HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-05 TranscriptionMarch 5, 2013 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1
Council Present: Champion, Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton
Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Hightshoe, Bentley, Dilkes, Long, Karr, Yapp, Reichardt,
Bockenstedt, O'Brien, Panos, Moran, Davidson, Andrew
Others Present: Bramel
Asenda Items:
Hayek/ We'll start the work session. I want to welcome everybody to it! Uh, first budget, or
bullet item is, uh, questions regarding agenda items. Anything from the agenda?
ITEM 3f(3) Judith Dillman; Gregg Geerdes: Extension of Normandy Drive Lower
City Park Access Plans. [Staff response included]
Throgmorton/ Uh, I have two.
Hayek/ Proceed, please!
Throgmorton/ Uh, the first has to do with the Normandy park access road so this concerns Item
3f(3), I think. Would it be best to discuss this under the Ned Ashton House or should we
do it now?
Markus/ Ned Ashton would be fine.
Throgmorton/ All right. So ... I'll come...
Markus/ Either way Mike'll handle this.
Champion/ Right!
ITEM 6. NEW URBAN RENEWAL AREA - DETERMINING AN AREA OF THE
CITY TO BE AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AREA; DESIGNATING
SUCH AREA AS APPROPRIATE FOR AN URBAN RENEWAL
PROJECT; AND ADOPTING THE CAMP CARDINAL URBAN
RENEWAL PLAN THEREFORE.
Throgmorton/ Okay. Uh, the other question has to do with Item 6, about the Camp Cardinal
Road urban renewal area. Uh, I ... I'm not asking a question about the substance, Jeff. I
noticed that, uh, consultation with the County and School Board reps was scheduled for
February 21 st but no one came?
Davidson/ That's correct.
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Throgmorton/ And that's true I think for the preceding one? I take that to be meaningful
information. Uh, and I ... I think we need to reflect upon that, uh, given how controversial
TIFs are in our county. So, there's no need to talk about it right now, but I think we
should. I mean at... in some other appropriate venue.
Hayek/ Well it may be that this vote is just on the urban renewal area and not on a ... I mean that
could explain the lack of...
Throgmorton/ I'm raising a concern about relationships, not about the substance of the urban
renewal district. (mumbled)
Hayek/ Okay. Other, uh, agenda items?
ITEM 3e(1) CITY PARK SHELTER SIX REPLACEMENT - RESOLUTION SETTING
A PUBLIC HEARING ON MARCH 19, 2013, ON PLANS,
SPECIFICATIONS, FORM OF CONTRACT, AND ESTIMATE OF COST
FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CITY PARK SHELTER SIX
REPLACEMENT PROJECT, DIRECTING CITY CLERK TO PUBLISH
NOTICE OF SAID HEARING, AND DIRECTING THE CITY ENGINEER
TO PLACE SAID PLANS ON FILE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION.
Mims/ I guess I just had a question, this'd be for Mike on the ... the cost of the City Park shelter
replacement. I look at that $135,000 and think ... you know, we can build a small, modest
house for $150 to $180 that's, you know, insulated and plumbing and all those other
things, and ... so why is the cost of a shelter $135?
Moran/ Well, this shelter is our largest shelter in City Park. It's a current shelter, number 6, the
1- shaped shelter down there. Uh, we're trying to ... we're upsizing it just a little bit and
moving it, and a lot of it is consulting fees and engineer fees to make sure that they're
stamped, approved plans, and then we're changing the look of the shelter so that they'll
have some additional, uh, amenities to it, like a brick, or stone, around the pillars, uh, and
the ... the roof and cupolas on top, uh, sort of make it an identification thing with that.
So ... it got a little bit more than what I thought too.
Mims/ Okay. All right! Thank you.
Champion/ And we already own the land too! (laughs)
Mims/ Maybe I could build a house down there! (laughs)
Champion/ Yeah! (laughter)
Hayek/ Anything else on the agenda? Okay, let's move on to the Ashton House, uh, project.
Do ... why don't we get a ... the ... the report, and then let's remember Jim's question...
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Moran/ And that'll come up. That's in here. I wanted to touch base with that (mumbled)
so ... uh, greetings. Little formal for a work session, but I can live with it, so, uh, Tom
McInerny is the Architect of Record and he's in the back and he'll bail me out if you
have any questions that I can't, uh, answer, but I just wanted to give you a brief update as
to ... to where we ... where we're at, um, with this. This is just an overview of...of where
the Ashton House sits. Uh, this is Normandy Drive, and then parking area. What I
wanted to highlight in this is just all the trees that'll remain in there. There won't be
anything that comes down, uh, we'll be adding to that, as well, so it should be a nice ...a
nice addition, uh, to this. Uh, this is the ... the basement plan, uh, of the house as it
currently exists and the only change that we really will have here is this mechanical room
will all move upstairs. Uh, currently the HVAC system is all downstairs, and the reason
that we're going to do that is because, uh, when it floods, we're not going to save the
house. We've not going to sandbag the house. We're going to do just what Ned Ashton
had it designed for. Uh, all these windows open up. The doors open up. The water
flows through the house and then when it's done you get a high pressure sprayer and you
spray it all out, cause the whole interior is all concrete and rocks. So, uh, we're not going
to make any effort to ... to save that if a flood comes in again. Just so you're... you're
upfront with that. It was included in our plan to FEMA. They've accepted that, and...
and they know that's what we're going to do, and they didn't make any requirements for
us to save that.
Champion/ The house was designed to let the water run through it...
Moran/ Correct.
Champion/ ...isn't that ... okay,yeah.
Moran/ That's the plan Ned had with that. So... so everything in here, uh, will remain as is, uh,
with the exception of the mechanical room in here. So really the downstairs won't have a
whole lot. We do have an electrical panel over in here that'll move upstairs, as well. So
we're just simply moving the utilities up. This is the current upstairs, uh, of this. Uh, it
had three bedrooms, uh, four bedrooms and a ... and a master bedroom. Uh, the kitchen
area and then the living room up here. This is the front porch, uh, that faces Park Road.
So I'll show you what we're going to do to that. I just wanted to show you the before
picture and then the after picture is really not much different, uh, with that. We're going
to remove this wall here and remove a little sectional wall here, and the reason that we...
we chose that was so if we have, uh, wedding receptions or mini - conferences or meetings
or anything, you could fix so that ... that the guest speaker could be here and have two
lines of sight, uh, either way with that, or you could divide it and have two different
separate areas, uh, for people that have conferences if they want to, uh, do split -out
groups. The kitchen will ... it was up in here, uh, we'll remove a lot of the kitchen items
that are currently there and ... and turn that into a catering or a prep room for ... for
wedding receptions. This is where they'll set up, and then they can simply come out here
and serve out of here if they wish to do that ... for everything.
Throgmorton/ Mike, so obviously these are not load - bearing walls that are being removed.
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Moran/ Correct.
Throgmorton/ Right. Okay. What's ... how's the first floor going to be used?
Moran/ The basement or what we call the basement? (both talking) It'll be the same thing.
They'll both be used for the same function, or they could be used for different functions
with that. Uh, we probably won't rent them out separate. We'll probably rent them out
as a total package.
Throgmorton/ Okay.
Moran/ So, uh, and then down at the bottom, uh, we will have to put in an ADA- accessible ramp
to the door, uh, so that ... you'll see a little bit of change to the front of the structure with
that, but really that's all that we really have to do for that. The timeline for all of these is
that we hope to um ... get the public hearing set and out to bid in late April. Your last
meeting in April we hope to have that in front of you so that we can have the plans and
specs drawn, uh, and then we hope to award the bid then in early June, and Tom keeps
reminding me that this is a renovation project of a historic house, and so I'm on a little bit
faster timeline, and he's on a lot slower timeline because we just don't know what's
going to happen once you start messing around with an older home with that. So, he
feels comfortable right now with a three to four month construction timeframe after the
bid has been awarded. So, uh, I'm going to have to go, you know, with that. Couple of
the features is that, uh, we ... we were worried at one time we were going to have to put an
elevator in the building for ADA requirements. After the FEMA review and the State
Historical Preservation review, uh, they told us no, we just had to have the ADA, uh,
ramp up to the front level. So that was about $180,000 cost savings for us for the project.
The capacity is 150- persons total, and we're sort of limited by that, uh, if we exceed that
then we have to put a sprinkler in the house, which is very ironic because the house is
entirely concrete. (laughter) The code would allows us ... we'd have to put in a sprinkler,
uh, system for that, and then we could have meeting space of up to 75, which is a sit -
down table meeting space, uh, and that could go on... on either level, uh, with that, as
well.
Mims/ So, Mike, is that ... code for the sprinkler, is that City code?
Moran/ Yes.
Mims/ Okay. Thank you.
Moran/ And we don't have to follow it but we should.
Mims/ (several talking) We might want to put an exception in if the building can't burn down
and we don't have to have a sprinkler! (laughs)
Dobyns/ Where would tables and chairs, um, be stored? Down the, uh...
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Moran/ Down in the garage facility.
Dobyns/ (mumbled) so they don't have to be hauled up from the basement.
Moran/ Correct, yeah. And then, uh, that's really it for, uh, the Ashton House. It's really quick
and simple. It's ... it's an easy, uh, remodeling. I'm calling it easy. Tom's calling it a
little bit more difficult, uh, just because what we're ... what we're headed into, uh, but we
have to go back to the neighborhood because we obviously have a couple of other issues
that ... I've met with `em for six times and ... and I had buy-in ... I thought I had buy -in to a
lot of the projects that were going on there, uh, one of `em is the lower City Park access
road which has come, which you've seen, and you reference to. Uh, we're going to have
to sit down. I wrote, uh, Judith Dillman and Mary (noise on mic), and the Dillmans are
on vacation until March 28th, and Mary is trying to get a contingency of a date for the rest
of the neighborhood. We'll either meet without them or we'll meet and wait after she
gets back. Uh, she's okay either way with that. Uh, they would like to see us limit the
access to some of that secondary road, and so we'll have to come up with a compromise
of when we think we can keep it open and... and my compromise would be, uh, similar to
let's keep it open from about May 1St when boys' baseball starts until about... Labor Day,
which is when a lot of the activities wind down. The City Park rides close, and then we
could gate those and only keep `em, or only open them up if we had a weekend event. If
we had a big walk/run in the park or something during September and October because
November, December, January, uh, we really don't have a lot of activity in there. So
we'll see how that goes. Uh, I think they'll listen to that. Uh, I've got a ... I thought I had
a good relationship with the neighborhood, but you know that sort of changes once in a
while. Um, and then the parking lot, I've got on the slide, we'll show about that, and
then Phase 2 landscaping time table — we did Phase 1 already where we went in and did a
lot of demolition. Uh, the Phase 2 will start July 1St and that's the actual installation of all
the plant material and the prairies and everything. So you'll really see a lot more
changes, I mean, there's quite a bit of changes there now from just the demolition and...
and grading, but when the plant material gets in there, uh, we hope to have that done by
the end of September so it's a July, August, September, uh, construction for Phase 2, and
then we'll be done.
Dickens/ Is there any flexibility with the, uh ... timeline starting before June, cause I know the
conference, the big conference times are ... start in September, late ... late August,
September, October, November the biggest.
Moran/ Yeah, it depends on how fast Tom gets the materials around and how fast we can get
those out so...
Markus/ Put the pressure on!
Moran/ (laughter) Yeah, well! Pressure has already been applied! He knows that! (laughter)
So, yeah, we'll do it as fast as we can. I'm just sort of giving you some realistic
scenarios, uh, so that we have some anticipations for that. And then, um, the parking lot
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has had buy -in. This is Manor Drive and Normandy Drive, and we will just make this an
intersection and then they will come off the intersection and use this as a 40 -car parking
lot, and that's by, uh, City code, as well, so that meets that requirement for that. There's
only, that I know of, only one family and that's this family right here that is really been
outspoken about the parking lot and they feel that the parking lot is ... they're going to be
able to see more of the parking lot than they are of the view into the river and that's what
their concern is with that. I've met them several times. I'll continue to meet with them,
but I really don't think that we're going to be able to move it anywhere else. Uh, we've
slid it bacfk as far as we can. We've given them a big green space and buffer space there
and ... and it's opened up to the Ashton House with that. The rest of the neighborhood has
been okay with that, but I'm going to bring it up but I'm going to bring it up again just to
make sure, so that we don't get any more, uh, comments from that.
Dobyns/ Mike, where was that big white house that used to be there? Was that (both talking)
Moran/ The Miami Vice house? (laughter) Right there on that lot, 551.
Dobyns/ Okay. Is there ... what are we going to put there? Is it going to be ... not a lawn or is it
just going to be sort of (both talking)
Moran/ We're taking, well, as you can see, this is the trail that comes in from Rocky Shore
Drive. So the first thing we're going to do is, when they built that house, they raised it up
about four foot, uh, above where it was. So we're going to take that back down to the
original landscape. So you're going to be able to see ... right now if you pull into Manor
Drive, you can't see the river because it's so much higher. So we're gonna remove all
that and bring that down a little bit so it'll make the view of the river a lot more aesthetic.
But this'll all just be plant material, uh, accompanying the trail.
Dobyns/ And the trail's going to be contiguous when it goes along the river, um, along Park
Road?
Moran/ Correct.
Dobyns/ Okay.
Moran/ And it'll be permeable, uh, because ... FEMA, because it's all FEMA money, that'll be
permeable pavement, uh, so that will all...
Hayek/ And the parking lot as well?
Moran/ And the parking lot as well, that's correct. So ... and the ... the two key items for this, the
budget that we have figured out for the Ashton House is about $220,000 so we'll see
what the bids come in for from there, and that was significantly reduced because of the
elevator issue. And then, uh, the parking lot and the trail will also be put in with the road
that comes in to lower, uh, City Park because it's all basically an asphalt project, and we
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have $280,000 budgeted for all of that. Uh, the permeable pavement is going to be a little
bit more expensive than regular concrete or asphalt. Questions?
Mims/ I assume there's some screening along Normandy Drive and the parking lot.
Moran/ Yes. And we have to do that by City code.
Payne / What are the red dots on the map?
Moran/ Good question! (laughter) I don't know! (laughs)
Dobyns/ The 08 flood, Mike, how high did the water get (both talking)
Hayek/ Fire hydrants...
Dobyns/ ... in the Ashton House?
Moran/ In the Ashton home it went up eight foot in the basement.
Dobyns/ (several talking) Okay. (several talking)
Moran/ And that was in 08. I don't know what it was in ... in 93.
Dobyns/ But, theoretically, less. (several talking)
Champion/ Well it's a lovely house. It's going to be a great asset for the City.
Moran/ Yeah, we're looking forward to it.
Hayek/ (several talking) ... some strategic planning there.
Markus/ (several talking and laughing) ...retreat there.
Hayek/ Thanks, Mike! And ... and, Jim, are your questions answered?
Throgmorton/ Yes!
Information Packets:
Hayek/ Okay. Let's, uh ... keep moving on. If we wait ... do you want to wait until 5:45 for the
Executive? Okay. All right let's, um, how much time do we need for the workforce
housing... presentation? Should we kind of wait on that? Let's take up a couple other
things. Let's, uh, take up the Info Packets. February 21 st is the first one. Thank you,
Michelle, for volunteering for that School District assignment.
Payne/ That was a volunteer?
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Champion/ Yes! (laughter) We all heard you volunteer.
Hayek/ You said yes! (laughter)
Dickens/ (mumbled) (laughter)
Hayek/ Anything else on that, uh ... that Info Packet? Okay. February 281H
Throgmorton/ Matt, IP number 8. The, uh, letter written jointly by mayors of three cities.
Hayek/ Yes!
Throgmorton/ Want to give us an update?
Hayek/ Yeah, I was going to do that under Council time, but I might as well do it now. Um...
so, uh, at last week's County budget hearing, public hearing at the County, um ... uh, I
along with Mayor Fausett and Mayor Salm from Coralville and North Liberty, um, got up
and spoke to the County, um, by way of follow -up to the letter that's shown at IP8. Um,
Jill Dodds from the Coralville City Council was also there and she spoke. Several other
members of the various councils were there and ... and staff were there, as well. Um, and
we, uh, delivered a verbal proposal which we then followed up on Friday of last week
with a more detailed, written proposal to, um, resolve this... situation over SEATS
funding, um ... by having the County drop its ... its portion of SEATS operations within
our communities by roughly 50 %. Um ... uh, over I think FY12 or 13 numbers, to take it
from roughly 610 for the three cities, down to roughly 305 for the three cities. Um, as
opposed to eliminating the general levy support for SEATS within our three
communities, altogether, which is what they're... where they're headed. Um ... and we...
we believe, and this was largely based on the analysis staff did, um, and not just Iowa
City staff but ... but Coralville as well, um, that if the County can do that ... we
can ... absorb the rest through some operational changes and what not, um ... uh, to ... to try
to resolve this and to try to keep SEATS, uh, operational, um, it will be operational no
matter what, but to try to maintain the two most, um, popular non - mandatory aspects of
SEATS, which are Sunday service and door -to -door service, as opposed to curb -to -curb.
So it's in staffs' opinion that if the ... if the County will ... will stick with at least 50% of its
FYI funding and uh, and the cities do their part, we can ... preserve this rough balance,
maintain the partnership, keep those ... those popular non - mandated aspects, and move
forward. So that's what we did and uh, again, that was followed up by a ... by a letter, uh,
sent out late last week that staff prepared, putting a little more detail into that. Um, I
think it's safe to say that at the budget hearing, uh, there was some expression of interest
on the County's part to continue the discussion. Um, I think they, uh, they ... they made it
clear that they would want these discussions to occur in public settings, which is fine, um_ ,
and I think where we are right now is, uh, we are waiting on the County to digest
and ... and react to the ... the written detail that we provided late last week. So ... (both
talking)
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Champion/ Matt, there was a specific levy that the County does for SEATS or for transit in
general, is there a spec... it's a specific levy, right?
Markus/ Just a part of the general (several talking)
Hayek/ Part of the general levy.
Champion/ ...general.
Dobyns/ And they just apportion it depending on their preferences and ... I mean...
Hayek/ Yeah, and the thing ... the thing about SEATS funding is it's a unique animal. I mean, it's
... it's uh, the sources of funding are, come from multiple places. The three primary
sources are user fees, um ... uh, the contributions of cities through their transit funding
source, um, and then general levy support from the County, and the general levy is paid
by everybody in the county, uh, and the County had indicated that it intends to reduce and
ultimately eliminate the general levy support for SEATS operations within the cities, and
it was the perspective of the cities that... and there was a characterization of it as a
subsidy, and ... and we respectfully took issue with that because roughly 73% of the
general levy dollars the County receives come from residents of the three cities. Um, we
have a difference of budget perspective on that, I think.
Dobyns/ So, Matt, it's up to the Supervisors to apportion their general levy as they feel is
important for the County. Um, I assume this is in a meeting so they didn't necessarily
have to respond to you, uh, officially at the time, but did they say that why they felt that
that in previous years they felt that this SEATS funding was appropriate but that this year
they felt it was not, um, did they speak to that in this public forum?
Hayek/ No, I mean, you know, it was a... it was a budget hearing, so it's a really... it's not a good
vehicle (both talking) it's not a good format or a venue for ... for discussing it, but that
was where we were directed to go, and so that's where we ... that's where we appeared.
Dobyns/ So it may be transparent but it's unilateral discussion?
Hayek/ We ... we were able to get up and speak.
Dobyns/ Unilateral discussion.
Hayek/ But it wasn't a back and forth.
Dobyns/ Okay.
Hayek/ Um ... and uh ... uh, you know, they ... it's true that the County's share of SEATS' funding
has increased... quite a lot in re ... over the last half - decade or more, and that's because...
fuel increases, personnel increases, uh, the lack of a fare increase by the cities with
respect to hard transit, the fixed bus route, and see SEATS ... the SEATS' fare is tied to
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what we charge, uh, for our bus system. It can only be double. Um ... and we haven't
increased that fare for a long time. That's had an impact. Uh, you know, we offer it half
fare, uh, which is I believe quite unique and uh, and...
Dickens/ Coralville just raised theirs.
Mims/ Transit rate, yeah.
Hayek/ Anyway, so ... and we recognize that the ... the County's share of SEATS' funding has
increased, um, because of those reasons. Um, but they ... to get to your point, no, that...
that wasn't talked about.
Dobyns/ Okay. All right. Thank you.
Throgmorton/ Matt, it seems to me that there're two separate things going on here that
get ... become deeply entertwined. One is the disagreement over SEATS, how to ... how to
fund it and so on, and that's difficult enough. The second is, clearly for at least some,
maybe all, uh, Supervisors, uh, the discussion, the conflict over SEATS, opens up, uh,
concerns about other, um, activities that are involve uh, questions of fairness with regard
to either... either revenues or expenditures. Uh, the JECC thing, uh, the Animal Shelter,
TIFs, maybe other, uh, aspects. So it seems to me that ... we ... we might take this as an
opportunity... well, we've gotta deal with SEATS in the first place. That's really crucial,
but we al ... we might also take it as an opportunity to do ... to do some things that Tom
has referred to earlier, to begin ... to begin helping us and other entities in the county to
think about how to fairly allocate costs and revenues, uh, and so on, with regard to
regional services, or services that, you know, I think you get what I'm trying to get at
here (several responding) Um, and if we don't do that, it seems to me we're not going to
be able to work our way through this very satisfactorily. We're going to end up just with
a lot of, uh ... um ... um ... unhappy people (laughs) at var ... in various agencies and so on.
So, uh ... I ... I think we do need to focus on SEATS in the short-run but I would think it's
...it's an opportunity to open up a larger discussion.
Hayek/ Yeah, I ... I agree and ... and certainly, uh, the issues of tax increment financing and the
Joint Emergency Communications Center and the Animal Shelter, all... all three of which
you mentioned, um ... thread through this SEATS issue, um...
Throgmorton/ What the best venue for such a discussion would be, I don't know, because if you
get seven plus five plus ... other cities... that's... that's pretty complicated. It's hard for me
to envision how that would work well.
Hayek/ Yeah.
Throgmorton/ So I ... I would suggest we ... if we do open up this ... this possibility that we
encourage people to participate with committees from each of the units and maybe even
involve a mediator.
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Hayek/ Well I'm not ... I'm not sure I'd go, uh, that far but I do think that, I mean, and we already
have a subcommittee of this Council assigned to deal with this issue. Um, if we take on a
more ... a broader discussion of these other issues ... yes, sending a liaison or you know
some sort of subset of the committee may make quite a lot of sense. So, you know, I
think we're, you know, we've got to get through the FY14, uh, process. What we're
trying to negotiate a several -year agreement and historically we've had five year
agreements on SEATS. Uh, which assures the riders, assures the public, and gives the
budget people, you know, some stability in forecasting ability, so ... and that ... that's
where we're headed, but staff is working very closely, uh, with ... with, uh, with not only
the elected but their counterparts, uh, in the other cities, at the County, with SEATS.
There ... there is, and has been for six plus months a lot of communication. Um ... so...
that's about what I can offer right now. Very frustrating. Okay.
Hayek/Think we, uh, ought to break into Executive Session. I will not be participating because it
regards an item on which I'm abstaining so ... (noises on mic) (RECESS TO SPECL4L
FORMADEXECUTIVE SESSION)
Miscellaneous Items /Council Time:
Hayek/ Okay, thank you. Uh, we're still on the Info Packet discussion. We just completed a
discussion of SEATS. Is there anything else anyone has from that February 28th Info
Packet?
Payne/ I had one thing. A few weeks ago we talked about recommendations to Council from the
Human Rights Commission, and ... staff was going to look at doing something with that,
and in their... February 19th meeting minutes they had another recommendation for
Council. Is ... what ... what's the status, I guess, of that?
Karr/ We ... we developed the form that was contained in your packet and um ... is, and I
apologize, I just have too much paper here right now. Is that the recommendation on
SEATS?
Payne/ Yes.
Karr / And that is on your Consent Calendar as correspondence. That's the, uh, Item 3£..
Payne/ So you're telling me I missed it in the packet?
Hayek/ I think that's what's she's saying (laughter)
Karr/ No, I ... I'm just noting what the response is. We did put it on the agenda and it is, um, the
Human Rights Commission Chair, that's the correspondence. If you wish to go beyond
accepting that recommendation, that would be up ... but it is on the agenda.
Payne/ Okay.
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Throgmorton/ But this is your point, isn't it? Whenever we get a recommendation from a
commission, we should put it on our agenda as a formal item so that we can respond.
Dobyns/ It'll be on the correspondence or...
Payne/ Similar to, I mean, when we get recommendations from Planning and Zoning, it's an item
in the agenda.
Karr/ Right, I understand. I understand. But my understanding and Geoff may be able to add
some (mumbled) is that Stephanie, when I asked the staff member, Stephanie indicated
what they wanted was to accept the letter and you to be aware of it. There was not
indication of any further action by the Commission. Is that what you understood?
Fruin/ That's correct. They're not seeking any further action. They just want you to be aware of
the recommendation ... so we have ... it's in the minutes and we also had them write a
separate letter to include in correspondence.
Karr/ That's correct.
Dobyns/ But it's not necessarily an actionable (both talking)
Karr/ That's correct!
Dobyns/ ...like Planning and Zoning.
Karr/ Right. It's more of an awareness item.
Dobyns/ So if it's actionable maybe someone'll put like a star on it or (both talking)
Karr/ Well then it would be an action item, separately on the agenda.
Dobyns/ Okay.
Throgmorton/ But wouldn't it be reasonable for them to expect that we would respond? In some
fashion?
Fruin/ I ... I don't believe they're seeking a response in this case. They just wanted you to be
aware of their position on the half fares.
Hayek/ I think it's a ... they're taking a position, an advocacy position on an issue.
Karr/ They're not acting... asking for a response. They want you to be aware of their position.
Dobyns/ I guess there's recommendations and then there's recommendations.
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Payne/ And how are we to know the difference? Because you can't tell by reading the meeting
minutes.
Champion/ Just a letter of support. It's not really a recommendation.
Payne/ It says it in their meeting minutes. Recommendation to Council, I mean, it's right in their
meeting minutes.
Champion/ But it's just support.
Payne/ It doesn't say that in their... in their
Champion/ (laughs)
Payne/ I mean, how do we know the difference? Between what they want us to...
Champion/ You just have to use your brain, Michelle!
Payne/ (laughs)
Dobyns/ Well, but ... but, and maybe ... I'm just thinking what Jim and Michelle's thinking. I
don't, as a new Council Member I don't want to be rude to someone who volunteers their
time to work on the City, and because the language is not very precise.
Karr/ I think what ... this is the first time we've done it, and ... and we did go back to the
Commission and that is what we were informed. What we can do, and I understand the
distinction between an action recommendation and no action required, and the cover
sheet that goes to it. Um, but if the staff and/or commission are not recommending
action, then ... we need to know that.
Payne/ ...I would like to understand that, somehow.
Karr/ I understand, and the Human Rights Commission minutes that you have in your packet are
only draft minutes, correct?
Payne/ It says preliminary on it.
Karr / Right, so when you get the final, it will have the new cover sheet stating no action is
required. It only goes with the final. This one was put out ... quicker than normal because
of the sensitivity of the time and the subject being discussed. Typically you would get
the final minutes and you would have that cover sheet, which would reaffirm no actions
required.
Payne/ Okay!
Hayek/ I think we need to let this thing kind of...
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Karr/ We're kind of playing catch -up with the form (both talking) but I understand the
distinction. We will talk about that. I do understand.
Hayek/ (mumbled)
Payne / And maybe as time goes on it'll make ... become more clear.
Karr/ It becomes tougher when you ... when you're acting on something off a preliminary set of
minutes rather than a final.
Hayek/ Um, KXIC. I'm signed up for next Wednesday the 13th. I can't do that anymore. Can I
switch with somebody? Maybe...
Payne/ (several talking) tomorrow?
Throgmorton/ You know, my name does not appear on that list. Um ... so, um...
Hayek/ Want to take mine?
Throgmorton/ Uh, probably. Let me ... let me look at my schedule here for a second. Oh, I don't
have ... oh, there it is. (several talking)
Hayek/ Okay. (several talking) Okay.
Mims/ So are you doing that one?
Hayek/ Sertoma actually.
Throgmorton/ I can't, I'm sorry, I cannot do (several talking)
Hayek/ I don't think ... I can't do tomorrow. Why don't I switch with you Connie?
Champion/ I'm doing the 27th of March.
Hayek/ Yeah! Why don't we just flop?
Karr/ We'll just swap 27th and 13th.
Hayek/ I'll do the 27th, she's the 13th.
Champion/ Yeah, that's fine.
Hayek/ Thank you.
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Throgmorton/ Marian, could you sign me up for the one immediately after the end of this
sequence, like April 12th?
Karr/ Okay. (several talking)
Throgmorton/ I know! (several talking and laughing)
Hayek/ Okay! Anything else on the Info Packet? All right. Let's try to move quickly here.
We've got this workforce housing presentation. Why don't we launch that right now.
Davidson/ Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Jeff Davidson, Director of Planning for the City. Steve
Long, Community, uh, Development Coordinator, uh, and we will make this as ... as brief
as possible. Uh, this, um, started out as basically me killing some time in Des Moines
waiting for Geoff Fruin's Amtrak, uh, hearing to start at the State Capitol Building
(laughter) I called Jay Christianson, who is the developer from Des Moines who has
teamed with, uh, Tim Dwight on the SoBu Lofts Project that ... that you, uh, approved the
grant, uh, application for at your last meeting. Uh, and I just, I knew Jay had a couple of
workforce housing projects that he'd done in Des Moines and I just, for my own
edification, wanted to familiarize myself with the product a little bit more since it's
something we are trying to encourage here, and specifically, have as one of our
community objectives for possible financial assistance in downtown and uh, Riverfront
Crossings area. Uh, I mentioned this to Tom Markus and he said well that sounds like a
pretty good thing for the City Council to hear, as well. So we decided to expand it to
that. Then talking with Steve, we decided well let's use it to reaffirm kind of what we are
going to call workforce housing, uh, for possible financial incentives. Not automatic
financial incentives but possible financial incentives, and so Steve's going to walk
through that real quickly after I just click through some pictures here and hopefully can,
uh, familiarize you, um, as well. Um, a couple of really good projects in Des Moines.
Um, just to ... to clarify again, workforce housing is either for rent or for sale housing, uh,
that's intended for middle income residents, and Steve's going to talk about what those
income levels are and what those price points are, but we're talking about middle income
housing. Not low income housing, not luxury housing, but in between, and that's a
product that it exists throughout Iowa City, but not very much in the downtown and
Riverfront Crossings area, and it's something we want to specifically, um ... uh, incent...
encourage in those areas, possible with incentives. We have the urban renewal area and
the possibility of using TIF. There's also other possible financial incentives in terms of
property that the City may control and uh, special grant programs, such as the one that
you, uh, authorized for SoBu Lofts. So let's just real quickly. Uh, E300, uh, is on Grand
Avenue and is a new project. Uh, here's the building. Uh, and you can see it has
commercial on the first floor, uh, and then ... one, two, three, four, five, uh, stories, uh,
above. This is a building that was constructed as a for -sale building and then in 2007 the
economy crashed. It is now 100% leased, uh, and is a very successful project. It could
be converted to owner- occupied, uh, in the future but for the time being it is a 100%
leased project, and you can see, uh, and you'll see some interior shots, but you can see
the balconies, and I think one of the things you'll note that can be a distinction that's
made between student housing and workforce housing, which is of course a ... a,
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something that we compare all the time here in Iowa City, is the level of finishes, the
level of amenities, and I think you'll see that come through, and again, just some, uh,
other angles. Here's the ... the ruf...rooftop, um, patio area on the building. I think I had
two views, yeah, that's looking... that's looking west (laughs) and that's looking east.
Uh, this is the workout ... a beautiful workout room and you can see it's on the top floor,
as well. Um, this is a common area in the building. They do in these buildings try and
have kind of a sense of... of community and... and people, urn ... uh, congregating and
being... basically a neighborhood within a building I think is a good way of putting it.
Again, a common area n E300, and you can see it. Here's a unit, uh, that faces west, as
you can see, I believe this was a one - bedroom unit which leased for $1,000... around
$1,000 a month, and you can see the level of finished with the kitchen there, big open,
urn ... uh, big ... big open format, uh, the large windows are beautiful. Very nice area, uh,
apartment. Again, I can't remember if that's the same unit or not. You can see even
though this is an old building, it's got the infrastructure and the, uh, along the, hung from
the ceiling there, uh, kind of similar to a loft conversion building, which is the second
project that you're going to see here. Gives you a kind of a feel for the character of the
building. Um, primarily young professionals in the building. Not exclusively. In fact,
full range but primarily young professionals. Interestingly, um, Jay said that you have to
allow pets in these buildings because of the character of the people living there. They
frequently have as their primary companions dogs or cats, and that's an expectation with
a building like this, and they ... and they are allowed in both of the buildings. Again, just
kind of get a feel for the area. And you can see the level of finish is at least what I would
say is above a student apartment building, uh, and for the projects in Iowa City, that's one
of the ways that Jay said they would try and focus on young professionals, rather than
students. If students end up in the building, that's fine. Uh, but it wouldn't be focused on
...on students obviously. AP Transfer Lofts then is an old warehouse, uh, down on
Martin Luther King Parkway. This ... this'd basically be an area that's the equivalent of,
uh, Riverfront Crossings for Des Moines. They have a similar area and I don't recall
what the name of it is. Um, that's the building. It's actually two buildings, as you can
see there. Uh, this ... there might be even a better shot. Again, very, uh, warehouse -
classic, uh, warehouse, railroad warehouse. There's the, uh, rooftop patio for that
building. Again, and you can see the adjacency to downtown there. Uh, this is the
interior. This is a retrofitted stairway that's actually between the two buildings that you
just saw. These are new windows, but meant to mimic, uh, the old windows, and even
though this is a, you know, we don't have a lot of these, although the Vine building
would be one that is a, basically a warehouse building that's being converted, uh, the, the
old, uh, excuse me, the new windows are meant to mimic the old. Here's a hallway area.
You can see very industrial. These pillars were, uh, great. These structural pillars had
like, uh, things that had been written on `em by workers 60 years ago. I mean, it was
really interesting. Here's a common area in the AP Lofts Building, uh, here's a kitchen.
This was an efficiency unit, uh, because it is a little bit aways from downtown, this unit
rented for $750 a month. The ... the individual who lived here, uh, very graciously, uh,
showed us around. There wasn't a model unit to see because, again, the building was
...was fully leased out. It's been a very successful building. You can see an example of
the finishes, galley kitchen here, uh, and then of course this is a little bit grittier building
because it is an old building, but you can see the HVAC. Again, kitchen. This is another
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unit, obviously. This was, I believe, a two - bedroom unit. They were primarily
efficiencies and one - bedrooms with ... with a couple of two - bedrooms and I think there ws
one three - bedroom unit, uh, in this building. Uh, they don't have any problem in terms of
having to limit occupancy because they just don't have the demand. I asked him in the
two - bedroom, well do four people live here, and they said, well no, four people wouldn't
live here. It's two people live here, and so they don't have any problems that we might
have to deal with here. Again, retrofitted stairway, uh, you can see ... uh, just a couple of
pictures here. Again, you can see the skyline there, give you a feel for the, um... a feel
for the units here. Uh...
Long/ He wasn't there all day and night. Some of these were (laughter)
Davidson/ Yes, that ... that's correct. (laughter) Thank you, Steve! (laughter) Uh, the workout
room, bike storage. Uh, this is the basement of that building. Interestingly because
there's so much surface parking, excuse me, on- street parking in the neighborhood, he
says everybody just parks on street. They lease hardly any of the parking. Most of the
parking is leased to people who work downtown, uh, during the day. There you see...
you can see the vacant, um, the ... the vacant lot that I was standing in as I took this
picture, urn ... was used extensively by dog owners, I can tell you (laughter) The, uh,
rooftop again. Oops, that's the next slide. So, again, just trying to give you a feel for the
product that we are trying to, uh, establish in the area, uh, as opposed to student housing,
kind of what we're talking about. So with that, Steve, you want to talk some about how
we define this further?
Long/ Sure. He gets the (clears throat) he gets the fun part with pictures and I get the numbers!
Davidson/ You can use the pictures! (laughter)
Long/ Um, so what are we talking about, you know, we talk about income ranges 80 to 120% or
60 to 120% of median income, and I think we laid it out in the memo what ... what those
mean, but I'll try to break it down to what that means as far as the cost of a unit, both a
rental and for sale. (clears throat) And that's, doing that you have to make a lot of
assumptions. I won't get into all the details, but essentially we're looking at a ... a price
range in the 80 to 120% of median income number of about $155,000 to $255,000. And
uh ... what that means, currently the market for downtown for sale is ... is, starts at I think
Park at 201 will be starting at $250,000 and then goes up significantly from there. So it is
a little bit of a difference, uh, little bit lower range.
Throgmorton/ Steve, uh, I need to interrupt for a second. I ... I heard you say 80 to 120 %? In the
memo, uh, you ... Jeff refers to 80 to 150 %?
Long/ That was what we've done to date.
Throgmorton/ Right, and ... and with the suggestion that we shift to 60 to 120. That's what I
(both talking)
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Long/ Right.
Throgmorton/ Yeah.
Long / And... and after analyz... and looking at that a little bit more, and talking about it with
some lenders and with staff, that the 80 to 120 is probably more realistic for home
ownership in the downtown market, as far as cost caps and ... and minimums. Um, rental,
it's probably more realistic, uh, for rental opportunities between 60 and 80. And that,
you know, can be changed, but that's just after talking to some lenders. Using some of
the assumptions we used.
Payne/ So 120% of median income is like $72,000?
Long/ Uh...
Payne/ Am I remembering that right?
Long/ For a one - person household?
Payne/ Yeah, one person.
Long/ $64,200.
Payne/ So somebody making $64,200 can afford a $250,000 unit? That just doesn't compute.
Long/ Right now with the interest rates the way they are, uh, we took a 4% interest rate,
uh ... with a 30 -year fixed, a maximum of 30% of PI ... principal, interest, taxes, insurance.
You should pay no more than 30 %, um, that's with ... that's the top end. Interest rates are
really low right now so you can buy more.
Payne/ I ... I mean, that's just the rate ... the range my daughter's in and there's no way she could
afford a $250,000 unit! (laughs)
Long/ It's also assuming minimal debt, uh, but that (mumbled) too detailed, but...
Payne/ It just (both talking)
Long/ ...there's an FHA backend of 43% of your expenses to be used for all types of expenses
and debt. Um ... most of these buildings would not qualify on the secondary market. So
it'd likely be an in -house loan. They can even go higher than 43 %, but we didn't get in...
I don't want to get into all the ... details.
Payne/ I was just trying to make ... make it make sense and ... (laughs) I have a hard time (laughs)
Long/ A lender would lend up to that amount. Assuming, you know, decent credit
and... questions on home ownership? For... for rental ... we, that was a little trickier. If
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you take the same 30% figure, your ... you should pay no more than 30% of your income
for housing expenses. The numbers came out at...at a rate that the market has already
essentially taken care of or we feel it is. So we went and looked at the, what's called the
`fair market rent' for Iowa City, which is set by HUD, and it's ... it's a number that comes
annually and is adjusted annually, and then we adjusted that 120 %...20% of the fair
market rent and consulted with the National Development Counsel to see if that's
something that would be worth exploring, and those numbers came out ... and I could
compare it, uh, $670 for a studio, $800 for a one - bedroom, and a two- bedroom at about
$1,000. And to give you an idea of what ... what the market right now for what we're
calling ... I guess you'd say workforce housing would be in Iowa City, downtown
Riverfront Crossings. I, um ... uh, the Park at 201's studios start at $1,400 a month. Uh,
Sodo, which is a new development on Prentiss, behind the Vine, that opens up this fall. I
just checked Craigslist this morning and they're advertising studios at $825, one
bedrooms at $925, and two - bedrooms for $1,600, and they're targeting, uh, professionals.
That's what their advertising targets, which I'm not sure if you can actually... target
professionals (several talking) advertising, but that's another issue. (laughter) Um, so
the market (several talking) is considerably higher, um, that what we're proposing
currently. I also looked around for some for -sale options other than Park at 201 because
we don't have a lot of for -sale options right now, um, and Grandview, which is at Court
and Linn, has some on the market anywhere from $265,000 to $400,000. Just to give you
an idea of where we're ... what we're looking at and what's out there.
Dobyns/ So I was sitting, um, and um ... and Alec and Matt helped me, but we were at a USIG
meeting, um, Student Government, and I got a sense of the very strong unrequited student
market for housing, and I was thinking about this discussion. I mean if we lower the
price of these areas, then all of a sudden that incredibly strong student market is going to
then all of a sudden buy up these areas and all of a sudden we've ... we've really lost an
opportunity to provide the affordable housing we would like to put near downtown. Um,
and then it has to compete with the student market and you've talked about how you can
create features. The strongest feature is pricing.
Long / Are you asking how we can control that? (laughs)
Dobyns/ Yeah, that's sort of the big elephant in the room, isn't it? (several laughing)
Long/ We can ... we do that all the time with our programs that we run now. We ... we track
hundreds of units that we've assisted and we work with the owner, if they receive public
assistance, say in the form of tax increment financing, um, we ... we would put the
responsibility on the developer to verify income and if a... a student is living, or reports
their income ... if their parents report the income on their taxes, then you have to count the
parent's income and they would not qualify for that apartment. And that's up until the
age of 24, and we track that annually... with hundreds of units right now. So I assume we
...we would continue to do that with any project in the future. And we also do rent
reports where they have to ... uh, submit a report to us that says how much they're renting
the apartments for, and we check up on that.
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Davidson/ And some then, Rick, is also in terms of how the, you know, there is a management
part to these buildings, uh, as the people who are good at managing their buildings will
tell you, and when, you know, I asked Mr. Christianson in Des Moines about it, he did
tell me how he would manage his buildings, and he said, you know, for certain types of
students, I'm perfectly comfortable with, you know, grad students, med students, law
students, and things like that, and that's just part of how you manage the building.
And ... and he would see a mix of people like that and young professionals in the
workforce as being perfectly acceptable...
Dobyns/ And I've seen that in my neighborhood too. There's apartments that are primarily grad
students.
Davidson/ But when you're (both talking) but when you're not building three and four - bedroom
apartments, when you're not leasing them by the, uh, by the bedroom, you're just going
to naturally not have undergraduates in those units.
Dobyns/ Okay.
Davidson/ So ... so what we're looking for is just general concurrence to begin using the numbers
that you saw reflected in the ... in the memo. There's nothing on your formal meeting
agenda, and we will still continue on a project -by- project basis to negotiate deals which
we then take to you, put through the GAP ... financial GAP analysis, in other words, same
process we've been using, uh, and we are suggesting starting at this point forward, we
believe, for the College - Gilbert project, we should honor basically the... what... what the
developers predicated their proposals on, uh, but from this point forward, we would use
the numbers that you saw reflected in the ... in the memo.
Throgmorton/ I ... I have a request and a concern. Steve, you've given us some new information
tonight. Could you provide it to us in writing? In a memo?
Long/ Certainly.
Throgmorton/ Thank you. Uh, the concern is, uh, about, uh, the negotiated, uh ... new projects
that are negotiated differently, uh, if we have a ... a standard guideline and yet ... um...
kind of willy nilly negotiate new agreements that differ from the general guidelines. I
don't know how well that would play. Uh, I'd be ... I'd have some concern about that.
It ... it would strike me and I'm sure it would strike many other people
as ... um ... potentially at least very arbitrary.
Davidson/ Ultimately, Jim, the seven of you will be the ones to determine the acceptability (both
talking)
Throgmorton/ It could strike people as being arbitrary, even if it was the seven us ... of us that
made the decision?
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Davidson/ Yeah, and ... and ... I guess I would say every single project is different, in terms of...
what the cost of property is, where it's located, the level of finishes, uh, in the building,
the size of the building and the scale economies that can be achieved with the building,
and because every one of those factors is different, every deal is different, um, there are
workforce housing projects that can be done without any cCity subsidy. We know there
are. Um, but there are some, because of all those factors that I just named, will require if
you want to see the project done, the GAP analysis verifies that, and that's the I guess if
you want to call it arbitrary, we can use that word, but that's I think why we feel like it
has to be handled on a case -by -case basis. One project you may end up with, 80% of the
units meeting workforce housing definition. Another project it may be 15 %. Just
because of the characteristics of the individual (both talking)
Dilkes/ And arbitrary is something that has no reasonable basis for distinction. I mean, you're
not talking about not having a reasonable basis on which to make such judgments. Sol
don't think arbitrary is the appropriate term.
Throgmorton/ Well there's a legal use of the term and there's a public use of the term, and ... and
I was referring to a public use of the term.
Mims/ (mumbled) that just behooves all of us as we discuss these projects in public and discuss,
you know, what came out of the negotiations and where we're at, what ... what is the
rationale for the decision that we reached in that negotiation. Why do we think that a
certain subsidy is ... justified or not justified, and what are those characteristics and land
price and location and all those things. We start with, uh, some guidelines but ... like you
say, every project is different. We need to have room to negotiate, and we have to
explain to the public why we think, uh, the decision we're making, uh, is a good decision,
why it's justifiable. I ... I ... and we have to do that to make it seem that it's ... to show that
it's not a willy nilly type of negotiation. There are concrete reasons, uh, for our decisions
and explain that to the public. That's an important part of the process.
Hayek/ Do you, um ... if we ... if we go forward with ... with a consensus adoption of these
parameters on income, are ... are there other... things, considerations, data points, etc., that
we would consider adopting as ... general guidelines? To...
Davidson/ Workforce housing?
Hayek/ Yeah, well... yeah. Yes. I mean...
Davidson/ The income levels are the main thing.
Hayek/ It's one of the main things...
Long/ We will continue to do research that that ... that's what we're comfortable with.
Hayek/ And this obviously drives a lot of the analysis anyway, that ... but it's ... we're striking a
balance between parameters we can reasonably and confidently set up in advance, and the
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need to be nimble and responsive to the market and opportunities as they arrive. As they
arise.
Davidson/ Something that we can verify, as well, to make sure that the developer's living up to
their part of the deal.
Dilkes/ One issue we have talked about, and I don't know if you addressed it in the policy is, um,
you know, we have a range for purposes of definition, but in... in... in a development
agreement, um, you might not be specifying a range because you might want some at the
lower end of that range and some at the upper end of that range. So that's one of the
things that we've talked about needing to keep an eye on too.
Hayek/ Okay. Well let's ... do you guys have more, can ... we're 20 o£ I think we can just take
care of the remaining things pretty quickly and then break for 15 minutes. Thank you for
that. Do ... do you need the consensus from us essentially tonight?
Davidson/ We are going to assume this is consensus. (laughter) Unless directed differently.
Hayek/ Is the Council generally supportive of the approach staff recommends? (several
responding)
Davidson/ Thank you.
Hayek/ Okay.
Markus/ But, Jeff, talk about the College - Gilbert site.
Davidson/ Yeah, I mentioned that. We ... we are suggesting staying with the ... the RFP the
developers responded to was predicated on the old range of 80 to 150 and ... and we're in
the middle of negotiations with that right now, and so uh, you know, you will ... you will
approve any eventual development deal on that, but we are suggesting that that range be
considered acceptable for that particular negotiation.
Agenda:
ITEM 10. BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING - PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET FOR
THE FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2013, THROUGH JUNE 30, 2014, THE
PROPOSED THREE -YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN FOR FY2014 — 2016, AND
ALSO THE MULTI -YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM
THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2017.
Hayek/ Okay. Thank you. Steve and Jeff. Okay, uh ... I wanted to mention one thing, uh, on the
agenda and this goes to a conversation, um, Tom and I had with Connie, um, as I
understand it, Connie, you've got some concerns with proposed Aid to Agency
allocations.
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Champion/ I would like to withdraw the Aid to Agency recommendations from the budget, but
allow the money to stay in there, and so we can talk about it later (mumbled) (away from
mic) I'm unhappy with some of the allocations and I'm just late in the game to start
changing them now or asking you to look at them, but I would like to leave the money in,
but not approve the allocations.
Hayek/ The...
Karr/ Are you talking...
Hayek/ Go ahead!
Karr/ Aid to Agencies (mumbled)
Champion/ What?
Karr/ Aid to Agencies or Community (several talking)
Dobyns/ What item is this? I'm...
Markus/ She ... I think she took this out of the budget document.
Champion/ Yes.
Markus / And I think what she's suggesting is that we would leave the total allocation as is, but
the specific appropriations to the agencies would be subject to further scrutiny by the
City.
Champion/ Yes, that's exactly right. Thank you! Can you word that for me when it's time?
(laughter) And I'll be happy to talk with any of you individually about what I'm ... what
I'm really dissatisfied with.
Markus/ So we would bring back the individual, uh, designations for each agency and... and
explain how they got there and then have a discussion amongst the Council. Uh, if that's
what you're (mumbled)
Champion/ Yes, I hope you'll all ... agree with me on this. I know you have (mumbled) but we're
not taking the money out of the budget, we're just ... taking the allocation out.
Hayek/ This... the... the specific allocations within the total dollar amount.
Champion/ Right.
Throgmorton/ So... so what does that mean we do with Item 12, which is about Community
Events...
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Champion/ No, no. This isn't Community Events. This is ... (several talking)
Throgmorton/ Oh, Aid to Agencies. I'm sorry. Yeah. Sorry.
Champion/ In Item 10.
Hayek/ Is the Council ... uh, supportive of... are ... are you comfortable with this? (several
responding)
Mims/ I think if somebody has a big concern we can talk about it.
Hayek/ Yep. Okay, so ... why don't you ... make a motion on the budget that includes that.
Champion/ Okay.
Hayek/ Move adoption of the budget but ... etc., etc. (several talking)
Champion/ Okay. Got it! Thank you.
Hayek/ Don't say etc., etc.! (laughs)
Champion/ (mumbled) (laughter)
Pending Work Session Topics:
Hayek/ Yeah, okay! Uh, pending work session topics. IP5, anything there? Got a lot on the list
to be scheduled.
Throgmorton/ Is ... is staff intending to do the neighborhood stabilization next meeting?
Markus/ That's the plan.
Throgmorton/ I ... I have a ... some ... something I'd like, uh, for y'all to think about. If...if others
would, uh, agree, and that is at least to consider the possibility of... incorporating a... a... a
open space or public park fee for any new apartments... apartment buildings constructed
in the downtown Riverfront Crossings area or in the core neighborhoods. Not sure how
to bound that, um, but...
Markus/ Park dedication fee?
Throgmorton/ Yeah...
Markus/ Associated with ... new development (both talking)
Throgmorton/ ... equivalent to what we do already for new developments out on the periphery
but for core neighborhoods.
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Mims/ Given that what they're doing on the 19th as an update, that might be a good ... point of
discussion on the 19th when we actually have the update.
Throgmorton/ Yeah. Good.
Meeting Schedule:
Hayek/ May be worth something, uh, pursuing. Anything else on work session, uh, work session
topics? Okay! Meeting schedule. As always, plenty of meetings. Okay, Council time.
Alec, you want to talk briefly about...
Council Time:
Bramel/ Yeah, sure. I just wanted to say thank you to, uh, Councilman Dobyns, uh, and Mayor
Hayek for attending the UISG, uh, City Council, uh, the City, uh, Town hall meeting that
we had last Tuesday evening. Uh, it was an excellent opportunity to share, uh, ideas and
um, also raise some issues concerning, um, students... student issues with the City,
student issues with the University, and um, off - campus housing. It was excellent for that.
So, um, and this kind of collaboration really means a lot to us so ... (clears throat) I really
hope we can move forward with some of the issues that we brought up and uh, we'll be
talking with those, uh, I'll be working with Rick, with Rick, and we'll be talking with
staff and bring ... maybe bring some of those questions to the Council, um, in the next
coming, in the coming months. So, um, otherwise thank you again, and we look forward
to meetings in the future and more collaboration as it were. So ... thank you!
Hayek/ Well, Alec, you did a great job hosting the forum, um, MCing it. The ... the experience
was good. Nancy Bird did a fantastic job. Uh, and a lot of interesting issues came up and
that's where UISG will focus and bring some things t us that perhaps we can ... we can,
uh, discuss and...
Dobyns/ And Stan from Housing Inspection came by and helped us out a lot (both talking)
um ... so he was a good plant in the audience (laughter)
Bramel/ He was excellent. We didn't plan it but....
Hayek/ Says he was there on his own! (laughter) But nice job, Alec!
Bramel/ Thank you!
Hayek/ Anything else on Council time?
Throgmorton/ I have one thing to mention. I guess, uh, next Monday I get to step in your shoes,
so to speak, and meet with I think six visitors from Baghdad, Iraq.
Hayek/ yeah!
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Throgmorton/ I'm really looking forward to that. I think that'll be great. I'm going to give `em
the key to the city!
Hayek/ Yeah!
Throgmorton/ I ... I think (both talking) (laughter)
Upcoming Events /Council Invites:
Hayek/ Don't you have to give `em like a swipe card too? (laughter) Thanks for doing that, Jim.
Okay, upcoming events, community events and Council invites.
Mims/ I have a couple things but I'll just wait till formal.
Hayek/ Okay.
Mims/ Just cause I'd like to do it then.
Hayek/ All right! Well, let's take a quick break and come back at 7:00 for the formal.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work
session of March 5, 2013.