HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-05 TranscriptionPage 1
2. Proclamations
2.a. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Teague: (reads proclamation) And here to receive this is Ashley Lind ... Lindley from our
Human Rights Commission.
Lindley: Thank you, Mayor Teague! As a member of the Iowa City Human Rights
Commission and a citizen of our community, I feel Asian Pacific Heritage Month
holds even more meaning this year for many of the reasons that you mentioned.
There are many Asian Pacific Americans who have created great and profound
impacts, not only in our nation but throughout the world. While I could spend
hours telling you their stories, I will instead just use one, which has particularly
resonated with me at this time. This story is about an Asian American man who
used his own position and power to standup against injustice. His name was Dr.
Ho Phan Shin. Dr. Ho was the Consul -General in Vienna during World War II.
When Austrian Jews attempted to flee Europe after witnessing the terror of
Crystal noch and Auslose, many countries refused to accept Jewish refugees for
the fear of upsetting Nazi government. Dr. Ho defied superiors' orders and
decided to assist Jewish refugees by giving them Shanghai visas. Because
Shanghai was an open port city with no immigration controls, travel there did not
require a visa. However, by issuing one, Dr. Ho ensured that each of these
individuals could get transit papers to escape to other places all across the globe.
His name and the Shanghai visas spread like wildfire throughout the Jewish
communities and (mumbled) when Nazi authorities (laughs) confiscated the
property housing his embassy, Dr. Ho not one to be daunted, used his own money
to open a new office to continue his work assisting the Jewish community. There
is no way to know how many lives he's saved, after issuing thousands of
Shanghai visas. However, he chose to keep his work in silence and in private, and
no one knew of much of the work that he did until after he died. He did retire to
California, becoming one of our fellow Asian Pacific American citizens here in
the states, um, but it was his daughter in fact who discovered by accident the work
that he had done, after researching a story she had learned about him where he
confronted the Gestapo to save his Jewish friend. In his memoir, which was
published in 1990, he stated, "On seeing the tragic plight of the Jews, it is natural
to feel deep compassion and from the standpoint of humanity, to be compelled to
help them." I would like to say that prior to a few weeks ago, I had no idea of
who this man was. I heard his story and could not help but feel inspired. I feel
better knowing that this incredible man existed and that he was able to do
something so hard and brave, simply because he knew it was the right thing to do.
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Now is the time for compassion and bravery. I think we should support our
friends and neighbors, as they face the backlash of a virus that they have no
control over. They cannot control the color of their skin, nor the origins of the
virus, and while we cannot control others' fear, we can stand strong in the face of
racism and xenophobia by actively supporting and caring for our Asian Pacific
Americans and Asian Pacific Islander community members. I ask you to consider
Dr. Ho's words, "It is natural to feel deep compassion for our friends and larger
community, and to be impelled to help them." We have many amazing Asian
Pacific American -owned businesses here in Iowa City and the surrounding area.
Let us support and honor them, show them the dignity and respect that they
should be afforded as every other individual in our community. Thank you again
so much, Mayor Teague, for this proclamation. I am honored to accept it on
behalf of the Human Rights Commission.
Teague: Thank you so much for bein' a part and for all that you do for the Commission.
2.b. National Police Week
Teague: (reads proclamation) And to receive this proclamation today is Interim Chief of
Police Bill Campbell.
Campbell: (unable to hear)
Teague: And, Bill, you'll have to .... unmute yourselfl
Campbell: Can you hear me now?
Teague: Yes!
Campbell: Okay, there we go! Um, Mayor, it's my honor and privilege, uh, tonight to accept
the proclamation on behalf of the, uh, men and women of the Iowa City Police
Department. Urn .... (difficult to hear) we are working, living in a time that's very
unusual and many challenges to it. Uh, those challenges certainly carry over into
(difficult to hear) public safety in general right now. Um, and (difficult to hear)
not only you but, uh, the entire Council and the entire community as we, um,
embrace the challenges (difficult to hear) ...truly a joint effort that we undertake
with the community and ... and with Council, um, to make this community a safe,
wonderful place to live. So, um, it's with, uh, great .... again with a great sense of
honor and pride that I accept the proclamation tonight, and again, thank you for
the support, uh, that you give us as a police department.
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Teague: Well thank you (noises in background) our Interim Chief, we really appreciate
you steppin' up durin' this time and thanks to all of the police that work here in
Iowa City. And now at this time I'm gonna ask Councilor Bergus to give the last
proclamation.
2.c. National Public Works Week
Bergus: (reads proclamation) To accept this proclamation is Iowa City Public Works
Director Ron Knoche.
Knoche: Good evening, Mayor and Council. This is my...been my great pleasure for the
past five years to lead the Public Works team. On behalf of the 153 employees in
the Iowa City Public Works department, I'd like to thank you for this
proclamation, for the 60a' anniversary of National Public Works Week. When the
theme `the rhythm of public works' was chosen last fall, no one knew what pu.....
what COVID-19 was. With the challenges COVID-19 has presented to providing
the essential services to Iowa City, the Public Works department and the City of
Iowa City have not missed a beat. Thank you for this proclamation and the
continued support for the Public Works department.
Teague: Thanks again ... for that proclamation and thanks for all the work of our pur...
Public Works department (garbled)
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1-8. Beginning of Consent Calendar (Items 3-8) — Consider adoption of the
Consent Calendar as presented or amended.
Teague: Could I get a motion to approve the Consent Calendar as amended?
Taylor: So moved, Taylor.
Salih: Second by Salih.
Teague: All right. So we're gonna go into public discussion... well, we're actually gonna
go into, uh, Council discussion about, uh, this. I know that there is Item #8.c. that
people want to mention, and I've asked, um, our City Manager, Geoff, to kind of
....talk about this item first, and then Council can chime in after. The other thing
that I wanted to mention, um, is for our ...public comment by the community, that
we will allow time for the public to comment, um, and at that time, if you are
using Zoom from your computer, you'll see a button at the end .... at the bottom
right, where it says `raise hand.' That's how you'll be able to inform me that you
would like to address a topic on our agenda, and then if you are on your phone,
callers, you can press *9 and that'll raise your hand on the phone. So I just
wanted to kinda just let everybody know, at least the process for the meeting with,
uh, public comment, and also City staff, um, as well as Councilors, um, you may
wanna mute or unmute your phone as you're talking. Or mute your computer.
So, all right, we'll have our City Manager, uh, speak, please.
Fruin: Okay, uh, Mayor, Council, thank you for the opportunity tonight. I wanna talk
about, uh, our prairie, uh, planting, uh, project and give you a little bit of history
there, and then focus in on, uh, the one park in which you've heard probably the
most push -back, which is Willow Creek Park. Uh, we .... we started our natural
area master plan process in 2016, and did a full inventory of our, uh, of our
natural areas, and then as part of that master plan, uh, really kinda set the table for
enhanced maintenance of our prairies, and uh, also looked for opportunities to
expand, uh, prairies throughout the.... throughout the community, and one thing to
keep in mind with prairies, um, the geographic location of your prairies matters
quite a bit. Um, the ... the benefits of a connected prairie system, um, are far
greater than ... than isolated prairies. So as our .... as our staff has, uh, as the
Council adopted that master plan and our staff looked towards implementation,
we did a number of things to prepare for an expansion. Uh, once.....one is we
realigned our Parks staff, our park maintenance staff to make sure that we, uh, had
dedicated staff to maintaining the prairies, which we did, uh, I believe last year,
maybe .... maybe about 18 months ago, and then we've increased budget resources
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for contracted, uh, management of ...of our, uh.... uh, prairies as well, and we've
targeted our grant efforts to, um, our natural areas, and Council, uh, you've had
the.... the.... the fortunate, uh.... uh, task of trying to, of accepting some of those
grants in recent years. Um, hopefully you've maintain... you... you've noticed an
increased maintenance of. ... of prairies in the last couple of years. Uh, we've
been doing, again, more, uh, controlled bums and things of that nature. Actually
Kiwanis Park, uh, which is on this list, uh, was due for a controlled burn this year.
We put out a press release on that and then ultimately had to cancel it, with the
COVID situation. So that's one that, uh, we've heard a little bit about. Um, we,
uh, last year planted about 25 acres of new prairie in the community, and this year,
uh, our, um, plan was to move forward with 86 more acres of prairie in the
community. Uh, this was really a challenge I gave to staff, uh, as part of the, um,
climate action, uh, process and trying to accelerate those actions, so I really
challenged them to look at our park system and think of areas where they could,
uh, plant more prairie, and um.....uh, kind of accelerate that benefit, uh, to the
community. We've heard a number of, uh, residents with concerns, and we wanna
be responsive to those concerns. So, um, at your last meeting you did approve the
contract for all 86 acres. I've been working with the Parks Director, Juli Seydell-
Johnson, uh, to, um .... uh, start to scale that back a little bit, based on some of the
feedback that we've been receiving, uh, particularly looking at reducing the
amount of prairie we'd be planting this year, uh, in our park system, in areas that
the public, um .... uh, has, um, indicated in ... in which there's an active use
component in those areas. Uh, so, uh, one, our staff tried to identify areas that
were not heavily used within the parks, uh, that's based on their observation of
being in the parks on a regular basis with their maintenance activities, uh, but...
but we ... we are hearing from the public in those areas that, uh, in some of those
cases where we had planned prairie there .... there indeed was, uh, use of that, and
certainly moving forward in this environment, there may be more demand for
open space in parks, and we wanna be, um .... responsive to those concerns. Um,
so we have, uh, what ... what I would like to do with Council's, uh, blessing is ... is,
uh, reduce the amount of prairie with our Parks staff. I think we could go from
about 86 acres to ... to roughly 50 or 60 acres, and uh, focus those areas on ... areas
that are more remote, uh, from residential areas, uh, focused along waterways
where prairie provides significant benefits, uh, so our creeks and rivers. Um, and
again, just less .... less populated areas that I think, uh, can provide great
environmental benefit, um, but ... but, uh, not draw some of the ... the criticism that
you've heard. So I know there's a lot of folks here tonight that wants to address,
uh, specifically Willow Creek and this is a bit impromptu and I hope .... I hope it
goes okay, but I wanted to share an aerial image of Willow Creek and then talk to
you about the areas in which we had proposed prairie, and then our current line of
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thinking, um. ..... uh, with Willow Creek right now. Um, I do understand the
Council's need to ... to discuss this. I .... I do wanna, how .... however remind you
that this is the prime, uh, opportunity for us to be planting prairie and so if we
wanna get a project going this year, we really need some quick direction so that
we can, uh, have the, uh, professional contractor get started on that yet this month.
So I'm gonna attempt to screen share here real quick. Okay ...are you viewing my
screen here?
Teague: Yes!
Fruin: Thank you. So you see an aerial of Willow Creek Park here, uh, with Benton
Street to the north, and hopefully you can see my cursor here. You've got Benton
Street to the north and we've got (garbled) over here to the east. Um, so
originally we had proposed a prairie, largely in ... in this open space up here. Uh,
all throughout this area here. As we move down further into the park, uh, there is
a ... an area up here that's used. There's some backstops there, um, and then this is
very active use here. We had proposed prairie back in this area, in this area along
the creek. The creek runs here along the trail. And then in a couple of pockets,
uh, right here in the park as well. And, uh, after reviewing all the public
feedback, we would like to scale that down considerably now. We're really
focusing on the creek corridors. So you can see the creek come in here under...
under Benton. Um, and the residents in this area have noticed a lot of, uh, work
along the creek here in the last several months. We've been removing a lot of
trees that were contributing to some erosion along the creek, and so what we'd
like to do as part of that plan, was to establish a prairie buffer along that creek,
which would be, uh, provide a lot of benefits for that creek in the long-term. So
we'd like to keep a strip of buffer along the creek up here, but this area over here
would remain as is and, uh, some of this area here would remain, uh, as is, again,
just really focusing on that creek buffer right here. As we get down into the heart
of the park, uh, between Teg and Cambria, um, this is probably the area we heard
the most about. So we would abandon the plans to plant prairie in this large open
green space. Um, however, we still would like to provide, uh, additional prairie
plantings in this area, which is between the trail and the creek. Again, providing
that, uh, buffer between the creek here. And then in these two small pockets here,
this one bein' of critical importance along the creek here and this little pocket
here, uh, as well. So again, uh, we would, um, move away from planting in this
large open area, and in this large open area, and reduce the scope in this area, just
to really focus on that creek corridor. Um, we've also heard a little bit on ... on, uh,
the prairie down here in Kiwanis Park and real briefly I'll touch on that. We have,
uh, we would like to expand the prairie, uh, out in this area, and here. Uh,
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originally we had proposed more pre .... more prairie right here. This is an
extremely wet area. Uh, with the construction of this trail, this area holds more
water than it had in previous years, and so, uh.... uh, this was a natural kind of, uh,
location for additional prairie. Uh, given some of the public feedback, we would
move away from that and still look to expand, uh, this prairie here. And, uh, I
certainly know that there's been some commentary on our ability to maintain that
prairie. I have full confidence that .... that, uh, we can maintain that prairie. As I
mentioned, uh, in my intro we had a prairie burn scheduled earlier this year. Our
staff has done, um, extensive work, um, to, uh, get that prairie back in good shape,
urn ... uh, after ...I think it was in disrepair really in the early part of this .... uh, this
past decade. So I think, um, I think we can do that and as part of, uh, the
reduction and scope of our contracts, urn .... with our environmental consultant, we
can put a little bit more emphasis on, uh, speeding up the maintenance of this area
here too. So, um, those are the two areas where we've heard, uh, from the
greatest number of folks. (garbled) make adjustments elsewhere throughout the
18 locations, uh.... uh, focusing mostly on remote areas and, uh, those areas along
waterways, creeks, and rivers. And I'm happy to answer any questions from the
Council.
Teague: Well one of the questions that I had related (garbled) the public comment that may
come forth tonight. We know that this was started in 2016 and ... of course last
Council meetin' we kinda moved it along with the vote. We know that the public
has weighed in on the proposal or the approved plan. Staff, I think y'all did a
great job in listening to our public and creatin' a .... a new solution, based on some
of the comments that have come forth. I ... you know, heard from the Councilors
durin' our work session, talkin' about the need for public input, and so I wonder
if...we wouldn't... provide some type of a ... opportunity for public input on even
the revisions, because we can go forth with the revisions as you've presented and
then we may have .... there might be some more thoughts within our community.
I .... I do know the challenge it is when we're talkin' about .... workin' in a park
area, um, or you know, this type of prairie, people do enjoy their parks. They like
it somewhat the way it is, um, we have climate action goals that we need to
achieve, and there's some more relatable things that the prairies will bring, of...of
benefit within our community, and so ... that will be my thought process, to just see
what either staff or Council thinks about just .... offerin' an opportunity. Um, right
now this is a one-time fix, but I think in general, we really do need to think about
engagin' the community, um, givin' them some type of opportunity.
Mims: My comment to that, Bruce .... this is Susan Mims, my comment is I think as
Geoff mentioned earlier, when we're looking at doing this type of planting, there
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is a relatively short window in terms of getting things done, and I ... I feel
comfortable that staff has really taken to heart the public input that we have gotten
in response to the original plan, and has made some pretty major modifications to
hopefully accommodate the most significant, um, response from the public, and
so because of that time frame, um, and with the contract already being approved,
um, I'm comfortable letting staff proceed with the changes that they have made,
um, given that public input. I .... I'm just concerned if we ... if we're gonna try and
allow another iteration of input and response to the staff changes, that particularly
in this kind of environment, with the inability to get together for meetings, trying
to get that kind of feedback in any meaningful way, um, could delay things too
much, and so I'm .... I'm comfortable that staff has really, uh, taken to heart
those..... those comments from the public.
Bergus: I agree with Susan. Um, this is Laura Bergus, and I ... I think having that balance
is really critical in this moment because, you know, we obviously misjudged what
some of the priorities for the use of those areas might be, given our attempt to
balance the priority of the natural areas plan against the park use for other, you
know, other uses that people have identified that they feel aren't compatible with
the prairie, but I think staff has done a really good job of addressing the concerns
that we've received and ... and acknowledging, um, those concerns, and I think
that, you know, we .... we entrust them to be able to communicate effectively, you
know, what the ... sort of the final plan will be. I think I'm comfortable moving
ahead. I think, Geoff, you know, having you be able to show us what the areas
were. I do think your cursor maybe wasn't catching up exactly with what you
were saying, so I think maybe just a, uh, making sure that we have a well-
publicized, um, release showing what that modification will be, so people really
know what will be happening, so that we don't miss another year of being able to
establish some of these places that have been in the plans for .... for several years,
but also addressing the community concerns, and I ... I'm just thrilled to see so
many people reaching out to us and acknowledging that, you know, they .... they
understand how to get in touch with us and how to provide that feedback, and that
staff can be responsive. So be better if we could do it more on the front end, um,
like you said, Mayor, but I think .... I think this is a really good plan to keep
moving forward on those .... that priority for our natural areas.
Taylor: This is Pauline and as I mentioned in the work session, John Thomas and I had
met with, um, several of the residents, uh, from the Willow Creek area
neighborhood, and uh, they .... they just expressed frustration that they hadn't been
included in some community engagement on the discussion of where these
prairies would be, but I ... I think from what I gather them listening, um, John and I
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listened to them, and them writing in and ... and making phone calls, I would hope
that some of that frustration has been relieved and that they would be, um, pleased
with the results and ... and as I am, I ... I again thank you, Geoff and Juli, uh, for
looking at reducing the scope of the project and looking at those areas that might
be less controversial. So I do hope that those residents are .... are pleased, uh, I
encourage them to reach out and call Geoff and ... or Juli and talk to them, or any
Member of the Council if they still have some concerns.
Thomas: I'll .... I'll just add, uh, to my comments during the work session. Um, you know
(mumbled) staff's done to revise the scheme. Uh, you know, as Laura mentioned,
um, Geoff, in your presentation it was a little hard to see exactly ...you know, your
cursor was not quite in sync with ... with the map. I would certainly, um,
encourage staff to .... to have in some form a meeting, because .... in my view and
in my work in this area, uh, you know, having a drawing that is very clear, and at
scale, showing precisely what the intent is is a better communication tool. I
would also add that, um, here .... here are a couple of the issues that I'm seeing as
we unroll this plan, which .... which is a very ambitious plan, I think. Uh, 18 sites,
86 acres or so, and that is when we do prairie in a neighborhood park, that is what
I would refer to as a conventional park. Meaning the recreational uses and the
landscape treatment is conventional. Uh, not natural in other words. That, uh,
and .... and existing within a neighborhood where the landscapes and the character
of the neighborhood is also conventional. That that is why we see these parks
expressed in the way they are, even .... even, uh, Hickory Hill Park, which is a
natural area park, where it interfaces with the neighborhood, feels like a
conventional park. So there.... there's typically a constraint on the emphasis on
natural area development, even in our natural areas where they have that close
interface. And I would ... I would further say if we are going to do ... prairie in these
areas, which are of a conventional landscape character, the bar has to be very
high. The... our.... our prairies, and I was looking at the ratings, uh, in that natural
area master plan, which I think is a very useful document. It rated our natural
areas, our woodlands and our prairies. I did not see ... and they graded from A to
D. I did not see any prairie in the B category or higher. So .... and I understand
we're ramping up our efforts on this, but as of now and this was a comment by
one of the board members at Hickory Hill Park, the Friends, prairies have a bad
name in this town because they're not maintained properly. So it's ... we're taking
a risk here, uh, which I think is unnecessary. I ... I really am concerned that we do
what we do well in this program, build on our successes, because right now the
existing prairies, even in our natural areas such as Hickory Hill Park, are not high-
quality prairie. So that's the risk we take, because the contrast in a conventional
park with a low-grade prairie is really going to be dramatic, and... and the public
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Teague:
Pfohl:
Teague:
Pfohl:
Teague:
Pfohl:
Teague:
Pfohl:
Teague:
Pfohl:
Teague:
will in a sense be, uh.... ill-informed as to what the actual character of a prairie is
if we don't do it successfully.
I'm gonna give the public an opportunity to talk, if that's okay, Councilors,
because this is an item, um, on the Consent Calendar, and so I do see one hand
raised and I do ... I did hear you, Mayor Pro Tem, um, we will certainly allow you
to talk. I ... I see a hand raised from the public, Judith Pfohl, and I would like to
ask you to come and speak on this topic. If there's anyone else that would like to
speak on this topic from the public, we're gonna ask you to raise your hand,
which is at the bottom of the right screen, so that we can see your comment, uh,
see that you wish to speak on this topic, and this is related to the prairie only, and
if you're on the phone and you would like to speak to this topic, press *9 on your
phone to raise your hand. All right, we see four people so far. We're gonna go
with Judith first, followed by Patricia Benson.
Hello. Hello, can you hear me?
Yes we can hear you!
I don't know if you can see me. Can you see me too?
We can't see you but we can hear you clearly.
(mumbled) kind of weird (noises in background) Okay, well .... (noises in
background) should be able to see me.
At the bottom of your screen should be a stop or start video, it's like a little
camera... emblem.
It doesn't have it. It just shows a mute or non -mute.
Okay. Well we can hear you if you can (both talking)
....that's okay (both talking)
...and also, um, I failed to mention, because the names are high ... hands are bein'
raised, we're gonna ask everybody to keep their comments to three minutes
please.
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Pfohl: Okay! My name is Judy Pfohl and I have served as the Ty'n Cae neighborhood
president, directly west of Kiwanis Park, for over 25 years. Many of you know
me from talking to the Council on various issues over the years and volunteering
on master plans and commissions in the city. Our neighbors are proud of our
park, which we began over 40 .... with over 40 of us extremely involved with
planning the park and playground when the park was established. We established
a natural play area and a prairie along the southern outer areas of Kiwanis Park.
But now mowing has reduced over 70% of what we lovingly had hand-feeded and
weeded for many years, and the park has been ignored for at least 10. I
ignore... excuse me, I organized to try to weed the Mormon Trek prairie median
and later the Rohret/Mormon Trek prairie. I orchestrated and maintained a large
prairie at my Coralville church for over 20 years. But I was frustrated last
Wednesday to suddenly learn of plans to destroy many green play spaces across
the city, including Kiwanis Park and Willow Creek, and convert them to prairies
without input from the surrounding neighborhoods. Kids and the public deserve
space to play, including hills, and deciding to greatly reduce those open spaces
without input is simply wrong. I am disappointed in that decision, and I and other
representatives from the neighborhoods across the city are going to be trying to
get you to reconsider. Do not execute the contract for the prairie this year. When
I found out about the prairie, I immediately contacted everybody I knew and we
got the information around, and that's probably how you ended up finding emails
the last few days. I'm disappointed in the process. The City created a
neighborhood coordinator position over 20 years ago when there was a need for
input. This was a great system. But in the past several years, the Parks
department has stopped utilizing that process to seek input and now appears to
unilaterally be making major decisions that impact many neighborhoods. At the
5:00 P.M. work session today, the staff recommended they would reduce from the
86 to about 60 acres, totally removing the villa in Benton, but again with no input
from neighbors about the other areas. So what will be the reduction of the areas
for Willow Creek exactly? What about Scott? Or any of the others? And for the
banks of the creeks, will all the trees be moved when you try to stabilize them?
This .... let me simply put this as a sum. We are asking you today .... to.....um,
reduce, have staff reductions of. ... any prairies, urn .... and reduce the .... any prairie
changes until there's been input on the change. Number two, instruct the City's
Parks department to use the neighborhood coordinator office moving forward, for
any changes that affect the City .... in our area, in order to quickly and easily
convey these changes and seek input so we can avoid problems in the future like
this. And as it relates to the locations described today, we ask that you heed the
neighborhood complaints. This issue is .... we live in a democracy. We have not
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been part of this conversation. Thank you for your time. Others can speak now
about their specific parks.
Teague: Thank you, Judith. We're gonna have Patricia Benson, followed by Madonna
White, and I also want to, um, again remind anyone that wanna speak on this
topic to raise your hand via the raise hand, and also if you're on the phone, *9 to
raise your hand. Because we're in webna... webinar mode, no one will, um, of the
public will be seen. So we can hear you, but we will not be able to ... there is no
video option for you. So (garbled) Madonna (garbled) Patricia Benson, followed
by Madonna White.
Benson: Hi, I'm Patricia Benson, and I've lived along Benton Street, across from Willow
Cre... Creek Park for almost 30 years. Thank you for all your work to keep Iowa
City a place we wanna live. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to yo tonight,
and I also wanted to thank Councilors Taylor and Thomas for taking the time on
Saturday to walk through Willow Creek and Kiwanis Parks, to experience first-
hand the vitality of these neighborhood parks and hear why residents wanna
maintain their park. I think the process that's happened here points out the need
for community engagement, as John Thomas has .... has also mentioned. My
neighborhood was unaware of how much park space was going to be changed.
Now prairies are an important part of our environment, and a prairie is fine, in the
right location. But a well -used community park in the middle of a thriving city
neighborhood isn't the place. There are other areas within the city where prairies
could be established or as .... as is being shown now with the reduction, along the
creek bed. Um, but one thought is — have you partnered at all with the School
District? West High has a large unused front green space. Have you ever thought
about working with the School District and using some of their .... um .... available
space for a prairie development. There's room for a variety of ecosystems in Iowa
City and I was just very disheartened to think that the one closest to me was
potentially about to be lost, because again our neighborhood parks are used by a
lot of people, and they're for our mental and physical well-being. Those grassy
open areas give us plenty of room to roam and fly kites and throw Frisbees and
walk dogs and lie in the grass, and then I was very upset when (mumbled) the
woods was being removed this winter. Woods support our environment too.
They provide nutrients and oxygen that are important. Um, the West Central
District, where Willow Creek and Kiwanis are located, was pointed out in the past
in your master parks plan as having a need for more park space, not less. So
that's one reason many of us were very bothered by this whole plan, and also....
one of the goals was supposed to be creating prairie in areas that are not active -
use recreation areas, but rather low -use areas, and that's just not the case for this
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park. It's used by the neighborhood, it's used by people who come here from, um,
other parts of the city, um, the .... the school in our neighborhood — Horn School —
uses this park for picnics and field trips and, uh, lots of recreational and pick-up,
um, soccer games and other sports happen here, because not everybody's able to
drive across town to the more costly to maintain sports complexes. We have a lot
of apartment dwellers who can come here on foot because they need to escape
from cramped living quarters where they lack trees and yards. So again this is a
very active area, especially in this critical time of living with the coronavirus.
Having these wide open spaces within a short walk that allow for social or
physical distancing is really important. That fresh air and open spaces benefit us
all, again as I said, both physically and mentally. Um, and also the fact that this is
so close to residences. To put in a large prairie area near all these residences, with
the issues of burning and maintenance, um .... that .... that has been a big concern.
So again I'm glad to see that there is talk about reducing this to a more reasonable
and manageable amount. I do implore you though to visit the parks in our city.
Foster communication and talk to those who actually live nearby and use the
parks, and again, to put on hold decisions that would take away something so
important to people who live near them and use them. Thank you very much for
your time.
Teague: Thank you, Patricia. Now we're gonna have Madonna White, followed by
Bonnie Pryor, and I'm askin..... public to keep their comments to three minutes or
less.
White: (both talking) Hello, my name is Madonna White. Um, I am one of the families
that lives along Taft Speedway, um, the north side of Iowa City. We .... I am one
of eight families left out here, following the floods of 1993 and 2008, and was
stunned to realize that the City had moved forward and voted on the plan to turn
the lots that had been purchased, um, vacated and then purchased by the City with
FEMA money or, um, block grants, after those floods, to turn those into prairie.
Um, one of the lots is right next door to me. It's 100 -foot by 154 -feet, and that is
100 -feet wide. If, uh, you follow along with the burn guidelines in the City of
Iowa City, you have to remain 50 -feet off any structure. That would be the back
of my garage. And the back of the garage on the neighbor on the west side. Um,
the other three lots that are involved out here, uh, the letter blatantly said that the
City's trying to reduce their cost of maintaining these lots. They're not parks, but
they're beautiful green spaces. We've been taking care of the one next to us
because the City just doesn't, and I found it very interesting to listen to how the
City just doesn't take care of the Kiwanis prairies. What's gonna happen to this
lot next to me, the two down the road, and the one across Taft Speedway? These
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are gonna turn into weed patches. They're gonna be neglected. We're out here
away from the city, we're kind of in a country -like setting. It's marsh land, it's
wetland, it's forested land, it's not prairie land, and we would like input on what's
done with these properties. Nobody contacted anybody out here. There were no
signs posted, there was no indication that anything was being decided on these
properties at any point in time, until I got the letter last week. Again, I feel like
David against Goliath because I'm one of eight, uh, families out here, but we love
our land. My family's lived here for over 120 years on this property, and we love
it out here! We don't wanna see these changes. We don't want this part of Iowa
City ruined. Thank you!
Teague: Thank you! And we're gonna have .... Bonnie Pryor, followed by Paula Swygard.
Pryor: Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes we can!
Pryor: Okay, very good! Um ... this is Bonnie Pryor. I live on Cameron Way, which is
just about a half a block from Willow Creek Park. I've lived here (garbled) years
this summer and (garbled) five days a week, um, and I love that park. My kids
have played there, my grandson has played there, and there are many of us,
including, uh, Judith and Patricia who spoke eloquently that love that park.
We've very passionate about it. So I can't say enough about.... please put this
project on hold. I know (garbled) that were made and they sound great but I
would back up (mumbled) Councilor Thomas, who said we really couldn't tell
where his cursor was and it didn't match what he was saying, so .... we don't have
a clear idea of what the new plan is, and I think that I'm one of many who was
most upset about not being consulted about this at all. Many people that said
there were signs put up and I'm here to tell you I cover that park, all the time, and
there were no signs. So we are just happy that we are now hearing about this and
that we have .... there is a chance that we can save some of the park, but it was
very depressing to see some of those trees come down and wonder what was
happening, um, and I'm glad that you're listening and glad that you're looking for
public input, and I would just certainly put an underscore on the comments that
that park is well -loved and well -used. I don't believe there has been a time in that
30 years when I've been walking through there that there haven't been many other
people in there, and please, please do not turn that park into prairie. We need that
open space, we need room for kids to run and play, and I just don't think (garbled)
we've seen the Kiwanis prairie maintained, which it has not been, that this would
be a good idea. I know that you believe you're committed to maintaining the
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prairies, but I'm afraid trust has been broken at this point. So I would like to see
those plans, um, as somebody mentioned, a flier or a map of the (garbled)
residents that live near this park, and I would still like to see a meeting take ... take
place, where we can be involved in some of these decisions now and in the future.
I think we deserve that. We love this neighborhood, uh, we care about it, and
we're happy that you care about it too, but we just really want to continue to have
input and we wanna protect our park. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you, Bonnie. We're gonna have Paula, followed by Scott Rick.
Swygard: Okay, can you hear me?
Teague: Yes I can, thank you!
Swygard: All right! Um, good evening, um, I'm Paula Swygard. I'm one of the
neighborhood representatives for the Miller Orchard neighborhood (noises in
background) and I have served, um .... as a past member of the Planning and
Zoning Commission. I've been very involved in many issues facing the City of
Iowa City and my neighborhood. Um, I just have a couple points I'd like to
make, but before that, um, the other neighborhood representative, uh, from Miller
Orchard, Mary Knutson, was going to speak tonight, but she asked me to let you
know that she had a family situation come up, um, unexpectedly and is unable to
talk to you. She asked that you review her email and the pictures of Benton Hill
Park that she sent in. Um, my first comment is I ... I really think there's been a
notable breakdown in the process of involving the community with input, of
application of policies. I've sat through numerous meetings when I was on the
Planning and Zoning Commission and I know that it can be labor-intensive and a
slow process, to listen to and to analyze community input before making
decisions or applying policy to unique situations. Not all routine day-to-day City
business, obviously, needs to go through this process. That would slow things
down too much. But huge, transformative changes affecting a large number of
people do. The people who live near the areas impacted by the proposals have a
wealth of knowledge about their area and an understanding of the neighborhood
intricacies that staff possibly can't be aware of I'm encouraged to see that there's
a revised plan, but I think it should be made public first, and I think public should
have time to look at it and to review it and to comment on it. Like Bonnie said, I
think a trust has been broken. You have a tremendous resource in Marcia
Bollinger, who is your Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator. She should be kept
up to date about things like this that affect all of the neighborhoods, and she can
assist the department in reaching out to us citizens about the changes impacting
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our area. I really do expect transparency from the City of Iowa City. The second,
um, comment I have is that I would, um, just ask, which I asked in my email, I'd
like to receive formal notification that Benton Hill Park has been pulled from the
project as directed by Council at your 4/21/2020 meeting, if a consensus could not
be reached about the prairie. I look forward to receiving that. Um, that's all I
have to say. I wanna thank you for your service and thank you for the opportunity
to talk to you.
Teague: Thank you, Paula. We're gonna go to Scott, followed by Jon Swearingen.
Riek: My apologies, I had to unmute! Uh, my name is Scott Rick and I live on Spencer
Drive here in west side Iowa City. I've lived in Iowa City the past 17 years, and
this is the first time I've spoken before the City Council. Uh, as I mentioned in
my recent letter to Council Members, I enjoy taking my dogs for extended walks
down to Willow Creek and Kiwanis Parks. There I'm witness to a whole host of
individuals and families, taking full advantage of the park's wonderful open
spaces, whether it be flying a kite; little league soccer, football, or baseball
practices; college students playing Frisbee, football; or international residents
havin' an impromptu soccer or cricket match. The park and its open spaces are
heavily used, and I think you can see the full diversity on display every single day
in these parks. As for Villa Park in my immediate neighborhood, it is truly a safe
space for neighborhood children who use its open spaces daily and well within the
sight and sound of their home. They don't need to travel far from home or cross
busy streets to have an open space for kicking around a ball, batting practice, or
just rolling down a hill. Even the adults in the neighborhood gather there for
impromptu evening neighborhood get-togethers. These get-togethers are a
wonderful way for our neighborhood to build camaraderie. I sat through your
working session at 5:00 and was very pleased to see and hear the discussion, uh,
that you had and the response you had that the letters you've received. Um, I
think the adjustments you've made to Willow Creek and Kiwanis are .... are
wonderful, and also that, uh, the plan is to pull Villa Park off of the, uh,
restoration plans for now. Um, oftentimes our government, our only response is
to the frequently vocal but there are many of us in the city that are passionate. So
thank you for your time.
Teague: Thank you, Scott. We're gonna have Jon, followed by Joe Townsend.
Swearingen: Okay, uh, yeah, my name's Jon Swearingen. So I live over on Cambria Court, uh,
and my property that I own overlooks the park here. Um, and I definitely, I .... I
do wanna say that I do agree it should have been brought up well ahead of
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determining to move forward on plans like this, um, that largely impact the
residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, um, and that maintenance of prairies
in the city have seem to be poorly managed here recently. Um, I did used to, uh,
for an old job travel around several states in the Midwest for work, and really
loved getting to go on runs, uh, and .... and for walks, uh, kinda after finishing
work for the day and well maintained prairie, uh, trail areas, and I know that, uh,
areas can be really well done like that and I would love to see more of those areas
in Iowa City. Um, I also was pretty upset about the trees getting cut down around
the creek in Willow Creek Park. I never really understood why that was going on
so significantly, as it was a nice wooded area, uh, just nice natural area and it was
kind of a nice buffer too, uh, between the park play areas and, uh, some of the
roads and busy streets nearby. Um, I do too wanna say that regardless of what the
decision is tonight and whether things move forward or not, I do think that in
order to make sure prairies are taken care of properly there's .... I know there are a
ton of great resources and I hope that those are being consulted. Um, the UNI
Tall Grass Prairie Center and, um, University of Iowa, I don't know who manages
the prairies up at Macbride Recreation Area, but I used to work at wildlife camps
up there and they were really beautiful spaces and, um, really nice, natural, real -
looking prairies. Um, but at the same time, I .... I am excited to know that some
....some things are going on like this in Willow Creek Park area. The reasons I
like it is it does reverse some habitat loss for certain species, um, especially
pollinators for the area where it's... which all of us know has been a significant
problem, uh, really across the nation. Um, I ... I think it'll likely help with that, just
kind of vegetable gardens, uh, and everything people are growing in the
neighborhood, having more of those pollinators. It's a natural aid against flooding
and erosion, which is a big issue both in the creek bed in the area here at Willow
Creek Park and so areas often go unused because the .... the ground is just soft and
wet and mushy and ... and the long grass that ... that kinda comes out from.. from
lack of mowing, because of the wetness. Um, it also can mean less mowing, uh,
if they're managed properly, along with more plants given that the trees have
already been taken down, to counter carbon emissions, um, and the .... and the
prairie burns, yes would .... would cause some problems of course with that, uh,
but it's negligible I think compared to the benefit. Um, it's a great opportunity for
kids to learn about native plants, uh, and wildlife in their backyard and ... and once
fully established, um, and if taken care of properly, uh, the flowers can be really
pretty and can be a nice, um, just kind of a welcome addition visually to the area.
Um, and I do also agree, uh, that Willow Creek Park is heavily used, um, but 1 do
think that at least in this park with the adjustments made, from what I could
understand from, uh, what was explained and showed, um, I do think it could
allow for nice natural spaces and, uh, honestly just add some nice walking and
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kind of running areas in the park. So, but thank you for .... for lettin' us all speak
and .... and, uh, address the issue.
Teague: Thank you! Next we're gonna have Joe Townsend, following by Pam Nims. If
anyone else wants to address this topic, please raise your hand. Once we are done
with, uh, Pam Nims, then we will end public comment on this item.
Townsend: Hello, everyone, my name's Joe Townsend. I have lived or owned a property for
16 years in the ... on Cambria court in the Willow Creek Park area. I appreciate the
Council Members' time to .... to speak, as well as the community voicing their
opinion on the .... the issues at hand. Um (clears throat) I guess first and foremost
I just wanted to address my concern of not being as, uh, as familiar with what's
going on in the area. I ask that as we move forward that we just continue to share
that information and try to keep the community involved, and those living in the
area or impacted in those areas involved with these decisions. I greatly appreciate
the fact that the Council Members are hearing all the input, or taking all this input
in, and are adjusting their plans accordingly. So I greatly appreciate that you've
taken that into consideration. I do however still have some level of concern based
on not being super -clear on what the adjustments or changes will be to those
plans. Um, as folks have mentioned, like as Geoff was going through and sharing
his information, it was hard to follow along, based on the cursor movements. So I
would ask moving forward that we get crystal clear on what the original plan was
and what the adjusted plan is going forward. I do think it's great improvements
that we're doing to the parks in the .... the various areas throughout the .... the city,
and I do enjoy going to those parks and spending time there with my family
and... and friends, enjoying those areas. So just wanted to take a few minutes to
express my concern, as well as, you know, making sure that hopefully we can
work together as a community and Council Members to ensure that, uh, input is
heard from the community, as well as we have a good plan moving forward. So
thank you for that time.
Teague: Thank you, Joe. We're gonna have Pam Nims, followed by Emily Scott, and if
anyone is on the phone, please st... press *9 if you would like to raise your hand,
and if anyone is still on Zoom via their computer, if you want to speak on this
topic, please press the hand -raise symbol. Welcome, Pam! You're muted! There
you go! (both talking)
Nims: Can you hear me now? Sorry! I'm like one of those commercials, can you hear
me now? Um (laughs) thank you for your time. My name is Pam Nims and I've
lived on Abbey Lane near Kiwanis Park for 18 years. I really appreciate the
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opportunity to speak tonight and I want to thank you all for everything you're
doing for our city. I would like to specifically thank Council Members Taylor and
Thomas for meeting with a small group of us who live near Willow Creek and
Kiwanis Park on Saturday afternoon. We really appreciated you guys taking the
time and in giving up part of your beautiful Saturday to see the park. The
recreation area activities in the areas chosen for the prairie conversion in these
parks is varied and vibrant, and an incredible part of our community. They are for
the most part not compatible with the prairie installation. The areas are used by
residents of all ages and backgrounds. Everything from organized youth soccer,
flag football, and T -ball, to adult soccer and ultimate Frisbee. In the winter there's
sledding, cross-country skiing, and snow shoeing. For non -sporting types, the
spaces are used for kite flying, tai chi, picnics, games of tags, and sometimes just
a nice lie in the grass with a book. In the years I've lived in this neighborhood,
I've seen almost every activity possible in those spaces. It's important to note that
when park -goers arrive for these activities, most arrive by foot or on bike. It's
really hard for one to imagine a more ideal situation for a city park, its high usage
within walking distance of so many constituents. It is a wonderful oasis for all of
us on the west side, and even the entire city, to enjoy. I would ask you also keep
in mind the many residents in this area who live in apartments with no yards and
those with no way to access a park, other than on foot. One thing that's frustrated
me over the last .... it's been less than a week I guess since I found out about this,
is that it seems that whenever a disagreement arises, over the use of these public
spaces, it's really tempting to turn the conversation to a simple for and against. If
you're not for the plan that was presented, you must be anti -prairie. Or it's
insinuated the constituents don't understand the value of a prairie. I would like to
dispel that notion and suggest that many residents who object to the original plan
as presented are in support of a well-maintained prairie in the proper locations.
However, most of the sites originally chosen for conversion in Willow Creek and
Kiwanis are beautiful flat spaces that are actively used for year-round citizen
recreation. I greatly appreciate the staff's attention to this feedback that's been
provided. In the most recent comments that ... from the City Manager though, I
understand that there's been an increase in maintenance in prairie lands over the
last year, year and a half. I have to say that the Kiwanis Park prairie is currently
in the worst shape of any I have .... in the years I've lived here. It's full of
volunteer maple trees and weeds. I don't think it hardly qualifies for a prairie.
There is a steel sign posted that a controlled burn but now with the COVID
situation, I think it's probably on hold. Um ... I would say that when I moved here,
there were sample plants and markers, um, that prairie was attempted to be
maintained by volunteers almost entirely. It's a near -impossible task. So I really
hope that there is true plans for maintenance for whatever prairie is put in,
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because we've not experienced that thus far. If we want the benefit of these
beautiful prairies, it is going to take work. Um, at this time I would ask you don't
proceed with the prairie conversion at Willow Creek or Kiwanis, and you work
with constituents about what spaces may be appropriate. You will find us both
reasonable and collaborative. I would ask that the maps be produced of these
changes, and allow for public comment. To make sure there's a full
understanding of the area's use is understood. Let's ensure we don't create more
issues than benefit gained by taking away these important and necessary parts of
our community. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you, Pam. We're gonna have our last public comment from Emily Scott.
Scott: Hello!
Teague: Hello, welcome!
Scott: Thank you! Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Um, so I'm a resident
who lives off .... just off of Spencer, so right across from Willow Creek Park, and I
have two young children. We use Willow Creek on a weekly if not daily basis,
especially when the weather's nice. Um, and I .... while I definitely understand the
benefits of prairie and understand why the, um, the integration of prairie into the
park could offer a lot of different, uh, you know, benefits both from an
environmental and a recreational and visual perspective, I echo the concerns of
many of the residents about maintaining open green spaces, particularly, um, you
know, my concern is from the perspective of my kids and other neighborhood kids
to be able to enjoy that space, um, and also really just the .... the property values
that go along with having such a beautiful park so nearby. Um, and so I ... I echo
what Pam and others have said, um, that it would be....it would be nice to have a
specific map with the revised scaled-back plan available for comment before
the .... the plans are finalized. Um, that's all, thank you.
Teague: Thank you. We're back to Council discussion, and I know that Mayor Pro Tem
wanted to chime in, which, um, you can certainly do that, urn .... while .... after
Mayor Pro Tem, I do wonder if. ... um, what might be most helpful for staff is for
the Council to think about what direction they may want to give, if their
comments earlier are still the same, or if they wanna change it, but uh, we'll have
Mayor Pro Tem speak now.
Salih: I just (garbled)
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Teague: Go right ahead!
Salih: First, of course I would like to thank the staff for taking the comment of the
public seriously and go ahead and do some reduction of the, you know, amount of
the prairie they gonna do. This is great, but unfortunately it still the public are not
sure exactly what .... what area, just as a lot people, uh, mention that they don't....
for Willow Creek Park, they don't exactly which one is been reduction and how
much is the reduction and all this kind of stuff. Uh, I think there is still
disagreement, even though the public (unable to understand) that Geoff, uh, as
Geoff had mention, it being reducted.... reduced, but it still there is many people,
you know, complain about this. So I really take public comment seriously. I'm a
public servant and I need to listen to the ... what the public need and the park also
is public park. Uh, if we wanna do, if the City wanna do everything.... anything
on the park, they have to contact the public and I guess all the Council agree that
(mumbled) we should have done this, you know, by going back to the public and
ask `em. Unfortunately, we start sending the letter to the people after we done the
vote, uh, you know, this is, uh, bad. If I knew that gonna happen, I shouldn't
do ..... done this, but ... for now I just would like to encourage and, uh, request that
the, you know, we hold on this right now, and we will just have another meeting
(unable to understand) we have a meeting because they never have a meeting. If
we can have meetings through Zoom with Kiwanis and Willow Creek Park and
just try to talk about it and come to agreement together. Uh, of course if you, I'm
sure 100%, if you guys met again with the Park department and the residents,
maybe you will come up with an agreement, where exactly you should put prairie
and where you shouldn't. Uh, please, uh, you know, do .... do the meeting and I
will propose to hold on this right now. Thank you.
Teague: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And I know that you'll be excusin' yourself from the
meetin' for a little bit! Any other Councilors warm address this?
Thomas: Yeah, I'd like to make a few more comments. Um, I think, you know, as we've
gotten into this process, it's been increasingly clear to me that on certain of these
sites, uh, where the .... the conversion of conventional, uh (mumbled) the
conventional treatments of the .... the grand (mumbled), the lawn areas in other
words. Uh (mumbled) there have been some sites where the .... the, that
conversion has resulted in what I would call exchange in the land use and
character of that particular park or facility And I tend to wanna almost say that
think of it as, uh, a rezoning. Think of. ... think of the process that we go through
when we rezone a property. Because that's in effect what we're doing. We're
changing the use and character of that particular facility. So.....there, you know,
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certainly the highest profile project .... uh, would be Willow Creek and ... and
Kiwanis. Um, Benton in its own way was significant in that its, you know, there
was such a limited area of open space and yet a portion of it was going to be lost,
but as I said during the work session, I have since.... looked at some of the other
sites, tried to reach out, and have been moderately successful in at least getting a
sense that there are....there's a higher level of complexity associated with even
those incurred from a resident along Taft Ste ... uh, Speedway. Um, that's.... those
sites are similar to what you see on, um, in Parkview Terrace, where the primary
treatment from what I can tell has been, uh, open lawn areas on the vacant lots.
Some .... some have been converted to prairie, but I would say the majority remain
open space. So .... I don't know what, you know, the majority on Council will be
feeling about this, but, um.....I....again, I'm just concerned that, um, we're....
we're hearing feedback from those sites where we've .... where there had been
some sufficiently.....a sufficient small amount of public engagement that
triggered a larger response. I'm afraid there are sites out there that just no one
knows about and will not know about until the work actually begins, and we may
find ourselves in the same situation.
Teague: I ... I think I'm hearing from at least three Councilors for.... com.....community
opportunity to talk and you bring up a greater.... point.... is there larger
conversation that needs to be had. I wonder what Council wants to do at this
point. I feel like we need to give our staff some direction. And so .... is there
another individual that may want .... to .... have public engagement or would we
like to place this on pause and then, um, maybe talk about this at our .... at a future
meeting?
Mims: This is Susan (several talking, garbled) I'm still comfortable. As I said during the
work session, with the adjustments that staff has made. Um, we've approved the
contract and I guess while I realize there may be .... we have an issue here of
balancing what we're doing for a climate action purpose, which may take some
education, um, of some of the neighbors and users of these parks. But I .... I guess
I'm also confident that staff has really heard the message that when we have areas
that are high use in some of these parks, that we need to be a lot more cautious
about where we're putting in the prairie, and they've significantly reduced that
and certainly like with Willow Creek, you know, concentrating along the creek
and ... and some real wet areas and those kinds of things. Again, I'm concerned
that we .... we could potentially lose the whole season. Um, it's.... it's such a hard
time to get those meetings set up. Um, I think... again, I think we have learned
that we ..... in the future we have to do this differently. We have to do a better job
of. ... of public engagement up front, but I think with the adjustments that staff has
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made at getting a clearer map/diagram out, um, of all those, where they have
made adjustments, then I'm comfortable that we continue to move forward.
Taylor: It seemed like in hearing from, uh, these folks, particularly in the Willow Creek
and Kiwanis area, that (garbled) uncertain about the ... where the, uh, prairie would
be. Uh, so I think it was... Susan mentioned maybe getting a more clear picture
out there. If you could send that to them, or somehow contact them, rather than
having to hold an entire sit-down Zoom meeting, but somehow they need to be
notified and be clear, uh, of where this area is, and I just .... I wanted to refocus
again, it was brought up by a couple of them about the maintenance. And they
aren't exaggerating. That Kiwanis Park, um, there are, uh, voluntary trees.
There's a number of invasive species — garlic mustard, poison ivy (garbled)
Teague: We can hear you.
Taylor: Okay! Okay! Uh, so I .... I would stress again, and I think the neighbors would
like to see this too, uh.... to see the plans, see the actual maintenance plan, and a
certain that it's going to be adhered to.
Thomas: I just wanna quickly say that, you know, I .... I have spoken with Geoff, uh, by
email and .... and I'm not suggesting stopping the entire program. There are, um,
by my count, something like eight to nine projects which can, in my view, move
forward, uh, that do not have these, uh, issues that we are .... we're seeing, that
come to roughly 30 or more acres. So I'm not suggesting we ... shut down the
project at all, and in fact some of these are .... are, as I had mentioned with Benton,
potentially fine-tuning exercises. Not some massive whole -sale change to the
plans. So, anyway, I just wanted to clarify. I .... I am not advocating shutting
down the program.
Teague: (several talking, garbled)
Weiner: Um, I'm hearing two messages very loudly. One is, um, the .... as a number
of...number of Councilors have commented, one is, um, the, for whatever reason,
a lack of public engagement and input in the.... combined with the desire to still
have that, uh, and I don't think it's going to be limited to, uh, Willow Creek and
Kiwanis Park area, and the other is sort of a ... a broken trust theme that I've heard
from several people, um, and I think that's probably not just related to the .... the
lack of upkeep of the prairie in Kiwanis, but, um, re .... related to the sense of lack
of communication with the public. So, um, I ... am inclined to sort of. ... to, at this
point, to focus on what, um, Councilor Thomas has said, which is really focus on
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the areas of the ... the areas that would be included in this contract that really are,
um, not next to .... uh, residential areas and if we .... it's not that it's actually, as
opposed to organizing in-person meetings. It's probably not quite as hard to...
organize one or two Zoom sessions with neighbors. I'm not sure, uh, where...
where those go through from here .... go from here, but I do think that we need to
be extremely mindful when .... when we're hearing that there's been a loss of trust,
as well as, um, as well as this lack of communication.
Teague: So what I think I've heard now that people have chimed in is that, urn ..... we are
gonna go forward with what Geoff has suggested for the revisions, and ask staff to
create, um, a....a plan so that it can be shared with the public and I know that
notification to the public is important, and that's what I've .... what I think I've
heard from all the Councilors. If there's anything else that I haven't heard, please
chime in because I think that's the direction that we need to give to staff.
Fruin: Mayor, I ... I just need a little bit more clarification on this, cause if there's an
expectation, uh, that we're gonna go out and engage at....at all 18 sites, then I
need to (garbled) any of the sites. The vast majority of `em have residential
around it, in some ... way, shape, or form. They may not be parks, but there's
residential around there. If. ... if the expectation is that we're gonna go out and...
and work with the neighbors and then kind of based on their feedback, go or no
go on those parks. That's.... that's a 2021 project. Um, yeah, I can go do the ... we
can go do the McCollister one out in the middle of an industrial area, no problem,
but, um, I ... I just wanna make sure I'm understanding you all very clearly on what
those expectations are, and the other thing, and I'm not sayin' this to .... to scare
you off the path you're on. I just warm give you the information. This was a
project that we put out through an RFP, that was .... that was .... that was bid on. As
we reduce the scope more and more, we're really changing the scope of the
project and ... and the contractor may walk away. You know, it's not the same
project that they bid, and .... and they have to, you know, there's some economics
of scale for the prices that we get on these things, that the ... the contractor may just
say, you know what? It's probably best that you just restart the whole thing and..
and let's ... let's look at it again next year, or you know, when... whenever it comes
back. So, I just wanna let you know that that could be an outcome, depending on
how much we reduce the scope. That was already in the back of my mind when
we were planning to go from 86 to ... to 60, and so as we further scale back down,
even with best intentions, we may not be able to pull this off. So if you could just
spend a couple more minutes bein' very clear on what the ... the Council as a whole
wants of us, that would help us go forward, and we're happy to do, uh, more
outreach, um, but I would think that that outreach needs to be the same for all
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those sites and ... and if (mumbled) the same feedback at all the other sites, then...
I would guess we're gonna respond the same way.
Teague: I think the majority of the comments, uh, for the outreach was relating to Kiwanis
and Willow Creek Park, but... certainly Council can chime in as to what the
intention is, beyond that, as Geoff has just mentioned.
Bergus: I think to .... to Janice's point about, um, both the expression of broken trust, as
well as the need for additional communication, I .... I do worry a little bit about the
City Council getting into the, you know, exactly this particular, you know,
measure of park (mumbled) two acres versus another size. I think that's (clears
throat) at a level that is, uh, frankly a little bit dangerous for .... for us to get into.
We ... we have a process that we know broke down in this particular case, but the
individuals who are contacting us, you know, many of them received letters about
the project, so they had the opportunity to contact us. We've talked already about
how the order of operations, again, broke down or wasn't... wasn't, um, what it
needed to be so that people understood where they could best voice their opinion,
and in this particular case, we had a plan that is a few years on the shelf and so
that implementation takes time and we're not able to .... to necessarily connect the
dots for people as clearly and overtly as we needed to to show ... show what was
going to happen, but for ...for myself, I think the ... the theme of being able to show
that we have listened to what we're hearing as far as the need to scale back, to
maintain open areas, to understand that in the ... the world that we're in right now
with coronavirus and the need to ... to distance, and that going forward, I am still
comfortable trusting staff to scale back the project in a way that can be feasible,
and take all of that feedback into account. They are the experts on how we can
have prairies that will be functional, that will be well-maintained, and I think this
is a good opportunity for us to prove to the community that that is our intent and
that's what we will carry out. So I ... I feel like we've heard the input in a way that
can be productive and move us forward so that we don't have to take this plan off
the table, um, and .... and lose the opportunity for what several people have said
tonight will be good improvements as long as they're done right.
Teague: One question I have for you is what ... do you .... what would you say for
notification to the public.... public at this point?
Bergus: Are you asking me, Mayor?
Teague: Yes, yes (laughs) cause I thought that was one of the things that Geoff wanted to
know was if the outreach was .... where is the outreach, if there is an outreach.
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Bergus: Yeah, I think ... I think (garbled) have the actual map at this point would be....
would be really helpful, letting the wider public know that this is what we're
doing. I think it has to be framed in away of `this is moving forward,' that the
Council, you know, if. ... if that is the will of the whole Council. I'm speaking for
myself, but that this is what we have approved and letting everyone know, so that
they can hopefully have buy -in as well, that this will be done in a way that is
respectful of the concerns that have been raised in the different areas. Um, so
that .... that's what I was imaging is the ... the very impromptu presentation that
Geoff gave this evening, to communicate that widely, uh, as to the areas that will
be sort of the final plan, because the plan that we approved was communicated in
the packet, and I think if we just have something that's a little more precisely, this
is .... this is the plan as it will go forward, to let people know that that is what's
happening.
Teague: Thank you.
Weiner: I think you said it very well, Laura. Thank you.
Teague: I'm seein' some noddin' of heads, so sounds like a press release of the plans ... is a
potential. Uh, would anybody think that, um, somethin' inside the park might be
appropriate? I'm seein' (both talking)
Thomas: ....noticing that there's going to be a change at these particular sites.
Teague: It would be notifyin' of the change at the... particular sites, and .... and really the
changes that were proposed tonight.
Thomas: Well, that's .... as I mentioned earlier, I .... on these sites that are going through
significant alteration, uh, I tend to view it almost as comparable to a rezoning. So
the notion of notic... noticing that a ... on the site, uh, the site's affected, uh, of what
the changes are going to be, uh, might, I think could very well be useful and
perhaps even more useful than a press release in terms of reaching the people who
are gonna be impacted.
Teague: I guess personally .... I know we .... I hear what you're sayin' but I don't know that
we could make this, you know, that type of a ... a process, where it's ... it's the same
as a rezoning. But I ... I (both talking)
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Thomas: I'm not saying go through that literally like a rezoning, but as we've said, there
was no public notice of these projects. None! Other than the limited ... uh,
interface that's.... that's taken place. I reached out to Manville Heights. That's
how they learned about, um, Crandic Park. They did not .... they did not know
about that project. So .... there's a .... there's a real potential void out there, and
that's the question is how do we .... make at least a .... a minimum amount of
contact that these projects are moving forward.
Teague: Okay. So I do think that, um, I heard press release in agreement by most, as well
as somethin' in the park, to notify .... the residents. Is there (both talking)
Taylor: Mayor, definitely in the parks, and with more of a clear picture of....of the
diagram of where it's going to be, uh, cause even the one we got in the packet two
weeks ago wasn't really clear. It was a big blob of white where it was going to be
and ... and I myself had trouble picturing what that would be. So I think a better
graphic, a photo included in this, this is the notice, this is what's going to happen.
Yeah, I agree.
Fruin: Geoff, do you have enough?
Fruin: I ... I just wanna let you know, we .... we can put this stuff in the park ... we can put a
sign in the parks, but .... we're moving forward in May. I mean we're .... we're
tearing up the grass in May, so we put a sign up and we rip up the grass and ... it's
done. So is the point to the public notification to educate them what's going on or
is it to get feedback to inform the action, cause that ... that's two very different
things. I think if we're seeking feedback so that you can make a .... a more
informed decision on where to move forward, then we can put out letters, we
could put out signs in parks. We have to plan probably for, um, a fall/spring, uh,
type of start for this work, um, and potentially rebidding, uh, the ... the project,
depending on the scope. If it's more, um, notifying folks on what's happening,
then a press release is totally appropriate and we would certainly send out
corrected letters to those areas where they're making adjustments so the people
that received the first round of letters know that there have been changes. Um,
it's really what you're trying to get at. Whether you're trying to seek input to...
inform your decision or educate on what is happening.
Teague: I do think (both talking)
Taylor: My intention was to educate (garbled) this is ... we've heard your input and this is
what is going to be .... I .... I didn't mean to go through all of the, uh, getting input
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from them again, cause I think they've had great opportunity to do that, although
we, John and I heard from a lot of them that they didn't get that additional letter.
There was just a handful of folks that said they'd gotten a letter. So if somehow
we can (mumbled) if you're talking about mailing it to them again with the
pictures, as well as something in the parks, somewhere in some sort of a visible
location in the park, that shows that this is what.....this is the decision we've
come to. Thank .... thank you for your input and this is the position we've come
to. Somethin' like that. I don't need to go through this whole process again, uh,
but I ... as John had said, uh, proceed with those, um, that reduced scope of the
project that ... that you've proposed, Geoff.
Mims: I don't ... this is Susan ... I don't think at this point ... there is time or it makes sense to
try and put signs in every single park. Um ... I think if we do anything, we just do
a new press release, um, I think staff can determine whether it makes sense to
send new letters out, but again I think staff has heard loud and clear, um, what the
concerns are in the specific areas. It .... it's not to say we're not going to get some
pushback in some of the other parks, but staff has done a lot of reduction, and
then I think we have to look at, as Geoff has said, you know, we may not even get
this project off the ground at all, um, with ... with cutting this back from 80 acres to
50 to 60 acres, you know, we may have the contractor walk away and we may be
starting over. Um ... I think anything additional that we do is probably going to
push it in that direction even more. So to .... to hope that we get anything out of
this this year, um, if that is ... if that is our priority, is to try to get this moving this
year, um, I think we need to move ahead with staff's adjustments, um, because as
Geoff said we're already into May and they're going to start working pretty
shortly.
Bergus: I think there's a lot of value to communicating what we are doing as we are doing
it too. So I ... that, that was my intent was what I think we should do is ... is let
people know what's happening. I think like we heard about the trees that were
removed along the creek banks that were causing erosion problems and that was,
you know, it was a ... there was a good reason for removing those, but we heard
individuals being concerned about the trees being removed. So much like in the
ped mall when the trees were being removed and there was signage explaining
what was happening there. I think just signage explaining what's happening with
the project and how it's moving forward. There's a lot of value there. So if that
happens in the park, that's great. If staff thinks that ... thinks that's appropriate, but
I think just communicating what we're doing and why, and that we have good
reason to do it, in whatever modes of communication we can effectively get out is
what I'm advocating.
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Salih: I, just for me I think that ... you know, what's the point of putting sign there, telling
the people what we agree to. If we are not going to change anything from the
staff recommendation right now, everybody now listening to us, uh, most of them
at least, or the people who come (garbled) are the people from maybe association
there. They will .... they will, you know, take our message and give it to the
people, but I ... I really disagree with the decision, but you know, now you have
more people who supporting just go ahead and do this. I respect that, but to Geoff
point, I agree with him — what the point of putting sign there and we already just,
uh, we come to the (mumbled) nothing has been change. Now we supporting the
staff recommendation. That means all the people who just talk and they said they
need, uh, like more change and they need meeting and all this we are not even,
you know, I don't wanna say like ... we are not (unable to understand) because we
already going with the (unable to understand) decision, and we saying just for
future reason... for future purposes, you know, we have to do this differently. But I
really, really encourage that we ... to have a meeting with, before we just do this,
we ... we need to have a meeting with the .... with the residents of Willow Creek
Park and the Kiwanis, and see if maybe they are agree to what Geoff said. They
just don't know exactly what's going on there, or maybe there is a minor change
will happen and so we can.....everybody will be happy like win-win situation.
You know, that's why I really encourage a meeting with the residents, but if there
is no support for that, I don't thinks we need to put sign there. Maybe we can just
go with the press release and say that that's what's going to happen and that's it!
So for the sake of the time, uh, if this gonna happen on May, unless you wanna
do ... you wanna change the staff recommendation, maybe you can do that.
Teague: So I do think I hear consensus from the staff to go ahead and do a press release,
um, if...if....if.....if City staff feels that there is another mode of communication
that makes sense, or the Nextdoor, you can do that. Um, and we are movin'
forward with the, uh, plans, the revised plans as submitted by Geoff. All right?
Are you good now, Geoff? Great! Thank you. All right, so ... we have a motion
on the floor to approve the Consent Calendar as amended. Roll call please.
Motion passes 7-0. And could I get a motion to accept correspondence for Item
6.a.?
Taylor: So moved, Taylor.
Weiner: Seconded, Weiner.
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Teague: All right, all in, um, roll .... all in favor say aye. All right, any opposed? Motion
passes 7-0.
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9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda)
Teague: And this is a time where we will ask people from the community to talk about any
item that is not on the agenda. Item 8, urn .... Item 8.c., which we just talked about
is, was on the agenda, and so, um, that opportunity has passed for that item, but
anyone that is .... would like to address a topic, please raise your hand and then I
will call on you. If you're on the phone press *9 and then I will see your hand
raise as well. So I am going to open up public, uh, the community comment with
Sara Barron.
Barron: Hi, y'all. I hope (garbled) doing well. Um, I don't know about you, but I'm
exhausted. What a thorough conversation, about your consent agenda tonight!
Um, good luck for the rest of the meeting. Um, I have just a few affordable
housing things that I wanna run past you all. Um, the first is I wanna make sure
that everyone on the Council and listening in the public is aware that in her April,
uh, 27° proclamation, Governor Kim Reynolds indicated that she would not
extend, um, an eviction or foreclosure moratorium, uh, for Iowans beyond May
27a'. Um, so we know that that eviction and foreclosure moratorium, um, the
protection offered by that is going away. Um, and we do not have, um, a plan in
place to help the thousands of households that will have mounting unpaid bills
(garbled) So that's a real concern. Um, I have a couple of pieces of information
for folks who might be, um, concerned about whether they're covered by the
federal moratorium on eviction and foreclosure. Um, the National Low hicome
Housing Coalition, uh, has a website where you can type in your address, whether
you live in a single-family home or a multi -family property, and you can find out
if you're covered under that, uh, federal moratorium through July 250i. Um, so
that, um, that website is nlihc.org/federal-moratoriums. Um, I tried it out today. I
typed in the address for Rise apartments and learned that they are covered by a
Fannie Mae backed mortgage, um, and so everyone who lives in the Rise
apartments, for example, is going to have some resources available to them
through that, um, federal moratorium. Um, that's just one example. So I
encourage all residents who are wondering if they're protected under that
eviction, um, moratorium to type their address into that, um, database. Um, also,
um, today is Giving Tuesday. Um, and I encourage everyone to take some time
yet this evening to go and donate to their favorite, um, housing organizations. I
made several donations today and there's a link to our partners, um, on our
Facebook page. Um ... I want to let you all know finally that, um, the Housing
Coalition is going to be moving forward with a COVID-19 housing needs
assessment. Um, we've done as a community a pretty great job of responding to
the immediate crisis presented by COVID-19, and now just as you did in your
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work session with your budget projections, we need to take a medium and longer
term look at what might happen in the housing market for both renters and owners
moving forward. So we're going to be working with some community partners. I
hope you'll join us in that process. Um, what we really hope to do is to get a
complete list of the housing needs that might arise, um, to make some attempt to
prioritize those needs, um, and then to look at all the different funding and
resources that might be available and see how we can piece things together to
have the most, um, stable and comprehensive response possible. Um, I'd really
love to talk with you more about that. We'll be working with others in the
community, um .... to tie that into other efforts that are going on, um, but we
wanted to let you know that that's something that's on the horizon for us. So,
thanks very much!
Teague: Thank you, Sara. (mumbled) (clears throat) I'm gonna have
Sheila .... Zeithamel ... next. And if anyone else wants to address Council, please
raise your hand and keep your comments to three minutes or less.
Zeithamel: Okay, so ... so, Mayor Teague, I'm .... I'm not skilled in talking in front of the
Council, but let me know if what I'm about to say, um, it doesn't fit in into the
agenda and ... and certainly I can back out and wait for another time.
Teague: What topic would you like to address?
Zeithamel: Well I would like to talk about, uh, the climate, uh, crisis and ... and your folks's,
uh, declaration of a climate crisis on August 6a'. I wanted to make a positive
comment.
Teague: You can talk about that. It's not on our agenda tonight.
Zeithamel: Perfect! Okay. I just wanted to say that .... that this team, the Iowa City, uh, City
Council, you guys declared a climate crisis on August 6°i. And .... and your goal
was to reduce carbon emissions by 45% from .... (talking in background) Okay, I
hear somebody talking. So the goal was to reduce carbon emissions by 45%,
from 2010 levels by 2030 and to net zero by .... by 2050, and I supported this
Council then when you folks declared the climate crisis and ... and I still support
you today. And I believe that this city, we all need to get behind you, um, as you
continue to do the right thing for our future, and I just wanted to make a point
about the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. It's an atmospheric baseline station,
which ... which measured the CO2 in the atmosphere.... at 416 parts per million as
of the end of April, and to note that this is the highest weekly average ever
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recorded, uh, for CO2 in the atmosphere, and .... and they consider a safe level of
CO2, uh, around 350 parts per million. Uh, I'd like to quote, um, the past Mayor,
Throgmorton, when he introduced, uh, Greta Thunberg when she came to, uh,
Iowa City last year and ... and .... and Mayor Throgmorton said, `If we don't do it,
who will,' in addressing climate change, and I'd like to say that we don't have the
luxury to disregard solar arrays in our parks, on our buildings, and in our
backyards. Um, because our way of life is being threatened. We need to get off
fossil fuels and solar panels in our environment will save lives. So ... so that's my
comment for tonight, and .... and I send my thank you to the work that this team,
this Council, is doing.
Teague: Thank you! Seein' there is no one else to address Council, we will move on ... to
our next item on the agenda, which is Item #7, Amend .... I am sorry! (laughter)
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10. Planning and Zoning Matters
10.a. Rezoning — Eastbrook Street and American Legion Road — Ordinance
conditionally rezoning land near the intersection of Eastbrook Street and
American Legion Road from Interim Development Single -Family (ID -RS) to
Neighborhood Public (P-1) for approximately 2.14 acres, to Low Density
Multi -Family Residential (RM -12) for approximately 10.64 acres, and to Low
Density Single -Family Residential (RS -5) for approximately 22.51 acres.
(REZ19-13) (First Consideration
1. Public Hearing
Teague: I'm gonna open the public com.... uh, open the public hearing. Staff presentation!
Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor and Council, Danielle Sitzman, NDS. This is an
application submitted by Allen Homes for rezoning of approximately 35 acres of
land located on the north side of American Legion Road and east of Eastbrook
Street. Um, this land was previously, uh, annexed into and zoned a City zoning
district earlier this year in January. Uh, approval of the rezoning tonight would
allow for future development of a subdivision consisting of single-family and
multi -family housing and a fire station. Um, this exhibit shows the boundary of
the 35 acres, uh, north of American Legion Road, in the, uh, yellow hashed, uh,
for a certain amount of area and then white hashed and a little bit of red. Um, the
rezoning is for three different, uh, zoning classifications. Um, I'll walk you
through those on this exhibit. The circle, or the square outlined in the red dash is
for P-1, Neighborhood, uh, Public. The next area, just outside of that, outlined in
white, is for .... low-density multi -family residential. That's approximately 11
acres, and then the remaining acreage, approximately 23 acres, would be rezoned
to RS -5 or low-density single-family. Um .... as I mentioned, that first parcel, uh,
first lot essentially would be reserved for a fire station and zoned to the
Neighborhood, uh, Public zoning classification that's shown here in the concept
plan, uh, on this exhibit. The next zoning classification I mentioned was low-
density multi -family, uh, of approximately 11 acres. That does allow for higher
density single-family and low-density multi -family uses. It's intended to provide
a diverse variety of housing options, such as detached and attached single-family.
On the exhibit that they provided, their concept plan, it's shown in this area here,
just to the east of the fire station and just immediately north of American Legion
Road. And finally the remaining 20 .... approximately 23 acres would be reserved
for single-family housing, uh, single .... a family, detached dwellings on individual
lots. Um .... as shown here on this exhibit, and the remainder of the ... the area to be
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rezoned. When staff reviews applications such as these we ... look at two criteria —
the compliance with the comprehensive plan and compatibility with the existing
neighborhood. Regarding consistency with the comprehensive plan, we looked at
both the Southeast District Plan and the citywide comprehensive plan. The
Southeast District Plan indicates this area in the blue outline is the subject
property, contained two different, uh, intended future land uses. One was, uh,
shown here in the darker yellow, which is medium dens .... medium to high-
density single-family, uh, and townhouse, and then the kind of lighter yellow,
which is the low to medium -density single-family and duplex intended uses. The
other criteria we look at is compatibility with existing neighborhoods. Um, as
you can see here, uh, this exhibit shows the existing zoning to the east, which is
also single-family residential. Uh, and then the interim area and then the subject
property, excuse me, and then the area already developed to the west as RM -12,
the Eastbrook Flats area. So this, uh, concept blends density from lower, um, on
the east to slightly higher to the west and matches the existing neighborhood in
that manner. We also looked at sanitary, uh, and storm sewer impacts from the
development to make sure that those were being accounted for. Also due focus on
the access and street design for, uh, developments. Even though this is still just a
concept plan and not the detail of a preliminary plat, we do look for, uh, support
of the comprehensive plan for the inter -connectivity of the street network to be,
uh, provided for to allow for vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic to safely and
effectively, uh, circulate and connect to surrounding neighborhoods. Um .... the
attached concept plan accomplishes the ojec... objectives of the comprehensive
plan in that manner by extending Eastbrook, which is the street here, to connect
to, uh, the network and as well as making connections to the existing
neighborhood on the north end. Um, despite the slightly higher planned density,
the RM ... in the RM -12 zones, the housing diversity and street connectivity shown
in the concept plan aligns with the policy direction provided for in the .... in the,
um, Southeast District Plan. Um, so this shows you the steps that we have
accomplished to date. Um, the annexation and rezoning which happened earlier
in 2000 ... this year, end of last year. The blue stage is where we're at currently, so
when land is annexed into the city, it's a sign usually an interim development, uh,
zoning standard. At this point they're requesting to move from that interim
development, uh, zoning district to the specific rezones that have been requested
tonight. Um, they have included a concept plan with this rezoning to illustrate
how they can accomplish the goals and objectives of the comprehensive plan;
however, in the future they will still need to submit a preliminary plat and a final
plat, uh, with those more specific details, included for, uh, review both by the
Planning Commission and by City Council. So based on a review of the relevant
criteria, staff did recommend approval of the proposed rezoning with six
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conditions. Um, at its April 2"a meeting, by a vote of 7-0, the Planning and
Zoning Commission also recommended approval of this rezoning, subject to
conditions, um, which I'll walk you through here in a moment. Um, the
conditional zoning agreement has been signed and turned into the City Clerk.
Um, the applicant did not hold a good neighbor meeting in this instance but we
actually advised them not to due to COVID, um, restrictions. Instead the
applicant mailed out, uh, pertinent information to the neighborhood and solicited
comments that way. Comments were received, um, and expressed at the Planning
Commission meeting. So in regards to the six conditions that I mentioned, the
first one is really a carryover from the first rezoning and the annexation, uh, and is
a restatement of the City's policy on affordable housing. Um, so that has just
simply been carried forward to keep it as front mind for everyone. The remaining
conditions deal with a variety of things, including the need for a final plat to be
filed, um, conformance with the compreh.... or with the .... with the concept plan,
as shown in, um, presented tonight. Also requiring trail connections to the City's
park and trails networks. Um, those are highlighted in one of the exhibits, uh, I
showed you a moment ago. Um, making sure that the developer is aware that
those connections are respon.... are their responsibility in some manner. Also that
the ... a permanent drainage easement be provided and that traffic calming be
addressed at platting, uh, because of the concept plan expressing some of the
block sizes. Uh, staff was interested in making sure that traffic claiming would be
available, uh, to address any concerns about, uh, traffic speeds in the
neighborhood, should it need to be. That will be accomplished at platting. So
that concludes my staff report. I'm happy to answer questions.
Teague: Well thank you, Danielle! Sound like no questions for now. All right, public
discussion. Is there anyone from the public that would like to address this topic?
If so, please raise your hand. If you're on the phone press *9 to raise your hand.
John Yapp.
Yapp: Hi, this is John. Can you hear me?
Teague: Yes we can hear you!
Yapp: Good evening, uh, I'm representing Allen Development. Uh, we had a good
discussion and Planning and Zoning on this project, and one of the big factors is
this is the first project under the City's affordable housing annexation policy. Our
plan, it includes a mix of housing types, a mix of income levels. It transitions
from multi -family to the west, to single-family on the east, uh, consistent with the
single-family neighborhood to the east. It is an in -fill project, with existing
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neighborhoods to the northeast and west, and a senior care facility to the
southwest. We're about one-half mile from the new Hoover School, and with the
American Legion Road reconstruction, there'll be a continuous sidewalk to the
school. Uh, you'll also see on the concept plan is a future fire station. Uh, we've
been in discussions with staff and that fire station parcel is a part of this rezoning,
uh, and concept plan. Uh, as Danielle said, we were not able to have a good
neighbor meeting, but we did hear from neighbors. Uh, one of the concerns was
preservation of the tree line on the east side of the project, and we do intend to
preserve that ... that tree line. Uh, we've also had several positive comments about
the trail connections, the sidewalks, and better access to the dog park. The, uh,
multi -family buildings that you see are proposed as stacked flats. Uh, we intend
to incorporate form based code elements into those buildings. Ub, these ... these
buildings are eight to 12 units each, um, in other words they're about a third of the
size of the, uh, existing multi -family buildings bordering on the west. We've
named the project, uh, Community View, uh, and in this time we hope to build on
a sense of that community in this area. And I'm glad to take any questions.
Teague: Thank you for addressin' Council. Is the .... I don't see any other hand raises. Is
there anyone else in the public that would like to address this topic? Seein' none,
I wanna close the public hearing. All right, could I get a motion to give first
consideration? (several responding, garbled) Um, actually before I do that, one
thing I failed to do .... is ask if everybody was, well I guess at this point we already
closed the public hearing. So....all right, um, move to give first consideration.
2. Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration)
Salih: Move, by Salih.
Mims: Second Mims.
Teague: All right! Before we continue with our discussion and .... is Council inclined to
vote with P&Z recommendations on this item?
Salih: Yes (several responding)
Taylor: Yes!
Teague: I hear the majority sayin' yes, so I am sorry, I shoulda did that before the closin'
of the public hearing. Um, so Council discussion.
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Taylor: This is Pauline. I ... I just see a lot of positive things about this, uh, as .... as, uh,
John Yapp had mentioned, it is the first of the annexation with the requirement for
the affordable housing, and I would hope that they do, uh, do that, rather than a
fee in lieu. That would be wonderful. I was pleased to hear, cause I thought it
wasn't in close proximity to Hoover School to hear that it is, within a half mile,
and there'll be a sidewalk to the school, which is .... which is wonderful. Um,
maintaining the tree line is great. Uh, extending that street. There's just a lot of
positive things about it. I .... I'm really impressed with it. Very well thought out.
And of course (garbled) being able to have a fire station!
Teague: (laughs)
Thomas: I ... I did have a ... a question, um, for John. John mentioned the, you mentioned the
form based code aspects of the project. Uh, could John speak to what, in ... in
more detail, what that might mean?
Teague: We can unmute John (both talking)
Yapp: ....am I muted, or unmuted?
Teague: We can hear you.
Yapp: Okay! Um, we did provide staff with some inspirational images that we obtained
from the, uh, Form Based Code Institute, urn .... identifying some of those
elements. It's difficult to convey without.... being able to present a .... a visual to
you.
Thomas: Okay.
Bergus: I was just curious about the, urn .... affordable housing element. John, thank you
for calling out this was our first annexation with that requirement and as I
understand there's three options for how to achieve that. Do you know, uh, which
the developer's pursuing?
Yapp: Our intent is to have the 10% of the units, on site, um, or possibly off-site nearby,
next door possibly, uh, but we've not ironed out all the details.
Bergus: Thank you.
Teague: Any other discussion? Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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12. Radon Testing -Delay Effective Date — Ordinance amending Title 17, entitled
"Building and Housing," Chapter 5, entitled "Housing Code," to delay the
requirement for radon testing and mitigation in single-family and duplex
rental units until July 1, 2021. (Second Consideration)
Teague: Could I get a motion to waive second consideration?
Mims: I move that the rule requiring that ordinances must be considered and voted on for
passage at two Council meetings prior to the meeting at which it is to be finally
passed be suspended, that the second consideration and voted be waived, and that
the ordinance be voted on for final passage at this time. (several responding)
Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Weiner. Public discussion? Would anyone like to
address this topic? If so, please raise your hand, or press *9. Seein' none,
Council discussion?
Taylor: This is Pauline. I just wanted to point out, um, and emphasize a statement that the
staff made in the, uh, background information, that they encourage property
owners to use this time to schedule inspections and mitigation, even though we're
making this proposal, uh, when units may be vacant, uh, because as we know and
as we talked about too, you know, testing for the radon is really very important.
So the sooner they get on it the better. So if the unit's going to be vacant, you
might as well, uh, continue to take that opportunity to do it.
Teague: Great!
Bergus: I was going to call out the same thing! So thank you, Pauline, cause it looks like
that if you test during this year then you can document the compliance starting
July 21.
Taylor: Right!
Teague: Great! All right, roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. Could I get a motion to pass
and adopt?
Mims: So moved.
Taylor: Second.
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Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Taylor. Anyone, urn .... like to, well, Council
discussion? Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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13. 2020 Bond Resolution — Resolution directing sale of $12,145,000 (subject to
adjustment per terms of offering) General Obligation Bond, Series 2020.
Teague: Could I get a motion to approve resolution?
Thomas: So moved, Thomas.
Weiner: Second, Weiner.
Teague: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Weiner, and is there a staff presentation on this
item?
Bockenstedt: Yeah, I can give you, uh, just a summary of how the sale went this morning. Uh,
at 11:00 A.M., we received bids for approximately $12.1 million, of our Series
2020, uh, general obligation bonds. There was a late handout that was delivered
to the Council tonight, um, and it starts on page 8 through 25, gives a summary of
the results of that sale. Um, we were very pleased, uh, with the results. Um,
Robert W. Baird was the winning bidder, um, and they have been the successful
bidder on a number of our bond issues over the last several years. Uh, they put in
a winning bid of, uh, 1.55, uh, % over 10 years, which we're pretty ecstatic about
that interest rate. Um, and so that is .... some .... some positive news, and in
addition to that rate, uh, received about $867,000 in bond premium. Um, so, uh,
we asked for $12.1 million and they're givin' us about $13 million in bond
proceeds. Um, so, uh, all in all it was a very successful sale. I ... I wanna point out
that Maggie Berger at Speer Financial and, uh, John Murphy at Speer Financial
both put in, uh, considerable amount of work and we appreciate their efforts and,
um, we recommend approval of this bond sale.
Teague: Thank you! Any questions for... staff? For Dennis?
Mims: I don't have any questions. I would just like to comment, Geoff had let us know
previously that Moody's had, uh, given us a triple-A bond rating again. We're, I
don't know, 37 years or something into our triple-A bond rating, and it's just
really important for Council and the public to understand that you don't get an
interest rate of 1.55% and an $860,000 bond premium, which as he said, what we
were selling was 12.1 million and they're giving us $13 million. Um, you don't
get that unless you have the top bond rating, and so keeping our reserves up,
having emergency funds, you know, keeping our finances managed as prudently
as we have for so many decades, and I know we're in a really tough time and
there's lots of...questions and asks for money, but we still have to be very
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cautious, because this saves us so much money in the long run, which gives us
then that much more flexibility to provide services and help the people in our
community, at a reasonable tax rate. So kudos to Dennis and his staff, um, and all
the way from Geoff down, and this is fantastic news!
Teague: Great! I would agree (laughs) Would anyone from the public like to address this
topic? Seein' no one, Council discussion. Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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14. Approval of the CDBG/HOME budget — Resolution adopting Iowa City's
FY21 Annual Action Plan which is a sub -part of Iowa City's 2021-2025
Consolidated Plan (City Steps 2025).
Teague: Could I get a motion to approve resolution?
Salih: So move, Salih.
Thomas: Second, Thomas.
Teague: And ... look like Erika, are you gonna present on this?
Kubly: Yes, uh, Erika Kubly of Neighborhood Services. I'm gonna try to share my
screen. (mumbled) ...couple slides. Okay! So the FY21 Annual Action Plan
outlines how we will spend our CDBG and HOME funds over the coming fiscal
year. This is the first action plan within City Steps 2025, which is our new five-
year consolidated plan, adopted by Council in January, which will take effect July
111. We worked with our consultant (mumbled) to complete the document as part
of our contract for City Steps 2025. Um, this slide shows our allocation for FY21.
We are getting $697,678 in CDBG funds and 511,786 in HOME funds. Um, this
is an increase of about 40,000 for both programs, which is about 6% over last
year. Um, this chart is, um, the historic CDBG and HOME funding over the past
15 years, this kind of shows the changes. Uh, this one is the same information but
it's adjusted for inflation. Um, so while there are some increases in specific years,
it's an overall, um, the overall trend is a decrease in federal dollars for these two
programs. Um, the charts do not include our recent COVID-19 CDBG allocation
of $410,422. Um, I will get into that, uh, in more detail in the amendments that
are on the agenda later. Our intention with this specific plan was to incorporate
broad language related to the pandemic response, to allow us to fund projects
that's necessary under public services, so the improvements and economic
development, as we expected those to be the types of urgent activities that will .
need funding. Um, we also added a goal to provide facilities and services in
support of the pandemic response. And we plan to begin administering the CDBG
(mumbled) funds, that 110,000 prior to July 1 S`, but by adding language in this
plan about the community response to the pandemic, we hope to be able to
continue that process into the next fiscal year, um, as needed (garbled) So .... um,
so this page shows funded activities, including program set -asides, as well as
HCDC, uh, recommendations for FY21 funding. I'm gonna highlight the
competitive projects, um, as many of these are set -asides. Um, so first you have
public services. We can use 15% of our CDBG allocation for public services, and
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we use that as a portion of the Aid to Agencies funding. Um, these are three
agencies that are part of the Aid to Agency allocation. That will be the next
agenda item, um (garbled) CDBG funds. Um, we have one public facility project
this year at Little Creations Academy, where they plan to do a kitchen renovation
for the childcare. HCDC recommended 78,000 for this project. It's the second
item on your screen. And then moving down to the competitive housing
activities. These spending amounts were also recommended by HCDC. Um,
they've incurred two rental acquisition projects, rental construction, a
continuation of the South District program, and down payment assistance for our
co -ho of 28 newer assisted affordable units. In your packet you have a staff
memo from the Community Development Planner discussing, um, to HCDC
discussing some staff concerns with a couple of the application we received this
year. Um, the City has recently funded a project at Little Creations for 109,000,
with the FY21 recommendation of total CDBG investment would be $187,000 in
this facility. The CDBG program has (mumbled) provision which states that if
funding (mumbled) if a funding recipient were to discontinue providing services
within five years of the project completion, funds would have to be repaid. And
this is applicable to projects over $25,000. So, um, the staff supports the mission
of Little Creations Academy and feels (mumbled) this kitchen renovation project.
Um, if the childcare closes or moves for any reason in the next five years, it
would be difficult to capture that 187,000, and the City would likely be
responsible for repaying that amount with non-federal funds. Um, this .... this, a
similar situation happened with a childcare a number of years ago. That was a
different agency. Um, our second concern noted in the memo is with the
(mumbled) They ...they had no prior experience administering federal funds and
we've had some compliance issues with (mumbled) in the past, and again staff
supports their mission, but we do have concerns about capacity to comply with
HOME regulations for the duration of the affordability period. It should be 15
years based on a funding recommendation of $60,000. If they are unable to
comply, they would have to repay funds, and those funds would go back through
HUD, rather than being able to be reprogrammed in our community. So that's all
I have. Happy to answer any questions.
Teague: All right.
Mims: This is Susan. I have a question. So with those two concerns that staff has ... I....
I'm just gonna ask this real directly. Is ... are these two that you would recommend
that we not approve? Given the risk to the City, if...if Little Creations were to
close or move, the City has to repay $187,000 which we unlikely could get, not
likely that we could get back from Little Creations, and secondly (garbled) if
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they've had some issues, um, and the question of whether or not they can handle
this money, does.... does staff think that we should not approve those two ... uh,
recommendation?
Kubly: Um, I don't think that we're necessarily recommending to note approve these.
We could give them an allocation of 25,000 and then ... for the Little Creations
specifically, and we could check, um, Unlimited Abilities to CDBG as well and do
25,000 and then they won't be subject to the aversion of assets, um, which I was
(mumbled) No, I think Little Creations had some stumbling blocks in their last
project, but I think they can successfully (mumbled) fulfill this project. Um,
there's just some risk, you know, in the childcare industry, if they were to close in
the next five years. So it's hard for me to predict if that's....
Mims: Right.
Kubly: .....um, Unlimited Abilities is a brand-new, uh, brand-new to us I guess
(mumbled) our funds so, urn .... I don't know if I'd necessarily not funding them,
but um .... they're just risk as they don't have the same capacity as some of our
other providers.
Teague: I think .... I think Unlimited Abilities is newer in our area, if I ... I don't know much
about them, but I think they're newer in our area, and this could be the, this is
probably their first time receiving some City funds, and I would imagine that they
need a little more one-on-one potentially. They're probably not used to the ... to
the requirements here. The one thing when I hear the 15 -year affordability period,
that does sound like a long time, uh, for .... even for $60,000. Um, I don't know
what the affordability period is for Successful Living, Systems Unlimited, or for
any of the other ones that are listed there, um, 10 years seems about ... I think ....I
don't know what the average is, but for some reason 10 years seems about...
about right for 60,000, but if they agree to 15 then that's great. Um, but ... I just
wanted to add that to the conversation.
Kubly: Um, so the affordability period is determined by the amount of HOME funds and
if it's over 50,000, then it's a 15 -year period, and I believe that if it's over 25,000
it would be 10 years, and below 25,000, um .... would be five years. So it ... it's
specific to the HOME funding.
Teague: Great! Thank you. All right, if no more questions, then um, would anyone from
the public like to address this topic? I do see a caller on the line, if you wanna
chime in, please press *9, raise.... that'll raise your hand to let me know that you
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could like to speak. Otherwise, anyone like to address this topic, raise your hand.
Seein' none, Council discussion? Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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15. FY21 Aid to Agencies — Resolution allocating human services Aid to Agencies
funding for the Fiscal Year 2020, July 1, 2020 — June 30, 2021.
Teague: Could I get a motion to approve the resolution?
Thomas: So moved, Thomas.
Salih: Second, Salih.
Teague: All right, anyone going to address this, from staff?
Kubly: Yep, I'll address this one again. Erika Kubly with Neighborhood Services, and
I'm gonna .... I've got a couple more slides.
Teague: Great!
Kubly: (mumbled) Okay, so,um, Aid to Agencies provides human services funding to
local non -profits serving Iowa City residents. For FY21 we initially anticipated
458,000; however, in January City Council held a joint work session with the
Housing and Community Development Commission, after which the budget was
increased to 675,000. We have three different types of funding pools (mumbled)
agencies are established. Established agencies who have been identified in City
Steps 2025, they receive the bulk of the funding, and then emerging agencies are
newer agencies are those that are not identified in City Steps in the City Steps
plan. Up to 5% of the Aid to Agencies budget can be used for emerging agencies.
So at their February meeting, HCDC recommended 650,000 in legacy funding,
split equally amongst the applicants, so that each agency received about 98.4% of
their funding request. Um, HCDC did adopt a scoring criteria for the funding
applications, but that was not used in this allocation, and that was in part due to
the increase in budget for this year. Um, then at their March meeting, HCDC
discussed emerging agency recommendations and voted to award just under
17,000 to emerging agencies, and the remaining 8,000, um, of the 25,000 that we
set aside for emerging was going to go back to the legacy pool to increase their,
um, their allocations. So with this recommendation, urn .... with the extra 8,000,
the legacy agencies are receiving about 99.7% of their request, so almost
everyone is receiving their full funding. Um, and you can see those here. You
can see their allocation from last year, their request, and then their allocation,
which is just about their full request. Um, and then this is our, um, emerging
agency funding recommendations. We received five applications from four
agencies, um (mumbled) Successful Living received funding in FY20, um, HCDC
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recommended funding (garbled) for Houses into Homes, and then operations for
(mumbled) for FY21. And that's all I have!
Teague: Any questions?
Mims: Yeah, I do, I've got a couple of questions. On the ... on the legacy agencies
requests, um, it looks like almost everybody requested a pretty similar amount to
what they had gotten last year, except for Inside Out Re -Entry. They, their
request, or their allocation was 30 last year and they requested 40 this year. I ... I
guess I'm concerned about, well I guess there's one other one, Prelude was also
jumped significantly, but I think theirs had been cut over the last few years and
they've been a long-term recipient. Was there any discussion about why some
were asking for such big increases, um, and were others just kind of knowing
what the history has been, so they need more but they didn't really ask for it? I ... I
just, when I see these big jumps, especially on some of the newer ones, I get a
little concerned.
Kubly: Um, I'm not... this.... this discussion was had a few months ago so I'm not sure,
um, specifically the answer to your question. I know that Inside Out is a newer
organization, so some ... some agencies are expanding their services, so maybe
they're asking for more funding for that purpose. Um, but I don't know if I could
speak to each agency specifically.
Mims: And then the second question, and this may be more for Geoff and some others
who were involved in discussions, but with the, um .... the newer agencies, um, the
emerging... emerging agencies, it seems to me that when we had the special
request from Houses into Homes, a year, year and a half ago or whatever it was,
that they indicated to us that if we gave them that emergency funding of $25,000
that they wouldn't be back asking for more. Am I ... remembering that incorrectly?
Fruin: No, I think that ... that was, uh, clear in their request, initial request for .... to the
Council, and that was last fall into winter ...this year.
Mims: And then they came back and they got a grant through.... through the climate
action plan, is that correct?
Fruin: I ... I believe that's correct. Ashley can confirm that, um....
Monroe: I can clarify, uh, last year they received $5,000 or .... I'm sorry, I'm probably
misspeaking. Um, I think it was approximately 3,000, that was the minimum
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amount, um, but they requested through the climate action grants. Um, they
received that money for their work to organize their... their organization, and then
this year they also applied again for a climate action grant, um, and were not
awarded the .... the funds. So they ...they did tell us that they had applied to this
grant program.
Mims: I will just say, I didn't agree with the process before when they came out of cycle,
um, and said it was an emergency funding. To me funding for an executive
director is not emergency funding. They basically promised us at the time that if
we gave them that money, they would not be back asking for more money, that
hiring that executive director would allow them to go out and do fundraising.
Um, I'm not questioning the organization itself, and the good that they do, but I
think people need to be held to their word, um, and when they .... they were so
matter of fact and so insistent that they would not be back. So while I support
most of these agencies, unfortunately I will be voting no on this issue. Um,
I'm ..... I'm concerned about the large increase in Inside Out Re -Entry and I'm
concerned about Houses into Homes. So I will be voting no.
Fruin: If I could jump in real quick, um, on .... on your first question, Susan, le ... legacy
agencies, um, I ... I don't think, um (clears throat) I guess I'm not too surprised.
There was sev.... there was a handful of agencies that increased, uh, their ...their
ask,and I'm going to assume that you're going to see those asks to continue to
increase, because you know, the .... if ya back up one cycle before this, um, the
Council made the decision at the time to fully fund those applications. So now
you come, you fast -forward one year to this application cycle, I think those
organizations have the incentive to ask for as much as they .... as much as they
can, um, knowing that the Council did that once, and then of course you all made
that decision again to fully fund the program. So for two years in a row, if you
fully fund that program, the agencies are in all likelihood gonna keep on asking
for more money, uh, knowing that, uh... uh, the Council has ... has made that
decision two years in a row. So it's just somethin' to think about as you, uh,
ponder the future of this program, if at....at some point you can't fully fund
everything or that .... that just continues to grow. You need to .... you need to set a
cap on that, urn .... unless your intention is .... is to grow this, uh, grant program
considerably over the next few years.
Mims: And I would have severe concerns about doing that, given, um, our financial
situation and we don't know ..... which we don't know what it is going forward
with COVID. Um, and I think it's a reasonable to, if anything, set .... set a cost of
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living increase to .... at maximum, but with the idea that, you know, given our
financial situation we might have to make other adjustments to it as well.
Bergus: Erika, did I understand correctly that you said HCDC didn't implement, or didn't
apply the scoring criteria? That they've developed?
Kubly: So in the fall we, um, HCDC approved the scoring criteria, um and we discussed
it a little bit at the meeting, but be ... I think in part due to the budget increase, um,
they didn't .... they equally allocated the funds, rather than going with the highest
score, um, getting fully funded, and maybe a lower score not getting their full
funding, which was staff's initial recommendation.
Bergus: And did that play out with the emerging agencies too, just because I see that there
were some of those requests that were not funded. So I'm just curious if they
didn't .... if scoring criteria weren't applied how they decided to not fund some and
fund others of those.
Kubly: Um, I think the decision with the emerging Aid to Agencies was based on the
intention of the funds where, um, these two agencies (mumbled) funded and had
not been funded before, and they were also kind of newer and starting (garbled) I
think that was how they based their decision on that. And I'm ... I'm unsure if they
had a scoring, uh, they used a scoring criteria for that one.
Bergus: Okay. For ...for myself, when we had our joint meeting with HCDC, I think, you
know, it's .... it's incumbent on us to understand the process that they're applying
so that we know it is, um, reliable and effective consistently, and so I'm just
concerned to hear that they, you know, would have taken the time and the care to
develop the scoring criteria, which I think was represented to us would be
implemented, and then just said, well, we'll just kinda go with the full funding,
including not funding some of those emerging agencies based on maybe different
criteria. So I think it's really incumbent on us as Council for ...when this comes
around next year to understand when we're vesting all of the discretion....
obviously not all the discretion. We can ... we can overrun this decision, but when
we're vesting the trust in, um, HCDC to allocate those funds based on, um, a plan
that makes sense, and that is transparent to the applicant, so they understand what
the criteria would be, um, so we're not wasting people's time and that it is fair and
consistent.
Teague: Any other Council questions for staff. For Erika?
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Weiner: I don't really have questions.... questions for staff, but .... but I do think that ... I
read through a lot of the minutes, the very detailed minutes from HCDC, and
there was some concern expressed by at least one of the legacy agencies about
why the .... the scoring, the scoring mechanism was not used. Um, that ... if they're
going to go to the trouble is when I believe that ... before my time on Council when
some of these issues were discussed, there was, um, when you're talking about the
need to follow process, I believe that if they're gonna set process, it would be
really great if they would .... if they would follow it and that's... that's something
that the agencies themselves, or the NGOs themselves spent a lot of time on and it
would be nice if that would .... if we could rely on HCDC to .... to use that, going
forward. Um, my only other comment is that I do have some ... I have had some
experience with, um, Inside Out. Um, and I would say that from my experience I
believe they are doing very valuable work that's gonna be needed even more now
that, um, that with COVID-19 a lot of...there are more people being released from
jails and prisons, and they are going to absolutely need more help, um, getting...
uh, getting acclimated and dealing with, um, dealing with life and reintegrating
into society, and so I am supportive of that amount.
Salih: (garbled) ...with you, Janice. The ... the Inside Out, they really doing a great job
and .... every year they have new programs and a lot of people start using them.
They help a lot of people, you know, to support them after they come out from the
prison. Uh, if...Erika, if you can go back to the slide before this. Yes, I ... I see also
here like Susan Mims mentioned that Inside Out has (unable to understand) from
20 I guess to 40 or something like that, but also look at the.... Behavior Services.
They increase it from 20 to 40, and also....
Mims: (both talking) ...mentioned that one too.
Taylor: (both talking) ....Prelude.
Salih: The Free Medical Clinic from 17 to 25. I guess because, as Geoff said, uh, people
just, organization have more, uh, work to do and every year the inflation and
everything, uh, I will be definitely supportive for all this, as it is, and also for the
....I really don't remember the .... both of you said, Geoff and Susan, about, uh,
House into Home. I don't remember exactly if they said for that physical year, or
they just....said in general they are not going to come to the City, period. That's
.....that's my question will be.
Mims: That's my recollection, that they said they would not be back, because they would
use (both talking) that they would use the executive director to raise money.
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Salih: No, but all the organization are coming over and over and over. I guess maybe
they meant for that year, in the same year or something like that. Anyway, even if
they said that, I support it. They have to come back again and again, just like the
other organizations. They are providing good, you know, services in the
community. Uh, I will be supportive to this, as it is.
Teague: We do have, uh, the public that wanna address this topic and Council will have
another opportunity to have discussion. So I am going .... any more questions for
Erika? I'm gonna go to ... the public and I'm gonna start with Sara Barron, and
I'm gonna be followin' that with caller, with the last four digits of 9444, and
again, if you are on here and you want to address the topic, please raise your
hand, and if you're on the phone press *9 to raise your hand. Sara Barron.
Barron: Hi, y'all. Thanks for the opportunity to comment on this item. I'm in the unusual
and a little uncomfortable position of disagreeing with Geoff's comments tonight.
Um, I don't believe that this represents, um, an unfettered, uh... uh, and unjustified
increase (laughs) from our social services providers. I think what you're seeing
here are the fantastic results of all of these organizations coming together to
identify what their unmet funding needs were,the ways that the City had not been
fully compensating them for meeting the basic needs of residents, um, and asking
for an amount that ... that truly reflects the amount that they're contributing to our
community. Um, I think you ... um, the organizations showed really a tremendous
amount of thought, um, and restraint even in the amount that they asked for, um,
and I would of course remind you all that this was really catch-up for years of
really underfunding these organizations, um, and I would encourage you to wait,
uh, just a couple of cycles to see how this shakes out before you make any longer
term determinations about, um, how the process is .... is evolving. It is still
unfolding and, um, and I feel extraordinarily positive about the community's
commitment to, um, investing, um .... investing in our social service organizations
in a way that reflects the value that they have to our community, and I really thank
you all for putting in the hard work that ... that led to this allocation. I think it's
just absolutely fantastic news for our community. Thanks!
Teague: Thank you, Sara, and we're going to go to caller ...with the numbers endin' 9444,
followed by Salina M., and we're askin' everyone to keep their comments to three
minutes or less.
Barker: Hello! Um ... am I on?
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Teague: You are!
Barker: Okay! So this is Lucy Barker from Houses into Homes and I just wanted to call
into clarify that, um, when we applied for that so-called emergency funding, um,
we did not say that we would not be applying for other funding. In fact we were
strongly encouraged by the Council to follow the process, and um, I remember
discussions that our budget would be submitted when we applied for emerging
Aid to Agencies. Um .... so we did apply because it was expected that we would
join the process and we did not expect that we would get funding because we had
been funded the 25,000. Um, so I just wanted to clarify that there was .... it was
not, uh, expected that we would just go away, urn .... and not join the usual
process. I think that's what I wanted to say. Salina might have more. Thanks!
Teague: Thank you, Lucy. And now we're goin' to Salina M. on the .... Salina M.
McCarty: Hello!
Teague: Hello!
McCarty: Thanks for .... thanks for taking the time to listen. Um, I will just reiterate what
Lucy stated. Um, when we went through this process there was a very, very long
discussion toward the end of the decision that not only the Council and the City
staff expected us to go through these same processes in the future when looking at
funding, but also the other agencies. Um, one of the big problems that it felt like
others had was that we were being given money without any sort of accountability
or having to prove ... the amount of work that we're doing in the community. Um,
and .... and how much need there is for the work that we're doing, uh, so we did
apply and we followed the process exactly as we were supposed to. Um, as ... as
Lucy stated, we weren't really expecting to win an award, but we did work very
hard on our application. Um, we were very, very straight forward about the work
that we do, the increases that we've seen for the need in our services. Um, we
have 17 referring agencies right now, um, so we're .... we're having needs fed to
us, nearly daily, um, that the specific grant that we applied for will really help
with safety in our warehouse space and make sure that we aren't injured while
trying to serve our clients, um, and that we can really more efficiently serve
people and move more quickly through the work that we're doing. Um, so
we ... we were advised to ... to go ahead and apply, follow the process, and that's
exactly why we did so. Um, so thank you for taking the time to listen. We
appreciate the, um, committee's recommendation to fund us. I .... I, we believe
that it's for a worthy cause.
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Teague: Thank you, Salina.
McCarty: Thank you!
Teague: Seein' no one else from the public with their hand raised, we're gonna switch over
to Council discussion. Hearin' none, roll call please. Motion passes 6-1.
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16. CITY STEPS (2016-2020) Amendment #2 and FY20 Annual Action Plan
Amendment #1— Resolution approving amendment #2 to Iowa City's 2016-
2020 Consolidated Plan (City Steps) and amendment #1 to Iowa City's FY20
Annual Action Plan.
Teague: Motion to approve resolution.
Salih: Move by Salih.
Thomas: Second by Thomas.
Teague: And do we have staff presentation on this?
Kubly: Uh, Erika Kubly again. So we are proposing amendments to our current five-
year Consolidated Plan (City Steps) 2016 through 2020, as well as our current
FY20 Annual Action Plan, to fund projects that would enhance our community's
response to the impact of the pandemic. The current City Steps plan ranks
funding priorities as low, medium, and high. So we've added providing facilities
and services in support of a community pandemic response as a high priority. By
adding this priority (mumbled) City Steps we can direct funds to this purpose in
our FY20 Annual Action Plan. Um, in the Annual Action Plan, we have added the
410,422 allocation of CDBG-CV funds that we received through the CARES Act.
Um, with this funding we've gotten some guidance from HUD about how we can
use it, but we are also anticipating more guidance will come in the future. So
while wewanna get the money out into the community as quick as possible, we
wanna ensure that we are still following the federal regulations. Uh, one of the
changes to regulations that HUD has already provided is a waiver on the public
services (garbled) Typically we can only use 50% of our allocation on public
services. With this funding there's no limit, which allows us to, um, fund a
broader variety of activities. Um, we also know that our funding has to be used
for purposes directly related to COVID-19. Um, the City has been working with
neighboring jurisdictions, other funding providers, and local agencies to
determine how to utilize our CDBG-CV funds. We also are networking with
other community and national organizations for best practices from around the
country. Um, staff's recommendation is to dedicate 246,000, or about 60% of
these funds for direct relief to households impacted by COVID-19. We have had
some preliminary discussions with (garbled) crisis services to administer those
funds. Um, they're already administering (garbled) program and residents are
familiar with their services and they have a strong history of successful
administration of CDBG funds with the City. Um, under CDBG, up to (garbled)
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of emergency payments can be made on behalf of an individual or family for rent,
mortgage, and utilities. So we would work with Community to establish specific
program parameters. Staff also recommends that the remaining $164,422 be
allocated to non-profit agencies to address needs resulting from COVID-19. We
would open applications for two to three weeks and staff would allocate, based on
HUD's guidance, for eligible uses of funds (garbled) Um, applications will be
limited to needs that address homeless services, childcare services, mental health
services, and food provision, and so with Council's approval of this plan we
would begin implementation as soon as HUD provides funds and any (mumbled)
guidance. (garbled)
Teague: (garbled)
Mims: How much money is being, uh, of this is being used to pay for administrative
services, and is that going to pay for our staff time, or is that going to community?
How's that working?
Kubly: Um, we haven't gotten guidance on whether we can take admin from this funding,
um, so our plan was to allocate it all, urn .... for services. Um, I'm uncertain how
that will work with community, um, if they request admin fees. But for now
we're trying to utilize all of it, um, for services and then we would just use our
regular, um, admin fees for annual allocation to pay staff time.
Teague: Is there a time .... period that you must have the funds spent by?
Kubly: Nope, we don't have any information on a time frame at this time.
Teague: Okay. And staff will be makin' the decisions on who gets allocated the funds.
Kubly: I believe we would be making a recommendation to the City Manager. I don't
(garbled) staff would be making the final decision.
Teague: Okay.
Salih: Do you know when will be available? For the... organization to apply or for...
Kubly: Um, as soon as we can develop an application and ensure that we're meeting all
the federal guidelines. Um, I think it might be a couple weeks yet.
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Taylor:
Teague
Hightshoe:
Teague:
Taylor:
Hightshoe:
Taylor:
Teague:
Hightshoe:
(mumbled) I was wondering will there be some type of application process then
or referral from agencies or...how do you think you'll determine the funding?
How will it be dispersed?
I'm gonna ask, um, maybe Tra... Tracy Hightshoe. Do you warm chime in on
this? I see your hand raised.
Sure, am I unmuted now?
Yes!
Yes!
You can hear me?
Yes!
Yes!
Um, regarding admin, the City wasn't planning on using any admin out of the
CB .... CDBG COVID funds. That being said, if we hire ... or we use a community
partner to administer that direct aid, they would probably be expected that we
would allow admin for .... their administrative costs to administer those 260 -some
thousand in funds. Regarding time line, as soon as if we get your approval to
start, we will start working on the application, urn ... those procedures, and our
intent is that we would, for the non -profits, they would apply. We give `em two to
three weeks. We get those applications. We sit down, review `em, contact HUD
if we have any questions regarding eligibility, um, or who we can assist or any
other questions we have with HUD, make a funding recommendation to the City
Manager's office, and then enter agreements with those agencies. Um, the
purpose was to be able to get these funds out as if...basically as fast as we could to
the Community and the non -profits that need the funds. But we need (mumbled)
your guidance and your recommendation. If this is a plan you wanna, you wanna
see, and then once we get that guidance, we can start implementing it. So once
we do get the funds we're ready to go.
Salih: And now you just want our approval or you want our guidance also like what to
do with this money. I ... I really don't get it.
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Hightshoe: What we're asking approval for is if ...the way you want to spend the COVID
dollars. It's on direct aid to households and to .... for non -profits in need of
assistance, due to the COVID, and out of those two is the 60/40 split okay? Do
you wanna go differently? Regarding the direct aid to households, if we are going
to have to work with Community and some of our other community partners to
define the parameters, like who's eligible, the amount of money that we get will
not be able to service all the needs that this community has. So with these
$260,000 of funds, how we prioritize it, what.... what.... what services or what's
covered, um. CDBG allows you to pay emergency rent, utilities like water,
energy, for up to three months. Maybe we use all three, maybe we cap it at 2,000,
maybe we cap it at two months — we don't know. That's what we would work
with community, um, to determine those parameters, those funding parameters.
We just need your okay. Is this ... is this how you want the funds spent? And if it's
not, then we need to go a different direction or figure out how you want the funds
spent.
Salih: (garbled) I really agree with .... with you for the, especially for the housing
assistance, because, you know, especially we just hear from Sara saying that, you
know, the ... the eviction protection will be like taken away and I know a lot people
who did not pay for one months or two months, and they pay half rent and now all
this money from last month and this month for the rent being (unable to
understand) uh, of course this money will show up next months too, so .... and
there is no protection for eviction, I really encourage the staff and the Council,
you know, the Council as well so we can allocate most of the money for housing
as you guys said. Or housing assistant like .... direct to family or something like
that.
Taylor: I .... I agree with Mazahir on that. I think ... and if you're asking 60/40 split, at least
the 60 towards the housing, uh, because.... especially after hearing Dennis', uh,
presentation. We're really limited on the resources as far as what we can pull
from to help these folks but we're hearing that there is quite a need out there, uh,
so (mumbled) do what we can. So that ... I .... I would go that route.
Salih: (both talking) I wanna say something, but I wanna give people a chance too. I
also thinking about since the City doesn't have any like money for ...for
subsidizing the water, uh, if we can allocate some of it to give it to non-profit
organization such as the .... the Community or any organization who have a system
in place to evaluate low-income people so they can give them help to the ... to their
water bill by maybe like writing a check (garbled) they see their bills and if they
are late they can write, you know, direct check to the City of Iowa City for the
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water bill. Uh, the .... the Community used to do that and maybe this is will be
completely different from .... from the housing fund, like maybe some of the 40%
we can allocate it to the water. So in this case we use it as it should be and in the
same time we did not put any pressure on the City.
Mims: My .... I'm comfortable with the staff's recommendation of the 60/40 split. Um,
I ... I continue to ... to (laughs) I guess I don't quite agree with the water issue right
now, Maz, and my reason is is the City is not assessing any late fees or fines. So
peop....and we're not disconnecting anybody. So we're not putting any
additional hardship on individuals right now, if they can't pay their water bill.
That gives us time as we go forward to maybe forgive those late bills, once we see
where we are at as a city, or to help them set up a payment plan. I would rather
see that money funneled through to pay gas and electric (feedback) um, or rental
assistance than focusing on water right now (feedback)
Teague: I will just to like add that next work session, Geoff will be bringin' to Council
some recommendations. So keep that in mind.
Bergus: I just wanna clarify. I think what you're saying, Tracy, is that the
recommendation, 60% would be the direct, um, payments to households, families,
individuals that would be assessed for eligibility through the third parry who's
administering these funds and then 40% would be for non -profits, which also
depending on their service model could be some kind of direct assistance or some
....it could pass through potentially that way. Is that....is that a correct
understanding?
Hightshoe: Um, yes. When we work with Community Crisis Center on the direct aid to
households, we're gonna work through coordinated entry with, um, our other low-
income housing providers or agencies. Um, they'll work on duplication of
benefits so they're making sure that what they're funding is not funded by some
other entity. Um, and it might be a combination of they may make one month of
rent and they might pay a utility bill. It'll be based on the individual
circumstances and we'll work out that final administrative plan of what we're
paying for. You know, even if we pay two months of rent, that's two months of
rent that frees up that household to pay for other expenses (mumbled) CDBG
dollars we can't reimburse the family. We have to direct those payments directly
to the landlord, utility company. They're... they're payments made on behalf of
that family. So we're not giving the check directly to the family. We're giving it
to the person, you know, either the utility provider or the landlord.
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Bergus: Let me just rephrase, as to the 60/40 split though, the 40% could be depending on
the service model of the non-profit who'd be receiving those funds, they could be
doing something similar. Is that... fair, that.... that.....
Hightshoe: Yes.
Bergus: Okay.
Hightshoe: Typically the ... the funds for non -profits have to be used for somethin' that impacts
`em directly due to COVID. Um, and we're gonna prioritize based on .... HCDC
used to prioritize needs, and it's basically your basic needs. It's homeless services,
mental health, childcare, and food. So we're gonna limit applications to those
basic needs, as we recognize that there are a lot of needs that agencies need, but
we can only .... we have to prioritize limited amount of funds that we have.
Teague: You mentioned for the individuals that might reach out and Community has the
ability to make sure that there's not, urn .... double-dipping, in a way, or they've
got money from... individual got money from some place and got money from
another place, for either .... for meetin' their needs essentially, cause a lot of our
individuals have multiple needs in our community (feedback) One of the
questions I have is for these agencies that are comin' to us. Will there be a line
item on that application that says what funding they have received from others,
whether federal, state, uh, locally, fundin' that they've received because there is a
lot of opportunities out there for individual agencies, and what other funding,
because if people have their budget already set for the upcomin' year, what
funding did they not receive for their budgets. So, I love our agencies (feedback)
community. But I think that if we wanna make sure that we can stretch our
money a little far, and if we're .... limitin' it to those I would say human right basic
needs, which I think are important .... I think we do have to ask a few more
questions to make sure that our money is stretching, am .... to .... to the most, you
know, effective way possible. There are other smaller agencies and I'm not ... this
is not, when I say smaller I'm not discountin' some of our bigger agencies, but
there are smaller agencies out there that are meetin' the needs and they may not
maybe rise up to the top because maybe they don't have one of those, um, you
know, titles of food, water, shelter, somethin' like that. But ... they're meetin' a
need during COVID-19 and so I don't wanna limit, personally, um .... to somethin'
whereas .... I don't wanna limit it so much but to allow for opportunity for a
unique situation, uh, of a agency that's meeting COVID-19 in ways that we may
not even be aware of. I will approve this tonight. The one thing I'm just
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mentionin' is just the application process. And I do agree with the 60 toward
housing and the 40 towards agencies.
Salih: I just wanna bring also another point is .... we .... we need to help all the residents
of Iowa City, regardless of immigration status. I know that sometime federal
money is .... is just have to be allocated to certain people. That's why as Iowa City
we have to think about all the residents who live in Iowa who are not going to be
eligible for ...for the, this federal grant, which is (mumbled) 60%. How can we
meet those people needs? That's why just also I will encourage staff to think, uh,
you know, about another money to allocate it from the City budget to the people
who are not gonna be qualify for the 60% out of the like 410. So we cangive that
to the Community Crisis Center as well, so, uh, to allocate it to the people who
are not going to be qualify for the federal fund.
Teague: Any other questions for staff?
Weiner: Just a comment that there is, um, a fair amount of capacity within our ...within our
NGO community hi addition to Community, I know that Shelter House has a
tremendous amount of experience dealing with these sorts of grants,
administering them, finding housing, working with landlords, um, and so
whether.... whether it's this grant or the next group that ... (mumbled) comes
around, um, I would urge that we use all the capacity that we have in this town.
Teague: All right.
Fruin: Mayor, if I may, I just wanted to point out. In the staff report we did mention that
the, uh, City's affordable housing fund, uh, does have $60,000 in it, remaining in
the opportunity fund, and as a reminder, the opportunity fund was meant to be
Council -directed to ... to respond to unique circumstances that arise, whether that's,
uh, something that comes out of HCDC or a request that comes before Council.
Uh, we noted in this case you could deploy that $60,000 in tandem with this, uh...
uh, direct assistance, and uh, to Councilor Salih's point, um, depending on how
the federal guidance comes on, comes out regarding, um, whether undocumented
residents will be eligible for CDBG, uh, funds or not. If...if indeed they are not
eligible for these CDBG funds, our local funds — we can direct however we want
and so we could have a .... a separate pot of money to support those, uh, residents,
um, that may not qualify for these. So, you don't necessarily need to make that
decision now, but I just wanna make it .... make it known to ya that that $60,000 is
available for this fiscal year and can be directed.
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Salih: Great! Thank you, Geoff.
Teague: Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? I see no hands raised.
Furthering Council discussion? Hearin' none, roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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17. City Steps 2025 Amendment #1 and Citizen Participation Plan — Resolution
approving the Citizen Participation Plan and Amendment #1 to Iowa City
Consolidated Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025 (City Steps 2025).
Teague: Can I get a motion to approve resolution?
Salih: So moved by Salih.
Teague: Moved by Salih.
Bergus: I'll second, Bergus.
Teague: Seconded by Bergus. And is there a staff presentation here?
Kubly: Yes, I have a few comments on this.
Teague: Great!
Kubly: Um ... Erika Kubly with Neighborhood Services. City Steps 2025 was adopted in
January, prior to our competitive allocation of CDBG and HOME funds. We have
a couple updates to our plan in our proposed amendment #1. First the Citizen
Participation Plan has been updated and will be included as part of City Steps
2025. The plan identifies how people can provide input on our grant processes
and how they can access public documents. Um, the plan is largely the same as
the previous one, but has been restructured and reformatted to read more clearly.
We've also added some clarifying language on administrative and substantial
amendments. Adm.... administrative amendments are fairly routine and can be
done internally by staff, whereas substantial amendments are like the one we're
reviewing today, require a specific public input process and comment period, and
public meeting. Um, we added language where (mumbled) of five days rather
than 30 for a substantial amendment to expedite the process, and that was based
on recent HUD guidance, and we also incorporated our Fair Housing Study into
the plan in the event that we wanted to update that. The second change with this
amendment is the reduction of the minimum amount for a public facility project
from 30,000 to 25,000. Staff feels that this is appropriate due to the CDBG
(mumbled) requirement that was discussed previously in the meeting, um, and
was an oversight when we initially drafted the plan. And then the third change is
that we have amended the plan to include language to allow us to fund activities
to respond to COVID-19 by identifying this as a priority need, and um, as well as
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to fund activities in our FY21 action plan as necessary, to respond to COVID-19.
Thank you.
Teague: Great! Any questions or comments for Erika? Hearing none, is there anyone in
the public that would like to address this topic? And seein' no hands raised...
Council discussion? Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0.
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19. Community Comments
Teague: And we are, um, going to .... Ryan who has been with us since our work session,
from the UISG. So, please!
Longenecker: Hi, Council, uh, this is my .... I'm happy to say this is my first time addressing the
Council, um, as the City Liaison, instead of the Deputy City Liaison. Um, and
I'm excited for the coming year. Uh, first before I get into my, uh, update, I just
wanted to let .... give Anna an intro ... a chance to introduce herself Um, she's our
new Deputy City Liaison, so uh, Anna, do you just wanna give an introduction to
Council?
Van Heukelom: Yeah, thanks, Ryan. Hi, everybody. I'm a second -year at the University. I'm
studying marketing and ethics in public policy, with a minor in social justice.
This is my first year on student government, um, so I'm really excited to work
with you guys, um, and really excited to work with Ryan, so ... thank you.
Teague: Welcome!
Longenecker: All right, um, and so just to ... a few updates, not too much as the University is still,
uh, finishing its online learning. First I wanted to say Ramadan Kareem, Mayor
Pro Tem Salih. Uh, and all who are, uh.... uh, taking part in Ramadan, um, during
this time. So this has been a chance for me to learn more about Ramadan, uh,
taking Arabic at the University, and so Ramadan Kareem.
Salih: Thank you!
Longenecker: Uh.... uh, and then, uh, there is a new administration, uh, for the Undergraduate
Student Government. We just transitioned starting May 1St, uh, so the new
President's Connor Wolf, who's a senior, and uh, the Vice President's Maura
Smith, who is a junior, I believe, and um, so everyone is really excited to get to
work, uh, this coming year. Next the renters guide survey, uh, which is the survey
which collects data for the renters guide, which will be published this fall is out
and is a chance for students, um, to give feedback about their renting experience.
So if you know of any students, uh, in your lives, please share that with them.
Uh, it's really helpful to students who sign leases in the fall to be able to see all of
the different landlords and all the different, um, housing options and their reviews
from people who have rented from them. UH, and you can find those on UISG
social medias. Um .... uh, they're all posted there. Uh, lastly, I would just like to
quickly, uh, comment, um, about the letter that, uh, USG and GPSG sent to
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Council this past week. Um,the Undergraduate Student Government and the
Graduate and Professional Student Government are strongly advocating for relief
for students and others during these hard times. Unfortunately most college
students have been left out of the federal relief packages, while they're unable to
work and still have to cover other bills and expenses. In (mumbled) discussion
during the work session tonight was helpful and I know that I and the rest of
UISG look forward to seeing what the City proposes in the coming weeks and at
the next work session, um, and we wanna thank the Council for their work during
these really hard times. Um, I know that this is a very stressful time for everyone,
and I just wanted to, um, make a note of appreciation for all of the hard work that
you are contributing to the City during this time, and it does not go unnoticed.
Um, and so we hope that you, um, are able to pursue a solution to these issues,
and uh, we would wish you the best of luck. So that's all for me for tonight.
Teague: Well great! Well .... (several talking) Ryan, uh, for bein' a part and to Anna for
bein' a part here tonight as well.
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20. City Council Information and Updates
Teague: And so I think we'll just go for it. Anybody chime in!
Salih: I .... we met ... the Rules Committee met on April 27 and we, uh, review, uh, the
amendment of the bylaw from the, uh, the Iowa City Public Art, uh, Advisory
Committee. Uh, they request, of course, everybody know about it, on the consent
agenda. They need to amend their membership from seven to nine, and we did it
and we recommend it to you! I guess you approved it. That's the only thing that I
need to report.
Teague: Great.
Taylor: This is Pauline. I'll ... I'll follow, uh, Mazahir then, since I'm also on the Rules
Committee with her. Uh, we don't get to meet very often, so it was exciting to be
able to meet. It was, uh, via conference call, but uh, it was .... it was a good
meeting. We had someone, uh, from the Attorney's office, Sue. Thank... thanks,
Sue, and ... and Kellie, uh, helping to answer any questions that we had, uh,
regarding their proposed, uh, review, or changes to their bylaws, and uh, so we...
we approved it overwhelmingly and ... and as you saw in 6.d., uh, what the changes
were. Um .... I guess ... that's as far as any assigned committees for me. As far as
any activities, um, May 29'b was supposed to be the spring, uh (mumbled) crawl
for the Downtown District, and as you know as I've said before, I love those. I
haven't missed one yet, I don't think. They're... they're very exciting. It's fun to
get downtown and see the shops and the variety of things that are offered down
there, uh, but unfortunately with the COVID, uh, they made the difficult decision
to .... to cancel that, uh, face-to-face kinda crawl and they're going to do it
virtually, and those of you know I'm pretty technically challenged, so it'll be an
interesting, uh, thing for me. They're going to actually do it, uh, May 15a', uh, so
next Friday, uh, via Zoom or just, uh, via ... uh, the website. So we'll see how that
goes, but I'm still looking forward to it. That's all I have to say!
Thomas: I'll just mention that on May 22"a, it's a little ways out there, but if you're
interested put it in your calendar. From 1:30 to 3 ... from 1:30 to 3:00 P.M., uh, the
University of Northern Iowa's Center for Energy and Environmental Education is
holding a webinar on best practices for solar siting, uh, for, uh, siting solar, um, so
I thought it would be interesting, and you kn ow, we just went through that
Waterworks, um, project. Uh, there's a lot of interest in coming up with
ordinances and best siting practices for such facilities. Uh, I think this would be
an interesting one, if you're interested in that topic.
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Weiner: Um, ECCOG finally met, um, also virtually on .... uh, April 301 . Uh, the .... the
regional (mumbled) will also likely benefit from .... the federal funding. With
respect to the 380 bus, uh, they ...it is fully, it is 100% funded by the Iowa
Department of Transportation, um, until 2023, as long as the interchange project
is going on. So there's.... there's no issue of. ... of counties or cities contributing to
the 380 bus. They are continuing to run. Their ridership is down about 60% from
their peak of 350, but interestingly, uh, the majority in the mornings, the majority
is southbound, 74% of their riders are, um, that are .... that are coming are
southbound,um, mostly to UIHC, and in the evenings (mumbled) peak times
they're now platooning buses to make sure that the people inside have enough
space to sit fairly far apart, but it's, uh, the service is, uh, still functioning. Um,
the .... couple other quick things, um, John, you mentioned May 22nd. That's also
going to be the last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the June 2nd primary.
Um, the ... they're getting .... I know that the Johnson County Auditor's office is
getting tons of absentee ballot, um, absentee ballot applications. The Secretary of
State sent them out to all ...... the applications out to all registered voters, uh, the
Auditor's office also has now drive-through absentee voting. You can drive, the
...the office is closed, but you can drive by...up next to the, uh, Auditor's office
and vote from, um, from your car. So now reason not to vote (laughs) in the ... in
the June 2°d primary. Um, and I ... and if, with your permission, I'd like to just add
a couple of things about COVID that didn't have a chance to say before. I don't
want people to get numb to the numbers. Um, please listen to stories, because
every person has a story. We've now reached the number of deaths in the United
States where .... it's equivalent to the population of Iowa City. So taking Iowa City
off the map, and a, um, a fellow City Council Member in ... in Waterloo, um,
recently talked about, um, a 19 -year-old who is a ... who'd been a student of his,
um, who just lost her father to COVID. She had lost her mother to cancer last fall
and now has to take care of her two younger siblings. There are stories like that
allover. Urn .... we, as we start to reopen, even though we haven't met any of the
CDC criteria, I really ask people to stay home if you can, to please wear a mask or
a face shield out in public. Um, and ... to .... to think of others, and I throw one
more thing in there, which is .... childcare's gonna be a big deal. Nobody... school
has sort of been the childcare for many people and now school is not in session.
So it's going to be a huge challenge for people to be able to go back to work as we
reopen, if we can't figure out that piece. Thank you.
Teague: All right! Thanks to everybody that chimed in! And we're gonna go to City
reports from staff.
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21. Report on Items from City Staff
a. City Manager
Teague: City Manager?
Fruin: I do hate to keep us a little longer but I forgot a couple things in work session. I
just wanted to toss out there real quick, um, one, maybe we pick up at your next,
um, meeting, but um, we ... if you'll recall we modified the summer meeting
schedule, and I don't know if you wanna rethink that, but we're certainly okay
keeping that, but we were going to every three weeks instead of every two. Um,
if you wanna keep that schedule, that's great, but um, you know, we did that a lot
to accommodate travel plans and vacations and things like that. So, uh, I doubt
we'll be having too many vacations. If you wanna get back on the regular
schedule, maybe we can make that decision at the next meeting. Uh, in your late
handouts, uh, you received a request for a letter of support from a, um, medical
cannabidiol dispensary that's looking to locate here. The State has opened up two
licenses because they had to close. You may recall Mayor Throgmorton, uh, after
discussion with the Council, submitted a letter of support, urn ... uh, for this same
company a couple of years ago. Obviously they weren't successful (both talking)
Salih: You're breaking up, Geoff! Can't hear you!
Fruin: Apologize, okay! Can you hear me okay now? (several respond) Okay! Uh,
we'll work on the summer schedule next meeting, is that okay? (several respond)
Okay, um, in your late handouts you got a letter requesting a, uh... uh, letter of
support for a medical cannabidiol, uh, dispensary that's hoping to locate in Iowa
City, and you may recall that Mayor Throgmorton, uh, after consultation with
Council, submitted a letter of support for the same company a few years ago.
They were not successful in the State's initial, uh, round two years ago when they
bid the initial RFP and now they're gonna apply again for two open spots. Um, I
just ... if. ... if, uh, nothing has changed. We have some new Members of Council,
but if nothing has changed, I can .... I can work with Mayor Teague on a similar
letter, if Council is comfortable.
Taylor: I'd be fine with that. This is Pauline.
Salih: Sure.
Weiner: Fine with me.
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Teague: Majority sayin' yes!
Frain: Okay, we'll work with you on that, Mayor, and then in the work session I also
alluded to the, uh, `better together' task force or project. That's that, uh, recovery,
the more Johnson County focused recovery effort, and again they are hoping to
get an elected official from each of the, uh, local governments. Um, so if that's
somethin' you wanna talk about tonight, I do think that they're planning to .... to
start to meet maybe next, uh, they're lookin' at Friday mornings and looking at
maybe starting next week I believe. Um .... (both talking) Go ahead!
Mims: (garbled) ...cut you off. I was just gonna say that's something I would be
interested in being involved in.
Teague: Anyone else has any interest? It would be on Friday mornings.
Bergus: I'd be interested too. I'm favorable to Susan's, uh, serving, but if it's the kind of
thing that if somebody's unavailable or we would need an alternate, I'd be happy
to help.
Teague: Okay. I saw Council Weiner also raise her hand.
Salih: Is it more than one people? More than one person can...
Frain: They're just looking for one representative from each of the elected bodies, and
then the ... the city managers are also gonna serve as well as, uh, I believe the
School District Superintendent.
Salih: Okay, I guess be fine with Susan Mims.
Mims: Thank you.
Frain: Okay, thank you. Sorry for the late, uh (mumbled) meeting.
Teague: So I just warm make sure that I got at least, uh, a majority of Council appointin'
Susan for this. Is that what I .... (several respond) All right, I ... I have majority.
(several respond) Great! All right, any more updates from you, Geoff? All right!
We'll go to Ashley.
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Monroe: Thank you (mumbled) know what I wanna say, um, reminding everybody
(laughs) about Census. So, um, my2020census.gov. Please share with everybody
you k now. Um, there is not internet access, um, somebody doesn't have it, please
share, um, the phone n umber. I will give it to you. This is the phone number for
taking the Census in English, um, they do have a variety of languages, so Chinese,
Korean, Arabic, Spanish, uh, French, Haitian, whatever you need, um, they have a
variety of languages to serve people, but I will give the ... the numbers are all
different, but I will start with the English, uh, version. Uh, it's 844-330-2020. so
844-330-2020, um, and they're available between 7:00 A.M. and 2:00 A.M.
Eastern time. So very long time frame. People can even take the census right this
very minute if they'd like, tonight! Okay!
Salih: Ashley, do you have a way to email, uh, all the language link so we can, uh, share
it on like emails for the network, like different people?
Monroe: Yes! Yes, I can do that. I'll prepare it and ... and send that out tomorrow. Is that
okay?
Salih: That's great! Thank you.
Monroe: Thank you.
Teague: Well thanks for the update!
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of May 5, 2020.