HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-04-07 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Bergus, Mims, Salih, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Dilkes, Fruehling, Nations, Havel, Knoche, Hightshoe,
Sovers
Others Present: Longenecker(UISG)
Climate Action Commission Presentation on Recommendations Related to the 100 Day
Accelerating Climate Actions Report f IP31:
Teague/ We have Matt Krieger that's going to lead this discussion for us, so welcome, Matt!
(pause) And we can't hear you.
Krieger/ (mumbled) all right, can you see me okay and hear me?
Teague/ Yes (several responding)
Krieger/ All right! I'll probably just put this back on my still image while I'm presenting, but
I'm going to share, I'm logging on two different computers here, so I can share my
screen, um, which is the document that was, um, sent by the Commission, with our
recommendations. Um ... and I will walk through kind of the highlights of that. Uh, in
case you haven't read it and (mumbled) yet, um, but ... so, yeah, let me switch this over
now. All right! Can you see that okay?
Bergus/ Yes!
Krieger/ Okay. Uh, so at the front of our recommendations we had a summary letter, um, just
outlining again some of the highlights. Uh, I've actually highlighted them here. Uh, can
walk through it, but the process was, uh (garbled) was that each of our working groups,
buildings, transportation, waste (garbled) adaptation and the outreach working groups all
reviewed the actions in the 100 -day report, specifically related to their areas, uh, of the
action, climate action plan. Uh, and then they provided the feedback, uh, and we met as a
commission to review that in more detail, uh, discuss them, and then, uh, put together this
final document, uh, with all of the, uh, comments included. Uh, and we'll get to those
here in a moment. Uh, the .... I will say that the climate action as a comm.... Climate
Action Commission as a whole recommends that all the actions be implemented, at some
point, um, which we understand to be the intent from the City, uh, from the City staff.
Uh, they have, if you might have noticed, uh, shown them being phased in over a period
of time. So some, uh, some actions would happen sooner, uh, than others. Uh, generally
the working groups prioritized and provided feedback on the education -based action
items. Uh, there's a lot of things that can be done in that area, uh, which are, uh, you
know, building awareness, uh, educating the public about certain, uh, components of the
plan. Uh, the working groups, especially buildings, recognize the importance of both
incentive -based and regulatory -based approaches. Um, we know that different... different
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approaches, uh, impact different kinds of stakeholders or people in the community
differently. Um, some are, you know, really need that .... that.....that stick and others
really prefer the carrot. So a .... a good balanced approach, uh.... uh, is identified within
these, uh, and .... and is a good approach. Uh, it should also be noted that two of the
working groups recommended, um, the adaptation action item equity review of
neighborhood and population outreach, we made a higher priority. Uh, we'll get to a
little bit more detail down below here on, uh, the approach to equity overall, uh, but keep
in mind that the equity and adaptation working group and the outreach working group are
both cross -cutting, uh, groups. Their .... their focus is not just to look at one specific area
of the plan, but to look across all of them and also to think about more broadly, uh, the
implementation of these, uh, and how that might be done. And then, um, within each of
the actions, a robust implementation plan will be needed. This is, uh, if you wanna think
of the overall climate action plan as a general, broad-based framework, our original 35
actions. This, um, 100 -day report included these 64 more specific actions which gets us
to the next step, but then each of those actions will require, uh, a very rigorous
implementation plan associated with that. So we can identify more specific goals, uh,
what all researches will be required for each of them, and then, uh, you know, who might
be impacted by it, and as part of that, it also needs to address equity and what, uh, might
be the most equitable approach to each of them. Uh, the equity and adaptation working
group, again (mumbled) the overall report, um, lacks specific actions and implementation
timelines regarding equity, uh, focusing more on broader objectives, which is probably
fine at this point, but I think, uh, again as we look at each ... as .... as the staff looks at each
one of the individual actions, uh, well, that will need to be developed, uh, more
specifically with each one. So .... what we did, the Commission did, was we kept
maintaining the same format that was prese.... the 100 -day report was presented in, and
then just added in, layered in, our feedback. Um, so if you ... if you do happen to have a
copy of the 100 -day report next to you, um, the .... we're starting on what would've been
page 10 of that report. Uh, and this is what outlined the .... kind of the time frame or the
phasing of the actions, uh, and how they might be implemented. Uh, usually it was based
on the amount of effort or, you know, engagement that needed to be required and if things
had already been started, um, or not. Um .... but we also recommended, the Commission
is recommending, that we actually apply more than just a color coding to this, uh, more
equitable approach but actually be to, uh, to, uh, label them, uh, do different methods for
identifying things. So in this case we're just saying add the (garbled) phase one, phase
two, phase three (garbled) color coding. So the first section then is buildings. Um, at the
start of each of the sections here, uh, you'll see that there's a .... um, overall
recommendations from the working group that was associated with that particular
section, and then, uh, the format follows that within the tables that were originally
developed. Uh, the Commission, uh, provided an additional column here, added a
column where our specific feedback was included. So, rather than trying to sort through
a bunch of different documents or, uh, presentations that were given to you, uh, we're
trying to consolidate it here all in one place so that it's easy to read and understand. Uh,
and then we've also added the phasing, again, to the color coding. So overall, uh, the
building working group, um .... uh, looked at several of the items that were, uh, high
priority. Uh, they had recommendations for those as, uh, called the education actions,
called the incentive actions, and a couple of the regulations actions. Most of these are, uh
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(mumbled) they relate to each other. Um .... we'll get, uh, to a couple of these other
recommendations in a moment that we're changing priorities for a couple of them, and
then, um, and then a couple of revisions. So we'll dive a little bit deeper here now.
Within buildings, education action number one, um, this is promoting energy efficiency
and performance tips to the public, and this being a, uh, you know, a big potential, um,
impact, because buildings, again, uh, is the largest potential, um, source of greenhouse
gas emissions that we can get across the city, and that's split between, uh, new buildings
and existing buildings, and between residential buildings and commercial buildings, and
so, uh, it's important that we get everyone on board in the community because we can't
just do it with going and talking to specific builders or large owners (garbled) developers
who are working on the big buildings. We need to focus on ... on our residential and
existing stock as well. Um ... there is an action later, uh, within this overall chart that
speaks to, um, outreach, and the approach to that, and that is to develop the Climate
Ambassadors Program. Um, and, uh, one of the things that the outreach, uh, working
group identified was that that Climate Ambassadors' group could really impact many of
these actions. So where that's potentially possible, uh, that is noted within our feedback.
Uh, and that is something that is, uh, a program that is looking to get started, uh.... uh,
right now, uh, within the next month or so (garbled) Urn ... the other thing that we noted
here is that we should also be coordinating with other .... our other community partners
like the Iowa City Community School District on this effort, uh, especially now that they
have their own climate action plan, um, could be working with them on that as well. Uh,
developing a website to showcase some energy efficiency success stories, um, which
would be a great educational and awareness tool (garbled) Uh, we also want to, um,
request that as you move forward in developing this action, uh, in more detail that we get
more specific metrics, uh, for, um .... more specific data, the dialed -in data, uh, that we
can really look at. Right now the data is really community -wide, uh, within the entire
community, but if we could start looking at more of a neighborhood -by -neighborhood
case, uh, basis, you know, still maintaining privacy and security for .... for everyone, uh,
but looking at it in a bit more detail. That's going to be important going forward. And
then providing a reporting tool, uh, would be important part of this action for
homeowners, to (garbled) measure energy efficiency changes. You know, if you think
about, back to, uh, MidAmerican, when they were providing the, kind of relationship of
`how well are you doing compared to your .... your neighbors,' or am I doing better or
worse. This would take that kind of to the next step, make it a bit more effective and
understandable in what you're actually doing, uh, how you're actually performing. Uh,
so education action item number two, partnering with stakeholders to promote green
building and rehabilitation was another high priority action. Again, we need to be able to,
um, really affect.... impact our building stock, and that's going to be a very hard
challenge, uh, within.... within the community to do. And so, um .... this is one of those
high priority items that can really make an impact in that .... in that, uh, segment. Um,
and so .... uh.....so, yeah, so we want to also make sure that we are again applying an
equity -focused, uh, approach to this. Um, affordable housing should be a consideration.
Um .... and.....um, you know, just a .... getting a cross -cutting with the.....with the
different staff who ... who impact different aspects of the .... of the community here. Um
....but it will take, as part of the overall implementation plan, it will take developing the
list of, uh, detailed list of partners that would .... that would be helpful in, uh, in working
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on this. Uh, action item number, uh, education item number three, which is related to
coordinating with the local realtor community, um, to `green' the MLS, the multiple
listing services. Uh, we recommended just moving this one from a blue, uh, phase two to
a green phase one priority, and that's because we're really already started working on
this, urn ... uh, as a.....as a working group with the Commission, uh, trying to set up some
meetings with the local Iowa City Area Association of Realtors. Uh, this has been very
successful in other communities. Um, one of the reasons we're focusing on it is, uh, it
creates a demand for green building. So if you can show, uh, and be more transparent
about what are the features that are sustainable, uh, within.... within the listing service
then that creates.... that shows people what's out there. It creates a demand for more of it,
um, which then, uh, incentivizes people to do more on the rehabilitation side, uh, to
create those, uh, and incorporate those sustainable, uh, aspects. So that's one thing that
we think can help to drive the market differently than some of the other actions that are,
uh, in the report. Moving on to, uh, buildings, incentive -based actions. Uh, so, uh, action
number one here, offering free home energy assessments with the Green Iowa
AmeriCorps. We saw this as a high priority action, um, and I'll get to a few more of the
specific recommendations below. Uh, within each of the sections, uh, there was kind of
a .... a more detailed approach that was kind of pulled out of the chart and put down
below. Um .... so we'll get to that here in a moment. Uh.... action item number two was
enhancing energy standards for City rehab projects. Uh, we saw this, again, as a high
priority action, um, but if we are (garbled) these programs, we need to be able to ... to
apply, uh, rigorous standards to those. Uh, so there's some additional detail that was
included here in the feedback, uh, about (noise in background, difficult to hear speaker)
that's part of that more detailed implementation plan. Um .... so something (mumbled)
would be...be worth looking at in more detail. Again there are other, uh, communities
that have had (mumbled) some of these, and so we can .... we don't have to reinvent the
wheel, uh, we can copy what's being done in other communities. Uh, again we're
generally supportive of all these other actions that I'm not going into detail .... more detail
here today. But incentive option number six, which was develop or partner with local
stake.... stakeholders on a comprehensive climate action rehabilitation program. Uh, this
really, uh, relates well to, um, some of the education -based actions, and so we're
recommending that are .... that are happening sooner and so to really tailor those and
partner those together, we're recommending that that be moved up in priority. And I
think the other part of this is that there are, uh, things already starting to happen, rehab
programs that are happening, uh, and so it's just a matter of scaling those up. Okay .... so
that, um, incentive action number one, uh, more detailed recommendations down here are
included. Again, thinking more about the next step of a more rigorous implementation
plan. These are some things that should be thought of as part of that. Um ... making sure
that we have, uh, strong education for residents, uh, especially, uh, within the program,
um, not just having the (garbled) come in and do the ... do the upgrades or the updates, but
having more of an education part of that, um, so that it, uh, is operated well, um, so that
its upgrade is effective. Uh, we also want to ensure that we have measurements, um, so
that we understand, uh, the quality of the improvements, um, and not just the quantity.
Uh, again, uh, equity needs to be thought of as part of this, um, what are the groups that,
uh, are being impacted, uh, who's benefiting from this, uh, and the Green Iowa
AmeriCorps program has been pretty good about that in the past, uh, as has the
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(mumbled) program. Uh.... and then also thinking not just about energy but about some
of the other ..(mumbled) upgrades could do for the health and indoor air quality. Um,
and ... and just better, you know, as you do weatherization projects or you seal up homes,
uh, what are the things, uh, what is the air quality like then within that home, uh, and so
are you .... are you creating a negative impact, uh, trying to make the .... the, um, residence
more energy efficient. So just some things that need to be thought of, uh, that might not
be at first glance. All right, so then within the regulation section of buildings, uh, high
priority action that we saw was to create a more robust energy code inspection program.
Uh, and that, uh, the households are benefiting from the (garbled) utility bills, uh,
something that we need to think of as part of this. Um .... and then one of the other things
that we looked at was that for those projects that are getting, ub, TIF support, tax
increment financing, uh, that the, uh.... that they don't (garbled) period. So that we want
to maintain that affordable housing (mumbled) for a longer period of time. As part of
action number two we saw those, uh, regulation action number two incorporate stricter
energy standards into the TIF policies. Um .... you know, some of this has already been
started when it comes to, urn .... uh..... as part of the current policy, but this is looking at it
in a bit more strict and robust, uh, way. Um, and then as part of, uh, item number three,
incorporating those standards into some of the other, uh, incentives. So for example, the
height and density bonuses. We recommend that this action be moved up, as it's
something that's already being discussed, um, and it's .... and the TIF policies are already
in place, so it's something that can easily.... could be applied to some of these other
incentive programs. Um, we think that if the City is going to have incentive programs,
no matter what they are, rehab programs, urn .... it could be, for instance, the, um, the
rehab for, you know, storefronts downtown, whatever the.... whatever the program is. It
should incorporate some kind of, uh, energy efficiency requirements, um, and .... and be
aligned with the climate action plan going forward. Uh, within the, uh, City policy
section under buildings, uh, under advocate for local control of energy codes, one of the
things that we looked at as a working group here, uh, and the Commission, was a
suggested revision to this. Um, having different codes, um, localized codes could create,
uh.....um, potential issues, uh, especially... and confusion, within the building industry,
because the building industry, both, uh, builders, designers, uh, they work across
jurisdictions and, uh, having a whole lot of different codes, uh, energy codes, uh, could
create other potential problems, and so one of our suggested revisions here is that we
advocate that the State always adopt the most current energy code, uh, and then explore
other NG code opportunities as part of incentive programs, and those, there are those....
those do exist out there, including, uh, the zero code, uh, so that's something that could
be reviewed... in more detail and ... and what the application of that would look like.
Okay! So I think that's what we have as far as highlights that we wanted to go through
on the building section. Um .... do we wanna maybe as part of this format just ... see if
there's any questions within each part or .... wait till the end?
Teague/ Maybe we'll wait till the end.
Krieger/ Okay.
Teague/ (mumbled) someone has somethin'.
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Krieger/ All right. So within the transportation section, there .... uh, wasn't a lot of, uh, specific
changes, uh, recommended to this, either to the timeline or to the actions that were being
recommended. Again, um, just supporting all of the actions and recommending that all of
them be done at some point. Um, within the Commission feedback though and from the
working group, uh, a lot of the comments that came up as part of this section were related
to making sure that we are engaging, um, a broad based, uh, group of people within our
community, um, and that we are taking, again, an equitable approach, uh, to that. Um,
and so, um ... just because within, again, this current framework, these charts, uh, there
wasn't a lot of detail provided. Again, it's just a .... it's a input, it's a specific action with a
description and a goal, um, but as that, uh, implementation plan is developed in more
detail, those are things that need to be looked at more closely. Uh, one of the other things
that we wanted to highlight here with the transportation incentives, uh, as far as
incentivizing the public transit options, uh, is consider a partnership with the Iowa City
Community School District. Uh, there's a lot of bus riders, uh, that would be impacted
with the program, um, but attend the schools, staff and students, and so that's one that we
probably wanna reach out to, uh, along with the University, and have a more engaged, uh,
approach. Uh.... and so yes, there weren't really, again, a lot of changes to this section.
Um .... but overall it was .... it was well put together, well thought of...as far as the overall
number of, uh.... of actions. Uh, one of the things that was brought up as part of the .... as
part of this project, uh, action number one, uh.... with the completion of the transit study
and the implementation of that, uh.. just need to make sure that it's thoughtful ..... it's
thoughtfully linking planned actio... activities, uh... with, uh (mumbled) and realizing the
benefits to underserved (mumbled) again. So, um, I believe as part of the study what we
heard, um, from, uh (mumbled) was that the, urn ... that there was, uh, interviews and,
um.....surveys done specific to where people want to go, want to travel, and so making
sure that that's incorporated to be an effective approach. Okay. Uh, moving on to waste.
So, overall our community is doing very well on the waste, uh, approach in general. Um,
as part of the education action item one here though, uh.... not just engaging the public to
compost organic waste, uh, but... through residences, but also through businesses. Um,
we do recognize that, uh, businesses usually have a, um, you know, hire a, uh, privately,
uh, hauling company for recycling and composting, um, but this is more about awareness
and engagement, and so we need to think more than just the residences, but also the
businesses in our community, and how they could contribute. And again, the Climate
Ambassador Program that I mentioned earlier (garbled) uh, actions and campaigns.
Okay, otherwise generally we were supportive of all the, uh, actions within the waste
section. This one policy action, uh, was recommended (garbled) instead of a phase two,
which is requiring all public (mumbled) and use green event practices. Uh, this is
something that we have (mumbled) models for already. Um, so it seems like it could be
done sooner rather than later. Moving on to adaptation. So again the equity and
adaptation working group looked at this section in detail. Uh, they did rec.... they did
notice that the report, again, lacks specific actions and the implementation timelines
concerning equity. Uh, and that the, um .... the items that are related to equity in the
report are few, lack urgency and lack permanence, and so again this just goes back
to .... again this is more of a broad, uh, a broader framework, uh, of objectives and ideas,
uh, as part of the more detailed implementation of those should be looked at more
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closely. Um, and it's something that both City staff can look at, uh, as part of the
development, as we incorporate some of our community partners, uh, you know, the
outreach that's conducted, who's involved in developing those programs. Uh, that should
be a diverse group of people as well, uh, it shouldn't just be, uh, staff or the Commission.
It should be a larger group of people that are contributing to the overall development of
these actions and not just part of what happens on the (mumbled) implementation. Uh, so
adaptation action number one was developing that Climate Ambassador Program. Uh, I
have a bit more detailed information below this chart (garbled) Uh, as part of education
action number four, uh, concentrated education campaign for private properties about
native plantings, (mumbled) pavement, rain gardens, (mumbled), and cisterns. Uh,
overall we, uh, think that, uh, that we should consider opportunities for coordinated
education efforts with the local agencies, as well as coordination of existing and
expanded programs that incentivize storm water, best management practices on private
property. Um, so again it's more of just coordinating a lot of the things that (mumbled)
exist. Um, and ... and looking at additional opportunities within them. Uh, under
education action number five, which was coordinated efforts with (mumbled) agencies.
Um, part of (garbled) is that this needs to also include critical infrastructure entities, so
this wouldn't just be the government entities but also, uh.... uh, entities (mumbled)
utilities, uh (garbled) part of that as well. All right, so with the .... there's quite a bit of
information here that was developed by the outreach working group, as part of the
Climate Ambassadors Program development. Um, really thinking in more detail about
what that looks like. Uh, I think they're farther along on that because, um, they are, uh,
looking at developing that with the additional staff that were being hired, um, as part of,
uh, the climate action efforts. Um, and so that'll be kicking off here in the next month or
two. Um, but this is ... just broadly this is a group, Ambassador Program is a group of
people that would be trained by staff and/or the Commission members, uh, to go out into
the community, attend events, uh, be part of our normal community things that are going
on, uh, like farmers markets, like, uh.... uh, you know, the Summer of the Arts programs,
um, you know, just kind of attending everything that is in the community, but also setting
up, uh, events and things like the listening posts that, uh, Council Members conduct, ulr,
to try to bring input, um, to the .... to the action plan and not just, um, not just teaching
or .... or creating awareness. Uh, it should be, uh, kind of the two-way conversation that's
happening there. Um, we don't warm just push things on .... onto the community. It
needs to come from the community, uh, and that's where we're gonna be most effective.
So that would be part of the Climate Ambassadors' mission or effort. Uh, part of it also
needs to look at the equity (garbled) Um, so again, who are the ... who are the groups that
are benefiting or being impacted by, um, by the efforts, by the actions, uh, and ... and
developing outreach targets or looking at who those stakeholders might potentially be, uh
(garbled) some focused outreach. And then at the bottom of this list is the overall, the
number of actions or the specific actions that could be impacted by that Climate
Ambassadors Program, um, and these were included in that .... in that chart above, um
(garbled) One of the other things that the outreach working group, um, looked at more
closely was promoting education action number three. Again this is, um, educating and
coordinating with local agencies on the health impacts. Um, one of the reasons that we
highlighted this, um, was that this is a way to really, um, reach out to people and think
about climate action, um, and climate, uh, impacts and climate change differently than
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what they might normally think about it. Um, if it's impacting your health, then you
might, uh, that might speak to different types of people differently. Uh, and so, uh, we
really thought that this could, uh, create more .... some effective action, uh, broad based
action in the community, uh, and so we started thinking about, you know, what are the
agencies that should be included on that, that staff could, um, could partner with these
and create a, kind of a kick-off meeting to really start working out what are the more
specific things we need to be looking at, what resources need to be pulled together to
better understand the impact of climate change, uh, on .... on our human health (mumbled)
research exists. So it's a matter of pulling that together, uh, and then developing specific
actions around it. Um, so we thought this was something, uh, that should happen sooner
rather than later, um .... and, uh ....uh, it might involve potentially some of you (laughs)
as, uh... uh, if you're interested in being a part of that. Okay. And so .... looking down
here a little bit farther, under the adaptations, um .... uh, projects, again these are related
back to some of what was mentioned earlier in the adaptation section, uh (mumbled)
some of the, um, storm water management programs, um, and uh, and applying those to
public and private development, not just residential development. Um .... just make them
more broad based. And then this was the, uh, so .... project action number four, which is
the equity review of neighborhood and population outreach, developing an outreach plan
for populations, uh, highly impacted by climate change. This really, uh, is critical to all
of the actions, and so something that should be moved up to phase one. Uh, and
developed sooner rather than later. I think probably (mumbled) in this time frame, as part
of phase two, uh, because of the amount of time or effort that would be needed to put it
together, but that is something that needs to be done probably right away. (noises in
background) Uh, then moving on to sustainable lifestyle, uh, the last section. And so,
urn .... a lot of this is, uh... uh, action ....education action number one, uh, hosting
sustainability forums and events. This goes right to what we were talking about with
Climate Ambassador Program, um, and what they could be, uh, focusing their efforts on.
Um .... launching the green business program, climate action at work (mumbled)
education action item number two should be a top priority to promote upgrades in
existing commercial buildings. Um, oftentimes the incentive programs that are out there
are related to new construction, uh, so this is something that would help promote it within
the existing commercial building, uh, stock, urn .... in a hard to reach, um, group. The
rehab programs could do that as well on both the residential and commercial side.
(mumbled) Uh, and as part of that launching the green business program, we did have
some additional recommendations, specific recommendations here, uh.... um, about
tracking energy use in buildings, about helping businesses do this, and this is something I
think City staff are already starting to roll out. Uh, it's .... it's, uh, kind of like a pilot
project, to, um, help some of the businesses in the community track or understand how
much energy they're using, um, show that information, uh, and eventually maybe that
rolls into a (mumbled) program that is, uh, in a way the phase, um, but (garbled) uh, as a
baseline. Uh, this is one area, this program is one area that could, um, that could, uh, be a
good spot for some future financial incentives. So for green, uh, for businesses that are
looking to make upgrades, once they've understood their, um, understood their energy
use, um, and how they compare to, uh, baseline buildings of their type, uh, across
the .... across the U.S., then they could start then identifying, uh, what are the upgrades
that might be needed, and so that'll take some money, and um, maybe it's a cost -share,
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uh, with those, uh, property owners, uh, to be able to, uh, make those upgrades. Um, they
would probably, one, need, uh, it takes funding to do the assessment, uh, as far as what
projects they could do, and then of course implement those projects. So that's a potential
item for future, um, you know, future incentives. And expansion of the rehab programs.
All right, and so then I think the rest of these, uh, sustainable lifestyle actions we're
generally supportive of Um, I don't think there was anything ... um .... that was too, uh,
too (garbled) That gives you an overview of what we were looking at as a commission.
Um, certainly willing to take any questions or discussion on any of `em!
Thomas/ Well I'll just start by saying how impressed I am with the, um, rigor that you apply to
the, uh, climate action plan. I'm very impressed with ... with the thoroughness of your
review. Ub, I also, uh, support this emphasis that you've given on the question of equity,
uh, which is something I think we just have to continually be mindful of, uh, as we move
forward on the plan, and uh, I also appreciated your emphasis on public health, which
with .... this infectious disease epidemic that we are dealing with at the moment, um, it
seems to me that may be something to consider and try to integrate, or at least coordinate,
uh, because if, you know, many people are speaking about how ...what lessons can be
learned from .... the coronavirus and how we've responded to it. I think there may be
some opportunities there to, um .... consider how infectious diseases and climate action
relate to one another.
Teague/ I've had a chance to talk to a few of the commissioners. Am I echoin'?
Taylor/ No.
Teague/ No? Okay. I've had a chance to talk to a few of the commissioners and have been
pretty impressed with their involvement... with all of this (laughs) report, which was a lot.
Um, one thing I wanted to really mention here is the outreach workin' group and what is
planned for the future. I think it's going to be very imperative that we reach a lot of
people to really express the .... the seriousness of the action plan and how their
involvement can get us to reach the goals. That's where I'm feelin' that the greatest, uh,
impact is gonna be is through that outreach. So I'm happy to know that there was a lot of
time and attention put to that. (garbled) equity (garbled) echo what John just said,
because it's pretty important that, uh, we realize what it's created now, and will even
change in the future as to the equity and so just wanted to make sure that we are
awareness that times we may have to make some adjustments to meet some of those
equi .... equity, uh, challenges for people in our community.
Mims/ Yeah, I would .... I would echo comments of John (input stops) I'm sorry, accidentally
muted myself there. Appreciate the hard work; um, the Commission went through this,
obviously spent a lot of time analyzing it and appreciate that. One... comment that I guess
I would have is given the circumstances we are in and some of the things I've been
hearing in the last few days, it sounds like even when we come out of this pandemic, it's
not going to be going back to the old normal so much, and I think as the Commission
looks at some of these outreach plans, there may need to be some adjustments made or...
or thought of adjustments if we still have, um, issues of. ... interpersonal contact. Um, so 1
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just ... it's just something to keep in mind, because I .... people don't think we're going
back to the old normal once .... once the social distan ... distancing starts letting up. So it's
just something to keep in mind.
Bergus/ I had a specific question. Um, Matt, thank you to you and your commission for all of
the work. Um, just one item under the buildings section. There's a public projects sub-
section, um, that I think you just indicated you ... the Commission agreed with kind of
what was at force here. Um, number one action, which was slated for .... um .... I'm sorry
I don't have a ... it's page eight in what I'm lookin' at. Yep! So that number one, and if I
understand the color coding, that's sort of this year, 2020, but continuing into the future.
Um ... the utility scale solar installation of two -megawatt, or greater, um, did the
Commission, or the working group, the building working group....talk about that much
or have feedback on that particular item?
Krieger/ Um .... again, yeah, we were generally supportive of that action because we need to be
able to,um, increase the amount of renewable energy, uh, that is part of our grid within
our community which helps reduce our greenhouse gas emissions overall. Um, obviously
I think that's gonna.... probably needs to be phased in multiple projects over time. Um,
the, you know, one of the things with MidAmerican's, um.....uh, renewable energy
portfolio is that it's mostly made up of wind energy, uh, and, uh, sometimes the wind
doesn't blow. In fact it blows more in the winter than it does in the summer, and it pairs
well when you combine it with solar power (garbled) projects, because, uh, the energy
production for solar energy goes up for the summer, which balances out the wind well.
So when you look at an annualized, uh, average, uh, for renewable energy production, uh,
then that helps balance that out, um, and, um, again the one project, uh, with
MidAmerican at this point (mumbled) small, very small percentage of course of their
overall portfolio, uh, but it's a start and it, uh, it would help with the local, uh, emissions.
Bergus/ Thank you. (noises in background)
Weiner/ I echo what the others have said. I just wanted to add that I .... that I really like the focus
on existing buildings, especially, um, green business and figuring out ways to incentivize
improvements to those, because buildings overall are an enormous contributor. Thank
you for the rigor with which you went through this.
Taylor/ This is Pauline. Can you hear me?
Krieger/ Yes!
Taylor/ Okay, um, I also wanna echo what everyone said. Thank you for all this work. It's, uh,
very, very intense and uh, I .... I would like to echo what Susan said though too
(mumbled) won't go back to normal anytime soon, so I would hope that you wouldn't get
too hung up on like specific deadlines, uh, because it...it is going to ... to take time to get
back to normal. Uh, we can keep our goals in mind, but not have like strict deadlines to
get to. Just take our time. Uh, I did appreciate that I think it gets us as a city some things
to think about, especially when it comes to the, uh, code, um, code requirements, uh,
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because we often forget that we have our lobbyists and we could... should utilize them for
that aspect, to encourage them to, uh, work at the State House, uh, to get those codes, uh,
changed.
Salih/ I also just agree with every, um, one, everything that they said, and I just would like to
(mumbled) this like great work, long report that you come up with, and just this really
good job, and.... continue. Thank you.
Teague/ Well thank you, Matt, for givin' us this report. We really appreciate, again, all of the
work that the commissioners have done. We realize that it's no easy task and I ... I am
amazed that you all were able to break up into groups and kind of navigate through it all
in the amount of time that you did cause it's a lot of detail in there. So thanks again to all
the commissioners. Please share that with them from the Council.
Krieger/ I will (garbled) pleasure and yes, it is a .... it is a long effort, but it's something that we
are all certainly passionate and dedicated to, so ... (mumbled)
COVID-19 Update:
Teague/ Thank you! All right, if no more questions then we will move on in our agenda .... to
COVID-19 updates, and ... of course we're livin' in this moment, day-by-day in our
community where ... and in our nation, as well as globally, where COVID-19 is a
challenge and .... we're all tryin' to navigate how to get through it, um, on various levels.
Here at the City I know that Geoff Fruin and all of the City staff has been very ...involved
in tryin' to figure out things within our .... things at City Hall, things within our city. Um,
daily at 9:00 A.M., um, the City staff meets. Actually at 9:30 A.M., City staff meets with
a lot of the department heads, and it's headed by Chief Grier, where we meet for, um,
updates and talk about things that are significant that we need to think about durin' this
time. I know that, um, many of you are aware that Johnson County has the EOC that also
meets, and that meets every day at 3:00 P.M. and there is a lot of discussions happening
there, from a .... Johnson County, um, collective providers, urn... viewpoint. A lot of
people are comin' and givin' reports, such as the hospitals. Uh, we do have a social
service agency representative there, that talks about some of the needs there and some of
the things that they're doin' within the community, and so that is headed up by...uh... uh,
Dave, uh, and I'm gonna ... Dave Coach is Public Health, but Dave Wilson is ... it's headed
up by Dave Wilson, and he really is, um, stayin' on top of the ball and, you know
(garbled) those reports, um, and any needed items, he's prioritizin' that. I did warm just
talk a little ... I know that we're gonna talk about this, um, as a Council. One thing we
might want to consider as potentially a resolution to our Governor, to request, um, if
people are agreeable to it, I've talked to many of you, um, to request a shelter -in-place.
We know that the Governor has a 12 -point system that she's talked about and she hasn't
totally given information of how her configurations came about. And so we don't know
all of those details, except... what we know is, um, within our community and within our
state, as of today we have 1,048 cases. Um, today that rose by 102 cases. Um, we're up
to 26 deaths, and not to be totally gloomy on this topic because there has been some
people that have overcome from COVID-19, but ... as we're lookin' at the ... the cases goin'
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to an increasin' amount, um, I think .... there could be some .... some great purpose for
shelterin' in place, and so I wanted to put it out there for Council to kind of think about, if
that's somethin' that we wanted to do. Um ... I also wanted to give a lot of praise and
gratitude to those frontline workers within our community. Um, we'll start at our own
City, uh, with our fire and our police that are really doin' a lot of frontline work. We
really appreciate all of the things that they're doin'. We have other staff that are doin'
frontline work, that is workin' with people in the community, that, um, is at risk for, you
know, COVID-19 because of the interactions with the community and so thanks to all of
those individuals that work for the City that are doin' those. We, in our community, have
the hospital staff and, um, thanks to them. We have people that are (mumbled) home and
community based services that are providing frontline work. Thanks to them. Our
grocery store, we never realized how important they were, until this time. So thanks to
all of them, and I know that there's a, uh, an enormous amount of other individuals, our
ser.... service, social service agencies are doin' a fantastic job. There's a lot of needs out
there and they're navigatin' various things, but they're really doin' a great job. So thanks
to all of them. Um, I did just wanna give maybe the update as to what the cases are
within Johnson County. We have 134 cases in Johnson County. Um, today there were 16
cases of the 102 that I mentioned. Um, I also just for a point of reference since the
Governor has put us in regions, um, which .... we're part of the East Central Region,
which urn .... Johnson County and Linn County is a part of that region but for COVID-19
we're not in the same region. But Linn County is at 186 cases. So I just wanted to kind
of definitely.... mention what's happening in our community and try to get some feedback
from ... or try to open up the discussion on COVID-19.
Salih/ I really, you know, very.... scared from what going on today, especially when the update
today was 16 extra in Johnson County, and the way that they put us in region, and they,
uh, they did not include Linn County with us, even though that we are very close. We
seem to be like one community because people like, uh, commute from, you know,
Johnson County and Linn County all the time for work, for everything. Uh, I really
believe that, uh, there is a reason for the Governor to just put those two county in
different region, which is, uh, is not gonna make the .... the 12 -point system coming up
soon, but if they combine of course we already have that, because we have a lot people,
you know ,and the .... we have 134. We are the highest increase today, which is 16, and
after that I guess it's Scott County, which is 14. This is really, you know .... make me
very, very concerned and we really need to do something. If, uh, sending .... a resolution
or doing something, communicated with the Governor will help, I will support that
definitely. We need to do something and advocate, uh, for the shelter -in-place as soon as
possible. I don't know how much people want them to get this disease, you know, just to
shut down. Uh, this is really terrified and uh.... I .... I now start seeing close people that I
know they get the disease, and I know that this is not the real number because two people
that I know, and they're very close to me, they are ... they have this and they are not being
count because they deny tested. Not like they deny tested, uh, because of anything, but
because, for example, a mother have it, they don't test (mumbled) they live here in
Johnson County. I know those people, you know, and I know another county, another
state, we don't have to talk about that, but just speakin' about our own county, I know
some people. They not been tested, and they have it. So the number that we have in
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Johnson County is not the real number, and if there is a way that we can do something
about this, and ... and the people who did not been tested, not because University of Iowa
does not wanna test them. No! Because they have somebody in the house already been
tested and they been around them, so they don't need to be tested. They just told them
that (mumbled) amazing job by communicating to those people every day to ask them
how they been doing, but they .... they did not been included. We need another column to
be added to this. If we know the people who has been tested that's the real number is
134, we need another column for the people who have it, but never been tested. Uh, I
really just very concerned because the people who really gonna suffer from this is a lot of
people that they don't have insurance, they cannot be treated, a lot kind of things. Uh, if
we can do something, please let us do it. Thank you.
Taylor/ This is Pauline. I ... I agree with Mazahir. I think the numbers that the Governor is
working with, her ...her metrics are not accurate, and I think that the way that she's been
stating is about staying in place. People are not taking it seriously. It needs some teeth to
it, and L. I, if we can do something to encourage her, uh, to do that, I ... I would be in favor
of that. Um, I would like to add on to what the Mayor (mumbled) some of those to, uh,
thank. I ... I'd like to comment on those individuals are... continuing to work during this
crisis. You're helping to keep our community afloat and safe and healthy, and I'm
especially grateful of course to the healthcare workers and their support staff, as they're
right on the frontlines in an effort to help to end this crisis, and in all my years of nursing,
there were only a handful of cases where we as staff members cautiously cared for a
potentially contagious individual, but these folks now are .... are doing this on a daily
basis. Uh, it's hard to really imagine what they're going through, uh, and ... and for that
reason I was particularly disturbed to see some photos that were shared with me, uh, this
week. One in particular was of a group of people, right here in Iowa City, very close to
where we live, Bruce, gathering on someone's front yard, uh, in their driveway in what
appeared to be a party. There was no social distancing, uh, they were all grouped very
closely together, and these types of actions needlessly place others at risk, and .... and this
is really concerning to me. Uh, to those of you who are cautiously practicing social
distancing, thank you. Um, there's still so much that's unknown about this virus. It is
very serious and people have to take it more seriously, um, these are very confusing and
uncertain times, uh, but please stay home, uh, but when you need to go out, remember
social distancing, wash your hands, uh, take care, stay well, uh, put hearts in your
windows and chalk your sidewalks, uh, and ... and together we can all persevere and get
through this. But please be safe!
Thomas/ Yeah, I ... I would agree that, uh, further action seems to be needed. We, you know, the
numbers, as Mazahir was saying we're just seeing the reported incidents. We do not
know how many people are going about Iowa City and elsewhere, uh, who may be
transmitting the virus. So it's .... it seems at this point in time, you know, we've in good
faith tried to keep our controls.... short of a shelter -in-place, but it does seem to me at this
point in time, at a minimum, uh, a regional approach for most of..those urbanized areas
of Eastern Iowa, which are .... when I look at the maps now, it almost seems like all the
counties are kind of converging, uh, and it would be difficult to ... to isolate say
Washington, Johnson, and Linn counties. It seems when you, the Quad Cities are only R
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miles away, so there's lots of opportunities for this thing to be transmitted in all sorts of
directions and so it does seem at this point in time, where we're really at a critical
juncture, uh, a shelter -in-place would be, along with I think greater enforcement, uh,
important at this point.
Weiner/ We're cons .... from the very beginning, because of the lack of testing, we've been flying
blind. And... and having to use the bluntest of tools, and that has been I think for many
people the ... the great frustration. We don't know, because of the lack of testing, we don't
know how broad spread it is in the community. It's one of the reasons that they've asked
folks to wear masks now. A made one is not pretty, but it wor...but I wear it to grocery
stores right now. Um, the.... when.... when I need to go out for something like that. Um,
I think the most effective thing I would hope would be a coalition of cities going in. I
know that Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls and Waterloo are considering similar
resolutions. It wouldn't surprise me if Des Moines and Dubuque, and maybe the Quad
Cities consider them. Um, we ... we need .... we need to model, we need people if they
possibly can to stay home. We need to wear masks, um, but (child talking in background)
sorry for the noise, there .... there is nobody here to babysit. Um, there's... there are
different, um, there are things we can do. We can talk to people, we can FaceTime with
them, we can Zoom with them, we can do what we need to in order to keep in touch, um,
but we should not be having gatherings of any size at all, and I would be supportive,
particularly if we have a coalition of cities, that all pass similar resolutions, um, because
the .... as I watched the Governor of Virginia decide to do a shelter -in-place, on one day he
basically said, `Well, we're already doing the equivalent of that,' and then Ralph
Northum, who's an M.D., the next day came out, realized that actually having an order
has more teeth, has more meaning, and came out with one that lasted through
the .... through the beginning of June. Um, so I .... I am supportive.
Mims/ I'm supportive as well, and I agree with what Janice has said. I think it's a lot stronger if
we can get a coalition, whether it's working through, uh, through the Metro Coalition,
Iowa League of Cities, um, to get as many onboard as possible with a ... a similar or
identical, um, resolution, I think that carries a lot more power, um, than just one city. So I
think doing it that way would be .... would be really helpful. And I will, I'll just add, I
had... communication with a long-time .... long-time good friend, um, who's a physician on
the frontlines of this, and um, they are worried and they're, you know, afraid of running
out of the personal protective gear, and one of the comments that was made was, uh, even
the average symptoms of this, um, are terrible, are just really, really bad for people, and
so I think people are not understanding the severity of this. So anything that we can do
to, um, encourage and enforce the social distancing, uh, to help our frontline workers, I
think, is really important to do.
Bergus/ Yeah, I agree with that and I'm not entirely sure what action we're proposing. I think I
heard, uh, communicating with the Governor, asking her to make a clearer order for
shelter -in-place and I think a coalition of cities and, um, counties providing that message
and that strong request makes a lot of sense. Um, I know from just yesterday the
additional closures and the, um, part of the Governor's press conference that emphasized
law enforcement, um, and.... the.... the guidance that would be given to, um, cities about
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how to kind of, you know, different law enforcement agencies that could, um ... carry out,
for example, the no groups of, uh, 10 or more, and I was just wondering if staff could
maybe weigh in on, um, if we're gotten that guidance, if that seems practical, if we
understand what that entails, um, because I think that piece of it, and the explicitness with
which that was communicated for the first time in the press conference yesterday is really
important for our residents to understand.
Frain/ Um, Eleanor may have more up-to-date information than me on that. I don't think we
have ... at least I'm not aware of any guidance that has come down since yesterday's press
conference. I did hear the Governor, um, reference that, or actually the Director of Public
Safety reference that. Um, but we've .... we've had guidance from the initial order on ... on
what our police can and ... and cannot do. Um, so, Eleanor, do you want to describe the
powers in that order that we have?
Dilkes/ It's been clear from the start that, um, the ... the code allows any peace officer to enforce
that order. There was a little bit of messaging that confused us at one point, but that was
cleared up, and that happened before the Governor's press conference yesterday. I think
the police field a fair number of calls about gatherings of, you know, more than 10, and
I .... I know we're getting calls from businesses about what they can and can't do. You
know, for instance the example that Pauline used about the party in the .... in the driveway.
It would be completely appropriate to call the police and .... and ask them to address it,
and I think they would do that. You know, their whole goal is to do it with education, um,
if they can. But ... but that, there's certainly a tool for addressing that particular
circumstance already.
Teague/ So it sounds like from the Councilors, if I was to take a guess, we would be in
agreement with a resolution, uh, what are people thoughts if we did the resolution
through the Metro Coalition or the Iowa League of Cities? I know that I heard two say
yes. (several talking, garbled)
Thomas/ Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me.
Taylor/ Me too. This is Pauline.
Teague/ Okay.
Salih/ Me too.
Teague/ All right. We will try to navigate that some more. (laughs) So ... all right! So .... I think,
Geoff, you'll assist with that.
Frain/ Sure, I can help with that.
Teague/ Awesome! Thank you! Anything else for ...on COVID-19?
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Dilkes/ I would just add to that, um .... the city attorneys from the bigger cities that I'm in touch
with have at various times had these conversations with their mayors. Um, and with their
councils, and so we can certainly, I mean if ....if something would come together through
the Metro Coalition, we could certainly work on having a .... a document that everybody
would us, whether that was a resolution or a letter to the Governor or whatever.
Teague/ Yeah, and I ... is it fair to say that we would be (mumbled) whatever that looks like,
whether it's a letter or a resolution? I'm seein' some noddin' of heads. Yes. All right.
Great! All right! So clarification of agenda items.
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Fruin/ Mayor, if I could start. Um, I do want to inform the Council that on the parking rebate
item, um, I'm gonna ask for an indefinite deferral on that. Um, as we, ub, had a little
opportunity to dig deeper into our .... um, coverage ratio requirements that we have with
our Harrison Street deck, um, we .... we have some unanswered questions on whether we
would be able to go forward with a program like that. So, um, basically what that means
is when we built the Harrison deck, um, we took out .... it's a lease -to -own arrangement,
and so we are paying, uh, paying that lease down until we become owners of it down the
road. Uh, with that lease agreement there are some coverage requirements, not .... not just
they don't just look at your fund balance, but they actually look at the annual revenue, uh,
coming in. So if we dip too ... down too low on revenue, while .... while we have plenty of
fund balance, uh, we ... we may be, um, risking defaulting on that lease. Um, which, um,
would have a ripple effect into, uh.... um, our credit ratings and things like that. So we
just need a little more time to ... to process that and ... and to make sure that, uh, we're not
gonna have any unintended consequences there. So I'll ask for indefinite deferral on that
and ... and, uh, I think in a few weeks we'll have a better idea of what is possible, if
anything, from a rebate standpoint.
Thomas/ I had a very small question on Item 6.d., uh, which was the, um .... contract for the
Scott, Napoleon, and Fairmeadows improvement project, approving the, uh, the bid, and I
think we were going to be adding the alternates, and in the, uh, the Council's.... the
Council action report it looked like the alternate 1 and 2 were both going to be shade
structures at Napoleon Park, and I wasn't sure .... the, uh, if that was in fact the case or if
perhaps one of the shelters was .... uh, or shade structures rather was, um, going to be at
one of the other sites.
Fruin/ Yeah, I believe that's accurate and I see, uh, Public Works on the line and they can jump
in, but at Napoleon, the ... the playground approach for this project was instead of building
one central playground, there's going to be a couple of smaller playgrounds throughout
the complex and I think the shade structures are destined for different locations within the
park, but um, Ron and Scott, it looks like you're there. Um, is that accurate?
Knoche/ That's correct.
Thomas/ Okay, thanks!
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Taylor/ I just had a .... on a different item. Is that all, John? Did you have anything else on that?
I ... I had a question in relation to 6.b., the resolution for the solid waste containers in
downtown alleys. It was more of a clarification, whether it might be a typo, on the
(mumbled) down, it says, urn .... dah, dah, dah, it should be extended to June 30, 2020, to
allow the City, with input from the Downtown District, time to evaluate current system.
Is that also supposed to be June 30, 2021, as in the final sentence?
Dilkes/ Yes, we ... we caught that ... caught that, Pauline, and it's already fixed, but thank you.
Taylor/ Oh, good. Thank you.
Information Packet Discussion [March 26, April 21:
Teague/ Anything else from the formal agenda? Hearing none, we will move on to info packet
for March 26t . Hearing none there .... we will move on to info packet for four .... April
2ad
Fruin/ (mumbled) briefly mention that the deer management report is in there, if you haven't had
a chance to look at that. We've gone ahead and forwarded that to the State for their
review and then, uh, the Police Department is .... is working with the Department of
Natural Resources on the .... on the parameters of a bow hunt, uh, eventually it'd have to
bring to you for .... for guidance. Uh, so if we put that together, individually if you have
some questions, concerns about, uh, about either what we have done or what we're
looking to do in the future, please, uh, reach out.
Thomas/ One ... one comment I would have on the deer item would be, uh, if it would be possible
to have a map of the, uh, the different zones, which from what I saw they were
descriptions, but if those descriptions could be translated into a map, I think it would be a
little bit easier to understand where exactly those zones, what their .... what their limits
are.
Fruin/ We .... we do have a map, and uh, can forward that on to Council.
Thomas/ It was interesting to see how the .... the results of the hunt were not evenly distributed
across the city. I mean there were parts of Iowa City where, uh, the numbers were not
significantly reduced, so it would be ... challenging and interesting to see how the, you
know, the follow up to this will try to help in those areas that didn't see a significant
reduction.
Mims/ I would also comment, if. ... if Councilors have read it, you will notice that they did
indicate that they felt that the feeding of the deer, uh, by residents in the community, I
think they indicated particularly maybe around Oakland Cemetery, was a problem for
them in terms of setting up successful bait sites, and I think when you look at dealing
with wildlife, and um, promoting their coming around buildings and ... and changing
behaviors, they have recommended that we might want to consider an ordinance, um,
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banning the feeding of deer, and I think that's something we should have a discussion
about.
Taylor/ One thing I didn't see in the report. They talked about how they had sent the number of
deer, uh, to the meat processing plant, uh, is that where these deer are then tested then?
They didn't mention testing them for like the wasting.... wasting disease. Do you know
anything about that Geoff?
Fruin/ They're all tested by the State and some of the .... the deer meat is held, um, by .... before
it's distributed, held until those test results are received back.
Taylor/ Okay, thank you.
Fruin/ There were no positive results on the tests.
Taylor/ Good.
Mims/ I'm assuming our contract was for 500. So they stopped when they got to 500, is that
correct?
Fruin/ Um, no, there wasn't a hard number in the contract. Their goal was to hit, uh, 25 deer per
square mile in all the areas of the community. So, um .... uh, it was kind of a rolling
number, and I think it just ended on 500, kind of coincidentally, a nice round number.
Mims/ Okay. Thank you.
Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees:
Teague/ Anything else? All right. Hearing nothing .... so Council updates on boards assignments,
commissions and committees. And I think if anyone has any, just chime in. There won't
be too many! (laughs)
Taylor/ I have nothing.
Thomas/ I have nothing either.
Salih/ Nothing. (several responding)
Weiner/ Everything's canceled. I was going to try to get in touch at least by email to ask the
ECCOG people about what measures they're taking for the 380 bus, that I know is
still .... that is still, um, traveling between here and Cedar Rapids.
Mims/ The access center group has started doing Zoom meetings, um, I think their first one was
this afternoon and I was not able to participate. So, they're getting set up that way.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of April 7, 2020.
Page 19
Teague/ All right, well if there is nothin' else for the moment, then we will, uh, take a break and
come back at 7:00 P.M. for our formal meeting.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of April 7, 2020.