HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-01 Transcriptions Page I
Council Present: Botchway (5:07 PM), Cole, Mims, Salih, Taylor, Thomas,
Throgmorton
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Andrew, Mikes, Fruehling, Ralston, Rummel, Harper,
Campbell, Bowers, Knoche, Havel, Dyson, Seydell-Johnson, Harrington,
Eidahl, Hightshoe, Rackis
Others Present: UISG Stewart
Discuss I-380 prosect input and next steps [IP3 of 4/26 Info Packet]:
Thrognuorton/Okay, so we're gonna bend....begin the Tuesday, May 1, 2018, uh, Iowa City City
Council work session. First item on the agenda is to discuss the I-380 project input and
next steps. So let me provide a little bit of background for Council Members and for the,
uh, for the audience. As you Council Members know, this is a revised draft of a letter to
the Director of the Iowa DOT, Department of Transportation, about the proposed
widening of I-380 from what, Forevergreen Road north to Highway 30, is that right?
Thanks, Kent. Uh, I wanna make sure that the final draft of the letter expresses the
Council's view and not mine. You know, I worry a bit that I got ahead of the Council on
that, so I wanna make sure that whatever's in the letter expresses our view, not mine.
Therefore I'm seeking your feedback about two key aspects of the draft letter. Think
they're inner-related but the two are....first, whether the letter accurately expresses our
views,both in tone and substance; and second, what we hope to accomplish by sending
such a letter to the director. And.....and, uh, in part what I mean by that last, by the
second point there is....uh, the letter will also be read by our fellow councilpeople and
mayors and so on in adjacent communities. And as we know from our joint entities
meeting, we wanna make....and from our strategic plan, we want to make sure that we
strengthen our collaborative relationships with those entities. So.....all right, with regard
to the tone. When you let....when you read the draft letter, uh, you may have noted that
I, um, posed some possibilities,but do you want the letter to indicate that we oppose the
widening? Or have numerous objections to the widening? Or have several serious
concerns about the widening? Or something else? So it's about tone. So if...if we say
we have objections, then that's cut and dried and sends a strong signal to our neighboring
communities. If it's one of the others, then it suggests that we're somehow open to some
kind of discussion and some kind of negotiated, um,modification of a draft letter. So I
need your advice.
Mims/It would seem to me before we discuss tone and content that we need to decide what we
hope to accomplish, cause to me that...can tend to direct the tone and content.
Throgmorton/Uh, fair enough. So let me get to that. I think that's reasonable. So with regard to
the desired outcome, would you agree with the following statement, which appears at the
start of the draft letter. I'm gonna quote it: "We strongly encourage you (the Director) to
facilitate and support careful analysis and evaluation of alternative land development/
transportation scenarios for the corridor, stretching from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City, prior
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to making a final decision to widen I-380, or at least prior to undertaking any further
major projects in the region." Yeah.
Cole/ I think my answer to that question would be I think yes. I think that is...strikes the right
objective, and I think that we should, you know, I think when this first came up, I think
the question is....is, um.....you know, as Dylan once said, "It doesn't take a weather man
to know which way the wind is blowing," and I think people felt it's just gonna be a
waste of time. Are we just sort of tilting at windmills here? And I don't think so,
because I think the issue here is that they solicited public comments. I remember when I
brought this up originally, it was in response to...to the DOT's credit, soliciting public
comment from members of the public, um, presumably the reason why they solicited that
is because they're in good faith trying to then respond to that. So I think that you point is
really good, Jim, is that before we consider this option, which presumably is because of
increased population growth and a view that we need to encourage economic growth in
the corridor. Prior to considering that option,to consider the alternatives, uh, that...that
conceivably are on the table first,before we do that, so I think you get the tone right on
that. (mumbled) the objective itself is right and I think that will....and I think the tone is
good.
Throgmorton/ So, what do the rest of you think?
Thomas/Yeah, I think the objective, um, as you laid out in that first paragraph, is, um, is
appropriate at this time and uh.....you know, I think it....what, this is such a huge
question (laughs) you know, the transportation infrastructure, and uh, I....I think we need
to try to....to express....for me it's sort of following up on the....the objective on the tone
that I would say serious concerns to try to....you know, we're entering into a
conversation on a topic that from what I can tell has not really been discussed at any great
length, at least in the way that I viewed it. And so I think....taking a more kind of open
approach and saying we have concerns at this point is....is the right tone to....to tie to our
objective.
Throgmorton/ Concerns, serious concerns (both talking)
Thomas/Well, I think serious concerns, I mean the....you know, the cost issue, uh, the climate
change issue, uh, the safety issue—all of these things are pretty serious stuff. So I....I
would say serious is the right word.
Mims/I would agree!
Taylor/ I agree also (both talking)
Mims/I don't think we wanna go so far as saying we oppose. I don't....I think that sets us at
odds with other people who really are set and ready to see this go. Quite frankly I think
it's going to happen anyways, but....but(both talking)
Throgmorton/Seems that way.
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Mims/ ...but I think at least if we start having this conversation now, maybe it will have an
impact on it going to eight lanes, you know, eventually. So....um, but I, yeah, I think
doing the concerns or serious concerns, and I think the....the objective, or the
accomplishment, what we want to accomplish in terms of that sentence you read, I think
works fine.
Taylor/I agree, and I think the serious concerns does state what...what you want to say in that
letter with the,uh, as John alluded to, the cost. Pretty high cost, uh, the increased traffic.
The you make more lanes, you're gonna have more traffic, where we'd kinda like to try
to back off from that, which then leads to the safety concerns with more traffic, more
possibility of accidents. I think serious concerns speaks to it.
Throgmorton/Let me ask a follow up question with regard to the...to the tone. Uh, not tone, to
the substance of the letter. Of the draft letter. So....my question to you is, are you
comfortable with the specific concerns outlined in the letter? And I wanna indicate
before you try to respond to that that.....I went into a fair amount of detail here, mainly
because the letter's goin' to the Director of the Department of Transportation, and I
thought it...it, we couldn't just say, you know, urn, we don't like it (laughs)you know,
had to have some kind of....rationale for expressing, for having serious concerns. So
(mumbled)main question to you is, are you comfortable with the specific concerns
outlined in the letter?
Thomas/I would....I have a few....comments on some of the specifics. There's....there's a
fairly strong emphasis on the idea of a light-rail system. Uh(clears throat) and my
feeling is is that....that would be in my view part of a long-term vision. I'm not
confident even if we....we do reduce or, you know, try to control the capacity of I-380
that, uh, a light-rail will be financially feasible. Uh, but I think it it's something that
can be put as a....long-term goal that could eventually be implemented. Um, but my
view is that....it's trying to optimize the use of the interstate as we have it, and also try
to....increase the productivity of the cities and towns that, uh, are served by it, before we,
uh, begin to think about how light-rail might play into that scenario.
Throgmorton/ So perhaps I need to alter that, uh, that particular part of it. What....just to be
clear though, what I was tryin' to do is first of all say....we....we think the, uh, the DOT
should support, you know, careful investigation of alternative scenarios, that involve the
interaction of land use and transportation. So I was just tryin' to lay out one possible
scenario and so maybe I put too much weight on that? I don't know, but....
Cole/Jim, I know you weren't referring...use the term"light-rail" and I know that for our
MPJOC we've talked about Iowa City to North Liberty and that that's not light-rail,but it
is a rail....commuter rail system that will be used. Were....were you referring to that?
When you....cause I think that's a term of art.
Throgmorton/Uh, I was not, but that's a good point you're making, yeah.
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Cole/ So I mean the point is is we have something for the audience out there at MPOJC. It's
under evaluation. We're at a third-stage study, where we're at least assessing the
feasibility of an Iowa City to North Liberty, I think commuter rail, urn, with a fairly
reasonable price tag. Nothing's been committed out there, but that's something we are
evaluating, so before we look at the projected, uh, traffic count and....and benefit of that,
we should look at first whether that will impair, uh,that particular scenario, as far as that
goes. So....
Throgmorton/Ah, yeah, so maybe I need to alter that and talk about commuter rail. And maybe
I, uh, Kent, urn....maybe I could get your help, not right now, uh, in terms of providing a
very....very brief description of what's currently being evaluated by the MPOJC, so that I
can insert a little bit of that language into this letter.
Thomas/I....I think that's a good, a good idea. The....there may be other ways of
supplementing the argument as well, uh, by tying into the MPO long....long-range plan,
which is....I think 2017 to 2045. So....so thinking in that timeframe in terms
of....what...the points we want to try to make.
Taylor/ I was going to give it in my report later, uh, but I attended the ECIOCOG last week and
they also are lookin' at alternatives, um, as far as their corridor rights program and an
express bus service. Of course that's all the way up to Cedar Rapids, but uh,that could
be involved in that also.
Throgmorton/Yeah, and that...it....it is, that is part of the letter. It....it....part of the letter, one
of the things the letter does is praise the DOT for supporting those initiatives. Uh,but
they're short-term and maybe temporary and so on.
Cole/I guess, Jim, I really like the tone that you used. I think it is good, and I think in terms of
the content is good as well. Um, because I do not think it's intuitively obvious why we
would support, um, keeping it the way it is, if we have concerns about traffic volume as
well. I mean there's this healthy debate within the traffic and planning community,
including with Jeff Speck had talked about induced demand. That by adding this
infrastructure you're facilitating additional auto-centric infrastructure, auto-centric
development, and you could be aggravating the problem, rather than making it better.
You could be aggravating the safety by encouraging speeding between Iowa City and
Cedar Rapids. These are not things that are intuitively obvious just by thinking about
them. Um, so I....I think that's good to point out, and then if you do have....(mumbled)
research but if there are some illustr...illustrative points for purposes of establishing a link
between lanes and fatalities, or lanes and traffic safety, that may be good to illustrate the
point, if you can find that data out there, but I know it's out there, um, as far as that goes,
but I think it's a good tone, and I would just....one final point, I have no problems saying
that we oppose that. I don't think that that's that rude to say. I mean we can consider
concerns from other jurisdictions, um, but they're soliciting public input, which
presumably means do you support or object, and in its current form it seems like the
consensus is we do object to it. It's not to say that we would never support it if these
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other things are addressed, urn, but I think we should draw a little bit more of a line and
say we....we oppose it.
Botchway/ So I would disagree, and apologize. I was at a meeting up until 5:00.
Throgmorton/Thanks for comin'.
Botchway/ ...and I did not speed to get here! (laughter) (mumbled) that on! Urn, ultimately I
would say, uh, I would be more in line with serious concerns, I mean if our.....if our...if
our focus or intent is to.....put the DOT on offensive, then maybe....or on the defensive,
then maybe we would continue in this way, but I.....if we're trying to focus on it from a
persuasion standpoint/partnership standpoint, then I think that I would more be in line
with the serious concerns. I also agree with Rockne as far as, well, it's not an also cause I
disagree with you on that point, but um, one of Rockne's points around data I think is
important and so there was a couple areas, urn, focusing on traffic safety and other things
that. That if...Kent, if you can help out in providing more information about what that
looks like. I think it just gives it more meat and more juice, as far as, um,how that
relates and I do have a, you know, we have to...also have to remember this'd be the
Director of the DOT. I mean, ultimately they do have some understanding of this
information, so I don't......I mean I don't want us to overlook the fact that they do have
some of this data. And so if there's any data that we can provide that's maybe different,
or shows, urn....uh.....other, uh, other jurisdictions, whatever the case may be. When
they consider this, I think that would be a little bit different than kind of how we're
focusing on it from that standpoint. I...the two issues I guess I have with the document in
general is, um, you know, if we're gonna say we're looking at alternatives or supporting
the DOJ...or DOT, sorry! I'm working with the DOJ on some other stuff. The DOT
with, um, those alternatives, I think we.....I wanna know what those alternatives are, and
how are we doing those things and what are we doing in regards to what the City is
focusing on, cause this is kinda my first....our first conversation on looking at
transportation and discussing that. So if we're gonna put it in the document, I want us to
be clear. They asked a question back to us that we can clearly articulate what we're
doing in that effort to, you know, help with that partnership. The other piece of it is I
would actually disagree with the tone. Um, you know, again it goes back to, you know, if
you want people on the defensive, you know.....exorbitant, questionable assumptions, I
mean if I was reading this document and I'm the director of the DOT, I...I would....I
would make the presumption that you are assuming that I don't necessarily have any type
of understanding of this information, and I think that's....that may be problematic if
we're again, if we're trying to look at it from the focus point of trying to persuade, trying
to partner. But in general, with the content, I think I'm in line with many of the, urn,
things of content. I'm not necessarily....I'm more on the fence I think than anybody else
here about increasing lane traffic because if you....ever on 380, um, it's slow. Uh, I
don't think there's any speeding that happens, and there's significant traffic that I know
that, you know, not only myself but all the other motorists, um, complain about on a....on
a regular basis, and I'm sure that's where the DOT is hearing some of those concerns, and
so however we can figure out a compromise and maybe it's like a chauffeur for me and
we can figure out that in the City budget, uh, we can talk about that later, but whatever
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we can figure out as far as a compromise, to really focus on more of a partnership, I think
that would just go better from that perspective from the DOT.
Throgmorton/On that point....my thinking was (mumbled) talked to Geoff about this already,
uh, once we're satisfied with the tone and substance and, you know, our overall purpose,
in other words once I revise the letter just a little bit, given the conversation, then Geoff
would share a final, that final revised draft of the letter, with the other mayors, etc., in
accord with the discussion we had at the joint entities meeting, and Geoff, I don't know,
you and I talked about that a little bit and I think you had an idea about how to proceed,
and I don't know if you wanna talk about that right now or not.
Fruin/ Sure. I think the....the question is do you wanna just send this letter off to the DOT
Director and then you'll get....um, some feedback from the other local governments, that
won't be positive. Um, it's pretty clear the other local governments in the region support
this widening project. Um, and so that's really do you want to take that extra step to
say—here's a draft letter, um,we'd like to send to the....the DOT, and we intend to send
to the DOT, but before we do so we'd like to hear your perspectives; and are you open to
opposing viewpoints and perhaps shifting some language in your letter or re, um,
refocusing on different components,based on input that you may receive from Coralville,
North Liberty, Cedar Rapids, or anybody along that 380 corridor.
Throgmorton/Yeah, my sense was that we did want to share the draft...I'm gonna call it a final
draft of the letter, so that...and then meet with 'em, so that they can, you know, we can
have a discussion about what's in the final draft letter, and then....then it's for us to
decide what we want to do in response to....to that, uh, feedback from them. But I, you
know, in the spirit of collaboration and so on within the region, I think it'd be good to do
that.
Botchway/ I guess it depends on...what are we, so are we collaborating or are we....showing?
Guess that's my question.
Throgmorton/ Well we're expressing a view initially, aren't we?
Botchway/And we are asking for that collaboration.
Throgmorton/And then tryin' to be open to collaborating with the other entities, and I think
during the joint entities meeting, uh, I was hearing some significant support from various
County Supervisors, some interest on the part of some Coralville, uh, council members,
uh, and...and son. I don't know where that'll go. I'm not tryin' to commit anybody to
anything, but I....I think they would very much like to have....kind of working group
discussion that I mentioned during the joint entities meeting. Yeah, so....Geoff, my
recollection is that, uh...your....your thinking about a week or so ago was that....you
could, uh, specify a specific date....a bit of time in the future here. I don't know how far,
and simply say we....we would invite you, the....these other folks,to come, uh, hear....
hear us present, uh, the essence of....of what's in this draft letter, and....and also share
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the draft,final draft letter, with 'em, beforehand, so that they come in informed and then
we can engage in a conversation about that.
Fruin/Yeah, I think what was talked about at the joint meeting was that the...a mayor or an
elected representative from each of the jurisdictions and if they'd like to bring along a
staff member, urn, they could do that, but we'd set up a time and then presumably the
Mayor, or another spokesperson for the Iowa City Council, would lead the discussion and
kind of walk folks through the, uh, the draft letter and some of the concerns and see
where the conversation goes! Report back to the Council, then you can determine
whether you wanna make any edits before you send it to the, uh, director.
Botchway/I think that's my....that's my,that's the crux of my question. If we're going
to....that's not collaboration, cause that's....that's saying that ultimately when people
come to us and give us feedback we're going to incorporate into the document. If we're
not looking to do that, I would feel uncomfortable giving a document and saying,hey,
we're going to potentially take your feedback and send it anyways. That...that's just
weird for me.
Throgmorton/ I...speaking for my own self here, I'd say that what I would hope to get out of such
a conversation with other mayors, etc., uh, would be information from them, insight from
them, uh, some expression of values from them,that we could take into account in
revising that letter,before we send it to the D...uh, the Director of the DOT.
Botchway/Okay, I mean I would just be clear about that expectation then.
Fruin/Yeah, I mean...(both talking) I don't think you're gonna....you're not gonna send the
letter and have a conversation and all of a sudden find all the cities are going to be in
lockstep with you opposing this project. I don't think that's realistic. They are going to
continue to support it but...it may influence the language you use, it may influence the
points of focus. I think the other cities, I think where there is common ground on this is
frankly the alternative transportation piece. There is a....a strong base of support to
explore commuter rail, to explore how to, um, really make the express bus and the van
pools a success, so that they sustain themselves well beyond this widening project. I
think that's where you'll find common ground, but....uh....I don't think you're gonna
find common ground....I don't think you're gonna convince them to oppose the project,
at least the.... the majority, uh, of them.
Discuss IP6 from 3/1/18 packet regarding recommendations from Black parents on youth
needs [Copy included as IP4 of 4/26 Info Packed:
Throgmorton/I think that's true, and I know Ryan is, uh, here from the Chamber.
Where....where are ya Ryan? Oh, sorry! White shirt, right in front of us (laughs) and
you and I have had several conversations with Ryan about something like this, though
Ryan and the Chamber have their own initiative underway. So there's certainly some
degree of compatibility there. Okay. I think I've heard sufficient, uh....um, input from
y'all to figure out what to do. So, do I have your permission to work with Kent a little bit
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on this and revise the draft a little bit, and share it with the mayors, etc. Okay. Thank
you. All right, we can turn to the next item, which is to discuss information packet, uh,
Item 6 from the March ls`packet regarding recommendations from Black parents on
youth needs. Uh, so this, as you Council folks know, is....relates to a memo that Pauline
and I shared with you a little over two months ago concerning a meeting we held in this
room with several Black parents, uh, concerning what we could possibly....well, when
we asked, when we invited them, we asked....we emphasized that we wanted to listen to
them and learn from them, and more specifically we wanted to hear their ideas about
what Iowa City government could do to help our city's Black youth feel more a part of
the Iowa City community and have good pathways to a good future here. So that's what
we did in the meeting. We invited 20 specific people, eight parents attended. Urn, my
recollection is that all those, all of the eight were mothers, or females at least. I don't
know if they're all mothers. Well I guess they were since they were parents, right?
(laughs) Uh, and, you know, we shared information with you, uh, based on....uh....uh,
minutes that Ashley took of the meeting. There were a lot of....there was a lot of
conversation and Ashley did a great job of, uh, summarizing that. But when Pauline and
I looked at all that material and recalled the essence of the conversation we had with
those Black parents, uh, we....we thought that they were proposing at least four key
actions that warrant our consideration. So what the memo does is identify those four key
actions, and.....so, urn, we need to decide what we want to do in response to that and...
and taking Geoff's advice and, uh, in terms of what the staff can do and so on. So,just
for the audience's, uh....um, benefit here, I'm gonna very briefly summarize these four
key points. So in brief, the four key actions were, first, there's not much for kids to do
here to stay out of trouble, regardless of color. The City could provide a place where
Black youth can go, other than the Lee Recreation Center or Mercer Park, and then the
structured activities would be available at this place. Secondly, the place and activities
would have to be well-managed, with on-site guidance and leadership being provided by
African-American Iowa Citians. Third, the City could work with leaders in the Black
community and knowledgeable people at the University and Kirkwood to celebrate
African American history better than doin'....the Black History Month and MLK Day.
And fourth, the City could help small or new community organizations learn how to write
grant applications more effectively, and....and therefore be more likely to be able to
obtain small grants. So.....uh, the question is, what do we want to do in response to these
suggestions? What do we feel we can do in response to them, and there were all these
other details in them, in the memo, and I haven't mentioned 'em all. I'm lookin' for your
advice about these four things.
Mims/Well I think one of the places I would start is in the notes that Ashley has, with some of
the more detail and....and I think one is actually sitting down with the kids and asking
what they feel they're missing or what they feel uncomfortable with. Um, I don't feel
....I don't agree, at least off the top of my head, that, um....that there's nothing for kids to
do in this community. I think there's an awful lot of stuff for kids to do. Some of it's
related to the schools,urn, you know, in terms of they offer a multitude of extracurricular
activities. Um, we've got things through UAY. We've got things through the Rec
Center. Um, now, it's a matter.....I agree, it's a matter of kids finding their place and not
every young person is comfortable in every single environment. But to....to suggest out
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of hand that there's nothing for kids to do, and I've talked to people in the African
American community in this city who totally disagree with this statement. Urn, so I think
it's, first of all,um, I'm concerned....I didn't know this was being done, first of all. Um,
I'm not sure.....I'm glad it was. I'm not disagreeing with that, but I didn't know this was
happening. I think....it takes a lot more than eight people, or should, take a lot more than
eight people to....direct what we're gonna do moving forward as an institution as large as
the City of Iowa City. Um, and so I think a lot more research. One of the things we've
talked about repeatedly, and I know Kingsley and I keep bringing up is the multitude of
non-profits and even if they're not formal non-profits, organizations within the
community that are trying to do things, um, from the Dream Center. I'm....I'm not sure
if that's a 501(c)(3) or not, to lots of other organizations. So I think we need to start with
a more concerted effort of getting information from a broader range of people, especially
the chil.....the kids themselves, and I think looking at what kind of age range we're really
looking at, because you talk about kids in elementary school. That's a totally different
kind of activity and....and structure that you need versus kids in junior high versus kids
in high school. So, urn, first of all I think there's lot to do, but we need to figure out why
certain students either don't want to do those activities, aren't comfortable with those,
and what ideas they have for things that they would like to do, and would like to have
available.
Taylor/I appreciate your comment that there are a lot of extracurricular activities, but I think...
I'm not certain if it's in those notes, but what came out of that meeting and what I heard
at, uh, the forums, which is by the way how this meeting was spawned from what we'd
heard at the forums, that the City's not doing enough to help....help the Black
community. Uh, but what came out of it was that transportation is the issue. Yes, sure
there might be a lot of after-school activities, but a lot of these kids are from families,
their parents are working, they can't afford a taxi cab, although some of the schools, uh,
there's a....a cab, taxi cab voucher program, but not a lot of'em know how to apply for
that. So perhaps we could reach out to the community and, uh, give them a better
understanding of the options available for transportation for these kids so that they can
attend these activities.
Mims/ I would agree with that, Pauline,but again that comes right back to the very first point of
starting some new organization and providing some place for kids. To me that's not
where we should start. It....if there's kids and students in this community who want to be
involved in the extra-curricular activities in the schools, but can't do it because of
transportation, then let's start with that and....and start talking with the School District
about how we can partner with them. That I think would be, one,much more effective in
terms of cost; and two, there are all kinds of study that show that students who are
involved in extra-curricular activities at their schools are much more likely to stay in
school and to graduate. So rather than starting new activities,totally dis....totally
unattached from the schools themselves, if one of the big issues is transportation for
activities at the school, let's start there. That doesn't mean there aren't activities. It's
a... it's a hindrance, I don't disagree, but let's start there. Let's find out what the real
problems are.
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Botchway/ So...oh, go ahead.
Salih/Go ahead.
Botchway/Well....first and foremost I think I appreciate the focus. I mean I think that as we talk
about, um, you know,having a strategic plan that's focused on social justice and racial
equity, I think it's incumbent on us for two, not four, to, um, focus on communities that
are crying out and saying they want something different. So I appreciate that focus. I
would say just based on this information that is provided, I think we need some more.
Uh, I think it's a great start, to start kind of hearing concerns. As we've done in multiple
other, you know, phases or iterations of different projects and other things, I mean,
somebody brings a concern. We wanna, you know, analyze whether or not this is a....a,
an inherent concern or a concern across all the community or whatever the case may be,
and so for me I think we need more information and so if this is, you know, in going back
to staff, if this is sending the information out to different community organizations,
getting more of a....a survey as far as, you know, what....what are communities of color
are doing, what are some of the issues, um, maybe focusing on the youth aspect of that as
well. I think there's multiple indicators, as Susan mentioned, not only necessarily
focusing on parents, but also what the youth are saying. Urn, and I would also be
interested....and this is somewhat of a conversation that we've....we're gonna hear, not
necessarily later on, because I think we had a cap of 30,000 or 20,000. We were talking
about, urn, what are...what are our organizations that we're giving a substantial amount of
money doing.
Fruin/Twenty thousand.
Botchway/Twenty thousand. So what are our....what are our organizations that we're giving
over$20,000 doing to effectively address programming with our communities of color.
So that's another reason why I think this is still ever, I mean, remaining in my mind,
along those lane...along those lines. But I think we need more information, and so I think
that's,to me, that's the clear next step, and I think these parents have brought up
community concerns that have been talked about, you know, not only obviously in the
forums but for a while. So I'm glad we're focusing on these things,but I think that....we
need to do a little bit more, and maybe this is a framework for how we go out, and so
using some of this information as far as a space, and so if you're, you know, sorry now
I'm trying to bring it up and I moved my finger. So a space, what does, um, collaboration
look like with, uh, different....the University, Kirkwood, with the City, urn, how do we
effectively....I do want to make sure that as we're thinking about doing some type of
programming, or talking about this, how do we make sure that we're not, uh, we're
empowering communities, and not necessarily de-empowering communities, by saying,
well here's this program. Do this thing right here. You know maybe there....maybe,
going back to Susan's point, maybe we need to evaluate the programming, whether or not
that's a program that communities of color feel comfortable in...in doing, and um, having
that type of support. I mean I think there's....there's a lot of questions I have in general
around this, and so for me it's....it's a great start and I....I love that we're having this
conversation. I mean this is probably one of my top five Council meetings. Um, the
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other one I think is when you started, you know, getting up and showing a whole bunch
of stuff from your trip in Egypt (laughs)but urn(several talking) Baghdad! Sorry!
Baghdad, um, but I think this is a great place to start as far as having the conversation
what this looks like, and so for me would be we need to gather more data. I mean that's
my ultimate next step.
Taylor/You.....you brought up a good point, cause one of the points that the,urn, women who
were at the meeting brought up was that these grants that have been handed out to these
organizations, who follows up on what do they actually do for the community and
especially for, uh, the....the children of need. Uh, so that's what spawned also, uh,
perhaps, and this might be something I think we could start with. It wouldn't cost us a lot
of money. Uh,they'd asked about a class or something, uh, to learn how to do grant
applications, cause from what I've heard, uh, some of these groups that get the grants,
and we just went through that with the SJRE grants and....and the CBD grants. They
have people who know how to write...write a grant application and so it looks very
beautiful, but some of these folks that have a good project, but don't know how to sell it,
uh, we could help them by....by doing that, helping them learn how to write a good grant
request.
Salih/Yeah I just....I think really this is good start and uh, by hearing the people at Martin
Luther King Day and again (unable to understand) this is really great, but also I agree
with Susan that it take more than eight parent to like (unable to understand) but at the
same time, I understand that there is many activity in this city for children, but all of them
are expensive. Even if you talk about the Rec Center. The Rec Center provides some
like...I guess reduced fee or maybe free for...for children, but....not all the time and
limited number of children. They cannot cover or they don't have that. Maybe enough
money to cover all the communities. And the thing that caught my attention is Black
parent. I guess this community, the minority is not only black. There is Latinas. There
is immigrants from different country. Have we reach out to those people? We need to
reach out to everyone, and hear their is....like what their idea is, was their input ever
(unable to understand) many activities (unable to understand) Sudanese community we
just wanna keep the kids busy during summer, and I know that Sudanese community, lot
of kids in Sudanese community like soccer and try to like create a soccer team. We have
our own coach, but we cannot find a space during....during winter and again on the
summer. And when we come to the Rec Center, we(unable to understand) I don't
remember, but we were paying money and we asked a parent to give us $20 so we can do
that. If we can provide some space in the City for those people to come and do their
activity, that's also....that's why reach out to them. See what their need. What they are
missing. You know, and also (unable to understand) that's a good point, because I know
many association, like the Sudanese community(unable to understand) Latino
community association, they do have association, but they don't know how to like find
money or write grant. That's also good idea. (unable to understand) this is really good
structure. Do we just....we need to expand it and reach out to everyone in the
community, regardless.
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Thomas/ I agree. I think it was this...listening post was a really good start, and urn, in looking
through the comments, where....where I ended up on this was the sense that, urn, based
on my....my experience, that we needed a needs assessment. We need to better
understand, uh, what the needs are. You know, we've mentioned the idea of....well, the
needs may vary depending on the age, depending on location. It's a lot of detail that goes
into trying to understand what those needs are. And then I would....I would follow that
with a...an assessment of our facilities and programming, see....what's missing, what,
you know, what...what are the barriers to those things.
Throgmorton/Do....do you mean just, uh, City programming(both talking)
Thomas/ ...in terms of the (both talking) the process.....I was seeing this as potentially a
partnership between the City, the School District(several talking) the, uh, non-profits,
neighborhood organizations, uh, as wide array as, uh....basically people who are
interested in this and have a stake in....in, you know, addressing the challenges that we're
facing.
Salih/ I guess you brought up really good point, by like School District because they do have the
space, you know, in the schools they have like, you know, for basketball and for soccer,
for everything. If we can also like bring them to the table, and you know it's like have
their input in this, if they wanna do it. Yeah.
Throgmorton/One of the things we heard from these specific parents was that they....their kids,
for almost all the activities that are currently provided, their....the kids activities are very
sort of regulated and the times are controlled, the activities are controlled, the kids are
controlled. In...instead of having a place where the kids could go, under supervision, and
just be themselves, and learn some stuff, do some stuff that's fun. I can't fill in the
details cause I....I don't have the details (laughs) but, uh,that's definitely part of what we
heard from these particular parents. And I think Susan's clearly right that eight's an
insufficient (laughs) number on which to base, uh, decisions about programs and all that,
but these particular parents were very clear, uh, about their sense that their kids and the
kids they know don't have a place to go, where they can be themselves, under
supervision, and from their point of view it'd be very helpful for those kids to be
supervised by African Americans who would act as role models and mentors. I mean
they were, those eight parents were very clear about that, but you're right about eight
bein' way too small.
Taylor/And that's a good point, Jim, cause what did come out along those lines were, uh,that
they've heard from children that they're just standing on their street corner, and people
are concerned or get worried because there's this group of kids congregating on the street
corner. So that's what came out of that, but it would be great to have a place for them to
go, to conga....to talk or help with their homework or those kinds of things. Not
necessarily extra-curricular sports, the basketball and the soccer, which is a good thing,
but other kinds of...social, social kinds of skills also.
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Botchway/Jim, I want to key in on that last point, cause I....I did state it but just to reiterate.
Urn, I...I really appreciate the piece around ensuring that there's representation from the
African American community, cause I think too many times, and you know I'm going to
make some people upset by this statement. Um, you know, everybody's well meaning
and wanting to do something, and I think that's why we have so many non-profits, and so
the question is is, you know, whether we're actually doing the something that the other
people or person wants. Uh, you know there's...other people can tell me what to do, but
can I have an active role in actually putting together what that looks like for me. Um, and
so as we deliberate if we can....and that goes back to that, you know, socioeconomic
racial equity toolkit. That goes back to, you know, having those equity trainings and
everything else, if we can keep that at the forefront of our conversations, I think we...
hopefully we'll end up in a...a good place, better place than what we had before. Not us,
but where things have happened before.
Cole/One of the things I'm wondering is is do we want to, back to this question of....I think first
to Susan's point. That was one thing I did want to focus on was we do have a lot of
existing programs, so what part of those existing programs are we not adequately
conveying in terms of what's out there and what are the possible barriers of the program.
So that's sort of the first point. But to Kingsley's point, I guess I would be open, if it's
feasible, to solicit a specific proposal on a pilot project basis for us to work with our...our
staff. So that we're actually affirmatively requesting; okay, we....we've heard your
concerns. Do you have a proposal with more particulars and then let's work with you,
within limit, uh, to try to make it happen. And it may not be feasible, but I think that's
something to....to think about as far as that goes, and the final, um, I guess more of a
question. Kingsley, you were on the Ad Hoc Diversity Committee, so you would have
more knowledge than I would on that. I think Geoff had some longitudinal assessment of
that, as well. For those set of recommendations that were made, did that include a youth
component to it? My recollection is that it did not, because I also wanted to make sure
that we weren't starting something brand new and ignoring maybe an existing framework
that we already have, um, but if it doesn't, maybe we do need to update that to say, hey,
look what are the blind spots we have as a community that we're not addressing. Um....
Botchway/ I think, Rockne,to that point....Geoff, you can correct me if I'm wrong. I mean that
was....that was a clearly focused and targeted conversation, and I don't mean that in a
bad way. I just mean from the standpoint of the charge was pretty specific (both talking)
you know....yeah, law enforcement and (several talking)
Froin/There was some youth transportation issues but not (several talking)
Cole/And I guess the final comment would be is that, you know, we do...you know, I think staff
does know the organizations that do have their ear to the ground and are really connected
to the community, but also solicit proposals from them in terms of specific
recommendations that they may have, in terms of(mumbled) more effectively serve,
cause I think, back to Susan's original point. I think with the recommendations we have,
at least in my view, it's very hard to sort of say, okay, next step we're gonna do X, Y, or
Z. I think we need to continue to have that conversation. I view this as the first step. I
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think we wanna make sure that those steps aren't so long that it becomes a process
without an end. We need to have at least some more feedback, in terms of a more
particular proposal,both from the community, as well as hopefully some of the non-
profits that...that may be able to effectively work with and partner on that, so....that'd be
my thought.
Mims/ (several talking) ...quite see us as being ready for a proposal until we really know....till
we really get more information. I....I really think....l really think we need more
information before....before we can really....otherwise I think what you....I think what
can tend to happen is you get a small group of people who....get very vocal and/or get the
right connections and/or find somebody who can put together a good proposal for them,
and they get something, but it may not be something that really serves the bigger need,
and that's where I think we really need more information before we start entertaining any
kinds of proposals.
Fruin/If I can make a suggestion, um, we have a....a number of our Rec staff here, um, in the
audience today, listening to this conversation. Uh, they have....quite a bit of experience
in the recreation field and engaging,uh, different populations. Hopefully over the past
couple of years, you've seen, uh, some of the programming shifts that we've done, and
some of'em have been one-off programs and....and experiments here or there, but....but
hopefully you've seen, uh, an effort to tailor more of our programming, uh, more
programming to our minority community. I think based on just listening to this
conversation, we can go back as a....as a recreation staff and,um, work through some of
the process. I think we know where the Council wants to go. You...you want us to
evaluate the, uh....uh, not just....not just Parks and Recreation, but the community
resources available for youth. Um, we may not have all the answers,but I bet we could
come up with a....a couple different options for process, and....and maybe present those
to you and....and get your feedback on that.
Mims/ Sounds good.
Botchway/Well done, Geoff.
Throgmorton/Yeah, that makes sense to me too, Geoff. Uh, it seemed to me listening to
everybody up here that we clearly want to build on the information provided here,
recognizing that it in itself is insufficient, but it's something can be built on.
Fruin/Yeah, I think you...I mean you've heard both spectrums in the conversation, from pilot
project to really full-blown recreation master plan. Urn, again, completely different ends
of the spectrum, and we can kind of lay out the pros and cons of each approach, plus
maybe some middle ground, uh, as well.
Throgmorton/Yeah, um....one other thing I....I wanna, uh,point out is that I....I have the names
of the parents who were involved in, uh, if they would be helpful. Ashley, I think maybe
you had a list? Yeah, and email addresses and all that kind of thing.
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Botchway/(mumbled) follow up?
Throgmorton/Uh, yeah I have already a few months ago told 'em that I had prepared a memo
and that the memo was going to be presented to the Council, which it was, in a packet,
you know, eight weeks ago or 10 weeks ago or somethin'.
Botchway/ (mumbled) question, so we'll send follow up regarding our conversation right now as
well?
Throgmorton/That would be good (both talking) Yeah. (unable to hear response from
audience) All right. Anything....any else...anything else anybody wants to say about that
topic? We didn't...well (both talking)
Botchway/One other thing, Jim. Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. Were you about to say
something about this last topic?
Throgmorton/Yeah. I was just gonna add one other point which we, uh, apparently none of us
talked about. It has to do with the...the third suggestion was, which was that we could
work with leaders, the City could work with leaders in the Black community and
knowledgeable people at the University, and Kirkwood, to celebrate African American
history better, and that would obviously require a lot of collaboration and everything, you
know. I'll....I'll speak as a white guy, uh,which is not hard to do for me, uh....uh, I
routinely encounter new information, new DVDs, new documentaries, etc., that are really
opening my mind a lot, uh, and I....in my memo I referred to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s
PBS series "Africa's Great Civilizations." There's all sorts of stuff that can be built on
there that would be possibly, uh.....uh, interesting and helpful for our Black youth. It's
for them to decide in the end, but....yeah.
Mims/When staff does that, the other thing I'd be interested in is...is number four on the grant
writing. I know there have been some classes before and I don't know if the University
has offered them or Kirkwood or the City has,but if you can maybe just find kind of
what's been done before and how we can build on that, because I do think offering some
opportunities for people to learn about grant writing would be a good thing, regardless of
the rest of this. I know it's been done. I just don't know how frequently or who's been
invited or anything.
Throgmorton/ I agree.
Botchway/The other thing I would just mention is just that conversation around space and not to
belabor the point but I think we have to, you know, and we've talked about it. I think
Susan mentioned as far as, you know, looking at current programming and non-profits
and other things, but there's been a lot of conversation, at least that I've been a part of or
around, you know, is....are certain spaces welcoming? We...we've talked about that, but
I think that (both talking) yeah, I think that needs to....just make sure that's a part of the
higher echelon standards as we kind of deliberate, because I think that's a consistent
concern that I hear on a regular basis. Um, and I just had the conversation, um, with the
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Downtown District, as far as that as well, you know, asking how can we be more
inclusive, or how can we be more welcoming,um, because as we know, there are, you
know, historical implications with this conversation, but ultimately there's also history
within Iowa City that has led, you know, certain communities not to feel comfortable in
certain areas, even in our own town, and so I just want to make sure that isn't lost in this
space conversation.
Salih/I think that's also reaching out to communities to know their interests. I know that maybe
even at the Rec Center, like the people come from different communities. They...they
know what they like to do. Maybe they can just also have like some(mumbled)
Taylor/That word collaboration keeps coming up. We were talkin' about it with the 380, urn,
and I think again now that's important. I think even with the, uh, lot of topics that come
up, uh, we need to work a little closer. We're getting better at working with the Iowa
City Community School District, cause that'd come up, that they needed to teach more of
the Black history in the schools,besides just on Martin Luther King Day, and I think
they're getting a lot better on that, but also as far as, um, the, uh, training for jobs, for
future jobs, uh, for them to have a place in...in the community, the ones that aren't going
to go on to college, uh, so those kinds of things. Collabo...collaborating with the
Sudanese, uh, group, uh, and those kinds of neighborhood associations, working together
with them on finding solutions to this.
Throgmorton/Yeah. Okay, so, Geoff, we (both talking)
Fruin/ We've got it!
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Item 4d(1) UISG Appointments—Motion approving the appointment of Gustave
Stewart as City Council Liaison and Austin Wu as the Alternate City Council
Liaison from the University of Iowa Student Government(UISG) to the City
Council from May 1,2018—April 30,2019.
Throgmorton/ ...constructive feedback from the staff. Good deal. So let's turn to next item,
which is clarification of agenda items. Item 4d(1), appointment of student liaisons.
Gustave Stewart! Uh, welcome aboard officially in this role.
Botchway/Are we....this, isn't this a process that we have to vote on it? (laughter)
Throgmorton/We do! (several talking)
Salih/We should make sure to give him nice chair! (several talking) Yeah, comfy chair!
Throgmorton/But also, Austin Wu. Hi, Austin. Nice to see you again. Looking forward to
working with you over the next year. Yeah.
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Botchway/ I'm still not sure about Gustave (laughter) We can move on! (several talking)
Throgmorton/All right! Other agenda items? Questions about them?
Item 4f(8) Harry Olmstead: Vehicles blocking curb cuts
Salih/ I just would like to see if you can look at Item 4f(8), a letter from Harry Olmstead about
blockin' the (mumbled)
Throgmorton/You want staff to look into that? You know what we're referring to, right, Geoff?
Fruin/Yeah.
Throgmorton/Yeah. Thanks.
Thomas/Yeah, I have that too and Harry was asking about raising the fee. So there was that.
Um, or I would add to it, at least in those areas where we do have lots of pedestrians is
looking....considering, um, marking the curb with red paint. Uh, something I think...
there....there seems to be a lack of understanding. Um, you would think this would not
be as (laughs) (several talking) difficult as some people seem to have, but, um....you
know, possibly thinking about some red curbs so people are aware they can no longer
park their vehicles. It's quite common for cars to stick out into the curb ramps.
Fruin/II would suggest enforcement before paint and signage. You....you can see just the,
the struggle that we have to keep up with our lane markings on...on, uh, you know, we're
painting our lane markings every year,uh, because of the salt and the wear and tear that
they get. I've just....I've been in communities, I've seen plenty of communities that start
the painting and it looks great for a year or two, and then you can't keep it up and you get
it looks pretty bad after a few years if you don't have the resources to....to
continually put into that. But, John, we....we talked about this earlier. We do not, um,
enforce distances to curbs, uh, very proactively. Um, and it's certainly something I could
discuss with the Police Department. I think on the topic of the fines for the curb cuts,
what we would like to do, uh, it's probably been a little while since we did a holistic
review of those....traffic fines that we have under local control. Probably just look at
those holistically and come back to you with some recommendations, cause there's
probably a few that are a little too low.
Mims/ What....also, Geoff, what about with our Communications Department, I mean they're
doing...kind of like public service type things every once in a while, even doing
something related to that. Um....
Fruin/Yeah, we've done some, uh, you know, I think in the winter, last couple of winters,
we've.....we've done specific efforts targeting shoveling of curb cuts.
Mims/Uh huh.
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Fruin/It's just as easy to do somethin' on....driving etiquette and rules of the road when it(both
talking)
Mims/Yeah, and related to that, because I had a, not a major incident but could have been this
weekend, um, and I think with more bikers out and pedestrians out, I swear drivers do not
understand that they're supposed to....when there's a stop sign or a red light, they're
supposed to stop at that solid white line. And instead they go like way up into the
crosswalk. Um, good luck training 'em but.....I, yeah! I had a car that didn't get that this
weekend and....
Salih/I just wanna ask you if there is a sign like for fine if you....I don't remember. There is a
sign really over there for fine if you block a curb cut?
Froin/No, there's no signs.
Mims/That would take a lot of signs.
Frain/Yeah. Be a lot of signage.
Salih/Like how the people know?
Thomas/They get a ticket. (laughs) (several talking)
Mims/When you take your driving test, I mean that's part of studying to get your driver's
license. It's those different things—how far are you supposed to park from a fire
hydrant.
Salih/I know but....this not like.....(both talking)
Mims/ Personal responsibility! (laughter)
Salih/Exactly but you know....lots of the time (both talking)
Cole/ ....communication's a good point, Mazahir, though. Communication staff does a great job
of communicating, but I'm saying if that could be an additional point of em....emphasis,
I think that's something where we could get that out, but I think that's a good point.
Botchway/Geoff, let's talk about enforcement for a Nissan later on. Thanks!
Taylor/ On the signs I'm thinking we've just spent so much money on....on improving our curb
cuts and adding curb cuts that, you know, we just can't have people just ignoring the
rules and...and parking there,but as Susan said, they perhaps forget the things. They
don't maintain safe distance, they park by fire hydrants, they by stop signs and
they....unless there's enforcement of it, our....our law enforcement are busy. They can't
be just going out and....and watching for these kind of violations.
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Salih/What you think about increasing the fine?
Taylor/That might help! •
Salih/(mumbled)
Taylor/Cause that'd be another thing, if it's repeated....repeated offenders (both talking)
Salih/ ...my understanding is it's 25, right?
Taylor/Twenty-five (several talking)
Fruin/Uh, 15, is that right? Fifteen (several talking)
Salih/That's really low! Yeah, I just overstay in that 30-minute meeting and I get $25 ticket,
you know, I guess to (unable to understand) It should be more than that. I really support
increasing(mumbled) I don't know. We can talk about it more.
Throgmorton/Okay, good deal. Any other agenda items?
Thomas/There was a long report from Project GREEN, which I found informative and, uh, and
uh, you know, I hadn't realized that, urn, you know, their work, uh, the budget for their
work over the...2017 was $38,000 (laughs) So, uh, thank you to Project GREEN for that
work, and also, urn,that they've been around for 50 years. And, uh, 50 trees will be
celebrating those years, planted at Ashton House, which I think is......the nice thing I'm
seeing at Ashton House is it's becoming, you know, bit by bit, plant by plant kind of a
destination garden along the river, uh, which I think is also a wonderful thing.
Mims/And I think they have their plant sale this weekend at Carver Hawkeye Arena. I believe.
Saturday.
Throgmorton/Yeah, volunteers on Project GREEN deserve a lot of praise for all the energy they
put into their volunteer work. So...I'm sure we all recognize that. Any other agenda
items?
Item 6a Rezoning 1705 Prairie Du Chien Road—Ordinance conditionally rezoning
approximately 1.89 acres from Planned Development Overlay/High Density Single
Family (OPD/RS-12) zone to Low Density Multifamily (RM-12) zone for the
property located at 1705 Prairie Du Chien Road. (REZ18-00002)
Fruin/Just wanted to mention 6a, the rezoning on Prairie Du Chien Road. The applicant has
requested deferral.....
Throgmorton/Yep.
Fruin/ ...on that item.
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Throgmorton/ So on that, uh, Eleanor, you provide feedback about whether this is appropriate,
but what I....we have to open the public hearing. Uh, and even....I'm thinking at the
very start of the meeting I will just indicate to people that Item 6a is gonna be deferred,
but if anybody wants to stay around and speak at the public hearing, they can do that.
So....all right, that...that's the way I'll proceed on that.
Fruin/We're not planning to give a staff report on that project.
Item 4e(2) Rezoning between Burlington and Court Street—Pentacrest Garden
Apartments—Motion setting a public hearing for May 15 on an ordinance
conditionally rezoning approximately 3.41 acres from High Density Multifamily
Residential (RM-44) zone to Riverfront Crossings- South Downtown Subdistrict
(RFC-SD) zone located at 12 E. Court Street. (REZ18-00014)
Throgmorton/Yeah. Understand. Okay, I wanted to ask a question about Item 4e(2), which is
setting a May 15th public hearing and first consideration for rezoning 12 Court Street
from RM-44 to RFC-SD. Eleanor, are we legally required to schedule a March 15 public
hearing and first consideration,because of the timing associated (several talking) Oh, I
meant....I'm sorry, I meant May 15.
Dilkes/No, you can set that hearing for a later date.
Throgmorton/ I ask because my personal sense is that the information we currently have, uh, in
the informa....uh, in the agenda packet. Uh.....I.....I personally find insufficient to make
a judicious decision about how....what to do with regard to rezoning. And I know we're
gonna get additional information, uh, over the next couple weeks, but I feel.....
uncomfortable, about even setting a public meeting.....when in my judgment the
information we currently have is....really quite vague about what the rezoning would
enable.
Mims/ I'm sorry, I was making a note. Which one were you looking at, Jim? I apologize.
Throgmorton/Yeah, it's...it's 12 Court Street,you know, the rezo....it's 4e(2). It's just setting a
public hearing and first consideration.
Mims/I don't know. I guess my thought is we....we do have two full weeks with, you know, an
agenda packet in another week and we do get that other, our Council packet, four or five
days before the meeting, uh, five days. We get it on Thursday and the meeting's on
Tuesday. I....I would rather set the public hearing the way it is and then if we really feel
like we haven't had time to, uh, consider all the information,then we could certainly
continue the public hearing at that time.
Dilkes/I think there's some value to having the public hearings, cause that's where you can have
that exchange. I mean if....where you have that open public exchange about what
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information you think is lacking and what isn't, as opposed to....I don't know where that
conversation occurs if you don't have the public hearing.
Throgmorton/ Yeah, I...I understand that. I....I think in part, uh, why I ask this question is
because we don't yet have the Planning and Zoning Commission's minutes, from its
April 19th meeting, when it discussed this particular proposed rezoning. I understand
they voted unanimously to support it, but I don't know what their conversation entailed.
So I don't know what issues came up for them. I know what issues have come up in my
own mind. I don't need to go into detail about them right now but.....
Mims/Well again, we....we may have those minutes before (several talking)
Dilkes/ ....have those minutes before the....before the 15th.
Throgmorton/Yeah.
Mims/Like Eleanor said, I think lots of...and I hadn't thought of it this way, I think lots of times,
you know, when we do have questions, the chance to have....that back and forth with
staff and the developer about what our questions are, what more information we need.
If...if we don't have that chance to have that conversation, they may not know what we
need and delaying it might not still solve the problem.
Cole/(mumbled) two more readings too?
Dilkes/That's....that's how you convey your....that's how you convey,your thoughts as a
Council.
Mims/Right.
Dilkes/And that's really what needs to be conveyed. Not one Council Member or, you know...
Thomas/It does raise, and this may be....this isn't specific to that item but it's a....a more
general comment. And that is that, uh, the type of content that was in....that, um, on that
item, the level of information, uh, I....I also felt was....conceptual and diagrammatic, uh,
and I....I spoke with Geoff about this late last week (clears throat) The, you know, what
I'm seeing is a...and perhaps this might be a work session topic. I'm not quite sure, but
that, um.....back in the, my Planning and Zoning days, we would get a pretty detailed
presentation, uh, at Planning and Zoning, where....where the project was presented, um,
much more rigorously. It was not presented as a concept. It was presented as a project.
With elevations, the site plan and so forth, and....and more recently, uh, we've been
seeing projects presented where, uh, the....they're presented with...with the underlin...
underlying understanding that the drawings that are being presented may not be the....
what the project will end up being. They're presented as conceptual. And....it's
(mumbled) for me to assess a project when I'm....when I'm evaluating is....is something
that I don't really have confidence it's necessarily what's going to be the project at...at
the end point. So....I think, you know, there seems to have been a change in the way
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projects are presented. I would be interested in talking about it....as a work session. I
understand the other side of the issue, that, uh, you know, there are concerns on say the
side of the developer that, you know, they don't want to get too deeply into a project,
in....into too much detail before they get a....an understanding of what the position on
the Council and Planning and Zoning will be. I think there may be ways of addressing
that. Urn,but for now I'm.....I am feeling, and you know, I think the....the one on Court
Street is a good example. It's...it's kind of a sketchy presentation. As....as a starting
point.
Taylor/ I think it will be very helpful when we do, um, see the minutes from, uh, P&Z because
as....as John mentioned, uh, it's come up in their minutes before, several other projects
they have requested deferral because they didn't feel they had adequate information, that
it was more of a concept. They couldn't really grasp what the design and what it would,
what the effect on the community was gonna be, uh, so I'm surprised. They must of
gotten what they wanted, that, uh, they had the vote of 7....7-0.
Throgmorton/ I guess we'll find out (several talking) minutes.
Taylor/Right!
Throgmorton/ Okay, well my sense is that, uh, the Council would prefer to go ahead and set the
Mar....May 15 public hearing. So, urn, we should do that. And, John, I think with regard
to the, your work session idea, my own inclination is to just have conversations with
Geoff, uh, two on ones and that kind of thing about that topic initially, see how that goes,
and then maybe if we feel we need to we can have a work session. All right. Any, uh,
any other agenda items? Questions about agenda items. I'm gonna assume the answer's
no. So, let's turn to the info packets, April 19.
Information Packet Discussion April 19, April 261:
Salih/I wanna talk about 1P4.
Throgmorton/Which one is that, Maz?
Salih/Uh, it's the Opportunity Zone.
Throgmorton/Yeah!
Salih/Yeah, I just like, for the public benefit and my benefit, I just wanna ask Geoff about one of
the staff to talk about it. And explain what it is and....what...what the impact in Iowa
City.
Andrew/Sure, the, uh, Opportunity Zone's program was established in last year's federal tax
legislation, uh, it, uh, created a,uh, tax break for unrealized capital gains. So if
somebody has some, uh, funds invested in something that they haven't sold yet, that
when they sell it they'll have to pay taxes on that. It allows them to get a tax break on
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that, if they invest it in certain low-income census tracts, that are designated by the
Governor. Uh, so the Governor of Iowa had the ability to designate I think it was 62
across the state, uh, and we applied for four. We can apply for up to four, and two of
those were awarded. So they're still, uh, working out the rules at the federal level. Uh,
the Department of Treasury is establishing how the program'll work specifically, uh, but
basically the longer, uh, the investor leaves that money in, uh, this low-income census
tract that was designated, the greater the tax break is on, uh, taxes that they of otherwise
had to pay. Uh, so the, uh, the....the census tracts that were designated in Iowa City, um,
one is, and this one was our top priority, uh, encompasses, uh, the Procter and Gamble
site, uh, which we thought was very attractive; all the layoffs we expect to see coming
there; urn, and the industrial area around Procter and Gamble,which includes a lot of
their supply chain, uh, companies and logistic companies that will probably be impacted
by Procter and Gamble shifting some of their operations. Uh, that one, uh, goes all the
way to the river. So it includes Iowa City Market Place, uh, which we've invested quite a
bit of local funds in in recent years. Uh, it includes the lower half of Riverfront
Crossings. And so that one we thought, within the city, was by far the most attractive for
reinvestment. Uh, the second tract that was, uh, designated by the Governor, uh, is just to
the north of that, uh, it encompasses Town and Campus, or um....Towncrest. So, uh, east
of First Avenue, uh, and all the way to Scott Boulevard. So it includes a lot of residential
area, uh, there as well, and some of the commercial district to the east of First Avenue.
So those are the two that we got designated, urn, and we're not sure exactly how the
program will work. Uh, that, uh, we expect to come from the federal government within
the next couple of months, um,but we were very pleased that we had two designated.
We would of....we probably would have been happy with one, so....uh, we were pleased
that the Governor chose two of ours.
Fruin/And just to clarify,this is a federal tax incentive program. So this isn't offering local
incentives at all. Now we could choose to commit local incentives on a project where
someone is also using the Opportunity Zones, um, but the Opportunity Zones provide
federal tax breaks. So there's been a little miscommunication on that locally as people
are learning about that. We're not committing to just, you know,to any...really anything
with the Opportunity Zones. We're just creating that opportunity by nominating these
census tracts.
Salih/Thanks!
Mims/ I would just mention IP5 (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ....just one second. With regard to the...the Opportunity Zones, we got this letter
from Director Durham, Debbie Durham, uh, about....notifying us that two of our zones
had been nominated. Have you already responded to her, you know the...uh, thanks for
the letter kind of response or do you think that's appropriate?
Fruin/We didn't formally do that but....we (both talking)
Throgmorton/I'd be happy to sign a letter of that type.
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Fruin/Okay! It's probably a good idea.
Mims/(mumbled) I was just going to say, urn, IPS, Moody's gave Iowa City a triple-A bond
rating, again. Urn, what's this 38-something years? I'm not sure exactly how many, but
it's a long time. I would....it's a long document, um, and I'm sure not one that most
people wanna read through in detail,but I think if you take the first 10 or 15 pages of it
before you get into all the actual financial, uh, details, there....there's a lot of really good
information, urn, in there, even if you start with the very first page of it, urn, factors that
could lead to a downgrade, urn, weaking....weakening of our tax base or resident income,
uh, material reductions of operating reserves are available liquidity and that's one thing
staff has done a really good job of building up our reserves. Uh, growth in the City's
debt or pension burdens. So as we've reduced our debt, that certainly makes us more
attractive for triple-A bond rating, and also, uh, keep in mind that we're one of like 50
cities in the state of Iowa for whom our fire and police are under a different pension
system. They're not under IPERS. They're under a....a much more expensive and a
much,uh, higher benefit, uh, type program,but that is, urn, it is very expensive for us,
and so I think as you....if you just, like I say, if you flip through the first...that was one of
the things, and I, um, went through and highlighted a few others, but there's a lot of
really good information. Staff certainly, urn, did a....did a lot of information. There's a
lot of good facts in here when you scroll down to about the 7`s, 8th, 10th page, information
on, urn, our tax rates; information on,uh, the amount of taxable property;broken down
by different type. So if you don't wanna read,just kind of scroll till you see the tables
(laughs) and there's....there's a lot of really good, quick read information, um, that I
think's very beneficial, but kudos again to...to staff, Dennis and all of his, uh, staff, who
do so much work in getting these bonds together. I know Legal does (mumbled) as well
as our legal bond counsel,but urn, really appreciate it!
Cole/You know, along those lines, I think one of the things that I think we all need to do a better
job of is this question of our recent property tax reductions and our debt levy. Urn, I
don't think that that's really commonly understood that that's actually what we're doing.
We've received a lot of feedback, you know, how can you be reducing taxes where we
have all these other needs, uh, that we need to fund, which is....which is a legitimate
concern! But in terms of that specific relationship between a reduction in the property
tax levy and its relationship to our ability to serve additional funding priorities in our
operating budget. So that's just more of a comment that anything else. Urn, and urn, and
then the other thing that I just wanted to bring up is IP2, staff's, um, very thoughtful, uh,
memo on participo....participatory budgeting. Urn, that's something I know that we've
really tried to get out there, and I think that staff, um,really struck a nice balance
between, you know, trying to move that process forward, while at the same time being
mindful of the amount of resources it would take to do a full-out participatory budgeting
process. I would like at some point in the future for us to consider more of those full-out
processes like we saw, for example, with Evanston, and Des Moines seemed to be more
sort of throughout the community. Some time in the future I think we can do that. I think
with all of our, especially with our..... all of our uncertainty with our executive staffing,
we don't really....we're not really there yet. Urn, so I....I guess my point is is I'm
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glad...I'd like to follow those recommendations that the staff had made,the
recommendation. Um, as far as that goes, with one...with one change. One really good,
urn, thing that Kingsley had done this year is the suggestion at the beginning of our
budgeting process to invite the public. Ur....whether we could do something (mumbled)
the beginning of our budgeting process that we did, a review in January. If we could do
something along those lines, six months out. Cause I remember last year, staff consulted
with us during one of our work sessions to say, hey, where would you sort of like to see
us go. We gave sort of some general parameters in terms of where we'd like to see them
go and then they went into their own detailed budget process in the fall. I would like to
see us do that, with a little bit extra in terms of inviting the community feedback, for what
their general concerns are, and then to be able to move those into a budgeting process.
So hopefully, I know with Kingsley's suggestion it didn't seem to be a ton of extra work
to add the....I don't know if I'm necessarily (mumbled) a breakfast or anything like that,
but something along those lines, I think we should at least explore, six months out.
Botchway/ (both talking) ...before I do a dinner!
Cole/Yeah!
Mims/You're footin' the bill? (laughter)
Cole/Something along those lines.
Thomas/One....one comment I would make on that....that, uh, item is, and I....I agree with
Rockne. I think, and I sense that everyone felt satisfied with staff's recommendations on
that,but something I still remain interested in is the idea, say with the budget, that we
structure it....in a manner where there might be two or three meetings out in the
community. Uh, you know, we have three district representatives—that could be one
framework for it, and structure the budget with a little bit more focus on...the geography
that is generated by our districts. You know, this notion that depending on where we live
in Iowa City, our experiences vary. The....our understanding of the budget and our
understanding of Iowa City will vary depending on where we live here. Urn, so there's
that, but the....the other value of that in my mind is....it's an opportunity for members of
the community to get to know one another based on their geography, which I think can be
a useful, urn, connection. So it's not simply how we convey the information from the
City to the community, and that back and forth,but also the back and forth that..and sense
of connectivity, that can be generated within the community itself. So those networks, uh,
it...it's a....it's an opportunity, an episode, like our Parties in the Park, where community
can....can meet one another, uh, and form their own relationships and....associations
to...to better the community.
Throgmorton/ Sounds like an interesting idea to me, but uh, I'd like to know what Geoff and
staff think is really viable, what's possible, and you know, it'd be....I don't know if you
have to answer that right now, but you know, how much time's involved in putting
together district-based summary of the budget, of a forthcoming budget, and then goin'
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out into the community at three different locations. I think that part's not so hard, goin'
out to three different locations, but assembling information (both talking)
Fruin/The districts are rather large. If you're looking for, um....you know, geographies to come
together and really bond, I....I don't know if districts are the right thing, cause our...you
know the districts well. They're....there's lots of, uh, neighborhoods within each of
those districts. I think it'd be hard to accomplish that goal with just three sites. I think
Simon did a nice job in the memo of really emphasizing what we feel is the best way to
get input, and it's a little indirect, but it's through all these master plans. We've been
spendin' a ton of organizational energy the last four or five years on master plans. We're
out on the bike plan, the climate plan, the downtown plan, and park plan, and you know,
on and on, and we get a ton of feedback that draft those plans, and then we plug those
into the budget the best that we can, uh, with the resources that we have. I still feel like
that's the most effective way to....to incorporate people's feedback into the....into the
budget. Um, when I talk to peers, um, who do the, kind of the Des Moines' model that
you saw a couple years ago, where they go out into the community during budget time
and they say what are your priorities. It's really easy, or it's common I should say, for
special interests to really latch onto those processes, and so you're gonna get a group that
really wants to advocate for Item A, and they're gonna mobilize and they're gonna flood
those meetings, and they're gonna tell you that's the most important thing, and that's....
then it's hard to say no to that, even if you don't think that that's....the top priority with
everything else that you've got. So you just need to be mindful that that could happen.
I'm not sayin', you know, you shouldn't do it because of that, but when you go through
the master plan process and you don't have the budget process kind of framing it, I think
you get more genuine feedback. You get, um....um, a....overall of a better plan that
informs the budget. We can do, you know, the `breakfast on a budget,' that worked
really well. It worked a lot better than I thought it would (laughs) I give Kingsley some
credit for that, and that was really thrown together in a matter of,uh (several talking in
background) days it felt like (several talking in background) so we can do....we can do
some of those things, um....you know, we....we usually, last couple years, we've spent a
work session in August talking to the Council about broad priorities. You know we could
probably do somethin' to open that work session up a little bit and have somethin'
similar,you know(mumbled) like at the `breakfast on a budget.' Um....if that's what
you...if that's what you'd like. I'd start with that before you get into a deep community
engagement process though.
Cole/Something along those lines. It's a relatively light framework. It's not overly staff-
intensive, and I think, yeah, it did have a big impact. So at least I'd like to see that.
Throgmorton/ So otherwise you're just gonna proceed with the....relatively minor steps that are
laid out in the memo, right?
Fruin/Yeah!
Throgmorton/Yeah.
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Fruin/And....and you know hopefully your....so tonight we're on Facebook Live, for the first
time our work session's streaming on Facebook (several talking and laughing)
Throgmorton/I take back every I (several talking and laughing)
Fruin/ ...streamed through cable, but you know, hopefully you see that we're trying to,uh,
because that's the priorities that you set for us, we're trying to open up the, urn, access to
government. So even people watching this meeting,urn, can send us feedback perhaps,
because they caught it on Facebook, uh, or they otherwise wouldn't have. Hopefully all
that feedback, you know, eventually makes its way to budget priories, whether you're
gettin' that feedback or staffs gettin' that feedback. And we're gonna continue to try to
do those things.
Throgmorton/All right! I wanna mention IP #9, which is minutes of the Historic Preservation
Commission's March 8 meeting.
Mims/IP10.
Throgmorton/Is it 10? (several responding) All right. Heavens I made a mistake!
Uh....minutes of the meeting. So, it...just reading the minutes reminds me, uh, that I...I
wonder if....if we routinely issue certificates of appreciation for all departing board or
commission members who have served for one or more full terms. I wonder if we do
that, and if we don't, I think it'd be a good idea.
Froin/ I don't know. Kellie, do you know?
Fruehling/I think it's based on....on each commission and what they do. I'd have to ask staff.
Throgmorton/Well when I imagine serving on say the Planning and Zoning Commission for 10
years or whatever, some long period of time, I think such a person deserves
acknowledgement, and...any....somebody who's been on the Human Rights Commission
for...three or six years, likewise. So I....I would encourage us to do that.
Taylor/1P7, the, um, CPRB forum. I was going to mention that in...in the activities that I've
done, but since it's on the agenda here. Urn, I....I know Susan was there. I'm not sure
who else was there,but uh, it....it was a very good forum I thought, um, not really well
attended but as usual Chief Matherly did a wonderful job. He's....he's a very good
public speaker and able to, uh....uh, take, uh, questions from the audience and....and
answer them appropriately and....and, uh, I....I thought it was a very good event.
Throgmorton/Okay, let's see if we can fire through the rest of this. Uh, so our next info packet
is April 26. Uh, IP #6 is a memo concerning the City's open intemet pledge, and....staff
provided a very reasonable response. I don't feel any strong compulsion to sign the
pledge, given the fact that it doesn't really add up to....anything really meaningful. Uh,
so....
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Mims/Yeah, and I think given staff's analysis of it, I think it gives people a false sense of what
we're doing, given that we don't have control over so many of those things. So....I
would be inclined not to. Not that we don't support it, but...
Throgmorton/Yeah, so....yeah, I guess any one of us could put on Facebook or tweet or
whatever that we, uh, support an open interne, but....I don't see a good reason to sign the
pledge.
Cole/Where are we in terms of timeframe though? We were going to do a joint meeting with
the Telecommunications Commission on the question of....(mumbled) broad band where
we're at in the community? That's still on the agenda, isn't it, I mean (both talking)
Throgmorton/Yeah, it's on the work session agenda.
Cole/Okay.
Throgmorton/And I think we finally have a full commission.
Cole/Maybe we could address some of these issues there too.
Throgmorton/Yeah. IP #8, KXIC radio interviews. So I know some dates that I cannot....do
stuff. I'd like to volunteer for May 23.
Botchway/Kingsley May 16th.
Cole/Do May 9th.
Mims/ Is the 16th already taken? Did you do that, Kingsley (several responding) I'll take the
30`h. (several talking in background) I'll take July 11th.
Taylor/I'll take July 18th.
Salih/I will go with Kingsley on the 16th.
Throgmorton/You'll double up with him?
Salih/Yes.
Cole/(mumbled) 6th.
Throgmorton/Is that still open? (several talking)
Cole/Think it's still open. I'll do June 6th and that'll be it for me.
Throgmorton/Okay, Rockne June 6`h. How full are we now?
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Fruehling/You've got June 13, June 20, June 27, and July 25'h and August 1s`.
Taylor/(mumbled) ...quite a few.
Mims/I've got two in. Rockne, you've got two in, right?
Cole/Uh huh.
Thomas/ Is July 4th taken?
Taylor/It says it's a holiday (both talking)
Salih/What you have in August?
Taylor/August 1'.
Fruehling/August 151.
Salih/August 15t,that's the day I will come (unable to understand) (several talking)
Throgmorton/Urn, Kellie, could you briefly go through the list and say who has what.
Fruehling/ Sure! Uh, May 9th is Rockne; May 16'h is Kingsley and Maza; May 23'd is the Mayor;
Mayor 30t is Susan; June 6th is Rockne; July 11th is Susan; July 18th is Pauline.
Throgmorton/July 11 is Pauline.
Fruehling/July l la is Susan.
Throgmorton/Oh, Susan.
Fruehling/ 18'h is Pauline.
Taylor/John, you don't have any yet.
Thomas/Yes, Susan took mine(laughter and several talking)
Mims/No, if you want those, I can switch. I'm pretty flexible.
Thomas/ Oh, you are? Okay(several talking)
Mims/I was just throwin' out dates.
Thomas/ Okay, um, yeah if you.....if I could have the 30th of May and July 11th, those were the
two dates (several talking and laughing)
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Mims/Give mine to John. Then I will take June 601 is still open? (several responding) Okay,
June 13th and......umwhat else is still open? I'm sorry!
Fruehling/June 20, June 27, July 25th, and August Pt.
Mims/ I'll take August 151. And I'm sorry,what did I just take, June 13th?
Taylor/June 13th, correct. (several talking and laughing) I can do June 20th.
Mims/ So what are you still missing, Kellie?
Fruehling/June 27th and July 25th.
Fruin/ Staff could take those.
Throgmorton/ I could do one of those.
Fruin/ Okay.
Throgmorton/Uh, let's see I think I could do June 27.
Fruehling/Okay.
Botchway/You said July 25th.
Fruin/We'll take July 25th then.
Taylor/Staff?
Throgmorton/Uh, moving on. IP10, the climate action, uh, community partnerships. Uh, it's a
nice array of small grant initiatives. So thanks for putting the summary together, Ashley.
Monroe/Uh huh.
Throgmorton/Some of'em are quite intriguing....all....potentially fruitful. Anything else,
folks? On that IP, uh, information packet?
Botchway/ (mumbled) IP9, kudos to, urn, Stefanie and Jody for the work that they're doing
across the community. I mean I know it's kind of gettin' routine now,but there...there
are some different things that we are doing that are....that are really, really exciting, I
mean, going back to Eleanor and the change with the, uh, gender identity for our forums,
for committees. I mean that's a big deal. So, um,just want to make sure that, you know,
I know everybody's reading it, but just those highlights. The only question I had is, has
that gone out to, uh, our...through our communication?
Monroe/(mumbled) I'm not certain. We can make sure.
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Botchway/ Okay(both talking)just double check, cause I didn't get a chance to tweet it out.
That's what I (both talking)
Throginorton/So on that point, Kingsley, I....I think one of the things we should feel very good
about is what we've done with regard to racial equity and with regard to various social
justice initiatives. I think these are major steps. I'm very proud of'em. But they're hard
to communicate....simply, other than to just sort of say, hey, we've done a lot more,
because it's not enough. But there're all these detail things, you know, Coffee with a
Cop and, you know, all the details that are taking place. So how to communicate that
kind of, those activities, in a way that the public really gets.
Fruin/The public gets action, and they get effort,you know, and that's.....not to say we
shouldn't try harder to communicate, but, um,they wanna see us workin' hard, and they
wanna see us engaging and out there. That's what, you know, that's what we're focused
on right now. It's hard, I mean, this....these reports, we...we talk about this all the time
internally. To....to boil this down into a couple of bullets or couple of; uh, nice
communication materials, it's hard.
Cole/ It is (both talking)
Fruin/ ....probably undersells what we're doin'.
Cole/ Well I think the other thing too is people don't want us to be patting ourselves on the back
too much either, like we're putting the foot off the gas so....it's a balance, but we have a
great communications staff and I bet they can strike the right balance.
Botchway/Jim, to that point I would say, you know, the only way that I could see of doing a
better job of communicating doesn't really focus on staff. It's more focused on us, and so
when we're going out in the community talking about different issues,how are we tying
it back to social justice and racial equity,how are we talking about it, um, in different
ways to, urn, make sure the community's aware, but also if they have different concerns.
I mean obviously we just talked about in...in depth about some concerns some of our
community members had and so I think that's really the time. I would agree with Geoff,
I mean, you know, the actions speaks louder than words, having this compiled though I
think is important,just in general, for my own knowledge when somebody asks me a
specific question, well, you know, what is....what is Iowa City doing in regards to,urn,
trainings, uh, for cultural competency with the officers. I like, you know, scroll to this
document to provide that information, cause I do think it's important for our community
to know we're doing that work, but I would agree—I think it's doing the work and just
having a place to pull that information, but I think it's incumbent upon us to say, you
know, saying that, you know, this is what we believe in, and I don't necessarily know this
focuses on just this strategic planning part or I think it's all our strategic planning
priorities, on climate change, around, um....uh, fiscal responsibility and having a strong
foundation, I mean all those different things, I think we need to do a better job of
campaigning and talking about.
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Throgmorton/Agreed! Any other IP? Uh, items? All right,maybe we can do the Council
updates on assigned boards, commissions, committees, etc. So, uh, let's start with Susan
and move to the left.
Council updates on assigned boards, commissions and committees:
Mims/Urn, the Steering Committee for the Access Center continues, uh, to meet typically every
couple of weeks. Um, Jessica Peckover had her last meeting last Tuesday, so she is now
gone, down to San Antonio. We'll miss her. Our new project manager will be on-board,
uh, very shortly. One of the biggest things that people are working on right now with that
is trying to understand how what we are trying to do here in Johnson County fits in with
State legislation and, um, the writing of the rules for the State-designated Access Centers,
because there's, um, definitely some conflicts in terms of what....we were planning to do
and what they and their goals in terms of the legislation. So it's....it's trying to figure out
how we're gonna fit in there and if we're not gonna fit in there, and not be a"Access
Center" as defined by the State, um, do we still...will the Center and....and the people
there still qualify for Medicaid and other funding streams. So, lot of....lot of research, lot
of talk, lot of issues going on. Um, I think that's the only....haven't had a JECC meeting
lately so I think that's it!
Throgmorton/John?
Thomas/I don't.....I don't have anything to report on.....commissions and committees, but I did
want to mention, urn....meeting, uh, Sally Scott was in town, uh (several talking in
background) and she was down at Big Grove and so I went down to say hello and there
were some folks there, um....whose names I'm blocking out at the moment, but you
know(laughs) uh, Tracey and, uh, who's....who's with, uh.....Tracey Achenbach and
Mary Ann Dennis (several talking) Mary Ann Dennis! And, you know, this was after
last, this was.....two days after our last Council meeting, which would...had been kind of
an interesting meeting with regard to the affordable housing question, and uh, it was....it
was just nice talking with them. They were very affirmative on...on what we're doing.
They understand, urn, you know, it's kind of like the social justice question. Nothing we
do is ever going to be enough. We have to continually work and try to expand our....our
reach on that, but um, you know, Mary Ann was saying how within the state of Iowa we
are....quite a ways ahead of any other city in terms of our affordable action....affordable
housing action. So, was....it was just nice to hear that (laughs) after....after last Tuesday,
and uh, and then the following day, uh, we....we had a tour, or Kingsley and I, of the
waste water treatment plant. Ashley and Tim led us on that. It's certainly worth seeing,
and uh, one question that certainly came to my mind was the energy consumption
associated with that facility. It is...I think our largest consumer of energy. So....(several
talking) If it's something we can do to try to....reduce that consumption, um, that
would that would certainly be, you know, a worthwhile effort.
Throgmorton/I'm sure staff's been thinkin' about that. (several talking and laughing)
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Botchway/ ...and you know this is on Facebook Live! (laughter)
Throgmorton/All right, all right, gotta focus, folks! Rockne, your turn!
Cole/Urn....so my Dylan quote earlier was not by accident. Urn, last year Kevin Hanick
approached John Kenyon of the City of Literature and he said I have an idea. Let's do a
Bob Dylan tribute featuring local artists, at the Englert, and let's donate all of the money
to the City of Literature, and John said that sounds like a terrific idea. Last year they
raised about $5,000. Urn, it was so successful they're doing it again, so get your pencils
out and write down this date. Urn, it is going to take place, it's called"Wheels on Fire"
urn, May 11th at 7:00, urn, there's general admission of 25 bucks, 15 for students, but for
youth, age 17 and under, they are free with a ticket purchase, urn, presumably by an
adult. So, it's going to be a great event. City of Literature, awesome local artists, great
event, make some money. Doesn't get better than that and Bob Dylan. May 11th, 7:00, at
the Englert Theatre, and that's it!
Throgmorton/Thanks! Maz?
Salih/No, I don't have any. (unable to understand) meet on the May 22"d, I guess, every three
months (unable to understand) (several talking)
Taylor/ I mentioned the ECICOG meeting, uh, that was last week in Cedar Rapids and the
meeting primarily focused on the, uh, current actions and future plans on efforts to cut the
congestion on major roadways, uh, particularly I-380. Uh, there....those of you on
Facebook, they're trying a variety of marketing efforts for the Ride Share program. You
may have seen the colorful ad, uh, "Cut I-380 Congestion" logo with the pink and purple,
it's very pretty. They...TV ads and billboards. Urn, they're still referring to it as Corridor
Rides, urn, they have potential for up to 26 van pools. They only have, urn, four currently
and they'd like to have four to five people in each of them, and....and it's, all the seven
county area served by ECIOG, cause they mentioned they...that currently now have a
new one that runs from Davenport to West Branch. So we all think about Cedar Rapids
and Iowa City, uh,but this one was Davenport to West Branch to...to, again, cut
congestion, and they are talking about plans for bus service. They're going to do, uh, an
RFP either last week or this week with hopes to start by this fall with an express bus
service, uh, so this is...it's good progress for that I think.
Throgmorton/Yeah. Good deal! Okay. So the CVB board met on April the 19th and their
discussion focused mainly on RAGBRAI, Run Crandic, Frye Fest, the Iowa Arena and
Fieldhouse, and the relationship between the Chamber, ICAD, and the new entity, ICR, a
regional economic development entity. So with regard to Run Crandic, I gather that was
a big success, over the weekend. I wasn't out there running. I don't know, maybe there's
some of our staff were (laughs)
Taylor/Twenty-six miles! (several talking and laughing)
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Throgmorton/Yeah, so it seems to have been a pretty big success. (several talking in
background)
Botchway/ Oh, sorry, I was (laughter)
Throgmorton/All right! So, and uh, the....uh, Partnership for Alcohol Safety's gonna meet next
week on May the 8th. And I'll report about that when it happens. Simon'll report too.
Okay! Gustave?
Simpson/Yeah, I just want to, urn, give a shout-out to the Bicycle Advisory Committee that, urn,
they first had their first (mumbled) meeting, um....this....just a few days ago, um, and
that's gonna lead to a lot of great success with the biking, urn, throughout the next
coming years. Urn, yeah!
Throgmorton/Okay! Good deal.
Fruin/Related to that, right before you break up, um, the annual bus, uh, bike and car race
between U Heights, Coralville,North Liberty, Johnson County, Iowa City—I think
you're all familiar with that. They're looking for an Iowa City Council representative to
ride the bus. So this is a....a race that takes place, uh....um, between elected officials
who ride buses, drive, ride a bike. Jim, I think you've done it before.
Throgmorton/I've done it several times, but uh, Mike Haverkamp from University Heights
cheated two or three years ago (laughter) He....he brought his bike along with him and
so he rode the bus and then when it....when the bus got downtown, he hopped on his bike
and beat me by like three seconds (laughter)
Fruin/Not that you're bitter about it, um (laughter) ...on Monday, May 14`h, uh, you'd have to be
at the Coralville Library at 11:15 and the bus leaves the Coralville Library at 11:37.
So....
Throgmorton/It's fun to do! I hope one of you volunteer. I'm not going to this time.
Fruin/It is Monday, May 14t.
Taylor/ I might do that.
Fruin/Pauline?
Taylor/Just ride the bus,not ride (several laughing and talking) Okay! I'll do the bus! (several
laughing and talking)
Fruin/I'll email ya with the details.
Taylor/Okay, thanks.
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Throgmorton/Okay, good deal. I think that's probably it. So, we'll reconvene at....in 17
minutes for formal meeting.
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