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ITEM 2. STUDENT LEADERSHIP AWARDS
ITEM 2a Horn Elementary
Throgmorton: I want to ask Siomara Luna, Whitney Noeller, and Zoe Smith to come forward. Is
this thing on? (several talking) Good deal! Hey, how you.....you must be
Siomara. Great to see you! And Zoe and Whitney. Right? Okay. So I'm gonna
read, uh, the award and then ask you to read your individual statements. Okay?
But I'll only read the award once, but .... your names are in each of these. So, the
Student Leadership Award (reads award) So, Siomara, would you read your
statement, please?
Luna: Dear City Council, Hi, my name is Siomara Luna and I have been nominated by
my teachers to receive the Student Leader Award. I love school. Art is my
favorite subject because I love how there are so many colors. I participate in band
and orchestra. I love to always be positive and smile instead of frown. I
volunteer to help my friends and classmates when they need help. I'm good at
(mumbled) my friends and classmates on when they are doing something very
important. I follow the rules. When my class and I are in the hallway, we walk in
a straight line. I'm very polite to volunteers and adults who help us around the
school. When I work on projects, I support classmates when they're presenting
their work. I'm very honored to receive this award. I could not have done it
without my family and friends for supporting me. (mumbled) new fiends who
helped me with my speech. Moira (can't hear) and Russell (can't hear) are my
best friends. Thank you to City Council for providing students the opportunity to
be recognized for their leadership. I want to thank my mom, dad, and older sister
who taught me what I know. Without them I wouldn't be the person I am today.
Thank you, Siomara Luna. (applause)
Throgmorton: Can we see that beautiful smile? (laughter) Good, thank you! Okay, Zoe!
Smith: Hello, my name is Zoe Smith and I am in Miss (can't hear) fifth grade class at
Horn Elementary School. When I see classmates struggling with school work, I
don't mind taking my own time to give some assistance to those kids. In past
years I have found that helping or even just being nice to someone can make
someone feel good. Outside of school if I see someone having a bad day, I will
give them a smile or a wave. Not only does it make them feel happy, it makes me
feel happy that I can make someone smile. Thank you so much for giving me this
award. It is a great honor. Thank you. (applause)
Throgmorton: All right! Thank you. Okay, Whitney, you're next!
Noeller: Hi, my name is Whitney Noeller. I go to Horn Elementary and I'm in fifth grade.
I'm a leader because when my teacher asks who wants to pass out papers, I raise
my hand. Or when I see someone that gets hurt, I want to help. And I want
everyone to know that I'll be a leader and help. I even am a leader at home.
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When my dad says who wants to do the dishes, I say yes and try to make it fun, so
my brother and sister want to help. I'm always looking to see where and how I
can help other people. I'm looking forward to continuing my leadership at school
and at home. (applause)
Throgmorton: Well congratulations! You all are great models for the rest of the kids in our
schools and for everybody else in our community. And I'll bet you have some
very proud parents out here. I notice some right there, and there's one right there
and back there (laughs) so .... bravo! Thank you for coming! (applause) Well lots
of us have bad days every now and then, so smiles help a lot! Thanks for comin'
kids!
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ITEM 3. Cyclo cross World Cup Thank you
Throgmorton: I think .... oh, there he is! Josh Sch.... Josh Schamberger! Hi, Josh.
Schamberger: Good evening! You already said my name so I'll skip my name! (laughter) But,
uh, I am Josh Schamberger and I serve as President of the Iowa City and
Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and I'm joined here this evening
by two of my associates, our Vice President and Marketing Communications
Laurie Haman and our Director of Sales Lyndsey Kent. Uh, we are here to thank
you for the City's strong leadership and assistance in both securing and producing
the recent Telenet UCI Cycle -cross World Cup in Iowa City at the Johnson
County Fairgrounds. This event welcomed thousands from around the country
and millions more watching from around the world. By all accounts, Iowa City
knocked it out of the park. Like hopefully your Cubs'll do here in a few minutes,
Geoff (laughter)
Throgmorton: Hey, wait a minute! You said Geoff!
Schamberger: Well whoever! I know Geoff is (laughter and several talking) Seriously though,
a simple Google search will return dozens and dozens of foreign and domestic
accounts, articles on what a great host Iowa City and Johnson County, our
community and state were .... were to this international event. The CVB was
excited to have played a small role in its success, but make no mistake — an event
like this does not happen, an event of this scale does not happen, without the
strong collaboration of the entire community. An event like this does not happen
without the strong, deft hands of City leadership and staff. I'd like to
acknowledge former City Manager Tom Markus who went with me to Belgium a
few days after those Paris attacks, which was crazy, to secure this event, and I'd
like to acknowledge current City Manager Geoff Fruin, Director of Transportation
Chris O'Brien and his terrific team who were lifesavers with, uh, transportation
and shuttling, just a day after we had that torrential downpour. Marian Karr, Julie
Johnson, Simon Andrew, Shannon McMi... McMahon and her assistant Katie, and
many others for their commitment to making Iowa City shine once again to
countless visitors and spectators. As a small token of our appreciation and that of
the entire Jingle Cross committee, we'd like to present you with this
commemorative poster that you will hopefully find a place to display somewhere
appropriate, uh, here at City Hall or elsewhere. I'm not sure I've ever been
associated with an event that has dominated (mumbled) 1 for four of the five
days leading up to an event. So it was pretty remarkable and we'll leave you with
this poster and be happy to answer any questions. We submit our bid December
I" to try and get it again for next September. Uh, we're.....a few complications
with Hawkeye home football, but we'll get it all figured out! (laughter) So,
Mayor, I'll bring this up to ya and.....and we'll just leave it somewhere up here
(both talking)
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Throgmorton: I don't know, maybe you could leave it just right there so other people can see it.
I mean so .... lean it up against the thing here (unable to hear Schamberger away
from mic) Yeah, so as long as it doesn't fall over. I don't care (mumbled)
(talking in background) Thanks, Josh, and uh, you know, we've said this before
in our meetings, but you and your team did an absolutely brilliant job.
Mims: Thank you!
Throgmorton: Thank you. (applause)
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ITEM 4. PROCLAMATIONS
ITEM 4a National Native American Heritage Month — November
Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) Is there someone (both talking)
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is D'Angelo Bailey. (applause)
Bailey: Thank you. On behalf of the Human Rights Commission, I accept this
proclamation declaring November National Native American Heritage Month.
Thank you, Mayor, City Council Members, and Iowa City residents. Thank you.
(applause)
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ITEM 4. PROCLAMATIONS
ITEM 4b Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery Day — November 6
Throgmorton: Okay, and the next proclamation tells me it must be this time of year. This one
concerns change .... check your .... no. Change your clock, change your battery
day. (reads proclamation) Is there someone here to accept this proclamation?
Karr: Here to accept the proclamation is Fire Lieutenant Swanson. (applause)
Swanson: Thank you, Mayor, Council Members, uh, for .... uh, for this proclamation for this,
uh, important day in fire safety. So on behalf of the Iowa City Fire Department,
we .... we thank you. (applause)
Throgmorton: Thank you.
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ITEM 6. COMMUNITY COMMENT (ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA). [UNTIL 8
PM]
Throgmorton: This, uh, concerns items that are .... any items that are not on the, uh, regular
formal meeting agenda. If you'd like to address any such item, please come up
and speak now. Uh, please hold your comments to five minutes or less. Good
evening, Melyssa!
Kelly: Good evening, everybody! Um, I'm so happy to be here .... to address a
compelling issue that's very important, um, in Iowa City. L. A do want to make
sure everybody knows that I spoke at length with both Geoff and Simon about
that, and um .... because I don't believe in blindsiding people. So, urn ... as you
know, a lot of people in Iowa City .... is this good?
Throgmorton: Yeah!
Kelly: A lot of people in Iowa City were very, very happy with the brochure that was put
together with community input, um, for a .... a police chief recruitment that I
understood would be a national recruitment, and an effective recruitment. Many
people have long-standing concerns about institutionalized racism in Iowa City
government and in the .... the actual, um.....administration of the City. And .... I'm
here tonight to discuss a manifestation of Iowa City's institutionalized racism, to
wit .... a so-called colorblind recruitment and application pro....process for an
incredibly important position — the new chief. Um, in the conversation with me,
uh, Geoff, uh, told me that he made a considered decision. He thought about it
and he decided not to collect demographic information from candidates. So
candidates were not given, um, an opportunity to state in any kind of, um,
optional survey form as is customary for the City's online employment
application what their ethnic, racial, cultural, urn .... identity is or, uh, about their
multi-lingual, um, skills. And my question is if you don't collect demographic
data from applicants, how can the City achieve a racially, ethnically, culturally
diverse multi-lingual applicant pool? The answer is clear. Here I quote Karen
Jennin.... Jennings in her email to me. "After conducting interviews, we now
know that the four semi-finalists are white males." I'm here and some other, uh,
white people who have strong concerns about institutionalized racism in this city,
and .... you know, let's not pretend the reason this recruitment talked about Black
Lives Matter and racial justice and social justice is because the Iowa City Police
Department is considered to be a racist department. I'm here to appeal to the City
Council to take the time to do the right thing. Doing outreach is nothing more
than a means to an end. It in itself is no achievement. You need to reopen the
application process so that the new chief is chosen from an applicant pool that
includes black and brown peoples, because communities of color in Iowa City
have been and continue to be targets of the racist Iowa City Police Department,
and we are long past time for a change. I'm standing here because I believe that
white people are responsible for fighting racism and destroying white supremacy.
After all, we invented it, we .... perpetuate it, and we profit from it. And as an
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aside note, Troy Kelsay knows I'm speaking here tonight, and as I told him in a
conversation, I said you know ... as the in-house candidate and semi-finalist, you
may well be the most qualified man in the United States of America to be the .... to
be the new chief, but because of administrative decisions from the City Manager,
you .... your, this recruitment process is marred, tainted, and in my opinion,
invalidated. I think Troy deserves better and I sure as hell know that the black
and brown communities of Iowa City de .... deserve better! You wrote a brochure
with a lot of community input about turning that racist police department around,
talking about Black Lives Matter and then having what I consi.... what I consider
to be a racist, colorblind application process has turned a great beginning into a
farce. I'm extremely, exceedingly distressed that I have to come to you about this
and I'm very, very hopeful that you will do the right thing. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Would anybody else like to address us tonight? Good evening, Joel.
Gilbertson -White: Good evening. I think I can get this done in five minutes, if you let me .... if
you start the clock slightly late, but I'm going to do my best! We're seeing
rampant racism in this nation and in Iowa lately, and (both talking)
Throgmorton: Joel, would you say your name, please?
Gilbertson -White: Yes, my name is Joel Gilbertson -White, um, and I live on the southwest side.
Um, we're seeing rampant racism in this nation and in Iowa lately, um, in
presidential campaigns, um, the situation at Standing Rock, um, and from
Ferguson to Baton Rouge to Orlando, um .... Iowa City's not immune, and I say
that it's go time for Iowa City and for this nation, uh, and this police search is
connected. As I said in the email that I sent. Um, it's a pivotal time, a pivotal
opportunity for us to make Iowa City robust against racism. So, um. .... in my
letter I said con .... please continue to do your very best in this search and I'm
concerned that we're failing and not fully recognizing it, much in the same way
that we got the Hershey bars and the Nestle bars from Halloween and we don't
realize that those are from slave labor, and um, and it's just something that we're
not aware of. Um, and so .... and so I'm not confident that our very best might be
sufficient to get us where we were on that brochure. Um, true anti -racism work is
often messy. It's painful, and can turn a previous assumptions and understandings
to dust, and then we're feeling a little bit lost. So if you're feeling uncomfortable,
disoriented, or overwhelmed, that could be a good thing, and so I'm not here to
excoriate any people. Um, I want to examine the process. I know that, I mean,
that's part of the thing is if we can get our egos to the side, we can get to the
process. So in our newly, um, formed Iowa City Showing up for Racial Justice
Chapter, we have a policy of calling people in instead of calling them out, which
means it's not about banishing somebody for being racist (mumbled) That's not
what it's about. It's....it's.... that's too easy, too simple for things like
institutional racism. Urn .... because it makes people feel defensive. Am I right?
Anybody... resonate with that? Um .... calling people in means halting the process
when something's going wrong, taking time to identify where the damage is
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taking place and taking time to set a new vector in community together, um, being
in a hurry to get things done without full buy -in is one symptom of white
supremacist culture. Um, it just is. Um, so at our pace we have produced four
white male semi-finalists for the police chief position. So I want to slow down
and ask some questions, um, because I care about you, us, and the future of this
city. Um, Melyssa was very vocal about the issue of not collecting demographic
information and I do agree about colorblind racism. I do it sometimes too. I did
it just this week. Urn .... and it can be a double-edged sword, collecting this data.
Damned if you do and damned if you don't, because oh, well now you've got this
information and if you're not following the affirmative action, uh, somebody
might call you on that, but if you don't collect it, you might get called on it, so I
guess you did. Um, so in order.... and I guess what's different about this, this is a
position of power, and sometimes when there's a position of power we do things
differently. Uh, and it might be unconscious. It might be from being nervous.
Um, but to do the anti -racist work, there must be clarity about the desired results,
along with an intense intentionality. So that we have a strong chance of the best
possible impact, and right now the possible im.....the impact is we have a choice
between four white males. Um, and I think that a person's lived experience, a
person of color's lived experience and identity may be important for an authentic
energy so that Iowa City can reach its diversity goals, um, and their identity and
culture may play a part in that. Um, the perspective and sensitivity brought by the
lived experience here can be important qualifications among, of course, many
others. Urn .... and yet because of the way this was handled, we weren't able to
find out that information. Urn .... and my understanding is that the Slavin
Consulting Firm cast the net far and we don't know about, you know, if they got
the diverse field or at least we don't know, um, and ..... so.....and I know that
putting in the effort doesn't necessarily mean that you get the results of. ... it just
doesn't always happen. Perhaps also no police, uh, no people of color police
chiefs were interested in coming here or ..... or able to, um, so I have a few
questions regarding the intentionality and the process so far .... so far. Um, and
going forward. What were the criteria for choosing the four semi-finalists, who
did the choosing, where .... when were the community advisory committee brought
in? Were they brought in prior to choosing the four white male semi-finalists, or
were they brought in after these four, um, and if they were brought later, I'm
wondering about the purpose of. .... of having them. Urn .... and I'm wondering
who will be making the final decisions among these four and what will be the
predominant criteria, and finally, I'm wondering if any of these are red flags,
and .... in which case I ask can we take a time-out or is this process in such a need
to hung along because of the deadline that the deadline is more important than,
um, finding a hire who can fully foster this in the brochure of what we're aiming
for. Uh.... I'll close. Thank you for allowing me the time.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Joel. Would anybody else like to address us on a topic that's not on
the formal meeting agenda? Good evening, Kyle!
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Sieck: Good evening, Council. Um ... my name is Kyle Sieck. I come here as a citizen
and as a member of the Iowa City Mobile Vending Association. I know you guys
had our topics on the work session today but you ran out of time. Thank you for
(both talking)
Throgmorton: We're gonna discuss it after this formal meeting ends.
Sieck: I just want to thank you for doing that. So thank you for continuing that
conversation. Um, I know you guys have a lot on your plate with the discussions
you had with the downtown ordinance, or planning, visions, so this probably isn't
the best time to be talking about how do we throw food trucks in the mix, but...
again, I thank you for having this conversation and one thing I want to add to the
conversation today is that after talking with the Downtown Association, they have
a clear position that they don't want to .... they don't want change. They don't....
they're not hard -fast against it, but they're not hard -fast supporting it. And I've
heard from you guys you want to have feedback from staff, from downtown
businesses, from the Association, and I feel like I've done as much as I can at this
point to have a conversation, so I feel like I've .... it'd be useful to have some clear
direction from you guys (mumbled) in your work session and to have the Council
specifically ask staff s opinion and if you guys have any outlets to speak with
downtown businesses yourself, I would appreciate it if you could directly
facilitate that feedback because as a person and as an association, we've done as
much as we could at this point and what's left to move forward is to .... discuss a
90 -day pilot program and the details of the pilot can .... can be worked out and if
the pilot fails, if downtown businesses are hurt, if things are chaos then the ... then
we discuss those things, but .... I really feel like a pilot program is in the best
interest of the community, the consumers, and the downtown businesses, and the
District, because we can figure out what works and have a conversation of how
can we all work together. So, I just wanted to say I'd like some direction and
whatever feedback you guys can have at this point. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Kyle. Anyone else? Hey, how you doin' tonight? (laughs) I like
your Iowa shirt.
Brown: Thank you (several talking in background) Hello, Council! My name's Anthony
Brown and as Kyle alluded to, uh, today on your work session you'll have....
you'll discuss changes to the current food truck policy. Um ... we've been, uh,
studying this all year and we have a lot of data we want to present to the Council,
to the community at large, to the Downtown District, but we haven't had enough
time yet. So what I ask you do is to, urn .... pass a ordinance that allows the City
to commit to a pilot project, and .... the pilot project would, uh, give the City the
chance to experiment, test different things, and work out all the issues from all the
different people, but at the same time it doesn't commit the City to actually
changing the ordinance. That's ultimately what we want, but it doesn't commit
the City to do that. So what I ask is that you all vote simply for the pilot project,
and the pilot project only for now, and allow everyone to give their feedback and
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work out all the issues, and in the end I believe you will come to the conclusion
we need to change the ordinance and make the changes that we will present to
you during the pilot project. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Anthony. Good evening.
Messer: Good evening, hi. My name's Rachel Messer. I'm a Iowa City resident. Um,
and um, I just wanted to echo some of the comments that have been made about
the police chief search, and also take a moment to say thank you, um, for, uh, Mr.
Frain, also thank you, um, for putting out a, uh, a job request that does highlight
racial equity. That is, I think, an amazing and important first step. Um, and I just
want to, um, ask you all to, um, I know that City Council has the power to
approve the, uh, the candidate, that Mr. Frain will, uh, nominate, um, and I just
want to ask you to truly think, um, is this person going to be someone who will
reduce disproportionate minority contact in Iowa City, and I don't mean just
reduce. I mean eliminate, um, because um .... I have, uh, you know I've heard
from friends, and friends of friends, that even though Iowa City thinks of itself as
very progressive, and it is in many ways, um, there's still ways that people feel
mistreated and treated unfairly by the police, um, targeted if you are someone
who is not white. So I just ask you please to truly think is this person going to be
the best candidate that we can have to lead this police department to a more
racially equitable, um.....engagement with the community. And I do want to
highlight, there is .... there is an organization called Campaign Zero. They are
over 50 community organizations, including the President's Task Force on
Policing. They've come up with, um, specifics, um, for, um, what local
government can look for in their police department, in their police chief, what
they canchange. So again, they're called Campaign Zero and I'm just want to
highlight a few things. I'm not looking on Facebook. I'm actually just looking at
my notes (laughter) um .... that they....that they ask and that they are requesting
of, um, local cities to think about how can they change community policing, um,
in the police department to make sure that they eliminate minority contact,
disproportionate minority contact. So one of the things is they ask can the City
pass an ordinance or revise Police Department policies to ban racial profiling and
establish enforceable protections against it. They also ask .... can the City pass an
ordinance or take administrative action to establish teams that include mental
health professionals as primary responders or co -responders to crisis situations
instead of the police showing up as the first responders. Um, and then finally I'd
like to... highlight these two points. Can the City and the Police Department, and
the City Manager.... working with the Police Department, require officers to
report all uses of force for databasing, use this to inform an early intervention
system that retrains and disciplines officers with repeated uses of force or civilian
complaints. They have a lot more asks on their web site. I highly recommend
that you look at it — Campaign Zero local policy agenda. Also I just want to say
one thing. Um, thank you so much, uh.....Mr. Throgmorton, for, um, proposing
this national month, um, for Native American Heritage. Um, and I'm sure all of
you are very aware that right now there is something that is very present, affecting
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the Native American communities here in Iowa and also North Dakota. That's
the Dakota access pipeline, and um, it's going to affect all of us, not just the
Native Americans cause it's being built right now through Iowa, um, and they're
boring right now to the Mississippi River and Lee County. So I'm just....I'm
wondering if there's anything City Council can do in honor of National, um,
Indian American Heritage Month to make a statement and say we are not for this
pipeline; we support renewable energy, um, this is going to ruin our water and our
land, um, here in Iowa, and we know that we have some of the best soil in the
world. So, um, whether that's divesting in banks. There's a lot of.....Bank of
America, HSBC, um, there's, um, Sunoco Energy Transfer Systems, um, so if you
guys do any business with any of the banks that support (mumbled) access
pipeline, um, if you can write a letter to Lee County asking that they stop the
construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, that would be amazing. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Good evening.
Jones: Good evening. Let me know if you guys can hear me. Can you hear me okay?
Throgmorton: Yeah!
Jones: Okay. My name is Charles Jones. I'm not from Iowa City. I'm from Cedar
Rapids, but I know Kyle and the whole group that's tryin' to get this food truck
thing off the ground. I .... I don't know the process, how you guys came up with
the ordinance that you came up with. I don't know what you went through to do
it. I was key in helping Cedar Rapids come up with their ordinance. I did the
research, you know, they talked to the food truck people, they talked to the
business owners. They brought us together, we sat down, we talked. I don't
know how you guys came up with the ordinance. I look at the ordinance and
it's ... it's pretty tough on food trucks. Lookin' at the ordinance, and I compare
it... you guys' with Des Moines, Kansas City, Houston, urn .... all the way up to
Oregon, Portland .... and this is tough, you know? We're entrepreneurs just like
any other business tryin' to get off the ground. Um, I see all the work Kyle has
put into this and he's done more research than I ever had to do on anything. Um,
it feels like, you know, he's swimming in quicksand at this point, and I told him
you'll run into that, but.... I.....he's.....he's having problems gettin' feedback.
I ... I see that, you know, and he don't know who to approach for it or who to talk
to. It's like a slow process, and it's real slow right now, and the pilot program
he's askin' for, I mean, that solves problems for both sides. Uh, you're not
committed, just like you know Tony said, you're not committed to anything. All
you're doin' is sayin' this is what ... we want to test this, you know, see if it's
really going to work for the community, work for the local businesses, you know.
This is one of the most diverse cities I ever seen, and I'm gonna tell ya, I'm from
St. Louis. I lived in Chicago. I lived in Cedar Rapids for the last 15 years, and
diversity not just means, you know, for the people. Choices that they have,
whether it's food, entertainment, or whatever. We're just another diverse choice.
You know, given the opportunity I'm sure it'll work for the community and
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everybody involved. Urn .... Kyle, you know, ya gotta pat him on the back, and
everybody that he's workin' with, you know, Geoff, Rockne.... you know what?
I'm sure he appreciates that, but this ordinance it's .... it's, if you compare it to any
other city's ordinance, it's, you know.....and I know Iowa City is a
different.... different creature as a city, but .... that ordinance don't.... it
doesn't.....it doesn't...... foster, you know, a.....entrepreneur food truck business.
It doesn't. It's actually... it's actually, uh.... backs you up, and I get it. There's
other people involved, but if you guys want to get a quick solution to this, that
pilot program would give it. It would let you find out whether or not it's going to
work. And that's basically what he wants. I'm pretty sure you guys want to
know if it works or not, and you know, just .... just try it. That's all. Thanks.
Throgmorton: Great. Thank you. Thanks for comin' in from Cedar Rapids! Good evening,
Jacob!
Simpson: Hello. Jacob Simpson, University of Iowa Student Government. Um, I wasn't
planning on talking but um, just hearing some of the comments tonight about the
police chief search, I just, uh, felt that it was my responsibility, um, to represent
Student Government in saying that, um, the concerns that were raised tonight, um,
need to be taken very seriously. I know the City is very, um, interested in how the
Police Department, uh, combats racism and discrimination already, um, but .... I
also just wanted to express, um, disappointment that not necessarily Iowa City but
our societal systems end up producing an applicant pool of four white males. Um,
there's some blame possibly on the City, but it's across society that this is an issue
and um, I just hope that, um, communication is very good going forward about
who's selected, why they're selected, and, uh, how the City is going to continue to
combat racism.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else?
Keith: Uh, hello. Uh, my name's Audrey. I live by Iowa City West High School, and
I'm gonna echo what Melyssa and Joel and Rachel have said earlier about the
police chief search process and I want to say like I .... I read over the whole
brochure and all the, uh, I'd emailed Geoff, I believe, and gotten some links back
to some different things that the City was trying to do and I read through all that
and I thought it was like good and interesting and all that jazz. Um, so I
appreciated having all that information, right. Um .... but uh... yeah, I just, uh,
wanted to echo Melyssa with her ask about potentially re .... reopening the
application pool to see if we can get some more people, just to see like kind of
what we hear back or whatever, um, I don't really know how that process would
work but I think it's somethin' to look into. Unt .... and.....yeah, that's really
about it. Thank you!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Audrey.
Karr: Audrey, could I have your last name?
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Keith: Oh! Keith, spelled K -e -i -t -h.
Karr: Thank you.
Keith: Uh huh.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Okay, uh.... seeing no one else, we ... we can't really directly
respond but, uh, there will be information coming out shortly. Thank you.
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ITEM 7. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS
ITEM 7a SIGN CODE — ORDINANCE AMENDING ZONING CODE
SECTION 14- 5B, SIGN REGULATIONS; SECTION 14-3C, DESIGN
REVIEW; AND SECTION 14-9C, SIGN DEFINITIONS
1. PUBLIC HEARING
Throgmorton: I'm going to open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Joan, good night .... or good
evening! (laughs)
Ream: My name's Jann Ream. I work in Neighborhood (both talking)
Throgmorton: Jann! I'm sorry!
Ream: ....Development Services. That's all right! I answer to a lot of things. (laughter)
Um .... so [just want to present, um, the reasons that this was .... this was a pretty
comprehensive amendment to the sign code. What brought us to this point and to
point out the....the most, um, prominent changes to the code so everybody's
aware of what is going to be happening in the code. Um .... (mumbled) Thanks.
So there are two main motivations for this comprehensive, urn .... looking at the
sign code and making these amendments. Um, the first was, um .... the, uh, Iowa
City Downtown District and City staff worked together to bring in an outside
design consultant to look at, uh, storefront and signage design downtown, and um,
provide us with.... everyone with a set of guidelines that could help promote the
vibrant and creative downtown that we all want. Signage is a big part of that.
Um, once, uh, the guidelines were finalized and, um ..... finished and accepted by
the Downtown District, staff and the Downtown District felt it would be a good
idea to .... to bring some of those guidelines into City code to make it more
compatible. Second reason, um, for, uh, a lot of the major changes that you'll see
in the sign code was, uh, fairly recent Supreme Court decision, Reed vs. the Town
of Gilbert, that, um, had to do with content -based signs, signage, which
um.....due to First Amendment content -based signage, um, had always been
considered unconstitutional. However, this particular decision really redefined
what is considered content -based signage. Um, basically this decision said if you
have to read the sign in order to categorize what type of sign it is and how it's
regulated, it's content -based and it's not constitutional. Eleanor, is that right?
Okay, all right (laughs) Okay, so ... we'll start with the amendments that have to
do with the downtown, uh, design guidelines. They don't all .... they don't .... they
aren't all, um, associated with the downtown, but the majority of `em are, and
you'll see the actual examples that we have here are from the actual guidelines.
So one of the first major changes, and this would just be in our CB zones, tot in
any of our other commercial zones, uh, but the downtown zones, would be plastic
trim -cap letters and cabinet signs where the entire face of the cabinet is eliminated
would be prohibited, and the examples that are outlined in red are what the
consultants are saying should be avoided .... and prohibited. Um, the plastic trim -
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cap letters, especially if you look at `em down there on the right, you know they
tend to be large, they're more for vehicular -oriented signage. We're trying to
promote a very walkable, pedestrian -oriented downtown, with creative design
and, urn ... this is probably the most prevalent type of channel letter in the sign
industry, uh, the hope is by saying, okay you can't do this, it's going to encourage
more creative design, um, more originality, and signage that's better suited to our
downtown environment. Another major change would be the size of the fascia
signs that would be allowed. Fascia signs are the signs that are affixed to
buildings. Right now, um .... we have a very generous building sign allowance. It
allows 15% of the sign wall can be signage. So if you had a 1,000 -square foot
sign wall, you could have 150 -square feet of signage. Now when downtown was
two and three-story buildings, that wasn't particularly a problem .... but now when
you consider .... 14 -story buildings and the size of those side walls, and take 15%
of that .... and.....the capability of having signage that large on the buildings, it
was an issue that.... should be addressed. The five -point times the length of...of
the street -facing facade is the standard that is found in cities across the country,
and it allows very generous signage that is proportional to the storefront.... not to
the second, third, or fourth store of residential that may be above it. It's specific
to the storefront and it creates a much better proportional signage .... for a
downtown area. Again, this would only be in our downtown zones. Other
commercial zones would keep the 15% signage. We're, um .... looking to....
expand projecting signs as a sign type. Right now we only allow the storefront
projecting signs, they're a limited size. Again, with our larger buildings that are
being built and proposed, there are certain types of tenants that a larger projecting
sign is, urn .... a more appropriate signage. It can be, uh, very eye-catching, um....
you can look at our .... the type of projecting signs we have on our parking ramps.
Our newer parking ramps downtown is an example of that. Um, this opens it up
to allow for.... um.....hopefully more creative projecting.... storefront projecting
signs. Um .... but these are the larger signs that, um, we'd be opening up for some
of our larger hotels that are going downtown, um.....you know, uh, certain uses
where there's a large major tenant in a .... in a building. And then the third type
would be, uh, on certain types of buildings, again ... ones that have large length, uh,
of facade, the idea of these, urn..... rhythmic banners. Again, they're very visually
stimulating, they could be used to good effect, and we think that, uh, downtown
businesses would appreciate and be able to use a signage of this type. And lastly,
um, we've never allowed painted signs, uh, in Iowa City. Um, generally because
once you .... a lot of times when you paint a sign it never really goes away. Um,
but we're.....on facades that aren't street -facing facades, if that signage is
incorporated into a larger mural, um, some businesses.... have entrances off of
alleys or off of alleyways that go between buildings, uh, if they incorporate them
into a larger mural we would allow signage. Um, the other thing we have found
about encouraging these types of murals in these situations is that they really
discourage graffiti, and once a mural is painted on a building, um, taggers respect
that. And we don't have issues with graffiti on those walls. So this might help
with a couple different situations downtown. And the last major change really has
nothing to do with the downtown, but we have, um, had requests from our
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industrial areas, uh, to allow a larger directional sign, as they're having problems
with semis coming .... this is, uh, Procter and Gamble, and you can .... can you see
their directional sign? No. And .... (several talking in background) semis come
into this, get trapped in their parking lot cause you can't get to their loading area,
um .... so.....they're asking for a little help here cause then the semis have to try to
back out onto Highway 6. It's not a good situation. So, um .... uh, we're asking
that, uh, that be amended to go from a 3 -square foot sign to a 15 -square foot sign.
So the second half of these code amendments have to do with this content ba...
based signage, and, um .... after the Supreme Court .... Court decision, uh, City
staff, uh, sat down with our Legal staff to assess what signage in Iowa City was
affected by this decision, and what we needed to do to bring our code into
compliance, basically, with, um, First Amendment rights and the Supreme Court
decision. And we found out we have a lot of signage .... we had a lot of signage
types that are defined by their content. In other words you have to read what's on
the sign to determine is it a real estate sign, is it a .... construction sign, is it a
going -out -of -business sign, um, so what we had to do is find a way to allow that
signage .... but rather than define it by what it says, define it by basically time,
place, and manner of. ... of how a sign is placed. And I think we've come up with
a pretty good, urn .... program to do that. Um, and we basically.... call them all
temporary signs, and we just decide .... when or how big that temporary sign can
be in a particular place, in a particular situation. Um, political signs would be
unregulated. Uh, the only thing that .... quite honestly that we do regula... it's
always been our policy that our political signs were unregulated except not to
allow them in City right-of-way, and that was the only thing that's ever been
enforced. This amendment would just codify that policy. Um .... one type of sign
that we had in this category was .... was our residential leasing signs and that was a
sign that .... um.....sign type that was added to the code several years ago to try
and address an issue, um, between property, uh, rental property owners and
neighborhoods. Uh, neighborhoods felt that the for -rent signs stayed on
properties forever, and that it really detracted from a neighborhood. Um, and
what these signs were essentially were advertising signs for the management
company or the .... the property owner that, you know, that may not even have
been advertising that particular property. So we came up with a type of sign
called a residential leasing sign that was allowed on multi -family buildings with
eight or more units in certain multi -family zones that allowed.....they were just
basically would have the name of the company, a web site, and their phone
number. We could find no way to accommodate that sign type with this
revamping of the City code. So those would be eliminated as a sign type. They
would not be allowed and any that are existing would simply be grandfathered,
but we did want to make that clear, that the sign type was going away. Um ... and,
uh, private signs in the public right-of-way would continue not to be permitted.
Um .... we do have a ra... rather tolerant policy of that right now with signs that
have to do with charitable organizations that will have to change. We'll have to
be very, um, even-handed in how we regulate signage. It'll be, uh, education,
uh.... education on our part to these organizations, so they'll simply have to be
placed on the private properties instead of in public right-of-way. Urn... impacts,
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you know, some.... some existing signs downtown will become nonconforming.
And, uh, they will not be required to be removed. They'll be grandfathered, um,
but I think especially for the downtown, the amendments help facilitate the
recommended signage, uh, that are in the guidelines. And, urn .... by eliminating
all of our content -based signage, we will come into conformance with the .... the
Supreme Court decision. So .... do you have any questions?
Throgmorton: Questions for Jann?
Dickens: What if they .... you talked about rent, for -rent signs. What if that property doesn't
rent a place within.... cause you have temporary signs for what, two weeks?
Ream: Um .... the whole idea of the signage, the temporary signs, is that they come and
go.
Dickens: Okay, but it says only twice within a year, but if you have....
Ream: Nobody's going to truly (laughter)
Dickens: (both talking) I just wondered because that's .... it's going to come up, that (both
talking)
Ream: And .... and what we'll do is, you know, obviously City staff can't keep track of
when a sign goes up and when it comes down. But when we notice a sign's been
up (both talking) three months, four months, and especially if we get concerns or
complaints about it, then we could address it.
Dickens: So is it going to be complaint -based .... at first?
Ream: Not necessarily. Signage.... sign violations are probably the one thing that I do
not rely simply on complaint -based, uh, issues because.....I have to be very
proactive with sign violations or.....suddenly they're everywhere (laughter)
Dickens: Okay, thank you!
Ream: ....I can't wait for complaints! (laughs)
Botchway: So you talk about this process, you know, changing some, uh, some of the signage
that people currently have. Is there any thought on, you know, the average cost or
any type of cost issues or constraints that, um, businesses or owners will be, you
know, talking about, interested in, or .... discussing?
Ream: Um, creative signage doesn't necessarily have to be more expensive signage, and
I know ..... uh (mumbled) Nancy are here; probably, um, can give you a little more
insight into that since they deal more with the business owners directly. Uh, and I
know they do have some exciting projects about signage coming down the road,
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so .... urn .... I think that .... that we all need to keep that in mind, that, um .... being
creative doesn't necessarily mean more expensive and everybody understands
signage now is very expensive. Uh, if we can figure out a way to encourage
people to be creative and save some money, that would be a good goal.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Thank you, Jann.
Ream: Yep.
Throgmorton: Would anyone else like to speak to this topic? Good evening, Nancy.
Bird: Nancy Bird with the Iowa City Downtown District. Um, Mayor and Council
Members, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak and I really want to
appreciate Jann Ream's work on this. Um, one of the things I wanted to do is
give you a little bit of background about how we came to this place. Uh, Jann did
a good job of capturing it, but really one of the things the Downtown District tries
to do is really listen to the base of our membership and understand where there
are obstacles or opportunities, and push them forward. So we really appreciated
working with staff and understanding where there's an opportunity around
signage that we were missing, clearly missing. There was a lot of, uh, challenges
for enforcement. Um, Jann was out on the street trying to do the best to enforce
the code, getting a lot of resistance from businesses because the sign code was so
limiting, and so through this process and sharing, uh, a study that, you know, we
helped support, the City came to the table on it. I think we went through a really
good educational, uh, process with staff, our staff, and businesses to understand
well, what makes, uh, appropriate, well-designed, and effective signing to help
support the business community, and support the whole community with
something that's really attractive and exciting. So, um, I think that the code that
you have in front of you, um, fulfills the recommendations of the consultant that
was hired to do this process, um, brought to bear. Um, the consultant's specialty
was not just signage but it was, um, it was about retail and storefronts, uh, and
really trying to enliven and create vibrancy around the pedestrian environment,
really focused on the, you know, the first two or three stories, where we feel like
is the most important element of the downtown that's walkable and exciting. So
the signage is really important to us. We really appreciate you considering it.
When we took it to Planning and Zoning, um, the ... it was really night and day
when we first started this approach and their understanding of it, to now they're
very supportive of the code and the process, um, and one of the things that I
shared with them that I'll share with you really briefly is that the
recommendations, um, for .... from the consultant, you're seeing the sign code, but
there were recommendations in the study that went with the design guidelines,
and the recommendations also addressed a few minor elements with the zoning
code, so I think it's worth looking at, uh, that had.... mostly had to do with
the ... the current setback of, urn .... uh, of the doorways, you know, when you have
an area like the Deadwood or the Summit, eliminating those areas to help support
a stronger retail or business environment for .... for the pedestrian. So there's a
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few elements in there that's worthy of...of looking at, but also they recommended
a design, um, review, and I know the City of Iowa City has had challenges with
design review in the past, what they were recommending is a third -party review
so that even though we have a great code now, it's looking good, there's always
going to be something that's out there that's not within the .... the parameters that
might be really a positive impact. Um, a third -party review system in the future,
um, might be something that we could tackle in a way that's not necessarily a
local, um, consultant, um, looking at that, but someone like the National
Development Council that you currently use in that kind of framework. So I
wanted to put that out there cause I know we've got an exciting program that
Nate's gonna talk about, um, because I know there's some really exciting, you
know, ways to basically.... once you get the policy set, it's fantastic. The
regulations are there, but we really want to implement it. We want to see these
signs come to life, so how do we do that. So, that's um .... something that we're
working on now, um, Nate Kaeding, um, is a really, you know, he's a great force
for this. He's going to bring a lot of excitement to it and get .... get the
community, downtown community especially, uh, involved to help make sure that
the .... this code isn't just a stagnate code. So thank you for your time and I'll let
Nate give you a little preview of what's to come!
Throgmorton: Good evening, Nate!
Kaeding: Good evening. Thank you, Nancy. Uh.... also like to echo Nancy's comments
and thank Jann for her hard work on this matter. Um, as Nancy mentioned, we,
uh, we have an exciting plan in place to capitalize on the momentum hopefully on
the heels of some of these amendments to the sign code. Uh, last month we were,
um .... accepted by the American Sign Museum of one of six communities across
the United States to be a part of the co-sign program, which .... which has been,
uh, implemented in the Cincinnati/Covington area over the last three years. It's
really a dynamic, collaborative initiative amongst business owners, artists in the
community, and sign fabricators. So essentially we'll go out, the Downtown
District, throughout the community and get small businesses to opt into this
program. Uh, they'll come in and then we'll work with Thomas Agren who's, uh,
spearheaded our benchmark's program the last couple of years and he'll get all
the artist community together and they'll basically do this kind of community,
really creative, uh, crowdsourcing element (mumbled) create designs for all of our
small businesses for the new signage. And to Jann's point, as you saw on the
slide, the new sign's really going to be pedestrian oriented, back towards the
pedestrian, uh, environment with the projecting signage, and you saw some of the
slides that Jann had. That's the exact kind of signage that we're hoping for in
terms of three-dimensional, really creative. You could have rotating signs,
illuminated signs, all these things that I .... I don't have the creative energy to
come up with `em, but I know our creative community here does, so we're excited
to get that .... get our business community in front of the artist community, see
what they can come up with, uh, we also have the luxury by opting into this
program to have the experts from the American Sign Museum to come into our
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community and educate everybody throughout the ecosystem, uh, about the
importance of signage, about how to .... how to take a design and bring it to life,
uh, installing it, and this all culminates in a really exciting event, uh, in August
where we'll have all the business owners and the artists go around the community
and kind of do a big sign unveiling where they'll go out and pull the blanket off
their sign and the artists'll be able to, uh, talk about the creative process that went
into it and the fabricator that built the sign, and the business owner about how, uh,
impactful that signage can be, so we're excited about that opportunity to work
with the .... the American Sign Museum and really, uh.... uh, capitalize on the
momentum that will come on the heels of hopefully passing these, uh,
recommended amendments. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Great, Nate! Sounds exciting. Does anybody have any questions for Nancy or
Nate? I'd like to say something. Nancy, um, I know you and I talked about this
possible sign ordinance, uh, six or eight months ago or something like that. So,
uh, I'm pretty happy to see its, uh, there's something before us now and....I... I
gather you're pleased (laughs) (unable to hear response from audience) Yeah!
(laughter) Yeah, good deal! Okay, uh, would anybody else like to address this
topic? If not I will close the public hearing.
Karr: Motion to accept correspondence.
Botchway: So moved.
Dickens: Second.
Throgmorton: All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carries. So I'm going to close the public
hearing. (bangs gavel)
2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Mims: Move first consideration.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Botchway. Discussion?
Botchway: I think this is great. Um.....while I didn't get an opportunity to spend a lot of time
with, uh, Mr. Speck when he was talking about walkability and some of the other
pieces, um, I did remember from the presentation he .... talking about the .... kind
of the boring wall or interfacing, the public interfacing with the different
properties, um, I think this is in line with that and, you know, I'm looking at you,
John (laughs) tell me if I'm wrong, um, and everybody else, and Jim as well
(laughs) um, but you know, I....1, it's .... the more and more I walk downtown, and
I know that this is just applicable for downtown, but there may be considerations
for other parts of the community as well, you know .... it would be nice to .... to
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know, uh, about some of the businesses that, you know, grace our community,
um, there's a of times where I don't necessarily know about `em unless, you
know, it comes before Council or I stumble upon it. There's actually a weird kind
of. ... hall downtown where there's some tattoo shops and other stuff. Hope I'm
not telling on anybody, but (laughter) urn .... but yeah, I mean there's.... this, I
think this will create some, uh, some fun. I'm interested to see some of the
artistic, um, impressions that people can do and so ... really excited.
Dickens: I'm glad to see we're coming back with the .... hanging signs that come out, cause
I know there was a period of time when people tried to put `em up and they were
not allowed, so it's ... it was kind of nice to see that coming back. I ... I have been to
Covington and Cincinnati in the last couple years; we've had some shows there.
Been lucky enough to walk downtown Covington and then go over, walk across
the bridge to Cincinnati, and they really are doing a great job there. They're....
they're doing some fantastic things with signs and when I'm in these cities I .... I
walk everywhere. I don't want to drive or .... ride anywhere. You want to get a
feeling for the city and .... and I think they really captured it there and I think we
can do the same thing here.
Mims: Yeah, I think these changes are exciting and I want to say thanks to staff. I .... in
reading (laughs) the multiple pages in our packet related to this, um, there was a
lot of work that went in, um, and I'm sure a lot of work before all those edits got
made, just in terms of discussing the kinds of changes and First Amendment
issues that drove some of this as well. So, thank you to staff. Um, thanks to the
Downtown District for your, you know, cooperation, participation. It's so
important when we do major changes like this to really be engaging the people
that are going to be the most impacted by it, and .... so I know you're interested in
having the design review piece at some point. I get it, but (laughs) um, I also
understand where staff s coming from on that one. So, I think it's a great .... first
step, major step, um, I'm looking forward to this new project and having some
really nice, creative, exciting signs downtown, so .... look forward to that!
Taylor: I'm excited about it too. I think it's really going to, uh, encourage the vibrancy of
the downtown and make it seem really lively and fun and friendly, and I ... I like
your thought that you're going to incorporate, uh, perhaps the artistic community
in the area to help design some of these, and .... and the unveiling sounds so fun
and exciting. Can't wait!
Cole: I never thought I could be so excited about signs (laughter) Um, and I just love
everything about it. I love the creativity. I like seeing value in something that I
frankly had overlooked. That was not something that was troubling me, uh, in
terms of the signs, but I think that's ... I think what a talented staff and downtown
community do is see value that's sort of sitting right in front of it, and then not
only identifying what the problem is, but then working collaboratively together
for 12 to 15 months to make that happen. And then I think the downtown artist
piece of it, I ... I just love everything about it! I mean, what's not to like about
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Page 23
signs? (laughter) I feel like we should have a party around one of these
unveilings (laughs) um, but great work!
Dickens: That can be arranged! (laughter)
Botchway: I do not want Terry, you know, be .... being his own sign (laughter) I do not
support that! (laughter)
Thomas: Well we ... we get excited about waste reduction. We get excited about signs
(several talking and laughing) We entertain ourselves (several talking and
laughing) Yeah, this insertion of the, um, collaboration with the local artist
community I think is a wonderful opportunity there, both enhancing the business,
commercial district and the flourishing of the arts community, so that .... that, I
think, is a real breakthrough. Really excited about that!
Throgmorton: Okay! What they said! (laughter) Roll call. Motion carries 7-0.
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ITEM 7. PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS
ITEM 7b PLEASANT VALLEY AND NAGLE LUMBER — ORDINANCE
CONDITIONALLY REZONING PROPERTY FROM INTENSIVE
COMMERCIAL (CI -1) ZONE AND PUBLIC (P-1) TO RIVERFRONT
CROSSINGS — SOUTH GILBERT DISTRICT (RFC -SG) ZONE FOR
APPROXIMATELY 8.52 ACRES LOCATED AT 1225 S. GILBERT
STREET, 1301 S. GILBERT STREET, AND 1201 S. GILBERT STREET.
(REZ16-00002)
1. PUBLIC HEARING
Throgmorton: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Are any staff gonna discuss
this for us tonight?
Dilkes: This is the one that we need to continue, um, to the next, uh...
Throgmorton: You're right!
Dilkes: ...to November 15th because we have some reworking of the CZA to do.
Throgmorton: Yeah! Okay, so, um, is there a motion to continue the public hearing to, uh (both
talking)
Dickens: So moved.
Throgmorton: ..... November the 15th.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by, uh, Dickens, seconded by Botchway. All in favor say aye. Opposed.
Motion carries. And we can move on to the next item. Or do we .... (both talking)
Karr: ...continue the public hearing to the 15t11. Now we'll have a motion to defer (both
talking)
Throgmorton: Right. Okay. So, uh, could I have a motion to defer, uh, the .... First
Consideration of the ordinance to November 15th?
2. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE (FIRST CONSIDERATION)
Dickens: (both talking) So moved.
Mims: So moved.
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Throgmorton: Moved by Dickens, seconded by Mims. All... discussion? All in favor say aye.
Opposed. Motion carries.
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ITEM 8. CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR BICYCLE MASTER PLAN -
RESOLUTION APPROVING, AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE
MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND THE CITY CLERK TO ATTEST AN
AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF IOWA CITY AND
ALTA PLANNING & DESIGN TO PROVIDE CONSULTANT SERVICES
FOR THE IOWA CITY BICYCLE MASTER PLAN PROJECT
Throgmorton: Is there a motion.... well, does anybody want to address this?
Mims: Well, usually get the motion (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, okay.
Miens: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, second by Botchway. Discussion? So, Kent Ralston.
Ralston: Yeah, I'll be very brief. Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. Uh, the resolution
before you is to procure, uh, consulting services for a bike master plan from Alta
Planning and Design of Missouri. Uh, the goal of the project is to create a plan
that identifies and prioritizes bicycle improvements based on existing conditions,
as well as going out to the bicycling, uh, public and asking them what it is that
they want, what it is that they need. Uh, the plan will focus on identifying both
near-term and long-term strategies, and prioritize actions for an increasing bicycle
ridership connectivity, uh, and so forth. Uh, the plan will also set a timely, uh,
set .... will also identify, um, timely actions and improvements to help achieve a
bicycle -friendly gold, uh, status, which is something that was on the strategic, uh,
planning goals that you all adopted earlier this year. Uh, if the resolution's
approved, uh, we'll initiate the project yet this November and anticipate finalizing
the project next summer. Uh, there were four consulting teams, uh, that sent in
proposals. Uh, an evaluation committee ultimately recommended Alta Planning
and Design as you know. The cost of the contract is not to exceed $80,751, and
I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
Dickens: What was the reason the University pulled out financially? Was there....
Ralston: You know I think we anticipated that they'd want to be involved and in talking to
their campus planner it just wasn't something that, uh, was as much on their radar
as we thought it would be.
Dickens: Okay. Thanks.
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Throgmorton: Any other questions for Kent? All right, hearing none .... thank you, Kent. Any
further discussion? Well, anybody else want to address the topic? No? Any
further discussion? If not, roll call. Was that a yes, Terry?
Dickens: Yes!
Throgmorton: Motion carries 7-0.
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ITEM 10. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY GAS FRANCHISE - ORDINANCE
RENEWING AND CONTINUING 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. (PASS AND
ADOPT)
Thomas: Move adoption.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call.
Motion carries 7-0. Oop, you wanted to say something?
Reinders: If you would be so kind.
Throgmorton: Sure!
Reinders: Uh, Mark Reinders, Franchise Manager for MidAmerican. Um, with me the last
couple meetings has been, uh, Perry Sparks. He's our Operations Manager here
in the Iowa City area. Um, he's also the good local contact. So if you have any
issues, he works well, I think, with the City staff and his team does a good job of
making sure the electricity's flowing in town. Uh, we just wanted to, uh, thank
the Council for the affirmation and support of continuing the franchises, um,
acknowledge the expertise and the professionalism of the City Manager's office
and the City Attorney in making this a smooth transition, and we just want to,
uh.... uh, let you know we plan to continue to build on the relationship we've had,
especially in the last 10 years, so we appreciate your help!
Throgmorton: Good deal! Thank you. I .... I guess we're not going to see you again for a while.
Reinders: Well, I could come if you want but (laughter) Thank you.
Throgmorton: Good evening to both of ya! Okay!
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ITEM 16. CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION
Throgmorton: Uh, we could start with Pauline.
Taylor: Well I'm excited to talk about an event that, uh, both John and I went to today and
as I was sittin' here and we got the plague for the, um, Cyclo -cross I thought
we're gonna have to start getting a ... a trophy case or something for the City of
Iowa City because we really are being recognized out there nationally even for...
for a lot of, uh, things that we've done and, uh, what we went to today was the
Healthiest State Initiative and, uh.... kind of went along the lines with the Blue
Zones Projects, because apparently 80 cities that applied to be recognized for their
Blue Zones' efforts and only 15 of which Iowa was one .... Iowa City was one of
the 15, were recognized as a founder, which also includes a, uh, they informed us,
uh, John or Geoff can .... can, uh, add some things here. We're going to get four
signs that we can post somewhere, at the entrance to our city or something that,
uh, announces us as ... and recognizes us as a Healthy State Initiative Founder.
Throgmorton: I hope they conform at the sign code (laughter)
Taylor: Right, right, if we put (several talking and laughing) put it on City Hall. I guess
that's considered downtown. It should, uh, conform, but .... it's really pretty
exciting, so if you see these signs, we'll have to decide where to put them, uh, and
we were discussin' that. We don't know if it includes the post to put them on or
how we'll exactly, uh, post them, but I just think it's very exciting that, uh, that
Iowa City was recognized for that.
Thomas: (mumbled) just add to that that the .... the thrust of this .... this event was the public
health aspects of, um, a healthy city, and uh.... the keynote speaker kind of, I
think, blew us all away with his statistics on the impacts of, um .... what's....
what's really a public health crisis with respect to the, um ... by levels of diabetes
which have increased dramatically over the last 20 to 30 years, uh, and a number
...number of other medical conditions which are, you know, pretty closely tied to
behavior. So, um, and (laughs) we .... well, the three of us (several talking and
laughing) Simon included, we were.... unfortunately we had had ... just had lunch
at a fast food restaurant (laughter) before the event, so we were kind of, ehh
(laughter) but urn ..... it's a serious matter. It really is a serious matter and it just
reinforced the, you know, the message of Jeff Speck's visit and, um .... you know,
how critical it is that we .... we move forward on that initiative.
Throgmorton: Susan?
Mims: Nothing!
Throgmorton: Kingsley?
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Botchway: Uh, couple of things. Um, next week, I believe.... yes, as voting's happening on
Tuesday— I've already voted so that's why I'm not necessarily (laughs) as
worried about it as I am, but um, for those that haven't, I want you to be worried
about it. Um, and I did have a conversation, I think it was last Friday or maybe a
little bit before that, um, not only about, you know, the importance of obviously
getting all geared up and discussing around national, um, elections, but obviously
local elections as well, and so, um, had that conversation with some students, um,
it wasn't as many as I had hoped for, just because it was the beginning of the,
um, event and there were kind of, you know, trickling in, but if that message gets
out there, I just think it's really important. Uh, the Witching Hour's coming out
and hopefully I'm stealing Terry's thunder, um, Witching Hour's coming out this
weekend. I'm pretty excited about that. I always miss it, so I will be here for, uh,
this time, at least for Friday especially. Halloween was really fun. It was the first
actual trick or treating that my son did, like outside, um, and (mumbled) want to
see some interesting videos, you know, um, get on my Facebook and check it out.
Uh, Veterans Day is coming up, so I just want to say I'm very supportive of the
veterans and there's a couple of events. I didn't have `em scheduled on my
phone, but um, hopefully I can get those to Marian so we can put it out in the next
packet. I'm going on from that standpoint.
Dickens: I just wanna....uh.... mention get out to vote. It's one of your greatest
responsibilities, I think, is to get out and vote, and if you haven't done all ... done
it already, I always wait for the day. I don't like to send `em in early. I like to go
to the ... the polling place and actually place my vote, so .... secondly, uh.....Jeff
Speck was, uh, really very impressive to listen to. I kinda took him up on his
ideas, uh, my wife and I were in Chicago all weekend and we walked from
downtown all the way to Wrigley Field, and I watched the buildings, and going
from neighborhood to neighborhood, and .... and Chicago's very interesting
(laughs) the way they zone and .... and regulate, so it was very interesting to see
a.....a 14 -story building in the middle of brownstones and ..... but it actually
blended in, which was .... it was kinda different but .... but you know, the fact that I
went to his speech. I even took his book with me, believe it or not, and I did read
some chapters up there, but it was very interesting. Like to end with, uh, kinda
segue into a .... uh, Iowa City's own Ferris Bueller sitting over here (laughter) Uh,
I was sitting there watching the game in a .... a quaint little bar, the Right Wood
Tap, about eight blocks from Wrigley, uh, and I see our City Manager's face, big
and bright all over the entire nation (laughter) so I text him right away and he said
his phone exploded. He had so many people, but uh, just .... I know it was a day
off. It was a Sunday, so it was okay (laughter) so you weren't really taking a day
off (several talking)
Cole: Um, well I would.....I just wanted to comment. This Friday at 6:00, Susan and I
are going to have the honor of attending Henry Harper's admission into the
African American Hall of Fame, and you know, Henry is a hero of mine, and I
cannot think of anyone more worthy of entering that, um .... of that body, uh, and
so we're .... we're just going to be really thrilled to participate on that. Major
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kudos to Henry. Um, I'm really looking forward to that and really excited about
that. Um .... related to Jeff Speck, he is now on the City 4 YouTube channel. Um,
so check that out, if you missed it. I checked it out today and there was only eight
views, um, so I'm hoping the next time I check it out there will be like a thousand
views because I think as we have these conversations about a lot of these issues, I
think Jec.... Jeff has a really good way of sort of articulating where he comes from
and so I think it's very important to sort of see what he's, uh, hear what he's
saying and, um, and participate with that. So, check it out on the City Channel 4
YouTube site and then finally, um, this weekend we're gonna go to the dance
gala, um, at Space Place Theater, so we're really excited about that. So it's the
first one we're going to go at the University of Iowa, so....
Throgmorton: I didn't know you were a dancer!
Cole: I am not! (laughter) I watch! (laughter)
Throgmorton: Great stuff? Really terrific to hear about it. Uh, I want to mention a few things
very quickly. I'm going to be meeting with Mayors Lundell and Nielsen on
November the 9`h, and Geoff and I will be meeting with Mayor Ron Corbett and
City Manager Jeff Pomeranz on November the 10`'. Susan and I are setting up a
meeting with Chris Lynch and LaTasha Deloach and the School Board to talk
about mutual topic ... topics of mutual interest, and speaking of veterans, Kingsley,
on November the 10`h I'm going to be introducing, uh, five, I think five recipients
of the Hawkeye Distinguished Veterans Award. I'm looking forward to that a lot.
And Tuesday, November the Wh, what's gonna happen then? (several talking)
Yeah, a lot! (laughter and several talking) Okay, uh..... City Manager?
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ITEM 17. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF
a) City Manager
Fruin: Nothing.
Throgmorton: Simon?
Andrew: I appreciated being able to go to the Healthy Hometown Event today with, uh,
John and Pauline that they were discussing. The community certainly has a lot to
be proud of. Uh, Julie Sidell-Johnson and, uh, Tracy Hightshoe were able to
attend with us, as well, so we were well -represented. Um, I take responsibility for
the fast food. That was (laughter) so I apologize for that. It definitely made the,
uh, keynote speaker a little, uh, a little different (laughter) And I will point out
that, uh, even though we know how late Geoff was in Chicago on Sunday night,
you would be shocked at how early he was here on Monday morning and ready
to work, so.....(laughter) It was good (several talking)
Throgmorton: He's a heck of a guy! (several talking and laughing)
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of November 1, 2016.