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ITEM 2. Student Leadership Awards
Item 2a Regina Elementary
Throgmorton: I wonder if Natalie Burer, Cate Klitgaard, and Michael Martin could come
forward. Hi, kids, nice to see you again! Why .... why don't I stand here and then
one of ya sit ... stand over here and the other two over here. Great, perfect! Okay,
we're gonna do our Student Leadership Awards. This is a great thing to do.
Students are doin' terrific work in our city and in the local schools, and this is an
opportunity we have to celebrate the great work that they're doing. So the ... we
have Leadership Awards for all three of you, and they all .... the awards all say the
same thing except they have your names on them. So I'll only read them one
time. So .... why don't we start with .... tell me your name again? Natalie? Is that
right? Yeah, thought so. Natalie Barer and what I'm gonna ask you to do is read
the statement that you have, Natalie, and then I'll ask Cate to do it, then Michael.
Okay?
Burer: Hello, my name is Natalie Burer and I'm a sixth grader at Regina Elementary. I'd
like to thank my teachers, Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Vorwerk, and Mrs. Blomme as well
as all the Iowa City City Council for this recognition. At Regina my favorite
subject is math, with lunch coming in close second (laughter) I also enjoy playing
the piano, cello, and percussion. Another hobby of mine is art. I try to be a good
student in class and to help my classmates. I'm very appreciative of the
opportunities for all of us at Regina and in Iowa City. Thank you. (applause)
Throgmorton: All right! (applause continues) Sounds like you're on the way to being another
Michelangelo, except you know, Natalie! (laughter) (mumbled) All right, so now
we'll turn to Cate! Are you .... say, why don't you say your whole name?
Klitgaard: Um, hi, I'm Cate Klitgaard. I'm very honored to have been chosen to receive the
Outstanding Citizen Award for the City of Iowa City from Regina Elementary. I
think I've been selected for this wa.... award for few ... for a few reasons. First of
all I help in Mrs. Nelson's second grade class for around 40 minutes on Tuesdays
and Fridays. I ... participate in gymnastics and practice five days a week for 18
hours. 1 also think I got chosen for this award because I work well with others
and I'm kind to everyone. Thank you. (applause)
Throgmorton: (unable to hear, away from mic)
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Martin: Hi, my name is Michael Martin and I appreciate being selected for this award. I
think my teachers picked me for this award because I try hard in school and get
good grades. I always try to help a classmate on homework if they need it. I help
out at the St. Mary's parish clean up and I am an altar server too. My sister and I
try to help out around the house and with whatever.... else my parents ask us to
do. I enjoy playing sports like baseball and basketball, and for fun I like to ride
my bike, run, and read books. I again want to thank you for this award and to
thank my sixth grade teachers for choosing me. (applause)
Throgmorton: Okay, beautifully done! So I wish I had somebody to help me with my homework
when I was a kid, you know. So .... that was then! All right, so the Student
Leadership Awards, again they all say the same thing except for your names.
(reads award) So congratulations to all of you. You're doing great work at
Regina. You're.... you make us all proud, and I'm sure your proud parents are
out there, I know they are. There's.... there he is right there, and there's another
parent I bet right there, a grandmother, I don't know which (laughs) uh, and we're
very .... y'all have done terrific work for your kids, so congratulations to you as
well! All right, so (applause) Natalie (applause continues) That should be yours,
Cate, and Michael, take a look at it, make sure I didn't make a mistake. That
should be yours. Okay, so .... well done. You probably want to go (applause)
Item 2b Mayor's Statement
Throgmorton: Before moving to Item #3, I want to make a short statement concerning a racist
flier that was recently distributed throughout Wetherby Park, uh, and its
neighborhood, or throughout the Wetherby Pa ... Wetherby Park neighborhood.
Uh, and that happened about a week ago I suppose. Unlike what the neo-Nazi
distributors of that flier apparently think, we the people of Iowa City are not of
one race, nor do we want to be. On behalf of the people of Iowa City, I say, we
strongly reject any efforts to propagate white supremacist beliefs and actions in
our city. Such efforts completely.... are completely antithetical to our belief in the
value of living in a diverse and inclusive community. So, I .... I am confident I'm
speaking for everybody up here. We really reject .... that racist flier. It's .... it...
completely inappropriate in Iowa City, and I would hope in our state and in our
country. (applause)
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Item 3. Consider adoption of the Consent Calendar as presented or amended
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion please?
Taylor: So moved.
Botchway: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Botchway. Discussion? So before we move on, 1
wa.... I note that Item 3f(9) is a letter from Adil Adams, actually a note from Adil
Adams, concerning the Sudanese farm at Tiffin and I .... I know that Adil is in the
audience. Adil, I wonder if you could.... give us a sense of what the topic is,
because your note just says `the Sudanese farm at Tiffin.' We don't understand
what .... what you're referring to.
Adams: Uh, good evening. (unable to understand) write my (laughs)
Throgmorton: Sure, thank you!
Adams: I also.....I didn't understand what it means. I live here for 20 years, and this, uh,
farm concern our people, Sudanese people. There is only four women and two
female .... four females and two males. They got this farm (unable to understand)
and there is rumor they spend a lot of money on this farm, and some of them, they
told me, almost like 30,000 or 20,000 or 10,000, I don't know what, how much
because I don't have any access to this farm, but the area just like this area and the
farm (unable to understand) and, uh, the other people, they (unable to understand)
for five people and (unable to understand) community, and this people that told
me, this (unable to understand) to a Crisis Center in the future. It is okay to take it
to Crisis Center, but how much money is spended on this farm and on the other
hand this money, they need it for other poor people. They need this money, and
uh, even if you do something like this by Worker Justice or an agency, should....
all the public should know, even the (unable to understand) maybe this (unable to
understand) City Manager maybe doesn't know, and .... I live here as I said 20
years and I don't know even .... nobody give me a farm to farm. (unable to
understand) issue and uh.... I don't know how to get this information, from
where? (unable to understand) an idea, they don't have an idea. So maybe the...
the Worker Justice, they do this thing, and that's why when we (unable to
understand) the first meeting to make this agency as voice for immigrant, we want
our voice to be heard. So nobody know what is going on. Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Okay, Adil. Thank you. Uh, so maybe we could have the staff person follow up
with Adil, to give us some further clarification. We don't need to do it right now.
Fruin: Sure!
Throgmorton: Okay, thanks! Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion
carries 7-0.
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Item 4. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) [until 8 pm]
Throgmorton: I'd like to invite anybody who wants to discuss any topic that's not on the formal
meeting agenda to do so now. Uh, please come up, state your name, and don't
take more than five minutes to make your presentation.
Theisen: Should I just the sticker in anyway, even though it's much larger than the ... of the
line? Okay. All right! Uh, good evening, City Council Members! Uh, my name
is Nicholas Theisen. I live at 1240 Ester Court. I've lived in Iowa City I guess
for .... seven years now. Um, I've already submitted a (laughs) strangely long
letter about the issue of affordable housing in Iowa City, and so I'm not going to
repeat everything that I said there, because.... well it's too long and I'm not going
to be fit it in in five minutes, but I am a little concerned that despite the fact that
affordable housing was an issue in the most recent campaign and City Council
Members have said again and again and again that it's an important issue. I mean
I feel like .... City government recognizes that there's an affordable hou.... housing
issue in Iowa City, but not actually the magnitude of the crisis. Now, okay, so by
way of comparison, if 10,000 people showed up at the emergency room tomorrow
morning with meningitis, that would be a public health crisis. And if UI Hospitals
only had say roughly 250 courses of antibiotics on hand to treat those people, that
would also be a problem, and an appropriate response to that problem would not
be to have the hospital administration call up a pharmaceutical company and say,
`hey, can you give us five or six more cos .... doses?' But the thing is in many
ways the affordable housing situation in Iowa City's very much analogous to that,
but the strange thing is is that it's not being recognized as a .... as a crisis. And
when it came to the most recent budget discussions, I mean I met some of you
during the ... I think it was January 61 meeting, and what I was shocked to see at
the .... the original budget planning meeting, or I guess that wasn't the original
one, but it was an early one, was the fact that the City has the capacity to address
this crisis. The City is actually nowhere near its borrowing limit, and the thing is,
something has to be done now, and it has to be big! Because the thing is, it's not
only terrible, it's actually getting worse! Now to put this into perspective, so 58%
of renters in Iowa City are considered `housing burdened.' So `housing
burdened' is this technocratic thing that basically says `people who pay more than
30% of their income in rent.' So 58% of people. That's an extremely high
number. It's higher than New York! New York is actually considered to have
probably one of the worst housing crisis in the entire nation! And Iowa City is
worse, and it's not just worse now, it's getting worse! In fact the study from 2012
actually projected that Iowa City will have, I think it's two-thirds of all renters
being housing burdened. Now this is a crisis that needs to be addressed now, and
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you need to throw basically buckets of money at it, and so the thing is ... the other
thing that I was kind of shocked by at the budget planning meeting, and this is .... I
have, sorry, no (mumbled) (laughs) towards the City Manager, but when the City
Manager noted that the $650,000 that's being moved from the .... I believe it's the
general operations fund, into the affordable housing bucket of the, uh, special
enterprise funds. That $650,000 is nothing! It's less than what the City has cur...
has appropriated in the FYI year for a half -mile stretch of a sidewalk. So ... I
realize that everything I had to say, both in the letter and here tonight, is
extremely strident, but what I would like for City Council to do is actually
recognize the magnitude of what is happening, cause the thing is, the more and
more this issue gets set off to the side, the more it has a deleterious effect, both on
the local economy and our community, because the other thing this happens to do
is it concentrates poverty in very specific parts of our community. And so unless
the crisis is addressed now, then that's just gonna get worse, and so I'm just one
guy. Um, I'm just one nerd who likes to sit in on budget planning meetings
(laughs) but I'm one nerd who also cares about this community and so I would
like to see some ..... arrrrrrr...... from City Council about this issue, not just the sort
of like little tiny fixes here and there, and so I'm probably reaching my time so
I'll just leave it there. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Nick. (applause) So .... could .... we.....we can't get in a back and forth,
but I wonder if you could send me an email so we could arrange a time to talk
(both talking)
Theisen: Absolutely!
Throgmorton: .... very happy to talk with you about this.
Theisen: And I will also add since I .... I wrote a massive letter and there's a lot of detail in
there, if anyone has any questions about anything that I wrote there, do feel free to
ask me. I'm perfectly willing to correspond with anyone who wants to, and
certainly, Mayor, I will set up an appointment.
Throgmorton: Great, thank you. Anyone else? Good evening, Caroline, how ya doin'?
Dieterle: Pretty good, Jim. Uh.... how bout you?
Throgmorton: Pretty good! Too cold. (laughs)
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Dieterle: ....days when I used to walk home in this kind of weather at night. Felt perfectly
safe. That was a long time ago. Um (clears throat) I ... I don't know, just looking
through this cursorily, and I did not see an item in there (clears throat) about the
Black Hawk Mini Park and the ped mall and.....
Throgmorton: Yeah, we discussed it during the work session. We had a .... a lengthy discussion
about the pedestrian mall and the proposed improvements to it and how they fit
with the capital improvements program and what the budget would be and that
kind of thing, including Black Hawk Mini Park.
Dieterle: (clears throat) Well what did you conclude?
Throgmorton: Well we received (laughs) we received a presentation about what's being
proposed, and we instructed the staff to proceed with a base bid, and have .... and
also include two alternates to the base bid, and that we'd have basically separate
consideration of the two alternates. And beyond that I... J can't go into detail
about it, but you know you could watch the work session on cable TV, cause it's,
you know, it's televised.
Dieterle: Okay, well I'll try to do that. But (clears throat) you know, I .... I'm fully, uh, in
favor of fixing things that are obviously, you know, in need of repair or change
that... utilities kinds of things, um, because those things if allowed to .... to, if. ... if
left alone and not treated are only going to get worse. But, um, I really wish that
....people would try not to change the Black Hawk Mini Park and ped mall too
much. It seems as though it's a, um, sort of a space that people can hardly to get
their hands on to change, and you know, I think that the picture that I saw of the
proposal, basically it just plain looks cheap, tawdry. It doesn't look like
something that a city like Iowa City ought to be contemplating doing to their
central downtown spot where people try to meet and, uh, where we try to have
nice looking businesses and, you know, nice things in downtown. I ... it looks like,
um, you know, carnival decorations that didn't get taken down basically. And
(clears throat) I just really hope you'll rethink that and think more about doing the
basic work, and I know that, um, the funding for things, you know, is .... is very
much put into one pot and then another and you can't move money easily from
one place to another, but it seems to me that we have enough really basic
problems, such as the one mentioned by the gentleman who preceded me, that it
really is kind of galling to see a lot of money spent doing something that seems to
be not only superfluous, um, but, uh.....well, just .... sort of.....(mumbled) headed
frankly .... way to use money! So that's my take on it. Please consider leaving the
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SOW
Black Hawk Mini Park as it is. It's been nice for years and can continue to be
nice for years. Thanks.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Caroline. Anyone else? Please state your name.
Adams: My name is Mageed. I'm Adil's son.
Throgmorton: Hi.
Adams: Hi, so when I went to that farm I got sick there and .... but they made me stay in
the doctor for at least 10 days .... and, but the people that are .... that own the farm,
they should of spent the money on stuff that they don't need cause there's people
that don't have any .... any food and there's ... that you should give them stuff that
they need. People are sick right now. They're cold. They don't have nowhere to
stay. So I might start giving them food. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Thanks for being brave to come up and speak to us. Hi, Nancy!
Bird: Good evening. I'm Nancy Bird with the Iowa City Downtown District. Um, I...
first I wanted to, I've got three points tonight, so I'll try and make them quickly,
but first of all, um, congratulations, Mayor, and um, Council Member Taylor for
your new position, and welcome, Mazahir, very excited to have all of you to work
with this year. Um, I mentioned to Geoff earlier that, uh, we don't always come
out and say thank you to the City for all the things you're doing downtown, but in
the past several years anyhow, with the new equipment that the City has invested
with ... in to help support the cleanliness of downtown, I don't know if anyone's
noticing it, but the streets, the sidewalks during the winter season are much better.
There's more consistent, uh, shoveling. Not all the businesses get to it, but most
of them do. So it's just helped make a safer environment. So thank you for that
and all the work the City does to help make sure that, uh, downtown is well
serviced. Um, also I wanted to, um, express my appreciation that's in the current
budget for the evening police officer. It's a part-time position. Um, it's
incredibly important and I think this police officer, similar to the daytime liaison
has worked so well, I think we'll see dividends played there in the evening as
well. Those businesses need support, um, in that role just like during the day. So
thank you for that consideration and we hope that stays in the budget. Um, other
things I wanted to bring up were, um, the Downtown District's draft advocacy
agenda, and there's, um, several things just to bring up to your attention, whether
you know about them or not, to start tracking. Um, one of them is the State's
liquor license reform. Um, we have some committees scheduled around that and
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we'll be participating in that effort, cause we think it's going to have a real impact
on Iowa City in the future, so that's one. Um, the historic survey that is currently
out there, we'll be tracking that and the results and recommendations made to
you. Um, the third is the form based code for, uh, the Northside and the charrette.
Our businesses are very interested in that and want to participate in that .... in that
process. And then last, I know there's a number of street, um, streetscape updates
that are planned and they have certain years for when they'll go into place. The
one that consistently keeps coming up, um, from business owners, especially on
the Northside, is the two-way conversion of Market Street. So, you know, every
time we have these conversations about streetsa.... streetscape updates, that one
constantly keeps coming together, you know it's been talked about for years and
years. So there's a lot of interest in that as well. Uh, and then last, just on the
conversation with pedestrian mall update, I thought they did a nice job with the
presentation. I know that, um, this is now coming to fruition and ... and this year
and next year for the pedestrian mall update, it's gonna be a big deal for
downtown, as was the Washington Street update. Uh, we, you know, we survived
and thrived in that one, and we look to do the same this year, so we appreciate the
support during that time. Um, and then I think with regard to the number of
elements that you're looking at, uh, related to budget, the programming side,
there's certain things that.....that need to be there to help support the
programming side and the stage is a critical one. There's so much time and effort
and money that goes into lighting and setting those things up that are on the,
really on the shoulders of non -profits to do, if those pieces aren't there then it's,
um, you know, money out of their pockets to ... to set up. The other one too is
lighting, and we talk a lot about lighting and what it means. There's multiple
layers of lighting in the plan, but the lighting in a .... a commercial area, in the....
in the City's living room so to speak, it really, uh, denotes it as a commercial
center, and it's so important for retail, beyond the community as well. It's... it's a
nice setting and people like it, but it's really important to make sure people
recognize it's an active business environment. So, um, we'd advocate for those
two pieces, especially along with all the other plans, and I think the electrical and
infrastructure clearly incredibly important and, um, Geoffs right about gettin' it
done right the first time, for sure, but those extra elements are .... are really
important. So I wanted to bring those up. Um, otherwise, thank you very much.
I appreciate your time and look forward to working with you all this year.
(applause)
Throgmorton: Thanks, Nancy! (laughter) Anyone else? Good evening, Mary!
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Cohen: Good evening, Jim! (mumbled) With yesterday our national holiday to celebrate
the remarkable vision of Martin Luther King Jr. I have a quote of his.....
Mims: I'm sorry, could I intro.... interject just a second. Could you introduce yourself?
A lot of us don't know you (both talking) Thank you.
Cohen: I will. It's coming up later, but I can do it now. My name is Mary Cohen.
Mims: Thank you.
Cohen: Hi. With yesterday our national holiday to celebrate the remarkable vision of
Martin Luther King Jr., here is one of his quotes: An individual hasn't started
living until he or she can rise above the narrow confines of his or her
individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. Thank you for
your leadership with the Iowa City Council and all of your collective efforts to
contribute to the broader concerns of humanity. As I mentioned, my name's
Mary Cohen. I'm an Associate Professor at the University of Iowa in Music
Education. My research area is music making and well-being, with a focus of
music, of song writing and collaborative and caring communities. I'm here today
to share an important message...... about leadership. Leadership that creates
communities of caring. I represent citizens who are currently incarcerated. In
fact the scarf I'm wearing was made by a woman incarcerated in Alaska. I
represent restored citizens who have been released from prison. The brave and
hopeful individuals who work in prison context, and survivors of criminal
behavior, who seek healing. How can we build communities of care? Inside and
outside prison walls. To what extent are our individual and collective choices
creating communities of care? We must choose people centered and positively
charged language, the words we use infuse the actions we choose. We must
also .... love ourselves first. Then we can lead with love more easily and
authentically. Music making is a learned skill that has the potential to build
communities of care. I encourage all of us to support more opportunities for
music making in our schools and our communities. Melanie DeMore is a vocal
activist based in California, Oakland, California, and she wrote a song called
"Lead With Love." She wrote it the day after the 2016 presidential election in the
United States here. Its message encourages us to increase our capacity for hope.
To look ahead. To build communities of care. To lean on one another and grow
our collective responsibility. I have some friends here that are members and
supporters of the Oakdale Prison Community Choir. These are the outside singers
of the community choir, and we are here to .... they're here to help share Melanie
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DeMore's song with you and we warmly welcome you to join us. The verses are
call in response. Sounds like this! (singing begins) Thank you! (applause)
Throgmorton: Beautifully done, choir! Thank you! All right.
Adams: (mumbled) talk about, uh, the items, right, that I can talk about, something not in
the agenda, right?
Throgmorton: You can talk about anything that is not on the formal meeting agenda. Right.
Adams: I have another issue, also regarding....uh..... Worker Justice. I know Worker
Justice is run by Mr. Richard, and I know Mr. Richard for 10 years, since the first
time Barack Obama, uh, elected, we work together. And .... I know he run this
(unable to understand) NFL team so he ... he has the money. He can (unable to
understand) anyone if he wanna hire anyone he can, and since yesterday was the
parade, with .... Martin Luther King, the civil right, I want this agency to be heard
by the Voice of Immigrant (unable to understand) It's just.... feel just like he's a
monster and we are the slave. I feel that, because I went to couple of times to
work with him. Just my feeling towards him. We need this agency to be run by
immigrant from up to bottom. We don't want somebody (unable to understand)
run this agency. Now the immigrant, 75% is Sudanese. Nobody (unable to
understand) or they get any benefit from this immigrant. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Adil. Would anyone else like to address us? Seeing no one else, I
think we'll move on. Thanks so much for the choir, and your performance!
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5a Rezoning 703 to 709 S. Dubuque Street to Riverfront Crossings —
Ordinance conditionally rezoning approximately .48 acres of property from
Intensive Commercial (CI -1) zone to Riverfront Crossings -Central Crossings
Subdistrict (RFC -CX) zone located at 703, 705, and 709 S. Dubuque Street.
(REZ17-00018)
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Good evening, Karen.
Howard: Good evening. Karen Howard from Neighborhood and Development Services.
Um, first of all just a location map here to show the location of the subject
properties under rezoning. Um, it's on South Dubuque Street, just, uh, south of
the Iowa Interstate Railroad, um, and the .... the historic, uh, rail depot on Wright
Street. Here's a couple photographs of that property. You can see the existing,
uh, buildings on the property, and you can see here on the right-hand side of the
photograph the historic Rock Island depot, rail depot. The property is located in
the Riverfront Crossings, Central Crossings subdistrict. Um, it's currently zoned
Intensive Commercial. It is appropriate to rezone it to Riverfront Crossings, and
it would be consistent with the Riverfront Crossings plan. Um, the plan calls for,
as you know, uh, a high density mixed use, um, development, um, at a ... a mid -
rise, uh, in this particular subdistrict of Riverfront Crossings allows four-story
buildings. Um, this is a concept drawing of the proposed building by the
applicant. Shows a four-story building with a stepback after the third story. It is a
multi -family building. There's no commercial proposed on this particular site.
Uh, here's the footprint of. ... of that building, um, located as you can see then
south of the tracks, the railroad tracks. This is the location along South Dubuque
Street. Um, the University of Iowa owns the parking lot that surrounds the, um,
surrounds this property and so you can see how that fit .... would fit, uh, onto the
existing property. The Riverfront Crossings plan, um, does show a public open
space, um, in this location. Originally when the Riverfront Crossings plan was
adopted, there was quite a bit of discussion about the federal government funding,
um, with state support, uh, Amtrak service and our ability to reuse the historic
depot for actual rail service into Iowa City, between Chicago and Iowa City.
Unfortunately that .... that plan fell through and we're no longer discussing that
option. It's pretty unlikely. Also, to the south, um, there's the Crandic rail line
also runs along the south side, so, um, there was .... there is something in the plan
about the possibility of future light rail service in .... in using that, uh, rail line.
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Given that that's, um, there's some question about that as well, and if it does
happen it would be sometime into the future, um, this (mumbled) plan, um, we've
been rethinking that and so it may not be as necessary to have such a big public
space in that location. Urn .... this, uh, just to get oriented, here's Dubuque Street
and Clinton Street, shows the big plaza in between the rail depot and .... and the,
uh, between the two rail lines. So, um, at the Planning and Zoning Commission,
um, it was discussed this .... the open space idea, the City owns actually, uh, still a
vacated, uh, alley right-of-way that used to, uh.....that used to be a rear alley, like
a lot of the blocks here that went north -south divide the block. That alley was
vacated some time in the past, but the City hasn't... still retains ownership of the
east 10 -feet of that alley right-of-way. So that alley right-of-way will be
maintained. The proposal then is the building would be set back 10 -feet from
that, and then in the future, if this property to the west is redeveloped, another 10
or 20 -feet, um, could be established there, so there would be possibility for, um,
some fixture, uh, at least some access through that, um, central part of the block in
the fixture. The Planning and Zoning Commission also discussed, um, the safety
and the noise that might, um, occur because of the active rail line to the north.
Um, it was discussed that, uh, a fence and some landscaping, additional
landscaping, plus some construction techniques be used in the building, um, and
the applicant has agreed.... agreed to that. Uh, that would keep people from
basically running across the rail line and also would help, um, buffer.... buffer the,
uh, train traffic from.....from the residents. Another discussion point at the
Planning and Zoning Commission, urn .... the Riverfront Crossings code requires
10 -square feet of open sp.... usable, shared open space on .... uh, to serve the
residents of the building. Um, the applicant originally proposed, um, a .... a plaza
space on the ground level, on the north. This is the north, um, just to be oriented.
This is the north side. This would be the rail depot over here, the rail line. Um,
on the north side of the property would serve that, um, there was some concern
about that being not very accessible to the residents, whether it would be
particularly useful, uh, for the residents. Um, and so the .... the Commission
requested some additional open space be provided on the property, um, not just
this, uh, patio on the north side. Uh, the applicant has agreed to .... to that as well.
Um, this is the fourth floor. As you know, there's a 10 -foot stepback on the
fourth floor, um. .... or above the third floor, that would create a roof terrace, that
could be used for shared open space, and the applicant plans a community indoor
activity room in this location in the front of the building, and then this roof terrace
could be used as ..... as private open space. Um, the ... the Commission didn't feel
that the 10 -feet was enough to really provide a nice shared open space, so
requested, um, additional open space be provided, either on that roof terrace or on
the .... on the roof of the building itself. So with those two recommendations from
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the Planning and Zoning Commission, um, they recommend approval, uh, with
the following conditions: a fence and landscape buffer must be constructed and
maintained along the northern boundary of the property in accordance with the
landscape plan approved by the Form Based Code Committee. That's through
design review. And a minimum of 900 -square feet of usable open space must be
provided and maintained on the rooftop. I would be happy to answer any
questions that you have.
Tbrogmorton: You folks have any questions for Karen?
Thomas: So, Karen, was that (clears throat) roof terrace expanded from what .... what we
just saw, is that larger than what was shown to Planning and Zoning?
Howard: So the .... the rooftop terrace, they would have to redesign it to be wider than the
10 -feet in order to meet that 900 -square feet. I believe this, uh, the square footage
of the roof terrace right now is about 600 -square feet.
Thomas: So this hasn't changed (both talking)
Howard: So this .... this is what they originally proposed, but um.....they have agreed to
expand that and make it wider or deeper.
Thomas: Uh huh.
Howard: Or .... I mean they're just .... they haven't really designed the building and all the
units. So .... uh, the conditional zoning agreement is left fairly open to ... either
have it on the roof itself or.....to have it, to expand this, uh, terrace area so it's,
uh, about 15 -feet deep instead of...instead of 10.
Taylor: And I believe there were some concerns also about some storm water drain off or
how they would deal with that, with (both talking)
Howard: Yeah, and I think that would have to be dealt with on .... at site plan review. I
mean they would have to show that they're managing their storm water
appropriately. I don't think we .... uh, the Commission went into great detail about
that, but it was mentioned.
Throgmorton: Other questions for Karen? I think I do. I have a couple probably. Just put
bluntly, I .... I don't like the idea of, uh, eliminating the station plaza. I understand
the rationale, havin' to do with the Amtrak line, but the Crandic line, it's my
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understanding that there's renewed interest in it. I know that that's true with
regard to the Chamber of Commerce, and I think, uh, they're tryin' to build....
interest up and down the line, so to speak, at least as far north as North Liberty.
So when I look at this proposed development, I think.... um, not only would the
station plaza be lost, but I don't see very much, uh, public space in that part of the
Riverfront Crossings District. So this is a question I want to ask you. Within say
two or three blocks, I know there's space down south, you know, at the Riverfront
Crossings Park, but in the rest of the .... Riverfront Crossings District, where's the
nearest public space, that's not open space for use by residents, but public space
for use by ..... residents of the city as a whole?
Howard: I don't recall anything in particular in that particular area within a two or three
block area that's public open space.
Throgmorton: This concerns me, because .... we have intentionally increased the density of
development in the Riverfront Crossing District for obvious reasons, and I support
that, have all along, but.... increasing the density requires having usable public
space for people to use, uh, when they're in the district as a whole. So, uh, this
worries me! Uh, and ..... my mind's not made up on the specific proposal, but I
am expressing a concern I have. I wonder if I could translate that into any other
questions for you, urn ..... I think I don't . So, thank you for presenting the
material.
Thomas: I .... Jim, following up on your comment (both talking)
Throgmorton: Well, wait, uh, could be other people wanna speak on .... on the topics and I
probably already said too much, but yeah. Anybody else wanna ask Karen
questions? No, okay. Thank you, Karen! Would anybody else (several talking)
Dilkes: You need to get your ex parte disclosures out.
Throgmorton: I was gonna see if there were other people who wanted to .... to dis... make
statements in the public hearing.
Dilkes: I think it .... just didn't get mentioned on your agenda.
Throgmorton: Well I'm just ..... I'm misinterpreting, uh, the text. So okay, I'll have to remember
this in the future. Okay! I need to ask you whether you are inclined to vote in
accordance with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation (both
talking)
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Dilkes: I'm sorry, Mayor, the ex part disclosures. I'm not talking about the .... yeah.
(mumbled)
Throgmorton: (several talking) Right. So, uh, where is it, uh, have any of you had any ex ... do
you need to make any ex parte disclosures about anybody you've talked to about
this particular proposed rezoning? Yeah, I don't either. So .... sorry! Would
anybody else like to address the topic? Good evening!
Meisner: Good evening. I'm Glen Meisner with MMS Consultants. So I'm here on behalf
of the applicant, um, I don't know the inner -workings of, uh, all the space that has
been required, uh, the 900 -square feet that has been asked to be put .... part of the
conditional, uh, zoning agreement. Uh, but my client is willing to do so, and uh,
when we get into site design is where, uh, MMS will step in and be more involved
with that part of it, but ... with that I'm here to answer any questions that the
Council may have. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Do you think there's any way to revise your proposal to provide, uh, usable public
space for .... people who are not the residents of the development?
Meisner: Uh....
Throgmorton: Just an open-ended question.
Meisner: Yeah, I think with, uh, the intent of the development, probably not. I think
they've attempted to meet the ordinance and the requirement, so I don't see that
probably happening.
Throgmorton: Okay. Thank you.
Meisner: Thanks for asking!
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Okay. Now, this is the moment (laughs) where I ... I need to ask ya
if you're inclined to vote in accordance with the Planning and Zoning
Commission's recommendation to approve the proposed rezoning. I see nodding
heads. Okay. I .... I might not, but I'm gonna vote for it tonight, so that, you
know, any...further thinking, uh, can take place. All right. So no one else wants
to address this topic, uh, let's see, I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs
gavel) All right, could I have a motion please?
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b) Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Botchway: Move first consideration.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Zahir. Salih, I'm sorry, uh, discussion?
Cole: So related to the rail terminal, that then won't affect our ability to do it in the
future for Crandic rail line.... there's the plaza, that won't affect our ability to do
that then?
Throgmorton: Well there's no plaza (both talking)
Cole: Well I know, but the point is is that you don't anticipate that making that less
feasible to do the Crandic. I don't know if that's a good question or not.
Fruin: No, the ..... the plaza itself wouldn't be a functional part of the rail operation. It
was more of a public amenity centered around the rail line, either the light rail or
the .... the fixed rail line, but it wouldn't prevent us from either Amtrak or (both
talking) a light rail.
Cole: Yeah (several talking)
Throgmorton: There'd have to be a stop of some kind......
Cole: Yeah.
Throgmorton: .... down there and .... at other points along the way.
Thomas: Well I share your concerns, Jim. Um, you know the central plaz... the Central
District, the Central Crossings District, is central to Riverfront Crossings. It's the
central sub -area within the overall planning area, and that plaza was the center
piece of arguably all of Riverfrom Crossings. Uh.... so .... you know, it .... it's
again a situation and I, you know, my .... again, my background in .... in the public
realm, designing public realm elements, that's disappeared from the plan. And
what .... that, so that's one thing, and then the .... my follow up to that is I haven't
seen ..... you know, an indication of what ...... a re -envisioning of how that might
be preserved in some fashion, even with the change with respect to the Amtrak
plans. So, um, you know, I don't know what to say, I mean the land's been
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purchased. This piece of property has been purchased for a sizable amount of
money. So.... is the project itself, um, the issue? No, it's the change to the
overall concept for Central .... the Central Crossings District. Um, plus I .... I have
a little bit of trouble understanding how the interface works with the rail line
running through there. This project kind of floats. It's .... it has, it's lacking a
certain amount of context for me. Um, so I'm not clear on that frontage, on the
north side, how that ....what's the vision for that? I have a hard time picturing
exactly what's going on along the rail line. Urn .... I thought.....I thought P&Z's
comments were .... were spot-on, um, that that patio space in addition to what P&Z
said, is north facing, so you're.... enclosed by buildings, would be in shadow most
of the day, so it's really not.....it's usable (laughs) uh, in terms of its dimension,
but not one a .... a space that would be well used. So I'm....Yra pleased that, what
came out of that was a .... acknowledgement of increasing the open space on the
property. Um, but I .... I really would like us .... to.....now take a look at the site
plan for this general area and see .... where we go from here, because I'm ..... I'm
not seeing any indication of that.
Taylor: I'm in agreement with .... with John, maybe to look at this again cause I also was
concerned about the loss of, uh, the potential for the rail space there, um, the size
of the unit, although it has many positive things about it, I think the parking, their
plan for the parking, uh, was a very good plan, better than we've seen in other
developments. Uh, but uh, speaking of the other developments, north of there
there are a number of new apartment units and south of there, going in the
Riverfront Crossings off of Gilbert. We have another, uh, large number of units
coming into place and .... and at what point are we going to reach an over-
saturation in that area, and is that what we wanted for the Riverfront Crossings
District, as John is kind of alluding to, uh, to be the residential and .... and are
those units, uh, going to be affordable units or just what is the intent of those
units? I just had a lot of questions.
Mims: I guess I look at it, um.....this way. When .... when that plan was developed and
that plaza was in there, um, the City didn't own that land. The City .... and the
community made no effort to purchase that land, and so now we .... and part of
that, if I understood Karen right, is owned by the University. Is that correct,
Karen? (several talking in background) Yeah. Okay. So ..... um.....if you think
about.....all the.....and, I mean, I've been here since 1977 and I'm not sure that I
recall a time that the University has sold any property (laughs) Once.....once the)
own property, um, they tend to keep it, and they tend to expand their property
holdings, uh, particularly, you know, anything adjacent to the campus or anything
adjacent to their critical needs, and certainly they have a lot of those south of
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Burlington, um, in terms of their motor pool and .... and other auxiliary office
spaces and things like that. So.....the idea that we could.....the public somehow
could of purchased part of that land from the University, I think, is questionable...
at best. Um.....and while I agree when you look at that rendering from the plan,
it' s .... it's beautiful. It's.... it's nice to have that open space. Um, and I realize
that the Riverfront Crossings Park is not adjacent, but it certainly isn't very far
away, and it's an incredible, uh, community amenity that ... that we have put
multiple and will continue to put multiple millions of dollars into. Um, this
rezoning fits in exactly to what I think this community envisioned when we went
through, um, numerous charrettes and public meetings and input to develop
Riverfront Crossings and then finally to develop the .... the form based code for it.
Um, so while it's not perfect, um, I think it certainly fits very, very well into what
we as a community through all those public, uh, charrettes and ... and all the public
meetings for the form based code, um, have really laid out. Um, again I agree that
the loss of that plaza area is unfortunate. Um, I question whether it ever would
have come to fruition given, uh, some of the ownership of that land. So, um, I
will support this. I'm glad they've made some adjustments and are willing to
do ... make some adjustments in terms of that open space. I agree the....
questionable on the usability of that north plaza, um, but I think there's certainly a
lot more potential. I.....I'm not concerned about saturation of residential units in
Riverfront Crossings, I mean, that's what we planned for. Uh, when we rezoned
it, uh, that was the whole idea, that it was going to be higher density, um, it
already has the affordable housing component to it, based on that rezoning. We
require that because of the upzoning. Um, we can't sit here and ask the question,
nor should we, of who's going to live in these units. Um, that's quite frankly not
our business as.....as city government. Um, certain number will be affordable
housing based on .... on the zoning, and, uh, whoever lives in those or any other
units, quite frankly is ... is nobody's business and I .... I .... get a little frustrated
sometimes when that question keeps being brought up at the Council. Well, gee, I
wonder who's going to live in these units? It ... it's our business to work on that
affordable housing piece, um, it's our business if we are giving TIF dollars, in
terms of how much we're giving and .... and maybe the cost of those units and
what that means, but beyond that, it's not our business, whether it's students or
whether it's young professionals or whether it's a teacher or a firefighter, and I
think we have to be cautious about continuing to ask that kind of question,
because I don't think it's appropriate, and I think our attorney would tell us the
same thing.
Botchway: Well I mean I don't want to speak for Eleanor. I .... I do think it's appropriate, I
mean I think that, you know, Mr. Theisen gave a .... an interesting, um, speech in
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relation to affordable housing in our community comment and, you know, I .... I
do think that, you know, when we're talking about .... I agree with the .... the
minutia around, you know, particularly who's living where, but let
me .... let's.....let's be honest, I mean that is a conversation that we have to have,
and if we don't have we .... we end up with a .... the serious, I mean for lack of a
better word, segregation issues that we have in this community, and so while I
don't necessarily know that it's .... germane to this particular proposal, I....I don't
want us to lose sight of it and asking that question with every particular proposal,
like I've done previously, in regards to affordable housing because I do think it's
important to consider.
Mims: I think you're missing the nuance of what I said.
Botchway: Oh .... possibly! Moving on (both talking)
Mims: .....because affordable housing yes is important, but beyond whether it's
affordable housing or not affordable housing, it's not our business as a council as
to who lives in the property. Affordability, yes. Who lives in the housing, none
of our business. That's my point.
Botchway: Okay. Um .... so I would.....I would agree with John, and I'm a little .... I'm left a
little wanting with what was proposed. I think that there are some elements here
that could have been more streamlined, based on the plan. Um, you know, I do
agree with Susan in the sense that, you know, there's .... it is a purchased property.
I .... I don't.....there's a ..... while I want more, I think that there's, you know, this
is in fitting with what we want or desire within this particular framework in the,
um, in the Riverfront Crossings area. Uh, I .... I may int .... I am interested, excuse
me, in, you know, some of Jim's questions and what that may come back and if
there's some changes that could be made, I would be interested in that, and so as
somebody who's agreeing and possibly wanting to see that, if you could take that
back as a representative, I would be interested in seeing what changes could be
made from that perspective. Um, you know, again in the .... I think Rockne's first
question, for me, really solidified my first .... my.....my biggest point in contention
was the railway, and so if it isn't going .... I understand the .... the implications of
the plaza. If it isn't going to take.....uh, a significant change in the railway, um,
piece away from us and we can still have that conversation later on in conjunction
with other communities, I .... I feel a little bit differently, um, as far as, you know,
wanting to move forward in this particular property and so I'll be supportive of
this and, uh.... excited about it, again, you know. Developing this area, I think
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this is what we planned and so, uh, I'm .... interested in wanting to see more from
the development but also some of the questions that Jim has raised as well.
Dilkes: I .... I need to clarify because we're now talking about answering questions in the
future and .... and some future approval authority. This is where you exercise
discretion, at the rezoning stage. You don't have approval of. ... of the site plan,
etc. So I just want to make sure you're clear about that.
Cole: And I guess I'll go ahead and jump in and indicate that I am going to support this.
I think open space is a critical factor that we really need to look at, but I think to
Susan's point, while .... the millions that we're going to put in the Riverside.... in
the, um, Riverfront Crossings Park doesn't satisfy all the .... the open space needs,
it is such a huge park in relative close proximity to this development. Um, I ... I
think that will adequately satisfy people's needs for that. While I would have
liked to keep the plaza, doesn't seem to be, um, sufficient at this point. So I'm
comfortable with the project. I think it's a nice, well-designed, um, project, and I
think, um, you know, as I look at this particular area, I sort of channel Jane Jacobs
a little bit and think that .... I think a lot of the activity here is going to be along the
sidewalk and the street. I think there may be some street festivals where they'll
close things off. But that's sort of where I anticipate in terms of the social sphere
really being in the ... in the sidewalk, not necessarily, you know, squirreling away
a .... a tiny little plaza that people aren't necessarily going to use. I may be wrong
on that, but .... I think that the park itself will satisfy the open space needs.
Fruin: Mayor, may I make a couple of comments regarding the ... just how the plaza
might function with rail and, Karen, if I could have you flip a couple slides for me
and .... maybe go back to your, um.....uh, first slide actually, uh, right .... nope,
right there! You can notice, um, just the footprint of this building goes roughly
into the middle of the depot property itself. So I just wanna give you some
context on how big this open space would be. If you go to the next one, the
master plan slide, Karen. You can see that part of the intent of the plaza was to
frame the entire, urn .... uh, depot structure itself. So, the question kind of before
us if we wanted to force the dedication of this right-of-way, if you will, of this
green space, you're really cutting their building in .... in half. The .... the
developable portion of their building in half. So, at a staff level, given the state of
where the rail conversations were, we had a hard time justifying telling the
property owner that you can only develop that half of your property, the back half.
That's one complication. Uh, and I wanna just talk a little bit about the
functionality, um .... of. ... of this plaza, should we get, uh, rail in the future, and I
spent my first couple of years here workin' hard on the Am .... to try to bring
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Amtrak here and was involved in a lot of the conversations at....at the State level
and with the DOT on what that might look like and.....a couple things I want to
point out to you. One .... there was question, and I think there still is question
whether the historic depot is, um, large enough and whether that site is large
enough, to really adequately accommodate a .... a passenger rail station. Uh, if...if
Amtrak particularly is going to be successful, um, we would quickly outgrow that
station and find ourselves, um, in a very difficult, uh, situation because there's
really no room for expansion around that, plus it's a historic facility so it's not
really a tear -down, uh, and rebuild type of situation. So we spent a lot of the time,
uh, towards the tail end of that discussion as exploring, uh, possibly having to put
the rail station on the south part of the tracks, which would in and of itself, and
the.....the plaza discussion as well, or at least force us to re, uh, rethink about how
we, urn .... would design that space with any type of outdoor area. But if you put
that aside and if...if the rail station were to stay north, um, the .... uh, the whole
dynamics of this .... of this corridor change dramatically. Um, one.... the.... the rail
line, if it's activated for passenger rail, you would never be able to get ... uh, within
a, you know, a stone's throw, if you will, of the rail line. They will put a fence up
right through the middle of that plaza. Um, and they would keep people out.
There would never an at -grade crossing at the station. They would never allow
a .... a pedestrian grade crossing at the station like that. You'd probably have
some sort of elevated, um, platform, um, as well. So .... so that .... kind of shows
you a vis.....a, uh, visual connection from the plaza across to the rail station. It
just wouldn't.... wouldn't happen, uh, with .... with the station there, and probably,
um, and there was some .... some talk about, uh, actually having to close either
Dubuque or Clinton completely, to accommodate those trains. Urn .... uh, if. ... if
you didn't .... if we were able to keep, uh, both of those streets open, um, then
there would certainly be very heavy pedestrian protections at each of those
intersections because this stretch isn't long enough to contain a rail car. The rail
cars would have to spill out onto either side of ...of those intersections. So ... um,
the free flow of people from the south to north is what I'm trying to say would...
wouldn't really happen as maybe the design anticipates here. Certainly it works a
lot better if you think of the Crandic line and the light rail line. There's going to
be less restrictions on .... on a lot .... light rail type of facility, but .... I wanted to
point those few things out to ya, um, just as you .... as you consider your, urn .... uh,
your vote on this item. It's difficult to move past this concept plan, but I .... I
really question the viability of this plan, should we get the rail. I think things are
going to look completely different, and frankly I think we .... we'd really have to
work hard with the University probably to .... urn .... uh, somehow develop their
property for the rail station proper, I think, in order to really serve the ... the
Amtrak ridership that we would see.
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Throgmorton: Okay, any other discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 5. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 5b Rezoning Sensitive Areas Plan for Lincoln School — Ordinance
rezoning approximately 3.6 acres of property from Neighborhood Public (P-
1) to Planned Development Overlay Neighborhood Public (OPD/PI) zone
located at 300 Teeters Court. (REZ17-00016) (Second Consideration)
Throgmorton: Uh, Kingsley is going to have to recuse himself from this particular vote.
Mims: Move second consideration (both talking)
Throgmorton: Do I need to ask about .... um, ex parte disclosures? Anybody need to report
anything about this? No, I don't either. Okay. So motion please?
Mims: Move second consideration.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion?
Taylor: As I said when we first considered this, I'm .... I'm very supportive of this. Uh,
since we supported the GO bond, it just makes sense that we would be supportive
of this change. Um, neighborhood schools are an integral part of our community.
Uh, it also allows for the ADA accessibility and just has many positive things.
I'm very much in favor of it.
Salih: I'm very excited about this project. Um, can't wait to see Lincoln Elementary
School bein' the king. My kids go there and I know this is really important
project for the children in there. Thanks. I in favor of it.
Throgmorton: Any other discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0.
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Item 6. Iowa City Public Housing Roofing and Siding Replacement - Resolution
approving plans, specifications, form of agreement, and estimate of cost for
the construction of the Iowa City Public Housing Roofing and Siding
Replacement Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each
bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and fixing time and place
for receipt of bids
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) I don't see anybody who wants to
speak. I'll close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion please?
b) Consider a Resolution
Botchway: So moved.
Taylor: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Taylor. Discussion?
Taylor: I .... I kind of see this item as a no-brainer. Um, we don't have any control
sometimes over Mother Nature and I know during that hail stone, many, many
homes, uh (mumbled) particularly for some reason on the southeast side of Iowa
City. Some of the other parts of town were spared, but uh, I just, uh, think we
have to support this.
Throgmorton: Further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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Item 7. Theme Semester Joint Declaration - Resolution Declaring the City's Support
of and Participation in the University of Iowa's "Climate for Change"
Sustainability Theme Semester
Botchway: Move resolution.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? So you know what I
think, uh, we should do is.....have either me or someone else on the Council read
the joint declaration, and what I'd like to do is invite .... uh, one of our Council
Members to do that. I was thinking Rockne.
Cole: I'd be happy to.
Tbrogmorton: Yeah, okay, and then I know Dave Gould .... is Dave still in the audience? Dave
and, uh, Linda are out there and.....so before we vote, I would like to ask you to,
you know, say a few words if you'd like.
Cole: (reads declaration)
Throgmorton: Thanks so much, Rockne. Linda? Dave? Either one of ya want to speak? Both
of ya? Ple.... please state your name and, you know ..... yeah.
Snetselaar: Uh, Linda Snetselaar. I am the Associate. Provost of Outreach Engagement, uh, at
the University of Iowa and, um, my feeling is that this, uh, joint resolution is
something that is totally a win-win for our University, but also for the City. Um,
it's something that, um, our President is totally behind and thank you, uh, Mayor,
for, um, identifying, uh, the idea, and one of the things that I think is incredibly
important is that our students at the University learn best when they're actively
involved in projects, and so something like this is incredibly important to critical
thinking, um, it's also very important I think to, um, eventually being able to
apply for and work in jobs that, um, will allow them to look at various sides to an
issue and so being involved in community is one of the greatest learning
experiences we can offer our students, and thank you so much, Mayor.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Linda.
Gould: I think Linda said it very well. My name is Dave Gould. I'm also in the Office of
Outreach and Engagement, and I had the pleasure of sitting in on the meetings
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between the Mayor and the President, and I just want to say it was a very proud
moment for me. I've spent, uh, 30 years living in this community, uh, with really
two communities, uh, both the University and Iowa City, and um, the idea of the
University using its mission of education to serve the City and to, uh, to
collaborate on something that's meaningful for all of us, I think, is a very noble
pursuit. So I'm very, very grateful for this and hope it's the first of many.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Dave. Linda and Dave, uh, please share, uh, our thanks to President
Harreld for working with us on this proposal and the initiative, and we're pleased
to be able to work with the University, uh, during the remainder of the semester.
Yeah. Ashley, we had a question earlier with, uh, in our work session about
other, uh, themed semesters, what they were. So Ashley's gonna tell us what she
knows, and if. ... if.....if you know more, please feel free to elaborate.
Monroe: It's just as simple as ... I .... I did a quick search just to give you a background about
the theme semester. Um, it started.....I guess the idea came about in 2014. The
spring semester of 2015 had a "Food for Thought," um, academic cure, uh,
concept. Uh, the spring 2016 was "A Just Living." So exploring social justice
activities, and last year's spring activity was "Our Lives Online." So thinking
about global system of connectiveness networks, um ... the future of technology.
So.....
Throgmorton: Great. Thanks. Makes me wonder what's next! All right, any discussion among
Council Members?
Taylor: I just had a quick point. I think we've got a joint entities meeting coming up.
Could.—this looks like something I would think we might bring up so that the
whole community, Board of Supervisors, etc., would know.....
Throgmorton: Sure.
Taylor: ....what we're doing? Could add it to the agenda.
Throgmorton: No further discussion? Roll call please. Motion carries 7-0. Thanks.
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Item 9. Council Appointments. Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18
years of age unless specific qualifications are stated
Throgmorton: So ... we are going to make appointments to I think four separate boards or
commissions. We have to decide who to appoint. Let's do the Airport Zoning
Commission first. We actually have two ... vacancies and two applicants to fill
those, uh, six-year terms. The applicants are Dennis Keitel and Matthew
Wolford. Wolford's currently serving, uh, his first term.
Fruehling: One of those needs to be a female though, so .... you'll have to defer one of those.
I think the gender balance requirement is through (several talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, than .... yeah, thanks for clari ... clarifying that forme. Okay, so, um, we're
gonna have to defer one of the appointments, but we can do the other
appointment, right, and it doesn't matter which other appointment we do? Okay,
SO.....
Fruehling: (mumbled) should be the .... the full term that you appoint to, that has no
requirement.
Throgmorton: Okay, so .... the full term. Dadadada.... well, I don't know.
Fruehling: The older one. The 16 through 21.
Throgmorton: 16, oh, okay. That's the one we would appoint to? (several talking) Yeah, okay.
So, do you have a preference, folks, about Dennis Keitel or Matthew Wolford?
Botchway: So help me again. We .... we don't normally re -up after a first term, or is that for a
second term?
Throgmorton: That's for second.
Botchway: So I'm gonna nominate Matthew Wolford. Um, and I'll say my reason. Um,
mainly it's just because we've heard some comments, uh, I believe it was related
to .... um, the property.....off Gilbert, um, Southgate Development, um, and he
particularly mentioned that he lives off the approach of one of the runways.
That's just been something that's been considerably mentioned, um, so that's....
that's why I made my decision compared to the other applicant.
Throgmorton: Any objection?
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Taylor: I agree!
Throgmorton: Okay, so we'll appoint Matthew Wolford to that, um .... that (several talking)
Yeah, Item 9, whichever it is, 9d.
Taylor: So then to clarify that, if there are no female applicants by March.....
Fruehling: After March (both talking)
Taylor: ....then we could consider.
Fruehling: Correct.
Taylor: Okay!
Throgmorton: Okay. All right, the next is the Board of Adjustment. We have two applicants to
fill a five-year term, Ryan Hall and Dennis Keitel. Have we resolved the question
pertaining to Ryan? Yeah, okay.
Fruehling: As far as....
Dilkes: Well we ... we passed the .... the deadline for there being any kind of gender
requirement (several talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, so it becomes moot. Okay. So, do you have a preference, folks, about
Ryan Hall or Dennis Keitel?
Botchway: I would nominate Ryan Hall.
Salih: Me too.
Throgmorton: I'd support that. Okay, so looks like Ryan Hall? Oh, just to note that, uh, Rockne
recused, right, from that vote.
Dilkes: We haven't really voted yet.
Throgmorton: Yeah, so when we get to it, so maybe ... uh, should I .... we should do that
separately (several talking)
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Dilkes: ...do `em separately (several talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, so let's do a vote on, uh, 9d. Could I have a motion to appoint Matthew
Wolford to the Airport Zoning Commission?
Cole: So moved.
Salih: So moved.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by....
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Salih. All in, uh, I need a .... all in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carries. All
right, Board of Adjustment, could I have a motion to appoint Ryan Hall to the
Board of Adjustment?
Botchway: So moved.
Salih: ....move.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
Mims: Might note that's a 6 zo.... 6-0 because (several talking)
Throgmorton: Thank you, uh, Cole recusing. All right, the next is Community, uh, Community
Police Review Board. We have one vacancy to fill an unexpired term. We
received six applications. I think we have a female requirement on this. There
are three females who have applied, Sharon McDonald, Royceann Porter, and
Clare Rose. No, Kristin Johnson also so there were four. Do you have a
preference?
Taylor: I would support Royceann Porter on this.
Cole: I would too.
Taylor: She has a lot of community involvement with this, including, uh, already a
good.... great relationship. I've seen her relate to some members of the Police
force, um, so I think she would be excellent with this. Um, she has a good
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understanding of the Board itself and what its duties are and I would support her
strongly.
Botchway: Normally I wouldn't, um, normally.... I've had this conversation with Royceann
so I'll be able to speak this out, but normally I wouldn't necessarily as for an
applicant that has already served on the committee, just because of what we've
talked about before. Um, but again, this is something that was supported by the
Black Voices Project as, in particular wanting Royceann to be, uh, a part of this,
and again, you know, um, and highlighted many of the festivities that I think
some of you were at, you know, there .... there is a considerable amount of work
that's being done with our Police Department. Um, having Royceann being a .... a
conduit and person on this particular commission I think is going to be very
important as we move forward in this work.
Cole: Well plus it's a non-consecutive term, I mean isn't that also sort of an issue for us,
and I .... I know for me that's huge, so I think it's sort of the best of both worlds is
that we're getting some experience, but it's a non-consecutive appointment and I
also think now, with the previous experience that she's had, I think in terms of
policy proposals that she can really make on this to move that Board forward and
make it even better. I think it's a great time to have her as a Board member there.
Salih: Yes, I agree.
Thomas: All good points.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Just for clarification, Royceann served one previous term, right, but .... my
recollection is that she came off the Board two or three years ago.
Fruehling: She's been off for .... for a while now. Um.....I'd say at least for probably a four
year term I think.
Botchway: It's a little bit .... little bit less than that.
Salih: (mumbled)
Botchway: Yeah.
Mims: I.....I'm not gonna support Royceann. I .... I go back to, and .... I mean absolutely
no disrespect to Royceann at all. But when I think back about all the discussions
we've had over the last couple years about.... giving different people, new people
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an opportunity, um, to serve on boards and commissions, and, um.....and we have
other people who have shown an interest and I think some of these people have
shown repeated interest in .... in different commissions. Um, to me this is .... is
going against that, and I realize it's not consecutive terms, but still one of the
things I .... I asked Kellie about, uh, during the break tonight and .... and I .... I'm
gonna look at it in more depth and certainly know one Council Member dict...
dictates to any of our appointees, but I'm really interested in seeing if we can
somehow establish a database of people who have served on the various boards
and commissions and what boards or commissions and over what time periods,
um, because I think that's really important as we look at who .... as we're
appointing people, you know, that we're not just .... people are going from one
commission to another and .... and we're not really getting that turnover and giving
other people, um, within the community an opportunity. Um ...... I don't have any
strong feelings about any of the other three women, but again, I think it's that
issue of giving other people that kind of opportunity, um .... you know, when...
when other people have already served. Um.....and I .... I went back also and
looked at attendance and .... quite frankly, there's attendance issues from prior
service, which concerns me.
Throgmorton: I think havin' that kind of database would be useful. I .... how far back do you
think it should go?
Mims: Kellie and I had a little bit of conversation and I .... I mean I know staff's really
busy and like she said, it wouldn't be very hard moving forward. It would be
harder going back, in terms of the time commitment, in terms of generating all
that data, but ... um....
Throgmorton: Five years?
Mims: Yeah, I mean we'll .... we'll have to see. I'll .... I'll talk with her some more and
Geoff and stuff too and maybe see what looks reasonable and come back with a
proposal for .... for Council (both talking)
Throgmorton: I .... I think as long as there's a reasonable.... reasonable timeframe in mind, it'd be
useful to have that kind of information, sure.
Mims: I'm just sensitive to how long it would take staff (both talking) doing it as well.
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Taylor: I just think with that we have to be cautious of ...of a double standard that
sometimes we have done. Just, uh, earlier when we, um, did appointments, um.
uh, to the Assessors Commission. So we reappointed those same folks again.
Throgmorton: There's some commissions that are a challenge for sure.
Taylor: Some are a challenge, but we can't .... I don't think we can have that double
standard of one commission versus another, and .... and, uh, you'd mentioned that,
Susan, you said it quite plainly that, uh, you know, some .... some of those other
women that applied are.... interested in two or three other commissions. So, what
is their true interest in the one commission?
Mims: Oh I think we have lots of people that have applied for multiple commissions
and .... and as I said to John earlier when we were talking about it, I think we as a
Council have forced that with the way we do the applications now. Because it
used to be that people applied whenever we had an opening. So we were doing
this at almost every meeting or .... every month or every other month, at the least
every other month, we were making appointments. We as a Council made a
distinct decision that we were spending so much time appointing people that we
were .... I can't remember, did we move this to once a year theoretically? Twice a
year, okay. To doing it only twice a year, um, if we didn't have these odd
vacancies that came up because of people resigning. So when people know that
they only have the opportunity twice a year, then they don't necessar.... they may
not realize when they're applying what's going to be open and when it's going to
come. So ... I believe that we have basically forced this onto the applicants to
indicate an interest in more than one board or commission, um, because you don't
really know for sure when somebody might resign or exactly what's gonna come
up. So I don't think it's fair to hold it against somebody because they've
indicated an interest in more than one board of commission.
Thomas: Yeah, I .... I agree in principle with what you're saying. I think in this case, uh,
and it was reaffirmed by what Kingsley mentioned, that Royceann has support for
this also in the community that's affected by this commission. So I think all, you
know, in general I would certainly always lean towards someone who hasn't
served on commissions over those who have, but in this particular instance I think
there's a pretty strong case.
Throgmorton: Okay, I hear support for Royceann Porter. It's not unanimous, but I hear support.
Uh, all in favor say ... well, do we have a motion on the floor?
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Botchway: So moved.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries 6-1. Well, motion carries, Mims in the negative. All right, uh, do the
Public Art Advisory Committee.
Thomas: Um, Nancy Purington was, um .... when we went, in fact we went through this one
not too long ago. I'm not quite sure.....
Throgmorton: That's right!
Thomas: ....how this, um.....came up after what Susan was just mentioning, but in any
event, um, she's someone I know personally as also very passionate about public
art and has been engaged in the artists, you know, the community of artists in
Iowa City for some time.
Cole: (several talking) Go ahead!
Botchway: I don't necessarily have a .... maybe a disagreement with it. I was just gonna
throw out Steven Miller. Um, the reason why was, um, a particular conversation,
um, at the COP where I specifically told everybody, you know, hey .... apply to
commissions, get out there, um, he's reached out to me via email, stating that that
was one of the reasons, and I think he also mentioned within his, um, his
application as well and so that's why I'm supporting him cause I specifically said
to a group of people, we need more people on commissions and .... and he applied,
and also he has the background, urn .... related to, you know, pub .... public art
professionals. I think the other lady you mentioned as well does as well.
Mims: I see a gender issue here as well. I mean we've got four women .... four women
and so I'm .... given that we have a number of very qualified people, I would go
with Steven Miller as well.
Taylor: (mumbled) gender balance you're right, you know, four female, no male.
Cole: (several talking) I want to make a pitch for Nancy. Um, gender's obviously a
super -important issue, but I .... I think in terms of ideas, um, I'm sure that all these
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other candidates have great ideas, but I have not heard anyone speak more .... more
articulately, if that's a word, about the need for downtown gallery space. Um, so
I really imagine her being a critical advocate for some things that all of a sudden,
you know, we may see one day, whether it's in the Library or another location,
and that will happen I think because of her advocacy. Um .... so 1, and I think
coupled that, she has sort of a longitudinal history of where the Public Art
Committee was in the 90s, you know, in terms of the budget piece of it, you
know, and her advocacy, so I think she's really going to be critical to .... to move
this particular board forward. So I'm supporting Nancy.
Taylor: I believe she said she served on the first, very first Public Advisory (both talking)
Cole: ...just to have that institutional history I think will be critical. So I got at least two
votes for Nancy. Do we have ... Mazahir? Jim?
Throgmorton: Well I think Nancy and Andrea, for that matter, would be very strong candidates.
Are very strong candidates. They'd both be wonderful appointments. Uh....
Dilkes: You know I've got ... I've got a little... Kellie and I were just talking about this. It
says after date above Council may appoint without regard to gender. But what
that does, that 90 -day period, it allows you to appoint when you don't have the
correct gender to fill it. And we've got a male here. So I'm not .... I'm not.....
Throgmorton: So we have a qualified male (both talking)
Dilkes: You have a qualified male as we're looking at the appointments, so.....I think
that's a gender balance requirement then.
Throgmorton: Well, I want to support Steven Miller as well, despite the quality of, uh, Nancy
Purington as a candidate, the work she does, that kind of thing. So I think we
have four in favor of Steve Miller. Uh, could I have a motion please?
Botchway: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Botchway, seconded by Mims. All in favor of appointing Steven
Miller please say aye. Opposed. Motion carries.....unanimously.
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Item 11. Community Comment [if necessary] (items not on the agenda)
Throgmorton: Ben, did you want to say a few words? And to repeat what was said earlier,
welcome back! It's a new semester (laughter)
Nelson: Yeah, I had a great break. I hope you all did too. I saw, like I said earlier, I saw
six city halls and two state capitols, and I went to an NHL game and an NFL
game. Urn .... but that's besides the point. Yeah, students are back so Iowa City is
thriving again. Um (laughter) we know you all missed us (laughter)
um ... unfortunately I have an 8:30, the local schools were two hour delay,
University wasn't. If you guys know anybody who works with the University, let
me know. Urn .... but I think the biggest update from UISG anyway is the
legislative session in Des Moines really is getting under way, and so our
legislative agenda advocacy, um, is, uh, kind of going full throttle. We've been
working with UNI and Iowa State to get through medical amnesty legislation.
Um, it'll .... it was passed unanimously last .... the last session, um, through the
Senate, 49-0. There was one absence, um, so we're working on getting it through
the House, and it'll be going to sub -committee bright and early tomorrow, so I'm
excited to see how that conversation comes. Um, other things on our agenda as
always are, um, appropriations and the cost of school for, um, our University
students, both in-state and out-of-state, um, making sure that it's as affordable and
predictable as possible. Um, and then, uh, one of the other big things, uh, we
have going on is working to get a tax incentive for, uh, for, uh, from the State,
um, so that local employers can, uh, I think .... I can't recall the specific language
that we have, um, after all I'm the City liaison, the State liaison, urn. .... but
I...it....it allows employers to like kind of tax pay-off, uh.... uh, student.... student
debt. So it....it encourages that Iowa's best and brightest to stay in the state, um,
making sure that we retain the bright, intelligent people that we've produced, um,
at our universities, um, while also helping the student debt crisis. So, that's kind
of what we've got going on and I'm excited for the rest of the semester, and in
Terry Dicken's fashion, I only have six meetings left (laughter) as City Liaison.
Thank you!
Throgmorton: Oh that makes us sad! (laughter) But then there's Gustave, waiting in the wings!
(several talking and laughing) All right!
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Item 12. City Council Information
Throgmorton: Where are we gonna start? Let me think. I didn't write notes about that. Yeah,
here we go, start.....we're gonna start with John. John and move to the right.
Thomas: Okay, urn ... couple of things. One was .... Jim and Pauline and I all three attended,
uh.....at Kirkwood Community College, what was referred to as a `deliberative
dialogue training.' Uh, and it's part of Kirkwood's democracy commitment, and
just briefly what that means is it's a national initiative, engaging community
college students in civic learning and democratic practice. Its goal is to have
every community college graduate have an education in democracy. It was really
a pretty fascinating experience and a new way of. ... actually it wasn't so new for
me. I realize most of my professional work was about deliberative dialogue
(laughs) Didn't know there was such a word for it, but, urn .... and they are going
to be planning, looking forward, a, um.....an economic inequality summit in early
April. So that's something to look forward to and see how that .... you know, how
that plays out, but um .... I had a great time and I thought it was a really interesting
way of thinking about how we arrive at .... decisions on matters that are complex
and that deliberative dialogue can really help with that process.
Mims: Um, I just want to thank everybody for all the work they did for the Martin Luther
King, um, events yesterday. Um, great day at Grant Wood with lots of people and
lots of activities, and particularly the townhall meeting. Um, I think, Jim .... I
know Jim and John and Pauline and I were all there during the townhall. I'm not
sure if...if other people were still there, but good discussion. Um, I think it's very
indicative, um, my husband and I were having this conversation last night, very
indicative that if you look back to, uh, the civil rights movement of the 60s, um,
and then start yourself into the early 70s, um, while there's certainly been
improvements, um, nowheres near enough. Whether it's in terms of, um,
educational disparity, socioeconomic disparities, um, incarceration disparities,
um, you know, there's.... there's still a lot of work to do, way .... way too much
work to do, but I .... I think the townhall was .... was an interesting start. Um, I
think the point of that is really trying to increase, uh, the dialogue, um, dialogues
that we have within the community and between, um, different members of the
community in trying to, um, it's not necessarily fixing it all at once, but finding
small and incremental ways as well as big and bold ways that, um, that we can
make improvements, and I think that's really important and again, I just wanna
really say thank you to all the people, uh, involved in organizing and
volunteering, uh, for the events yesterday. It was.....it was really good. Um,
certainly number of things on our calendar. We've got an economic forecast, um,
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luncheon tomorrow in Cedar Rapids. I know a number of Council Members are
going to that. Um, we have, urn .... there's an open house coming up at the Free
Medical Clinic, uh, oh boy, I just wrote it down but I'm not sure when that is, but
that's in our packet (several talking) so just encourage people to make sure that,
uh, they're looking at those events. It's been nice to start seeing some other
Council Members at some of these events as well, and .... um .... I'll just keep
movin' forward! New year!
Throgmorton: Pauline?
Taylor: It's been a very busy last few weeks, uh, John and .... and Susan have mentioned
some of the items. You certainly can't say that Iowa City shuts down during
inclement weather. Uh, I .... I was very pleased to, I know many of the others in
the group attended the new fireman pinning for, um, Firefighter Parker. Uh, it
was great to see him, young and enthusiastic about, uh, joining the City crew and
it was .... it's such a wonderful ceremony. This tradition, the Chief had talked
about it being traditional. It's not like we just hire these folks and they start work.
They—they go through this, uh, very formal, uh, ceremony which was really
wonderful. Um, and .... let's see, oh! Many of you also were at the, um, STEAM
mural event, the unveiling of that, at the, uh, Robert A. Lee Ree Center. It really
is beautiful. It exceeded my expectations of what it would look like. It was just
amazing. Uh, and uh, the, uh.... how it was created by a team of so many
different folks to .... to put it all together. It's truly amazing and folks should try to
go see that if they haven't. Um, on the 9' of this month I did, uh, attend the Iowa
City Community School District board meeting, because on their agenda were
boundary issues, uh, because they are again, uh, talking about those because they
mentioned the fact that, uh, the .... the District is growing by leaps and bounds,
particularly the North Liberty area. So they have, they encourage people to look
at their web page, um .... uh, because they're going to have maps posted on there
of the different boundaries, and I believe their deadline is by March 1'. Maybe,
uh, Kingsley knows the date on that, but they have to have a plan in place, so
they're encouraging people to come to their meetings and .... and look at their....
their web site. Um, let's see ...... uh..... oh, the Free Medical Clinic, and that's a
cooperation with the College of Nursing, which I think that's a really great thing
that a community organization is partnering with the College and the University,
which kind of goes along with our strategic plan of working together with the, uh,
educational institutions. Um, on, uh...... let's see.....Wednesday, January 24°i,
um, there is going to be a film screening and discussion of a film called "At the
River I Stand," from 6:30 till 8:00 at the IMU Illinois Room, uh, co-sponsored by
the UI Labor Center. It, uh, kind of, it's a documentary relating to, uh, two
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months in 1968 leading to the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights
movement. Uh, the UI Center for Human Rights, uh, is also, uh, sponsoring that.
So that sounds like a good event. And... see..... that's it!
Botchway: Uh, so I would concur Pauline on the STEAM mural. I wasn't able to be at the
event, um, but I will say this. So I'm glad you posted a picture, but one, you gotta
work really hard to move that windmill! I was tryin' to spin it and it was taking
me some time, while another person was on the bench laughing at me. Also
laughing at me because, you know, the video that plays within the little house
there, it's not big enough for me, so I just wanna make sure (laughs) that's out
there as the thing. I understand it is for our kiddos. Susan already mentioned this
as far as a thank you, but I wanted to say a special thank you for RaQuishia
Harrington. She did a good job (mumbled) number of emails in relation to
planning the event and doing some of that work. There were other people that
were a part of that committee that were wearing t -shirts on that particular day as
well. I was not able to be a part of that conversation, but I .... I was in the prior
one on Saturday and there will be another one, a community roundtable, on
January 22nd, from .... at, beginning at 6:30 at Old Bri ... Brick Church. This is
another opportunity for community to engage and have some conversations. I
attended the, uh, the Englert, uh, Rebirth, uh, Brass Band. Just wanna say,
Englert, keep up the good work! It was an amazing event. Um, this Saturday I'll
be attending the `Stand up and Speak Out' event at 2:00 P.M. at the Iowa City
Public Library. That's in conjunction with the, um, the Iowa Youth Writers, um,
Project and doing a lot of work around, um, getting our students to speak out, um,
related to various issues. Uh, I will be attending an improv comedy cage match.
That's similar to Whose Line is it Anyway, and I am old enough to know what
that is (laughter) and it's on January 19th at 7:00 P.M. at the West High Opstad
Auditorium. That's it!
Salih: I ... I really don't have a lot to report but .... I had a busy, long weekend and, uh,
attend like, um, being a key speaker at Weber Elementary School for Martin
Luther King. That was good (unable to understand) Saturday we had (unable to
understand) Lincoln Elementary School. Uh, Sunday was busy and by the way,
some people calling me to complain about the snow, because the City's (laughs)
closed and they say that what the procedure and I don't have answer for them, but
what the procedure when the long weekend and people are not cleaning the
sidewalk, especially in Pheasant Ridge area (unable to understand) two people fall
on the sidewalk and it was really bad and nasty, and they would like to complain
about that. I give them the number for the hotline, I guess, but I don't know what
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the procedure when the City is closed. Is that something they have to wait, even
the City is closed, like three days or .... question for Geoff.
Fruin: Yeah, they would .... on a sidewalk issue like that, we don't have anybody
working to inspect, uh, on a.....on a weekend like that, but .... um, to call the
hotline, leave a message or, you know, simply have to wait until we're back, um,
for us to address that.
Salih: I just .... I said the same thing, basically they have to call back Tuesday and do
that. Anyway, that's all I .... I think Martin Luther King Day was great and we
(unable to understand) but it wasn't that cold and (laughs) it was nice event, a lot
of people here came and thank you for the people who attend. Yeah. Thanks!
Throgmorton: Good deal! Thanks. Rockne?
Cole: (mumbled) echo what Susan had said about the Grant Wood event. I mean events
like that don't just happen. Uh, the amount of planning that must of gone into
that, the ... the march, the police cars lined up, the music, the food, the
entertainment, the dance, uh, and I'm so always incredibly impressed with how
talented our young people are. Um, oh my goodness, the future looks great for
our community when we have this sort of talent. Also wanted to give a shout out
to AME Church, uh, for their worship service, 2:30 yesterday afternoon.
Incredible! Great speeches by Jim and Kingsley. Kingsley got a standing O. Did
you get a standing O, Jim? I don't know (both talking) but really inspiring stuff
and really, um, with MLK, I mean this notion of combining words and action, um,
you know these continuing community conversations are going t be incredibly
important. I hope we continue to do that. But by the same token of the
community members that we have, like RaQuishia Harrington and Fred Newell
and the great work that Royceann Porter's doing, I just feel like the community's
making so much progress and we have to keep our eye on the ball and keep
holding each other accountable, and when we all fall short we're not doing what
we should be doing, we're not workin' hard enough, uh, and that we look at that
as somethin' we really need to do, and .... relating to, um, Martin Luther King Jr.,
um, I'm going to be going this summer on a civil rights tour with Henri Harper,
on the bus. So I think Jim is too, and I'm really excited about that cause it's
gonna go through the historical black colleges, and I think we're gonna go to, um,
you know a lot of the areas that King, uh, took the bus on. So it's a .... really a
honor to be able to go.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of January 16, 2018.
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Throgmorton: Henri has 65 people signed up so far. And .... (both talking) we're gonna visit
with the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama too, which'11 be pretty fun. Yeah, the
events yesterday, uh, y'all have already mentioned, uh, Bethel AME and .... and
uh, the event at Grant Wood. Uh, I'd like to note that both, um, Chief Matherly
and I spoke at New Creations Church, and also Bethel AME, and Jody did a
fabulous job. Just fabulous! He conveys so much commitment, sincerity. I think
it has a huge effect on the community. It's a very good thing. And Laura came
along with him, his wife Laura, and .... I think she enjoyed being there and seeing
her husband perform his role so very well. So, yeah that.....few other things, uh, I
wanna mention very briefly that Geoff and I met with some representatives of
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, several days ago. There'll be a follow up meeting
taking place later this week. So I'm not gonna give any report about what went
on in those conversations, but, you know, conversations have been taking place
and will take place. Uh, let's see.....looking ahead a little bit, uh, I'm going to be
partis... participating in a strategic planning meeting for the.... Convention and
Visitors Bureau Board on the 23`d of January, and later that day I'll be attending a
Partnership for Alcohol Safety meeting with Simon. Which reminds me, Simon,
if you could ..... when you send me emails about the School Board and the agenda
for future School Board meetings, would you please copy Pauline on that? Yeah.
Thanks! And ... uh, just two other things. I'm gonna be sharing lunch with
Mayors John Lundell and Terry Donahue on the 3151, and then on the 151, Pauline
and I are going to be meeting with the University of Iowa's Government
Relations Committee. So, you know, stuff continues to unfold, conversations take
place. Okay! Geoff, you got anything?
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of January 16, 2018.
Page 42
Item 13. Report on items from city staff
a) City Manager
Fruin: I'll defer to Ashley.
Monroe: Okay. On a little bit different note I will just say that, uh, Friday we finalized our
agreement with, uh, Blue Stem Energy Solutions, LLC. Um, they're out of
Omaha, Nebraska, and they'll be performing our assessment, uh, for solar, uh,
systems, solar voltaic systems that have potential at various City sites. Um, so we
just kicked off a meeting this ... with the meeting this morning, um, and we are
doing some information collecting. They'll be doing some on-site visits in mid-
February or so, um, until late Friday, and um,. then they'll... gonna do their
analysis, um, mock up some designs, and get back to us with other cost estimates
and .... and feasibility of potential projects, either on the ground or on rooftop. So
I'll just share the couple of sites we put out. It was an RRFP but just to give you a
sense of what areas we're looking at, um, the City Park pool house, um, probably
a roof installation there; uh, the waste water treatment plant property, so down on
Napoleon; uh, Parks and Forestry property off of Gilbert; a Streets facility
property, so that there'll be some coordination and, uh, looking at the, both the
new design for the Public Works facility, as well as, um, elsewhere on the
property the potential there, and then the last one would be, uh, oh, the last two, at
Mercer Park potentially, somewhere on that property, and at the Airport. So, uh,
those are the areas we've selected and.... and we're .... we kicked it off and we're
starting on a project!
Throgmorton: Good deal! Glad to hear it.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of January 16, 2018.