HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-03 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Botchway, Cole, Dickens, Mims, Taylor, Thomas, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Andrew, Dilkes, Fruehling, Bockenstedt, Ralston,
Hightshoe, Havel, Yapp, Knoche, Grier
Others Present: Nelson, Stewart (UISG)
Review of Remaining Pending Work Session Topics [IP3 of 9/28 Info Packet]:
Throgmorton/ Okay, we hardy few .... let's begin our Iowa City City Council work session for
Tuesday, October the 3`d, 2017. The first topic is to review our remaining pending work
session topics. And by way of introduction, I should say that Geoff and I had a
conversation about this, uh, I don't know, a week ago, and thought it would be .... fruitful
to go through the remaining work session, or uh, yeah, pending work session topics and
see if we could winnow them down and kind of clear off some of the, uh.... some of the
items, uh, pretty.....mmm.... what's the right word? Well, quickly. So .... anyhow, that's
where we're at. So .... we can go through them one by one from the top and see what
folks have to say. Geoff, do you want to talk us through this or .... should I? Do you care
(both talking)
Fruin/ I'm happy to elaborate as needed, but I think you can just work your way down.
Throgmorton/ Okay. So I'll just read the .... the description of the topic .... and Geoff's
recommendation I guess and we'll go from there. So the first one is significantly
improve the Council's and staff's ability to engage with diverse populations on complex
or controversial topics. And... Geoff, uh, indicates things we've already done and, uh,
recommends that we identify specific topics for the staff to address and remove the topic
from the pending list.
Botchway/ So I would agree with removal. Um, my only question is is where are we at on the
Star rating system? That we had talked about using.
Throgmorton/ Well we are using it.
Fruin/ We're .... we're certified. We were .... we were, um, certified last year, maybe year and a
half ago (both talking)
Throgmorton/ In March I think.
Fruin/ Okay, um .... and there's a recertification process every..... couple.... two years? Every two
years. So, at this point, staff has identified, based on our last score, areas that we think
we can improve upon. Um, we've taken some steps, um, so that when we reapply we
think we can get a stronger score. An example would be the open space study that we're
doing now, the .... the open space plan through Parks and Rec. That'll put us in a position
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to address some of the .... the point categories that we weren't able to do last time, and
there's several other areas that staffs workin' to, um, improve upon as well.
Botchway/ I guess the reason I asked that was for my ..... for my feedback, having that
information as it relates to this particular topic. I think we can remove it, but I think that
if it is housed or we come back through that lens, I think (coughing, unable to hear
speaker) standpoint. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Go ahead!
Fruin/ I should add to that that, um, we are participating in the Star's annual, uh, dashboard
index. So in addition to recertifying every couple of years, we submit data on 21 key
indicators to Star every year. We can actually go to the Star web site and compare our 21
indicators with any of the other participating cities. So there's an annual component to
that as well.
Throgmorton/ In .... in his commentary, Geoff identifies the various things we have already done.
So if you .... are, Council Members are aware of other things we've done that you want to
highlight, maybe you could state them. What Geoff identifies in his commentary is the
Economic Development Committee's focus groups, uh, concerning TIF. Also the fact
that we televise the, uh, Economic Development Committee meetings from this room.
Enhanced video work on current topics. The.... stuff the Channel 4's been doin', uh,
really beautifully. And other specific strategies that are identified in the strategic plan
update. But are .... are there other things that immediately come to your minds that....
Fruin/ Hopefully you found the Hieronymus one page summary that Wendy pulled together, um,
is .... is helpful. Um, that, I mean I think that's another example of us attempting to break
down a pretty complex development agreement with TIF funding into simpler terms and
graphics. (several responding)
Mims/ I think it's one of those areas we just .... have to keep kind of on the top of our mind as
we're going through things, urn .... and thinking about is there, you know, are there better
or different ways to communicate with the public so they have a better understanding or,
um, or if they're controversial issues that we, you know, take that time to find ways to
engage with the public, and .... and try and work through those issues. I don't know that I
see a need to keep it on the work session list at this point.
Cole/ I would agree.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Hi, Pauline! Yeah, okay, so I guess we're done with that one. All right.
Thanks! The next one is to identify, uh, an achievable goal for the provision of
affordable housing in Iowa City and implement strategies to achieve this goal. Geoff
explains the difficulty in .... defining goals, especially with regard to,
uh.... where's .... where's the words I'm after. Uh, cost burdened households, uh, goin'
into great detail about that.
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Fruin/ Well, I .... you ... you, we can do a units. We could create a units, create a type of metric,
um, and every year look at that, um and.....and Tracy can explain this much better than I
can. We've had this conversation. Um, it .... it's difficult because even the units created,
there's.... there's variables in there that.... that.... can.... can be misleading, so if you have
a 10 -year affordability period compared to a 30 -year affordability period, that's gonna
drive your costs up. If you're looking at a 30%, uh, median income target versus an 80%,
that's all gonna influence the cost per unit. So you might do five units, um, that have
long affordability times for extremely low-income individuals and that metric may not
look good compared to 20 units at 10 -year affordability for 80%. So, it's that .... it's that
meaningful metric that we're after, um, and urn .... Ashley and Simon and I were talking
about this this morning. Tracy and I have talked about it. I think there's some.... indexes
out there that we can look at to see, um, how the overall indicators are moving and the
percentage of cost burdened households I know is somethin' that .... that Tracy thinks, uh
....um, is very important. That's one example of something we can track. So, hopefully
all the changes that we're making and the additional funding that we're putting towards
this issue, uh, we start to see that needle move a little bit, um.....but it's .... we ..... we
struggle to come back to you and say we should target X number of units. I think .... I
think that's very difficult, um,for us to do ... and .... and have it be meaningful.
Throgmorton/ Well, I .... I can say that I understand that and would be especially challenging, but
I think it would be very helpful to have .... uh.....reported to us information about trends
in the overall affordability of housing in Iowa City, having to do with prices and rents, in
the city and what the trends are. Cause I certainly hear concerns that really are about the
overall affordability and ... and then it.....the challe.... the problem descends, uh, down the
income ladder and becomes especially severe the .... the lower your income is. But still,
there are concerns about the overall affordability of housing. So, I think it'd be helpful to
have those indicators reported to us on a regular basis.
Cole/ Related to that, Jim, the other thing that I would like clarification is is the relationship to
affordability and supply. Um, a lot of people have discussed the need to increase the
supply as a way of enhancing affordability, but I think for me it'd be helpful to sort of
assess really what that downward slope is, if at all. Um, if that's readily available
information.
Throgmorton/ (mumbled)
Cole/ I mean unless that's too complicated (several talking) that's directly what you were talking
about, Jim, cause we often hear that in a lot of our discussions, that we need to increase
the supply of housing and that that will have a downward pressure, um, but we've never
really been precise about what that downward pressure is or where that data comes from.
Botchway/ So can we do this, Geoff. Can we have (mumbled) and I guess I should be speaking
to Council first. Can we do .... it sounds like we need a ..... it sounds like we need a work
session ... on what we want to see. I mean basically I hear a couple of things that I .... I
actually agree with, but.... ultimately I feel like, you know, maybe staff can prepare us a
memo as far as a couple of different indicators, and then we can have a conversation as
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far as were there additional things that we want to look at, um (mumbled) well because,
um, going back to your point, Jim, I think that all your points are necessary. So, you
know, I was more thinking about what you were saying and actually as Rockne was
saying, like having some type of...almost, um, quarterly status report, um, that's
associated either within our strategic planning packet or maybe separately, um, but I
think we need to talk about exactly what we're asking of staff (both talking)
Fruin/ And that's what we're do ... we're preparing for that so when you do your next strategic
plan, we hope to present with you at that .... right at the out -set these indicators, and really
to .... to be fair to you all, you .... you asked for this with your last strategic plan and ... and
staff didn't, we didn't deliver. We didn't get, uh.... uh, as far as we needed to with the
metrics, but we are looking at about six or seven different community health indicators,
um, environmental, public safety, housing affordability, the economy, um, and trying to
come up with about a dozen indicators that have data sources that are updated on a
regular basis that we could present to you with those strategic plan updates in the future.
So, I think, Kingsley, we're already doin' what you're lookin' for, and we would suggest
that we present those to you when you start your strategic plan discussions, and then
depending on where you take your strategic plan, you may want to modify those, uh,
indicators a little bit. I will say most of the data is updated annually, at best. It's rare to
find a data source that's updated quarterly, but they may be updated at different periods
throughout the year. So if you're gettin' quarterly updates, you might notice a change in
a couple of indicators.
Thomas/ And I would say in addition to the, um, indicators, which sound like a good idea. Kind
of a yearly check-up, you know, taking the temperature and so forth. Um, if not
establishing goals, at least establishing our .... or reporting on our achievements I think is
a useful metric, you know, we've.... generated X number of dwellings, you know, that are
considered affordable by .... the one standard we've created, X number of workforce
housing units and so on and so forth. Um, just so that we all understand, you know,
what .... what we've done, and I think we have been doing that. It may not be
consolidated in one location though.
Fruin/ It is, it just hasn't been advanced to you yet. Tracy has submitted that to .... to.....to me
and I'm reviewing that, uh, so it should be comin' to you, and that's somethin' we plan to
do annually, and that'll be projects that, um, that we fund directly, that we fund indirectly
through say the trust fund, um, or that are created because of some regulatory
environment like the inclusionary zoning ordinance. So .... stay tuned, it's comin!
Thomas/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Okay, are we comfortable with, uh, awaiting the .... material we get for our next
strategic planning meeting and ... then perhaps deciding... well, deciding what we want to
do in addition to whatever the information is that we get from Geoff. Okay. Good
enough! The next one is to determine the scope of a Council identified complete streets
study. Uh, Geoff, you want .... why don't you summarize this, Geoff. It's kind of a long
paragraph.
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Fruin/ Yeah, the, um .... uh, the complete streets study came up, uh, when the strategic plan was
created and ultimately when you were crafting your first budget as a Council. Um, at that
time there was no specific scope placed to that. Um, we do have the complete streets line
item and we have .... been using that to fund various projects. For instance the restriping
on Sycamore, I believe, was....was funded in part with, uh, those dollars. Um.....we
don't have any studies per se, uh, that ... that are going on, other than the Gilbert Street
study that.... that's, uh, we just had a public meeting on. Um, so.....if there is a corridor
that you want to study, we just need to know that and begin to work that into our plan.
Otherwise we're moving forward with the complete street line item and potentially
additional funds in the upcoming budget to implement the bike master plan. Essentially
that bike master plan serves in large part as a complete streets study. Um, and we want to
make sure we start checkin' those projects off.
Throgmorton/ Okay, thoughts about this, folks?
Thomas/ Well this was one that, you know, Geoff said goes back to the strategic plan. I can't
even remember how we talked about it at that point, but .... uh, I did generate a memo to
Council in March, trying to clarify at least in my mind where I thought we were going
with this, and it really wasn't focused on looking at a particular transportation corridor. It
was really, uh, suggesting that we needed to, as a Council, discuss the complete streets
policy, uh, both in general terms. You know, we have a complete streets policy already
in place, uh.... it would be a discussion of that. I think it would also be a discussion of
what that policy means in terms of, uh, roadway design standards. You know, in that
memo I talked about a number of. ... a number of those standards and .... and, uh, what we
have now are .... you know, in that reference that I had in that memo, four different
standards to choose from and .... I don't know where we as a Council or as a staff stand on
those, and ....and so I felt it's important, particularly in that we're moving forward on a
bike master plan, uh, which to me also kind of indirectly affects walkability, you know,
kind of the pedestrian experience. We have a park master plan, which is trying to
emphasize connectivity. You know that ... you live in a neighborhood but, you know, you
have these parks that you need to access. Can you safely access them? Uh, safe routes to
schools. A whole range of issues that I think, um, I'm really pleased we have in the
last ... year and a half come up with some excellent plans. Now I think we're kind of
moving into an implementation phase and I feel.... the.... the question of our street design
is one where, uh, those standards are going to be very important in terms of ensuring that
the .... the network, say we generate and our bike master plan is in fact comfortable and
safe. Um, and then I think.....the third thing I would say is we .... we need to look at our
performance measures, just as we're talking about on some of these other items. Um,
you know I was just .... it was kind of prompted from a listening post I went to
with .... with Jim. Um, was looking at the ..... uh, collision data from our last, uh, fiscal
budget and the ... in the last year, there were 20 .... over 2,400 collisions. Are we okay with
that, I mean (laughs) do we feel that's just sort of business as usual? Um, you know one
of the reasons I think we're advocating for, uh, road diets is there's pretty good
documentation that collision rates go down, um, so I think we need to talk about what
those metrics might be. I think clearly collisions would be one. Currently we don't track
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that. To my knowledge. I mean we report it, but we're not saying, `Oh, it's gone up,' or
it's gone down, you know, what's.... what's the trend? So .... so that was what I had in
mind, and that's what I'm thinking could be the subject of the work session.
Fruin/ Yeah, and we do .... we do track those, um, and we do use that data to influence work plans
within the City. So if we see particular intersections that are problematic, that'll inform
public improvements. So (mumbled) for example the .... the planned Mormon Trek and
the First Avenue road diets. There were some safety grants. We had to articulate
the ... the need for those and you .... you all have seen some of those presentations. Um .... I
agree that -that, um .... those traffic numbers, we can .... and that's part of the community
indicators that we're lookin' at in terns of our transportation network that we can report
those to you a little better than we have in the past.
Throgmorton/ So, John, am I understanding you correctly that you think we should keep this on
our pending list of work session topics and that the .... the, uh, we should ask the staff to
describe for us our current complete streets policy, and be clear about what the roadway
design standards are. In a.....in association with that policy. Uh, and then maybe, um....
uh, make sure that we are aware that there are other standards that could be applied, and
we'd have to discuss whether we wanted to apply them. I mean that's what I hear you
saying. Is that ... is that correct?
Thomas/ I think we .... yeah, that there are .... there are these different standards and, um,
depending on the context of any particular project, you know, either one or another may
apply. Um, you know, and so I think it's something where I feel .... as a Council, right
now we're not really part of that discussion. You know, staff develops a design for a
particular street, and um .... the .... the, um, design para ... with the exception of the
Gateway, uh, the design parameters for that street are not really, uh, something that we
have any involvement in. You know, our park .... our streets' projects don't go through
any kind of commission process. They're.....they're simply.... generated through....
through staff review, uh, without the partiti..... participation of the, uh.....
Throgmorton/ Do you want us to be reviewing individual streets?
Thomas/ No, that's what I don't want! I want standards developed so that .... so it's clear, uh,
that what staff is applying to a particular project.
Fruin/ We .... we can certainly come to you and say ... and explain what our current standards are.
Um, if you take a peek ahead at your pending work session list, on the ... um .... is it the
17°i, uh, the next meeting, um, the Mayor and I talked about having, um, Ron Knoche
come up and talk about the, uh, SUDAS, State Urbanwide Design somethin' Standards,
um (laughter) I forgot the A in that, Ron. Sorry! (laughter) Um, the, um, but .... but
basically have him explain, uh, the review process that is currently underway, um,
internally here. Um, it's .... it's pretty much done at the Public Works level and is startin'
to filter in to some of the other departments, but that's where our road design standards
and several other design standards, um, are, um .... uh, are.....are incorporated into that
SUDAS package. So, our goal would be, for that work session is one we can tell you
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where we're currently at with road design standards. Two, give you a very high level
overview of what SUDAS is, um, and why we're going through that review. Explain to
you that we don't have to take SUDAS as it is presented, that we can make local
amendments to it. So if you don't like a particular standard within the SUDAS
document, if you think the wan ... lane widths are too wide or whatever it may be, that we
can modify those to match another standard. But ... but just give you a sense of where
we're at in that review and make sure that you're comfortable with the direction that
we're going. So, I think we'll spend considerable time at the next work session talkin'
about that.
Throgmorton/ Is that what you're after?
Thomas/ I think so. I mean it's (laughs) without knowing precisely what .... uh, how that
conversation will play out. As I said, I view it as kind of a three-part discussion, uh,
reviewing the .... our current complete streets policy, uh, and then the question of what are
our recommended roadway design standards, and then foll.... uh, finally the performance
measures that we will employ going forward to .... ensure .... it's all about, you know, we
have a policy, but is there a disconnect in terms of how we implement our projects, which
result in, uh.... you know, an outcome that's contrary to our policy. So .... you know,
everything has to be kind of aligned so that we are in a .... we both feel we have a, uh,
standard that when applied will result in safer streets. Uh, but at the same time we still
need to measure it. Because if we don't measure it, if we don't determine that, you
know, the outcomes are in fact trending in the direction we want them to trend, we may
need to reevaluate our standards.
Botchway/ John, when you say our .... when you say our policy, you're talking about Council's
policy, or are you saying that currently we're not following the standards that we should
be .... we have currently?
Thomas/ We .... we, what I'm suggesting is we don't know, you know, we .... we do have a
complete streets policy. Uh, I .... I read it today. I think generally speaking, the policy
seems sound. Um ... the question in my mind is is our practice aligned with achieving the
outcomes we would expect, given our policy.
Botchway/ Geoff, you're saying how that discussion.... with the SUDAS....
Fruin/ (both talking) ....the complete streets policy and the design standards, while related, are
two separate animals. Um....
Botchway/ So do we have time for both?
Fruin/ We could ..... we could.....we could do high-level overviews of both. Um ... what is a
complete streets policy, and then what are, again, what are our current standards and
where is staff going with our review of those current standards. I'm not prepared to give
you a recommendation on roadway design new standards, but we can at least tell ya
where we think we're goin'. Um, and we have not talked at all about performance
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standards, but it's somethin' that we can give some thought to and have a dialogue with
ya about.
Botchway/ Well and I think that from this meeting I'm hearing you, John, and we may need to be
thinking about how we craft that or what are some of the metrics, I mean, maybe it's....
you don't necessarily have that guidance yet. It's just us kind of talking about it first?
Thomas/ Yeah, I think we may need to be part of that discussion which includes the state
standards would be, uh..... a .... discussion,um, and presentation regarding, uh, not
four ... the four standards which were in that memo I sent in March, but at least one, uh,
that would be more consistent with what that memo referred to as more pedestrian
oriented standards. The SUDAS standards are very auto oriented. It's kind of a ... you
know, a roadway that's designed primarily with the function of automobiles in mind.
The NACTO standards, for example, are more pedestrian oriented. So I think it would be
useful to, at a minimum, have two .... two guidelines as .... as part of that.
Fruin/ Yeah, I mean .... um.....I don't know if that'll be too difficult and I'll look to Ron and
Jason to, you know, we could .... we could put together a matrix of the umpteen number of
design standards that are out there and (both talking)
Thomas/ There's already a matrix.
Fruin/ (both talking) ...how they compare. We .... we can do that. I'm just .... I don't want to
suggest to you that we're at the point where we can make a staff recommendation on
those road designs. This was more of a introduction to SUDAS, which is more than road
design, um, but a .... a, just a broad introduction to .... to let you know where we're going,
um ... you know, if ..if Council doesn't want to wait for that review and wants to say this is
the standard we want, I can probably save a lot of time on staff's end in .... in doing this,
but .... um, those are complicated .... there's a lot of interwoven parts to those design
standards. Um, and um.....we're just not quite ready to make that recommendation yet.
So .... however you want to proceed is fine. I would suggest the.....the complete streets
and the road design.....we could .... we could tackle `em in one work session, but I think
you need to look at those separately. They get tied together I think when it comes to the
performance metrics. You want those speaking to each other, but .... um .... it's gonna be
two very different.... reviews.
Throgmorton/ It sounds to me like we might need to have a follow up session sometime in the
late winter or something like that, after the new Council comes into office.
Mims/ (both talking) Yeah, I mean I think what I was going to say, Jim, too is I think we start
with what you and Geoff have already talked about for the work session in two weeks,
and then once we've gone through all of that, we can kind of get a sense of where we....
how much more we may or may not feel we need to do after that, and then.... waiting till,
um, after the new Council is in place probably makes sense. We've got plenty of other
stuff to do in the meantime.
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Throgmorton/ Okay. Does that make sense, Geoff? We can proceed that way? Any... anybody
object? Anybody wanna weigh in some more? Okie dokie. We'll move to the next
topic, discuss exped.... uh, expectations for working with, uh, the School District,
Kirkwood, Iowa Works, labor organizations, and others to explore the feasibility of an
industrial arts class facility in Iowa City. Uh, I know Geoff s had conversations with, uh,
the Superintendent and, uh.... and that hasn't led to any apparent opportunities that we
could really pursue. But, uh, Rockne, I know you have, uh.....
Cole/ Yeah! I would like to keep this on. I just ... a couple, a week or so ago had a very good
discussion with Steve Miller and Phil Hemingway, and they had also mentioned Kirk
Cheyney of Maker Space. So what I would like to do is, um, is to keep it on for the
purpose of deciding, um, whether we would like to have a citizen -led committee to come
back with a set of recommendations, as to some type of facility. I mean we already have
Mr. Cheyney's facility and Mr. Miller has followed the maker's movement for a long
time, um, very plugged into it, and I understand, Jim, he actually generated a proposal for
you, urn .... and I think he would probably put it in one of our work packets. So what I
would view it is that the citizen -led committee would not cost anything, um, but they
would just give us a recommendation as to (mumbled) could start with a much, much
smaller in ... vision, um, cause I think one of the things maybe staff was thinking like with
this type of facility, we're talkin' big, and I thunk maybe that's sort of what staff was
thinking based upon our failure to be more clear in terms of really what we were looking
at, but I think if we would start small, establish the concept, build with the community
groups, I think we could at least get some recommendations in terms of where our maker
space policy should be. One anecdote that Mr. Miller had shared to me, um, and he was
the metal's teacher evidently for City High, um, for several years. Retired about nine
years ago, um, but the number of employers that he says that .... that he's talked to, to talk
about the lack of skilled labor, um, in the city of Iowa City, and at least he felt that the
maker space concept would at least be one small step to move forward on that, but again,
the devil's always in the details, and so if we could do a work session on that for
purposes of talking about what type of committee we'd like to have, to come back with a
set of recommendations, um, I think would still be really helpful. So I .... I would like to
at least keep this on, um, our work session list.
Throgmorton/ Can you clarify a little bit what you mean by a citizen -led committee?
Cole/ Well, an ad hoc committee I guess is sort of what I'm thinking of. Um ... I mean I don't
know, uh, you know, we had had the Racial Justice Committee and I understand that that
had some staff involvement with it, um, but some relatively small committee between
five and seven members, but in terms of exactly how that would function, I think that'd
be a good topic of a work session, so we'd be able to get the feedback from staff in terms
of what's feasible and what not .... and what's not, um, but what I'm thinking is is that I
think they already have put a lot of thought into it in terms of what's feasible. I know
there's been at least some conversations with Mr. Cheyney, um, that we could get at least
a .... at least memo generating sort of what the next action steps should be and what the
potential cost parameters could be.
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Throgmorton/ And you're thinking initially this would be a temporary committee?
Cole/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ And maybe that would be it (both talking)
Cole/ Yeah, and ... and it may be that they come back with a recommendation and we say, `Look,
that's just not .... it's not feasible. We don't have the budget for it. It's too big,' that sort
of thing, but they may come back, and I think this is what's gonna happen, that they'll
come back with a relatively modest proposal that's doable, that we can get done and get
started and get moving on, to at least get started, and then leave this discussion to a more
complicated facility, at another day.
Throgmorton/ What do the rest of you think, and Geoff, I don't know, you should weigh in too
on this.
Taylor/ I'm just a little confused as far as, uh, who you would be gearing this towards, uh,
younger like kids fresh out of high school, middle-aged, uh, people trying to find another
type of position, uh, cause I know there was talk with the bond issue that City High
would, uh, perhaps reinstitute an industrial arts classroom which was great, and I ... I just, I
wouldn't want to step on the toes of the, uh, apprenticeship program. There's the
plumbing apprenticeship. There's electrical. There's the carpentry. All those kinds of
apprenticeship programs, which I'd like to see maybe the schools and the counselors in
the schools emphasizing that more and working with those trade unions to .... to get, um,
young folks interested in that.
Cole/ Well and that may be the recommendation, that there ... there should be greater participation
with the apprenticeship programs. Um, I talked with Phil Hemingway about it, um, he
certainly didn't think there was any conflict, and in terms of who would be the
beneficiary of it, I think anyone interested in an industrial education. I know Mr. Miller's
been retired now for nine years. Um, he highlighted actually of all things, you know,
maker space in Dubuque, um, which evidently some of the sisters are gettin' into makin',
uh, various projects as well, uh, so I don't think in terms of the .... but I think, I mean,
hopefully it would be students interested in industrial education. Um, whether they're
out of high school or that sort of thing, but I think the committee would come back to us,
anyone with an interest in that particular topic.
Botchway/ So, Eleanor, you have to help me here, cause I may be, you know, stepping on some
boundaries, but I don't.....I guess for me, I think that that's a ...... a, I feel like it's a
School District issue. I mean I feel like if we're talking about industrial education and
thinking about kind of what your point was, Pauline, around .... I'm not opposed to it. I
guess I'm just tryin' to think through ... who, basically who's responsibility, I mean that's
what I .... that's my main question that keeps coming into my mind is who .... who
shoulders responsibility and my feeling here is, and I'm not necessarily in .... this is not
my area, um, industrial ag or industrial education, but I just feel like .... you know, this is
an issue that I know Director Hemingway has been bringing up publicly at, um, School
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Board meetings and I don't necessarily know if he's got any traction or whatever the case
maybe. I .... I guess I don't .... I don't want a battle here, um, between City Council and
School Board, and (several talking)
Cole/ I mean I would envision.... and the conunittee may come back with that recommendation
would be my thing. They may .... they may say that, so I....
Botchway/ The only thing that I have with that, Rockne, is that, you know, for any citizen or any
resident that wants to bring a particular proposal to us, they would have had to, you
know, considerable leg work behind it before we would move forward on a committee. I
mean for me I feel like it's almost putting us in a position of wanting us to do the work
without them having kind of concrete plans as far as how they want to move forward in
that particular way, and I think that's where it seemingly has failed on the other end
because there isn't really, you know, wanting to do something is great, but how to do it is
obviously always going to be the issue, and I .... I guess I'm just not seeing the how right
now. So I mean I'm....again, I don't wanna, you know, somebody to watch this and say
I'm not supportive of industrial education. I .... I think frankly, I think it needs to be a
consideration from an overarcing standpoint with ICAD because I think Mark Nolte has
these conversations every single time about a skilled workforce. The issue is I just
don't .... I don't know if we're the vehicle to .... to move that forward. I'm not sayin' that
we're not. I just want to be concrete about if we are, why are we? Compared to some of
the other areas.
Cole/ I guess .... (mumbled) one quick response to that. I mean the starting point for this is
essentially the strategic plan, where we talked about coordination with the other
educational institutions. So, um..you know, I .... I guess a citizen -led committee, to come
back with a set of recommendations. We may reject all of them and come to that
conclusion .... I don't think that would be too time intensive.
Mims/ I guess piggybacking kind of what on ... what Kingsley has said, you know, and who
should take the lead on something like this. Um, and ... and I think with all of us, I think I
believe that we all support, you know, the skilled trades. We need more people. The
apprenticeship programs are having trouble, you know, getting people. I've had some
discussions with Geoff on that of how we could coordinate some things potentially, but...
I agree with Kingsley that I don't .... I don't see that this is necessarily that the City
Council should be stepping out and taking the actual lead on. Um, one .... one of my
concerns is in doing that, do we.....give people the impression that we are going to be the
solution to this incredibly huge problem. I would like to see more along the lines of what
Kingsley has said. If there are people in the community that are really committed to this
and want to see some kind of, uh.... facility developed and programming, let them kind of
take the initiative and then .... then look to us potentially as a partner. Look to the School
District potentially as a partner. Look to the labor unions potentially as partners. But I ... I
think there's certain things that the Council.....maybe shouldn't be taking the lead on,
and I think this is one of those. I would certainly welcome hearing from the .... a
community group that had kind of figured out some of this stuff and said, `Hey, can we
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bring these different entities together to help solve this problem,' then yeah, let's have a
discussion and see if there's a .... a reasonable place for the City to be involved in that.
Throgmorton/ Uh, Terry? Ulr, John?
Thomas/ You know I ... in honest I haven't, this is sort of an area where I certainly have an
interest in the outcome. I think the .... the whole question of improving the competency of
our community in terms of industrial arts is critical. Um.....but how we get there is .... is
a real question to me (laughs) I don't really, um.....know what role the City has with
that, uh, one....I think the apprenticeship opportunities in the, urn .... commentary is
something I know Fred Meyer has spoken of, you know that if we expand some of
the .... or, not expand but incorporated in .... into some of the edible landscape projects, uh,
some skilled crafts, building landscape structures, things of that sort, which are then, uh,
serve as apprentice opportunities to Iowa City's youth, um, that's a role I think the City
can play for sure, if we can try to leverage, uh, projects that are on City property to create
apprentice op.....apprenticeship opportunities, I ... I think that's something really worth
exploring. Um.....but, yeah, I'm thinking of say the ArtiFactory where there is kind of a
group that's working on this, trying to develop, you know, a vision for how to achieve...
their facility and in that instance, City .... City Council is not playing a role. So I ... other
(coughing, difficult to hear speaker) than we're .... we're in the loop, but we're not, you
know, we're not actually.... creating a committee or endorsing a committee for that
discussion to take place.
Throgmorton/ Let me mention a couple things. Uh.....I think this appears in our strategic plan
because of a conversation I had with Phil way back when and I .... I think I asked to have
it put in the strategic plan. I can't remember now, it's too long ago. Uh, but
subsequently I .... subsequently I had a conversation with both Phil and Steve Miller, as
you indicated, Rockne, and Steve, uh, after a few weeks gave me some written material.
I .... I went through it fairly quickly, shared it with Geoff, uh, Geoff I'm sure read it and
then subsequently Geoff has had some conversations with the Superintendent, and it's my
understanding that there's not much interest at the .... at the School District level in terms
of proceeding. So, I.....I'm hearing what Susan and Kingsley have said about who really
should take the lead on something like this and ... it was never my intention that Iowa City
would take the lead. What I hoped we could do is collaborate with some other entities...
to, uh, pr .... to ensure that some ..... a facility generally speaking of this type would be, uh,
made available in Iowa City. But I never intended for us to take the lead. So.....(laughs)
I'm not really sure how we can (both talking)
Cole/ But again, I think the committee doesn't necessarily mean we're taking the lead. I mean it
may be....it may identify other entities (mumbled) identify a non-profit, um (both
talking)
Mims/ I think by us setting up a commut... committee, we're taking the lead (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I do too.
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Cole/ Yeah, all right. Well....
Throgmorton/ We could invite them to .... put a little more flesh on the bone so to speak, uh....
recognizing it needs to be a collaborative endeavor.
Botchway/ And press the new (mumbled) and press the new School Board as well. I mean I
think that's ultimately there's a new School Board or School Board Members or new
School Board generated, um, I feel like this is something that they could or should take
on, um. .... focusing on some of the comments that even Pauline had identified that came
out of the ... the bond discussion as well, um, that's kinda that ... going back to that
accountability. I .... I, yeah, I just don't want ..... I agree with Susan as well. I don't want
people to be looking at us for this and I think this is a.....systemic issue which I think we
need to .... I just think the School needs to be involved more. I think the School needs to
do it, honestly.... frankly.
Dickens/ It's a national problem. It's not just Iowa City. There was just a report on this week
that I watched that the trades are very .... a lot of it has to do with the unemployment rate
too. It's so low that the people that are left, it's.... it's tough to get people to step up or
change a job to go into these trades. So, yeah, I .... I understand what you're saying, that
we need to get some more information, but once again .... we really can't be the lead.
Throgmorton/ Well, I .... okay, I .... I think the sense of the Council is pretty clear, uh, but I do
think, tell me if I'm wrong, we would be eager to collaborate with.....Kirkwood, the
School District, labor unions (several talking) etc., to help make that kind of facility
happen.
Mims/ I would qualify that that we would be willing .... we would be very eager to consider
collaborating. Again, the devils are in the details on that. I just....
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I understand. Yeah, if it was a $12 million facility and .... which is not the
case, but .... yeah. Okay. Next item is review the child data snapshot and discuss related
strategies with local stakeholders.
Botchway/ So this is mine. Um, I told Geoff already I think in the email to remove it. Um,
basically it goes back to our current rating system and just making sure we're looking at
metrics, um, and I thought that the child data snapshot provided an interesting metric that
we needed to pay attention to, but if we're already working towards that, um, in .... in lieu
of the strategic plan, remove.
Throgmorton/ Any objection to that?
Cole/ Nope!
Throgmorton/ Okay! And so we'll do that. Uh, the next item is to discuss creation of an ad hoc
committee on social justice and racial equity.
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Botchway/ So, this is mine as well (both talking) Oh!
Throgmorton/ (both talking) ..before you say it, uh, Geoff notes that we have a .... a City
Manager's roundtable and that we could perhaps officially designate it and may .... maybe
rename it and, uh, give it an explicit charge.
Botchway/ So I was just gonna say yes, I agree. I .... I, that's.... it's kind of ...I remember us
having this discussion during the strategic planning session and I think ultimately I
wanted something different, um, out of the roundtable discussion. Um, not to say that the
roundtable discussion is bad. I just wanted something different as it relates to social
justice and racial equity. And so.....I think for me .... um, it needs to be removed from the
list and I think I need to be more clear about what I .... what I mean by that, because I
don't think I gave a good .... a good description as far as what I had in mind (mumbled)
some of that was in regards to our social justice and racial equity grant and having a
committee that will review some of those, um, proposals as they put forth, but that goes
through what committee, Geoff?
Fruin/ Human Rights.
Botchway/ Human Rights, and so that got switched over a little bit, so there was not a need to do
a.....a separate committee now and so ..... now the reasoning behind having it is a little bit
different, and this is kinda out of the Seattle model, urn ... but they don't also have a City
Manager's roundtable. So ... I would, uh, I would agree with kind of the recommendation
from Geoff and staff as far as.....um, considering, uh, a City Council liaison and maybe
renaming the group, but I also want to make sure that it's something that we talk to them
about as well and it's not something that, you know, we just do. So, I would say, for me
at least, um, we're moving this and just kind of reconsidering, um, the City Manager
roundtable.
Fruin/ I guess one thing I want to be, um, clear on in terms of I guess how I view this. The ... I
think the roundtable is effective in part because it's informal. Um, it's flexible. People
are comin' and goin'. Um .... we'll get new faces at....at times and people will drop off
for a couple of months and then come back in. Um, so I....I.....I still would want to keep
it informal, which is why just having an .... a ...... a Council liaison to that, urn .... uh, I
think makes sense but in .... in reality, anything that comes up at that group, if they're
workin' on things, if it needs to filter up to the City Council, it certainly will. Uh, much
of the focus that we have on that is operational aspects — parks, libraries, senior center —
we get into those types of discussions, but certainly as community issues come up or as,
um, other issues are identified, havin' a Council liaison on the committee, um, I don't
think hurts at all, and ..... and plugs into some of those, um, more detailed discussions that
we're havin'.
Throgmorton/ So would not be .... as ..... as formal as something like the Human Rights
Commission.
Fruin/ Correct.
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Throgmorton/ Uh, but would have an official title. We .... we'd have to.....probably get
recommendations about what its charge should be. You make an illusion to that .... your
(both talking)
Fruin/ Yeah, we .... we really don't have a chair of the group. Stefanie Bowers, um, oversees it.
She .... she programs the agenda. She .... she talks to the .... the group. We survey the
group once or twice a year to see what topics they're interested in, but urn.... there....
there is no charge, in terms of a scope there's no charge, urn .... so if there's a specific
charge that the Council wants, then I think you're probably gettin' into that formal policy
where now you're gettin' into open meetings and things of that nature. Um .... I don't
know (both talking)
Mims/ I think there's a lot of benefit to the informal aspect of the roundtable, and I think it .... I,
and I .... my one question about a Council liaison is does.....and, Geoff, you'll have to
ask, you know, answer this or think about it in light of the people that are coming to those
meetings, does the presence of a Councilor impact the discussions? And if that's gonna
impact, you know, the openness and if you've .... if you and staff have built relationships
there, and if ...if having a Councilor there is gonna have any kind of negative impact or
have people hold back at all in terms of open and honest discussions, then.....then I think
we need to take that into consideration before we would, you know, considering doing
(both talking)
Fruin/ I don't think so. I really don't. Now if it .... if it gets to the point where there's a specific
charge and it triggers open meetings and there's minutes being takin' and (mumbled)
then, yes, it probably does. Then I'd probably have that concern, but, uh..... a single
Council liaison, no. Um, and I think it'd be appropriate that .... that the Council liaison
report on, you know, high level, `Here's what we talked about at the roundtable
during .... during these meetings,' uh, so that the full Council knows those (mumbled)
Throgmorton/ It meets once a month? Typically?
Fruin/ Um, yeah. I think typically. We probably.... probably about nine or 10 times a year, uh,
would be my guess. We skip a couple of months.
Throgmorton/ I know I've sat in on, uh, I don't know, probably on average one out of every
three roundtables.
Fruin/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ And, yeah, I never say anything really, but ... but I don't think the conversation's
been influenced by me being there.
Mims/ Okay! Just wanted to raise the question. Yeah, I'm supportive of it. I, I mean I don't
know if we really need to rename it if we're gonna keep it as an informal, I think we want
to be careful we don't rename it something that makes it sound like its more formal and is
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policy -oriented, that misleads people. So, I don't know. I kinda like the City Manager's
roundtable.
Botchway/ So .... kinda, this is one of the issues, and I'm more kinda throwing this out from a
question standpoint. So I think about kind of. ... you know, environmental justice or, um,
how we couple sustainability with, um, social justice. And then I wonder where that
goes. Because I think that there's a part of that I think that's focused from the Climate
Action Committee standpoint, but then I feel like theirs.... their conversation is so detail -
oriented, and so .... is that something that that group could take on? Cause they have, I
mean you said they've taken on multiple tasks in the past.
Fruin/ Yeah, I think, uh, we're havin' a roundtable tomorrow, right, and one of the topics is the
climate....an update. I think Ashley's gonna provide an update on the .... the climate plan,
uh, of the Climate Committee and their work, so that's exactly what we try to do. We
just try to work them in to, uh, the current topics at City Hall and make sure they're
aware of what's going on. They know how to participate. Um, if they've got feedback at
that, uh, particular lunch they can provide it there and .... and Ashley and Brenda can take
it back to the committee.
Botchway/ I'm.....so I'm basi.... based on that I'm just gonna say, just remove it altogether. I
mean I think it's appropriate kinda how it stands. Remove it. From this list, not the City
Council .... not the City Manager's roundtable, just from the list. In general.
Throgmorton/ I thought you were going to say something about the name (laughs)
Botchway/ No, I'm okay with the name. (mumbled)
Throgmorton/ The name being social justice and racial equity (both talking)
Botchway/ No (both talking) City Manager's roundtable, just leaving it as is.
Throgmorton/ Okay, what do the rest of. ... it's not a huge thing, I don't think, but uh....
Cole/ Concur.
Throgmorton/ Rest of you okay with just continuing that name (several responding)
Cole/ Concur.
Throgmorton/ Do you think we should, uh, appoint a City Council liaison .... to it?
Cole/ No.
Botchway/ I don't think so. I think, I mean you talked about sitting in on meetings. I ... I mean I
need to sit on some meetings, I mean I think we can leave it at that. Honestly.
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Dickens/ As long as there's just one there. (several talking in background)
Frain/ If anybody has an interest, just let me know and I can, I mean I can plug ya in and let ya
know, hey, we're (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ....just got on the mailing list, so to speak (several talking) Stefanie tells me.
Okay! Well I hear that we're going to keep the name. We're gonna, uh, not .... not
appoint a Council Member, and we're gonna remove this particular topic from the
pending list. That's what I hear. (several responding) Okay, but there's one little bit
that I think we would encourage and that is .... if they have recommendations, that pertain
to, I don't know, social justice, racial equity, and stuff being discussed by the
Manager's... City Manager's roundtable, we want to know about `em!
Fruin/ Understood.
Throgmorton/ Okay! Next, joint meeting with the Telecommunications Commission.
Cole/ So I guess I would like to take the lead on this one, if that's okay, since I think this was
generated by my original discussion of municipal broadband. You know I think, you
know, munici... um, our broadband infrastructure is probably one of the most critical
issues in the community, and I think it's very important that we get together with the
Telecommunications Commission, simply to identify where we are right now in terms of
our municipal broadband policy. Um, we did have the `ImOn,' what? Two or three
years ago? Um, we're bringin' a new provider. Um, and so I think it's important that we
do that and whether it's municipal, private, or anything else, just to have that discussion.
It's certainly a topic that I hear a lot about, um, certainly from time to time we get
complaints in terns of where we are, um, in where we ... if our infrastructure is where it
needs to be. So, again, this would fall under the category of a relatively targeted meeting,
with the Teleco ... communications Commission, simply to see where we are. Um, I
would like in the future, and this is one of the things I'm gonna push at our strategic plan,
for a feasibility (mumbled) of municipal broadband, because I'm not ready to give up on
that particular topic. Um, but I think that would be a second step. I think the first step is,
as we recognized last spring, um, to have this discussion with the Telecommunications
Commission and if the report that we get from them is we're doing everything we can
and we think we're where we need to be, um, I think I'd reconsider that request for a
feasibility study, but I think it's important that we identify that infrastructure because it is
a critical need that the community faces.
Throgmorton/ I agree. I think we oughta keep it on the pending list but.....we.... we deferred it
mainly because we didn't have a full commission, and to the best of my knowledge we
still don't, but I'm not sure about that. Kellie, do you know?
Fruehling/ (unable to hear, away from mic)
Botchway/ One vacancy.
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Fruehling/ (unable to hear, away from mic)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I'd much rather have a full committee, uh, commission (both talking)
Cole/ Yes.
Throgmorton/ To be fair to them (mumbled) for one reason. But otherwise I'd like to engage in
that conversation with `em. Uh, any other opinions about this? I see a lot of nodding
heads, but....okay, so that's what we're gonna do. So once the commission's full, I don't
know, after the full commission's been there for a couple months or somethin', they've
had a chance to meet each other (laughs) get to know each other a little bit, maybe we
can, uh, you know, schedule a meeting with `em. Okay? All right, next, discuss possible
changes to on -street parking in core neighborhoods. So Geoffs recommendation is that
we keep it on the pending list until staff review is complete, and uh, we've had some
conversations, uh.... uh, John, Geoff, and 1, and staff, had a .... one conversation in
particular. I'm sure the staff has gone into more detail. So .... keep it on the list?
Cole/ Do we have an approximate timeframe as to when we're gonna do the....
Throgmorton/ Good question! We have, what, five meetings or something like that before the
end of the year. I don't know if we (both talking)
Cole/ I thought we were going to do it in October, um....
Fruin/ Well, um .... I don't think we'd be ready for your next meeting, and we had the SUDAS,
uh, discussion there and .... and we were gonna update ya on Gateway and a couple of the
bigger capital projects at your next meeting. Um, we've got Lusk scheduled for
November 215`, so, um, I think we could shoot for that first meeting in November, um,
which'd be November 61h. I think that's the Monday meeting, um, Kent and Ron and
Jason, does that sound.... reasonable? (several talking) Wanna.... aim for...
Throgmorton/ Yeah! Yeah, let's do that.
Fruin/ November 61 on that? (several responding)
Throgmorton/ Okay, uh, and the last one is code review in light of Lusk Avenue, and this is
currently scheduled for November the 2151. Done with, uh, this review of pending work
session topics. All right! Well done, everybody! Next topic, clarification of agenda
items.
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Item 4d(4) Burlington Clinton Intersection Improvements - Resolution approving,
authorizing and directing the Mayor to execute and the City Clerk to attest
Amendment No. 2 to the February 19, 2013, agreement by and between the City of
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Iowa City and Shive-Hattery, Inc. to provide engineering consultant services for the
Burlington Clinton Intersection Improvements Project.
Throgmorton/ I'd like to make a request. See what the rest of you think. Item 4d(4), 4d(4).
That's the amendment regarding engineering consultant services for the Clinton/
Burlington intersection. Uh, it's in the Consent Calendar. I'd like to pull it from the
Consent Calendar and ask Kent or Ron to briefly describe what's....why, you know,
where we are on it and what the .... what the intent is with regard to this particular
resolution and amendment, just so the public can hear that. So they can have a sense of
what's going to happen with that intersection.
Botchway/ Does it need to be pulled from Consent? Or can we have that conversation during
Consent?
Dilkes/ Any Council Member can (unable to hear, away from mic)
Throgmorton/ What'd you say, anyone can, is that what (both talking)
Dilkes/ Yeah, any Council Member can, or you're right, you can have the discussion as part of
the Consent Calendar too. It's just if you want to vote on it separately it needs to be
removed from the (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I don't think we need to vote on it separately. So ... okay, so if you can help
me remember then when we get into discussion of the Consent Calendar, uh, Ron, I'll ask
you to come up and, uh, talk about that? Okay. Okay, anything else in the, uh.... you
know, clarification of agenda items topic?
Mims/ Pretty straightforward.
Information Packet Discussion [September 21, September 281:
Throgmorton/ Okay, hearing, uh, no further comments about that, we'll move to the Info Packet
discussion. The September 21 packet.
Mims/ IP2, um....
Throgmorton/ I thought you might touch on that (laughter)
Mims/ I know, everybody thinks I only care about money! (laughter) I care about money
because what we can do with the money (laughs) Um, unfortunately I'm not surprised
about this. Um .... you know, the property tax cuts, the Governor talking about ending the
backfill, um, we're gonna.... fortunately we've got ourselves in a good position with
building our reserves, building our emergency fund, but .... I think in another two to three
years, we may really be finding ourselves heading in the other direction in terms of
having to either raise our taxes or potentially cut services, uh, depending on what the
State does. So....
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Cole/ Des Moines (both talking) was interesting I thought.
Mims/ I forget. I read this so long ago.
Cole/ They did have to raise the tax.
Mims/ Yeah.
Cole/ Unfortunately.
Throgmorton/ So there was a response .... in the Des Moines' Register a few days ago by
somebody, I don't remember who. I should have made a copy of, uh, of the guest
opinion. Uh, but the gist of the response was, um .... cities are complaining too much.
They say that, uh, we should be really worried because property tax revenues will be cut
and therefore services will have to be cut or taxes will have to be increased. And this, the
person who wrote this said, `Naw, that's really not going to be the case. In fact, if you
look at the ... the data on property tax revenues in general in the .... this, the major cities in
Iowa, have been increasing despite cuts in property tax mandated by the State.' So, I'm
not claimin' I agree with that at all, but .... I ... I think we ... we need to have a response to
that in mind, and I should of (laughs) printed out a copy and shared it with ya before the
meeting, but I didn't. Do you know what I'm referrin' to, Geoff?
Fruin/ Yeah, I mean.....I think the .... the author is probably referring to you need to look at how
tax bases are growing in the ..... in the cities, and despite the cuts, whether it's multi-
family cuts or the threat of removal of backfill, has the taxable value in cities continued
to increase (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Because the property tax valuations are increasing (both talking)
Fruin/ Right, valuations are goin' on, there's.... there's continued growth, whatever the case may
be and .... um, the answer's gonna differ from city to city. We're fortunate in that we've
experienced some growth and that there's high demand for development in, uh, this
region, but in talking with a lot of other cities, they're not nearly as fortunate as we are to
have .... have the demand for growth that we ... we are havin' right now. So .... it's hard to
put a blanket statement on how these .... these decisions to cut taxes or to remove backfills
affects cities, because it affects everyone a little bit differently. There was some
speculation at a recent, uh, Metro Coalition meeting and .... and you may have heard
mention that before, but Metro Coalition is an informal group of the 10 largest cities of
Iowa. We collaborate on legislative priorities and what not, and there was some
speculation that perhaps those cities that have experienced growth, um, might lose their
backfill, and the State would keep the backfill for those cities that, um, have not had
growth in their tax base at that time. So, you know, whether it's an even phase out or
some sort of, um.....you know, again, removal for those that don't need it, quote,
unquote, we don't really know, but clearly the conversation has shifted from it's
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protected to the cities need to come to the table and be a part of the solution, which
means it's gone. (laughter)
Taylor/ I .... I was glad that, Geoff, I think it was you, um, had shared the article cause it ... seeing
the figures was really an eye-opener and it made me realize why Susan has been harping
about this all year long because, uh (both talking)
Mims/ For eight years!
Taylor/ Yeah! (laughter) Not just this year (mumbled) okay! Cause other cities are feeling the
pinch too and are... and are afraid they would have to increase property taxes or cut
services, but I was happy to see in the article, um, a comment from our own
representative, uh, Dave Jacoby from Coralville, uh.... uh, talking about it being the worst
tax policy bill and .... and that the backfill is a promise that was made, uh, to local
governments and he wants to see it honored and... and it always helps to have an
advocate, and uh, we .... we should thank him for .... for whatever he can do to .... to help
with that, to keeping that backfill in there and ... and obviously, as Susan's told us, keep on
our toes!
Thomas/ How far below the.....I, one thing I found interesting in the article was this, the general
fund levy limit and how many cities are already at the limit or an emergency levy status.
Uh, where are we with respect to that?
Fruin/ We are maxed out on our 8/10, um, levy, which is what it's referring to here. We do not
use the emergency levy at all.
Throgmorton/ Did that answer your question?
Thomas/ Yes it does! (laughter)
Mims/ We are maxed! (laughter)
Throginorton/ Okay, any further discussion about that topic?
Cole/ I just have a comment about IPS.
Throgmorton/ Okay! Go ahead.
Cole/ Um, I just really wanted to, uh, thank Simon and staff for the wonderful work that they did.
You know when we have these conversations up here, it's always nice to see the memo
come back, I think really capturing the spirit of the discussions. So I thought it was, uh, a
very well done memo and, um, looking forward to this, you know, on-going budgeting
process. Very good work!
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Yeah, but Simon, Simon, Simon! I keep hearing about Simon! Like
jumping off the side of a roof (laughter) building and things like that and repelling down
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or something, I don't know (laughter) He's gettin' all this publicity! (laughter) It was a
great photograph of you in the .... the staff chat thing. Yeah. Really fun to see!
Taylor/ IN. I .... I was glad to see that article too, the buses one, uh, cause I think when I brought
that up as a possible, uh, budget item, I think people looked at me like I had two heads or
something, like why would you want to do this or change our bus system, but there are
many points in the article that kind of rang true to our community, uh, and .... and our
corridors, as far as the changing demographics. We are growing. We're spreading. East,
west, north, south, and I think our bus, uh, routes and times haven't kept up with that,
and, um, people complain about the congestion all the time in the city, and I think if we
got more ridership, although that's something would be helpful to know. I don't think
we've ever seen data as far as our ridership, or maybe from, uh, the City, if we've heard
anything from Transit on the ridership. It'd be good to know, um, and we also had gotten
a letter, again, about the shelters, and I know we are doing something about that, uh, but
it's .... it's kinda late in coming, uh, for that person. (both talking)
Throgmorton/ I saw Mary Gravitt gettin' on the bus just today. (laughter)
Taylor/ But uh.... uh, we maybe could consider consultant. There's always talk about consultant
and this article mentioned about consultants and reviews this method, as we've talked
about today for ... for many other, uh, projects and together even with public input, uh, and
uh.... uh, a consultant, uh, would be money well spent, I think, to .... to, at least take a look
at it.
Fruin/ You'll see that in our budget recommendation to you. It will .... will include consultant
dollars for this purpose.
Taylor/ Good!
Thomas/ Do we .... do we talk to, um, the University in terms of their Cambus routes? Because
I .... I've begun to think that if Cambus were to run down through Riverfront Crossings, to
say the new City park, um.....that would be .... a wonderful thing. I mean and Cambus is
....it's headways are what you would expect in a major city (several responding)
and ... and that, if we could have strong connectivity to an area where we are really
promoting, uh, in terms of development, I think that would really help activate Riverfront
Crossings.
Fruin/ Yeah, our staffs do.....do talk and collaborate quite a bit. It gets channeled through the
MPO, um, those discussions do quite often, but I don't know if there's ever been
discussions with Cambus taking off -campus routes. They .... they do cover some off -
campus areas, but they tend to be en route to Oakdale or en route to River Landing where
there's other University facilities.
Thomas/ I guess .... I think of Riverfront Crossings as being de facto student housing, you know,
in that regard it....it is part of the campus, maybe not formally, um, many people who
will live down there will be part of the University.
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Nelson/ (mumbled) interesting aside, um, Ames, I know their like Cambus is effectively their
city transit as well, so just kind of in terns of precedent of university towns collaborating
with the cities, like I think it's an interesting model to look at and even copy.
Throgmorton/ Okay, any other topics .... for September 21?
Thomas/ Oh, I just wanted to, the, uh, IP3, the Amazon HQ2 wishlist. Uh, I .... I found that very
encouraging. I felt many of the initiatives Council is taking, the City is taking, uh, are
reflected in that wishlist, um, and then the notion of economic development is about
growing from within, as sort of an overarching philosophy, uh, is something that I think,
um, you know, we're doing well in that regard.
Throgmorton/ I noticed how it emphasized the importance of. ... as it describes it, connected and
sustainable placemaking.
Thomas/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ Which is really what we're tryin' to do (laughs)
Thomas/ Cultural diversity.
Throgmorton/ Cultural diversity, promoting an inclusive culture and ..... having a diverse
population. So .... yeah! Let's go to September 28. That fact sheet, thank you.
Botchway/ Yes!
Throgmorton/ On IP #6, uh, the joint meeting agenda items, so ... Kellie asked us to identify any
possible items that we would want to have discussed at the joint meeting. And I'm
embarrassed to admit I didn't think about it. So .... (laughs).....hmmm.....
Cole/ A maker space policy.
Throgmorton/ Could do!
Taylor/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ So ... we could, um, just put it on the agenda and usually, you know, how things
usually go, since we put it on the agenda we would have to talk about it, right?
Fruin/ Who's gonna lead that discussion? Are you lookin' for staff to lead that discussion or is
that a (laughter) I'll need some help on that! (several talking and laughing)
Cole/ Well I'll .... I'll request that Steve submit that written material as a starting point. How
bout that?
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Throgmorton/ And....
Cole/ He'd submitted a memo to you.
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Well, yeah, he .... he gave me some written material, yeah.
Cole/ So that might be a starting point for the discussion.
Throgmorton/ For the others on the joint, uh..... in the joint meeting to read as well. And ... and
what, during the meeting you would speak briefly (both talking)
Cole/ ...just to gauge whether there's any interest at all, and if we get glassy eyes and say, `No,'
then....
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Cole/ ....re-evaluate that (both talking)
Throgmorton/ So ... it .... it's for us, Geoff.
Cole/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ But you'll ask, uh....
Cole/ I'll ask Steve, yes!
Throgmorton/ Any other topics for the joint meeting? (mumbled) (several talking)
Thomas/ The radio show?
Throgmorton/ Well, no, I want to see if there are any other joint, uh (both talking)
Thomas/ ....sorry!
Throgmorton/ ...items. We're drawin' a blank. Okay. KXIC.
Thomas/ October 18th is what I have, would like to request.
Mims/ I'll take November ls`
Taylor/ I'll take November 15th.
Throgmorton/ Hold on! Kellie's gotta write all this down. Are .... are you up to date with the
three of them? Okay.
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Dickens/ What .... what's in October? I...just to bring this up, I wanna.... I was on this last
Wednesday. He asked if we could bring ... our student liaison to one of the meeting, or
one of the talks, and so I'll take whatever one's comin' up in the next couple weeks and if
that works out, I'd like Benj... Benjamin to go with me.
Nelson/ Yeah, well we're free any Wednesday, so....
Throgmorton/ So, Kellie, there are only three dates I can do, because of other things I'm
committed to doing. I can only do it on the 11 h, the 25h, or November the 1'. So I'm
happy to do any one of those, but.....
Dickens/ So, 25°' I .... if you want to do the 11', I'll do the 25'h.
Throgmorton/ Okay, and you'll do it with Ben?
Dickens/ Yep!
Tbrogmorton/ Okay. Does that sound all right to you?
Dickens/ That's October 25°i9
Throgmorton/ I'll do the 11`h, right?
Cole/ Has the 15" been taken, in November?
Fruehling/ Yes.
Cole/ Okay.
Botchway/ I'll do 8'.
Mims/ Everybody has at least one?
Cole/ I don't think I .... Kingsley's doing mine tomorrow.
Botchway/ Yeah.
Cole/ I'm....
Mims/ So what do you have left?
Cole/ December 6`h?
Fruehling/ (unable to hear, away from mic)
Cole/ I'll do the 22nd.
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Mims/ I'll take the 29h
Dickens/ Do we need December 6t' then?
Mims/ Yes.
Dickens/ I'll do that. Kind of a farewell (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/ Kellie, right before our meeting, you and I talked about inserting department
heads (several talking in background) Hold on, everybody! Right before our meeting
started, Kellie and I talked about somethin' we have discussed as a Council, I don't
know, several meetings ago, about enabling department heads to .... appear in this
sequence. So, uh, it'd be good if somebody..... would say, okay, uh, I'll forgo my
opportunity and make space for a .... for a department head.
Mims/ If you can find somebody for the 29°i. I mean it's up to (both talking)
Fruin/ Or, urn .... or, you know, we can come with you too. You can... particularly if there's a ... a
topic you want to address that it would be helpful to have a staff member there to support
ya to ... get into more .... more of the details, we can do it that way too. How... however
y'all want to do it.
Botchway/ So who wants to come tomorrow?
Fruin/ What are ya talkin' about? (laughter)
Botchway/ Rent abatement's gonna be .... a huge topic!
Tbrogmorton/ Well you're.... you're on tomorrow (both talking)
Botchway/ Yeah, that's what I'm sayin', I'm on tomorrow.
Cole/ We're switchin' because of the conference.
Throgmorton/ You're asking whether a (both talking)
Fruin/ You want staff to come tomorrow? (laughter) I, uh, I can see what I can do (several
taking and laughing)
Botchway/ Um....
Throgmorton/ Yeah, that's pretty short notice.
Cole/ You're all by yourself, Kingsley!
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Throgmorton/ How bout the l I1h, that ... that's my gig. Soon the 11th somebody could join me.
Fruin/ Okay. Is that October 11`h or November?
Cole/ Yeah, October 11 th.
Throgmorton/ October.
Fruin/ October 11th
Botchway/ November 8`h.
Throgmorton/ And I don't know who would come with me. I don't know if it'd be Eleanor or
Geoff or Tracy or John or .... I don't know who.
Fruin/ Well, we .... we can talk tomorrow and .... I don't know how this typically works. Do you
submit to KXIC what you want to talk about or do they (several talking)
Dickens/ .....department heads, that's what they're gonna talk about that day (several talking and
laughing)
Fruin/ Well it would be easy .... easy enough for us to, um, for each ... just based on time of year
and what's been on the Council packets to ... to develop a list of three or four bullet points,
um, and share that with ya before ya head into the .... the meeting, give you some talking
points. Um, we can .... we can work on that on our end.
Throgmorton/ That's a pretty complicated topic. Tough to talk about. Uh, on the radio, you
know, in the space of 12 minutes or something.
Mims/ Which topic?
Throgmorton/ Rent, I'm sorry (several talking) Not rent abatement. I .... I was thinkin' about the
whole .... uh, neighborhood stabilization topic when I said that (several talking)
Botchway/ ...almost think it's better to just forgo and have a staff member. If there.... almost
think it's better for them ... for us to just forgo and have a staff to go and talk about a key
area within a department. Cause I ... cause to Jim's point, you really, yeah, it's only 10
minutes.
Throgmorton/ You know....
Dickens/ I always get about 18, cause I never shut up! (laughter)
Botchway/ In and out! (several talking and laughing)
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Throgmorton/ You know, I....L....I agree. I think it'd be better to have a .... staff members,
department heads periodically appear.
Botchway/ So let's do like a once a month, for now, at least...
Throgmorton/ That's too much. I was ... I was thinkin...... two out of the next nine, so that seven
Council Members do their thing and then interspersed would be a couple department
heads.
Dickens/ Cause I'm sharing my first one with Ben (mumbled) liaison so .... that's kinda taking
one of those, so.....
Botchway/ You can do November 8`h.
Fruin/ So October I I' and November 8t''.
Throgmorton/ Well .... no, I ... I guess I was backin' off from the October l Vh thing.
Fruin/ Oh, okay.
Throgmorton/ So, you know, if the idea is to have the department head there by herself or
himself, then it'd be best to, ya know, be clear about what dates that would occur. So you
just suggested a date, right?
Botchway/ Yeah, just .... I won't do November 8`h and then have that be a department one.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, so it could be on November 8h, and Geoff, you could choose the
department head .... to do that. And then it'd be good if we (several talking in
background)
Mims/ Yeah, I've got the 1 st....
Fruehling/ Well, Terry's going with UISG (mumbled)
Mims/ Which I think is fine. I mean basically if every time we do this we reserve one of `em for
department head, that would basically get at what you're trying to do, Jim.
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Yeah.
Fruin/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ We'd have to look nine .... (several talking) nine KXIC interviews at a time.
Mims/ Roughly, yeah.
Fruin/ All right, so we'll ..... the staff 11 take November P. Correct?
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Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Fruin/ Everything else is programmed?
Mims/ Yep.
Fruin/ And i£..if Council at any point in the future want staff to come along, talk about a
particular topic let us know, and if you want help coming up with a list of topics to talk
about, let us know.
Council updates on assigned boards, commissions and committees:
Throgmorton/ Yeah, okay. Good! All right, can we move on to our last topic, which is new for
work sessions. Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Let
me kind of model what... at least what I had in mind by describing the ... the Convention
and Visitors Bureau on September the 21', cause I'm a member of the Board. So at that
meeting, Josh reported that the FRYFest and the Cyclocross World Cup were both great
successes in September and that the World Cup, uh, event had preceded much more
smoothly this year. Luckily they didn't have a thunderstorm that kind of wiped out
everything, uh, on one of the nights. He also pointed to a few forthcoming events.
Something called Grand Gable on October the I51, also World Cup Wrestling next April,
Run Crandic, a marathon that's going to take place on April the 291 of next year, and
that's gonna go, uh, listen up, Kingsley, cause I want you to run. That's gonna go from
New Bo in Cedar Rapids to Kinnick Stadium, and there's going to be a party at Big
Grove afterwards.
Botchway/ Are you ready? (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Am I ready? (laughter) I also reported that Iowa City is, uh, I think y'all know,
applied to be a stop in next summer's RAGBRAI event, and if the application is
approved, the bicyclists are very likely to stop overnight here on one day in late July. So,
we'll have to see whether the application gets approved. So anyhow it was a, you know,
typical meeting and that's the kind of stuff that's typically reported. Who else? Maybe
we can start with Rockne.
Cole/ I had a really good update. Um, so I'm on the City of Literature Board, and from October
8'b through October 15 is the ... is the Iowa City Book Festival, and people can find out
everything that's gonna happen at iowacitybookfestival.org. Uh, John Kenyon continues
to do a fantastic job, fully bringing in this concept of really what it means to be a
UNESCO City of Literature and the work that he and the Board has done is just
incredible. So I encourage everyone to check out all those events. Various volunteer
opportunities. That's gonna be a lot of fun and it's gonna be Iowa City at its best.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I .... I want to add on that ... add to that just a little bit, uh.... uh, Saddik
Muhammed, who is the Director of Baghdad's City of Literature is going to be here and
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will be speaking on one of the panels. So I'm pretty excited about that and I look
forward to seeing Saddik again, and also a poet I met while flying back from Burlington,
Vermont, uh, is a .... um.....I'm sorry, um .... (laughs).....a Bel .... Belgian -Palestinian poet
and I had a fabulous conversation with her on a .... on the plane and I'm sure she's gonna
make, uh, be reading some poetry during the Book Festival. Yeah, anyhow. Terry!
Dickens/ The last .... I just had a Para -Transit meeting, but it was back in August, so I don't have
a lot to report on that. Uh, my last meeting will be probably in .... I think it's towards the
end of November. So I will be reporting on that, and then we need to appoint a new
person to that committee, cause that'll be my last Para -Transit meeting. So I'll report on
that and then I don't know whether Pauline would be interested in that or .... you can
appoint when you have to do that. So....
Throgmorton/ Mr. Botchway!
Botchway/ So no new updates. So I'm the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, no new
update. There's a separate subcommittee that's been doing some work around, um, some
data collection, um, in regards to I think work that was probably discussed or talked
about a year and a half ago, um, around kind of ..a coordinated effort around our,
urn .... our different jurisdictions as far as relevant data, um, some of that was in regards to
the police, but they .... we had talked about pretty extensively that the Iowa City Police
Department does a really good job collecting some of the da .... information. Um, some
of our other municipalities, um, don't necessarily collect the same information and so it
was tough to have that kind of apples to apples comparison, urn .... from a ..... kind of
county level standpoint. Um, but basically they hired a person to, um, you know, kind of
review what .... you know I would say are nexus points, um, within the kind of
adjudication process where we see or we see some disproportionality that happens. And
this is kind of in lar .... along the ways, along the lines of some of the work that LaTasha
DaLoche has done, um with the, um.....DMC Committee, Disproportionate Minority
Contact, and so, um, I don't have any information cause we haven't met, um, in a while,
um, but I can .... I'll present somethin' next Council meeting, but that's where it stands
right now. They hired somebody and, um, they're looking at those data points.
Throgmorton/ Susan.
Mims/ Um, had a number of meetings with the, uh, Behavioral Access Center, both at the
Steering Committee level and the Governance Committee. I would say we're making,
um, some good progress on trying to get some of the details worked out as to, um,
potential management of the facility, um, partnerships between whoever might manage
that and, um, non -profits that are already doing a lot of that type of work in the
community, and basically if we can get some of those details pulled together, then I think
the Governance Committee is going to be in a better position to actually come back to our
councils, um, and the Board of Supervisors to actually start talking hard money, uh, for a
facility. So, um, we certainly have asked, you know, to put a .... a, uh, placeholder in our
budget for some of that and we've encouraged everybody else, uh, to please do the same.
So, I'm hoping that, um .... we .... we've got an important meeting coming up first part of
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November that will kind of clarify, or at least bring together more of the details that we
need and .... so I'm hoping by the first of the year that we'll ... be seeing some real
progress. So ... just, there's a lot, a lot of details to work out. So....
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Mims/ But we're makin' progress!
Throgmorton/ Good deal. John.
Thomas/ Well, many of us are on the MPOJC Board, um (clears throat) We had a meeting on
September 20th. I wouldn't say anything earth -shattering, uh (laughs) took place at that
meeting. It was mostly housekeeping I would say. Um, one thing coming up will be this
question of the federal aid swap in Iowa whereby state funding could replace federal
funding on certain infrastructure projects. That's something.... Council may be interested
in, uh.... looking at more carefully.
Taylor/ Uh, as you know, I'm the Council rep to the Invest Health, uh, program, which, ladies,
Tracy included, uh, did a great job of giving a presentation on it, so, um, if...if you don't
remember, it's, uh, 50 cities across the country received a planning grant from the Robert
Wood Johnson, uh, Foundation and the Reinvestment Fund, uh, to, uh, work together,
bringing together a diverse team of folks that normally wouldn't have worked together,
uh, to come up with solutions to, uh, bettering health and quality of life in particularly
lower income neighborhoods in their community, and I'm pleased that our Iowa City
group has recently received a lot of media attention. Uh, you may have seen it, Channel
9 news, interviewed us. We were trying to have a meeting and they called, uh, Tracy and
said,' We want to interview you!' and before we knew it they showed up at the Java
House, right there with their camera and everything and, uh, did an interview, but it
was... they did a really lovely piece and showed it on the 9:00 news and, uh, Tracy did a
good job, and Vickie did a good job, uh, of talking about it, but it's also, um, now
University of Iowa publication, uh, did an article about, which I think spurred the
Channel 9 interview, as well as the Invest Health group itself, uh, in their recent
newsletter to all 50, uh, of the cities highlighted, uh, the Iowa City group and what we've
done, and I think we've, uh, accomplished quite a bit, um, we've engaged the residents to
participate and so they are some of our stakeholders also as well as mental health groups
and the hospitals and we've got a lot of projects that we're working on that we're excited
about. I, um, I think in some of our minutes from the Housing, uh, Commission, uh,
talked about the Healthy Homes Initiative, uh, which, uh, Tracy's been a big part of that
partnership with many groups — Free Medical Clinic, College of Nursing, um, and let's
see, the school-based Iowa City school-based clinics, to provide in-home asthma
education. Go into the homes and, uh, also, uh... uh, the $75,000, uh, grant through the
Housing Trust Fund to help improve if they .... when they go into the homes and they find
that there's moisture or mold or .... or carpet that's, you know, we found that carpet is a
big instigator for asthma attacks. So, you know, those kinds of things. So we're really
excited about that. Uh, we're hopin' to, uh, do a walking and socialization program,
cause a lot of the folks said they didn't know their neighbors and they, uh, weren't just
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getting out and about or anything and we've got some really fun plans, uh....uh, to do
that, get `em out and about and maybe, uh, get `em to walk to the neighborhood HyVee
and ... and meet with the dietitian and learn about healthy foods and those kinds of things
and that's really fun, and we can't take claim to the, uh, the bike program, but a lot of the
children, the 15 children that were involved in getting the free bikes, the Free Wheels
Program, uh, were part of our, were members of our community, so I think that's going to
be a big plus too as far as increasing their health and .... and getting them out and about
too. So, so that's good, so .... uh, we have a .... uh, we do our national convenings but we
also have pod convenings with just some of the committee, or some of the cities, and we,
Tracy and I are going to Henderson, Nevada in a few weeks, um, and the .... it's going to
be `Community Engagement' is the theme and I think, uh.... uh, we're right up the alley
on that and do really well with that, and then our final national convening is in New
Orleans, and it's been a tough committee to be on! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ How (several talking and laughing)
Taylor/ Las Vegas and New Orleans and Denver! Uh, but that theme is, uh, December 5 to 7a',
`Celebration of Accomplishments so Far and Taking Plans to the Next Level,' so even
though the funding will end in December, uh, we're going to plan to continue and, uh,
continue bonding with the stakeholders and folks we've been working with and
have .... have our plans. It's been fun.
Throgmorton/ Excellent! Thanks, everybody. That's really fun to hear about what everybody's
doing. Okay, I guess we're done for our work session tonight. We'll reconvene at 7:00
P.M. for the formal meeting.
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