HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-07 Transcription Page 1
Item 2. Consider adoption of the Consent Calendar as presented or amended
Throgmorton: We're gonna pull Item 2d(9) for separate consideration. Could I have a motion
please?
Cole: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Salih. Discussion? I think someone in the audience
wanted to comment on Item 2e(9), which is....the Community Police Review
Board's proposed revisions to Ordinance 8-8. Yeah,please!
Item 2e(9) Community Police Review Board: proposed revisions to
Ordinance 8-8 [City Code Section 8-8]
Selmer: Good afternoon, everyone.
Throgmorton: Good afternoon.
Selmer: My name is David Selmer. I am one of the board members for the Chicago, or
the Citizens Police Review Board, and uh, we have a proposal before and it, uh,
change Ordinance 8-8 (both talking)
Throgmorton: David, could you please make sure you're speaking into the microphone?
Selmer: Sure. Is that better?
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Selmer: All right. Again, my name is David Selmer and I'm a member of the, uh, CPRB
as we like to call it, and we have a proposal before you, uh, to adopt an ordinance
change,uh, to 8-8. Essentially, uh, what the board role is,just a refresher and for
anybody watchin' at home, is, uh, that we review, urn, complaints made by the
citizens here and urn, determine whether or not,uh, we....believe they,uh, should
be sustained or not sustained. Urn, the Police Chief is already,urn, filling out a
report(mumbled) completed report before we do our reviews. A concern for the
members of the board was that there was no communication really,uh,between
the Chief and the members of the board after such a complaint was made. Um,
we would do our investigation and whether we sustained it or did not sustain, it
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just kind of went, uh, somewhere for eventually to come out in the public record,
but that there was no substantive discussion between the Chief, uh, primarily.
Um, there was a chance for a name-clearing,uh,kind of investigation hearing
with the officers, but a lot of times for legal reasons,uh, we can understand that
they would not participate in that. Uh, as a consequence the consensus of the
board was largely that there was an opportunity lost perhaps and a chance for us
to have a substantive conversation with said officers or the Chief was, uh, was
being forfeited. That's what we're seeking to change more than anything, and
this, uh....proposal, we are asking that, urn, if there is a disagreement between the
board's findings and the fmding of the Chief of Police that we would be able to
have a substantive conversation with him, um, in advance of any releasing of the
report in public record. Uh, I think that would allow us to come to come kind of
....some kind of consensus hopefully and also perhaps, ulr, have a little bit more
persuasion,uh, either over our own opinion or the Chiefs opinion and....and.....
and reach some kind of, urn, agreement. In the event an agreement is not reached,
we propose that we also be allowed at that time to, uh, and this would be the
board, to ask for another independent investigation at that time. Um, and that too
would be subject to the report. The idea of that is essentially, urn(mumbled)be a
two,uh, two party majority so to speak or two, urn, part opinion that, urn,would
be as part of the record, rather than just the board's, urn, opinion and the Chief s
opinion. Uh, someone corrin' in from a third party, independent,uh, opinion to
kind of set a tie-breaker for the record, so to speak,urn, and again that would be
after a private meeting with the Chief when a consensus could not be made. We
think this is a good step,urn,we think it's a really good time to be working with
the Chief. Um, we've really had a great relationship with him and, urn, and he's
excited, I think,to start havin' independent conversation with us on some of these
cases as well. So.....
Throgmorton: Good deal! Thank....thank you, David. We're.....just for clarity here, we're not
voting on that proposed ordinance, uh, changes.....in that proposed ordinance
change. We're not voting on that tonight. Uh, we will have to have some follow
up discussion about it. So I'm sure, uh,the board will be invited to participate in
that and we'll have to hear from the Chief of Police and other key staff people,
right? So....thanks for the work that you do and all the other members of the
board, and for presenting this to us!
Selmer: Thank you for your consideration and I'd be happy to answer any questions in the
future that come up. Thanks!
Throgmorton: Okay. Do you wanna....
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Item 2a.Approval of Council Actions, subject to corrections, as
recommended by the City Clerk: Item 2a(1) July 17, Special formal Official
and Complete Item 2a(2) July 17,Work Session
Taylor: I had just a, uh, minor correction under 2a(2), the July 17th work session, under,
uh, the section `Clarification of Agenda Items,' uh, it was talking about some
correspondence regarding the, uh, transit study and in the last sentence it
mentions, uh, that Mayor Throgmorton had questions concerning the timeline for
study and if it would include SEATS transportation system, and that I believe
after clarification also with Mayor Throgmorton,that....that was myself, uh,
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor that brought that issue up or that question up,raised that
question. So just a minor change on that. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Okie dokie! Any other comment or any other discussion? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 6-0. (reads Item 2d(9) summary) Could I have a motion
to approve please?
Item 2d(9) Housing Trust Fund Contribution- Resolution authorizing the
City Manager to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Housing
Trust Fund of Johnson County for the contribution and use of$500,000 for
affordable housing
Salih: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Maz, I think you wanted to
say something?
Salih: Yeah, I,uh, really would like, Simon, if you can come up and tell us about the
data that I ask you for(mumbled)
Fruin: As Simon's loading that up, uh, appreciate, uh, Council Member Salih gave us a
heads up that she was going to have some questions, so Simon and Tracy have
pre.....uh, prepared a little bit of an overview of the, uh, how the funds that have
been dedicated to the Housing Trust Fund have been used over the last couple of
years and then that'll inform your vote tonight.
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Andrew: All right, thank you very much! Urn, so this is, uh, the information for grants that
were,uh, obligated by the Housing Trust Fund for the last two fiscal years. So
this is just the, uh, contributions that the City made in fiscal year 17 and 18. Uh,
in fiscal year, uh, 17 it was $500,000 to the Housing Trust Fund and that came out
of the, uh, million dollar contribution from The Rise. Uh, in fiscal year 18, urn,
we contributed $325,000 of general fund money, uh, to the Housing Trust Fund.
In both cases, it was,uh, half of the amount that went in to the affordable housing
fund for that fiscal year. Uh,just as a reminder how we landed on the distribution
formula,uh, for the affordable housing fund. Um, this was a recommendation
initially made by staff and then vetted through the Housing and Community
Development Commission. Uh, they did tweak it, uh, slightly, uh, is my
recollection,but the breakdown of the affordable housing fund is such,uh, half of
it would go to the Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County. Uh,there are some
stipulations on that funding that the projects must be within Iowa City, and that
they must adhere to the affordable, uh,the.....the affordable housing location
model,uh, that's updated annually. Uh, so those are the two strings we attach to
it, uh,that we did not require that they were loans, uh, the County money that
goes into the Housing Trust Fund is required to be loans. So that is, uh....uh,
different between the two sources of money. Uh, the other portions of the
affordable housing fund were,uh,that 25%would be held for land banking. Uh,
20% for low-income housing tax credit support as recommended. That, uh, is
also vetted through the HCDC for recommendations for, uh, Council for that
funding, and then 5%, uh....um, reserved for emergent situations. Uh, this was,
uh,being structured at the time of the Rose Oaks, uh, discussion and that was
what was in mind when, uh, that was reserved. Anything not used for res...uh,
emergent situations is then reverted to land banking for,uh,the next fiscal year.
Fruin: Simon, you're off one slide on your, uh, on your presentation there. Okay, there
you go!
Andrew: Um, and so this is the breakdown of the funding from the last two,uh, fiscal
years. Uh, these are the grants done by the, uh, Housing Trust Fund. Uh, the
contribution is essentially pro-rated. So the column on the right is the Iowa City
contribution. These projects in general were,uh,much more expensive than what
we funded. Uh, the Housing Trust Fund also contributed $1.3 million of,uh, non-
City funds to these same projects,which would have come from,uh, the State
and/or the County, uh, and loan repayments for,uh, the projects that were loans
rather than grants will then be funneled back into the Housing Trust Fund to fund
future projects. Uh, the first bullet point there, the low-income housing tax credit
match. Uh, there was a loan of$800,000 for a project in Riverfront Crossings.
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Uh, that project was a$6.8 million project overall, so that just gives you some
idea of,urn, the amount of outside dollars that can be leveraged through the Trust
Fund. Uh, the Trust Fund with the current, uh, Iowa Finance Authority's scoring
mechanism for LIHTC projects,uh, is how you achieve the local match. So if we
had contributed City dollars, uh, the last two years, uh, directly from the City and
not gone through the Trust Fund they would not have received points for the local
match for those dollars. And frequently that's the difference as to whether those
are approved for funding or not. Um, 72 of the 91 units assisted, uh, the last two
years, uh, serve families with a maximum income of 60% of the area median
income, uh, and, um, Tracy Hightshoe and Tracey Achenbach could probably
speak to this, uh, better than I but, um, when there's a maximum AMI assigned to
a project, frequently those projects serve families that are at a much lower, uh,
income than those levels. So for instance the, uh, InvestHealth, uh, Healthy
Homes initiative, uh, that had a cap of 80% of AMI, but I understand that a family
served by that program are almost exclusively at or below 30% of AMI. Urn....
and five of the projects targeted in this table, five of those 19 pro....uh, units, um,
targeted at 80% of AMI, uh, were for homeownership options. Uh, so those were
two, uh, the Habitat homes and then three in the Saddlebrook area, down payment
assistance for those homes, and it's really difficult for homeownership to go much
below 80% of AMI before, uh, the homeowner can no longer service the...the debt
on those....on those homes. So, that's a summary of what we've done the last
two years, uh, as the Housing Trust Fund and where the City's dollars went for
those projects, and happy to answer any questions. Uh, Tracey Achenbach is in
the, uh, audience, as well as,uh,Neighborhood and Development staff that can
answer any questions as well.
Throgmorton: Would you please share that PowerPoint presentation with us by email or some....
Andrew: Absolutely!
Throgmorton: ....some such device. Any questions for Simon?
Salih: Yeah, I just see that you saying that in general the Housing Trust Fund being like
serving like the household under 60% in income. Really I pull this out from the
consent agenda because I....I would like really to reduce the cap of 80%to 60%.
We are doing it anyway and I know Tracey, you know, from the Housing Trust
Fund. She was doing really great job. I read her letter that she sended earlier in
the year and I like everything that you guys do,but I understand she's leaving,
right? You are leaving the Housing Trust Fund and I don't know who's coming.
I want to secure the 60% (mumbled) doing it anyway, why should we put the
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80%? Let's do 60% and they are doing it anyway. There will be the 60% for the
next person who coming. I don't know what their vision is, but uh, I wanna see
that City money for specific....for this project specifically to be at 60% of the area
median income.
Andrew: And I don't think that would be problematic from the....the Trust Fund's, uh,
perspective. Um, the only thing that I would note is that for LIHTC projects,uh,
frequently the scoring requires a mix of incomes and units, and some market-rate
units. As long as we weren't, uh, boxing ourselves into not being able to support
those projects, that'd be my only comment on that.
Salih: And I'm talking about only this project. We have other project where we do 80%
too, but....just for this project.
Throgmorton: Well, ordinarily a proposal to change some policy or practice that we have, we
have some work discussion about it. Uh, we're certainly not in a position to make
a decision tonight, um, based on your recommendation. So, I mean, it's not a bad
recommendation, but we're not in a position to make a decision on it tonight.
Salih: Uh, what do you mean by you are not in position? Are there something legal I
can do? Or...I cannot do that? Or you need more information? Tell me more
about this.
Cole: The only piece I wanted more information on was the impact on affordable
housing, owner occupied. I mean that was something that I think....I think I
would want to support, and it seems like we would need to have it up there. So...
that's a piece that does concern me with the proposal. Unless people indicate that
under 60% we can still do some....owner occupied at that level but it seemed like
there was a pragmatic limit there.
Mims: Yeah, I'm not comfortable changing this without more information and more
discussion. I want to really have a better understanding of the ramifications
because I think as Simon just alluded to, if people are less than 80% of AMI, it's
unlikely that they could be in a homeownership program cause they probably
can't service the mortgage and taxes and insurance and everything else. So if we
limit ours to 60, then any of our money will not be able to....be at all used for
homeownership. I'm not sure that's a restriction that I want to have with this
money. So (both talking) I'm not saying I'm totally against it. I'm just not
willing to make a change on the fly without giving it more consideration and
having more information.
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Salih: That's exactly what I meant. People cannot own a house because(mumbled) and
we need to subsidize them.
Mims: But you can't! I mean.....I....I'm sorry. I am not willing.....I don't think every
person can afford a house. That's just a fact, and I think if somebody at 60% of
AMI....basically cannot, if....if the people out there working in the affordable
housing industry look at these numbers and crunch these and say it is not realistic
to fund somebody for homeownership when their income is lower than 80% of
AMI. I think that's something we need to really look at and talk about before we
say we're gonna give those people more and more money simply so they can own
a house. It may be much more productive and efficient use of our money to help
them with rent than it is for ownership. So, again, I need more information, urn,
and really to digest this more before I'm ready to consider any changes.
Salih: How many are like homeownership you like have done by the Housing Trust
Fund for Iowa City since this program establish?
Andrew: Uh, of the projects you see on the screen here, five of them were for
homeownership.
Salih: Like during this, and the rest of them are renting.
Andrew: Right.
Salih: I guess I rather have people have more housing like the 60% income (mumbled)
median income than even like ownership, homeownership. If you are in 80% area
median income, you are way far from 60% and from 30% or even 40 and 50%.
That's why I still insist that we can change it to 60%. We have another program
that's 80%.
Andrew: And I'm sorry, I should clarify really quick. Uh, five of the homes in the, urn,
80%line are, um, homeownership opportunities. There were, uh, some rehab
projects that were existing homes, uh, that fell (both talking) fell at lower AMI.
Salih: Uh huh. Yeah.
Throgmorton: Yeah, Maz, I think you're raising a policy question that deserves separate
consideration. We cannot do that without providing advance notice. So what we
have before us is a motion with regard to a particular, um.....uh, what's the right
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term to use here? Yeah, a particular allocation of funding to the Housing Trust
Fund. That's the question before us. Iii...if you want to have a broader policy
discussion about whether.....funding should be limited to households at or below
60% of area median income, then we need to get it on our work session agenda
and have a discussion focused on that.
Salih: I just wanna, because now you approving$500 to go to the Housing Trust Fund. I
mean I....what I want this $500 to use for the like 60%. I want them to be
attached to them. Are we approving it and discussing....we cannot discuss it
today or how....this work?
Dilkes: The....the resolution that is on the floor has the 80% in it as does the agreement
that's attached to it. So if you vote on that tonight, um, it'll be 80%. You can
make a motion to amend to 60% and see if you have support from the Council to
do that and then move forward on it. You can also make a motion to defer, urn....
until you have your policy discussion. I don't know if there are timing
implications or what, you know. That would have to be addressed by others.
(several talking)
Mims: ....there might be timing implications.
Throgmorton: Tracey? (laughter) Tracy Hightshoe? Which one? (laughter) Calling all
Tracy's! (laughter) Good evening.
Achenbach: Good evening! Urn, I have to admit I didn't come prepared with my spread sheet
of numbers and all of that. Um, what was the question again?
Mims: Is there a time, if we were to defer this, is there a time issue for allocation of this
money?
Achenbach: Well I guess it depends on how long you're going to, um, defer it because we did
plan to, um, if we had the funding we would be making it available for any
projects that are tax credit projects that are coming up, and those pre-apps are due
to IFA by November 1st. So we were planning to make funding available....that
would be applications would be due September 20th. So.....it gets a little tighter.
Um....
Cole: Would a, um, deferral until the next Council meeting, I think we're set for the
17th, correct?
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Salih: Yeah.
Cole: Would that be a significant delay? (several talking) Twenty-first, I'm sorry.
Salih: Twenty-first.
Mims: Tracy....Hightshoe's coming. (several talking)
Hightshoe: We were planning on doing a joint allocation round for our LIHTC credits
because you reserve 20% of the affordable housing fund for LIHTC projects. The
only concern I have about going to 60% is the LIHTC application's based on the
qualified allocation plan by IFA, the Iowa Finance Authority. So if developers
can achieve a higher score, cause it all goes by score, about how you....if you're.
successful application, they will have a mix and developers will utilize that mix to
get the highest number of points possible. So if you limit that they can only apply
units below 60%, you might be harming their application because IFA will set
that....that allocation mix, and like I said, developers will try to maximize their
score and follow whatever gets them the most points.
Fruin: (several talking) .....and if I can jump into that real quick cause we had a side
discussion Monday when the initial concerns were brought up, but I....I think
you'd be comfortable exempting the LIHTC projects out, knowing that those are
unique and they.....they do require a mix and....of some 80%, but clearly the
majority of those units assisted would be 80. So as.....as we have to think about
if you want to change the....the resolution here, we'd have to figure out some way
to exempt those LIHTC projects, and I think that (several talking) okay with.
Throgmorton: Well it seems to me we could defer for two weeks, come back with further
information about that particular point, and if....if there's, urn, and we have a
little....maybe we could have a little more clarity, uh, about what specifically's
being recommended and why. I mean it's hard to make a decision on this....on
the spur of the moment, uh, you know, sittin' up here in the....without some
advanced,urn, waming, some heads up about it. So I think what we need is a
motion to defer to August the 21st
Cole: So moved.
Salih: Second.
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Throgmorton: We had the other motion on the floor though so....is this like amending that
motion or do we have to vote (both talking)
Dilkes: Just a motion to defer takes precedence over(both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay. Could I have a motion to defer to the 21st?
Cole: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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Item 3. Community Comment(items not on the agenda) [until 8 pm]
Throgmorton: This is for items that are not on the formal meeting agenda. Anyone who wants to
address the City Council on any item that's not already on the formal meeting
agenda should feel free to come up to the podium. Please state your name and....
speak about whatever's on your mind for not more than five minutes, and we'll go
from there. I'd like to welcome, uh, our Scouts as well. I mean I don't know
what troop you're from or anything like that, but it's great to see all of you.
Okay! Anybody want to address us? Yes, ma'am!
Wichert: Hi, my name is Martha Wichert and I'm here today to talk to you about housing
code 17-5-19a.
Throgmorton: Martha, can you please make sure you're talking into that microphone. Thank
you.
Wichert: Um, I said I'm here to talk to you today about, um, housing code I7-5-19a and
what it says is duplexes require permanent separation between units. Um, I'm
proposing that a possibility that you could reassess this code and...and/or
grandfather in some of the houses that have been told that they need to do that.
My situation succinctly is I have two historic homes on College Street and
they've been in my family for 60 years and they've been the....it was
meticulously changed over from a single-family gorgeous home to a duplex in
about 1960 and it's been meticulously maintained, despite what's happened in the
neighborhood, including wrecker balls coming in and knocking down Victorian
homes. My parents made sure that the two houses they had were pristine and they
still are. I've had 'em for about 15 years and my children and myself,we work
our fingers to the bone to keep those houses looking good and keep tenants in it
that are....appreciate the historic. What they've told me is that I need to take our,
um, beautiful oak pocket doors that....sliding doors, and I need to put in a
permanent wall, and I need to take out two doors that separate the upstairs from
the downstairs and it's a curved staircase in the back, and put in permanent walls.
It completely changes the entire feel and look of these beautiful homes, and um,
I'd like to think that maybe there's a way that some of....I.....I don't understand
the reason for it, I think is the bottom line. I have a letter and pictures that I was
gonna email you all and I realized I don't really understand why it's being
enforced, especially now on my houses. You want the letter and the pictures?
(laughs) I can email it also but(several responding)
Throgmorton: Your house is on College Street, is that what you said?
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Wichert: Uh huh, yeah.
Throgmorton: What's the address again?
Wichert: It's 816 has been my family home. I haven't lived there but I'm in and out for the
last 30 years, but the one, 824, is the actual rental and that's the one. They're
mirror images of each other.
Throgmorton: Okay. Thank you,Martha. We're not in a position to really kind of discuss wh...
how to respond,but uh, Tracy, Geoff, I'm sure you could, uh, contact Martha,
may....Tracy, maybe you can get her contact information and,uh, explore the
situation with her,make sure she understands why we adopted that particular code
provision, and if there's....there're exceptions, make sure she knows of them and
so on. So would you please follow up on that? (several talking in background)
Wichert: I don't have a phone number. I'll just write on there. Okay. Okay, thank you
very much.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Martha. Hi, Brandon. Ooh, it's raining!
Ross: Hello! Um, Brandon Ross from Iowa City. Um.....uh,just would like to, uh, call
attention to something,uh, that's very visible which is there's a lot of construction
around town. We all know this, but how much....how much of what is being
built,uh, what's the percentage of affordability? Uh,that means that, uh, working
class people can actually afford to live there. Uh, I would, uh, say that the, uh, in
Iowa City the majority of people here are, uh, working class. That is they work
for a living. That means that they are working; they are not collecting rents; they
are not collecting dividends. Only 15% of all people generally,it, nationally,
actually get dividends from stocks and only about 5% of those make much
difference. I know then in the Chauncey Swan building, which,it, which is one
of our favorite, uh,projects that we've talked about here,uh, over the years,the
Chauncey Swan building is what, about 60 units, and I think, uh, the City did step
in after the....after, uh, it was proposed and got some of those units to be
affordable. I think somewhere along the line of six but please correct me if I'm
wrong. Um,but it just seems to me that 1/10th affordability for working class
people, and 90%unaffordable, is a bad equation, and I would like to know what is
the equation for affordability? Where can you get 400, $500, $600 apartments as
people are making 7, 10,maybe 12, $14,uh, you know,what is the percentage
that's considered good, and who should live in the city? Uh,people who are
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working class, they need amenities. They need stores. They need libraries. They
need,uh, they need everything that basically the downtown actually offers, and
they can't afford to live outside the city, because then they need extra
transportation. Uh,then they're in the middle of places where there are not stores
and things like that, especially families. And I'm wondering if, uh, so I guess I
would pose to those of you,uh, cool and groovy people up there on the City
Council. Can I say that again—cool and groovy people up on City Council, the
cameraman laughed but none of you did, but I would say that if there is a
numbering system, where you have....how many people should have, I mean,
how much affordability should there be, and how much should be unaffordable?
Should we have 90%unaffordable housing? Newspaper people back there,
people of the press, stop the presses—should we have 90%unaffordability? It's
....it's a, it's basically a dead-end and I'm wondering if, uh, if we could have
more language about this. We feel like we're actually in a, um, we're being
occupied. Not the occupiers of Wall Street, but by the developers. Everything
from the center of town, everything is being destroyed and then rebuilt up, but
how many people can actually afford to live there? I've talked with the, uh,
architect. I've talked with builders. I talk with people working. None of the
people working can actually afford to live in those buildings. And then I would
say....I would put a caveat at the end of this and say is it possible that the City can
do some types of creative things, considering that you are cool and groovy and
creative people, some of you here for a longer time, to get back some of the
buildings that have already paid back themselves and offer the landlords say, I
don't know, Clark, you know, who has lots of holdings and gets...get buildings
and get people who can afford to be in those buildings. Give him something else
maybe, you know, say hey, you want something out here. We can do something
here. That's the way you have to have affordability because if you don't have
people who can live in the central parts, it's not affordable. And, uh, I hate to say
it, you know, you look at San Francisco,uh, one of you actually lived in San
Francisco. You know, it's a disaster, and we are building in the same model. I'm
not accusing this particular Council. I love all you cool and groovy people. But,
uh, you know,but I think we can do way better,uh,be more creative with
affordable housing, and I don't mean strange, weird.....odd, frightening things.
I'm just saying, you know, places....if we're gonna build,you have to build for
people,not for investors, not for people who are gonna live for a half a year, you
know, that whole thing about they have to live there a half a year. That's a joke.
What they doin' the other half of the year? You know,people....real people need
to live 12 months. The real people. Thank you so much for entertaining me.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Brandon. It's great to see a cool and groovy guy comin' up! (laughs)
Anyone else want to address us on any topic not on the formal meeting agenda?
Okay, seeing no one else, uh, we're gonna turn to Item 4, Planning and Zoning
Matters.
Fruehling: Sony, can we get a motion to accept that correspondence that was handed in?
Throgmorton: Of course, yes! Could I have a motion to accept that correspondence please?
Thomas: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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Item 4. Planning and Zoning Matters
Item 4b Rezoning between Burlington and Court Street—Pentacrest Garden
Apartments—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)
a) Public Hearing (Continued from 5/15, 5/29 and July 3)
Throgmorton: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Would anybody like to address
this topic?
Fruin: Mayor, if I could,uh,really quick, uh,just wanna call your attention to two items
in the packet. One is a memo that you requested from staff that summarizes our
conversations with the University of Iowa on this, uh.....uh, proposal, and that
also, urn, addresses one other Council question that,uh,we had received, and then
the applicant has also placed some additional information in your packet and I
presume, uh, they would like an opportunity tonight to walk you through that.
Throgmorton: So...Rob,you're gonna do that, right?
Decker: You have the actual packet in there? (several talking in background) Thank you,
um, I'm Rob Decker. I'm the owner's representative and project manager for the
development group at,uh, 12 E. Court Street. Uh, thanks for letting us speak
further on the topic. Um, I wanted to, um,primarily,urn, desc....I don't wanna
go through the whole packet for you because it's extensive, um, intentionally so.
Um, I wanted to provide you,we wanted to provide you, with as much
information as we could. We know there's a....there's a lot of information
requested, a....a lot of things, urn, involved in such a....such a large-scale project,
so we did our best to put together a synopsis, tried to categorize it, uh, into a
sensible,urn,kind of walk-through. It's supposed to pull, um, elements from the
master plan,which you're all familiar with, and the form based code, which
you're all familiar with. So there's snapshots of those,urn,in there, things that
many of you are already familiar with,um,but just to kind of place them in there
in the appropriate spots so that you can, um, reference them a little more quickly
than thumbing through those large documents as well. Urn, I just wanna go
through and provide a couple of highlights to that. I'm happy to, um, address,
you know, try to keep my comments short so that if anybody else wants to speak
they can. Um, but I'll try to highlight a couple of the salient points in there,um,
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that I know that are important to all of you. Urn, and then I actually have a
synopsis I'd like to read. I don't really like to read (laughs)read from something.
I'd rather just kind of do it off the cuff but I do...I would like to read, it's very
short, at the end and then I'll be here for any.....any questions if you guys have
those, if that sounds okay. Urn, you know, so hopefully you.....you got a chance
to go through this, urn, but the, uh...um, the supplemental information, we tried to
get it over in enough time that you'd have about a week to look at it as well, so
hopefully.....hopefully you did, but the, um, with the supplemental information,
urn, in regards to affordable housing, which I know, urn, is a topic and just...just
addressed, urn, recently as well, a few minutes ago. Urn, this would put, the
project does propose, would put something in the order of, urn, 100 additional,
urn, affordable units on the marketplace, which I think is, urn, you're gonna be
hard-pressed to find something that's going to, urn, induce that much,urn, volume
into the market, especially in such a, um, such an applicable area, right
downtown, essentially in the heart of campus. Um, also all the parking would be
on-site. I know we've addressed that, uh, previously, but the intention as
designed with the....with 15-story units would be that all the, um,parking would
be compartmentalized on-site. We would determine if that would be in....in
multiple structures or one homogeneous structure,but it can be done, regardless,
either way. Urn, and then with that, urn, you know, within the master plan I know
that John had mentioned that the master plan, we're all aware that the master plan
shows five...four to nine stories in that particular area. It also specifically
addresses that area, that, urn, additional height is available and encouraged if
parking is contained and contiguous on-site. So I'd draw your attention to that
element as well. Lastly, kind of in regard, urn, to those same issues, I was gonna
pull up a couple of the pictures if you want, urn, to have those up when we're....
when we're discussing, I'm assuming you'll wanna discuss. Urn, in regards to
that specific area and the 3-D renderings that are done within the master plan, urn,
that was created in 2013, um, the....in this super-block as they call it or this SD-4,
urn, sub-district of the South Downtown area, the, um....there are a lot of
variations within that block that I would call to your attention. Point being that I
would interpret, and I think many people would interpret the master plan as a
guide. I think that's what it's meant as, and then the codification of that in the
form based code is the attempt to implement those rules, of that guide. The point
being that I think....that to use the master plan as gospel and say you have to do
that, first of all hasn't been done to this point,particularly in the super-block. If
you look at what the, urn, 15-story structures are. Um, I think I have that in
here.....I don't have the master plan page of that in here. You can certainly get it
but....let me see what I've got here. Um.....
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Throgmorton: I don't think you do, Rob.
Decker: No, I have it on my own thumb drive. You want me to....um.....so the, um....on
the Clinton, you know,just how we're standing now, but on the Clinton and
Burlington corner, there is a 15-story structure shown, wrapping that corner on
Burlington Street, all the way down to the Hilton Garden Inn. That's not being
constructed. We have a 7-story, I believe, extended-stay hotel going there. Um,
the building down at the bottom of the hill,which is known as 316 Madison, is
shown as a 4-to 5-story structure, was built as an 8-story structure,was approved
as a 15-story structure. These are structures on either side of the....of the, uh,
facility that we're discussing, and the School of Music is also shown as a...about a
4-to 5-story structure. If you look at it on that rendering, it's...and it's about,that
one is a little more difficult to quantify,but if you look at what the actual
elevation of it is, it's about a 9-to 10-story structure. The point being, I'm not
trying to parse through all those individual pieces,but all of those vary from what
the master plan shows, from that super-block, significantly in some cases. And I
think that....what's important on that site is to evaluate the project as it is on its
own merits and what does it bring, and that's what we're all here to discuss and
what you guys have been doing a great job of discussing, urn, to date. Urn, the,
um, the statement I wanted to read to you....it just really, trying to kind of fine
tune everything into a pretty....pretty succinct statement,which is,you know, our
focus as a development team is really two-fold and I broke that into the building,
the focus of our team for the building is to maximize the site to its full potential.
Something that most people wanna do on a development. Create an amenity that
fits in to this very unique space that you're all familiar with, provides benefits to
both the owner, the City, and the occupants, so that everyone can benefit from
this. Urn, while maintaining the tenets of the master plan, as well as we can, as
well as meeting the form based code requirements. High quality construction,
professionally designed and locally built. Student living experience, which I
know is important to everyone, including the students (laughs). Professionally
managed and secured, and 100%on-site parking, as I mentioned. The second
approach, in specifics to the site, to reconstruct the Capitol Street to...to...the,
what would be the new Capitol Street extension to urban City of Iowa City
standards. Working with, closely with City staff, uh, Engineering staff, Planning
staff to provide enhancements to that South Down....subdistrict in ways that I
would argue cannot be done on any other site and won't be done if this project
doesn't go through urn, in....in one form or another. Enhanced traffic,public
transit, axial views, things that are all important within the master plan. Things
that are very unique,just specifically to that site. Streetscape and green gathering
spaces. Um....axial views as I just mentioned to the Old Capitol. I would also
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argue that opening that street up, compared to what's there now....if you go
out....I know, Jim, you've been out there a number of times, wou...actually opens
up the view as you head south off of Burlington to the Old Capitol, or I'm sorry!
To the Johnson County Courthouse. Urn, and we believe that that would...would
enhance that view in many ways. Urn, within the packet that I provided for you,
we did....we photo-documented all around the site. There were many more than
that but I tried to kind of parse that down to...to ones that would....that would
make sense to you. There're already views,um,the views of....of the site,
particularly.....if you're standing on the north side of the site looking across the
Pentacrest Garden Apartments on the top picture, the views to the....of the
Johnson County Courthouse are already....that's the primary view that's going to
be blocked by a new project, and I would argue that it's not....very appealing
view as it is. I would actually argue that the....the new view would be
significantly better, but that's just my opinion. Urn,the, uh, as I mentioned,the,
um.....the....I'm sorry, I lost my place when I looked up at the picture. Um, the
primary gateway, um, and increased accessibility to the Central Crossings and...
and the park subdistricts, which if you aren't familiar with those, those are the
next two Riverfront Crossings districts to the south. I think that opening this
gateway would actually facilitate those developing. Uh, the City Carton site,
which is the site that's of a lot of interest to a lot of people right now is gonna be a
critical part of sort of the corner....corner piece of that park subdistrict, where
that, um, Riverfront Crossings park is going to extend up north towards us in that
picture, expand out onto the riverfront, and I think that this is going to help
facilitate that development as that corridor extends down and increases the
accessibility,both in terms of transit, you know,pedestrians,bikes, every....all,
all that kind of stuff Um, the, uh.....and providing val....valuable City land
right-of-way transfer that's otherwise, you know, the City's not gonna have a
lot.....we all are aware of this, right? But Capitol Street isn't just a....a section
of....of City roadway, isn't just gonna get transferred back to the City every day,
and obviously I think that is a....that is a critical part of this piece in the give and
take, and makes it so appealing as a.....as a project, that there's something for the
City to gain, in addition to all the obvious things—the taxable revenue and
increasing, urn, the quality of the construction on that site. The student,urn, the
student experience that can be had on that site,right adjacent to campus,
um....you know, it's also going to transfer that into what I think can be a really
nice streetscape, urn, similar to the Clinton Street one. So, wrapping up, you
know, we heard what you guys have said, and we appreciate you....you, you
know, moving this through a number of meetings and allowing us to talk, urn, and
we've tried to provide more information, work with you to get you information
that's specifically tailored to what you, you know, additional things that you're
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wanting to see, thoughts that we have. Sometimes they weren't thoughts that we
had thought through, have gotten together and...and worked through those and
tried to provide those to the best of our ability. We've adjusted from the original
intent. As you guys know, the first time I was up here in May, of two buildings
back to four. I would argue that I think three is a little safer. We can get into
those....if we're able to rezone and go, but that's because of a connectivity into
what I would consider kind of a, uh, a maintenance drive behind the School of
Music, and one....one of the courtyards kinda opens into that. There are some
renderings, I believe they're in your packet, um that,where we
showed.....(mumbled) Yeah! So that bottom oneThat would be if the....if the
connectivity went through, the whole way. Umand that wouldn't.....
Throgmorton: Rob, what's....
Decker: Yeah.
Throgmorton: ....where are we looking at? The bottom image, where are we looking at?
Decker: So you're looking through, you're looking east to west....through there is...is
what you're looking at. You're looking.....you're looking towards the east. I
think that's the Hilton Garden Inn all the way on the right, all the way at the end
in the yellow. Um....and it's not....it's not to say that you can't do that, but we...
there'd be, have to be some things that were thought through in terms of just
leading pedestrians out into that sort of alleyway, right? It's also an alleyway on
this site,but that leads to the Wellness Center, uh, the University of Iowa
Wellness Center. I think that's a much more, uh, sensible and appealing pathway
to....to lead through there. Um, we've worked to convey additional significant
greenspace. Obviously that's a huge part of it. Urn.....but a variegated frontage
of the buildings would be another way that we would do it,to....to allow us to
pull back off the required setback, which, um, I believe is....is pretty tight through
there, to....to vary the frontages of those buildings, kind of expand it out in
addition to these greenspaces, add additional greenspace along Capitol Street,
enhance that streetscape, as well as what we've mentioned before,up on some of
these setbacks and other little kind of kickouts in the buildings to have greenspace
there. If you're familiar with the site now, it's heavily, heavily surface parking.
All that would go underneath and that would be replaced with high-quality
structure and green gathering spaces. I think that really enhances the site. Um,
lastly, almost done here, um.....we met with a number of local groups as well. I
think all....all of you or most of you are aware of that. Um, I believe some of
them may want to talk tonight. I know that some of you have met with the
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University of Iowa. We have twice. Urn, they had expressed no,uh, concerns
about the height of the building and no concerns about the proximity to the Music
building. They want, uh, their....their keys are they want the buildings to be of a
high quality and they want them to cater to the student....student experience,not
surprising coming from the University. Urn, and not....there's nothing wrong
with that, but those are things I would have expected, um,but just a reiteration of
what is important to them. Uh, things that are going to be important to us too. If
you want to get tenants in there, and um....I don't think anyone's going to do a
project of this scale if they don't think they can, urn....then those are gonna be
things that have to be taken care of, and lastly, as you all know, urn,we're just
trying to get this through a rezoning, so that we can provide a project profile to
you, and we want to get into those,um, discussions, and there's a lot here. All the
stuff I've gone through today, where we go through and discuss the items, you
know, in terms of height bonus. Jim, you provided a breakdown, I know, urn, I
think the packets back here of the....of the items that we can....that we can do.
Uh, there's many of them. There's many arrows that we can put in our quiver.
Um, I don't wanna again get into the....the details of that. You may discuss that
tonight but we want to get to that phase, where we can all,um, work through what
we're proposing for an actual project, provide the things that we're willing to do,
that we're willing to not do, get into that give-n-take for that Capitol Street, some
of those transfers and all that good stuff, go back to P&Z, come back to you, and
really parse out what that project's gonna look like.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Rob.
Decker: You bet!
Throgmorton: Does anybody(both talking)
Decker: Want me to stay up here (both talking)
Throgmorton: Hang around for a second. Any questions for Rob? (several talking)
Cole: Urn, you know, we've had a lot of discussions about height. It's my
understanding that there are a lot of structural and engineering standards that...
that kick in at a certain level. Um, I think it's,what is it, five stories above where
you have a lot of the engineering standards, that are very expensive to do. Have
you gotten into at what floor you need to get to before you even break even. I
mean, cause I'd imagine with the....with the height there's a certain level. Um, I
know with a potential,um, conditions that are...have been discussed at least
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among us, you know, we've talked about 12 stories for example. I mean have you
been able to sort of give...uh, get an assessment as to that?
Decker: Urn, you know, I don't know....I can tell you that our team hasn't discussed that
yet, you know, I don't know....I'm sure there is some point that you know kind
of...so going back a little bit to your, yeah, you know, we like to say in the
industry you're going to kick-in to steel and glass, you know, you're gonna go...
you're...I mean there's one being built right next door,you know,we're all used
to that sort of, urn,timber-framed or hybrid, you know,hybrid podium with some
timber above it, very common, uh, construction method in the midwest. Um,
yeah, you....you.....your costs go up exponentially as you get above a certain
level. Um,the, you know,the codes,the various codes, IBC and....and many
other codes talk about when you have to kick things around and switch over. I
don't know that there's specifics as to where that sort of,um, sweet spot is. I
honestly don't know. You know, I think that is....I think that could be a
discussion for this next step, you know, is where....as we start to talk about, you
know, height bonuses and things like that, I think that's a...that's a great thing to
discuss.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Rob? Thank you, Rob.
Decker: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Does anyone else like to address this topic? Good evening, Bill!
Gerhard: Yeah! Thank you. I'm Bill Gerhard. Live in Iowa City. I'm the President of the
Iowa State Building Trades. I've been here before talking about some of the same
issues I'll talk about tonight. In theory I think we need to go up and not out. I
think we have a moral obligation not to encourage urban sprawl. Within the next
generation there's going to be 10 billion people on this earth that need to be fed
and we're gonna be surrounded by single-family housing that used to be some of
the best crop land in the world. So I think if there's demand to go up, we need....
should go up. Uh, two, I think by going up more units means,uh, the market,
there'll be more apartments on the market. That'll probably drive rent down.
That'll help the affordability. Third, I think that, uh, as....as this looks like a great
project. A lot of units, I'm sure that's gonna help our tax base, and there's a lot of
things we can do with that tax money inin Iowa City here. So, at this point I'm
in full support of this. Uh, it's good to know that you've reached out to,uh,
groups in Iowa City. I would suggest or recommend maybe, talk to the,uh, local
building trades council. Those are the people who do the construction here, and
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maybe we can avoid some of the issues we had on The Rise. Uh,The Rise was a
great project on the surface,but we had countless labor issues, including
misclassification, wage thefts, safety issues, large part of the workforce coming
from,uh, states and points south, so I would recommend that you reach out and,
uh, I'm sure they'd be willin' to be partners in this with ya, but uh, I like this
project. It's a great project. Uh,we'll finally get rid of those eyesores that are
down there now, and we'll get Capitol Street back, and for those people that were
here when we had Capitol Street, it was a glorious view coming up from the south
on Capitol Street and seein' the Old Capitol. So I look forward to havin' that
back. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Bill.
Salih: I just have a question for Rob again. Sorry, I....if I don't pronounce your name
right! Um....you talked about affordable housing, like 10%, which is almost
hundred maybe unit as you said. Uh,maybe just too early to ask,but if you have
answer that's okay; if not that's fine. Uh, are you planning to have this 10%on
site or you planning to do fee in lieu or....(both talking)
Decker: On site.
Salih: On site (both talking)
Decker: Yep! And we have talked to the local building trades. We have started those
discussions,just addressing the....the previous.....um,that's important to us as
well. So....
Salih: Okay, great.
Decker: But yeah,we....it's planned to be on site.
Salih: Thanks!
Throgmorton: Good deal! Thanks. Good evening,Nancy!
Bird: Good evening! Mayor, Council,um, I'm Nancy Bird. I'm the Executive Director
of the Iowa City Downtown District. Thank you for inviting comment. Um, we
have as a,um, as a board of directors met with Jeff Clark. He came to our last,
urn,he came to our last board meeting to have discussion with our stakeholders
and our....our board members. We've also met with our legislative committee.
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We have a very thoughtful committee that is really interested in the balance of,
urn, all of these different interests that this project might....might bring. This
project itself is outside of our district boundaries, and yet it's still,uh, all of our
stakeholders agree that this is a very important project that we need to weigh on,
so that's why I'm here tonight. Urn, other business owners....a.....a couple of
cultural venues were interested in coming tonight and then they reminded me
that's what they're paying me for. So, here I am (laughter) Um, I hope that you
found the letter that we sent to City Council on, uh, behalf of this project (clears
throat) We had several authors work on this,urn, and I think at the end it kind of
expresses a pretty good balance of how the Downtown District, urn, the board of
directors, the leadership of the organization, feels about the rezone. So tonight is
really about that rezone and the,urn, the master plan for the area has a process in
place that we feel hasn't....we haven't been able to have a really....really robust
conversation around this until the rezone is triggered. So tonight, um, I'm here to
generally support on behalf of the Downtown District, the request of, um, 12
Court Street from, uh....um, from one zone to the Riverfront Crossing zone, urn,
and to allow the rezone process to trigger all of the other design elements that the,
um, that the developer can....can jump forward into, and right now there's so
many unknowns that it's hard to have a really good conversation until we know
what that design is. Urn, Mayor, thank you for your letter. We, urn, read the
letter. We....we pushed it out to our....our organization and our members, and
there are a lot of commonalities that our district members are interested in, as well
as it sounds like Council. Um, as you likely know, the Downtown District
membership generally, and this isn't true of everybody, but is not height adverse.
Um, we're more interested in how the building frontage and the building face
meets the sidewalk and the street, and urn, and even the parking, and how all
those....that interface works, so that the pedestrian environment is very rich. So
that's the element I think that we had a lot of conversations about,that this
project, if designed well, can achieve those things, and often times you don't
always look up to even see the height of the building or you wouldn't even notice
it, but if the....at the street level, if the....if the retail level is done well, um,the
project can be sa...successful and help mitigate for those height impacts that some
people are concerned about. Um, secondly, um....uh, I think this is a, urn, it
might be premature cause I know this is the second level, urn, once you get into
the rezone, if the project is rezoned, but the management plan is so critical, and
we have seen a new project,urn, with The Rise, have a robust management plan
and the management plan there seems to be working, and our interaction with Rob
Anderson at The Rise has been phenomenal in their support of local businesses.
We have, urn, our magazines, our retail guides in every single room there. Um,
they're looking at local concierge of downtown venues and retail businesses to
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support the students at that project, and often times they....people don't, they
don't have to do that. They can say, you know, if you're looking for services this
is how you get it online and they can push to a more national tenant,um, and that
project has not chosen to do so. So I think it's sort of a model for what this can
be, urn, and we think that that management plan is really critical, to make sure
that it's clean and it's safe and it's so close to downtown that this is, um, this is an
asset, not a liability. So in the future we hope that that's something that we can be
a part of in....in discussing. Urn, we also think the public benefits of this project
are quite remarkable. Opening up that vista and regaining the street is something
that, um, would meet the University of Iowa goals, as well as the Downtown
District goals, as it...with the respect of pedestrian mobility, vehicular mobility,
um, it just allows for a (mumbled) and those big blocks are a challenge. Um, the
finer grain the block the better it is, I think, for....for mobility in the area. Um, as
well as the....the generation of tax dollars is significant, urn,there's just a number
of things within this, including the affordable housing, that, urn, I think we're
very fortunate to have this kind of development come forward in the City of Iowa
City. It's not happening in other places, so it's not something that I think anyone
should take lightly. Um....being clear with the communications of the developer
and I think that the, perhaps the defer...the deferral of this conversation is part of
that,but that,um, recognizing that, um, and hoping that the rezone moves
forward, cause that's what we're advocating for, in the future that if everyone's
very clear with the developers, they will attempt to meet the mark of what's in the
code, um, and I think we've got good community partners that are here on board
to do that. They can't do that...that until the rezone has occurred. Um, and last,
this is something that I know is, um, outside of what the existing process is, and
I've had a couple conversations with Wendy Ford. She also is the ex officio on
our board, of how the Downtown District can be more involved in the design
process in the future. We do have, um, we do have a number of individuals that
are...that really wanna stay very close involved in this, recognizing how close it is
to downtown, and bringing students close to downtown is an important University
of Iowa goal. For the Downtown District, our primary goal above this is really to
bring more community......long-term community members closer into downtown
to help support a balance of the market. We have a lot of pizza,beer, and coffee
the closer in the students are, which is a good thing for the University.
Sometimes makes it more challenging for us to provide retail that meets the entire
community's need because the pressure downtown for those kinds of things
becomes more challenging for us to hold the space. Urn, so that's a conversation
that we'll wanna have in the future about how these projects come to bear and
what kind of spaces they're offering at the ground level, whether it needs to be
retail, or should it be office or whether or not we can have a discussion with the
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Page 25
developer about what those....what the needs of the larger area is for downtown
Iowa City. Urn, so with that,urn, I appreciate your....your consideration of these
comments and we hope that, uh, we can encourage the rezone to occur. Thank
you.
Throgmorton: Thank you,Nancy. Anyone else? Hi, Ryan!
Hall: Good evening! Urn, I was just scrolling through all these photos. Ryan Hall. I
am a student at the University and an environmental planning major. Um, so I
know moving forward there's going to be a lot more talk about design, about sort
of, urn,how it's all gonna shake out, and I would just wanna raise one concern
about the effect on the climate the construction itself will have and the building
itself will have, um, through its lifetime. We want to be very conscientious of our
climate action plan with regards to this project, and if we want to really build,um,
similarly like having labor be at.....at, you know, the helm of these....these sort of
constructions,we also need to develop a strong local labor force that is mindful of
energy efficient,near net-zero if not net-zero buildings, and I think that this could
be an amazing model if we move forward with that sort of concept. Urn, and so,
you know, this is near and dear to myself and my studies,but also, you know, as
someone who's going to adopt all the mess that y'all have done, urn,not...not...
not the 'you' y'all, but like the all of us. I.....I did it too. Um, I gave up my car
like seven years ago though, so I think I'm doin' okay. Um, but I just wanted to
throw that out in the atmosphere, and I also wanted to sort of touch on the sort of,
urn, the possibility of the 5%, uh, workforce housing. Um, I just wanted to maybe
some clarification on if there was like the height bonus if that 5%was in, um,was
on the table, cause I think it's really crucial that....um, students of various
incomes and backgrounds are able to access housing where they need to. Uh, the
University historically has taken a backseat on housing and that's why,um, a lot
of it is gettin' eaten up by the private market,but,urn, if we have something that
is collaborative with the University, the City, and the Clarks and the developers,
uh, then I think we can all achieve some sort of common goal. Urn,but we do
need to be mindful of who will enter these....these units and at what price. Uh,
the University is starved of resources because Des Moines is killing us. Urn,
through state appropriations and we've had to, um, send, urn, our....our student
makeup is changing from Iowan based to suburban Chicago and,um, a large
foreign,uh, student population, who have the sort of means to be able to afford,
uh,luxury units, and I think this is an overwhelming concern,uh,not just here in
Iowa City but in Ames and college towns throughout the state is that, you know,
when our public education is compromised, we have to build and construct
towards where the market is going, and if the market's gonna continue going
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where it is,then, you know, we're going to drive nearly every Iowan student out
of the state, and that is not something that any of us really want to do. So, I would
just....I wanted some clarification on the workforce housing, cause that is...I think
it's crucial for, even a student's well-being within the community and within the
University to not just have just a sort of insular exposure and experience in Iowa
City because it's so much more grand than just the campus,than just the
University, and to be able to sort of be in community with people who are of a
different income background is crucial to....to all of our development and well-
being. Um, so I wanted the workforce,uh, clarification. Um, I really would
encourage you,the affordable housing requirement,um, correct me if I'm wrong,
is it going to sunset after 10 years? (talking in background) Yes. That is a huge
concern of mine. There are....sunsetting mean...aim,the affordable housing
requirement that 10% of the units are going to be affordable,but only for a 10-
year time period, and so afterwards,uh,when we're all hurrah about affordable
housing, after those 10 years expire,then the...the land...the landlord will be able
to revert them back to market rates,which who knows where they will be at that
time. So I really want to, and this needs to be in conversation with the developer,
with,uh, the Council, with the University is that if we are catering towards an
affordable market,we need to ensure that these units are not just here in the
interim,but here to stay. Uh,because we want stability, we want, you know,
concrete sort of understanding about where our housing is and where it's going,
and in the event of the 10%, up to 100 units could be taken off of that
aff...affordable,uh,requirement, and I....in a similar vain I want to be conscious
that, um, correct me if I'm wrong, it(mumbled) affordable housing requirement is
at 60% of....of median income. Is that right? 60? And still for a person who is
a...less than$15 an hour minimum wage earner,that is still not in their ballpark. I
want to be mindful, and I....I recognize that these are the sort of goalposts that the
developer has, you know, come into,but the 10 years concern me, and also the
60% concerns me, cause it doesn't hit the low....the highest need of, um,those
who are cost-burdened by housing. Um, but...we're gonna have more time to talk
about this, and you know, I'd be happy to pick y'alls brain and, uh, suggest some
things about maybe some climate and design and affordability,but uh, workforce,
housing requirement, 60%, climate change. Sound good? Thank you for your
time!
Throgmorton: (both talking) Good evening, Sara!
Barron: Hi! You know that you can't be talking about a project that,um,contains this
many potentially affordable units without having a visit from me, Sara Barron
from the Executive Director of the Affordable Housing, uh, Coalition. Um, a
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couple of things that I want to expound on that we talked a little bit about last
time. Um, 100 affordable units is outstanding. Um, we certainly know that the
need far exceeds that and this is a big step forward in meeting the number of
affordable units. Um, we want to add more, a little more nuance to that
conversation. So we know who needs affordable units and we want to make sure
that the affordable units that we're providing match that need. Um, in this case,
um, you're looking at units that will be really attractive to some folks, and really
not a preferred option for other folks. Um, and so we just really want, urn, your
help and the developer's help in identifying who will actually qualify to live in
these units. For example, if you're claimed as a dependent on your parent's tax
return, uh, and their income exceeds that 60%, this isn't gonna be a unit that's
gonna be available to you, and I've checked with Tracy about this to make sure,
that you all are requiring that,um, people meet those kind of federal housing
guidelines for....for income assistance programs, so uh, they're gonna be subject
to those same requirements. So just making sure that when we're thinking about
who will live in these units that we're able to find folks who want to live in them,
that they meet their need for affordability, um, and that that's a shared
understanding before we embark on this project and then later we...we get to a
point where, you know....who knows, they're empty because we're not finding
the people who meet all the different things. So to just really think through that in
a more nuanced way. Um, but we're....we're very excited, um, we continue to be
very excited about all the opportunities that this Riverfront Crossings zoning,urn,
provides for affordable housing development,um, and that it continues to be a
strong collaboration among, um, developers and City staff and other folks to make
this,uh, both a financial practicality and also a step forward for the community.
So, thanks!
Throgmorton: Great! Thank you, Sara. Anyone else? Good evening, everybody! (laughs)
Kubby: Good evening. Hi, my name's Karen Kubby. And...there are a couple things that
I wanted to comment on. One is just this larger process issue and it seems like
because...Council's concerned about making a decision because you don't know
the details,but it's not unfair to have the developer have all the details on the
front end before you make a decision....makes me want to revise the process
somehow. That somehow these two things are balanced a little bit more,
especially as we're trying to encourage more dense development and these
projects are more complicated and all the issues of walkability, of height, of
density, of...affordable housing come together, they're....they're not going to get
easier, and so I know... well I believe that you all are kind of looking at
re....revisiting how does this process go, but if the process isn't working for the
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Council, for the community, or the developer,then it's worth taking another look
at it. I'm very happy that the, urn, when there's a ten-fold increase in units on a
property where people...young people are congregated, young people who may
not have lived on their own before, there's lots of things that can happen (laughs)
and so I'm really happy that there must be an on-site management plan, and that
it...the....that it has to be enforceable, although I don't really know what that
means. I don't know what the enforcement mechanisms are. I do think that,
um.....the Clarks do not need to start from scratch. There are people all over the
country in university communities who have done dense housing and pro...I hope
have successful,robust management plans and that there are communities who
those developments are in who have good enforcement mechanisms. To me I
would...and probably the ultimate enforcement mechanism is, uh, rental permits,
pulling rental permits if the....if the plan isn't being managed well, and that
would be a pretty,urn, motivating enforcement (laughs) (mumbled) Urn, and I've
been thinking about this affordable housing thing, because at the...at first I was
thinking, well the...the conditional zoning agreement has, um....units on-site
and/or a fee in lieu of and we heard tonight that the plan is to all be on-site, so
I'm thinking, well then the conditional zoning agreement should say that so that
pledge is codified. But in thinking about the 10-year sunset, it might be a great
idea to have some of those units on-site, so that there are these units close-in,
where there's great walkability,there's lot of jobs,there is public transportation,
there are amenities for people who need and want to live in affordable housing.
And then another,the other 50%, if it's a fee in lieu of,then the community has a
little more power over a longer term form of affordable housing with some of
those funds. So, part of me was like....it's gotta be in the CZA 100%, but I really
think that it would be great to have some on-site and some in a fund, and there
was some suggestion, um, at a meeting I was at, that some of the....I don't know
if the money in lieu, uh, the fee in lieu of has to be spent in that area, or in the
core,but there was a suggestion that it should be spent on the northside to revamp
some homes that have been split up as apartments, with that trickle around theory
that some of those homes that are now rentals and split up into many units, some
of those folks move into these larger facilities, and then those homes could be
returned to be duplexes with permanent (laughs) or non-permanent (mumbled) or
um....uh, into single-family homes that are part of UniverCity or some other
affordable housing project. So, that was an intriguing thought to me so I think
some kind of balance of on-site and money to set aside so that it's long-term
affordability. Sounds very attractive to me. So, thanks for tryin' to figure all this
out for us.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Karen! Who's next? All right, I don't see anybody else. We have a
two-step process here tonight (clears throat) from this point on, at least potentially
two steps. The first is to consider a motion to continue the public hearing and
defer first consideration,to probably our next meeting, and that motion would
have to do, uh, with regard to whether we want to attach any further conditions to
the conditional zoning agreement, and if....if we end up agreeing that we want to
attach some conditions, that would have to be discussed with the developer and it
would take a little bit of time to do that,because the developer would have to sign
the conditional zoning agreement for it to take effect. If we choose not to do that,
we will close the public hearing and give a....have a motion to consider first
consideration of the proposed rezoning. So, potentially two-step process. Least
that's the way I understand it, from reading this, right, Eleanor? Okay. So....
Dilkes: And I would just add the....if you do proceed to first consideration, it will be the
ordinance con...condi....conditioned by the signed conditional zoning agreement.
Throgmorton: Right. Okay, so could I have a motion to continue the public hearing and defer
first consideration to August the 21st.
Thomas: So moved.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas.
Taylor: Second.
Throgmorton: Seconded by Taylor. So....we have a motion on the floor. So...many of you
know that I circulated, shared with the developer, shared with the Council, and
have tried to make available to the public, uh, a memorandum, it's dated June the
28th, uh, which lays out a series of proposed, uh, additional, um, conditions for
the, uh, for the, uh....for the rezoning. So I wanna go through them a little bit.
And I wanna find out whether there are four people who support at least some of
those conditions. So....before goin' into that though, I'd like to say when we first
started considering this proposed rezoning back on May 1, we had very, very little
information about what the developer was proposing to do. And I for one found
that very uncomfortable. I felt a very strong need to have a better sense of what
was gonna be....what was being proposed. We now have that and I wanna praise
Jeff and Rob for being really clear about your current thoughts about how the
project would go if....if you get the height bonuses that, uh, you would be
requesting and all that. So, bravo! I think we....we've managed to get to a state
where we have, we and the public, have adequate information about what you
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have in mind. All right, so.....do we want to propose any additional conditions? I
wanna see if there's majority support. So let me refer to that June 28th memo, uh,
that...that I wrote. As the memo indicates, this might be the largest residential
project ever proposed in Iowa City. If approved, it would have a major
transformative effect on the core of the city. In the memo I lay out a series of
reasons why I generally support the rezoning with the Planning and Zoning
Commission's conditions. But I also state I think it is necessary to attach
additional conditions in order for the ultimate development to be more consistent
with the Riverfront Crossings district master plan, as well as to address
satisfactorily other concerns that have arisen during the past two meetings, many
ear...earlier on. I continue that memo by, uh, stating that I strongly believe the
most important things we need to do are, first, to ensure that any new residential
structures designed to house as many...potentially as many as 2,000 students be
designed and managed in a way that will enable those students to thrive
academically, and I would say also to mature safely. Second,to ensure that the
overall ensemble of buildings achieves a high standard of urban design and
therefore, enhances the quality and character of the neighborhood. Third, to
ensure that the Capitol Street right-of-way and greenspaces within the
development are opened up, well furnished with street furnishings, and well
landscaped, and fourth, to enable the developer to transfer density earned by his
preservation of Tate Arms. So....the memo goes on to list various proposed
conditions and I'm gonna read uh.....uh, three and a half of'em. The first states:
The development must substantially conform with the footprint of the buildings
shown on page 61 of the Downtown and Riverfront Crossings master plan, quote
master plan, and with a birds-eye view presented to the Council on May 29, 2018,
quote birds-eye view, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated here
and by, uh,by reference. Second,the development must include a landscaped and
well furnished pedestrian walk-way running east-west between the buildings, and
an interior courtyard between the Voxman Music Building and the two eastem
most buildings, as suggested in the master plan, and shown in the birds-eye view.
Third, the owner shall retain an architect team to design both the exterior and
interior components of the development. The architect team must have
experience with both high quality urban design and large scale urban student
housing and/or residence halls. The architect team shall be approved by the City
Manager after consultation with the City Council. And four, in accordance with
the Riverfront Crossing form based code, any requests for bonus height shall
"demonstrate excellence in building and site design, use high quality building
materials, and be designed in a manner that contributes to the quality and
character of the neighborhood." So.....the fourth condition goes on to stipulate
that the development shall, uh, shall be eligible for height bonuses based on
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specific,uh, purposes. But if you, uh, if you do the math associated with those
conditions, basically my memo proposes that, uh, proposes conditions that would
permit a maximum average height of 12 stories for the four major buildings. All
right, so that's the memo in the, uh, in the whole. My sense is that there are not
four Council Members in favor of requiring the conditions that directly pertain to
height provisions. So, I wanna see....I'm asking my fellow Council Members
here, I want to see if there's support for an abbreviated version. In other words,
would you support the first three conditions I just read, plus the first sentence of
the fourth condition, which I just read, with the understanding that we would
focus a work session on possible height bonuses, not later than the end of
September. So I wanna get a sense,uh, whether you would support those
particular conditions. If you do, then we'd have to instruct our staff to have
conversations with the developer to see if the developer would be willing to sign
the,uh,the CZA as amended.
Mims: I would say no, and....and here's my reason. It's the same reason I've given in
the three previous meeting and public hearings. We've continued the public
hearing now to our fourth meeting. In that what the developer has come to us and
asked is for a rezoning, which by right only gives them eight stories, which they
have made very clear they have no intent to redevelop this property with only
eight stories. We have ample opportunity after the rezoning to get into the very
detailed,uh, negotiation of what those buildings would look like and the height,
and there are a number of things that....that I personally want to make sure are...
are in those negotiations and we get, and I'm sure everybody sitting up here has
things, and I'm sure there's gonna be an awful lot of overlap and there may be
certain things that some of us think of that others haven't and we may or may not
come to agree on on some of those issues. But we....we have been here since
...what, the early May, um, trying to get a rezoning done and this....and we have
the three readings on the rezoning. I think we have through those discussions
made it very clear to the developers that they are not going to automatically get 15
stories. That they are not going to, uh, put hundreds of thousands of dollars into
renderings until they've had significant discussion with the Council and/or staff to
know what the requirements are going to be, urn, to come with the satisfactory
height and...and I'm not sure you're gonna get a satisfac....a height that you want,
um, out of this Council. I don't know. So I do not see the need to delay the first
reading, our first vote, on this rezoning when we can get all of these same
conditions put into, um, part of that negotiation when we move forward and start
talking about the heights.
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Taylor: We have done other rezoning requests with conditions attached and I....I don't
see that this is any different. I think that Jim's, uh, suggestions for conditions are
very well thought out, very thoughtful, and particularly, uh, with the students in
mind because that's obviously what this, uh, building, these buildings, are going
to be primarily geared towards the students, and I think, uh, that, uh, these
conditions aren't....aren't asking that much. I would be in favor of it.
Thomas: We're talking about, uh, conditions one through three?
Throgmorton: Plus the first sentence of condition four.....which basically restates the
comprehensive....or the master plan.
Mims: And let me be clear. I am not saying I disagree with the conditions. I disagree
with the process. There is no reason we can't have these same conditions as part
of the negotiation for the height. So I'm not saying I disagree with conditions.
I'm saying it's the process. Let's have the first vote, get this moving forward
after May, June, July, August—three months—and then start the negotiations for
the height bonus. I'm not saying I disagree with the recommendations. I'm
disagreeing with the process (several talking) delaying this again.
Cole: Prior to tonight did the developer weigh in on any of these proposed conditions? I
mean if we....were you aware we were going to propose these?
Throgmorton: Yeah, because they were in the June 28th memo.
Cole: Okay. Is it possible to get their feedback tonight, cause my....my concern is is I
think that we have to be very clear that a....that a development process is not a
three or four-month, urn, marathon. I....I concur with Susan on this, urn, as far as
this goes. I think we need to make a decision, and articulate firmly where we are
at this point, and have a decision tonight. That is my preference. I'm not in favor
of moving at this point.
Throgmorton: A quick response to the marathon point, Rockne.
Cole: Yeah!
Throgmorton: There are three different reasons why we deferred three separate times. The last
time was upon the developer's request and we deferred for a full month because
of that. So do not put all the blame on the Council for that. You know, it has
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taken time, yes, but look at what we've gotten as a result! We've gotten a really
clear idea of what Jeff wants to do, and that's a very good thing!
Dilkes: Just to clarify....if....if you want to change conditions, it's unlikely we're
gonna... we're gonna be able to do that tonight, because it has to be an executed
conditional zoning agreement. They may give you feedback, but we won't get
that(mumbled)
Salih: Yeah, for me I really...think this is really separate issues like the(unable to
understand) for the building to happen and approving this rezoning. Urn, I think I
was ready to move to really, you know, approve the rezoning for the first
consideration today, and request like maybe a work session or something where
we ask the developer to come and we would lay our expectation for that building.
The only thing that now holding me is, uh, if we approve this rezoning, that
means 10%is affordable housing. It will (unable to understand) and the inside
affordable housing and the 10...no 10-years. Now you know I really, 10 years
will go like this fast and we will....as some of the public said, we will loose this
affordability. But...(both talking)
Mims: Mazahir, if I might, I would argue that that could be negotiable as part of the
height bonus.
Salih: Yeah, I....I understand but you know I, uh, I hope, if I can ask, also they willing
fee in lieu of would be perfect for this, even though we cannot tell the...the, you
know(mumbled)we don't have to tell them that because they have the code
saying 10% affordable inside. Um, to go somewhere else with this,but still I
think we should move forward to approve the first consideration, and have a
separate meeting and lay out expectation, if they want to build...if they want the
bonus, they have to like do what we want as a Council, and we can do this in
separate meeting. That what I think. That's why I don't like....I'm not
supporting the defer.
Dilkes: Just to clarify with respect to the affordable housing, the basical...basic affordable
housing pro....provisions and requirements are in the form based code. There is
the ability to negotiate for changed or additional (both talking) as you pointed out
in....in connection with height bonuses. But the...the provision at the CZA at this
point on affordable....affordable housing is just a...to make sure that we have it as
part of the rezoning and that it...all it does is simply reflect the basic requirements,
and that is not likely to change at the CZA stage.
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Salih: Okay, may I ask you something? If we...if we say yes, we did it tonight and we
approve the first consideration,that means we approving eight floor(unable to
understand) 10% affordable housing, right? Only like eight stories building.
Dilkes: Without bonus height, yes.
Salih: Yes, exactly. But tonight only we approving this, and later on we can....we can
do the rest of, like if they want bonus height and we can negotiate that and
approve later. Then let's do it! (laughs)
Throgmorton: John,I haven't heard from you(both talking)
Thomas: Uh, the...the conditions that....that we're considering, uh, do not cover the
question of building heights. They're related more to the, uh, conformance of the
site plan and I think probably one of the most critical issues,uh,with a project of
this magnitude is the retention of an architect team for both the exterior, interior,
uh.....I would not think that would be something that the applicant would object
to,uh, that....that that be part of the project. So I...I would, I would assume
(laughs) I may be missing something here, but that....the four conditions that....
that the Mayor outlined here,uh, would be acceptable to the applicant. On a
project of this magnitude, I would like in writing at this point in the process, uh,
including the....those conditions as part of the rezoning. Uh, as I said I don't
believe the,uh, applicant would object to them. If....if they were to object having
an architect team,that would be a real concern to me. Um....if(both talking)
Dilkes: I'm sorry, John,but I....I think the first one does reflect on height.
Throgmorton: How so?
Thomas: It's just the (both talking)
Dilkes: Must substantially conform with the footprint of the building(both talking)
Throgmorton: Footprint is not height. Footprint is the....the two-dimensional base.
Mims: What about the birds-eye view?
Dilkes: Okay(both talking)
Throgmorton: Birds-eye view is not(both talking)
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Dilkes: Well then....then we really need clarification....we will need clarification on that
then, because the master plan has been pointed to as the four to six (both talking)
Thomas: I think....1 think the intent is...is (both talking)
Dilkes: I think that's not necessary (both talking)
Throgmorton: All right, well I can clarify that cause I wrote it, right? By footprint I mean the
two-dimensional space covered by each of the buildings. I do not mean the height
of the buildings. All right?
Dilkes: Okay.
Throgmorton: And by the birds-eye view I mean what Rob Decker showed to us on, uh, May the
29th, which showed 15-story buildings.
Dilkes: Okay!
Throgmorton: And...and there, you know, but I'm not implying that, you know, that the
developer is necessarily gonna get the height bonuses. We haven't discussed that.
So...
Dilkes: (both talking) ....good clarification (both talking)
Thomas: And....and part of the importance of that is....as I recall in the conditions as
they're written now, there is no site plan requirement. It's elevations....to be
reviewed by Planning and Zoning, not site plan. Footprint as Jim described it.
So....so I think there are, again, on a project of this magnitude, um, having these
....relatively limited agreements moving forward, I think, are, uh,worth
considering, particularly the....the question of the architect team.
Throgmorton: If I could clarify that just a little bit also. I do...that....that, uh, that condition
should not be interpreted to mean that, uh, we want the current devel...uh,
architect team gotten rid of. Uh, we just wanna, as I wrote it, I just wanted to
make sure there was some des...urban design expertise involved with the team
and....and that someone who has expertise with regard to the interior design of
the building, or the buildings, uh, in terms of, uh, what's the...where's the
language....has experience with regard to large-scale urban student housing
and/or residence halls. It's someone....is involved on the team. Rob?
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Decker: John, I'm a little unclear as to your, where you're going with the comment, but I
can tell you that that is taken care of in building code. It's not...it won't even be
an issue. A building a scale...a 15-story building cannot be completed without a
licensed architect. It will be a requir....you cannot complete a....a.....a project of
this magnitude without a licensed architect. They....they require,the City....the
city building officials will require it. The IBC requires it. A whole multitude—
liability requires it, uh, we would....we would be insane to do it without one.
(both talking)
Thomas: This is a little bit more specific than that, in that it's....it's describing that the
architect team must have experience(both talking)
Decker: ...absolutely! We would be crazy to get one that didn't! (several talking)
Thomas: That's what I'm trying to say (both talking)
Decker: I mean I....(both talking)
Thomas: I don't think(both talking)
Decker: I may be crazy in many ways, but I....I can tell you that we are...we are...we are
going through that process. Susan spoke to it very well. Um,we....we will cross
that bridge, trust me. It's going to happen, um, but we want to get the, as you
know from the first meeting, we want to get through....what we hope is a....is
a....is a formality to get...we wanna do all the things you....you guys are
discussing. Urn, but we wanna....much like you, want to have a little more clarity
ourselves, right? I....I know the discussion is obviously for your side of things
and what you're seeing. You have to understand that we want the same from you,
and we have to get some of that. Nobody is going to leverage something. It's a
big project for us too! Right? And we have to have some clarity moving forward
in the same way that you guys do, and I think that is what...what I always refer to
as phase two can do, and I think Jim's comments can be addressed in that phase.
I think they're....I think they're good discussions to have. We...we look forward
to those discussions, but to me it's almost a doubling up, almost a deja vu of like
didn't we just do this? Now we're doing it all over again. And it....and it feels
like kind of a....a churning that doesn't have to happen on anybody's behalf. I
think we can accomplish what we all wanna accomplish....without doing this sort
of doubling back, if that makes sense. So hopefully(both talking)
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Throgmorton: I....Rob, I don't understand what you mean by doubling back.
Decker: I....reiterating....reiterating what she said just a little bit ago in that....the....we,
you know that we intend to go to 15, right? We can't go to 15 without the
processes that are in place, which we're all now very familiar with. Design
committees, goin' back to P&Z, conditional zoning agreements—all those tools
that we have, we can't achieve what we want to achieve without going....not that
we wouldn't anyway, but it can't happen. It just...you can't do this project
without it, and so to apply it to the conditional zoning agreement,to me,just does
....it does the same thing that the design review is going to do. It does the same
thing that....that design review during a height bonus is going to do.
Throgmorton: Okay. Thanks. I....I (both talking)
Decker: Does that make a little more sense? (both talking)
Throgmorton: I don't think the three and a half conditions that I'm proposing.....go to the details
of design review. They certainly do not go into height bonuses and that's why I
said that we would want....if we, if a majority agreed to these conditions, we
would want....uh, to instruct the, uh....uh, our City Manager, uh, well, not our
City Manager. We would want to hold a....uh, focus a work session on the, uh,
the height bonus aspects, not later than the end of September, so that you all could
get on with your work(laughs) you know, so I'm not trying to hinder the
progress. I....I think what I had in mind with regard to these first three and a half,
uh, proposed conditions are to,um, make sure that the project is in greater
conformity with the master plan for the Riverfront Crossings district, or not in
greater but in, you know, substantial conformity with the, uh, the master plan, and
that we would have a....we'd know that an architect, urn, an architectural team
was on board that had some urban design expertise and considerable expertise
with regard to the interior design of the buildings. Now why....why did I propose
that? Because, uh, to the best of my knowledge, Jeff...no....neither you nor
anyone else in the Clark family has experience with regard to building large
residence hall, student housing kinds of structures in which students are designed
or in....uh, in, which are designed in a way that will enable students to thrive, uh,
both academically and, uh, mature safely and so on. You don't have that body of
experience yet. So I wanna make sure that we've....you've got the right expertise
on board. That's what I had in mind when I wrote that.
Mims: And again I think we still can get that when we're negotiating the heights, and we
could move forward with the vote.
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Cole: I agree.
Taylor: I guess I don't understand why you don't wanna add these conditions. Uh
(mumbled) you want this to be a high quality building that caters to the student
experience, and I think those conditions that Jim is expressing, uh....are helpful
for the student experience. Those are things that....
Mims: Pauline, I don't disagree. I don't think Rockne disagrees. The point is process.
We've been at this for now our fourth meeting to try and get a first vote on a
rezoning when we can still address these when we're negotiating on the height. I
agree with the majority of these and maybe, I'd have to go back through them
again, but maybe every single bit of it. But....and yes, there's been delays for
different reasons, but we are now into our third month of trying to get a first vote
on a rezoning. I don't see where as a city we have anything to lose by going
ahead and doing our first vote and having these conditions part of our negotiation
with the height. There is no question in mind that if we do this rezoning, they are
not putting up 8-story buildings on there. They are not! So we have nothing...we
have every....all the leverage in the world over the owners and the developers,
because they wanna go 15 stories on that property. And so we can work on
getting these in as we negotiate the height and get this process moving.
Taylor: If there's a guarantee that that's going to happen, cause...everyone seems to think
that, uh, some of us are height adverse or, uh, don't like tall buildings, but that's
not what this is all about at all. It's....it's mostly the quality of the buildings and I
appreciate the comment that you want a high-quality building,uh, and want to get
it right and people have, uh....talked about how poorly the Pentacrest Gardens
now look and don't fit in to the downtown, uh, we need to guarantee. You know,
20 years ago people probably thought this was a great looking apartment complex
and wonderful for the students. We don't want that 20 years from now for people
to be saying what were they thinking, why did they do that, why did they make it
look like that. I think that Jim has some very good ideas of how,uh, these
buildings can....can blend in.
Throgmorton: As a point of, uh, as a point of clarity for all of us, uh, if we approve the rezoning
as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission without these other
conditions attached....that would apply to the land. And any prop....any possible
developer of the property would have to conform with that, uh,with the
conditional zoning agreement, right? I mean you would agree with that. So....
there's always the hypothetical possibility that Jeff Clark could sell the property
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and some other developer could come in. So I wanna make sure that, you know,
the, uh, the conditions run with the land, that any possible future developer would
have to conform with those conditions.
Mims: And the City initiated rezoning of 20-plus acres in Riverfront Crossings with
absolutely no idea of what was gonna be built on those pieces of property because
we wanted to kind of jump-start redevelopment in that area. And so....and we've
done some others down there. Remind me, Geoff, Miller's property, uh, there's
been two or three others down there that we did not....P&Z and Council did not
have full renderings on, and so I....again, and I just think the risk here is so
incredibly low because this is such....I think asas Rob has said repeatedly, this
is probably the most valuable piece of property in Riverfront Crossings for
redevelopment because of its proximity to the University. The other piece that
might come close is City Carton because of its proximity to the park and the river.
Okay? And so the idea that anybody that has owned this land for as long as the
Clark family has owned it would even think about not developing it to its full
potential or would sell it to somebody else....is is ludicrous. And so I have
absolutely no worry in my mind that they're gonna go for their 15 stories and
we're gonna have every opportunity to get every single one of these conditions
put in as part of that negotiation and so I do. I think after three months and four
meetings that it's time to have a first vote.
Throgmorton: Okay. So, uh, I understand the situation. So, uh, if we, urn.....vote on this, on the
motion I proposed, it would be a voice vote, right? Yeah. Uh....then we would
close the public hearing and proceed to first consideration of the ordinance
conditioned on a CZA that has already been signed by the applicant, right? Those
are the steps. All right. I've been listenin' to the conversation, as you have, and I
hear three and three. (several talking in background) ...tell you?
Mims: Tells me that the rezoning fails.
Salih: Yeah.
Cole: No, the motion to defer(several talking)
Mims: ....fails and the rezoning may fail. If you (both talking)
Throgmorton: Excuse me. I know you haven't had a chance to fully think about it, but...these
three and a half conditions I've proposed are not onerous. I think you would
agree.
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Mims: There's also an election in 2019. I think this could be very detrimental to
anybody running for re-election in 2019.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Salih: I just wanna ask Rob questions. Have you seen, uh, like his for....(mumbled)
themselves....
Throgmorton: Three and a half; the first three(both talking)
Salih: Have you seen 'em before today? For me I saw all this today but what about you?
Because I think this was a, on the....like.....
Decker: We've seen Jim's letter. Urn, the CZA was signed with no questions asked. Uh,
gave everything that the City wanted. The fact that a new CZA would be required
with Jim's letter attached is new news, yes.
Salih: Okay(both talking)
Decker: I would say that....the, I don't think the conditions are onerous. I think they're
unnecessary. I think they're unnecessary. I just....I don't understand....why....
other projects have not, literally adjacent to this facility, have been....stamped
through the process....to be 15 stories. And I don't think the same....I don't think
the same things had to go into those projects. I appreciate that it's a large project.
A large project in and of itself will create....will create the conditions that you
want. You cannot do a project of this scale, you don't pump money into a project
of this scale. Why would you do this? Why would you just nilly willy do
something of this scale....without aforethought and without smart design and
without....I....I don't know about you guys! I wouldn't throw my money into it!
Um, but...you know, I'm speaking more now on my own behalf and on....and on
the development team,but I just....I, in my opinion it's just an unnecessary step.
I think we can accomplish the same things. I don't think that....you know, I don't
wanna speak to the....to the.....to the things in the letter, like you said....like
you've all said very well. I think there are some...I think, I don't think the general
tenure of what you're asking is unreasonable. But I think that it's unnecessary,
because it's going to....the project is so unique, we...you know! You said it
yourself. We provided a lot of information. You know what we want to do here.
We are telling you that we want to go to that next step, and we want to come back
to you, and to P&Z. P&Z knew that. We had that discussion with them. That's
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why they moved it through like that. We said we'll be back to see you, to have
these...discussions.
Salih: Okay, if we don't talk about the height now. We just talk about his point. Are
you agreeing to those point or not? You know, height we will talk about it later.
We gonna have like plenty of time to talk about height(both talking)
Decker: Yeah, I mean I don't....I.....you know, speaking quickly and in response to those
very quickly, we're not gonna agree to conditional zoning agreement right here
and now. (mumbled) there's not a chance we would do that. We need....we
would need to review them and under....and see what the language is. I mean
you're talking about a....you're talking about a pretty high-level document.
I...it's, again, it's not that...we signed a CZA before, no questions asked, that had
conditions attached to it. We're not opposed to doing that, but we're not gonna
do it right here in the middle of a Coun...we're just not (several talking)
Mims: I was just gonna say (several talking) questions that Eleanor's asked and others, I
don't think that these conditions are necessarily absolutely clear either. So....
Throgmorton: Well, this is frustrating. I shared a memo with everyone on this Council, on the
June the 28th. And that memo made it very clear I was proposing new conditions,
for the zoning.
Salih: And since this is will be like really failing both way, can he defer it?
Fruin: If I can make a suggestion.....because I...the....the 3-3 gridlock that we're in I
don't think is gonna serve anybody very well here and I think everybody wants to
see this to a point where we can move it forward. Um....and I'm....I'm saying
this and we'd need kind of a head nod from the developer as well from the...from
the Council, but uh, if....if the Council can give me some leeway to work with
these first three conditions and the first sentence of the four, uh, to where you
allow me to work with the developer to massage the language, if needed, urn,
to...to still accomplish what you want to accomplish and yet maybe address any
concerns that they would have with that language, uh, we could try to get a CZA
signed and back to you at your next meeting, and then I think it'd be appropriate,
assuming that we have a consensus, that we try to catch up a little bit and collapse
the second and third reading down the road, so we stay on the same path, uh,
is...is where we're at now—instead of three readings we're gonna have one and,
uh, collapse two and three, uh, but I think I'm gonna need a little bit of flexibility
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in working with these first three points and that...this first sentence of the fourth
one.
Throgmorton: I would be comfortable with that, Geoff. I don't know if the developer would, but
I would be. In fact I expected that you would have to discuss these proposed
conditions with the developer and come back to us with something that may be a
little bit different from what I recommended. And I don't have any problem
whatsoever with condensing,uh, one of the future, uh, meetings.
Fruin: Okay. Gettin' some head nods up here. Does that sound okay to move us
forward?
Throgmorton: Yeah....
Thomas: I feel I know that....this seems like, Susan, you've been emphasizing the duration
and so forth. We have a much clearer idea about what this project is now than we
did when it was first submitted, and I would....I would say that further
articulation of...what we're agreeing to, uh, is just another step in that process.
Uh, I think we all wanna move the project forward. It's....there's, to me a false
dichotomy. It's maybe just a question of we're at a milestone with the rezoning,
what do we want to see at...at this juncture.
Taylor: Yeah, I'm actually, like John, I'm....I'm excited about the project. I think it...that
area has needed change for a long time and might even suggest, when you were
talking about, uh, retail, that, uh, hopefully there'd be some type of grocery, uh, in
there, cause I think that's needed. That's.....that's lacking in the downtown. The
Bread Garden's there but kind of a...something that the students could afford, and
I think I would be truly excited about that. So I think if you continue that idea
about perhaps having some retail in at least one of the buildings and, uh, I....I
would be even more excited about it.
Throgmorton: I think Geoff made a very good suggestion. If that's agreeable with you folks, we
can vote on the proposed....on the motion at hand, which is to continue the public
hearing and defer first consideration till the 2155. With,uh, sort of a shared
understanding that we would collapse one of the subsequent readings. Yeah.
Okay, so that is the motion on the floor. Any further discussion about that?
Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carries. Thanks for the
suggestion, Geoff. I think it was a very good one.
Fruehling: We do need a motion for correspondence.
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Throgmorton: Yeah,uh, yeah, could we have a motion to accept correspondence please?
Taylor: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Salih. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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Item 5. McCollister Boulevard—Gilbert Street to Sycamore Street Improvement—
Resolution authorizing the acquisition of property interests necessary for
construction of the McCollister Boulevard—Gilbert Street to Sycamore
Street Improvement Project
a) Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) I just opened a public hearing. Are
you here for it by any chance? No. Okay. I don't see anyone who wants to
speak. I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion
to approve please?
b) Consider a Resolution
Salih: Moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Geoff; is somebody gonna
briefly describe this for us?
Froin: Um...this is a requirement of, uh, State law. Any time you're going to be, uh....
urn, looking to acquire property in an agricultural zone, so this is,uh, setting the
stage for the acquisition of the right-of-way needed for the McCollister extension.
Dilkes: Property owners would have received notice, have received notice of this hearing
and the opportunity to speak.
Throgmorton: Right. Okay. Thank you. Any Council discussion? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 6-0.
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Item 6. Camp Cardinal Boulevard speed limit ordinance amendment- Ordinance
amending Title 9, Entitled "Motor Vehicles and Traffic," Chapter 3,Entitled
"Rules of the Road," Section 6, Entitled "Speed Restrictions," to establish a
35-mph speed limit on Camp Cardinal Boulevard from Melrose Avenue
north to a point 550 feet south of the city limits and to establish a 25-mph
speed limit on Camp Cardinal Boulevard from the city limits to a point 550
feet south. (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: This is first consideration. Could I have a motion please?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Discussion? I'm very pleased to see this. I
know several times we've discussed that particular intersection and, uh, we had
talked about having, I don't know, four-way stop there I think and that's not
gonna happen, but the speed limits are a really good step forward. I'm really
happy to see the collaboration with Coralville on this. Thank you, Kent, for
engaging in those conversations. Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 6-0. I'm getting colder. Susan, are you getting colder?
Maybe it's because of my head, I don't know. It's good to have hair.
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Item 7. Agreement with Del Ray Ridge,LP- Resolution authorizing the Mayor to
execute an Agreement with Del Ray Ridge,L.P. for receipt of City funds for
a 2018 Low Income Housing Tax Credit project
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion please?
Thomas: Move the resolution.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Seconded by Salih. Discussion? Somebody gonna address this? Tracy?
Hightshoe: Um, this is a resolution to approve the first, um, LIHTC project that you approved
at the affordable housing, um, fund set aside for LIHTC projects. Del Ray Ridge
is a project at 628. um, Dubuque Street. It will provide 33 units of housing, 29
will be affordable, four will be market rate with unrestricted incomes. There are
17 one-bedroom, 16 two-bedrooms. Um, they have a mix of affordability of nine
at 30 and 40%, um, median income; 20 will be set at 60%median income, and
those are the, the remaining are those four unrestricted ones. The affordability
period for this project is 30 years. Um, you originally approved it at, um, a 2%
loan over 30 years. The Housing Fellowship requested that after review of their
proforma that you approve, um, been amortized over 40 years and the...the,
HCDC didn't approve that officially but they did have a consensus, um, that they
recommended....that there's consensus that it was approved. Um,the property is
within the Riverfront Crossings Central Crossings subdistrict. So we will have to
come back to you with a amendment regarding first floor residential at this
location. Um, that'll be on the next P&Z agenda and it'll follow the Council
process. And then Maryann is here if you have any questions.
Throgmorton: Great. Thank you, Tracy. Any Council discussion?
Salih: I just wanna say that I'm very, very pleased about this project. It's amazing and
uh, the good thing about it, like one-third is affordable for the people make an
income like 30 to 40% of the area median income, which is great, and hopefully
I'm gonna see those kind of(mumbled) and this is really great and thank you for
that. Yeah.
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Throgmorton: Yeah, it's very pleasing to see. Thank you for your good work. No further
discussion? Roll call please. Motion carries 6-0.
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Item 8. Animal Services- Ordinance amending Title 8, entitled "Police Regulations,"
Chapter 3, entitled "General Animal Regulations," and Chapter 4, entitled
"Animal Control" to provide for animal services. (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: This is first consideration. Could I have a motion please?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Discussion? Good evening, Liz. Good to
see you again.
Ford: Thank you! Good evening! Any questions?
Throgmorton: You're amending the ordinance(laughter)
Ford: I am! (laughs) Yep. (both talking)
Fruin: ...the Council (both talking)
Ford: ....to do list for a while.
Froin: (both talking) overview of the memo? Would that be helpful?
Throgmorton: Yeah(both talking)
Fruin: Liz, could you just give a brief synopsis?
Ford: Sure! So this,uh, ordinance amends,urn, it makes Chapter 8,um, 8-4 include
everything, so it's not gonna be two different chapters. It'll all be in 8-4. And the
other big change is that,um....the civil penalty has been$10 since 1997. Be
raised to $100, which brings it up with all the other....other penalties, so...think we
were the last one to get up to speed there. Um, items of note,uh....the,
um....prohibiting,uh,tethering for longer than 30 minutes in a three-hour period,
that's something that,um, anti-tethering laws are, urn, very common in animal
welfare these days. There's,um,there's over 23 states and an additional, urn, 200,
uh, communities that have either,uh,tethering is prohibited completely or it's
restricted to short time periods and, you know,uh, welfare, um, the ways that the
animals are tethered and things are appropriate in welfare so the animal doesn't
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get hurt and doesn't become, uh, a risk to public safety and things like that. Uh,
so the tethering is a....is a big move for us, very positive. Um....prohibiting
circuses. You know we don't really have a venue in Iowa City or the zoning to
invite a circus in any more. Um, so this one was just sort of an easy thing to do.
It's a good thing for animal welfare. Circuses, urn, events that bring in animals
that are exotic or wild, for the purposes of entertainment only, it's just not
something that the community wants to see anymore. So that's been something
that, um, people have been pretty vocal about. Um....oh, specifically addressing
animals left in cars and statistically this year,just since May, uh, of 2018. So
May to August 1st, urn, Animal Services and the Police Department handled 50
calls with an animal in a car that was left, mostly at some place that's like a
market place or a place that they're going shopping at, urn, and that's something
that really needs to be addressed in this community. So, urn....making a....leaving
your animal in a car prohibited, and that's,um, any temperatures. So, could
certainly happen in the wintertime too, so but really what we're talking about are
the, you know, really hot....hot summer days here in Iowa. Uh....prohibiting
animals from being transported in the back of a pickup truck, not in....not in, not
within the confinement of like a topper or a carrier that's been secured down so
that the animal can't either be thrown out when someone stops suddenly, um, or
particularly an animal doesn't jump out and cause an accident, urn, again, you
know,public safety. That's actually the bigger risk is the animal jumping out,
because even though we like to train our animals very well, they're animals and
they're unpredictable, urn, and an animal jumping out into traffic can certainly
cause an accident. Um....and then the irresponsible owner, uh, is another concept
that a lot of progressive cities and municipalities are incorporating into their
animal ordinances. Um, a violator would have four, um...con, you know, four
convictions basically, um, for our ordinances and this isn't really something that
we run across a lot, but we want to be able to have a tool to remove the animals
from the owner and not allow them to have animals again until we decide when
it's okay for them to do that, for a period of time or education, urn,because....uh,
any animal, any....any dog, um, any aged dog, any breed of dog, can become
aggressive or a danger to the other public, uh, depending on how it's maintained
or cared for, or not cared for, and so what we're really trying to do here is punish
the deed and not the animal. And those situations, um...uh, where the person is
really at fault and the animal is not, we wanna be able to get that animal to a
better place and, um, see that it doesn't happen again. So, those are repeat
offenders. Um....and then clarifying some, uh definitions in the permits. Uh,
so we have a....a process in the City where if you own,um, four or more dogs or
six or more cats in your own home, uh, the....we want you to take out multiple,
you know, animal permit and previously those had sort of been lumped in with
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places that are like commercial kennels, like Lucky Paws has a, you know,
commercial kennel. So really, urn, the definitions are much more appropriate
now as far as someone who lives in a house and has six or seven or eight cats, urn,
versus, you know, Lucky Paws that has 25 doges there every day. So the
definitions are better suited now. So...anything?
Throgmorton: Great. Thanks for the overview.
Ford: Thank you!
Throgmorton: So....we have a motion on the floor. Uh, Council discussion?
Mims: Just glad to see the improvements.
Throgmorton: Yeah, me too! And frankly, I wish when I was younger I had been aware of some
of the risks associated...that....that, uh, animals can encounter. Uh, you
mentioned at least one that I had some personal experience with and I wish I
hadn't. Uh, so I'm referring to letting an animal overheat in a car, and....uh,
luckily the animal survived. Skeeter the cat, you know, but uh, I....I didn't know
that it was a risk for the cat to leave her out there in the car, so....I'm glad we're
instituting these changes. Any further discussion?
Cole: I'm supportive of all these changes and I think they're all really favorable, urn, I
do think these are major changes though. Um, at least they weren't necessarily on
my radar screen. I'm supportive of all of them but I think for the audience out
there, uh, we'll have at least two more readings. I really encourage you to look at
these very closely. They all look terrific to me, urn, you know, I have a few
animals in my house. Um, I won't say how many. I think (mumbled) (laughs) I
won't tell ya, um, but I really hope the people really look at this very closely, it,
because I think these are major changes, um,that I was not aware of, so I'm
hopin' people really will weigh in at the next meeting.
Fruin: Before you vote, it'd be negligent of my duties if I didn't acknowledge, uh, Liz.
She is leaving us in 18 days, it, I'm not counting or anything (laughter) um, she
has been a phenomenal leader of....um, our Animal Services operation. Uh, she's
gonna be impossible to replace. Not even gonna try to, uh, replace her with
someone of her caliber because it's simply not possible. She has the respect of
her staff,her supervisors,her peers throughout the City,uh, the community at
large, and we're gonna miss her dearly. Uh, she's, uh, moving on to fulfill a, uh,
dream of hers, which is to open up her own business here in town and we know
she's gonna do a great job there. So thank you very much for all you've done for
us.
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Throgmorton: You beat me to the punch, Geoff. I was gonna say something very similar, uh,
some of you know that Liz and I used to live right next door to one another.
She's an absolutely wonderful person. Liz, you've done a superb job down at the
Animal Shelter, whatever, and uh, boy we're gonna miss you big time! Yeah.
But we have a motion on the floor. Roll call please. Motion carries 6-0.
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Item 9. Massage Business Requirements—Ordinance amending Title 5, entitled
"Business and License Regulations," to add a new Chapter 3, entitled
"Massage Business Information Requirement." (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion, uh,please?
Thomas: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Eleanor, would....huh?
What did I say? (several talking) (laughter) Wow! Yeah. Uh, Eleanor, could
you provide an overview of this or....somebody better? (both talking) Oh, Jorey
(several talking) I'll just call you Thomas also, okay?
Bailey: Thank you, Mayor. (laughter) I'll accept that tonight. Good evening,uh,my
name is Jorey Bailey. I'm a sergeant with the Police Department and I'm one of
the several staff, City staff, that has had the opportunity to work on the, uh, the
ordinance that you see in front of you, urn, from several different departments, not
just the Police Department. Um, at the onset,uh,we wanna make,uh, a very
clear delineation between massage therapy,um, the massage therapy,the licensed
massage therapist,uh,who are practicing legitimate massage therapy in our
community and between that and that....those who are practicing the illicit, uh,
illegitimate, illegal practice, and using massage as a facade for their business. So
we wanna certainly focus on,uh, promoting the positive with the licensed
massage therapist. I'm gonna give a little bit of background as to what's led us to,
um, this change. Uh, this addition. Um, and that is that State law, as I'm sure you
see in your action report, changed last year, um,that law that prohibited local
government from regulating massage therapy businesses changed, um, allowing
local government now to, uh, to regulate massage therapy businesses within
our....our city boundaries. Since that change, as you've seen in the media, um,
many municipalities around us and from across the state have enacted ordinance
or moved to start the process of enacting ordinance to regulate massage therapy in
their communities. It's...the intent behind, uh, ordinances like those and like the
one that you have before you, uh, to,um, impact illicit side of massage. Again, I
clearly delineate between the legitimate and the illicit. Um,to impact those that
use the word massage as a facade for their illicit or illegal business. Up until this
point we've had,um, few tools, not very many effective tools, uh,to....to make
an impact upon those businesses and I'll talk about a few of them, um, but what
we're trying to impact is, for lack of better term,prostitution and human
trafficking. Uh, State laws regulate prostitution and the....the laws related to sex
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work are regulated by the State. We at the local level don't obviously have the
opportunity or the ability to effect that....that change. Urn, additionally those
laws are related to, urn, enforcement and criminal enforcement of johns who
attend or who use these businesses, or even the...the practitioners within the
businesses and it's our goal, uh, to take a victim-centered approach and it's not
our goal to enforce against those potes...potential victims of human trafficking
within the....the brick and mortar structures. We believe that enforcement of, uh,
or at least the tool that you have before you is probably the best option, uh, even
above and beyond criminal enforcement. Again because it gives us the ability,
uh, at a lesser level to enforce, urn, the business model behind these businesses, to
stop the business from practicing and even to, and most importantly, to give us the
opportunity to have a face-to-face contact with those victims of human trafficking
and then intent....in turn, or subsequently, be able to provide them the services
that we have in our community, like those offered by RVAP as an example. Urn,
because of this, and as I mentioned most importantly, urn, we think this is a good
tool,the massage business ordinance that you have in front of you. We've
explored, uh, other municipalities, uh, ordinances and we think the one that...that
City staff has come up with, uh, before you is a less impactful, uh, tool, a less
impactful ordinance on the practicing legitimate, licensed massage therapist in our
community, and it's a tool that allows us to still have that same impact, urn, that
same, uh....victim-centered approach, while being less impactful,uh, upon the
legitimate businesses. Urn, our approach is, uh, and I'll let Jann....Jarm Ream
step up and talk about how, uh, we intend on enforcement of the ordinance to
occur, and then we'll answer any questions that you may have in regards to that
enforcement.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Jorey. Hi, Jann!
Ream: Hi. Jann Ream. I work in Neighborhood and Development Services. Urn, as
Jorey mentioned, this is, um, a very inter-departmental approach to trying to solve
this problem in our community. And it is a community problem. Um, so....as....
as the ordinance is proposed,basically we would post a form on our web site that
massage businesses would be required to fill out and show us upon request. It's
not a form that we will keep in our records. It will not be, um,public information.
Um, I compare it kind of to what we did with the housing code with the, urn,
information and acknowledgment form for landlords. They're supposed to fill
those out and provide them to us upon request. And this form would basically
require, um, the name and contact information of the owner and the manager of
the business, and the names and the license numbers of the massage therapists
working there. It would be the sort of thing that, um, a staff person probably, uh,
a person from Neighborhood and Development Services would go into a business
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and request that form, and if, urn, they can't provide it, or if they provide us with
incorrect information or information that's obviously fraudulent, urn, we would
then have the capabilities of placarding that business. It would basically be a 'do
not occupy, business cannot occur in this space,' and with that placard, we bring
the whole community as part of helping us as a whole community. Anybody can,
if they saw people going in and out of there when it was placarded, the police
could go in and they could say no. Urn, what this also does, urn,by not
providing....by basically demonstrating to us that they are not a legitimate
licensed massage therapy business, it gives, um, our police officers the tools that
they need to get a warrant to be able to go in to the actual business itself They do
not have that, uh, ability now,um, to meet face-to-face with the workers in these
businesses and try and at least let them know there is help in our community for
them, that they do not have to remain in that business. They don't have to remain
victims. Um, so we really see this as having no impact on legitimate massage
therapy businesses. Urn, but it gives us the tool that we're going to need, um, to
help shut down the ones that are in our community doing illicit things. Excuse
me, I have a bit of a cold. (laughs) (clears throat) Are there any questions about
the process or....
Cole: I'm assuming for the business that's operating in good faith, a licensed massage
therapist, if through oversight or they don't know about the new ordinance, and
they get the education that I know you're gonna do,there'd be some safe harbor
provision (both talking)
Ream: Oh absolutely, I mean we....we had (both talking)
Cole: ...just elaborate?
Ream: Um, we had two open houses where we, urn, invited the licensed massage
therapists,um, therapists to come in and talk to us, and we presented our ideas
and there were a couple different options,um, and that was a concern. You know,
well what if you come in and I...I can't produce it right away, and that's, I mean
we're not going in....heavy-handed. You know I said well that's fine. We'll be
back in a day or two, you know. This is the form. It's on the City web site. Just
fill it out and I'll be back, and then we'll.....you'll be fine. You know, urn,just
like we do with any other form of,uh, enforcement, in terms of zoning or nuance
code. I mean we don't immediately go in and issue$250 (laughs) citations. I
mean (several talking)
Cole: That's publicly available so you can instantly then cross-link, is that how that one
works?
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Ream: Yes. Uh huh, we can check those names and license numbers on the State data-
base.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Jann? Or Jorey. Looks like no more questions. Thank
you. Would anybody else like to address this? Hi there.
Nevins: Hello. Thank you. Can you hear me? Is that good?
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Nevins: Urn....so thank you, urn, and I do want to thank the folks (both talking)
Throgmorton: ....say your name please.
Nevins: Oh sorry, thank you! Jamie Nevins is my name. I'm a massage therapist, Back
Together Massage. Um, so obviously, right, I care about not being confused with
a sex worker. Urn, so I really do appreciate that the staff did do a lot to reach out
to massage therapists. I recognize in other cities where they've placed similar
things, um, they haven't and it, I believe, has been, urn, sort of a, much more of a
burden on, uh, small businesses. Urn, I'm just gonna read a letter that I wrote,
um, to the, a letter to the editor of Little Village. I also had emailed you each, I
don't know if anybody got the emails earlier this afternoon but,um, I've got a link
to this letter in there and then I've also got a link to a Google doc, um, to sort of
back up a lot of what is in here. I've done some more research since the meeting
that was had July 18°i, where they invited us. Urn, but most of....much of what,
urn, is in here is cited in the email that I sent you all. Urn, so massage ordinances
being proposed across Iowa are dangerous. Locally Cedar Rapids, Coralville, and
now Iowa City are considering policy to make all licensed massage therapists
register or be licensed within their city. Urn, I'm...some include large fees, the
disclosure of business information, limiting business hours and other unnecessary
hoops. They claim to address the problem of human trafficking and prostitution.
The fears and concerns I hear from my massage therapy peers could be mitigated
with a criminally....decriminalization of sex work. I recognize that that's a State
issue and we can't do that on the city level, um, but, uh, raiding and closing all of
the sex work establishments will likely increase the requests for sex that LMTs
already must occasionally field. Uh, it's not funny. (laughs) Uh, moreover such
raids will definitely increase sex workers vulnerability while driving traffickers
farther underground. Prostitution, AKA sex work, is not the same as sex
trafficking. Sex work is consenting adults, sex trafficking is rape. Linking the
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two increases the risk for people invol...involved in both. To claim that enough
similarities between massage....massage parlors, sex work establishments, and
the massage therapy profession exist that policy is necessary to tell the difference
is dangerous for massage therapists. While the policy claims to help victims of
sex trafficking, when asked....so at that meeting, um....uh, officials had not
consulted any of the local rape crisis advocacy organizations (unable to
understand) Transformative Healing....are you familiar with all of those? Urn, a
sex trafficking victim may not seek help from police because they would be
perceived as a sex worker and face arrest. Fear of discrimination or deportation
are additional deterrents. Working with the organizations that have the most
direct contact with victims seems a cridi...critical part of advocacy. The Polaris
Project, a non-profit with a stated objective to end human trafficking is the main
source cited by officials. However, the organization has been criticized multiple
times for using false data, including that related to massage parlors. Exxon is
listed as one of Polaris' biggest fundraisers, but Exxon has been tangled in
lawsuits for human trafficking for over a decade. Organizations like Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, World Health Organization, Global Alliance
Against Traffic and Women, and UNAIDS all made statements condemning the
conflation of sex trafficking and sex works. Instead they call for the
decriminalization of consensual sex work, a movement supported by officials in
cities like Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Rhode Island decriminalized sex work
between 2003 to 2009. Statistics from that period show a 40% drop in female
gonorrhea rates statewide. Reported rape offenses dropped by 30%. That's a
third! Uh, in an environment where sex work is decriminalized, workers can state
their services without fear of arrest. This fear leads them to hide under the
massage label. Working indoors they are far less likely to become victims of
violence or become trafficked themselves. Additionally they may be more willing
to provide in formation to law enforcement about suspected trafficking rings. For
the benefits of LMTs, consensual sex workers, and victims of trafficking, I hope
that this ordinance will get scrapped and that the City will re-evaluate its arrest
and prosecution policies for sex workers. And then I'm also curious, um, how
they decide to ask who, like....uh, for their paper, I guess, or their papers or their
registration. Urn....I think that's all that I had to say. Like I said, y'all should
have that in the email and like I said I've done more research so if you need more
resources on this I can get them.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Jamie. The....I want....want to make sure you know this is first
reading. We'll have to do two more readings.
Nevins: Okay. Thank you.
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Throgmorton: So that means two weeks from now there'll be another reading, two weeks after
that another reading.
Nevins: Okay.
Throgmorton: Uh, so people can come speak, try to persuade us one way or the other.
Nevins: Okay. Thank you very much.
Throgmorton: Jorey or Jann, do either of you have an answer to the last question that Jamie just
raised?
Ream: I believe it'll be very similar to, um, how we do our current enforcement with
zoning and nuance. Urn, it will be, um....a community concern about a particular
business, we'll get a complaint, we'll, um, you know, people will see suspicious
activity and they'll notify us and, um, say this just seems a little odd. Urn, that's
how we do our enforcement now. So I think...I see no reason to do it any
differently.
Cole: What about the question of hours? I mean so it's my understanding this just
relates to,um, having to register. Are there any hours components that they(both
talking)
Ream: No, and it's, urn (both talking) I kinda want to make that clear too. We're not
asking them to register with the City. There's....there'll be no database that will
say, you know, these are the....the licensed massage therapy businesses in Iowa
City. This is just a form we're sayin' that they need to have, if we ask for it. It's
not a licensing. It's not a registration. We're putting no, urn, restrictions on hours
or....types, I mean it basically it's....we wanna know who...who is the manager of
the business and who the licensed LMTs are. Urn, probably the...Jorey or....or
Chief Motherly could speak to the fact that, urn, when traditional enforcement has
gone in and....and tried to get some of this information, urn, nobody knows who
the owner is. Nobody knows who the manager is. And, um....you know, it's a...
without you know some concrete information to go on, there's not a whole lot that
they can do. So we....we're not, other cities have taken a much more, urn, you
know, where they're actually requiring licenses and they're restricting hours and
they're doing a lot of different things. We're not doing that. Is that....does that
make sense?
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Cole: Yeah it does, and is this the only profession subject to this requirement? Uh,
the....the licensed massage therapist.
Ream: At this time, yes.
Cole: Okay.
Ream: Though there are exemptions....in that ordinance that you'll see, um, and that
there...they minor the State exemptions. So for instance if you're an LMT who
works in a doctor's office, or a chiropractic office, those are exempt businesses.
From our ordinance.
Fruin: And, Rockne,just to clarify. Um, we do have this model somewhat set up
for...for landlords too. There's a tenant disclosure form that they're required to
have signed and keep on file, and if we come across issues, uh, we can request to
see that, to ensure that they're disclosing that information to their tenants, but
that's a tenant-landlord exchange there where this is a business. A slightly
different but similar model.
Cole: And if they don't provide it you can get a warrant to search?
Ream: Well if they can't provide us with the information, we can placard the business.
And say that you cannot.....you cannot do this business here. You cannot have
people here occupying this space. And then if they continue, then we can get a
warrant, yes. Is that...is that right? Yeah.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Jann? Thank you, Jann. Any further discussion?
Council discussion?
Cole: Well I....you know, I do have some concerns about this. I....every single person
here I know is absolutely against human sex trafficking and victims, and I know
that every single person here wants to do everything in their power to make sure
that we provide adequate resources to protect, um, I'm gonna support it tonight
but I...I gotta tell ya, I hope people will weigh in on this because I think in terms
of forcing people, um, who haven't done anything wrong necessarily to have
mandatory recordkeeping requirements and if they don't show it. I think one of
the aspects I view of personal liberty is you don't have....you don't have to talk to
the police, if you don't want to. Um, I have some concerns about this in terms of
how it's being done. Um, I'm gonna support it tonight but, um, I think in terms of
the enforcement mechanism that if you don't provide this you're gonna have
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essentially a warrant to search the business, urn, there's some concerns I have at
this point. So.....I encourage people to continue to monitor this very closely.
Throgmorton: Got it! Anyone else?
Mims: I mean I....and I guess I kind of agree with what you're saying, Rockne, and I
think this is a problem that does not obviously have a perfect solution, at...by any
(both talking)
Cole: I would agree!
Mims: ...by any stretch of the imagination and....and, um, I'm gonna vote for it tonight.
I still want to do more reading on it. I wanna look a little more at what Jamie has
mentioned tonight as well, but I'm gonna vote for it tonight but I'm....this is one
of these reasons I'm glad we have three votes on these things to give it more
thought too. Cause I have the greatest respect for what our staff does in terms of
their researching and trying to find good solutions, but I...we have the ultimate
decision, so....
Throgmorton: Right. I see another person would like to speak to this topic.
Hall: Good evening, Ryan Hall. Uh, I didn't sign in earlier so I'm gonna do that...
probably another time. Um.....I too have great concern for the sort of targeted
enforcement of this, um, I do...also wanna give energy to, you know, we all do not
want any trafficking, human sex or otherwise to happen in our community. Um, I
just don't see this as an effective or....a.....a very, um, not a very effective
solution to the problem. And the way it's spelled out in the...in, um,the proposal
is, um, those who can afford a home and practice within their home or those who
have a hospital job and are LMTs are....are exempt from this sort of regulation,
which leaves folks who don't have the privilege of having a hospital job or a home
to be under this sort of regulation, and.....having the sort of sex work,which is...
which is what it should be called, not trafficking, um, under the umbrella of illicit,
um,just sort of demonizes the work itself. Um....sex is a work. It is labor. It is
some act that people perform in order to make a living and oftentimes people are
pushed to margins where they need to do things like perform sex acts in order to
put a roof over their head and food on the table. And I think mostly everyone in
this room has the privilege of working within the regulated market and not having
to resort to such acts, and I think we need to be rea....incredibly cognizant of that
moving forward. I think this regulation would disproportionately fall on women
of color, on poor folks, on those who are pushed to the margins, and I....and if we
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are really going to be intentional about contact with police, this is going to
disproportionately increase contact with police with people of color. So these are
my initial concerns. Urn, and I don't want the City to move in a direction that
continues to criminalize sex work and to....to demonize and feel like those
who...who are....who....who need to perform these acts in order to make a living,
to...to make them feel lesser, or that they need to be policed more than their
counterparts. Um....I think....and having the basis of the regulation founded on
Polaris, which is a seemingly corrupt institution where they take money from
hotels and Exxon Mobile and Chase Bank and it....that just screams red flags to
me. Um....espec....especially when you have conflicting data from Amnesty
International and the other human rights groups that are saying otherwise. Um, so
I think it's incredibly mindful to, you know, consider the source and to consider
how this would end up being enforced, which would not go against our
comprehensive plan, would not go against our ethic, and um, I would really
encourage y'all to not support this. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ryan.
Brush: Am I supposed to sign in?
Throgmorton: Yes please, and state your name please.
Brush: Eric Brush. Sorry, Eric Brush. I'm a massage therapist here in Iowa City. I have
been since 2001. I gotta tell ya, I went to one of the meetings and I came here
tonight loaded(mumbled)make you guys not adopt this proposal. But I had a
chance to talk with some wonderful City employees outside and..the way they
explained it to me makes a tremendous amount of sense. I'm like you, Mr. Cole.
You come to me and you ask me questions, yeah, I don't need to talk to ya. But
this isn't about the individual. This is about the business. I mean you're talkin'
about commerce. Governments have the right to regulate the commerce. So what
they're proposing in this propos....and I, I stipulated at the meeting, I don't like
what you guys are gonna be putting out here. I'm no longer a massage therapist.
I'm gonna move on to something else that I don't have to pay to work in this
state, cause you carry a license, you have to pay to work in this state, and some of
these communities are making you pay to work in their city. I wasn't gonna stand
for that, but that isn't included in this particular proposal. This proposal, as it was
explained to me, it was designed to give law enforcement an extra tool to go and
help those that are in need and to stamp out the illicit side of massage. I don't like
being targeted. I don't like being in the crosshairs, which is exactly how I feel.
But I'm all about giving the police the extra help that they need in order to be able
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to do their job, even if that means that I've gotta have an extra burden. Now I
work out of my home. And I've filled out the home occupancy permit,which
then basically registers me with the City and if there's a complaint, there's a
permit that's on file. The City knows me. The City even knows that the permit is
there. They can look it up. They can check that I still have a license with the
State. That's all on the State database. This isn't exempting me from this type of,
uh, scrutiny. If there's a complaint, the City's going to...even though I'm
registered and have my permit,the City's still gonna take a look at it, and if
there's more than one complaint,they're gonna show up at my house. And
they're gonna want to see. There are some exempted things in this ordinance, but
this isn't a matter of whether or not you work in the hospital or a doctor's office.
This is the or....even in the house,because I could easily run a brothel out of my
home,just as easily as I could do it in a commercial location. In fact it'd probably
be a lot easier for me to do it out of my home cause the bedrooms already exist.
This allows,this ordinance allows the City to....try to find those that are in need
and do it in a way that it doesn't really affect those of us that are doing it legally,
other than do you have this paperwork? No I don't. I didn't know I needed it.
All right. Here's where you need to go, fill out the paperwork,we'll be back in
24 to 48 hours to check. You got the paperwork? No,no I don't. There goes the
placard. This isn't a gestapo tactic from what I'm seeing, and like I said, I was
ready to convince you guys not to do this. But the ways that....the way that it's
been explained to me outside, I'm all for this. I think you guys should really
consider moving forward and...and approving this.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Eric! Is there anyone else who would like to address this? Okay. We
were engaged in Council discussion. Anybody else want to say anything? Okay,
if not, roll call please. Motion carries. Could I have a motion to accept
correspondence please?
Taylor: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Taylor, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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Item 13. City Council Information
Throgmorton: Susan, could we start with you please and go to your left?
Mims: Sure. Urn, it was mentioned earlier tonight that, uh,Tracey Achenbach is leaving,
uh, Johnson County Housing Trust Fund. There is a good-bye reception for her
tomorrow at 4:30 at Midwest One Bank at....500 S. Clinton. Midwest One's new
bank. Not the one right downtown,but the....I think it's 500 S. Clinton or
something like that. Urn, so that's tomorrow! And....that's it. It's gettin' late!
Throgmorton: (mumbled) (several talking in background) ....met with my wife.
Thomas: I have a couple of,uh,under pending work session topics, a couple of items.
(clears throat) Uh, one important....both important,but different levels of
importance I guess you might say. Uh,the first is....relates to the,uh, Emerald
Ash Borer. Uh,we have, as I think some of you know, not all of us,uh, the
Emerald Ash Borer is here, is,um....you know, it's affected us, some ash trees in
downtown were infected and had to be removed. Uh, trees are....are being
removed. There's a contract to remove, uh, dozens of ash trees in Iowa City and
it came to my attention that,um, you know, currently our policy is not to use
chemical treatments, uh,but to wait until we see signs of decline before we
remove the tree. Uh, and what I've learned in the last week is that,um, it appears
or at least there's evidence that science on chemical treatment, uh, has....
advanced to the point where chemical treatment,uh,may actually be an option,
uh, both in terms of effic....its effectiveness and also the cost of...of doing the
application. And so what I would like Council to consider,uh, would be
scheduling as soon as we can because this is kind of a dynamic situation,uh, a
work session where we, um, discuss this. I've talked with Geoff,uh, Geoff is
looking into with staff the, you know, this information relating to the, uh,
effectiveness and viability of the chemical treatment and how that may or may not
affect our procedures as we address this issue, which,you know, we....we did
review this, uh, what, a couple years ago, uh, I don't think at that time we had a,
at least I didn't have an understanding of the scale, uh, or the scope of the number
of ash trees that we have in Iowa City and the impact of what would eventually
mean the, you know,the loss of all ash trees. Uh, so I think it's....it's certainly
worthwhile to look at whether this chemical treatment, which is a trunk injection,
may....may provide a....an alternative, um, so we can at least choose and elect
whether certain trees, uh, should, you know, should be treated and,uh, survive as
a result of that treatment.
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Mims: Yeah, I'm willing to (several responding) Save 'em, great! Certainly before it
didn't sound like cost or efficacy was there to make it worth it so (both talking)
Thomas: ...certain trees that are....are lined with ash trees, so if we lose them all (both
talking)
Throgmorton: I noticed Davenport Street's gonna get hammered. Yeah.
Thomas: So....so there's that. So that's a major deal. Um, and then I also heard from the,
uh, Project Green. You know they've having their 50th anniversary,uh, and they
asked if, uh, Council would consider, uh....nominating or....or.....choosing the
Black-Eyed Susan, uh, Rudbeckia species, as the official flower of Iowa City.
Mims: Sure! Why not?
Thomas: So I...(laughter) I don't know what the (several talking and laughing) I don't
know. I'm sort of(several talking and laughing) inclined to, you know, select
Columbine myself(laughter) but anyway, I....I told, uh, Jen Wagner's one of my
neighbors who floated this idea with me, that I would bring it forth and, um, see
what y'all thought.
Cole: Don't we need a work session on that? This is (both talking) Yeah, okay.
Thomas: I had said that one was, you know, the UAB is a major deal. This is, you know,
kind of a fun thing, if we wish to consider it.
Mims: Yeah. Who's gonna get irritated by it (laughs)
Thomas: Black-Eyed Susan is a, um,you know....for what it's worth, when I first came to
the midwest from California, Black-Eyed Susans did jump out at me, you know,
as a....kind of a character defining flower in the midwest, and then you also have
the color aspect of it as it pertains to the Hawkeye State, so you know (several
talking)tie in. Um, so anyway I thought I would....I told her I would, Jen, I
would bring this forth and see where it goes.
Cole: I would support a work session, but less than 10 minutes.
Mims: Less than five (laughs)
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Throgmorton: Yeah, the only thing I'd be curious about is whether there might be somebody out
there, uh, who has good reason to suggest a different flower(laughter) if we
choose to go in this direction, uh, I....I'm a fan of flowers. Black-Eyed Susans
are beautiful. I have no objection to it, but you know....
Thomas: Yeah!
Cole: Hence the....it could be controversial after all!
Thomas: You know I....I think (laughter) what would...if we....if we give the go-ahead,
this would be an opportunity for Project Green to jump in and campaign, you
know, develop some effort behind it to indeed verify that (several talking)
Throgmorton: Maybe they could be asked,uh, to explain why they recommend that flower
rather than (both talking) any other flower.
Thomas: The proof will be in the process (mumbled)
Throgmorton: Yeah. All right. Is that it, John?
Thomas: That's it!
Throgmorton: Rockne?
Cole: I have a few, um, events to announce. Um, first of all, I have no idea what
Comic-Con is but I do know that the Library, the Iowa City Public Library,
August 11th, 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. is going to have their first ever, uh, Lib-Con
at the Iowa City Public Library, and so I know that some people are really into
that particular thing. Um, so I really encourage them to check it out. The Library
has been doing a lot of incredible things—in STEAM, in other areas you wouldn't
necessarily associate with the Library, and every event that they've done has been
really fabulous. So I encourage people to check that out. Um, I wanna remind
people about Midwest One is doing their, uh, Rock the Chalk. That returns
Friday, August 10th, 2018. It begins at 10:00 A.M. Check out Midwest One for
that. I think that sounds like a fantastic, late summer event. Um, everyone on this
Council loves our Iowa City parks. I wanna remind a few people about some, uh,
events in some of our various parks. Wednesday, August 8th, 2018, from 5:00 to
7:00 P.M., uh, there's a Kid's Day with Public Safety at Upper City Park.
Um,and I guess you get a free donut and beverage while they meet with law
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enforcement. So it sounds like a terrific opportunity. Maybe John would like
(both talking)
Throgmorton: ...train to be law enforcement people.
Cole: Maybe! Could be, and maybe John would like to go to that one. Um, the other,
uh, we continue to have parties in the park and I haven't been to one yet this year,
so maybe I should go to this one. Uh, the next one is at Reno Park, and Reno, I
have to say, that's one of my favorite parks. I love Reno Park. I think that's one
of the most beautiful ones. Um, and that takes place Thursday, August 9`", 2018,
uh, from 6:30 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Uh, so I think that should be a real fun event,
and I encourage people to check out our Iowa City, uh, our community garden in
Reno Park. That seems to have been very successful. Urn, one of the things we
have not talked a lot about is what a terrific job our Parks/Rec staff has done in
really accelerating our garden, our community garden progress. We really added
a lot of community gardens and I think our staff...and it's not easy to do, and our
staff has done a terrific job. Um, finally, I want to confirm that I did survive
RAGBRAI. I did two days, from Ames to Newton, and Newton to Sigourney.
All of you out there if you ever have the oppor....do RAGBRAI. It is so much
fun. It is great exercise. You meet people from throughout the world, and it's
people of all ages. One thing I did not know, the median age in RAGBRAI is 55
years old. So I was actually one of the younger ones, although you do see some 8
and 9-year-olds. Um, you do need to train. Uh, I did probably, you know, five to
seven times of 20 miles or more. Uh, if you do the whole thing you need to do a
lot more than that, so....but I didn't need the sag, which I was very proud of
myself and I survived. So, and I also want to remind people what an awesome
state we live in. Just to see all our beautiful small towns, it's...it's a real
opportunity, and of course our staff did a wonderful job once it went into Iowa
City,but I was not here because I had to be in another location.
Throgmorton: Our staff and volunteers did a superb job and I really want to praise Geoff for the
stac...staff chat letter and....I can't remember if it was a press release also that you
wrote to our staff. Yeah, it was a really terrific piece, Geoff,thanks for doin' it,
and....but I also want to note. Your bragging a lot. I must brag that I rode two
miles (laughter) on RAGBRAI, from McCollister Boulevard to downtown.
(several talking in background) Yeah.
Cole: I did 140, so....(laughter)
Throgmorton: All right! Maz?
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Salih: Uh, no I don't have any.
Throgmorton: Okay! (several talking) Incidentally, welcome back! (several talking and
laughing) Pauline?
Taylor: Uh, I was gonna comment on RAGBRAI also. I, uh, spent some time out at Terry
Trueblood, watching all the bikers come in, and I was lookin' for you guys, uh,
and don't wanna steal your thunder, but it seemed like a wonderful event. Met
some wonderful people. This young couple stopped on the side of the road to
take their picture by the welcome to Iowa City sign and they....they were taking
pictures so I offered to take their group picture, and they said that their daughter
was a student here on a....a soccer scholarship and so they were stopping in Iowa
City, that was the end, but they had done the entire rest of it. Never done
RAGBRAI before. They love the state. They were from Michigan, and it was
just really great to see those kinds of people, and then I thought the Friday night
event went really well. People seemed to be behaving themselves, uh, and thank
you to all the volunteers. There were umpteen-hundred volunteers all around with
their blue shirts on and it was just a really great event and I think we really
showcased Iowa City, uh, in a great way, cause people loved it,uh,people from
outside that hadn't been to Iowa City before, so that was good, that was good to
see. Uh, and on those lines and, uh, Friday Night Concert was actually on
Saturday night, which was my favorite group (mumbled) but that was fun, and uh,
went to my first movie on the Pentacrest, Saturday Night Movie on the Pentacrest.
That's also fun. So there's lot of fun, great things to do in Iowa City in the
summer, and uh, still out there to do. Uh, also went to the Prairie Hill open house.
I think, uh, Jim was there and John, and congratulations to them. It's a wonderful,
beautiful,uh, development. The different homes, kind of was close to missing
middle as we can get so far, and uh, the folks that are living in there already seem
happy and it's beautiful and, uh, I....I encourage people to still go out there and
take a look. So, uh, that was good. Um.....let's see here. That's....that's about
it!
Throgmorton: Good deal. I'll only mention a couple or three things. Uh, with regard to
RAGBRAI, I had the pleasure of sharing a beer with a city council woman from
Homer, Alaska. (several talking) Yeah, I did connect with her, and I talked with
her and her husband, uh, Wayne, and....we had a great time, and she was....she
loved bein' on RAGBRAI. He did too, and they just had nothin' but good to say
about Iowa City and, uh.....the way we rolled things out for them. So it was
really fun to do that. Also I wanna let you know that, uh, several days ago,
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John....John, Simon, and I had a really fruitful discussion with Kelly Heyworth
and Tom Gill from Coralville about the proposed widening of I-380. You might
remember,uh, I invited, we invited, uh, various people, yeah the leaders from the
County and our adjacent cities and other small towns, uh, to discuss the draft
letter that I had written, uh, and....for one reason or another all of the other people
could not come,but we did meet with Kelly and Tom, and that I thought was a
very fruitful and interesting discussion, and it seemed to me we had a lot more in
common than one might just kind of think off....off the top of one's head. So I
was very pleased with that. I've asked Geoff to, uh,read through the revised draft
of the letter. I....I tinkered with it some to account for the conversation with Tom
and....and, uh, Kelly, uh, and.....so I don't know if you've had a chance (both
talking)
Fruin: Yeah, both Kent and I looked at it. We're....we're fine with it.
Throgmorton: Yeah. Okay. Well we can take care of that tomorrow morning I guess then.
So...just wanted to let you know where things stand on that. Also want to
congratulate LaTasha DeLoach on her appointment as Director of the...of the
Senior Center. Yeah, so....you're not here, LaTasha. Maybe you're on...watchin'
on TV but, you know, welcome aboard! And beyond that I'm just gonna stop.
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Item 14. Report on Items From City Staff
a) City Manager
Throgmorton: Geoff?
Froin: I think I'll pass. Thanks.
Monroe: I have one thing.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Monroe: Uh, we had a really successful, uh, Chip-In event yesterday evening here at City
Hall. Uh, invitation for some priority setting as we approach budget season, and
uh, so we had a really fabulous turnout, uh, we really appreciate the people who
participated in person and the online, uh, response so far to our news items has
been quite overwhelming. So, urn, we'll be summarizing and providing you
feedback from the public at the next meeting!
Cole: Approximately how many?
Monroe: Uh, the public turnout or the online turnout?
Cole: Public turnout.
Monroe: Uh, public turnout was about 50.
Cole: Oh (both talking)
Monroe: ...so we filled this room. (several talking in background) and there....there were
lots of comments and really good engagement between staff and,uh, the public
with lots of questions, and um, as of this afternoon we were upwards of 300
survey responses. Um, so (laughs) we've got a lot of information for you!
Throgmorton: (several talking)
Monroe: Yeah, the survey's open for another week, so we'll see what kind of work I have
cut out for me. (laughter)
Throgmorton: I'm lookin' forward to viewing the video that, uh, is now available of....
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Monroe: Yes, so...the presentation that we made last night, uh, providing some guidance as
the budget basics, uh, is available for people. So it's about...um, maybe 15
minutes.
Cole: That's great!
Mims: And after the presentation, people could put their chips in the jars and they stayed
around for another good half hour to 45 minutes, visiting with each other and the
staff members. It was...it was a really, yeah, it was a really good event. It was
packed in here.
Cole: I was worried that you wouldn't get a good turnout, cause it's August 6th, you
know, but I was glad that you did!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of August 7, 2018.