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Home My WebLink About2019-03-12 Transcription Page 1 2. Student Leadership Awards—Helen Lemme Elementary Throgmorton: So we have three awardees, Joel Brown,Anora Klauke, and Joli Loughran. So.... (mumbled) your first names. Joel....okay, so (mumbled) Okay, so....we're very proud of the(mumbled) (talking in background) Is it on? (several talking) Okay, so we can all be very proud of these three students from Helen Lemme....Lemme School, and what I typically do is ask you to read your speeches and then I read the Student Leadership Award, which says exactly the same thing for each of ya. It just has your names, in your particular awards. So we'll start with Joli, all right? Loughran: Okay. Hi,my Joli Loughran. I'm a sixth grader at Lemme Elementary. I first want to thank my classmates for voting for me. It means a lot to win a Leadership Award that is voted on by my classmates. I also want to thank you for having me here. I've been a member of K-kids, safety patrol, and student council at Lemme. I also play volleyball and softball. I believe that a leader can mean several things and how you can become one can also be different. I think my class chose me because I'm kind to everyone, I help out when I can with students,kindergartners through sixth graders, as well as my teachers. To me being a leader is being respectful, trusted, and empathetic to others, even when I do not agree with them. I know that respect is very important so I try to respect everyone's ideas and feelings. I try to be a good role model so I can be a good leader. Thank you. Throgmorton: All right! (applause) See our terrific City Clerk turned the volume on the microphone up. Thanks for doing that, Kellie! All right. All right, Joel, you're next! Brown: Hello. My name is Joel Brown. I would first like to say how honored I am to...to have been chosen for this award. This means so much to me. I feel like why I was chosen for this award is that when we have indoor recess or other times,we may not be supervised,but I continue to be quiet and act as if there is a teacher in the room. I feel like I've also been able to help many people in math and other subjects, and I have also tried to be....my best to be kind and not leave anyone out. Thank you. Throgmorton: All right! (applause) Some math can be really rough, can't it? So the fact that you're helpin' other kids learn math, that's great! Bravo! I took three semesters of calculus in college, and in my fourth semester I withdrew,passing. (laughter) Okay,Anora, you're next! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 2 Klauke: Hi! My name is Anora Klauke. I'm a sixth grader at Lemme Elementary and I'm honored to be picked for the annual Leadership Award. To me leadership means someone is respectful, responsible, caring, and (mumbled) everyone, even if they aren't specifically their best friend. It doesn't matter who, but a leader divi... delivers everyone the same undivided respect. They work hard with everyone. Then again, a leader doesn't have to be any perfect being. A leader doesn't need to be the smartest in the class,but they need to be willing to learn. A leader doesn't need to be the most popular either,but they need to be willing to meet new people. They will fix their mistakes appropriately when they make them because a leader will never be perfect,but they will try their best to be as good as they can. That's why anyone can be a leader. It just takes a bit more work, but a lot pays off. That's why I want to say thank you to any leader out there who works hard every day to make some sort of change or positive impact, and thank you anyone ....to anyone for finding me fit to be a leader among my peers. It's been great being here and thank you again. Have a wonderful evening. (applause) Throgmorton: You know it's amazing how a good leader could....can be good at one thing and not so good at another, and some other person could be a great leader in one thing but not in another, and leadership's dispersed in that sense. So,bravo! Okay! Beautiful speeches, all of you. So let me read the Leadership Award for you, and again it's identical for each of you. (reads Student Leadership Award) So,Anora (applause) (mumbled) well done! So, I know there's some proud parents back there, there's some proud parents over here, and some proud....where's the other set of(laughs)proud parents? I know they're out there! Just for the heck of it raise your hands. You're doin' a great job! Keep it up! You have wonderful kids. Okay! Thanks to all of you. (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 3 3. Proclamations 3.a. Special Olympics Month Throgmorton: So, Joyce, I guess you're going to accept this proclamation? Rossi: I am! Our athletes are busy getting ready for their competition this weekend. Throgmorton: We're not going to see them? Rossi: We aren't tonight, I'm sorry! Throgmorton: Well let me read the proclamation and you can speak(both talking) Rossi: Thank you! Throgmorton: (reads proclamation) Rossi: Thank you so much(applause) Brad Barker, who is the Iowa City Park and Rec Superintendent would like to accept this on behalf of our athletes. Um, 50 years ago, Eunice Shriver started Special Olympics. We have...we serve over 14,000 athletes and unified partners in the state of Iowa. Our competition this weekend, I take great pride in and feel very special that we are the only competition that once our athletes arrive in Iowa City, they have no expenses. We have a banquet for them on Friday night. We have breakfast for them on Saturday morning, and a lunch for them on Saturday. Um, it's through our fundraising efforts, which is the Polar Plunge, which I invite you guys to every year but nobody's showed up yet! (laughter) Um, March 30th of this month we will be having our Polar Plunge at the re...at the reservoir, and Tim Dwight is once again our celebrity plunger, and Tim always makes it,uh, real (laughter) exciting (laughs) Throgmorton: Tim is Tim! Rossi: Yes, exactly! Urn, we also have another fundraiser, which Iowa Football helps us with and that is June 28th, and it's at the Brown Deer Gold Course. But through our Polar Plunge and our golf tournament, we are able to raise enough funds to fully fund this event, and it takes between$25,000 and $30,000. So we take a lot of pride in the fact that we are able to do that. Um, we also wanted to thank the Council for once again making it Special Olympics Month. Since we don't have our athletes here, I was wondering if I could read quickly. We have a new thing This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 4 that we started last November. Special Olympics is starting a new program. It's called the'Inclusion Revolution,' and if you look online or anywhere, you can find it,but it's a pledge that everyone takes. To look forward, to look for the lonely, the isolated, the left out, the challenged,the bullies. I pledge to overcome the fear of difference and replace it with the power of inclusion. I choose to include. Thank you so much, and if you wouldn't mind, and if the audience would like to, we would like to...have the Special Olympics oath. I gave everybody a little sheet up there, and if you just repeat after us: let me win,but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. And our athletes will all be doing that this weekend, where our competition is at the Fieldhouse, City High,West High, and Pro-Fit Gym in Coralville has taken on our power lifters. Um, it's a great thing. We have over 1,100 athletes competing this weekend, so come on out. Join us, and again, thank you very much! Throgmorton: Great! Thank you, Joyce. (applause) 3.b.National Service Recognition Day Throgmorton: Yeah! So let me read this! (reads proclamation) Hoard: Well said,thank you. Throgmorton: Are you Kaily? Hoard: I am Kaily, yes. Yes, I'm Kaily Hoard. I'm the Community Engagement Manager and Vista Program Supervisor at Shelter House in Iowa City. Um, so we wanna thank the Council for recognizing April rd as National Service Recognition Day in honor of contributions of the AmeriCorps Vista program in Iowa City, Johnson County, and uh, across the United States. Urn, so AmeriCorps Vista is a national service program whose goal is to eliminate poverty. Urn,they've been around since 1965 and have had 180,000 members served since that time. Ur....and....AmeriCorps is a program of CNCS, which is a federal agency that focuses on strengthening communities, improving lives, fostering civic engagement through service and volunteering. Vista members focus on community empowerment, sustainable solutions, expanding community partnerships, and building capacity to address specific local needs. Our Vista members have made a significant impact within our agency,but also throughout the entire community. Um, we value the work that they do every day to expand opportunities for our most vulnerable neighbors and foster a community where all residents are able to thrive. Um, so I want to take a moment too and recognize This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 5 our current serving Vistas, urn,Alex Linden, Hailey Franzen, Mackenzie Fields, urn, so they are currently serving, uh, a year at Shelter House, urn,to build capacity within our agency,but like I said, also within our community, with the overall goal of eliminating poverty. Urn, so I just want to give a special hand (applause) (mumbled) Yeah, urn, and I just wanted to, urn, again invite you all to attend the Shelter House book sale and uh, our coffee shop, which I think Alex might have emailed you all about, so I didn't want to waste an opportunity to mention that as well. Urn, but otherwise that's kind of all we wanted to say. Throgmorton: What? No Polar Plunge? (laughter) Hoard: No! That's next year maybe,but(laughs) Throgmorton: Thank you! Hoard: Thank you very much! Yes! (applause) 3.c.Women's History Month and International Women's Day Throgmorton: All right, one more proclamation! (several talking and laughing) So,hold on,uh, this is a lengthy proclamation, as you know! (laughter) (reads proclamation) (applause and cheers) Conger: I'm Syndy Conger. I'm Co-President of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, along with Cathy Eisenhofer. Polly Horton is also a member. She's back there, the cheerleader, apparently(laughter) On behalf of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, 100 Grannies, and the Iowa Women's Foundation, represented by Dawn Oliver, we thank the City of Iowa City for its proclamation of Women's History Month. The League of Women Voters founded in 1920 by the leaders of the women's suffrage movement encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education advocacy. Membership in the League is open to all women and men. Voting members must be persons aged 16 or older. Our goal—to empower citizens to shape better communities. I think Iowa City's one of'em! Thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you. (several talking in background) Oliver: Just a quick....on behalf of the Iowa Women's Foundation, thank you so much for this proclamation. The Iowa Women's Foundation is the only statewide This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 6 organization that is working to improve the lives of women and girls through economic self-sufficiency, because we believe when women are successful, their families are (mumbled) successful, and ultimately their communities. Women's History Month is an opportunity for all of us to remember the differences women have made for each other over the years,the battles that they have had to fight, and their hard-won successes. We need to support each other, um,recognize the talent and value we each bring to society, and we need to work together. We are stronger when we work together. Thank you. (several talking in background) Bowen: Thank you for this proclamation. Um, the 100 Grannies have been around...we'll be celebrating our 8th anniversary, um, next month, and so we would just like to, um, thank the community for allowing us to continue to educate, advocate, and agitate for a cleaner climate for our future generations. Thank you. Throgmorton: Bravo! (applause) Are you gonna speak too? (unable to hear response, away from mic) (applause) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 7 4-9. Consent Calendar Throgmorton: I'd like to....get a motion to approve the Consent Calendar as amended,which involves removing Item 7.1 for separate consideration. Could I have a motion for that please? Mims: So moved. Cole: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. Discussion? I wanna mention that two items added to the Consent Calendar involve setting public hearings for April the Tvi Both involve a....a large proposed development,just off North Dubuque,up by Interstate 80. One is a comprehensive plan amendment and the other is a proposed rezoning for the area covered by that amendment. So, uh.....uh, people who are interested in that project will surely wanna know that the public hearings are being scheduled. Any further discussion? Hearing none,roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 8 10. Community Comment(items not on the agenda) Throgmorton: So this is a period when anybody who,uh, wants to address a topic that's not on the formal meeting....sorry! Not on the formal meeting agenda can come up and speak to us about whatever that topic is that's on their mind. Please state your name when you come up, like Bob Elliott's gonna do in just a second, and....and then,uh, take not more than five minutes to say whatever's on your mind. Hi, Bob! Elliott: Good evening! I would like to think I might do half as well as the elementary students who preceded me(laughter)but that's not gonna happen! I'm here to talk about road diet and uh, I don't like what's going on,but I wanna make clear that the staff that's apparently the....those working with Streets and Engineering, any time I have communicated with them, they have been very helpful,very polite, very professional. So,just because you don't agree with somebody doesn't mean they aren't good people. I hope they feel the same way about me. Uh, the City... a few years ago spent several million dollars putting up a viaduct for the railroad tracks crossing First Avenue in southeast Iowa City. We love that! It's very well done. It,uh, it moves traffic along, and uh, it....it just was a good project. Unfortunately that was at least partially negated when the City spent another million or so introducing road diet to the,uh, First Avenue in southeast Iowa City. Uh,my wife and I have lived in Iowa City for more than 50 years, all of that time in southeast Iowa City. I drive First Avenue, that part of it,multiple times a day, and every time I get even further irritated by a city that is one of the two fastest growing,largest communities in the state has decided to change four lanes of traffic to basically two lanes and a turning lane. I have seen times when,uh, the backup extends from Lower Muscatine by the,uh,by the mall,to a quarter mile to a half mile ahead to Muscatine Avenue. And there are times when people turning from one street to get onto First Avenue can't because of the tie-up. Uh, apparently it was done to...uh,reduce the number of accidents. As a person who drives that part of First Avenue multiple times a day, I don't see the difference. The only thing I see is people getting irritated by the traffic. Uh,my friend.... Darrell Hansen has sent a letter,uh, wondering what kind of,um, cost benefit ratio the City has used in determining that what was done is worth the cost, the time,the irritation, and the pretty much,uh,partially eliminating the benefit of having the underpass for the trains to go over there. Uh, I just wanted to talk a bit about any studies that the State, or the City,have done, and I wonder have they been done.....the.....the busy time is not just when work is out. The usual drive time in most cities. But with traffic for City High, for Robert Lucas, for Southeast —that is emerging of traffic on First Avenue in that area, that is really something. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 9 Uh, the City....the data I have, I looked it up online, and I apologize because I haven't had a chance to, um....make sure of the accuracy, but I have....I have checked it before and it has been pretty good. On the other hand I know when you take something online, uh, you have to question it. But as one of the two fastest growing metro areas in the state, I just wanted to point out that in the 1990 Census, the metro area had more than 73,000. 2000 Census, 83,000. 2010 Census, 102,000. Uh, for the....one of the fastest growing metro areas in the state, I would hope that our City staff, who deal with our streets, the traffic, the accidents, the moving of traffic, which the City is responsible for being able to move traffic in a very reasonable and productive manner. Safety is important also. Uh, I hope that the staff and the City Council and the City Manager will not only review before what is happening with another street on another part of town, but looks at what is happening,what has happened to the traffic on First Avenue, and continue taking studies of how that traffic moves, the quality of the movement, and the quality of the safety on that. I would appreciate it if you would do that, and thank you very much for allowing me to, uh, perhaps embarrass myself, but I do that all the time, so that shouldn't worry you. Thanks again! Throgmorton: Thank you, Bob. Good evening. Vogel: Good evening! My name is Kyle Vogel. I'm a....here I....I live over on the,uh, southwest side by...on Abbey Lane by Rotary Park. I'm actually here on behalf of Keystone Property Management. Um, I'm here really just to share my concerns, share my unhappiness, share some trepidation and hope for maybe changes in the future in regards to,um, snow and ice removal citation and,um, City municipal infraction citations, uh, posted and how that policy is currently in place. Um, the situation we have is we manage a property for a, uh, owners who own a property at 1409 E. Court Street. Uh, we have two young adults who rent that property. They are responsible as per the Iowa City acknowledgment and disclosure form that's attached to the lease, uh, and per the lease itself for snow and ice removal at that property. In November, late November last year, we did receive a note from code ordinance, uh, code enforcement from Jann and Stan that they had not cleared the walk. They had 24 hours to do it. We contacted the tenants. They took care of it. That was the last thing we heard, until last...well, a week and a half ago, when we received a municipal infraction for$250 from the City of Iowa City for four additional code enforcement violations for snow and ice removal. No communications. No email. No quick call. No correspondence of any kind from the City to let us know that the tenants had failed to fulfill both their requirements on the lease and obviously their....their requirements to the City. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 10 Urn....you know, I....I, we're at the position that obviously, you know, it's valid! Urn, as per the ordinance of the City of Iowa City, first violation is a....is a notice. Second violation, City just comes out and abates it and you get a$100 administrative fee and the cost of the City crews or the City vendor doin'the work. Urn, we have not seen any of the bills for that yet,urn, which is also of concern to me. I mean if....when it first happened in January, if we would have gotten a bill a week later saying, 'Hey, the City went out. Here's a hundred bucks. Here's another$200 from the vendor,'we would of known there was an issue. We would have been able to go to the tenants and say, 'Here's 200 bucks from the City you're gonna have to pay,' you know, 'You need to get on your game and make sure this is not a continued occurrence.' It didn't happen. So here we are, four additional occurrences in Ja...two in January, two in February. Uh, Stan also informed us that there was also one in March for ice. Urn....I'm at the point, I mean, our clients are gonna go to court. We're gonna discuss it with the judge,but in the end, a$250 fine, municipal infraction fine, a$100 admin fee for five occurrences, and whatever those vendor costs end up being, I mean we're lookin' at a$700 to $1,200 bill that our tenants are gonna have to find a way to pay. Urn, I don't feel it's fair. I don't feel it's fair to the tenants as residents of the city. I don't feel it's fair to our clients who, you know....we work with the City on an every day, every week(laughs) every month basis, um, to ensure our properties, and our homes, are safe, that they're in accordance with the City, whether that's occupancy or safety and fire—all of that! Ur....like I said, I....I know what the ordinance said. I know that the resolution that was passed last year basically gave the power to City staff to put in place whatever policies to make, to put the ordinance in effect, and that policy, that particular staff policy is not to make a second call or make a third call, even if it's two months later. Urn, I guess I'm just hoping that at some point, hopefully before next winter's storms,before this comes up again, that,uh, City staff, directed by City Council, can find a way to... ensure that a simple mode of communication goes out. Urn, I do know that when code enforcement is out they have to come back and put a work order in the system for the vendor. There's no reason why when that email is...that work order is emailed to the vendor that cannot be copied to the property manager or owner on file on the rental permit in the system. I mean I....I get an email every time there's a job opening in Iowa City or every time there's a bridge closed (laughs) or, I mean I get an email from the City, so I know the lines of communication are absolutely in place in the City for...for that data base to be available. I also know that we get it for all of our other violations. If Jann is out and notes,uh, a nuisance ordinance, you know, we get that for all others. For some reason snow and ice, it's not a requirement, and....and I know it's 12,000....I think the number is 12,000 complaints over a four-month period. I understand. It's overwhelming This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 11 and I can't even imagine what Stan's crew and Stan's staff has, uh, been dealing with over the last two months,but at the same time that shouldn't come at the cost of the citizens and the property owners and the tenants of the town to have to make up for problems that, you know, that obviously the tenants probably knew exist or didn't realize were as bad as they were. Um,but yeah, so I'm just here kinda to put that bug in your ear and hope that maybe before the next time comes around we can work out a way to, I guess to ensure that....that tenants aren't payin' 10, you know, 1,000, 1,100, $1,200, um, for mistakes that they could have remedied the first time around. Throgmorton: Thank you, Kyle. So do we have your contact information? Vogel: Yeah. Oh yeah (laughs) Throgmorton: I thought we did. Uh, so there's no need to ask Simon, wherever he is, to get it from ya. (both talking) ...check to see if there's been an slip-up, uh,but otherwise, you know..... Fruin: There's no slip-up. He des....I think he described it appropriately. We notify upon first violation. I think that notification says, 'This will be your last notification; the City will from here on forward clear it if there's other violations and you'll be charged accordingly.' Throgmorton: Thanks (both talking) Vogel: ...appreciate it! Throgmorton: Anyone else? Good evening. Castagno: Hi. You don't know me cause I haven't been here before. I'm James Castagno. I live at 438 Lexington Avenue, here in Iowa City, and I got here a couple minutes too late to put my thing on the sign-in sheet. Is it okay or(several talking) Throgmorton: Just sign your name there. Castagno: Oh! Okay. Throgmorton: James, you said your last name's Castanga? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 12 Castagno: Castagno, C-a-s-t-a-g-n-o, Castagno if you wanna say it the other way. (mumbled) fill this out(several talking in background) Okay. Just a couple things that I wanted to talk about, and one is, uh, and maybe I'm going over plowed ground here. I'm sure I am. I came to a meeting a few months ago but it was a working session about the deer problem and heard people speak on both sides of that, and I don't know where we are in culling the deer, but they need to be culled. I honestly believe that. I mean the thing is, is that, uh, we have....I think I counted 11 just in my neighbors' yards when I started out to come here tonight. And,uh, this has been a really hard winter on them because of the ice that sealed up the ground before the snow came down, and I think some of them are really starving, or almost starving, and uh, the result is they're eating everything in sight. They use the lower bud branches on the trees, everything, and uh, you know I feel sorry for them, but I mean I feel like throwin' 'em a bale of hay or something like that, you know, to feed 'em,just so they don't, you know, suffer, but on the other hand I think some of them do need to be culled,just to... because we have...the....the situation is we have to take the place of the predators, you know. Back in 1492,before the first Europeans landed in this side of the world, uh, the deer had gray wolves. They had mountain lions, and most of all they had Native Americans acting as predators of them. I mean the deer were... the Native Americans used 'em for meat, for shelter, for clothing, for everything, and all those are gone now, and we...and consequently we're the only predators left, but we aren't predating as we should, I guess is...is kind of what I'm saying, and in the meantime we're serving them up a smorgasbord of succulent plants to eat, you know, and they're way more. I mean if you took the square miles in Iowa City, there are way more deer in those square miles than there ever were when only the Native Americans were on this continent. I would....bet you on that if that could be proved, and I....I've read things online that say that we have at least as many white tail deer in this country as we had when the first Europeans arrived,maybe two or three times more. You know, so I just think there's no choice but to....but to do something about this because they're eating everything in sight this year because they can't get to anything else, and it just shows what the problem is. So I...I would argue that we do need to go ahead. I'm just here in support of some kind of a deer culling program, even though I like....I like to see the deer out there too. I kind of enjoy a few of them, but not maybe a whole herd. Anyway, enough of that. The....the other thing that I, uh, wanted to talk about is the condition of the streets, and I know that we've had a really terrible winter for the condition of the streets,but my feeling is that the streets were not in very good shape before this winter and they were sort of set up for what we're seeing now. And, uh, I....I....I looked at the budget, and I don't know if I'm reading it correctly,but (mumbled) about 3.6 million on the Streets Department or This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 13 something, out of a $290 million budget, and I would like to see us maybe take a million somewhere....out of somewhere else in the budget, you know, some of these nice but not necessary things we do, and do a better job of maintaining the streets. I called Ron Knoche about a year ago and said Park Road is in terrible shape. You come out every two or three months and patch six to 12 potholes, and then two or three months later you come out and patch another six to 12, and it's just a mass of patches. Now, go on Park...and he said, well, it's not in the budget this year,but it'll be in the(mumbled) he's a nice guy. I don't have any problem with him. But there...but what I'm saying is the roads weren't in good shape, so then you get a winter like this and it really comes home to roost how bad a shape they were in. Throgmorton: James, if....if you could wrap it up (both talking) Castagno: Okay, I will! (mumbled) I would just say this, I would challenge the Council to go out and drive on Park Road, at the corner of Park and Ferson Streets, if you haven't been there, it is a mass of potholes, and even big Chevy Suburbans slow down to about two miles an hour to plow their way through there. It's just awful, and we need to...I mean the function of a government, one of the basic functions is just maintain the streets. That's not nice but necessary—it's necessary. Thank you! Throgmorton: Thank you, James. You're spot-on about both of those topics. We had extensive discussion about the deer management issue. We feel kind of trapped because the State,what's the name of....the National...Natural Resource Commission has told us we have to do sharpshooting...they'll permit sharpshooting during the first year and then after that we have to do bow hunting for the next four years. That's.....that's the signal that we've gotten from them, so we're being told we can't do what we want to do and we have to do what the overwhelming majority of the city does not want us to do, namely bow hunting. So there's a problem. Potholes, I was on...Park Avenue, or Park....Park Road at that intersection. It's horrible! Absolutely horrible! You're exactly right, horrible potholes. We know this. It's....it's spring,they're comin' up like crocuses. So you're drawin' attention to a really important topic, James. That's all I'm trying to say. Sorry. Yes, Matt, hi! Kreiger: Hi. Hi, uh, my name is Matt Kreiger. Anderson: Ingrid Anderson. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 14 Throgmorton: Thank you (mumbled) Kreiger: Uh, and we are co-chairs of the Iowa City Climate Action Advisory Board. Uh, six months ago this Council adopted the Iowa City Climate Action Plan, and at that time the steering committee that helped form that plan then was disbanded, because its, um, its purpose had been achieved to help develop that plan. And so the members, uh, of that steering committee, uh, formed a, uh, self-governing, um, self-operating, uh, citizens committee, uh,board to help and assist the City with implementation of that plan. And so over the last, um, six months, uh, we've been busy trying to figure out how we operate and how we....how we do this tremendous task(laughs) Uh, I was just looking at your strategic plan and the seven goals that are up there, and while environmental sustainability is number six, we actually impact all of them. And so, uh, the breadth of this effort is enormous, um, and so, uh, one of the things that we're trying to do is....is strategically figure out how to address it, um, while also meeting the intent and items within the Climate Action Plan. So over the past six months, uh, we have formed,uh, we have three foc...main focus areas, urn, and so we have thus formed working groups around those areas, made up of the board members and other members in our community. Uh, those are focused on the buildings working group, so focusing on energy efficiency and the building stock, plus both residential and commercial. The transportation working group, uh, tasked with developing programs (mumbled) with community wide sustainability transportation opportunities. Uh, the communications working group, which helps support all other efforts, urn, but also works to, uh, educate,provide public awareness, outreach to the community, uh, and then also the equity working group was formed in order to better understand the impact that specific programs and initiatives that were being undertaken were impacting the different populations within our community. So, um, so we're busy at work. Uh, one of the things that we'd like to do is just a 'call to action,'uh, in our community to join us in this effort and our working groups, um, and so, uh, they, uh, if anyone is interested in doing that, they are certainly welcome to contact Brenda Nations at the City of Iowa City. That'd be the easiest way to get through to us. Um, she's been, uh....she's, uh, working on the City's, uh, efforts on that side of the plan as well. So....that was it. Urn, in your...within your packet then was our quarterly update. Uh, our intent is to, uh, provide that update on an ongoing basis, urn.... uh, for the immediate and....ongoing future. Throgmorton: Great! Thanks for the work you're doing. Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 15 Mims: I would just mention one quick little thing in your update, and thank you very much. It was very helpful. Under the working group, I think you have your date wrong. It says in November 2019. Kreiger: That's correct. That's be November 2018! (laughs) Mims: Right, but didn't you form them last November? Kreiger: In 2018. Mims: Yeah. Kreiger: That's correct. Mims: So should it say November 2018 (several talking) Okay! Kreiger: Thank you! Throgmorton: Thanks! Anyone else? No one else? Okay, we'll turn to Item 11, Planning and Zoning Matters. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 16 11. Planning and Zoning Matters 11.a. Rezoning 2130 Muscatine Avenue—Ordinance conditionally rezoning approximately 0.155 acres of property located at 2130 Muscatine Avenue, from Community Commercial (CC-2) to High Density Single-Family Residential (RS-12) (REZ18-00025) 1. Public hearing (continued from 2/19 meeting) Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Anybody want to address this topic? All right, seeing no one I'm gonna close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion for first consideration? 2. Consider an Ordinance (deferred from 2/19 meeting) Mims: So moved. Teague: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Teague. Discussion? I...I would like to say that we, uh, offered to consult with the Planning and Zoning Commission because they had voted 3-3 to recommend denial of the proposed ordinance, and in our last meeting we indi....a majority of us indicated that a majority wanted to approve the ordinance. So we consulted with them earlier during our work session. Had a very fruitful dialogue with them, and I think we're in a good position to make a decision now. Okay, so....discussion? Cole: I just wanted to briefly highlight that I am gonna support rezoning this. You know one of the things that came up during our work session is this question of,um, I actually like community commercial. Urn, I think our neighborhood commercial, well it's technically a slightly different designation,but to have commercial spaces in relative proximity to our residential neighborhoods is extremely important; however, in this particular case, urn, it is very difficult if you wanna do new construction, uh, to fully utilize that commercial, um, aspect to this project, especially considering the parking requirement. Uh, so for that reason I think that this, uh, does make sense to rezone to, um, single-family residential, RS-12. Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Well I'm gonna support the rezoning as well. It seems to me, given our conversation with the Commission,uh, it's the right thing to do. Uh, hearing no further discussion, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 17 11.e. Pigeon Timber Second Addition—Preliminary and Final Plat— Resolution Approving Preliminary and Final Plat of Pigeon Timber Second Addition,A Resubdivision of Lot 2 of Pigeon Timber,Johnson County, IA. Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please? Mims: So moved. Teague: So moved. Mims: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Danielle! Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor. Danielle Sitzman, NDS. I'll just give a brief presentation on this one. The item before you tonight is the proposed preliminary and final plat for Pigeon Timber Second Addition. The property is located off of Tree Farm Lane, northeast approximately a quarter...or half-mile east of Prairie du Chien Road, in unincorporated Johnson County. Uh, the application is to...is requesting to resubdivide one lot into approx...uh, three new lots, approximately one acre in size for future single-family housing. The subject area is located in the Iowa City, Johnson County fringe area A, north corridor, and about one mile outside of the city's projected growth area. Any infrastructure improvements within this, uh, designation must meet the City's rural design standards as outlined in our fringe area agreement with the County, and be approved simultaneously by both the City and Johnson County. Staff has reviews...reviewed the proposed design and finds the proposed platting to be consistent with the comprehensive plan and fringe area agreement. Um, with respect to environmentally sensitive areas,um, subdivisions in the County are required to conform to the County's regulations pertaining to sensitive areas and they have, uh, a proposed plan to do so. They will also be in the County and on County, uh, services, so they will be on a well and septic system, as, uh, the County does allow that. Um, as far as next steps, the preliminary and final plat must be approved, uh,by Iowa City Council before Johnson County Board of Supervisors can take their final action. Uh, their...County's Planning Board and our Planning and Zoning Commission have both reviewed this, uh, application. Uh, after it leaves the precedings here tonight and the Board of County Supervisors, they'll be on to the development stages of the subdi...subdivision. Um, based on the....an analysis of the proposed project against the policies outlined in the fringe area agreement, which is part of our City comprehensive plan, staff recommended approval of the application to the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 18 Planning and Zoning Commission, with one condition regarding the normal subdivision drawings and legal paperwork, and at its February 21"meeting the Planning and Zoning Commission,uh, did vote 7-0 to recommend approval to you tonight! That concludes staff report. Throgmorton: Thank you, Danielle. Any questions for Danielle? Thank you. All right, uh, so any Council discussion? (laughs) (mumbled) from my point of view that's pretty funny. I look at(laughs) down there, everybody's giving me the same kind of look. (laughs) (mumbled) ...not hearing any discussion. Okay. Roll call please. Motion carries 5-1. Pauline, I would of said something about your facial expression but I can't (laughter) Taylor: It was the same probably! (laughs) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 19 12. $410,000 General Obligation Bonds—Resolution instituting proceedings to take additional action for the issuance of not to exceed $410,000 General Obligation Bonds 1. Public Hearing Throgmorton: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Dennis. Good evening! Bockenstedt: Hello, good evening. Uh, good evening, I'm Dennis Bockenstedt,the Finance Director for the City of Iowa City. Uh, tonight on the City Council agenda there's a series of hearings and resolutions, uh, to initiate the proceedings for the 2019 General Obligation Bonds, total about $13.24 million. Uh, the following timeline is for the issuance of the GO bonds. Tonight,uh, March 12th, there are four separate public hearings, uh, regarding the bonds purposes, under a State law. This is then followed by two additional resolutions, uh, the first resolution is to levy the necessary property taxes to repay the bonds, and the second is a resolution to direct the sale and to set the bidding procedures for the bonds. Uh, on April 6th, uh, 16th, we have the Moody's bond rating call for them, and on May 7th is when we actually receive the bids and open them up and....and compare them. And then on June 4th is when we close on the sale of bonds and receive the proceeds. Uh, the following is a list of the projects that are being funded by the GO bonds. Uh, those marked with an asterisk, uh, are not considered essential purposes and under State law,uh, each requires a separate public hearing and that's why there's four public hearings tonight. Uh, those projects that are, uh, general purpose and not essential are the Rec Center ADA improvements, uh, the solar panels at the Public Works facility, and the Highway 1 sidewalk/trail project. Uh, you can see other major projects in there. The, uh,Willow Creek, Kiwanis Park improvements. Uh, the second half of the pedestrian mall reconstruction. Uh, the Lower City Park adventure playground. And the McColler...McCollister Boulevard extension. To summarize, the 2019 GO bonds are included in the fiscal year 2019 amended budget, the five-year capital improvement program; uh, they're incorporated into current and future tax levy projections, and they'll be sold at a competitive bidding process. And on your agenda tonight, uh, Items 12 through 17 all pertain to issuance of the bonds. And I will try to answer any questions if you have any! Throgmorton: Any questions from you folks? Uh, for the public's benefit I guess I should say this is a routine thing that happens every spring, or late winter(both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 20 Bockenstedt: .....kind of right after the budget is adopted, and tonight's....the same night, little bit of an anomaly. Uh, we do an annual GO bond issue for street projects, park projects, and other projects that were developed through the capital improvement program. Throgmorton: So I remember one of the projects you showed was the extension of McCollister Boulevard. I know a lot of people on the south side of the city are eagerly looking forward to that. It's been planned for quite a long time. And....I'm very excited about the,um....um, solar panel array on top of the new Public Works facility that is already under construction, right, the facility is? Fruin: Yes it is! Throgmorton: Yeah. Yeah, and other needed improvements. So.... I'm eager to vote on all these. So, uh, do I just mars...marshal us (both talking) Bockenstedt: ....just, uh, after each public hearing there is a resolution, uh, to institute proceedings and then at the end there's, uh, two separate, uh, resolutions—one for the pre-levy and the other one to, uh, set the bidding procedures and,uh, to move forward with the sale of the bonds, and so yeah, you can just, uh, move forward with each hearing and adopt each resolution, and after that we should be ready to move forward with the sale. Throgmorton: Okee doke. So would anybody else like to address this topic, which is Item 12, $410,000 General Obligation Bonds? Seeing no one I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion to approve please? 2. Consider a Resolution Mims: Move the resolution. Cole: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. Discussion? Hearing none,roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 21 16. 2019 GO Bonds Pre-Levy Authorization—Resolution authorizing the issuance of$13,240,000 General Obligation bonds, series 2019, and levying a tax for the payment thereof. Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please? Thomas: So moved. Cole: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Cole. Discussion? Mims: I would just make one quick comment. We don't know yet what the interest rates will be,but as we talk multiple times every year, and obviously there'll be a phone call with Moody's on our bond rating,but that triple-A bond rating that we've managed to keep for 37 or what years, saves us....literally tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on these bonds, uh, because of that high, uh, rating that we have from Moody's. So,be anxious to see this when we get 'em back. Throgmorton: Indeed! So, uh, moving on. I just did a roll call, didn't I? Yeah. Motion carries 6-0. Sorry I lost track briefly of where we were in that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 22 18. FY2019 Budget Amendment Public Hearing—Resolution amending the FY2019 Operating Budget 1. Public hearing Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Dennis. Bockenstedt: Hello again! And once again we have a multi-item presentation. Uh, I'm gonna speak in regards to Items, uh, 18 through 20 on your agenda tonight. Uh, they all pertain to the adoption of the City's fiscal year 2019 amended budget and the adoption of the City's fiscal year 2020 proposed budget. Uh, Items 18 and 19 are two separate public hearings, that are followed by resolutions to adopt. Uh, Item 20 is a resolution to adopt the three-year financial plan and the five-year capital improvement program. So I'm gonna cover all three of those in just one presentation. Uh, in December of 2018, uh, the City Council received the fiscal year 2019 amended budget and the fiscal year 22...or 2020 proposed budget, and the financial plan document that was submitted in December. Uh, over the past two months, the City Council has had a series of public meetings,has made some adjustments to those budgets. Uh, those changes have been included in the final budget resolutions, uh, under consideration tonight. Uh, I'm gonna summarize those changes that would (mumbled) last two months, uh, the changes to the FY2019 amended budget include one, uh, there was the addition of a developer contribution of$73,450 for public art that was received. Uh, there was a reallocation of water funding expenditures for collector well pump repairs and this was no net change, uh, in expenditures in the budget. Uh, there was an affordable housing fee in lieu of payment that was received that we incorporated into the budget for just over$400,000. Uh, there was a facility master plan reserve transfer, which was reduced, uh (coughing, unable to hear speaker) $500,000 to $2 million. And there was a$10,000 contribution to Shelter House that was added, and this was offset with an allocation from the general fund contingency. Uh, changes to the 2020 proposed budget that were made over the last couple of months, um, we finalized the tax calculations from the budget forums, and so there was an increase in the final revenue,uh, primarily this was gas and electric taxes and property tax backfill payments, um, all combined amounted to a little over$210,000 that was spread across four separate funds. Um, the second item,uh, the public art budget was increased by$25,000, uh, there was an offset in reduction to this to the building change program, uh, so there was a net zero. A solar project at Terry Trueblood was added, uh, for $100,000. Uh, the south...a South District home ownership was added for $140,000. And the affordable housing fund, a transfer from the general fund was This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 23 increased by$350,000, uh, to a million dollars. In addition to that, the Aid to Agency funds were increased to $251,500. Uh, in conclusion, uh, Items 18 through 20 on your agenda tonight are for the adoption of the fiscal year 2019 amended budget, and the adoption of the fiscal year 2020 proposed budget. Uh, there's two separate public hearings that are followed by resolutions to adopt. There is then a third resolution to adopt a three-year financial plan and the five- year capital improvement program. And finally the budget must be adopted and filed with the State of Iowa in Johnson County by March 15t. I will try to answer any questions you have. Throgmorton: I do have a question, Dennis. Uh, I wonder if you could help us understand, and when I say'us' I mean people in the audience, people watching on TM, and so on, help us understand the....the budget amendment process. In other words we're gonna a...adopt,presumably,uh, well we have to by State law, a budget, uh, not later than the 15th of this month, uh, and then it's possible to amend the budget, during the following year, as I understand it,but there are certain constraints and processes and all that. Can you help us understand that(both talking) Bockenstedt: You can amend the budget pretty much at any time. You just have to follow the same process, uh, with which it was adopted. So you would set a hearing, uh, you would publish notice for that hearing, uh, which would outline the changes in totals, and then you'd hold the hearing and then adopt that certificate, and then you'd file that certificate with....with the County and the State. So it follows a very similar process. As to the adoption of the budget, the only difference is you cannot recertify taxes for the year once they've been certified. So you cannot make that change in a future budget amendment. Throgmorton: Great! Thank you. Any other questions for Dennis? Mims: I do. On the$140,000 that was added for the South District, is that money coming from the land banking fund? Bockenstedt: I think we added that above and beyond that, is that....I believe we...that's what was done. That was part of the reduction of the$500,000 that went to the facility plan reserve. Fruin: Yeah, you may be thinking of the Del Ray project, when we increased, uh, a contribution to that project for the off-site sewer improvements. We did take that from the land banking fund. This one it was above and beyond. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 24 Mims: Okay. Thank you. Throgmorton: Any other questions? Thank you, Dennis. Anyone else want to address this particular budget amendment topic? Good evening, Greg. Hearns: Good evening. Hi,my name is Greg Hearns,uh,President of Iowa City Federation of Labor. Um, approximately a year ago,um (mumbled) conversations with some, I guess at one time they were referred to as 'permanent part-time'employees, um....uh, about their working conditions, and some concerns they had about struggling to make ends meet and things like that. So being la...being from labor,we were concentrating basically on how to help these people get benefits. Um, we'd already been working on,urn,how we can increase their wages, so I think you guys put a plan, a good plan in place,to address that. Um,but in our efforts we understood that there were some, uh, concerns from AFSCME, and AFSCME was part of this discussion the whole time. Um,but I think we were more concentrated on,urn, getting the people benefits than we were on addressing these concerns and I think it's important that these concerns be brought forward. Um, fast forward to January when,uh, the Council received a letter from AFSCME, again, uh, addressing those concerns and it was kind of interpreted that AFSCME wasn't onboard. But that's not true. AFSCME is onboard,but there's some apprehension,based on the concerns that they've been expressing the whole time. Um, so you know we've kinda rethunk this thing and...and feel that we haven't,probably haven't given the Council a fair opportunity to assess this....this whole thing as far as, uh,the benefits, without addressing the concerns first,because,uh,if you address the benefits without addressing the concerns, the concerns was probably part of the ramifications that were gonna happen,uh, from these people getting the benefits. Um, so....like I said,AFSCME is definitely onboard,but they're a little apprehensive because of the concerns that we have. So we think the best way to address this now is that our request to the Council is that,urn, you direct staff to sit down with AFSCME and have a discussion about these concerns and see if we can work these concerns out before we move any further on this. Um, we understand that the budget can be amended,um, so if we can get this part out of the way first, I think we'll, you know, it'd be a great step ahead,uh,moving forward. So...like I said, that's our request to the Council now to....and understand that this apprehension is based on, you know, some fears,you know, let's be truthful about it and I think that.... if we can address these fears and get these things taken care of,we'll never....we'll never be able to move ahead. So,the labor community is willing to be part of these discussions if invited, and um, you know,we hope we can get this thing worked out. All right, thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 25 Throgmorton: Great. Thanks, Greg. Hearns: Yep. Throgmorton: Would anyone else like to address this topic? Okay, seeing no one I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion to approve please? 2. Consider a Resolution Teague: So moved. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? So I...I'd like to ask Geoff to, uh.....summarize what you understand we directed the staff to do at our January 22'm meeting, uh, with regard to handling the hourly, uh, positions issue. Fruin: Sure. Well the issue was, uh, first surfaced at your January 7`h budget work session. That's when the discussion about our temporary employees came up, or temporary employees specifically that work year-round. Um, we took the next week to provide you some very high-level information on how many of those positions that we have and the best we could at the time the approximate cost of converting temporary positions into permanent positions, uh, and that factored in increased wages, as well as, uh, health benefits. Uh, you gave us direction at the....at the January 22'm meeting and one of the direction...uh, specifically one direction that you gave us was to work with AFSCME on this, so uh,to....uh, to summarize I would say you....you said, 'No, we're not ready for this right now,' but we certainly didn't close the door on the discussion. You wanted more information, and that was really our recommendation to you. Um, I see this as a very complex issue. It's not as....it's not a simple matter of just providing budget funds. Um, we have to look,uh, in-depth at each of these positions. Analyze those positions, uh, determine,urn,how the current staffing model is working, uh, with their pay, and....and what a future staffing model would look like if we converted hourly to temporary employees. Um, so what we, um, asked and what you....allowed for us to do was to do an in-depth analysis and return to you no later than August of next year, before we start the....the next budget process. Um, and at that time (both talking) Throgmorton: ....August of this year, 2019 (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 26 Fruin: 2019, yes. So we'll return to you no later than August of 2000 and, uh, and....and 19, and give you that comprehensive analysis. We'll have better cost estimates. We'll be able to describe, uh, changes in levels of service,uh, changes in staffing approaches; uh, by the time it gets to you we will have sat down with AFSCME and reviewed all this so that you'll be able to get, um....um, their fully informed, urn, opinions on what, uh, staff has....has developed. So I....I think for me, as I hear the discussion happening, it's more of a matter of timing. Urn, it's gonna take us several months to....to pull this information together, I think, at a....at a level of detail that it really deserves. Urn, what I have, uh....uh, also communicated to those that have inquired is that,uh, you don't necessarily have to wait until the next budget process. If we present this information in August and you want to make immediate changes, you can amend the budget and make those changes immediate so you're not waiting a whole other year until, um, July of 2020 essentially. You'll have that ability to amend the budget if that's what you...if that's what you'd like to do. Um, but I really caution you to...to move forward with anything sooner than August because we won't be able to produce you that full set of information that I think ya...I think you really need. So as you know, after every Council meeting I....I email you and the department heads a recap and basically summarizing those actions. So you can go back at that, uh, at that email, urn, and look exactly what that direction was that you gave us and what our marching orders are, and....and I think it would be helpful if I just read that section to you, so you know exactly what we're doin'. Urn, so for this particular item, no changes to hourly positions will be included in the FY20 budget. Human Resources staff will prepare a more in-depth analysis on the positions included in the 1P4 of the 1/17 information packet. The position analysis should include an overview of current responsibilities, current staffing approaches using hourly employees, likely staffing approach utilizing permanent employees,patterns of tenures in those hourly jobs, impacts of the change on other positions and operations, an estimated cost in shifting to permanent employees, and any other pertinent information. Additionally, Human Resources should survey comparable cities to compare usage of hourly employees and total compensa......total compensation packages offered to such employees. Once complete the analysis shall be shared and discussed with AFSCME leadership. The completion deadline for reporting back to the City Manager's office is July 12th, and that's so that our office can review that, uh, take part in any discussions, and make sure it's ready for your, um....uh....make sure it's ready for your review in August. Throgmorton: O...okay. Thanks. So, Council, any questions for Geoff or Dennis or.... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 27 Teague: So I think Greg's, uh,brought up a good point as far as, urn, you know, this was brought to Council, uh, in January, early January, and it really is about, uh, the nuts and bolts and....and gettin' the information at this point. Personally, I think that it is a major issue, uh, that we don't want to rush, urn, you know, with a resolution, to ensure that we're doin', urn, the best thing, everything's been vetted between AFSCME and staff. Urn, one of the fears that I do have along this process is that, you know, um...you know, July l2`h comes around and Geoff s office gets a report and then in August we're presented with something that we might have concerns about, and so I don't know if there's a, any type of a process, urn, or....or way to add us in along the way, so that, urn, if there are concerns that, urn, we can have some input. I'm not exactly sure how this, you know, totally works, uh, I....I.....I always find it to be....I know we don't like the time game, but....but we are talkin' about employees and their jobs and, um....I....we have to make sure that we're doin'the right thing, and...and takin' our time(mumbled) that process,but I also don't want August to come around and then there's maybe disagreement between, urn, you know, how the City and, uh,AFSCME came to, urn, agreement and....and there's some things still lingering, and then Council is then, you now, dealin'with somethin' else at that point. So, is there any way that, uh, Council can get...you know, some updates along the way or....have an idea of how things are bein'played out. If it's...if it's major turnaround within these roles, um, I think that's pretty critical that Council have some, urn, knowledge of what's happening, urn, you know, within these roles. Mims: I get what....maybe I'm hearing something different from Geoff than what it seems like you're hearing from what you're saying,because it's...what I was hearing from Geoff was....that that time between now and July is really going to be strictly data gathering and data analysis. Is that.... Fruin: Well and...and just some strategic thinking about our operations, and so I...I gave you just a very....I think one of the more illustrative cases. Our Rec Center front desk staff, that, um, is both at Scanlon, Mercer, and Robert A. Lee. We may have, uh, 20 to 25 hourly employees that staff that front desk, and they work anywhere (both talking) Taylor: This is Pauline. Can you hear me? Hello? Throgmorton: Hello, Pauline (several talking) Taylor: Urn, I think.... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 28 Cole: Geoff was speaking, Pauline. Did you know that? Taylor: What, what's that? (both talking) Cole: Geoff was speaking. Taylor: Oh,no, no, I couldn't hear him! Cole: Okay. So, Geoff; could you (both talking) Fruin: Sorry, Pauline, I'll speak up. So I'm talking about....just trying to give an example of the type of analysis that we wanna do, and I'm usin'the Rec Center front desk staff as a....as an example. We may have 20 to 25 employees that staff those desks, and some may work 10 hours a week, some may work 15, some may work 20, 25, and that may vary throughout the year, based on, you know, their schedules. They maybe taking classes and have to vary those schedules. If we looked and moved those to permanent positions,we are not necessarily going to move 20 people into permanent positions. We may be better off from a service- level standpoint of, uh,having fewer full-time positions or having all half-time positions. Um, we want to look at the job qualifications,uh....uh, of those positions. So if we're going to, um....uh, increase pay say 5, 6, $7 an hour, we may want to look at other requirements. Do they have any ex...experience in a... in a, um,related field? Do they have bilingual skills that could assist and strengthen our service levels at those operations? That's the type of analysis that we warn go through, and then we wanna present to you, here's what it looks like now. Here's what it costs now to offer this level of service, and then if we change to permanent staffing,here's what that model may look like. It's not going to be this is the only model that it can look like, but I think as....as.....as the policymakers, you'll want, um, at least our(mumbled)um, opinions as professional staff to say....this is how we would do it if you moved us to...if you moved to permanent,benefited positions, and it may look a little different, and it may,um, change the way we operate those types of jobs. That analysis takes some time, and then on top of that you've asked for how comparable cities handle that. So we've gotta do some data gathering, um, so that we can give you some comparisons and say, you know, this is how we do it in....in Iowa City. Here's how Ames does it or here's how Madison does it or whoever else that we may check with. That's just not something we can pull together in a matter of weeks, and we've got a dozen or more positions like that that we have to analyze, and... and come back to you, and....and we absolutely want AFSCME's thoughts. Um, if we move these staff members into permanent roles,they're gonna be part of the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 29 AFSCME, in all likelihood, so we wanna make sure that AFSCME's,uh,not on their heels reacting to this, that they have every opportunity to study it, to ask questions before it really comes to you so that you can have their informed opinion. Teague: And I....and I think that's what I was, um,referring to. This seems very complex, what Geoff just described, and that's what I heard, and I thought, you know, um, I am encouraged that AFSCME will be a part of this process, of course, but I also wonder if, um, if it wouldn't be a good idea to even include them, you know, in general terms before,just in general discussion,um, so that they have an idea of what, you know, the City staff is thinkin' about, and then their points or....you know, they can share as well what their thoughts are before, you know, staff is goin' one way and their thoughts are another way, and then when you come together and share your thoughts,they're very different, and so I mean that.... that's a part of my concern. Fruin: Yeah, I'd be very happy to reach out to...to AFSCME and....and schedule a....a meeting in which they could express some of their....some of their thoughts up front, ask some questions, so that we know that going into our analysis; more than happy to do that. Cole: Pauline, did you (both talking) Taylor: (mumbled)Pauline(laughs) Can I talk now? Throgmorton: Yeah, go ahead! Taylor: Yeah I think Bruce made a very good point, this is a very complex issue,which is why we couldn't just make a spur of the moment decision when it was first sprung on us, and I think, uh, Geoff has mentioned a couple of times about the, uh, current, uh, staffing approaches and that it's not(mumbled)but they need to analyze those positions, and...and that's why I think it's extremely important, uh, to have AFSCME's involvement, and....and making decisions in this discussion. I think it should weigh very heavily on....on what....what the City and eventually the Council decides to do with this. Cole: I think that accurately reflects (clears throat)my position as well. I mean I think ....I definitely wanna make sure that AFSCME is brought in as an equal partner in this, and I think to Bruce's point, I think what your fear is is if there are some lingering conflicts, I....I wanna make sure that those are being allowed to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 30 ventilate directly to us, if you're not able to resolve it in terms of how that works. What I don't wanna have happen is is that there are these unresolved conflicts,we get one side,because it is almost a collective bargaining context. We may have to amend that or....um, you know, change the City's position as far as that goes,but the way I review...view those marching orders is that we've committed to doing this. The question is is how we do this. That's my....that's my take. I am committed to doing it. Um, I think the question is the timing and how it's going to be funded. Um, I think that is at least where I'm coming from and we'll get the details in August, as far as that goes. Mims: I wouldn't characterize it that way. Cole: Well that's the way I'd interpret it(both talking) get it done. Mims: Yeah,no I appreciate that. I interpreted it that we gave staff marching orders to do the analysis. And then we would make a decision based upon that analysis. I'm not saying yea, I'm not saying nay. Cole: Yeah. Mims: But I mean I'm....I am not going to commit to anything without the data and the analysis,um, and hearing what AFSCME has to say,because I think their first, um,memo back to us was very luke warm, and I think it was because of concerns that they have,um...about how it could affect some of their current members, and how these new positions would fit in there, and totally, totally legitimate, you know, questions and uncertainties that they have at this point in time. So,yeah, the only clarification I would say from what you said, Rockne, is I did not feel that the"marching orders"that we gave to staff was that we were going to do this, just give us the data. It was give us the data and then we can discuss it. Because I, I mean, I don't know! We...we may come back and say there's certain ones of these positions that maybe it doesn't make sense, or AFSCME may come back and say staff said there's 38 but we really think there's 45. And...so (both talking) Cole: Yeah, it's the details that they'll come back (both talking) Mims: Right! So...I'm not willing to commit to any decision until I have facts and data and analysis in front of me. That's....that's all I wanted to say. Teague: And I think that's....true for any....any Council Member, is that we....we have to get the information back, um, cause it can come back and....I may not even like This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 31 it, and can't vote on it, and that's why, you know, I wanted to make sure that there was...if there was some disagreements along the way, that maybe Council needed to maybe, you know, get involved in, that...at least we've opened up that door, urn, because the last thing I wanna do is make sure...is to get somethin'back and then after all, you know, uh.....some lengthy time has gone on, and then none of us can say yes. (laughs) Cole: I think they'll probably let us know if there's a road block (both talking) Teague: Sure! Sure! Throgmorton: Yeah, I think we need to do, have....make sure staff does some good analysis on this, and....some good consultation with AFSCME, and uh, my guess is we'll probably modify the,uh, what we're doing to some extent. I don't know how much,but we'll find out, cause we need the analysis. We need the consultation and so on,but I wanna also, uh, express support for some language that appears in...in Greg Hearns' email to us, uh, about having a vision for a high road local economy built on good jobs. I mean I firmly support that. We just don't wanna ....we wanna make sure we don't kinda mess up lives of a whole bunch of other people who are on part-time or....certain kinds of hourly, uh, situations. Yeah. Okay, any further discussion? Thomas: I,just briefly I....I like what I'm hearing in terms of the, you know,AFSCME working with us, staff, and um, looking forward to the collaboration. Throgmorton: Okay, we have a resolution before us. No further discussion I'm assuming? Roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 32 19. FY2020 Budget Public Hearing 1. Public Hearing Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) We've already gotten a briefing from Dennis. I don't know, 25 minutes ago, whenever that was. Yeah. I don't see anybody who wants to speak. I'll close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Could I have a motion to approve please? 2. Consider a Resolution Thomas: So moved. Mims: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Thomas, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Mims: Yeah, I'll start here. Urn....I've.....actually debated an awful lot in the last couple of weeks whether or not I was going to support this budget or not. Um, and let me just start by, as I think I normally do, is commending our staff for the incredible,um, incredible amount of work that they do, starting easily back in August, if not before (laughs)urn, you know we had our meeting in August to, you know, kind of give them direction and any, you know, new items or particularly any large ticket items, um, that we wanted to see,um, in the budget, and I think that's something that we did the....maybe for the first time this year, and Geoff had kind of requested that,because I think in past years (laughs) we've kind of dropped some things on'em at the last minute that made it a little more challenging, and so to try and get all of us kind of on the same page in August, so as staff really starts working through it with,um,the various department heads and then coming through City Manager's office and Finance department and putting all the pieces together and what funds and levy amounts, etc. So it's a lot of....a lot of work, and I...I feel like as a Council, we really committed to doing a good job in that, and really hying to think ahead about, you know,what were some of the issues,um,potentially that we wanted to see some, you know,more than minor changes,urn, to the budget and make sure that we tra....you know, transmitted that information to staff in August. As I've had conversations with people I think it's, you know, clear that, you know, we all....come at this with different perspectives, different priorities,um, as we look at the budget and things that we want to see accomplished. Um, I'm....I'm proud to see that we've been able to lower the tax levy. I think this is our eighth year in a row,um, and I think This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 33 as Geoff said in his transmittal letter, it's probably only one or two more years maybe, you know, that we might be doing that, and that's probably reasonable. Urn, I don't think we wanna go to, uh, the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, um, but I think we wanna get a little more competitive maybe than we have been in our local area. Um, so I think may...maybe we can do that for another couple years and maybe not, and then levy....and then level off. What's been my biggest quandary for the last couple of weeks, urn, has been....basically what happened when I was gone. Um, I missed a meeting cause I was at a convention. I talked to three Council Members, cause I was sitting in O'Hare Airport, about the Aid to Agencies money. And I had read carefully the,uh, minutes of the Neighborhood, uh, Development group, what's it....NC (several talking) HCDC (laughs) Housing Community Development. I....all these different acronyms we have. Urn, had... had read through that carefully and was....was disappointed in that group, in that they had been given a budget. Um, I think many people in that group were ready to approve it, um,but still come back and ask us for more money. I think staff had done a good job of recommending I think it was an extra$37,000, to fund,uh, some of the emerging organizations. And what I said to the three Council Members that I talked to on the phone was....I encourage that we do that, and that I strongly encourage that we look at setting a work session for later this spring or early summer to talk in-depth about how we fund Aid to Agencies in the future, how we can make sure that we're doing it in a sustainable manner,how we can try to build in,um, annual increases, which I do believe the City Manager had put in in his memo,um, and making sure that, you know, that they're not losing,uh, the opportunity for grant funding,which has become a concern,um....but that to all of a sudden at the very last minute....drop an extra$250,000,um,that we weren't planning to didn't seem responsible to me. Urn,these Aid to Agencies...these agencies were not....they were not expecting that 250,000. They, um,they obviously always want more. I get that. They need more,but I think also the City Manager had done a great job in trying to communicate to usu, and the community in general,uh,how much more money we actually give to a lot of these agencies and other programs in the community. So my disappointment was with HCDC in their approach, in refusing to make an allocation, um, and then my second disappointment after all three Council Members that I had talked to agreed that that was a reasonable approach was to,uh, approve the extra$37,000, have work sessions in the spring, and figure out how to, you know, increase these numbers in the future. Um, two of the three,uh,went with the majority and we dropped an extra$250,000 at the last minute into the budget. For me this is a process issue. It is...it....we have tough decisions to make, and it's....it's being strong enough to make those tough decisions....regardless of what comes up in front of us. This was not an emergency. If it had been an absolute emergency, I This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 34 would entirely agree that somehow we find that money in our budget, and we have reserves,but my concern is the approach,urn, so I have struggled for the last couple of weeks to decide how I would vote. Urn, I'm going to support the budget,but I just felt I had to speak out....very strongly, urn, about my disappointment and frustration,urn, in terms of how the process worked. Cole: So I'd like to respond to that. Um, it is too bad you couldn't go to the meeting because you and I did talk. I was one of the three. I think you made some very compelling points. But what really struck me about that particular Aid to Agency meeting, and I think it would have appealed to you in terms of the numbers and the logic, is I felt the members of those commission made a very compelling data- driven case,based upon the increase in population that we have, and that funding had not kept up over time. And maybe you wouldn't have been persuaded had you been here, urn,but I think to me that is citizen-led government. That is co- collaboration with our residents and with our commissions. In my view, during that process, they made (mumbled) and what was most compelling and I forget her name,but the chair of the Commission, if someone could help me, she gave not an impassioned speech. She gave a very,um, fact-driven(both talking) Throgmorton: Paula Vaughan. Cole: Paula Vaughan, and it was just the facts. It was without emotion and it was very compelling, and so I think to me we come into this chamber with the preexisting set of views,but when people make their case, and I think it wasn't just her. It wasn't just Charlie Eastham. It wasn't just Vanessa. To ignore that, and I said at the time I said the, um, you know, the easy thing to do is to agree with'em, right, and to make that....and the hard thing to do is to say no, as you did, so you should be commended with that. Urn,but I think they did make their case, and so....maybe if you could, you read the minutes,but if you can actually see the presentation, maybe you(both talking) You actually saw it? You did see it. Okay, well I was very persuaded. She lives a couple streets down and so I think if we're going to err on the side of the community members and need, and make some possibly mistakes, as you may indicate,that we should do it in this way with our Aid to Agencies organizations that do such terrific work and we did make clear to assuage any concerns going forward that this was not going to be an ongoing thing. Now we'll see what happens next year. Uh,but in this particular instance I think they made their case for that. But setting aside this issue I'm really proud of the way we balanced the....the need for economic growth. I'm very proud of the fact that we've maintained a triple-A bond rating,that our reserves are strong, and we're able to get a reduction in the levy, while at the same This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 35 time increasing the, um, spending,uh, for our residents truly in need. So I'm very proud of this budget and I'm proud to support it. But I think you...you raise some valid concerns, Susan. Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Teague: This was my first opportunity to go through the budget process and as Dennis was given, urn, a piece that I wasn't expectin'tonight, which was, urn, additional funds that came in and, uh, things that went out and all that other stuff. At the end of that I wanted to note what is like the bottom number,um (laughs) hopefully it's a positive number, but urn, cause I....I'm sure we can find a way to spend that. Um, other than that, I....I want to thank the staff for makin' it very, um....I don't know, elementary for me(laughs) to understand the budget to the best of my ability. Urn, it is massive. It really is. There's a lot that goes into,uh, this budget. Um, I learned a lot. Um, and you know, I appreciate your comments, Susan. I honestly do...I honestly do,because what I'm learnin'is,uh, you know, a budget is a budget, and um, sometimes, yes, we....we will be compelled to,um, make adjustments and stuff like that, but um....I do appreciate your comments. I can expound upon my thoughts about it, um, I....I really think we could have compromised with, uh, HCDC because they....they seem like they would compromise,but nevertheless,uh, a decision was made,but uh, I really appreciate the City staff for the process and I'm lookin' forward to the next budget season! Believe it or not! Mims: (laughter) They're ready for a break! (laughs) Throgmorton: Pauline, do you have things you wanna say? Taylor: Well I do appreciate Susan's comments because when....when I went into the process, I like her was (mumbled)but as (mumbled) uh, when Paula gave the presentation and hearing the facts about(mumbled) uh, at the same time (mumbled) number of agencies going up, uh, I...I like Rockne,uh, decided that, uh....uh, we really did need to, uh, give that extra money, and as (mumbled) it, uh, it isn't going to be a recurring thing. (mumbled) Throgmorton: Thank you. John, do you want anything....say anything? Thomas: Yeah, I mean I....I, the.....I'd not forgotten but had not anticipated this, uh, question of the Aid to Agencies, but it was a, um....it was an interesting experience. I mean, you know, I think all of us, certainly myself; saw this as, you This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 36 know,the going into that discussion that this was a significant increase, as....as Rockne said it was a very compelling,urn,passionate but grounded presentation in terms of the,urn,you know, the request, and I...you know, what I said at the time was that, and Susan, you mentioned if this were an emergency. Well, you know, these are agencies which are front-line agencies with respect to services to people that are the most vulnerable in our community. So, I think,uh....you know, I think legitimately it could be considered to be,urn, a....a very pressing issue, if not an emergency. We did acknowledge it was a one-year, um....(mumbled) decision that only pertained to the one year and that, as you had mentioned,we needed to resolve this issue so we could address it as we move forward. Um....but it did seem at the time, and it was also, you know, an appropriate decision on our part, and hearing how the HDDC themselves had kind of a break-through at their meeting, you know, where they just reached an impasse and said, 'We just can't submit what,' you know, uh....'base our submittal, or our request, on the budget we were given,'urn, so in any event I, you know, I think it was a one-time decision that revealed the fact that....that the whole funding for the Aid to Agencies needed to be evaluated. Throgmorton: Okay. Well, I'm gonna support the budget,urn, motion,but I wanna thank Dennis and in particular Jacklyn Fleagle for the great work you've done in putting this budget together,uh, course lot of staff was involved as well. Not just the two of you,but....thanks so much for what you've done. It's a big task and you've done it well yet again. Okay. I think, uh....any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. Could I have a motion to accept correspondence please? Mims: So moved. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carries. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 37 20. Three Year Financial Plan and Five Year Capital Improvement Plan— Resolution approving the three-year Financial Plan for the City of Iowa City, Iowa, and the five-year Capital Improvement Plan. Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please? Mims: So moved. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Full sail ahead (laughs) Mims: No I just wish we had few hundred more million or(laughter) capital improvement plan. Throgmorton: I wish we had a few hundred more million for potholes! (laughter) (mumbled) I'm joking about that,but of course we do have a really severe pothole problem this late winter. Uh, it's really...beyond the pale,relative to previous years, and I've been here...and, uh, I think it'd be good for the staff to give us some feedback about how it's gonna respond to the potholes in terms of getting them filled as quickly as possible and that kind of thing, maybe some brief memo to.... Mims: Dependent on weather! Throgmorton: Yeah, I know! We can't just go out there in a snow storm or something like that and try to fill potholes, but....it's not a trivial problem. Fruin: We can give you an overview of how we approach it and....um, how that changes throughout the year. So we'll....we'll do that. Just put a memo in your info packet. Throgmorton: Yeah. You can't drive 35-mile-an-hour on Park Road, I'll tell ya that, goin' up the top of the hill—bam! You're in a sea of potholes. Mims: Speed limit's 25. Fruin: You wanna slow traffic down(several talking and laughing) Throgmorton: That's right, I better not do it(laughs) Okay! Well we need a roll call on this, don't we? Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 38 21. First Avenue Water Main—Resolution approving project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the First Avenue Water Main Replacement Construction Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and Fixing time and place for receipt of bids. 1. Public hearing Throgmorton: I'll open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) Good evening! Welter: Good evening,uh, Joe Welter from Engineering to do a staff presentation. (mumbled) Throgmorton: Good patience, Joe! You've been there(laughs) for a while! Welter: I heard it's a virtue! (laughter) So,um,this is located,uh,near two landmarks in Iowa City—City High School and,urn, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, uh, being kitty-corner to the project. We're replacing approximately 1,000 feet of,uh, 1950s existing pipe,which has had a history of main breaks. That's on the west side of First Avenue. Replacing that with 8-inch PVC pipe. Um, there'll also be a crossing across Court Street. There's a piece of pipe on the north side of Court Street,urn, and a piece of pipe on the south side of Court Street that are intending to be connected and we're going to put in a new,urn,valve and a new vault there to house that vault. Uh, the crossing on Court Street, uh, will be 8-inch and 12- inch pipe. Trenchless methods are being used to minimize disturbances. There will be several boring pits between the different,uh....um,jack and bore or directional drilling, and uh, that's to minimize the amount of disturbances. There will still be some excavations to restore service connections to the individual houses and,uh, customers along those lines. The....we're hoping to open bids on April,uh, 8th,uh,we would like construction to start after the school year ends, whenever that is, uh(laughs) up in the air I think still,uh....and then hoping to get, uh, substantially completed before the school year starts,uh,being so close to City High School there,uh, that we thought that was very important. Uh, obviously there's some odds and ends with every project, so we'd have a final completion date of later in the fall. The,uh....estimated, uh, opinion of cost is $375,000. And....um, there's my contact and the design engineer is Brad Routh out of Muscatine with Watersmith Engineering. Throgmorton: Great. Thanks, Joe. Any questions for Joe? Thanks! Anyone else want to address this topic? Seeing no one I'll close the public hearing. (bangs gavel) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 39 2. Consider a Resolution Mims: Move the resolution. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Taylor: I'm glad to hear you're going to avoid, or try to avoid, the school year. Throgmorton: Yes indeed! Good thinking, Joe! (laughs) Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 40 25. Electric Assist Bicycles—Ordinance amending Title 9, entitled"Motor Vehicles and Traffic," to Chapter 1, entitled "Definitions,Administration and Enforcement of Traffic Provisions" and Chapter 8, entitled "Bicycles," to provide for the operation of electric assist bicycles (First Consideration) Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for first consideration please? Teague: So moved. Cole: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Cole. Discussion? Anybody on staff wanna say anything about this? Teague: I think it's exciting! (laughter) Fruin: Yeah, uh, this relates to a upcoming bike-share, so maybe,Darian, do you wanna come up and just update Council where we're at with the bike-share? Nagle-Gamm: Sure! Hi there. Darian Nagle-Gamm,Transportation(both talking) Throgmorton: Hi,Darian! Nagle-Gamm: ...uh, Services. So this is, uh, an ordinance which is going to define more clearly in our code to allow for electric assist bikes and why we needed to define that more clearly is because these bicycles operate a little bit differently. Many of hour bike-share companies have,uh, electric assist bikes,which give you a little bit of a power assist,uh, in proportion to how hard you push down on the pedal, as opposed to an electric assist bike that has sort of a throttle and you can set it and you just kind of go without pedaling. So we just needed to make sure that our code, um, is....is caught up so that when we implement a bike-share many of them have these electric assist bikes that they would be enabled, and they're also getting more popular. You could go to any one of the local bike shops and you could pick up an electric assist bike. So they help you get up hills a little bit easier. They help you....they give you a little....basically it makes you a fitter version of yourself,urn(laughter) we think they'll be popular. We just,needed to make sure that the code reflected and allowed for their operation, where normal bicycles would operate. Cole: Scooters are also a hot topic lately. This has nothing to do with scooters, correct? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 41 Nagle-Gamm: This, yeah, this is specifically just for electric assist bicycles. Cole: And that will be on the horizon in the future? Nagle-Gamm: Correct! Cole: Okay. Teague: I love it! Nagle-Gamm: We do too! Throgmorton: Fitter versions of ourselves,that's not a bad concept! (several talking in background) Thank you, Darian. Any further discussion on the part of Council? Thomas: Well I'm pleased to see as we expand the bike network that we're diversifying ways of using the bike lanes,um, so that they will be more popular,better.... better used, and then as Rockne said, you know,here come the scooters, I mean they're the next wave, and so....I.....I'm really seeing that bike network,um, you know, the potential of it will be realized as we diversify these options. Throgmorton: Right. Okay,hearing no further discussion,roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 42 27. Woodland Ridge Water Agreement—Resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign and the City Clerk to attest an agreement to provide water service to Woodland Ridge Subdivision. Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please? Teague: So moved. Thomas: Second. Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Thomas. Discussion? Ron! Knoche: Good evening. Ron Knoche, Public Works Director. Um, in 2017,uh,we approved an agreement with Lacina Meadows,uh, to provide water to them. Um, at that time,uh(mumbled)mentioned another subdivision that was in the neighborhood that was having the same issue of radionuclides in their water wells. Urn, at that time,uh,Woodland Ridge was preparing their preliminary engineering report,um, and submitting that to the DNR,urn, to...um, apply for some,uh, State revolving funds to be able to put water main in and to come onto our City system. Um, the State,uh, approved that report in 2018,uh, and they've been preparing plans,uh, to move forward with,uh, installing water main and connecting to,uh,the Lacina Meadows water main. Urn,this agreement basically is identical agreement to what we have with Lacina Meadows. Um, the caveat on this one is that we have to get the Lacina Meadows, uh, subdivision water main approved and accepted, uh, prior to them being able to connect onto it, uh, which we expect that to happen this spring with some, uh,punch list work that they have to do on that project. Urn, the expectation is that they would be on our system and we'd be providing water to them either by this fall or by next spring. Throgmorton: Any questions for Ron? I....I'm gonna throw you a big softball,uh, so that my question is...has to do with the equivalent of mission creep, you know that concept,mission creep? Knoche: Okay. Yes. Throgmorton: Where the mission keeps expanding,beyond what you thought it was. Knoche: Uh huh. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 43 Throgmorton: So.....reassure me this is not a version of development creep. In other words providing water, maybe sewer's next, whatever, you know. Knoche: So as we....as we analyze these situations that come up, you know, we establish three criteria for, urn, providing services outside of our corporate boundaries. Urn, the first criteria is that they're not within our growth boundary. Uh, the second criteria is that there's a public health issue, and the third criteria is that it will not have an impact on our system, and in this case,uh, it....it meets all those criteria. Um, if we have a situation where we would have a....a.....a subdivision that was within our growth boundaries and was looking to, uh,hook on to ow system, we would require annexation. Um, so, you know....the.....the big thing here is I think the public health issue that this does raise and,urn, we have the ability to provide water to them. Um,the....(mumbled) of this is if a rural water system would....would try to start, um, getting closer to Iowa City, it would make it more difficult for us to ex....to expand, uh, in the future. Throgmorton: Okay, great. Thanks! Knoche: Thank you! Throgmorton: Okay, Council discussion? Taylor: I....this is Pauline. Uh(mumbled) with my healthcare background, I think with the previous subdivision I mentioned this also,uh, it definitely is a public health issue and, uh, it's very important that we assure the health and safety of all...all of our community. So I'm very much in favor of this. Throgmorton: Great. Thanks, Pauline. Any other Council comments? Mims: No, I would just piggyback on the question you asked, Jim,that I think we had discussed that, and that was certainly one of my questions when we did the one for Lacina Meadows is....you know, where does this end? Um, you know, regardless of health issues, we aren't responsible for providing clean, safe drinking water to everybody in Johnson County. So making sure that we know what those parameters are, I think, is really important. So.... Cole: Yeah, I would share that. I mean sort of putting on our strong town's hat,what are the long-term liabilities that we are incurring by reason of this, and does the rate of 1.5 times the fee adequately ensure that we'll be able to meet those long-term This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 44 liabilities,but that said, I think with the health issue,urn, it does not appear to be mission creep, um.....I'll support it. Legitimate concern though,Jim. Throgmorton: Yeah. Any further comment? Teague: I'm happy they're payin' for the in....infrastructure of it also (laughs) Throgmorton: Yeah (several talking) Mims: ....do it otherwise. Throgmorton: Okay. Hearing no more discussion, roll call please. Motion carries 6-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 45 28. Council Appointments 28.a. Housing and Community Development Commission—One vacancy to fill an unexpired plus three year term, upon appointment—June 30,2022 Throgmorton: Uh, there's a male gender-balance requirement. Uh, five people have applied, three of them are men, two women. So, uh, Joe Coulter,Matt Drabek, and Peter Nkumu. Do you folks have preference about who to appoint? Mims: I would say either Matt or Peter. I....I don't personally know either one of them, um....Peter called me. Joe obviously is a....is a great representative,but we've talked about trying to give new people an opportunity, and Joe has served on a number of Iowa City commissions in the past. So I feel very strongly that it needs to be,um, either Matt or Peter,but I don't have a strong opinion. I don't know either one of them personally. Throgmorton: Well I've had conversations with Peter, as president of the Congolese community, and,you know, I....I, he'd be a good appointee. Mims: Then I would support that. He did give me a call or an email, I forget which it was, so I would support Peter. Throgmorton: I don't know what other people think(both talking) Thomas: I would support Peter. Cole: I think it's great to get some representation from the Congolese community too. Throgmorton: Okay. Taylor: Yeah, this is Pauline. It was kind of a tough decision cause Joe has been an excellent representative on...on,uh, some of our commissions, uh, excellent attendance at....at all the meetings, and coming and accepting,um....uh....items on the, at the Council, and attending other meetings. I've seen him in other meetings. Um,but yeah, we have set a precedence that we'd like to get new folks and I would be supportive of Peter. 28.b.Telecommunications Commission—One vacancy to fill an unexpired term,upon appointment—June 30,2021 This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 46 Throgmorton: Okie dokie. We can combine this with the next one,right,to do motions? Okay. So Item 28.b.,Telecommunications Commission. We have one vacancy to fill an unexpired term upon appointment. There's a female-gender balance requirement and we have applications from two individuals, one a male, one a female,uh, Andrew Austin and Gina Reyes. So....I mean it seems pretty obvious what to do here, and Gina seems to have pretty substantial background. So I would recommend appointing her to the Telecommunications Commission. Mims: I would agree. (several talking) Taylor: I...I, oh! Throgmorton: What's that, Pauline? Taylor: (mumbled) I was going to say, um, I agree. Obviously it's obvious that I....I would like to encourage Andrew,uh, it looks like there are two terms expiring next year,which would be a male,uh(mumbled) and I would encourage him to apply again. An 18-year-old, I'm excited that someone that young is interested in....in doing this kind of public service. Throgmorton: Good point! Teague: I do have a question. Do the applica....applicants remain....on file? (several talking) Fruehling: They do for a year from the time that it's submitted. Teague: And is his within that year period? Of the anticipated expired, or we don't know? Fruehling: Um....l guess it would depend on when it gets announced and when it was actually submitted. So.... Throgmorton: Okay, so I think we have two decisions there. Could I have a motion to appoint Peter Nkumu to the Housing and Community Development Commission and Gina Reyes to the Telecommunications Commission? Cole: So moved. Mims: Second. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 47 Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Mims. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Taylor: Aye. Throgmorton: That...that was in favor I know, Pauline. Thank you. Motion carries. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 48 30. Community Comment Throgmorton: Gustave, you wanna speak up...and anyone else who would like to address a topic could probably do that,but nobody's here (laughs) Stewart: Hi, urn, Gustave Stewart, Student Liaison. Urn, I wanted to mention two, uh, kind of University happenings that, urn, I figured it's worth mentioning. First off, urn, that...currently there are plans to put a student garden right by North Hall and the river, if you know that green space over there. Moving it from,urn, where it currently is at, where it's close by West High School, um, to convert it there. Urn, it was previously talked about a few years ago, but then funding,um, fell through and they(mumbled) they secured funding to put,urn, a garden more in that area. So if we're thinking about community gardens, urn, it'll be close to downtown. It'll, urn, I'm sure everybody can use it or what not,but that'll be, urn, corning up in the next couple of years. So, that's something super exciting(several talking) Urn, and the second thing was, urn....and I'm not sure if you're, um....you remember from last year, uh, that, urn, we're currently, uh, using fundraising for the Hawkeye Completion Grant, urn, which the Hawkeye Completion Grant is essentially, urn, if you have a fee, um, $100 to $1,000, urn, on your, uh, University bill, and you aren't allow to register for next semester's classes, right, so currently we're, urn, creating....we did this last year, urn,but we're fundraising,urn, again, uh, to, urn, I think the goal is $5,000, at least what we're tryin'to,uh, gamer for, uh, funds,urn, and I think there's additional funds elsewhere,but urn, to kind of....if....an individual is, urn, currently in that situation and they...don't have the sufficient funds that you would be....you would have those funds available, uh, a small grant,per se. So I wanted to extend the offer to you, uh, to donate, urn, and I can send you the link, uh...um, yeah! Throgmorton: Okay! Stewart: Thank you. Throgmorton: Thank you, Gustave. All right. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 49 31. City Council Information Throgmorton: So maybe we could start with Bruce and move to the right. Teague: All right! Well, um....we haven't met for some time (laughs) Throgmorton: Got a long list, huh? Teague: Not exactly! Um....actually I was able to attend, um....Through my Eyes that was held here in the,urn, City Hall, and it...it was a film that spotlight four individuals with disabilities and four...without who spent some time, um, learnin'what it was like to have disabilities, and so....um,within the film there was someone, um, that was without sight and, um, actually Simon was, uh, the guinea pig, I guess (laughs)but urn, experienced life without sight. There was one individual,urn, where they didn't have the ability to talk. So, um,they communicated through, um, text or writing, and so that was,um, an experience that someone had the ability, had to role play not bein' able to, um, communicate through voice,but through texting and writing and so, and there was some more things that,urn, happened in that video. One....one thing that I appreciated was actually seein', urn, really havin'that communication after the film to discuss, um,what some of the role players, as well as some of the, um, an individual that was a part of the production of this, and....and really, urn, get a sense of what it is to live with a disability, and so I....I really did appreciate that, um, opportunity and I think it's somethin'that others should try to, um, watch when they get a chance. Um, other than that,um, I did a couple,uh, Johnson County Livable Communities,um...um, events. One was a,well not events but meetings. One was, uh, sur... uh, surrounding caregiver....caregiver action team. The other one was the task force on aging. Um, and then today I got an opportunity to go to the University of Iowa, uh, faculty senate,uh, which was held in the Old Capitol Mall and, um, I'll tell ya, there's some passionate people. Um, the topic for me was about affordable housing,urn, relatin'to the college students, and so there were some passionate people about there, uh...um, that really will...you know, like to be at the table, was my impression, to discuss the needs of the students, and um, the need for affordable housin', especially with a lot of the new,uh,buildings goin'up where there'll be high density,urn, you know, they just thought that they would,uh, some expressed wantin' to be at the table to voice their opinion, and I told 'em they can always reach out to us, so....yeah! That's what I have to report. Throgmorton: Thanks for doin'that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 50 Cole: And,Bruce, you were there because I had a conflict in my schedule, and so you were gracious enough to cover for me, so I very much appreciate that. Um, and I guess not necessarily in exchange, but you were....I know you were sick last Thursday, and the reason why I know that is because I covered for you.... Teague: Yes! Cole: ....to speak with an absolutely delightful group of students called the Roosevelt Group, which I had never heard of, urn, but evidently right now on the University of Iowa campus there is a group of students that are actually funded by the Roosevelt family, like as in the Roosevelt family, and I found that fascinating. Like I should have known that before, because FDR, of course, Eleanor of course is one of my, uh, heroes, uh, and so it was a delightful group of students, probably about 20, that wanted to engage in a discussion on policy, and so Senator Bolkcom was there, urn, Professor Tolbert, and also the head of NextGen, and we had a great discussion about the future of college education, keeping college affordable, um, and I...I think the students were actually interested too. So, which is always thrilling. I don't think there were too many sleepy eyes there. It was a great discussion, great opportunity, and I think to your point, Bruce, urn, we really do need to do more, um, to the extent we can, with the collaboration with the University of Iowa, with our....with our terrific students. It was a real, um, terrific opportunity, and it's great to see that the legacy of FDR is...is carried on, and Eleanor Roosevelt, on our campus, and that was very....that was very wonderful. Urn, I do briefly wanna comment on something that none of us could be at tonight. Uh, Jim, you briefly mentioned that in your opening. Of course I'm referring to the Church of Nazarene. They received some, uh,Nazi graffiti, swastikas were placed on their church, and I know everyone at this table cannot strongly condemn enough, and that we will do everything in our power to....to stand up to the bullies that intimidate our residents that belong here, and will always belong in the City of Iowa City, no matter what. We will always stand with those residents, no matter what. And they will always be part of our community. I hope as a Council we keep an eye out for additional events for us to be able to attend. Um, because I think it is very important. I would have loved to have been there tonight, uh, we couldn't do that because of our Council obligations, uh,but we really do need to monitor that and to ensure that we're doing everything in our power, and I think the public can be assured that we are doing everything, and I know our Police Department, our City Manager, all of usu are doing everything we can to stop this and get to the bottom of it,because it certainly has been a troubling trend that we've seen, at least in my experience, in the last one or two years, and we need to reverse that, urn,because it is never This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 51 acceptable, urn, as far as that goes, and we will do anything possible for those residents. Urn, I did want to highlight a future, uh, a few events that residents may wanna attend. You know one woman who I wish I would have known better was Barbla...Barbara, uh, Schlachter, her husband Mel. Urn, Barbara was one of the founding members of 100 Grannies, and what I love about Barbara and also the 100 Grannies is they are a group of action. They get things done. They move, as they say; they educate; and they agitate; and that includes occasionally Grannies get in trouble sometimes. But they do for a good cause. Urn, so Monday, March 18th and March 25, from....and March 25th, from 6:30 to 8:00 RM. there will be a lecture....lecture celebrating Barbara Schlachter and her legacy. Urn, it will be done by...and it will be at the Iowa City Senior Center in Room 202,um, and the lecture will be by, urn,Peter Rolnick. He will talk about climate change, which I know is an issue we all care about, and it's free to the public, and I encourage you to attend. Urn, another organization that I absolutely love is the Bur Oak Land Trust, one of these quiet non-profits that does a tremendous amount of good work, urn, in saving land and administering and doing a lot of great work in forestry. 1Jh, they're gonna hold a fundraiser, uh, March 13th. I guess that's tomorrow, um, at Short's East Side Burgers, one of my favorite places, and 15% of those profits will go and be donated to the, urn, Bur Oak Land Trust and that's on Westbury Drive from 5:00 to 9:00 P.M. Everyone can go. You just gotta be hungry and love their terrific burgers! And finally, urn, there is a physics and astronomy demonstration show, March 15th,Van Allen Hall. This year's theme is 'Nature's in Rhythms,' urn'the ways in which Mother Nature produces periodic motion and rhythm.' Uh, my daughter loves all the science events on campus, and so I think if you've got any kids out there, the University always does a terrific job, and that's gonna take place March 15th,urn, presented by the Van Allen Observatory, 30 N. Dubuque Street, from 7:00 to 8:00 RM. and it is free. So it doesn't get better than that. Thomas: Well I've been sort of under the weather for(laughter) so, and then there's the endless winter(laughter) so all these things in my calendar are just sort of passing me by,but I...I did make it to the, urn, Prairie Hill this past weekend had its first year, uh, celebrating its occupancy of the site, and urn, you know I've always.... I've mentioned Prairie Hill from time to time because I think it's such a great example of....uh, new development which is....is a really, I think, good example of what I've been referring to as 'sociable design,' as well as integrating varying housing types, uh, in a way that's done I....I would say very coherently, and they're at about 50% occupancy. So the...the project is beginning to flesh out, urn, so I think it's worth a visit—maybe not now (laughs) It's a little mucky out there, but uh, come spring, and it's an interesting group of folks. They're always happy This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 52 to engage, uh, they're common house, which I think is an interesting use of their, uh, their common house is that it's served as a polling place, uh, in a....in a recent election. So it....it's actually provided a....a space, which I think is, again, some...one of the issues we face in Iowa City is where can people gather throughout town and....and in this case, you know, Miller Orchard, I would say, is probably lacking in that regard. So the Prairie Hill is....with the common house, provided a place for that to happen. Throgmorton: Very good! Mims: Um, yeah, it's been three weeks since we've had a meeting, but uh, like John said, with the weather and with a full-time job, urn, I've just been kinda keepin'pretty busy just doin' that stuff, and so we'll talk about, uh, other committee assignments later, so....I'm....other than, Rockne, did you see the article in the paper about, uh, the Bur Oak Land Trust and they're bringing in a dog that can smell out turtles? Cole: I did not see that. Doesn't surprise me though. They did a lot of good things. Mims: Thought that was pretty interesting. The dog failed to be a drug dog. It was too (several talking) ...to active I guess and so.... Cole: Sounds like my dog! Mims: So, yeah, it....so they're using it to find the little painted turtles. Throgmorton: Very good! Pauline, your turn. Taylor: Uh,just a couple things that have gone on recently. Uh, March 2nd was the Crisis Center annual pancake breakfast, which was wonderful as usual, at the Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. Uh, I know there was a good crowd cause my daughter, at noon, was noted to be the 900th person in attendance. So I'm sure they hit close to a thousand person level, which is good. Uh, congrats to them. Uh, and then the next day was, uh, the Soul Food (mumbled) Robert A. Lee Rec Center. Again there was a large turnout there,uh, as well as some great food and it was a.....it was great to see such a diverse group of attendees. So, uh, looking forward to another one next year! That's all! Throgmorton: Very good! Well I've, uh, had the opportunity to participate in several quite diverse events and I wanna mention some of them. Uh, like, uh, on the 2151 of February I attended a terrific event at Hancher, 'We Shall Overcome, a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 53 Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,' featuring Damien Sneed. It was quite the thing. On the 25th I attended, uh, the Crisis Center's big reveal about its new name—CommUnity. On the 26th I attended the Refugee Alliance's monthly meeting and heard the manager of the new Drury Hotel in Coralville describe what they're doing. On the 27th I attended a....attended the Corps of Engineers public information meeting about their plans for updating the management plan for the darn and reservoir, and I can tell you that....I found that to be pretty darn interesting, and I was especially struck by and asked a lot of questions about the data they showed concerning the long-term trends in annual precipitation and extreme precipitation events. It's striking, I mean if I, you know, if you know what this means, if you look at a graph and the line's doin'that, that means there's an upward trend. So there's a....a clear, straight line upward trend. Course the data bounces around, but it's an upward trend in the annual precipitation here, and in extreme weather events, except the upward tren...upward trend for extreme weather events is more like that, instead of a straight line thing. So that is clearly related to...well I'd say clearly related to climate change....global climate change, affecting us here locally. And....uh, yeah, and....something to take into account when we're looking ahead. Also I had a chance to attend a solarized Johnson County success story on the 28th. And also on the 28th I attended the Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet. On the 2°d I participated in CommUnity's annual pancake breakfast,just like Pauline did. On the 3'11 went to the Black Voice's Project's annual soul food dinner and it was great fun. I had some fried chicken. I thought maybe I was back in Kentucky again. And, oh, and this time it was in honor of Kurt Friese and, uh, Royceann made a real clear point about that, and it was very...an admirable thing for them to do. On the 7th I went to a University of Iowa'Creative Matters' discussion involving two very impressive operatic singers. Listen up, Bruce! (several talking and laughing) Yeah, Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens. They were fabulous, and the next night I attended a brilliant performance by them out at Hancher. Ah, they're just stunning! So....and etc., but that's...the range in diversity of stuff is pretty interesting. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 54 32. Report on Items from City Staff a. City Manager Throgmorton: All right, Geoff. Fruin: (both talking) legislative update now or(both talking) Throgmorton: Well, uh....it doesn't matter, does it? So let's do it now, cause it'd be televised (several talking) Fruin: ...had asked us to do a quick legislative update. So Simon, uh, as you know, is our point person for that. He's gonna walk you through two key bills. Andrew: I'll start with, uh, a couple of notes about the timeline. So the first,uh, legislative funnel passed, uh, last Friday, and by that date all, uh, new legislation has to be reported out of committee within the originating chamber. Uh, the next funnel date is April 5th, and those must be reported out of the other chambers committee at that point. Uh, there are a number of bills that aren't subject to funnels, and that includes appropriations,Ways and Means bills, uh, tax law, so we'll expect to see more of that later on in the session. Uh, first one I'm going to address is, uh, rental permit caps. Uh, so this is the one that's dominated our time,uh,most thus far in the session. Urn, this would, uh, remove our ability to repla...uh, to place, uh, caps on rental permits in neighborhoods. You'll remember after, uh, the State passed the residential occupancy bill a couple of years ago,uh, that this was our next best solution. Uh, and uh, part of that solution was also an increased enforcement on, uh, code violations, and so that's related to the complaint you heard tonight, and as each of these tools are removed from our toolbox, uh, I think that you'll see that the next best solution is a little bit worse and has a little bit more unintended consequences, so this is one we take very seriously. Uh, we don't want to see it passed,but it does appear to have a great deal of momentum. Uh, it passed the Senate yesterday on a vote of 35-11. Uh,just today it was introduced in the House and renumbered, um, and will be eligible for debate in the House on Friday. Uh, so it is moving pretty quickly. Um, we,uh, did meet with the Iowa City Area Realtors group today. Uh, they're the ones that are pushing it in Des Moines. Realtors from both Iowa City and Ames. Uh, it's been added to their statewide legislative priority list. Uh, Senator Bolkcom yesterday, as it was being debated on the floor of the Senate, did speak on our behalf and did a very good job. Uh, so...um....again, we don't want to add additional layers of reco...of regulation with additional unintended consequences. Uh, so our goal This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 55 right now is hopefully that we can work with the local realtors to find, uh, an agreeable solution, at least in the near term, uh,here locally and hold off on State legislation for at least a year. Uh, so the....the State Legislature works in, uh, two-year sessions, and this is the first year of that. So this bill, should they wait a year, uh, would still be funnel proof next year. So, uh, our perspective is it's' a good idea to take that time to evaluate a compromise or different types of solutions, or maybe additional exemptions to the,uh, policy and hopefully stave that off. Uh, next one is, uh,private electric generation. Uh, this is the one Mayor Throgmorton included an email in your late handouts. Uh, net metering is a...another name for it. It does have a couple of new numbers as it moves through the study. Bills have become, uh, House and Senate files, so House File 669 and Senate File 583. It is something that is supported by utility companies, uh, Mid American Energy is one of the lead sponsors of the bill. Uh, also supported (loud noises on mic, difficult to hear speaker) labor organizations. Uh, the opposition (loud noises on mic, difficult to hear speaker) groups and interestingly the Pork Producers Association. They have a lot of solar installations on their, uh, the hog confinement operations, uh, and they are,uh, opposed to this bill. Uh, the Metro Coalition is discussing strategy. A number of cities brought it up on the Metro Coalition, uh, conference call this week, uh, and so we're waiting in the next couple of days to, urn, to see how that plays out. We haven't registered on it as a city,uh, given the solar partnership that we would like to pursue with Mid American and um, the fact that a couple of labor organizations have, uh, registered in support of it. Uh, so it was one that kinda hit both sides of the strategic plan. So we haven't moved on it yet as a city, but uh....uh, expect the Metro Coalition may as those discussions continue. Uh, and please stop me with any questions as I go here. Uh, next one is electric vehicles. Uh, there is a bill, uh, moving,uh, faster in the Senate than the House. Uh, it's got a subcommittee scheduled for tomorrow. Uh, would require an excise tax on, uh, electricity dispensed or sold for electric vehicles, and would also increase the registration fee for electric vehicles at the State level. It's a long bill. I've been kinda surprised that it hasn't gotten more press. Uh, it also deals with, um....uh, hydrogen fuels. A number of,uh, other things that maybe this kinda got buried in it. Um, but, uh, we are concerned that this impacts our charging stations in our parking decks, or for instance, HyVee parking lots. Um, so we're gonna work that angle and hopefully, uh, do something to be able to slow that bill down or at least, uh,have our charging stations removed from it, uh, given that we don't charge for the electricity there. Um, House Study Bill 165, uh, property tax reform, uh, so this one we haven't been engaged in much. Uh, we don't expect it to move, uh, very quickly, given that it is funnel proof as a tax policy,um, and we understand that there will be amendments introduced to this, uh, very shortly. So,uh, we haven't This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 56 been involved in this, uh, the Senate has not released their, uh, property tax reform bill yet. We expect that one will be more far-reaching and,uh, so really kind of wait and see up until that point. Uh, the bill that it is in the House right now, um....uh, caps expenditures and ties that growth to index. Uh, to, uh, a Midwestern index. So, uh, you'll remember from our budget discussions, our general fund levy is capped at$8.10 per$1,000 of taxable valuation. This would remove that cap and cap expenditures instead. Uh, so this would hurt Iowa City, uh, or growing communities more than others,uh, in that, um, even when we cut our tax rate, or the 8.10 holds steady, as our community grows and valuations increase, our actual tax receipts in dollars goes up. Uh, so this is concerning to us, but again, we expect, uh, a number of changes going forward. So it probably won't look as it does in its current form. Ur....there was one that I mentioned the last time I gave you an update on preexisting, non-conforming uses. Uh, so this was pushed by a, uh, a mobile home lobby. They had a court case in Des Moines, uh,that they wanted to see codified into State law. Urn, we were concerned that it would have, uh, unintended consequences for us. Uh, the....the House version has been amended to only apply to mobile homes. Uh, the Senate version has not seen that amendment yet, but we expect that going forward. So I think that we've been successful in, um, making that as at least impactful to us as possible. Uh, another one that is, uh,moving forward in the Senate, uh, it became debate eligible today is the needle exchange program. This is one that was supported by Johnson County's, uh, Senate delegation, um, essentially making it, uh, safer for needles to be, urn, exchanged, taken off the street. Uh, it's very much supported by Public Health officials and healthcare providers. Um, electric scooters,uh, is the next bill that's one that's been, uh,heavily debated in the State House. Uh, the House version became eligible for debate on February 27th but not....has not been debated as of yet. Um,but it is funnel proof in the House. Uh, we successfully added language, uh, allowing electric scooters to be reg...regulated as bicycles, uh, that we could prohibit them on sidewalks or, um, you know, other rules that we apply to cycling, um, which is really how they were intended to be used. Um, there's a bill currently being considered in the Senate to prohibit government agencies, including us, from engaging with a lobbyist to lobby the State government. Uh, this already applies to State agencies, um,but would remove our ability to pay an outside lobbyist to,uh, lobby the State Legislature and that would include I believe the League of Cities, Metro Coalition, other organizations that we're members of(laughter) Uh, fireworks legislation, uh, continues to move, although it's been a little bit quieter lately. Uh, the Senate bill would remove our ability to limit sales to industrial zones or commercial zones, and um, prohibit the use....and stop us from prohibiting the use of fireworks on certain dates. Uh, the House bill is more favorable to us and allows for more local This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019. Page 57 control,but the Senate one is moving forward. Urn....uh, another bill that, uh, that Mayor had mentioned in an email was, uh, City right-of-way, urn, cost recovery, uh, from utilities that use the right-of-way. This is the one that, uh, Mr. Grassley, from Mediacom, included a letter in your,um, packet. Um, the League, uh, Metro Coalition, and Mediacom are all registered against it. Uh, Des Moines and Dubuque, uh, have right-of-way ordinances where they have been able to qualify exact dollar amounts, so they're really taking the lead on, uh, opposing that bill. Urn....the Assessor's bill that we were concerned about early on,uh, has strike-through amendments. So, urn, basically it's a brand new bill. Uh, it would no longer, uh, have assessors stand for retention elections,but would rather, urn, provide penalties for assessors found to have not followed the State appraisal manual. So that one we don't have the same concerns about it that we did previously. Uh, massage therapy bills have also moved in a good direction for us. Uh, there was one that passed the Senate 48-0 that, uh, makes practicing massage therapy without a license a serious misdemeanor. Uh, the League of Cities was also registered in favor of that, and this is my last one, uh, this one just came across my desk. We haven't interacted at all on it yet,but there is a bill,uh, relating to the carrying, possession, or transportation of weapons on school grounds, places of employment, uh, etc., uh, I think that there are some restrictions on where those weapons can be and, uh, ammunition, but it is,uh, something that would, urn, change the way that, uh, government agencies and schools are able to prohibit firearms on their property. So, deep breath, uh, we expect a lot more,um....uh, flurry of bills in the next couple of weeks leading into that second funnel bay, and then after that it becomes mostly, uh, tax policy and, uh, appropriations,Ways and Means bills. Throgmorton: Thanks for the update, Simon. Andrew: Thank you. Throgmorton: Ashley...or Geoff? (several talking) Monroe: So, urn,just wanted to remind Council that you're welcome to attend our government alliance on race and equity training that's going to be held on march 29`h. So I think we've sent you an email about it,but throwin'that out there. It's available to you if you haven't registered. Urn, and then also just noting that we're getting very close to choosing a date, place, and time for our first complete count committee for the Census in the first week of April. So, that's corning, uh, the first week of April is just a year away then from Census day, so....a lot of work corning up. That's it! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12,2019. Page 58 Throgmorton: Thanks,Ashley. Shaking heads over there. Okay! Looks to me like we're done. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council special formal meeting of March 12, 2019.