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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-25 Council minutesJoint Meeting Johnson County Board of Supervisors — Iowa City Community School District — City of Iowa City — City of Coralville — City of North Liberty — Other Johnson County Municipalities and School Districts April 25, 2016 Harvat Hall, City Hall, Iowa City Minutes Call to order Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton called the joint meeting of Johnson County entities to order at 4:30 P.M. Elected officials present: City of Coralville — Mayor John Lundell, Jill Dodds, Laurie Goodrich City of Iowa City — Mayor Jim Throgmorton, John Thomas, Pauline Taylor, Rockne Cole, Terry Dickens City of North Liberty — Mayor Amy Nielsen City of Hills — Mayor Tim Kemp Johnson County — Janelle Rettig, Pat Harney, Mike Carberry Iowa City Community School District — President Chris Lynch, Brian Kirschling, Tom Yates, Phil Hemingway City of Tiffin — Mayor Steve Berner City of University Heights — Mayor Wally Heitman Discussion/update items • Rose Oaks and affordable housing update Interim City Manager Geoff Fruin presented an update on the Rose Oaks (formerly known as Lakeside and Dolphin Pointe) situation in southeast Iowa City. He noted that there are 400 units in this complex, with currently 125 of them occupied. There are 50 occupants that have stated their willingness to take the incentive being offered by the owner/management group and are either waiting for a unit to open up or are looking for units elsewhere. The management has stated that anyone with an expiring lease will be allowed to stay on the premises until August 1". Management is also working on allowing 40 to 60 households to stay on the premises during the renovation phase. Sixteen of the buildings will be renovated completely, and four buildings and the clubhouse will be demolished and rebuilt. Fruin noted that site plan approval has not yet been given for this project. Tenants are being given help in finding suitable housing by Shelter House and other organizations in the area, with the City of Iowa City providing some federal dollars to assist residents, along with funds from the Rose Oaks' management group. Fruin also touched on the affordable housing issue, noting that the Iowa City City Council has a June 21" work session planned to discuss strategy for the coming years on this topic. He invited anyone with ideas to share to contact the City Manager's office. Mayor Throgmorton invited anyone with an interest in this topic to attend the June 21" work session, as well. Joint Meeting April 25, 2016 Page 2 • Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and related services Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Janelle Rettig spoke to the CIT training that she and others attended in San Antonio recently. She stated that there was a large meeting of those who have attended the training, where four different subcommittees were put together in order to address the various issues. The Crisis Intervention Training subcommittee is planning to offer local training beginning next year, with the first training scheduled for March of 2017. The goal is to offer three training sessions per year in Johnson County. Rettig also spoke to the County's jail alternative program and how this ties in with the CIT training. She mentioned that a group will be headed to San Antonio next week for CIT training, with other sessions planned for August 15 and November 14a'. Coralville in regards to how many hours of training are required, Rettig noted that for law enforcement to receive their CIT certification they will need 40 hours of training. • Forevergreen Road interchange North Liberty Mayor Amy Nielsen noted that IDOT area engineer Newman Abuissa would be providing an update on this topic. Abuissa said the project involves an interchange of Forevergreen Road and Interstate 380. This will help to alleviate some of the congestion in the area of 965 and Forevergreen Road. Abuissa spoke to the goal of completing this project by 2020 and what other projects need to occur in order to make this happen. The project will consist of a five -lane bridge over Interstate 380, which will also include a pedestrian sidewalk on the north side and a 10 -foot trail on the south side. The interchange project is estimated at approximately $20 million. A public hearing will be held in North Liberty on May 19a' regarding this project. • Attendance Zones and Facilities Master Plan Chris Lynch, ICCSD President, spoke to the District's attendance zones and facilities master plan. Since the January meeting, he noted that they have approved the construction contract on Hoover East and have broken ground there. Contracts were also approved for the renovations at Weber and Lucas Elementary Schools. Lynch noted that they have been collecting community/neighborhood input regarding attendance zone changes. He added that they should be able to provide some type of update at the next joint cities meeting. • Hunger Task Force Report Mike Carberry with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors spoke to the Hunger Task Force report. He noted that they have met several times, with a Task Force of around 60 individuals from the area. They recently released a 25 -page report that is quite extensive, showing that the hunger needs of Johnson County are above the state average. Carberry noted that this is due, in part, to the affordable housing problem in Johnson County. Speaking to food insecurity, Carberry stated that there are approximately 18,600 individuals in Johnson County who are trying to deal with this issue. Some of the solutions noted in the report include farm stands in `food desert' areas; a mobile pantry for both `rural' areas and `food desert' areas, as well as food pantries in secondary schools; expanded outreach on food resources; and additional food storage for local pantries. The report, in its entirety, is available on the web site: www.johnson-county.com/ss. Board of Supervisor Member Janelle Rettig added that it was Iowa City Councilor Botchway's suggestion initially to form a county -wide task force. Joint Meeting April 25, 2016 Page 3 • Minimum Wage Update Mayor Jim Throgmorton asked if the County could provide an update on this issue. Johnson County Supervisor Mike Carberry stated that May 1st is when there will be a 95 -cent increase, bringing the minimum wage to $9.15/hour. John County Adm. Andy Johnson then shared a handout, stating that it details the makeup of the committee that has been working on this. Johnson County Supervisor Janelle Rettig added that several of these issues are tied together — hunger, affordable housing, and wages. She also noted the problem with Iowa's minimum wage in certain counties being lower than Illinois' and Missouri's minimum wage. • Update of the County land use plan Johnson County Supervisor Pat Harney spoke briefly to the County's land use plan. He stated that they have contracted with East Central Iowa Council of Governments to review the present land use plan and will be developing their comprehensive plan, as well as updatin� the land use plan, based on what this study finds. There will be a town hall -style meeting on June 14 to review the comprehensive plan. • Transportation Renewal ICCSD President Chris Lynch provided an update, stating that they have been looking at eliminating discretionary busing, with the exception of neighborhoods where transportation would be a barrier to attendance. He also spoke to the appeals process and how they have simplified this. The topic of walkability in neighborhoods was also touched on briefly, with Iowa City Mayor Throgmorton noting that Iowa City will be having a few guest speakers to talk about walkability. Johnson County Supervisor Rettig stated that guest speaker Bill Nesper with the League of American Bicyclists will be in the area May 9 and 10 to speak to this issue as well. • Use of Pesticides and Herbicides Iowa City Councilor Rockne Cole spoke to the group regarding the use of pesticides and herbicides. He stated that this is a major public health issue and one that he receives a lot of comments on. He noted that Iowa City has gone `chem free' in all of its City parks and playing fields. Cole asked if the ICCSD would share where they are with their policy. ICCSD Board Member Phil Hemingway stated that they have had a task force working on this issue for about a year now. • Bell Schedule Chris Lynch, President of the ICCSD, stated that they have closed on their bell schedule, with elementary schools starting at 7:55 next year and secondary at 8:50. He reminded everyone that this is a research -based bell schedule, one that was approved in February after a great deal of input. Other Updates Coralville City Councilor Jill Dodds spoke about their `playvolution' initiative that they sponsored last September, noting that research has shown this is a good way for kids to learn and is also a positive thing for adults, as well. For a week they were renamed `Playville,' and events such as a community meal in the park were offered to residents. The event is again planned for September, and Dodds stated that they are hoping to include other communities in Johnson County. She asked for volunteers to join the steering committee to help plan this year's events. Joint Meeting April 25, 2016 Page 4 Janelle Rettig with the JC Board of Supervisors spoke about the Jingle Cross and World Cup event that will be taking place later this year. She noted that this cyclo -cross event will be broadcast live all over Europe. With this important event coming, Johnson County is planning some renovations at the Fairgrounds. Another event, Grand Gable, has moved to Labor Day and will include the Tour of the Cities of Johnson County, a biking event that includes all 11 cities in Johnson County. Rettig continued, noting other Johnson County projects that are being worked on. One is the affordable housing issue, which the County has put together $600,000 towards. They will be working with the Housing Trust Fund on this. Sustainability is another big issue, with Rettig noting they have two solar arrays out on the west campus. Two more solar arrays will be coming soon, with one at the County Administration building and the other at the Health and Human Services building. There will be a new ambulance, medical examiner building on the site of the old one. Rettig also spoke to the financial assistance for non -profits to become more sustainable with things like LED lighting, solar projects, new windows, and other such changes. Road projects for the County include Ely Road, IWV, and Mahaffey Bridge, as well as several trail projects. There is also a roundabout project planned near Solon. Courthouse renovations will begin soon, with the 1970's third -story courtroom getting torn out and completely rebuilt. The Poor Farm is also seeing several projects, including Grow Johnson County and Table -to -Table, and the addition of restrooms later this year. • Public comment Audience Member Sally Scott spoke briefly to the Rose Oaks' issue, noting that it is important to acknowledge the role of The Center for Worker Justice and the Black Voices Project for advocating on the part of residents. Audience Member Bill Gerhardt noted that there is a film premiere tomorrow night at 7:00 P.M., at the School of Public Health, a documentary entitled "A Days Work," which is about a temp worker who is killed on their first day of work. Audience Member Bob Welsh gave his thanks for what he considers the best he has ever felt about Iowa City and Johnson County, and surrounding communities, for working together on important issues, such as affordable housing. ICCSD Board Member Phil Hemingway spoke briefly, noting that there will be several temporary structures available for use by any of the municipalities in Johnson County. These structures can be moved and placed most anywhere. Schedule next meeting The next joint meeting will be July 18, 2016, and will be hosted by Coralville. Adjourn Mayor Throgmorton adjourned the meeting at 6:05 P.M.