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1. Call to Order
Throgmorton: (bangs gavel) I'd like to call to order the regular formal meeting of the Iowa City
City Council for July the 2nd, 2019. Roll call please. Uh, people who are
watching surely notice that Mazahir Salih is not here again tonight. She's still in
Sudan. Has not been able to get a flight back from Sudan yet. So hopefully at
some point she will be able to make it back! (laughs) Uh.... but we don't really
know. We've had fitful conversations with her. I mean fitful communications
with her over the distance.... but we certainly hope that she is well. All right, so
greetings to everyone. Thanks for coming. It's been a pretty brutally hot and
humid day, a good day to be discussing climate change, which we did in our work
session just a few minutes ago, but now we need to move on to other things.
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8. Community Comment (items not on the agenda)
Tbrogmorton: This is for any item that's not on the formal meeting agenda. So if anyone would
like to address any topic not on the formal meeting agenda, please feel free to
come up and speak. I'd like to ask ya to keep your comments brief. I .... it looks
like not many people are here so ..... not more than five minutes at the most,
preferably less. Hello! Please state your name.
Hewin: Uh, my name's Ann. Uh, I've (both talking)
Throgmorton: Ann, full name (both talking)
Hewin: Ann Hewin.
Throgmorton: Thank you.
Hewin: I've reviewed agenda Item 9.b. regarding zoning at the northwest corner of
Benton Street and Orchard Street, which (both talking)
Throgmorton: Ann, excuse me, if...if you're gonna address an item that's on the agenda (both
talking)
Hewin: ....informed, uh, general observation, so I'd like to make a statement on. Is that
all right?
Throgmorton: But not about that specific topic?
Hewin: No.
Tbrogmorton: Sure.
Hewin: Thank you. Uh, the condensing of residential areas can be beneficial to the
mission of mitigating and slowing the progression of the current climate crisis,
which is several ... with several exceptions. (mumbled) standards should be
adopted regarding the energy efficiency of newly developed and existing
structures, in both multi -family residential buildings, as well as single-family
homes. This is due to the typical energy loss of residential homes in the city,
which increases overall greenhouse gas emissions in the area, and therefore
contributes to the current climate crisis. In addition, construction of more
impermeable pavement should be considered regarding increased run-off it causes
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during the inevitable storms that will continue to increase in magnitude during the
current climate crisis. Mitigation of impermeable surfaces is expected by the
residents of Iowa City and if there's construction is necessary further permeable
surfaces requirement should be made by both the Zoning Commission and City
Council, in order to mitigate flood risks. This .... these include larger green
spaces, planting of native plants with deep root systems that encourage infiltration
and reduce soil run-off, and the installation of water catchment systems. I
encourage the Council to consider the environment ra .... environmental ramifica-
tions of all decisions made by this body, particularly in the context of the current
climate crisis. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ann, and thanks for taking the time to come up and share your views
about that. Hi, Megan!
Alter: Hello! (mumbled) Hello, my name is Megan Alter and I live in the South District
and, uh, I have a brief PowerPoint that is to give you some feedback on a survey
that I conducted not long after Lucky's announced its closing. Um, I did it very
informally. Not scientifically. It was done through Survey Monkey and, um, and
social media, essentially. So, um, I want to share with you an amalgamation of
the results. Hopefully.... there we go! Um.....and this can just give you some ... a
sense of input of what the community, uh, responded to. Unfortunately this was
not translated, so this is only English reading and writers. Um, so .... take it for
what it is, but I do think it gives a snapshot as to what the community is thinking.
So .... it was a very simple question, uh, what should go in Lucky's space? What
do you think would be the best use for Lucky's space for the South District and
for Iowa City? There were slightly more than what I said, uh, what's listed here —
231 answered, um, although that's (mumbled) close enough. So, as .... a visual,
and I will get the specifics, as a visual, this purple line here is actually a one-stop
shop like Target. Um, others that were referenced as decent choices were grocery
store, um, an anchor store, as well as ... I wanna say restaurants. So, here is
actually a little bit more easy way to see this. Um, groceries, 12%; anchor store,
close to 5%; uh, indoor.... affordable indoor recreation space, 3%; uh, other,
which I'll get to, was 5, almost 6%; but as you can see, one-stop shopping like
Target was 67%. So there was a pretty clear, uh, selection here. So in a nutshell,
several of the questions are condensed here. So who responded? What were the
percentages of, um.....the spread across the city, who lives in the South District
versus who responded from outside of it; how useful would this service or
business be and how often would it be frequented? 231 people responded, 69%
live in the South District, 154; 67 who responded lived in Iowa City; a lot were on
the east side. 67% responded that the new service or business would be extremely
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useful, that was 146. And then 77% responded that they would frequent their
selection at least once a week. Um, and I felt that that's an important thing to
include because while somebody can say, yeah, that's my first choice but I'm
gonna go there twice (mumbled) you know, it's not gonna matter. So this is
something that they really did believe, um, they would frequent. So that's kinda
just the nutshell of the statistics, and I'm gonna actually send this all to Council,
the pdf from which this all came so you can peruse it at your leisure. Um, but
other suggestions for improvements to the Iowa City Market Place and its retail
neighborhood, and I've taken a selection that are representative, um, someone
says, 'Let's bring in something that provides jobs and services that the
neighborhood will use; um, 'Improve the parking lot, make it pedestrian -friendly
to get there.' That was a pretty significant cluster of comments about the
difficulty of accessing it, unless you were in a car, and also the state of the parking
lot itself It really is this great big ocean that is difficult for pedestrians, bicyclists,
and even people on the bus line. Um, there aren't that many stops, and um, so that
was something that came up again. Or several times. Um .... someone said,
'Rightfully so! I hate having to drive to Coralville for socks.' With the closing of
Paul's, as well as Kmart, there really is nothing in that area. You do have to travel
all the way down to Walmart, or go out to Coralville to do that, and it would be
very nice, a couple of comments, noted that it would be very nice to have an
alternative to Walmart. Um .... someone suggested for betterment of the Iowa City
Market Place in general a sign easily seen from Highway 6 displaying the movies
that are being shown, as well as the stores that are there. Um, and then ... will note
this last one, 'More pedestrian, bicycle, and bus friendly. Now that even the inside
is chopped up, we never stroll around inside and outside is too ugly and
unfriendly to pedestrians to do that either. So provide a covered outdoor seating
area and a through -way inside from one end to the other.' And that too was
something that came up that actually the flow of the mall itself is .... not very user-
friendly. You really are going there for a particular destination, rather than sort of
being able to visit multiple stores. It's difficult to access. So additional
suggestions, to wrap up, are actually, um, these were more outliers, but I thought
that they were interesting. Renovate Eastdale Plaza; uh, create affordable
attractions for teens; um, a couple of people suggested annexes for the Public
Library and the Senior Center; someone suggested something like a Home Depot.
Yes, Ace Hardware is there but something where you could get like 2X4 or, you
know, drywall, things like that. This is before Harbor Freight moved in, so I'm
not sure how that would affect anything. Um, in general, encourage the Iowa City
Market Place to modernize, renovate the theater, create a food court, attract an
anchor store. So really bring it back to a traditional mall, if you will. Um, and
then someone else made a suggestion and I do concur with this that help
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pedestrians who are trying to cross Highway 6. They suggested a walking bridge.
That might not be feasible, but something that actually helps pedestrians. It's a
pretty outlet and yet south of Sycamore is a big residential area and so there are a
number of people who are crossing the highway all the time.
Throgmorton: Great. Thank you, Megan.
Alter: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Good evening.
Ashman: Good evening. My name is Jan Ashman, and I'm here on behalf of the Johnson
County Humane Society to try to figure out where we are on, um, our feline trap,
neuter, and return proposal that we, um, think we gave it to you last year in July.
Urn .... we're here to answer questions. Uh, Chris Whitmore is here and so is
Laurie Kendrick, and she's right behind me and she's got somethin' to say!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Jan.
Kendrick: Not really! (laughter) I was just gonna ask what your, Council's direction on that
is or....
Throgmorton: Yeah, we did not have a chance to talk about it during the work session, as you
know. We're gonna do that.... that'll be the first item when we get .... when we,
um, adjourn this formal meeting and go back into our work session. I think it'll be
a very short formal meeting, so we should get to that pretty quickly. Hi there.
Kazembe: Hi, my name is Aisha Kazembe and I would like to make a comment on Item 9.a.
and how it relates to the current climate crisis and some possible equity issues.
Throgmorton: But you mean generally, not specifically, right?
Kazembe: Yeah.
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Kazembe: Um, so as mentioned in today's agenda item write-up, Iowa City currently has a
sepra .... separation distance between fuel pump dispensers in residential zones set
at 100 feet. Um, the fire code only requires a 10 -foot separation distance, but
many cities choose to use a larger limit for the general welfare of residents. Iowa
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City does have a relatively high separation distance, but this is a good thing
because gas stations and pumps are known for emitting a variety of toxic fumes
that are linked to health hazards such as cancer and asthma. Some of these
substances include benzene, as well as other emissions that are released from cars
driving in and out of the station. Not only are there adverse health effects
associated with consistent exposure to fumes common in gas stations, but this also
brings up an equity issue. Many of the Iowa City residents who will be exposed
to the health risks associated will be those who live in mixed-use areas. Residents
who live in areas with this type of land use may be more likely to be (mumbled)
income. This means that there's already an equity issue concerning the
accessibility of healthcare, which may only be exacerbated to exposure of toxic
fumes. Finally, lowering the separation limit between residential zones and fuel
dispensing equipment makes it easier to set locations for new gas stations and
encourages the use of fuel. Considering our current climate crisis as a city, I think
we should be working towards discouraging the use of fuels that are contributing
to climate change whenever possible. For the well-being of Iowa City residents
and the environment, I think it's a good idea to keep the current separation
distance at 100 feet.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Aisha.
Kazembe: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Blair, you're up! Please state your name, Blair.
Frank: My name is Blair Frank. I live at, uh, in Iowa City. I'm not addressing.... I'm not
intending to address any of the specifics, but I am, uh, fresh from hearing the
work session and so I have a few comments to make, because I've been very
concerned about climate action and climate emergency, and I've worked for a few
years on food security, um, edible foods grown in urban areas. Um, also, uh, very
interested in teaching children about, uh, climate change, about growing, uh, and
harvesting food, bio -mass, which is not known for, uh, being present in urban
areas, but, uh, bringing a lot of that, with permaculture yards all over the place.
Um, and just think in a climate change local food, uh, creates jobs, as well as
nourishment and you .... you may remember me, I'm the senior that had Gaia's
Peace Garden and for nine years I had that project and we had 70 fruit trees, and
uh, medicinal herbs in the, uh, understorage, and uh, that area. When I found out
that the cherry tree was listed for removal, it....it really frustrated me. It hurt me
deeply, because my wife and some of us were part of planting that place. I think
the big thing that .... that really hurt was that we weren't included on the
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discussion, here's a stake, says food removal. So I go over and have a discussion
at the, uh, Rec Center. Well how is a decision like that made? And somebody
said well it is on our property. And I thought, well, wait a minute, I'm, uh, a
citizen of Iowa City. What do you mean? Our property, and .... um, that still is....
a .... a comment that I'm still trying to figure out. The second thing was that I
said, well was it the Park and Ree decision, and they said no, it's an engineering
decision, and I said, well, then who makes that, uh, the engineering decision?
Well I've heard the comments that we've made about climate emergency, and I
know my five minutes'll be up in a hurry, but one of the things that I hear a lot
about is we're, uh, about empowering or communicating an 85 -page plan, which I
affirm you for and am happy for all the work in that 85 -page plan, but is there...
what is the plan, and maybe that's coming next, um, that communicates that to
everybody. When I went to the Farmers Market one morning, I had four
questions and I asked people how many .... one of the first questions was, uh, how
many of you know that we have an 85 -page Iowa City climate action plan, and I
asked a lot of the vendors. It's not a scientific study, but most of'em didn't know
that we had our 85 -page plan, and then some of 'em had not read it, of course.
One of my two suggestions, and then I'll sit down, is that in a lot of different
cities, and I've traveled to Scotland a number of times, Ireland. I just got back
from the rain forest in Vancouver. One of the things I hear over and over again is
that people in other countries are saying people in the United States are counting
carbon, and they're, uh, trying to figure out percentage -wise, and .... and I'm
affirming the graphs and everything, but there's gotta be another, uh, another, uh,
aspect of that, of addressing climate change, other than the technical, and that is
the communication. In Ann Arbor, in Austin, in Portland, in other places they
have a thing called 'conscious cafes' and I wrote this in a letter to the City Council
and said it a couple weeks ago. But one of my suggestions is that we talk, um,
more, uh, on a horizontal level about this 85 -page plan. So one of my suggestions
is to implement, uh, regular discussions, places where people meet, um, regularly,
at coffee shops maybe, and have the subject be the 85 -page climate action plan,
perhaps. Um, I didn't suggest that we hire somebody else. Um, I'm saying we
empower the people that live here, because I think there's a lot of gifts and talents
that are not bein' tapped into. I know a number of people that .... that studied this
and went to Scotland and I've been told by a very gifted person in this community
that this is one of the bibles for climate action and, uh, it's great! It's great! I love
it, and it's good to know, but we also need to .... to allow the children to be a part
of this whole process by protecting things, and I know I'm gettin' a little (sighs)
I'm just so hurt. I .... I just really felt so, uh, left out when we decided to cut down
a cherry tree. These the cherries, that's my prop. (sighs) Thanks for listening to
me. I affirm you all for what you're doin'. I affirm all of these people for what
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they're doin', because the day that we really do good is when we empower each
other and that's (both talking)
Throgmorton: Thank you, Blair. Thanks for comin' down tonight! Anyone else? Hello.
Norbeck: Good evening! Martha Norbeck. (mumbled) I think my address is on record.
(laughs) So I wanted to speak to a letter I wrote to Council, which ties into your
conversation earlier this evening at the .... at the work session. Um, you know we
have the technology to get to that 2030 goal of 45% reduction. Brenda laid it out
pretty clearly, and in the takeaway I had was her .... her final thing was we need to
strengthen partnerships, and the City's really not empowered to do that directly. It
needs to happen through relationships. Ura .... and so the letter I wrote to the
Council was suggesting that a person be, um, assigned the responsibility of being
kind of the hub of those partnerships. And the closing of that letter said I'm not
sure if this is a City staff position. Could the City be funding it? Probably that's
logical, because then there's a stake and a natural link in communication with the
City, but ... you know, I'm thinkin', Susan, one of the things you said was, you
know, you need to make it easy, and then Pauline said you gotta educate people.
Well, this is about people actually giving a hoot, right? The reason peop.... you
know, Ashley's saying well people aren't telling us they care about climate. Well
yeah, we're not telling you that! But we care! We're just not coming and telling
you. So there's.... there's this level of community engagement which if we were
running a political campaign, if climate change (laughs) if climate change were
running for president, we'd be canvassing door-to-door! I mean this is political
action at its best. If you want to pass a bond issue, you're not just gonna hope
people show up and say 'please tax us more.' No! You need to, the City goes out
and has a calculated campaign for going out and generating some belief in the
community that you should pass said bond issue. Um, this is the bond issue, uh,
magnified dramatically, because you don't just want people to agree to whatever
incentives or taxes or whatever fee structure you get to do things. We also need
people to change what they're doing, and it's not just the easy stuff. It's gonna
have to become the hard stuff. And let's face it, people do hard stuff all the time.
People choose to do ridiculously hard things, all the time in their lives. Why do
they do that? Because they believe in something. And right now we're not
fostering a belief in the importance of acting on climate change, and I am not sure
that full-time City staff person is the right person to basically do a political action
campaign. Do I think the City should be funding that, and supporting that, and
having a direct tie with staff? Yes! But one of the things that happened when I
was on Council in Fairfield was we actually hired a sustainability coordinator that
was funded from multiple sources, and so he was actually able to play those
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funding sources off of each other and leverage that in his work with the
community, because he was like saying I'm not just speaking for the city of
Fairfield. I'm also speaking for ISU Extension Service. I'm also speaking for this
company that kicked in a few thousand dollars, and so suddenly he was
empowered to speak on a broader scale, and so I'm asking you to think about this
problem differently. Don't approach it like, oh, we just need to allocate money to
hire another person. We need to change the way we think about moving forward,
because if we keep doing what we've been doing, just a little bit better, let's face it
(laughs) get there. We need to .... we need to be creative. And I think it's time to
think about what that creative outlet would be. So thank you!
Throgmorton: Thank you, Martha! Would anybody else like to address us? Okay, I'm not seeing
anyone else so .... we'll move on.....to Item 9, Planning and Zoning Matters.
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9. Planning and Zoning Matters
9.a. Zoning code text amendment related to separation distance requirement
for fuel dispensing equipment - Ordinance amending Title 14, Zoning Code,
to modify the provisional and special exception approval criteria regarding
the distance separation between fuel dispensing equipment and residential
zones for quick vehicle services uses. (ZCA19-01)
1. Public hearing
Throgmorton: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Hi, Danielle.
Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor and Council. Danielle Sitzman, Neighborhood and
Development Services. Uh, the first agenda item for you tonight is the zoning
code text change, uh, addressing the separation distances of, uh, quick service
vehicle station, uh, fuel dispensing devices. Uh, this was, uh, brought to our
attention recently when, uh, a ... the owner of a Kum n' Go, uh, proposed to invest
in a redevelopment of that site to continue it as a gas station with a different, uh,
orientation of their pumps to facilitate a better site design. Um, and in reviewing
their application, uh, the determination was made that they would have difficulty
making any renovation, uh, at .... to meet our current code for the separation
distances. Um, such a proposal would require either provisional administrative
approval or a special exception approval process through the Board of
Adjustment, using, uh, very similar criteria and that separation distance was
identified as something that would be, uh, a .... uh, difficulty to facilitate that.
Many of you are probably familiar with this gas station. It's one of the few places
you can purchase, uh, fuel for your vehicle as well as, uh, have a convenience
store option for, uh, other sundries you might need. It's located in a neighborhood
off of Mormon Trek. The proposal is essentially to rotate the gas pumps. There
are three pumps on site. Rotate them 90 -degrees so that they're oriented, uh,
perpendicular to Mormon Trek rather than parallel. Um, some additional views of
the site showing the, um, surrounding neighborhood. Um, the current
requirement, uh, does require, uh, at least 100 -foot separation, um, in this
particular situation. There are other situations in other zoning districts where that
can be reduced down to 70 -feet for a residential boundary. Um, staff is proposing
that distance be amended for either case down to 50 -feet, rather than the 100 -foot
separation. Um, in .... and there's also some things that will not be changing. Uh,
there's some, uh, provisions in the code that allow for kind of special
consideration of. ... of proposals when they can't meet that separation distance at
all. Um, but we're not proposing to make amendments to that. So in ... in
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considering this change, staff went through the usual process of trying to figure
out why we have a .... a rule in the first place. Um, we were unable to identify the
origin of this particular, um, distance. Um, it's similar in nature to another
separation distance that applies to above -ground storage tanks, large storage tanks
for fuel. However, uh.... gasoline is pumped from underground storage tanks
through dispensing equipment (mumbled) different than that kind of arrangement.
So we were unable to locate the exact, uh, origin of that separation in our code.
So then we looked up beyond ourselves to see what nationally is done and what
our peer cities in Iowa, uh, do to regulate, um, these, uh, uses. Um, we discovered
in our peer cities a wide range of distances and, uh, not a whole lot of reasoning
behind them. What we can find is on the books and so the actual distances that
are measured in between pumping, um, and .... and residential zones. So there's a
wide range, anything down to, um, 10 -feet, which corresponds to the International
Fire Code standard, and up to 50 -feet, uh, in the West Des Moines area, and a
range of things in the 20 to 15, 25 -foot separation. Um, we did consult with our
Fire Department since we were aware of what the International Fire Code said as
far as the minimum requirement. Um, that, like I said that was 10 -feet, uh,
separation distance between fuel dispensing equipment and a residential boundary
zone. Um, they concurred that, um, the proposed, uh, reduction in distance would
not be in conflict with that, therefore they, uh, had no, uh.... uh, opposition to the
proposed changes, but also look at other, uh, all the existing gas stations, or many
of the existing gas stations in town, to kind of get a read on, um, whether they
were complying with the current ordinances or how many situations maybe where
that might be non -conforming with that, with the existing 100 -foot separation. In
general most stations are .... are located well away from the pumping, uh, dispen...
the fuel dispensing is located well away from residential zones. We think that's
actually a element of the marketability of a fueling station, wanting to have a
prominent visibility in picking sites that are larger anyway. Um, we did,
uh.... excuse me, so the way our code is set up is based on, the approval process,
is based on, um, which zone you are in and then what process you go through is
either ask for that special exception with the Board of Adjustment or a PR
meeting provisional. So there's a wide range of commercial districts that could
allow quick vehicle servicing uses and (mumbled) fuel dispensing equipment, and
a different approval process depending on the intensity of the commercial district
itself. We did look at the property zoned appropriately now to be allowed to have
quick vehicle servicing and where those properties are in relationship to
residential properties. Um .... this map does show those parcels throughout the
city. The majority of potential future parcels are clustered near South Gilbert
Street, Highway 6, or Dodge Street. Uh, there are a few potential parcels situated
in, uh, areas that would potentially be neighborhood commercial. Like I said, the
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market demand for fueling stations tends to not focus in neighborhoods. We don't
see that this code change would create a large demand for additional
neighborhood gas stations. They're kind of more of a many... amenity that many
neighborhoods, um, are going without at this point and having to travel farther
away to fuel vehicles or to, like I say, be able to purchase, um, some limited
groceries. This is the same map, just showing those parcels highlighted in
different colors, depending on the approval process, whether it's special exception
or provisional. So in summary, the current requirement places a constraint on gas
stations which might want to, um, service denser areas of the city or stations that
are located already in close proximity to residential that warm make, might
warm make, um, redevelopment or reinvestment in their property and... and in
this case in partiti... particular result in a improved site design. Um, many cities,
both nationally and in Iowa, have a separation distance, uh, lower than our current
and more in line with our proposed 50 -foot separation, and we would continue to
be, uh, consistent across all of our residential... or sorry! Commercial and
residential zones. So the next steps for this would be a consideration by City
Council tonight. Um, based on staffs review of the national and local peer cities,
and in consultation with the Iowa City Fire Department, and based on the analysis
of the potential impacts, uh, to sites throughout the city, staff did recommend the
proposed code change and at their May 6th meeting, the Planning and Zoning
Commission voted to recommend approval of it to you tonight. I'm happy to
answer questions.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Are there any questions for Danielle?
Cole: I .... I would like to hear a little bit more detail about the safety aspect of this,
because presumably the reason why these distances exist in the first place, we
have a flammable liquid and we also have fumes from that. Um, do we have any
particular details about how much, one the fumes would .... would waft out into
the neighborhoods, and secondly, are there any issues related to the fire hazard or
anything like that?
Sitzman: So not contained in the zoning code. When we looked to our zoning code,
normally we would look for it to give us clues as to what negative externalities
might be regulated by an additional separation between things. There is no
mention in our zoning code of that, nor in any of our kind of peer cities and their
analysis there. Therefore we looked to the fire code, and that's a code that's
developed in, uh, response to public health, uh, concerns, identifiable, uh, hazards
that have been addressed with the firefighting community and the fire marshals.
Their separation distance is much less than what we're proposing, so the 10 -foot
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separation is what the fire code would deem as safe. I have to imagine, I'm not an
expert in this but I have to imagine that technology over time, um, these are
systems that are tested and required to meet standards on their own, outside of the
zoning code. So it's like buying a .... an appliance that you would plug in. So they
have other safety measures that they have to meet, so .... we looked at the fire code
as the authority in this case, for safety.
Thomas: I .... I think, um, when this issue came up on Forest View and I remember meeting
with staff on it, uh, not specifically on this distance, although that was a concern
of mine because the gas station at that time was part of the project and the
proximity to the residential areas, which kind of led me to what we heard during
the community comment period was that the .... the issue could very well be, uh,
the vapors and the impacts from a public health standpoint, uh, on adjacent land
uses. And so my .... one of my questions would be, um, and it kinda reminds me
of this question on, uh, you know, building code, energy efficiency requirements.
Is there anything at the State level, uh, say DNR that might regulate air quality
standards.
Sitzman: I don't know if I can answer that. I know the DNR is involved in the underground
storage of fuels quite intensively. So underground storage tanks is regulated by
DNR, and they of course have their standards for that. Uh, I don't know that I
could speak to the additional health concerns or .... safety elements. The proposed
separation would meet, uh, the fire code, which is also adopted by the State.
Thomas: Uh huh. Could.... could, I mean I .... is this gonna be just a one reading or what is
this (mumbled) three readings!
Sitzman: This is three (both talking)
Thomas: Could you look into that, um....
Sitzman: Sure! Absolutely!
Thomas: First of all ... first that and what I also noticed when we were talking about Forest
View, it....it brought to my attention the fact that, uh, you know, the vapors escape
at certain points in the process. So, you know, when the .... when the gas, when
the fuel tanks are being filled, that's one piece of when vapors can escape. Also
when you fill up your tank, um, you know, when I travel out of state, the ....the
pumps have a ..... a better control over the vapors escaping from, um, you know,
from that .... when you're filling up. So one of my questions there is is where we
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Sitzman:
Thomas:
do find the distances to be .... you know, less than 100 -feet if, urn .... we .....we
could establish a requirement to en .... ensure that the.....that that particular gas
station (clears throat) excuse me! Gas station has better control over, uh.... the
degree to which the vapors could escape into the air.
Certainly look into that, but I think it's a highly regulated industry by others, so
I'm not sure if we're going to find that we have the authority to (both talking)
That's why I think this whole state question seems to me to be important to
understand, cause it does seem to me when, yeah, when I leave the state is when I
start seeing these, um, a more regulated control.
Throgmorton: I would think since we're talking about vapors that that's a matter of air pollution
and it's controlled, regulated, by the .... I guess the State DNR, I'm not sure who
(both talking) with regard to air pollution control. So I don't know, maybe you
could check into that for us.
Taylor: I didn't see the photo of the proposed plan, Kum n' Go. You'd mentioned that
they're going to move the pumps. They currently run north -south along, uh,
Mormon Trek. So they're planning to move them more in an east -west direction
(both talking)
Sitzman: They're only in kind of concept development at this point, but yes. They would
rotate them 90 -degrees so they would run east -west. They'd be more on the north
side of the site.
Taylor: On the north side, not the south side, cause currently the housing development is
on the south side of the building. So it'd be further away possibly from (both
talking)
Sitzman: Yeah, their concept is to move their building farther south and their pumps farther
north.
Taylor: (mumbled) Okay, thank you!
Throgmorton: Any other questions?
Cole: How many .... would they add any additional pumps, or is it just changing the
orientation?
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Sitzman: It would not be adding pumps.
Throgmorton: Okay. Thank you, Danielle. Would anyone else like to address this topic? Hi
there!
Weggin: Good evening. My name is Keith Weggin. I am with CDA. Also with me
tonight is Shavone Harmon and Brittany Andreson with Kum n' Go. Um, just
wanted to supplement, uh, the previous presentation and make a few mention of
some notes, just some additional information. Um, concerning vapors and .... and,
uh, venting, there are lots of federal mandates and provisions in place, uh, to
handle venting, uh, in many different capacities. For example when pumps are
being operated, venting happens up through the canopy. It's not happening at the
ground level. Additionally when, um, the underground fuel tanks are filled by the
fuel provider, they are capturing vapor and fumes, and basically taking those with
them. So they're not only just filling the fuel up on site, but they are also, um,
protecting those, uh, the vapors and fumes from just bleeding out in the
atmosphere, and that actually goes back into tanks within their trucks. So, um,
couple other things just to mention. We do have some concepts with us of what
the proposed layout would be, uh, for the site. So as was mentioned, essentially
where the canopy and the pump islands sit today, we would rotate that 90 degrees,
and it'd move north just a little bit. What we're really excited about with this site
and the proposed concept is the improved access and circulation through the site.
So couple things we worked very hard with the staff, um, trying to find a concept
plan that .... that benefited both Kum n' Go and the City of Iowa City to improve
efficiencies and access to the site. One of the things that we talked about during
those conversations was, uh, limiting the number of pump islands on site.
Typically when we come into a new site, we'd be looking at six pump islands, and
in this case we agreed to, uh, stick with three, which is what's out there today. So
with those, with the canopy being rotated and moved slightly north, it actually in a
sense pulls that .... that fuel canopy further away from the majority of the nearest
residential units. An interesting fact about this site, um, this is a unique situation.
The site's actually rather small compared to the sites we usually see. This site is
158 -feet wide and has residential across the street to the west and south. So there
is not a dot on this site with the current 100 -foot separation requirement where
this site would be .... could be redeveloped based on the current requirements and
provisions. So, um, we are happy with the concessions in the agreements that
we've had with staff and we're excited to move this project forward and be happy
to answer any questions that you might have.
Throgmorton: Great, thanks, Keith. Does anybody have any questions?
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Weggin: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, before I close the public hearing
I need to ask you whether you are inclined to vote in accordance with the
Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation to approve.
Teague: I'm not sure (laughs)
Cole: I have some concerns.
Throgmorton: Okay, but I'm seein' a majority that is, so .... given that I'm gonna close the public
hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion for first consideration please?
2. Consider an ordinance
Mims: So moved.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion?
Thomas: Well as I said during the question period, I do have concerns about this, uh, this
project in terms of its, uh, the air quality standards. Uh, you know, benzene's a
known toxic material that is released in these, in the vapors. You know, I'll
support it kind of conditionally now, but I am very interested in hearing what...
kinds of regulatory controls we have at the State level and .... and um.....you
know .... we'll reevaluate it at the second reading.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Cole: Does this have to be citywide? I mean would we be able to zone this particular
parcel? I know in some particular cases we .... we've done that, is that .... um, does
(both talking)
Throgmorton: (mumbled)
Cole: ...citywide?
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Dilkes: We're not really rezoning, we're changing a code requirement. So .... you would
have to...if you were going to apply it to this site only, you would have to identify
what's different about this site that (both talking)
Cole: (mumbled) Okay.
Teague: Is .... is this site currently under the 100 -feet already?
Thomas: In .... in the reorientation it would be.
Teague: But the current orientation (both talking)
Thomas: (mumbled)
Teague: But the current orientation is under 100. (several responding) Yeah.
Fruin: There's no way to ... to rectify that. You either have to stay with what they have as
a non -conforming use, or they have to close, and relocate (both talking)
Cole: And the specs ... the special exception process now is off the table for them, is .... is
that correct?
Sitzman: So they would have to get a special exception, but they couldn't meet the criteria,
which is the 100 -foot separation.
Cole: Okay. So they couldn't vary from the requirement.
Teague: And with the current distance, how is it in comparison?
Sitzman: You know I haven't measured, uh, and Keith might know that, uh, what the
distance is currently, but it sounds like there's no place on the site that could be
100 -feet. I'm assuming (both talking) gets them to .... to be in compliance. So it's
somewhere between 50 and 100, or more so...
Teague: Do we know? No?
Weggins: (mumbled, away from mic) I don't know the exact number, but if you imagine
the .... the canopy as it sits today, north -south, we just literally just taking that and
rotating it. Generally it's about in the same spot, but a little bit further north.
We're moving it feet, um, maybe less than 10 feet or so.
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Teague: Okay.
Weggins: And that's simply, the whole reason for moving it is just to improve access, um,
along the street.
Teague: Okay. Thank you!
Taylor: I did have some concerns when we initially heard this proposal, and that's why,
um, thank you for the information regarding the fire code, cause I .... I had
requested that. So that was good to know. Uh.... and I also had concerns because
of the nearby residents and that housing development there to the south, uh, does
have a lot of. ... a number of disabled folks and, uh, young families with young
children, so I was concerned about that but to hear that it's actually moving further
away from that residence area, and we're not looking at a new gas station. It
already exists there. So if you're concerned about fumes, there were already
fumes. It was already there, uh, and I'm actually excited about it, because
(laughs) I drive that road all the time and that intersection, it .... it's awkward. The
drives, the two drives are terribly awkward, especially with our reconstruction of
Mormon Trek. So I'm very excited to see how you're going to reconstruct that
and I think it's going to be a big improvement for them.
Teague: I guess for me, with the reorientation, it's not that big of a deal. Well it's not that
big of a difference. Um, I'm assumin' with the distance. I would ask, or echo,
Rockne's comment about how .... is it really viable for us to like ... just earmark
this project and get somethin' approved just for this project?
Cole: Yeah, because I mean to that end I mean we're not just doing this particular parcel.
It's my understanding this would be (mumbled) the city as a whole, and I do have
concerns about facilitating expansion of gas stations in other parts of the
community. Um, this looks like a very good project, this particular one. It doesn't
look like that big a deal, um, but this as I understand it is for the city as a whole,
um, so .... I have some concerns about it, cause certainly with the Forest View, the
gas station by far was one of the key factors for a lot of those residents and I think
rightfully so, and we ended up removing the gas station in that context.
So .... thafs sort of where I am at least at this point.
Throgmorton: Yeah, the key thing is as Eleanor said, this .... we're not doing a rezoning here.
We're doing a text amendment to the zoning code.
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Teague: But a .... but again it would be .... for the code, which it can be in another
community, or another placement or parcel (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Teague: And so there's no other options ... for this develop .... for this transaction to take
place?
Dilkes: They don't meet the current 100 -foot requirement. So there's gonna have to be a
code change of some kind. If it's .... if it can be narrowed, um, to apply to a
particular circumstance, perhaps focusing on the .... there's no increase in the non-
conformity, for instance. That might be a possibility.
Cole: Eleanor, is there a way that we could give, where we can keep the same standard
and then we would give the Board of Adjustment if certain criteria were met to go
to a lower distance? So we would give Board of Adjustment the authority, is ... is
that (both talking)
Dilkes: I think that's essentially what we're talking about doing. Changing the .... (both
talking)
Cole: ...Board of Adjustment, or is it....
Sitzman: So the Board of Adjustment does have that ability, but only in certain overlay
districts. So the Towncrest design guidelines district, they can choose to reduce
the separation distance. The Riverfront Crossings and the Eastside Mixed -Use
district. So there's already an exception where the Board could make that kind of
reduction. We're not proposing that this code change. What we're proposing is to
allow citywide (mumbled) separation distance to be reduced to 50 -feet.
Cole: So to clarify, you would not go to the Board of Adjustment. You would go, as a
right (both talking)
Sitzman: Well depends on whether it's provisionally approved, which would be a staff
approval, or whether it's in a district that requires the Board of Adjustment to
make the, to review it. Either way the criteria are the same, the separation
distance applies. And .... and then only in those other existing districts could, if
you're headed to the Board of Adjustment, could you also ask for a reduction,
from whatever the standard is, for the circumstances of being in one of those
overlay districts.
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Dilkes: I think it's just, I mean .... staff can look at it, the issue of ...I don't know the
details right now, but.....
Sitzman: I .... I think .... we can look at it. What I would look at is what is .... what is it next
to and is there a way to narrow those circumstances to the site, based on this...
this context of the site now. So it may be more (several talking)
Thomas: Another.... another approach might be the size of the gas station, you know, if it's
a small gas station then .... there, you know, the distance could be 50 -feet.
Throgmorton: I .... I (both talking)
Dilkes: ....fact that it's an already existing gas station and you're not going to change
the .... the facts on the ground, essentially.
Throgmorton: I .... I think we're parsing this much too precisely. The .... the gas station has been
there for a long time. It's been emitting fumes, whatever fames it has, uh, for a
long time. The fumes are almost certainly not worrisome. Beyond that, nobody
knows why the current code distance was created, and I think you said, Danielle,
but most of the communities you looked at .... had.....they had, was it shorter
separation distances than the 100 -feet?
Sitzman: Um, yeah. You can see our (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, so we're really parsin' this way too much, I think. That's my own personal
view. Any further discussion? Hearing none....
Teague: I think just for me I would like to know the health concerns, I mean first time
dealin' with this — I wanna make sure that I do my due diligence. We're gonna be,
you know, whatever we're amending (laughs) um (mumbled) you know
essentially people can do less than 100. So .... um, I think.....I think I hear four
votes (laughs) that'll get this to the next, um, level. Um, I'm not gonna support
this tonight. I'm hopin' to get more information.
Throgmorton: Well, uh.... you were a yes? (talking in background) Yes? (several talking) I
don't wanna have some mess up here.
Dilkes: I just wanna.... are we looking at four votes to move it forward, or .... (several
talking) Okay.
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Throgmorton: Yeah, so....
Dilkes: (both talking) if there's (both talking) No, I .... I know, but that's a .... but we'd
rather .... not go back to P&Z if we're gonna make some change.
Throgmorton: Yeah, so any further discussion? All right, hearing none, roll call please. Motion
carries 4-2.
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9.c. Rezoning at the Southwest Corner of E. 1st Street and S. Gilbert Street -
Ordinance conditionally rezoning 0.20 acres of land located at the July 2,
2019 City of Iowa City Page 5 southwest corner of E. 1st St. and S. Gilbert St.
from Intensive Commercial (CI -1) to Riverfront Crossings South Gilbert
(RFCSG) (REZ19-4). (Second Consideration)
Throgmorton: This is second consideration, but the applicant has requested expedited action, and
correspondence about that is included in the late handouts from yesterday.
Mims: I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted on for
passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be finally
passed be suspended, that the second consideration and vote be waived, that the
ordinance be voted on for final passage at this time.
Thomas: Second.
Tbrogmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? I see no reason not to do
this.
Cole: Agreed!
Throgmorton: Uh, any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0.
Mims: Move final adoption at this time.
Thomas: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 6-0. Could I have a motion to accept correspondence
please?
Mims: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Teague. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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9.d. Capital Subdivision - Preliminary and Final Plat - Resolution approving
the preliminary and final plats of Capital Subdivision, Iowa City, Iowa.
[Deferred from 6/4 and 6/18 meetings]
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Thomas: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Teague. Danielle, are you gonna say a few
things about this?
Sitzman: I'm gonna say a few things about this. This is a application for a prelim and final
plat for the property at the northwest corner of, uh, Moss Ridge Road and North
Dubuque Street, just north of I-80. Uh, this follows a rezoning that was done not
too long ago that had conditions on it. Primarily those conditions are to be
fulfilled with building permitting and site plan review. So it's too early to say that
they've been fulfilled, but they are on track to do that as they go through this
development process. Um, one of the conditions did require general conformance
with the concept plan showing the building to be, uh, primarily oriented to the
corner as this is a, uh, corner site. Um, the site would be accessed off Moss Ridge
Road and there's some public improvements that will be made, including closing
an access, installing sidewalks, um, to the site. It's also in a flood plain and has
been previously improved to, uh, be filled to remove it from the flood plain prior
to development. Um, showing its trajectory through the development process,
you are at the preliminary and actually final plat stage. Um, staff has reviewed it
for compliance with the previous conditions, the comprehensive plan and the
applicable subdivision standards. Staff does recommend approval of the proposed
plats. Um, the Planning Commission took this up at their May 16th meeting and
also forwarded it to you tonight with a recommendation of approval. Happy to
answer questions!
Throgmorton: Any questions? I don't (mumbled). Excuse me, I don't hear any questions, so
thank you, Danielle. Anybody else wanna address this topic? Okay. Council
discussion? Oops, sorry, Martha. Go ahead!
Norbeck: Think this is great opportunity to point out that climate should be part of this
discussion. Um, they wanna build in a flood plain. I mean even if you raise it.
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I'm working in a project in Des Moines, where they literally are saying, well we
don't need to put the building higher, cause we've got a levee. And I keep saying
(sighs) don't count on it, you know, over and over and over. So they finally
agreed to put all the equipment up high, but .... I guess you have a burden when
you're making this choice to say, yeah, you can build in this place that's in a flood
plain, cause you'll build it up and you'll do the right thing, but I have to bring this
up at this Des Moines animal shelter project every meeting, every meeting,
because they kinda drift away and forget that they're in a flood plain, because
they're protected by the levee, you know (mumbled) and the reason that I am at
the table is because I'm the lead consultant, and I bring up a climate at every
meeting, remind every single time where they are living, and so I ask the
question, if you're gonna approve this, what kind of -you don't have any control
once you say'okay' Um, and I don't know how you ... (mumbled) and I realize I'm
coming in at the 11 th hour and there's process and you'll probably say okay, but I
think this is a great example of how this should be integrated into every
conversation and infused throughout the city. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Martha. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, Council discussion? I'll
just kinda leap off the cliff here. Uh, Martha raises a really important point, and it
seems to me when we did the rezoning, Rockne, you were the only person in the
negative. (both talking)
Cole: ....one of the votes.
Throgmorton: Uh, yeah, so, uh.... I'm gonna support this because I also supported the rezoning,
but Martha does raise an important point, but it....it raises a larger question,
which is not really about the flooding of the gas station, but about the gas station.
So if we're truly serious about climate action, and reducing carbon emissions....
uh, on .... at the rate we are proposing to do that, we need to be imagining that at
some point in the not -so -distant future, there won't be any new gas stations. Or
they'll be few and far between. So....we probably need to wrap our heads around
that and start understanding what that implies, and how to get there. I don't think
it's fair to get there right here, right now, with this particular proposal. But ... we
need to be lookin' ahead!
Thomas: I .... I agree. It seems that we do need a, you know, climate needs to be embedded
in our review process in a more substantive way, kind of in the way we have the
equity toolkit, it seems to me, something along those lines where, you know, what
are the impacts. We .... we assess a project based on its climate impacts.
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Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0.
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10. City Hall Boiler and BAS Improvements - Resolution approving plans,
specifications, form of contract, and estimate of cost for the construction of
the City Hall Boiler and BAS Improvements Project, establishing amount of
bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to
bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt of bids.
1. Public hearing
Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Hi, Juli.
Seydell-Johnson: Hi. Juli Seydell-Johnson, Parks and Recreation Director. Uh, this falls under
our department as we have government buildings under our department. Um,
BAS, building automation system (laughs) It's the, uh, the control system that
we're trying to move all City facilities to, allows for more efficient operations and
efficient control, and uh, monitoring of the .... the heating and cooling systems. So
I should say how amazing we're talking about replacing two boilers on one of the
hottest days (laughs) of the year. Uh, but last winter, in the middle of winter, we
were limping through on just one boiler working at that time. So this is a behind -
the -scenes project, um, that will get our building adequately heated, with a backup
system ready to go so that we can ensure, um, heating and cooling throughout the
year.
Mims: And with everybody talking about climate action, the .... the, uh, automation
system will help with that (both talking)
Seydell-Johnson: Yeah. The boilers themselves provide about a 12%, um, more efficiency than
the old system, and the biggest limitation here is the age of this building and the
construction of the building, um, but the automation system as well, it allows for
smaller changes in ... in, so things don't get too far out of line at any one time.
Throgmorton: Any other questions for Juli? Thanks! (several talking in background) Anyone
else want to address this topic? Hey! Look who it is! (laughs)
Norbeck: (laughing) (speaking away from mic) ...area of expertise! (laughter) Uh (laughs)
Throgmorton:... should go out for a beer afterwards or somethin', I don't know (laughter)
Norbeck: Um, so, uh.... I'm very pleased to see a high -efficiency boiler being specified, uh,
the building automation systems will definitely, unquestionably, uh, improve, uh,
operations, um, and in fact I think you guys totally undersold that in the memo,
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because I think you.....because the 12% doesn't seem that impressive, but if you
were to add any additional potential for efficiency through the building
automation system, um, I .... I think you would see some good results, um, so that
you should definitely applaud and .... and also the fact that you have a BAS that is
aligned with all the City buildings. So when you have that, you have power,
because you can't manage what you don't measure. So if you have the
measurement tools, and if you have the management tools, then you act ... can
actually finally adjust. It's like, you know, using a hammer to .... to type with
versus your fingertips, and so the BAS system is very valuable for being more,
uh, nuanced in how you operate all the City facilities. So this is really good.
Um ... the one thing that comes up to me as .... because of what you said earlier, Jim
(laughs) to point out this gas portion that is coming from Mid American, and
you're talking about replacing a gas boiler with a gas boiler. And the life span on
a boiler like this is probably 20 years at least, um, so the question is, um, is the
City going to be a leader in electrification? Are you going to start looking
seriously at converting your building to all electric? Um .... and I think that needs
to be a real discussion, and I do agree with the age of this building. That is ... it
might be a non-starter. I know for Public Works we had this conversation, and
there were literally.... it would have added a million dollars to the project to make
it an all electric building. And that just wasn't in the cards, and so you're going to
have to make some tough decisions about electrification, but I think if you take
the leadership on electrification, then you are setting an example for other people
to make those tough decisions. And some parts for electrification are easy, like
doing a heat pump water heater in your home, instead of replacing gas with gas.
You can actually reduce emissions, and save operating costs over 10 years. So
there will be different decisions and you're not going to make the same decision
every time, but I think the discussion of electrification needs to be an integral part
of evaluating every City facility, so that you can be a leader in that conversion.
Cole: How much more efficient is the electric, than the gas?
Norbeck: (laughing) Well .... unless you did that analysis, did you do that analysis (difficult
to hear, speaking away from mic) Mid American review? No? You weren't
involved in the Mid American review. So when you do the review with Mid
American, you can evaluate that, and I have no idea.
Cole: Okay.
Norbeck: So I'm not throwing them under the bus here. They may have evaluated that. My
guess would be for.... supposition based on previous experience is that your, um,
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total energy cost going to electric would increase, and they would have ruled that
out because your .... your monthly utility costs would have increased so much
because per BTU of heat that you get out of electric, unless you go to a .... a heat
pump thing that's a refrigerant -based system, an electric solution tends to be more
expensive to operate. The only way to make electric heat more cost-effective than
gas is to go with refrigerant, which has its own problems, but we're not gonna go
there (laughs)
Cole: Thanks.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Martha. Anyone else? Seeing no one else I'm going to close the
public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion please?
2. Consider a Resolution
Cole: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Teague. Discussion?
Mims: (mumbled) resolution. Do we already have a motion on the floor?
Dilkes: Pardon me?
Mims: There wasn't a public hearing with this, was there? (several responding) Pardon?
Oh, there was?
Throgmorton: Any discussion?
Thomas: (mumbled) (laughs) question of energy efficiencies and sources of energy, things
get more complicated, but I'm .... I'm glad we had that brief conversation. I was
almost afraid to ask if it was replacing gas with gas (laughter)
Throgmorton: Okay! Hearing no further discussion, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0.
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11. Council Appointments - Applicants MUST reside in Iowa City and be 18
years of age unless specific qualifications are stated
ll.a. Telecommunications Commission Telecommunications Commission -
One vacancy to fill a three-year term. July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2022. (Term
expires for Paul Gowder)
Throgmorton: We have one applicant for a full three-year term, no gender balance requirement.
The applicant is Andrew Austin. Uh, I'd recommend we appoint Andrew Austin.
Whatda y'all think? (several responding) All right, uh, and then the other is the
Airport Commission.
ll.b. Airport Commission Airport Commission - One vacancy to fill a four-
year term, July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2023. (Term expires for Minnetta
Gardinier)
Throgmorton: We have .... two applicants for a four-year term. Again no gender balance
requirement. The two applicants are Clair Scott and Minnetta Gardinier. So, uh, I
recommend we appoint Clair Scott. Whatda ya think? (several responding)
Okay, could I have a motion to appoint, uh, Clair Scott to the Airport Commission
and.....and.....and Austin, Andrew Austin to the Telecommunications
Commission. (several talking) ...did I do that? Sorry, I apologize to Scott Clair.
I correct that on my own notes. (mumbled) Not sure (mumbled) backwards.
Mims: And I think just to be clear, we talked about this before as giving other people an
opportunity. I think Minnetta's been a great member of that commission, but
giving new people an opportunity. (several talking in background)
Taylor: Thank her for that!
Throgmorton: So do ... where are we? Did we get a motion? Seconded? (several talking) So
who ... who made the motion?
Cole: I think I made the motion.
Taylor: Rockne!
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole (several talking) seconded by Teague. Okay, all in favor say aye.
Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you.
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15. City Council Information
Throgmorton: Could we start with Rockne and move to his left.
Cole: Sure! Um, Pauline and I had our first meeting (mumbled) mobile home task
force, with, um, led by Sara Barron, as well as other representatives from North
Liberty, city of Coralville, Johnson County, as well as State Legislator Zac Wahls,
and we got off to a really strong start. Um, Sara did a really terrific job, as
everyone knows. Um, it's a very complicated issue, uh.... we're all sort of
evaluating, you know, what authority we do and don't have, and ways that we can
constructively work together. Um, I think tentatively we're going to be meeting a
second time here in late July, little bit difficult to figure out the schedule of all of
our, um, you know, schedules in July tend to be a little booked, but very
productive meeting and I think it's, um, not due to anything. I don't it's an option,
and uh, so we're trying to find constructive solutions, and um, just as a little
footnote to that, I .... I think it's another example of, you know, a lot of times when
you talk to the public, people say'why don't you work more with City of
Coralville, City of North Liberty,' well I'm really pleased that we're doing more
and more of this, whether it's Susan's work with the Access Center, the way that
you've cooperated there. Course we do our MPOJC and our joint meetings, but
think it's another example that it is a regional issue that we're dealing with. A lot
of these parks are outside of the city limits and the City of Iowa City, um, so I
think it does require a .... a regional solution, and it's also, of course, nice to have a
State legislator, um, on the committee, um, to sort of hopefully be able to generate
some proposals that can make their way to Des Moines, and it does appear that
there may be a few proposals that have a change, um, next year, which .... which
was good to hear. So we'll continue to keep you updated on that.
Throgmorton: Okay, moving to your left, so that brings us to Bruce.
Teague: Um, I have no committees to report on.
Throgmorton: This isn't about committees. This is (both talking)
Teague: Oh, perfect! All right! Um, so .... on the 19th of June, I was at the University of
Iowa Public Health. Had the opportunity to speak to, um, 10 undergraduate
students that were visiting, um, and they'll be here for a little bit and so that was,
um, awesome bein' on the panel there. Um, the Mayor and I were at, um, I ... um,
in Coralville at the library, as well as in Iowa City, on .... on Thursday the 20th,
and this was talkin' about opportunity zones, in both, uh, Coralville and Iowa City,
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and so if people are out there wantin' to know more about that, ICAD, um, is a
point of contact, as well as Wendy Ford here at the City of Iowa City can help
navigate that for you! And then on Saturday the 22nd, um, I was a a part of the
Juneteenth event, and it was a privilege to give the proclamation. This event was
very, very well attended. Um, it was very exciting. Um, loved every minute of it,
and later that day I got to come downtown and, uh, experience the Block Party,
Iowa City Downtown Block Party, which was very, very festive. Lots of, um, I
think the way that the, um, it was .... laid out this time was even better than last
year, and the crowd seemed to really flow nicely and get along! So, um, yeah, it's
been great bein' out in the community!
Taylor: I just.... addendum to Rockne's comments on the, uh, affordable housing coalition
mobile home task force. Uh, as he mentioned there were several players involved
and I think, uh, the intent was collaboration amongst, uh, council members from
Iowa City, North Liberty, and Coralville, uh, as well as the Board .... Board of
Supervisors, uh, had representatives, Center for Worker Justice, uh, Affordable
Housing Coalition, an owner of a mobile home park, uh, someone from Legal
Aid, uh, and Zac Wahls, and uh, Zac was very helpful. Talked about, uh, as
Rockne mentioned, the legislation that, uh, he'll be striving for and what he
thinks, uh, can happen, which is very positive, because it seems as though
something needs to be on the State level to help control the interests of ..of these
folks, residents of mobile homes, so .... so that was very good. Uh, and as he said,
we meet again later this month. Uh, also, uh, on the Juneteenth celebration, um,
it....it seemed very, very successful, uh, people were havin' a great time. Great
displays of the many services that are available in our community, which was very
good and some good entertainment, and then the Block Party, uh, I think I heard
estimate 40,000 to 42,000 people. So, uh, kudos to the Downtown District for
another very successful block party, uh, and the weather even cooperated. Didn't
start sprinkling till around 10:30 or so, so despite the continued construction
downtown, uh, it was very successful. Uh, let's see, over the past week, um, I've
had the pleasure of attending three different events, uh, that involved, uh, visitors
through the Center for International Visitors in Iowa City, the civic group, the
Mandela Fellows, um, two of the young ladies were in our audience today,
because they were very curious about our climate action plan and just kind of how
our city government worked too. So I was very pleased to see them here, and
they were excited and had a great time, so that was good. Uh, very impressive,
um, group of individuals that have accomplished in .... in their home countries.
Many of the different areas of Africa, they're from, um, their bios are just
absolutely amazing. Uh, and what was really pleasing, and Jim heard this from
them too, uh, they, uh.... commented on the green, how green our.... our city was.
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They .... they were just amazed at that, and uh, one of the events we were up on
the upper level in a penthouse and .... and you look out over the city and you could
really see. I think Jim commented it looked like we were like in the middle of a
forest. There really is a lot of green. You'd be pleased, John. (laughter) There
are tree canopies out there that, uh, and they loved that. They said they just don't
see that, uh, in any of the countries they come from. They also said they had the
opportunity to attend the Block Party, which surprised me. They had free time
that night and they absolutely loved that. They had a great time. So that was
good to hear. Uh, so they also said what wonderful, how warm and welcoming
and wonderful Iowa City is and that, uh.... uh, really makes me proud, uh, to be a
member of this city and .... and to know, uh, and they pointed out things that we
kinda take for granted, which was .... was a good thing. Um, let's see, Jim and I'll
be ... oh, that's a meeting (mumbled) We're gonna meet with representatives from
the School District, urn .... this week, Wednesday, just to kinda update on what
they're up to! Urn .... remind about Jazz Fest this weekend! Coming up! Lots of
activities, lots of fun! That's all!
Throgmorton: All right! Susan?
Mims: Nothing else that hasn't already been covered.
Throgmorton: John?
Thomas: I .... I had the pleasure of attending, uh, a few days ago, the inclusive teaching
awards, along with Jim, at the Library. This is a .... a.....a event or a program
where teachers in Iowa City are recognized by their own students for their
inclusionary .... inclusive behavior in the classroom, uh, and given recognition at
this event, which I'm guessing is held annually. Uh, and it was a wonderful event.
Throgmorton: This is first time.
Thomas: This was the first one?
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Thomas: Okay! Is it plan ... it must be something, I hope.
Throgmorton: I hope so! (several talking)
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Thomas: I think it's a wonderful reflection of Iowa City, and urn .... the guest speaker was
the daughter of Reverend Oliver Brown, who was the Brown of Brown versus the
Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. So that was a very kind of interesting
angle on this notion of inclusion in education (laughs) of course. You know the
breaking down of segregation in the schools. So yeah, it was a very touching
experience and one of the award winners said, urn .... teachers need a little bit of
love too (laughs) so that was (mumbled) It was just a very, very pleasant event.
Throgmorton: Yeah, I'll mention a few things. Uh, there are many .... events that I went to and
y'all already mentioned, so thanks for doing that. I had an opportunity to attend
the State of the Downtown annual meeting in the alley, John, you were there. I
don't think anybody else was there, but .... Geoff was there, um.....uh, and it was
great! I have nothing but praise for Nancy Bird and the Downtown District
people, and Thomas Agran for painting the, if you will, the floor of that alley
space, and all the cleaning up they did. But it really shows how much
improvement you can make by usin' a little creativity, a little paint, some lights,
some elbow grease, and a few plants (laughs) It is a very impressive thing. I
admire it a lot! I also attended the Sudanese Democratic Revolution forum, over
in Coralville, on the 27th. And that was pretty enlightening, little bit of history
about Sudan and the.... dictatorships they lived under. I think the speaker said that
they live like 55 years under dictatorships in the last 66 years.
Thomas: Eleven years.
Throgmorton: Yeah, something like that, so .... yeah, so it's pretty instructive. So happy to go! I
(laughs) completely different thing, I attended an open house at the .... uh, I don't
know how you say this — 1,133rd Transportation Company Armory— on the 29th
of June. And I went there because I was invited to go, but it .... what it turned out
to be was, uh, education for potential employers of National Guard members,
because there're rules you gotta follow (laughs) as an employer, and I didn't know
anything about those rules (laughs) so it was pretty instructive to do. You already
mentioned ... or you didn't mention it. We, uh, Susan, you're goin' to the National
Resources Commission (both talking) and Bruce, are you going, right? And
Geoff, you're not going. You are, and Captain Campbell's goin' too? Is that it,
just ... just the five of us or is there somebody else?
Fruin: Sue Dulek from Eleanor's office will be there as well.
Throgmorton: Okay (laughs) we have a crew goin'! Good deal. Anyhow, we're gonna do that on
July the 11th, in Boone, Iowa. Uh.... the Lucas Farm neighborhood is having its
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fifth annual history day on July the 14th. From 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. and I've been to
that several times. It's really terrific. Julie, uh, Judy Nyren has done a fabulous
job with that neighborhood. So, bravo! And we have a Joint Entities meeting on
July the 15th. So .... that will be what it will be. That's it for me!
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16. Report on Items from City Staff
a. City Manager
Throgmorton: Geoff?
Fruin: Nothing.
Monroe: We're working on the budget, so, uh, tomorrow we will be releasing news .... news
and social media feeds for our survey, our priorities survey that, uh, relates to our
'chip -in' budget activities. So, um, just be on the look -out for that, uh, this week!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of July 2, 2019.