Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-08 Transciption Page 1 Council Present: Cole, Mims, Salih,Teague,Taylor,Thomas,Throgmorton Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe,Andrew, Dilkes, Fruehling, Seydell-Johnson, Hall, Bristow, Kubly, Bockenstedt, Fleagle, Havel, Sitzman, Hightshoe Others Present: Stewart (UISG) FY 2020 Budget Discussion: Throgmorton/ Okay, we're gonna begin Iowa City City Council's work session for Tuesday, January the 8th, 2019. And the first topic is the fiscal year 2020 budget discussion. As y'all know, on January the 7`s Jess sent a....Geoff sent us a memo summarizing a few key outcomes of our budget discussion last Saturday, and according to that summary there are seven actions we need to confirm or discuss, make a decision about. So, I'm thinkin' we'll go through 'em one at a time, from the top down to the bottom. And then there if there are other items you wanna discuss, bring 'em up after we do that. Does that sound reasonable to you? Salih/ Sure! Throgmorton/Okie dokie. What are you doin'there, Eleanor? (laughter and noises on mic) Okay, the first item is adding$140,000 to the NDS budget for the South District Home Ownership Program. Geoff, do you wanna elaborate on that in any way and then does anybody wanna make sort of an opening comment about it? Froin/Well,uh, this is a conversation that you had at your last work session and you gave staff direction to do this. We just didn't get an opportunity to put it in the budget. Basically the budget was already printed when you gave us that direction, so uh, this one and the next one, which is the solar at Terry Trueblood, we're....we're goin' off your previous direction and puffin'those in the budget, but you can certainly change your mind tonight if you'd like to. Throgmorton/I don't feel like changin'my mind. I don't know about others. (several talking) Salih/I think yeah, we already talk about 140 for the South District,just like other part of the UniverCity program, and I guess this is what should come from the general fund and.... I'm still for it! Mims/I....I guess my question would be clarification. Are we talking about this....being a different use of UniverCity funds in terms of we've talked about maybe changing that program and focusing it more in other areas, or are we talking about 140,000 in addition to UniverCity funds? I just think....I think we need to be really clear on that, cause I think there might not be clarity. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 2 Throgmorton/Right, so that relates to the third item, funding for the UniverCity program as well as modification to the program parameters, right? Fruin/So the current...current fiscal year is fiscal year 19. The UniverCity dollars are committed. There's....there's no more UniverCity dollars. The...the budget proposal for fiscal year 20 has one UniverCity home in it. It's essentially an outlay of 60,000. This would be in addition to that. Salih/I really think that we can add this to it, since it is gonna come out from the(mumbled) million. It's still from the general fund. We can add it to the UniverCity, cause I realize the idea of Tracy Hightshoe's, when she said that we (unable to understand) UniverCity program and...just add that money since we already talk about it last rime and even I understand you're proposing only one house this year, which is 60,000. We can just add this to it, it will be like 200,but we know that 140 will be, you know, assigned to South District. Cole/Agree. Throgmorton/You were thinkin' somethin' different? Mims/I just wanted clarification. I just wanna make sure that we're all understanding it the same and on the same page with what we're saying we agree or don't agree with. Throgmorton/Yeah, so the idea is to have $200,000 in the UniverCity line,with 140 of that being spent on the South District partnership. That...that's what I hear Maz kind of saying. Fruin/ Sure. I guess for clarification on our end though, we're looking at the additional 140, we're using surplus dollars to fund that. So, urn, it's a one-time expense. Now depending on the success of the program, we may decide to make it permanent or...or extend it at least several years,but for now, the surplus dollars that are gonna get us to 200 in that line, those are one-time funds. Cole/Speaking only for myself, I....I guess the way that I'm sort of viewing this is that I think a year or two ago I had mentioned the possibility of....is there any way we could look at, um, homes other than, uh,-single-family, you know, could we explore a duplex and those sorts of things. So the way I'm looking at for this year is Maz has proposed sort of a modification in terms of how we're doing the UniverCity program. I think we can review and assess, uh,how that works out, and then going into the next, uh, Council budgeting session, Council can sort of decide whether they wanna have....there are elements of the existing program I really like,which we're not really going to discuss at all tonight, but I think here this is a modification or an innovation, so let's see how it goes, and then re- evaluate at the end of the year. Throgmorton/Uh huh. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 3 Salih/Yes. Throgmorton/Anyone else wanna add some comment about that? Well, seems to me we have a decision here, Geoff Okay. Sorry my voice is really soft again tonight. Must be an affliction! Uh, yeah.... Fruin/The solar at Terry Trueblood, if you'll recall from the solar feasibility study, the consultants estimated that the, kind of the right size,uh, for the...the usage out at Terry Trueblood was a$60,000 roughly,uh, solar array. You can see that we padded that number a little bit. Those were really preliminary estimates. I'm a little concerned that they may be, uh, a little low. Uh, plus the Council indicated a desire to incorporate some educational materials with that and there may be some design elements from Terry Trueblood, from the lodge, that we want to incorporate into the solar. So that's why you're seein' a little bit higher number there. I just wanted to be pretty conservative, uh, going into the design of that solar array. Throgmorton/Yeah. Well I'm onboard with that. How bout the rest of you? Salih/Me too, yeah. Throgmorton/Okay. Cole/I think we also get a lot of bang for our buck for this particular project. (several talking) Salih/Yep! Throgmorton/All right, the third item was, as I just mentioned, funding for the UniverCity program. Do we need to discuss this any further, given what we just decided? Teague/I'm encouraged to know that, uh,Tracy Hightshoe is going to be looking at this in the future and,um, makin' it a, you know, a viable program, or revampin' it, I think, for our community, so...yeah, I'm encouraged by that. Throgmorton/Well I...I wanna make sure that Tracy and other staff members understand what we're thinking, and that we're clear about what we're thinking. Teague/Yes! Salih/Yeah. Throgmorton/ So,Tracy, would you feel comfortable in coming up, and if you have any confusion or questions or need clarification, maybe you could express that. Hightshoe/(mumbled) what's the specific question? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 4 Fruin/Let me....let me start and then....and then,Tracy, you could fill in some of the details. Your strategic plan, you asked staff to evaluate all of the different programs we're investing in to private housing stock. So that is UniverCity and GRIP and all the various rehab, facade programs that we have. That's part of what Tracy and...and her staff are doing, uh,right now. That's what she alluded to on Saturday. We're gonna come back with some recommendations. There's lots of changes since UniverCity was first adopted, the biggest one bein'the rental cap, and....and so, um,we're...we are going to recommend some, um, changes to....to how we pursue UniverCity and...and you see, I mean, you see a little bit of that with the South District,right? We're borrowing some concepts and we're moving it around,but if you wanna elaborate on what you're thinkin' or what you talked about on Saturday,that's fine. Hightshoe/I think what we're looking at is,you know we've met a lot of the original goals that we set up for the UniverCity program,urn, and if we....what I hear from the Council's wanting to shift more towards affordability, and if affordability's the main goal, urn, going into the future, we can....we can explore other types, like duplex, you know, that's what we're doing on the Taylor/Davis,that make it affordable. These are homes that are 1960, 70s, 1980s,they're not 100-year homes. We're not putting any low-income home owner in a 100-year old home,which we all know home owners, you know, something always goes wrong, and if you have a 100-year old home (laughs)there's just more potential. So we're looking at what areas of town that we can provide,um, put more reinvestment in neighborhoods to get people that can buy homes in these neighborhoods and they can stay, that'll be stable neighborhoods, and that they'll be able to afford it. So if in year four, year 10, something goes, you know, you need a new roof, the HVAC goes bad,that they have the money,they can afford, um, so we're gonna start looking at where we can put our affordable housing dollars, whether that might be in different neighborhoods in the UniverCity. I did talk to the UniverCity lenders that we work with and they were okay with moving locations, especially if we still concentrate on low-to moderate-income home owners. Urn, so we'll look at that. We'll look at rental rehab programs. So we might be looking at a shift of how we....we spend our money, um, still encouraging LIHTC projects,but for things that are not LIHTC, do we invest more in rental rehab, where....where people who have low incomes are already living. How...how do we improve their housing quality in their neighborhoods, and these might be neighborhoods that we've not reinvested a lot of money in over the last few years. So that....that's coming! (laughs) Throgmorton/Okay! Good deal. Sounds great! Salih/ Sound good! Cole/At least in terms of where I'm corrin' from, at least in terms of...I view this as an innovation or an expansion of the existing program,but I would like to keep a certain part of the program as is, and I don't know whether we have enough time to discuss about that, but I....I do like the existing program as it is. I view this,what we're doing for this year, as a way to improve and,uh, make sure that we're allowing opportunity for different income levels, but I think certain part of it. So I'd like to keep part of it the way This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 5 it is, and then add or expand...with other income levels, is sort of...is sort of at least I'm coming from, and I don't know how people feel about that,but that's at least where I'm coming from is sort of expand but keep at least the core as is. Salih/I really understand what you saying, Rockne, but I disagree with you on this. We sold 69 UniverCity house at that programs. We need to do more in affordable housing,but now I really want you to focus (unable to understand) right now,because we done a lot on that side. You know, for people who are 80% of area median income, we done a lot, and we need to focus on the people who (unable to understand) income is 30% of the area median income. I really would like the UniverCity to be affordable program right now. Think of a way of, as you just said, toward affor....affordability. You know, and maybe after we do more here, and we can become....after that we can do something(unable to understand) everything together,but for affordable housing, yeah. We done some things. I don't wanna say just like all the time,but you know we done something but we have not done a lot on like 30% of the area median income, or 50%, 40%. Let us do more in this area for the next come year and after that maybe we can....it's only now$200 for this year. It's not gonna do like here and there in the same time. This not too much money. My idea is really to focus on affordability right now. I don't know what my full Council say,but that my idea. Mims/What I'd like to see us do is given that what our discussion is tonight is actually the budget,if we, and I think we are in agreement on staying with the 60,000 that Cou...that staff already has in the budget for UniverCity, and if we're in agreement on the 140,000 additional for the South District,then let's move on tonight now that we've agreed on the numbers and once Tracy and staff are ready to come back with more specific ideas on how they would recommend changes, then let's have that discussion then. Personally... personally I think we have a lot to discuss to get through the budget tonight. Cole/Yep, agreed! Throgmorton/I agree. Thanks,Tracy! Okay, so that gets us to the fourth item, which is additional allocation of funds for the Affordable Housing Fund, and just make sure everybody knows, the current draft budget recommends putting$650,000 into the Affordable Housing Fund, as a line item. Uh, so the question is....should we allocate additional funds to that? What do ya think? Salih/ I really think we need to leave it as it is, $1 million for affordable housing as last year. I understand that's was one-time fund,but think about this money. 50% of it will go to the Trust Fund, the Housing Trust Fund, and they do a lot good stuff with that, and I think if we reduce it,that means we reduce the amount that we're gonna give it to them. At the same time I know that there is 20% go somewhere else,right? Land banking or.... Fruin/Land banking. Salih/Yes, go to land banking. After that we really don't have like a lot left. That's why really encourage the Council to do it one million, so we can give the other agency like more This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 6 money, because they're really doing great on building affordable housing right now. And if we could add more, would be awesome (laughs) but let's do with that one million! Mims/I think there's a couple other pieces that really fit in with this. Um, if you go back and look at the slides that we got at the work session last Saturday, there were some key decisions in there and I....I'm not sure exactly if they're...line up with what was in, um, Geoff' s memo, but there was under that affordable housing, there was, you know, increasing the embedded 650. There's adding the 140,000 for the South District home ownership program, which we had just agreed to. So that really takes the affordable housing up to 790,000 right there. That is affordabil....that is affordable housing that we are focusing on with that. Um, and then there are two other possibilities in there. There's a....an HCDC recommendation for additional LIHTC support of 200,000 and there's considering,uh, Housing Fellowship request for additional LIHTC support of 150,000. Those are all affordable housing issues. So before...in my mind, before we say we are or are not going to increase that 650, I think we need to discuss those individual pieces, cause those are all affordable housing as well, and so if people are in support of some of those bullet items, I certainly would not agree to adding those, and increasing the 650 to a million, because then you're up to maybe as much as 1.5. Throgmorton/I don't think we have before us a....a recommendation to add those two additional items.... Mims/They were(both talking) Throgmorton/ ...to the budget. Mims/They were not recommendations, but they were in the...in the PowerPoint that we got on Saturday, as key(both talking) Salih/...key decisions (both talking) Mims/ Staff has not made necessarily a specific recommendation,but they were part of what Geoff certainly felt were key decisions we had to make in allocating the 2.95 million in surplus funds, and so to me,those are affordable housing...uh, issues, and....and points where that money would go, so to me those should be discussed in the context of increasing the 650, cause it's all affordable housing money. Fruin/Just to clarify with Council. Um,the....the email recap that I sent after each of the meetings, uh,just has the bullet `additional allocation of funds for affordable housing.' I....I should of probably broke that out more, but uh....uh, Councilor Mims is right. That....that's the general allocation and then there's the two pending requests, one of which is in your work...one of your information packets, your 12/27 information packet. That's the HCDC recommendation for...for 200,000. The, uh, request by the Housing Fellowship for 115....150 is workin' its way through staff. So they've approached staff about it. We're working with them on a proposal to bring to you. It's not to you yet, but it's coming. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 7 Cole/Geoff, is that in addition to the 650, or would that come out of the 650? Fruin/ It's addition....additional. Salih/It should be addition, I thinks. You know, I understand what you're coming from, Susan, but....when the last time we done something like this? You know, like years ago we haven't done anything like this, like, you know,just like putting a lot money like, I mean just items, three, four items together, and even if you add this money, it's not that much. We are, yes, we...this time maybe we doing more than one item toward affordable housing,but this is crisis that been waiting forever. Those people are paying tax as any like....like anyone in this city, and they never get as much as other people get. Right now I thinks we need to increase affordable housing, with like one million, and to do all those program together. All of them, we can do it. All of it is gonna be like I guess maybe... beside the one million, all of them will be like 350 and 140, 490, almost 400. It's not that much. Mims/I think when I look at the budget and look at some of the key things that we talked about, and I....and I just look at, again from....from this slide....one of the major things that hit me when we went through that budget presentation on Saturday is that the projections are that in four years, our general fund revenues are going to be less than our general fund expenses. And so to me it's crucially important that we continue to build reserves, urn, for a lot of different things, and that includes to be able to fund those general....the general, to fund the general fund expenses, but also, urn, putting some money, and I'll kind of just jump into it I guess at this point, is that municipal facility reserve. We have major issues there that we're never gonna be....we're gonna need a new fie station, or a new police station for 20 million. We need a new transi...uh,building for probably 20 million. So to say that....we should just continue spending one-time dollars, urn, we, as a city, we've put a lot of money, and I'm proud of it, in terms of affordable housing. Uh, we're doing a lot in terms of the homeless with Shelter House, etc., winter shelter. I don't think we can just keep 'oh, it's on the list so we just need to add, add, add.' I think we have other things we also have to plan for. Throgmorton/Well I would say I would support the idea of spending...of putting a million dollars into the Affordable Housing Fund instead of 650 for the forthcoming fiscal year. I don't know what that means with regard to the $200,000 and $150,000 decisions, cause we have not made those, and....and, uh, with regard to that particular point,the 200 and 150, were you thinkin'that money would come out of the current fiscal year or the forthcoming fiscal year? Fruin/Urn....I.....I, certainly for the....the, uh, Sand project out on Herbert Hoover, that could come out of next fiscal year. There may be a need to take the Del Ray money out of this fiscal year, but I...I don't, I mean, I think that could probably float to next fiscal year too. Urn, one thing I did want to mention again. I mentioned this on Saturday. It's, if you have the slides, I know some of you are still lookin' at those budget slides,um, one of the options for funding the two additional requests is...is to take those from the Affordable This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 8 Housing Fund and...and we have a pot of money built up in the Land Banking Fund that we have not used. So if you're uncomfortable adding more general fund dollars, beyond the million that's bein'discussed here, you could take it from the, uh, Land Banking Fund, and I.....I'll foreshadow some of the recommendations that...that Tracy alluded to staff making here. Urn, we will be recommending some changes to the distribution of the Affordable Housing Fund, and that's...that's a discussion down the road, but urn, we're likely to move....or at least recommend that the City move away from land banking, as we've talked about and we've shared some articles with ya, um, trying to tackle the affordable housing, urn, problem through new construction is....is very expensive and I don't know if we're makin' as much progress as....as....as we can,with that particular part of the plan, so our recommendation is gonna be to shift that....those Land Banking funds, uh, to, um....lower cost initiatives, like rental rehab and....and things of that nature. So that's why I'm suggesting you....you could tap into that Land Banking Fund for those two requests. Cole/ I would like to (mumbled) pending consideration of the capital improvement project budget,um, and two, I think if we....we need, I think last year we waited until we did the capital improvement project before we actually made substantive modifications to the budget, and then hopefully, you know, a month out,two or three weeks out, hopefully have a little bit, urn, better sense of what, you know....legislative session is gonna go in pretty soon. What is gonna happen with the backfill? What are we hearing about that? So I wanna punt on this pending resolution to the capital improvements budget. Salih/ I really think we have (unable to understand) for the surplus right now and we can use all this money from that. You know, this money now is been for the Council to make a decision about it! If we don't fund this, what we gonna fund? Throgmorton/Well let's....let's see what John, Bruce, and Pauline have to say. Thomas/I think I'm comfortable with, the...the way it's easiest for me to think about this would be to increase the Affordable Housing Fund to a million dollars and then set aside the other things that Susan mentioned, um, as....as separate items. Um, as Geoff mentioned, we do have some funds that are existing in our Affordable Housing Fund that may be re- allocated, uh, so....I think, you know, adding the million, adding the 350 to bring the... the addition to the fund to a million dollars, I think, is a good starting point. Teague/For me, I think about housing justice and, urn, affordability, I think in our community, it....it, we've done a lot, but there still needs to be a lot done, and so I would really be in support of one million for affordable housing, um, the twothe 200 and the 150, you know, usin'the funds from the land banking and then the 140, since we talked about this program as bein', urn, maybe a, urn, a trial program, as well as, you know,the Univis.... University City Program, is kinda comin'to a....l guess a a pivotal point, um,where we're only doin' one house this upcoming year, for 60,000. So the 140, I really, you know,believe that that should not come out of the affordable housing million, or the 650 at this point. So I am...you know, really supportive of a million dollars for affordable housing, um, as well as the 200 and the 150 corning from the land banking, and the 140, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 9 urn, either general fund or, urn, you know, it can probably come from the land banking as well. Throgmorton/Okay,but right now, tonight, we are not making a decision about the 200 and 150. Teague/ Sure. Throgmorton/Consider those separately. Salih/ Sure. At least now we, for one million for affordable housing. Yeah! Taylor/Last time around I....I believe we were split on this and we went with, uh, agreeing on 750, and then waiting to see what would happen with the backfill to go up to a million and we saw that it....it wasn't going to be an issue and so we wound up going to a million. So,uh, I thought we might as well go, uh, with a million, uh, being clear on the distribution of it. I mean million's a lot! And how is that going to be distributed... distributed? Affordable housing is important, so what are we going to do with that million dollars,that's a lot. How is it going to be divided to....to assist with affordable housing? And then those others can be with the land banking funds. Throgmorton/Okay, I think there's majority support for putting a million into the Affordable Housing Fund. Just to foreshadow some things. We need to be clear that our decisions do not determine what future Councils will decide, with regard to future budgets. Uh, so there's no....assurance that any future Council will continue a million dollar investment into affordable housing, or almost anything else, right? So we just need to be clear about that. Okay. Let's move on then to the Sanxay-Gilmore House, and funding for its relocation. Well this is a tricky topic. So, I wanna say a few things about this, cause I've had some conversations in the past with President Harreld, members of Gloria Dei, the affordable, uh,with our Historic Preservation, Friends of Historic Preservation, and the Commission, and so on. So just a backstory to all this. First thing is, this is the oldest residential house in Iowa City. Dating back to prior to 1843. It's an important house. It's part of our historic legacy and so on. But moving the house, even just across the street, would, according to the memo we got from Jessica, be very expensive....perhaps as much as $550,000,just to move it, though I suspect it would be less than that,maybe significantly less just because it's only going across the street, instead of going to Ronald Street or going to, uh, North Gilbert Street. Nonetheless, there would be a significant cost for that. And then if we, urn, refurbish the building, if we decided it...intended to do that now, that might cost as much as 650,000, according to Jessica's memo, but even that I suspect is probably a high estimate. Nonetheless, there would also be the $1 million in opportunity costs, if we just moved it across the street into the parking lot. So the cost will be high, even if it won't be as high as sort of the maximum numbers that Jessica, uh, laid out for us. And whatever they are, they would be significantly higher than $330,000, which is in the current draft budget. So there's some complexity there. And....one could ask this question—as important as the building is, is preserving the building and moving it across the street worth perhaps as much as $2 million? That's sort of a bottom-line question. And I feel very antsy about that. But I wanna, uh....uh, see if we can This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 10 investigate something further here. Uh,by far the best solution is to keep the building exactly where it is. For all sorts of reasons. Financially, structurally,historic character, and etc. But when we first met with officials from the University, quite a long time ago now, they were very clear about not wanting to....keep the building and have...need to have the University put money into refurbishing it and reusing it and preserving it and all that kind of stuff. Uh, so they....have been pretty clear, as clear as they can be, that if... if it's not moved by I guess August the 151, I think that's the deadline, it will be demolished. So, what I wonder about.....is, I think maybe the situation's changed at the University a little bit. And Geoff, maybe you know a little bit more about that than I do, but originally they were intending to build a, um, a new business structure, business school structure, there, and I think they've backed off from that. So I'm not sure, I don't know if they have any plans for the site at all! So that makes me wonder whether we could approach them and say we would encourage you to preserve the building and then say something like this—we might offer to purchase the property and the building. Cost would be much less than the alternatives. Or, we would be willing to invest some amount of money into its preservation, if the University maintains it. That would be far less for us. So I'm suggesting that we approach the University about those possibilities and see what comes of that....before we make any firm decision about.....you know, whether to try to move the building at some large cost. Whatda y'all think? Thomas/I....I agree with you, Jim. I think, you know, we....I.....I feel that the City Council and staff have done everything we can to come up with ways to, um....address how to preserve this building. Uh, and....now we have a cost that was unforeseen that, uh, in my view would....compels me to ask, or suggest, and urge that we reconsider, have, you know, have an opportunity to have conversations with the University, uh, not...not simply the City but members of the community to see if there are ways in which we can resolve this. Urn, and it does seem I think from a cost standpoint and historic preservation, keeping it where it is would be probably the preferred alternative. Uh, short of that, if...if we need to move it, my inclination would be to move it to the...the Gilbert Street property,uh, adjacent to Haunted Bookshop. Um, from my standpoint that seems to be ....another option, uh, that....uh, is not perfect. None....none of the options are perfect (laughs) it seems. We're...there are no easy answers to this question. Urn,but....my feeling was that the, or is that the Gilbert site, uh, would strengthen Northside Market Place. It would give stability to that edge of the commercial district, uh, I think it would give a higher visibility to what is a very significant historic structure. Granted it would not be in its original location, but it would be more visible, and it would be in a place that, uh, in my view has had less loss to it in terms of context. Uh, so....in any event, I think I would....I would think it's at this time appropriate to approach the University and....and see what...what they, the new information,how we move forward. Mims/I would agree. I think as we all look at this cost, uh, it's kinda sticker shock, and if there's any possible way of resolving it, why would we not go ahead and have some more conversation. I don't know if there's any chances, but what do we have to lose? So.... Taylor/That's what I would hope too, um, if....if you think there's any hope at all in....in speaking with the University and dealing with them, I think the less disruptive would be This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page II to leave it where it is, if we could possibly, if the University would agree with that and if we could partner with them on the....on the cost of things, that would be the best option. Cole/I guess I have one question directed towards Geoff. I don't know if I saw this in the memo, if we did move it across the street, and just sort of sell it arm's length to whom... you know, landmark it and then sell it, do we have any sense of what it would appraise for if it were fully refurbished? Um,because I think...we have the sticker shock,but if we're to landmark it and sell it, our net price would be,you know, what it would be. I mean if we're able to sell it to an arm's length buyer, it may be that there's not much of a market for that,but....but do we have that information, um.... Fruin/(both talking) I don't. I....I don't, and I'd hesitate to even venture a guess without doin' a little work..... Cole/Okay. Froin/ ....on that. Yeah. Cole/ So I guess I'd like to get more feedback from the University, and if it's not too time- intensive for staff, to at least think about just sort of an arm's length landmark and sale, um,to whichever buyer would wanna do it,um, I would like to at least get that information, because if we could sell it for a significant amount of money, um, then we'd be looking at really that difference between what we'd be putting into it. We may have to sell it at a loss, but if we sold it at a significant loss, we realize we're going to put in some money anyway, at least be nice to have that information. And, realizing that you're just looking at a ballpark for purposes of our budgeting. Throgmorton/ Geoff, I don't know if you want to comment any on the suggestion I made,which seems to have gotten some support. Fruin/I think it's worth a shot! Yeah. Um, I suggest that you and I, um....ask President Harreld for a meeting and whatever staff that he feels is important, but I think your presence would....would help in that conversation. Throgmorton/Okay. All right, are we agreed that's the way we wanna (several responding) for the moment we'll leave 330 in the budget I guess,just....as a placeholder? Okie dokie! Which brings us to public art. So the next topic is funding for the Public Art Advisory Commission budget. Yeah, anybody wanna make an opening comment on this? Mims/I'd like to ask Geoff to, cause I know he and I have had the conversation and he may have had it with other Councilors,just to kind of talk about all the different ways in which the City spends money on art, culture, and....and different kinds of art,because I think we spend a lot more money than a lot of people realize,but just in different categories of art, and so I think that'd be helpful, if you don't mind, Geoff. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 12 Fruin/ Sure! Urn, yeah the....the focus of the conversation really has been on one line item in our budget, which is the Public Art Advisory Commission budget. Uh, currently that budget sits at 25,000 and as folks have pointed up over the years it's been as high as.... 100,000 or more, and as low as I think 3,000. Urn,but the City invests in....in arts in... in multiple different ways outside of that one line item, and you all are familiar with lots of those because some of those you approved. So whether it's operational support for some of our arts organizations, like Film Scene, Riverside Theater, uh, the Englert, urn, those are annual contributions that we make,urn, you just committed a million dollars over a couple years to the renovation of the Englert and the renovation of the original Film Scene, urn.....building. We have,uh, funding that goes to Summer of the Arts,uh, roughly$70,000 a year, and then we also,uh, may have departments that have public art incorporated into some of the work that they do. So for example, uh, I believe last year's Farmers Market budget had some....some dollars in it for a mural project. Urn,the, uh, recently completed Harrison Street parking deck, uh, there was an artist component to that. So there was a...aare kind of art built into the design there. Um....we have, uh, festival support, again, like Mission....Mission Creek. Uh, you know, we're collaborating with Hancher on an event a couple years out called the"Big Splash." Urn, so that's kind of an Arts Festival along the river, those are all various different ways that we support the arts. Mims/Thank you. The other thing,urn, and I think Geoff made these comments last Saturday and it kind of hit me as I was listening to it was the idea that essentially we've been asked for more money, but they haven't necessarily given us a plan for how they want....why they need it or how they want to use it, and when I sat there and listened and kind of had, heard Geoff recap all the different ways that we spend money on the arts in lots of, um, you know, festivals and different...it's not all public art obviously,but lots of different ways, and then the idea of give us money for the sake of giving us money without a really distinct strategic plan or a long-range ideas of why it's needed and how they're going to use it, then I came away from that feeling like, um,yeah, I'd rather have the plan first of what is it you're really trying to do that we're not able to do right now through that Public Art Commission. Give us that plan,then come back and ask us for money and let's consider it in that regard, rather than just handing out money with not any real idea of why they feel it's needed or how it would be used. Thomas/I....I agree. I....I did raise that question with Thomas, um.....a......a few weeks ago and....and his response was....was that, you know, the funding would become available in summer,you know, July of this year and his feeling was that the....that plan,that way in which this would be implemented, would be developed between now and then. Um, so.....so I think that's I think Geoff's comment is certainly a....a very appropriate one, and I think Thomas.....Thomas'response , which was not directed at Geoff but, you know,that....that I spoke with him about, urn, seems like a reasonable way of addressing that issue. I think the idea that, yeah, we wouldn't release....we wouldn't....the funds would only become available once that plan is in place. So we do need that plan in place before we, uh, give the go-ahead in terms of the public art program. So that's one thing. And the other I would say is that, um.....is really more who....who is leading this effort? I mean we have some great leaders at the Englert, at Film Scene, um, Hancher, uh, I think This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 13 we have in Thomas a remarkable leader in terms of the visual arts. Uh, and he's....he's been performing in that way for....five years I wanna say, I mean lie has a considerable track record in terms of generating art in the community that has been very well received. Uh, so in my view, I view this as, uh.....he's an entrepreneur of the arts! I mean he's truly transforming, along with other artists, uh, the face of Iowa City. And doing it in a way, uh, what he's also emphasized and I think that the best example I can think of is the Goosetown mural, expanding the envelope geographically in terms of the reach of the public art program. So I personally feel, uh, he has....he has ge...um, you know, given us an indication of what's possible. He has a strong vision. Uh, he has....he's part of a larger group that's moving forward with this. Uh, so I.....I feel that, um, it's....it's something that....that the Council should support,uh, pending of course the development of that,uh, you know, the plan for how, you know, how we would be spending the funds. Throgmorton/ So are you recommending that we put into the budget a specified amount of money, contingent upon successful development (both talking) Thomas/Yes! Throgmorton/ ....how it would be used? Thomas/Right! Throgmorton/Do you have a dollar figure in mind? Thomas/Well they had had a figure, um.... Throgmorton/Yeah, 145,000. Thomas/ $145,000. I mean one reason I had asked Thomas was I was concerned that, you know, the development of the program might actually take more than the time between now and July 1 and...uh, you know, would....would.....would it be possible to even implement that level of funding within the next fiscal year, urn.....you know,he said that he felt... you know, that the....the plan could be developed easily within the timeframe before the fiscal year starts. Um, I would say we could put in his request. It may not be what actually ends up being expended. You know, kind of a....maybe view it as a 'not to exceed' amount. Um....or it could be done in phases. I mean it could be 50%this year, and then the full amount in a subsequent year. Cole/I....I suggest that we do....right now we're at 25,000, correct? I suggest we do an additional 25,000. Urn, Susan, you bring up a lot of really good points, and I think....I think some think it's some.....that we all sort of forget sometimes is before we do something new, let's identify existing arts programming. I think that was a really good point that you made. And I think obviously wanna make sure that there's a plan, but I think to your point, John, you brought up the question of track record, not only of Thomas,but everyone in the arts community that has advocated on this. Nearly everyone that I've talked to (mumbled) presented has a proven track record. So we....I have the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 14 confidence as of right now that we could do a$25,000 increase,right now to $50,000, right? They can make a plan and you know maybe we can modify at another point,but I think for me, I think they've made their case. This is a reasonable amount. I think in the past, like for example local foods, I think we bumped it up 25,000 after our first year of almost sort of a pilot, um, I....I think they've made that, and I think as to Film Scene and these sort of art things, I think to me that's a little bit apples and oranges. I think public art is (mumbled) I mean I think he's talking visual art, sculpture (both talking) Thomas/ ....it's a different(both talking) Cole/I mean to me it's like saying, you know, where we gonna put Bike Fest, let's evaluate our roads. I view 'em as two different things. Um, so I think they've made their case (mumbled) $25,000 increase to 50, um, and then we'd of course like to see the plan, if.... If they wanna do any modifications for subsequent years,but I'm very confident, based upon what we've heard that this money is gonna be well spent, and I don't think anyone better than Thomas, and I think other people that have worked on the projects that he's been involved with, they're gonna make that money go really further....far. Final point is, I'm also very confident that they have a....a sensitive ear to making sure that it's distributed in other parts of the community as opposed to just downtown. So at least that's where I'm comin' from. Taylor/I agree with Rockne on that, maybe bumpin' it up to....to the 50,000, so bump it up 25,000, I mean they were very bold in....in coming before us and gave a very emotional plea, but as you've all said,uh, not without a real specific plan. So if we can bump it up, uh, double it and see what they do with that amount of money,uh, then perhaps consider in future years bumping it up even more. Salih/ I support doubling too. Yeah. Teague/What I've seen around town with the public art recently has been, uh, phenomenal. One of the things that I think about when we're talkin' about, um, public art and reimbursements, um,just bein'a musician, a little bit, uh, sometimes I think it's under- appreciated, the work that people do, and....and it's always expected to be done at a, um, a cheap cost, and so the 140, although I know that's a lot or, um,his request,was it 150? 145. Um, you know, I'm comfortable with the 25,000,but I also just want to make a point, um, that,you know, if we do that, I don't, you know, we're....we're.....we're increasin', uh, potentially the arts throughout our community, I think we do need a plan to see exactly what it's for. I think that's the missing link here, at least for me, and so I'll definitely support the, uh, the 25 or the 50,000, um,right now on the budget, and I just hope that in the future we'll get somethin'that'll be a little more sustainable, uh, for us to make, um....well, somethin'more presentable for us to really make a good,uh, decision on the amount that we'll allocate. Throgmorton/Well the thing I like most about Thomas Agran's presentation, which I thought was terrific,uh, was its emphasis on how visual arts can be part of community building, throughout the city, in the various neighborhoods and so on. So I....I really like the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 15 ambition, and there're all sorts of details at the end of the memo that is in our packet about actions they think need to be taken. All those can be woven together to become part of a plan,but....but I need to see more, um....more substance to the plan about how (coughing,unable to hear speaker) would be spent. I'd also like to see the proposal come from the Public Arts Advisory Committee, not from a subcommittee, cause I don't know what the overall committee thinks. I'd like to hear about that, and I think it would be, from my point of view, would be good if they would,uh, couch the plan in relation to our strategic plan, especially those core ideas of adding inclusivity, uh,justice, and sustainability. I think they can do that very easily, especially Thomas, I mean he's got clear ideas about this and has a really good track record on it. But those are some things I'd like to see. So, I....1, 20.....an additional 25,000 is okay with me, but we gotta think about the timing of that too, you know, cause we're talking about money that would start flowing on July the 1st Cole/Uh huh. Throgmorton/ So between now and then....I imagine they would probably be developing a plan. But they'd have another....then they'd have 25,000 more to kind of commit to it. That could be a stepping stone to something much more consistent with what, uh, with the long-term ambition expressed in Thomas'memorandum, which may well be a great idea. But I'd like to take it in steps, so....(both talking) Cole/I agree! Throgmorton/ ...yeah, so I guess I'm on board with an additional 25,000 for the forthcoming year. Fruin/And just a couple of points. I think it's important that the....I know there's a feeling that the plan can be brought together pretty quickly, but....we are a public body. We do value that public input. So, you know, I don't know that the Commission needs to rush to get it done before July 1st. We won't use that money and reallocate it. So I think I'll....I'll urge them to,uh....take their time with the....with the plan and make sure that there, if this program is really to go out and....and build community in neighborhoods, they need to engage those neighborhoods from the planning standpoint too. So we'll encourage that. Um, and then, uh, what I'd like to do is...is, I'm hesitant to take....I'm hesitant to increase this budget with our....with our one-time funds, um, because I don't think you want this budget to go up and down, and certainly if we're going to adopt a master plan, I mean what we've really tried to do with all your master plans is build sustainable funding sources. We finally got there with affordable housing with this budget. Maybe not at the level we want to, but we're getting there. So I....I'd like to, um, probably reallocate some of our economic development budget, and....and I think, uh,those that have supported the increase have made a....a good pitch that this is really....this is economic development, urn, specifically I'm thinking of the future of the building change program. Um, you know we had a good discussion about that at our last meeting. Uh, we do have $150,000 in that,uh, for that program, for fiscal year 20, as well as.....as well as this current fiscal year. Uh, I...I'd probably be inclined to take 25 from that program and.... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 16 and,uh, put that in the public art budget,just because that is a sustainable funding source, and then at least we have a baseline for that budget going forward. We can add to it if resources allow for fiscal year 21, but we're not gonna be in a situation, or we shouldn't be in a situation in which we increase it to 50 with one-time funds and then find ourselves strugglin' in 21 to....to maintain it at that level. Thomas/What was that program again, Geoff? Fruin/Building change,the facade grant program that we talked about. So it would still...it'd still largely be intact and, uh, it's a....a$25,000 off a$150,000 program. Cole/Quick, since you brought that up, the other good part of that discussion we had is that that particular program limited funds to downtown, but if we transfer it over, we would have flexibility(both talking) Fruin/Correct. So....(both talking)before we offer that again next...you know, you gave us the authorization to go forward with building change this year. Before we were to go out next year with that, we'll come back to ya. Wendy's already workin' on it. Um, and we'll look at retooling that or give you some options and ways to expand it beyond the downtown. Cole/And I'm glad that you brought that up, because I think that was one of Thomas'most compelling arguments, is just the economic development piece of that. So I'm glad you brought that up, Geoff. Throgmorton/Okay, we're good to go on that, right? Fruin/Yes! Throgmorton/All right, the last item was funding to transition temporary staff that work year- round to permanent benefited positions. And I think you wanna elaborate on that some (both talking) Froin/Yeah, we really didn't have enough time to....to pull together information for ya, so this one's' gonna have to push to the next, uh, next meeting, but urn,just as a reminder for those that didn't hear that discussion,we do have hourly staff, those are non-benefited positions that work year-round for us,uh, 25 hours or less, uh, per week,um, and the request from Council on Saturday was to, uh, consider moving those hourly year-round non-benefited positions to permanent benefited positions. So what we're gonna do is come up with a list, show you all the positions that fall in that category, and then try to give you a cost estimate for....for moving those up to....to a permanent benefited position. We just didn't have time to do that between Saturday and today. Throgmorton/That sounds good to me. There's no way we can make a decision without facts about....that are relevant to the question. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 17 Teague/I just have one question. Would they be goin'to full-time 40-hour a week status? (both talking) Fruin/Not necessarily, no. (several talking) Salih/No, it could be part-time but since they work they....they deserve to have a benefit just like any City employees that work around here. Then if you work there, like a....around the year and you just work hourly, you don't have any benefit. That not fair! That's not like good practice by the City. That's why, you know, I thinks we should look into those. Throgmorton/I....I personally would like to know what our union leaders think, as well, about the proposal and.... Monroe/I can't speak on behalf of the union, but uh, I will just note that moving the employees to a benefited position would make all of those employees union employees. So we're still working on what....what the numbers are and we're going to reach out to our departments to identify....kind of those....those classifications of the employees, who is here year round, what are their hours, so....we'11 get back to you on(several talking) hopefully by the next meeting. Throgmorton/Okie dokie. All right, with regard to the staff follow up....that listed the staff follow up items, we don't need to discuss them, right? Fruin/Correct,unless....unless you think we missed somethin'or you need clarification on that. Throgmorton/ Okay, does anybody wanna raise any other points with regard to the proposed budget? Sony you missed it, Rockne. We had a really good discussion and, you know, lots of feedback and we thought it was on the whole just a really terrific budget,but...I don't know if you have any thoughts you wanna contribute. Cole/No additional to what we just talked about. Throgmorton/Anyone else? Thomas/Yeah, I have one, and it I think was triggered in part by the discussion, uh, you know, the Library discussion and the, uh, elimination of fees, uh, for....um,books that are, you know, late on being returned, and it...it reminded me of a....a discussion I....a conversation I'd had recently and it had to do with access to meeting places in Iowa City. There aren't many meeting places, or meeting rooms, in Iowa City which don't charge a fee, to my knowledge. And,uh, this was something that, you know, this person I was speaking with was saying that, you know, for....for certain groups, uh,the fact that you have to pay a fee is....is a problem. To rent a room. Salih/To rent a room.... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 18 Thomas/To rent a room, um....you know, unfortunately in Iowa City, you know,what....what I think often in larger cities you'll find that, uh, libraries, which often, you know, a city will have not only a main library but branch libraries serve as a place. There are rooms in those branch libraries where members of the community can meet without having to pay a fee. And so I don't know if this will have a budget impact or not, but I suppose it might, if we were to consider,uh, looking at what facilities the City has under its jurisdiction that, uh, we would consider....uh, coining up with a fee structure where it's at least possible for certain organizations to....to rent the room, or to occupy it, to sign up for it, reserve it,uh, without having to pay that fee. Salih/You...you talking about the Library or you talking about (both talking) Thomas/ ...the Library is free. Salih/The Library is free, yeah, I was thinking(both talking) Thomas/But that's it, I think, you know, I....there....there are very limited (several talking) Throgmorton/ ...Ned Ashton House(several talking) Thomas/ ...sort of an open question but I would think, uh, the rec centers for sure, urn,have meeting rooms,uh, so, you know,just looking(both talking) Salih/ ....$70 an hour. Thomas/How can we, um.....as a city provide more opportunities for groups to be able to....to hold their meetings without having to pay a fee. Salih/I agree. Mmm.... Mims/I would think a starting point, cause I certainly couldn't tell ya off the top of my head what meeting rooms we have available across the city or any idea of what we charge for them so....to me having that information (several talking)point. Thomas/ ...I think it's...it would be,that's certainly what I had in mind was what is the status, how...what's our current practice, and what if any changes might be made to improve access. Throgmorton/And what the current fees are. Thomas/And what the fee structure is. Salih/$70 (mumbled) Teague/And are you just referrin'to meeting rooms for meetings only or events? Small birthday parties? Um, you know, because it can go into a lot of(both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 19 Thomas/Right! Teague/ ...events that people actually have. Thomas/Right. Urn.... Teague/ So....and then I just see clean up a part of that, like.... Thomas/Right. Teague/ ...you know.... Thomas/Well I know the Library has, you know, if you....if you leave the room messy, I think there is a charge. So...basically you know I don't know that I would want to say whether it's limited only to meetings or....or not,urn, I....basically I think it would be trying to expand on the opportunities that the Library provides, you know, something similar to that, urn, for our facilities. Salih/(several talking) Yes, I guess especially for organization, I guess, for uh....for like non- profit or event for(unable to understand) say it could be community organizations or it could be like regular,just a regular organization, and I think this is will be a really good opportunity for community to be engage and come and use our facility,uh, because uh, for....I don't agree for like really wedding or birthday party,those people can pay. Yeah, but for....for communities, I guess this will be a good ideas, uh, soon as they like prove that they are organization, non-profit or anything,they can do that. For profit I don't thinks we can do that(laughs) Thomas/Yeah, I think the language on the meeting rooms at the Library,there's a lot of language regarding, you know, who would qualify(both talking) Salih/Exactly! Thomas/ ...so it'd be probably building on what we already have in place for the Library. Salih/Will be great! Teague/I'm not sure that the Library actually limits it to, uh, for....uh, not-for-profits or for organizations. I think you can be an individual. Yeah, I....if we're talkin' about this is public space, I would want us to just navigate and look at, urn, makin' sure that....navigate and see if it's possible for individuals, as well as for....for-profit businesses. The name for-profit often scares people,but for-profit business doesn't always make a profit and so, urn, that stigma, I think, um....I.....I, if we can navigate, you know,makin'it, urn, inclusive and not limitin'it to, um....a certain segment of our population. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 20 Cole/I think to Susan's point, I think....it seems like to me this might be a nice little mini-work session topic so we can get the staff memo and try to do a short work session, Geoff. Throgmorton/Well we can talk about it once we get a memo from the staff. I mean (both talking) Cole/ Sounds good to me(both talking) Throgmorton/ So....(both talking) well it'd be helpful to know what the Library's principles are. And then...then I find myself thinking about a place like the Ned Ashton House, what makes it different is that there's no on....no on-going staff there all the time, whereas there is at the Library. So there'd have to be a special staff person when the room's being used and so on, so we gotta understand those complications. Faun/ Sure, we can do that! Throgmorton/All right. Good deal! Anything else, I mean any other topic anybody wanna raise? Otherwise we're gonna move on. Mims/Yeah, I would like to...going back to that slide,#59, from last Saturday with the key decisions. Number four on there was replenishing the emergency reserve to $5 million. So that, staff was recommending that we, of that surplus we take 450,000 and use that to, uh,replenish the emergency reserve. I....I think this is critically important, urn, we have managed to maintain our triple-A bond rating for 37-plus years. Uh, we are not a typical city that Moody's rates as triple-A, uh,being a college town with a lot of; uh, low-income residents, a lot of whom are students, not all of them obviously,but a lot of them are. So just demographically and....and with a large university, um,with land that is not taxed by the City, I mean if you ever read that Moody's report,we are an anomaly in terms of having a triple-A bond rating, and one of....one of many things that is incredibly important to maintaining that is having a healthy emergency reserve. This is something that Geoff and Dennis started, I'm not sure,two or three years ago, particularly as they were looking at some of Moody's changes. May....maybe it's been longer than that, I'm not sure (several talking) but um....I just think this....what that does for us in terms of keeping our costs down when we borrow money, etc., I think this should be an incredibly high priority to,uh,replenish that emergency reserve. Throgmorton/Geoff, you did not include that in your email to us. Um....was there (both talking) Fruin/Yeah, I apologize. I didn't intend for the email to be the work session agenda. I should have been thinking in those,uh, in that way. What I wanted to focus you on were the decisions that you talked about before, and then I had made the assumption that any of the remaining surplus then would go to our reserves, and we would probably prioritize the,uh,replenishing the emergency reserve first, which is that 450, and then anything else would go to that, uh, municipal reserve for....so we can start to do some long-range planning for facility replacement. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 21 Cole/I would agree with Susan on that, and I...and I think the other piece of it is that, you know, as you bring up oftentimes,just the interest rates that we can get, that....that is really goes, translates directly on our ability to provide additional services. If you think of that 37 years, all the generations that contributed to that, I think we wanna make sure that we keep going with that. So the cash reserves is an important part of the triple-A, uh, other communities have had some trouble maintaining where they're at, um, even some with triple-A, throughout the United States, and uh, I....I really wanna make sure that we keep that financial resiliency, um, so that we can...for future generations, make sure that they're in as good a position as we are because of those past decisions. Throgmorton/All right so....we're comfortable with that I think. Mims/Are other people agreeing? (several talking) I just wasn't hearing (several talking) Taylor/ ....resort to your opinion, uh, because I admire your financial knowledge, uh, but I think that municipal facility reserve fund is also equally very important. Mims/ I agree (both talking) Taylor/ ...that we have. Teague/And I guess just from a standpoint of like how do we figure out the amount for the municipal facility reserve, I'm assuming that once we go through the key decisions or these opportunities that we talked about,then whatever the remainder of 2.95 million, we would just allocate there. Fruin/That...that's my understand too (several talking) or that was my hope. Mims/But to me,we need to be keeping that municipal reserve....not just leaving it as a leftover. That really concerns me that it is looked at as just a left-over after we've made all those other decisions,because we don't have a way to get$20 million for a new Transit building. We don't have a way to get$20 million for a new Police station. Or to build a new fire station or whatever. If we don't start building reserves in there, so that we have funding to match federal grants,we will never get those facilities built. And if you wanna go in a...probably the worst City facility, go in the Transit facility. And that is way, way, way overdue being rebuilt, and so I think it's....I don't....I just would disagree with thinking about the munis....municipal facility reserve as being the `left-over' after we've allocated to the others. Teague/Is there an amount that you think we should like target? I mean right now if....if we just look at some of the estimates, excluding the Sanxay-Gilmore House, um, it....it'll be more than a million dollars that'll be allocated. So.... Mims/Oh I'd like to see it closer to two. Teague/Okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 22 Salih/(unable to understand) it's 2.9. We have only 2.9. I guess that the affordable housing gonna come out of that, and we're gonna have 1.9 million. I don't think that.... Mims/You've also got 650,000 in the affordable housing, so you're only looking at another 350,000 to get to that million. (several talking) You're not taking an additional million out of here. Teague/ So it is possible(several talking) Salih/The 600 coming out from (several talking) Mims/ ...so,no, I....I'd like to see us at least....at least at two million, um, and I haven't totally crunched the other numbers. I've written some down here, but I haven't totally crunched the other numbers,but I'd like to see us look at a....at a minimum,minimum of two million going into that facility reserve. Salih/I....I think this is....we just have to fund all the thing,the key decision that we have, and I think the leftover can be go there,because this is my understanding after going back and look...uh, this has been for like I guess 15 or 10 years, you been thinking about this and this is....my understanding that the Transportation department,they are waiting for federal fund and it never been happen, and if we....even if we put two million, how much it gonna cost to replace, uh, do you have an idea, to replace the.... Fruin/Uh, Transit and Equipment would be a....probably about a$20 million facility; and again, Police, by the time we built it you're probably looking at a$20 million. Mims/Which means you need a$4 or $5 million match probably from the City, is that ballpark right, Dennis? (unable to hear response from audience) Yeah. Salih/It still, you know, we need many years to do that, but we have crisis here. We need to like fill with money for those crisis first, and we need many years. If we put every years two....two million, and still we need like more than 10....10 years (both talking) Mims/ ....no, with federal grant money, that's part of what we would be banking on is we're getting that money,hopefully, to qualify for those grants. Salih/ Still also's not going to happen tomorrow and we still have something important than this right now. Throgmorton/Well, let's....let's not get too confused or complicated about this. We've already made some decisions. Susan's ma...raised a very good point. Uh, I think we have funds that are, uh, sufficient to do what she hopes to, uh, what we should accomplish. So I... seems to me we should just move on. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 23 Salih/As long as we're gonna fund all those we can move on (laughter) but otherwise I'm gonna (both talking) argue and request(both talking) Throgmorton/Maz,that's what I just said, that....that we've already made some decisions, you know, about the....the funding (both talking) Salih/That's okay! I just have to express myself, I guess that's my right! Clarification of Agenda Items: Throgmorton/True enough! Okay, let's move to clarification of agenda items. Who....whoever wants to start should start. Taylor/I just had a....question, Geoff, on the 4a,the Civil Service Commission, um,minutes and it, uh, lists certification of hiring list for, um, position of police officer and it lists like 150 applicants, 34 are on their list that they chose. Um....can you sort of explain what the process is on....on that, that they go through that and these are just potential applicants, and then when a position opens up they....the...choose from that (both talking) Froin/Correct, so this is a result of the testing process, the 150 applicants. Uh, at the end of the day it gets narrowed down to these 34. There's no magic number in the 34, but it's basically the 34 that, um,the Department, uh, felt comfortable with....with hiring. Uh, they remain on a list until we have a vacancy and then we just go....we go down the list, uh, and, uh, offer positions to....to folks, uh....uh, on the list. The Chief does not have to follow that ranked order. Typically....typically does, but, uh, so for example right now we have, uh, four vacancies. So we're vetting the top seven or eight, I don't know the exact number, doin' some extended background checks and what not so that we can make those four job offers, uh, here, and then the list lasts as long as it does. You know, if we...if there's still applicants that desire to....to be a police officer with us a year from now, then the list is still good. Once we exhaust this list we go through the testing process again. Taylor/So it's quite....quite the process, and was interesting the breakdown of the number of females versus males and Hispanics, uh, and blacks versus white, so uh, it....citizen concerns all the time about having a diverse force, but if the applicants aren't there that's kinda difficult. So it's interesting to see what the...what the mix is and how that process (both talking) Fruin/ I think we ended up with, uh, maybe 11, 12%minority, which is lower than we have gotten in past,um, than the last two cycles. Um, but uh....um, still a decent number and we think we....we think we've got some good candidates here and look forward to bringin' several of'em on board. Taylor/Thank you. Salih/Wanna talk about 8c. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 24 Throgmorton/Sure. Salih/Park benches, uh, I guess this is still remain hot topic. Everybody send, uh, you know, talk about it(unable to understand) Little Village and also we receive many emails and many letters about this. Can you give us update on that? Fruin/Yeah, uh, Council has requested, uh, that we provide you some cost estimates for replacing a portion of the benches, and we are working with the contractor to do that. I hope by the next meeting we'll have that, but we're kind of at the mercy of the contractor, the bench manufacturer, to get those numbers pulled together. Salih/Okay. Cole/ I have a question on, uh, 8a, correspondence, the deer management. Uh, where exactly are we on that? Um...in terms of sort of next steps. Fruin/Um....we are working with the, uh, Iowa Department of Natural Resources to try to determine exactly what it is that they will allow us to do. So they....they twice last year, in 2018, uh, denied our sharpshooting request and....and now we need to figure out exactly what....they may or may not (laughs) approve. So, uh, staff in Eleanor's office and the Police department are talking with the staff at the DNR to try to give you a better sense, uh, of what options may be available, cause we don't wanna keep just goin' and... and missin' the mark on this. Um, so....uh, we hope to be able to get back to ya here shortly,but we need clarification from the DNR first. Cole/ Is it your sense, are they categorically ruling out sharpshooting, or is it just....you may get it in the future, if you meet specified criteria, cause I gotta say, within the last two weeks, there have been fatalities in the state of Iowa. Of course that's not new, but that is my nightmare scenario here and,um, that is the most...and a lot of people are talking about bow hunting. I am not in favor of bow hunting. I think I would probably go with some of our other deer advocates in terms of looking at a sterilization option, but I think...I am really concerned as the clock ticks here that this is going to be an issue. So, um, what's your response to that (both talking) have that information (both talking) Fruin/We're trying to figure that out. They certainly were not receptive to the request at the December, uh, commission meeting, the DNR commission meeting. Um, but I wouldn't say it's....I wouldn't say it's necessarily....uh, firm, no way-no how, 100%. Um, if there is any opportunity, maybe there's an opportunity to do one sharpshoot, if we commit to sustaining the level with a different method. And that's what we're tryin'to really figure out. Um, if it is a hard no, we just want that answer so that we can come to you and say `here's our options,'but uh....not prepared to give ya that tonight. Cole/Okay. That's good. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 25 Taylor/I....I think this is an item that we really have to take very seriously because I think in the last few months we've gotten, uh, I think mostly a lot of, urn, emails and letters from folks not wanting either the bow hunting or the sharpshooting, and....and for us to look at all options and alternative measures, and I think we really have to take this seriously and....and look at all those measures. Mims/It was interesting, I just came across an article I think over the weekend that in Galena, Illinois,which is not that far away from us, they're getting ready to do theirs. The Illinois DNR has approved theirs. They have an incredible, incredible overabundance of deer starving to death. Um....and so they're coming in with sharpshooters. So it's...it's a problem! Throgmorton/Indeed! All right, so at some point in the future we will get some kind of memo from the staff, right? Frain/We just wanna be as clear as we can comin'to ya. I think that's important for the public dialogue too. Throgmorton/Okay! Anything else? Taylor/ 8g, the correspondence from Carol deProsse was interesting, uh, regarding Minneapolis and how they're tackling their housing crisis, and I think it went along with, uh, IP8 of our December 20th information packet with the building statistics. It showed we had 104 single-family permits and only five duplex permits, and I think it's....it's something I think the City and the developers and,uh, those folks out there, uh, need to look at that, the are other options besides the single-families, and other cities are looking at that and I think,uh, duplex, triplexes, four-plexes is a good viable option, and uh, for the most part it seems to be less affor....uh, more affordable than....than single-family homes. Thomas/I did send a response to Carol personally. You know(laughs)uh, we....we,the City has been looking into basically what Minneapolis is doing, right? Um, in our South District Plan and in our Northside Neighborhood Plan. So we're well aware of....of that approach, um, we've even initiated studies to move them forward. Um, and I certainly am a strong advocate for that approach (laughs)um, you know, and we have on our bud ....our formal budget, you know,the contract for Opticos to move forward, which speaking of this issue, you know, I do have some concerns about the....the....the limited, urn, action that we're taking with respect to the Northside aspect of the plan. But, um, we are...we are doing this. So I think we should be pleased that that's (several talking) Cole/ ...just gonna say(mumbled) one of these issues that I don't think Iowa has...Iowa City has really trumpeted, but at least in terms of my tenure on Council, I don't think I've seen a rezoning with a pure single-family redevelopment. There have not been many. They seem almost always to have a mix of multi-family, duplex, um, single-fam....I mean so there was a nice mix that we've been seeing, and so I'm glad that we're sort of ahead of the ball on that, uh, as far as that goes, but yeah. It's....it's a good topic to closely follow. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 26 Throgmorton/When I first saw this article in the New York Times I knew it was gonna come our way, because you know after all, Minneapolis is what, five hours away from here. But the article, uh, emphasizes getting rid of single-family zoning. That's what it highlights, and you have to read carefully to realize what it's talking about is doing misil...missing middle housing,which we have been emphasizing for the past three years! So....um....if that's what...what it, what the article in the end is encouraging us to do, I'm fully on board (laughter) But there's also one other thing that makes our city really quite different from almost all of Minneapolis, if not all. Well almost all. And that is we have area... really intense pressure for off-campus student housing. And that results in really intense pressure for new apartment buildings,which in the past has created huge problems in the neighborhoods surrounding the University,because they really undermine the existing single-family homes and sense of neighborhood that existed, and have replaced them with, urn, something that's much more complicated, involving a large number of students living in apartment buildings. So...that is very different from Minneapolis, which mostly is just the standard mix of single-family housing, and....and the other zoning categories. So, um, we need to always keep in mind our situation and not think it's comparable to.... exactly comparable to some other larger city. Cole/And we also got rid of about...I don't know how many years ago the RS-6, which was the, sort of the classic....we don't have RS-6 anymore, do we? Yeah, but that was where you'd have one house per (mumbled) particularly large so.... Information Packet Discussion [December 20, December 27,January 31: Throgmorton/Okay, any other agenda items? (several talking in background) Uh, let's turn to the information packets. December the 20'h. I think I'll just quickly draw attention to IP #2 and 3 basically, which have to do with the Urban Forest Management Plan, uh, and it strikes me as being a very impressive inventory and plan. It rightly presents our urban forest as a valuable community asset that annually generates value financially and otherwise. It's also rooted in concepts that are based on ecological science and sustainability, and implies that we should think of the forest as a....as biological infrastructure. These are concepts that I think are really contemporary and good. I like them a lot. Uh, that said, I guess I....not here, but I'd like to know more about how the general public can be involved in fulfilling the purposes of the Urban Forest Management Plan, especially members of non-traditional communities, uh, recent immigrants, refugees, lower income residents and so on, so....so that it becomes part of their city and they are part of the forest in....in the sense, right? So...I'd....I'd like to know more about that. Froin/You may recall,uh, the Parks Commission created a Tree Advisory Board to help oversee the implementation of this plan. Um, Zac's in the audience here, um, Zac...Zachary Hall, our, uh, Park Superintendent, and we can certainly, um, have him relay that message to the....to the Tree Board and ask that, you know, they discuss that and get back to the Council with some thoughts. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8,2019. Page 27 Thomas/Yeah,that was....that was something I have as a note here is I'd...I'd certainly like to know,uh,you know the....our advisory committee's comments and concerns, as well as the general public. I hope, you know, we do hear from them on this. Urn, I also, you know, one of the more, you know, in....in addition to what Jim has mentioned, I think our most pressing issue right now is the Emerald Ash Borer, and so what....where are we with that? I know staff...uh, you know, will be looking in spring to see exactly, um, what if any changes need to be maded.....made to our, uh, the scope of our treatment, um, so as soon as that information is available, uh,because you know in looking at the inventory, it....it, I don't think that...that information is on the inventory,that was just put online. At least that was my impression. So we can't...we can get it now, and in fact it may, you know, it may be changing...even if it were there(laughs) so, um, you know, but it is....it is missing and....and so as quickly as possible, getting that information I think would....would be useful. The other thing I would mention in terms of just the draft itself; and it is a draft, correct? Fruin/Uh.... Thomas/What is the status (both talking) Fruin/Zac, did the Parks Commission adopt the plan? Hall/They made a recommendation(unable to hear, away from mic) Thank you. They made a recommendation to adopt the plan, uh,pending any, uh, additions from Council. Fruin/ So...so we would come back to you,um, you know, any comments that you have tonight, we can work on those. Thomas/Okay. Fruin/We'd come back, you'd probably see this on a....as a consent item, unless you wanted it on your regular agenda. Thomas/Uh huh. Well one thing I would....I would just want to emphasize, uh, among the management goals, the resource management goals, uh, one...one that's identified there is the, uh,tree canopy, uh, and canopy cover goals. Uh, and how important that is, you know,in other words what percentage of the city has canopy cover from its street trees? And that can be looked at either across the city or, you know, at a finer grain. But, um, in my view, that canopy cover....measure is....is really the key, because I know we...... we've talked about, you know, we're planting X number of trees, uh, and you know, X number of trees have been removed, and....and so forth. But I think it was wuth...with the EAB issues that we were dealing with at the....the....the importance of canopy cover really came in to play because in many cases we were talking about very large trees with very large canopies. I walk now on my way to City Hall along Iowa Avenue and, you know, you've lost significant amount of canopy cover along the south side of the street. So it's....it's not just the number, it's the canopy cover. And I know eventually those numbers will be reflected in increased canopy,but it takes time. So....um,understanding This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 28 where we are with canopy cover, you know,we....we scored low on that criteria, and I think it's important that we...do better with respect to that, because that's the key. Taylor/I just wanted to make a comment that, uh, to thank everybody that was responsible for doing this,because,uh, it took a great deal of time and effort, uh, and it was more than just a...an actual count of the numbers and types of trees, that it really,uh, showed the, uh, community benefit of....of trees and (mumbled) John has been preaching for a long time that it is a valuable asset to the community, and....and this, uh, study showed, uh.... uh, some of the,um, financial value of the trees, you know, besides just increasing property value and, uh, traffic calming and....and those kinds of things, storm water management that we talk about all the time, that they have enormous benefit to the community and so, uh, thank you for doing that. Throgmorton/The Urban Forest Plan also contains a pretty good vision statement, as does the, uh, the Natural Resources Inventory and Plan, that, uh, that...I don't know, we discussed it during the budget earlier during the budget discussion. Seems to me this is a sidelight, seems to me it'd be good to have a vision statement, a comparable vision statement for deer management. I don't think we have one at....at the moment, maybe I'm missing it, but I'm not aware of it, and it would really help...be helpful to think through what the long-term vision is for managing the deer population, cause it's....it's around (laughs) Hopefully it'll be around for a long time, but we gotta manage it. Thanks, Zac. Any other items in that information packet? Salih/(mumbled) Mims/Just note that the comprehensive annual financial report is in there, which I'm sure everybody read from beginning to (several responding) Yeah! Every word I'm sure! (laughter) I didn't! (laughs) Uh,but just to point that out,that is a document that we, I say 'we,'the City...thanks to Dennis and Jacklyn, staff,um,typically get an annual award for that, cause they do such an incredibly good job with this in presenting, uh, the City's' financials. So,um, even though I did not read every single sentence of it, urn, I certainly perused it and just wanna bring that to the public's attention, because it's a lot of work and um(both talking) Throgmorton/ Huge amount of work! Mims/Yep! (mumbled) get an annual award, so I wanna thank staff for all the work they put in. Throgmorton/Absolutely! That's a great job! Mims/Um, IP.....I don't like these, I don't like these packets anymore (laughs) Um, IPS. It's just where the things fall! Um....was the tentative dates that Kellie had put together for, um....Council listening posts, were there tentative dates or(several talking) Is that supposed to be for 2019 then? I just.... Fruehling/The tentative, yeah, week. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 29 Mims/Yeah, I...well I thought that's what it was and I just went back and read it and it says 2018 (laughs) So the tentative quarterly dates for 2019 Council listening posts.Those weeks looked fine to me! I mean I don't know if anybody else.... Throgmorton/They looked fine to me. I have some suggestions too about possible, generally speaking, possible locations, but we will...in the end we'll have to decide where and when specifically to hold the February listening post, as well as who would attend. Uh, but with regard to sites, one my...one that comes to mind is to meet with the U of I grad and undergrad students. We haven't done that as a listening post. I mean I guess I met with the Student Senate with regard to affordable housing last year, but we haven't had a listening post with the students. Stewart/Are you thinking about something similar to that or just a listening post, let's say in the Iowa Memorial Union? Throgmorton/Yeah, I was thinking a listening post. Stewart/Okay! Yeah,and I think the IMU would probably be a good location for that. Throgmorton/Yeah. And another possibility,just to kind of think ahead, is somewhere in the northeastern part of the city. I looked over the list of places we've been and that part of the city's not been touched on yet. So maybe we can try to set somethin'up with the students first. Stewart/Yep! That works for me. Throgmorton/That sound reasonable? (several responding) Okay. Taylor/We....we did have one at the Old Capitol Town Center one time. I think it was with you, John, and uh (both talking) Thomas/ Students were there! Taylor/ (both talking) ...half of the group were students at that time, cause that's easy access to the campus, so that's a good idea, the un...the IMU would be a good location too. Throgmorton/Yeah, that must have been like three years ago. Yeah. Mims/I also wanna thank Gustave and Austin for their letter regarding affordable housing funds in the Riverfront Crossings. Gives us food for thought as we move forward on decisions that we have in front of us here in the future. Throgmorton/Okay, anything else in the December 20 packet? All right, moving on to December 27. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 30 • Salih/IP3, the letter from the Housing and Community Development Commission about the 200. I know you guys mention that going to be....we will discuss this further, I don't know when, but I really....I'm interesting to know, uh,the proposal that the developer proposed to have like some unit more I guess (unable to understand) for like more affordable,but I really would like to know for how long. Is this gonna be the same like for 30 years or.... Throgmorton/Yeah, I was wonderin' about that too, Maz. Salih/Yeah. Fruin/Come on up, Erica. Throgmorton/Good evening. Kubly/Hi, Erica Kubly with Neighborhood Services. Um, the proposal they provided was for the duration of the loan with the City, which is 17 years. So they would be affordable for $150 a month for those 17 years and possibly a little increase, uh, annually,um, and from there go to the IFA rent limits. Salih/And is the...the first one was for 30 years, right? The....the first portion, or all of them is for 17 years? Kubly/Yeah,the, um, the tax credit, um, rent limits would be for 30 years.... Salih/Okay. Kubly/But the ones they're proposing for the City,the additional funds,would be for 17 years, which is how long the City's loan is with the developer. Teague/When you say goes to IFA limits,what does that mean? Kubly/Affordable at the tax credit level. So they're....they're considered affordable, but not necessarily to (both talking) Salih/ ...30% of the area median income. I really would like to see more than 17 years. Yeah, you know, to....we are giving out like more fund and we would like to see more than 17 years. Throgmorton/Well ultimately what the question boils down to is what's the best way to spend our limited affordable housing money. Salih/Exactly! Throgmorton/And I must say, I don't have a really clear sense of that at the moment. I think that's something that Tracy and staff are thinking about in terms of the longer-term, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 31 some possible changes in the a....a.....affordable housing, uh,plan. But I don't know about the rest of you, but I....I'm not clear about that. So.... Mims/I would agree. Salih/ I guess if...if we can invite the Housing and Community Development Commission on that day would be great, so they can explain us exactly what they think, you know. Maybe, I don't know, but....I need to hear it from them too, as well. Throgmorton/Well I guess my ideal scenario would be for the staff to come up with suggestions about what they think is the best way, the most effective and efficient way to spend our limited affordable housing money, (mumbled) get the biggest bang for the buck, uh, and then to run that by HCDC, so that they can...chip in their own thoughts, and then bring it to us. Hightshoe/Just wanted to clarify, HCDC asked the developer how could you, for how much money could you reduce rents? So that was the developer coming back and saying for 200,000 we will reduce to have four units at 450 for that 17 years. So that was what the developer's willing to do for that amount of money. So it wasn't what HCDC negotiated. It's what that developer came back and said what they could do. So if you want us to have a discussion with the developer, the developer's still gonna say....I don't know if we're gonna get better terms, cause right now they're limited to LIHTC, and they were already awarded LIHTC funds, and we've already awarded them funds. Salih/ Sure. Hightshoe/ So it'd be what...the developer would have to propose something, and you as Council would have to determine if that's...what you wanna see. Salih/And also, Jim, you mentioned that, yeah, the point that you just made about how we wanna use our affordable housing fund. Do you telling me that 200...is gonna come out from the affordable housing,the one million? (several talking) No! No! (laughter) Throgmorton/Thought I heard a yes and a no! Mims/You did! (laughter) It's affordable housing dollars! Throgmorton/I...I think it's affordable housing money. Salih/No. I (unable to understand)the one million so we can divide it....we can give the Housing Trust Fund half a million so they can do also. I think that 200 should come from the surplus fund,the one point....the 2.9 million. Teague/Well, I think Geoff, you know, pointed out that the 200,000 could come from the unallocated land bankin'funds. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 32 Salih/But the land banking fund at the end of the day is affordable housing, 20%from the affordable housing gonna go to the land banking. Why we wanna take from the same pool, you know, why we don't expand? We need to allocate 1,000 1,000 and just, we have 2.9 million and we can take 200 only from it. That's not like really much, so we can just go on take from the one million, because we assigned that one million for affordable housing. You guys was just talkin' about transferring house to be reserve and you think that too much money. I don't know what the University gonna say, but maybe you gonna end up doing that, which is spending a lot of money for somethingwhat our priority here? I don't understand. Throgmorton/ I mean this is an important topic,but I wanna raise a couple threshold questions that matter for me in terms of what I think, personally think we should do on, with regard to this,um, reducing rents for this particular project. Uh, and they have to do with bus service and schools. All right? So I'm imaging that families might live in these units, with kids. So, and that, uh, members of the family will need to work somewhere. And they're lower income. So I....I would think bus service is important. So my question is, I didn't have a chance to look at our bus....our.....our system of routes, is there bus service, is there a bus line located within reasonable distance of this particular site, and then the other question is, um....basically, um, which school district would it be located in? I think the answer's new Hoover. And new Hoover's pretty far away. The closer school is Lemme, but I think it's in a different....I think it will be in a different school district. So....those questions matter to me. I....I don't know that we oughta be subsidizing...I don't like the word subsidizing. Enabling, uh, lower income people to live in a place where they can't get access to work and can't get to school easily. So I need some help on that. Cole/Weren't we gonna get a subsequent memo on this? Anyway? Fruin/I'm sorry? Cole/Geoff, weren't we going to get a subsequent memo on this anyway, and....and discuss at a subsequent time? Fruin/No, I think...I mean, again,this is not a staff initiative. This is somethin'that the HCDC came up, uh, with on their own. We facilitated getting the answer. Uh, you know, I'll give you my thoughts on it. One, $200,000 you're not buying any more years of affordability, um, and you're not, uh, increasing....or you're not decreasing the, um,AMI restrictions. So if you, you know, to me the important part of that, uh, that memo, which I just lost here, is that, um.....is that chart from the developers, and you can see where they're lowering, uh, that....that rent, and it's still going to, uh, families at the 30% and then for one of the units a 40%. So the....the income targeting level isn't dropping either. So you're buying no more affordability. You're....you're not dropping the targeted level. Um, I just...I really don't see this as a good value, uh, for us. If you wanna spend $200,000 more on affordable housing, then....I think.....I think staff could come up with some....some different options, uh, on....on how to do that. I just don't, frankly I just don't see what we're....we're really gettin' out of this particular deal. It's certainly not a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 33 whole lot of value for the dollar amounts that we're puffin' in. Keep in mind,the City has about a million or more into this project already, uh, whether it's through our direct contributions or through our contributions that kinda get funneled through the Housing Trust Fund. So we are heavily, heavily invested in this, and we're proud of what...what they've put together, but each incremental dollar that you're puffin' in, at least...I don't see a whole lot of value bein'returned with those extra dollars. You're not gettin', again, nor...no more units either. It's not like they're expanding the number of units in the building. Salih/They are not. (mumbled) Throgmorton/Okay, does anybody else have views about this? And we don't have much time. Mims/I would, yeah, I don't support the $200,000 for this project. Thomas/Yeah, I'm....I'm not....I'm not convinced that it's, um, a good move at this point, and I....I do think, Jim, as you were mentioning, it's important in my mind, you know, we.... this isn't our....we....we frame this as affordable housing, but it's really a larger issue. It does have to do with access to transportation, uh, that's a key....key expense. And so in....in my view, you know, it's important to try to evaluate and....and move forward on our affordable housing from that broader perspective, so that it does include considerations of; uh, how available is public transit or other transportation options. Urn, because that...that's....it's really about household income and what percentage of that goes toward household expenses and, you know, transportation and housing are the two big ones. Throgmorton/Anyone else? Salih/I think....you know, I really also not convinced by the 17 years....I don't like that, but you just mentioned that the staff can come with something better than this, for this 200, right? I really encourage the staff to come with something better for 200. And after that we'll look at it, if we can do with 200 something better than what we....that the Housing...the Commission is like proposing, so we can go with that, I think. I don't know what you guys think, but I....I really need to move for doing something, I think like the 200 will do some kind of affordable housing. That why I...I really was trying to encourage doing it, but I don't like the 17 years. I don't like that they don't add like more unit, but if the (mumbled) staff can come with,just as Geoff said, let us do that! Throgmorton/Bruce? Pauline(both talking) Mims/To me we've already made a significant adjustment to the budget, going from 650,000 to a million dollars in affordable housing. Throgmorton/I....I think we have too. Rockne (both talking) Cole/ I'm comfortable with where we're at. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 34 Throgmorton/Pauline? Bruce? Teague/I'm not sure what Rockne means by (both talking) Cole/Well in other words I think we've made the commitment to a million dollar increase. We're already doing the LIHTC standards,the Iowa Financing Authority standards, um, I'm comfortable in terms of where we're at with our funding for this particular project. Throgmorton/In other words not adding (both talking) Cole/Yes. Yes. Taylor/I....I agree. Throgmorton/All right. I think we have decision about that. So we're....we're not gonna move ahead with, uh, lowering the rents for four units at this next project, right? Okay. All right, let's take a break now, uh, reconvene at 7:00, and then we'll return to the work session and the December(mumbled)packet...27th packet, after the formal meeting. (BREAK FOR FORMAL MEETING) (RECONVENE WORK SESSION) Information Packet Discussion (December 20, December 27,January 31 (cont.): (recording starts mid-sentence) Taylor/ .....if anybody had anything they wished to say about that, any items in that. Fruin/I do just wanna call out, uh, IP6, which is a memo from Juli on the Robert A. Lee, um, ADA renovation project. If you had a chance to read that memo you'll realize that, uh, we didn't, uh....uh, some of our early projections were off and we're not able to accomplish as much as we had hoped for. We are recommending that we move forward with what we think are the most critical improvements to that site from an ADA standpoint. That's the, uh, on-deck pool restrooms and makin'those restrooms, uh, accessible, or....or combining them for one accessible uni-sex restroom. And then the racquetball area that we had talked about before that we'd like to....we'd like to open up, uh, into a kind of vanilla box and either use it for community group or....or for our own programming. And then the building's fire alarm system, and uh, that's gonna get us pretty close to our project budget. The memo also lists updated estimates on all the other items that we have on our....on our to-do list at that facility. So we wanna get your blessing before we start to develop final plans and specs, that those three top priorities that we identified are....are shared by you, or that you're okay with that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 35 Taylor/I think obviously the ADA compliance items are....are important, uh,the restrooms and....and obviously the fire alarm system. The...safety, that's...that's a big issue. Uh, one thing I saw in there was a...in addition was the social hall kitchen, and I think we've discussed that before and, uh, think that is important, that we need to include that in the budget. I think Maz had mentioned that, and several of us have gone to functions there and....and it would be nice to have that kitchen relocated there. Uh, as far as the racquetball area, I think, uh,we need to make sure any criteria for whoever would be interested in that area, uh,would include, um....uh, a valuable use of that space, and space that considers our diverse population and, uh, providing public service to...to our population would....would be important. Salih/Yes! I'm a still really wanna like to see, I guess I talk to Juli during the work session. I know that now we ask if we can find out how we can make our, uh, like meeting room is available for some people, and I wanna also see how we can, uh, have more people use the gym,uh, for the (unable to understand) center and as much as we can, if we can give it to them for free too. I just....possible like option for that as well. Cole/Geoff, what was the cost of the kitchen, cause that's something that I've wanted forever, but what was the cost of the kitchen, or food prep area, if we remodel that? Fruin/Um, the catering space to the social hall was another 121,000, but that requires that we displace staff. So we have staff in that back area where the kitchen would go, so then you have to add about another 60 or 70, so it's total about 200,000. Cole/Okay. Fruin/To...to make those, and the only where...the only place to relocate staff is in meeting room A or B. So that...that move, once we....once we wanna do that, you're gonna lose one of your meeting rooms at the Rec Center, and so that's a....it's a concern and something we need to talk through before we get into the next phase of the project, or if you wanna add that now, we need to have that value discussion. Do you wanna give up a meeting room to relocate staff so that social room can be a bit more usable? Keep in mind, one of the things that LaTasha's lookin' at at the Senior Center is the use of that...that kitchen there, urn, we have some, uh, funds for her to....to work with an architect to really explore how to use that space. So....may be better suited over there but..... Mims/I'm supportive of what the staff has recommended in terms of those three priorities. I...I realize and agree, there's a lot of those others...other eight that were not included that... would be really nice to get done, but we...we don't have an unlimited budget and we have to prioritize so....I would go with the three that staff has.... Cole/No, I would agree. In fact those three we have identified I think are gonna be really huge, in terms of reimagining the racquetball court area and that area, so I'm really excited about all the non-profits that will apply for that, um, everyone knows who my favorite is but we have to go through a process on that. Um....so that's gonna be really a....I think one of the first, as far as I can tell, assuming everything goes through with that, one of the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 36 first major renovations to that space, the Robert A. Lee, at least that I've observed, cause there've been some little sort of structural renovations done over time,but I think the community's gonna be really excited in terms of what we actually do at that location. So, I'm....I'm really supportive of that. Throgmorton/I support it as well. Salih/Me too. Thomas/Yeah. Throgmorton/ So I gather there's clear support for that. Any other items on that....information packet? Well I guess I'll mention IP#7,possible agenda items for January 14th joint entities meeting. So I wanna suggest two possible topics. One is....growth and management of CAFOs in the county. The other is legislative priorities. I don't know if y'all agree, I mean I'm just puttin' `em out there as possible topics, so.... Cole/In terms of the work....work session? Yeah. Throgmorton/Joint entities meeting (several talking) Cole/Okay! Taylor/I think the legislative, uh,priorities would be very timely. That'd be good. Excellent. And we've heard information or concerns about the CAFOs, so that would be a...yeah, I agree with those two. Cole/Yeah, I'd agree with that, Jim. Thomas/Uh huh. Mims/That's fine. Throgmorton/Okay. Sony, Maz! Salih/I....I don't(unable to understand) like I always think about way that how the City can work with the County, in doing some kind of affordable housing. Like....just some money from here, some money from there, and if we can do something together. So this is....one of the ideas. Throgmorton/Well I know there has in the past been discussion about a building the County owns,near the admin building. I don't know what their current thinking is, plus it's a different board now so I have no idea really what the....the board itself as a whole thinks. We could put that on the agenda, I mean whatda y'all think about that? It basically would be a question I think—hey, could we work together? (laughs) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 37 Fruin/I don't know if I'd say that's a joint meeting, cause you've got so many other governments there. That's really two governments (both talking) Salih/Oh, we are not only the County and the City? Fruin/No, it's...it's all the other small towns—Coralville,North Liberty. If you're interested in that I could reach out and....and just see where the County's at and report back to ya and.... Salih/That's good! Froin/Royceann's here, she's hearin' the conversation. Salih/Yeah, I guess (mumbled) Throgmorton/Yeah, please do that, Geoff. Salih/Thanks! Throgmorton/Any other items? On that information packet? All right. I guess the answer's no. Teague/One thing I would just mention (laughs) since we're talkin' affordable housing with the Johnson County, um, transportation with Johnson County, is that something that we can set up a discussion about? I know we've asked staff to come and they're gonna come and present, but you know, is it worth navigatin'a conversation with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors? Fruin/So in....in Thursday's information packet on January 10th,two days from now, you'll have a memo from our Transportation Planning staff, generally outlining the regional transit question that you....you offered a couple of meetings ago. Um, we couldn't get that in last week, but you'll have at least some basic information that....that you could raise with the group. If you want,but this is....you know, again, there's only us, Johnson County with SEATS, and Coralville that have the bus systems, so everybody else in the room is (several responding) not really involved. Mims/Let's get the in...let's get the memo and then maybe figure out where we wanna go from there. Cole/That's sort of my thought and before you were on I think we always did this excellent...we'd always talk about our one School Board meeting we did about Horace Mann,but that was one where we did with the Horace...with the School District and us. I wish we could do more of that with other entities, where this was actually us meetin' with another entity, making joint decisions about a, uh, project of shared concern. So I think once we get that, to the extent that we can fit it in the schedule, I....I would like to do that at some point with the other entities, and do more of that shared decision making on those areas, but I wanna get the....the memo first, is sort of my thought. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8, 2019. Page 38 Teague/ Sounds good! Council updates on assigned boards, commissions and committees: Throgmorton/Okay! Any other topics on that? Let's move to Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, etc. And we can start with, uh, Bruce and move to the left. Teague/I actually have none. I....I have a few comin'up but.... Salih/Our meeting council, we haven't met. Throgmorton/That's all right. (both talking) We were gonna go this way(both talking) Salih/That's fine. I don't have anything (several talking) No, I said we haven't met, the meeting has been canceled. That's why. Throgmorton/All right, uh....let's see, we already mentioned the joint entities meeting right, and we already mentioned the work session about the CIP, and....so the public, not public. Partnership for Alcohol Safety's gonna meet on Tuesday, January 15th, at 9:30, 256 IMU, that's the student union, in case anybody wants to drop in. That's it! Mims/Nothing. I had a JECC meeting today that I couldn't make. My real job....took place (laughs) Thomas/Nothing from me. Cole/Nothing from me. Throgmorton/All right. We're done with our work session! Thanks everybody! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of January 8,2019.