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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-10-04 TranscriptionPage 1 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2a National Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15- October 15 Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Human Rights Commissioner Joe Coulter. (applause) Coulter: On behalf of the Hispanic, uh, Latino, uh, communities in Iowa City, uh, I want to .... and the Human Rights Commission, I want to thank you, Mayor, uh, for this proclamation, the Council, and the City of Iowa City, uh, for this recognition. Throgmorton: Thank you, Joe. (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 2 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2b World Habitat Awareness Week— October 3-7 Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Executive Director Mark Patton. (applause) Throgmorton: (unable to hear, away from mic) Patton: First off, thank you very much for issuing the proclamation. Um, we all know that housing is not a right in this country, um, and that leaves us short. Um, I want to acknowledge and thank you all for getting ahead of the curve now on housing and putting some money aside as we go forward and perhaps do some land banking and sother... some other progressive matters which will... start the ball rolling and that's all we can do at this point, and thank you for your concern about those who ... who go without. (applause) Throgmorton: I'd just like to report that Mark Patton and I, uh, spoke in a dance class at the University of Iowa last week, uh.... (unable to hear person speaking from audience) Oh I .... well you fill that in! (unable to hear person speaking from audience) (laughter) It was great fun too! (laughs) Nice to see you again, Mark! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 3 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2c Fire Prevention Week — October 9-15 Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Fire Marshall Brian Greer. (applause) Greer: I'd like to thank Mayor Throgmorton for issuing his proclamation for Fire Prevention Week and obviously we try to extend a little bit more, call it Fire Prevention Month. (mumbled) like to thank the Council for you know all the support you have along with the City to support the programs and stuff we have in place to try to make sure that our citizens here are safe from fire and other disasters like that that we can do something about. So, thank you again (mumbled) Throgmorton: (mumbled) (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 4 ITEM 2. PROCLAMATIONS ITEM 2d Domestic Violence Awareness Month — October Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Kristie Doser, Executive Director. (applause) Doser: First thing I want to do is congratulate Mayor Throgmorton in gettin' through all of those. (laughter) Ours was lengthy so that was a bit of a challenge! I do want to say thank you so much to the Council for your support over the years for victims of domestic violence. We've been, um, working in this community for an extended period of time. We were actually one of the first domestic violence programs in Iowa, and also, uh, some of the first in the nation. Iowa was only the .... the third state in the nation to have a domestic violence program. And so from our perspective we really see Iowa City specifically and Iowa as a leader in responding to domestic violence as an issue. I also want to thank those of you who were able to come out over the summer and meet some of our staff, and get a chance to talk a little bit about the impact of domestic violence in our community and the work that we're doing. You've heard me say this before, domestic violence is a crime that is preventable. Uh, it's something that we as a community must take responsibility for, and we must change how we talk about it. The days of asking the question `why does she stay' must go away. And we are in a space in our .... in our understanding of these issues and specifically in our community and how we respond to domestic violence, at a place where we should be asking `why is this person battering and what can we do to stop it.' So I want to thank you again for your ongoing support. Because of you we have crisis intervention services that are critical and life saving. Um, for .... many of us who've been doing this work for a long time, uh, for me specifically, I worked in a couple of other communities before coming to Iowa City and it was so important to me to come to Iowa City just because of the kind of community that we have here. So once again, thank you and I look forward to a long partnership with you. (applause) Throgmorton: It was a pleasure to read the proclamation. DVIP's done great work for a long time around here. So ... uh, I'm gonna ... I want to read a letter also that does, uh, not appear on the formal meeting agenda, but this is a timely moment to do it. This is a letter to Mayor, uh, Ron Corbett up in Cedar Rapids. (reads letter) So, uh, this is dated October 4th and I think it's already been sent electronically to the Mayor, right? Karr: Yes! Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay. So with that we can move to Item 3. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 5 ITEM 4. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). [UNTIL 8 PM] Throgmorton: So, uh.....if any of you would like to speak to any item that's not on tonight's formal meeting agenda, uh, please feel free to do so now, and I'd like to ask you to keep your comments to not more than five minutes, and .... we can move from there! And before Roger even starts speaking though I want to make sure I welcome all of you to tonight's meeting. Uh, it's been a .... a lovely balmy, early fall day and, uh, you know, it's .... now it's dark out. What can you say? But anyhow, welcome to our meeting, uh, to the meeting of your City Council. Roger, I didn't mean to turn you away. I meant to just .... I was just .... just wanted to say that. Knight: (mumbled) Throgmorton: What do you think of that, Roger? (laughter and several talking) Knight: (mumbled) That's good! All right, um .... sorry for that! Um (clears throat) I just wanted to kinda air out what I said last City Council, and put a little bit more to it .... of the police not being able to help out. I don't know what's going on with the Police Department, but they're bein' less and less visible. There's more and more problems downtown. I've seen more and more bicycles almost ru min' over people on the sidewalks where there's a sign ... that says no bicycles, skateboards, or anyone wearing, um .... roller blades on City sidewalks downtown, or on the ped mall. Know what that is? That's how close I've seen someone on a bicycle almost run over a little kid's hand. On the ped mall. That much! Where was the police? Nowhere! Nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be visible, so this stuff will continue to happen. I mentioned once before, last time, you call the police. Nothing gets done! You ask for help .... and dispatch gives you an attitude you would expect from your teenage daughter or son of `you should be home by 3:00. (makes sound) You need help? Why? Well, I thought you were the Police Department. I'm sorry! I've done what I can .... to say `hey, by the way, you need to get off your bicycle. A few'11 accept it and hear why. A few will not. You got .... an issue of partyin' around town for the college students. You want to end it? Well, you need to be stricter on the laws. Enforcing `em and we need to start having a policy of what Cedar Rapids once had. I know Cedar Rapids is not Iowa City and vice versa. But college students, when I was there, we were scared to do anything because the police were always around. You coulda thought a little bit more .... things will be changed, and those who can get in front of a bicycle and say `no, you're not gonna ride around me.' This isn't enough. Because Gabe's, I've gone there and asked them to turn down their music. `Hey, can you turn it down? I'm two doors down. You're rockin' me out of my apartment!' I don't live next door. I live two buildings down. What was their answer? They turned it up! That's right, they turned the music up. Where was the police? (mumbled) answer that question I'd be greatly .... to hear it. And then one last little thing is, um .... I understand the buses for Gabe's, um, bands are allowed to park against This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 6 the ramp. But can something be done for .... the diesel generators that they have on some of those buses. They run all day. They run all night. And those fumes are very toxic! There's a firefighter here. He can talk to you about how dangerous they are if you need. Thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you, Roger. (noises in background; several talking) Christenson: Uh, I'm Ann Christenson, a resident of Iowa City, here speaking on behalf of I00grannias.org for a livable future. First, I really want to commend the Council for the initiatives it's undertaking regarding affordable housing, social justice, and sustainability. Many, many people, including all 154 grannies thank you for this, and want you to continue doing what you're doing. You're doin' a great job! The specific interest of 100 Grannies.... tonight is the sustainability issue. Not all of you were with us four and a half years ago, but it has been four and a half years that we have been asking the City of Iowa City to ban single -use plastic bags. It's a really small (laughs) step in sustainability, but it's a start. Ultimately, we grannies would like to help Iowa City and the University work together to attain net zero status. That's a big order. Let's start with an easy course of action. There is no need to reinvent the wheel! The wheel has already been rolling in uncountable places in this country and around the world. We're not talking about keeping plastic bags out of landfill. We're talking about the future of this planet. Our rivers have become sewers of plastic and other debris, leading straight into the .... our oceans. The Ocean Conservatory has declared the amount of unmanaged plastic waste entering the ocean has reached crisis levels. Another reason for banning plastic bags is they're a fossil fuel burden. Plastic is not only made from petroleum. Producing it requires a lot of fossil fuel derived energy. The fact that Americans throw away some hundred billion plastic grocery bags each year mean we're .... we're drilling and importing millions of barrels worth of oil and national.... natural gas for a convenient way to carry home a few groceries. A study by the City of San Jose, California, found that a ban that they passed in 2011 has led to plastic litter reduction of approximately 89% in the storm drain system, 60% in the creeks and rivers, and 59% in city streets and neighborhoods. That's an accomplishment! Among the many places in the world that have banned these bags is California now, the whole state, taking effect a year ago. Hawaii also has banned, the whole state has banned plastic bags. The bill in California prohibits stores from providing single -use carryout bags to customers. It also prohibits stores from distributing recycled paper bags at the point of sale, unless the store makes that bag available for not less than 10 -cents per bag. The bill allows and in fact requires.... that all the money collected for those bags be retained by the store and be used only for specific purposes. That's the same in England. The whole country has banned bags and that the specific purposes to which their sale, bag sale money goes, is .... are charitable causes of the .... of the company's choice. Plastic waste is not only damaging ecosystems and human health, it is taking a financial toll on fishing industries, urban infrastructure, and tourist economies. It is time for you, our Iowa City officials, to act on this issue. Yes, there will be resistance, we know that! There is always opposition to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 7 change. But what in the world is Iowa City waiting for? We're tired of the procrastination and dithering. We are your people! We are your supporters! We'd like to see some issues resolved. Thank you. Mims: Ann, you might not be aware but that is in the strategic plan that we've approved (both talking) moving forward. Christenson: I am aware, but it's been a very, very slow play ... pace! (laughs) Mims: I agree but I just wanted you to be aware, in case you weren't. I want to make sure (both talking) we are planning to move forward (both talking) Christenson: ....know that but what .... what we mostly hear is what it's ... is it going to help our landfill? Well that's not what we're talkin' about! Mims: Oh I agree! Throgmorton: Thank you, Ann. Uh... Simon, you .... you addressed this during the strategic plan discussion. What's the time table for seeing a draft ordinance or .... you know, with regard to (both talking) Andrew: Sure! We discussed a .... a number of things that'll be coming back to you as part of the comprehensive waste minimization strategy. At the next Council meeting will be a multi -family recycling, a curbside composting, an electronic's ban, and a tar policy and then later on in 2016 we'll be coming back to you with a proposed schedule for the plastic bag ban. Throgmorton: Thanks. Thanks to all of you for coming! I see Becky! Good evening. (several talking in background) We talked about all they .... all those bags around you, Becky! (several talking) Ross: Yes, I'm the bag monster! I've got a lot of baggage (laughter) I'm Becky Ross. Um ... I'm going to be probably repeating some of what Ann said, but .... first of all I would like to thank you for tackling some of these big issues. The .... the waste management and the, uh, sustainability issues, and I know that single -use plastic bags are on this list. So we ... we want you to know we will be willing to help in any way we can. Um, and .... one of the, I just want to say, these bags do not biodegrade. They only degrade, and they cause more, uh, problems to the environment and it takes hundreds to thousands of years, uh, depending on where they are in the environment to ... to degrade. When any plastic is in the landfill, it takes up to a thousand years. So yes, we know that plastic bags are just the tip of the iceberg, but when it comes to plastic pollution.... when it comes to plastic pollution, but we need to start somewhere. So by educating our citizens, people will learn how much more .... how much plastic pollution there is and how much damage it is doing. We know that there are several stores in the area that have already eliminated or have never used single -use plastic bags. Uh, New Pi, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 8 Aldi's, Costco, just to name a few of the larger ones. And I know there's even a few, um .... uh.....like fast food kind of places around that .... and I .... I'm not sure exactly which ones they are so I'm not going to name `em (laughs) cause I don't want to be naming the wrong one! But, um, I do know that re ... that using a reusable bag will not change the quality of your life! May .... unless it does for the better. Uh, I've been refusing single -use plastic bags. I know it doesn't look like it, but (laughter) for almost five years now, and .... I don't have to take all those bags to the recycling center! So actually it's made my life easier! Um .... I've also been collecting all the bags that I get in my home without even trying. Most of it is packaging, uh, like the newspaper bags, which some of 'em ..... some of these are newspaper bags, um .... and bread bags, uh, maybe you're wearing them on your feet (laughs) Uh, magazines and sales promotions that come in the mail with plastic around `em, and I don't know why cause I used to get all that stuff without it. Um .... but I'm wondering if we might promote the idea that these items can also be recycled. Uh, I know that Jen Jordan has told me that any stretchable plastic can be recycled, right with these, uh... uh.... grocery bags, and I don't think most people realize that or even think about it. So maybe that could be one way you could get people to, uh, think a little bit more about the plastic. Cause a very, very small percent of, uh, the single -use plastic is recycled, and we really should at least do that. Um .... I would really like to see Iowa City be the leader in this movement to eliminate these bags. I understand, uh, it would have to be done in increments, and we've talked about that several times. Education and promotion of the idea and then charging a fee for the .... using a plastic bag, and I think we should charge for the paper bags too, because they're both, uh, I mean if people start using reusable bags, that's the best thing. The .... the paper isn't that great either. So (clears throat) and then finally eliminating them. And I have a whole list of countries that have some kind of a .... a.....a charge or a tax and bans. There's, um, Ireland and Wales and Italy, Scotland, uh, all stores in Germany that provide plastic bags must pay a recy... recycling tax. That's the .... the stores have to pay that tax. So I ... I'm sure they must pass that on to their customers, but um .... England, uh, since October of 2015 has an official bag charge, and .... the U.S. as of July 2014 has 20 states, 132 cities, um.....meaning some 20 million U.S. citiz.... citizens are now living in an area where plastic bags are banned. Mexico fines stores for giving plastic bags to the customers, since August of 2010. Um, Brazil, um, south Aus.... states of south Australia, north .... and north territory along with some cities have independently banned the bag, uh, and it's estimated that 400 million bags are saved each year. I could go on and on here, and I don't know that you want to hear all these, but urn .... there's just so much ... so many places that have .... done this that I am very confident that Iowa City could do this and I'm just excited that you're workin' on it and thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you, Becky! Kirkpatrick: Hello, I'm Mary Kirkpatrick (clears throat) and I'm one of the chairs of the 100 Grannies bag, uh, committee. We've had a bag committee that has met for over four years, once a month, and some of the things that we've done that I think are This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 9 helping to lay the foundation for this, um, eliminating plastic bags, we've made plastic bags, several hundred of them. We've sewed and .... and passed out to people on the ped mall, with University of Iowa students. We've given them to elected officials. If any of you haven't gotten `em we'll be glad to share one. Um, and we've taken them many other places and given them to people. We've tabled at events around the comm .... around the community, at Earth Day events. We've had a booth at the Johnson County Fair. We've had ... we've marched in parades, spreading the word. We have written letters to the editor. We've been interviewed by local media. We've had people sign pledges that they will not use disposable plastic bags. We've given awards to stores like New Pi and Aldi who are showing us that we can do just fine without those disposable bags. So thank you for taking on this, um, issue. A 100 Grannies, um, you know, we're not the youngest members of the community and we were glad that this can move forward before we get any older, and uh, like some of the other grannies said, we'll be happy to support you and .... and do community education going forward. Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Mary. Wildensee: All right! Good evening to the Council. Hi, my name is Kristin Wildensee and thank you for the chance to speak to you tonight. I'm also here with 100 Grannies for a livable future, and I do applaud Iowa City's 2016-2017 strategic plan, uh, to foster a more inclusive, just, and sustainable Iowa City. Tonight I particularly want to call out priority #6, promote environmental sustainability, which includes this commitment — evaluate and consider implementation of a plastic bag policy. I understand, as I think it's been, um, you .... stated, um, that the plan will be presented to Council later this year and that staff is currently reaching out to the business community for input as this process is developed. I, along with over 150 members of 100 Grannies for a livable future support Iowa City taking a strong stand on eliminating single -use plastic bags. If we did so, our city would be joining over 150 other U.S. cities and counties that already ban or require fees on single -use plastic bags, as well as many countries outside the United States, as Becky was giving some examples. And so why is such a thing important? I'm sure you've heard and we talked about some of the numbers around plastic bags before, yet the numbers really are astonishing (laughs) and I just had a couple more I'm going to repeat for context. Worldwide it's estimated we use one trillion single -use plastic bags every year, trillion, and in the United States I have read it is an estimated 100 billion bags that pass through the hands of U.S. consumers every year, and then a plastic bag as.....has been said can persist for up to 1,000 years inside of a landfill, and yet ... the average operating life of a single - use bag is 20 minutes. Twenty minutes of usefulness before we are done with it, and it's disposed of. So the enormous volume of single -use plastic bags creates all kinds of issues that, to me, obviously outweigh any of the convenience argument to keep them. In fact, the World Economic Institute says that the cost of the downside of plastic packaging, such as rampant litter, harm to our oceans, wildlife, harm to tourist economies, harm to the fishing industry, etc., plus the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 10 cost associated with greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production is conservatively estimated at $40 billion a year. That's the cost of all those harms or ... or .... or, you know, taxing on the ... on the environment, and that $40 billion a year cost actually exceeds the plastic packaging industry's profit pool. So it's ... it actually doesn't weigh out. We're just not in the habit in our.....our economic models to sometimes include those costs, but, um .... that's .... that's the nature of plastic bags, single -use plastic bags. It makes no sense to trade convenience of single -use plastic bags for all of the downside that we may not notice every single day, yet we know it is happening, and we can do something about it. So therefore I encourage Council to approve a very strong plastic bag policy for the City of Iowa City that would essentially eliminate single -use plastic bags from our community. Thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you, Kristin. Anyone else? Well I hope you can be pleased in another month or two or however exactly long it takes, but uh... come back, uh.... at a .... at that timely moment. I'm sure you will! You've done great work! (several talking in audience) (laughter) Okay, I see no one else who wants to speak during, uh, public discussion so let's move to Item 5, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page I1 ITEM 5. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS ITEM 5a PRECINCT BOUNDARIES - ORDINANCE AMENDING 1-9-313 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES TO ADD RECENTLY ANNEXED PROPERTY TO PRECINCTS S, 10 AND 24 2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Botchway: Move first consideration. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Karr: Mr. Mayor, I'd just like to note, this is a procedural thing that, uh, is required by the Secretary of State's office that we update our precinct maps to reflect the annexed areas and in many of our annexed areas the population is zero, but it is necessary that the boundaries show that. Throgmorton: Right. Thank you. Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call. Motion carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 12 ITEM 6. PCC PAVEMENT REHABILITATION 2016 — APPROVING PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PCC PAVEMENT REHABILITATION 2016 PROJECT, ESTABLISHING AMOUNT OF BID SECURITY TO ACCOMPANY EACH BID, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO POST NOTICE TO BIDDERS, AND FIXING TIME AND PLACE FOR RECEIPT OF BIDS b. CONSIDER A RESOLUTION Botchway: Move the resolution. Dickens: Second. Tbrogmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Dickens. Discussion? Does staff want to say anything? Frain: Only if you have questions. Pretty.... pretty straightforward maintenance project. Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay. Uh, hearing no discussion, roll call. Motion carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 13 ITEM 7. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY ELECTRIC FRANCHISE - ORDINANCE RENEWING THE FRANCHISE GRANTED TO MIDAMERICAN ENERGY COMPANY, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, TO ACQUIRE, CONSTRUCT, ERECT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE IN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, AN ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER SYSTEM TO FURNISH, DELIVER AND SELL ELECTRIC ENERGY TO SAID CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS FOR A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: Item 8 addresses exactly the same thing, except with regard to the gas franchise. So I'm going to open the public hearing now for the electric franchise, but if anybody wants to address the gas franchise at the same time, that'd be okay, wouldn't it? All right, so I'm going to open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Would anybody like to address this topic? You're becoming a pro at it, Roger! (laughter) Knight: I just want to mention, um .... for whoever, for MidAmerica or anyone else that comes in after MidAmerica, I would like to see if the City can't do somethin' just to put it in a bylaw or somethin' to prevent what happened in Cedar Rapids with, uh, Alliant Energy. Um, in case who doesn't know where they .... I don't know, you can maybe .... um, explain it better, but how they calculated the energy for, uh, June and July. They didn't do it enough so now all of a sudden the residents are gettin' $500 bills because they calculated it different. Where .... they said somethin' about State law, they have to .... get that money, but you're screwin' over families who thought they were in the clear. They were told they were in the clear, and then all of a sudden, `oh by the way...' That should not be allowed! Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Roger. Would anybody else like to address this topic? Good evening, Mayor! Bailey: Good evening, Mayor, Council. Regenia Bailey. I live in Goosetown and I would like to just urge you as you consider your agreement, your franchise agreement and partnership with MidAmerican Energy, um, to work with the company on their LED street lighting initiative that they talked about in their letter, to pursue a more sustainable option for the community. I have a ..... and when I'm talking about sustainable I don't only mean the environmental impact because we know LED lighting uses, um, less electricity. We know that there's an economic sustainability aspect from the economic perspective, but I'm talking about the public health and neighborhood wellness perspective of LED lighting. Um, currently, um, I understand that MidAmerican is just using two types of LED fixtures in Iowa City. One type I understand has a broader, but it's a less intense light. The other is more focused and probably to the eye it might seem like a brighter light. Both of these types use the typical LED blue spectrum lighting that we've heard a lot about that's ... that comes out of our phones and our computers. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 14 So we're exposed to this a lot. As you can see from the Washington Post article that I provided, many cities are exploring different LED lighting options. As we know, we're in a kind of a first generation exploration of using LED lights around humans and in ... in our street lights, so a lot of cities are looking at other options. Some of those options include LED lighting that has a more of an amber hue, similar to this, uh, pressured sodium high-pressure lights that we see now. Some are using, um, lights that have a lower kelvin rating which means that they're a little less bright than the current ones, and we have some really bright LED street lights in our community. Some are looking at some kind of combination. Um, I think looking at these options are important because of the health implications. As you can see from the article, we're just beginning to learn about the health effects of blue spectrum LED lighting, and the Medical Association has, um, some concerns about exposure to blue spectrum LED lighting. So as we consider what's the most sustainable option for our community from an economic, from an environmental, and from a human health perspective, it makes sense to work with MidAmerican to really, um, balance these interests and explore our options. So I'm asking you to work with MidAm to use amber hued lighting, um, LED lights, with the lowest feasible kelvin rating, especially in neighborhoods. I think that that has a huge impact on our quality of life in our neighborhoods. This .... this can help minimize sleep disruptions and other health concerns caused by blue spectrum LED lights. Ensure that the light, um, from these new..... newly installed LED, um, lights is directed and focused on the streets. These are street lights and that's their intention. They're to illuminate the street. Um, ensure that they're focused on the street and not on the houses and the adjacent properties. There's one in particular in my neighborhood that I .... I've talked to staff about and I know MidAm is addressing the issue; um, it's casting a wide .... a wide light, and the shadows are pretty amazing. There are noon -level shadows in the middle of the night. So make sure that the .... these lights are focused, and also not going into the night sky. I would encourage you also to consider what we have now, the LED streetlights, and make adjustments to them. Um, many of them are unfocused, not .... um, necessarily directed to the street. Um, some along arterials, I noticed, can cause glare and vision disruptions as you're driving along because of the way that they bit a windshield, um, depending upon, you know, the height of your car or your vehicle. Um, many seem to be a higher kelvin rating than might be necessary along an arterial, but I do know that we need to light our arterials well so there needs to be a balance there. So I would urge you to look at those, um, sorts of things. So .... as we consider a community, being a community, um, concerned with sustainability, I think in the most comprehensive sense we need to look at the health and neighborhood implications of these kinds of lights. We have an opportunity to learn from other communities, um, other people are trying some options so exploring what the best practices are, and then leading in this area in the midwest. I think there's a real opportunity for Iowa City to partner with MidAm and lead into some really good sustainable solutions with LED lighting. Thanks! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 15 Throgmorton: Thank you, Regenia. You know, I .... I realize I forgot to do something I intended to do and indicated to the staff that I'd ask them to do .... at the start of this public hearing. So if you don't mind I'm going to ask our City Attorney to explain the background, how it is we got to this point, and then Geoff to summarize his recommendations to us, and then I'm sure MidAmerican officials would like to speak, as well, and maybe others. So, Eleanor, please! Dilkes: Urn .... it's hard to know quite where to start with the history because it has a long one, so I'm (laughter and several talking) Urn .... prev .... bef...we have a .... a franchise agreement, both gas and electric now, that was, urn .... adopted in ... in 2007. Prior to that, the last franchise agreement had expired in 2001, and between 2001 and 2007, there was a lot of activity around, um, municipalization or the feasibility of a municipal electric utility. Um, there were studies done, um, both on behalf of Iowa City and the ... the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, um, as well as by, um, MidAm about the cost, um, it .... of setting up a municipal electric utility. Urn ... and there was a lot of, you know, disagreement on those issues. Then in 2004, there was a petition, uh, filed, urn ... to, um, put the issue on the ballot, and the way Iowa law works is that, um, any ... before a municipality can proceed with a request to the Public Udil.... Utility Board, um, for a certificate of authority to set up a muni .... any munici.... any municipal utility, there has to be an election a .... allowing that, and that can be, urn ... put on the ballot by the Council, but it can also be put on the ballot by petition, and in this case it was put on the ballot by a petition. Um....it....it....was voted on in November of 2005. Uh, there was about a 29% turnout and it failed 67% to 33%. So after .... at that point then, staff.... Council directed staff to go back into negotiations with MidAm, um, and MidAm and.....and City staff, as well as I believe.....a couple Council Members, right? Um .... uh, engaged in these negotiations. Um.....came up with the, um, and there were some .... pretty detailed and .... intense negotiations. There .... there are .... I'm not going to get into the whole what you can and can't accomplish with the .... a franchise, but in any event, um, I think staff and the Council Members that were on the committee felt good about it, recommended it to Council. Um, Iowa law, uh.... limits the length of a munici... any municipal utility to 25 years. Um, the current one has a 25 -year term but....it.....at.....at the two 10 -year marks, in order for it to be renewed or to be continued, Council must pass, urn .... must take action to....to do that. And as I explained in the memo, um, the term provision was originally presented to the Council in a very kind of traditional way where a .... where it would be, um.....it would go for 10 years and then unless Council terminated it, it would go for another 10 years, and at that point unless Council terminated it, it would go for another five. So that's how you got to the 25. And at that point, um .... uh, a member of the Public Power Initiative, Karen Kubby, suggested that instead of doing, uh, the termination language we substitute it with the .... with a provision that we now have in the ordinance, which says, um, it will terminate on the 10`h year anniversary unless, um, a year prior to that, and in that one-year period, we're in that period now from 2015, December 4a' of 2015 to 2016, December 4`h of 2016. Unless there's actually affirmative action by the Council to continue This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 16 that, um, it will terminate at the 10 -year anniversary, which in this case would be 2017. So I think, and in looking back at the transcript and thinking back about that, um, my recollection is that her thinking was that, um, it would be a more conscious process by the Council to continue it rather than to just .... have it go on without anybody paying any attention to it, so.....that's how we .... got to this point. Throgmorton: Great! Uh, very helpful, thank you and there's one particular date you reminded us of during the work session (both talking) Dilkes: December 4`h of 2016. Throgmorton: That's when we have to act, uh (both talking) Dilkes: Right. It will terminate on December 4ch of 2017 if you don't act before 24`h of. ... December 4h of 2016. Throgmorton: Okay. Thank you. Geoff, you want to pick it up from there? From: Yeah, my recommendation to you was ... was very brief. There's a cover memo in the packet. Uh, in short I feel like we have a ...... a good, strong working relationship with MidAmerican Energy. Um, locally, uh, they come to the table, uh, when we have issues and ... and work with us to resolve those. I feel like they're investing in their infrastructure here locally. Um, on a .... a national, or I'm sorry, on a bigger scale, at the statewide level, uh, you've received information on their 100% renewable energy vision and I think they've demonstrated pretty impressive progress towards that and ... and you could, um, put, um, their effort in .... in the renewable energy field up to anybody else in this country, and I'm not sure you'll find anybody that's been as aggressive or, uh, that has taken the steps that they have, um, to this point. So, um .... staff does not see any compelling reason, uh, to, uh, hit the pause button or renegotiate. Um, we had those discussions internally. We asked ourselves if there's anything that, um, we felt needed to be re .... renegotiate .... renegotiated and, uh, frankly we all came to the conclusion that, um, renewal was, urn ... the most appropriate action from our standpoint. Throgmorton: Great! Thank you, uh, I do apologize for my oversight and not having this happen, uh, beforehand. Uh, would either of you from MidAmerican like to address the topic? Reinders: First of all I just want to say thanks to the Mayor and the Council, and uh, specifically Geoff and Eleanor for, uh.... uh, getting this to the staff and bringing it to the table. Uh, appreciate Geoff s comments about the partnership we have with the City and, uh.... uh, most of that or a lot of that is because of my colleagues and I .... Perry Sparks, he's the Operation Manager here in Iowa City and the surrounding area, and he and his team, uh, hopefully do exactly what This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 17 Geoff said about, uh, coming to the table, if there's issues and working with you, uh, and, uh, if there's things beyond Perry's scope and others in the company, like Kathryn Kunnert who works I know a lot with Geoff, uh, would be happy to meet with you and talk about. I'm Mark Reinders. I'm the Franchise Manager, uh, for ... for MidAmerican so that's my expertise (laughs) I guess is tied in with just specifically, uh, franchise work across our service territory. And I'd be happy to answer any questions you had. Mayor and... and I were visiting a little bit, uh, ahead of time so..... Throgmorton: Yeah, well let's see if any other Councilpeople have questions they want to ask. So .... anybody on either end of this table? Cole: Well I wonder whether you could comment on the difference in prices, and you've done the studies between municipal power providers and MidAmerican Energy, because as I understand the proponents' argument for municipal power, they felt that there would be a pricing advantage in terms of the City's abil... able to provide the electricity at a lower cost. Wonder if you could comment on that? Reinders: That was, uh, true I think in .... in years and decades past. Uh, in more recent times I think the pendulum is .... has swung the other way. Um, right now MidAmerican's actually the seventh lowest electric rates in the United States. Um, we're lowest in Iowa, uh, we are either lower or, uh, equal to almost all the munies in the state of Iowa and .... and the RECs as well. Other providers in Iowa. Throgmorton: Okay so let me ask you a couple questions. Reinders: Okay! Throgmorton: Maybe .... first of all you could, um .... offer a ... a response to what, uh, former mayor Regenia Bailey was recommending. Reinders: Um, it isn't part of the franchise, the LED lighting. Um, it is something that's really coming to prominence again in the last couple years as more and more cities look at, uh, saving dollars and .... and, uh, improving lighting in their communities, um, both on a safety level and as well as, uh.....um, in terms of public safety. We would be happy to work with you and I think Perry and his team, if..if he would like to speak he can, um, but he already ... he and, uh, Perry and the team do go out and if somebody has a complaint about a light and we're pretty good about trying to do what you mentioned, I think ma'am, about changing the focus to .... to keep it off a house or along those lines, but uh.... uh, it's something the cities are really driving and asking for and MidAmerican is partnering with, uh, almost every city in Iowa that we serve, uh, to make this happen. Throgmorton: Geoff, I don't know if, um, you've had.... staff has had any conversations along the lines that Regenia was recommending but ... but everything she said is ... sounds This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 18 spot-on to me, having the light focused down, uh, reducing the, I don't know the... kelvin of the ... of the (mumbled) so on, I mean, all those particular details. Have you had conversations (both talking) Fruin: Internally, uh, Ron Knoche's here, we've had conversations and I believe Mayor Bailey's been working with Kent Ralston and the transporta.....transportation planning staff downstairs and, um, the MPO. So, uh, we're workin..... we're workin' through those issues and, you know, we're still only, I don't know, a year into the LED process and, uh.... I'm sure that there's adjustments that need to be made, and there's ongoing conversations that need to take place and ... um, I think that's outside of the.....the franchise and I would say that, uh, at least in my, uh, time here I think the working relationship with .... with MidAmerican's been such that we can call on them, explain the issues that we're hearing and the concerns that we're hearing, and, um, they'll make a reasonable attempt to .... to resolve those with us. Throgmorton: Great, uh, thanks! So I .... I think I said I do have a couple other questions. Um ... uh, and both relate back to Kathryn Kunnert's letter. Reinders: Yes. Throgmorton: Yeah, so, uh, I wonder if you could say a little bit more about the company's proposed green label program, and about the company's plans to further reduce reliance on coal-fired electric power? Reinders: Uh, the green label program is still being worked on, uh, so we're not quite ready yet to announce a lot of the specific deals.... details on that. Um, in terms of the wind, uh, we are, uh, among the leaders in the country right now for wind generation. Uh, right now we have about.... almost 3,500 megawatts of wind generation. We have recently received approval from the Iowa Utilities Board to build another 2,000 megawatts, um, with ultimately the .... the dream of, uh, having 100% renewable energy here for Iowa, for Iowa customers. Um, with the .... the new approval from the IU ... Iowa Utilities Board for wind I I project, we'll be, uh.... uh, adding (mumbled) another 2,000 megawatts by the end....with... with construction starting in 2017. So we really went from, uh, in ... in the year 2004 we were about 70 -plus percent coal gener... gener... generation portfolio. Um, now that's less than 35%, um, and wind is right now about 47% of our generation portfolio, which again is extremely high for any utility in the United States. Throgmorton: All right. So, my last question is the one I was alluding to when you and I had that conversation before, um .... before this meeting started. So ... Kathryn Kunnert's letter says, um, when wind 11 becomes fully operational, MidAmerican will generate 85% of customers' annual energy from renewables. So, do you mean, does she mean .... demand for electricity and natural gas? No, I'm sorry, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 19 I'm misreading, uh, do you mean energy or electric energy? Does she mean energy or electric energy? Reinders: Electric energy. Throgmorton: Right, so then there's the other portion provided by natural gas. Reinders: Right. We are at about 16% of our, uh, generation portfolio right now is natural gas, and part of that also has been the switch away from coal. Uh, we've retired some of our coal operations, uh, near Sioux City, in Council Bluffs, and over in, uh, Bettendorf at the Riverside Generating Facility. A lot of those older plants, um, are no longer, uh.... uh, in commission. So to make up for that generation when the wind isn't blowing, uh, then we use the natural gas. But our ... our generation portfol... portfolio right now is about 16% natural gas, about 47% wind, 31 roughly in .... in coal. Throgmorton: Great (both talking) Reinders: ....another six in other. Throgmorton: Okay, any other questions? Thank you. Reinders: Again, appreciate ya.... the Council's consideration (both talking) Throgmorton: Anybody else want to address this topic? All right, uh, hearing.... seeing no one else, I'm going to close the public hearing. Karr: Motion to accept correspondence. Botchway: So moved. Dickens: Second. Throgmorton: Did I do (both talking) Karr: No, you're fine! Throgmorton: Okay. Uh, there was a motion by, uh.... uh, Botchway and seconded by Dickens, right? All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carnes. b. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Mims: Move first consideration. Botchway: Second. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 20 Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Cole: I guess I have a couple comments. I guess in terms of deciding this particular issue, I really would have wanted to see a side-by-side comparison of the municipal power generation, and also just for purposes of hearing both sides, you know, a response from an advocate. So did we reach out to some of the advocates of the public power 10 years ago, um, in terms of what their thought process was? I would have really liked to have seen those two pieces of information, um, in terms of evaluating this issue. Frain: Um, no we did not reach out to any of the .... the past advocates for municipal, uh, power. Um .... and the side-by-side comparison (both talking) Cole: ....the rates. Frain: The rates of, uh, the rates our residents are paying compared to municipal providers? Cole: Yep. Yep. Frain: We can try to obtain that for, urn .... the second or third consideration, if that's of value. Mims: I guess my only thought with that, Rockne, is .... I was around here when there was a big push to do the municipal power. Cole: Uh huh. Mims: And that's not something you're going to do overnight. So .... we've gotta do this now in terms of, you know, doing this franchise. If it's something that somebody wants to bring back up in terms of looking at municipal.... municipal power, to me you're looking at something that is a year's long process. Cole: Oh I understand that. I think just for purposes of the discussion it would be helpful. Mims: Because certainly when they looked at it in 2004 or whatever Eleanor said, um... at that point in time, you know, a lot of the advocates for municipal power were saying the rates could be so much cheaper, but when you really started factoring in building your own municipal power plant and all your own distribution system and everything, there was no way that it was going to be cheaper than .... than, uh, what MidAmerican was providing, and to me the other really compelling argument with this is how much MidAmerican has done in renewable energy and how much they've done with the wind, I mean, you know we talk about reducing carbon footprint, etc., here in the city, you know ..... no matter how much we `reduce,' you're really.... you're not reducing it as much as you think you are This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 21 when... virtually half of the electricity you're getting is already being produced with, you know, renewable sources, so .... um, for a timeframe I don't see that we've, you know.... Cole: No, and I understand that, and I think that .... that for my purposes, I'm inclined to vote yes. Um, I do think though just in terms of the discussion that that's helpful. I think the other part of it is that did happen 10 years ago. I haven't heard a big outcry from the community on this particular issue. Um, I think if there was sort of more of an effort on that, you know, it'd be something that we could reevaluate, but urn .... we don't really have an alternative at this point, but uh, I would like to get more information on that. Throgmorton: I think I'd like to say one thing about this, uh.....my.... I think most of you don't know that I write a dissertation about the wind energy, uh.... the wind energy industry in 1983, uh, and in preparation for that dissertation, I read a ton of literature about the energy crisis we were facing in the United States and about how the .... the projected demand for electric power was increasing 7% per year, nationwide, and that most of that power was going to have to be provided by nuclear power in combination with coal. That was the forecast .... in .... in the late 70s. So it is astonishing to see what MidAmerican Energy has done here in Iowa with regard to wind energy, phasing out coal. There's still the one nuclear power plant up at Palo, but phasing out coal, uh, and generating all this electric power, uh, through.... with this renewable energy technology. It's just amazing. Sol think.....only a guy named Amory Lovins, back in the late 70s, could possibly understand what .... what, how this might happen and so he'd be ... he'd be just, um, just astonished at this moment. Anyhow .... I'm gonna vote for this, of course, so .... I'm ready to roll! So, any .... any further discussion? Roll call. Motion carries 7-0. Now we turn to the gas part of this and we've already held some discussion but for formal purposes I'm gonna open a public hearing but first I have to say what it is, don't I. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 22 ITEM 8. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY GAS FRANCHISE - ORDINANCE RENEWING THE FRANCHISE GRANTED TO MIDAMERICAN ENERGY COMPANY, ITS SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, TO ACQUIRE, CONSTRUCT, ERECT, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE IN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY, A NATURAL GAS SYSTEM TO FURNISH, DELIVER AND SELL NATURAL GAS TO SAID CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS FOR A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS a. PUBLIC HEARING Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Would anybody care to address this? Seeing no one I'll close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 23 ITEM 10. UNDER 21 EXCEPTION CERTIFICATE REVOCATIONS - ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 4, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, CHAPTER 5, PROHIBITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS, SECTION 8, PERSONS UNDER THE LEGAL AGE IN LICENSED OR PERMITTED ESTABLISHMENTS, SUBSECTION B, PARAGRAPH B, REFERENCING THE CITY'S UNDER 21 LAW, TO SHORTEN THE REVIEW AND REVOCATION PERIODS FOR COMPLIANCE CHECK FAILURES FOR HOLDERS OF EXCEPTION CERTIFICATES. (PASS AND ADOPT) Mims: Move adoption. Botchway: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Uh, Geoff, would you like to summarize the, uh.... uh, Partnership for Alcohol Safety discussion? Fruin: Yeah, well I was able to summarize it in about three sentences in my, um, memo which .... which tells you there wasn't a whole lot of, uh, debate on the merits of the change there. Um, I thought it was a .... a good overview. I think the PAS members, uh, in general understood the rationale behind the change. Um, I think the one healthy point of discussion that we had, um .... uh, revolved around the number of compliance checks that the Police Department will be doing and if we're not, uh.... um .... performing the compliance checks at a ... at a high enough volume, is that two-year window going to be long enough, and it's really hard to answer that question at this point. Um, certainly we think, urn ... that it's sufficient but we can, you know, look back a year or two for now ... from now and if we're not checking these establishments, you know, uh, multiple times within that two- year period, it may make sense to push it to a three-year, urn .... or .... or longer, uh, timeframe but.....um, there were no informal objec... objections and we certainly haven't received any formal objections from PAS as a whole or any of its members. Throgmorton: Yeah, Geoff summarizes what I heard as well, so..... Okay, uh.... any discussion? Hearing none, roll call. Motion carries 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 24 ITEM 14. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION Throgmorton: Pauline, would you care to start? Taylor: I don't have anything. Thomas: Nothing for me. Mims: Nothing. Throgmorton: Uhhhh, Kingsley? Botchway: Nope! Dickens: I'd like to, uh, just thank Mike Brotherton for 35 years of service for our Police Department. He is, uh, retiring. I was able to attend his event on Friday, uh, my only time that I really ever ran into him in a police type thing was when I did a ride -along and he offered to zap me with their stun gun (laughter) but I turned that down, but uh, a true professional and we're gonna miss him! And also we do have a pinning ceremony on Monday at 3:00 here in this hall for two new officers (mumbled) Mims: Promotions, isn't it? It's promotions 2:00 (both talking) Dickens: Promotions! It's a pinning. Throgmorton: Rockne! Cole: Well yes I just wanted to thank the Council for the support to allow me to go to the National League of Cities conference in Madison. Um, I learned a ton. I met a lot of councilors from throughout the United States. Um, primarily was mid- sized cities, 50 to 100,000, um, and of course it was really fun just to see the initiatives going on in Madison. Um, in particular they have one $5 million initiative, a million dollars a year, uh, to assist worker -owned cooperatives. Real dynamic collaboration with the University of Wisconsin, and what they're trying to do is get more people jobs and control over their work environments. It was a very innovative program. Um, it was also fun to see the .... what a really interconnected bike grid looks like and to experience that, and so as we, as I said earlier during our, uh, earlier time, uh, to just see how that works and see how well it works and what a draw it is. Um, they have dedicated bike lanes along the lakes. Um, they have sharrows. They have dedicated bike lanes, um, and I think basically it was a mayor in the sixties that went to Denmark and sort of saw what was possible and sort of put this process, um, into play. Um, also learned about open space collaboration, um, the unconference method, so it's essentially you throw out random topics and then organize by the topics you're interested in, um, so we had some great, uh, discussions on racial, uh, justice, excessive force, um, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016. Page 25 all those various topics. So, it was a real privilege to attend and we also, and the theme was as collaborative communities how cities can effectively work with non -profits, um, so we also heard, uh, reports essentially from the Overture Center. Essentially their equivalent to the Englert. Um, and it was just a real opportunity, so I really thank Council for their support, and if you ever get the chance to go to one of these conferences, they're fabulous. I would strongly recommend it. I learned a lot. It was a wonderful experience, and of course just meeting the various councilors from throughout the United States. It was sort of fun to see what issue brought them into politics and what the issues that they're struggling with. So it was a real opportunity — thank you! Taylor: Mayor, speaking of bikes, um, I .... wanted to mention the cyclocross. Don't know if we'd talked about that. Uh, I was fortunate enough when I was in the Cedar Rapids Airport, uh, last week, heading to Denver, to run into Dr. Meehan and he was still just glowing and he was so happy to hear of it, uh, I felt that it was a very successful event, uh, and ... and very productive and profitable for Iowa City and the surrounding area and kudos to everyone that helped with that and Manan for the (laughs) welcoming ceremony which was kinda rained out, but still it was a wonderful event, uh, so I just .... I think it was great and I hope we get to have it again and ... and um.....Dr. Meehan is just a wonderful person. Throgmorton: Yeah, excellent! Uh, I'd like to expand on that very briefly, uh, simply to praise Josh Schamberger and others at the Convention and Visitors Bureau for the outstanding job they did in putting that together. Uh, you know I'm a member of the CVB board, so I've heard many conversations havin' to do with what was entailed, and uh, it was a lot of effort required and they pulled it together and they got a lot of help from a lot of people but nonetheless. Bravo to them! And then I want to mention two other things. Uh, first, the Iowa City Book Festival begins tonight. So .... and it goes on for the next five days. It'll be a terrific event, lots of, um ... really excellent writers, uh, will be presenting their work or reading from their work or .... engaged in conversation with, um .... attendees and soon. So that's a good thing! And last I'd like to congratulate Neumann Munson Architects for having been one of six architectural firms in Iowa honored at the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects annual awards celebration. Neumann Munson received three excellence in design honor awards, including one for Midwest One's building in the Riverfront Crossings District. So, congratulations to Neumann Munson! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of October 4, 2016.