HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-03-03 TranscriptionPage I
Council Present: Bergus, Mims, Salih, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Dulek, Fruehling, Hightshoe, Russett, Bristow, Havel,
Sovers, Hall, Bockenstedt, Fleagle, Brotherton, Rummel, Knoche, Barker,
Platz
Others Present: Longnecker(UISG)
Historic Preservation Year -in -review 1IP31:
Teague/ Hello!
Bristow/ Hi! I'm Jessica Bristow. I'm the Historic Preservation Planner. And, um, thank you
for your time. I'm here to go through our annual report that we submit to the State for the
activities of our Historic Preservation Commission for the calendar year 2019. They do
have us report everything on a calendar year instead of a fiscal year, just so you're aware.
Um .... I'll just provide you with a little bit of background, um, just generally. Urn.—the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established a nationwide program basically to
encourage preservation and the wise use of historic resources. Um, this act also
established the National Register of Historic Places, where properties or, uh,
neighborhoods could be listed as historic resources. It also established the State Historic
Preservation Office. Finally, in 1980 an amendment to that act, uh, created the Certified
Local Government Program, of which we participate. This program entour...encourages
historic preservation at the local level. It also, uh, encourages local governments, like
ours, to use the Secretary of ...Secretary of the Interior's standards for historic
preservation. These are, uh, good practices, acts, suggestions, um, guidelines for
professional qualifications as well. Um, the Certified Local Government Program also
provides technical assistance through the State Historic Preservation Office. It, uh, we
call it SHPO, and uh, they also provide funding opportunities for historic, uh,
preservation activities. We have always done an annual report. They've changed the
reporting procedures, so that is ... it is more digital and part of that requirement is that we
present to Council. In the past we have provided you with a .... a.....a document that was
our report. So that's what has changed. (noises on mic) In Iowa City, we have, urn .... a
large quantity of properties that are regulated. Uh, we have eight historic districts. Um,
they comprise 689 properties. In Iowa City we have these, um, districts that are locally
designated, but they are also all listed in the National Register of Historic Places in some
form or another. Sometimes they're combined or .... or separated out. We also have a
local designation for a local conservation district. These are not associated in any way
with the National Register. Um, these have 806 total properties, and we also have 59
individual local landmarks. Some of these, about 45 of `em, are also listed in the
National Register of Historic Places. There are also in Iowa City some individual
buildings that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places that are not local
landmarks, just to make that distinction. Um, this map, just so you're aware, shows a
little bit of an overlay of those historic districts and conservation districts, and all the red
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dots are the local landmarks. Um, some general information that we include as part of
the report, this information is all towards the end of the report. Uh, we have a
commission of 12 individuals, uh, two seats are open. They tend to be, uh, small districts
that are hard to get commissioners to represent them. Uh, we had 13 Historic
Preservation Commission meetings this year —11 regular meetings and two special
meetings that we called, uh, at the request of owners of properties. Uh, we work with a
budget of about $44,200, plus an owner, a property owner incentive that we have. The
budget is worked out to the mailing that we do annually to property owners to let them
know about our work, um, also some travel and training funding, uh, miscellaneous
consultations would be if we needed to hire somebody to, uh, research something for us,
and then our staff costs. Our historic preservation fund I'll talk about a little bit more, but
uh, later on. It's $40,000. One of the activities that we do, uh, as a commission as part of
this Certified Local Government, um.....Program, is that we locate historic properties,
we evaluate them, and uh, we do some registration activity, which means, uh, working on
nominating them to the National Register of Historic Places. Um, this year, we did, uh,
three projects that were called an intensive survey. That's where we investigate that
property and its history, um, really in detail to discover whether or not it would be
eligible for the National Register and therefore also possibly eligible for local
landmarking. Uh, one of them was the property at 2040 Waterfront Drive, which you see
a photo of right there, the house. It was built in 1855 through 1868. We had a grant from
this program in order to do that intensive survey. Uh, we also investigated both 225 N.
Gilbert and 229 N. Gilbert at the request of Council to see if they could be local
landmarks and, uh, we completed that survey and ... and did do that process for those two
houses. Uh, also along the lines of identification and ... and evaluation, urn .... another
grant we received from the Certified Local Government Program was the National
Register nomination for the Clinton Street and Railroad Depot Historic District. This is
the district that runs along Clinton Street for about a block and a half, just north of the
railroad tracks and the depot. I have a ... a map of it on the last slide, just so you're aware,
but, um ... the National Park Service did determine that this, uh, district would be eligible
for listing in the National Register. Because of owner objection they just sent us that
determination and it won't be listed unless, um, the owners, um, remove their objection.
We did two projects that were, um, kind of an evaluation of structures. We had the
Sanxay-Gilmore House at 109 Market. We hired a consultant in order to look at that
property structurally and evaluate the possible relocation of that property. We also, uh,
got a .... a grant from the Certified Local Government Program to evaluate the Summit
Street monument. That's, uh, the monum.... monument that forms the, um, southeast
corner of the original plat of Iowa City. It's located at the corner of Summit and Court
Street, and it's deteriorated enough that we needed to look at how it's deteriorating and
what are the possibilities that we could do to, um, help with that structure. The State also,
uh, has us, urn .... report to them back anything that we do locally for our designation
process, as well, and we did have five properties that became local landmarks this year.
Uh, three of those were already listed on the National Register of Historic Places and
were City -owned, and so we, uh, locally designated them, uh, just to make that a little
more clear to the public and to provide a good example. They include the City Park
cabins; the Senior Center, the original Iowa City Post Office or old Post Office; and the
Ned Ashton House; and then of course the houses at 225 and 229 N. Gilbert also became
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local landmarks. When the Commission is working on actually protecting and preserving
and managing the historic resources, a lot of that has to do with the technical assistance
that they provide. Um, Commission and staff both work on preservation projects. We
like, uh, for applicants or property owners to come to us early in the process so we can
work through, um, what might be the most appropriate actions to take on their, uh,
particular project. Uh, we provide resources on property history, uh.... contractors who
might specialize in, um, tasks that it's difficult to find contractors to do, um, materials
that might be historic materials or, um, new materials that they might be able to use. We
provide direction or options on project design. If they need help interpreting the
guidelines or if they just need help figuring out the .... the best move to make on their
project, and then we review applications and suggest modifications if needed. Uh, I
included a little bit of our review data here. Um .... we get calls and inquiries about
properties. Some of these become applications that we then review formally. Some of
them are just inquiries — somebody wants to know something about a house or what all of
the possibilities might be in a property. This year we had 198 inquiries; uh, last year we
had 160, and this has been increasing significantly each year. Um, the increase in 2019
over 2018 was 24%. Uh, we also had 98 applications for historic review. That's
everything from an addition or maybe even a demolition to the need to repair something
and issuing a Certificate of no Material Affect. Um, our Historic Preserfl.... Preservation
Fund, which was a new thing we implemented in 2017. We haven't really reported yet
about, so this is kind of a new .... a new reporting and .... and, um, what we show here is
over the....all of the time that ... since we've had this fund, we have had the, uh, 20
projects that you see, one from 2017, 11 from 2018, and then in this reporting year, eight
of them. Our project types tend to be repairs, replacement of deteriorated things,
rebuilding something that's missing, and it was interesting for us to look at what districts
those projects came from, and that's what the pie chart is showing you, that of those 23 of
`em came from College Green, six of `em from Longfellow, um, that was just something
that .... that we found kind of interesting there. Uh, the way the fund works is that an
eligible property, a property owner can have work done, uh, where they would then be
reimbursed for 50% of the project cost through a loan or a grant from the City. They pay
the other 50%. It's a grant if they're below an income, uh, level or if. ... well, and if they
also own and live in that property. If it is an income property or above the income level,
it is a loan. Uh, we also are involved in public education. Uh, one of our biggest events
is the Historic Preservation Awards, and that's the one I'll highlight here. Um, the awards
for 2018 was done last January. We had 19 awards for properties and individuals. Some
of the categories are paint and exterior finishes, different levels of rehabilitation, new
construction, addition, uh, stewardship for long-term, uh, care of a home, and uh, other,
um .... projects such as that, and I also wanted to point out that our, uh, award's ceremony
for 2019 will be this May 7' at 5:30 P.M. at the Library. Uh, we start with a little
refreshments at 5:00, and it is one hour and no longer than that. One of our ...our big
projects that we've been working on for, uh, awhile now actually was the civil rights
grant that we got through the National Parks Service. This project was completed in
2019. We successfully, uh, nominated and had, uh, listed in the National Register of
Historic Places the Tate Arms at 914 S. Dubuque Street and the Iowa Federation Home
for Colored Girls at 942 Iowa Avenue. Uh, part of the grant from the National Park
Service also was involved with putting signage at the location. Um, it's always good to
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do that if you can because that .... that house really, uh, represents that history in a visual
way, especially if you can read about it while you're there on site. We created a City web
page that provides more information and some other sources for information if people
wanna look into it further. And it's continuing to allow us to provide public education
through, um, talks and other things such as that. Um .... let's see.....the, uh, annual report
also, uh, includes a section on both challenges and successes, and so, uh, we report those
as well, and some of the Commission challenges that we've had over, urn ... the past year
were the .... the house at, uh, 109 Market, the Sanxay-Gilmore House, that its, uh, future is
a little bit uncertain. Um, we have our National Register, uh, historic district for
downtown. A consultant is currently writing that nomination and it'll move through the
process and, uh, hopefully, um .... be reviewed by the National Park Service towards the
end of the year, but we had one of the houses .... or one of the buildings that would have
been a contributing structure in that historic district, uh, that was just recently taken
down, and so that's, uh, another hard thing that when you're moving forward on a, uh, a
historic district and .... and those resources might change or...or no longer exist. And then
we also have the .... the, the Commission has a priority for increased staff time, not only to
continue with their priorities and work plan, uh, but to keep up with the current case load.
The Commission successes, uh, we've really had a .... a good roll-out over the last couple
years with the Historic Preservation Fund. We've used it a lot to keep, uh, windows in
good repair and out of the landfill; to replace porches that no longer exist; to, uh, repair
and replace, uh, roofing materials that are a little bit more unusual; and uh, the public
seems to like the fact that while we have guidelines, we also can help with some funding
as well when some of those projects come up. Urn .... the, uh....National Register letting
us know that that district, that you see here in this map now, is eligible for the National
Register was also something that we really were looking forward to, uh, and that was a
good success. Urn .... we had, uh, long time wanted to have those City -owned properties
listed, locally as well as on the National Register, so that was also a big success for us,
and uh, continuing the .... the work that we did with the civil rights grant is also something
that we consider a big success. So, that's all I have!
Teague/ Any questions, or comments?
Weiner/ You .... you'd mentioned that you're looking for additional staff time. What ... what...
what do you have and what are you looking for, just out of curiosity?
Bristow/ Uh, staff is currently at, uh, half time, uh, 20 hours, and urn ..... I think that the
Commission has talked about a logically a .... an additional 10 hours to three-quarter staff
time would, um, help with the current case load and projects. If we move forward with
a ... a larger area or another historic district or something like that, it ... it's feasible that a
full-time staff might be what would be necessary, especially if we ever did do anything
with a Downtown District or anything like that.
Teague/ Great! Thank you!
Bristow/ Thank you for your time!
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Teague/ Yes! All right, I think our next presenter is .... (laughs) not here yet! (both talking)
Fruin/ Captain Brotherton's gonna come up and give you a quick introduction.
Teague/ All right! (several talking) So we're movin' on to the Police Department outreach
update.
Police Department Outreach Update:
Brotherton/ Yes!
Teague/ Welcome!
Brotherton/ Hello, I'm Denise Brotherton with the Police Department. I'm here tonight to talk a
little bit about our community outreach division and some of our current community
outreach efforts. And I do have a couple guests here with me that will step up here.
Teague/ Yeah, we see them! (laughs)
Brotherton/ You see them! Sometimes dogs are a little bit like children! (laughter) (several
talking) So, uh, hopefully everyone's comfortable with dogs! He's well trained. Um,
first of all just a little bit about our community outreach division. Uh, right now it
consists of three officers, or employees. We have a community outreach assistant, which
is Daisy Torres, which is right here. Our community relations officer Travis Neeld, and
then we have our neighborhood response officer, Adam Schmerbach, who unfortunately
is at some training this week. Um, over the past year we've kind of changed up our
community outreach division. Uh, wanted to breathe some new life into it, get a little
more into the community, which is the whole goal of that division. One thing we've done
is we've moved into the Rec Center, the Lee Rec Center. That's been a great place for us
to be. It allows, um, these guys are both work out of that office. It allows them to have
just the interaction with staff, the public that comes in there. We've made sure to not be a
security force, but just to be there to interact, to help with some programming, have that
open office, especially for the kids just to come in. It's been great to have Luke around
there too, um, to get everyone used to him. Um, some other things we've done with our
community outreach assistant, I'm sure most of you are familiar with our previous
outreth.... outreach assistant, which was Henri Harper. Uh, he left us last spring and this
past fall we brought Daisy on board. Some of the things we wanted to do with her
position is, uh, previously our community outreach assistant was very involved in just
youth -centered activities, which of course remains a priority for us, but as we reevaluated
that division, we noticed we're missing a lot of segments of our community that we need
to reach out to, that we need to build better relationships with. Um, part of what Daisy
does now is to build some of those bridges, reach out, find out from those community
members what we can do for them, what programming can we do for them instead of us
deciding what they need. She's gotten some great feedback. She'll talk a little bit about
that in a minute. Um, another thing we changed is .... is (mumbled) having the K-9
officer. Usually our K-9 officers have always just been patrol -based, and just
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enforcement efforts. Uh, we decided Travis was ready for a change in his career and uh,
was very active in the community to begin with. We decided to bring him on board, and
to bring Luke on board, and it's just been a great addition, um, people are getting familiar
with our program and it's.... we're able to use the K-9 in a different way than just
enforcement, which is kind of like how we want to use our officers too. It's just not
about enforcement, and it helps again with those youth activities, cause not only do adults
like `em, the kids love `em, so Travis has continued to go to the schools. He does lunches
at the elementaries. Uh, the kids just love it. They earn that. And he'll be back up here,
you can ask him some questions about that program. Some of the themes we have going
on right now as far as our community outreach efforts is this is an exciting time for us as
the weather gets warmer. Gets us out there, it gets our officers out thereon foot patrols,
out on their bikes. It's just, you know, it's Iowa. When it's winter, they don't warm get
out in the cold any more than anyone else. People aren't out in their neighborhoods
anyway, but once people are start, they're out, they're barbecuing, they're hanging out,
uh, in their yards, the kids are out. We try to push those officers, get out there, walk, it's
just not about enforcement. Walk around those neighborhoods, just talk to people, the
same with the bike officers. We'll join in on some of the already events that go on like
the Parties in the Park, Juneteenth, Kites for Kids — that will be coming up in April. Uh,
we like to join in on a lot of those. That's another thing that Daisy does is she looks out
for those community efforts ... or, um, events that are going on and making sure that the
officers are aware of those, so that we can join in. Uh, another thing that Daisy does is
she's upped a lot of our social media. Uh, more, uh.... we're seeing much more on
Twitter, on our Facebook. I think if you look at our Twitter right now you'll see Officer
Sandifer doing a TikTok video from, um, the Soul Food dinner the other night. And so
just getting a lot of that positive out there, and she makes sure to get pictures of the
officers out at those events. Urn .... I'm sure you guys have seen our project Blue Able,
the listening post they've had for those. Uh, they'll talk a little bit more about that
program. We do have the, um, Citizens Police Academy going on right now. That started
in January. That will continue for 10 weeks. That's on Monday evenings. Right now we
have 34 students in that class. On April 11' at 3:00 P.M. at Mercer there's going to be a
community awareness on public safety for immigrants and refugees. Another, uh, part of
our community that, uh, Daisy's really, uh, zoned in on is .... how do we reach our refugee
and immigrant communities who are often afraid of us, not familiar with us, uh, much
time from just their own experiences back, uh, in their home countries and ... and what we
can do to ... to make them familiar with us, and some of our laws so it's not so confusing.
Uh, Daisy has also partnered with the Senior Center and the Johnson County Emergency
Management to present fraud classes for seniors. Those started up in Feb ....February
and they occurred every Friday at 10:00 A.M. And those will begin again in April. Uh,
and again, urn .... just those continual, the lunches we do at the schools, the visits and
presentations. We, uh, have opened up to make it a little easier for people to reach the
office by having one, um, email, which is communityrelations@iowa-city.org so people
can email right into the whole group and say I have this event, or can you come speak to
us, and these guys can amongst themselves decide which officer would be best to respond
to that. So I'm gonna turn this over real quick and have Daisy introduce herself, have
Travis introduce himself, and then certainly we'll take any questions!
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Torres/ Good afternoon! (several talking) I've never spoken into this before! Um, my name is
Daisy Torres, as Captain Brotherton introduced me. I am a recent graduate of the
University of Iowa. I graduated last May. I majored in criminology and I minored in
political science. I had a lot of community engagement opportunities as an undergrad,
which is what kind of gravitated me towards this job. My sorority, Sigma Lambda
Gamma, is historically Latino based but we are now a multicultural membership. Um,
we are part of the Multiculture Greek Council, which our sorority actually helped
establish at the University of Iowa. It was the first one, and getting exposed to all these
different communities has always been a really big part. Uh, my family came from
Mexico and I was the first one born here in America, so I was .... I was the first one to go
through a lot of things, college being one of them, and knowing that sometimes there
isn't always support for students like me, first generation, made it a goal for me to make
sure that it .... they don't have to .... they, whatever type of first generation they are,
support them in whatever way we can, because they're important to our communities and
making sure that we take steps to make sure they're comfortable and they know they're
appreciated and understand, because it's very important to them because it's ... when
you're new, everything's really scary. Um, so that's something I've tried to accomplish
with this position is making sure that our folks that are new to ... not just American, but
also our community, know that they're valued and we want them, um, to have any sort of
opportunities for, uh, getting to know us, because we're there for help and we shouldn't
be there just for crisis. We can also be their friends. Urn ..... and now we .... we listen to
Travis! (laughs)
Neeld/ I promise I'll be brief] Um, I'm Travis Neeld, been a police officer in Iowa City for 11
years. I have a communi.... I have a communications associate degree and a bachelors in
criminal justice. I've had Luke since 2014. Luke is a dual-purpose German Shepherd.
Um, he does lots of different jobs for the Police Department. He's been....we've had a
very storied career, very successful career, I'm very proud of what we've done, uh, both
on patrol and also in our community outreach (mumbled) outreach ability. Luke is a little
unique for police dogs. They're not generally this social. So it would be, we'd be remiss
not to take advantage of the fact that he is such a chill, relaxed, social dog, and I've had
great success. Here! Great success with .... yeah (laughter, talking in background) talk to
Brad about what's in that bottle (laughter) Uh, I'd be remiss if we weren't utilizing his
....some of his different talents than what your typical.... hey! (laughter) ...what your
typical police dog has, so ... um, I've enjoyed my time there. Again I just started in
January getting into this position, getting my feet wet. Um, I've had a great time
learning. I've had a great time meeting different people, different organizations, different
groups throughout the community. I'm looking forward to what the next two and a half
years have to come with. Um, it's been a pleasure so far and I'll be here to answer any
questions that you may have.
Brotherton/ One thing I'd like to point out about Daisy, if you remember Henri was more in a
uniform, much like ours, a little softer. Um, once Daisy joined us she pointed out she felt
that people would feel more comfortable if she was dressed down, but still .... be
recognized (mumbled) City. So as you see she has the polo ... she wears a different, she's
got like a blouse that she also wears that identifies, but she has found and has gotten
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positive feedback, um, when she has spoken to groups. It just makes it feel more
comfortable, and then as she gets kind of some of those relationships built or programs
started, that's when she'll start bringing us in in our uniforms, because we eventually
want people to feel comfortable with our uniform, but we understand it, and especially
having Daisy point that out to us, it's like ... it's not that comfortable for everybody. We
missed that. We wear this stuff all the time. So you'll... that's why you'll see she's
dressed a little differently than Henri was, but it's worked out very well. And we're open
for any questions about any of the events, or these two if you ... if you like!
Teague/ I've seen Daisy quite a bit in the community and, um, what I will say is that I ... I believe
that you've been received really well by those, so good job at just gettin' out there. I
know it's a little uncomfortable at times puttin' yourself out there and engagin' with
people, but you've done a great job. Um, so just keep it up and I think for a lot of
individuals that are, um, maybe of, you know, a certain ethnicity that, um, haven't had
such positive reactions. I think you're helpin' with that, um, just that communication
about, you know, how it doesn't have to be that way or feel that way, and so appreciate
that. And then, Travis, I know that your friend is here today (laughs) um .... big .... big
boy! (laughs)
Neeld/ He gets called `fluffy' sometimes! (several talking and laughing)
Teague/ Oh!
Neeld/ ...one of us is in really good shape! (laughter)
Teague/ Yes! Yes! Well .... I applaud you for the project Blue Able. Can you tell us a little bit
about that?
Neeld/ Sure! So project Blue Able came about very organically, um, in a meeting that Daisy set
up with Access to Independence. As part of my initial training and initiative in coming
into this new position she set up a meeting with Access to Independence. We just met
`em at a staff meeting. Sat down, very organic conversation came up. We were
discussing this and Daisy and I had received an email two or three weeks prior to, from
Captain Brotherton, and it was, uh, an article about a .... an initiative that the Chief of
Police Association in Connecticut had put out called "the Blue Envelope program.' And
the Blue Envelope program was a play on their green envelope from 15 years prior. So
Connecticut found out from their research that they had an issue with deaf and impaired
hearing drivers and interactions with law enforcement. It can cause a litany of different
stigmas — trying to pull a vehicle over, they don't see the lights and they don't hear the
siren. Well I can tell you as a police officer, if I'm trying to pull someone over and they
don't see my lights, and I have to hit my siren, that inherently raises the .... the anxiety or
the .... the caution in me, and it can raise the level a little bit. So having something as
visible and easily identifiable as a large green envelope for the person to .... once they
recognize, oh, I'm being pulled over and they stop, and not having that ability to
communicate, being able to hold that envelope out the window, it signified to the officer,
oh, hey, they just didn't .... they can't hear. So they didn't see my lights, that's what took
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so long, and it lowered that level of anxiety, and it provided better service to not only the
citizens, but also the police officers. It .... it provides some context and some much
needed information immediately, which was super successful. So fast forward to two
years ago, Connecticut found out, hey, we have an autistic community that's driving and
the autistic community is being pulled over and they're having some adverse reactions
with law enforcement. So they came out with project Blue Envelope, and the blue
envelope was for autistic drivers. Huge success. Um, in doing research with it, talked to
Connecticut, they said this is bar none the best project we've ever put out from a
community relations standpoint and from an officer safety, and just a community
outreach, uh, point of view. Uh, everyone had rave reviews about it. It was a huge
success, and it's somethin' that they said that's.... of all the years, we've done this for 15 -
plus years, that is single-handedly the best project we've ever done. So in meeting with
Access to Independence, we're talking about this, we're discussing different things, that
popped into my head as we're sittin' there talkin'. I turned to Daisy and I'm like, you
know, this sounds a lot like the kind of group that would be interested in like that Blue
Envelope program. If they would be able to help us find out how much of a need does
Iowa City have for the Blue Envelopes, perhaps. Well in asking about autistic drivers,
Access to Independence, Sarah, was like I love that, that's great, but ... what about ... and
then she names off a litany of different other, uh, persons with disabilities, and it's like,
you know what, that's great, that's a great point. Being Iowa City, we are obviously very
interested in being as inclusive as possible and making sure that we're providing context
in all circumstances. I can tell you as a police officer for 11 years, I've done field
sobriety testing on a person with traumatic brain injury. I would of. ... bet thousands of
dollars that the person was intoxicated. They weren't! They had a traumatic brain injury.
Until I knew what a traumatic brain injury presented itself as, I would of never thought
that. Having that context, having that information at a moment's notice is something that
we're really excited about, Access to Independence is really excited about, um, we're
getting some great feedback. Daisy can give you more information about that, but it's a
project that happened very organically, um, very naturally, and we're going to see where
it leads us. We're still very much in a planning phase to see how it looks, how it fits, and
where it really is gonna go.
Teague/ Uh huh.
Neeld/ But thank you for asking about it!
Teague/ Yes, I can tell you that people within the disability world that are providers are really
excited that you are working with Access to, um, Access to Independence, Sarah, um,
because it makes all the sense in the world to try to figure out how to really, um, with...
with the police staff, just understand a little more. CIT has really done great and I think
that's just buildin' upon CIT in a different level, so thanks!
Salih/ I just wanna say that, you know, thank you very much for staff reaching out to the
community. I ... I just like start hearing positive, uh, reflection, and I saw you guys on the
Sudanese, uh, you know, event for the young leader. That was really amazing, because
afterward people was talking about it (difficult to hear person speaking from audience)
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(laughs) Yeah, you know (mumbled) but all the time this (unable to understand) but I
think that (unable to understand) it was, uh, that was very nice of you guys coming out
and just engaging with them. Uh, you are really starting, as you said area, people from
like myself as immigrant and refugee who come to this country, you know, the way that
police act in our back home country completely different, and we think that's (unable to
understand) community tend to be far away from the police. They don't wanna interact
with them, uh, but staff going out and building those kind of relationship, it really will
start to normalize the relationship between the .... and improve it, between the minority
and, um, local enforcement which is will be great, and I just would like to say something
that, you know, the .... the young leaders are really now comfortable and they think they
gonna reach out to you again so you can come on an event and you can answer question
for the young people in the community, but at the same time I really encourage you to
reach out to the association for the, like (unable to understand) you know, because those
people, they have a monthly membership meeting and if you can just initiate the contact.
Like I know that they ...they are not gonna come and say hey, come over. You know?
Because they don't know how to do that, but if you can just go and say, oh, we
understand that you have a monthly meeting. Can we just come and visit you and answer
questions? Because, you know, they .... they, at that point, maybe they have any question,
they can ask you unformally, you know, this way they will understand a lot of thing that
they don't know if it's legal or not legal or, you know, other misconception that they
have. Uh, but thank you again for (mumbled) (both talking)
Brotherton/ We'll reach out and get that information for you (both talking)
Salih/ Sure! We do that! Thank you, but the last thing I wanna ask you, I remember we used to
have, if we stop, um, like person of color or anything and they .... their headlight is not
working, we used to give this voucher. I, uh, I happen to be in a car, where the police
stop one person about this, and uh, they did not offer that. (unable to understand) but
they did not offer that, and I was like, hey, I hear that you have this (both talking)
Brotherton/ Yes!
Salih/ ...and they said yeah, but maybe you don't have it anymore.
Brotherton/ No, we do still have the bulbs program, and that's good feedback. Uh, you know,
we'll get new officers hired, we get going in different things, so that's a good reminder,
uh, to get that back out to our patrol division to get those, but yeah, that's a program we
continue. We're .... we do still, uh, put them out, so I know we're doing it, um, but that's
good feedback to make sure that we're reinforcing that with the officers. They
sometimes think, well, I didn't give a ticket so it was positive. It's that reminder and that
continual training we have with them that ... there's more to it, and it's not just about not
giving a ticket, but we still want that .... want more out of that interaction. That's what
bulbs did was start the conversation and how can we help and, you know, take it just
beyond that warning. So that is very good feedback. We appreciate that.
Salih/ Okay, no problem. Thank you for everything you do.
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Brotherton/ Okay, Luke! Wake up! (laughter)
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Teague/ Thank you! (several talking) All right! Clarify.... clarification of agenda items. I will
put it out there that there are four proclamations today, and if anyone would like to read
one, please let me know! (laughs)
Taylor/ Just on 8.a. Would this be a good time to talk about that? Uh, just thanking Charlotte for
her service. I see she's not here today, uh, but welcoming Ryan to our meeting, and uh,
glad to have you here.
Teague/ Yes, welcome! I will say that at the end of our meeting, which is Item #19, I'm not sure
if you'll be stickin' around that long, at the end of the formal meeting. Maybe you'll be
able to address the Council and just tell us a little bit about yourself, unless you're
prepared to do that now!
Longnecker/I'll wait till then (both talking)
Information Packet Discussion 1February 20, February 271:
Teague/ Great! If nothin' else on the formal agenda, movin' on to information packet, uh,
February 20'h. Movin' on to info packet February 27h.
Fruin/ I did wanna note, it's not listed on your, uh, pending work session topics, but we do hope
to have the Climate Action Commission present at your next Council meeting, which is
March 24`h. So that would be the single work session topic.
Teague/ Okay. That'll be good!
Thomas/ I .... I appreciated the ... the, IPS, the strategic (mumbled) report. Wow! (laughs)
It's ... that's packed with information, um....
Mims/ I'm reading that between now and next (several talking and laughing)
Teague/ I would say for our strategic plan, uh, that meetin' is next Tuesday, the 10'h. At 3:00
P.M.? 1:00 P.M., yes, it's on my calendar! (laughs) So come with great ideas! One
thing I will say about that, um, I know that this was somethin' you kinda mentioned, if
there's .... if anybody has like a major, major thing that they want to present maybe, if you
can somehow get it to Council before, so we can process it a little bit, that might .... and
staff. That might be worth doing. Sometimes it's overwhelming, trying to process it in
the moment. There can be a lot to it, so just be mindful if. ... if you have the opportunity
to do that. If nothin' else from IP .... um.....February 27`h, we'll start with, uh, Council
updates and we're gonna start with Councilor Thomas. It's your turn!
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Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees:
Thomas/ Nothing.... nothing to report.
Teague/Okay.
Mims/ I have nothing either. No meetings.
Salih/ I have nothing either.
Taylor/ I have nothing.
Weiner/ It's supposed to be what we've already done, right? (several responding) There was an
ECCOG meeting last week and they also were kind enough to give those of us who were
new, uh, an orientation, which even further underscored how much we need to be on
there for longer than a year. However, to me one of the most interesting things that I
learned is they .... they are managing water shed districts, including Clear Creek, and this
water shed management includes helping them clean up their water, help ... they're
working with a whole variety of...of actors who.... particularly in the Clear Creek.
Coralville's also interested. Anyway, it seemed like a fascinating area of expertise that
they have that could be helpful for this area as well. Um, a number of us also participated
in the employee award ceremony. And ... uh, as well as attending the DVIP Souper Bowl.
Teague/ Great! Today I attended the Partnership for Alcohol .... oh, I am sorry! That is correct.
(mumbled) ...go back around here! (laughs)
Bergus/ Any order you wish, Mayor! (laughs) Um .... so I'm on the board for the UNESCO City
of Literature and a couple of weekends ago was their One Book, Two Book Festival,
which was just a wonderful... that's kinda their main event, one of the main events of the
year, so that ... that was, urn .... all my board service entailed this month, and several of us
attended the joint meeting that we had with the School District Board, um, here the day
after our last Council meeting, where we were reviewing the form based code, uh, for the
South District. So ... I think (mumbled) good for us to kind of keep ... keep that in mind as
that code comes before us in a few months. Um ... and then I attended my first meeting of
the SEATS Advisory, or the Paratransit Advisory Committee, and just kinda learned a lot
and asked some probably really basic questions. Um ... learning about the coordination
between the different entities for that ... that service and what they expect in the future, and
the, urn .... ICAD sponsored the State of the Schools event, and Councilor Thomas was
there and maybe others there, um, last Thursday morning, which was really just an
interesting discussion with representatives from the University of Iowa, um, Solon
School District, Iowa City Community School District, Clear Creek Amana, and Fred
Newell was presenting as well, so it was just a discussion, a conversation about schools
and somewhat sort of workforce development and what students and workers of the
future need. So that was .... was pretty cool!
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Mims/ I'll just make a quick comment on the One Book, Two Book. I had the opportunity to go
to the evening event where the students read their work. Uh, my great niece was
presenting from one of the schools, and let me tell you, the writing of these kids is
phenomenal! It was just amazing, from little short poems that were incredible to some
stories that .... I don't know where they get their imagination (laughs) and some of `em a
little bizarre, but ... but just incredibly talented. Incredibly talented!
Teague/ I have to say, I went to that and I was super impressed by all the students, and some
were very theatrical (laughs) and I .... I think we started with first graders. It was
amazin'! I was super impressed, so .... kudos to them! Um, today I went to the
Partnership for Alcohol and Safety. Um, and there's a lot of things that is happenin'
there. One of the things that, um, I wanted to just let, uh, Councilors know is that they do
want to, we have it on our work session for the, um, alcohol in the parks discussion.
They want to kinda just be aware when that takes place, so that they can come and be a
part of that discussion. Um .... as of now there's nothin' more that I'll report about that.
Um, there will be.....next, so our next, uh, Council meeting, remember, will not be on the
third Tuesday. It'll be on the fourth Tuesday, which'll be the 241, due to the spring break.
Um, so just wanted to remind people about that. Other than that, I have no more updates
that I wanted to give. Anything else that we wanna discuss before we .... \
Thomas/ I did wanna mention, I ... didn't have a chance to squeeze it in when we had the Historic
Preservation, uh, discussion, but I did attend the, uh, I think it was part of the Black
History Month presentation at the Library. It was kind of a joint presentation with
Stefanie and Jessica representing the effort on the designation of, um, you know, Tate
Arms and the.....I'm forgetting the name of the .... property on Iowa Avenue, but the two
properties that were associated with housing for African American students before they
had access to .... to the residence halls and so forth, and it was a great presentation, um,
and I really loved how, and I think this was a theme for me anyway with the
historic.... some of the work of the Historic Preservation this year. It's kind of, um,
interweaving of historic, either.... whether it's historic issues with the log cabins, civil
rights with Tate Arms and the Iowa Avenue project, different ways in which historic
preservation is integrating with other, uh, concerns we have in Iowa City, and I think
that's a very enriching, uh, combination, and it was a beautifully staged event, uh, I had a
great time.
Teague/ Awesome! Anything else? If not we will be back at 7:00 P.M.!
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