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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-01-25 TranscriptionJanuary 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 1 January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session 6:20 P.M. Council Present: Bailey, Champion, Hayek, Mims, Wilburn, Wright Council Absent: Dickens Staff: Helling, Karr, Dilkes, Fosse, Davidson, O'Malley, J. Grier, Jensen, Knoche Agenda Items: ITEM 9. CONSIDER AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 13, ENTITLED "AIRPORTS AND AVIATION," CHAPTER 1, ENTITLED, "AIRPORT COMMISSION" TO PROVIDE THAT COMMISSION MEMBERS SHALL BE RESIDENTS OF IOWA CITY. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Hayek/ Okay, welcome everyone, let's get started. First up is agenda items. Does anybody have anything, uh, for staff? Champion/ Well, I'd just like to discuss briefly the item #9 which is the ordinance for Airports and Aviation (mumbled) on the commission. Um, they...the Commission has recommended that they have to be a resident of Iowa City. Is that the way it's always been? Hayek/ Janelle, if you wouldn't mind approaching. Rettig/ I'm Janelle Rettig, Chair of the Iowa City Airport Commission, uh, I live on Shrader Road. Uh, currently you do have to be a resident of Iowa City to be on the Airport Commission. There was an instance a number of years back, before I was involved, where a member moved out of town and the City Council made a... an exception that they could be an ex-officio member and not have voting rights, and I think that he then moved completely out of the county and we haven't filled that position since then. The City Council hasn't either. Champion/ I'm going to support this, but it seems strange to me since (mumbled) support it, but there are a lot of people in the county using that airport. They might have something good to say but (mumbled) Bailey/ You have processes and systems you get input from users who might live outside of Iowa City, correct? Rettig/ Right. Well, I think the legislature, if you've followed what's happened in Cedar Rapids, wanted to make this an option because there are more regional airports, and in some areas, not in Iowa in particular, airports sometimes are a county function. You have a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 2 county regional airport. Iowa doesn't do that for libraries either. Other parts of the country, you have acounty-wide library system. So, I think it makes sense in a case like Cedar Rapids where they've added one member of Johnson County to their board, we felt here that, you know, we did have the option to add someone ex-officio if we chose to do that, but that because there's general levy support to the Airport, we felt that the people who actually paid taxes in Iowa City should be the ones eligible to be on the Commission. The other thing is our user-defined area would actually, uh, could go all the way to Tipton, um, to pass Cedar Rapids, if you look at the people who are tenants of the Airport, and so it became a problem...what would we call our user-defined area? Um, would you call it just the urban area? Would you call it the entire county? And then the other consideration is that if you're a tenant of the Airport, there are actually some things you're not allowed to vote on, and so someone in the user group, um, might also be a tenant of the Airport, and that could actually create us problems down the road of not being able to vote on hangar rents, for example. We already have two tenants that are Airport members so, or tenants, so that's why we decided to keep the recommendation the way it is. I think it makes a lot of sense for Cedar Rapids, but not us. Champion/ Thank you for (both talking) explaining that for me. Wright/ Yeah, I think it makes a lot of sense for us, and uh... Karr/ Mike...Mike? Sorry we're taping, so I do need the microphones. Wright/ We've had a rash of this forgetting the microphones so (laughter). Karr/ Epidemic stages! Wright/ Marian can get tough! Uh, what I was going to say is I agree with this, and there's nothing to prevent anybody from addressing the Airport Commission if they have a particular concern. So I...think this is probably going to work the best. Hayek/ Anything else on...on that item? Okay. Rettig/ Thank you. I will leave now if you have nothing else. (laughter and several talking) Champion/ ...consider taking over the Airport! (laughter) Rettig/ No, I'm going to have to decide what to do with all my extracurricular activities (laughter). Thank you. Wright/ Thanks, Janelle. Hayek/ Other agenda items? ITEM 8. RENEWAL OF CLASS C LIQUOR LICENSE FOR ONE POOR STUDENT, INC. DBA ONE-EYED JAKE'S, 18-20 S. CLINTON STREET. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 3 Wright/ Is there...anything new to report on the One-Eyed Jake's...business? Any progress on their construction? Grier/ Hello, John Grier with the Fire Marshall. Uh, I did go up to Jake's this afternoon, and they're not going to be done by today. Next week possibly... working on it, but it's not (mumbled) Champion/ Well, you know, I am...it is under construction and they're closed. Grier/ Correct. Champion/ So I...I would like to defer this to the next Council meeting, since they're closed anyway, uh, to see if it's done by then, rather than denying a liquor license and having to go through all that. I'll bring that motion up. Hayek/ Uh, John, do we have a sense of by when, realistically, this project will be completed? Grier/ I...I do not. The construction gentlemen were there today, and they were working. Uh, the bottom stairs are in. They're working on the walls and the stairs to the upper level. They were going to have to redo some (mumbled) I would...they're saying next week. I don't know if that means next Friday or next Monday. Hayek/ Can any... any portion of the bar be open before that is completed? Grier/ No, it could not. Hayek/ Others on that issue? Dilkes/ Just a couple, um...you have a recommendation for disapproval of the dance permit, um, as well, and so what I would suggest that you do is when you get to the Consent Calendar, um, you move item C.4., which is the dance permit, um, for separate consideration, after Item #8. And then we can deal with it all at one time. Karr/ Just to clarify, you'll be moving...not the whole item, because there's two dancing permits in there, so just move the...the One-Eyed Jake's dancing permit. You can approve then (mumbled) so inclined. Hayek/ There's another application under that item that is not (both talking) Karr/ Yeah, one motion can do that totally. Hayek/ You said we also had some correspondence, Marian, you want us to get that into the Consent? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 4 Karr/ Uh, we amended the Consent Calendar as well to include some additional correspondence which you have before you, most of it dealing with budget items, that's why we added it late. So the Consent Calendar, uh, motion, if you're so inclined, could be to adopt it as amended, deleting potentially the dancing permit for One-Eyed Jake's for separate consideration after item 8, and amended with the additions. That could be one motion. Hayek/ Two-part motion if somebody'll pick that up. Okay, anything else on the agenda? Okay, hearing none let's go to the next bullet point, which is, uh, JCCOG distribution of federal stimulus funding. JCCOG Distribution of Federal Stimulus Funding: Fosse/ Yep! Hayek/ (mumbled) memo, uh, that should be seeing tonight for the first time (several talking). Yeah. Rick, do you want to talk about that? Yeah. Fosse/ Want me to dive in? Sure! Uh, Ron, do you want to join us at the podium there? Uh, Ron's got some of the details so he'll be able to chime in at certain points along the way. Uh, as Connie pointed out, this is a memo that, for those of you on the Urbanized Area Policy Board of JCCOG, it was already in your packet. Uh, we've included again tonight and...and what it entails is...is an agenda item, uh, for JCCOG to distribute the...the stimulus II funds. This is the, uh, second round of stimulus money and it was passed by the House in December. It has not been passed by the Senate yet, so it is not a done deal, uh, but because of the short timeframe on this, the DOT wants to get a jump on how this will be distributed, in order to get through the bidding process and all the requirements of the DOT, uh, to work in a timeframe that lines up with the bill, and uh, a point they've made about the bill, that this is not an infrastructure bill. This is a jobs bill, so that's why there's that... that very short timeframe. Uh, so we found out about it, uh, late on a... a couple Fridays ago, and uh, put together proposals for projects, and then addressed them at the, uh, the technical advisory... Transportation Technical Advisory Committee level, last week, and the project that Iowa City put together, uh, was approximately a $2 million project that involved...what's called a 3-R project. It's resurfacing, restoration, and repair. That's a project that we can put together on short order. Uh, the check plans are due to the DOT tomorrow. That's how short a timeframe we have, and...and we have people working this weekend and... and uh, have really been putting a lot of effort into this, and it... it focuses on asphalt resurfacing and... and restoration of Market Street, Jefferson Street, Muscatine Avenue, uh, a portion of Burlington Street, the two-lane portion between Muscatine and Summit, and then also that portion of Scott Boulevard that is in the capital program now, that between Court and Rochester. Um, we have a lot of unmet roadway maintenance needs. You know, we've been talking about this for some time now with our Road Use fund, uh, balance diminishing, we wanted to use this as an opportunity to get caught up, as you will, on some of that deferred maintenance that's out there. If you were out driving around Sunday, you...you understand the significance of that with all the potholes that were springing up like daisies for us. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Wright/ I was hoping you were going to say our street there. Page 5 Fosse/ Oh! Nope! (laughter) Didn't make the cut. Um, so we put together a project that...where it...it'll likely by in the $2 million plus range. We don't have a complete cost estimate of it yet because we're still in the design phases of it, uh, we requested $2 million of the $3.6 stimulus for the JCCOG area, uh, the vote didn't go the way that we'd hoped it'd go. It was an 8/7 vote and uh, the TTAC recommendation was for $1 million, uh, roughly $1 million for the Iowa City project. Um, so Wednesday night at your JCCOG Board meeting, uh, you'll need to take action on that, and I believe there'll be one agenda item that'll actually do two things. One is, it will put projects in to the TIP, the Transportation Improvement Program, because they have to be in that program to receive these funds, and then at the same time we'll assign a funding amount to each of those projects, and uh, so you've got a couple options available to you that night. Uh, one is to go with the TTAC recommendation, and the other is to, uh, perhaps negotiate something different than that. With that, I'll...is that fairly accurate, Ron? Okay. Hayek/ Let me paint a little bit more context on this. Um, in mid-February we're taking up the current policy that deals with the Council binding itself for, uh, JCCOG votes. Um, and Eleanor, correct me if I'm wrong about that, uh, that binds us when we vote to, uh, to actually take a vote on a recommendation. Um, we're not doing that. We're...we're going in to this JCCOG meeting without this Council actually having taken a vote, um, and that's the distinction. Um... it'd be nice if this weren't presenting itself to us and we could actually get to mid-February, have a discussion and decide what we want our policy to be, but that's how it's...how the cards are coming to us, uh, so we'll be going into this without that, uh, without having that discussion, but by the same token we will not be taking a vote in advance that would bind us, and I think what that allows for us to do is, for those...the Council should go is to make a decision at the JCCOG meeting. Wright/ I'm fine with that going in (mumbled) some flexibility. Hayek/ Okay. If there are no other questions I guess...(mumbled). Fosse/ Real good, thank you. Information Packet Discussion (Jan. 14 and 21): Hayek/ Okay. Okay, uh, Info Packet discussion. January 14 packet? Anything on that? Okay, January 21 Info Packet, anything on that? Okay. Hearing none, let's go to Council Time. Council Time: Hayek/ Got it. (laughter) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Council Electronic Meeting Participation: Page 6 Hayek/ Let's go on to the Council electronic meeting participation, uh, item and let me start out on that because I...I asked that this be placed on the agenda. Um, thus far this year we have had two instances of...of, uh, remote participation in...in meeting, um, and I think we need to decide how we want to handle those circumstances, uh, going forward. Um, staff has looked into what's involved in, uh, making that a technological possibility, and maybe we ought to hear from them first just to get a sense of that and then...then talk about it as a policy? Helling/ It's very preliminary, but um, we feel that if it's going to be effective it has to be something that's built into the system, so that both the input come...the input comes in over all the speakers, and whatever Council Members are saying into the system will feed directly, uh, so that, uh, somebody on the other end can hear you. So it'd be like talking to them, you know, directly on the telephone, rather than the, uh, microphone that we tried to use and just doesn't work, because the room's too big. Um, preliminarily, uh, $700 to $1200, roughly, to, uh, perhaps modify the system so that we can do that, or get the component that we need, uh, but the quality would then be...be telephone quality, both in here and at the remote area. Champion/ (several talking) ...start out and say that I'm not in favor of this at all. We haven't done it, uh, we...it's rare when anybody misses a Council meeting, and I just think it's important that, if you're going to vote that you're here. Bailey/ I do a lot of meetings via telephone, and it's...it's not a problem, uh, but I was wondering about the web streaming capability? Um, is that... is that real-time, or is it delayed? Because when I was trying to...to do it, it was, there were some buffering problems, but it was also delayed, and I didn't know if that was on our end or not. Wilburn/ I thought it was a slight delay. Karr/ There is a slight. Helling/ (several talking) is there, okay, yeah. Bailey/ So that makes it more challenging. Karr/ If...it would make it more challenging if you were trying to watch a presentation... Bailey/ And listen through the system because you're going to...it's going to... Karr/ It's sort of like the same delay that you have in many radio talk shows, if you ever listen to those in the car, they always tell you to turn down your radio first. Bailey/ Right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 7 Karr/ Because you're trying to talk and participate, and you're hearing the radio, and there's a slight delay. Bailey/ Well, I think it makes sense. I mean, it is the 21st century after all...that we would have that capability. Personally I think it would make a lot of sense, um...but if...there's not a lot of interest, you know, I won't push it, but I know that I'm traveling a lot more and it makes for a nice option, especially if there are weather and...I'm assuming we can, I mean, we can do it that way. I see you pulling out the Code. I mean, because there's simultaneity if it runs through...the system. Dilkes/ There's no...whether you allow anon-quorum to participate electronically is completely up to Council rule. The State Code addresses when a quorum would participate, and there are other requirements for that. So for purposes of right now we're talking about not anon-quorum participating. Hayek/ As I understand it that our...we've had a variety of approaches to this over...over the years, in terms of scheduling meetings, that range from you know not insisting that all seven try to be here, you know (both talking) Karr/ The goal is always to have... Hayek/ The goal, yeah, but...but going forward with four or five or six or whoever shows up, uh, to, um, if an individual Councilor can't make it, uh, but...but feels strongly about a particular item on the agenda, asking that that item be deferred so that they can take it up at a future date, to um, what we've done most recently, which is moving meetings to accommodate everyone's schedules as best we can, to minimize the absences. So... Wilburn/ I personally don't...don't have a problem with it, given, uh, just the kind of nature of, uh, different people's jobs, whether they're traveling, uh, I could foresee, uh, certain situations where, um, some issue may come up, there may need to be an emergency meeting of Council and I understand there's probably some provision related to that, uh, I can recall, uh, one specific time in the past, um, we had...it was the smoking ban when the City Council first tried it, uh, and it was going to be, uh, it was a split vote and um...let's just say after I was here to take that vote I spent a few minutes in the restroom, so uh, and that was certainly my choice, but uh, that might have been a case where, uh, I might have asked to vote remotely. Um, I don't think anybody got sick after sitting next to me after that, but I...I think primarily just because of, um, that...that flexibility and...and recognizing, um, the nature of some, uh, people's jobs, needing to travel to the other parts of the state or the region. Uh, if it got to be, uh, you know, an issue where, um, on an ongoing basis there was regular remote participation by a Council Member, then I would think that would be something we could revisit to see if there's an issue there. Hayek/ I don't feel strongly about it when it relates to work sessions, um, but I have real concerns of us doing it in a...in a formal setting. Um, because I...I worry that it does a disservice to the public. If you're here as an applicant on a zoning request, and you're This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 8 making a presentation to the Council, um, you're presenting information, the Councils deliberating, and it's making a decision based not only on what's said at the podium and between the seven of us, but also what's presented, and if I'm there presenting an argument to the Council, I benefit from seeing the Council, in gauging their facial expressions and their body language, um, it...it helps me as the presenter know when to shut up or when to, uh, make a different point, and you don't have that benefit if... if someone's not here. Also, if you're presenting information during your presentation to the Council, it's impossible for the person who's absent to see it. Bailey/ Well, you can web stream, you just know that you have a delay. Hayek/ But...but....if...if apresenter walks in with a fresh new document that he or she wants us to look at, the person who's absent just doesn't get to see that. Bailey/ Right. Hayek/ And...well, and on a...on an important zoning issue or...or anything else where we're deciding on information that sometimes is being presented for the first time that night...you don't have the benefit of that. So I...I, my big worry is about when we're in special, or we're in our formal setting and taking votes. Uh, in that sense I'm less concerned about a work session situation. Wilburn/ You know, the flip side to...a very, um, reasonable concern, um, the flip side of that is that, uh, again if Council Members are keeping an open mind and accepting information from the public at a hearing or rezoning, um, meeting, um, you know, if the hearing goes on, if it comes to us a second, or well, actually if something's a close vote and...and could, uh, fail on a split vote, um, that remote voting option might give that same developer the... still the opportunity to have the consideration of the full Council, um, do you see where I'm coming from? Hayek/ No, I do, but...but then not all seven of us have the same information as we cast our votes. And, you know, I'd rather in that instance, you know, defer the issue, um, and take it up when all seven... Bailey/ And you could. Hayek/ ...and receive all the same information so we're on the same page, and an answer based on the same information. Bailey/ But you could do that if... if a lot of information came in that night, that could be a reason that somebody would say, hey, you know, I think we should defer this. We do have a Member on the phone. They haven't had the...and we could simply do that. I do like for, you know, sort of... second consideration, sort of a standard meeting, that option. I mean, tonight if somebody were out of town and trying to make it back, this would not be a great night, and if they had that option from a safety perspective, I think that that would be a good thing. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 9 Mims/ Given the fact that I don't think it would happen very often, and...you know, as maybe you said, Ross, I think if we did start seeing it happen very frequently, and particularly with the same Member, then I think we really need to revisit. I think...I mean, I agree with Matt. I'd rather have all of us here in person, but to have it as an option in a special set of circumstances, um, I mean, I was appreciative of the fact that when we were doing our organization meeting I could call in from Florida and vote. Um...and so, I think, as long as we look at it as the 'exception' rather than, and it's something that doesn't happen very often, then I don't have a problem. Bailey/ And, this upgrade wouldn't only apply to Council. It would give some flexibility to other... other commissions, other bodies. Karr/ It would be totally available to all boards and commissions (both talking) Bailey/ Right, which I think would be a nice feature of this Chamber, and the cost is not prohibitive if it's used, I mean, it's used infrequently, the cost is not...that much, I think it would be a nice infrequent option to have. Wright/ I've been thinking about what you were, uh, pointing out as a disadvantage to this, Matt, and...that might be a situation where we would want to defer, heading into it. Uh, for most scenarios though we don't have, um, that intense amount of material coming at a Council, uh, and I agree that there's a certain amount of...of inter-play with facial expressions, but if this is used infrequently, um, I don't think it's going to be a problem. I...I, as somebody who is one of the frequent travelers on the Council, it's something I would certainly appreciate being able to do. And we've also been criticized for the excessive amount of flip-flopping on our Council agendas for...our Council calendar rather, to accommodate people's schedules. So... Hayek/ Okay. Champion/ Well,,you're a big traveler. How many Council meetings have you missed? Wright/ Uh, I have not...I missed one because I was sick, and you wouldn't have wanted me here for that one. Champion/ Right (laughter) I mean, so that's... Wilburn/ (several talking) Hayek/ All right, well, I think the sense is to pursue this technology and...and try to limit its use by us...if I cast that correctly. Okay. (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 10 Budget Priorities (IP3 of 1/21): Hayek/ Next item is, uh, budget priorities. There's a memo at the...in the IP3, the most recent Information Packet, that goes over the decision we, uh, gave to staff last week on debt levy. Are there any questions about that? Can ask those, otherwise I don't know that (mumbled) budget this week, is there? Summary of Pending Work Session Issues (Info Packet #2): Hayek/ Okay, hearing none move on to summary of pending work session issues. Similarly we worked on this, uh, the other day, but you can see it in IP2 of the most recent Info Packet, the new and improved summary. Helling/ One...one addition, or modification I'm aware of, the fluoridation of the water. Uh, I've been given March 22nd as a date when that could be ready and we can schedule it, so we'll look to March 22nd for that. Hayek/ Okay. Anything else on the, uh, pending list? Okay, uh, next, upcoming community events, Council invitations. Anybody have anything? Upcoming Community Events/Council Invitations: Karr/ Do you wish to talk about any of the invitations you've received? Hayek/ Yeah, uh, I've...there, um, the employee appreciation luncheon is the 28th, Thursday. Uh, neither Ross nor I can attend, but typically someone from the Council has made some brief remarks, at the beginning of the event, and it's a very nice event, um, if there's anyone who could cover that and...and uh, represent the Council, that'd be great. Wright/ I was planning to try to go. Hayek/ Okay. Bailey/ Good, I'm out of town. Hayek/ Okay, do you want to...follow up with, uh, Dale on that? Wright/ Sure. Hayek/ All right, thank you, Mike. Oh, what was that Sertoma one? Karr/ That was, um, the 11th. Hayek/ Right. There's, uh, a, uh, a luncheon to, which I've been to before, uh, on February 11th at noon at the University Athletic Club, uh, it's a uh, Junior High Essay contest. It's part This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 11 of a national program, um, and they would love for someone from the Council to be at that event to present some awards, uh, for the Council. Anybody have... Wilburn/ If someone's never done it, um, I'm...I'm open; I've done it before. It is a fun event, but if someone, um, would like to go and do it, I would encourage someone (mumbled) it's neat to hear some of the work (several talking) I can do it... (several talking) February 11th, right? At noon? Hayek/ Yeah. Wilburn/ Well, barring any, uh, weather travel issues from D.C., that... Hayek/ Yeah. Wilburn/ ...the day before. Bailey/ Good luck with that! Hayek/ Would you let Dennis Mitchell know and I'll just give this to Ross right now, so he's got it. Karr/ Sure. Mims/ Ross, if you have a problem...if you do have a travel problem, I'm free. So you can let me know. Wilburn/ Sounds good! Meeting Schedule: Hayek/ Okay. Discussion of meeting schedules. Bailey/ I can't attend the JCCOG meeting. I'm out of town. Hayek/ You can't? Bailey/ I can't. Hayek/ All right. Am I first up or are you first up? (laughter) Helling/ I believe the Mayor is the alternate. Champion/ But you can delegate another one (laugher) Hayek/ Anybody else a no-show for that? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010. January 25, 2010 City Council Work Session Page 12 Wright/ Oh, I should mention too that I...I had thought I might not be here on February 1st and 2nd, but now it turns out I will be here February 1st and 2nd (several commenting) Hayek/ Wonderful! Okay. That's it. Why don't we... Mims/ I'll just mention...I just found out this morning, um, ECICOG meeting this Thursday that I will be going to at 1:00, assuming that JCCOG approves me as the representative on Wednesday (laughter). Champion/ They're lucky to have you! Bailey/ Thanks for doing that! (several talking) Hayek/ Anything else? Wright/ Oh, just for (mumbled) JCCOG, uh, affordable house group meeting on Thursday afternoon...planning to attend so... Hayek/ The, uh, ICKY's were held last night in Cedar Rapids, the Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance, and I went up there and some City staff were there, and the Library had a fantastic, uh, electronic presentation as part of the program, um, but uh, we were well represented up there I thought. Okay, if that's it why don't we take aten-minute break and come back for the formal. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session meeting of January 25, 2010.