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Home My WebLink About2020-01-21 Bd Comm minutesItem Number: 5.a. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Climate Action Commission: November 4 MINUTES FINAL IOWA CITY CLIMATE ACTION COMMISSION NOVEMBER 4, 2019 —3:30 PM — FORMAL MEETING MPO CONFERNCE ROOM, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: John Fraser (joined at 4pm via phone), Stratis Giannakouros, Grace Holbrook (via phone), GT Karr, Matt Krieger, Jesse Leckband, Katie Sarsfield, Eric Tate MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Ashley Monroe, Brenda Nations OTHERS PRESENT: Tina Nedbalek, Nathan Evertsen RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: None CALL TO ORDER: Krieger called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 7, 2019 MINUTES: Tate moved to approve the minutes of October 7, 2019. Karr seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion carried 7-0. PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: None REQUEST FROM COUNCIL FOR COMMISSION TO RESEARCH AND ADVISE COUNCIL ON THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF BUILDINGS OF VARYING DENSITY AND SCALE: Krieger noted there was a request from Council for the Commission to research and advise Council carbon footprint buildings of varying density and scale. He noted maybe a month ago, there was some discussion about as the Council has been reviewing zoning change requests on whether a building was six stories high versus taller, there was discussion about considering impact on greenhouse gas emissions as part of density and scale for development projects. Krieger noted there's a lot of surrounding issues related such as if higher density related to building materials, the amount of carbon footprint that goes into those buildings that are larger or the potential for transportation related items, having people closer to more walkability, etc. So there are different types of emissions that relate to density and scale. Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 2 of 11 Krieger recommends assigning this topic to the buildings working group to look at closer and report back. Karr spoke to Martha Norbeck about this today, who is also a member of the buildings working group and she thought there is a heavy residential slant and probably beyond the scope of what the building working group would normally do as it is extremely complex. Krieger had a conversation with Norbeck as well because they have both worked on the commercial side and have certain resources that are available, but he feels this is a good opportunity to be able to grow the working group to bring in other voices such as architects, planners, EPA, and others who might be able to provide some research on the topic. Then use the research that exists provide feedback to Council. Krieger noted he did not see a timeline on the request from Council, but his recommendation at this point would be to have the buildings working group work on this and bring in others to that group for help. Tate asked if this research is theoretical or actual, is it for future buildings or current ones. Krieger noted when Council created this Commission to be able to provide recommendations, however Council doesn't have to take the recommendations, but if a recommendation is backed up by evidence and reasoning they can choose to make it in part of their decision making. Krieger noted their recommendation is a comparative look, is a 6 story better than 10 story. Norbeck noted in the conversation with Krieger there may be a difference between 50 story and 10 story buildings, but it's probably not a big difference between 8 story and 12 story buildings. Krieger noted Norbeck has had conversations with different Council members in past and resources she provided are from 31 party organizations, not just her opinions, so now is an opportunity to expand on that information. Monroe stated Council doesn't have a specific time frame in which this should occur, this topic was based on their discussion about bonus and density height. She feels Council is more apt to approach this particular issue once there is a report and then there would be some discussion about modifying some of the policies. This discussion would be very helpful in establishing what those policies will look like such as is it better to have dense 3 story building then dense 6 story buildings. That is the type of answer Council is looking for. Krieger asked if this discussion is feeding into a revision of other zoning ordinances, regulations or policies. Monroe replied there is not a specific desire to do that right now, but probably starting sometime next year. Krieger stated then if they can get some updates from the builders working group for a plan over the next couple of meetings that would be best and Monroe confirmed that would be helpful Giannakouros stated there has been attempts to talk about standards for buildings in general that City staff would use a set of regulations policies. Krieger noted this request was pretty specific, but he thinks in the future this group may look at developing or helping recommend specific actions within action areas that are already identified, especially after the 100 -day report is delivered. UPDATE ON BY-LAWS: Krieger stated there were some notes in the attached agenda item that related to this however the only thing is currently outstanding is the working groups committee's definition on how they're appointed. Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 3 of 11 Krieger noted the Commission made a motion and voted last time to accept the by-laws per staff finalization, but there were some subsequent questions asked for us to identify or provide input on before the by-laws were finalized. Nations noted that was correct stating legal went through the by-laws and did make some changes, mostly just small changes. The remaining question was the working group part and legal said it doesn't t have to be in there and she looked at all the other commissions and they don't have anything in there about working groups. However, if this Commission wants it in their by-laws, she felt it should be a group discussion. Once the by-laws are finalized by the Commission, they have to sign it and then it goes to the Rules Committee and finally to Council. Krieger stated he looked at the bylaws of the Recreation Commission and they have one that defines committees, it's just generic committees, and it says the "committees of this commission including composition, duties, and terms shall be designated by the chairperson". Krieger added it could also be worded to say designated by vote of the Commission. It would be very broad and flexible. Tate asked about other Commissions in the City. Monroe spoke about other Commissions and noted just by the nature of what this Commission does, and the fact that it's attached to more than one City department, makes it cross -cutting. There are ties to transportation, parks and recreation, engineering and development services so its very broad in terms of policy and the City manager's office is a liaison to policy across the organization. Therefore, this Commission is broader than most commissions. Leckband states it allows for flexibility and doesn't make us define standing committees in the by-laws because 15 years from now it might not make sense, and this gives broad flexibility as priorities may change. Giannakouros asked if all members must be a liaison or that all subcommittees need a member liaison. Nations replied they are replacing that language with a broad statement. Krieger stated when they do appoint or create a subcommittee or working group, they will state who those members are including members of the Commission and others from the public. Sarsfield asked about the future, the by-laws are rules and principles. If it is the intention to have somebody beyond the Commission in the working groups or subcommittees, we can agree as a group to a principle that it makes most sense to have a working group that includes somebody from our group as well. Leckband stated the principal subsequently would be reflected in the composition of each form at the outset. Sarsfield agreed and stated she is okay with the broad statement. Krieger moved to revise item J on the by-laws to state "The Subcommittee's composition, duties and terms can be designated by a majority vote". Giannakouros seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 7-0. {4:02pm John Frazier joined the meeting via telephone) Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 4 of 11 DISCUSSION ON WORKING GROUPS: Krieger noted they should discuss quickly the detailed questions about forming working groups. How will they be appointed? By the chair, majority vote? Majority Vote II. How will they be created? By the chair, majority vote? Krieger stated they need to make sure they have a member of the Commission on each of the working groups. They do for the building work group, the equity in education workgroup, the communications group (now called outreach), and transportation. Krieger asked everyone to send him the names of people that are on the committee's and then they can issue a formal appointment to create the committees and name all the members and see if there is a need to add additional members. Sarsfield asked when they want to add new members, how will they be added. Krieger noted the Commission will probably seek out new people as well as others who may request to be added to a committee. Giannakouros noted there is interest and expertise and there should be a balance of that on the committees. The committees shouldn't just be technical experts but also people who are interested in or being influenced by the impact. Krieger stated as they continue to do their outreach, they will try to identify who those other individuals are that could participate in these local groups. The original idea of setting up working groups was to work through and investigate issues and having those with their lives impacted with potential issues have a voice in the decision making. Nations noted they are going to likely need a working group to help with the climate festival next September. Krieger agreed but noted that may depend on how that's produced. It may be a separate nonprofit entity that has its own organization that this Commission provides input to, or a member of the Commission sits on it. He added it needs to be an official nonprofit so they can get financial donations and be able to run that type of event, unless it will be purely City ran event. Nations stated there needs to be reporting from the committees to show metrics and progress up to the full Commission. To be consistent in the future, they will all be known as working groups (not committees). Krieger noted they also talked about having a separate student University working group but would it be better to just have students integrated into these other areas. It is probably better to have integration, rather than just a university focused subcommittee. For example, transportation, there has been discussion on the rollout of the new app that is replacing Bongo and what the City can do there, so there is crossover. A University committee might be different than a student committee. Students may be advocating for students. Krieger noted these discussions were had before the Commission was formed and organized, there were lots of thoughts and ideas. Sarsfield noted the idea was there were a lot of students that were interested in meeting and Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 5 of 11 perhaps they could start an ambassador program to work with students and get more information with students and how they could help. Giannakouros said they currently have an intern, Julia Krist, who wants to be used as a liaison for the climate stuff and is very interested. Tate asked what the proportion of students are that live off -campus. Giannakouros is unsure. Tate noted there is also Kirkwood, and lots of issues with renters and there may be blind spots for. Krieger agreed and noted that is why they have a student member on the Commission but also thinks having students within each of those working groups would be great. Holbrook stated it would be a good idea to have students and renters on the working groups because a lot of what they do is geared towards homeowners and there's a lot of things students can't do so they need to come together and be part of the conversations. She feels it is also important for them to have a voice in general across the board. Krieger noted they do have the applications from when they were filling the role Giannakouros currently has and they asked the question about what kind issues those people would be interested in. They can now reach back out to those individuals. Holbrook noted that Julia Krist is setting up a Sustainability Student Roundtable. Giannakouros is on that committee as well as other students from the University. Giannakouros stated it was created to be open to all students, not just those in other student government or organization roles. Holbrook asked the question of if they want it to be just University of Iowa students or open to all other students like Kirkwood or high school students. She is not referring to the roundtable that is already started but if they were to create a committee themselves for students. Holbrook noted that high schoolers don't really have a space in this conversation because they cannot be appointed to a commission since most are not 18 years old, but they could be on a working group. Krieger agreed and noted the working groups are open to anyone. Giannakouros noted Holbrook raised a good point, his concern is for all the high schoolers and Iowa students to be their own working group and detached from other working groups such as transportation or building. That group would need to be structured so they are not depriving a student of an opportunity to be on transportation and are just in a general student malay. This is a huge contingency that is not always addressed. Krieger agreed and said as they field the interest from high school groups or high school individuals or any other students they can see if they fit into one of the working groups. They don't want to assign 20 students to one working group, it needs to be controlled a bit. Giannakouros noted that high school students and University students may not have the same set of interests. If there is going to be just a student working group, what is the function of that group. Krieger agreed which is why they want to keep the students integrated into the already formed working groups. Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 6 of 11 III. What are duties of the commissioners and working groups? Krieger stated when they first formed the working groups they had what they called charge sheets, and were expecting each working group to set goals. This Commission can also assign issues for the working groups to work on, but the working groups should be somewhat self -governed. For accountability the working groups should report monthly to this Commission. Krieger noted the buildings working group does not have a formalized charge sheet yet, they've been a little bit fluid in their approach. Outreach does have a formalized charge sheet, a strategic plan. Tate asked about the student positions and asked if there was an option to reach out to those that weren't selected to gage interest in working on a working group. Nations stated they should have names of people that wanted to join that they could reach out to. IV. How often will they meet? Krieger asked if the Commission should set expectations on how often the working groups meet. If the Commission is asking for monthly reports, the working groups should meet a minimum of once a month. Tate said it will depend on the topic, the need for meeting could ebb and flow. V. What working groups are needed and a brief description of what they are tasked to do? Buildings, Outreach, Equity and Adaptation, Transportation Krieger suggested each of the existing working groups develop a brief description of the working group, and what is tasked with, and then bring that to the next meeting. (Holbrook left the meeting) CAAP ANNUAL UPDATE: Nations noted in the packet here was a two-page infographic, it will be posted online. She asked if everyone was getting the sustainability newsletter because it is full of climate stuff, and there's a link to it on the website, posted today. Nations stated it is just a short infographic, it's obviously not all 35 actions or anything real in depth. When we started to put together the information about what they've done in the first year, most of what they had was City data. They went through the metrics of everything for all 35 actions, the Commission will receive the 35 -action report in their information packet next month, it's been very time consuming and it's really hard to track what other people are doing. Nations suggests a reporting and tracking group to think about how they can show success because the City knows what the City's done but that doesn't capture all of the data. For example they don't know how many people have like done energy efficiency work on their home or things like that. Nations reiterated the report is skewed to the City and noted the City is only 5% of the community emissions. What would help is to have the individual working groups speak to most of those action items and help contribute to that. Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 7 of 11 Tate asked why the flyer doesn't say it is just the City's actions, not what the community did. He feels it needs to be stated specifically as it is such a central point. Nations feels like it does note it is the City Government's actions. Nations wants to start a file to keep an update of what they want in the next climate action plan because there are already suggestions and the list will keep growing. Tate asked for Nations to let the Commission know what elements she'd like them to focus on in their review of the action plan. Nations will write a cover memo of the actions when the Excel file is distributed. Krieger discussed process, not just for this but also multiple things that may potentially come to Commission for review, and things that also would get posted to the public, if it is something City Council or staff are looking for a recommendation or review by the Commission, that it at least come to the Commission before it's made public. If it is made public and they haven't even reviewed it yet or receive the document, then becomes challenging to answer questions from the public during our meetings or to speak about it intelligently if they are doing outreach. Nations noted some things may not be ready for review of the Commission prior to it going to Council and then Council asking the Commission for input. However since the Climate Expo is before the Commission meets again, she is going to send that so if someone is at the Expo and gets asked about it. Council actually hasn't asked the Commission to review it yet. Nations also stated when she adds something to their packets, it's instantly public. Krieger asked if it could just be labeled as a draft document. Additionally, each document may also go to the working groups, well the working groups are not official meetings because there's not a quorum, it's fewer than six members of the Commission. They could review it a draft document without having to make it public. Nations could then divide up the document into pieces for the specific work groups. Tate noted the working groups that are both thematic in terms of these dimensions or initiatives, but then there are also the cross -cutting ones of equity and outreach. How will those concerns be reflected in edits of this report? Sarsfield said Krieger is suggesting the Commission get a draft copy so they can look at it another time, especially the equity workgroup. Krieger would like to be able to see the documents they are working on as a group without everything going public because a lot of it is ill formed and needs clarification. Monroe noted that the City Manager will meet with just a couple of Council members about topics that might need some preparation before they see the final documents in the packet, so that might be one way to go about it and have a smaller group that's not in any way a quorum to review things and ask questions and provide feedback before it's public. Tate said then in this instance the whole document could go to the equity working group because they need to see it all. Monroe said staff could get more guidance from the City on how best to proceed with on this subject. Tate thinks it is important because with figures in particular sometimes in draft the numbers are erroneous, and those numbers can change 10 times before the final document. Nations stated this is the 35 actions of the plan, the original plan, not the new plan. She worked for many weeks trying to get baseline data to show where progress was on these 35 actions Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 8 of 11 and then the 100 -day report happened, so she got kind of waylaid. So data that was collected is baseline data for the end of 2018 since the Climate Action Plan was finished in September of 2018. Next year we will collect data for 2019 to see if we can show progress. Tate mentioned that he remembers in one of the previous iterations there as a column along the lines of impacted equity with a scale of high, medium and low for each of the actions. Krieger noted there were a lot of documents provided to help with tracking and reporting. Monroe has a copy of the equity spreadsheet for each of the actions and will find it and distribute to the Commission. Tate stated this is a multi -criteria problem and shouldn't reduce everything to prioritization based on emissions data alone. Sarsfield agreed, this should be human centered, not number center. 100 -DAY REPORT UPDATE: Monroe gave an update, as Krieger and Nations indicated they will send the 100 -day report to the Commission and City Council in the Council packet on November 14, everybody, including the media, will see it. What they've been doing is trying to develop specific actions that they can stem from the original Climate Action Plan and all of the five categories within there. Monroe went through the Table of Contents as it is drafted now and gave a sense of what's coming and what they're working with. Currently there is a staff review going on right now, fine tuning all the things, working through it, etc. There is a short introduction, the August 6th climate crisis resolution, greenhouse gas emissions summary for 2018, key stakeholder initiatives (pinpointing specific community partners to work with), initial plan actions, City Actions (the five categories and the components within those categories). They are looking at what kinds of policies to create, are there regulations that apply beyond the City, are there incentives to be established, are there educational components, and then what projects are either currently or planned that could further the goals. Monroe stated for each of those categories they have these aspects that they are looking at and proposing. Next they talk about equity and how does the Equity Plan fit into what is proposed and how the Commission deals with that, how staff deals with it, how it's integrated in all of what they're trying to accomplish. Monroe said there is a section of the report on City government roles and responsibilities, the Council's responsibilities, staff's responsibilities, Commission's role and responsibilities. There is a section on funding, and there is a scenario breakdown, what it would look like if these things were implemented. Finally, there is a report summary. The Commission will look at the report, the public will also be able to weigh in on this, as will Council. They are currently going through staff concerns and questions before it gets made public. This Commission especially is needed to review it and see what makes sense and provide guidance on how to proceed. The plan is Council will look at the report, review it, and will talk about it at the work session following the November meeting. Krieger stated then the expectation is Council will provide potentially some perspective on what they want feedback on from this Commission. Monroe confirmed that was correct, noting Council may right away identify products or issues or ideas that they want to address for sure and with other things ask the Commission for a recommendation about what we to. Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 9 of 11 Monroe said the packet will go out on November 14th with the report, and then discuss it at the November 191 meeting. Krieger asked if there should be some members of the Commission at that meeting to hear directly from them. They won't be able to speak to anything at the meeting but they can at least hear Council feedback. {Monroe left the meeting} PLANNING FOR BIG GROVE EVENT THURS. NOV. 21ST: Nations noted the event is planned at Big Grove, she feels that perhaps it was a mistake to call it an expo because many have been asking if they can have a table there and there's not very much room. There will be a few organization at the small high tops and there will be a City table and Big Grove food will be available and it's all plant based. The beer is plant based too, but while the City is buying the food but they are not buying alcohol for anybody. They've had about 400 people interested on Facebook and are expecting 100 to 200 depending on weather and other factors. The event is in the one party room and it's going to be shut off from the rest of the venue, there will not be any PowerPoints, but there will be a stage and a mic. The event will begin at 5:30pm for people to mingle and talk, and at 6:00pm, there will be some short talks from people, no lectures or long speeches, every talk will be five minutes or less, a City's communications staff will the emcee. Nations will give an overview account, some Council members may say something, some partners like Big Grove talk about what they've done. There will be different people in the community talking about what they have done, it will be a collaborative community event and not heavy city but more about the partnerships. Krieger asked if it would be open mic where others who were not scheduled to speak could speak. He noted it could get chaotic if that happens. Nations stated the original idea was to have one -minute open mic times but the group mentioned maybe it would be better to have wipe off boards where people can put their thoughts or questions. Overall the event will be open and flowing and they don't want anybody feel like they were excluded. She is telling people there will be a climate festival next year in September where more people and more tables will be available so more people can participate. Krieger asked if there would be a sign-up table for people who want to get more involved. It is a good opportunity to bring people in and let people voice concerns. Tate asked about people attending who are under the age of 21. Nations said Big Grove is open to all ages and the event will be done way before 10:00pm when the City ordinance takes effect. Krieger asked if City staff will be identified as City staff with badges or shirts. And should Commissioners be identified as well. Nations can make nametags and would also like a Commissioner to speak at the event. Options due to schedules are Tate, Sarsfield or Holbrook. There was discussion on the venue of the event and recognizing it is a bar, after work. Nations remarked hopefully they will reach different people than they usually do at an event similar. Everyone can come, everybody's welcome, it's a public issue. {Sarsfield left the meeting at 4:58pm} Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 10 of 11 ADMINISTRATIVE: Working File Storage: Monroe was going to give an update, since she has left this will be tabled to the next meeting. Meeting Room Options: Nations did her homework on this issue and checked out all the different rooms that are in the City. In the library the only room with the computer is meeting room A with the big screen, all the small ones have no computers, but there are TVs that can be hooked in like the Helling Conference room. The Rec Center doesn't have any rooms with computers or anything, plus it's a little chilly because they is no carpet and the chairs aren't as comfortable, so the Rec Center is probably not a good option. There is the Senior Center, and there is a commission that meets there, but she hasn't seen the room and hasn't been able to get that arranged yet. Within City Hall this room has the best kind of computer and table but it's up to the Commission on wherever they want to meet. She has reserved this room for next six months, just in case. The Commission agreed they are okay with the current room for now until they outgrow it. If more members of the public attend the meetings they might need a bigger space. Krieger noted the applications for this Commission close this month, Council would appoint the three new members to begin January 1. Nations and Commission members have been reaching out to people to get them to apply. Would like to have somebody from the Chamber as well as somebody from school system and from county public health. STAFF/COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS: Nations went to the Urban Sustainability Directors Network meeting in Detroit. ADJOURNMENT: Krieger made a motion to adjourn. Giannakouros seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. Climate Action Commission November 4, 2019 Page 11 of 11 CI UTE SMO coamtzssIor A'iTE.NDANCE FXJCORD 2029-2024 Mr DS&s KIEY: X X = Prnmt 0 = Pibmut O -X = AbwntTxcnsM NM=No medirrE —=Natsxkmbsr Item Number: 5.b. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Climate Action Commission: December 2 MINUTES FINAL IOWA CITY CLIMATE ACTION COMMISSION DECEMBER 2, 2019-3:30 PM—FORMAL MEETING MPO CONFERNCE ROOM, CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT: Madeleine Bradley, John Fraser, Stratis Giannakouros, Grace Holbrook (via phone), Kasey Hutchinson, GT Karr, Matt Krieger, Jesse Leckband, Becky Soglin, Eric Tate MEMBERS ABSENT: Katie Sarsfield STAFF PRESENT: Ashley Monroe, Brenda Nations OTHERS PRESENT: Miriam Kashia, Jeff Falk, Ben Grimm, Tina Nedbaleck RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: None CALL TO ORDER: Krieger called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 4, 2019 MINUTES: Fraser moved to approve the minutes of November 4, 2019. Karr seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion carried 10-0. PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Miriam Kashia is here from 100 Grannies and IC Climate Advocates and wanted to say they hope the Commission will use them and hope they'll have a representative. Tate asked Kashia how they would like the Commission to use them. Kashia stated their motto is educate, advocate and agitate, so in any of those ways. Fraser added they've mentioned numerous times that the Commission wants to be involved with 100 Grannies, so they are very welcome. Jeff Falk stated he is not affiliated with anybody but here to get an idea of what the Commission plans to do or not to do. He reviewed the minutes of the last meeting and found them totally incomprehensible and not directed towards much of anything except process and operation within the City. Falk is in energy efficiencies and measurement of energy efficiency; he has a background in statistics and has several data loggers all over his house which he's been using and would like to be useful to the Commission. Krieger thanked Falk for being here and stated part of that process is the Commission is just forming and they are trying to get legs under them. Today they will be speaking about the working groups where the Commission is trying to engage other members of the community, not on the Commission, and that's a great opportunity to get directly involved. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 2 of 14 Ben Grimm is here representing Iowa City School District. He was asked by their admin team to come to represent the School District and start making connections between what's happening with City and what's happening within the School District and make sure information is moving back and forth. REQUEST FROM COUNCIL FOR COMMISSION TO RESEARCH AND ADVISE COUNCIL ON THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF BUILDINGS OF VARYING DENSITY AND SCALE: Krieger noted this was assigned at last meeting to the buildings working group to research and advise Council on the carbon footprint of buildings of varying density and scale. This was related to some of the rezoning discussions that were taking place. At this point in time, there's no additional updates. Currently, they have identified a timetable for two or three months to come back with some feedback and recommendations. Soglin noted she was in a meeting today and the County Planning Department would like to be looped in on code type recommendations before there are recommendations to the Council. They'd like to maybe attend a meeting or understand what will be recommended. Krieger stated as part of trying to build the buildings working group they reached out to Anne Russett with the City to ask about suggestions for adding planners to the group and also to the American Institute of Architects to reach out to the local architecture community to get additional individuals who might be interested in joining the buildings working group. They are trying to start with targeted groups and outreach and trying to build a broad working group especially related to some of the initial things they will be taking a look at. UPDATE ON BY-LAWS: This was passed by the rules committee as up for City Council on their agenda. Nations noted it should be passed tomorrow and when it's done, she will email everybody a copy of the final bylaws. In the bylaws it says that as new members you should get a copy of the bylaws but they're not official yet, so nobody has a copy, but she'll make sure to email those to everybody on Wednesday. UPDATE ON WORKING GROUPS: Krieger noted at the last meeting and in the minutes, it was noted that they are looking at what were the original working groups under the advisory committee to write a brief description of their tasks so they can include that when they starting to do outreach and growing those working groups. For the benefit of the new members, it was decided that each of the current Commission members are expected to sit on at least one of the working groups to be liaison between the working group and the Commission. The current working groups that have been identified are buildings, outreach (which was formerly communications), equity and adaptation, and then transportation. The idea was when the groups were first thought of was to focus on the priorities, the actions and the action plan that had the most potential for impact on greenhouse gas emission reductions, and then also those elements that reach out in communities that are have cross-pollinization, so that's why outreach and equity and adaptation were formed. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 3 of 14 Krieger noted with each of the groups the Commission has asked each group develop a kind of a charge sheet or a strategic planning, if you will, but address the goals and kind of actions that the group would be taking short term and long term. Karr asked if the Commission is satisfied with this group of the set of working groups? These were put together over a year ago, they hit on the central points of the report, but it may be a good time reflect and see if anything was missing. Bradley had a comment about the equity group, to her it seemed like maybe there should be someone advocating for equity within each of the working groups, or how does the equity group work? Does it receive information from each of the groups? Tate noted one thing that's interesting about what Bradley just said, there's probably a lot of dotted lines among all the working groups. He thinks of outreach, probably could have an outreach representative for each group or an equity member for each group. But whether they formaly have equity in each group or not, they certainly need to be thinking about it. If there were enough people, he thinks it's a great idea, but likely there isn't enough members. Krieger stated the initial thought and how they were starting to organize was that each of these groups provides focus, they give a give a way to look at issues more in depth and then that's the point of having the liaison from the Commission, so that they can then bring that back and integrate it as part of the discussion. So for example, outreach, they will be diving in deep into what events are they planning and what groups are we supporting or targeting or presentations we're getting in the community. Those are things that we're probably not going to discuss in detail here with Commission but it's something that they can report back on and others coming from some of the other working groups are able to offer input or feedback on as well. Another example would be with buildings and this density issue. There's a lot of dialogue that probably needs to happen between transportation and buildings as well because they're very interrelated. Tate noted one of the challenges is we want to draft outside people to be members of the working groups, yet that needs to be manageable. So it's going to be a fine line between having enough people and having too many people that are manageable. Fraser stated it a good point about equity being sort of a cross cutting group. Krieger mentioned that they've done charge sheets when they were the advisory board and so they drew one up for equity and it reads "the goal is to understand how equitable the distribution of resources and benefits from the proposed Climate Action Plan activities are across Iowa City will also determine methods of measuring success". What they don't want to have is all these working groups working independently, they come up with their actions, and then we start thinking about equity. So Bradley is totally on point with trying to make sure that's integrated and should be further topic of discussion. Krieger noted they did have a lot of discussion around that initially, both developing tools that other working groups can utilize, but also evaluation after the fact after it's already been developed. Tate noted the least representative groups tend to be the ones most affected by our wonderful ideas. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 4 of 14 Holbrook noted there's the way the actions are described in the original plan, another way they are described in the 100 -day, and current groups don't seem to capture the waste, or potentially sustainable lifestyle. Nations stated one of the reasons for not having a waste group is a lot of those actions are really internal within the City, although they're not totally, but a lot of waste actions are covered by the City. Perhaps they should merge waste and sustainable lifestyle together and have one working group for those. Krieger stated one of the reasons that they didn't initially form it was that they were just trying to prioritize quite honestly, and so waste had 2% impact on overall greenhouse gas emission reductions, it's 50% for municipal so the City itself was focused on it as far as what makes a big impact but as far as what this Commission could do, we had less of a focus at the time. Nations noted that sustainable lifestyle is something that is important, but it's really hard to measure so the working groups that were chosen were ones that could have the most impact on our local emissions. Fraser noted one of the things he's struggling with a little bit looking at the plans is trying to figure out that is the City actually controls a small fraction of the actual emissions of Iowa City. In conceiving this whole plan, we're basically asking the 97% to do things in this Commission has no say over. There's two pieces, there's engagement and then there's also advisement. We can advise City Council and say we think these are great policies that someone that you could take on. He was just reading in California now they're looking at battery storage and realized finally batteries don't equal emissions reductions they just smooth out the renewables, grants and other forcing policies. There's an app that captures, essentially, what generation is happening at a certain time of day and you charge your battery based on that, and you're not drawing off a base local plant that night and claiming reductions. Those are policies that are going to drive decarbonization. Fraser asked if the Commission is leaning towards those kind of really strong enforcement measures that are going to allow everyone in Iowa City to decrease or is it all voluntourism and engagement? You should buy a different car or you should use less water. Is that going to get us there? What's this Commission leaning towards when we think about our role. He noted it's really hard to get to all of Iowa City and have them change their behavior to get the reductions we need to be IPCC aligned. Also the need to do that in an equitable way. We need to structure policy, not at the goodwill of someone who wants to put solar panels on their roof. Policy is going to move the needle, so is the Commission an advisement group that's trying to restructure policy in Iowa City or what? 95% of emissions are not anything that Iowa City has any control over unless you legislate. Nations stated she feels policy is one of the things that we have trouble within the state of Iowa because we're not allowed to because of state rule. She noted that is why the outreach group is going to be so important, especially with new events or climate festival, and outreach for this 100 -day report. Outreach is going to be really important and we need more people in that group. Tate stated in looking at the 100 -day report that was presented to Council last month there were a lot of the actions about education and outreach. Nations added about the community, the whole thing was what everybody else can do and how Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 5 of 14 we can have incentives and look into what policies we can have. It was that 90 -some% and not internal City operations. Karr noted regarding the question of are we about policy or are we on the other side, volunteerism? The answer is unfortunately, yes, we can't pick one side or the other, we have to do both. Krieger added when they get to the evaluation group reports later on some things to keep in mind is what do we tackle first or how do we prioritize. He feels there needs to be a mix of big impact, which are usually long-term initiatives, and also short-term wins. The 100 -day report is also written in terms incremental timeline, so near term, within five years, and then further out, within the 10 years. Fraser stated policy leads innovation, it's nice to innovate, but nobody's going to innovate unless they have to and that's where this Commission has a challenge because we don't have a lot of control to set policy so what we have to do is communicate appropriately and successfully with the people that do have the ability to establish policy. Nations stated the Commission must also advocate to change State policy, that's one of the actions in the 100 -day report. Fraser added there is an area of control and policy makers outside that and also an area of influence, so they have to work on the people that they can influence. Karr stated part of the work that they maybe need expand on soon how to prioritize who you're speaking to, that level of influence. We can mix with some other characteristics or attributes, but it seems like that's something that we need address within the next outreach meeting, prioritize who we're going to get to, and how to communicate to them. Nations noted that the equity fellow, Kuann, is almost finished with a report, perhaps in the next week or two, and then Nations can send it out and also put it on the website. There is an extensive list of all the groups in town and all the organizations which is more extensive than what we originally had from to start with. Krieger said to add to the list two things, engage and advise as well as follow up and measure. There have been some comments noting we've struggled with how we measure each of the actions? Fraser suggested maybe adding another group or different strategies or rethinking how those groups act is the way that you get to it. Nations stated Iowa City has a very engaged public that would be interested, and this would be much harder if we didn't. Krieger asked how the Commission wants to proceed about populating these working groups. Should they consume meeting time to do this. Should it be done offline. Knowing what they have to work with today, for instance, they're getting a lot of requests or interest in joining, which is good. As discussed last time, each group needs formulate a description of the group. Then when someone inquires if they can join, we have something we can send out with who the Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 6 of 14 contact info is. We also just need to make sure those groups are meeting regularly and reporting back, probably should be meeting at least monthly as well so we can have kind of frequent regular updates. So for today let's just get a feel for new members and what group they may want to be on, or if you have a recommendation for a new working group. Soglin sees herself on the buildings group, based on the 100 -day report. With her background in building will cross over and relate to potential regulations and with the county potentially. She can't speak for her Board of Supervisors but these are things that could expand potentially. Krieger stated the other intent behind this is the working groups can be a little fluid and that we can create them as we need them as we identify the need for something short term, which is that goal, and maybe it goes away. Fraser suspects any of the groups already mentioned, none of them are short term. Fraser's suggestion to new people is where's your passion? Hutchinson stated when she read through the 100 -day report, she felt she was most suited for adaptation and that would probably be my top pick. Second would be transportation, but really whatever group is in biggest need for members. Bradley would prefer outreach or transportation. Krieger noted Leckband leads transportation, Krieger and Karr are buildings, Krieger also sits on outreach with Fraser, and Holbrook. Tate and Sarsfield also sit on the equity and adaptation. Krieger would like to see the working group started, start reaching out to everyone to get a time that works. For the next meeting each group should report on an update on the description and maybe initial priorities. Nations noted at the Big Grove event she got names of people who are interested in being in the working groups and can pass that along. CAAP ANNUAL UPDATE AND METRICS TRACKING: Nations stated that in the Climate Action Plan there are 35 actions. Staff has been working on trying to get an update and show metrics of where they were on those actions to show how successful they were. However then they got sidelined with the 100 -day report and now have 64 actions in that and have 99 actions total and it would be difficult to track that many because just for the 35 it has been difficult to find the numbers or the right metrics and we really need to show progress in the areas of our Climate Action Plan to know what's working and what's not. Therefore, Nations has been looking at other cities and has attached in the packet a dashboard of Vancouver's which has 20 metrics, and she is hoping to work with this group to get some metrics that we can show the success of our work, like how we're doing on transportation versus how we're doing in buildings, etc. We need to show how we're making progress every year. Nations has been working on that 35 for the initial Plan and it has been difficult to find really clear metrics. She has talked to Karr about this with the buildings, and for example we don't have good record of how many people have energy audits, or how many people do certain Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 7 of 14 things that are in the plan. And with the 64 additional actions, Nations doesn't think there's any way that they can go into detail. So instead she would like to propose that they combine the two reports and look at the overall trends of numbers that they do have so they can see how successful they are. For instance, buildings, we just don't have some of the data, however some of the data we do have is every year we get how much energy is used in residential, commercial and industrial and so we can see which of those groups are going down or going up as far as their energy use. Additionally they look at transportation, the way they measure that is every year they have vehicle miles traveled within the City limits and that they'd want to reduce so we could see if we're reducing that or if it's growing. There are also things like bus ridership, the census, commuter mode split tells how many people walk, drive alone, ride bikes, ride the bus, etc. Nations suggested they look for numbers that they can report on every year to show successes. For example looking at Vancouver's, some of these we don't have in our report but they are good examples, and there's only 20. Nations thinks if they had 20 metrics that could show the success over the years that would be enough. Obviously, there is the greenhouse gas inventory and that shows how our how our emissions are being reduced or not. We also know that a lot of it is MidAmerican or the University, but we need more detail as far as how successful is all of our residential work on buildings with energy audits and incentives, instead of saying how much we spend on grants or how many people we've granted, she thinks they need to think about what is the change that we want to see and find the numbers that show what those are because what they really want is energy reduction in residential. They have that in numbers that MidAmerican provides, she is hoping to get to 2019 numbers so at the beginning of the year she can start looking at past years and compare. Nations is hoping the working groups can look for their group at what are the metrics that could show were there was success or not. She will be looking at more cities to see what and how they are tracking metrics. She would like the group to think about how we can show success with these 99 different actions. Fraser agreed they need to set the metrics before they set the ultimate goal. The goals and metrics are really tied together. Nations agreed and stated the 100 -day report is more like the implementation plan. Tate asked who defined the actions in the 100 -day report. Nations replied it was created by the City Manager's office and then ran by all the department heads. Krieger stated Nations is asking for help and to provide feedback on the metrics that she's researching, but also if there's others that we would suggest as far as related to any specific actions. Nations confirmed yes, to somehow show success and be transparent and show what we're doing and what's working. Soglin asked if Nations has the Dubuque sustainability metrics that were developed about seven years ago. Nations replied she did, however those were broader, and these are just climate, we are looking specifically for climate metrics. She was hoping when they finished our first Climate Action Plan that they'd have liked to have metrics as a starting point however is realizing why they didn't because it's a lot of work and it's really hard to figure that out. Vancouver has excellent metrics but they've been working on for 20 years and they have a staff of 28 people. However the goal is to see what we can measure and what's useful to us because we don't want to just collect numbers to collect numbers. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page S of 14 Fraser noted not only do they need to identify the things that they want to measure but also how they're going to measure. For example, with the same indicator, you can measure it in raw numbers, you can measure it in per capita, you can measure it versus investment, and they may all say different things. Tate also stated knowing over the next couple of years if MidAmerican will continue to green the grid means that you can see reductions coming down the pike and not necessarily have anyone engaged in doing anything. However, that's really hard to disaggregate as you don't know what's their investment. Whereas if the City does it there is going to be variance amongst people who can afford or not afford to capture different elements. If our goal is to say, move everything in your house off natural gas towards electricity because we know our grid is going to support greener electrons. To do that means that you have to have money. Krieger noted that is a good example of are there specific metrics we want to be tracking on 100 -day report, action that spoke to that issue, the incentive program for electrification and switching low income households over to that. Or even on adaptation where it was switching some of the public infrastructures or park money to tree planting and things, but within those neighborhoods as well. Nations agreed and noted they see their emissions decrease because MidAmerican going to wind, it doesn't mean that people aren't using more electricity. That's why if we have kilowatt hour usage we can see if people are still using more electricity or less. Tate stated they want to tease out what it is we want to look at to really understand. If it is kilowatt hours going down as a good measure of success across the board, we can read quickly if people are using less electricity in the household. Whatever the technology state is, turning off a light requires no technology, it's a nudge behavior push. However, having someone get air source heat pump that's pulling electricity and not natural gas into the home requires a different kind of huge capital investment. Fraser thinks disaggregation is a great approach and is in line with measuring equity as well. Giannakouros noted from his background coming from Phoenix planting a tree doesn't have the same value everywhere in Phoenix, because if you plant in south Phoenix where people are standing waiting on buses and they have heat stress, the trees are coverings and not just taking carbon out of the air. So how do we think about a tree as not just a tree, but where that money goes how we're going to assess more value for a tree planted in a neighborhood where people are more likely to be waiting for a bus than walking. Nations goal is to have 20 metrics that are easy to get every year and that we'll see progress with. Tate noted it is important to not reinvent the wheel but to look at what's been done elsewhere. Karr stated they have begun this work with the demonstration projects as well. When they try to just do the pilot 15 to 25 houses, they're really trying to streamline it. They did do a walkthrough, observe the Green AmeriCorps at one of the City properties last week and it was really interesting because it's an achievable thing that can be done in about 30 minutes. This is real easy, low hanging fruit we can get pretty easily 100, 200, 500 people to do with pretty minimal investment and get actual numbers. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 9 of 14 Krieger noted kind of the sort of approaches we need, to package these things and then the big push is to get that out to every single person in Iowa City, and then we're going have a real impact on emissions. Tate agreed, he is glad to see the school district here, get every student bus pass, that'd be great, that'd be a doable thing and real impact instead of watching City High's parking lot fill up. Actual things that can be done for $10 a month, here's what happens. ridership goes up, you get more grants, etc. Krieger agreed and stated getting that sort of PR messaging out there about what you can do for the community with $10. BIG GROVE EVENT REVIEW: Overall comments were an awesome turnout, it was kind of cool that we had it in a different place besides the City building, it was a different feel and was really positive. There were seven speakers and then a quick open mic at the end. The open mic was really good, people were to the point and shared valuable stuff. Nations noted for anybody who wasn't there, the event was taped and if you're signed up for the sustainability newsletter, it's going to come out with a link to where you can watch it if you'd like. 100 -DAY REPORT UPDATE 11/14/19: It was delivered. REQUEST FROM COUNCIL FOR THE COMMISSION REVIEW AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK OF THE 100 -DAY REPORT, "ACCELERATING IOWA CITY'S CLIMATE ACTIONS": Council talked about the 100 -Day report at their working session and they want Commission feedback and Council will not move on any of the report until they have feedback from the Commission. Monroe stated Council asked for feedback from the Commission and are looking to the Commission to assess what is in the report, make sure it matches up with the Climate Action Plan. In the various categories we defined the regulations, the policies, the incentives, education, the projects, if there are things that are missing, if there are things that you feel we should reconsider, if there are aspects such as the idea to give kids bus passes, that's a new idea that we didn't specifically note in the Plan, maybe that's a separate idea broken out, maybe it's included in our incentives to get more people riding, whatever those things are, if the Commission wants to more fully develop what needs to be said it's really an open invitation to make edits and changes and they are looking to this group of people to be the technical experts in recommending what those changes are. It can go through the working groups or the Commission can walk through each of the items during meetings, however you all want to handle gathering that feedback and providing it to Council in a memo. Monroe suggested taking a couple of months to reach out to staff as you consider these things, if you want to bring them up with the next meeting, if its in between, staff is available so we can offer some guidance or explanation of what we're thinking. Monroe added along with Nations request from this group to Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 10 of 14 find measurable things, they want to quantify things that that the City can measure as a community that shows action on these specific items. Whether it's our buildings, or vehicles or bus rides, or whatever it is, trees planted, all those things that we're showing action. Even as larger entities like MidAmerican and the University are making progress on their goals too. Monroe added they do want policy recommendations from the Commission as a whole, it is that balance between outreach and policy and the Commission is the recommending body to the Council for advocating for policies and regulations that we need in place. Krieger asked about the balance between wanting to get something done quickly and moving forward, however there is the financial side because some of its already been put into your budget for the next fiscal year. Monroe stated they are currently working on budget. There are things that we have expanded upon, so requests from our departments that make it possible for us to meet our strategic goals. For example we're going forward on our transit study, we've budgeted for our methane study and those kinds of things. They have already budgeted for the things that are in progress. Monroe worked through a basic funding plan for each of these areas, concentration on buildings and the projects and programs defined here, money for transportation. projects or plans or incentives, etc., but everything is flexible. The estimated levy from the emergency levy is expected to be about a million dollars and can be divided in a variety of ways. The departments in budget meetings requested money for educational programs, so things that they're already doing, that they can expand upon as part of implementing the plan or report items. They have some like advertising and marketing money in the budget in their departments, but there's going to be a bigger pot to pull from City wide. This Commission has a budget, a couple thousand dollars for holding meetings, planning small events, etc. Larger events like the climate festival or whatever comes from that we're planning on that money coming from this money so it's a mix of our funding. Monroe stated the City is moving forward with a lot of the things that are the next steps such as enhancing our single family rehab program to include more environmental projects, amplifying our tree plantings, all those kinds of things are more next steps and not necessarily the brand new stuff that we want the Commission feedback on. Fraser asked how long the Commission has to develop this feedback. Monroe stated City Council has a lot to do between January 4, when they get a day full of budget and strategic planning, so maybe February or March would be nice to have official feedback from this group. Monroe added another piece of this is whether the Commission wants to get additional community feedback and input on the plan, is there a meeting, a public survey tool or is it just talking to people. Whatever level of engagement with the community the Commission wants to do. Krieger noted when the Commission was were working on the action plan it was a yearlong period and they held two community meetings and had an electronic survey that went out. Now with a lot more actions out there, trying to understand priorities, do we think it's reasonable, advantageous, beneficial, whatever you want to say for having that public input. What are the best possible methods of garnering that feedback at this point, knowing the kind of short duration. Karr stated wasn't one of the conclusions is that the respondents weren't totally representative of the whole community on the survey and the meetings? He thinks surveys are fine, but we Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 11 of 14 just need to keep that in mind and try and do better, and maybe augment that with other forms. Perhaps take advantage of this list Kuann was starting to put together for more of a targeted outreach. Soglin noted that some of the actions say next step and are already underway. While those may be analyzed on whether it's the right thing to do, should the recommendations we make, and ask for public input on, be on things already underway? We need to be upfront and transparent. Perhaps another column could be added to the Appendix to show where there's explicitly funding already devoted to it. Soglin noted that getting quality public input and Commission thoughts and melding those two and getting that to the Council by March is isn't going to be easy particularly with Christmas right in the middle of it all. Fraser suggested maybe it ends with a request for public input after the February or March date that we say we need to look at this longer term. Krieger asked when these positions are going to be posted. Monroe stated they have a person who is retiring within a couple of weeks so that position is getting kind of reformed into an engagement specialist type position, someone who will be coordinating directly with the outreach working group and this Commission and some volunteer coordination and the communications aspect of what they are working on. Nations got the go ahead to hire the vacated intern position, Denise is going to keep working with us and then the following position we're going to wait to hire is the data and equity analyst role. They want to make sure that nothing recommended by this group, or if the recommendations change for how we balance our projects doesn't change significantly, then we would plan to move ahead with the data analysis position. But if there's some other need where there is some new building projects or we decided for a natural areas management, whatever that dictates it might change the role of what that person will do. Monroe stated they want to have all positions in place by the beginning of the fiscal year. Fraser noted that with all this talk about measurement and indicators it seems like someone with those skills would be help in that respect. Monroe agreed but reiterated if there are priorities that are different after this all shakes out, then we'll go where those priorities lie and how we can best use our resources. Nations stated that one thing that might help when thinking about prioritizing some of these things is that a lot of the actions were supposed to be outwardly facing and not City government, but then when we looked at all of our emissions, like 82% of our emissions are existing buildings and that counts the University, and when she did a calculation showing all these new buildings, new construction is actually about 1 % of what's already existing and that is residential, commercial and industrial. Additionally, it shows industries are big users, but there's not very many of them whereas residential, there's a lot of them. With businesses, we want to have a green business record recognition program. Existing buildings are the majority of the emissions as well as transportation. A lot of the actions are educational, because outreach and getting other people to know what's available, education is like a fourth of the actions. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 12 of 14 Monroe confirmed that a lot of the next step elements are those education pieces. Staff has done some of that, but clearly there's going to be an elevation of how much and what we're communicating so if the Commission wants to build on that or have ideas for who do we need to be talking to, what is the frequency, what mode, etc. Nations stated about a fourth of the actions are education so that's going to be really important in general and we're really looking forward to your feedback of what might be missing or what we should prioritize and who we should be speaking to. REQUEST FOR COMMISSION TO GET PUBLIC INPUT ON 100 -DAY REPORT: Krieger noted with regards to public input it's a lot to try to take on in the short term. His first inclination is as part of the working groups reports to also report on how the 100 -day actions fall within the priorities and what are the recommendations there. However, he thinks it's also about the targeted outreach to specific groups for their input as well. Part of growing the working groups is reaching out to those groups anyway so it makes sense to maybe include feedback from those parties. Soglin stated it will take a conversation and that takes time if you want something that's substantial enough and not just go through the motions and leaving people feeling even less heard. Perhaps there is some sort of combination thing they could do, they could have an event, very informal out in several areas of the community versus at one location, where they listen. They can talk about and basically introduce this and acknowledge it's going to have to be somewhat a work in progress, and then listen for feedback. Krieger noted as an example they did give a presentation, like the format that Soglin is proposing, kind of a listening post, to give a presentation on what is the outline of the plan. They did that at Oaknoll and people were just trying to take it in and adjust so there's not a way for them to immediately react or provide significant feedback at that point in time. So it is a longer duration type of thing and maybe the first step is us providing feedback based on our expertise, background, and what our recommendations are, but with the understanding that we need to be making it more of a transparent process and taking that out into the community. Soglin suggested Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as it relates to issues of justice and climate for people so we should have something that day somewhere. Fraser liked that idea and said in his experience in doing such processes is if you do it at night the particular people you want to meeting with are working at night because they come from a certain socio-economic background. One option is to allocate money if possible, out of that budget to provide things at this event (food or entertainment) to get people to show up and be somewhat interested in the event. Soglin suggested they go to events that are already planned, because there's always a rally of person and be part of that event for 10 minutes. Monroe noted if it comes out where the Commission is okay with the general concepts and ideas that are in the report, then the specifics of each item can take longer to develop and reach out. Things like outreach to certain populations and developing communication plans may take longer to define. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 13 of 14 Krieger asked if City staff was developing this for Council's review is the intent that in the end, you end up doing all of them or is this a laundry list of things you'd like to do, but really want help to prioritize. Monroe acknowledged they were hesitant or nervous about proposing all of them because that's the expectation, you put it out there, and you have to do them all. So that is why they created a phasing of how many can they start in a year and what areas and departments need to be available or community groups need to be involved. If there were too many, or one area of staff's time, it got pushed a year so it should be manageable. Karr added over time there will be changes and revisions, such as to building codes, this is not final, there's going to be a whole iteration of process and opportunity for public input. Fraser agreed and reiterated it makes sense that education, incentives and policy is how you convert changes into being green. Giannakouros noted the priority is to get the working groups going and get them together for a meeting. We need like 10 people, get them in a room and have a meeting, every group. So the charge for each working group is to meet and report back at the next meeting. Nations added the City is willing to help with anything if you want to hold a meeting, or if you want to do a survey, they can put on the website, she still has the email addresses of everybody that was in some of the first meetings, etc. WORKING FILE STORAGE: Monroe stated that any files the Commission has already created, Google Docs or whatever they are, treat them as a public record, so they could be called upon as a public document. Draft forms typically are not taken as public information. When working in the working groups, any number of five or less is permitted by our open record meetings rules, five Commission members or less can collectively be working on a document together at the same time, staff needs access to it. Monroe will outline this all in memo to the Commission. STAFF/COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENTS: Nations stated they will have a new member orientation from legal, she is asking them to come to the next meeting. Nations also stated the location of the next meeting will change, it will be held in Library meeting room B. If for some reason you can't come to a meeting, please Krieger and Nations so they know. Bylaws state you cannot miss three unexcused meetings. ADJOURNMENT: Krieger made a motion to adjourn. Giannakouros seconded the motion. A vote was taken, and the motion passed 10-0. Climate Action Commission December 2, 2019 Page 14 of 14 CLIMATE ACTION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2019-2020 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. O -4 (0 ' N A N (O CD Madeleine Bradley 12/31/23 -- -- X John Fraser 12/31/20 X X X Stratis Giannakouros UI Rep X X X Grace Holbrook 12/31/21 X X X Kasey Hutchinson 12/31/23 -- -- X GT Karr 12/31/20 X X X Matt Krieger 12/31/20 X X X Jesse Leckband MidAmerican X Re X X Katie Sarsfield 12/31/20 X X O/E Becky So lin 12/31/23 -- -- X Eric Tate 12/31/21 X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No Meeting -- -- = Not a Member Item Number: 5.c. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Community Police Review Board: December 10 I �� .- CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM Date: 1/15/20 To: Mayor and City Council From: Chris Olney, Community Police Review Board Staff Re: Recommendation from Community Police Review Board At their December 10, 2019 meeting the Community Police Review Board made the following recommendation to the City Council: (1) Accept CPRB #19-04 Additional action (check one) X No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action S:RECform.doc Final/Approved COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD MINUTES — December 10, 2019 CALL TO ORDER: Chair Monique Galpin called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Latisha McDaniel, David Selmer MEMBERS ABSENT: Sam Conaway, Orville Townsend STAFF PRESENT: Staff Chris Olney, Legal Counsel Patrick Ford STAFF ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Iowa City Police Chief Jody Matherly RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL (1) Accept CPRB #19-04. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by Selmer, seconded by McDaniel, to adopt the consent calendar as presented or amended. • Minutes of the meeting on 11/12/19 • ICPD General Orders 89-02 (Department Disciplinary Philosophy) Motion carried, 3/0, Conaway and Townsend absent. NEW BUSINESS None. OLD BUSINESS None. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None. BOARD INFORMATION None. STAFF INFORMATION Olney stated the revised By-laws were included in the meeting packet. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by McDaniel, seconded by Selmer adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(1)(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts, and 22-7(5) police officer investigative reports, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law, rule or procedure that are made to a government body or to any of its employees by identified persons outside of government, to the extent that the government body receiving those communications from such persons outside of government could reasonably believe that those persons would be discouraged from making them to that government body if they were available for general public examination. CPRB December 10, 2019 DRAFT Motion carried, 3/0, Conaway and Townsend absent. Open session adjourned at 5:37 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Returned to open session at 6:16 P.M. Motion by Selmer, seconded by McDaniel to accept CPRB #19-04 report and forward to City Council as amended. Motion Carried, 3/0, Conaway and Townsend absent. TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE and FUTURE AGENDAS (subject to change) • January 14, 2020, 5:30 p.m. Helling Conference Rm • February 11, 2020, 5:30 p.m. Helling Conference Rm • March 10, 2020, 5:30 p.m. Helling Conference Rm • April 14, 2020, 5:30 p.m. Helling Conference Rm McDaniel advised she would be absent for the January meeting. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by McDaniel, seconded by Selmer. Motion carried, 3/0, Conaway and Townsend absent. Meeting adjourned at 6:18 P.M. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2018-2019 eetin Date KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member 1/8/19 2/20/19 3/12/19 4/9/19 4/29/19 5/14/19 6/11/19 7/11/19 8/13/19 9/10/19 9/24/19 10/8/19 11/12/19 12/10/19 NAMEOR No QUORUM Donald X X X X X X X King _ Monique X X X X X X X X X X X X X Galpin Orville X X X X X X X X X X X X O/E Townsend Latisha X O X X X X X O X X X X X McDaniel David X O X X X X X O X X X X X Selmer Sam X X X X O/E O Conaway KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD A Board of the City of Iowa City 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240-1826 (319) 356-5041 December 10, 2019 To: City Council Complainant City Manager Equity Director Chief of Police Officer(s) involved in complaint From: Community Police Review Board Re: Investigation of CPRB Complaint #19-04 This is the Report of the Community Police Review Board's (the "Board") review,—o'f.the inyestiga n of Complaint CPRB #19-04 (the "Complaint"). - - BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITY Under the City Code of the City of Iowa City, the Board's responsibilities are as follows:°-- 1. The Board forwards all complaints to the Police Chief, who completes an investigation. (Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(A).) 2. When the Board receives the Police Chiefs report, the Board must select one or more of the following levels of review, in accordance with Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(1): a. On the record with no additional investigation. b. Interview /meet with complainant. c. Interview /meet with named officer(s) and other officers. d. Request additional investigation by the police chief, or request police assistance in the board's own investigation. e. Perform its own investigation with the authority to subpoena witnesses. f. Hire independent investigators. 3. In reviewing the Police Chiefs report, the Board must apply a "reasonable basis" standard of review. This means that the Board must give deference to the Police Chiefs report, because of the Police Chiefs professional expertise. (Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(2).) 4. According to Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(2), the Board can recommend that the Police Chief reverse or modify the Chiefs findings only if: a. The findings are not supported by substantial evidence; or b. The findings are unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious; or C. The findings are contrary to a police department policy or practice, or any federal, state or local law. 5. When the Board has completed its review of the Police Chiefs report, the Board issues a public report to the city council. The public report must include: (1) detailed findings of fact; and (2) a clearly articulated conclusion explaining why and the extent to which the complaint is either "sustained" or "not sustained ". (Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(5).) 6. Even if the Board finds that the complaint is sustained, the Board has no authority to discipline the officer involved. BOARD'S PROCEDURE The Complaint was initiated by the Complainant on August 7, 2019. As required by Section 8-8-5(B) of the City Code, the Complaint was referred to the Chief of Police for investigation. The Chief's Report was filed with the City Clerk on October 31, 2019. The Board voted on November 12, 2019 to apply the following Level of Review to the Chiefs Report: On the record with no additional review, pursuant to Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(13)(1)(A). After viewing available information, and initiating discussion sessions, the Board decided tt all officers acted properly and within department guidelines and policies. i� The Board met to consider the Report on November 12, 2019, and December 10, ? { Prior to the November 12, 2019, meeting, the Board reviewed audio and video recvrr%agsgf the", - incident. FINDINGS OF FACT On August 2 Iowa City police officers responded to a report of a stabbing from a confrontation within city limits. Several officers appeared on the scene, but only one officer is the subject of the Complaint, hereinafter referred to as Officer A. When Officer A arrived on the scene, Complainant and another individual were involved in a physical and verbal altercation. Officer A learned that the Complainant had been stabbed earlier in this altercation. He was able to separate the Complainant and the other party. An ambulance was called and Complainant was treated by the responding team and taken to the hospital within a few minutes of the officers' arrival. Thereafter, with the assistance of the other responding officers, a thorough investigation was conducted. During the investigation, there was a canvass for witnesses, and some witness statements were taken. The individual who stabbed the Complainant provided a statement. Her home was searched, and the weapon used in the stabbing was recovered. Also, on the scene was Complainants purse. It was searched in the process of the investigation to determine to whom it belonged, and whether any weapons were present. It was returned to the Complainant before she left the scene. Officer A continued to investigate the matter, including talking with Complainant at the hospital. He further reviewed text messages and social media messages that were shared with him by the other individual in the altercation and by the Complainant herself. This continued investigation revealed that Complainant tried to procure her firearm shortly before she went to the home of the other individual in the altercation who stabbed Complainant. It also revealed that Complainant, through social media, was involved in making threatening statements toward the other individual. After Officer A conducted his investigation, he reviewed his findings with two superior officers and collectively they determined the charges that were eventually filed against Complainant and the other individual involved in the altercation. Complainant was charged with Assault Causing Bodily Injury and Harassment 31 Degree. The other participant was charged with Willful Injury Causing Serious Injury, Child Endangerment, and Going Armed with Intent. On August 7, 2019, Complainant filed the Complaint alleging misconduct on the part of Officer A. ALLEGATION 1 — The officer's decision to not file charges against the other participant was influenced by him personally knowing the other participant's boyfriend. The record is contrary to the allegation in that Officer A did charge the other participant with the offenses cited above. Further the record reflects that Officer A's knowledge of the other participant's boyfriend was merely that of a Highschool acquaintance. Moreover, there is zero evidence that such knowledge influenced Officer A's conduct in any manner. Review of available materials indicated that Officer A conducted his investigation in accordance with Department policy at all times. Board's conclusion as to Allegation 1 — Not Sustained. Chiefs conclusion as to Allegation 1 — Not Sustained. ALLEGATION 2 — Illegal search of personal property and seizure of cell phone. Officers did search the Complainant's purse, but only to verify the purse belonged to her and to verify that the purse did not contain any weapons prior to handing it back to Complainant. Officers are allowed to do a safety search in exigent circumstances as were present here where a weapon was present and serious injuries were sustained. Board's conclusion as to Allegation 2 — Not Sustained. _ w ii A u.yx Chiefs conclusion as to Allegation 2 — Not Sustained. �w ALLEGATION 3 — Failure to properly investigate the incident. .r As outlined in the fact portion above, Officer A, with the assistance of several other officers conducted a very thorough investigation of the incident. Board's conclusion as to Allegation 3 — Not Sustained. Chief's conclusion as to Allegation 3 — Not Sustained. COMMENTS None. Item Number: 5.d. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Historic Preservation Commission: December 12 MINUTES APPROVED HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION EMMA J. HARVAT HALL December 12, 2019 MEMBERS PRESENT: Thomas Agran, Helen Burford, Cecile Kuenzli, Lyndi Kiple, Quentin Pitzen, and Jordan Sellergren MEMBERS ABSENT: Kevin Boyd, Gosia Clore, Sharon DeGraw STAFF PRESENT: Jessica Bristow OTHERS PRESENT: Greg A Sims, Austin Wu RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (become effective only after separate Council action) CALL TO ORDER: Vice -Chairperson Agran called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANYTHING NOT ON THE AGENDA: There was none. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS: 330 North Gilbert Street — Northside Historic District (rear porch opening relocations). The first agenda item concerned the property located at 330 North Gilbert Street where the applicant is requesting a second curb cut and driveway with a parking pad. Bristow stated that staff received an emailed letter from the applicant's lawyer this afternoon which was emailed to Commissioners and provided for them in hardcopy at the meeting. She said that since staff did not have time to read the letter or respond, staff would like to change the recommendation for the project. Bristow said that staff would recommend that the Commission defer the discussion and decision of the project until the January meeting at which time staff will have had the ability to respond to the letter. She said that the applicant had been emailed that the recommendation would change. Bristow said the project will be published with the letter and the response in the agenda packet. Agran asked the members of the public in attendance if they would be able to attend the January meeting instead. Bristow said that if they could not attend in January, they could email any comments to her to be shared at the meeting also. MOTION: Kuenzli moved to defer the project at 330 North Gilbert Street to the January 2020 meeting so that staff can respond to the additional information. Burford seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. REPORT ON CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY CHAIR AND STAFF Certificate of No Material Effect — Chair and Staff Review. 1203 Sheridan Avenue— Longfellow Historic District (storm window replacement). HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 12, 2019 Page 2 of 6 Bristow said that while storm window replacement does not require review, several recent projects funded by the Historic Preservation Fund involved the replacement of storm windows, and sometimes the repair of the original windows so that the original windows are saved from demolition. Minor Review — Staff Review. 811 1/2 East College Street — College Green Historic District (exterior metal stair railing replacement). Bristow said that the stair replaced is the main access to the second-floor apartments on the rear building. Bristow showed an image of the front building and a photo of the fire escape stair on the back. She said that since the two stairs had matched before, the new one will also be similar. 123 North Linn Street — Local Historic Landmark (Brewery Square entrance door and arched transom replacement). Bristow this entrance is a non-historic addition between the Economy Advertising Building and the Union Brewery. She said the project is the replacement of the entry doors and windows and the arched transom window under the steel tube arch. Bristow said the steel tube will be repaired and painted and a storefront system will be installed in the entrance. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES FOR NOVEMBER 14. 2019 MOTION: Kuenzli moved to approve the minutes of the Historic Preservation Commission's November 14, 2019 meeting. Pitzen seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 6-0. COMMISSION INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION: Receipt of statement of eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for the Clinton Street and Railroad Depot Historic District. Bristow said that the attached letter was the official notification that the propose District was found to be eligible for listing in the National Register but was not listed because of owner objection. Bristow said that if the owners changed their mind at any time they could notify the National Park Service and the district would be immediately listed. Kuenzli asked if there might be a possibility that they would change their minds on this. Bristow said it seemed unlikely at this time. Unscheduled item from the floor: Greg A Sims asked permission to address the Commission on an item near and dear to his heart. Sims informed the Commission that there were historical documents, specifically, bank certificates issued by the Bank of New York that if located could be redeemed for as much as $250,000. The description of the certificate included a gold seal and several different ribbon attachments. Sims stated that he had grown up in Des Moines where preservation happened and they had done good work. He said that he appreciated history and this type of work. His information was being presented as a public service. Sims requested a copy of the Commission minutes as record of his participation in the meeting. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 12, 2019 Page 3 of 6 Preliminary discussion of potential work plan activities Bristow said that the purpose of this discussion was to provide the Commission with information about on-going work and potential work. She said that since the creation of a work plan is required as a part of our Certified Local Government agreement, staff wished to have a preliminary discussion so that Commissioner interest in specific projects could be included in the work plan draft that will be presented next month. Bristow began with the list of regular tasks that happen on an annual basis, most of which are the daily tasks that occupy staff. Bristow continued with the high-priority projects. She said that the Downtown National Register Nomination is in process and will likely proceed to review by the State Nominating Review Committee in June which means it will be reviewed by the Commission in May. She said that since this is preservation month, we may have a public presentation. Bristow said that the University of Iowa planning project that is ongoing involves other staff and they will present to the Commission in January. Bristow said the Summit Street Monument was reviewed by a consultant as part of one of the grants that the Commission had last year. The consultant issued recommendations on how to preserve the monument. Because the deterioration is ongoing, this a high-priority project which will involve Commission review and a recommendation to City Council on how to move forward in regard to the monument. Bristow said that an update of the National Register listing of the College Green Historic District to include the house relocated to 623 College as a contributing resource is necessary for the current and future property owners. She said this is a good time to review the entire district to confirm the status of the other properties, especially since this is a small district. Bristow said that the Iowa City Preservation Handbook needs to be updated to correct inconsistencies and include recent code amendments. She said that given the scope of this project, it would be helpful to have a sub -committee of the Commission help with this process. Bristow continued with the low -priority or future projects list stating that the Sanxay-Gilmore House is on the list only to keep the Commission aware of the future project. She said that the budget for the project was removed and there may still be discussions on allowing it to remain She showed a picture of the house so that new Commissioners would know which house was discussed. She said that the University letter from last year said that they do not have plans to use the space and that it may be three years before the house would need to be relocated or demolished. Bristow said that this project would likely begin with some programming discussions similar to those that happened with the recent landmarks on Gilbert Street. The process to move the house would be involved and likely take most of a year. Bristow said that the Montgomery -Butler House is a similar situation. She showed a photos and aerial images so the Commission would know where this house is located. She said that many years ago the City got a grant to study the house and another grant to mothball it. The mothballing is now failing. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 12, 2019 Page 4 of 6 Bristow said in 2015 a stakeholder meeting about the project was inconclusive. Kuenzli asked if it could be sold off and become a single-family home. Bristow said that because it is on City property that is unlikely and better options will probably result in a use by Parks and Rec or something similar. Bristow said the next item is the update of the Brown Street National Register District. After the Commission reviewed the status of the house at 724 Ronalds and changed its status from contributing to noncontributing to the district, the State Historic Preservation Office wanted the district updated. Bristow said that while there is no rush, there are several other properties in the district whose status has changed and they could all be updated at the same time. Bristow said that evaluation of the Kirkwood Avenue area and Lucas Farms could begin at any time because the first step is a reconnaissance survey which can be done by volunteers with limited training. She said that given the strength of the neighborhood involvement in the area, they may be interested in helping. Bristow said that the evaluation of the Mid -Century housing stock was something that began as an interest in the 2015 work plan but it was not a priority once the Commission began moving forward with a list of individual landmarks. This could also begin as a reconnaissance survey or mapping project. Agran asked if these latter were all supposed to be completed in the coming year or whether they were just suggestions of topics from which the Commission might make a selection. Bristow replied that the list is more of an aspirational list of targeted projects but that constraints on staff time and commissioners' availability suggested that the Commission should target the high priority projects and further, that if any commissioner had a particular interest in a project in another category, he or she would be welcome to pursue that as a goal for the year. Kiple indicated her interest in the Summit Street Monument project. Sellergren said she would be happy to help gather information to designate Kirkwood Ave as a historic neighborhood. She said she could take down info about house exteriors and cross check background info on the assessor site. Burford said that she could assist in the review of her College Green District and that update. Kiple asked for more information on the digital online presence project. Bristow said that in 2015 when she performed a study of Historic Preservation Staffing in other communities it was noticed that other communities had a much stronger digital presence. She said that this helped increase the availability of information and has been on the work plan ever since. She said it would likely take involvement with the City IT department which currently doesn't have time budgeted for the project. Kuenzli said she would be interested to be on the committee to consider replacement of the Summit Street historic monument marker. Bristow said she felt she had enough information from the discussion to create the draft work plan for review at the next Commission meeting. HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 12, 2019 Page 5 of 6 Bristow introduced and welcomed the new at -large Commissioner, Austin Wu, who was attending the meeting for observation prior to completing training and joining the Commission for the January meeting. ADJOURNMENT: Kiple moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Pitzen. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m. Minutes submitted by Judy Jones HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION December 12, 2019 Page 6 of 6 ATTENDANCE RECORD 2018-2019 TERM NAME EXP. 1/10 2/14 3/14 4/11 5/09 5/23 6/13 8/08 8/19 9/12 10/10 11/14 12/12 AGRAN, THOMAS 6/30/20 O/E O/E X O/E O/E X X X X X X X X BOYD, KEVIN 6/30/20 X X X X X O/E X X X X O/E X O/E BUILTA, ZACH 6/30/19 X X X X X X X -- -- -- -- -- -- BURFORD, HELEN 6/30/21 X X X O/E X X X X X X X X X CLORE, GOSIA 6/30/20 O/E X X X O/E X O/E O/E X X X X O/E DEGRAW, SHARON 6/30/19 X O/E X X X X O/E X X O/E O/E X O/E KARR, G. T. 6/30/20 X X X X X X X X X X -- -- -- KUENZLI, CECILE 6/30/19 X O/E X X X X O/E X X O/E O/E X X KIPLE, LYNDI 6/30/22 __ __ __ _ X X X X X X PITZEN, QUENTIN 6/30/21 X X X X X X X X X X X X X SELLERGREN, JORDAN 6/30/22 -- — -- — -- -- X X X X X X SHOPE, LEE 6/30/21 O/E X X X X X O/E Item Number: 5.e. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Human Rights Commission: September 17 Approved Minutes Human Rights Commission City Hall, Helling Conference Room September 17, 2019 Members Present: Jeff Falk, Jessica Ferdig, Barbara Kutzko, Jonathon Munoz, Bijou Maliabo. Members Not Present: Adil Adams, Noemi Ford, Tahuanty Pena, Cathy McGinnis, Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Others Present: Andrea Cohen. Recommendation to Council: No. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:41 PM. Approval of the August 20, 2019 meeting minutes: Ferdig made a motion, it was seconded by Munoz. Motion passed 5-0. Approval of the August 22, 2019 meeting minutes: Motion failed to have a quorum of Commission members voting. Item will be placed on October 15 meeting agenda. Latino Festival: This event was held on August 24 from noon to nine on the Ped Mall. Ferdig and Ford staffed a vendor table on behalf of the Commission. It was very well attended and Ferdig hopes the Commission will participate again at the event next year. Official Statements: Commissioners had a discussion on how and when they would make official statements. It was decided that a draft statement would be presented to the entire Commission for a vote and that the Chair would sign it, if approved by a majority vote, on behalf of the Commission. Strategic Plan from 2018: Commissioners had implemented a strategic plan in the spring of 2018. It was not followed through on as anticipated. The Commission would like to have a deeper discussion on how to create initiatives and then on how to best prioritize initiatives. Because four members were absent it will be added to the agenda in the future. Committee Updates: There are four committees that assist in advancing the strategic plan. The four committees are Housing (*Falk, Adams, Pena); Public Safety (*McGinnis, Maliabo, Munoz); Education (*Ferdig, Falk, Kutzko, Pena); and Community Outreach (*Adams, Falk, Munoz). Asterisks designates chairs of the committees. Housing: No report. Page 1 of 4 Public Safety: Cohen provided a copy of a proclamation and brochure on the hate speech campaign. She would like the Commission to present a proclamation for the Mayor's consideration to introduce the brochure and the need for this type of work in the community. The Commission delegated the committee to work with Cohen on producing a final proclamation and an appropriate day for it to be declared. A possibility is the International Day of Tolerance. Education: The committee has been following the discussion of the Iowa City Community School Board on placing School Resource Officers (SRO) in the schools. At some point in the future they may ask the Commission to make an official statement on the subject. Community Outreach: No report. National Hispanic Heritage Month: Ferdig will accept the proclamation on behalf of the Commission at the City Council meeting of September 17. Human Rights Breakfast: This annual award ceremony is scheduled for October 23. Dr. Melissa Shivers, University of Iowa's Vice President for Student Life will be the keynote speaker. Nominations are currently being accepted for honorees. Maliabo and Ferdig will serve on the selection committee. Staff will send a note out to other Commissioners, not in attendance, to see if at least one more can serve on the selection committee. Pena will do the welcome at the event, Ferdig will introduce the speaker, McGinnis will announce the awards, and Munoz will perform the closing. Falk attended a Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition meeting where Tracy Hightshoe, Director of Neighborhood and Development Services, spoke on City initiatives on affordable housing. Kutzko is assisting with the planning of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It will be held at Mercer on Monday, January 20. She also recently joined the Black Voices Project. Ferdig helped at the City's job and career fair and would recommend interpreters be made available next year for job searchers. She also is a committee member on the University of Iowa's Health Equity Advancement through the College of Public Health. They have an annual summit that will be held this coming spring. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 6:48 PM. Page 2 of 4 Member Attendance Sheet Member Term 1/8 1/24 2/19 3/19 4/16 5/21 6/18 7/03 7/16 8/20 9/17 Maliabo 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present McGinnis 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Munoz 1/2021 Excused Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Excused Present Present Kutzko 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Excused Excused Present Present Present Present Falk 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Pena 1/2020 Present Present Excused Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Excused Adams 1/2022 Excused Present Present Present Present Absent Present Excused Present Present Excused Ferdi 1/2022 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Ford 1/2022 Present Excused Present I Excused Present Present Presentl Excused jPresent present Excused Item Number: 5.f. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Human Rights Commission: November 19 Approved Minutes Human Rights Commission City Hall, Helling Conference Room November 19, 2019 Members Present: Jeff Falk, Zachary Rochester, Barbara Kutzko, Bijou Maliabo, Tahuanty Pena, Cathy McGinnis, Noemi Ford. Members Not Present: Adil Adams, Jessica Andino. Staff Present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to Council: No. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:32 PM. Approval of the September 17, 2019 meeting minutes: Motion failed to have a quorum of Commission members voting who were present at this meeting. Item will be placed on January 7, 2020 meeting agenda. Approval of the October 15, 2019 meeting minutes: Kutzko moved, and the motion was seconded by McGinnis. Motion carried 6-0. (Maliabo not present). Funding Request: Celebration of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday: The Commission decided to allocate $500 of its funding to this event being held on January 20, 2020 at Mercer Park Aquatic Center in the Scanlon Gymnasium. December Meeting Date: The Commission decided not to hold a meeting in the month of December. Proclamation: Transgender Day of Remembrance: Commission member Ford will accept the proclamation on behalf of the Commission at the formal Council meeting of November 19. Committee Updates: There are four committees that assist in advancing the strategic plan. The four committees are Housing (*Falk, Adams, Pena); Public Safety (*McGinnis, Maliabo, Munoz); Education (*Ferdig, Falk, Kutzko, Pena); and Community Outreach (*Adams, Falk, Munoz). Asterisks designates chairs of the committees. Housing: No report. Public Safety: A proclamation has been submitted for the Mayor's consideration for International Human Rights Day for the December 3 formal Council meeting date. At that time, the committee will present the brochure on Hate Crimes to the City Council. The brochure is also available on the City's website. Page 1 of 4 Education: The committee has discussed the issue of School Resource Officers. They recently reached out to Students Against Hate Discrimination to arrange a time to meet to see if they had shared goals. Community Outreach: No report. Official Statements: Commissioners had a follow up discussion on how and when they would make official statements. Staff had sent (via email) examples of releases from other Commissions. Staff again advised that it is best to have a draft statement that could be presented to the entire Commission for a vote and if passed then the Chair would sign it, on behalf of the Commission. Human Rights Breakfast: Commissioner were overall very pleased with this year's event and very impressed by all the great work the honorees are doing in the community. Commission member McGinnis suggested that next year the actual awards presented to recipients be given after they speak so that recipients do not have to juggle their remarks and the award at the small podium. Social Justice and Racial Equity & Informational Session: Commissioners Maliabo, Kutkzo, and McGinnis presented at two separate informational sessions on the grant. Turnout was approximately 15-20 persons per session. The PowerPoint presentation that was used at the sessions is available on the City's website for those unable to attend. The grant link is live, but the Commission will not start formally receiving applications until Monday, December 2, 2019 at noon. The submission period will last through noon on January 3, 2020. Maliabo is considering pursuing an advanced degree in International Relations McGinnis recently presented at a local Crisis Intervention Team training. Kutzko serves on the planning committee for the annual Martin Luther King Day of Service. With this being her last meeting as a Commission member, she noted that she enjoyed her years on the Commission and wishes everyone well. Falk, whose last meeting as a Commissioner is also today, wished his fellow Commissioners fun and happiness and plans to come to future Commission meetings to deliver his two cents. Pena, whose last meeting as a Commissioner is today, also enjoyed his tenure on the Commission. In furtherance of his volunteerism he plans to help out at the Free Medical Clinic. His position as a Medical Doctor and Spanish speaker will assist the clinic and its patients. He also was recently appointed as the Representative from Area "A" on the Transplantation Minority Doctors Affairs Committee. Page 2 of 4 Ford has been working with Film Scene to show the documentary Midnight Traveler. The film documents Hassan Fazili, a filmmaker and his family as they trek across Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Serbia. It will be shown on December 19 at 7 pm at the Film Scene on the Ped Mall. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn at 6:57 PM. Page 3 of 4 Member Attendance Sheet Member Term 118 1/24 2/19 3/19 4/16 5/21 6/18 7/03 7/16 8/20 9/17 10/15 11/19 Maliabo 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present Present Present McGinnis 1/2021 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Present Rochester1/2021 ----------- ----------- - ---------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ------ ------------ -------- -- ------------ ---------- Present Kutzko 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Excused Excused Present Present Present Present Present Present Falk 1/2020 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Pena 1/2020 Present Present Excused Present Present Present Present Present Excused Present Excused Present Present Adams 1/2022 Excused Present Present Present Present Absent Present Excused Present Present Excused Excused Excused Andino 1/2022 Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Excused Ford 1/2022 Present Excused Present Excused Present Present Present Excused Present Present lExcuspri Present Present Item Number: 5.g. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 21, 2020 ATTACHMENTS: Description Parks & Recreation Commission: December 11 IOWA CITY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES DECEMBER 11, 2019 ROBERT A. LEE RECREATION CENTER — MTG ROOM B Members Present: Stephen Bird, Cara Hamann, Ben Russell, Angie Smith, Jamie Venzon, Brianna Wills, Blake Winter, Joe Younker Members Absent: None Staff Present: Brad Barker, Zac Hall, Juli Seydell Johnson Others Present: Don Marner & Nick Strang, Snyder & Associates CALL TO ORDER Chairman Younker called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): None OTHER FORMAL ACTION: Moved by Smith, seconded by Wills, to approve the November 20, 2019 meeting minutes as written. Passed 8-0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None FAREWELL TO OUTGOING COMMISSION MEMBERS: Seydell Johnson announced that Suzanne Bentler submitted her resignation from the Parks & Recreation Commission on December 2, effective immediately. Younker and Hamann also conclude their terms on the board January 31, 2019. Two new board members have been appointed and the third vacancy is open for applications through the City Clerk's Office. Both Hamann and Younker have been on the board for eight years. Seydell Johnson thanked them for their service and praised them for their input and serving as Chair and Vice Chair. Hamann said that she has learned a lot while on the Commission, including a lot about operations of the City. She said she had no idea before becoming a member that the Parks & Recreation Department had such a large budget and praised the staff for all the work they've done in the community and is excited about all the projects that have been completed and those coming. Younker shared that he is impressed with the scope and the breadth of work that the Parks and Recreation staff does, working with multi -million -dollar projects to creating programs for children. He has enjoyed getting to know staff and other commission members through the years. He thanked both the staff and commission for their support. PARK PROJECT UPDATE PRESENTATION: Nick Strang and Don Marner from Snyder & Associates were at tonight's meeting to present an update of upcoming projects slated for 2020. Strang noted that he and Marner, along with staff, held public input PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION December 11, 2019 Page 2 of 6 meetings at Scott, Fairmeadows and Wetherby Parks. Two of these were held during Party in the Park events. Attendees were invited to vote on the various playground options and could ask questions about the projects and give their input. For those that were unable to attend, an on-line option was also made available for public input. Both options provided good feedback. Strang and Marner were able to consolidate the information collected and then shared that information with staff. Marner noted that Snyder & Associates staff are nearing completion of creating the construction documents. These projects will go to bid in January/February, contractors will be selected in the spring and construction of the shelters and playgrounds will begin in the summer of 2020. Marner presented updates on the upcoming park projects. Scott Park: Marner explained that the existing shelter will be demolished and a new shelter constructed and placed in a new location within the park. The new shelter will have access to a sidewalk that will then form a loop around a new playground. Seydell Johnson shared that this playground will be similar in size to those in Cardigan and Frauenholtz Miller Parks. Marner further noted that since the new shelter and play equipment are going into new spaces in the park, the existing shelter and playground will not be demolished until after completion of the new features. This will allow for continued use during construction. Napoleon Park: Marner stated that the existing playground will be removed and the new one will be placed outside of the ball field area near the concession building. Canopies are proposed for the play areas, however, the two smaller canopies over the smaller play areas will depend on the bids that come in and what the budget will allow for. Seydell Johnson shared that the users of this playground are usually those attending ball tournaments. She also said that the existing playground has presented a lot of drainage issues. The new playground will have a poured -in-place surface. Hall explained that when the original playground was put in, that drainage tile was installed, however, that was 20 years ago and it has likely deteriorated. It has been much worse during the last two years and, in fact, was closed most of the summer. Wells said that she loves the roped/webbing piece of equipment proposed for the new play area. Venzon said she really appreciates the idea of having canopies for shading over the structures. Bird asked if there is a way to solicit donations for the two smaller canopies if necessary. Seydell Johnson said that there is that possibility and will consider this idea. Smith expressed her concern of the playground being closer to the road. Hall noted that in a separate project, and as part of the natural areas plan that began in 2016, the entire hillside along South Gilbert St. and the concession area has been filled in with prairie plantings which provides a buffer between the playground/concessions and the road. Seydell Johnson said that parents have voiced their concerns about the current playground location being close the river. Hamann asked if there were any plans for bike parking. Seydell Johnson said it is not in the current plan but will make note of it. Fairmeadows Park: Marner noted that the current playground is somewhat secluded behind other buildings. The existing shelter will be demolished and the new one will be relocated to a more central area of the park. The shelter and new play area will tie in to the existing sidewalk and parking lot, as well as the splashpad. Seydell Johnson explained that this playground will serve the younger child since there is a playground at Grant Wood Elementary available for the older children and is next to this park. Marner noted that there will be swings at the park as well. Hamann noted that the parking lot at Fairmeadows is quite difficult to see and that several, including herself until recently, didn't know that it existed. Seydell Johnson said that the planned layout will make the parking area more obvious with the amenities connecting to the path and parking lot. Younker asked if there are signs in place directing to the parking lot. Seydell Johnson said there are not as there are some property limitations that make this difficult. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION December 11, 2019 Page 3of6 Wetherby Park: Marner shared that the splashpad will remain in the park in its current location, however, the rest of the park will be updated. A shelter, like the one that is at Willow Creek Park, will be built and placed closer to the parking lot. There will also be new restrooms installed with the front of that building facing the parking lot. The play area will consist of two pods; one containing the swings and the other will contain the rest of the play equipment. Marner shared two images of potential play structures with the commission. The first image is more of an obstacle course layout and is a little more spread out; second image is more compact and like other playgrounds in other parks. Bird asked what age this park is expected to serve the most. Wills expressed that she likes the first image as it is different than most. Bird noted that he too prefers this option in that it offers more options for kids to play together on the various structures. The commission unanimously agreed that the first option is preferred. Younker reminded commission that during the annual parks tour they spoke with a young man that was playing basketball at Wetherby Park. He said that the basketball court gets very hot. Younker asked if there is a plan for moving or shading the existing court. Seydell Johnson said it is not included in this plan. She shared that a Community Development Block Grant will help to fund the paving of the trail that was asked for by the neighborhood. If the department were to receive more grant funds in the future, they would talk about some type of shade at that point. Wills asked how to shade a whole basketball court. Seydell Johnson explained that there would be shaded areas over seating around the court, not over the court itself. Hamann noted that there is also a basketball hoop near the parking lot and asked if that was going to be removed. Seydell Johnson said it will remain in place as it is used a lot. TREE UPDATE: Seydell Johnson asked Hall to present a tree update to Commission. Hall referred to the Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications manual (SUDAS). Hall reviewed that a large project in 2019 was the treating of 395 ash trees that have been infected with EAB. These were all street trees. Staff is looking to treat another 200 or more ash trees within the park system. While those treated in 2019 were spread throughout the community, the majority are in the older east side neighborhoods as that is where the more mature trees are located. He noted that TruGreen has been great to work with and the City will continue working with them in the future. He explained that we are in the thick of the EAB infestation and, therefore, expects there to be more tree removal necessary in 2020. Hall shared that the staff and school district worked together to create a very successful Arbor Day Celebration in April of 2019. Staff shared in a tree planting activity with Hoover Elementary and City High. This activity also involved DNR and Trees Forever staff. The group planted over 200 trees at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area. United Way also planted trees at the park in celebration of their 100 -year anniversary. Four hundred saplings were distributed to the community. The highlight of 2019 was that the department received its 39' annual award as a Tree City USA winner. The Department also received the Trees Forever Outstanding Project award for the Arbor Day activity. Hall noted that a Tree Advisory Board was formed in 2018. Two of the members of that included Hamann and Younker so will look at replacing them on this board as well. Also created in 2019 was a group from the school district, North Liberty, Coralville and the University creating a corridor canopy committee. This has been very helpful and allowed all to see what everyone else is dealing with and their challenges. Hall said that staff pruned over 2000 trees, removed 130 non- ash and 200 ash trees; treated 395 ash trees as mentioned and planted over 500. He stated that the goal is a 2:1 ratio. Staff was not quite able to meet that goal due to the removal of the ash trees. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION December 11, 2019 Page 4 of 6 Hall shared his outlook for 2020. He said that they hope to receive the Tree City USA Award making it 40 consecutive years that they have done so. Staff is looking to plant 800 trees and give away 800 saplings, doubling their numbers from 2019. Venzon asked Hall to remind the commission how staff determined whether to remove or treat an ash tree infected with EAB. Hall explained that the City contracted with arborists to assess and catalogue within the database which trees could benefit from treatment. Part of the assessment included evaluating the health of the tree and assessing it for damage. Staff and the DNR District Forester completed a walkthrough as well assessing over 200 trees. Smith said that she has been approached by a couple of people who said that Iowa City needs to plant more trees. She asked how the number of trees planted compare to what is expected. Hall reported that most communities try to hit a 40% canopy coverage. In the 2016 assessment, it was found that Iowa City has a 36% canopy. He further stated that there is always a need to plant more trees and will continue doing so while being thoughtful about where they are planted. Considerations include below ground and overhead utilities. Also, intersections, driveways etc. which can narrow available planting space. Six feet of planting space is the minimum area necessary. Seydell Johnson explained that the process requires a lot of give and take. Planting a tree is only the first step as staff must pay close attention for the first few years of growth. The department is looking at some homeowner programs to encourage residents to plant on their own property. She noted that some neighborhoods have more trees than others and the staff would like to see a more equitable distribution. Seydell Johnson said that the draft budget includes the addition of two full-time forestry employees. If approved, this will help with some of these issues. Wills asked about the possibility of planting trees and landscaping in the median on Highway 6. Hall said that there are a lot of limitations with the IDOT. Wills stated that there is a lot of litter on these medians and they are not well maintained. Hall said that they are drainage ways which make them difficult to mow. Smith asked how the 800 saplings will be distributed. Hall said it will be linked to the next Arbor Day Celebration. She asked if they will be distributed to private homeowners. Hall said they will be distributed to the students. REPORT ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF: Parks & Recreation Director — Juli Seydell Johnson: Seydell Johnson reported that the deer management program continues and that they are hitting the numbers they had hoped for. She continues to get calls about the parks being closed. A few of the sites may open sooner than planned due to low deer population in those locations. Seydell Johnson noted that new TV monitors have been placed in the Recreation Center Meeting Rooms A & B. She said that three monitors will be placed at the Terry Trueblood Recreation Area Lodge as well replacing the current projector/screen set-up. Park projects are currently stalled due to winter weather. Recreation Division Superintendent — Brad Barker: Barker distributed the new activity guide to commission members and announced that registration will begin Thursday, December 12. Staff is looking to move ahead with the swim lesson scholarship program and will be sharing information about this option with the local before and after school programs. Transportation remains the biggest obstacle so PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION December 11, 2019 Page 5 of 6 will be working on ways to get the kids to these lessons. Staff is busy with hiring for the winter/spring programs. Barker announced that the Communications and Special Events Program Supervisor position has been filled. This person will begin her employment on January 6. She currently works in Colorado in a very similar position. Staff is very excited to bring her on board. Neumann reminded Commission of the Holiday Market being held this Saturday, December 14 in the Recreation Center. Over 80 vendors are participating in the second of two Holiday Markets. Parks Division Superintendent — Zac Hall: Hall reported that staff is transitioning into winter. Hall again noted that staff is working towards prairie establishment in turf grass areas that are not all that active such as hillsides and drainage ways. Staff planted 25 acres this last year on the hillside along Gilbert St. near Napoleon Park. Staffs goal is to convert 100 acres over the next 4 years from turf to prairie. Hall will be posting seasonal positions beginning in January. CHAIRS REPORT Younker again thanked everyone for their support during his eight years on the commission. COMMISSION TIME: No comments ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Hamann, seconded by Venzon, to adjourn the meeting at 5:45 p.m. Motion passed 8-0. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION December 11, 2019 Page 6 of 6 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD NAME o, a r TERM -4 t4 EXPIRES Suzanne 12/31/20 X NM X O/E X LQ X X LQ X X O/E Bentler Steve Bird 12/31/21 X NM X X X LQ O/E X LQ O/E X X Lucas 12/31/22 x NM X X O/E LQ X Foelsch Cara 12/31/19 X NM X X X LQ X X LQ X O/E X Hamann Ben Russell 12/31/21 X NM X X X LQ X X LQ X X X Angie Smith 12/31/21 X NM X X X LQ X O/E LQ X X X Jamie 12/31/20 X NM X O/E O/E LQ X O/E LQ X X X Venzon Brianna 12/31/22 O/E NM X X X LQ X O/E LQ X X X Wills Blake Winter 12/31/22 * * * * * * * * * X X X Joe Younker 12/31/19 X NM X X X LQ X X LQ X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting LQ = No meeting due to lack of quorum * = Not a member now