Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-19 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2b Bicycle Month - May Tbrogmorton: Speaking of proclamations, there are three. One has to do with .Our Veterans — Now and Forever, but there's no one here, correct, Marian? Karr: That's correct. Throgmorton: ... to accept it. The second has to do with Bicycle Month, so I want to read a proclamation and then ask ... Bob, are you coming up ... to accept it? Yeah. Okay. (reads proclamation) Bob Oppliger, come on up! (applause) Did you ride your bike? Oppliger: Not today! (laughter) I have (unable to hear, away from mic) I wanted to give you a few highlights of what's going to be going on during May. Uh, Bike to Work Week actually starts on Sunday this year with a ride ... from City... family ride, from City Park led by none other than our Mayor and it'll be, uh, starting about 3:00 and I believe from Upper City Park. Couple of the other highlights are that there will be bike rodeos at every .... all but four public schools this year. There's an (mumbled) bike rodeo at ... in North Liberty and then a...13 different ones at, um, Regina and all the public schools in Iowa City area. Um ... the very popular move naturally to the market last year, um, attracted over 800 people to come to the Saturday morning... Farmers Market on a bike or by walking and ... as a result of their efforts got a $2.00 market coupon and this year we're bringing that back. And lastly, probably one of the biggest highlights at least for me is the Director of the, uh, Bike Friendly Program from the League of American Bicyclists is coming into town on May 90' and 10'11 to spend time with the City and the City Council, and then on .... and also with the University. So those are a lot of good events that'll be going on during, uh, May. I should add, before I forget it, is that every day during Bike to Work Week there'll be free food somewhere in Iowa City if you bike to the location. So thank you very much for the proclamation and we'll see ya on your bikes! Throgmorton: All right! Excellent! (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 2 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2c Arbor Day — April 29 Throgmorton: Okay and our next proclamation has to do with Arbor Day. (reads proclamation) Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is City Parks and Rec Director Julie Seydell- Johnson. (applause) Seydell-Johnson: Mayor and Council, just a brief thank you for supporting all the tree planting and all the efforts in our Forestry department in the City. Uh, its busy tree month for us. We've had tree saplings being planted out at Terry Tublo... Trueblood Recreation Area, and you've probably noticed a lot of street trees going in along Court Avenue. Um, just a lot of plantings happening this time of year and we continue to do more and more wherever we can find space. Uh, it's our 360' year being named as a Tree City USA, and when I looked on the web site today I wanted you to know we're one of only three cities in the state that have been a Tree City for that many years. So I think that's a real accomplishment for an entire community. Thanks! Throgmorton: Great! Thank you, Julie! (applause) Okay, before moving on to Item 3, Student Leadership Awards, I want to, uh, alert everyone that, uh, the Council decided to move Item 18, which has to do with transportation network companies, also known as Uber, uh, up from It ... from Item #18 to appear immediately after Item #6. So that means we're going to address that topic earlier in the our formal meeting than the formal, uh, agenda indicates. So, just wanted y'all to know that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 3 ITEM 3. STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS ITEM 3a Longfellow Elementary Throgmorton: I'm gonna have to go out front in order to read these and ... we should have three students come up, all from Longfellow School, right? Karr: That's correct! Throgmorton: Is it working? Yeah! Hot dog, it is! Okay, so, uh.....I'm so pleased to have Longfellow students here, uh, because as I told all three of you, my two sons graduated from Longfellow years ago and I used to live about a block away from Longfellow, so it's really great seeing you here. So ... these, um, Leadership Awards all say the same thing. So I'm going to read it one time and then hand it to each one of you and ask you to read your statements, okay? So ... the, uh... certificates say (reads Student Leadership Award) Which one of you is Addison? All right, great. Here you go, so ... hand that to you! And ... the next one goes to EmmittHansen. Says exactly the same thing. Congratulations, Emmitt! And the last one goes to Yamro Seabold. Did I pronounce your name, first name correctly? I know .... I know your dad really well, so ... here you go! All right, so urn ... why don't we have ... let's back up here a little bit and then look out that way and I'll hold the microphone before you. So we'll start with you because you were the first. Hackbarth: Hi, my name is Addison Hackbarth. I am deeply honored to be ... receiving this award. I believe I deserve this award because every Halloween I collect money for Trick or Treat for UNICEF. I have donated... donated to Oceania as well. I donate to my school's Coats for Kindness drive and last year I sold hot chocolate and our class newspaper to raise money. I also participate in Jump Rope For Heart every year. I am in safety patrol and (mumbled) as Iowa's State Ambassador. I am in the older kids club and plan the younger kids holiday's par ... holiday parties in the after-school program. Thank you again. (applause) Throgmorton: What ... what's your father's first name? Hackbarth: (unable to hear, away from mic) Throgmorton: Andrew. I ... I ask because I used to coach at softball ... I mean, a little league baseball team and there were Hackbarths on some of the teams I was involved in. I don't know! All right (laughter) All right, let's come around here. Be your tum (several talking and laughing in background) Hansen: Greetings! My name is Emmitt Hansen and I'm a fifth grader at Longfellow Elementary. I believe I'm an outstanding student because I'm kind to others throughout the community. I work my best in class and I try hard. I'm a nice person. My mom says I'm optimistic and I think of the good part of things, even This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 4 when they're bad. I never back down until I make my dreams come true. No matter what challenges are ahead. I use positive words, I keep trying, I work hard to make sure others are sus .... are successful in their dreams too. Thank you. (applause) Throgmorton: I like it! I never back down till my dreams come true! Very sweet! Okay, your turn! Seabold: Hi, I'm Yamro Seabold and I'm proud to be chosen as a Longfellow Elementary Outstanding Leader. I was born in Ethiopia and was adopted at the age of four. I had to learn a new language, make new friends, and trust myself and others. This has impacted my life in many ways that have helped me a] ... helped me always be willing to help others. I'm vice president of Longfellow Elementary, participate in Girl Scouts Troop 5191, and helped organize a coat drive. I'm also often assigned to welcome new students to my school. I hope to keep using my leadership skills to help others and make the world a better place. Thank you. (applause) Throgmorton: Very nice! Are there any proud parents out in the room? I don't know, there might be. Well look at that! There are! (laughter) Okay, y'all are doin' great. Keep up the terrific work, keep trying to follow your dreams and live 'em out, okay? Thank you! Congratulations! (applause) All right, we have another special ... sort of proclamation. It's a Certificate of Appreciation. I don't know if y'all know, but uh.... every year the ... the Student Senate at the University, um, appoints someone to be the Student Liaison to the City Council. This year Nicki Neal has been the Student Liaison. She's done a superb job, following, uh, the footsteps of, uh, Evan McCarthy and Alec and ... who ... who are some of the others? You remember? (several responding) Cody, yeah, just terrific people. So this year's been Nicki. So I want to read this (starts to read Certificate of Appreciation) Can you come up, Nicki? (continues reading) (applause) Neal: I just want to say thank you to everyone, City staff to City Council, and the community, for making this experience so positive. I've learned so much from all of you and ... I'm so thankful for these past two years, being able to advocate for the students. So ... thank you for making this experience a memorable one! (applause) Throgmorton: Nicki, some of us remember when you came on board as a rookie! Just like, what, two years ago? (laughter) Yeah! So ... you've done great work. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 5 ITEM 4. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED Botchway: So moved. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? (several talking) Yeah! Go ahead. Taylor: ...the items ... I didn't know, uh, this is where ... it was appropriate to ask about it? Let's see, Item 4e(1) and 4e(2). (both talking) Throgmorton: Go ahead! Yeah (both talking) Yeah, what are they? ITEM 4e(2) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT, CAMP CARDINAL BOULEVARD — MOTION SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 3 ON A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO CHANGE THE LAND USE DESIGNATION OF PROPERTY LOCATED NORTH OF MELROSE AVENUE AND EAST OF CAMP CARDINAL BOULEVARD FROM RESIDENTIAL 2-8 DWELLING UNITS PER ACRE TO OFFICE COMMERCIAL (CPA16-00001) ITEM 4e(3) REZONING NORTHEAST OF CAMP CARDINAL ROAD — MOTION SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR MAY 3 ON AN ORDINANCE REZONING APPROXIMATELY 26.98 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED NORTHEAST OF CAMP CARDINAL ROAD FROM INTERIM DEVELOPMENT SINGLE FAMILY (ID -RS) ZONE TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY (OPD -8) ZONE (REZ16-00003) Taylor: Uh, it was about the Camp Cardinal Boulevard, um, additions? Karr: Setting public hearings. (clears throat) Setting public hearings. Throgmorton: Right, so ... what ... what do you want to ask? Taylor: I just had a question, urn .... as far as I was unclear of the geographic location between the two. There was one that was, uh, talking about, uh, an ... more of an industrial kind of development and then the other was, uh, the Senior Center developments and ... and then there's the church in there, and I kind of wondered (both talking) Throgmorton: John, could you comment? Taylor: Yeah! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 6 Yapp: Sure! The, um .... the, uh, Comprehensive Plan amendment, uh, proposal is adjacent to Camp Cardinal Boulevard, uh.... southwest of where the new St. Andrew Church will be, and we'll have a map for you, uh, at the public hearing at your next meeting. Taylor: Okay! Yapp: Um ... and the, uh... the one that's northeast of Camp Cardinal Road is ... north of where the St. Andrew Church will be. Again, we'll have maps for you at the next meeting. Taylor: I was just trying to visualize that. Thank you! Yapp: Sure! Throgmorton: Thank you, John. Anything else? Any other discussion? (several talking in background) Roll call. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 7 ITEM 5. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). [UNTIL 8 PM] Throgmorton: If...if you'd like to address any item that's not on the agenda, please step forward, uh, tell us your name, uh... say what's on your mind. Please don't take more than three or four minutes to do it, but ... uh... please, uh, if you have something you want to say, please come up! Eastham: I'm Charlie Eastham, 953 Canton Street in Iowa City. Um, as many of you know, uh, I'm here to talk about the Rose Oaks (mumbled) situation (mumbled) just a brief update. Um, as many of you know, the, uh, Rose Oaks' tenant association along with the Center for Worker Justice held a press conference at Rose Oaks today, at noon, uh, at which time, uh, several tenants in the tenants association and residents of Rose Oaks, um, told their personal stories to the press, to the media, uh, and those personal stories are, um, filled with, uh, a good deal of stress on the part of many people who are trying to find, uh, relocated housing for themselves and their families. Um ... unfortunately, uh... I think I heard, well I know I heard today, that some tenants are, one, are actually facing a period of homelessness because they're unable to now to look to find a suitable replacement housing with the amount of money they have available to do that, and the time ... and the time at which ... in which they have to ... to make that search. Um, it's very regrettable. I've heard at least one tenant say that he and his, uh, child, um, he's very uncertain about their future. Um (clears throat) the tenants also, uh, from the tenant association, uh, read to the press, um ... from their, um, their document that they pub ... um, that has actually been forwarded to ... to you as Council Members, entitled Rose Oaks tenant associa.... association, which contains, uh... uh, three, uh, requests and demands of the owners. The first one is the, um .... the tenants are asking that all residents, current residents, whose leases are set to expire (clears throat) before August 15t, uh, not be asked to involuntarily relocate until after August I". Um (clears throat) people actually need greatly more time to find suitable alternative housing, and many of them are not going to be able to find that if they have to relocate when their current leases expires... expire or if their leases have already expired. Urn ... (clears throat)... also tenants are asking for, uh.... uh, $1,000 in individual, uh, going to individual lease holders, um, including all the lease holders, 150 -something, that have moved since, uh, this March, as compensation for their moving expenses. The tenants have developed this, uh, amount on their own, looking at their own family's needs, uh (mumbled) moving expenses and uh.... we think it's quite reasonable. It's a quite reasonable request. If, uh, if the Rose Oaks, uh, owners provided $1,000 in compensation to all the 150 or so tenants who are, uh, who are residents have had to move, or will have to move as part of this project, that'd be about $150,000 in compensation in total, and this is a $42 million renovation project. So $150,000 out of a renovation budget of, uh, 100 ... of, uh, $42 million is ... is not of great consequence to the com... to the company. A $1,000 per resident is a great consequences ...consequence to those residents. (clears throat) The, uh, third thing the tenants are requesting is that 20% of the renovated units, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 8 remain affordable with, uh, with current tenants having an option of, uh, moving back into those units at some point in time, at rents that are close to or comparable to what they've been paying in the time they've been living there. Uh, we also want to note that tenants are... would like to support company's... the owner's efforts to research available financial assistance programs that can be used towards the end of, uh, providing affordable.... some portion of affordable units out of the units that are going to be, uh... renovated. The total units that are going to be renovated. Uh, finally, uh, the Center for Worker Justice would just like to note that the Rose Oaks' owners have said in a public document that they're going to, uh, they want to donate $15,000 to the Center for Worker Justice. Um, the Center's is ... uh, declining that donation because the Center firmly believes that any funds provided by the Rose Oaks' owners needs to go directly to residents and not to service agencies. Um ... thank the Council for your consideration of these matters and I hope you'll continue to pursue every ... every alternative that we have available to us to assist tenants. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Charlie. Ross: Hi, my name is Brandon Ross and, uh... I'm here tonight to speak for, uh, for a group of people, uh.... I had a conversation with, uh, a friend who's a handicap person, is a wheelchair person, uh, a wheelchair using person, and uh, he brought up a concern amongst, uh, handicapped people, especially those who are in wheelchairs, uh, about, uh, the ... the public sidewalks and, uh, Iowa City, and about the difficulty that people have, uh, regarding pesticide spread. Uh, herbicides usually, uh, those things that are granules. Uh, when they are moving the wheelchairs, uh, the pesticides come up and not only get very much on the hands, which get irritated because of them, which is the most immediate thing, uh, gets into their clothes and they're low to the ground, and ... that, uh, the ... the concern is that, urn .... uh, it's a health .... it's a health hazard for them. Uh, some of the people also have ... may have, uh, asthma conditions which can also be ignited, uh, by ... by that, and that ... uh, the feeling is that there is a right, uh, for ... for people, uh, who are handicapped, to be able to go down sidewalks and not have all of that all over their clothes when they get home, and that the whatever spraying, uh, should be contained to the properties, uh... that the users, uh... are spraying on. And, uh, that's a major concern that also ... uh... subsequent to that, uh, these sprays, which, uh, which include ... 90% of them, uh, chemicals like 24D are cancer-causing, neuromuscular disease causing. They upset asthma. Um, they're also easily taken in by ... children in strollers. So if you have a baby or an infant, uh, a toddler or kids were just walking along, it also affects them. This was part of the conversation not only for the handicapped but also for the children. When you're in a stroller, when you're using a stroller, many of you have, uh, have children, the wheels shoot the particulate up and as you're strolling your child, or if it's a handicapped person, that particulate gets into their systems. They breathe it, uh, and that's the last person, the last ... the last one's you want to breathe that in. So... I feel that, uh, we feel that it's a right, it's a health right. It's a health concern and uh, a human right to be able to walk the sidewalks and not to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 9 have to have that, uh, problem exist. Uh, it defmitely puts a certain group of people at .... especially a disadvantage. And I would say as just a .... related to this, um, which is my main point, but secondarily, I would like to say and remind people, uh, that it is spring and, uh, people do spray these, uh, pesticides that are to exterminate dandelions and, uh, violets and clovers and such, that bees which, uh, the bee colonization, uh, population in Iowa is a big concern and uh, we all know this, uh, most of us who are ... who have family or have been here in Iowa. Bees require the dandelions to pollinate and, uh, to extend their population. So it is best not to even spray on your lawns to eliminate them in this particular situation, but I return back again, uh, in consideration for the handicapped. Please consider this, uh, and perhaps somebody pick it up and make ... make a go of it to help do something about it. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Brandon. Ross: Hi! I'm Becky Ross ... and I'm back. I've been coming to talk to you for about four years now and I know that, uh, this, uh, item is in your strategic plan, so I'm just going to talk to you one more time and hope that, uh... that maybe something's actually going to happen. Um ... I'm ... I'm with the 100 Grannies for a Livable Future and we're here to talk about single -use plastic bags, again! So you all know by now that plastic does not biodegrade. It only photodegrades into tiny pieces that are then impossible to get rid of. I read recently an article from The Guardian stating that plastic pollutes every comer of the earth, from the depths of the ocean to the Arctic Sea, and the impact is highly damaging to our food chain, which starts in the oceans. By 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans by weight than fish. I know that seems a long way from Iowa, but when plastic bags hit the water in a stream or a river, it flows right on down to the Gulf of Mexico, and it may not get there all in one piece, but, urn .... still, sea life will eat it or get tangled up in it. 61 % of all of our plastic waste ends up in the oceans and less than 10% gets recycled. So ... I don't believe that recycling is really the answer, if that little of a percent gets recycled. And then I've read that plastic manufacturers, uh, really can only use a very small percentage of recycled plastic or it ... to maintain the quality of their product. So most recycled plastic really gets downcycled, um, into something that will eventually end up in the landfill. (clears throat) So we've also discovered that there's a lot of money spent on picking up plastic trash that blows away from the landfill, right here in Johnson County. And even then they can't get it all. So this is a huge problem that needs to be addressed. Many cities and even countries, and I just read that France just, uh, did ... I think it was supposed to start in January, but they ... it's starting now, very ... I don't know if it was yesterday or ... you know, a few days, but it's ... it's going to happen now. Um ... have eliminated the single -use plastic bags. And there are plastic bag ordinances being written in more ... many more cities right now. We have been studying some of those ordinances and have found some that we like. We believe there should be a fee for any paper or plastic bags, uh, that retailers use. This would help incentivize you using a reusable bag, and I know there are arguments about that being a tax, but it doesn't have to be a tax. It is just This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 10 a charge for a product that you need to get your purchases home. And if there is a charge for the bag, when you're buying just one or two items, maybe you won't even need a bag. You can just say'no thank you.' Um, plastic bags have only been around since the 70s. Um ... and ... I ... I know that most of the 100 Grannies that I know have not found it that difficult to give them up. Um ... we have continued to make sturdy, reusable bags (loud mic feedback) and give them to people who need them. We also continue to educate through programs and displays at events in the area. We just were at Kirkwood this morning. Well, over the noon hour. Um, and we've done the Johnson County Fair and festivals downtown. We've done .... we've had people sign pledges. I think some of you signed pledges to refuse plastic bags. We have little, um ... badges that we give out that say 'BYOB,' and that's 'bring your own bag,' not bottle! (laughter) And we've worked with the University students, uh, on a ... just recently we gave out, uh, reusable bags when people brought their plastic bags downtown in the ped mall. Um, with a world population that keeps growing, from about two billion when I was born, to over seven billion now, our plastic pollution will keep growing too, unless we do something to stop it. Uh, it doesn't make sense to just keep on doing something because it's convenient, when it's destroying our environment. If you had a cancerous tumor in your body, would you just let it keep growing because it was too much trouble to do anything about it? And that's kinda what plastic is right now — it's a cancer (laughs) We either do something now, or leave it up to our children and grandchildren, who will have an ever ... even bigger mess to clean up. So, um, I'm asking you to please consider an ordinance to, uh, eliminate single -use plastic bags. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Becky. So I ... I want to let you know that on June .... June 7 we're having a work session, or we intend to focus a work session discussion on a waste minimization strategy, which includes plastic bags and various other things, but it's a combination of things that are being drawn together into an overall strategy. Ross: Great! Thank you! Schoelerman: Um, Deb Schoelerman from the 100 Grannies, as well. Um, I want to speak briefly to the elimination of single -use plastic bags, as well. Um, I think we all want our community to be beautiful and welcoming, as well as a great place for our families to live, grow, work, and play. Last week I was driving on Highway 6 and today it was 965, and you cannot help but to notice the plastic bags in the trees, and it's not a very pretty sight. So to me that's not very welcoming for a community. Um, we have a, um, an acquaintance, a friend of ours, who is from Portland who moved here a year or so ago and has ... has first-hand experience with Portland's ordinances... ordinance... ordinance to, uh, eliminate their plastic bags and I'm going to read some of her numbers. Portland's ordinance was passed in 2011 to promote reusable shopping bags and reduce the use ... single -use plastic bags. The use of single -use plastic checkout bags. It was implemented in several phases. Initially the ban on single -use plastic checkout bags applied to large grocery stores and pharmacies, those with a gross annual sales of $2 million and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 11 large retailers over 10,000 square feet that have a pharmacy. So essentially the big stores first. There were about 167 of those, mostly groceries and pharmacies. They were required to provide only recycled paper bags or reusable bags to their customers at checkout. After 12 months, the city assessed how it was going. The ban had made huge strides in cutting down on plastic bag waste. A survey of just 23 of the 55 major grocery stores that were part of the ban revealed that they prevented the use of eight and a half million plastic bags per month in the first six months. Or about 52 million fewer bags total. 52 million fewer plastic bags in six months in Portland, and I know we're not quite as big as Portland, but ... (mumbled) we could ... we could eliminate a lot! They also found that reusable checkout bag use had increased 304% and paper bag use had increased almost 500%. Based on these results, the city agreed to an expansion of the bag bag in 2012. It was phased in in 2013, first encompassing all other retailers and food providers with stores greater than 10,000 square feet, followed by all other stores later that year. So by the end of 2013, all retailers in the city of Portland are part of the plastic bag bag. And as Becky mentioned, we support a five -cent charge on paper bags, not giving it just as another choice. But you need to ... if you really want people to change, you're gonna have to charge them, we believe. So I ... I believe that being environmentally sensitive is valued more and more, by more and more people, as the reality of climate change becomes more accepted by citizens. Eliminating single -use plastic bags is one simple action we can take to protect our community and keep our roads, bike trails, and parks beautiful. Eliminating single -use plastic bags will show our progressive spirit and our willingness to improve the present and plan for the future. When our children and grandchildren ask us what we did to help combat climate change, what will we say? Working toward the elimination of single -use plastic bags in our community is one thing we can do. It's doable and the result would be observable. Thank you for taking time to discuss this issue. Throgmorton: Thank you. Good evening, Roger! Knight: Hello, good evening! And now we come to the least favorite person to talk (laughs) Um, I'd just like to speak ... on behalf of...uh, where I live, Ecumenical Towers. Um ... we've had a lot of troubles with, um, parking and we get no help at all with, um, from the Police department with our four spots out front. We have people parking there all the time that have no reason to be parking there. We have elderly people that have troubles... walking and it's ... well, can you come (mumbled) give'em a ticket? No. (mumbled) start showin' that it's not okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah! That's right ... what we get, if that. (mumbled) call the office. Well, they're not here. It's the weekend. It's after hours. No help! The streets (mumbled) echo that on the sidewalks. It's bad! I know you ... you guys are working on Washington Street. Go look at the ped mall! From ... the, uh, Old Cap to the ped mall, right, um ... across, uh... somebody help me. Clinton! Right down Clinton. That's real bad! I mean ... Evel Knievel, nope! I'm not gonna touch that one! I mean it's bad! And then last thing I want to say is ... for the, uh, last City Council meeting. Are you guys serious? You guys are not gonna really seriously This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 12 help the people of Oak... whatever... Lakeside, whatever it was ... whatever it's called now. You can't help out people who did nothing? It's just somebody bought the place and... nobody's came up and actually talked about it. I'm shocked! We're gonna tear down some of the buildings. They didn't say rebuild new ones. They just said tear it down. Go out there and look for an apartment! Either they're luxury, where you have to have a ton of money, or they're junk! You got bugs, bothering things. Are you serious? I mentioned once before... before the second, um, Moen tower went up. It's going to raise rent, and it has! Even to the low income apartments. It raised the price. I thought this City Council with the new people on would get rid of the voice from the last City Council. The ones that'let's go, go, go!' Let's put the city for sale and screw the people that live here. And once again here we are, go, go, go! Screw the people that live here! It's all about who has money in their pocket. Well—what makes it so that my apartment money's next. They're gonna tear down it because someone else bought it. What about your apartment building? That's a scary thought to think about, that the City Council's gonna go ... well, we don't really have a ... ordinance to say no so we're gonna say yeah! Go right ahead! Something to think about. Thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you, Roger. Next time we're on this ... when we see each other on the street, why don't ... why don't we chat a little bit? I'd love to (both talking) Okay! Geoff, maybe you could have somebody look at the parking situation, right? Okay, anybody else want to address Council on any item that's not on our ... on the agenda? Okay, I don't see anybody so let's turn to Item 6, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 13 ITEM 18. TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES (LIBER) — ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 5, ENTITLED °BUSINESS AND LICENSE REGULATIONS," BY ADDING A NEW CHAPTER 3, ENTITLED "TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES". (PASS AND ADOPT) Karr: Mr. Mayor, could we have a motion to move up Item 18 and place it on the floor? Botchway: So moved. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by, uh, Thomas. Discussion? Hearing none, uh, all in favor say aye. All opposed? Motion carries. So, Item 18 (reads description) Mims: Move adoption. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Moved, uh, by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Would anybody care to discuss, uh, address us on this topic? Uh, sorry! Dilkes: You want an update from staff on (both talking) Throgmorton: Oh, correct! I wanted to do that, didn't I? Thank you very much! I had a note to myself to do it. Uh, before anybody speaks, uh, we need to have an update from, uh, Simon Andrew on our staff because there's some State legislation that has a bearing on this particular topic. Simon! Andrew: Sure, there's a ... a bill that has passed the State Senate and the State House, um, that would, uh, regulate TNCs on a statewide basis that goes into ef..that would go into effect should the Governor sign it, uh, January 1st, 2017. Uh, passed the Senate 50-0 and the House 97-0. Um, so that begs the question whether, um, we would be moving forward with the third reading of this. Um, our recommendation is that, um, given that that's ... seven and a half months away and that the State legislation largely minors what, um, our, uh, current ordinance under consideration does, um, that having that regulatory framework in place ahead of time, uh, is, uh, a good thing. Um, the State legislation also, uh, removes some home rule authority from us in terms of regulating taxi cabs as well. Uh, a lot of the provisions that we've been considering in terms of, uh, local business offices, chauffeur's license would not be required of either TNC drivers or, uh, traditional taxi drivers, so long as the taxi has fewer than seven passengers, um, but that's where we are with the State legislation. Again, it's, uh, at the Governor ... it will be going to the Governor's desk, um, likely this week. Uh, we expect that he would likely sign it, but ... um, again, with State legislation it's never, you never know until it's, uh, until the ink is dry, so .... that's where we're at This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 14 with the State, um, largely the direction we were going in anyway, but ... um, wouldn't take effect till January I". Throgmorton: Thank you, Simon. Uh... this is news probably to several of you, certainly was news to me this afternoon. So, uh, we need to take that into account. Uh... Roger, I don't know if you wanted to address us, given that information or whatever, so... Knight: Hi, my name is, uh, Roger Knight, case you guys forgot a few minutes ago (laughs) Um ... (several talking) No, it's still workin'. I hit... accidentally hit a button (mumbled) Um ... I think it's kind of funny that people have been sayin' that this is to save Uber. It's not to save Uber! Nothing that you guys passed can kill Uber. Um ... the regulations ... I think is kind of funny, uh, Pauline, you said it last time. Uh... everybody's kinda hesitant but they're gonna push it forward, um ... because people want it. It's a great idea until you realize it's Uber! Not that anything bad really about Uber, but ... like I said last time, really one more regulation, you can't say is a good idea. I mean it's a background check. It's not like we're gonna ... tear 'em apart and try to ... put'em in black, you know, lawsuit, bankrupt, tear'em apart. It's ... let's make a rule so that the City has a right to protect itself, and its citizens. That's what it comes right down to. Does this City Council care about its citizens? I thought the last ... three of you to get voted on would say yes. Now I'm not quite sho... so sure. You know, they, uh.... college students over here, I thought it was kind of interesting. They were real proud to speak to Uber last time. Right after drinking alcohol right here in the, uh, City, uh, Hall. Yeah, I saw it. There were empty bottles fall out of the lady's purse. I didn't mention nothin' because I'm not looking to ... you know, put somebody in jail who, you know, maybe need to relax a little bit before I speak in public. But it's something I'm not laughing at. When you talk about puttin' somebody's life in danger, I don't know anyone who was (laughs) who's sane in their own brain. So (clears throat) I hope you guys vote it down. Show Uber that, hey, you guys are welcome here but you're not gonna play by your rules. You're gonna play by ours. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you. Anybody else want to address this topic? Wallace: Hi, I'm, uh, Seth Wallace. Throgmorton: Good evening, Seth! Wallace: Thanks! Uh.... I'm .... I support letting Uber go through. I think one of the ... one of the points we just heard about there being a danger and that we need to protect our citizens, I fully agree! I think that's one of the roles of City Council, to ... protect its citizens from any sorts of danger. However, I don't agree that one of those roles would be protecting its citizens from themselves. And with overwhelming popular support. I mean (mumbled) Pauline said, there's hesitancy but since there's so many ... just popular support for the bill, you're considering passing it This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 15 anyway, and I think that's... that's kind of important that you're representing the people of Iowa City and the people of Iowa City would rather have Uber be here, even if they don't have to do the background check than not be here with having to do the background check. The safety that is afforded to us with that additional thing is not worth the not having of the.... sentence got away from me there! (laughter) Uh... I support Uber. That's really the whole thing that I'm going for! Thanks! Throgmorton: Thank you, Seth! (applause) Anyone else? Thought I saw you in the Clerk's office earlier today. Herrin: I was and I was not drinking (laughter) even though I just had a rough quiz, but I would have liked to have a drink! (laughter) Um, so my name's Christina Herrin. I'm a senior, um, none of us are intoxicated or have any drinks, but that's really none of anyone's business anyways! Um, but I would just like to say all of us students here do represent... or do support Uber, and we're super, um, supportive of the vote that, um ... was just passed in Des Moines and we're really excited that's going to be in effect January I" and we just heard about that. So, um, we think that's awesome, and ... um ... in general we just want to say that we hope you support our civil liberties and, um, to chose what services and products we do use. Um, we're glad that, um, and Des Moines is passing. We do want safety regulations, but ... um, obviously they do consider it safe since it was a ... how many people voted yes? Everyone (both talking) Andrew: They were both unanimous (both talking) Herrin: Yeah, so unanimous vote yes. Um, but ... yeah, we just hope that you do take into consideration of just the consumers too because we're the ones using it and it really does effect, I mean 30,000 college students — that's a lot of, um, job opportunities for people and urn ... it'll give a lot of people, um, more ... more affordable ways to get around and get to work and get to class and get home safely, urn ... so at night so we just really appreciate your consideration and um, yeah, we just hope (mumbled) protect our civil liberties and allow us to chose what services and products we do use. So, yeah, we relly... we appreciate it! So thank you, guys, so much! Throgmorton: Thank you, Christine. (applause) Mazgaj: Uh, hello, my name is Dustin Mazgaj. I am a senior at the University of Iowa and I drive for Yellow Cab. Thank you for your time tonight. I'm asking you to defer your judgment on this Uber situation for a large amount of reasons. Um, number one, the new regulations that were previously mentioned that you should go over all the facts before you make a final decision on such a big issue such as this. Um, the majority of people in Iowa City want Uber — I get that. That's really clear, but the problem is the majority of the people are confused or deceived. They're under the impression that the government, or City Council, is stopping This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 16 Uber from coming here, but in reality Uber is the only reason why they're not here. There's legislation in place that clearly says you guys can do business here. And I just want to reiterate that. The majority of people are deceived or confused; they don't know exactly what's happening. Um, some of the wording in there, such as Uber is not a taxi or Uber is not a vehicle for hire. That's just simply false. I've asked a lot of my professors in business school about do you think Uber is a taxi or do you think they're a vehicle for hire, and they all say very clearly that Uber is a taxi and it is a vehicle for hire. Um, if you pass this legislation, new businesses will want new and special laws, and with the way computers and apps are going, there's going to be an endless amount of new businesses all wanting special regulations for their business. This could be a huge can of worms that could create a lot of problems down the road. Um, I think Uber has a predatory business model because of its use of surge pricing and its five rides for free. So basically anew, uh, rider to Uber can get $100 in free rides and everybody loves Uber for its low prices but eventually its prices are going to go up, because it's going to be subject to regulations and lawsuits, just as any business in this industry is. Um, they're not going to be able to do the free rides forever, you know, and in addition to that, they're going to need to make a profit because currently their expenses are more than their revenue, yet some people say they're worth $65 million, but that's kinda like the housing bubble that happened back a long time ago where everybody thought that things were worth a certain amount, and then when all the prices went down, it all hit the fan and we may run into a similar thing there. Um, in Iowa City there are higher insurance requirements and higher amounts of cab fare that Uber is going to benefit from because then they can have more potential revenue, but unfortunately they're not contributing towards the system that's at place, so they're getting the benefit without sharing part of the cost and I don't think that's right, and I'm asking you guys to please defer this judgment because of the new legislation and the unequal treatment for Uber and cab companies. Throgmorton: Thank you. Mazgaj: Thank you. (applause) Williams: Good evening, my name is Lynn Williams. I'm a business partner and driver with a new, uh, company Mustache Cab, formerly Red Line, and I'm here tonight to, uh, make this brief but I wanted to express concerns, which I did send all three emails to the Council, uh, previously, which you should all have received and have copies of, uh, cause I did file these with the City Clerk. Uh, basically our opposition to Uber is, uh, on several items. One is that all of us cab drivers and companies have to abide by the City regulations that were put in place. According to what, uh, Uber is stating, they are wanting to operate under their own rules and not abide by City regulations. Further, uh... I've also had discussions with several people who I know across the country, including metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Minneapolis, and also New York. Uh, the concerns that they have with Uber is that of traffic congestion, for one, uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 17 because of the numerous amounts of people who are Uber drivers who are further congestering the, uh, traffic situation in metropolitan areas. We have enough traffic congestion issues around here as it is. So ... having all these Uber drivers out and about is going just to further complicate matters. Also there's no really regulated pricing for them. Uh, whereas for us, metered cabs have accurate displays of what we are charging our customers. And ... we have to abide by that, especially with the ... the commercial insurance that we are required to carry. Uh, a $1 million policy. That's costing us...at least $325 per month per cab. Whereas Uber drivers are only reg ... they want to operate under liability only, which is cheap insurance. That's ... that cannot be allowed to happen. Uh, I ask the City Council to vote down ... letting Uber operate in this city. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause) Others? Bradley: Hello, I'm Roger Bradley, Manager of Yellow Cab here in Iowa City. Um, I understand Uber is ... there's a popular demand for ... for Uber. Um ... but I just ... one of my things I'm really troubled with is the fact that ... not just here in Iowa City but in other states, other localities... um, it seems that if...you know, when they go back and they want to do an Uber ordinance or they just, you know, consider for the first time that it's basically kind of a holding a gun to the head, you know, saying this is what we want and if not we're going to pull out. And once you get something like that started, it's very difficult, um, you know, because once again, if there's popular support for it. One of the reasons we have a representative government and not a pure democracy is because it's not always the case that something that is popular is right. I mean there's.... history has taught us that that's the case quite a bit. I'm not saying that some of the examples of history, this is just as important as those. I won't even go into those, but uh... you know, it's certainly the case that, uh, you know, popularity should not equate that, okay, you can get whatever you want, you know, um, and then continual threats, you know, well we're gonna pull out of the state, we're gonna pull out of this town, or something like that. Um ... so it's really up to this Council to decide, you know, we understand it's popular, but ... you know ... you know, are we gonna go down the road of safety first instead of just popularity. Um .... it's true that with this new State legislation, I haven't had a chance to look at it. There is a lot of unknown information. Uh, we're still finding information about how other cities, municipalities and even states are going back and redoing their Uber ordinances, based on, you know, the mistakes that they have found, and now with this State legislation, you know, I can't even address that because I don't know exactly how it's going to work. I don't know exactly what kind of parody there's going to be with taxi cab companies, um, if there's, you know, if. ... releases us from some requirements that's certainly, you know, welcome. You know, we want to save money too. Uh, but ... the fact of the matter is is that, you know, that's going to take place soon enough and, you know ... if we can't address it now maybe we ought to just defer until we see what that legislation says, instead of just, you know, running ahead with that. Cause one thing is certain, I ... if...if we pass this, and Uber gets started here, then, you know, they're going to get a competitive This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 18 dis... a competitive advantage until January 1" because if -because if that legislation helps out the taxi cab industry, well then we don't get that relief until January ls`. Whereas if you pass this ordinance tonight, that ... you know, the competitive advantage starts as soon as Uber starts up. And ... and besides, it ... nothing is preventing Uber from being here anyway, so if you defer this until more is known about this State legislation, it...it really doesn't harm Uber's ability to begin work here. ... sol ...I ask that you consider this very carefully, at the very least defer this until more information is known. There's just a lot of information out there. Uh, we've ... you know, and I realize that I've sent a lot of information to the Council. Um, there's been other cab, uh, drivers from other companies have sent a lot of information in, good information. Uh, my boss has sent in a lot of good information. Um, but really to tell you the truth we've scratched the surface. I mean ... believe me, I have two files that are huge, uh, so there's really just a lot of...it's dangerous, you know, to ... to start this up without knowing clearly what it's going to do to Iowa City. So I ask that you at the very least defer this. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Roger. (applause) Anyone else? Neal: My name's Nicole Neal. I'm a student representative and again, I would like to remind you to consider the student population in this issue. Students make up 30,000, um, people in the community and .... I have heard so many students in support of this, and honestly it's been one of the most supported issues, um, since my time working with Council. So I really hope you remember students while considering this, and ... um ... how much safer it is and why students would like Uber in the city. Throgmorton: Thanks, Nicki! Laskowski: Hi, Council! Joe Laskowski. Throgmorton: Good evening! Laskowski: I was checking out the agenda tonight and it looks like we are postponing a third vote and having a second work session and then revisiting this on the third? Throgmorton: No. No, the motion on the floor (both talking) is pass and adopt motion. Laskowski: For ... the (both talking) Throgmorton: For the transportation network companies ordinance, AKA Uber. Laskowski: Then what's on the agenda that says we're going to have a second work session and revisit it on May 3`a9 Karr: That would be ... that statement goes to the taxi companies. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 19 Laskowski: Okay. Then what are we (both talking) Karr: ...continuing discussions. Laskowski: ...if we pass the ordinance tonight? Karr: We are discussing taxi company regulations and reporting back, after talking with the companies. This is on the transportation network, Uber companies. Those arc two different operations. Laskowski: All right (mumbled) Ross: Hi, Brandon Ross. Uh...just on some points, uh, that were made tonight. Uh, yes there are a lot of students and it does seem to be popular with students. I think that students actually like the idea that they can commodity some of their free time, uh, students are actually, uh, have a large burden of, uh, of, uh... of. ... to the University because they got loans they're paying, they're barely making rent, rent is high here so naturally people want to be able to get some jobs, make a few bucks. Um ... course the student population is in large transient, uh, just, uh... just one group in itself, uh, if you just take, um ... uh, Asian Americans, uh, who are just in ... in for schooling and then leave and go back to their countries. It might be up to 15% now. Uh, this is an issue that's a local issue. How is this going to better, uh, this town? Uh, it seems like you're giving the keys to the highway away. Uh, the cab companies are established businesses here. If somebody wants to work, uh, as an Uber drive ... as an Uber driver, they are bypassing all the standards that they would have to use in order to be cab drivers, and I trust the cab drivers because they have to go through this process, and they have to go through the standards, and if they, uh, if they are not accountable in their job, they will be fired. And, uh, and this is something you can depend upon. I would also say that this is a working class position, uh, and that, uh, someone mentioned working opportunities. Well this has, uh, job opportunities. It doesn't have any job opportunities for those who actually dedicate themselves to driving cabs, whether part-time or full-time. It's the opposite. So people are going to lose ... they're going to lose jobs. And they're going to lose their money. And they're going to lose, uh, you know, other things because of this. Urn ... as far as, uh... civil liberties go, urn ... yeah, I ... you know ... I think it's the right of people to be able to have transportation. I don't think it's necessarily the right, uh, to ... to have a company that's not accountable to anybody come in, um, and uh, just a ... just draw money out of the, uh, out of the town. Uh, Iowa City is getting nothing from this, so it's not advantageous for ... for Iowa City to have Uber. About the person who said, uh, wh... why ... why are you telling us what, you know, what we should do. Uh, it's our own, you know, are you going to try to, uh... protect the citizens from themselves. Well, in fact there are traffic rules, where we protect the citizens from themselves. There are environmental rules where we protect the citizens from themselves, and even gun rules. I know they're not very many, uh, that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 20 protect the citizens against themselves, uh, and even the, uh, Republican National, uh, Committee are afraid that guns will come in there, so that's a ... that' a bizarre kind of idea there. Um ... uh... anyway, privatizing... allowing... allowing this company to come in, uh, you know, I don't see that this is going to improve anything. I think that actually, uh, it....it actually makes things worse. Uh, if I were a student, I probably would like the idea that I could work and make a hundred bucks here and a hundred bucks there, but that ... that doesn't necessarily mean that that should be, uh, employed and I think that, you know, even accepting Uber without, uh, at least deferring in this ... is ... is sort of like giving privatized management to, uh, to deciding what water Flint, Michigan, residents will drink, and I don't really believe that's a good thing. I think it's that kind of a decision. I think that, yes, traffic will be involved. There'll be all kinds of things that you won't even be able to say. One ... one party will... will... one party will definitely, uh, will definitely benefit from this, and that is a company that is far away.... far, far away from Iowa City. And they will benefit. And their fares will go up! And the safety standards, the proof is that there isn't any more safety with Uber .... than there is with taxi cabs. Intuitively you're probably safer in a taxi cab. The cost will ... will even up, because a big business knows what to do. So I say this is a dreadful decision. If you want control.... have control of your own city, make a good decision about your own city! Don't just let them come in! You don't have to do that. And my suggestion is that you don't. (applause) Larkin: Uh, my name is Daniel Larkin and I find it, uh, kind of interesting that we have people coming up here to talk about what it's like being a student when they're not a student here. Um, personally I can tell you that I am, uh, more likely to pull out my phone and order a ... an Uber driver than I am to call a, uh, taxi cab. Um, but it's understandable why they're so nervous of Uber coming into the city. Uh, I'm sure the railroad companies weren't too fond of the airplane, but the... there's no reason to keep restricting, um, Uber from coming into the city if we're going to benefit from it. Students, like you said, we have loans, urn ... why should, um, someone who's not paying back loans on ... on student debt, uh, tell us that we can't drive in our free time if we want to and I just think that, um, Uber would be incredibly beneficial to Iowa City and the community at large. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause) Can you hold on for just a second? Is ... is there anybody else who would like to speak and who has not yet spoken? Joel? Good evening, Joel. Gilbertson White: Good evening! I would like to urge caution. Throgmorton: Can you say your name, please? Gilbertson White: Oh, my name's Joel Gilbertson White. Um, I would like to urge caution, um, and perhaps a slightly different perspective. On ... on the one hand, um, I'm a former cab driver and I know that there is, I mean, I had .... a few weeks of professional training that was stuff that (mumbled) having my, um .... Minnesota This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 21 driving license at the time, um, didn't do for me. Um, and ... I thought that was important, and knowing the maps and things like that was important. Um, I also recognize that, um ... students need to have funds as well. Um ... I want to encourage, um, an atmosphere that's not either or. Uh... that it's either cab drivers or, um, Uber drivers, um, because there are some people whose finances or, you know, people have different values. Um, at the same time, um, I have a fear, um, I don't know if it's founded, that this could present some type of Walmartization of transportation in that there's a race such that the mom and pop shops have a much more difficult time if they have... different, um, if they have a different model that they need to work through, in which case then all of a sudden we lose the professional drivers, and just have Uber, and maybe Uber can be a solution. A solution. I ... I have a fear of us privatizing this a ... a method, an inexpensive method for folks to get places, when I ... I think, um, one other aspect of governing in terms of like setting a balance so that, um, you know, our ... if we had subways, if we had, um, you know, we do have a busing system. Um, there's the Cambus as well. There's, um, there's cabs. Private .... I drive my own car sometimes, often, um, bicycles, and then Uber as well. Um, to be able to find a balance that's going to be effective for our city, that's going to protect as, you know, really consider who do we serve. You know, I hear that we serve... and... and it's important to consider that we have students and that's probably part of your budget, a big part of how this city gets its money. Um, likewise ... off subject, but ... when I heard, um, Charlie mentioned $42 million for ... the Rose Oaks project, I ... I ... I saw some dollar signs there, um, as well, which can ... be a factor. Um ... I want to encourage you all as well to, um, continue to ... have busing be a ... a major factor and to ... and to be proactive, um to make sure that ... that the we can be a green city so that, um ... we're not taking, um, you know, individual rides when we can ... when we can do better, and if we can encourage folks, if we can make ways that our city is ... is nodal, so that we've got, uh, people able to move from here to here and have, uh, proper shops so that they can walk and bike to places, I want to encourage that. So ... I'm ... thanks! Throgmorton: Thank you, Joel. Mark Von Stein: My name's Mark Von Stein and I own Moustache Cab. We're based out of the, uh, Coralville, North Liberty area right now. I think Uber could also be what's, uh, flash in the pan where everybody wants to take advantage of it and get on the train right now, but it could be, you know, down the road they may not be as popular. One of the reasons why, you know, everybody says taxi cabs are so expensive. We have to have a million dollar policy that runs over $300 a month. That's $10 a day per vehicle. Uber drivers, they just have liability that, you know, you can get for $35 a month! You know, so we're ... um, footin' a lot of the bill on insurance. We have to file for ... all the forms for the city. We have to have background checks done by our police departments. We have to have driving records, and we have to be 25 years old to drive taxi cabs. That's the level of maturity. Same as renting a car. I mean, as far as a 19 -year-old college kid who doesn't know the area driving a taxi cab, you know, or driving an Uber vehicle, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 22 trying to get you from point A to point B, they may not have the best idea nor the best routes or whatever without using another distraction like a GPS. Another thing is that, um, Uber drivers... they have to use their smartphones, constantly staring at'em, know where their next trip's going to be from. You know that's just one more distraction in a vehicle, you know, and then one thing that we do not encourage is distracted driving. Iowa City already has a great bus system. Cambus system, you know, buses out to Coralville. We encourage bicycling and we already have, you know, about 10 cab companies running around this town right now as it is, and I just don't think that, you know, bringing something else in here with more distracted drivers on our streets is going to be beneficial for our city that is already doing very well as it is. Thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you. Haveron: Hi, uh, I'm James Haveron. Um, I just want to touch up on two points I think that are very important to discuss. Um, I'm glad that taxi cabs have all these regulations and safety things that make them so much better than Uber. Um, but if these are really effective and necessary why are so many more crimes happening in taxi cabs than there are in Uber ca ... or in Uber drive vehicles, um, in cities that have adopted Uber. Um, I'm not from Iowa, I'm from Texas. We have Uber, um, and there are, um, been studies and stuff done that show that more crime and more sexual assault and more harassment has happened in taxi cabs than Uber. Um, and so if we are going to follow the argument and logic about how more regulation is better, um, I don't think we really want to put that onto Iowa City. I think we want to have a safe environment. Um, and so based off of places that already have Uber, um, that would be the case to let'em here. Also, it is proven that the more that there are more businesses that are ... that there are here, um, the lower the prices are. Um, we bear how this is like a working class issue. Well if this is a working class issue, wouldn't you want lower prices? Um, you don't make as much money, um, and so your purchasing... your purchasing power isn't as high. Um, so to me ... being from not, you know, from a poor family, I like the idea of lower prices. Um, lower prices come from more competition, more competition comes from Uber being able to come here. Um, and so ... thank you for your time. Throgmorton: Thank you, James. (applause) Anyone else who has not yet had a chance to speak? Do you want to address us one more time? Please... please be much briefer, you know (both talking) Williams: No problem! (mumbled) very quick! Uh, again my name is Lynn Williams from Moustache Cab. Uh, my point was going to be on the safety factor. Uh, here again, I'm one of the drivers in town that's actually medically certified. I also am a volunteer with the Johnson County Medical Reserve. I carry emergency supplies in my cab, so that I can tend to anything that, uh, I do roll upon or have occur in my vehicle. So that, uh, safety is my number one aspect when it comes This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 23 to transporting my customers. So that here again is something that, uh, I'm willing to stress very highly to the Council. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you. I ... I, did he state... restate his name? Yeah, okay. Thank you. (several talking in background) Sorry? (talking in background) Laskowski: Joe Laskowski again. Throgmorton: Yeah (both talking) can... can you .... can you hold on just (both talking) We... we'll put an end to it after you speak, Joe. (person speaking from audience) No (mumbled) we've already.... everyone's already had a chance to speak. I don't want to get into a situation where people are coming up over and over again, so... you were there. I don't want to make you walk away, so ... be very brief, please, Joe. Laskowski: So this discussion has primarily been about regulations and setting aside safety standards that you all developed and we put into place over a year ago. So I'm wondering why are we considering setting those aside. Feels like private interests are controlling this Council or dealing with the privatization of local government. There's been a little bit of discussion about which constituents are more important, which constituents are louder. This ordinance sort of implies that one group gets recognized and is more important than all the others. So we must ask ourselves to what lengths, are we willing to go to sacrifice safety for the convenience of an app -based life. So again, I second the motion to, uh, postpone the third vote and make amendments to this ordinance. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Joe. Okay, so, uh, Council needs to discuss this topic now. The motion's on the floor. Lots of information before us, lots of perspectives have been provided, uh... let's go for it! Taylor: Well I'd like to commend our State legislature for looking at this issue. Uh... and I do hope they looked at, um, closely at the TNCs and what's been going on across the country and even across the world, uh, with some issues that relating this and some cities and states that have actually pulled Uber out, uh, because of things that were going on and ... with all due respect to the students and the Chamber, who, uh, previously spoke on this and the Corridor Business Bureau who have spoke on this, and the public, um ... I do understand that, uh... uh, the convenience and the cost of it is ... is attractive to you. But, um, cheaper and more convenient isn't always what's best for the community, uh, in my belief. Uh, I didn't hear it tonight but I've heard it before that, uh, Iowa City should be progressive to allow Uber in. That's a progressive thing, but, uh, progressive is like what we heard from the Grannies earlier, the plastic bag ordinance or, uh, banning pesticides or even medical marijuana bill. That's progressive. This isn't progressive. This is allowing another means of conveying passengers from one .... one place, uh, to another. Um, and .... Uber keeps talking about their independent contractors. I ... I, their drivers, they refer to them as independent This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 24 contractors and they're... they're drivers. Without the drivers, Uber would not have a business. Uh, so that ... and that's the same, uh, with taxi cab companies. And so I think I still am under the belief that they should have the same rules and regulations and it sounds like perhaps that's where we're going on the State, which would be great! But... we're looking at Iowa City from now until January and I see this more as a bullying, and I'm sorry, but I see it as a bullying on Uber's part, uh..trying to bully us into, um ... following their rules and regulations, and I ... I just don't think that's right and ... uh, so I would ask for us to ... to please look at it as that and not be bullied by them into, uh... writing their own rules and regulations, but I do hope the taxi companies, uh, take this as kind of a wake-up call and ... and do look at, uh, your services that you're providing and... and do what you can to ... to maybe help improve the service that you're providing to the community. Botchway: Frankly, Pauline, I ... I disagree a little bit, slightly, um, or maybe a lot. Urn ... one thing that has not been said, and I've consistently said this over and over again, but I have yet to see any information about the consumer on this issue. I know that we talked about ... maybe at the work session, maybe even the first consideration, that we currently don't have any information as far as complaints against taxi cabs and other things. Andrew: Correct. If it doesn't result in a citation, if the ... if an officer doesn't take action then we don't have (both talking) Botchway: Frankly as we're talking about (noises in background, difficult to hear speaker) and equality and I think misusing equity, it...it bothers me that we're not even comparing situations at all, um, and ... and it makes me a little upset just because, um, you know... it's... it's turned into a class issue at times, and to me that's, you know, being disrespectful about the ... kind of the deliberation on the issue, because I frankly talk with individuals from all types of classes, races, genders, whatever the case may be and ... at least for me it's been consistent from the theme that, you know ... we need additional options as far as transportation is concerned. Um, it...it is awkward that we are, um, we've talked about it from a strategic planning standpoint, how much transportation is so important to our community, but when we have another option that has worked successfully in other cities, and granted, has not worked successfully in other cities, um, we just... we're... we're not willing to kind of, you know, um, take it under consideration and ... and look at it, try it, experiment. You know one of the things that came up, and I brought this up again, from the Chamber meeting, um, and uh, I'm not soliciting like the Chamber's the greatest thing ever, but I did appreciate the talk that was given about, you know, being experimental, trying different things. I just, uh, woke up really early this morning to have a, um, to listen to Steve Dolzol and Jennifer... Jessica Peckover, um, give information, uh, as it pertains to CIT training that, you know, I think Susan's going to and that as a Council I don't know where we're at, maybe as a whole, but ... is very important. That being said, currently CIT training could not happen in Iowa. I mean it's something that we're going to have to look at as far as changing ordinances and doing some things differently, to provide This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 25 options for our jail population, for other folks who are having a rough time. You know, it...it just bothers me because I feel like, you know, the narrative that has been strung, at least from the communication that I have, has been seriously weighted as far as, you know, again, a class (mumbled) problematic. I will say one other thing. Um, because I was just recently a student, and I guess when I say just recently — it's been eight years removed and so I'm getting to the point now where it's not as just recently (several talking in background) I do not like the negativity as far as how we talk about our student population. I remembered at the time that I was a student that, um, you know, very transient population, we shouldn't be considered, but I'm ... I'm pretty sure that I was still under the rules and regulations of every other resident that was a part of Iowa City, and so it is problematic when we have these conversations that we don't necessarily consider students as a part of the greater whole when they take up an entire part of our population, and beyond that, give us a lot of the wonderful things that we ... we do, or at least ... I won't speak for everybody else. I do on a regular basis, whether that be playing basketball, you know, um, participating in fest ... um, different festivals and then obviously, you know, pulling on some of the resources that the University provides, um, in different ways, shapes, or forms, and so I will be supportive, um, again of this ordinance. I'm not saying there aren't issues that need to be addressed. I'm not saying there aren't things that we may need to change, um, from an ordinance perspective, but again, it kind of goes to the misinformation that's happening, you know, ordinances get changed all the time. You know, I guess I've been on Council now ... two and a half years and I've seen us change ordinances when we thought it was necessary, and if we do see there is a problem ... I feel very comfortable making that change, if...if it means not moving forward with Uber, um, down the road. So I, again, am supportive and, you know, willing to hear thoughts. Mims: I agree with you, Kingsley. Um, I think there's a lot of issues here and I think we're seeing a lot of this across the country. There are various lawsuits in different parts of the country, um, various aspects of Uber, but I do not see ... those being to the extent of us not ... making the changes in the ordinance here. Um, I do not like the idea that we are basically being pressured to have a ... to adopt an ordinance that is acceptable to Uber. I agree with that, but on the flipside of that, we do have significant, significant demand in this community and we are elected to represent the members of this community. That includes our students. I agree with you, Kingsley, sometimes about the negativity that gets portrayed towards our student population. Uh... Iowa City, Johnson County, would not be what we are without the University of Iowa and the students. Um, it is not just the students. I think, you know, we've heard, you know, Nate Kading was here. You look at a lot of the young professionals who've, you know, either traveled a lot outside of Iowa City or have lived other places and come back here, and it is a service that they have used in ... in bigger cities and other locations. They very much want to see here. Um, issues of getting back and forth to the airport and the convenience and the cost of doing that is a huge issue. Um, I ... I think there's... you can go lots of different directions on the safety and ... and I would agree with some This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 26 things you said, Kingsley, and in talking with police officers, as well, you know, we don't have necessarily a lot of the statistics, and people will give conflicting information on which is safer. Um, quite frankly what I would say to anybody out there, um, you know, people want to talk about whether Uber is safe or not. And I would say this to my own kids, if you're going to use Uber, you know, and it's harder to do with regular taxi cabs, but with Uber you get that app, send the thing off to somebody that you know, or your parent that has the information about vehicle that you're getting into, so if something happens to you, somebody can try and track you down. Um, you know, you ... you have those kinds of options that give you hopefully, um, a greater level of safety. Obviously you could do the same sort of thing in a cab. Take a picture, you know, take the number, send it off to somebody. Um ... the pricing, you know, I think... again, from what I've heard from a lot of people, the ... a lot of, um, more affordable options with a new business model. Yes there is surge or demand pricing, but again, my understanding is, you know what that price is before you accept the ride, and so if you don't want to pay that, you don't have to accept the ride. Um, so you know that up front. Uh, the other thing that makes me comfortable with it is the adjustments that we are going to make in our "regular" taxi cab ordinances, uh, within just the next few weeks to reduce some of those requirements to get it, uh, closer to a level playing field, and so for those reasons I will be supporting it. Thomas: I think, uh, for me the ... I think the key issue boils down to the regulatory framework, the aspects of this. It's clearly a service, uh... that there is demand for in Iowa City and I'm .... I'm happy to see that the, uh, State of Iowa is entering into this conversation. I know that, uh, in California TNCs are regulated by the California PUC, Public Utilities Commission. Um, I think having it at a ... at a statewide level, uh, will even out the playing field among cities, uh, and I would hope that there might be more ability for the states to negotiate with the TNCs in terms of the regulatory framework. Um ... so I'm ... I'm concerned about, you know, clearly the ... the regulatory aspects of this and the parody with the taxi cab industry. Uh, I'm also strongly in favor, um, and this is sort of on a broader scale, addressing the issues which I think are in part creating the demand in Iowa City for the TNCs and that is that we have a ... in my view a relatively weak, uh, set of options in terms of transportation choice with respect to walking, public transit, and bicycling. Uh, I think if we had stronger choice in Iowa City the ... the question of the urgency and demand for ... uh, essentially what is kind of a chauffeuring service would be diminished to some degree. Uh, and we're still not facing equity issues in some respects. The, um, to my knowledge the ... the TNCs will not provide access for persons with certain disabilities. Uh, I'm not aware that Uber will be offering van service, for example, for persons, uh, who are confined to wheelchairs. So, there.... there, as well as the cost of -the ride for hire, you know, not everyone can afford to ride. So I think there are a lot of issues. It's a very dynamic situation. Um, you know, I'll be supporting it in part because I...I see now that the State is moving in and in seven to eight months I ... I think that puts our conversation in a very different context. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 27 Cole: And that's sealed the deal for me (clears throat) As you know, last time I voted no and I saw that there was an inconsistency with what was required at State law in the local ordinance and in fact we even received some word that potentially Uber ordinan ... uh, Uber drivers could be subject possibly to a ticket, um, but it does look like the State of Iowa has prided... provided essentially a regulatory fix. They've changed the statute. But I just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight, on both sides of the issue. I think that you were all very articulate. Passions run high. I hope though after this meeting that you'll reach out to maybe someone that you disagreed with and thank them for their position because I don't want the situation where we clash of ideas and we get angry at one another. We're one community. Thank you for the students to coming out. You're an incredibly valuable members, and thank you for the taxi cab companies as well, and I do want to ... on this question of pricing. Um, where are we on addressing the taxi companies concern in terms of the surge, because it does strike me, if we have a game day, that demand model should apply across the board for both the taxi as well as the, um, TNCs. (mumbled) fix on that? Andrew: That was one of the things that we've discussed with, uh, revisions to traditional taxi ordinance, and please jump in if I misstate something here, Marian, but um, we have discussed the option of traditional taxis maybe having a per head charge on game days or ... on defined events, essentially special event pricing that they could charge $5.00 extra per head or something to that effect. It would be present on the rate card so the passenger would be aware that that extra charge is in effect, um, and it'd still be registered with the City Clerk and... Cole: ...and we're working closely with taxi cab companies on that, as well? Andrew: Yeah, we've already had one meeting with'em and then we planned another one in the next, uh... Karr: Planned another one in the next, uh, week, week and a half to report back to you May 3'd to give further direction. Cole: And I think just the second point and final point that I want to make is I think we've talked a lot about technolog... technology, innovation, what allows Uber to provide this ... a superior service, the ... the traffic, safety regulations, but I think really what it comes down to and as we evaluate any ordinance is what's fair, and I think that's what we have to really try to evaluate, and I think what I saw early on was that there was going to be two sets of rules. I think we have to make sure that that is a fair process. Um, so I am going to support the Uber ordinance. I think that the .... I know there's an old phrase 'doesn't take a weather man to know which way the wind is blowing,' um, the ... the taxi cab companies are gonna have to respond to this, but I am confident. There was a question of the paradigm shift of the, um, railroads. Well, that happened 150 years ago and we still have railroads, so I'm confident with our talented taxi cab companies that they will find a way to adapt and thrive in this new environment. Um, that does appear to be the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 28 direction that we're going and... and so I am going to support the ordinance tonight. Dickens: I'm going to support it as well. I do have reservations about the way Uber comes in, but ... the people have spoken. As many people that come up to me ... it's 98% say bring Uber in. They give you their reasons, whether it's... problems with taxi cabs or just ease or ... whatever their reason is, it's ... it's very tough to fight ... that kind of outpush from the ... the public that really wants Uber, so ... I will be voting for it, reluctantly! Throgmorton: I ... I want to recap a couple things. Help me out, Marian, Eleanor. We first considered an ordinance pertaining to Uber ... was it two years ago or three years ago? I think it was two years ago. Andrew: We started the discussion very late 2014. Throgmorton: Yeah and then we reconsidered it a year ago. This is the way I remember it. This is ... and now this is the third time we've really been talking about, uh, the possibility of bringing in ... uh, permitting Uber-like companies to operate here, and we adopted the other ordinance last year. And now the State legisla... oh ... one other thing. In ... in the present case we deferred first consideration on this ordinance back on March the Is` to give the Council, new Council Members, time to digest all this stuff, make sense out of it, uh, and time for the public to understand that we were addressing the topic, and then we did, what, first consideration on March the 23`d, passed 7-0; second consideration two weeks later, it passed 5-2; and here we are. Two ... two more weeks later. Uh, and now the State legislature has adopted its new legislation, essentially preempting local action, effective January the I", with a ... with legislation (mumbled) pretty dam similar to what we were proposing. With all that in mind, uh, my, you know, inclination as well is to .... to vote again in ... in favor of the proposed ordinance, uh, so that we can move ahead with that. Uh, I do want to say though that I ... kind of like I guess Terry has articulated a couple times before. I have many qualms about the business model that Uber ... Uber operates under. Uh... (laughs) many qualms about that, and I think many of them have been articulated very clearly by Joe Laskowski, Roger Bradley, and others. So ... I ... I'm not, my own inner -self is not unanimously in favor (laughs) of, uh, what we're going to do, but in ... on the whole, I think, it's a step we should take. So I'm going to vote yes. Any further discussion? Taylor: Talk about the business (mumbled) and I didn't mention that one thing that a lot of folks don't realize about Uber it's ... it's a multi -billion dollar company and they've made a lot of that money on the backs of the ... of their drivers. Their... their drivers are responsible for their own maintenance of their vehicles, their insurance costs, uh, fuel costs, all of those kinds of things, uh, they're not compensated for workman's comp or social security or, uh, unemployment, those kinds of things. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 29 So that's how they make their money, off of the backs of their workers. So ... that's all I have to say. Thank you. Throgmorton: Okay. Roll call. Motion carries 6-1. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Botchway: So moved. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Dickens. All in favor say aye. All opposed. Motion carries. So we're gonna go back to Item .... 7. Thank you all for coming! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 30 ITEM 7. IOWA RIVER RAW WATER MAIN CONVERSION — APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE IOWA RIVER RAW WATER MAIN CONVERSION PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Open a public hearing. (bangs gavel) Anybody care to address this topic? (unable to hear person speaking from audience) Sorry? No, this topic, the one that ... (both talking) ... I know you can't ... I'm sorry, I know you can't hear all that well. Knoche: Mr. Mayor, I just wanted to, uh, Ron Knoche, Public Works Director. I just wanted to, uh, inform the Council that today we did receive bids on this project, uh, the Iowa DOT took the bids for us this morning. Um, the apparent low is PCI and uh, their bid was $40,552,000. Uh, if you recall, our estimate on the Gateway project was $52 million. So, um, we did receive, uh, great bids today. Um, so it does, uh, make this project relevant because it's a precursor, uh, to that Gateway project. Throgmorton: Would you restate the numbers, please? Knoche: Yes, sir! Uh, the ... the, our estimate on the Gateway project was $52 million. Uh, the low bid, apparent low bid is P ... PCI at $40,552,000. So, uh, we were about $11.5 million under our estimate. Throgmorton: What was the second lowest bid? Knoche: Uh, second low, uh, was $45.5 million. So, um ... the ... the .... there were four bids that we received. Um, the low was ... was the $40.5 million; we had two in the $45.5 million; and then, uh, the highest bid was just over our estimate at $52.5 million. Throgmorton: Is that a big smile I see on your face? (several talking and laughing) Fruin: There was a ... a big, uh (several talking) exhale from City Hall at about 10:30 this morning. (several talking) And it's really going to help us bring our bonding levels back in line with ... with what we've tried to do, uh, every year. If you recall during the budget sessions, the next two years of...of bonding were ... were inflated higher than they typically are, and that was to ... to really cover the additional expenses with Gateway. If these bids, um, you know, if the project costs end up .... at this level, we think it will with the bids that were received, we're back This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 31 down to where we're more comfortable, uh, from a year-to-year basis. So, really.... really good news today. Mims: Yeah! Very good! Throgmorton: Well, anybody else want to address the topic? I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Mims: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. (several talking) Thomas: I didn't get to comment on learning about raw versus finished water! (laughter) Throgmorton: (several talking) ...get your chance. So ... you moved to ... to approve? Mims: Yes! I move the resolution. Throgmorton: (both talking) Moved by Mims, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Here's your chance, John! Thomas: Oh, here's my chance. I blew it! Uh, well ... I don't know if you'd been familiar with that term before but ... I hadn't been. Taylor: (mumbled) Yeah. Thomas: Urn ... well, you can look it up! My understanding was the, uh, raw would be water actually drawn say from our wells. The finished water would be treated water (several talking) So... Fruin: Would you like Ron to just run through the project in ... in a couple minutes? Thomas: Sure! Cole: What the heck ... Ron! Come on! Dickens: Thirty seconds! Throgmorton: I think I've heard Rick Fosse do this kind of thing many times (laughs) Knoche: Um, so ... so basically the ... the gist of this project, we have a well, uh, that was a ... a production well at the old waste, or the old water treatment plant, down by North Hall. Um, when we moved our plant to the north of Interstate 80, we had to make a connection to that well to our new facility. Um ... ihis well we no longer use. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 32 Um, the main is ... late 1990s vintage. Uh, the ... the current, um, water main that we have, um, that is ... we're using for finished water or the ... the potable water, is 1960s vintage. Um, the ... the main and its location through the Gateway corridor, this ... this raw water main can stay in place and we can use it for our finished water system, and so (mumbled) this project actually goes through, um, cleans this pipe, um, brings it up to potable water standards, and then we'll make a connection nor ... by North Hall, um, to ... to bring it on line as a ... as a potable water main. Thomas: Thanks! Throgmorton: All right. (several talking) Okay. Any discussion? Roll call. Motion approved 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 33 ITEM 8. HIGHLANDER DEVELOPMENT FOURTH ADDITION, PART 1— APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHLANDER DEVELOPMENT FOURTH ADDITION - PART 1 PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Uh, this project's not ... will not be bid. There'll be no public hearing or action required. So I'm ... but I'm going to state the ... the Item number and then I guess we just move on, right, there's no vote on it. So Item 8 (reads item description) but there's going to be no bid, right? Yep, okay. So ... that's what Item 8 is. Fruin: Would you like for the new Council Members to ... this ... this project, um ... was contemplated, uh, last year. Uh, it was an extension for the Northgate subdivision, a ... a commercial subdivision out on the northeastern part of town, uh, and the ... the project, uh, involved a RISE grant, which is a State grant program that helps cities, um, build roads to accommodate new business growth. In this case, the City applied and the developer, uh, Southgate Companies, was going to, uh, pay for the road extension as they owned the property around. Um, Southgate, uh, just has not seen the demand for that property that gives them the comfort to proceed at this time. The RISE grant award is good for three years, so they're going to just put this, uh, project off a year. They hope to pick it back up in 2017, um, but that's going to depend on the ... on the demand. Tbrogmorton: Thank you, Geoff. All right, moving to Item 9. Here's your opportunity! (laughs) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 34 ITEM 9. GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS - RESOLUTION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS TO TAKE ADDITIONAL ACTION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NOT TO EXCEED $9,000,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Dennis! Bockenstedt: Uh, good evening, I'm Dennis Bockenstedt, Finance Director for the City of Iowa City. I'm going to address the next nine items on the agenda (laughter) Um ... the first five items pertain to our annual general obligation bond issue. Each year as we conduct our budget and our capital improvement program, uh, we generate projects that are funded through general obligation bond funding, and so this first series of public hearings and resolutions, uh, pertains to the is ... issuance and the advertisement of those bonds. Uh, the sale day will be May 17th and these are actions that are required under State law. Uh, the four items after that pertain to water and sewer refundings. Uh, we don't do these every year. Uh, the next couple years we are anticipating, uh, these to occur as ... as they bonds become callable. When they become callable, we can issue new bonds to replace them and save ... have savings on the interest expense on those bonds, and so there'll be, uh, public hearings for the issuance of sewer refunding and water refunding bonds, and just to give you an idea, uh, on the sewer refunding, uh, we're expecting to save $850,000 a year, or $850,000 total savings over five years, and water, $309,000 over eight years. So we're expecting to save pretty ... pretty good dollars on the refunding of those bonds, and um, like I said, these next nine actions are just re ... required under State law, uh, in order to issue those bonds. And, uh, I'll try and answer any questions if you have any. Okay. Throgmorton: I don't see anybody else who wants to address this topic. I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Ah, missed again! (laughter) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Mims: Move the resolution. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims and seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 35 ITEM 10. GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS - RESOLUTION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS TO TAKE ADDITIONAL ACTION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NOT TO EXCEED $200,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Going to open a public hearing. (bangs gavel) No one speaks? Gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Botchway: Move resolution. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Mims: I would ... do want to make one quick comment. Throgmorton: Sure! Mims: I ... I just want to thank our, all of our staff, from the City Manager's office to our Finance office, um ... and just keep in mind that the reason we have the opportunity to redo these bonds is in large part to the triple-A bond rating that this city has and the good terms that we can get when we, uh, sell our bonds initially, and the fact that we can basically refund these at lower interest rates and save all this money, again, is because of the good financial management and stewardship of our staff, and so ... its going to save us hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I think that's really important to remember. Throgmorton: Right (mumbled) Excellent point! Any further discussion? Thomas: I just had a quick question on this one. It (clears throat) in looking at the, um, the background information on this, I ... I believe this was referred to as an urban renewal ... uh... obligation bond? Bockenstedt: Yeah, the $200,000 one pertains to, um ... funding for the Riverfront Crossings Park. I'm sorry, $200,000 refers to the, um ... (mumbled) Yeah, that's correct — planning for the Riverfront Crossings Park, and so under State law there's separate provisions of the code under which you issue bonds, and because this one's in an urban renewal area, and it's for a project in the urban renewal area, we're issuing that under, um, under that provision of the State law. So it is holding a separate, uh, public hearing for that particular piece of this issue. Thomas: Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 36 Throgmorton: Further discussion? Roll call. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 37 ITEM 11. GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS - RESOLUTION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS TO TAKE ADDITIONAL ACTION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NOT TO EXCEED $500,000 GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Mims: Move the resolution. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Cole: And so these general obligation bonds fund particular capital projects that we've already, um, authorized. I guess why don't we put the actual project that we're voting on in the actual item. Is there a reason for that? Bockenstedt: Well there is a ... a memorandum that (several talking) those. The ... the bonds are grouped by their ... by the portion of the State law that they would fit under. So there's an essential corporate purpose which the State defines pertains to projects such as streets, sewers, that type of infrastructure. Um, there's other types of essentials, such as urban renewal area and those are not subject to ref ..a referendum or a reverse referendum, meaning that they don't have to go into election. Uh, the last grouping is for general purpose and projects for like rec... recreational facilities, um, or building repairs or improvements that the ... under State law is not deemed as essential, then follows general and are limited to $700,000 in total before they would go to a referendum. So those ... the hearings are grouped by their ... their State law grouping and not necessarily by the project themselves. Cole: Thank you, Dennis. Bockenstedt: Uh huh. Throgmorton: All right, any further discussion? Roll call. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 38 ITEM 19. TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY ;LICENSE FEE - RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A FEE FOR TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY LICENSES Botchway: Move resolution. Mims: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. Uh, Simon, could you please summarize what's going on with this? Andrew: Sure! This, uh, since the fe... the ordinance that was approved tonight, uh, says (both talking) Throgmorton: (mumbled) Andrew: ...um, that the fee for the license for a TNC company shall be set by resolution, um, this resolution would set the fee at $1,000. Uh, as we reviewed other companies, or other cities rather and states for whatthey charge for license fees, it was really all over the board. Uh, in general we try and set fees at the cost to provide a service or to enforce an ordinance, and uh, in this case, uh, there really isn't a whole lot of, uh, enforcement or implementation costs. Um, we don't know at this point how many complaints we'll get, you know, to investigate, um, how long the annual audit would take, things like that. So we couldn't really base it on what the costs to enforce would be. Um ... other than just.... guessing basically, you know, the ... the rough estimate. Um, so ... we tried to set it that it was somewhat consistent with cities our size or pro -rated for population. Uh, the State legislation that takes effect in January sets the statewide fee at $5,000. Um, so... you know, in line with that this is relatively high, but.... Botchway: You said that, um ... some of the home rule ... I guess, uh, there were some home rule restrictions, uh, with that particular change. Andrew: Uh huh. Botchway: I mean ... in the event that we were to ask for more, how would that work out, or is this a one-time (both talking) Andrew: This will just be a one-time, a resolution that ... and if they do apply for a license this year and pay this $1,000 fee, come January I" that revenue goes to the State and we'll no longer, uh, be collecting a fee or issuing a license to TNCs. Botchway: But then if Lyft or other TNCs come in (mumbled) have to pay a higher fee after January 1? Andrew: No, it'd still be statewide. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 39 Cole: So the Public Transportation will administer it, correct? Andrew: Correct. Cole: Okay. Andrew: Correct. The $5,000 to the State'll go into the Road Use Tax Fund. Cole: Well that frankly makes a lot more sense. Throgmorton: Build several new roads with that $5,000 (laughter) Okay! Discussion? Roll call. Motion carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 40 ITEM 22. COMMUNITY COMMENT [IF NECESSARY] (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA) Throgmorton: (several talking) Did you want to speak? Knapp: Oh, my turn? Tbrogmorton: Yes! Knapp: Thank you. Uh... how do you ... how would I apply for, if I wanted to be on the Historic Preservation or on the Community Development Commission? Throgmorton: Marian! Karr: We have applications in ... in my office. You can stop by any time (both talking) They're also available on the web site. Knapp: (both talking) ...Marian, thank you! Karr: Okay! Knapp: Uh... I roamed around this building about three times in the last week or so, trying to find out something, and nobody could tell me and I went to the... Eleanor's office, I went to other offices, and I asked the question — there is an ordinance, I believe, in Iowa City for the illegality of owning a parking lot or operate a parking lot within the Central Business District. And ... Mark Moen has one there. The only one, and I'm asked why does he have that, and they said,'We don't know. It's a long time ago.' Uh, is he paying anything for this? If you took and ... put all together all the revenue that that lot is takin' away from the ramps and the other things downtown, uh, wouldn't you think it would be expensive for the City to allow somebody to have a private parking lot in the city if they're not paying for it? Throgmorton: I ... I assume you're referring to the lot behind the (both talking) Knapp: Where (both talking) used to be. Throgmorton: Yeah. Knapp: Which is right across the street from a ramp! Which could be utilized... for parking, for the Josephs and the other businesses along there. And ... I ... I think also I believe that Mr. Moen rather than develop his property has come to the City to get it developed, cause he doesn't ... he covets the lot between The Mill and his lot because eventually he can get that. The City will give it to him and ... or maybe for a reasonable price, and then he will be able to expand his territory again. And, uh... the other thing is, uh, I see now the City's gonna... talking about... stopping the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 41 TIF situation in the future. Uh... does that mean that it's a bad thing? The TIFs? And if so, then why don't we go retroactive and stop it at this point in time? Throgmorton: Thank you for your questions, uh... Knapp: I got a ton of'em! Throgmorton: Yeah (both talking) Knapp: I would like to know about the ... the illegality. Uh, another thing, uh... this'll be the 50 year anniversary come May ... of the murder of Ron Lipsius who outside a grocery store on south ... uh, Summit (several talking in background) and, uh, I ... had some very interesting information given to me at my 45th class reunion about somebody that was there at the same time I was here and, uh, I gave all that information to Tommy Widmer and he says, well, take it to the City so I brought it to the City and the City has not ... they're just ... they put cold cases on the shelf. I think Lipsius' family deserves to know ... who killed their father. And I think it should ... and I have some information that I would like to share with the City, but I would like them to share... something with me. There was a lady arrested out in California, but they couldn't extradite her to Iowa. They could have to Illinois. They ... nobody seems to be able to give me the name of this person and ... the person that came up at my discussion at my class reunion was a fellow that said did they ever solve that murder, and I said what murder? And he said, oh, that grocery store man that got killed, and I said ... I don't know! It's been a long time ago, and he says, yeah. I said why do you ask? He said well, I always thought Cathy did it. And I said well why, and he said well she always needed money. Now that ... you know, a lot of people need money. However, uh... I went to the library and looked for this information and pulled up all the microfiche files and made copies of everything and I put the thing on the table (mumbled) drawing and all the other stuff, and my wife came home from work one day and she looked at that and she says that's Ron! Ron was a fellow that I was in the Army with. I was in high school with. I was in college here in Iowa City with. He was the best man in my wedding and I was the best man in his wedding, and he asked me about this and so when I researched it, he called me up and then later he said did you find out anything? And ... I said you don't wanna know. I've not heard another word from him since then. Other than he called when the tomado hit Iowa City, uh, what ... 10 years ago or something like that, and I think he was hoping that I was wiped out in the tornado because I'm probably the only one that knows ... what I know about this situation and I just cannot seem to get ... the City off a dead round to tell me the names of the people that were looked at out in ... in California, and uh... I'd like to know that. I ... cause I believe that the Lipsius family deserves to know who called their daddy. Throgmorton: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. You know, you've already taken ... what, I think well over five minutes. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 42 Knapp: Well, then the other thing is ... on this low-cost housing, which I came in a couple of weeks ago and they were ... (both talking) Throgmorton: I'm sorry! I'm sorry, you've already taken more time than we usually give anybody to speak during public discussion. Knapp: I'm talkin' about three different things and you have people running rampant up and up and up and back and up and back, the same person! Adding to the questions, so I can't just ask a question that I think that maybe Hoover Elementary, if it ... stops becoming a grade school, might not be an ideal place for low-income housing? Location! Bus! On First Avenue! On Court Street! Just seems to me to be a natural place for people that ... I could build something there for less than the ... probably around $100,000 a unit, where Moen's gonna get $250,000 for four units stickin' up, way up in the sky. Uh.... and ... I gave a whole list of questions to the paper. They're gonna be published. What I'd like to know is if the City had an outcry and said 'we'd like to have this on a ballot in November,' rather than the Council makin' the decisions, would that be possible? And I ask that because... Mr. Moen bought the land where the Plaza Towers are for $250,000. City'd give more. They had a bona fide offer of $1,750,000 for that land. That building would have been up and done rather quickly, and that building over here would have been up and done if they'd a gone with one of the other developers, but now they've dragged it on for four years. And they say, well, we're gonna save money on taxes, or get money on taxes. Well, that property would have been on the tax rolls for four years now and Moen's just draggin' his feet! Throgmorton: Thank you (both talking) thank you.... Knapp: (both talking) ....he also brought in a couple carpenters. Well, guess what? (both talking) Throgmorton:... thank you very much for your comments (both talking) Knapp: ...contractor. These two union carpenters came in just to ... he probably hired'em to come in and say, 'gee, we need this for the union!' The union doesn't build Moen's buildings! Throgmorton: All right. Thank you! Knapp: I have 10...10 lists of the questions. I'll just pass 'em out and you can enjoy'em at your will! Throgmorton: All right. Give them to, uh, Manan please. Karr: I can take 'em, Jim! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 43 Throgmorton: All right, uh... Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Botchway: So moved. Karr: I'll make copies! Mims: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. All opposed. Motion carries. Moving on to Council ... uh, we're not Council time. Where are we? Uh (several talking) Council information. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 44 ITEM 23. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION Throgmorton: Let's start with you, Pauline! (person speaking in background) Taylor: Council information? Throgmorton: Yes. Taylor: Uh, I'm looking forward to, uh, listening post. John and I have a listening post, uh, tomorrow in fact, uh, at the Old, uh, Capitol Center from 1:00 to 3:00. I'm sorry the college students are gone, but I hope maybe you can get the word out, cause it was kind of per your request that we meet there, so hopefully we'll have a good crowd of the college students there to talk to us about things. Dickens: Pauline, it did go out on ... I know on the University channels, cause my wife got a ... so I know it's out there. Taylor: That's good! That's all! Throgmorton: John? Thomas: I have down here that the, um, the University's Center for Human Rights on Friday will have a symposium on building a ... building a foundation for criminal justice reform in Iowa. And that will be from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M. at the, uh, Pappajohn Business Building on the University campus. Mims: I will be participating in the meeting electronically on the third, uh, because I'll be down in San Antonio for the, um, CIT training, and ... rather than fly back that night and not be able to participate, I'm going to stay so I can participate electronically. Throgmorton: Is that for the work session too? Mims: Yes! Throgmorton: Yeah, good, good, cause, uh... downtown streetscape on the third, right? Fruin: That's our plan, yes. Mims: Yes, Geoff and I have already talked about that, so I can make sure I have the information. Throgmorton: Okay, good! Kingsley? Botchway: Um, participated this last ... this Saturday, um, actually right before I had to get stitches, or after I got stitches, uh, on the 22nd annual, uh, University Pow -Wow, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 45 which is a really great event. Had great food, great festivities. It was amazing. Um, bring on the pancake breakfast! Um, I went to one. There was an LS ... LLS, uh, waffle breakfast that I missed, unfortunately, but you know, if there's any more, please (both talking) Mims: Kingsley on food! (laughter) Botchway: ... I ... I give (mumbled) please Tweet them to me (several talking and laughing) as quickly as possible. Um, it's ... I participated today on the ... it's on the sexual assault prevention summit. Um ... um, done by the University. It was well done, um ... even though it wasn't necessarily geared toward K-12, there was some information there I thought, um, could, um, be...be used across, you know, all different jurisdictions, and then last but not least, if you haven't had a chance to go through the hun... Hunger Task Force report, it is important. Um, you know, one of the ... actually one of the ... it is a City, County partnership. It was, um, Janelle that really took that on and, um, it really, um, kind of pushed that, um, after we talked and did some things, and after our ... the conversation around hunger, um, maybe two years ago, and so, um, excited about what Lynette has provided and all the other community members, including food banks and other things that were able to participate. Dickens: I have nothing! Cole: I'm really excited along those lines, Kingsley, what the County's doing in terms of the local foods (mumbled) I think that is really, really exciting. Um ... the School District is also in the process of reviewing their herbicide, pesticide policy. They're following our lead on that. I think that may have some controversy with it. Um, but that is a policy that I'm really excited about and at least I'm individually really wanting to support. Um, so I hope people will reach out. I think Phil Hemingway's leading the way on that. I don't know if he's reached out to any of you, but I encourage you to reach out to him to get more information on that particular topic. Um ... for conferences, there's a conference in late September called "Collaborative Cities," in Madison and I'm interested in possibly going. It's National League of Cities, and I think it sort of fits right in with what we're trying to accomplish in this particular city, so I'm really excited (both talking) Throgmorton: I'm going to bring that up during the work session. Cole: Okay! Um, and then the other thing too is that, um, it's ... it's Earth Day coming up here, so keep an eye out for the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability. Throgmorton: 22"a Cole: ...a ton of really good stuff that they're going to be doing, so ... um ... its sort of like Christmas for some of us. That's great! So ... that's it! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 46 Throgmorton: Fabulous! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016. Page 47 ITEM 24. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF a) City Manager Throgmorton: Geoff? Fruin: Uh, couple of quick things. On, uh, the Earth Day, we are having a celebration on the 22nd at Mercer Park at 4:30. There's a park clean-up and some, uh, family friendly activities there, so ... if you can make it out, please... please do. Also if you can mark your calendars for May 24a', uh, we have tentatively, uh, booked Dan Parolek who is the author of the "Missing Middle" concept, uh, to come, uh, to the community. We don't have a schedule for Dan's appearance, but ... uh, likely be meeting with various groups throughout the day and offering a public presentation in the evening at some point, but that will be on May 2e, and then a big thank you to everybody that was involved in pulling off the Olympic trials, uh, that was a huge, uh, event and, uh, takes a lot of work to pull that together. The Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Downtown District, and the University of Iowa, uh, specifically, urn ... really worked hard to make that event a ... an .... an incredible one for not only the participants and the spectators, but for the entire community. I can tell you downtown was ... was packed, um, and there was a little bit of Mission Creek sprinkled in there too, so it was ... it was really a great weekend for, uh, for Iowa City. Throgmorton: Simon? Andrew: Uh, May 4d', uh, Fanners Market season starts so .... Wednesday we'll start out here on May 4a', and then every Saturday, so ride your bikes down throughout the month of May and ... get a couple of dollars for, uh, your food that day, so ... we're looking forward to it! Botchway: You drive and then ride like (several talking and laughing) Andrew: ...park your bike three blocks down here! (laughter) Cole: One final thing, urn .... the ... to follow up on the presentation of bike proclamation of the Bill Nesper (mumbled) on May 9a'. I just want to second that again. I think that's really exciting in terms of making the city a gold level community. That's going to be on May 9d', so I encourage people to go to a lot of those events on that date. Throgmorton: Yeah. Excellent! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 19, 2016.