pilot projects and, um, I'm not ... I think it was more difficult or I think they
might have bailed early, but they got a 3 -star rating and hoped to improve soon, so...
Markus/ What are the application fees?
Nations/ Um, the application fee was $1,800, which, urn ... paid for, uh... uh, a co-worker and I,
Carrie, uh, who's in the Housing Authority to go to Washington, D.C. and paid all of our
travel expenses and our training and online thing, and we also, uh, speak to STAR staff
once a month and we're in with several other cities that we speak with quarterly to see
how everybody's doing. So that's for this year and then to keep certified, if we want to
keep certified and if you don't you lose all the ... what's uploaded online. It's, um, it ranges
depending on your level of membership from about $500 a year to about ... $1,000 or
$1,500, depends on that...
Dobyns/ Brenda, I get that there's just inherit goodness in, you know, finding out what metrics
we can go for, but if you get a very high rating, is there some way that perhaps you can
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use this to leverage in terms of any sort of, uh, RFPs or grant proposals, or is it just the
inherit goodness of being measured well?
Nations/ No, I think ... I think it's ... beyond the inherit goodness, I think it really shows where to go
next, and I think it helps, um, do ... plan for what you need to do, and also maybe get
grants in those areas, but also, um, I think it shows ... I think there, uh, I think it shows that
your city is interested in doing this. I think it shows, um, citizens the livability of your
city. I think that's something that's very interest... people are interested in, and I also think
that it can be used for like economic development, for ... to bring in different count
(mumbled) sorry! Different, uh, companies that may be interested in ... in, uh, coming to a
community like this. So...
Dobyns/ Okay.
Hayek/ So it looks like, uh, Des Moines is a 3 -star; Dubuque, Davenport are 4 -stars, and then
Iowa City, Charles City, and Indianola are ... (both talking)
Nations/ ...in process, yeah. Yep.
Hayek/ Good!
Mims/ Very interesting!
Hayek/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ Don't sit down yet! Uh (several talking) so, couple technical questions about the
scoring. So ... would the 44 objectives be weighted equally? Is that how it's done?
Nations/ Um, that's a good question. Each of the seven columns are weighted pretty much
equally. They're worth 100 points each, so there's 720 points. Um, the Education Arts
and Community for some reason has fewer sections and is only worth 70 and they always
say that it's not cause it's worth less. It's just the way that it turned out. So, um, so there's
720 points total, but then there's also Innovation and Process is kind of like an extra credit
for different things. If we're, um, excelling... especially excelling in one area, um, so, um,
no they don't have the exact same number of points or things like that. Um, we're
working on many of them at once. Uh, we have finished the Safe Communities and we
have all ... 100% of the points there. So I think that's interesting, a good thing to note.
Um, we have finished the Civil and Human Rights and I think we may get all of the
points there. Um, we're doing really well in Transportation Choices, uh, and ... uh, let's
see what else. Uh, so many of 'ern we're doing pretty well in. So, uh, those are the ones
that we know are finished. A lot of 'em aren't finished yet and we're in the process of. So
we'll know more in a few months.
Botchway/ Is there any way to ... like as we're in the process and you're doing these things, like so
for example if we were to, uh, put together like a plastic bag ban like in the next two
Council meetings or something like that, would that up our points?
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Nations/ Uh, yeah, each one of those actions are actually not altogether. Sometimes those small
things aren't worth as much as the outcomes are, and so it is possible if we see some
things we're about to do or would like to do, we can do that before we finish, and so
that ... I know some cities have brought forward some things in the last couple of months
just because they were thinking of it and going to, to up the points, and so, um, that's
possible. Um ... but some things, uh, are like worth one or two points, and so, um, the ... the
big things are the outcomes and the things that you are ... that have taken time to achieve, I
think, so ... so, yes, yes to both.
Throgmorton/ Looks to me like a very useful tool but ... but we should all ... I ... I at least should at
last be aware that it ... it, uh, it is a tool that doesn't decide by itself what we should do, uh,
there's a politics and ... and valuing that's involved in all this as well, and I know Tom
knows it, Geoff ...we all know it, but it's embedded in the whole scheming, not scheming
— the whole scheme, and the whole scoring system. So we need to take it into
account ... but not rely upon it exclusively (both talking)
Nations/ Right!
Throgmorton/ ...to decide what to do and so on.
Nations/ Right. And I ... I think that every city is different and I think that, um, it's a ... it's a tool to
use to move forward in the way a city chooses to, so ... yeah!
Hayek/ Thank you, Brenda.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Information Packets:
Hayek/ Okay, Info Packets. We have two, one is from August 6a'.
Botchway/ IP2, kind of in the same vein as, um, what Brenda was talking about. (mumbled)
went home not too long ago and just been traveling altogether, but um ... one of the things
if we weren't necessarily going to consider a plastic bag ban, if we were going to consider
maybe a charge that was associated with it. Um, and I know that we were talking about it
from a regional aspect as we were thinking about these things, but ... you know, I mean, I
only have another two and a half years on Council. Some of the regional aspects, um, or
some of the regional kind of discussion that has been going on ... might not happen within
that timeframe, might not happen within 30 years — I don't know, and so I'd be interested
in if...Iowa City be kind of, you know, push a little bit further on that note. Um, again,
maybe not banning plastic bags, but in the same way that, um, maybe a Fareway does the
10 -cent for carts or something like that, like making some type of charge in order to
minimize that particular effort, and that's just one effort, just ... it reminded me cause
Brenda talked about it briefly and then .... it was in the Info Packet, as well, but ... you
know, I mean, I just think it would be cool to do, um, even though I'm a huge plastic bag
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person, and I know it's been talked about and so literally change my entire way of life. I
think it'd just be something cool to do.
Markus/ Actually you have some people that I think their consciousness is raised, all on their
own, without any government involvement, both Lucky's and New Pi. They're paper
only and I think ... you know, I ... there may be some opportunities to communicate those
changes directly with them, without the ... the overt action (both talking)
Botchway/ Okay.
Payne/ Have you been to Lucky's? If you bring your own bags, they give you a wooden dime
that you put in a ... in a bucket that they donate...
Markus/ For charities.
Payne/ ...for charities (several talking)
Botchway/ Normally I just eat the food before I leave (laughter) so it hasn't mattered as of yet
(laughs) but I won't pay attention next time!
Mims/ On IP, oh, I'm sorry! (several talking) Um, IP3, just wanted to ... thank staff. I know an
awful lot of time and effort was put into the policy for the body cams and also.. just the
preliminary memo that was written by staff in terms of kind of explaining some of the
background and a lot of the ... very complicated and challenging and conflicting issues
that ... were a part (laughs) of writing that policy, and so just really want to thank
everybody for their ... the time and effort and, um, you know, as I've talked to a couple
people in town who've asked about it, I've said, you know, I think we're going to see this
like so many things — it's probably going to evolve over time. We certainly (both talking)
Markus/ Clearly!
Mims/ We certainly have seen, um, the A ... the ACLU has changed their position considerably
over the last 12 or 18 months on what they think these policies should look like, uh, as we
look at the challenges between privacy and State open records' laws and all those
different kinds of things. So, I just want to say thanks to all the staff, um ... in terms
of...I... I think it's a great starting point.
Dobyns/ Yeah, I agree. I think Eric's primer was very helpful. When I did my turn on KXIC I
tried to get it out to the public and went through this in some detail. Um, especially with
issues that are going on this past summer. I don't want the public thinking that this is
going to be the end-all, um, you know, to concerns, uh, regarding police -citizen
interaction.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I ... I would agree, and I spoke with Sam, uh, Chief Hargadine, uh, before our
meeting. It looks to me like a really, I mean it's a terrific memo, very clear. You couldn't
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ask for a better piece of work. Uh, but the policy and the fact that body cameras are
being used looks like a really good thing right now, so we'll see how it goes!
Mims/ Definitely!
Botchway/ IP 10, uh, just kind of a brief summation. Um, Terry can chime in as well, if he'd like.
I think the listening post went well. I think, you know, the only problem was the number
of individuals that came to the listening post, but I (both talking)
Dickens/ (mumbled)
Botchway/ ...packet from a notes standpoint, but it did ... it did, um, lend to more intimacy and
being able to talk to people, um, from that, uh, standpoint as well, and so I mean I ... I
thought it was good and (both talking)
Dickens/ And speak into the microphones!
Botchway/ Yeah, that was (both talking)
Dickens/ That was one of the things that came across was that we needed to speak up when
you're speaking and speak directly into the microphone so people can hear you, cause
it's.. sometimes it's very difficult.
Throgmorton/ Seems there's something to learn from the Lucky's experience as well though
because, what, five people attended. I think we can do a lot better. So I ... I ... I don't know,
it ended up back in that back room I guess. Somehow, I don't know how, and people
didn't know where it was (both talking)
Karr/ I just wanted to clarify — it was not to be in the back room. There were two meetings going
on, and our group arrived first and apparently were shown the back room. It was
advertised and promoted as the cafe in the front.
Botchway/ Um, that makes sense! Okay!
Hayek/ And you know, you never know what you're going to end up. We were criticized for
holding the first meeting at the Public Library and nobody would come to that, and there
were a couple three dozen people who went to that.
Mims/ Right.
Hayek/ Um ... so....
Throgmorton/ Yeah, with the feedback I'm referring to, Matt, is that people said they couldn't
find it (both talking)
Hayek/ ...yeah, so they showed up and (both talking)
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Payne/ ...they couldn't find Lucky's, or that they couldn't find the ... place inside of Lucky's?
Botchway/ To Marian's point, there was a lot of...I mean, couple of times Terry and I went out to
find people, and actually that ... the group that was at the cafe had come into the
community room first and said, 'Aren't we in hereT and we were like, 'Well no, we have
this space,' or we just assumed, I think, we had the space, and then come to find out, we
were in the wrong space (laughter) and so ... that's just, I mean.
Throgmorton/ It's a learning experience!
Botchway/ Good point.
Hayek/ Um, IP6, kudos to staff on dealing with this ADA ... ramp.
Mims/ Yes!
Hayek/ ...issue so well, um ... I mean I ... you just have to read that letter from the U.S. Attorney,
uh, Assistant U.S. Attorney in ... in Des Moines, uh, to ... to understand just how ... how well
our staff dealt with this and ... frankly I think we emerged e ... even stronger because there
was an external review of our compliance and our efforts and our transparency. So I just
want to recognize staff for that.
Markus/ And the ... and the specific people that were involved was Simon Andrew from our office
and Eleanor and her staff, kept that whole thing moving, and I think, you know, you talk
about engagement with the public, uh, Simon did a lot of work to work with individuals
who have raised these concerns over the years to get a good understanding of that. He
was very responsive. He was very timely. He's gone out and spoke to different groups
about the issues, and I think I hear a lot of compliments about how Simon dealt with our
public in that area, so ... and Eleanor was very effective in talking with the Justice
Department and making sure that ... we're moving forward and not in an onerous way.
So...
Botchway/ IP7, I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it now ... or...
Karr/ We can.
Botchway/ So IP7, is there any other way we can do the 9t' or the 160i9
Mims/ What month are you talking about?
Botchway/ November (several talking)
Karr/ Kingsley would like to suggest that the schedule be changed from the spec ... the meeting on
the 10a', which is a Tuesday, to a Monday, the 9a'.
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Payne/ On November?
Botchway/ Yeah.
Karr/ I'm sorry?
Botchway/ In November. Correct.
Karr/ In November.
Hayek/ So a Monday or a Monday?
Botchway/ Correct.
Karr/ Monday or a Tuesday?
Dobyns/ If it's a Monday I have to come late.
Payne/ To the meeting or to the work session?
Dobyns/ To the work session, yeah. Thank you.
Throgmorton/ I can do it (several talking)
Botchway/ I just wanted to know if other ... I mean, I assumed others had conflict or there was a
conflicting reason why that date was changed. I think it was renovations. Yeah.
Karr/ No, the date was changed from the third because it's election day, and we traditionally have
not met on an election day. If you'd like to meet on an election day, we certainly
can ... can meet on the 3rd
Payne/ That's a bad idea!
Hayek/ Yeah, we've done that before and no one's paying attention (both talking)
Karr/ And so that ... that was part of the reason it was moved from the 3rd to the l Oth. Then the
renovations kick in, and we can't go to the 17th.
Botchway/ Well I mean I don't... obviously if it's the same thing as far as you not being present,
um, never mind!
Dickens/ Yeah, we're open to 6:00. That's a little more difficult for me to...
Botchway/ Yeah (both talking) Never mind!
Karr/ So the ... the IP7 suggested schedule stands? Okay!
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Hayek/ Um, okay, anything else on the August 6th packet? If not, I think we hit em all. August
13' packet.
Botchway/ IPS.
Hayek/ Yeah, we can take that up now if you want.
Throgmorton/ What is it?
Mims/ KXIC.
Karr/ The KXIC.
Throgmorton/ So I seem to be due. I'd be happy to sign up, though I don't know ... I wrote dates
down but I ... where are they?
Dickens/ Susan, do you want me to do tomorrow? I have to be out there anyway to do a
commercial, so I can do tomorrow morning.
Mims/ Sure! Okay.
Throgmorton/ And I ... I, Marian, I can do the 26th.
Karr/ I'm sorry, Terry?
Dickens/ I'll be out there tomorrow as I have to do a commercial out there already.
Karr/ Okay, so the 19th I'll switch to Dickens. Okay. I'm sorry?
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I could do the 26th or the 2nd or the 9th, cause ... I ... I think I'm due.
Hayek/ (several talking) ...could I grab the 9th of September? (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Sure.
Hayek/ And then...
Throgmorton/ Why don't you give me the 26th, Marian?
Karr/ The 26th? (several talking) I'm sorry, the 26th ... I'm sorry.
Botchway/ Susan has that one.
Mims/ No, Jim's taking it. That's fine! I've done a ton of 'em. I ... you can knock me off
wherever. I was just trying to fill in (several talking) we had somebody there.
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Karr/ August 26th, thank you.
Botchway/ And I can do the 2nd
Hayek/ Got a few weeks, doesn't it?
Karr/ Yeah, that gets us down to September 23rd. I can up ... is there anyone for Friday,
September 4th?
Hayek/ I could potentially do it.
Karr/ Or we could also check on ... on staff filling in, too.
Botchway/ I can do ... I mean ... (mumbled) not sure I can do the 4th.
Karr/ The 4th at 7:50?
Botchway/ Yeah.
Karr/ Okay.
Hayek/ That's fine.
Karr/ And that'll get us then to the end... I'll... I'll update the schedule and put it out again in a few
weeks.
Hayek/ Anything else on the August 13th Info Packet?
Botchway/ Oh, just uh... you know, the uh, IP 12 ... um ... you know, kudos for staff — Stefanie,
whoever else was involved (both talking)
Throgmorton/ (mumbled)
Botchway/ And for getting those training sessions together. I'm going to try to attend. I think I
already sent, um, information as far as what...
Karr/ You did!
Botchway/ Okay, good. Just making sure! Um, but I think it'd be really cool to be maybe the
only elected body to receive, you know, some type of cultural competency, diversity
training. I don't want to speak for other places. I'm not sure. Um, I'm mainly just talking
about myself, but ... or, our group in particular, but it would be good to ... say that.
Throgmorton/ I already signed up! Yeah (several talking)
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Botchway/ I know other people have different time commitments so I'm not saying anything
about that (several talking) I'm just putting it out there.
Throgmorton/ Item 16 (laughter)
Hayek/ Lot of request in reduction! This is the assessment.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I don't know if that's normal, but uh, there's one particular firm that's...
Hayek/ I think it's ... I think there are firms that specialize in this and they do it around the
country. Um ... uh... and I think, I mean, my understanding is, for example, HyVee appeals
everything.
Markus/ It's a corporate position.
Hayek/ ...no matter what. It's just a standard .... (both talking)
Throgmorton/ It's pretty amazing. Assessed at $15.7 million for four properties and they're
asking for a $6.6 million reduction in the assessment.
Dickens/ (mumbled) ...if you don't ask! (laughter and several talking)
Throgmorton/ I guess!
Hayek/ It's worth the expense of trying and ... and you probably keep the assessors more nervous
(laughter) (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ...strategy there!
Pending Work Session Topics:
Hayek/ Okay! Uh, meeting schedule. That's at IP7. We've talked about that. KXIC, we've
talked about that. Pending work session topics. Anything on that? And ... upcoming
events. Got the, uh, Alexander School ... uh... opening, grand opening on Thursday. 4:00.
Upcoming Events
Throgmorton/ Yeah!
Hayek/ I'll be at that.
Throgmorton/ On the 23rd, Sunday the 23rd at 5:00 P.M. there's going to be a memorial
celebration or party or, I don't know what the right word is to use, for former Councilman
Steven Kanner, uh, who died unexpectedly on, uh, what, the 8d'. I don't know about
unexpectedly. I don't really know what caused his death, but ... Happy Hollow Park, 5:00
P.M. And, Heather Shank, uh...
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Hayek/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ ...former Human Rights Coordinator, fabulous person, uh... uh, there's a memorial
service at Lensing's Funeral Home at 6:00 P.M. on Thur ... this coming Thursday.
Botchway/ I believe the Soul Festival is this weekend, right? Or not this weekend, but (several
talking)
Payne/ The last weekend of the month, isn't it?
Markus/ 28'.
Dickens/ Yeah, put the poster up in the window so...
Botchway/ I figured you'd know, Terry, so that's (mumbled) make sure and ask!
Throgmorton/ He's a soul man!
Dickens/ Pathways 'Men Who Cook' is this weekend, Saturday night, 6:00, out at the Clarion.
Tickets are $50 and it goes to the Pathways Adult Day Care.
Throgmorton/ Sorry, you're not speaking into your microphone.
Dickens/ Adult Day Care! (laughter and several talking)
Hayek/ All right! Anything else for the good of the order?
Botchway/ There was an issue about, uh, loss of jobs, potential loss of jobs. Which packet was
that? Did I miss it already? I thought it was in the ... this packet, but I can't find it.
Throgmorton/ 77 jobs.
Hayek/ It might have been in the Consent.
Throgmorton/ No (both talking)
Markus/ Is that the Proctor & Gamble related?
Botchway/ (several talking) Schenker.
Markus/ Yeah, and that's their distribution, I think.
Botchway/ I don't know where it was but ... I don't, and I don't know...
Throgmorton/ It's Item 12 on the August 6 packet.
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Botchway/ I missed it! Sorry. So kind of quickly go back. I don't know what we're doing from
that standpoint. I mean, I don't know what we can do, and I don't know whether or not a
lot of those jobs are in West Branch, as well, but...
Markus/ Some of 'ern are here too, I think.
Payne/ And that's the second one in the last ... since last meeting. I mean, there was one in last
meeting's ... or last month's ... (several talking)
Markus/ It's a change in corporate philosophy about where they want to be. They talk about
sixty -plus percent of their population's on the east coast and ... and then another significant
portion on the west coast, and they're changing up their distribution model, from what I
read in the reports. So...
Hayek/ But ICAD is...
Botchway/ (several talking) I just wanted to make sure (several talking) Okay!
Markus/ International Auto Components was another one that was, I think, mentioned as well.
And we had ... we had worked very closely with them. That was ... you know, that was
actually I think a retention effort, to keep 'em here, and I think that was successful, even
though there might be some, um, efficiency moves to trim some staff.
Hayek/ Okay! See you at 7:00!
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