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1. Call to Order
Throgmorton: (bangs gavel) I'd like to call to order the regular formal meeting of the Iowa City
City Council for August the 6th, 2019. Roll call please. I really wish I did not
feel compelled to make the following statement, but I do. Just three days ago a
21 -year-old gunman killed at least 20 people and wounded at least 26 others in an
El Paso, Texas, Walmart. Just one day later a single gunman killed at least nine
and wounded another 16 in Dayton, Ohio's enteran ... entertainment district. In this
year alone there have been at least 32 mass shootings of three or more people
each. We join Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who I had breakfast with a few
months ago; El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, and the people of their cities in grieving
over their loss and calling upon the U.S. Congress and the President to take
effective action to stem the tide of. ... all these killings. It's just horrible. Moving
on!
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regular formal meeting of August 6, 2019.
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2. Proclamations
2.a. American Wind Week
Throgmorton: And we're doing this in collaboration with the Governor of the State of Iowa.
(reads proclamation)
2.b. Water and Wastewater Workers Week
Throgmorton: The second proclamation is about Water and Wastewater Workers Week. (reads
proclamation) Kevin Slutts, are you here, Kevin? I thought you were! Come on
up! Tim Wilkey too, right? I recognize both of you from the waste water
treatment plant. It's great to see both of you (mumbled) (applause) Would one of
you come up please, just to accept the proclamation? Maybe both of ya! Come
on up, Tim! There you go. Good to see both of you (several talking) Great work
(mumbled) You can say somethin' if you want to, down at the podium. (several
talking)
Slutts: So, uh, yeah, I'd like to say something. On behalf of the City employees at the
Water Division, we have roughly 36 employees, part-time, full-time, uh, that are
State certified, uh, many at a higher level of certification. The Iowa City water
treatment plant is a grade 4 water treatment and water distribution system, which
is the highest in the state of Iowa. Uh, so it requires quality people with the skills
and, uh.... the knowledge to .... to run a water utility, deliver 24-hour service, 365
days a week, uh, sorry, a year. Seven days a week, uh, and so we have a lot of
really dedicated people and it's a real honor for me to be able to accept that on
their behalf. So thank you .... thanks again!
Throgmorton: Bravo!
Wilkey: Yeah, I'd like to on behalf of the staff at the Iowa City Waste Water Division.
We'd also like to thank you for the proclamation. Uh, we have approximately 26
employees, not all of them are certified, but we do strive to do ... to produce the
best quality of water at the, at least at the most efficient cost and most efficiently
as we can, and we have been recognized by the State of Iowa as being one of the,
uh, one of the few cities that's actually doing very good at reducing the, uh,
biological nutrients that are typically released in waste water. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Great. Thanks! (applause)
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9. Community Comment (items not on the agenda)
Throgmorton: So this is the moment when anyone who would like to address us on any topic not
on the formal meeting agenda should feel free to come up and speak. Please state
your name, write it down on the (both talking) yeah, write it down there, Joe,
please. And then take not more than ..... uh, I don't know how many people wanna
speak, so not (both talking)
Martin: ...talk about, uh, Hawkeye Waste. They, uh, got, uh, big dumpsters, you know,
they got the rats, mice, and I'm getting'....everybody in trailer courts gettin' them,
uh, cockroaches. Every night I set up a spray to kill those suckers, but uh.... I'd
like to get somethin' done about it. I'd like to get them out of there because, uh,
all this crap we have to put up with. Those cockroaches ain't good. But, uh....
They was gonna put a fence up, but a fence won't do no good. Them cockroaches
come over all that crap. They need a 60 -foot fence to cover that crap up. You
know, it's ridiculous.... that we have to live .... I live in Cole's Trailer Court, you
know. You guys oughta come down and look at that mess. That's a mess! And
they just keep bringin' in more dumpsters and puttin' 'em higher and higher. It's
ridiculous! And I hope you guys take this to heart, cause you know I'm about the
only one in the trailer court come down here and talk, you know. Help me out.
Let's .... let's try to get at what they call that, uh, rezoned, where they can move out
in the country.
Throgmorton: we're glad you came down, drew this to our attention, uh, Geoff, I'm sure y'all
(both talking)
Fruin: ...follow up....
Martin: (mumbled) they got a dumpster settin' behind 'em and this guy keeps (mumbled)
garbage in it. You know, and you drive down the road and you can just see, you
know, and that's .... a lot of 'ems comin' from over there.
Throgmorton: Okay. Thanks for coming (both talking)
Martin: Thank you, sir, for listening to me.
Throgmorton: Joe, did you write your name down on the form there?
Martin: Yes, sir!
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Throgmorton: Okay, good deal.
Martin: Thank you!
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Good evenin', how ya doin' again?
Zeithamel: Very good, thank you. Hi, my name is Sheila Zeithamel. And I would like to talk
on three items. So the .... the first item that I'd like to talk about is Item 19 that yo
have on the agenda. (several talking)
Mims: Not if it's on the agenda.
Throgmorton: Yeah, you can't address anything that's on the formal meeting agenda. You have
to address topics that are not on the formal meeting agenda.
Zeithamel: Perfect! Then I'll move to those two.
Throgmorton: There ya go!
Zeithamel: So the other two that I have, it's talking about, uh, Item 7a, rezoning south of
Scott Boulevard and north of the Tamarack Trail. Uh, I .... I think we all recognize
that this is a....
Throgmorton: That's on the (both talking) that's on the formal meeting agenda.
Zeithamel: Perfect. Is Item I0d on the formal too?
Throgmorton: All of the items are on the formal meeting agenda.
Zeithamel: Well then I will just wait and hold.
Cole: (mumbled) can talk during those items.
Taylor: At that time when they come up to that item you can talk.
Zeithamel: Beautiful! Okay, thanks! I appreciate it!
Throgmorton: Anyone else?
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Dilkes: We should note that 7a is on the consent calendar, and all we did on that one was
simply set the public hearing. And that will be discussed (both talking)
Throgmorton: Yeah, just to clarify, uh, Item 7a, all we did was set a public hearing. We're not
taking any action on it. So you can some two weeks from tonight and comment
on Item 7a. Hi!
Baltazar: (speaking through an interpreter) Good evening, everyone. My name is
Margarita Baltazar. And I am the Director of the Forest View Association. We
have been working for so long on this project. And we have a ... tun, covered a lot
or come to a lot I know this time. But today we are here before you ... to request
the financial assistance.... to be able to have a .... a more, uh, wider homes
affordable, wider homes. Because we want a better life for the families of Forest
View .... and this is the request that all the residents of Forest View are requesting.
We know that this is large or larger process, but we know that we can, um, give
the families a better life condition. And in advance we are hoping to receive the
support of all of you .... this is a dream of all the tenants of Forest View and we
have been working so hard on this project. And even more for the children and
for the elderly. We have family that are like five or six members in a household.
And so they are looking forward to have a wider, uh, place and more comfortable
place for their families. And this is the dream for most of the Forest View tenants.
And thank you for listening and we will be in touch with ya.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Just so .... Margarita, it's nice to see you. So just so you know, uh, we
will be discussing this in our work session on the 20th of August.
Baltazar: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Yeah, thanks. Hi, Jimmy!
Becker: Good evening. Good evening, Mayor Throgmorton, respective City Council, City
staff, and all the community members here this evening. My name's Jimmy
Becker and I, uh, work with Blackbird Investments, involved in the Forest View
project, the one that was discussed during the work session earlier this evening.
Um, I'm here just to clarify, uh, and set some context, as well as answer any
questions that the City Council have. It .... it sounds like that ... there will be a
further discussion had in the next meeting in a couple weeks. Um, with respect to
what was presented by City Staff, um, just from the development perspective and
the ownership, I just wanna communicate that we're excited, committed, and
supported.... supportive of what has been approved by City Council, and the
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request for wider homes was a request that was submitted by Blackbird, on behalf
of the residents of Forest View, and so the intent was to provide ... have some
feedback, uh, for further discussion with the residents of Forest View. Um, the
anticipated cost that was provided did not account for cost escalations as a result
of delays in that .... from the development perspective is our biggest concern. The
anticipated cost when we accounted for the difference between a single -wide
home, which has been approved, and a double -wide home. Uh, so with respect to
whatever decisions and further conversation is had, uh, there are other cost
implications in addition to time, and also the concern of the current condition of
the homes. Uh, so these are all factors that, uh, we want in consideration as we
work to find the best solution to improve the current conditions of the living for
the residents of Forest View, and uh, continuing to work ultimately to, um,
finalize the development gre... agreement and affordable housing agreement,
ideally if possible before the end of the year, to allow for us to break ground in
2020. So we appreciate your time. I'm available for questions. Uh, and if it's
best for those questions to be asked at a later date, happy to be available then as
well. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Jimmy. Who's next? (clears throat) Good evening.
Ross: Good evening, um, I just would like to say that, uh.... (mumbled) affordable
housing, uh, issue is major and it affects everything. Uh, we can talk about $15
an hour, which we've been talking about for five years. So 15's no longer 15. But
the problem, uh, exists that, uh.... the market is weird. Uh, you have landlords
collecting.... well, vast sums of work hours from workers. Uh, in this town a
working class person most often would be paying to the landlord $100 of that
person's month's work, 100 out of 160 or so. That's an awful lot of time. If a
landlord, and it's not unusual, has 100 units, and they're getting 100 hours of
someone's labor, for that month, times 100, that's 10,000 hours of work. You
could build a pyramid with that kinda work. I mean what is the landlord doing?
Uh, oftentimes, you know, the landlord's sitting there making phone calls. I know
he has to go to his mailbox. But, you know, the landlord could be like the Stay -
Puff Marshmallow Man, just sittin' there with the telephone, while all these
people are giving their lives to support his greed, uh, and lack of concern. And in
addition to that, you know, now we have something in this town which we didn't
used to have. We have.... property management. What the heck does property
management do? It takes another 10 or 20% from .... from the people who are
working. The property management exists so the Stay -Puff Marshmallow Man,
the landlord, doesn't have to look at any of his tenants who are human beings. He
may have so many apartments that he couldn't even count. He can't even see his
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tenants. So he hires a group of people who are trained to say'no,' to throw out
tenants if they don't abide by very large volumes of literature to do with things
they must do in their apartments. And I don't think that we should .... I don't think
the landlord, if they can't look in the eye of their tenant who is a human being and
paying for his mortgage.... paying for all his properties, I don't think he should
have an in-between person, uh, property management, which we know they had
here before. Because of all of this, you know, in Iowa City, Iowa City is not
worth ... it's not livable financially.... here for people who work. Iowa City is
lacking .... in property, uh, that is affordable, affordable housing and also rent
control. Naturally people, you know, in town and in other towns like ours are
angry, are without, uh, hopeless, uh, we have to do a lot better. Mayor started
today's meeting with .... concern for the people who have been shot (sighs) You
know.... landlords making hundreds of hours .... 100 hours from each person, that's
a form of fascism too. And I'm not saying they're directly related, but you know
in order to have a good society where we're not shooting people, we need to be
able to afford to be able to live there. So I hope that the Council, which has
worked to include affordable housing and to do, uh, good things regardingly, will
up the ante so that people can live — normal every -day people who are working —
can live here without giving 100 hours of their time every month to some ... vast
....person sitting in a chair with a telephone. We can do better than that, can't we?
Throgmorton: Thank you, Brandon. I don't know if Brandon Ross identified himself when he
came up to speak. Did he? (several responding) Yeah, you don't have to,
Brandon, but I just wanted .... just for the record (both talking)
Ross: I hereby identify myself as Brandon Ross! (laughter)
Throgmorton: Anyone else? Please feel free to come up and speak. Good evening.
Flores: (speaking through an interpreter) Good evening. My name is Zulay Flores. And
I am a tenant of Forest View. I come one more time to support the development
that we have been working for about, uh, more than three years. And to be able to
have a ... as a member of the, uh, like you a member of the city .... and as a people
(difficult to hear, both are speaking at once) resident and maybe.... and maybe as a
(mumbled) each one of us has the right to housing, or quality, uh, quality of
housing, to be able to live there daily. And as a member of the association and as
a resident, and I come here to ask your support one more time, and (mumbled)
you're trusted to vote to the developers.... and I also trust you as people. (difficult
to hear, both speaking at once) that you can do .... help us. So that you can support
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this kind of devel ... quality development. The .... so everyone can win. Thank you
very much. Good night.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Good evening.
Flores: I would like to present myself. My name is Gustavo Flores. I'm here as a tourist.
I love your city, and I been here when it snows, and I'd say .... it's a well-known
secret to this nation that the affordable housing that any major city in this country
is going through, it's a major disaster. That's not you guys fault. It's not the
government's fault. I think it's the world's fault. But just to know that all of you
here have it within your hands, not only the knowledge, but the political power to
help my brother who's a resident, and if you do help him, I would say gladly, not
only behalf of him, but all the people that reside there, thank you very much,
cause you could easily (unable to understand) your eyes and turn the other way,
and you're not doin' it. So, if you're willing to help 'em, which I know you are,
cause you are doing something about it, and I appreciate it. You could set an
example not only for the city or the state, but the country, cause in other places in
the country, like Houston, where I reside, the government turned the other way,
and they're turning 28,000 (difficult to understand) homes in $400,000 properties,
and they're getting 3% of property taxes, and they're making tons of money, and
they're not willing to help nobody. Unless you can afford a $400,000 homes. It's
not my city, it's not my state, but I'm a U.S. citizen and just to know that you
could change people's life, and even if it's a 50 -footer, a 20 -footer, I don't care
how many footer is, it's a footer, but just keep in mind that at the end of the day,
the bigger, the more properties you guys are gonna collect. Am I right? So
please, take that in mind, and just look in yourself, not like God, cause God owns
all of us, but just to have the power like God to help people and to make more
taxes for the .... this county and to set up an example, cause I'm telling you, there's
people in Houston that know what you guys doing for these people, cause you
(difficult to understand) turn away, and I'm very glad, and I really thank you all of
you for not turning away, because if you don't help these people, the affordable
housing in this county, the city, and the state, needless to say the country's only
going to get worse. I invite each one of you to turn around in downtown Houston
and look at 50,000 properties that landlords are coming in and buying by the
blocks, and making $60 million properties, just like that, within a year. In a year
the city's collecting money, but they're not willing to help people, and as far as I
know, it's a loan. You guys are gonna get your money back. So please, I beg you,
each one of you, when you go tonight and sleep, be grateful for what you have,
but there's people that don't have your school, your mind, and especially power to
help others. Thank you very much.
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Throgmorton: Thank you, Gustavo, and welcome to Iowa City! Who else?
Rodriguez: Good evening. My name is Margarita Rodriguez and I'm here because I wanna
say that I appreciate all of you all for being here today and hearing me out. Um,
back in 20091 had an accident and I broke my back, and thank God I'm here
walkin' and stuff like that, but what I wanna say here is that I'm getting older and
the homes that we're asking for for the .... (difficult to understand) uh, Forest View
trailer is be very convenience because when I was in that accident, I was staying
with my daughter and I have five grandkids. And I was in a walker and I wanted
to go to the bathroom. The kids were sleeping on the floor. I was in their bed,
and when I wanted to go to the bathroom I couldn't go to the bathroom because I
had the walker. So I tossed the walker away and I started holding myself on the
furniture, to go to the bathroom. So what I'm trying to say here is that if we have
a comfortable.... living, I'll be able to walk around, and maybe if I should get a
walker, I can walk around with a walker. I still have it. It's in my closet, and you
know, the other people, they're growing older and stuff like that and might need a,
uh, wheelchair, you never know. You know, but uh.... you have this consideration,
you know, for the housing that we are asking for, I really appreciate it. Thank
you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Margarita. Nice to see you (both talking) Would anybody else like to
speak? Seeing no one else we'll turn to Item 10, Planning and Zoning Matters.
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10. Planning and Zoning Matters
10.d. The Crossings Phase Three - Preliminary and Final Plat— Resolution
Approving the Preliminary and Final Plat of The Crossings Phase Three
Subdivision, Iowa City, Iowa.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Good evening, Danielle.
Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor and Council, Danielle Sitzman, NDS. Uh, this application
is for prelimary .... preliminary and final plat for The Crossings Phase Three. Uh,
this is located in the Riverfront Crossings District, as you may be familiar with,
on the South Gilbert, uh.... uh, District. The property was recently rezoned to the
form based code district, uh, a portion of the property was recently purchased and
has been assembled with the remainder of the land that was previously rezoned,
uh, to be included in The Crossings development. Tonight this is as I said the
preliminary and final plat, um, for that, uh, recently assembled, uh, property to be
added to and incorporated into the, um, overall development, uh, idea for the, uh,
The Crossings itself. There are some, uh, key elements of that that were
addressed as a rezoning conditions, um, primarily additional dedication of right-
of-way along South Gilbert Street to allow for future improvements and the
addition of a sidewalk. Um, there is also a condition placed on the rezoning that it
must satisfy the affordable housing requirements of our form based code. Um,
staff did review the preliminary plat using the criteria in our code. Um, I'll just
step through those quickly. They included, uh, consistency with the
comprehensive plan, looking at the Riverfront Crossings and the Downtown
Riverfront Crossings master plan, um, involved an analysis of the street layout,
block layout, circulation, um, where access to the site would be provided, how
traffic would circulate on the site, and the additional six units of housing that
would be generated by the additional land being assembled into the development
concept. Um, there was some questions about traffic circulation as this property,
um, abuts east, uh, First Street, but east First Street would not be providing access
to it, until, uh, property to the north would be to redevelop in the future. So there
is a alleyway system that is incorporated into this project that would not connect
to east First Street until, uh, additional development would happen to the north.
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That was taken into consideration in evaluating traffic and circulation. There
were also standards for neighborhood open space that were evaluated and that can
be paid for with a fee -in -lieu payment. Um, just gonna highlight the next steps
for you, kind of building on our work session earlier about the land development
process. This slide, uh, as with other, um, presentations I've made kind of puts
this, uh, particular application into context of that land development process, uh,
showing you the past actions that have happened, uh, for the, uh, comprehensive
planning stages and the rezoning that occurred, uh, last month. Highlighted in
blue is this application. If this were to be approved, the next steps would be
primarily administrative and handled by staff. They would include site plan
review and a form based code design review, and ultimately building permits.
Uh, based on the review for compliance with the previous conditions, the
comprehensive plan, and the applicable subdivision standards, staff recommended
approval of the proposed plats. Legal papers and construction drawings have
been received and approved. Uh, the Planning Commission did, uh, also review
this and has recommended it to you tonight with, uh, recommendation for
approval. I'd be happy to answer questions!
Throgmorton: Any questions for Danielle?
Mims: I have a quick question. Um, when you started the presentation, did I understand
you to say there were two conditions to the rezoning? I know we did that a while
ago, and one of those conditions for the rezoning was compliance with the
affordable housing.
Sitzman: Right.
Mims: They had to do that anyways, right, cause it's in Riverfront Crossings.
Sitzman: Right, and sometimes we place those conditions as a reminder upfront, um, since
that's a newer, uh, element of development we included that. I know our Legal
Department prefers not to restate things that are already in our code, so we're a
little bit selective about how we do that.
Mims: Okay. That's my question.
Dilkes: That was intentional.
Mims: Thank you.
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Throgmorton: Any other questions?
Cole: I'm curious, um, what was the concern identified by the dissenters in this
rezoning? Do ... do you recall?
Throgmorton: This is not a rezoning.
Cole: I'm sorry, in the ... the 4-2, I'm sorry. What were the concerns that were .... by P&Z.
Sitzman: You know I have not reviewed the minutes from that meeting recently, but I think
they had received some concerns from the surrounding property owner about the
traffic circulation concerns, um, and they wanted, uh, additional information. So
they actually de .... um, discussed that, but I'm sorry, I can't tell you (mumbled)
Dilkes: Um, Christian Frye I think wrote a letter on behalf of the Aero Rental folks about
those issues and we have not heard from her or them since, and my understanding
is that the concern has passed.
Cole: Okay. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Any other questions? Thank you, Danielle. Would anybody else like to address
this topic? Hey, Liz, how are you?
Maas: Good, how are you? Um, my name is Liz Maas. I live at 743 Kirkwood Avenue
in Iowa City. Um, I'm just here tonight, part of a new group. So you're gonna see
one of us at every meeting. Um, for good things and bad things, not always bad
things. I know I'm usually here for bad things. Um, so tonight I wanted to just
say, um .... couple of comments regarding this one. Uh, thank you. I think this is
going to make the area more walkable. I think we're hopeful for that. And we're
curious about energy efficiency in the buildings and what that might .... might look
like in the future, just as a comment, and then also the in -lieu fee agreement to get
rid of the green space, could there be like a green roof? Could you have a green
space on a roof? I know that's a wild idea but could you do that instead as having
no green space? The in -lieu thing kinda bothers me. Those are my comments.
Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Liz.
Zeithamel: So let's try this again! (laughter) So yes I'm here to follow up on .... with Liz's
comments too, because we talk about our, um, the climate crisis that we have and
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the work that you folks have done thus far. You know, as we talk about rezoning,
as we talk about subdivisions, etc., these are the kind of the .... the items that we
need to consider — more green space, energy efficient buildings, etc. So that's just
a component of all these things that we need to consider. So thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else?
Miller: Randy Miller, I'm the developer. Um, we're going through an energy study with
Mid America right now on both buildings. So we are looking at being energy
efficient, and the 1121 building will have a green roof on the north and south side.
Throgmorton: Wow! It's magic!
Cole: Good job, Liz! (laughter and several talking) That was quick! (laughs)
Ross: Brandon Ross. How much are these places costing? What's the affordable
housing costing per month, uh, I think probably people wanna know that. How
much are these units gonna go for?
Throgmorton: Does anyone on staff know the answer to that question? (several talking in
background)
Taylor: I was thinkin' it was in our info.
Sitzman: (mumbled) bring that slide with me, but at the rezoning we did provide you the
income limits and the affordability by unit. (several talking in background)
Throgmorton: Yeah, so it's in the public record. Brandon, we don't have an immediate response
to that question. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, uh, Council discussion?
Cole: Well at least the two issues related to green space, I think for me, obviously the
green roof which seems to address one concern, but I think in terms of the actual,
physical adjacent green space, my feeling is the Riverfront Crossings, with the
parks that are already available, that I think is gonna be preserved forever, um,
that's gonna really address most of those, and in terms of the energy efficiency,
um, in this particular context the density and the walkability, I think, getting the
automobile and getting that balanced, I think, area really going to be key, and I
think that accomplishes this, with the density. Um, so hopefully the more
walkable we are the more .... less trips people have to take with the automobile and
of course the proximity to the downtown, I think in terms of entertainment options
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and those sorts of things, so I think it's another great example of good.... good
design in the Riverfront Crossings.
Throgmorton: Any other Council comments?
Salih: No I just was clarifying from the City Manager that since this is in Riverfront
Crossings, for Brandon's question, is, uh, it is 10% affordable, right? You know,
this is a have to,' and 60%, uh, like of the area median income (mumbled) like 6%
below of the area median income. Yeah. Hopefully I just think this is really
reasonable and good, uh, project for this location, and hopefully they will go
below the 60% when they rent. We saying 60 and below, but I know like
sometimes they just stick on the highest area median income, but hopefully we
will see like 40, 30% of the area median income live there. Thank you, but I
support this project.
Taylor: There's a lot of things about this project I like. The, uh, having the sidewalks
along Gilbert Street'll be great. Uh, the energy efficiency, if indeed they follow
through with all those guidelines they're saying, uh, through Mid American
Energy, the green space — that'd be great, but I did have concerns when I was
looking through this and it was again echoed, um, I don't know if, Danielle, you
said that actually the property ..if and when the property to the north would be
developed, redeveloped in the future, and we had gotten a letter from the current
occupants of that building, that that's their fear, and they fear that they're being
pushed out, and I can see that that's a valid fear because, you know, if the existing
buildings and businesses that have been there for years, uh, you know, the flower
shop and .... and the lumber company, and now this other building to the north —
it's been there forever, over 50 years I believe, and uh.....very busy place, people
frequent there a lot. So it's a valid concern, and they had concerns with the First
Street, ub, connection there and their private property, and increased traffic and
the people would be driving through there to cut through, uh, but I believe the
developer mentioned that they would be putting some kind of barrier, so that folks
would avoid that. Uh, so if they....if those kinds of fears can be alleviated and we
can, uh.... help the .... the business there to the north not feel like they're being
pushed out, uh, then I would be in favor of this.
Mims: I just really .... I think this is the first time in 10 years I've been on Council that
there's been this much discussion when we got to the plat part. (laughter) I mean
once you get through the rezoning, it's usually.... we're pretty much said and done
and the plats are pretty well kinda laid out, at least the preliminary plat kind of
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during the rezoning and we've had an idea. So it's just kind of interesting that
we've got this much discussion on plats.
Throgmorton: Well, it is interesting and it, uh, it is surprising. We haven't had those kinds of
discussions. But I think it's an indicator of the significance of new construction
from a climate action point of view, and we're .... we're not in the business tonight
of talkin' about the energy efficiency of the buildings that will be constructed —
that's up to the State Energy Code and to Randy as the developer. Uh.....lost my
train of thought. Well, this is inexcusable for a Mayor, isn't it (laughter) Yeah,
but .... but still, people have drawn our attention to the importance of thinking
about climate -related, um, aspects of particular developments and just so
everybody knows, we are entering into discussions about precisely that, not
tonight, not in this meeting, but .... well, later on tonight we're going to be
adopting a climate action resolution, which points the way towards further, uh,
activity that we will be asking the staff to take. So .... change is afoot.
Dilkes: I ... I think the point is a good one though in that the plat stage is where you have
the least discretion in the development process, so it probably isn't the place to be
raising a lot of new concerns.
Throgmorton: Okay, any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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11. Sale of 225 & 229 N. Gilbert — Resolution authorizing conveyance of 225 and
229 N. Gilbert Street to Public Space One.
1. Public Hearing
Throgmorton: I'm gonna open the public hearing. (bangs gavel) And I think John Englebrecht
is going to say something to us. Hi, John!
Englebrecht: Hi, thanks for Navin' us. Um, I actually have some visual aids if you'd all like
to ... to look at these. I'll pass'em out. Um, I'm .... I'm really here just to say thank
you on behalf of Public Space One, thank you to the City of Iowa City for your
vision in preserving both these structures on North Gilbert Street. Uh, I wanted to
thank the folks from the City for working with us on this for the last six months.
Um, a special thanks to Geoff, uh, Tracy Hi....Hightshoe, um, Lucy Joseph, who's
now in Florida, David Powers, Stan Laverman, Sue Dulek, and Tim Hennes for
answering all our emails and sitting through plenty of meetings and meeting us at
the houses so we could form a plan for them. Um, a special thanks to Councilman
Teague and Mayor Throgmorton for visiting the space and walking through while
hearing our vision for it. We're really excited to make this a reality. Um .... Public
Space One is an artist -led, community -driven contemporary art organization, and
I could talk about all day what that means, what those words mean, but I wrote
this out so I wouldn't go off track. Um .... we're about possibilities. We're .... we
create through our work in the arts and through our platform as an arts
organization. We've been in Iowa City 16 years, uh, but this'll be the first time
we're at street level in a highly visible space. Uh, you don't know how excited
that makes us feel. Uh, we greatly and humbly appreciate being a part of the
process to breathe new vibrancy into these spaces, and to live in this city, which
values and invests in the art and artists, uh, we look forward to transforming these
houses, the art organization, and this neighborhood. Thanks!
Taylor: Thank you!
Throgmorton: Great! Thanks, John. Would anybody else like to address this topic? Okay,
seeing no one else I'm going to close the public hearing. (bangs gavel)
2. Consider a Resolution
Mims: Move the resolution.
Cole: Second.
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Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. Discussion?
Mims: Just excited to see this come to fruition. I know Public Space One has been
looking for a home for a long time and so, uh, excited to see what you do with
this.
Cole: I am too and I remember when I first learned about Public Space One I was
invited to speak on a radio show, American Reason in the basement of the
Jefferson Building, and I thought to myself, wow, this is such a good vibe
organization, but obviously bein' in the basement there's a visibility problem, and
now that you're gonna be elevated to the first floor, um, I echo Susan's comments,
and I think what I love about your organization is that you have that track record.
You k now, we're Iowa City, we're dreamers, we're doers, but you guys have
actually had the track record that we can be confident that it's gonna be a really
exciting project, and I think in terms of this location, preserving these particular
structures, I mean it's a good vibe project, a good vibe organization, and uh, you
know, good vibe future for you. So I'm .... I'm really excited, so .... pressure's on!
(laughter)
Taylor: I have to add I love the postcards, because I can tell that's the homes, that's the
houses on the front that are very cute.
Salih: Yeah, it's very nice. The only question I have here, just wondering, yeah, this is
really good and I'm supporting it. I just wanna ask you (unable to understand)
one of them for higher and sell it for low and the other one's for higher, for low
and you sell it for higher. What....
Hightshoe: This house, um, we originally purchased it, we were thinking of UniverCity, so
we purchased it from Mercy Hospital. Much like UniverCity, we purchase it at
the price we get it and then carrying costs, we sell it at the carrying costs plus
the .... so like interest, maintenance, things like that, and then we're also providing
116,000 in financial assistance (mumbled) so what you would have pretty much
allocated for UniverCity homes, we were providing either in downpayment or
rehab assistance to Public Space One.
Salih: Okay.
Hightshoe: So yes, while they're purchasing for the price we get, we're also discounting
(mumbled) 116,000 in financial assistance. So the total's about 58,000 per home.
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Salih: Okay. Thanks!
Teague: I was happy to do the tour. Um, and (mumbled) definitely speak for itself but
very impressive, um, to see the houses and the vision. Um (laughs) I clearly saw
the vision despite, uh, the condition of at least one of the homes, right? Um,
and .... and actually just the enthusiasm that was shared about, um, what was
gonna be takin' place there for Public Space One. I ... I see it clearly that it's gonna
come, um, within the community and everybody's gonna be excited. I really can't
wait till it actually happens. Uh, it's a process. Um, one that is, uh.... um, any
time you go through construction or revitalizin' somethin', you .... you probably
find a few surprises and, um, I .... I wish you well (laughs) on that journey, but
very excited about this opportunity and happy that, uh, the UniverCity home was
the one that, um, made this happen for you all. So, congrats!
Throgmorton: John, thanks for givin' us a guided tour of both buildings. I really look forward to
seeing the transformation of 225 N. Gilbert (laughs) Yeah, I .... I'm sure it's going
to be brilliant, so I'm really lookin' forward to it. And, uh.... I'm also equally
looking forward to Public Space One in those two buildings, and the Center for
African.... Afro Futurist Studies and other activities PSI does, so great! Okay,
any other discussion?
Thomas: Just wanna say I, you know, it's a wonderful process, you know, beautiful.... your
comments were .... were beautiful, and .... and the notion of a home for possibilities
just sort of capped it off for me. It's a wonderful way of putting it.
Throgmorton: Okay, hearing no more discussion, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0. Sorry
(mumbled) correspondence. Could I have a motion to accept correspondence?
Cole: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Teague. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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12. Council Liaison to CPRE — Ordinance amending Title 8, entitled "Police
Regulations," Chapter 8, entitled "Community Police Review Board," to
create a City Council liaison. (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for that please?
Cole: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Teague. Would anybody like to address this topic?
Hi, Charlie!
Eastham: Thank you Mayor Thog.... Throgmorton. Uh, I would like to ask the Council to
seriously consider unanimously supporting this, uh, this ordinance. Um, I have
the deepest respect for Mr. Townsend and Miss Galpin, who I'm, uh, I think asked
the Council to consider this, and the rest of the CPRB too. Um, in thinking about
this it has occurred to me often in the last very few years that, uh (clears throat)
actually other people in the community don't quite have the same perspective and,
uh..... uh (clears throat) uh, I guess ease at, um, approaching elected officials
that .... that I do. Many of you will see me as being just gabby and (clears throat)
uh, a little forward at times. That doesn't work with everyone in the community.
Other people in the community have a different, they're coming from different
places and they .... they have a different idea about how governments work and
how they fit in the government, and I think that's the genesis very much so of the,
uh, CPRB asking for this Council liaison. So I hope that, uh, all of you will go
ahead and support this. I know you had some discussion the last time you
considered it, where it didn't seem, uh, perhaps, uh.... uh.....(clears throat) needed,
uh, in your view point. I think it actually is needed, uh, cause I said not
everybody has the same ideas that I do, and my ideas that might (mumbled) are
not the standard that, uh, we should, uh, pro.... perpetuate in the community.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Charlie. Megan! Good evening.
Alter: So I'm Megan Alter and I just want to, um .... affirm and confirm Charlie's
sensibility about creating a liaison. Um, I'm a manager at ACT, and so I have it
slightly different from how Charlie was talking about his ease with coming to
public officials. Um, but I considered it just even from being a manager. When I
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have someone, a team member, who has a complaint.... they always are having to
think about how they present themselves. There's a whole other layer of
communication in addition to what the content is, right? What the complaint
itself, what the issue might be, and so for that reason I'm in favor of a liaison,
simply because it allows someone to be able to be candid and to get their points
and their feelings across, but ... that can then be sort of, I won't say mitigated, but it
can be provided to you as Council in a way that you can understand the issue,
perhaps, more cleanly than a lot of the messiness of when there might be an issue
at hand, right? Um, it's difficult to take feelings and emotions and temperament
out of it. There may be people who are afraid to say exactly what they think, and
so they might actually.... not.... truly in.....inform Council of what they're thinking
about. So at any rate, I just wanted to second what Charlie was thinking, but
would like just a slightly different facet to what he's talking about, that's in the
same theme. So thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address this topic? All right, seeing no one
else, Council discussion?
Mims: Well I .... I feel the same way I did two weeks ago, before we deferred this. Um,
and we basically deferred it because it was 3-3 and .... so people wanted to wait.
I .... I feel that if somebody's gonna put their name forward and be on one of our
boards and commissions, then I would hope that they would have a comfort level
with speaking with anybody on the Council. If they don't, I'm not certain how
appointing one person to be a liai....a liaison necessarily gives them any more
comfort level with that particular person than it does with anybody else on the
Council. They don't necessarily know that person.... any better than they know
anybody else. In fact maybe they know somebody else on the Council even better
than they know that liaison. So I don't see how it really addresses that particular,
uh, perspective. And then secondly I am concerned about what this says to the
rest of our boards and commissions, who feel .... who then may feel, well, we....
we need more of an'in' with the City Council so we want our own liaison. And...
and finally, I guess I would be concerned that people on that .... board might feel
like if there is a liaison, then that is the only person on Council that they should go
to, and I think anybody on any board or commission should feel free to call,
email, have coffee with, whatever, um, any one of us, and so I will not be
supportive of the recommendation, and I have the highest respect for the people
on that commission. That board.
Teague: I think for myself, and I .... I hear what you're saying. For me I really think it
comes down to, um.....identifying someone .... that.....you know, on Council that,
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um, the board members can come to. I would agree that they can go to any of us.
I would agree. Um, but we also .... are, all of us are appointed to different
commissions and .... and things that we go to. So for me it's not .... (mumbled) this
is probably not a good word to say, it's not that, um .... I don't think it's a long
stretch to .... allow this one opportunity for the CPRB to have one assigned liaison.
My assumption is, at some point, the Council will .... if it passes, um, will say who
would like to be that person. My assumption is it's going to be someone who has
a heart for the .... for the CPRB.... (mumbled) police related things. Um, not all of
us, we all specialize in different things. Um .... when we talk on Council, when
certain things comes up, um, you started talking about trees and .... and green
space and John, I'm gonna point you out (laughs) but your eyes just light up
(laughs) you know, and so I .... I do think that it is an opportunity for us to, um,
explore, um, if this will work. We're also, as a council, I don't k now if you know
this, you probably do. We've been, um, there has been some criticism about us
bein', um, distant and not totally in touch with what's happening on these boards.
Um, not to say that this will .... um, be used a lot, or give us more insight. I think
globally we may need to rethink about how we, uh, attend or .... don't attend a lot
of the boards and commissions that we already have, um, as a council because
many of us .... I've not attended since I've been on Council because I was
discouraged to go because my presence could change the, I mean that's what was
stated, could change the conversation, and so I don't go! I would love to go, uh,
just to get .... and when I say 'love to go,' like once or twice a year, just to get a feel
of what's happening. Um, but I don't. So I'm supportive of this just to see ....um,
what will become of it, and then in a year I wanted to relook at it and see one, is it
necessary, um, has it had a negative, um, outcome. Um, so I'm supportive of it,
but probably on a year trial basis.
Cole: To that point, Bruce, I think especially because this is an invitation from the
board, I think it's an invitation that should be accepted. Um, you know maybe not
every board wants this sort of input, but again I go back, Jim, to the, uh, Mayor,
the comment I made a couple weeks ago is that, you know, one of your first ideas
during the most recent election was to do a committee structure. So, you know, in
terms of urban planning, in terms of social justice. Ultimately the Council
decided, for a variety of reasons, staff wattage, there were issues about quorum,
uh, we declined to do that, but I think .... to your point, Susan, about well what if
this sets a precedent for other organizations. I don't think that's necessarily a bad
thing. And then secondly, related to, you know, they can just come up and talk to
us whenever, um, I would go back to what Bruce said, is that there is fear for
good reason, um, very distinct channels of communication in terms of the
Council, our City Manager, our City Attorney — for good reason, for .... for work
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flow and those sorts of things, but we don't just sort of willy-nilly start knocking
on staffs door asking for input and stuff like that, nor do we do that to other
boards because we wanna honor our respective role. So I think to have a distinct
person that they can communicate, that they can identify, and I think in terms of
misconstruing the mandate, you know, we can make clear that they will always be
welcome to contact each and every one of us if they so choose, um, but you know
another too is, you know, we're not amending the United States Constitution here.
I mean this is a trial run. Um, I think this is one of our most important boards,
and so I think we can distinguish if the other ones say well we would want one
too, um, you know, we'll have a trial run; see how this goes; and you know, they
may think that we're not helpful, or that liaison did not work in the way they
envisioned and we can .... we can reevaluate. So I'm gonna be in favor of this, um,
especially because invitation, and it was carefully thought out by the proponents,
and I think we should give it a trial run.
Throgmorton: I'd like to ask the question (clears throat) and it has to do with expectations. So
what would our expectations be of the liaison if in fact we appoint a liaison?
Cole: Not to attend a meeting. I mean all the meetings. I think that was made clear, at
least in terms of what Mr. Townsend had indicated, which would have been a
deal -breaker for me, because I don't think that that would be, to Bruce's point
again about us, you know, interfering with their decision making process, and I
think it would only be at the invitation, but I'm envisioning once or twice a year,
at their invitation, um, we would attend, get to know the individual board
members, and get a little bit of an expertise in that (both talking)
Throgmorton: You just said once or twice a year we would attend. I'm (both talking)
Cole: The liaison (both talking)
Throgmorton: .....the liaison.
Cole: (both talking) yeah ... oh, I'm sorry! Well whomever would be decided (both
talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, so what are the expectations of the liaison? (several talking) ...pin you
down (several talking)
Cole: ....think it would be to facilitate communication with the board, and I think to
some degree the board would also ... you know, work with .... with the liaison in
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terms of deciding what that mandate is, but I think in talking to Orville about it,
he made it clear that he did not want us, the person, to attend every meeting.
Um .... so.....
Teague: I don't think the person was expected to attend any meetings. It was .... it was
actually just a ..... an identified point of contact, uh.... that the CRB would be given
and .... and stated this is a person that you can contact. Um, just, um .... a person,
uh, that they would introduce. Now it could be, you know, show up to a meetin'
but that's not what I got from .... from the .... the request. It was really just to
identify a person that can be contacted. They anticipated that, you k now, maybe
once a year, maybe not. The person would be contacted. So .... it was no regular
type of expectation, except someone identified for that individual board member
to reach out to (both talking)
Throgmorton: Okay, let me follow through on .... on this. Let's .... let's imagine a hypothetical
that one member of the CPRB approaches, let's say Pauline's our liaison, just for
the hypothetical. One member of the board approaches Pauline and says .... I don't
know what, and .... and what's Pauline supposed to do?
Teague: I .... so I think that Pauline, just like any time we have discussions with, uh.... um,
the staff, um, we'll probably have some perspective on where to go next with that.
Um, I think a lot of individuals on the CPRB don't have past history. So even
when I talked to some of the leadership staff here, not only do they.... typically
they give me a little historical background on whatever situation I'm talkin' about.
So I do think that it's another way for the individual to sit down with someone that
has some knowledge about the Police Review Board, uh, to kind of give them
some.... maybe.... maybe it's understandin' that they just wanted to have. Now
that could be Pauline to say let me connect you with the Chief, let me connect you
with another staff, but .... I don't.... we're talkin' hypotheticals, but I don't believe
that Pauline, um, if she was that person, needs to sit and evaluate everything that
they're sayin' and giving them answers. I really think it's another way for them to
navigate whatever they're needing.
Throgmorton: So providing guidance (both talking)
Teague: Potentially....
Throgmorton:.... about how to, um.....influence Council decisions, or providing guidance about
staff people to connect with.
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Teague: (both talking) I don't know about influencin', uh, Council decisions.
Throgmorton: Well but processes is what I really mean.
Teague: Yes! Yes, absolutely (both talking)
Throgmorton: .... about processes. Okay. So there are two things, and I'm just tryin' to pin down
what such a person would do. Okay.
Teague: And I think the other thing is, urn .... just havin' someone identified, because
again, approachin' political, elected officials can be intimidatin', despite that
person bein' comfortable in other places. I'm not gonna use that as the .... the key
reason why we should be, uh.... um.....considering this, um, for, uh, for the .... for
the purpose, but, urn .... I do believe that it....it.....it does take some tension away
when you have identified here is a person you can contact. Now all .... all of the,
all of our seven names and numbers could be there, but if one of us really find that
we are more .... we have a more compassion or a more expertise, more knowledge,
and want to be considered for this role, I think that could be beneficial for the
board. And .... and whoever contacts, because one of us, if we say we wanna be
that person, our knowledge may be a little greater .... relatin' to police review items
than.....it would be more like you're expert potentially (both talking)
Throgmorton: Can .... can the rest of you think of any other expectations we would have for a
liaison?
Taylor: I'm still unsure about that, uh, because when this was initially presented, and...
and first of all, I .... I too also have, uh, great respect for Orville Townsend and the
other members of the commission, but I'm still really unsure. They talked about
like inner -conflicts within that board or commission, and I don't think .... I think
we all as a .... as a Council should know if. ... if our, one of our boards and
commission is .... is having some conflict among themselves, uh, and .... cause one
of us is not empowered to .... to resolve any issues. We .... we would probably
have to go before the rest of the Council or even to Geoff or .... or Eleanor to say,
you know, what .... what can we do about this. Uh, I'm just still really not sure
about facilitating communication with the board and if there's one person that's
causing difficulties, uh, I don't know if I would be comfortable approaching that
person and say, hey, John Doe, uh, Jane, or the rest of the commission's having
difficulties with you. I don't know how (several talking) I'm just, I'm still (both
talking)
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Cole: But that's not even in the regular formal agenda, where they said .... it said they
recommended a City Council be appointed as a liaison to help facilitate
communication between CPRB members and Council Members about the make-
up and the function of the CPRE. It's not talking about conflict resolution, as far
as I can tell. (several talking)
Salih: ....I said that they are coming .... uh, the time that will be coming to like report
something when they disagree with the Police Chief. That what I thought they
gonna be (several talking) because they report what .... (unable to understand) and
if they are in agreement, there is no problem. They don't need even to bring thing
to us, because what I been seeing, everything will throw on the consent agenda,
usually Council even consent agenda... I personally don't review the consent
agenda that really much. I care about the formal agenda (several talking)
Throgmorton: We changed that (both talking)
Salih: I know, but maybe because of that, you know, the behavior when I was on the
Police Review Board, I think .... the City Council was no even if we are
disagreeing or agreeing with the Police Chief. And I always consider the CPRB
commission is really powerless, you know. As soon as they disagree with the
police and they said this complaint is sustained, the police did not sustain that's it,
everything would die there, and maybe they .... they need like more power. That's
why they wanna come here and talk to us about it I think that, you know (both
talking)
Taylor: I would like to read the ordinance because it does talk about the make-up of the
board itself The general purpose of the liaison position shall be to help facilitate
communication between the members of CPRB and members of the City Council
about the overall make-up and function of the CPRB. The liaison will be a
specific person to pro .... contact to provide a safe and comfortable vehicle for
members of the CPRB to express any concerns about the composition,
cohesiveness, and effectiveness of the CPRB. This will allow the Council to
receive information needed to be aware of concerns related to the function of the
CPRB and make decisions/changes when necessary. This will also be especially
beneficial in cases in which a CPRB member.... member or ers do not feel
comfortable airing concerns related to the inner -workings of the CPRB openly
during CPRB meetings. (several talking)
Mims: ....agree with you, Pauline.
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Taylor: It's clear!
Mims: I think it's (both talking)
Taylor: ....Police Chief. No it's (both talking)
Salih: Yeah, I .... I thought (both talking)
Mims: I don't see it as our role to try to get involved in the inner -workings of one of our
boards and commissions. If we have people that get appointed on there who can't
work together, I'm not exactly sure what our ..what our options are (laughs) other
than to wait until somebody's term is up. I'm not sure if we have any other
options. But I .... I don't see any of us having that authority on..or that it should be
our role, to get involved if there are difficulties between members of any of our
boards or commissions. And a lot of what you just read, Pauline, is exactly that.
Talking just about the composition. We get applications for all of our boards and
commissions and we review those, and we make decisions here as to who we
think should appoint. Anybody can, you know, if they have a concern about
somebody who's applying or, you know, they can always let us know, but I .... I
think this is (both talking)
Throgmorton: Well speaking for myself, I cannot support this unless there is real clarity about
what the expectations are for the ... the Council Member who would be a liaison
and for any board member who approached that liaison. I wanna know what the
expectations are. And I can be persuaded at some other time about .... the viability
of that kind of thing, but at the moment, given what we have before us, it .... it's
too vague. I don't feel comfortable with it and I can't support it! Which is where I
was last time.
Thomas: Well I supported it last time and I continue to support it. It's a recommendation
from the CPRB, um, I'd like to honor their process in .... in coming to that
recommendation. And, uh, you know, with its stated purpose of helping facilitate
communication. Will it be successful? I don't know. I mean (laughs) I view this
as a small bet. I don't see a serious downside, if it should be found not to work.
Uh, but I think it's worth testing and seeing if it does work. Uh.....and, um, you
know .... let.....let the policy and procedural aspects about it, uh, develop as....
through the conversation, um, but at this moment I don't .... I don't see any reason
not to test the idea and see if it might work.
Throgmorton: Okay, well it's clear that there's four in favor. Sony, Maz, go ahead.
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Salih: I really just wanna state that I just wanna tell this Council Member that the people
of this community really tired from police behavior. I been receiving a lot
complaint from a lot of people, even after the Police Chief came over on board we
said maybe things will change. Things start changing, but a little bit. There is
still a lot of work need to be done. And the CPRB is working with the people
who's complaint of the people who always left out and behind this community and
the complaints still coming, even after we have new Police Chief. I just think this
is a very important role, and I .... even though I believe they are powerless, but is
still I wanna help them as much as they can, so they can have some power. If
that's something gonna improve their practice to solve the problem of the
community, I'm definitely, and I just wanna say I'm supporting this 100%.
Mims: I just wanna make one quick follow up. One, this liaison is not going to give the
CPRB any more power than they currently have. That is very much limited by
State law, and by the City ordinance that .... that puts them in place. If there
are .... if you and others are still hearing lots of complaints about our Police
Department, then I think it behooves you and those people to file complaints
and/or go directly to the Police Chief and/or directly to the City Manager, because
I'll tell you one of the things when you look at the actual complaints that are filed,
very, very few of those are ever sustained, and this is with, and I just read in our
last packet, we had minutes of the CPRB, and there were two reports in there
from complaints. They've got two that they're, I think, still actively investigating.
Both cases they listened to and watched the audio and video of the body cams and
body mics from the police officers. The CPRB unanimously did not see any
reason to escalate the investigation, and they unanimously agreed with the Police,
uh, Chiefs report that was .... did not sustain the complaints, and this is very
typical. Now, having said that, I am not saying that there are not incidents in this
community where police are acting in ways that are not appropriate, but if that's
happening, people need to report it, they need to have specifics, so that it can be
actually investigated and people can be disciplined if necessary and training can
take place, but I get frustrated with unsubstantiated complaints that we hear all the
time, about how bad our police are. Let's get things that can be substantiated, if
they are out there, so that changes can be made.
Salih: I .... I have to talk on this, because I been on the Police Review Board, on the
CPRB. I was a member for like four year, and I guess six year maybe, before I
become elected as a Council. You know I .... the first complaint has been
sustained when I was there, because the people who look like me, and the people
who look like me who file the complaint, they come on board that's why
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sustai.... the complaints are sustained, because, you know, before it wasn't that,
and now we see more people from different community, from diverse group come
inboard, which is great thing, and that's why we seeing sustained complaint, but
after we sustain the complaint, what is happening? Nothing! We say, yes, the
police made a mistake, but nothing happen! Anyway, I support this, and since we
have quorum for that today, thank you.
Throgmorton: Yeah, so we have four in favor. So we'll have a vote here in just a second. Uh,
I ... I would like to suggest that .... both the, uh, CPRB and the Council try to
determine the specific expectations for this liaison, uh, and also one other, uh, sort
of nit -picky point, the .... the, uh, CPRB recommended that the .... the appointment
be effective, what is it, the start of the fiscal year, and that's out of sync with all
our other appointments. I .... I don't know why it would be the start of the fiscal
year. Why not the....at.....at the time that we make all our other appointments.
Teague: That would be fine with .... January 1?
Throgmorton: Well it's at our organization meeting, which is the second of January or something
like that.
Teague: I would be fine with that. (several responding)
Throgmorton: Okay, so that .... do we need, uh, a motion to amend or anything like that?
Dilkes: I have to look at the ordinance. Was it specifically in the ordinance, the
appointment date?
Throgmorton: Uh.... yeah, I .... I think it is.
Fruin: Yes itis. It starts with 'at the beginning of each fiscal year.'
Dilkes: Yeah, then why don't you go ahead and, um .... just take it off the floor, with draw
it. Whoever made, whoever put it on the floor move it as amended, with that
change, and get a second second and we'll vote on (both talking)
Throgmorton: I don't remember who moved and amended (several talking)
Cole: I'll withdraw (several talking)
Teague: I'll withdraw.
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Throgmorton: Okay, so could I have a motion to approve the resolution....
Dilkes: Ordinance!
Throgmorton: Ordinance, sorry, uh, with, um, with a, ub, change to the, uh, appointment dates so
that the appointment date would be at the start of each new Council. Is that...
Dilkes: I would just say at the beginning of the calendar year.
Throgmorton: At the beginning of the calendar year? Okay.
Cole: Moved as amended.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Teague. Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll
call please. Motion carries 4-3.
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13. Dubuque Street Speed Limit — Ordinance Change Ordinance amending Title
9, Entitled "Motor Vehicles and Traffic," Chapter 3, Entitled "Rules of the
Road," Section 6, Entitled "Speed Restrictions," to establish a 25 -mph speed
limit on Dubuque Street from a point just north of the intersection with
Kimball Road north to a point 200 feet north of the intersection with Ridge
Road and 35-mpb from a point 200 feet north of the intersection with Ridge
Road north to the City limits. (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for first consideration please?
Mims: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Discussion? Uh, Kent!
Ralston: Uh, yeah, good evening, Mayor, Council. Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner.
Uh, the ordinance before you is simply a speed limit change on a portion of
Dubuque Street, from 35 -mile -per -hour to 20 -mile .... 25 -mile -per -hour, uh, posted
speed limit, excuse me, uh, following its reconstruction as part of the Gateway
project. Uh, it's a bit of code clean up as that's what is posted today, and I'm
happy to answer any questions you might have.
Throgmorton: (both talking)
Mims: So this code then will match what is posted on the street now?
Ralston: Correct. So when the radar feedback signs went in, uh, a few weeks back, if
you've seen those. Uh, that was kind of a trigger by which this needed to get
done, so we knew exactly where those signs would be.
Throgmorton: They've had a big effect, it seems to me. At least on the south.....the southward
direction part of the road. Any further questions for Kent? Okay, thanks, Kent!
Ralston: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Would anybody else like to address this topic? Hi there!
McCubbin: Hello, uh, my name is Andrew McCubbin and I'm going to, um .... work off this
presentation. Uh....
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Throgmorton: Andrew, did you say your last name's McCuvert?
McCubbin: McCubbin, M -c -C -u -b -b -i -n. Sorry. Uh.... okay! Um, so, uh.... to discuss this
topic, uh, this is the, uh, ordinance as, urn .... uh, listed in the, uh, agenda. Um,
specifically I wanna point out, um, some differences between this ordinance and
previous ordinances that the City Council has passed, um, specifically in the, um,
motivation for the ordinance. Um, this, um, text here, um, is the motivation for
this — a 25 -mile- per -hour, excuse me, a 25 -mile -per -hour speed limit was
implemented with the reconstruction of Dubuque Street. Okay? So we're....
we're comin' off this, this is the ordinance that's included with the agenda. Um,
now (mumbled) specify that in 2011, um, on North Dodge Street, um, very
similar, uh.... uh..... uh, constructed street, um, and similar, um, types of, uh.... uh,
landscape and um, buildings, um, as is, uh.....was modified, excuse me, in 2011.
Um, the motivation for this was that the City Engineer recommended the speed
limit on North Dodge Street, urn, Iowa Highway 1, from a point 300 feet north of
Prairie du Chien Road, uh, to a point, uh, 315 feet north of Conklin Lane to be
designated 35 -miles -per -hour. Um, that's just, urn .... uh, south of the Hy .... Hy -
Vee, urn .... uh, to just north of, urn .... uh, the new Hy -Vee. So, um, I wanna point
out also in, uh, Council's, urn .... uh, for reference, um, that the City ordinance for
speed restrictions in Iowa City, um, 936, um, part B, um, and then also, um, part
A, the statutory limits, which are State statutes. Um, in a residence district, um,
the speed limit's 25 -miles -per -hour, and then in, uh, suburban area, uh, the speed
limit is 45 -miles -per -hour, unless amended, um, upon an engineering study. So
the exceptions where this ordinance tonight would be placed is under part B, um,
upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, following maximum
speed limits are hereby determined and declared reasonable on the following
streets, portion of streets, um, when signs are posted giving notice thereof. Um,
so a couple of technical issues, um, the.... the placing of the signs can't happen
until, um, this traffic engineering investig... (mumbled) traffic investigation is
performed, um, for these exceptions. Um, and I wanna preface this a little bit,
urn .... uh, we'll have someone else talk to this, uh, but we discussed this with, uh,
Eleanor earlier today, um, so she's aware of some of our legal reasonings behind
this, um, but I just wanted to put this in a Power Point form for all of you. Um, so
I'm gonna compare, uh, North Dodge Street and North Dubuque, um, because of
the similarities of the roads, and the proposed speed limit changes. Excuse me.
Uh, so in 2011 North Dodge was, uh, converted for a portion in blue to 35 -miles -
per -hour from 45 -miles -per -hour. The portion in red, um, is still 45 -miles -per -
hour. Um, so you can notice that there's several residential buildings now since
2011, um (mumbled) construction on the south side of North Dodge Street, uh, the
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new Hy -Vee. There's also, uh, University's new, uh, clinic. So, uh, this quickly
becomes an obvious suburban road, excuse me, uh, past Hy -Vee, um, and to
spec .... urn, to point out that also only two travel lanes are ... exist here until Scott
Boulevard. Um, there's a four to three conversion at some point. I assume that
consisted of the speed limit change and, um, that work was probably done
coin.... coincidentally, um, and this was a .... (mumbled) a 35 -mile -per -hour, um,
speed limit change from a 45 -mile -per -hour speed limit. Um, if we look at North
Dubuque Street, has extremely similar characteristics after the redesign and
reconstruction. (clears throat) Uh, there are also significantly fewer buildings,
both residential and businesses along.... along this route. Um, especially the
southbound lane. There are absolutely no residential buildings, um, dwellings, or
businesses. Um, this is definitely got a (clears throat) excuse me, uh, more
suburban feel than, um, residential when driving. Um, this kind of prefaces some
of the .... the legal standing of what's a suburban road and what's a residence
district. Um, I'm not gonna get into that tonight.
Throgmorton: Andrew, I ... you're pretty much at five minutes and that's our limit for (both
talking)
McCubbin: Um, so essentially what I'm after is that the, um, City actually does data collection
and traffic study feedback for, um, the proposed speed limit change. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Good evening!
Dixon: Good evening. Uh, my name is David Dixon. Um, and I'm gonna kind of
piggyback on some of that. Um, as I'm pullin' this up though I do wanna say
thank you, um, as .... pulled some of this information together, have gotten a lot of
excellent help from City staff. Uh, everyone from Eleanor, uh, Kent Ralston, uh,
some of the engineers in the Engineering Department, um, have done a lot of
work to help us get, uh.... information put together to make an informed
presentation. Um, we .... we were fortunate enough to talk to Eleanor earlier
today, so I think some of the legal concerns are maybe somewhat straightforward.
Um, the question at some level is what should the speed limit be on this stretch of
road? Um, you know we can talk about some of the stuff that goes into setting a
speed limit from an engineering standpoint. Um .... I'm gonna skip straight to a
couple of things specifically with .... this stretch of road. Going back to the design
phase for the Gateway project. Uh, this is, uh.... straight out of transcript from a
2014 meeting, uh, Rick Fosse I believe is how you pronounce his name, the, uh,
City engineer or Public Works engineer, director at the time, um, pointed out this
is a really, virtually a rural corridor, and talked about 35 being a challenge from an
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enforcement standpoint. Um, that was at a stage when you had a lot of traffic
calming features in the project — narrow 11 -foot lanes and some other things like
that. He talks about the .... the elements of design that .... that influence design
speed, and talked about how narrower lanes were going to require some input or
approval from the DOT. The new lanes weren't built narrower with those traffic
calming features involved. You ended up with 12 -foot lanes, which calls into
question a little bit the justification for certainly a 35 -mile -an -hour speed limit,
as .... as Fosse brought up, but even more so if you're talking about 25. From
September of 2014, and I'm .... I'm not trying to pick on your, Mayor
Throgmorton, here (laughs). This is just out of a transcript. You raise a concern
for this to be a 25 -mile -an -hour zone. There were design elements that you were
expecting that.... Council didn't approve. Um, those elements weren't there. Um,
so ... we've .... we've got some .... some history that .... that I think some things that
Council was expecting in a 25 -mile -an -hour zone that ended up not being built.
So the question is what are people driving out there? Uh, we took the time over
the weekend, did a quick spot study. After talking to the Engineering Department
and finding out that there wasn't one done. Um, and .... and that's.... that's
problematic, but we went ahead and looked at it. This is .... this is in the affected
stretch, um, you know, no surprise — 95% of the vehicles exceed 20 -miles -an -
hour, um, you've got a lot of faster speeds mixed in also. Here's what it looks
like. This is a chart showing the cumulative number of vehicles during that time
exceeding a particular speed. Uh, so across the bottom you see a speed in miles -
per -hour, and the vertical axis is a percentage. So, the proposed speed limit, at 25,
would in fact make 85% of the drivers, based on this survey, in violation of the
law. That's inconsistent with engineering practices. It's consistent with sound
science. It's .... you can see here based on speeding citations, uh, clerk in the
Police Department, uh, somebody I forgot to thank earlier, pulled together records
of all the speeding citations issued in Iowa City, uh, between yesterday at 5:00
and first thing this morning. Um, gives a quick spreadsheet, uh, from whatever
records keeping they use, and we were able to compile these. Basically 28% of
all the speeding tickets in Iowa City are being issued in this one little spot. Of
those, more than 74% were issued within 30 minutes of another citation. In other
words, this isn't just a policeman that happens to be passing through. We've got
somebody that's goin' out there and sittin' and .... and writin' tickets. Um, you
know, that .... that's good in the standpoint that the one way to influence speeds is
generally to do a saturation patrol, but you're doin' that and you're still gettin' high
speeds. Um, what I would ask of the Council for both safety and legal reasons, an
under posted speed limit isn't safe. Have the engineers do the study. Find out
what the most appropriate safe speed limit is. The engineers can consider 85th
percentile, they consider other pedestrian factors, you know, there's a crosswalk
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there, all that stuff. Let the .... let the City's engineers, I know you've got some
good ones, let them give you feedback as to what the speed limit should be.
Throgmorton: Thanks, David. Could I ask you a quick question?
Dixon: Absolutely!
Throgmorton: When you did your observation, study, it was just a few days ago?
Dixon: This was informal, yeah (laughs) I wouldn't wanna defend it in court (laughs)
Throgmorton: Did you do it on both directions?
Dixon: We ... we....
Throgmorton: Or just one?
Dixon: So .... so we did it, the southbound direction presents a challenge for the specific
portion, uh, that would be covered by the ordinance, in part because you have a
traffic light, uh, at, urn .... Foster Road, thank you, um, there's a traffic light at
Foster Road, and engineering practices for doing these kind of studies generally
say you....the (mumbled) the....the federal design document for, uh, dealing with
signage says you should be at least half a mile downstream from the nearest
traffic light to prevent influence there. Uh, so if you actually go half a mile south
of Foster Road, you're down there... somewhere near the crosswalk in front of
the .... the.....the Mayflower building there. Um, so it....it wouldn't.... it would
have been kind of at the far end of the zone that .... that's being discussed for
today's ordinance.
Throgmorton: Maybe I didn't hear. Did you .... did you, was your observation based on the
southbound traffic (both talking) the northbound?
Dixon: So ... so we ... we did northbound. We .... we took some southbound data, but getting
data far enough away from the traffic light and .... and the speed read-out signs,
um, which I actually have a slide here for. The speed read-out signs, um, are
influencing speeds. Uh, so .... so that's a factor you don't want in play when you're
doing the study, to get it correct.
Throgmorton: Yeah, and we don't, uh, I'm gonna ask Geoff this question. Geoff, we don't have
these speed indicator signs for, uh, for northbound traffic, am I right?
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Dixon: We certainly didn't see any, if that helps ya (laughs)
Tbrogmorton: Kent, do you know (several talking) Yeah, so ... so you were measuring the
direction that has no signaling to (both talking)
Dixon: That's correct!
Throgmorton:... drivers that they really should be driving 25 -miles -an -hour. Whereas if you're
on the other side, there's sig... there's the displays that say (both talking)
Dixon: Correct!
Throgmorton:.... speed's 25 -miles -an -hour. Yep!
Dixon: The speed limit'll be 35 there, going into that sign .... um.....
Throgmorton: Well there's a point where it indicates 25.
Dixon: Right! Um, and....
Throgmorton: I know that I've observed that the traffic's considerably slower....
Dixon: It .... it is slowing there (both talking) and that's exactly the reason why you don't
include that data in a proper study. My .... my point again is, you've got engineers.
Law in a lot of cases, if you're doing a study to figure out what the speed limit
should be, they're the ones to do it. They can do it and if you're interested in
safety, they're the ones who should be doing it. Thank you.
Throgmorton: I didn't mean to get into an argument (both talking)
Dixon: No, no, no! Not at all (both talking)
Throgmorton:... trying to be clear about (both talking)
Dixon: We ... the traffic light made it too difficult to get speed limits, or speeds measured
on the southbound direction.
Throgmorton: Okay! Thanks.
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Dixon: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Uh, does anybody else want to address this topic? Miss Maas.
Maas: My name is Liz Maas. Um, so I .... I was just here for some other things and this
one came up and I thought I'd say something. Um, I think there may be a little bit
difference between, first of all let me say I don't like driving slowly, personally,
but I drive more slowly now because it saves more fuel and it's more efficient and
it's a sustainable way to live, even though (mumbled) was a little old lady from
Pasadena. Um (clears throat) uh, maybe the difference between what's going on
on Dubuque Street and what's going on on Dodge Street, and I've lived on both
sides of town, is the Mayflower, and the heavily walkable, bikeable area that
students use to get ... and I realize there are nice big, broad sidewalks, but you did
design, or allow the design of that street, to look like a race track. It's well lit. It
has nice curves, I mean who doesn't wanna zip down that road. So maybe these
are just some things to think about as we continue thinking about climate change
and the issues that relate to climate, just carbon emissions, walkability bikeability,
energy use, road diets, some of the things we've talked about before. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Liz. Anyone else? Okay, I don't see anybody else so .... we have a
motion on the floor. Council discussion? I wanna say a couple things, just begin
with, um, I .... I do remember, as Susan does too, extensive discussions we had on
the Council back in 2012 or 13, whatever the year was, uh, about the roadway
design and I do remember advocating narrower lanes and all that kind of stuff,
and it really.... because I was trying to signal through roadway design that we
wanted the traffic to be moving slower, slower .... and the .... the closer in to our
town you are. That's true, but another factor that weighed heavily on my own
thinking was Mayflower, and the fact that there are a large number of students and
occasionally during the summer visitors who stay at Mayflower, and we .... I
wanted to make sure that they would feel safe to cross the street on foot. And
there's no other place you can go, except up to Foster Road or down to Church
Street to get across that road safely, yet I see people tannin' across the street. So I
wanted to do what I could to ensure that they were safe. So that's just part of my
own reasoning. I'm not trying to tell everybody else what to think but.....Council
discussion? Anybody else have things to say?
Mims: Yeah, as you mentioned, Jim, you and I were both here during that time and what
I would say is that was a very political decision that was made on that speed limit.
It was not based on engineering. It wasn't based on science. It was based on
politics and .... and the pressure in terms of ...of what we ended up there. I drive
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in that way, I don't go out Dubuque that often, but it's not that unusual that I, when
I'm coming back into town, I come in on Dubuque Street, and certainly 25 -miles -
an -hour is not what most people see as a reasonable speed on that stretch. Um, I
think the gentlemen that have talked tonight have, I think have made a very good
case for the fact that we really should have, um, some scientific engineering
background in terms of making the determination of what is a reasonable, um, and
safe speed. Slow doesn't necessarily mean safe. Um, you know, just like when
you're driving on the interstate. If everybody else is going 75 and you're going
65, you know, there's problems. So I think that's a reasonable way to go is to
really analyze that stretch, um, before making the determination of a change
because I personally think 25 is too small on that section. So I'll be voting no.
Teague: I think the analyzation is key here. Urn, it....it feels slow. When you're drivin' on
that street. That's somethin' (clears throat) several people have talked to me about
it, you know, after me gettin' on Council. Can you change that speed limit
(laughs) increase it over on Dubuque Street, and so I do think that, um, definitely,
um, let's get a study and then make it, you know, and then we can have more
definitive, um, information about that street and the speed limit, what it should be.
Salih: Um, yes I guess from the data that has been collected and the study and what
David Dixon just presented, I think you making a very good case and we have, as
you said, we have really good engineering, you know, ask people if they can look
into this and come up with a speed limit that, you know, need to be there. I guess
I will vote no, leave it to the engineering.
Cole: I'm going to support the 25. I mean to me .... the ..... the data on the safety
implications of. ... the one I would use would be Jeff Speck 20, 30, and 40 is
overwhelming. The difference in terms of fatalities at 20 -miles -an -hour is about
10%, 30 -mile at 50, and 40 at, um, essentially 90%. And if we did not have
Mayflower there, I .... I may change my opinion, but people go across there all the
time. This is a highly pedestrianized area, um, I probably would have shared
Jim's view back when this was decided — I wasn't on Council then — to make it
narrow lanes, but that's not the issue before us. So I'm gonna support the 25 and
with the .... with the need, if we need to make additional traffic calming measures
to get more alignment, um, I'd be happy to consider that, but I think to me, um,
I'm not aware of any studies that say that roads become safer, you can share some
with me, you can send 'em, to me, that the roads become safer the faster you go.
The second related question is if you have any contrary data indicating that fuel
efficiency is .... is, um, better as you increase speeds, and if you have that, I mean
again, I'll ..... I'll review that, but I'm gonna support that. I think it's important we
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promote road safety, especially an area .... the point you made, Jim, I think was
really good. Mayflower, there are people that visit. There are college freshmen,
it's their first experience at the University of Iowa, um, you see kids on their
phones, they are crossing that all the time. I think anything we can do to lower
those speeds, I think is going to be very important.
Thomas: Well I was, uh, time this project was being considered by Council I wasn't on
Council, but I was a .... (both talking)
Cole: ....align the speeds.
Thomas: I was a resident, uh, acting as a resident, uh, in the Northside, you know, near the,
um, corridor, and uh, you know, as Jim had said, I think the question that I saw
was the .... the, um, the fact that there was a considerable increase in the number of
collisions south of May .... south of Mayflower to Park Road and perhaps south of
Park Road. Uh, which .... which reflected what I would argue is the complexity of
the condition on the road there, uh, with the number of driveways, Kimball Road
intersecting, uh, Dubuque Street, the, um, unregulated mid -block crossing at
Mayflower, all of these factors contributed to, uh.... my feeling that we needed to
make a clear distinction as to when you're entering into that complexity as you
enter into the city. Uh, and as Jim had noted, the .... it's.....if you were to make
that distinction, the preferred approach would have been to narrow the lanes to
cue to the drivers that driving at a slower speed was appropriate. Uh, the .... the
lane widths as they stand now do .... encourage higher speeds, because of their
width. Um, the road is built now, so it would be difficult to change it. I'm ... I'm
encouraged to see that the, um, you know, the sign indicators seem to be making a
difference. Um, but the fact is is there are points of conflict across that southern
stretch of street where some very serious things could happen, and the idea of, oh,
well we'll ... the speeds are higher, let's move the speed limit up, you know, also
keep in mind that there's a five -mile -per -hour grace for whatever speed you set it
at, so if we say 25, uh, typically no one is cited for speeding, for going 30. It
would be in excess of 30. So if we say 35, we're talking 40. You know, that....
we're..... we're incentivizing higher speeds. The higher we set the limit, the higher
the .... the vehicles will go. So, you k now, I'm gonna support the 25. I think that
is the appropriate speed. It's unfortunate how the .... the actual roadway design is
not as consistent as I would like it to be with the speed limit, but, um, I don't
wanna encourage higher speeds.
Throgmorton: Eleanor, did you have something (both talking)
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Dilkes: Yeah, I just wanna add .... add a few things, because I have, um, some.... since Mr.
McCubbin and Mr. Dixon came to the, started, you know, talking to staff
yesterday, um, and they talked to me today. I've .... I know more about speed
setting than I used to (laughter) um, but I just want you to consider a couple
things. Um.....the State Code, well first of all let me back up to 2014. At that
time, when you were having all this discussion about 25 -mile -per -hour speed
limit, 30 -mile, what the design standards were gonna be for this road, and just to
remind you there was a resolution that adopted 30 -miles -per -hour as the design
standard, and 25 as the posted. What has happened in the actual design of it, I
can't .... I can't speak to. Um, but the .... the State Code have certain statutory
speed limits. For instance, 20 -miles in a business district, 25 -miles in a, um,
residential district. Now that res .... I think there's some question about whether
this is a residential district or not, because, you know, my first glance it appears to
be, um, but I don't know that for sure. Um, Mr. Dixon disagrees with me about
that, but I think it's.... it's very possible that the default speed limit for this stretch
of road is under the State Code 25 -miles -per -hour. That said .... but that's an
unknown. I don't .... I don't know for sure the answer to that, although that's how I
read the statute on its face. If the Council, under the State Code, wants to set a
speed limit other than the statutory speed limit, um, they can do so. Um .... but it
has to be based on a traffic engineering (mumbled) investigation. Um, and in
their best judgment, based on that engineering investigation. Um, and if you'll
remember back from 2014,1 told you that it had to be....whatever you were doing
for liability purposes it had to be based on a generally recognized design standard.
Okay. So the conversation about it being a political decision to set this road at 25 -
miles -per -hour, I think, is.....is concerning. Um, and the judgments that somehow
it was right when the lane was gonna be narrower but is no longer right now
concern me. Um .... so I'm just telling you that those are my concerns about
....liability protection, um, down the road. Um, and I think there's some .... there
is some value to the conducting of a .... of a study.
Throgmorton: What did you say the statutory speed limit is for residential areas?
Dilkes: Twenty-five.
Throgmorton: How many people live in Mayflower? Do you know?
Dilkes: That's not the question. The way the residence district is defined is .... and in fact I
have it here, um.....it's 40% of the frontage of a span of road that is at least 300
feet. So when I first looked at that, to me we've got that along there, because
we've got dwellings basically all along the northbound side. Um, Mr. Dixon told
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me later today that he disagrees with that because it should be the building face,
urn .... that's not how I read the statute, but I don't know, but suffice it to say, that's
not how we got to this point of 25 -miles -per -hour (laughs) is calling it a residence
district. We got to this point because there was a ter... determination made that it
should be .... in judgment, which really should be based on a .... on an engineering
analysis, should be 25.
Throgmorton: Okay, again, just following up on the legal aspects of this, would such an
engineering analysis take into account pedestrians tryin' to cross the street?
Dilkes: Yes, and that's the other thing that I have .... have, if you look at, for instance, the
DOT literature on setting of traffic speeds. There's this big focus on this 85th
percentile mark, um, and that is what you find in the manual on.....from traffic
control devices. We'll also find in that manual the other considerations that can be
looked at, and in the DOT literature it includes the 8th percentile study, that it also
includes road type and surface, location and type of access points, existing traffic
control devices, cash .... crash history, traffic vol.... volumes, site distances,
pedestrian activity, and results of a field review and speed study.
Throgmorton: Okay.
Dilkes: So it should not just be based .... based on what I'm looking at, on the 85th (both
talking)
Throgmorton: Okay. Thanks! Uh, Council, uh, any further Council discussion?
Taylor: Well I just wanted to clarify that I have a friend that was, uh, nabbed for going 47
in the 25 zone and he was following the person in front of him, but he .... he got
nabbed, the other person didn't get nabbed, but .... (noise on mic) oops! And...
and in relation to what was said earlier, people are going much faster. (mumbled)
that was posted 25 and they were going 47, and that .... that's very dangerous. I do
appreciate though, I wanted to say that, uh.... uh, Andrew and David, your
....you're looking into this. We get so many people that come before us and just
say well I don't like this, or this isn't right, but .... but you came before us with
some .... with some excellent data that you gave it a lot of thought, and I appreciate
that, but uh, I'm a proponent of 25 -mile -per -hour and I think if we do do an
investigation, it's gotta be when the students are here in full force and people are
out on their bikes and .... and walking that trail, cause part of the design of the
Gateway was to make it attractive, and even now you see people walkin' there all
the time and crossing the street, but uh, there aren't folks in the Mayflower, but
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there will be soon and I think we need to, uh, and the Cambus is coming and
going from there. It's a very busy stretch there. I myself catch myself going, all
of a sudden I realize, oops! (laughs) I'm going 32. I better slow down, cause it's
25 here, cause it is difficult. I understand that, but I think it was posted there for
a reason.
Throgmorton: Does anybody else wanna say anything about this? Okay, I guess my own view
is, uh, I'm inclined to be kind of risk averse about this. I think we probably
should do a traffic study, uh, for the legal reasons you've laid out, Eleanor, um, but
I think it's important for the study to include the factors that you identified when I
asked you my question just a minute ago. Uh, so, uh, that's where I would, I am
inclined to be at the moment, and I'm also wondering, and nobody has to answer
this right at the moment, but I'm wondering why there is not a speed indicator for
the northbound traffic. We can ... (mumbled) answer that later on. Doesn't have to
be answered right now.
Fruin: Can you respond to that now, Kent, or....
Ralston: Yeah, Kent Ralston, Transportation Planner. Um, my recollection is, and it's been
a number of years, as we've discussed, is that typically radar feedback signs are
most effective when there's a change in the speed. So when you're coming off the
interstate southbound on Dubuque, 35 to 25, and that's what you see today is .... is
where that is posted is the 25 -mile -per -hour speed limit, uh, sign and you see what
your speed is. Northbound it's 25 all the way through Dubuque Street, from
downtown, so there's no speed limit change. So the idea is that when you come
off the interstate, you're traveling quick. You're.... you're, uh, used to .... you're
velocitized and you're going the speed you're going, um, and then you're reminded
that the speed limit is 25. Northbound you should already have been going 25 and
then you continue 25, assuming that's the posted speed limit. Today's at 25.
Throgmorton: Okay so, hmm.....we.... we do have a motion on the floor, don't we? Yeah, so....
Mims: We do, and I guess my question is do we .... I guess I'd be interested to hear
staffs.... thoughts on the engineering study and if as a Council we decide we do
wanna do that, should we go ahead and vote on this now or defer this?
Fruin: I would go ahead and do first reading and .... if you've got other thoughts, Eleanor,
but I'd go ahead and do first reading and let us .... come back to you second
reading, after we have a chance to talk about that.
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Throgmorton: All right, that sounds reasonable to me. Is that okay with the rest of you?
(several responding) Okay. Any further Council discussion?
Teague: I just have .... can they put up a sign? Is it that difficult to put up a sign
northbound?
Throgmorton: Yeah.
Ralston: Yeah, I mean we certainly could. I think I'd wait until after an investigation's
done, if that's the path we're going down. Just because I think that would be, um,
a good use of time and effort, but yeah, I mean we certainly could.
Teague: Okay.
Throgmorton: That makes sense to me too.
Dilkes: How long does such an investigation take?
Ralston: So, uh, yeah, I mean the investigation itself won't take too long. We've gotta fit it
into our workload. Um, I would recommend a few things. One is not doing the
study, obviously, until school's back in session, because you've got more traffic,
it's more consistent with what traffic would be on Dubuque Street for the majority
of the year. Also we wanna count how many pedestrians are crossing the street at
the Mayflower, um .... adjacent to the roadway, that sort of thing. So I would want
to wait for sure until the academic year starts, which is .... soon coming, um, you
know, the investigation itself, uh, couple weeks. You k now, we need to collect
our data, um, that takes 72 hours, so on and so forth so .... I mean the investigation
itself is not a huge undertaking. Um, but it will take some time.
Dilkes: Let's defer it then.
Throgmorton: That's just what I was (both talking)
Dilkes: ...rather than (both talking)
Throgmorton: Defer it for ...till the August 20th?
Dilkes: (both talking)
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Throgmorton: Yeah, so could I have .... we have a motion on the floor though too. So .... but we
have a motion (both talking)
Dilkes: That's okay. The motion to defer takes priority over that.
Mims: Should we defer it indefinitely or....
Dilkes: Yeah, we'll put it back on when we know what (mumbled)
Throgmorton: But the expectation is it will get pretty quick feedback.
Dilkes: Yep!
Mims: Move to defer.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Salih. Um ..... dis.... Council discussion? Hearing
none, roll call please.
Dilkes: It's just a voice vote.
Throgmorton: Oh, voice vote, don't ya know! All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion carries.
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14. Bikes, E -bikes, E -scooters, E -skateboards — Ordinance amending Title 9,
Entitled "Motor Vehicles and Traffic," Chapters 1, 3, 4, 8 and 10 to enhance
bicyclist safety, to prohibit dooring, to expand the definition of electric assist
bicycles, and to provide for the operation of electric scooters and electric
skateboards. (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?
Nagle -Gamin: Good evening.
Throgmorton: (laughter) Feel free!
Nagle -Gamin: Want me to go ahead?
Throgmorton: Yes, please!
Nagle -Gamin: Good evening. Darian Nagle -Gamin with Transportation Services. Um, I'll be
very brief, but this ordinance amendment that you have in front of you was
designed to enhance bicycle safety and expand the definition of electric -assist
bicycles to include all classes of electric -assist bicycles. It also defines electric
scooters and electric skateboards, which are two new forms of transportation
we're seeing out in our community, and it regulates them by treating them the
same as bicycles and allowing them to operate where bicycles are allowed to
operate today. So this, uh, ordinance amendment that you see before you was in
response to requests from the community, from inquiries from the Iowa Bicycle
Coalition, and the fact, as I mentioned, that we are beginning to see these types of
vehicles proliferate throughout the community. They're becoming very popular.
In fact the City will be, uh, introducing with a vendor partner, uh, electric bike
share this fall. So we will also be a part of that, um, proliferation of these new
vehicles that will provide another option for people to get around town.
Throgmorton: Great! Any questions for Darian?
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Teague: I know that the University has a moratorium on the electric scooters. So .... City
right-of-way or .... they can, you know, put the electric scooters, but is there any
consideration for educating or notifyin' the students.... what is University, what is
City property? I'm a little, uh, I question that a little bit.
Nagle-Gamm: That's a great question. Um, the .... the bike share's going to be introduced with e -
bicycles only, at the beginning. We have an option to potentially add other
electric vehicles in the future. Um, we haven't crossed that bridge yet, because we
haven't got to that point where we're, uh, we're considering, uh, e -scooters,
although they are out in the community. People have private, um, e -scooters
currently. So that's a bridge we're going to have to cross, um, in terms of the
education piece if indeed the University doesn't decide, um, to enable, uh, use of
e -scooters on their campus, um, I'm not sure if the moratorium is long-term or if
it's short-term. I know that they had indicated they wanted to have more
discussion. So that's something.... that's some conversations we would have to
have.
Cole: So .... so, Darian, um, bikes are not allowed on downtown City sidewalks, correct?
Nagle-Gamm: That's correct.
Cole: So this will also then apply to the scooters.
Nagle-Gamm: Absolutely, yes.
Cole: Um, and how.... electric bikes, in terms of speeds, how fast .... like if you don't
pedal, I don't know this. Maybe I should, but ... how fast can they get going? I
mean it almost .... at what point do they become like a moped? And it's just sort
of. .... (both talking)
Nagle-Gamm: Very good question (both talking) Uh, they are pedal -assist, so that's where the
electric assist comes. So it's not a throttle, um, which you can just give yourself
kind of unlimited speed. So it's proportional to the amount of power you put into
the pedal, and there's three classes, as I mentioned earlier. The lowest class, um,
goes up to about 20 miles -per -hour. It only assists you, um, up to 15. 1 think the
maximum electric motor speed for electric assist bikes is 28 -miles -per -hour, but
you have to be peddling very fast yourself in order to get that kind of speed out of
an electric assist bicycle.
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Throgmorton: All right, any other questions for Darian? Thank you! Council, uh, anybody else
want to address this topic? (both talking)
Dixon: ....quick, uh, this wasn't something I considered at all before coming to the
meeting. I didn't really look at it. Uh, there are a lot of cities that are having
trouble with parking, with a lot of the dock -less a -bikes and e -scooters. As you're
considering an ordinance to regulate'em, it's probably a good time to think about
where they get left behind in between rentals and all that kind of stuff. Um,
obviously once you've got a company in here operating a bike share, you're gonna
have somebody pushing back against any sort of attempt to rein in their... their
operations. Just somethin' to think about!
Throgmorton: Thanks, David.
Maas: Just wanted to say thank you for this one. This is really great, um, but I was just
in D.C., uh, over the summer break and my family rented some of these and we
had a great time, but there was a very strong, uh, rules and regulations about
where they can be and not .... not be, um, like the Mall. You can't just park it on
the National Mall and walk away. Um, and they do die and then they're just kinda
left on the side of the road. Um, but from the standpoint of new small business,
maybe you could go with Bird cause I have a lot of money still that I could use
that. Thanks.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else?
Zeithamel: Yeah, I think this is great for, um, supporting our environment and greener ways
in which we can get around and travel, and, uh, it helps with less parking ramps,
etc., downtown, make it more environmentally friendly. So, thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you She .... uh, thank you, Sheila. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else,
Council discussion?
Cole: I'm gonna support this, but I think that signage is going to be huge downtown,
because I see tons of students on (mumbled) I mean I think that that will be the
inevitable consequence (both talking)
Throgmorton: Especially at the start of the school year.
Cole: Yeah, and I'm really concerned about, you know, the Senior Center. There's a lot
of people in wheelchairs. I think that's gonna be a huge challenge, um, just to
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make sure that people know those rules of the road, and I'm sure our department
will take that into consideration (mumbled) five steps ahead of us, but that's going
to be huge.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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15. School Speed Zone — Lucas Elementary and Herbert Hoover Elementary
(closed) — Ordinance amending Title 9, Entitled "Motor Vehicles and
Traffic," Chapter 3, Entitled "Rules of the Road," Section 6, Entitled "Speed
Restrictions" Subsection C, Entitled "School Speed Zones to create a 20 mph
school speed zone for Lucas Elementary School and to remove a school speed
zone for the recently closed Herbert Hoover Elementary (First
Consideration)
Throgmorton: This is first consideration, so could I have a motion for first consideration please?
Teague: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Mims. Discussion? Hi, Kent!
Ralston: Hi. Yeah, quickly, uh, as the Mayor suggested, this ordinance, uh, does establish a
school speed zone for Willow Street, which is behind Lucas. Uh, that request
came to us, uh, via the neighborhood as part of a traffic calming project that we're
(mumbled) continuing to work with them on, uh, and it's consistent with other
speed zones around the community, and then the Hoover, uh, Elementary School
not being an elementary school anymore triggered the need to remove that school
speed zone. Happy to answer your questions that you might have.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Kent.
Ralston: Thank you.
Throgmorton: Council discussion? Oh, I'm sorry! Go ahead, David.
Dixon: So .... so obviously (both talking)
Throgmorton: Say your name again, please.
Dixon: David Dixon. Um, obviously the same issues apply here. Um, my .... obviously
the .... the, I think the elimination of the school zone is probably much more
straightforward, cause you're just reverting to a statutory limit, I assume. Um....
one thing I will say is when you're doing the engineering studies to support these
speed limit changes, make sure they're actually being done by an engineer. Um,
you know, I wanna see a study and .... I would scrutinize it if (mumbled) get to
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your concern, which I assume applies here also. If an engineer looks at the ... the,
uh, speed limit in this area, or what the speed limit should be, then he .... it
considers pedestrian volumes and things like that. If I saw a study that showed
some marked crosswalks or showed an elementary school or whatever, and I
didn't see any discussion of pedestrian traffic, I would scrutinize the same study.
You know, that.... that's.... that's not complete if it doesn't address those factors.
Um .... but in regards specifically to the school zone, you're gonna have pedestrian
factors. That's gonna be probably..... dominant over the 85th percentile speed, but
again you're enacting a speed limit. It should be an engineering decision, not a
political one. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else want to address this topic? Are you guys playing ping-
pong? (laughter)
Maas: My name's Liz Maas. Um, I have a 9th grader starting at City High this year and
while, uh, Hoover is going to not be a school for elementary school children, it is
going to be a parking lot for high school drivers. So it's still part of a school, from
my perspective. And this is ... now I'm talking as a parent, not as a climate change
person. Um, I don't know, that seems kinda awkward to me and there's still a lot
of people that walk back and forth that are high school students that live in that
neighborhood and walk to City High. So, just .... just curiosity about that, but a
study would be a great idea .... to solve that question. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one else, Council discussion?
Taylor: I think Liz raises a .... a good question there, as far as, uh, the use of that area and
what it's going to be. Um, I think even at the high schools do have a different
speed zones. So it might be something to consider.
Mims: I don't think we do have different speed zones at the high schools. Certainly don't
in front of West High, and all the years I went back and forth to City High, there's
no (several talking) there's no change there. So, I'm comfortable with both of
these and I .... I hear David's point about the engineering study. I think we've been
pretty consistent around town with the school zone, 20 -miles -an -hour. Um ... and
I ... I think especially with the elementary schools, I'm pretty comfortable with that.
Throgmorton: Me too. Any other Council discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion
carries 7-0.
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16. Community Cats — Ordinance amending Title 8, entitled "Police
Regulations," Chapter 4, entitled "Animal Services," to establish
trap/neuter/return requirements for community cats. (First Consideration)
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion for first consideration please?
Teague: So moved.
Mims: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Teague, seconded by Mims. Good evenin', how are ya?
Whitmore: I'm fine, how are you? I'm Chris Whitmore from Animal Services. I just wanna
thank you for havin' an opportunity to have community cats in our community.
Um, it's been somethin' that the community has asked me for for many years, and
I'm just grateful that we are in the process of getting this passed.
Throgmorton: Great!
Whitmore: ....questions?
Throgmorton: Any questions for Chris?
Mims: I just appreciate all the information that we've gotten from the public and
reinforced from you so that, I mean I feel good about the decision that we're
gonna make.
Throgmorton: Me too. Any other.... comments or questions directed toward Chris? No, okay.
Thank you, Chris.
Whittenberg: My name's Howard Whittenberg. Uh, lived in Iowa City since 73, and the cat
problem has always been a problem. People wanna have pets but they don't
wanna keep 'em indoors, like they're supposed to, or on a leash. I've caught
several of'em. My understanding, from the Animal Shelter over the years, they
are supposed to be on a leash, just like a dog, and uh... I would hate to see the City
get into the business of pickin' cats up, fixin' 'em, then dumpin' 'em back on the
street. They're a problem, just like the deer are. Uh, I put out feeders, bird baths,
cause I like to watch the birds. I'm gettin' tired of cleanin' up the cat crap in my
yard and pickin' up dead birds because the cats do like the bird feeders. You
know, any place there's a bird, cats like to hang around. Uh... I'm gettin' tired of
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tryin' to catch'em. (mumbled) we need to do somethin' about it, uh, somebody
needs to take responsibility for these animals. I mean, uh, there's so many of'em
just running everywhere. It just seems like cat owners, a lot of'em, not all of'em,
but a lot of'em seem to think they can just tum it loose on the neighborhood, and
you know, I like the birds. I don't like seein' 'em dead in my yard. But I'd like to
see this done some other way, uh, than just fixing'em and turn'em back out. Uh,
get somebody to adopt 'em and if they're not fit to be adopted, maybe we just need
to put'em down, I mean like I say, to me they're just like a deer problem. Uh...
and it gets a little tiring after a while.
Throgmorton: Okay. Thank you. Good evening.
Rash: Hello. Hi, my name is Dianne Rash and I'm a life-long resident of Iowa City, and
I know that there has been cat problems in the past, and I'm here to support the
TNR. I think it's very valuable and I do understand concerns about, um, the feral
cats sometimes messing in people's yards and birds and things like that, but I have
stray raccoons that come in my yard and they poop in my yard and I don't like that
either, and so to me the feral cats are .... um.....more of an animal like that, like
you know rabbits come in your yard, they eat my lettuce, um, you know, those
types of things, and so, um .... I just wanted to say that right now the Shelter is
overflowing with cats. Um, the overflow is going to foster homes and it's
wonderful that we have those resources in our town, but obviously, you know, the
Shelter's not equipped. They work really hard to place feral cats in barn homes
out at city limits, but there's only so many barn homes available and urn .... right
now the only two options right now for if you see a stray cat and you want to do
something about it is to take it to the Animal Shelter where it will be euthanized
most likely because typically these cats are not considered adoptable, or you just
let it run loose, and then if thereby it still produces more kittens, which you know
just adds to the pop ... cat population. I feel like TNR's the only humane way to
address this issue, and also TNR also controls the pet population and urn .... I .... l,
you know I just think city residents, most city residents, if they have to choose
between euthanizing or leaving a cat go, they'll just let it go and TNR just
provides a very important, um, thing in our society, you know, to treat these
animals with compassion. So, I appreciate that the City Council is, um,
considering this. There have been lots of, um, cities across the country that have
adopted this program very successfully and I appreciate the opportunity to talk to
you about this.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Dianne. Anyone else?
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Maas: Feral cats and climate! So, um, during the flood of 2008, I know in Cedar Rapids
they had, after the flood, uh, a major problem with lots of people who of course
had been out of their homes. They couldn't capture their cats. Cats became feral,
and they had to euthanize ... because they couldn't find homes for many of these
cats, they had to euthanize like 600 kittens, not adults, but ... cause there was this
mass population after the flood. Um, very depressing, very sad, not good for
community morale, even with the flood other stuff too. So maybe just thinking
about when we do have those, um, large climactic events that surely we're going
to have more of, putting a little money aside to provide more funding for the TNR
program. I think the TNR program is great. Uh, the returning of animals, the
only question I'd have is do they get some kind of health check? Are they tested
for like feline AIDS and those sorts of things, and then on the return part, um, we
all know that there's been very well documented evidence of, um, death to
biodiversity, especially birds and small mammals. I think it's like over a billion
birds are killed every year by .... by neighborhood, both feral and pet cats. So just
somethin' to think about on that return part. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Anyone else? All right, seeing no one else, Council discussion?
Taylor: I'm in .... I'm very much in favor of this, not just because I'm well known as a cat
lady, uh, but just because I, uh, the Animal Shelter bad given us some very clear
data and very impressive numbers about the cost of euthanizing, and the number
of cats that they have had to euthanize, and mostly because if they were feral and
they came in and they weren't deemed sociable or .... or not adoptable, uh, they
had no other choice except to euthanize, except, uh, the Humane Society is
already doing some of this, if you'll call them, and they will, uh, absorb the cost
of..of, uh, neutering these .... these animals and, uh, Dianne had mentioned, uh,
stray raccoons, but for me it's squirrels. The squirrels are terribly damaging.
They literally tore up my lawn furniture, without me even knowing it. I just saw
shreds of the, um, foam all over my yard and .... and it was the squirrels, not the
cats. My feral cats in my neighborhood cause no problems. They ...they roam
around like two, three, four block area, uh, so I .... I don't see any problem with
this, and I think, uh, other communities, uh, surrounding communities have very
successfully, uh, used this program and so I .... I think that, uh, it's high time that
Iowa City does this.
Cole: I think the other thing here, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that it's sort of
counter -intuitive. I think that the communities that have adopted this have seen
reductions in the feral, the cat population. So the problem is is we all have these
kitty lovers that may have one cat at home and they don't wanna turn in a cat....
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because they're afraid that it's gonna be euthanized. And it's also .... and so this
gives the .... the, uh, the department an additional tool, and as I understand it, if we
do have a population spike, they still will retain the tool for euthanization, um, but
this is just another option that's available. So what we'll see, hopefully, if we're
like all the other communities that have adopted, is a downward trend, and I think
to your concern about the increase, I think that only, um, demonstrates why we
should do this, try to get that downward trend, so more people are turning in the
cats, so they can be fixed, and if they do become a problem or a danger or a health
issue, we .... we do retain that unfortunate option of euthanization, if need be.
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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17. Deer Management Plan — Resolution approving the Long -Term Deer
Management Plan for the Years 2019 to 2024, rescinding Resolution No. 19-
167, and authorizing the City Manager to sign an agreement with White
Buffalo, Inc.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Mims: So moved.
Cole: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Mims, seconded by Cole. Um .... is anybody gonna give us a brief
overview, really the public a brief overview of this?
Fruin: Uh, so as the Council knows, our last trip to the NRC in July, uh, we again failed
to get approval. Uh, at that point our request was for one year of sharp shooting,
uh, down to a level of 10 deer per square mile. Uh, followed by four years of bow
hunting, if necessary, and the'if necessary' was, um, inserted at the Council table,
um, as a way to say if the City Council deems that we don't need to do bow
hunting in the future because our population is at or near our target, then, uh, we
wouldn't have to do that. Um .... we, uh, went .... had a very lengthy discussion,
about an hour and a half, with Natural Resources Commission, uh, staff,
Councilman Teague, uh, Mayor Throgmorton, was .... was, uh, also there joining
us. Um, and I think we came away with some clear guidance from the
Commission, and that's reflected in the revised plan that you have here today. So
a couple of changes. One, uh, on the bow hunt, um, the'if necessary' language is
removed. We are committing to four years of bow hunting. Uh, in the words of
the Commission, we needed to make the bow hunting meaningful, uh, and they
suggested that, uh, a minimum of 30 days would be appropriate. So those ... that,
uh, that language is in there. So there are four years of bow hunts, um, to follow
this winter, and again, uh, that bow hunt, uh, shall be a minimum of 30 days.
Now what's not in the plan are any details on the bow hunts, and that's not
necessary at this time. We'll ultimately have to go back to the NRC with our bow
hunting plans, so I know there's a lot of questions about where will these take
place, uh, when will they take place, how many deer tags might we issue. Those
are all details that we really haven't had time to work out, uh, but certainly would
need to be worked out, and I think we commit to doing that, um, by May of the
year prior, uh, so next May we'll need to submit to the NRC, um, our plans for
that bow hunt, and certainly I would expect the Council to .... to approve those
plans. So that will be coming back to ... to you. The other change that we made
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that I'd like to call out is .... we, um, we moved our deer target back up to 25 deer
per square mile. So 25 deer per square mile was, uh, what we used through....
through most of the 2000s as our community target, and that was a target that was,
uh, discussed, uh, extensively by the .... the Deer Commission at the time
and.... and agreed upon by the Council. Uh, I think there was some, uh,
miscommunication with the Commission at some point last year. The
Commission, one of the staff .... the staff for the Commission had suggested that,
uh.... um, I'm sorry. It was actually the chairperson of the Commission suggested
that we revisit that target. Um, and uh, ultimately through conversations with
staff, we felt like they were .... they wanted us to get down to 10 deer per square
mile. (clears throat) Um, they .... they made it clear that .... that the target is really
our decision. The .... the 10 deer per square mile was their suggestion, based on
what they were hearing from us and .... and hearing from folks that ... that were
talking to us and 10 deer per square mile was a target that they suggested to ... to
help preserve some of the flora and fauna and the .... and the natural, uh,
landscaping. Ultimately we felt that, uh, staff in this proposal felt that, uh.... uh,
because there had been extensive community conversations in the past and
everybody seemed to feel comfortable with 25, that we would go back up to that
25 level, but you'll need to consider that tonight. So again, two major changes,
um, going from 10 per square mile to 25 and then four years of definitive,
meaningful bow hunts.
Throgmorton: There's a (clears throat) Geoff, there's a third element as well at the end of the
plan, isn't there, about non -lethal methods (mumbled) public education and all
those kinds of (both talking)
Fruin: Correct! Yes, and there's a few other minor things. We agreed to submit an
annual report to them, which we have always done in the past. So some of those
details are in there as well.
Throgmorton: All right. Anybody have any questions for Geoff? Would anybody like to address
this topic? Hi, Mayor, how are you?
Bailey: (unable to hear, away from mic) Regenia Bailey. I live in Goosetown. I've been
here to talk about how much I appreciate the deer. I understand that you're being
held hostage by the State, but .... but what I've heard in these meetings, and I've
attended all of the deer discussion meetings, um, neither people who like hostas,
nor people who like deer, want bow hunts, and so when you take this vote, you're
actually voting against what your community desires, what your community's
values are, what our culture is. So, um.....I wouldn't wanna be where you are
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tonight, but I wanna remind you that nobody, deer lovers, hosta lovers, nobody
wants to see bow hunting in the city limits of Iowa City. It's not who we are. It's
not what we value. It's not how we do business. I don't have an answer for you,
but the vote to support this is a wrong vote for your community, and that's who
voted you into office. So please consider that tonight.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Regenia. So...just so everybody knows, uh, when we met with the
Natural Resources Commission, we could not have been more clear about the fact
that our community does not want bow hunting in our city. However, we're not
gonna get a plan approved by the Natural Resources Commission unless we
include bow hunting. So there you are! Uh, Eleanor, would you remind us a little
bit about the legal authority of the Commission and related questions that I posed
to you?
Dilkes: Sure. Urn .... so .... there can't be a .... an urban deer hunt, as we call it, in Iowa City
without the Council making application for it, which is what you've done. Um....
and the NRC has authority to make a decision that reasonable minds may differ
with, and the standard by which their decision won't be judged is an arbitrary and
capricious standard. And I think as you know from other settings that is a very
high standard. Urn.... essentially the State Code puts ownership of the deer in the
State, and then delegates responsibility for that management, for that deer
management, to, um, the NRC. Urn .... the NRC has administrative roles that
cover urban hunts, urn .... and it states that they, uh....they can be approved under
conditions for .... that apply to hunters, and that the, urn, NRC can approve other
means of. ... of urban hunting, um, but clearly the, um, bow hunting is the default,
um, mechanism. Um, the question, you asked me a question of whether, uh...
there is anything that, in the law that requires a technical rationale, and again there
is not. The question is whether they act .... arbitra.... arbitrarily or capriciously.
Urn .... and in my estimation their position that bow hunting will be required if...if
the City desires to cull the herd is a reasonable one. I think you can see that in the
recent exchange between Lori Kendrick and Dr. Gamer. Um, while one may
agree with Miss Kendrick or one may agree with Dr. Garner, I think it's very... it's
almost impossible to characterize his, um, the rationale as arbitrary and
capricious. Um, particularly when you dive into the NRC's, um, literature about
deer management in Iowa, and it's very much focused on .... I'll read you a quote,
for instance. "Deer management in Iowa may be characterized as trying to
maintain a balance between the public's demand for hunting and viewing
opportunities with the need to keep deer numbers compatible with agricultural
interests, highway safety, etc." So all their deer management literature is very
interspersed with .... the desires of hunters and the desi... desires for recreational
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hunting, etc., etc. Um, there's absolutely no requirement that they do an analysis
of the sharp shooting option. Um .... and again, while some may disagree with
their conclusion, I .... I don't think it's one that you can characterize as arbitrary
and capricious.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Eleanor. Yes!
Ashman: Hi. (both talking) Nice to see you then! My name is Jan Ashman. I live at 903
5th Avenue, Iowa City. I'm speaking tonight not as a .... a Johnson County
Humane Society person, not as an Iowa Federation of Human Society person, and
not as someone on the Deer Committee. Okay, it's just me sayin' this. I too
attended the July meeting of the, uh, Natural Resources Commission.... in Boone.
They still don't like Iowa City (laughs) and they really never have, because we're
different. We're the only ..... only city in the entire state that does sharp shooting,
and to them that's very meaningful. Um, when you're looking at how many deer
to cull, you wanna look at your biological carrying capacity, which has to do with,
you know, how much food is there for deer, um, how much, uh, of this food can
be sustained over the year for deer, but you're also looking at cultural carrying
capacity, and this has to do with how tolerant the people in your area of. ... of how
many deer there should be. Do they like deer, do they wanna see them? I'm with
Regenia! Um .... we like seein' our deer. We don't wanna kill a whole bunch of
them, and if we kill them, we want them ..... we want it to be an efficient,
effective, and humane kill, and that is something that the NRC just won't buy,
because not very many people are saying that. They are so desperate for Iowa
City to agree to use bow hunting to cull deer that they refuse to allow us to sharp
shoot, unless the City promised to add a third bow hunting season... for the next
four years, whether or not our carrying capacity of 25, uh, deer per square mire...
per, uh, square mile is reached or not. I just find that ludicrous. I'm sorry. Um,
this kind of patronizing intimidation is just so bully .... bullyish, um ..... I really
wanna thank our Mayor and our City Manager for being so polite with these
folks. They were very, very polite. I couldn't have been even half as polite.
Um ... I don't really have anything else to say. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Jan. Anyone else? Hi there. Good evening.
Maas: Good af...good evening! I just have some notes here. Uh, Ryan Maas, uh,
resident of Iowa City. I'll enter my information here in a moment. And .... I first
had a question, mainly because I haven't made a request otherwise for the
proposed contract, but I was curious if. ... the contract with White Buffalo is either,
uh.... a fixed contract or if it's contingent on approval of the deer management
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plan by the NRCS. In other words, are we set on White Buffalo or is it contingent
on the overall omnibus approval? So that's.... that's one question I have, and I'm
not expecting an answer, but I would hope that that is being asked. Uh, no doubt
you've been presented with facts and arguments on both sides of this issue, and
with due respect to our former Mayor, I voted for I believe all of you, and I am an
ethical bow hunter and in favor of a bow hunting component to the deer
management plan in this city that I love. Urn ... I note in reviewing the deer
management plan that there are lots of non -lethal resources, lots of support, lots of
detail. As well as public input opportunities after the hunts are scheduled and
conducted. And I realize that there is a meeting or course of meetings intended
with Dr. Garner and uh, DNR scientists and wildlife biologists, but I am
concerned that the effort to establish an urban deer management zone is insincere
and illusory. And that the word 'meaningful'in the plan is, uh, somehow put in
there merely to give assurance to the DNR and get this sharp shooting plan
passed. Um, I would like to see specifically hunter input in the parameters of the
bow season, and not just done in a dark room over in the Wallace Building. I'd
like to see a longer season, for example, Cedar Rapids and Coralville both have
four month-long seasons. Ames is about three months. They follow the ordinary
bow hunting seasons. And there are 28 communities around the state that have
these sorts of hunts. Uh, I alluded earlier that the City has a long list of support
for non -lethal, um, methods, which of course I would encourage residents to
embrace and use. Uh, but perhaps the City should also consider some resources
on the lethal side and what I'm specifically talking about is a, uh, list, perhaps on
request to City Hall and not on the web site of land owners who are willing to in
fact grant permission to bow hunters so that we have, um, maybe a facilitation of
that, uh, dialogue and discussion, and uh, truly make it meaningful, the resources
that you would put towards, um, reducing the deer he ... her....herd through a
number of different means. Um, and finally I might respectfully suggest that a
limited in time, such as two weeks, and limited in zone or scope, as in, uh.... uh,
just portions of City -owned land, specifically the parks, be included as
opportunities for, uh, the, uh, the bow hunt contemplated for seas ... or years three,
or one through four. Three .... two through four. So those are my comments, and
um .... uh, some of you probably know how to get ahold of me, and if you wanna
reach out otherwise, I would be delighted to speak at .... more at length about this.
Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Ryan. Uh, incidentally when we were speaking with the Natural
Resources Commissioners, I said I had not heard from a single bow hunter who
lived in Iowa City. Either by email, letter, or phone call, or in person, and that
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was true. So it's pleasing actually to know (laughs) there is someone living in
Iowa City. I appreciate the fact you came and .... and spoke.
Maas: I have a dear friend who is involved in, uh, certain youth education that would
probably take advantage of this, but his .... I .... I can't speak for them, uh, as far as
in favor of this, although in private discussions, uh, they would like to, uh, engage
in that activity as well.
Throgmorton: Would anybody else like to address this topic?
Maas: My name is Liz Maas. As you call know I'm an avid protector of biodiversity, and
in my past life as a restoration ecologist I had many clients, both in the county and
in the city, um, and then also as a past board president for the Bur Oak Land Trust.
Um, all of our restoration efforts in our .... in our lands, um, either conservation
lands that we're trying to protect and restore back to prairie or woodland, um,
when we have a spike in deer population it makes those things much more
challenging. Um, as you all know, there are no more cougars, there are no more
black bears, there are no more wolves. I love the deer. I actually have raised two
fawns myself when I was a kid. They are mystical, wonderful, really special
creatures, but my husband hunts and I also like to make a mean deer loin. So,
there's advocacy for both ways, right? Um, and appreciating nature in all of its
forms is important and protecting that biodiversity is probably the most important.
So if no other reason, the costs associated with .....I have a client, for example,
who spent $3,000 to install a prairie three times, here in town. Right? And most
of it was because of the turkey and the deer taking over the prairie and eating her
stuff. So, you know, there are those considerations that I think sometimes
we .... we forget too. Thank you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Liz. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, Council discussion?
Cole: I think in terms of the meaningful bow hunt issue, I think the Commission made
clear that it does need to be meaningful. Um, I know this is a .... a emotional issue
for a lot of members of the community and all of us have made various
commentary throughout these various months, but I guess for once in this highly
politicized, polarized world, um, it is nice that the Mayor and Bruce were able to
engage in a meaningful and respectful way, and if you're watching we respect the
authority of the Commission, um, and... and came hopefully to a resolution. I
think to your point, Ryan, I think that was a very good one. I know we had a
conversation about sort of what sort of plan they would, um, accept. We're not
gonna have all the details tonight, um, but if I had to hazard a guess we would
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probably adopt similar plans that other communities have gotten through, um, so I
anticipate that we will honor whatever plan that we put through, and we just
wanna get it passed at this point. (mumbled) share in the concerns that have been
identified.
Teague: As many people know, I did attend on July 11th, um, the NRC with, along with
the Mayor and, uh, staff, and uh, Jan and, um.....it was a, um .... I have to
commend our Mayor, as well as Geoff, for, um, their.... their, uh, conversation.
Um, one thing that stuck out to me .... is that our Mayor, several times, really did
stress the value of our community, and the .... and the, uh, desire not to do bow
hunting. Um, several times that he'd say this. Now on June 18th, um, we took the
vote, um, for Council to pass the resolution for our deer, um, management plan. I
did not support that, but today after bein' there on July 11th, I do support the plan
that is bein'....the.....the revised plan that's gonna ... that is here before us tonight.
The reason I'm gonna support it is because we have to manage our deer, within
our community. Unfortunately we have the only option of...includin' bow
hunting, um, from the NRC's perspective. So, urn .... even though bow hunting is
somethin' that I personally would not like to do, I do believe that it will manage
our deer population, um, and so I'm gonna support this tonight. The one question
that did come up that I would like to know, um, is about White Buffalo and the
contract. Do we already have a contract with them or is that somethin' that would,
still can (both talking)
Dilkes: That's included in the resolution. So if we get approval from the NRC and can
proceed, we will then have the authority to execute the contract.
Teague: Okay. Okay! So I, again, I, you know, I think that our Mayor and our City
Manager represented our community. We even had residents that took their time
to drive to Boone, Iowa, to share their concern, um, I do respect and appreciate
the Commissioners for takin' the time to clearly state what they would like from
our community, um, I .... I respect that. Um, we don't have any other option but to
do bow huntin'. On ... on the flip side, I do believe that, um, there's a lot of fear
about bow huntin'. I certainly have ... some of the horror stories about, you know,
bow hunting, but we are the only community in the state of Iowa that does a...
that do sharp shooting, or that have done it. So ... bow huntin' is somethin' that is
done within.... within the state. Urn .... I don't prefer to do it, but I'm gonna do it,
and I think I don't have all the fears .... urn, that's associated with some of the
information I've received. I think we need to go through it and be as diligent as
we can to work with the NRC, that will help develop our bow hunting plan.
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They're very willin' to, uh, sit with our City staff and create that information. So,
I will be supporting this tonight.
Throgmorton: Any other discussion?
Thomas: I appreciated, uh, Ryan and Liz's comments. I thought that was an interesting
(laughs) uh, representation of, uh, some of the issues we're facing with this
decision. It seems this is the deal .... we're making with the Commission. I mean
we just don't really have any other option. Uh, clearly the deer population is not a
static number. It's growing. We need to manage the population, and urn .... you
know, as a....relative newcomer to Iowa, I kind of feel like I'm involved in this
Iowa conversation here (laughs) with the, uh, this question of the bow hunting,
um, but you know this is where we are. Um, I will support it, uh, we haven't tried
bow hunting before, um, and, yeah. It's interesting that Ryan showed up and
supported it, uh, kind of broke the silence from the bow hunting community. So
it'll .... I'm kind of interested to see how it will work. I understand that the
majority of Iowa Citians do not support it, um, but again, um, we need to manage
the population and this is really the only way we can proceed with doing that. So
I will be supporting it.
Throgmorton: Anyone else?
Taylor: I will also, I'll support it this time. I was originally not a supporter of the bow
hunting, uh, but I think, uh, as we get into this and as Geoff stated, we will be
writing up some guidelines and I hope that they are some very clear guidelines,
uh, including training or certification, uh, approved areas. Um, Ryan mentioned a
list of land owners who would grant permission, but I think along with that we
have .... need to have the surrounding, uh, homeowners, just because a house in the
middle says yeah, you can hunt on mine, uh, if the other surrounding homes, uh,
would rather not have someone, uh, bow hunting around their home, uh, there was
a fear of tree stands popping up all over the place, and I think I .... we'd heard from
the Police Department that that probably wouldn't be an approved method, uh, of
shooting with the bow hunting, uh, so I think if we get some very clear guidelines,
uh, we can .... we can make this work.
Mims: (mumbled) said it all before (laughs) I'm not particularly enamored with bow
hunting, but 1, like John said, I think we have to manage the deer population and
the NRC is the ruler in this, and urn ... so I'll support it.
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Throgmorton: Uh, I'll just add one other thing. I think we had a pretty constructive conversation
with the NRC. They dedicated about 75 minutes of their time, and there were
other people on the agenda. They let us speak first, basically, and uh.... that was
generous of 'em! And we had an extended conversation, and .... in the end I felt
like there was meaningful dialogue between Geoff, me and the Commissioners,
and I was pleased about that (clears throat) We managed to get a few changes,
especially the 10 to 25 deer per square mile density. I think that's helpful for us.
Uh, but .... I asked Eleanor some questions about the Commission's legal authority
and she answered 'ern pretty forthrightly so .... I don't think we have any choice,
and with due respect, Ryan, I....I.....I don't want to be making this vote, but I am
going to, because it's what has come out of our process. So, any further
discussion? If not, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0. Could I have a motion to
accept correspondence please?
Cole: So moved.
Teague: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Teague. All in favor say aye. Opposed. Motion
carries.
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18. Transit Study Consultant Agreement and 28E Agreement — Resolution
authorizing the Mayor to sign and the City Clerk to attest to an agreement
between the City of Iowa City and Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates
Inc. for the contracting of transit planning services for a comprehensive
transit operations analysis and a 28E cost-sharing agreement between the
City of Iowa City, the City of Coralville, and the University of Iowa.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Salih: Move.
Taylor: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Salih, seconded by Taylor. Discussion? Hi, Darian!
Nagle-Gamm: Hello! Good evening. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, the resolution before you will
authorize the City to contract with Nelson Nygaard, a transportation planning
firm, in order to perform a comprehensive operations analysis on our transit
system. It will also authorize a 28E cost-sharing agreement with Coralville and
the University of Iowa, who are partners in this transit study. If you'll recall the
City Council's strategic plan calls for the City to undertake a comprehensive
assessment of the Iowa City Public Transit System and to implement changes to
assure that service best meets the needs of the entire community, which is our
guiding principle for the study, and in order to meet the goals of that strategic plan
and our climate action plan, staff worked with the Council in the fall of 2018 to
help articulate a vision and goals for our transit system, which are to, uh, provide
seven-day a week service .... to a goal to double ridership over the next 10 years.
A goal to expand service and eliminate barriers to access, uh, potentially including
fares. And a goal to begin the conversion to electric, to help, um, reduce life-
cycle costs and also to meet our climate action goals. These of course are lofty
goals (laughs) to say the least. Um, they're going to require some very creative
thinking. They're going to require innovation, uh, in order to enhance the transit
system so that it really meets the needs of a greater number of residents in Iowa
City. I think that's the bottom line — we need to make sure that our system, um,
meets, uh, the needs of a larger portion of our population, and staff and City
Council will no doubt face some very difficult decisions, um, when we wrap up
the study and we have, uh, the opportunities laid out in front of us, uh, especially
in terms of developing funding streams to accomplish these goals. Um, that said
without investment in transit system and in our, uh, study, the City is going to fall
short of those goals articulated here for our transit system, but also within our
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climate action plan, which, uh, which, uh, calls for a shift to 55% of vehicle trips
to, uh, more sustainable options such as transit, bicycling, and walking, uh, by the
year 2050 to meet our greenhouse gas emission goals. So upon approval of the
agreements, the next step would be to host a kickoff meeting with our consultant
team. This would be in the upcoming weeks, and the study will begin in earnest
once the University is back in session and the School District is back in session
this fall. Uh, it's expected to take the greater part of a year, due to its depth and
complexity. It's going to be a very in-depth analysis. Um, of course we are just
one, uh, cog in that wheel. Coralville and the University will also be there, so
we'll be doing it together. Um, staff will be happy to provide periodic updates,
uh, throughout the process as we move through the next year, and I'd be happy to
answer any questions you have about the study.
Salih: Does the study include Sunday transportation?
Nagle -Gamin: Yes. We are evaluating Sunday service and also options for off -hours service,
how can we potentially better, uh, meet gaps in our current transit service system.
Gaps in service.
Salih: And you are gonna include the community members and community
organizations, and reach out to the people who really using it, you know, so they
can do the survey with them, right?
Nagle -Gamin: Yes, absolutely! We have a .... a pretty robust public participation planned that we
will be flushing out, um, in a more full form here in the upcoming weeks, but we
intend to do a lot of public outreach with stakeholders and the public, and we also
will have many ways that the public can get involved and engaged throughout the
process. So there's going to be many opportunities, um, to get involved, but we're
also going to seek out, um, feedback from the public as well.
Salih: Great! Thanks.
Teague: The University and, uh, Coralville. I know what Iowa City is lookin' to
accomplish. Um, what .... is the hope of the University and Coralville? From the
study?
Nagle -Gamin: Well I don't know if I can speak fully on their behalf, but I know the University,
you know their transit, uh.... uh, the demand, they've had a similar system .... um,
they've experienced the population and the, you know, the coverage area
expansion that say the Iowa .... City of Iowa City has, and maybe Coralville has.
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So we might be looking in different things, in terms of how can we potentially re-
evaluate our routes, but that said I know the University has mentioned, and
Coralville's mentioned, they see value in, um, you know, just having a fresh set of
eyes and .... and just evaluate all their routes, stops, timeframes, service, um,
coverage areas, um, so I think we're all looking at the same basics for the study
and then maybe Iowa City is looking for some different specifics for our
community. Coralville's looking potentially for some different specifics for theirs,
and the University, also for their, uh, for their system.
Teague: I guess my understandin' was Coralville was just really.... their involvement with
the study was just where Iowa City and, um, Coralville meets up and not really
lookin' at their transit system.
Nagle -Gamin: Um, I guess I can't really speak, um, I think we're all looking at some of the very
basics of all of our systems in terms of our routes and service, but as for how
Coralville's expanding beyond that, I can't really speak to that necessarily. I do
know that we all wanted to be at the table, because all of our systems .... we are a
three -agency system, we're an interconnected system, and we .... we all found
value in coming together to do the study together because what Iowa City changes
impacts Coralville. What Coralville changes impacts Iowa City, and vice versa.
So we all wanted to be at the table, um, together.
Salih: And so this will be like.... cooperating between the Iowa City transit and the
Coralville transit and North Liberty, where they can (unable to hear person
speaking away from mic) Huh?
Throgmorton: Not North Liberty (several talking)
Salih: Isn't that .... you mean, I mean University (mumbled) because like each one have
like their own buses, but the problem is that .... that the connection was just
downtown, like people have .... say if somebody live in Mormon Trek, going to
Coralville, they have to come downtown and go there. I said maybe this will be
like cooperating (mumbled) maybe there is another bus just you can take it from
like.... instead of going from Coralville coming to the downtown, they come to
that side of town, so the people over there can go and .... (unable to understand)
cooperation between both of them, but they .... you telling me now they just wanna
do the study because they wanna evaluate their ...their (unable to understand) study
for all of us?
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Nagle -Lamm: Uh, I wanna clarify that one of the big, um, things that we're looking to do in the
study from a .... from a regional, metro area perspective, is to find ways to better
collaborate our systems too, so to get at some of those things you're asking for. I
wasn't, uh, necessarily saying that that's all Coralville was looking for, but each
community and each entity in the study definitely has a distinct, um, things that
we're looking at evaluating. Iowa City's probably looking at taking ... a deeper
dive than maybe the other two, um, entities. But we're all looking for ways that
we can collaborate better and, um, because we're a metro area. We function as a
large metro area, so how can we do a better job of getting people across that metro
area. That's something that we're looking at in the study.
Salih: Sure. Sound good.
Fruin: I'll give a few examples of ... uh.... from the ..... from the contract. Um, you can
think of the route planning as bein' all .... all the entities together, just looking at
how do we better align routes, how could we maybe share routes that .... that we
run parallel right now. So if you've got Cambus runnin' down Benton Street, uh,
to get out to the ... to the west side of campus and you've got our buses runnin'
down Benton Street, maybe through, uh, transfer policies and .... and other ways
we could just have one bus run up and down the street, and that other bus can be
targeted somewhere else that's needed. So I think we're all in that together. We
wanna look at how people can seamlessly transfer, how fares can be aligned, how
routes can be aligned, and .... and not just thinking about how Coralville's system's
designed and Iowa City's and how it inner -connects, but really how do you get
someone from Iowa Ci ... south end of Iowa City to the north end of Coralville,
makin' sure that it all lines up.
Salih: Sure!
Fruin: We are .... we are asking for a few more things out of the study than .... than some
of the other entities wanted and that's okay. So for example, um, we wanted to
take a look at, uh, a fare -free system. If we wanted to eliminate fares on our
system, what impacts would that have on the routes, what impacts would that
have on our revenue stream, all that kind of stuff. Coralville wasn't interested and
the University already is a fare -free system. They don't charge when you .... when
you get on the bus. Um, it looks to me like, um, there was one other, uh, example
that .... that jumped out at me. Um ...... I've lost that here.....so for the City of Iowa
City and the University of Iowa, we wanted to identify the expanded levels of
service, including hours of operations, expanded evening, night, and Sundays;
frequency of routes or other recommendations that do not fit within existing fiscal
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constraints that can be ... that could be pursued with additional resources.
Coralville's not noted on that, so I .... I take from that Coralville just wanted to
look at their existing fiscal resources and how do you maximize with the money
they're putting in now, whereas we said we .... we may be willing to invest more in
transit. Let's look at all the possibilities. So there's some differences like that, but
for the most part, that.... that core study of routes and, again, passes — we're all on
board together.
Throgmorton: Are there any other questions for Dari an?
Salih: No.
Throgmorton: Thank you. Would anybody else like to address this topic? I'm shocked!
(laughter)
Maas: Wearin' a path in the rug! (laughs) Um, so I love this. I think this is part of what
we wanted to do and I'm glad to see that it's happening. So thank you for that! I
just wanna make sure that as it goes forward we keep our climate glasses on, kind
of focus .... a strong focus on this. These are the kinds of things that can really
have a strong paradigm shift in our culture of how we transport ourselves across
town. Um, the seven goals, I love our seven goals. This one's great, a great
example. It's environmental sustainability, it's social and racial justice — getting
people to work so that we can have a strong economy. Uh, it improves
walkability and vibrancy if we don't have all those cars on the road, certainly; and
it's part of healthy neighborhoods too. There's.... cause dirty buses, right, make...
make really bad stuff for kids especially. I have a couple of questions. Um .... uh,
the School District — so right, we're tearin' down a school so we can build a
parking lot so more kids can drive to school. If you live beyond a mile away from
the school, the school will bus you. And yes, most kids can walk a mile. My kid
can walk a mile easily, or ride their bike, but there are those really crappy days
when it's a snowstorm or raining and it's hard to ride your bike or walk on those
days. Um, so then I usually end up doing the driving, right? I can walk to work
easily. I'm only a few blocks away from my job, on purpose. So maybe there's
just some outreach, I wanna make sure that's a piece or a portion of. ... we
communicate with that group as well, because I think there might be
some .... some space there, especially with the new school in North Liberty. Thank
you.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Liz. Anyone else? Seeing no one else, Council discussion?
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Taylor: All I can say is it's about time. Um, we've been hearing from the community for,
uh, many years now about the need for this, uh, and I think how better to do this
than to hire the consultant, cause they can take a serious look at this to, um, assure
that our system best meets the needs of. ... of all people in the community, uh,
because our staff, uh, they're overworked as it is. They don't have the time to
devote to a study, uh, of this nature and this scope. So I think, uh, getting the, uh,
contractor to do this'd be good. Uh, you mentioned the lofty goal, uh, one of
those, uh, the first one I heard was doubling the ridership. I thought that ... that is
truly lofty, but I think if the results of this study, uh, the routes and the times, uh,
are .... are what are determined to be what we need, I think, uh, we can accomplish
that, but I think another thing we need to do, we've gotten some correspondence
from someone about increasing routes and, uh, we need to do some public, uh,
information about the city limits and where our .... our city transit system really
can run, cause some of the ideas that were suggested, uh, are not in the city limits.
So we would need to make sure that, uh, the citizens know that, so they don't
think that we're forgetting about them.
Salih: I think this is really exciting. I can really believe that is coming and, uh, first I
would like to thank the City Manager and the staff for putting this like and
moving it forward. This is really great. And um .... a lot people who is waiting for
those to come, especially the people who go to the .... I really want to see Sunday
transportation because there is many, many people who work on Sunday that I
know they cannot be transport, or at least if they wanna go and just pick up some
food from the grocery or anything. Go to church (mumbled) anyway, this is really
great and..... exciting that's happening. Yeah! Thanks!
Teague: So I agree with both of my, uh, fellow Councilors to the side of me. I wanted to
just make sure that I didn't misunderstand somethin' previously, because last year,
after I came on Council, we talked about the study. And we talked about the
surrounding communities, such as the University and Coralville, but I didn't, my
understandin' and walk -away was .... it was just at the parameters where Coralville
met. There was no consideration .... well there was gonna be no part of the study
where .... there was collaboration between, to get from east Iowa City over to the
mall. So I just warm make sure that ..... this is true, you know, what we're talkin'
about now. That that is a part of the study. Even the University, my understandin'
was, you know, they'll continue to do their own thing. Maybe they'll look at what
they're doin', but they're not lookin' to .... collaborate and share routes with the
City.
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Fruin: Um, no, I think that's a ... it's a misunderstanding. I think what I recall, um, was a
conversation about do we want to look at a metro transit agency where there'd be
a single owner, like a transit district or through 28E where there'd be one city
operating the transit for all. So it'd be a coordinated, not only from a route
planning, but from a management standpoint, and uh, we're not there politically
yet, um, to .... to, urn .... uh, to explore metro transit. Um, you know what I
described earlier, I think there's an absolute desire on everybody's part if we
can ... if we can align our routes perfectly, um, and .... and help people get from
point A in Iowa City to point B in Coralville, um, whether that's on Cambus or
Iowa City bus or Coralville. I think that's what we all want. The challenge is
gonna be, you know, what are the fiscal constraints of every community and what
are some of those other priorities of the communities. So, um, the route that gets
somebody from south Iowa City, in the example I used before, to north Coralville
may not live within the fiscal resources that Coralville has, given all those
competing needs. That's what this study has to sort out. But it's much more than
just lookin' at transfer points. It's .... it's definitely a system -wide.
Teague: Awesome! I'm happy to hear that!
Thomas: I'm .... I'm really excited about this as well. I think I warm thank staff, uh, the
selection process.....my understanding is Nelson Nygaard is one of the best firms
in the country. So I'm really thrilled to hear that they're gonna be working on this.
I'm pleased that it's a metro concept, um, just so it....it has that level of
comprehensiveness in terms of, uh, coordinating the routes for the three systems,
um, you know, we approved the bike related, uh, ordinance earlier this evening.
You know, this is a night where we're really looking at expanding our active
transportation options. Uh, in a .... in a really meaningful way. Uh, so this .... this
is a really exciting time, I think, in terns of our climate action initiative, moving
that forward; issues related to equity choice, uh, quality of life — it's .... it's really a
major moment.
Cole: Yeah, there's a lot of moving pieces, and to Bruce's point. This is a topic that
people always come up to ya on the street comer: why don't you do the buses in a
different way, and of course any time you move one route, how does it connect
with the other routes and how do you make sure that you deal with, you know,
providing the minimum amount of service, identifying what the needs and the
fares are. So what this does is allow us to look at it comprehensively and see how
all those moving pieces fit.
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Throgmorton: People have pretty much said what I was gonna say (clears throat) and it's pretty
late in the evening. I am just thrilled, I'll say this, I am thrilled that we are moving
ahead with this study. We've wanted to do it for quite some time. Great firm.
Great purpose. Great collaboration. What could be better? So I'm really pleased
to support it.
Mims: Likewise.
Throgmorton: Any other discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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19. Climate Crisis — Resolution declaring a climate crisis and requesting
immediate and accelerated action to address the climate crisis and limit
global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Throgmorton: Could I have a motion to approve please?
Cole: So moved.
Salih: Second.
Throgmorton: Moved by Cole, seconded by Salih. Discussion? Uh, Ashley....
Monroe: Sure! Um, so City Council met on July 2nd to discuss the climate action and
adaptation plan, the City's efforts in implementation of that plan, and other, uh,
discussion took place as far as a response to inquiries from the community urging
a climate emergency declaration, uh.... implementing or, uh.... creating new
targets that apply to the IPCC's new recommendations, which are 45% of carbon
emissions by 2030, and then reaching, uh, towards net -zero by 2050, and the
ultimate, uh, result of that discussion on the 2nd was to consider a resolution that
was initially drafted by Councilman Thomas. We revised it, based on Council's
discussion at that, uh, the following work session, and then, uh, it's presented here
for you this evening to .... to consider.
Throgmorton: Would anybody like to discuss or make a statement to us? I don't
know .... (mumbled) some people out there (several talking and laughing)
Zeithamel: I ... I just wanted to say that, uh, we all know this is an extremely important topic
that this is the first time I've ever, um, been associated working with a City
Council, and this is the first time that I've sat and I've listened to, uh, you know a
full session, and you talk about a lot of interesting things and .... and the rules and
regulations are all very interesting and .... and I've learned a lot. Uh, I think it's
probably important to say that all the items that you talked about will not make
any difference if. ... if we don't have a planet to live on. Um .... I think that, uh,
I'm ..... I'm really excited that the fact that this is on the agenda and you are
discussing it and I ... and I wanna point out an article to you that .... that I found in
Reuters. It was dated June 25th, and it says within its first paragraph. It says
investors managing more than $34 trillion in assets, nearly half of the world's
invested capital, are demanding urgent action from governments on climate
change, piling pressure on leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies meeting
this week, and the meeting that they were talking about was the June 28th, 29th
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G20 Summit in Japan. And .... your action, I think that your actions tonight too,
um .... this should reinforce to you that the need that .... that companies and .... and
economies are .... are looking for direction, so that people can make plans how to
build their businesses, uh, for the future, based upon the decisions being made,
and .... and the decisions made tonight. And....I.....I wanna say too that .... that,
you know, if this does go through, I think the celebration should be short-lived
because we need to really roll up our sleeves and get to work, because I think that
you know, uh, that right now we are, the heat at our poles is .... is some of highest
we've ever seen, that glaciers are melting. We have fires right now in Siberia, you
know, the size of Switzerland. The permafrost in Canada is melting at 70% faster
than they anticipated, and we do, we are seeing climate migration, where citizens
are leaving their countries because of the impacts of climate change, and we are
facing food shortages, water shortage, and you know certainly within our time,
within our lives, we've going to see civil unrest. So thank you for your courage,
thank you for your action, thank you for listening to us as .... as we've talked with
many of you, and uh....I.....I just appreciate you. So thank you.
Throgmorton: Thank you, Sheila.
Maas: I also wanna tell you thank you. I was here and called for action and called for
the climate crisis, urn .... um, declaration, so I appreciate you responding to that.
Uh, I know there were a lot of other nice people here that .... those kids did a great
job as well. Um, as a member of the Climate Action Committee, I also appreciate
it. So from a separate standpoint. Um .... but I wanna make sure that it's not just
lip service. I wanna make sure that when we go forward after tonight, assuming
this passes, that we ... as Sheila mentioned, roll up our sleeves and really get ... get
the job done. A lot of this is a psychological shift that we have to have, and as
leaders of our community, you have to help us as citizens have this psychological
shift. I came here tonight not really to talk to you, but to talk to the camera, right?
People are watching this, and hopefully as an educator I'm not just educating the
people in the audience, which has gotten lower and lower as the evening's gotten
longer and longer, but the people that maybe watch it at 2:00 in the morning like I
do sometimes. This shift in psychology that we have to have, um, not to pick on
this, but it's a great example. If doubling ridership of our buses is a lofty goal,
we're not gonna meet this climate crisis. We have to think of that in a different
perspective. That's a great example of how this is, this needs to change, right?
This true paradigm shift in how we think about all the things we do. All of those
things up there I've said before have to do with climate. And I hope we can make
this happen together. Thank you very much.
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Throgmorton: Thanks, Liz.
Wu: Hello there, um, Austin Wu, uh, UI Student Government, City Liaison. Um, I'll
keep my comments short. We've been here a while. Um, I'd like to offer my full
support for the declaration of climate crisis here. Uh, to call what is going on
right now is not fear mongering. It is certainly the contemporary state of affairs.
Um, action is needed now and the rhetoric to back that up is similarly required.
Uh, the earth will get along through all this just fine, but the ultimate question is
how habitable it will be for people, not only including today's youth and my
generation, but all ... as well as those younger than me and those who have yet to
be born as well. So, uh, I implore all of you to pass this resolution.
Throgmorton: Thanks, Austin. Anyone else? Okay, seeing no one else, Council discussion?
Mims: Well I'm happy to support this and I think certainly a lot of work has gone into
getting this far, and certainly our Climate Action Committee — appreciate all the
work that they have done, and then the extended discussion that Council has had,
and .... and I totally agree with people who have spoken. This is .... this is
important, but the real work .... comes after this. I mean it's .... it's not in just doing
things like this. This brings people's attention to it, people maybe who haven't
thought a lot about it or paid that much attention, and so hopefully more of those
people are paying attention, but now it's all the things that need to come after that,
and as I said, I .... somebody talked about changing the psychology and I think
that's really important, cause at one of our last meetings when we were talking
about, I made the comment that we need to start .... by making these changes seem
relatively easy and feasible for people who haven't bought into this yet, and...
bring them along to the point that they .... they understand and are willing and are
engaged to make the tougher choices, because if people see it as too hard and too
inconvenient, they're not .... they're not gonna do anything. So one, it's.... it's
changing that psychology of how important it is and number two, bringing them
along and making them believe that it is important and that it is doable and
gradually the steps will get bigger and harder, but like anything when you get
used to it, it's .... ifs not as big a deal any more. So there's a lot of work to be
done.
Cole: Yeah, I think you bring up a really good point, Susan, and I think one of the things
I think candidly I think we focus too much is on is the limitations that we have.
We have a lot of regulatory limitations, but if you look at almost all social
movements, usually they're not necessarily at full force with what the law is. Um,
and I think we don't ... we're not only necessarily bound by that in terms of what
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we're able to accomplish. In talking to Nor .... Martha Norbeck about this, for
example there was a city in Sweden that through social marketing was able to
reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 20%. So there was no regulatory
structure, there was no anything, but they were able through social media,
through, um (mumbled) infrastructure, through various options to make that easy.
I mean I've really started to like biking. Well every time that you ... you bike as a
commuter, you're not adding to greenhouse gas emissions. So, um, but not only
what the sacrifice that we'll have to make but there's also gonna be a lot of
opportunities in health, community well being, finances, social justice. So I think,
urn .... you know ,to Liz's point, I think there's gonna be a lot of opportunities to
look at, you know, we're looking at our public housing or affordable housing,
what are we doing to lower those energy bills for the residents? We're adding
solar on top. So those are sorts of things that I think are really excited, and in
addition to the regulatory hurdles that we have, we can offer a lot of incentives.
So I think staff in the coming months and years is gonna be coming up with a lot
of creative incentives. So I think staff, in the coming months and years, is gonna
be coming up with a lot of creative incentives, hopefully, uh, to make this
feasible economically as well for the developers in ... both in residential as well.
And I also wanna thank the climate strikers and all the students and the advocates.
They were a huge part of this and they deserve a huge amount of credit for that.
Teague: I was hopin' in the work session that we would get to the, um, the
recommendation from .... from the advisory board, just talkin' about the Climate
Action Commission, only because potentially maybe we wanted to add that in the
resolution, um, nevertheless, I would agree with both Rockne and Susan, and I
will, um, just emphasize Susan's point about makin' sure that it feels doable, um,
findin' ways to make sure that it's doable for, um, residents and stuff like that, and
I do agree with Rockne, especially after, um, Tracy Hightshoe's, um .... uh,
discussion today on some of the housing, on some of the, you know, things that's
happenin' there, where when she's talkin' about private sector, um, maybe there..
the landlords and stuff like that, maybe there is a part of this that can, you know,
come into an incentive as well to make sure that climate action is radiatin' through
all of our departments ,and at any time we discuss anything it's like it's a part of
the ... the thing that we look at is the climate action, just like we do the .... the,
um... is it the racial toolkit? Yeah (mumbled) so yeah, so it'd be the same way
we're lookin' at, uh, climate action and (several talking)
Salih: I agree with everybody here, but you know the only thing I wanted to add is, you
know, as you mention about the commission that (mumbled) created, I think that's
important, because this commission can be (mumbled) lot of good roles on
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educating the public, especially if we talk about immigrant, if I wanted my own
community here and we have a lot of Sudanese community. I tell them about
climate action but they're going to tell me what's that, global warming... what's
that, you know, people are focusing in like a lot of, they have a lot of priority than
the climate action plan, and you know, the, you know the .... they need to be
educated. They need to open their mind to this, and that will be the role of the
commission, to go around communities and educate them about what they can do
so they can do this. That's only thing I wanna add, but this is great and exciting,
it's happening.
Taylor: I appreciated, uh, Austin's comment about his generation and younger
generations. As a grandmother of a four-year-old and a 12 -year-old, I .... I think
about that all the time, what .... what is their world going to be like in 20, 25 years.
So, uh, that is a big concern, uh, but as .... as, uh, Liz had mentioned, there is a bit
of a psychological shift there and .... we can't do it alone. We as in City Council or
the City staff, City departments can't do it. It's .... it's going to take the entire
community and the businesses, and .... and as you touched on, it's ... what it's going
to do .... it is doable, but it's going to take, uh, education, education, and education.
Thomas: Ultimately (clears throat) the way, especially given the timeframe that we're
dealing with, which is .... uh.... daunting, to say the least, uh, this .... this will have
to result in a cultural shift to be successful. And it's gonna have to be something
that permeates how we think and how we live our lives, how we conduct business.
Uh, it's going to be extraordinarily challenging. Since this has become .... a topic
on Council and something that I've taken a longer look at, um, you can find lots of
videos now on the question of how people are coming to grips with the .... the
situation we're in. And, uh, the trauma that it is inducing, um, both because of the
effects but also because of this .... it's completely transformed the way we look at
our future, you know, in terms of, um, what that future may be, how it will affect
our children, our grandchildren, human civilization. It's a very, very powerful, uh,
moment we're in, urn .... and yet there are extraordinary benefits that could flow
from this if we pursue it. So there is a, you know, it's something positive to be
looking toward if we can mount the effort to make .... to make the shift, but it will
be challenging.
Throgmorton: I wanna ask you a question. (clears throat) Um (clears throat) excuse me, my
voice is going away. So .... you can't answer this right now because it would take
too long, but I'm curious if you could enlighten us about Sudan and its climate. In
other words, has it been changing, and if so, how has it been changing, because
that might be a pathway toward helping members of our local Sudanese
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community understand what's really at stake and how we would be playing our
part in trying to improve the situation, at a global scale, you know.
Salih: Yeah! That ... the thing that I just notice when I went there, we have the .... the
raining time is only between July and .... and September, and now it start raining
like on the, like months of -sometime they said they had rain in May. Never
happen before. And the, also the .... the summer, it was really hot, you know,
during certain time. Now it's really more than we used to be. When it hot, it
really hot, and we never have like really cold winter. We start having some cold
winter. Really the weather has been change, that what I notice, and people start
talking about it and they don't know why, but .... you know, at least they talkin'
about it.
Throgmorton: Yeah, good. It'd be really interesting to see if we could get some, uh, you know,
actual hard data about (both talking)
Salih: Yes!
Throgmorton: ... what ways the climate's been changing (both talking)
Salih: We can do that, yeah.
Throgmorton: Yeah. So beyond that, you know, what I wanna say is that our action tonight
should be understood as, uh, an action that's being taken in cone .... in consort, uh,
is that the word I want? (several talking) In concert with, uh, other cities,
nations, and people all over the world, uh, because there is this clear recognition
now that things are different (laughs) and that we .... we need to play our part in
alleviating the situation. I too have grandchildren now. I have one little girl
who's two years and 10 months old, and so .... I project her future. I want it to be a
good future, and she's gonna have a little sister here in another two months. I
want her to have a good future as well. My daughter's 21. I want her to have a
good fixture. Sothis stuff matters tome at that personal level as well. Beyond
that, so we're .... let's think about the resolution, cause it's daunting. We .... we are
calling for us to reduce the emissions generated by Iowa Citians by 45% as of
2030, knowing that Mid American and the University of Iowa together account
for about 57% of our carbon emissions. So, and we are telling our staff within a
hundred days, tell us how we're gonna achieve our 45% reduction goal. So in part
I think that's gotta mean that the staff needs to be thinking about what we can do,
what are the tools that are available that we could use, that are beyond the scope
of City government only, that somehow extend our more broadly, and when I
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think about it I think natural gas, because y'all persuaded me that's, uh, a .... a....
an aspect of our emissions that we could actually affect. But we need to be
thinking about what we can do, and then maybe it's .... maybe we would discover,
or the future Council would discover, hey, it's not politically feasible, you know,
the people won't stand for it. I have no idea really. But we need to be doing what
we can. So .... and also, just to quote a couple phrases from our resolution, so
the .... the first I wanna mention is the further resolve that the City Council directs
the City Manager's office to develop and deliver a report within 100 days
recommending ways to accelerate Iowa City's climate actions, consistent with
new reduction targets. Meaning the 45%. Also at the very end, finally resolve the
City Council will work with the City Manager's office to develop a budget that
enables urgent climate action in the ner.... near term, while ensuring a climate
resilient future for Iowa City in the long-term. I think those are crucial
statements. And I'm fully on board with'em. But we ... we do have our work cut
out for us, and we gotta figure out how to blend well with the Climate Action
Advisory Board or whatever title we end up with, and I don't have my own
answers to that yet, but.... All right, any other discussion? Hearing none, roll call
please. Motion carries 7-0.
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20. Purchase of Lot 10, Lindemann Subdiv. Part 8 — Resolution approving a
purchase agreement for Lot 10, Lindemann Subdivision, Part Eight for
landbanking for future affordable housing.
Taylor: Someone speaking to that?
Mims: So moved.
Taylor: Yes, Tracy!
Mims: ...a motion on the floor? So moved. (several talking)
Taylor: Tracy!
Hightshoe: Hello. We are purchasing, um, this will be our first purchase with our landbank
set-aside that we have in the affordable housing fund. We have approximately,
um, 841,000. We'll buy a lot in Lindemann Part 8. It's a six .... ifs one lot for six
townhomes, for 204,000. There are no immediate plans. We will hold these in
landbanking. Uh, we will hold these, the property, until we either parcel it
together with like a, um, a LIHTC project. We set up an RFP to develop it. We
develop ourselves, but there's no particular plan at this time. So we will just hold
it until, um, further time we decide on action.
Taylor: Sorry about that, did you catch that, Kellie, that it was moved by Susan and
seconded by Mazahir? Okay. Questions for Tracy?
Mims: So is this already zoned such that the six townhomes.....
Hightshoe: Yep.
Salih: Because I guess the area is already building and you just buying a section (both
talking)
Hightshoe: It's just vacant land. So it's a lot, it has utilities. It's a subdivision that's recently
being developed (both talking)
Salih: I was trying to buy a house that area, yeah. But it is really exciting that now we
seeing like land has been saved for future development for affordable housing,
which is great. Thank you so much.
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Hightshoe: (mumbled) criteria of the Council guidelines for land and that's explained in the
memo so .... do you have any questions? (several talking in background)
Taylor: Any further questions for Tracy? Any discussion, Council Members have any
discussion on this item?
Mims: Well I think it's interesting because we did just talk earlier tonight, and we've
talked a little bit before this, about maybe moving away from the landbanking and
new construction because that is the most expensive way, um, to provide
affordable housing and we can do it more efficiently, um, if we reinvest, you
know, in housing stock and repurpose that, so while I certainly will support this,
um, I think, you know, if we can get a LIHTC project or something like that, then
that really makes sense. If we don't, you know, we can always sell the land
(laughs) some day down the road and use the money differently as well. So I
think we have those options available to us, so....
Throgmorton: Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion carries 7-0.
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23. Community Comment
Throgmorton: Austin, did you want to say anything? (unable to hear, away from mic)
Wu: Hello, I'm back. Um .... initially I thought this was gonna be done deal, but for
Item 13 regarding the speed limits on North Dubuque Street, uh, with the
discussion generated about Mayflower, I do have some ideas. So first to answer
your question, Mayor Throgmorton, uh, the capacity of Mayflower, along with
those two square cream -colored apartments over there, I think is a little more than
1,000, at maximum capacity. The building hasn't been there for a couple years
now, so I'd say anywhere from 900 to 950 people in that section right there taking
the Cambus to, uh, to classes. Um .... I've driven and biked on that road, and um,
the trail is really nice, but it's .... it feels so slow. I .... I've read the report about
traffic fatalities and speed, and I get that, but like.....I don't know, if I'm driving
down there sometimes I put it on cruise control so I don't... yeah, cruise control,
peg it at 30 so I don't go over (laughs) Um, so but I was thinking, um, if there's a
possibility to, um, install additional crosswalks there, to possibly, like....
additional crosswalks as well as like lights, like traffic signals, to, uh, limit
people's speed instead of filling with paint or a speed limit, like keep it at 25, but
also offer additional points to stop. Um, the reason I bring this up is because, um,
a couple days ago I went to a garage sale on Kimball and instead of, on Kimball
Road. Instead of going down (mumbled) north Gilbert eventually (mumbled) on
Dubuque and then up Kimball, but the thing is on the southbound sidewalk, which
is the wider one, that one on the southbound side of the road and then turning
right at Kimball, there's no crosswalk. You have to, um, stand in the grass and
then jaywalk across. So I feel like along there and there's other points in the road
where people are on that wide sidewalk that, like you know, that's part of the trail
system, and they might be inclined to cross the street, uh, but there's no
crosswalks there. One of these could be used as natural choke points to perhaps
arrest traffic because people are going to be walking there anyway. So I wonder if
it would be, uh, possible to install, uh, you know, places where people can cross
legally, where they already are anyway, kind of like, you know, some colleges
they see what (mumbled) people like .... path out, tracks 'em like they're quads and
then put concrete in afterwards. Because you can't really .... to a certain extent you
can't really regulate where people move. They're just gonna do it anyways. So,
um, I wondered if that's a possibility to consider, and uh (mumbled) speed limit
that .... but that's all I have to say. Other than that I'm also very excited for the
transit study. It's, uh, been a long time waiting but it's finally here. (mumbled)
um, and willing to contribute, so .... looking forward to that.
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Throgmorton: Great. Thanks, Austin.
Wu: Nope, no problem!
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24. City Council Information
Throgmorton: Why don't we start with Pauline and move to the right.
Taylor: Okay! Um .... course Saturday, July 20th was the big day for the City with the
Riverfront Crossings Park grand opening. Uh, for the most part it was a great
celebration until the, uh, lightening and, uh, thunder and rain threatened and so it
was, uh, tentatively halted for a couple of hours, but I hear tell .... I went home, but
I hear tell they did go on with the fireworks, which was .... which is good and
some music, um, and when it gets to be John's turn, I'm going to let hien tell a very
moving story about, uh, something that happened to us after the ribbon cutting
celebration. It's a really good story! Uh, Saturday, July 27th was the ADA
celebration. Uh, I was honored to read the proclamation declaring it, uh, ADA
week. Um, and there was a young man .... there were several speakers, but there
was one young man, a college -aged student, that really stood out to me. He was
part of a program I didn't know about that the University called REACH, r -a -a -c-
h, uh, it's uh realizing educational and career hopes, which helps to create, uh,
living and learning campus experience for young adults, and enabling them to go
out in the community, and he gave a great talk. He was ... I .... I was just very
impressed with him. He had multiple, uh health issues, but what moved me was
after the event his father and mother were in the crowd and, uh, they came up to
me, the father came up to me and, uh, gonna get all emotional about this, and he
just said, "I understand my .... my son doesn't wanna go back to Cedar Rapids,
why he wants to stay in Iowa City, uh, your community is so wonderful and so
open and inviting to people, and helpful to them. There's so many helpful things
for him." He said, 'I'm happy that he's staying in Iowa City." So that was very
moving to me to hear that. Uh, and again it's one of those things I've talked about
where we take our city so gra ... so for granted and uh, but other people see these
things. Um, Tuesday, uh, July 30th, we had our second mobile home task force
meeting. Uh, thank you, Sarah, for presenting, uh, we had, uh, what we talked
about were financing options for folks and uh, Sarah presented info on what other
cities around the country are doing to help vulnerable members of these mobile
home communities, uh, when they are being faced with a possible sale of their
property. So we're looking into that, investigating those kinds of options and
some options that we as a city might be able to do to help these, uh, mobile home
communities and we'll be meeting again, uh, later this month, so I'll look forward
to that. Um, and of course the Rummage in the Ramp, uh, happened and, uh, I
hope it was successful. I love to shop and every year I find useful items there, so
I look forward to it, uh, again next year!
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Teague: On the 17th I was at, uh, KXIC, which was great, just to be on the radio and just
talk about a few Council things, and so I did that on Wednesday, the 17th. Houses
into Homes on the 17th, um, I like to talk about Houses into Homes because the
work that they do is really, um, significant within our community. They had, and
they continue to have, um, restaurants that will give them some profits to help
further, uh, their mission, and again, Houses into Homes provide fumiture to
people within our community at no cost. And so, um, just like to give a plug out
to them and the work that they're doin'. On Friday the, uh, 19th, um, I know
Mayor Throgmorton and I both attended the Second Annual Light of Hope
breakfast, and that benefit, um, it was my first time of actually hearin' of this, um
....uh, this group and .... what they do is they have, um, individuals that reach out
to those that are in foster situations. Um, very movin', very touching, lots of, um,
happy times because of the work that they do, but also some, uh, some tears as
well were shed, and so, um, that was a .... that was a great, um, event just, uh,
learning about that group. Uh, I attended on the 20th the grand opening of
Riverfront Crossin'. It was amazin' just to see actually, you know (laughs) what's
over there. There's more things to come. That .... that day ironically there was a
few things goin' on. We had the downtown sidewalk sale, as well as George's
80th birthday, um, and so got to go over there. It was a busy day, but it was a
good day. Um, other than that, I have, um, we already talked about on the 25th,
the Mayor and I did the tour, um, of the .... of the Gilbert Street homes, which are
Public Space One, um, properties, uh, soon! So ... other than that I have no more
updates.
Salih: Unless I talk to you about what I did in Sudan the last month (laughs) but I have
nothing to report, uh, beside, um, very excited to hear that, you know, our .... my
people in Sudan will sign officially transfer the civilian gover...from a (unable to
understand) civilian government on the 17th, which is exciting. But .... my time
there wasn't that exciting. A lot people has been killed (unable to understand) and
um, a lot people sacrifice their life but now their dream is coming true and thank
you. That's all!
Cole: I have nothing, other than I'm glad you're home safely, Maz. Nothing more.
Thomas: Well, Pauline mentioned, uh, that Jim and herself and Bruce and I were at the, uh,
ribbon cutting for Riverfront Crossings Park and it's always kind of interesting
sometimes when you serve in these official capacities at events representing the
City and the people of Iowa City ,and uh, you know, so we had the traditional
ribbon cutting aspect to the event, and urn .... that was fun, you know, being part of
that, but afterwards, uh, you know, Pauline and I were chatting, uh, near where the
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ribbon cutting had taken place, and uh, this little girl, probably about .... I asked
Pauline what age do you think she was, Pauline. She was probably around three,
maybe a little under, uh, came up to us and you know she's quite a bit shorter than
we are, and looked up and said, "Thank you for the park," with her parents close
by but she was by herself really, um, making this beautiful gesture to ... to us, and
uh, you know, it was one of those things where as City Council, you know, we're
just absorbing this wonderful energy. Um, so I just wanted to share that, because
it's really something that .... uh, we should all know about and enjoy as well.
Mims: Yeah, I didn't get a chance to be there, I've been out of town, but lot of things
going on with ... that you all mentioned, so I won't go through all of those, but
I ... one thing that was brought up to me the other day, I just wanted to mention.
We've .... we had a fair amount of rain in the spring, but now things have been
kind of dry for a while here. But the .... the comment to me was, you know, we
got the....and we've been talking about Dubuque Street tonight, so it's kind of
timely that I bring this up tonight. Just kind of reminding people of...of where we
were a few years ago, and how many times Dubuque Street had been shut down,
and what that did to our, to the University and to our businesses downtown when
we had Dubuque Street shut for a month, and now we have what I think has
turned out to be an absolutely beautiful, um, entryway into the city. I mean that
was built without damaging the entryway. I think a lot of us were concerned at
the time about what was the wall along the river gonna look like. We wanted to
make sure that that looked nice from the west side and everything. Um, you
know, we've still got some trees and things to grow in the median and bushes and
stuff and probably this dry weather right now isn't helping them any, but um, it's
gonna be beautiful. I mean it is. It's a very.... beautiful place to come into Iowa
City and very welcoming, and with the water and rain that we did have in the
spring, we didn't really even come close to have to worrying about that roadway
being closed. So it's one of our biggest projects ever maybe in Iowa City in terms
of capital improvement and, um, it's served its purpose very well so far, and yeah,
we've got some traffic things that we'll work on, and speed limits and stuff, but
the trails next to it I think are ... are a real asset as well, and so ... I think it was a job
very, very well done by our community. So it was a long two and a half years
(laughs) a long two and a half years while it was in progress, um, but it's one of
those good projects it's easy to kind of forget about now that it's in place, so....
Throgmorton: Uh, I'll be pretty brief. Uh, other people have already mentioned some things that
we took part in. I'll mention one other thing that nobody else here took part in.
That is that my wife .... son and granddaughter and I drove down to Louisville,
Kentucky, where I, you know, I have relatives. We did that over the weekend,
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and....and then drove back. So why mention that? Because today I read, oh was
it yesterday's paper, I don't know, the Press -Citizen or the Des Moines' Register, I
don't remember which, there was an article about Mid American planning to
install 15 high-speed, I don't know, high-capacity EV recharging, electric vehicle
recharging stations along Interstate 80, and I guess along U.S. Highway 20. And
it's that kind of gesture or action that is necessary to make a transition to, uh,
electric -powered vehicles (clears throat) If...if they don't, or people like them
don't provide the stations, then nobody's gonna be able to drive electric vehicles
for any long distance, and therefore that'll inhibit the willingness of people to
purchase them. So .... I was pleased to be able to read that article after coming
back from my trip to Louisville. That's all I'm gonna say.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council
regular formal meeting of August 6, 2019.