HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-09 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Botchway, Cole, Mims, Salih, Taylor, Thomas, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Frain, Monroe, Andrew, Dilkes, Fruehling, Bockenstedt, Knoche, Havel,
Seydell-Johnson, Rummel, Ralston, Tharp, Budding, Grier, Matherly,
Hightshoe
Review of Saturday's work session:
Throgmorton/ Okay, it looks like we can begin our Iowa City City Council budget work session
for Tuesday, January the 9th, 2018. And it looks to me like the first topic is review of
Saturday's work session. What do you have in mind, Geoff.
Frain/ It's just an opportunity if. ... if you wish to discuss anything that came from Saturday, any
questions for us, any .... uh, particular items that you, um, heard about that you, uh, want
to discuss as a group. You can do so now. If you prefer to hold off on that, um, or if you
have no questions, we canjump right into the CIP. It's your preference.
Throgmorton/ Any thoughts, folks?
Cole/ We are gonna do a subsequent budget review session, aren't we, Jim?
Throgmorton/ It seems to me we should. If there are .... I.....seems to me there're two choices.
One is if we only have a few items to bring up, we could do it during a regular work
session. If there's more extensive discussion, we need to have a .... we need to dedicate a
special work session for that. That's the way it seems to me.
Mims/ What do we have on the work session next week?
Frain/ Uh, review of the pedestrian mall, uh, plans and specs. We'll probably have some time to
....get into questions, but as the Mayor said, if you've got .... if everybody's got a long
list, we're gonna need some special sessions. If it's just a couple items we might
(mumbled) finish it on the 16th.
Throgmorton/ So who has specific items they want to bring up right now?
Botchway/ I do or can bring it up later (both talking)
Throgmorton/ All right. Who else? I haven't had a chance to think about it enough, to be
frankly, uh, from my point of view, so.....
Cole/ I .... I guess I have one little thing, but I don't think it'll take very long.
Throgmorton/ One little thing.
Cole/ Preference would be a separate work session.
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Throgmorton/ John? Are there .... are there topics you want to bring up today?
Thomas/ Well it sort of depends on what format we're talking about (both talking)
Throgmorton/ I don't mean to discuss thoroughly. I meanjust....to identify whether there are
topics you want to discuss, in .... in terms of the budget.
Thomas/ CIP or the....
Throgmorton/ The budget.
Cole/ The operating budget.
Thomas/ The operating budget?
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Thomas/ I didn't have that many issues with the operating budget. So....
Throgmorton/ Susan, did you?
Mims/ No, I.....and I guess my suggestion is let's start with 16' and then see if we need to do a
special work session after that. I mean (both talking)
Cole/ I think that might make sense, Susan. (both talking)
Mims/ I don't have a lot.
Cole/ Yeah.
Throgmorton/ Do you have anything to bring up?
Taylor/ (mumbled)
Throgmorton/ (several talking) Kingsley (several talking) Maz?
Salih/ There was something about (unable to understand) if that's.....
Throgmorton/ You wanted to bring up something about affordable housing, is that what you
said? Okay. Kingsley, did you have something?
Botchway/ Yeah, I did have a couple of things.
Throgmorton/ Couple things? Why don't you just state `em so we know what they are? Don't
go into detail. Just, you know, whatever the topics are.
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Botchway/ Um, well mine was around advancing social justice and rac.... racial equity, um,
they're.... they're somewhat tied to the strategic plan as well, or around economic
development. So .... those two, those two main things.
Throgmorton/ All right. It sounds to me like we can preliminarily discuss this on the 161'. And
if we conclude we need more time we'll schedule it.
Cole/ And mine is very brief too, Jim.
Throgmorton/ Sure!
Cole/ I (mumbled) email Geoff about this......just, I want a few more details regarding the retail
consultant. Um, so if we could just have a memo on that, that .... that's something I'd
like. Other than that, nothing else.
Throgmorton/ All right. Sounds to me like we could dive into the CIP then.
Capital Improvement Proiects ICIPI:
Fruin/ Okay, um .... well, thank you again for your time, uh, especially comin' off of, uh, the long
day Saturday. Uh, we have a little bit of a different approach to today, um .... uh, than we
have taken in years past,for those of you that have .... have been through this program.
Um, after last year's program, we .... um, internally talked about reformatting this in a
way that would be usable for the public throughout the year, as opposed to just a .... a
static one-time presentation. So, um, we've created the .... the majority of the
presentation's gonna be, uh, through a GIS -based map, and we're gonna kinda take ya
from point to point on the, uh, on a map, um, and talk to you about each of the projects.
There is some introductory slides, um, for the, kind of the .... the overview and a couple of
the in -progress items, but um, when we actually get into the Cl pro ..... CIP program, it's
going to be an interactive map, and it's not, uh, it's probably not the most conducive for a
meeting like this. It's gonna be a little bit jumpy at times, but I think it's going to be a
very nice tool for the public when we're able to put the CIP to .... to rest and finalize that
and .... and get, uh, you what you'll see is a map online for residents to really start to, uh,
drill into specific areas of town and understand what improvements may be on the
horizon in their neighborhood. So, uh, Finance and Public Works have, uh, worked hard
to, uh, create that and they're going to lead you through the presentation today. They're
going to start with, uh, Public Works Director Ron Knoche who's going to give a quick
intro, and uh, then I think he's gonna tum it over to Dennis for some comments.
Knoche/ Thank you, um, today we'll be, uh, covering what's in your budget book starting on
page 497. That's where the capital projects funding begins. Um, we have 126 projects
that are identified in the capital program. Um, we also have approximately 30 projects
all .... all show up on one slide here in a minute, but .... but our ongoing projects, ones that
don't actually show up in your budget book because they're already..... they were funded
in a previous fiscal year, um, but are projects that we are currently working on. So, um,
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you know, with that we're.....we're workin' on over 150 projects right now, uh, in ... in
our five-year program. Um .... so .... you know, this ... this, uh.....we'll be flippin' between
a Power Point and we'll have the, our GIS later on as we work our way into it. Um,
it's.... it's been a .... a project that both Finance and Public Works have been working on,
uh, diligently over the last couple weeks, tryin' to get things pulled together. Hopefully,
uh, technology doesn't bite us. So we'll .... we'll see how that goes, but uh, we'll start
things off with, uh, with Dennis and he'll talk about the overview of the budget.
Bockenstedt/ I'll just give ya a quick overview of the, uh, the CIP process and how, uh, the CIP
program is put together and, uh, this was a process that started, uh, late last summer, um,
around September ls`. The forms, which are Excel documents, were sent to the
departments, uh, to begin gathering, uh, information about updates to projects, uh, new
projects, and on September 2nd .... 22"d, uh, those forms were due back to the Finance
Department. We began to, uh, summarize all of those projects, last year's projects,
and .... and pull all that information together, and then, uh, through the month of October
we really began to compile that information. Uh, CIP Committee met, uh, to review
those projects, to discuss `em, uh, to make sure they're coordinated and prioritized and....
and we had two separate meetings through the month of October, uh, from which we
pulled, uh, essentially the program together. And then, uh, through the month of
November and early December, we began to integrate, uh, the first year to that CIP
program into the operating budget. Um, so, you know, as we pulled that together, um,
you know, we ... uh, looked at debt financing and .... and uh, operating revenues and what
could be funded, what couldn't, and then, uh, on December 22nd the budget book was
distributed and, uh, as Ron mentioned on page 497 is where the, uh, capital, uh, projects
fund and the capital program begins, and I'll also mention on page 517 there is a, uh,
capital project table of contents in there, uh, so if you're wanting to refer to more detail
about any particular project, um, you know, that is a quick reference towards the more
detailed sheet on that particular project. Um, just a quick summary as far as, uh, the
contents of the program. Uh, this is a pie chart of. ... of the, a five-year expenditure totals
by division, and you can see that the Streets, uh, Division is once again, uh, the largest
piece of that pie, which is pretty typical at $62 million. Uh, next, uh, largest is the, uh,
Park Maintenance or Parks projects, uh, and then, uh, a retr.... a rather large slice up there
is the Trans operations and that's a little deceptive, cause of that $18.1 million, $18
million of that is a future, uh, transportation facility, uh, out in year five of the program.
Um, also Waste Water has a fairly large portion of the CII' budget, and then, uh, probably
larger than normal this year is the City Manager's slice, uh, at $6.8 million, which
represents, uh, the Access Center, uh, has .... has been incorporated into the program. So
how are those projects bein' funded? Um, you know, the total funding sources come to
$150 million. Now that's a little less than the expenditures, um, but part of that is
because there are prior year revenues and funding sources that are being used to fund
some of these projects. And you can see that from the pie chart, the largest portion of the
funding sources is our general obligation bonded debt, um, so it just reinforces the
importance of that, uh, triple-A bond rating. Uh, and the GO bonds are primarily used to
fund, uh, road and street improvements, and park improvements. Um, next largest slice
of that is federal grants, um, that's also a little deceptive because $12 million of that $23
million, uh, represents an anticipated grant for that transportation facility, uh, which may
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or may not occur. Um, and then, uh, the next larger slices are Waste Water fund, and the
Road Use Tax fund. Uh, so this just gives you an idea of all the different funding sources
and operating budgets and .... and rates and fees and .... and debt and grants that all come
together to form the .... the capital budget. Um, and this chart here, uh, shows you the, uh,
anticipated expenditures over the next five years, and it's pretty typical that this, uh, chart
would slant downward as you would mostly know what you're going to do in the next
year or two, and then .... and then it tapers off. Uh, in this case we have a little anomaly
on 2022, which is once again that transportation facility of $18 million which kind of
skews, uh, that year 22 on this chart. Uh, 2018, uh, of course is .... is also rather high,
which also represents the, uh, hopefully the final year of expenditure for the Gateway
project, and also, uh, the .... the completion of the, uh, Public Works' facility project. And
so that kind of I guess wraps up a, just from a graphic nutshell, the summary of the CIP
budget and I'll.....hand it back to Ron and Jason here to .... tell ya about the ongoing
projects.
Knoche/ So this .... this slide just demonstrates, or shows, uh, what we have for ongoing projects,
uh, within the city. Um.....they can be anywhere from, uh, in the final design stage to
and the preliminary, uh, design pieces. Um, there again the list is .... I'm ..... I'm not
gonna go through each one of the projects, but if there's any projects that you would have
any, uh, question on, on that list, we can .... we can definitely get more information for ya
on those.
Fruin/ I don't think we've shown you this before, uh.....
Throgmorton/ Would you linger there for a minute or so.
Knoche/ Yeah!
Fruin/ Yeah, this is a .... this a point that I .... I really wanted to make with you all, um, as you get
into what's planned in the next five years. This list of projects here, urn .... is longer than
usual, and I think you're aware there's.... there's probably some projects up there that....
that this Council has talked about on .... on numerous occasions and you might be
wonderin' at what .... what stages it's in, but ... um, as Ron said, these are..... these are
projects in some sort of. ... uh, design phase or it's been awarded or .... or, somewhere
along the process. Um .... you know, I wouldn't have a number, but maybe a typical year
might be half this amount. We just have a backlog of projects right now. Um, and it's
mostly in the Public Works and the Parks area. And we had to .... use this as a filter as we
were determining the plan for the next five years. There's certainly projects that are, uh,
out two, three, four years that we would like to see accelerated, but we simply don't have
the capacity to do this. So .... you're lookin' at.....you know, all these projects, hopefully
getting constructed or completed in 18 for the most part, and then when you look at the
CIP and we actually start going through the 2018 projects, those are in addition to .... to
this list here. So, um .... I just want you to keep that in mind as you, um, as you have your
discussions today, that we're in a little bit of an unusual place where we're.... we're
behind the 8 ball a little bit on .... on gettin' some of these projects completed.
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Thomas/ So this graphic is not in this report.
Fruin/ These .... these would be projects that you would not see in your CIP because they've been
funded in previous years.
Thomas/ Uh huh.
Throgmorton/ I don't know how many slides you're gonna present, but I would imagine we'd
like to have a copy of the .... of the images.
Fruin/ Sure.
Havel/ All right, so we'll kick things off here, looking at annual projects. So these are those
projects that there's really money in, uh, the budget every year. Um, a lot of these don't
have specific locations that are, uh, determined necessarily years in advance. It's really
kind of available money to, um, address those projects or those areas that are ... are the
most urgent needs, um, so just kind of stepping through these, um....
Fruin/ Jason, could I .... could I cut in real quick, I'm sorry.
Havel/ Sure!
Fruin/ I just want to orient the Council to the new map here. So what....what you have across
the top are tabs, um, mostly sorted by departments. Obviously we're gonna start on the
annual projects now, but from a user standpoint, again, what we hope is that this would
be a web -based module that you'd be able to go into, and the public would be able to go
into, and as you click on any one of those thumbnail tabs, on the left-hand side, what
you'll see is that you'll get.....you'll zoom in to the location, in Iowa City where that
project is going to take place, and then there'll be some additional information presented
to you, um, at that time. So that's how this is gonna function. This first part's a little
unique and .... and as Jason mentioned, these are annual projects. They really don't have
a location. It's like a, maybe a street resurfacing is an example where we're doin' it all
over the .... the city.
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Havel/ So yeah, so with that, just the one thing to keep in mind, you know, the indicator here, it
shows up as a .... a dot on the map, um, for these it's not a great representation, just
because again they vary by year. So the, don't pay too much attention to the dot for this,
uh, set of slides, but it just gives you an idea of these over, uh, annual projects.
Seydell-Johnson/ So we're starting with the Parks annual improvement fund, um, in years past
this has been used for a number of different projects, but now it is being, um, set forth
with our park master plan that we recently completed. So, everything I talk to you about
today pretty much follows the park master plan, and this fund gives us the opportunity to
go back in parks that aren't getting major renovations, to, uh, fix things up and keep them
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operating until they come up for a full renovation. So, priorities with this fund are park
signage throughout all the parks — we'll be changing over to the new park signs
eventually at all of our parks. Site furnishings — (mumbled) picnic tables, recycling bins,
garbage bins, things that, uh, will be upgraded to match what our master plan, um, called
out .... called for. Shelter facility maintenance — throughout the park system, so parks that
aren't getting a full renovation on their park shelters might need a new, um, roof or some
other work done on it to keep it in service a little bit longer. Court maintenance — we
have a number of basketball courts that need resurfacing, tennis courts, that sort of thing.
And then also opportunities for partner opportunities or emerging opportunities. Um, two
years ago we would never have dreamed we were gonna make pickle ball courts and, uh,
some of the other new sports that we've seen in the last year, so this fund gives us some
flexibility to adjust as we have new community needs come up. After that we have our,
uh, ADA accessibility improvements. This was another thing that was looked at through
our park master plan and prioritized so that we hit, um, a number of parks in each area of
the city. So we have it planned out. Each year you'll see a number of those come up,
um, in our overall plan, but these are smaller improvements. So this happens to be Tower
Court Park, which is a newer park, um, but you can see the railroad ties around the play
equipment, that's one of the accessibility issues. So some of this money will go to take
those out, add paved paths to get us from the sidewalk to the playground. So you can see
here it's a very short distance; uh, we have a number of those kind of small fixes that
need to be done in majority of our parks, and we're gonna bite off three or four parks per
year, um, to increase the accessibility throughout.
Botchway/ Hey, Juli, um .... is it time for questions? Okay, um, I think .... you weren't here at the
last meeting, but I don't know, um, whether or not Geoff had talked about the fact that
there was a question, um, Mazahir brought it up around the, um, I went through each park
that, um, introducing type of playground element and discussion around whether or not
we could look at the cost of, um, rubberized surface or different surface. The only
question I have here is, you know, how would that cost estimate change and will we have
those numbers before we need to certify the budget, because you know I.....I've worked
on this somewhat similarly in the School District and it would substantially change the
cost, um, estimate that we have before us today, and I mean, and we're talking about one,
two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, almost 13 parks, over the course
of about five years (both talking)
Seydell-Johnson/ It would double or triple the estimate that we have in there, if we were going to
do a different surface. Um, and my understanding of. ... of providing inclusive, accessible
playgrounds is we wouldn't need to do it every single playground, as long as we
distribute them throughout the system, so we would want to consider it that way so that
we have maybe a more accessible playground in each district. Um, later on you'll see
Willow Creek playground coming up, uh, next year or the year after. We would hope
that that would be one that we could do in a more inclusive, um .... draw for ... more
regional draw for that particular playground as well.
Fruin /Yeah, and .... I .... I think I gave you the example of the downtown surfacing, roughly 100,
110,000, uh, for just the rubberized surfacing component of that. Um, so .... you know,
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that's not much bigger than most neighborhood park playgrounds. That's probably a cost
that you could apply, you know, as just a ballpark to .... to any of these projects, if you
wanted to go that route.
Salih/ I guess I really like the idea of like at least including some of them, if you can (unable to
understand) park will be good because we make like inclusive for some people who
really with special need (unable to understand)
Throgmorton/ One trivial point, uh, the text is very hard to read, at least to my eye on the, you
know, the bottom left in the white. I .... I don't know what that's all about, but I .... I don't
know if. ... users online would have difficulty reading it or not.
Fruin/ Okay. We'll .... we'll key in on that.
Havel/ All right, moving on to the annual traffic signal projects, um, this is, uh, again a .... pot of
money that's used annually to look at whether it's installation of new traffic signals or it
could be, um, updating or improving existing signals. So it may be doing to the
accessible, uh, push buttons or, um, again it could be brand new signals, uh, either
independent or part of other projects. Traffic calming, this is the, uh, fund that is used
when we get requests, uh, for the traffic calming program. So, again, they would have to
go through that program, um, would have to become a .... a project through that program,
and if it is, it would be paid for out of this account. So again, this one would be, uh,
dependent on what we get for requests, um, how those play out through the system, um,
but it can .... this is how those would be funded, whether it's speed humps, um, bump
outs, or other improvements. Curb ramps, uh, ADA improvements — so this is the annual
program that goes through and we select sites throughout the city that would look to
update or install ADA improvements, um, this.... recently has been installing curb ramps
where there aren't curb ramps. So in locations where we have full curb, um, that ties into
sidewalk, we would go through and install new curb ramps that would meet ADA
guidelines. Um, there's also locations where we have ramps that don't meet current
standards. So it maybe, um, they're just simply plain concrete, um, there's some that
have the .... the red color but don't have the truncated domes, um, so again, this would be,
uh, an annual project where we would select sites to go through and make those
improvements. Um, as far as the selection process goes, it can be, uh, there's a number
of factors that play into it. Um, again, it .... the preference is to ... kind of do the worst first,
so it'd be those ones that have no ramp at all, really focus on those. Um, also playing
into that decision is, um, requests that we get from the public. So if we get complaints or
frequent, uh, locations that people bring to our attention, then that will play into the
selection process as well.
Throgmorton/ Based on my recollection is that we have a GIS map, GIS -based map, identifying
the location of all the curb ramps and where curb ramps are needed.
Havel/ Yep!
Throgmorton/ Yep.
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Havel/ Yep! And so that then also plays into that. It has those locations for ones that don't meet
current standards, ones that do, um, and then also has information regarding is there any
ramp or no ramp and .... and all that information. The annual pavement rehabilitation
program — so this, um, is typically the asphalt overlay. Um, it includes the asphalt
overlay, but also includes, um, PCC (mumbled) concrete patching, uh, chip seal
improvements, crack sealing, those programs as well. Um, the asphalt overlay just tends
to be the largest portion of that usually. Um, looking at this year, what we'd be looking
at is ... it's gonna be a bit of a .... a unique year, cause we're gonna have, uh, two joint
projects with the DOT and those will include parts of Riverside Drive, Highway 1,
Highway 6, so basically going from Rocky Shore down to Sturgis Corner. And then
there'll also be another stretch that will be Burlington Street, from essentially Van Buren,
um, up to Summit, and then Governor, from Burlington up to where it ries back into
Dodge. Um, and those will actually be shown later, so I'll have a .... a map of those
locations, but just wanted to bring that to your attention, uh, and then the City portion of
it will, um, I guess takin' a step back. So those DOT .... partner projects, those .... in those
situations the DOT will fund essentially the, um, travel lanes, so the .... the overlay for
those. Um, and the... the City is responsible for improvements such as intake top
replacement or improvements to the storm sewer, sanitary sewer, basically our utilities.
Um, and then this year's portion for the City, um, we'll be looking at doing Court Street
from Dodge to Johnson, and then also Johnson Street from Burlington to Court. Um, and
so overall, that's the neighborhood of about 7.7 million, um, just to kind of give ya a .... a
idea of the magnitude of that. Our overlay program ... or the total pavement rehabilitation
program is usually in the neighborhood of 2 million, so it's obviously going to be a very
large year for.....for overlays in Iowa City.
Throgmorton/ Jason, could you say again .... what the segments are for Court Street and Johnson
Street?
Havel/ Yep! So Court Street will be from Dodge to Johnson. And then Johnson Street will be
from Burlington to Court. And that would be just the City, the sole City portion of it.
Throgmorton/ Thanks!
Mims/ Jason, is the 7.7 million just the City's portion?
Havel/ No.
Mims/ Okay!
Havel/ So a lot of that will be funded with the DOT, but that's just kinda the .... the total project
costs would be, uh, the 7.7.
Knoche/ And I think somethin' to point out with .... with this, uh, fund, you know, with ... mainly
this is road use tax funds, but we also have some of our utility franchise fees that... that,
um, are .... are used for this fund. Um, 2015 this fund was about 640,000. Um, 2018
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we're at 1.6 million, and, uh, out at 2022 we're at 2.3 million. So there is a lot of growth
that's happening in this fund. Um, one of the things that we did, we .... we kind of rolled
a lot of the other annuals that we used to have. So we would have a .... a, some alley
programs, we would have brick streets, we'd have, um, railroad crossings, all those other
annuals have all been rolled back into this, cause it made sense that ... it's all street related,
so it would all fall into one fund. Um, but those were, you know, those other pieces that
we rolled in were small, you know, so we're really usin' a large, uh, piece of the road use
tax fund, um, to .... to help with our rehabilitation of our city streets.
Havel/ The underground electrical facilities, so what this looks to do is essentially, uh,
underground MidAmerican's facilities typically, um, so in locations where we would
require them to relocate due to some sort of project, whether it's a City project,
development project, um, those provide opportunities to have them go underground
instead of relocating to another location aerial, um, and so this is a fund that is there for
those, uh, situations. Some of the .... the corridors that we've been focusing on in the past
have been, uh, Dubuque Street, Riverside, and Gilbert. Um, some of the .... the larger
projects, obviously with the Gateway project, there was a large portion of that that was
used ... of this fund that was used for that. Um, we've also .... been able to take advantage
of some opportunities that have come up from other projects, um, one example is the
Augusta Place development that's happening right now. Um, we were able
to .... underground some of the electri.... or we will be able to underground some of the
electrical facilities, along Van Buren. Again, just with that opportunity that bad ... had
come up, um, unexpectedly. So .... annual bridge maintenance and repair fund, uh, is
pretty much what it says. Um, so this is a fund to look at, um, repairing and, uh, regular
maintenance for our bridges. It also funds the bi-annual, uh, inspections that are required
for our bridges. So it's kind of whatever comes out of those inspections, this would also
have, um, funding available for some fairly, uh, minor maintenance and repair.
Obviously if we started talking a lot of reconstructions, there would be need for
additional money, um, but this would fund a fair amount of those repairs. The annual
sewer main replacement fund is one that looks at, again, repairs to the, uh, sanitary sewer
system. Um, this includes not only spot repairs where we're diggin' up the sewer and
actually making physical repairs, um, but also our lining program. So it's kind of the
preventative maintenance for our sanitary sewer system would come out of this as well.
Um, we typically do a project every year that looks to line, um, sewers. Do you have a
question?
Taylor/ Yeah, just a quick question. I .... as I was going through all the numbers, do you base that
on, um, past sewer breakage or history of when you know the date that that sewer, some
of them are quite ancient, uh, how do you base it on, which ones you're going to repair?
Havel/ So we have, um, sort of an ongoing, I guess review, of the system, and yeah, a lot of
times it's based on where we've had issues. Um, a lot of times with sanitary sewer, you
find out fairly quickly where those areas are, so um, some of them are, you know, more
emergency repairs. As far as the preventative maintenance goes, we regularly inspect our
sewer system. So we go through camera, um, various locations throughout the year
and ...... and kind of rotate that, um, annually, and so we'll identify some of those
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locations. So if it's an area where for the most part it's in pretty decent shape but it's
startin' to show, um, signs of use, then we can go through and line it and .... and buy some
additional time before we have to completely reconstruct.
Thomas/ Jason, is our .... I can't remember, is our sewer combined?
Havel/ It .... is not. Um, every once in a while we come across a location where there may be one
or two left, but for the most part, um, we believe the system is completely separated. The
parking facility restoration, um, so this again is an annual project that looks at our
parking structures, um, and just going through, again....
(recording changes: picking up another conversation)
Throgmorton/ Did you do.....perform the magic there (several talking)
Fruin/ We have a late entry to the CIP (several talking and laughing)
Havel/ All right, so, uh, gettin' back to it. Uh, parking facility, again this is really just kind of for
regular maintenance of our parking structures, um, varies year by year and kind of based
on .... on need. The annual storm water improvements, so this is an annual program that
looks at improvements that are needed for the storm water system. So, uh, whether it's
storm sewer, intakes, urn .... drainage ditches, basically any of those issues that come up
over time, um, regarding storm water, uh, runoff, that kind of stuff, um, again this varies
year by year, depending on need. And City Hall, other projects, um, again this is kind of
an annual improvements, sort of the .... the regular maintenance needed for City Hall.
Um.....again, kind of based on need and ...... and varies year to year. Uh, you can see
here, it .... some of the items that fall un .... under this category would be the HVAC,
boiler, fire suppression, security, and other building components. So again, kind of
the ... the regular maintenance for, uh, the facility. So with that, we're actually going to
switch gears again, back to talk about the.....bicycle master plan.
Ralston/ Good afternoon. Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. Thanks for having me. Uh, I
just wanted to spend about five minutes or so, uh, to discuss the bike master plan's
recommendations for prioritizing improvements. Uh, as many of you know, the plan was
adopted last fall after about a nine-month, uh, process working with Alta Planning and
Design. Uh, part of the plan prioritizes projects based on feedback, uh, both from the
public of course, as well as the 11 -member Bicycle Advisory Committee, uh, that was put
together to help sort of guide us through the bike master plan process. Uh, the plan
breaks down the implementation, uh, of projects into four sections. As you can see on
the screen, uh, the first are immediate term projects, which represent about 12.4 miles of
either additional bike infrastructure or improvements to bike infrastructure, uh, already in
place, uh, for about $800,000, um, worth of projects. Uh, the near-term projects are
about 24 '/: miles of, again, either additional on -street, uh, bike facilities or
improvements, uh, and about $2.4 million worth of projects, uh, and then we get into the
long-term projects, which are out past, uh, 2020. And that adds an additional 44 miles,
uh, of bike facilities, uh, either new or improved, uh, at a cost of about $11 million. Uh,
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then we get into a host of unscheduled projects that are projects that we would like to
include in the plan but just didn't really raise to the top of the priority list, uh, at that time.
Um, if you look at the actual map itself of priorities, it's a little hard to see, uh, the darker
the color, um, the more immediate need. So sort of that brown color are the high, uh,
priority recommendations, and then you get down into sort of the yellowish color, and
those are the more low, urn .... uh, priority recommendations. Uh, if you look at the map
you can sort of envision a couple of themes that occur. One is there's sort of a loop
system that's sort of envisioned around Iowa City, and you can kinda see that starting on
the west side of town, out towards Mormon Trek, uh, trailing off to the south around the
McCollister Boulevard, um, existing portion of McCollister Boulevard, and .... and in
addition to the new portion that'll be constructed in several years, uh, and then around to
Scott Boulevard and so forth. So you can kinda see, you can kind of envision that loop
system that's occurring. Um, I think the other theme, uh, that you see occurring is sort of
in the central portion of the city. Really good east/west and north/south connectivity.
That was really a focus, uh, of the plan. Uh, the City Manager's office, uh, was kind
enough to put together this nice, um, pamphlet that shows, uh, the projects that are
proposed in the CIP. Um, there's a couple dozen projects here. Uh, the easiest way to
read this is that those orange flags represent projects that are identified as immediate -term
projects in the bike master plan, and sort of that bluish color, uh, flags represent the near-
term projects in the plan, uh, and you can see that we've got some from each one of those
categories proposed in the five-year CIP. Um, down in the bottom left-hand comer
there's a project category key, and in looking at those, uh, quickly, uh, there are five
different sort of elements. Uh, the first being a bike lane, which is what you all I think
consider a .... a standard bike lane, which is a five-foot, uh, separated portion of the
roadway for.... exclusively for use by bicyclists. Uh, good example of that is down on
South Sycamore. Um, the second is a buffered bike lane and these are the same as a
traditional bike lane except you have a two or three-foot, uh, wide buffer that further
separates the bicyclists from, uh, motor vehicles. Provides a little bit more protection.
Uh, four to three -lane conversions, which I think most all of you, uh, know about and
most recently, uh, and the best example, is on First Avenue, uh, by Southeast Junior
High, from Bradford south to Highway 6. Uh, that's where you take a four -lane
roadway, uh, and narrow it to three lanes, uh, and then you're able to add bike lanes as
well. So you have a center left tum lane, a through lane in either direction, and then bike
lanes. Uh, the next category's bicycle boulevards. Uh, these can take sort of a wide
array of, um, improvements, but typically you wanna think about, uh, wayfinding
signage, uh, perhaps pavement markings and then, uh, having staff look into essentially
making those corridors, uh, easiest for bicycle, uh, use, and uh, again, those can take
many shapes. Uh, and then the last is the side path or a separated trail, and these are
completely separated facilities, either, uh, sort of taking the shape as a wi.... of a wide
sidewalk along an arterial street or a completely separated trail, uh, that you might see
through a park or otherwise. Um, I didn't want to go through all these projects. I did
just want to highlight a few of the ones that I think, uh, are sort of, um, most exciting, and
I think those are the four to three -lane, uh, projects. And you can see there, uh, in the
orange flags, there are one, two, three four to three -lane projects in the next, um, several
years that we hope to complete. Uh, one is on Clinton Street, uh, between Church and
Benton. One is on Mormon Trek, uh, between Melrose and Westside Drive. And then
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the last is on Madison Street, uh, from Market to Court in 2019. Uh, I think those are
really exciting projects and .... and will probably reshape sort of the bicycling community
more than most projects, um, that we've seen in the .... in the past few years. Uh, the
other sort of exciting projects, I think, um, are the, uh, Dodge and Governor Street
buffered bike lanes, uh, that we anticipate completing next year with the overlay of
Governor Street. So again, I didn't want to take all your time and go through all these,
uh, but I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have about those or any other
projects.
Fruin/ If I could just add a couple of things, um, next year in many respects is the year of the
bike lane here, if we're able to accomplish all these. We have a number of bike lanes
going in, uh, Kent mentioned the, uh, Dodge .... Dodge and Governor couplet with our
first buffered bike lanes. That's an exceptionally large stretch of those two roadways
that'll get bike lanes, uh, but you also see the Clinton Street project reflected in here.
That, uh, you have awarded that contract. That is moving forward. Uh, and you also will
see Camp Cardinal and Mormon Trek listed here. So some very large stretches of bike
lanes going in next year. Uh, Kent did a good job highlighting some of the other projects.
Um, the one that Council has talked about, uh, quite a bit in the past year, um .... uh, that
he didn't mention is Gilbert Street. And the funding for Gilbert Street is listed in 2020.
Um, so we're lookin' at that three years out. Um .... uh, I guess that'd be, uh, two years
out now. Um, and I just wanted to give ya some context into how staff went about
prioritizing these. Um, we always look for what's.... what's logical to partner this with.
So for example we have, uh, Prentiss Street bridge replacement coming up. It doesn't
make any sense for us to go and reconfigure the alignment of Pr ... Prentiss Street only to
rip out the bridge next year and have to do it the year, uh.... you know, the year after.
So, uh, we try to align these with other projects. Um, we look at things that are
happening in that immediate area, um, other projects in that area, and .... and uh, we'll try
to couple projects together. So that's why you may not see perfect alignment with the
master plan, if you compare this with the .... with the plan document, but I think this is
pretty darn aggressive, and I .... I think that, urn ...... um, it would .... it would a ..... a huge
step forward to be able to carry it out as it's been laid out in the CIP.
Cole/ Super quick, I know we're not .... we didn't make the gold, um, what specific infrastructure
projects did they identify as helpful on that piece? I know there's a lot of criteria that go
into getting the gold, but did they identify anything else to get us up over that hump in
terms of infrastructure.
Ralston/ Right, so what Rockne's referencing, I think, there's a League of American Bicyclists,
um, silver level, uh, that we've achieved here in town and we were shooting for the gold,
as was the Council's, uh, one of the goals of the Council. Um, we got word that we were
re -awarded silver, but we didn't quite get to the gold level. Um, the report card that we
used to get, uh, Rockne, used to give us very detailed answers as to what we needed to do
to achieve the gold. That wasn't the case this go -around, and I think there's so many
more communities that are achieving these, um, levels of status, that they didn't....
their ... their report cards changed a little bit. So, right now we don't know but we intend
to call them and have a discussion with them to see exactly what it was. Um, one of the
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bigger things, uh, it wasn't infrastructure related was the fact that we had not yet had our
Bicycle Advisory Committee and sort of a bike coordi.... a coordinator position hired yet
and in place. I know that was one of the issues, um, but as far as infrastructure goes,
we'll need to check with them and ask.
Cole/ Okay!
Throgmorton/ Looks good! I'm lookin' forward to it!
Ralston/ Yeah, it's .... as the City Manager suggested, I think it's very aggressive and .... and will
really transform at least the center part of town. Thank you!
Throgmorton/ Thanks, Kent!
Havel/ So with that we'll move on to Parks and Rec. I think we'll kick things off here with the
Parks and Recreation master plan.
Seydell-Johnson/ Great, and actually as I go through all these projects, as I mentioned, they all
relate back to the master plan. So I'll cover those as we go through, and then at the end
we have kind of a summary sheet to show you and we can just start by saying what an
amazing time be a parks and rec director (laughs) here, uh, with all these projects and
what an amazing community to get to do all these things in the parks. Uh, we'll start
with Riverfront Crossings Park, um, this picture is from back in probably August, and if
you've been out there lately you know we are making quite a bit of progress with phase
one. The trails are in, some of the parking is in. Phase two is a nature play, and that's
already been awarded. That will be built first thing in the spring. Uh, this project
contemplates phase three, which we are just about ready to go ... go out to bid for, and that
will include two restroom shelters, uh, electrical and lighting throughout the park, and
some of the park signage. Um, so that will be phase three, which is what this portion is.
Um, future phases beyond that will include the, um, art pieces in the middle of the drive
circle. There's some, um, work along the river, some additional trails. They'll be
probably phases four and five, and who knows after that, but .... we're making great
progress and hope to have a lot of this done, um, by mid -summer, next summer.
Throgmorton/ Good deal. Juli, could you zoom back out to the previous slide that shows the
whole city? Yeah, so I .... I just wanna draw attention to the fact that it appears to be...
that there are projects planned for parks all over the city, not just in a particular part of it.
Seydell-Johnson/ There are, and that was part of what the master plan did was it went through
and .... and looked at every single park, uh, looked at the current infrastructure in each of
those parks, rated that, rated 'em .... each one for accessibility issues, um, and as we put
together this five-year CIP, you'll notice that the projects are spread out throughout the
community. Some are smaller. Some are larger. But we try to hit a little bit in each
district, um, to make sure that each district is served, um, by equitable, um, facilities
throughout the parks. So....
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Throgmorton/ Great! Thanks.
Seydell-Johnson/ Creekside Park, last summer we did the master plan for this with the
neighborhood. Creekside has a few additional properties, um, that were, um, acquired
through flood mitigation. So the park will be redone with a new playground that will be
moved out of the flood plain. New restroom and shelter. Um, most of the other
amenities stay pretty similar, and then some of the new, um, parcels of land will be used
for community garden space, uh, so we're really excited to see that happen. Cardigan
Park, one of our newer parks on the very east side of town, Court Street, almost to Taft,
um, Avenue. Uh, the playground, we were able to put in last year, last summer through
an in-house project with neighborhood open space funds. This next project, um, puts the
paths in along with a fire ring, uh, shelter, and a little more landscaping that goes along
with it. Have a nice circular path. Should be a really nice little neighborhood park. Iowa
City Kickers, uh, this one, this is a cooperative project with the Kickers Association. Uh,
we have two ball fields out there that are not highly used and this will convert them into
additional soccer fields, which is needed, uh, by the current level of play. So it's, uh,
75,000 from the City and the other half from the Kickers Association.
Mims/ I just have a quick question. Maybe this is Dennis or you, Juli. hi those three that you
just mentioned, those are things we already have budgeted, correct? I mean they're
showing up in the 2018 list.
Seydell-Johnson/ Each one we've done some work on in 2017 and then they show up in the 2018
actual budget.
Mims/ But we're not approving, at this point we're not approving anything in the future, in the
upcoming CIP for these. It's already been approved.
Bockenstedt/ I mean is .... yes. These, some of these are revised. I think that Kickers is a revised
project that's come up, uh, since the last CIP but....some of the others were approved in
last year's CIP, and maybe some of the design work's been done or.....projects already in
motion as far as being completed.
Mims/ I just wasn't seeing any money like in the 2019 CIP so..... Okay!
Botchway/ Hey, Juli, before you move on, um, I'm excited about this project in particular, just
because I know that Chad's been really working hard as far as finding, you know, uh,
people for, you know, a burgeoning immigrant population that's really interested in
playing soccer. I know that I got an email about .... tryin' to be a coach if you have the
time, that type of thing. Um, so ..... just to be clear, one from a total standpoint, you're
saying so $150,000 will be .... and then Kickers is coming up with the rest of that? The
other question I have is kind of what is the, um ..... so the time table is going to be open
for 2019?
Seydell-Johnson/ That's our hope, yes. We're ready to go on this project. So.....
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Botchway/ Okay. My other ... my just issue with it is is that, you know, obviously the more
spaces is good, but ... this has nothing to do with the CIP and more from maybe a planning
perspective to ensure that we have that back -end support, and so, you know, I know that
opening it up and saying, you know, hey everybody, come and play is one thing, but I
just felt like, you know, that was a tough spot that, you know, Chad was in with, you
know, a lot of those families wanting to participate when we didn't have the support from
that standpoint. So even if the campaign, you know, hey this is a huge project. We know
later on down the line that this is gonna be a big deal, startin' that campaign now I think
would be a good idea, just to make sure you don't have to get in a bind in your office.
Seydell-Johnson/ Sure.
Fruin/ I just wanted to clarify on this project real quick. The total cost is 75,000. The City's
share is 45 and the, um, Kickers' share is, uh, 30,000.
Seydell-Johnson/ My mistake. All right, a couple projects here with the cemetery, and we often
forget this is one part of our operations, uh, but a service to all of our community, and
just a couple, um, maintenance things at the cemetery. One is a cemetery shop roof
replacement and the next one is asphalt road repairs a few years down the line. Um, just
basic things that need to be done to keep it safe and keep it open for public use. Okay,
now we move to the 2019 projects. Willow Creek/Kiwanis Park improvements, this
primarily will be on the Willow Creek side. This will be replacement of the playground,
the shelter, and the restrooms that are there. Um, the playground intent is to make this
more of a regional draw, an all-inclusive playground in that that will still be developed,
what that concept will be, um, because it means not only accessibility for people with
mobility issues but also we have a number of requests from families that have children
with developmental delays or on the autism spectrum, so doing things that we can to
make sure that it's all-inclusive playground will be one of the goals of the Willow Creek
project. Um, then at Lower City Park we're looking at replacing the playground there
with a larger adventure playground. Now still to be developed what the adventure part
means, but think of it as being just a little bit larger than the newer playground at Mercer.
So nice big equipment, um, with places to play for little kids through probably middle
school age kids. So it's higher, firmer, um, adventure type things that we can put in
there. So a larger playground, more of a regional draw. Moving to the east side, we have
the land, as you know, for the Eastside Sports Complex out by the industrial area. What
this does is start the process of getting it ready for future development by planting trees
along the railroad. There's a railroad corridor along the south. This will get the trees in
place and get them growing so that in the future, when we're able to build the fields, uh,
we have some pretty good buffer in place, ready to go. We just talked about two very
large playground projects, this one is a much smaller one. Fairmeadows Park sits right
next to an elementary school which has an amazing playground. So, um, the playground
at the elementary school is really sized for elementary age and older. What this looks at
is ... at Fairmeadows do a splash pad, putting in a playground, a smaller one specifically
sized for preschool children. We have a number of, um, in-home daycares in the area
that use that park. Uh, we'll size it for that, along with a new shelter in that area.
Wetherby is contemplated replacing the restroom and shelter and playground there. They
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are, uh, we try to do it when they reach about 20 years of age. This one has been
renovated at one point, um, so it's a little bit older than that. Um, but the idea is to get it
replaced with something that is more serviceable, um, and more up-to-date. Scott Park,
um, along with Rita's Ranch Dog Park, well used but once again one of our older
playgrounds, when you get right down to it and look at the equipment. So this would
replace the equipment with similar sized equipment and replace the shelter there. There's
no restroom contemplated for this park. Just the playground and shelter. Napoleon, now
(laughs) the, uh.... the fencing around it is not why the playground needs to be replaced.
We had issues this summer with drainage in the area, so often it was flooded and we
couldn't let kids play because there was so much standing water underneath it. That's
being addressed separately. Um, but at the same time it's..... it's time to get this
equipment replaced. So this would replace it with a similar sized piece of play
equipment. Recreation Center, um, we are just finishing a large project there right now,
as you know, but there is much more work to be done. This project will look at the
locker rooms, updating them for ADA compliance, as well as the racquetball court and,
urn .... game room area, and some work in the gym. Uh, we did just resurface the gym
floor and paint the walls. If you go in though in the sound attenuation, um, around the
up .... the ..... the top of the walls still looks pretty shabby. This would replace that as well.
So this continues the renovation, uh, work that we're doing now. Chaddick Green,
currently this park, um, primarily is just home to the community gardens. This will add
some amenities to make the community gardens even more of a gathering place, so it
contemplates a restroom, shelter, probably some sort of restroom/shelter with some
unique facilities for the gardeners to use, whether that be additional counter space
or .... or, uh, wash areas, we're not really sure exactly what that would be but ... um, that is
what this project will do. Kiwanis, uh, playground, this is replacement of the nature play
area there. Very popular. Um, this is contemplated for 2022, which we'll have a
summary sheet where I need to correct that on there, but um, this one will be, or I'm
sorry, 2021. By that point it will be time ... that equipment is getting worn out and it's
been difficult to repair and replace what we need to replace there. Hickory Hill, the
North Conklin entrance, this will contemplate a new restroom and shelter in that area, and
that would follow along with the Hickory Hill Park master plan. Glendale, smaller park,
so this is just simply replacing the playground with a smaller playground and adding a
shelter to that park. Mercer Pool Park pool improvements, you'll see this one and also
one for Robert A. Lee, uh, we are quickly getting to the point where the behind -the -scene
filtration pump systems, um, will need repair and replacement, the large overhauls, so we
have both of these included in future year CIPs. The HVAC dehumidification project at
Mercer Scanlon, currently we are replacing the boiler and the HVAC system, um, that's
out to bid at the moment. This takes that to the next step in de .... and helps to dehumidify
the building. That's something that we aren't able to do with this current project. Um,
will make it operate even more efficiently. If you've been in the building, you go in
pretty much any time of the year and the lobby is super hot and humid, um, that's
creating issues with everything from the tuckpointing in the .... in the structure to, um, you
know, the metal surfaces and everything else. So, this would give us some
dehumidification to help, uh, correct that. This is what I was talking about, the ... the
Robert A. Lee, um, pool system replacement. We have funding in here for a new west
side park. This is one of the areas that was shown to be deficient in the park master plan.
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Uh, this doesn't contemplate a specific location, but as development continues in that
west district, um, this would give us money to develop a park out there. Whispering
Meadows on the southeast side, nice little park with a nice little trail. Uh, this project
would add a small playground and shelter to that area. Lower City Park, um, we don't
have in the current CIP the overall.... overhaul of Lower City Park with the City Park
master plan. Uh, we do bite off parts of it, including this. So this would say that we
would go in and be able to replace some of the aging shelters and restrooms, and we
would do it, um, in a way so that when we .... when we're able to move forward with the
larger master plan, we wouldn't have to redo them. So we would do the ones, um, closer
to the hillside and away from the flooded, flooding areas. But, um, if the full master plan
doesn't go forward, we still need to, um, do some repairs and replacement to the shelters.
It's very much a well -used park throughout the entire summer. So we want to make sure
we can continue to serve the public, um, until such time as we move forward with the
larger overhaul of the entire park. Um, this is a redo of fields four through eight. Just
something we have to do from time to time, laser grade, go in and redo the drainage, um,
on the softball fields. Upper City Park, same thing. Uh, the shelters are becoming of an
age where they'll need to be replaced. Uh, the restroom will need some work up there.
This is a few years out, um, but once again, very much used throughout the entire season.
Uh, we need to keep up on the maintenance and replacements so that can continue to be
used. Court Hill, smaller park. Um, once again repl.... replacing the playground, adding
some paths. Um, the restroom was just done a few years ago, so this does not include the
restroom. Just shelter and playground. And then we go through a .... uh, several bike trail
projects. Before we do that though, um, believe Ashley has the summary of how this fits
with the park master plan that she'll give you. The only thing I will mention is that at the
top, Kiwanis playground and shelter, the one that's listed here is actually the path project.
So you might say why are we doing Kiwanis in 19. We aren't. It's just a few of the
ADA paths that need to be done in 19. The actual replacement project stays over in the
2022. It follows very closely with the park master plan. We had to shift a few parks one
year one way or another, um, but I .... I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, that it
follows with all the work done in the master plan.
Fruin/ So as you look at that document, just to help you, when you're seein' it for the first time,
across the bottom you have the CIP year. So this would be the anticipated year of
construction, and then the .... the colors themselves, so that aligns vertically. The colors
themselves are when it was scheduled to be completed in the master plan. So that's why
you see a couple of those arrows off -center, either to the left or to the right, that just
means we're movin' `em up or back a year, uh, for .... for a variety of reasons. Could be
funding. Could be alignment with a different project. But as Juli mentioned, I think we
all feel really good about what the CIP reflects in terms of accomplishing what
the .... what the community supported through the master plan.
Throgmorton/ I ..... I think that looks terrific, but I want to challenge something, but only to make
sure I understand the rationale. Uh, Juli, you've referred to a 20 -year life span.....
Seydell-Johnson/ Uh huh.
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Tbrogmorton/ ....for shelters, and maybe other structures, but definitely shelters, and you know,
I wonder about that. It seems to me that not all shelters decay at exactly the same rate
and not all need to be replaced after 20 years. So I .... I'm wondering about that rationale.
Could you help me understand a little bit?
Seydell-Johnson/ Sure. Consider it kind of the benchmark we're starting with. So I'm very
confident in the ones that we've listed for, um, 18, 19, 20, that they're beyond that 20 -
years and need to be replaced. Um, we use it as a benchmark past that to place them in
the CIP and as we get closer, we would continue to evaluate the condition. Um, the 20 -
year mark though aligns pretty well with what was discovered during the park master
plan assessment and projects. So that's part of why we went with that. Uh, playgrounds,
it's even more, um, more clear on the playgrounds, just because of the changing safety
standards and accessibility standards. Um, you could argue that you would go out in the
smaller towns and find a number of pieces of playground equipment that are well over 20
years, but I don't believe that they would meet current safety guidelines or accessibility
guidelines. So part of it is keeping up with that. Shelters, yes. We .... we've got, you
know, if we build them well, they may indeed last longer than 20 years, um, but that was
a good benchmark for us to rate them and at least get them started on getting this process
so that we get them in the queue and continue so we don't end up with several that, um,
are beyond repair.
Tbrogmorton/ Yeah. Good, thanks!
Thomas/ One of the aspects of the master plan was that equity piece, you know, there were some
areas defined, um, I think there were three, um, how is ... is the plan ... I'm not sure I see
where the plan, the five-year CIP plan, uh, looks at those locations.
Seydell-Johnson/ You mean by district? When it looked at each, the .... the, um (both talking)
Thomas/ Yeah, it was kind of the .... there was a section in the master plan which identified that
there were certain areas. I would say one was just west of, uh, Mormon Trek. Another
was in the Miller -Orchard neighborhood, and then a third one on the east side of the river,
I would say kind of in the .... the Twain, uh, Bowery area.
Seydell-Johnson/ So some of those are being addressed in different ways through some
partnerships, either with the schools or with some other organizations, to .... to provide
more park services in those areas. Um, you're correct. The projects here really relied
more on the assessment of current facilities and replacement of those facilities, and
reaching the park equity question requires some acq ... acquisition of parkland, most likely,
in the future, and um, that's more on.....gonna have to be on a case-by-case, as land
becomes available.
Frain/ So we ... we think that in the future, um, there'll be some opportunities on the west side as
we look to grow out west, and that's why that's identified in the CIP. It's .... it's a little
trickier when you get into those in -fill areas, if you're talkin' about the Twain area, or....
or Miller -Orchard for example, because there's just not plots of land available. Um,
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we've tried to be opportunistic. I think Chaddick, uh, Park is a good example. When that
property came up, the Council, um, you know, authorized staff to go out and negotiate,
uh, that acquisition, and we'll keep our eyes open for .... for properties that come up, uh,
as staff hears about `em. I know I get emails on occasion. Juli gets emails. And .... and
we consider them. We have to consider, um, not just the area that they're in, but the
proximity to other facilities, the usability, um, you know, how accessible those parks
would be, what's the topography of the site, those types of things. But we do have those
conversations and I know Juli has those areas identified, but in the five-year window, we
see the real opportunity on the west side, which is why you see that unnamed or
undefined project in there.
Throgmorton/ Good deal! What's next? Oh, are you done?
Seydell-Johnson/ I'm done! (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Sorry! I didn't mean to cut you off!
Thomas/ Well I .... I think the, you know, the master plan really is helpful, just like with the bike
master plan, in that you can then see the ... the big picture, basically, which I think .... from
my standpoint were the missing elements I'd love to see, uh, a master plan like approach
toward our street renovation, because it .... uh, I've felt for some time that it's kind of
more of an open-ended situation. We don't know, you know, we know there are streets
out there in need of repair, yet there's no document to my knowledge that identifies, oh!
There (laughs) there's Van Buren (laughs) you know.
Mims/ But think of their rating, of the pavement.
Thomas/ They have their rating but we don't know when we're going to be getting to any
particular project that's in need of renovation. It's not calendared, I mean, we ... beyond
the five-year plan. So it's.....you know, we.....we just don't know, I mean that's .... and I
know that streets are a concern.
Fruin/ Yeah, part of the challenge with streets is there's..... there's some more complexity in the
variables that go along with it. We may not always be able to predict when a water main
breaks and .... and we try to be opportunistic and re .... redo a street and a water main
maybe at the same time. Um, road conditions could deteriorate certainly more quickly,
um, than, uh, than the, uh, than .... than park projects, for example. Um, the other thing,
you know, we don't always know when the State's gonna come in, three, four, five years
in advance, uh, and so for example, as we learned that they were going to be doing, uh,
Governor Street and .... and portions of Burlington Street, we then turn our focus in that
same area just to try to build off what they're doing so that we don't .... come back in two
years later and disrupt the same neighborhood with those projects. So, we could probably
forecast out for the Council what we think would be, um, you know, the road projects
that we anticipate in the next five years. The risk you run is you're.... you're settin'
expectations, uh, in those neighborhoods that, hey, I know ..... I know my street's gonna
get done in .... in year three, and then all of a sudden some other needs emerge and you've
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got some unhappy residents that their project's delayed. Little .... little trickier, but your
point's taken and again, we can do our best to give you those priorities, forecast those
priorities if you'd like.
Throgmorton/ It might be helpful to have those priorities forecasted but not explicitly as a part of
the CIP.
Fruin/ Okay.
Seydell-Johnson/ Okay, I thought I was done but we still have the trails, we have a few trail
projects to show. Um, Highway 1, sidewalk trail in 18, 19.
Havel/ Yeah, and one thing I wanted to note about this one is it really completes that, uh,
segment of trail, so this is the .... the trail that was connec.... or built a few years ago, this
extended it .... extends it from Sunset over to Mormon Trek, um, and kind of completes
that segment.
Seydell-Johnson/ (mumbled) portion of the Iowa River Trail, Benton Street to Highway 6, um,
for 2021. Highway 6, Sycamore to Heinz in 2020. So all very much needed, smaller trail
segments.
Fruin/ And I believe this is the last one in the section, the .... the pedestrian mall, uh, stage, which
you'll be hearin' about, uh, at your next work session.
Havel/ With that we'll switch gears a little bit and go to Public Works.
Throgmorton/ Thank you, Juli!
Havel/ First one here is the, um, radio backup tower. Uh, we currently lease, um, space for the
backup tower, um, so there's kinda that recurring cost for that lease, and this would look
at, um, an option for purchasing, uh, a tower and a location where the City would own it
and no longer have that lease cost. Obviously there would be a construction cost, uh,
associated with it. At this point, what this would include is looking at a propagation
study, so looking at what our options would be, um, for.... possible tower locations, does
it make sense to do this or not, um, so see if there's an opportunity there. If there is, there
would be the option to .... to proceed with that, but at this point it's really just kind of a
propagation study to see, um, what might be the best course of action.
Mims/ Is there any chance with that, and I probably should know the location of JECC's towers,
but .... I don't know if there's any opportunity to partner with what they have in town,
cause I know they were partnering with the University and I know that's changing.
But ... I'm assuming you guys have already thought about that. I just threw it out.
Havel/ That's part of the process. We would look at what options would be there.
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Ralston/ When .... when JECC built their system, we made a decision for the non-public safety
radios to stay on our own system.
Mims/ Right.
Ralston/ What we will look at is the ability to co -locate an antennae on one of their towers.
Mims/ Okay! That's what I was getting at. Thank you!
Havel/ The equipment, parking lot, this really is just an overlay of the existing parking lot. It's
obviously in, uh, poor shape, uh, difficult for, um, some vehicles to use, especially if you
were to have a loaded forklift, um, or something that was closer to the ground, obviously
creates some issues. Sothis is really just repair of the existing parking lot.
Fruin/ This is a .... a, just a quick commentary here, obviously you're familiar with the Streets'
building and .... and.....and getting off this campus town to the new Public Works'
campus, ex .... expenditures like these are .... are tough to swallow. You hate to invest
money in a property like this that you're actively trying to get out of, but the reality is is
we don't see it likely in the next five to 10 years that the equipment building, we're
gonna have funding to move them down to the new campus where the land is reserved for
them. Same with Transit. So unfortunately, um.....it's in such a condition that we really
have to resurface this for the employees and for the equipment out there.
Havel/ The equipment shop roof replacement, so this is really just making repairs. Um, it's a
situation where the existing roof is leaking, causing damage to, um, equipment, materials
within the building, so really just a .... a maintenance project. The Landfill equipment
building replacement, so this will replace, I believe it's two buildings out at the Landfill,
um, some of the issues here are they aren't sized correctly. So in some instances the
equipment can't actually fit in the building, so it's having to sit outside, even though
there's a .... an existing building there. Um, so this would look to replace those buildings.
The Landfill tarp system, um, so this would be, uh, used for the daily cover out at the
Landfill. Uh, this also kind of coordinates with, uh, changes to some of the ... fill methods
that are used, um, just kind of updating that system and .... and taking advantage of some
of the more current, um, methods that are being recommended, uh, improving efficiency,
um, and so long-term, uh, would likely have some .... some significant benefits to the
landfill as far as compaction and efficiency in using the existing space that's there. The
Landfill leachate system, um, so this is, uh, there's an existing system and this would
make some improvements to that, um, just to .... again, deal with the, uh, liquid that's out
there in the landfill, the leachate, um, and as part of the requirements for the Landfill, um,
there're certain requirements dealing with, uh, leachate levels and that kind of stuff, um,
so this is just improvements to that system to help, um, as we look .... as we move
forward. Landfill cell design, so this would be the new landfill cell, um, it's pretty
straightforward, you know, we do these from time to time, so this would be the most
current, uh, landfill cell. Landfill bulldozer, so this really is just replacing an existing
bulldozer that's reached the end of its life, um, so it would be purchasing a new one to
replace an existing one. Public Works facility (mumbled)
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Ralston/ So this is the .... the phase one of the Public Works site, so this would be the vehicle
storage, um, shop space for the Traffic Engineering, uh, Water Distribution folks, and uh,
the Streets folks, uh, and then also the wash facility as a part of that. Um, we are, uh,
currently working through the scope with Neumann Monson, uh, I told you on Saturday I
hoped it would be on the next Council meeting. Unfortunately it will be the first meeting
in February where we'll have that .... that consultant agreement on there. Um, and then
this will also include some conversion of warm storage space for, uh, Public Safety use.
Uh, Fire and Police, um, will take over a building, and then the fire training tower will
also be located on this site as a part of this, uh, first phase. Um, the .... the project, uh, the
funding that we have together for this is about $10.2 million. Urn .... it, we had
(mumbled) identified in a previous budget, um, so we're actually down, uh, downsizing
the funding on this, uh, with the hopes of still bein' able to .... to, um, build the same
project that we had, and that came out of the master plan piece, uh, as we were workin'
through that, so....
Cole/ Ron, are we anticipating any solar infrastructure on this facility?
Ralston/ We are ... we will have, uh, a LEED consultant working with us on the design of this
project, so we'll look at the ability to include those, um, solar or ... or geothermal as a part
of the project.
Havel/ The west riverbank stabilization, so this looks at the west riverbank, just north of
Highway 6, um, there's been significant erosion that's occurred, uh, especially with some
recent flood events. So what this would look to do is, um, help to re-establish some of
that, um, area that has been eroded. Also would look to, urn..... basically put some
protection along the bank, to .... to eliminate, uh, future erosion, but then also, uh, with the
plan being that long-term, again, with that future trail, that would potentially go along
here. Um, anything that was ... is done now, would be able to be reused in.....as part of
that trail project. Lower Muscarine storm sewer improvements, so, uh, some of you may
remember the Lower Muscatine Road project that was done a few years ago, um, upsized
the storm sewer system along Lower Muscatine Road. Um, unfortunately it really didn't
address much in the way of ...uh, additional storm sewer in the neighborhood, and so the
surrounding neighborhood has limited storm sewer. So what happens in a lot of cases is
that storm water runs down the -the streets to Lower Muscatine, causing localized
flooding, um, at least in the street, with the .... what the project did, um, made
improvements that kept the flooding in the street, so this would basically install new
storm sewer along those side streets to help capture that, get it into the pipe quicker, um,
and.... hopefully eliminate situations like this picture. The North Westminster storm
sewer upgrades, uh, similar situation where we have an undersized, um, storm sewer
system. This is an area where we receive, um, complaints occasionally. So it would look
to make those improvements, upsize some of the existing storm sewer that's out there,
and ... and hopefully address those issues. Iowa City Gateway project, I'm hopeful this is
the last time we'll (laughter) be in this presentation, um, so this is, uh, year three I believe
of funding for the Gateway project. Um, hope.... hopefully looking at completion of the
project here in 2018, um, but this is again the final year of funding. Burlington and
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Madison intersection improvements, so a few years ago there was a project that was out
there to install, um, medians along Burlington, in .... in the vicinity of Madison Street, um,
with the goal being, uh, improvements for pedestrian and bicycle, uh, facilities in the
area. This project, we've kind of taken a step back to see if ...if the medians are really
the direction we want to go. I think the, uh, the intent of the project would be the same.
You'd be making improvements for pedestrians, uh, bicycle facilities on Burlington
Street, especially looking at the Burlington Street bridge and ... and crossing the river
there. I know that's a, um .... a hot topic for the bicycle community. So, kind of looking
at the same project area, um, same goals, uh, the median may or not .... may or may not be
in there, um, in the end but, uh, again, similar project. Also as part of this would be the
four -lane to three -ane conversion of Madison Street. So pretty much the entire stretch of
Madison Street would get that four to three -lane conversion, with the additional, uh,
addition of bike lanes.
Cole/ Jason, what are the concerns with the median?
Havel/ I think some of the original concerns was, uh, pedestrians crossing Burlington Street.
Um, with some of the landscaping that the University has done and with the Rec Center
now being complete, we really haven't seen that be an issue. So I think some of the
concerns maybe that were pushing the fo... the project towards that direction really
haven't been founded as .... as we've kind of seen now that we're sort of open for
business, um, in that area. So, uh.....I think that's part of it. Um, also just kind of
looking at it with the existing space, is there a better way to use it now that we've kind
of ...we're a few years down the road, kind of have our bike master plan. Is there a
better way to do it?
Frain/ I think ultimately it comes down to a question of the use of the road space. If...if the
median's not needed to stop mid -block crossing, because mid -block crossing's not
happening, then can we use that for on -street bike facilities, to get people from the west
side of the river to the east side. We won't be able to continue those up Burlington,
but ... at this time, because you'd have bike lanes on Madison, people could go east -west
and, uh, move, uh, or I'm sorry, go north -south, and then move east -west on .... on Court
Street or Washington Street.
Throgmorton/ I can say I go to the Wellness Center pretty often. I don't really see much mid -
street pedestrian crossing. I think people are using the designated crossings.
Havel/ American Legion Road, so this is, uh, complete reconstruction of American Legion Road,
from Scott Boulevard to Taft Avenue. Um, this will include on -street bike lanes, as well
as a wide sidewalk located on the north side of the road. Um, it will go from a rural
cross-section, so the road with ditches to an urban cross-section, so we'd construct, uh,
curb and gutter, new storm sewer, that kind of stuff. It also includes a roundabout at the
American Legion Road, Scott Boulevard intersection. Um, so that is part of this project
as well. Um, also one thing I wanted to mention, there is also a pedestrian underpass
included with the project out there by the new school, um, that would allow people to
walk underneath the roadway.
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Thomas/ Jason, I .... one comment on that project, and it's .... it's actually kind of a general
comment. I ... I just happened to be looking at last year's.... budget in the CIP and it
looked to me like Le ... American Legion was 7.8 million.
Havel/ Yep!
Thomas/ And now it's 9 million. So I .... I would say as a general rule, it would be nice, because
it's hard to track these things from year to year, uh, where projects have a jump, or .... or a
drop. It could go either way. Uh, to highlight those so we have a better understanding of
what .... what's going on with the project, why has there been a change beyond just
inflationary costs that explain the change.
Havel/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ I'd say if there's a significant dollar amount change (both talking)
Thomas/ That's what I mean (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Right. (both talking)
Thomas/ Beyond just (both talking) ...as a, you know, cost of doing business change, but what
appears to be a change in scope, or something of that nature.
Taylor/ Kind of in relation to that is that pedestrian underpass perhaps part of that big .... big
jump?
Havel/ I don't think so. I think it was a ... you know, as we've kind of been going through the
functional design, we've gotten a better idea of what those costs would be, um, you
know, one part that's gonna be .... tough to get a handle on at this stage is gonna be
property acquisition as well. You know, the .... the right-of-way width out there varies
quite a bit as you go throughout the corridor. So there'll be some right-of-way
acquisition that will occur as well. Um, overall I would say the scope hasn't really
changed a whole lot. Um, but I think it's just as we get further in the design, we get a
better idea of, uh, what we think those costs will be.
Taylor/ And you're thinking the underpass versus like a .... a bridge, a walkway bridge across?
Havel/ Yeah, with the .... the way the grades are out there, the underpass just works quite a bit
better, um, so I think we had looked at what our options would be and .... that's where
things settled. Again, just kind of based on the grading and .... and how we would be able
to do that versus what it would take to do the overpass.
Throgmorton/ So why not just an ordinary crossing, that one typically finds inside the core of the
city?
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Havel/ We could. Um (both talking)
Throgmorton/ A crosswalk, school guards, you know, that kind of thing.
Havel/ Sure! I .... I think there's an opportunity here for an underpass. I think with, um, the
topography out there, it....it lends itself to being a good location for an underpass. As far
as if you were going to do a crosswalk, obviously there would be additional costs with
that as well. You'd probably likely have, um, some sort of signal control or, um,
pedestrian signal, something along those lines I think would prob.... you would probably
want, um, with American Legion Road bein' an arterial and the amount of traffic that's
on there. So I .... I don't know that you're really saving a whole lot, um, as far as costs
would go. Urn .... but it would be an option.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Thanks!
Thomas/ This .... this is, uh, 2020, I don't know where we are in the design process but you know
I .... I .... and maybe there are ways we could combine projects if there were any other that
were a concern, but I wouldn't mind having a work session, getting a better
understanding of what... what's involved with this project.
Cole/ I would agree.
Havel/ I guess as far as where we're at with the process, we are currently selecting a consultant
to help with the final design. So we're.... starting the final design process.
Throgmorton/ So .... so I think I've heard at least three people would like to have a work session
focused on .... roadway design for American Legion. That .... that's what I'm hearing.
(both talking)
Frain/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Fruin/ We have, um, and we'll outline all this, there's some MPO money, some federal money
involved in this project, and then you probably recall, um, all the questions we got from
the neighborhood too about this project when the new school opened up out there, so
we'll try to give ya a history of, um, how we got to this point, and um, we'll just put that
on the pending list and you guys can schedule.....in the future.
Throgmorton/ Thanks.
Havel/ Mormon Trek, traffic and lighting improvements. So this is kind of two projects in one.
Um, originally this was the four -lane to three -lane conversion of Mormon Trek. It still is,
uh, includes the right turn lane, also, at Benton Street, um, so there's that project. Uh,
we've also, uh, added the lighting improvements. So this will be lighting, I guess taking
a step back. The Mormon Trek four -lane to three -lane conversion really is from Melrose
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down to Westside Drive. So that was kind of the scope of that project. This will look to
replace the existing street lighting that is located on Mormon Trek, north of Melrose, um,
and that's really come out of necessity. Um, the poles out there are in really.... really
poor condition. We actually had one fall, um, not all that long ago. I don't know, luckily
or unluckily the electric lines were there to catch it, but um, so that, again, kind of out of
necessity, we'll look to replace that ... that street lighting.
Salih/ I just have a question here.
Havel/ Yeah!
Salih/ Those two, like two project, the Mormon Trek project and the bike lane, I see both of them
at the same time. Is this combing project or separate?
Havel/ So the....
Salih/ For the bike lane and for this, uh, project.
Havel/ Yeah, so the .... the project would be a four -lane to three -lane conversion. With that we
would add bicycle lanes on Mormon Trek.
Salih/ Sure.
Havel/ Yep!
Taylor/ And you mentioned the .... the right at Benton, uh, will that also include, which I think
is .... is a big necessity, is the left at Benton, the ..... the, um, southbound on Mormon Trek
that wants to turn left on Benton. There's going to be a left .... (both talking)
Havel/ ....four -lane to three -lane conversion, that center turn lane would be left turn lane there at,
uh, on Mormon Trek at Benton. And so we .... we talked previously about having that,
um, protected left turn there as well. So there would be an option for, uh, protected left
tum phasing at that intersection (both talking)
Taylor/ ....needs a change as far as where the Kum n' Go is and (both talking)
Havel/ Yep!
Taylor/ ....their whole driveway and all of that. Yeah.
Thomas/ Is .... is that a protected bike lane?
Havel/ That will be a standard bike lane. So it won't be a buffered bike lane. The Riverside
Drive streetscape improvements, so really this, urn .... is based on the streetscape master
plan that was done back in 2015. Um, we've been doing some work along these lines as
projects have come up, so, uh, with the Myrtle and Riverside intersection, or the, uh,
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Riverside Drive pedestrian tunnel, with those projects we've been doing kind of those
sections that are associated with those projects, but this would be, um, the ability to do
some of the larger, um, streetscape improvements that were part of the master plan.
McCollister Boulevard extension, so this is the extension of McCollister Boulevard, um,
from just where it currently terminates, just east of Gilbert Street, over to the roundabout
on Sycamore Street. So a roundabout was put in with the Sycamore Street improvements
a couple of years ago. Um, this would tie into that roundabout.
Throgmorton/ Jason, on this one, I .... I think maybe when we do the discussion about American
Legion we should also discuss McCollister. Partly because of the form based code work
at the intersection with, um, Sycamore, but partly because of the discussion we had
recently concerning the development on South Gilbert Street at McCollister. So, there're
questions there about the roadway design, mainly at the intersections, but .... I mean we
just need to work our way through that.
Cole/ Jason, as I seeing prote.... (coughs) excuse me (coughs) protected bike lanes on both sides
for this then? Um, would this be the first protected bike lanes we have on streets, if
completed?
Havel/ I don't believe we have any current protected bike lanes.
Cole/ Okay. Well that's terrific!
Fruin/ You're not .... not on McCollister. We're not callin' for protected bike lanes.
Cole/ Am I misreading that (both talking)
Fruin/ ....actually, um ..... um, I think we're thinkin' just maybe the side path.
Havel/ I .... I'd have to double check if we had regular bike lanes on ... I know we do have a side
path planned for it.
Fruin/ Yeah. So the two icons that you're seein' on there would be a ..... a side path, would just
be a wide trail, wide sidewalk if you will, and then that's a standard bike lane.
Cole/ Oh, okay!
Fruin/ The first buffered bike lanes will come this year, with Dodge and Governor.
Cole/ Okay.
Fruin/ That's a .... we're actually gonna have a painted (both talking)
Cole/ So these will be like bike trails, is that....
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Fruin/ Yeah, I mean .... we're gettin' into the design now, so we....we still have some flexibility,
but I think the thought was that the side paths, the wide sidewalks, would be, um, more
accommodating, uh.... in.....in the narrower streets.
Cole/ Okay. That's great!
Thomas/ One.....one of my concerns .... uh, with .... with the bike lanes on arterials is ... uh, and I
mentioned this a while back. The, um, NACTOS, and I don't know if it's in a draft form
or a final form, but (clears throat) if we're .... if we're looking for .... for bike lanes that
truly will .... you know, bicyclists from the age of 8 to 80 would feel comfortable riding
on them. If you're.....if you're running a bike lane on a .... on an arterial, they
recommend buffering the bike lane. So .... that's sort of a new .... a new recommendation.
Um, I know we have some bike lanes on arterials now that I don't believe are buffered.
Uh, so there's that, but also looking forward, will we be following that recommendation?
Um, as I .... I do think comfort, if we're really serious about the bike network, and I think
the South District is a great opportunity in that regard, so that kids can ride their bikes to
Alexander and to the park and what have you, uh, that we .... we follow that
recommendation. It makes sense to me.
Havel/ And I think this situation's a little different than what we've done on a lot of projects, in
part because this is a new construction. So it's kind of a blank canvas a little bit, where
we have a little more flexibility versus where you're tryin' to work within existing
pavement or existing right of way.
Thomas/ Right, and my feeling is is that this .... where we are constrained, um.....we, in my mind,
it may mean revisiting the network, possibly.
Throgmorton/ That sounds like a pretty big topic to me. (laughs)
Havel/ The Prentiss Street bridge replacement, so this is, uh, replacing the, uh, triple culvert
section that we have down there on Prentiss Street. Um, the existing corrugated metal
culverts are in .... are in really poor shape. Uh, so we have secured funding for, uh,
replacement of this bridge. The Melrose Avenue improvements, this is a joint project
with the County. Um, so this will look to go from essentially Highway 218 to Hebl
Avenue. And with that, part of it's in the city limits, part of it's in the county, so what
this will be is .... it's essentially divided into three sections, with the east section being
City funded, uh, the middle section being 50/50 between the County and City, and then
the far west section being, uh, funded by the County. And what this would do is
basically, um, it would continue to stay a rural section, but there are wide shoulders
planned for .... that would allow for bicycle use as well.
Throgmorton/ It's interesting how these projects blur together over time. I thought I
remembered that we had already approved construction of this particular project.
Fruin/ You probably approved funding, um, cause there's some MPO funding through there.
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Have]/ Dubuque Street reconstruction, so this is part of the streetscape master plan for the
downtown area. Um, and this would be that segment from Washington to Iowa. Um, it
would be, I would anticipate similar to what was done on Washington Street.
Fruin/ Main objective from the master plan on this one would be to provide more sidewalk
space. Dubuque's very constrained, uh, on sidewalk space, so we .... uh, narrow up the
lanes and .... and get some more room for pedestrians and cafes and things of that nature.
Havel/ Kirkwood Avenue to Capitol Street connection, so this will look to extend Capitol Street
to the south, um, and Kirkwood Avenue to the west. Um, this will be the Riverfront
Crossings Park area, um, and with this, this would be kind of a .... a placeholder project
for extension of those streets, uh, redevelopment of that area, um, and providing that
connection between those .... those two roadways. So this is the first of the two, um,
partner projects with the DOT. So this is the Governor Street overlay. You can see here
by the map it's a .... a large area, again it would go from Dodge Street on the north down
to Burlington Street on the south, urn, and then from Governor Street on the east to Van
Buren Street on the west. Um, and again this is a partner with the DOT where they
would be funding essentially the .... the overlay portion of the project and then we would
do kind of any utility improvements would be funded by the City. Then the other joint
project would be the River....Riverside Drive asphalt overlay. Again this goes, um,
Highway 1, Highway 6 area, and it would go from ... Rocky Shore down to Sturgis Comer.
I .... I don't think I mentioned it before too, also included with this would be ADA
improvements. So we'd be looking at the .... the curb ramps and, um, any improvements
that would be needed for bringing this up to current ADA standards.
Throgmorton/ Jason, is that true, does that apply only to Riverside or to Riverside and Governor?
Havel/ That's typically what we do for all of our, um, asphalt overlay projects now. The First
Avenue/Scott Boulevard intersection improvements. Essentially this is installation of a
roundabout at this location. Um, we occasionally get complaints about, uh, queueing and
delay at this intersection, especially at peak times. So, um (coughing, unable to hear
speaker) look to .... to mitigate some of those. Gilbert Street intersection improvements.
This is, um, this project includes a .... a few different things. Um, this will be, uh, first
would be upsizing water main essen... along Gilbert Street, from Washington Street to
College Street. Um, in addition it will also include new street lighting, new signals, um,
so new signals would be at the College Street and Washington Street intersections. Um,
it will include street lighting along that same block, as well as a block west and a block
east on Washington Street. Um, part of the goal there is to just make it more consistent.
Uh, if you look out there now, I think there's at least three different, uh, street light types.
Um, so it's just kind of cleaning that up, uh, making it more consistent. Uh, also will be
new curb ramps, and again, uh, ADA accessibility improvements at those intersections.
Throgmorton/ And this will be done in coordination with the, I don't know, four to three or road
diet conversion of Gilbert, if in fact we authorize that?
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Havel/ It will actually be before that. Um, we aren't actually touching the street pavement with
this intersec.... or with this project. So it would really be the curb ramp and kind of
behind the curb line would be the pavement, although I guess there will be the ... the
pavement over the water main. Um, but .... I think as far as ... impact to that project, that
could be done fairly easily, um, because.....it would be restriping. So the curb line'll be
going back to where it is today, um, so any changes that would have to be done with the
Gilbert Street project would just be a matter of restriping that block.
Fruin/ This is more in coordination with the Chauncey, and .... and as that building starts to come
online, makin' sure that we have the intersections cleaned up. Yeah.
Havel/ Court Street reconstruction. So this will look to be a complete reconstruction of Court
Street, um, from Muscatine Avenue to ...... to First Avenue. So this would include new
street, sidewalk, um, as well as utility improvements, uh, water mains, storm sewer,
sanitary sewer that may be needed, um, in this area. The Benton State ... Benton Street
rehabilitation project. This will be an asphalt overlay of Benton Street from Mormon
Trek to, urn .... Benton Drive. Um, as part of this we would also look to install bike lanes
on Benton Street. Um, as some of you know, the current striping on Benton Street is not
actually wide enough to be considered a .... an official bike lane. So it's really a striped
shoulder. This will widen it so that it would be, uh, a legitimate bike lane, uh, on Benton
Street. Rochester Avenue sidewalk infill. So this will look to install, uh, a sidewalk
connection on the north side of ...of Res.... Rochester Avenue, between 2410 Rochester
Avenue and St. Thomas Court. This is an area where there's sidewalk on both ends, um,
so it would just provide that connection, um, especially important with it bein' arterial,
um, and the proximity to, uh, Regina School nearby. Down at the waste water treatment
plant, the backup generator, electrical system upgrade; um, this is really, um, just
improvements to the backup generator. It will also provide, uh, more permanent
protection from flooding, um, than obviously what is done now, as shown in the picture
there. So, it'd be kind of both of those items. Waste water clarifier repairs, again this is,
uh, repairs to the existing infrastructure down there. Um, the clarifiers have the original
equipment that was installed back in 1989 and it's just showing its .... its age, um, the
wear and tear of ...of working, and so this would be improvements, um, to those
clarifiers. The Scott Boulevard trunk sewer, so this is out there on the east side of town,
um, just east of Scott Boulevard. The current trunk sewer is basically dead ends, um, just
north of the railroad tracks and east of Scott Boulevard. This would look to extend it, uh,
along the .... the low part there, the drainage area, up to approximately American Legion
Road. Um, one thing this will do is allow us to eliminate the pump station that is up there
off of American Legion Road, um, and that could be, um, handled through gravity sewer
and we would no longer have that pump station and the maintenance that goes along with
that. Melrose Court sanitary sewer replacement, so this is, um, sewer that's located along
Melrose Court. It's a deep .... a deep sewer. We've had, um, some .... issues here. We
had one pip .... one section where the .... the pipe has been damaged and been crushed, um,
and so we've done a temporary fix to get us by, uh, but really it's in need of replacement.
This project would essentially go along the same alignment, but would elevate the sewer,
um, to make it a little more shallow, so fu .... any future maintenance would be, um, not
quite as challenging. Um, but essentially it's a replacement of the existing sewer. Uh,
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here's another sanitary sewer replacement, um ... again, along Nevada Avenue, um, more
or less, again, replacement of an existing sewer. The West Park lift station rehabilitation,
so this is, uh, repairs to an existing lift station. Um, again this is one that's, uh, reached
the end of its useful life, um, also has been susceptible to flooding in the past. So, um, it
would ma .... be making repairs and improvements to .... to that location. Heat exchanger
replacement, so again, down at the waste water treatment plant, um, just, uh, replacement
of an existing heat exchanger. Um, again just reaching the end of (coughing, unable to
hear speaker) life. The digester cover renovations, so this will be repairs, um, and
replacement to, um, two of the, ...the digester covers that have shown, uh, damage and so,
again, replacing of existing infrastructure. Digester complex rehabilitation, so this is
gonna be a big project out in 2022. Um, as part of the waste treatment process, um,
recently we've.... observed, uh, what's called a struvite, um, issue I guess you could call
it. Um, as part of the treatment process, this material struvite is, urn.... developed, um,
and again it's just kind of a .... a byproduct of the .... the waste water ....... or the waste
treatment system. Um, what it does is it gets into the existing components, clogs `em up
and really reduces the useful life of those components, um, and so this is a .... a relatively
new, um, development, and so what this would do is this project would go through
basically tweak the waste treatment system to, um, eliminate the .... the development of
struvite and so it's kinda just tweaking the system and the necessary improvements, um,
to eliminate that, uh, that problem in the system. The waste water treatment, uh, influent
channel modifications; this is, uh, a situation where the influent channel was sized
basically for the full capacity of the waste water treatment plant. Um, with it operating
not at full capacity, this is a situation where, um, we're seeing sediment deposits
and .... and whatnot along the outside of that influent channel. So this is .... might get a
minor modification just to, um .... I guess reflect what the actual level of the operations
down at the treatment plant to eliminate those sediment deposits. Um, now we move on
to a .... a few, um, water main replacement projects. The first one being along First
Avenue, um, a few years ago we had a water main break out here in this section, uh, was
a fairly sizable one. Had a, quite a bit of pavement replacement that had to be done. Um,
so this would just replace the .... the water main in this location. Spruce Street, again, um
water main replacement of existing water main, approximately 875 -feet. The Melrose/
Landfill water main extension, uh, currently the Landfill is not on City water. Um, so
they have a well out there for water production. This would look to extend, um, City
water and water main out to the Landfill. This is planned to be done in conjunction with
the Melrose Avenue improvements. So with them being in the same area, these projects
would be done, uh, at the same time. The nutrient removal project, so this is looking at
options for, uh, removal of nutrients, um, from source water up at the water plant. So
over time we've been seeing more and more nutrients, um, showing up in the source
water for the water plant, and so this is a.....a study and improvements to look at ways to,
um, to deal with that. Dill Street water main replacement, again, uh, existing, uh, or
replacement of existing water main. The water plant and storage reservoir SCADA
replacement, so this will look to make, uh, upgrades and improvements to the SCADA
system for the water plant, as well as the .... the ground storage reservoirs. They're
located throughout the city. Um, again just kind of updating it to a .... a current system.
Yes?
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Throgmorton/ What's a SCADA system?
Havel/ So basically what it is is the computer system that kind of allows the different facilities to
talk to one another. So it's kind of the system it uses to communicate and, um ..... provide
information from those systems back to the operator.
Throgmorton/ You know I think I asked the same question when I was doin' a tour of the water
plant a few months ago. (laughs) Great memory, Jim! (laughter)
Knoche/ SCADA stands for system control and data acquisition, so it's...... it's the way that they
control it and then also observe the operations and get the data back to the mainframe.
Havel/ Bradford Drive, uh, water main replacement; again, another water main replacement
project. The water distribution pressure zone improvements, um, so what this is is
recently we've had some locations where development has occurred, um, where we have
concerns about water pressure, and bein' able to provide adequate water pressure to those
developments. Uh, we've seen it especially when you get at the far east or far west parts
of town, uh, so what this would do is look at options for possibly, um, implementing
pressure zones within the city. Currently the .... the city only has one pressure zone, um,
so this would look at improvements that could be done to look at creating different
pressure zones and how that might help for, uh, water system pressures throughout the
city. Sixth Avenue water main replacement, again another water main replacement
project of existing water main. Water plant softener improvements, so this is really, um,
automating some of the operations that occur out at the .... the water plant, um, dealing
with their softener operations. Jordan well rehabilitation, so this is improvements to the
existing Jordan well, um, and basically making repairs to that well location. DeForest
Avenue water main replacement, uh, another water main, uh, replacement project for
existing water main. Collector well capacity improvements, so this will look at, uh,
collector well one, um, and the laterals associated with that, and look at ways to, um,
improvements or repairs to increase the capacity of...of that well. Silurian well
rehabilitation, so again, um .... improvements or .... or possible remove and ... and reinstall
of the three Silurian wells. Highway 1 water main replacement, so this is, again, another
replacement project of existing water main. Uh, high service pump VFD replacement, so
this will look to replace the variable frequency drives for the high service pumps. Um,
what this does is it allows them to basically, um, vary the speed at which the pumps
operate, uh, which help with efficiency. That is it for .... Public Works. If there's no
questions, we'll move on to Airport!
Throgmorton/ One of the things I'm struck by is how so many projects have, uh, are .... are good
for the city as a whole, good for residents of the city, but they're not visible, like at the
water plant, the sewage tra... plant and so on, so that's one big category of projects, and
then there are other projects that are highly visible to people throughout our
neighborhoods and so on, like the water main replacements, like the park stuff, and it just
strikes me, it might be helpful for our district representatives to have.....to know what
projects that are highly visible to the public will be taking place in their districts, and then
for us to have a .... a big picture of that as well. Uh, and that'd be a slightly different way
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of presenting this material, but I think it'd be helpful from the point of view of the
positions we're in.
Thomas/ Well I think it....it builds on the value, which I really appreciate this year, of seeing the
geographic distribution of the projects. I think that really will help us and the community
in understanding what's being done and where it's being done, and I .... I like your idea of
the overlay of the district designations as well.
Taylor/ I think that's a good idea, and for the public to know that, cause my goodness, there's so
many projects and some of which probably .... by the public wouldn't be seen as
glamorous or exciting like some of the parks or the bike plan, uh, but certainly very
important and very valuable for the community. Also the fact that like with the street
disruption or sewer disruption, it disrupts people's commute plans or driving plans and
they get upset by that, but if they can see the importance and the overall picture of it, I
think that'd be valuable.
Throgmorton/ Is that it, Jason?
Havel/ That's it! Movin' on to the Airport.
Throgmorton/ Well, before you do that, I .... I want to make sure that all the department heads
know how much we appreciate the work that's gone in to developing the CIP, presenting
this material to us in a new way, I mean it's really beneficial, I .... I'd say from my point
of view. It's the .... the best presentation of this material I've seen in my, I don't know,
eight -plus years doin' City Council stuff. So I wanna thank all of you for that. Hey,
Mike!
Tharp/ Good .... good afternoon! I'm Mike Tharp. I'm the Airport Operations Specialist once
again. Um .... with the Airport projects it's important to keep in mind that our funding is a
little different. Uh, we get funding from two primary sources, and that's the FAA, the
Federal Aviation Administration, and the State DOT's Office of Aviation. When we
have a project that the FAA participates in, they're providing 90% of the project costs,
and if the State's participating in it, it can be anywhere from 70 to 85% of the project
costs. Um, based on what the particular project is. So with that in mind, a lot of these
projects you'll see are coming, uh, directly from the, uh, Airport master plan that was
completed about a year and a half ago. Um, and then a couple of these will also spring
from the strategic plan, and.... and..... just continuing on .... on those plans and the
operation of the Airport. So with that, the first one is the Airport parking lot expansion.
This is something that as the Airport's been busier, uh, more people have been using the
conference room, more community groups use the conference room. We find our .... our
parking situation becomes, uh, pretty critical at times, and it's just a .... a chance for us to
expand the parking and .... and, uh, at the Airport so that the folks using the Airport have
places to .... to park at! Uh, airfield pavement rehabilitation, this is something, uh, this
area's actually the last of the 1950s era original concrete, um, when the Airport was
really paved by the .... the federal government. Uh, this would pull the concrete out,
replace it. Uh, we are seeing some deterioration of the concrete, but it's not, uh, critical at
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this point. So we've got it out in 2022, I believe, is ... is the year. Hangar A door
replacement, this is somethin' that we've had on the books a couple of times and we have
gone after a State grant once and it didn't quite make the cut. Uh, this project would
retrofit the existing bi-fold doors that .... in the Hangar A building. They run on a
counter -weight system, uh, so right now it's .... it works. It's not exactly the safest
method in the world, cause once, uh, you pull the door down and it starts going down,
gravity takes hold and .... and uh, you know (laughter) if you let the chain go, it .... it, uh, it
can slam pretty hard. So we're.... we're lookin' to retrofit those .... uh, those doors with
some electrical models and then keep the hangars nice and usable. Uh, runway 7
environmental assessment, this is somethin' that'll have to be done with .... for a couple of
projects that come after this, but basically just takes a look at the, uh, the environment,
uh, and makes sure the projects aren't gonna, you know, do anything damaging. Uh,
we're, uh, keeping ourselves in .... in line with the federal priorities. Um, and with that,
uh, the runway 7 extension, this is a 213 -foot extension, uh, roughly of runway 7. Um,
adds a little bit of pavement to the west end of the .... the primary runway, and what it's
really doing is with our changes from the master plan, um, if you land on the runway 25
and you only have right now, um.....40, roughly 4,200 feet of landing distance, uh, when
we do the threshold relocation, that'll bring it up to about 4,900 feet, and then this gets us
to 5,100 feet, so it gets above that .... that magic number of. ... of 5,000 that a lot of the
charter operators that come into the Airport are lookin' for. Um, if you come in on the
other side right now, 7, you've got 5,000 feet, um, so this kinda matches up both
sen ... both ends of the runway for those airplanes.
Botchway/ What's the level of concern with this project, um, in particular? Obviously, you
know, safety is a huge concern. Um, so .... kind of what's the level, cause I mean it's.... I
don't have my notes in front of me, so I'm really upset cause I left it in my car,
but .... I .... and I pulled this in my notes from the, um, runway 7 assessment,
environmental assessment, which I think speaks to this particular project as well. But
does this project need to be moved up? Um, because of the safe.... because of the
concern. That's why I'm asking is it high, medium, low, like (both talking)
Tharp/ Well it's medium for us, but right now everything is .... this would be a federally -funded
project and right now it's .... it's being stacked up against the obstruction mitigation
project, which is .... is a pretty critical safety project, and that will take some time, um, to
just complete the process and get everything taken care of for that one. So, um, I .... I
think this one is on the books for about the next practical, uh, period after that. Um....
and in terms of safety of the actual runway, you know, it .... it'll help because then you
open up both ends, and what you're doin' with this one is the .... the landing distance on
the runway that increases is the one that was the instru.... instrument approach attached to
it. So it's.....it's those aircraft that are landing possibly in more inclement weather than
get .... get the longer distances. The Airport frontage road and viewing area, this is
somethin' we're tryin' to get done basically for our 100 -year anniversary, but this has
been on the books for a while in terms of...of things the Airport Commission had liked to,
uh, do, uh, just with their budget constraints was impossible, but this, uh, expands the
Airport viewing area. There's a .... the shelter is currently in place right now, but add
some information kiosks, uh, a little platform for folks to view over the fence, to kind of
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see into the Airport a little bit better, and then, uh, couple of play areas and .... and things
to hopefully attract more people to the, uh, Airport. You can come out, have a picnic, see
what's goin' on, um .... and then the frontage road. (mumbled) picture for that one? No.
Okay. The .... the frontage road, again, is.....is kind of cleaning up the trees and
landscape a .... along Riverside Drive at the Airport entrance.
Botchway/ For that sculpture pad, were you looking at some type of, you know, monument of
me shooting a basketball or (laughter) Have we already made that decision yet?
Tharp/ We haven't made any determination so that could certainly be kicked into the hat
(laughter) Um, you know, it was ..... it was a concept of ...of tryin' to put somethin' out
there that was just, uh.... a.....a nice artistic piece and I don't know that we've put a
whole lot of thought into it beyond that. (laughs)
Throgmorton/ Surely a slam dunk (several talking and laughing)
Tharp/ Then this one is .... is another project, kind of attached to that ... that runway 7/25 section
where we're gonna slide the threshold from where it's current at, which is about an 800 -
foot displacement, and it slides back to, uh, being about 150 -foot displacement.
So .... um, we gain about 700 -feet back of landing distance. And 12/30, this is a, kind of a
similar process where we add a little bit of pavement. Um, what you're gonna see on the
north end is a displaced threshold. That brings the aircraft a little bit higher, especially if
they're over that neighborhood to the northwest, uh, so they stay a little bit higher longer,
urn .... when we add that pavement to the ends so that we kinda maintain the ... the same
landing distances on ... on that runway set.
Throgmorton/ Mike, could you go back to the .... uh, like that small park image that you had up
just a second ago. Yeah, that one. So .... sorry, I was out when you first started talking
about it, but uh, when I look at that and think about it, I think it would be, uh, wonderful
if we could find a way to attract youth in our city who are .... from disadvantaged groups,
uh.... uh, find ways to attract them out to the Airport to learn that it's there, that .... that it's
something that could be of interest to them, help them understand what's goin' on there,
make it appealing, and all that kind of thing, so that it could become a, yet another way in
which we actually create an inclusive city?"
Tharp/ Absolutely! Any .... any suggestions folks have to make that happen (both talking)
Throgmorton/ Well the slam dunk, I don't know about that (laughter) but the ... there are surely
some good ideas out there.
Throgmorton/ (laughing) No, absolutely, you know, aviation in terms of. ... of, uh, not only, um,
the.... the.....the.....the effects on the economy, but just the job creation and the skill sets
that it takes to be out there, I mean, anybody can pretty much take care of that. So, you
know, income constraints really doesn't matter. It's just you, um, and then there's a lot
of good programs out there for, um, high school kids to .... to possibly apprentice in
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the .... in the aviation mechanic shop that's out there. So there's some avenues to try to
tap into that, um, certainly excited to see what we can do going forward.
Throgmorton/ Good.
Taylor/ Is there, um, any attempt to like, uh outside agencies or someone to offer scholarships,
cause from what I've heard, it's kind of expensive to learn to fly or even have that kind of
hobby, for folks that (both talking)
Tharp/ There are aviation groups that do offer scholarships. Um, they're not widely advertised.
I think that's probably one of the problems with `em, but uh, there...... there are some
scholarships out there that .... that do, ub, provide for that. I think that's pretty much it for
the Airport!
Throgmorton/ Good deal! Thanks, Mike.
Tharp/ Thank you!
Grier/ Good afternoon, John Grier, Fire Chief.
Throgmorton/ Good afternoon, John!
Grier/ See by my one slide that this should be fairly quick. (laughter)
Botchway/ I have a lot of questions, John, actually.
Grier/ I'm sure you do! (laughter) Uh, apparatus replacement program; we, uh, typically run
nine years, frontline seven years, reserve. We had one engine fire pumper schedule for
replacement this .... this year, but our fleet manages scores did not indicate it needed to be
replaced. We requested to move it to 19, that's why you're seeing two, uh, on .... for 19,
and then the Quint is the other one coming up, the big dollar one. That's over at Station
#2. It's a smaller ladder truck is basically what that is. And then the fire safety house is
the safety house we've had for a number of years. We've been able to maintain it a little
bit at a time, but it's getting to the point where we need to update and upgrade to what the
current, uh, programming is out in the .... in the fire community, but uh, we've been able
to maintain it so far. So .... if you have questions about our apparatus, that would be .... I'd
be happy to entertain them. (several talking) Yes it is! Thanks!
Throgmorton/ Wow! (several talking) We need one of those little bells where you can bang the
bell and it goes `that was easy!' (laughter)
Fruin/ We have a couple of Library projects. I'll just cover, uh, real quickly, urn .... pretty
straightforward. Carpet and furnishings replacement, uh, keep in ind the Library is ... is
gettin' up there in age. Many view it as still new, but um, it, uh, it's gettin' to the time
where all those, uh, furnishings, carpeting, HVAC needs to be addressed again. So this
gets at the carpeting. Reconfiguration of the computer lab and children' room; I think
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Susan mentioned that in her presentation. And there's the HVAC, as well. I'd.....come
on up, Tracy! (laughter)
Throgmorton/ Hi, Tracy!
Hightshoe/ Hello! Um, the MPO remodel is just from, um, when we merged, about three years
ago. We delayed the remodeling of the .... that floor in order to accommodate the Iowa
Green AmeriCorps. Sothis just finishes off that initial remodeling plan that we started
when we merged. Any questions about that one? And then we have funds budgeted for
the .... the climate ada..... adaptation plan. Um, that plan will be completed in May and
then we'll be looking through how we implement that plan. We have funding set aside to
address, um, what the plan will lay out.
Cole/ Would.....would this include stuff like for example the RFP, uh, on the solar infrastructure
or is that.....okay. That's.... okay.
Fruin/ You've had this line in your CIP for.....a year, year or two now, and uh, we've used it for
some corridor tree plantings, the solar RFP, the AmeriCorps, uh, energy efficiency
program, things of that nature. So we've been kind of ...suggesting things ourselves.
We have the grant program that the Council suggested. Uh, we just see this line
transitioning into more of a plan implementation.
Cole/ That's what I thought. Thanks!
Monroe/ We just have a couple of repairs at the Senior Center that are listed inhere. So, um,
they do have a .... a formalized plan, um.....intemal plan that they're using to identify
specific infrastructure projects. Lot of aging pieces of the building, some water damage,
um, tiles, so....
Throgmorton/ Okay! Hi, Chief?
Matheryly/ Good afternoon, uh, Jody Matherly, Police Chief. We just have two items, uh, on the
radar here. No pun intended for the Police Department. Um, one of `em is this year and
it'll be scheduled in the coming months. Simply floor and carpet replacement, and some
cabinetry, just update the .... the, um, interior of the Police Department. Ten year life on
that. We're a 24/7 operation, so it certainly gets its share of wear and tear. Uh, so pretty
simple replacement on that. The next one is the, uh.....in-car video system and body
camera systems. Um, the in -car videos have about a 7 -year life. Uh, the body cams a
little less than that, three to four years. Those are.....are due for replacement, uh, in
FY20. Uh, and.....make that FY19, I'm sorry. Um, $250,000, about 130,000 will go
towards the in -cars; about 70,000 towards the body cameras; and then if we change
brands, which we're likely to do given what we're seeing with the future with this system
we have, the .... will be about a $50,000 back -end server that will need to be updated, uh,
and replaced. Uh, so that's where we sit on that project. That's basically it!
Throgmorton/ You're done!
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Matherly/ Thank you very much!
Tbrogmorton/ Hi, Mark!
Rummel/ Good afternoon, Mark Rummel, Transportation Services. Our first one, the automated
equipment, uh, this will basically, um, finish our install of, uh, new pay stations over here
at the Chauncey Swan garage. There's three pay -by -space machines over there right now
that, uh, need replaced. They're at the end of their life, and urn .... we're coming close to,
uh, some PCI credit card compliancy issues if we don't get those replaced by the end of
the year. So .... uh, the next one, this is EMV, it's basically the chip in the credit cards
that are, uh, out there now. So it's not required as of yet, but it's something that
we're ..... we want to get on the books, just to, uh, be able to replace all of our readers in
our parking equipment. Um, eventually they're gonna have to be able to read the .... the
chips and right now, uh, they do not. So .... uh, this one, uh, we're looking to replace the,
or resurface the asphalt at the Rec Center. We think this is a great time to get this done,
uh, this year, before the Chauncey opens. Um, the .... the lot over there has a lot of
cracks, and uh, just unevenness, so this will put an overlay on top of that. We did a
similar project at the Market Street lot a couple of years ago. It turned out really nice over
there. I don't know if anyone's seen that but, uh, this'll help both the Rec Center and, uh,
like I said, when the Chauncey opens up, it's kind of an overflow, uh, parking for that.....
facility. Uh, we've talked about this a few times, just, uh, relocating the Transit facility
that .... that, uh, is definitely in need of.....of, um, replacement. We .... we're, uh, we've
got a site, urn.... with..... with the Public Works master plan, we've got a location to .... to
place it. It's just a matter of funding it at this point, so.... Uh, bus shelter project, we've
got, urn .... the RFPs, uh, currently are being evaluated for that project this year. Uh,
we've got funds set aside to .... to replace and, uh, add some this year. This will just
extend that project out, um, to 2019 to allow us to .... to, um, implement some additional
bus shelters out on needed routes. Um, as mentioned earlier with the equipment building,
uh, Transit, we don't want to put a lot of money into it knowing we're going to move
eventually, but we do have, um, some sinking issues. Uh, I think everyone's been out
there, but you can see on this photo those pillars at one point were all the same height.
They're.... they're sunk down in certain areas, and our problem here is with the approach,
getting into the storage and the equipment bays. Um, if we don't overlay this concrete
every couple of years, the, uh, the buses, uh, get to the point where they almost bottom
out tryin' to get in there. Sothis is just putting a little funding in for, um, some asphalt
repair, uh, to kind of, urn .... uh, fix the really bad spots. Uh, mobile column lift, so this is
really just a .... a, um, a jack, a lift to get the buses up to .... to do repairs. We have ... we
have, uh, some at Transit, uh, but they were installed with the building over 30 years ago.
They're, urn .... urn, there's maintenance costs associated with `em every year. What's
nice about this it's ... uh, a portable system, so we can use it at any of our lanes, and when
the facility gets built, we'll be able to transfer that over to the new facility, so.... Um, I
think that's all I had. If anyone has any questions....
Throgmorton/ I think we're good. Thanks, Mark!
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Rummel/ Okay! Thanks!
Fruin/ The last one you all are very familiar with. It's the, um, Behavioral Access Center. The
cost you see reflected in the budget there is, um, just a rough estimate of what the total
cost of the project would be. Uh, the local funds for Iowa City that are included in this
budget, uh, are 2.8 million. Uh, that's a conservative number. I would hope that we're
underneath, uh, we come in below that number, but just because there's uncertainty and
the location and the extent of the, um, modifications to an existing building if. ... if. ... if an
existing, uh, building is chosen, uh, are unknown. We .... we padded the numbers a little
bit. So 2.8 is what you're lookin' at here. That's, uh, would be a cash outlay, so that's
not, uh, something that we would bond for.
Throgmorton/ All right.
Fruin/ And I think our last slide is, uh, we typically forecast a few, uh, of the major projects that
are maybe on the horizon. They're not included in this budget, but things that you all
should start thinking about, um, have, uh, implications on future growth of the city. So,
uh, Jason, are you going to step through these?
Havel/ Yeah, so the Carson sewer, this is a property west of Highway 218, um, with the potential
for redevelopment, um, in this area. One of the .... the driving factors here is gonna be
that the sewer would have to be extended underneath Highway 218. So that's probably
the .... the major hurdle there. Um, but it's out there for, um, again possible development
in the future.
Fruin/ And I'd just like to .... to comment here. As we look out at the west side, um, of Iowa
City, there's not a whole lot of developable land left, uh, without opening up an area like
this. Um, the ... Country Club Estates last addition was .... was approved, uh, this past year
by the Council. Camp Cardinal is certainly, you've seen a number of proposals for
developments on Camp Cardinal. Uh, this is probably the next big area that we would
need to open up if we want to continue to grow on the west side. Unfortunately that
sewer extension's ..... that's a tough project. Uh, we have to go all the way back to, uh,
Kiwanis Park and upsize that sewer, through existing neighborhoods, to get under the, uh,
under the highway there.
Throgmorton/ I understand the interest in looking at that and its value, potentially, in the future
for Iowa City and for future residents. Um, but surely we would need some pretty
sophisticated thinking about how to plan it, instead of just having residences out there.
Uh, because it .... it's pretty far away from everything else. So, that would take a
considerable amount of forethought.
Havel/ Peninsula secondary access road, so again, here what we're talking about is getting that
secondary access to the Peninsula neighborhood. Um, there's been interest in the Forest
View redevelopment area, so I think that likely that would be, uh, done as part of that
development. Um, so it likely would be a development project, but again one of the main
benefits there is providing that secondary access. Similar, uh, the Foster Road extension.
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So this would be extending Foster Road to the east, over to Prairie du Chien. Um, this
likely would be done in conjunction with, uh, development in the area, uh, north .... or I
guess it'd be north and south of Foster Road, but it would likely be done in partnership
with the development of that area.
Fruin/ These past .... these last two projects, Foster Road and the, uh, Forest View Drive, there are
not funds reflected in your budget to support this infrastructure growth, but we do feel
like it's going to take place with the development over the next couple of years. In the
case of Foster Road, the Economic Development Council previously, um, began the
process of ...of, uh, setting up, uh, urban renewal out there for the purpose of assisting,
uh, the Foster Road extension, with, um .... uh, tax increment financing funds. I think it's
likely that a similar process could be followed for the, uh, Forest View project, if it
comes through and .... it needs to go through the rezoning. There's several steps it still
needs to take, but that's probably a scenario that we're gonna look at pretty hard.
Havel/ The Dodge Street reconstruction, so this looks at the possible reconstruction of Dodge
Street, essentially from Governor Street down to Burlington. Um, at this stage what we
are .... are looking at is, uh, functional design, so looking at what a cross section might
look like, what utility upgrades might need to be done, um, for this corridor. Um, and....
and kind of what the project might look like if we were to do this. At this phase it's just a
functional design, so we're really just looking at kind of what that scope might be, and
then we can start talking with the DOT to figure out, um, what funding might be available
and when this project might take place. Um, where this is coming from is, uh, Dodge
Street was overlaid, uh, a few years ago. Um, it's likely that the next improvement is
going to have to be reconstruction. So, um, just kind of lookin' at what that might be,
and what that might look like in the future, and .... and then how we might proceed from
there. The McCollister Boulevard extension, so this is the, kind of the last leg of that
extension, um, and this would go from Sycamore over to Highway 6, um, again
the.... currently in the CIP it's the section from essentially Gilbert Street over to
Sycamore, so this would be the next section to the east, um, likely at some point in the
future. And then finally here the Second Avenue bridge replacement over Ralston Creek.
Uh, we recently, uh, received notification that this has worked its way up the priority list
for State bridge funds. So we would likely look at possibly pursuing those, um, for
replacement of this bridge.
Fruin/ And you may see this come to you as soon as the next Council meeting, um, in terms of...
um, accepting some State dollars for this bridge replacement. We were just notified, as
Jason said, we're, um, that this .... this bridge now qualifies and, uh, they have certain
notification timelines, so we'll come to you pretty soon here and ask for your approval in
us securing those bridge funds, and then we'll have a couple of years to work on the
design.
Havel/ That's it!
Throgmorton/ All right! I think you mean that's it! (laughs)
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Thomas/ That's all, folks!
Throgmorton/ All right, so you want a little feedback or .... or you thinkin', you know (both
talking)
Fruin/ Well, you know, at this point, um, we're sittin' on January 9`h and you have until February
20th to set your public hearing to meet the State deadlines, and of course as I mentioned
on Saturday, we can't work all the way up to February 20`h because we have to prepare
the packet and notify the public of, uh, what the budget looks like. So you're really
lookin' at, you know, that week of.....hopefully wrappin' things up no later than that
week of February 5, in terms of your budget discussions. Uh, we can take as much time
as you want today to .... to walk through the capital or operating, uh, but you're lookin' at,
um, you know, roughly a.....a four-week period here for you to have all your budget....
all your budget deliberations.
Throgmorton/ Well does anybody have any .... quick responses based on what we've heard
and .... little bit of discussion we've had so far.
Mims/ Well, one of my comments would be I .... I think as a Council .... I mean we're here to
direct staff, but I think we also have to be really careful and I think Geoff kind of walked
us through this in one of the earlier times in terms of. ... there is an awful lot of time and
effort and thought. This is almost like a jigsaw puzzle that they put together in terms of
funding and staff time and, you know, all the other resources besides money, that go into
doing these projects. So I think, you know, if we're gonna suggest changes, I think
we've gotta be very thoughtful about, you know, how we potentially do that and
understand that there may be, um, a lot of impacts that we don't even realize in doing
that. So it's just... I'm not saying we can't make suggestions or changes, but I think we
have to....respect the fact that we've got a very professional staff who understands the
needs of the city, and I think understands our priorities pretty well after, you know,
couple years with this Council, and urn.... sometimes when you pull one of those pieces
out, you know, or try to stick another one in, the ramifications can be a lot broader than
we realize. So, I think we just have to keep that in mind as we're.... making suggestions
or thinkin' about things.
Throgmorton/ Well I .... I would agree completely. It's important that we do that. And so .... at
the same time I'm .... I'm tryin' to process what we've read and what we've seen, uh,
from our really excellent staff. And.....part of what I observe is a very clear
and.....valued (laughs) effort to respond to our strategic plan. I mean I see that very clear
with regard to the parks plan, with regard to the bicycle plan, with regard to the climate
action plan, with regard to the behavioral health access center, uh, and .... some of the
roadway renovation, a whole bunch of stuff, right? Uh, so .... at the, but I also.....think I
see not so much with regard to social justice, at least somethin' I could put in a category
called social justice, except clearly the behavioral health access center. So I don't have
any real suggestions about that. But I do wonder about it, and I'm sure y'all have
processed that, you've thought about it some, uh, but I .... that .... that's kind of how I'm
responding on the spur of the moment. So, on the whole, I see a big plus! (laughs) It's
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really a good capital improvements program, as is the budget itself. Uh, but do wonder
about that.
Mims/ When I think about that, Jim, I .... to me ..... there's so many things in here, yeah they don't
jump out at you and say `social justice,' but .... I mean when you have good storm sewers
in, you know, the one they were talking about, uh, was it, Jason, down near Lower
Muscatine Area? I mean you're talking about very moderately -priced houses, okay?
People having water in the streets. We're ... you know, we're addressing that. That's....
that's not, that's not your 300 and $400,000 house neighborhood. Um, to me I .... I really
felt that this Council talked a lot about social justice when we talked about the bicycle
master plan. And the park master plan. And we're putting millions of dollars into
funding those. Um, you know, I think everybody wants their toilet to flush and .... and
have everything make its way to the waste water treatment plant, regardless of income,
um, or race, and .... so we have to put those millions of dollars in there. Yeah, it doesn't
scream social justice at you, but, I mean, it's something that .... that we need across the
city. But to me, I actually feel very good in terms of the social justice aspect of this,
particularly like on the two things I just mentioned, cause we talked a lot about it in terms
of the importance of the bicycle master plan and the ability for people, regardless of
income, to get around this community better. If we approve the bikeability, we're
probably improving walkability from some of these neighborhoods, and certainly I think
the Parks and Rec has done a great job in, uh, the park master plan of looking at equity,
um, and spreading those improvements. So, yeah I mean, social justice may not be
written on the surface, but I .... I think if we look at `em with much.... thought, there's an
awful lot of social justice that's comprised within this plan.
Taylor/ I .... I agree, Susan. I mean even, uh, the Police Department has a lot of. ... of their
programs that fall .... would fall into that social justice, with the Shop With a Cop and
the .... the bike program, uh, those kinds of things.
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Taylor/ It might not be labeled as social justice, and it might not have to do with, uh, like
neighborhood centers or increasing that sort of racial disparity kinds of things, but it...it
still relates to it.
Mims/ And if you look at the CIP with the Police Department, one of the big issues, and this
was ... I don't remember how many years ago we got the body cameras, but I mean this
was an issue that the previous Chief had some discretionary money and was trying to
figure out what to do with it and .... and I was in a discussion with Tom Markus, the City
Manager at the time, and the idea that was being proposed, neither of us were excited,
and this was really at the height of a lot of the racial tensions across the country. Not that
they still aren't there, but (mumbled) I just looked at Tom Markus and I said, `Why
aren't we buying body cameras with this money?' And .... and we sat there and talked
and taht's what we did, and I think that has served us well. I think the incident in the
Benton Street Park, um, last summer or the summer before — time flies now — with the
young African American football player, was a prime example of the benefit of those
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body cameras. That is something that made national news. Um, he handled it very well.
He ....he applauded the police for their professionalism, but given the way things have
been going around the country, if he had decided to take a very, you know, negative tone
to that and just blast our officers, and it wasn't just ours. I think it was UIPD and Sheriff,
we would have had no recourse if we didn't have body cameras. So, yeah, it's a piece of
equipment, but it's a huge piece of equipment I think in social justice. It holds our police
officers accountable, but it also supports them, um, against false accusations. So I .... I
look at the CIP and I .... I think social justice is written all over it.
Throgmorton/ Both of you have made me think about a couple other features of the CIP that I
didn't refer to earlier, and that's the bus shelters that would be installed, uh, and the curb
ramps, more of them. Those are both big for people who are directly affected. So, yeah!
Botchway/ I mean I .... I do feel weird about kind of equivocating on, you know, what we believe
may help people from different backgrounds. I mean I feel like that's where we have
the .... that racial impact or social economic toolkit that will allow us to kind of go through
some of those, um, questions and answer some of those questions, as it pertains to that,
and so ..... you know, there .... I gotta ton of. ... to talk about. I don't know if we have the
time, you know, I mean from a.....you know I'm prepared to talk about the operating
budget and the CIP right now if we're gonna discuss it. I would say from a C1P
standpoint, I would agree with some of the comments that have been made. I mean when
you look at it from a social justice standpoint, I see some things that are interesting.
Look at a racial equity standpoint, I see some things that may or may not be missing, I
mean I think that the body cameras from the Police Department are an important aspect.
I didn't ask some of my questions that I was gonna ask, just because I felt like, you know,
um..... like I wanted to ask `em afterwards, but you know, wanted kind of an update on
how's it goin' and some of the other things. There's a .... we had some conversations as it
relates to the ACLU at the time that talked about their policy brief and where we're at as
far as that's concerned and whether or not we're incorporating that. Maybe we weren't
able to incorporate at the time because it was somethin' that we move forward on, I
wouldn't say quickly, but something we move forward on, um, in some ..... some quick
manner, um, but kind of where do we stand now? You know, what....
Tbrogmorton /I'm sorry, incorporate what?
Botchway/ That policy.... those policy recommendations. I think we had a work session about it,
then we talked about incorporating some of those policy recommendations, as it pertained
to the ACLU conversation, and .... kind of want to look back and see, you know, there's
some things you see..... asking more questions as far as what are these body cameras
gonna do differently than the current body cameras that we have, and I'm not, again, I
plan on doing that after the meeting, but .... I will say one of the things that has been of
interest to me, and I've talked to I think Rockne about this, not everybody, um, is the Rec
.....Rec Center. Um, and I'm gonna kind of talk about it from a 30,000 -foot view. Um,
but you know as we think about some of the renovations and things that are happening
from a Rec Center standpoint, and Geoff somewhat alluded to this, somewhat
analogously as we were talking about kind of the Public Works, um, new facility and that
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we're still putting some money into the, um, the.....our current Public Works facility.
What about somethin' different at that, you know, at the Rec Center? You know, we
don't have a lot of property and, you know, honestly I'd like to have a conversation about
what property we currently own in the city because I think that even as we think about
the... the recent parking lot kind of discussion and the church, you know, there's some
things that, you know, popped in my mind as soon as we had that conversation, just as far
as across the city, what do we own and what can we see in a new and innovative way,
and so I think about, um, the Rec Center as a potential, you know, big time CIP project.
Do I think we need to make a change right now? No. Is it something that we may need
to think about in the future? Yes. That could be something that I think answers a lot of
social justice, racial equity .... at least issues for me, again from an empowerment
standpoint. How are we empowering our communities of color? How are we
empowering, um, our.....our groups of people disabilities, um, that need space, that want
space, and aren't able to afford space in the downtown area, or in some .... or across Iowa
City. I don't.. A don't think again we're ready to have that conversation right now, or
even within a month, because I think a lot of planning and discussion. I just said that
without even talkin' to Juli, and I know that a meeting Monday morning with Geoff I
didn't even mention it at the time, um, so again I think that more planning that needs to
go around there, but I think that's something that I think from a .... on the horizon we need
to think about as we move forward.
Cole/ Maybe I'll jump in here, and I just wanna jump into what Kingsley was talking about for
the Robert A. Lee Center. One thing that I think though that is on the horizon that was
briefly alluded to by Geoff for 2021 was this reimagining of the, um, racquetball courts at
Robert A. Lee, um, so to the extent that there was .... I think there could be some
opportunities that may be perishable in terms of what may go into there, um, and so that
would be something hopefully I would like the Council to explore possibly moving that
up, um, so that we could make that more permeable, um, with the outside. We could re -
imagine different uses, and I think that also has the benefit, Kingsley, of. ... I think staff
has already had some thoughts going forward. I don't know if we want to get into all the
details today on that, um, but it's always nice to be able to build on some initial impulses
that staff has already had, and so my hope would be that maybe we could explore looking
at accelerating that. Um, I do wanna back up a little bit and say in general, um, this is a
skinnier budget, literally I think, than past budgets. How .... how many pages were our
previous bud .... they seemed like they were about a thousand pages. (laughter)
Bockenstedt/ Not quite a thousand! (laughter)
Cole/ Okay, they were more though, am I correct in saying that?
Fruin/ I lose count after a few hundred! (laughter)
Cole/ My .... my perception though, back to Susan's point of this incredibly important sifting
process that staff goes through, and my sense is is that was a very thoughtful process, I
mean it's always been thoughtful, but I just ... I wanna emphasize that it does seem like it
was really sifted through and that there were some key projects and priorities that were
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brought forward. So I think that's terrific. Um, to the racial es...justice and equity issue
that Kingsley had talked about, I don't know if we'll need to, uh, bring it up today, but I
thought we were gonna at least come up with a concept of a participatory budgeting pilot,
and maybe that would hook into what Tracy had discussed, with a little bit more
flexibility in the PIN grants. So it may be that that's sort of already what you were
thinking of, and I like your concept with the .... the more flexibility in the PIN grant is
how .... are there any barriers or are we blind in any ways in which PIN grants haven't
been used as much. So maybe it's just sort of expanding on that sort of conversation that
you're gonna have with some of the residents in terms of making it easier to do. Um,
three final points, promise I'll make it quick! Um, the retail consultant, Kingsley had
brought up the question of maybe the social justice piece of that. I guess .... I think as we
get that memo, hopefully we can get more clarity as to if there is a lower income focus to
that, that would be part of it. And then two things I think that Mazahir... or Mazahir
brought up that were really interesting to me, that I'd like the budget ramifications to at
least be assessed, um, is her discussion of the $15 an hour for City employees. Um, I
think that would be something good to at least get us the numbers on the budget impact
of such a proposal, and the secondly, the thing is the Sunday transportation. Um, I did
get a little bit of a sticker shock with the $600,000, you know, your.....your ballpark
figure in terms of what that would take. But I am hoping though that we can .... coupled
with the study, assess what are some transportation barriers on Sunday in which the City
could be an effective catalyst and partner to address some of those barriers, and that may
not involved, you know, redoing the bus system, um, or having Sunday bus service, but
there may be some other options that I'm not aware of. So, I would just encourage staff
hopefully to look at that and we'd defer, at least from my point of view, to staff's
judgment in terms of what may be available less than sort of the full, um, Sunday bus
service, but I mean, who knows? Maybe that would be another option too. Um, and then
final thing is the, um, the gardens. I always like seein' those expanded and I think I was
really thrilled with that. Oh, and one final thought, I'm not gonna propose expanding
UniverCity program again this year, but I would like at least.....as we think about inner -
core neighborhoods, programs that are as good or other innovations that we can take to
address that neighborhood stabilization, and the reason why I'm a broken record on that
is that it has been so wonderful, it has been so successful. Easier said than done, I think
that's what, you know, staff is in charge of, to think of that innovation, but I just want us
to constantly think about is there anything that we're missing in our inner -core
neighborhoods that we could have something like the UniverCity program, uh, to
encourage people of all ages and income types into our neighborhoods.
Salih/ For me, I really would like to appreciate all the work, the hard work that the, you know,
our employees have done behind the scene. This is really, for me it's too much
information. I need to (unable to understand) before I can have questions about it, but I
also appreciate, um, you know, yeah, what Susan said and everybody else. Social justice,
because it is many things (unable to understand) referring to social justice. Um, just .... I
would like to add .... to propose some of, you know, the goals that I have. I already talked
to Geoff about them, and I would like now to tell the Council, uh, some of them already
Rockne mentioned, but .... I think that, uh, I haven't brought up yet is I would like to
propose to our Council Members here that we need to increase the funding from ... of the
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affordable housing from 650,000 to like I million. That's what I believe we need to do.
I talk to Geoff a little bit about this, but, uh, I think we need to talk about this. So if the
Council agree maybe we can, the staff can help us, you know, to find a way how we can
increase this funding. And also .... another thing is, uh, Iowa City, I think Iowa City
should, uh (unable to understand) citywide. I don't know how legal is that but, you
know, that's also something that we can talk about. And....
Mims/ Sorry, before you go on, I didn't quite catch what you were meaning with that.
Salih/ I said Iowa City should pursue inclusion zone citywide.
Mims/ Oh, inclusionary zoning. Okay. Thank you.
Salih/ Yes.
Throgmorton/ That .... that act .... to a degree that's already included in the affordable housing
action plan, but it has to do with annexations.
Fruin/ Right.
Throgmorton/ Voluntary annexations.
Salih/ Yeah, I just (unable to understand) certain area, that why I am just thinking. It will be like
really great to have it citywide. And also .... (unable to understand) about like Iowa City
should begin (unable to understand) land banking was a goal of creating (unable to
understand) Maybe that's like too much, but we need to talk about it, so I think if
something (unable to understand) we can do it. Those ... I guess beside what Rockne said,
Sunday transportations (unable to understand) and also the $15 an hour in two year for all
City employees, beside the City could, um, do business with a vendor who paying livable
wage, and also I know that, uh, our City Attorney (unable to understand) before I be on
the Council, and we need to talk about that again. Uh, even if we can not do it for certain
staff, we can do it for certain things, like just... just (unable to understand) can we buy it
from like a vendor that really paying livable wage? Those kind of stuff. Uh, just
hopefully we can talk about it and (unable to understand) of course if we can pursue this
kind of things. Thank you.
Throgmorton/ On .... on that last point, uh, I think we should bring it up during a work session
discussion, outside of this particular context, and process it then, see what the other
Councilpeople think, and what staff has to say in return. All right (both talking)
Thomas/ ...say a few words. I .... I think, you know, in looking back, and you know, we're two
years in, those of us who were elected two years ago. I .... I do think we've made
enormous strides, uh, as a community on a number of fronts. You know we have the
affordable action .... uh, affordable housing action plan. I think that was a critical move
forward. Uh, no other community in Johnson County has undertaken such, I tlrink, an
ambitious program. Um, we .... we have the .... the park master plan. I think that ... that's
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a .... a really important equity issue. I ... personally would like to see some of those equity
gaps that were identified in the master plan to be looked at more aggressively. Um,
because those are areas where they're just simply now nothing. You know, we're talking
about improving, and I think it's a good idea, improving, uh, the quality of our parks,
the .... the offerings they provide. I think back in March, you know, I presented in a
memo to you all the, um, the idea of promoting the idea of a complete park system,
meaning that, uh, you know, within easy walking distance or bicycling distance from all
residents that we would provide access to a park, which would attract everyone within
that shed, um, so that we had an opportunity to .... to address what I think is a .... a really
critical issue facing all communities, and that is the kind of social isolation that we tend
to experience. You know, we .... we need at various scales, the City wide scale and at a
much smaller scale, places where we can congregate with one another. I think that's a
direction that park master plan is going, you know, it talks about we gather here. That
was kind of the .... the foundation of that plan. 1 think... the.... the vision is there. I just
want to make sure that where we've identified, and the master plan did this, some areas
where we just simply have nothing and some of those are in the core areas. So it isn't
land acquisition is problematic that we look very carefully at those. Um, the bike master
plan, I do want to make sure that .... all members of the community buy into that, and I'm
not sure. I just .... it's a question I have. I just listened to a podcast the other day which
was titled "Bike Lanes are Wide Lanes," (laughs) and it's something I hadn't really
considered. You know, is our bike master plan something that everyone in the
community is buying into, because I do think personally that the .... the network will have
enormous value to people of color and those who are challenged in terms of their
household incomes, because it will increase their mobility. Um, one area that .... that I am
still concerned with that I feel we need to address, uh, more comprehensively is what I
would consider to be a .... a safe streets action plan. Uh, I think in some ways the .... the
bike master plan, because it was kind of unveiled, uh, as sort of our init... one of our initial
efforts with respect to our mobility options, uh, it ended up framing everything that we're
doing with respect to .... or much of what we're doing with respect to increasing the bike
network. Uh, I think that's valuable, but in my mind, one of the .... key advantages
of. ... of our bike lane network expansion is it's improving the roadway systems by
reallocating the roadway area. But .... the bike lane network and master plan does not
address safety on those areas unaffected by the bike lane network. So I.....I would, uh,
like to suggest to Council that we look at a, what I have been referring to as a `safe streets
action plan,' similar to our bike, uh, bike and parks master plan, where we identify those
areas of Iowa City where we do see issues with respect to traffic safety. Um, you know,
if you look at our.....our, um, reports from the Police Department, we had over 2,500
collisions in calendar year 2016. That's an average of seven a day. Um, we know that
those numbers can come down. You know, the .... there is, there are ways in which we
can improve the safety of our system. That in my mind has benefits with respect to the
allocation of our police resources. You know, if we can reallocate that they're not simply
enforcing speed laws or responding to collisions. If their .... if their staff time can be
reduced by promoting safer streets, they can then work more effectively on community
policing, which has an equity (mumbled) to it. Uh, so that's something that I .... I, you
know we can talk about in more detail, um, at our work session, but .... that is one of
the .... the gaps that I feel is missing and, uh, if we filled that, I think then .... or .... or, um,
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advancements with respect to destinations like parks, um, will.... benefit even more
significantly.
Tbrogmorton/ Okay. So it seems to me we have three sets of, um, discussions underway right
now. One has to do with the capital improvements program, another has to do with the
operating budget, and a third has to do with the strategic plan, and inevitably there's
some degree of overlap. Uh, but we'll have to revisit each of these points in their
appropriate moments. So, keep track of the suggestions you've made, try to keep in mind
whether you're talkin' about the operating budget or the strategic plan, or the CIP. Uh,
but for the moment, I think .... tell me if I'm wrong, but I think we've heard a really good
presentation about a really good capital improvements plan. There may be a few things,
uh, we'd want to tinker with here and there, carefully, but in general, we like it! (several
responding) So, I just want to acknowledge that, make sure all .... you all know it, we
appreciate the work you've put into it, and then we have our job to do over the next
month.
Fruin/ We will send you the ... um, a test link to this and .... and just ask that you play around with
it a little bit. It's not live right now. Urn .... uh, and we won't make it live until the final
decisions have been made, just so there's not misinformation out there, but, um, let us
know, um, we know there's some enhancements. We know we can supplement the
information a little bit, but as you navigate it for the first time, if you have suggestions,
please send those to us and, uh, we'll take those into consideration before we publish it.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, that's a great idea! I .... I guess I'd like to mention also, I find it used to be
helpful, but I can say that during the overall presentation at times I was getting confused
about what's coming up in 2018, what's coming up in 2019, and so on. I just lost track of
it. So .... that's not the case for these. They .... they really help. Okay, any other.....
Cole/ (both talking) ....super quick technical question. Um, the question of the amount of
property tax reduction that we're gonna be able to do from the debt levy. What .... what is
the number there? Is it 10 -cents?
Throgmorton/ 15.
Cole/ 15 -cents. Okay.
Fruin/ Wanna clarify how that's workin', Dennis?
Bockenstedt/ Yeah, we're actually reducing the, uh, debt service levy, uh, 35 -cents and um, the
overall levies decreasing 15 -cents and 20 -cents is being increased in the employee
benefits levy.
Cole/ Okay.
Bockenstedt/ So the .... the debt service (both talking)
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Cole/ ....is 15 -cents.
Bockenstedt/ Right.
Cole/ Okay. Um, the only technical question I have related to the debt levy, is that if we didn't
reduce that, would be be able to retire debt at a greater rate or ... or not? I mean, is .... is
that how that works?
Bockenstedt/ Theore.... theoretically you could, but there becomes a point where it's a
diminishing return. Uh, jut as far as where the interest rates are at. Then also at the same
time if you drive those debt service (mumbled) low enough, at some point they're gonna
have to come back up.
Cole/ Okay.
Bockenstedt/ So you know then you'll be in a situation where you overlowered your rate and you
have to increase it back up as those debt payments would come back up.
Cole/ Okay.
Bockenstedt/ So it's really just finding that balance where you're bringin' the rate down and....
And retiring the debt at a .... at a pace where they're gonna meet each other where you can
to have that constant level of debt service going forward into the future.
Cole/ Okay.
Fruin/ So we do forecast another couple of years of decrease in that debt service levy.
Cole/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ Okay, anything else?
Botchway/ So I just warm be clear. Um, kind of for the next meeting. So what are our
expectations for the next meeting?
Fruin/ Well I'll tell ya what, we can .... we can put a memo that summarizes all of the, um, points
that have been brought up, both Saturday and today. Um, we've been asked to provide
some analysis on the $15 an hour and on the retail consultant. Um, we'll try to get those
as soon as we can. But for the .... for everything else we'll just list out what we've heard
and then that's really, you know, we'll help guide you, as you wanna consider moving
something or adding funds to something.... we'll have time to prepare and .... and, so that
we can coach you on how we would do that or complications that would ensue by doing
that. So .... you guys'll just have to take your lists and go one by one I guess.
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Botchway/ Can we at least send those to .....I mean is this like a send those to you ahead of time
type of thing and then you prepare that or is this something that ... put onto our list? I just
wanna make sure I'm clear .... from that standpoint.
Fruin/ I'd .... I'd say the sooner you can send them to me, the better, um, and we will, um, get the
...whatever information we have, we'll get out in Thursday's info packet, as far as your
work session prep. Um, you know, the longer you hold on to issues, just ... then it's harder
for you all to react and you probably have to have another meeting to react, so if we can
identify them by say end of day Wednesday, if you can send those to me, we'll ....we'll
list `em for your work session. And if you've already identified `em, you don't need to
contact me.
Botchway/ Okay, cause there was a couple of issues I had mentioned to Geoff that I did not
mention today (several talking)
Mims/ Yeah, I .... I would agree with what Geoff just said. One, so they have as much time to get
any information, but I think it's nice for us as Councilors to hear about it before we walk
into a meeting, so that we have a chance to think about it a little bit instead of trying to
react on the fly to somebody's suggestions.
Cole/ That's a good point.
Throgmorton /Agreed! All right, I think, uh, we're done now. So thank you everybody for all
the good work you've done. Thanks to the Council for bein' here and doin' the work!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council budget
work session of January 9, 2018.