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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-01-19 Bd Comm minutesItem Number: 4.a. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Description Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission: December 21 MINUTES AD HOC TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION APPROVED DECEMBER 21, 2020 ELECTRONIC MEETING (Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) An electronic meeting was held because a meeting in person was impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of council members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19. MEMBERS PRESENT: Amel Ali, Anthony Currin, Raneem Hamad, T'Shailyn Harrington, Eric Harris, Layana Navarre -Jackson, Royceann Porter, Kevin John Rivera, Mohamed Traore. STAFF PRESENT: Stefanie Bowers. OTHERS PRESENT WHO MADE COMMENTS: Mayor Bruce Teague, Angie Jordan. CALL MEETING TO ORDER: Staff called the meeting to order at 5:06 PM. WELCOME FROM MAYOR BRUCE TEAGUE: Good evening. Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners, on behalf of the City of Iowa City residents, city staff and city councilors I extend to each of you our heartfelt welcome. We are pleased to have you on this novel Commission, and I do use the word novel, because it's a new Commission to our city. June 16 City Council passed that 17 item resolution to address the Black Lives Matter movement and systemic racism. The fifth item was to create an ad hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission to carry our restorative justice. On September 15th Council passed and approved the resolution or shall I say the charge to the TRC thanks to everyone that helped create this. It was certainly a collaborative effort between Council members and of the community which vitally included the voices of our black indigenous and people of color. I know you all are up to the task to achieve the charges of the TRC. So, I suggest in your meetings, you are comfortable. In closing bring snacks and something to drink. You can even kick off your shoes. Until the meetings take place in person, but seriously as mayor of this awesome and amazing city and as a black man, I appreciate, and welcome each of you to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. INTRODUCTION OF COMMISSION MEMBERS: Commissioner Ali: And I've been involved in a lot of various community things. I've known like a few of the Commissioners for a very long time. And I'm really excited to do this. I really love Iowa City and I'm really proud to be on this commission and I'm excited to get to know all of you guys and make some really positive changes. Commissioner Currin: Hello, my name is Tony Curran and I have been in Iowa City since 1989 1 came here to study opera at the School of Music and fell in love with it. I then got a career going in telemarketing because I needed a job and I needed to make money. And then I got out of sales and I started working in factories and that's when I became interconnected with the organized labor movement and things really started to happen for me as a matter of fact, Black people had civil and social justice issues addressed in the workplace in America before we had actual rights on the streets and a lot of times, a lot of things were addressed. In the workplace that never got addressed on the streets or before way before then. I learned a lot, and I've learned a lot about asking the right sort of questions. And I'm so excited to hear all of the ideas because I've never seen anything like this happen on a communal setting before the community come together to actually solve community problems. And if we do this right, they may export it and we may actually be instrumental and leading the way to solve this problem nationally. Thank you so much for letting me be a part. Commissioner Hamad: Hi everyone. I apologize for being a little late. I'm currently actually in Sudan right now and internet connection is kind of not to be trusted, sometimes, but I just introduce myself a little bit. I'm a longtime resident of Iowa City. I've lived here in our city since I guess 2010, 1 was, you know, raised here basically and was able to do you know a lot of you know a lot of activism work in high school and continue to again through you know I a far. So, I would use near and dear to my heart and I really hope that you know we can create some positive systemic change in our community. Through this committee through this commission. I'm excited to work with everyone. Commissioner Harrington: Hi everyone, my name is to T'Shailyn Harrington. I actually don't live in Iowa City. I live in North liberty. And just a little. I guess background about me. I've been in Iowa City my entire life in this community my entire life. I know plenty of other Commissioners that are serving in just different like from careers and parents and just different organizations. And so I'm excited to work with each and every and build a different sense of a relationship as well as a serve the community. And see what our brains and our thoughts and ideas can collaborate in make together. Commissioner Harris: Yes, my name is Eric Harris, I lived in Iowa City for about two years now, but in a short two years I've been involved in a whole bunch of things I'm involved with the South District Neighborhood Association. I'm involved with the with the Inside Out Reentry program. I was one of the people that kind of helped push through to get people who have felony background to be able to vote. I'm also older person I'm 41 years old, but the reason. And what I think I can bring is that I actually suffer social injustice and racial inequality. I've suffered those things. So, I'm hoping that I can bring those things to the table and thank you. Commissioner Navarre -Jackson: My family and I first moved here back in 1997 for graduate school and it's been our home for the majority of years since. There's only been a few years that we haven't lived here. So, this essentially is home as far as we're concerned. Now, one of my areas of expertise is in sociology. So I think that should do well in terms of having a background that might help us along, and thinking of some ideas and ways to bring forth some changes I'm hoping. I just want to say it's an honor to be able to work in this capacity and contribute to the community. Commissioner Royceann Porter: Hello, my name is Royceann Porter and I am your Johnson County Supervisor. I am the first elected Black supervisor in Johnson County, just want to say, I've been in Iowa for the past 33 years. I've raised two kids two girls 26 and 28 married for almost 30 years. I've been here very long time. I've been involved in the community for a very long time. I myself know what it is to feel the breath of racism, injustice, it hits home for me. I even had I'm a coalition for racial justice was put together on behalf of me. That's when I really got involved in the community and started doing things in the community. So, I just like to say I'm grateful for being a part of this. Part of this plan and I'm looking forward to working with each and every one of you and I know everybody will bring their own perspective, being that I am probably the oldest one on this commission. 2 Commissioner Rivera: I'm Dr. Kevin Rivera. You can call me, Kevin, and I respond to any pronouns, including they, theirs, and their. I'm super excited and thankful truly to be among an amazing group of people. I've been in Iowa City for about six years. I'm currently Psychiatry resident through the University of Iowa where I work in a number of clinical settings, both inpatient and outpatient and I also work in the VA, health care system here. The Abbey Center, the Shelter House mental health outreach clinic and the LGBTQ Counseling Clinic through the University of Iowa. In addition to the direct clinical work that I do. I'm starting next month I'll start to coach here the departments diversity committee where I'll be able to better address inequalities and inequities in healthcare and in mental health care, particularly. I don't really bring a lot of my own agenda to this other than my skills and listening and trying to take that and turn it into actionable items, but I do hope that I can bring my expertise in providing insight into the world of healthcare and mental health care as we move forward with our recommendations to the city. Commissioner Traore: Hello, my name is Mohammed Traore. Nice to meet everyone and thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1995 my family came here to the United States before I was born from West Africa. My father and my mother then decided to come to Iowa because I guess they love the cold, so I've been here since I was three years old. I went through the entire K through 12 system here in Iowa City. I then went on to the University of Iowa. I now work for Amazon in tech support for Amazon logistics and I also make websites for people. At the end of the day for what I want to see out of this Commission is I truly want anyone and everyone in the community that would like to come out and give up their voice or any other opinions on what they feel we need to change. And what they feel. We're doing well in this community because I don't think we're doing everything terribly. I do think there are some great things we can continue to push forward in this community and to really bring light to help us get to where we want to be as a collective. OPEN MEETINGS AND PUBLIC RECORDS: City Attorney Dilkes did an overview of the open meetings and open records laws in Iowa. RESOLUTION OVERVIEW: Staff provided an overview of the resolution that established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Commissioner Hamad: I just wanted to ask about the declaration of intent for the Commission, if that's something that we would be working on or if this like resolution is basically like that declaration of intent for the Commission. Bowers: I think as a city Board or Commission, you always have the ability to make recommendations to the city council. So, if you, as a group, decide that you want to change or expand on the vision. I think you have that opportunity to make that recommendation. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR: Bowers: Okay, well, we will move on then to the election of the chair and vice chair and how we'll do this is we will, or I will open it up for nominations you will then vote on each person in the order in which they were nominated and the first person to get five votes, which would be a majority of the Commission would then be elected the chair. So, at this time, I will open it up to nominations or persons to serve as chair of the ad hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Commissioner Currin: I'd like to make a nomination for Commissioner Porter as chair Bowers: Any other nominations? CommissionerTraore: I'd like to nominate Commissioner Harris. Bowers: Any other nominations? But first, I should ask if Commissioner Porter and Commissioner Harris if elected would want to serve as chair. Commissioner Harris: Yes. Commissioner Porter: Yes. Commissioner Hamad: I would like to nominate Commissioner Rivera. Bowers: Okay, so I have three nominations. I have one for Commissioner Porter one for Commissioner Harris and one for Commissioner Rivera additional nominations? Commissioner Rivera: I'll just say that I appreciate the nomination, but I'll defer accepting that at this point. Commissioner Hamad: Would it be possible to nominate yourself? Bowers: Yes, you can nominate yourself. Commissioner Hamad: Okay, I would like to nominate myself as chair or vice chair. Bowers: Okay, for it, but we'll just consider the vote nomination for chair. So, are there any others? Bowers: Okay, so again, going in order of the first person who was nominated. I'm just going to go down the list in the order of the nominations. Commissioner Ali: You only get one vote? Bowers: Um, well, we're voting and on each person individually. So you would either say yay or nay for each person that's being nominated. So right now we're considering Commissioner Porter for chair. Commissioner Ali: I'm going to go with yes Commissioner Currin: That's a resounding yes. Commissioner Hamad: Nay. Commissioner Harrington: Yes. Commissioner Harris: No. Commissioner Navarre -Jackson: Yes. 4 Commissioner, Porter: Yes. Commissioner Rivera: Yes. CommissionerTraore: No. Bowers: Okay, so I have six in favor of Commissioner Porter becoming chair and so because that is more than five, she would be the person designated to serve as chair for the ad hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission, so congratulations. Bowers: And now I get to hand the meeting over to you to run the election for the vice chair. Commissioner Royceann Porter: Okay, thank you. Um, now we will take nominations for Vice Chair. I have a nomination. I would like to nominate Commissioner Harrington as the Vice Chair. Commissioner Harrington: I accept the nomination. Commissioner Royceann Porter: Are there any other nominations Commissioner Rivera: I'd like to nominate Commissioner Hamad. Commissioner Traore: I'd like to nominate Commissioner Harris. Commissioner Royceann Porter: Commissioner, Harris do you accept? Commissioner Royceann Porter: Hamad did you accept? Commissioner Hamad: I do accept, yes. Commissioner Royceann Porter: We'll start with, we have three people. Are there any others? We will start with Harrington Commissioner Rivera: No. Commissioner Currin: Oh yes, a resounding yes. Commission Navarre -Jackson: Yes. Commissioner Ali: Yes. Commissioner Harris: No. Commissioner Harrington: Yes. CommissionerTraore: No. Commissioner Hamad: No. 5 Commissioner Royceann Porter: Yes, so that's five for Harrington. DETERMINATION OF MEETING FREQUENCY, DAY AND TIME: Based on a Doodle Poll most Commissioners found 7PM to be the best time to meet. The Commission decided on Thursdays at 7PM bimonthly for at least the first 90 days with the option to reevaluate at a future date. January meetings will be on the 7th and 21St PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Angie Jordan: Yes, I just want to say. You guys are awesome. I'm so excited. And you guys are going to be doing a lot of the hard work but make sure you put your supporters to work too. COMMISSION ANNOUCEMENTS: Commissioner Porter: They are working on doing Zoom's for MILK, it will be totally different than what we're used to doing every year. We usually do a walk every year, a march, but maybe we can go in cars this year, and just go around town and still celebrate MILK as though we did it every year. Commissioner Hamad: I was just raising my hand because I wanted to ask if it was possible for us to make any statements after public comments or not. Bowers: I don't know what you mean by statements related to what somebody would.... Commissioner Hamad: Say, yeah, just like can we like have time for speakers, should we just leave it to the next meeting. Eleanor Dilkes, City Attorney: I think if you consider it an announcement that probably falls into an announcement. Commissioner Hamad: Okay never mind that. Thank you. Commissioner Traore: Offer challenge to the rest of my Commissioners to try to find two to three people in other organizations across the city or that are at least interested in participating in these meetings going forward to join us in the next meeting. MEETING ADJOURNED: 6:10PM Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission Attendance Record 2020-2022 X=Present O=Absent O/E=Absent/Excused Vacant=..... NAME TERMS EXP. 12/21 Amel Ali 6/2022 X Anthony Currin 6/2022 X Raneem Hamad 6/2022 X T'Shailyn Harrington 6/2022 X Eric Harris 6/2022 X Layana Navarre- Jackson 6/2022 X Royceann Porter 6/2022 X Kevin John Rivera 6/2022 X Mohamed Traore 6/2022 X Item Number: 4.b. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Description Community Police Review Board: December 8 (SEE RECOMMENDATION) ®aIr CITY OF IOWA CITY :�. n w �,Q 47 a MEMORANDUM Date: 1/13/21 To: Mayor and City Council From: Staff Member of Community Police Review Board Re: Recommendation from Community Police Review Board At their December 8, 2020 meeting the Community Police Review Board made the following recommendation to the City Council: (1) Accept CPRB #20-04 Report (2) Accept CPRB #20-09 Summary Dismissal (3) Accept CPRB #20-10 Summary Dismissal Additional action (check one) X No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action S:RECform.doc Final/Approved COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD MINUTES — December 8, 2020 Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) An electronic meeting was held because a meeting in person was impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of Board members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19. CALL TO ORDER: Chair David Selmer called the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Jerri MacConnell (5:36), Latisha McDaniel, Amanda Nichols, Orville Townsend MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Staff Chris Olney/Kellie Fruehling, Legal Counsel Patrick Ford STAFF ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Interim Police Chief Denise Brotherton, City Council Member Janice Weiner CPRB Liaison RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL (1) Accept CPRB #20-04 Report (2) Accept CPRB #20-09 Report (3) Accept CPRB #20-10 Report CONSENT CALENDAR Motion by Townsend, seconded by McDaniel, to adopt the consent calendar as presented or amended. • Minutes of the meeting on 11/10/20 • ICPD General Order 00-01 (Search and Seizure) • ICPD General Order 99-02 (Alarm -Open Door Response) • ICPD General Order 95-04 (Administration of Department Training) • ICPD General Order 99-10 (Domestic Violence) • ICPD General Order 99-12 (Field Interviews and "Pat -Down Searches) • ICPD Use of Force Review/Report October 2020 • Correspondence from Carol deProsse (x2) McDaniel questioned General Order 00-01 (Search and Seizure) Leg -04.8 Section E. Execution of the Search Warrant as to why there is a recommended 30 -minute pre -surveillance before a search warrant can be executed and if there was a maximum surveillance time. Interim Police Chief Brotherton explained the minimum surveillance relates to safety and quickly evolving situations and that search warrants do have a court ordered expiration date. Townsend stated he would like to see the use of force report have more details such as number of officer and public injuries. Selmer stated this could be added to the recommendation report. Selmer noted the General Orders included in the meeting packet with no redline version were reviews that had no revisions. Motion carried, 4/0, MacConnell absent. CPRB December 8, 2020 NEW BUSINESS CPRB Complaint Form Final/Approved Legal Counsel Ford stated City staff is asking for the Boards input regarding adding a statement to the CPRB complaint form emphasizing that the CPRB only hears complaints against Iowa City police officers. McDaniel felt the complaint form should offer resources as to where a complainant could turn if the incident did not pertain to an Iowa City officer. Ford suggested the board could keep the statement generic such as to contact the city or police department where the incident took place. The board agreed to keep the statement generic and highlight or use bold type to have it stand out. Ford stated he would work with City attorney's office on language. Motion by Townsend second by Selmer to direct Legal Counsel to draft language regarding revision to the CPRB complaint form. Motion carried, 5/0. OLD BUSINESS Discussion Item No. 8 of Resolution 20-159 (Resolution of Initial City Council Commitments addressing the Black Lives Matter Movement and Systemic Racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police and calls for action from protesters and residents) Selmer stated the task for this meeting was to discuss draft #5. Selmer asked members if there were any concerns or suggestions for changes. Proposed change 7 McDaniel had concerns on the reasoning for proposal explanation being too specific as to stating the type of bias. McDaniel felt it should be broader to encompass other types of bias not just racial. The board agreed to remove reference to racist bias and use just bias. Proposed change 9 McDaniel felt the request to have CPRB information printed on the back of police officer business cards got lost within the paragraph and that the requests should stand out. Selmer suggested formatting as a numbered list. The board agreed to list the specifics of what the CPRB needs to improve public engagement. Townsend suggested having information about CPRB services be handed out at the time a person is issued a citation. Olney noted that complaint forms are already available at the locations listed except for the recreation centers, Fruehling added staff could place forms in those locations and update the brochure to reflect the additional locations. Proposed change 10 Selmer asked Townsend if the additional comments/concerns for consideration captured what he had expressed. Townsend stated it was. The board agreed that in order to complete the report by the deadline date of January 1, 2021 a special tentative meeting should be scheduled for December 22nd, at 6:00 p.m. December 8, 2020 Final/Approved Nichols volunteered to add the missing footnotes and citations. Selmer volunteered to review the draft report for grammatical and spelling errors. The revised draft will be included in the next meeting packet for review. PUBLIC DISCUSSION None. BOARD INFORMATION None. STAFF INFORMATION None. TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE and FUTURE AGENDAS (subject to change) • December 22, 2020, 6:00 PM, Special Electronic Zoom Meeting • January 12, 2021, 5:30 PM, Electronic Zoom Meeting • February 9, 2021, 5:30 PM, Electronic Zoom Meeting • March 9, 2021, 5:30 PM, Electronic Zoom Meeting Motion by Selmer, seconded by McDaniel directing staff to schedule a tentative special meeting for Tuesday, December 22nd at 6:00 pm. Motion Carried, 5/0. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by Selmer, seconded by Townsend to adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(1)(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts, and 22-7(5) police officer investigative reports, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law, rule or procedure that are made to a government body or to any of its employees by identified persons outside of government, to the extent that the government body receiving those communications from such persons outside of government could reasonably believe that those persons would be discouraged from making them to that government body if they were available for general public examination. Motion carried, 5/0. Open session adjourned at 6:36 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Returned to open session at 7:14 P.M. Motion by Selmer, seconded by Townsend to accept CPRB #20-04 report and forward to City Council as amended. Motion Carried, 5/0. Motion by Selmer, seconded by Nichols to summarily dismiss CPRB #20-09 and forward report to City Council. CPRB December 8, 2020 Motion Carried, 5/0. Final/Approved Motion by Selmer, seconded by McDaniel to summarily dismiss CPRB #20-10 and forward report to City Council. Motion Carried, 5/0. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by Selmer, seconded by Townsend Motion carried, 5/0. Meeting adjourned at 7:15 P.M. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2019-2020 (Meeting Date) KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member 1/14/20 2/11/20 3/10/20 5/12/20 6/9/20 7/14/20 8/18/20 9/8/20 9/21/20 10/15/20 10/23/20 11/10/20 12/8/20 NAME FORUM Sam O O O Conaway _ Monique X X X X X Galpin Jerri O X X X X X O/E X X MacConnell Latisha O/E X X O X X X O/E X X X X X McDaniel Amanda X X X X X X X X Nichols David Selmer X X X X X X O/E X X X X X X Orville Townsend X X X X X X X X X X X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD A Board of the City of Iowa City 410 East Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240-1826 (319) 356-5041 December 8, 2020 M7 To: City Council Complainant :.`; •w, �, City Manager ; 5 Equity Director Chief of Police Rfa Officer(s) involved in complaint From: Community Police Review Board Re: Investigation of CPRB Complaint # 20-04 This is the Report of the Community Police Review Board's (the "Board") review of the investigation of Complaint CPRB # 20-04 (the "Complaint"). BOARD'S RESPONSIBILITY Under the City Code of the City of Iowa City, the Board's responsibilities are as follows: 1. The Board forwards all complaints to the Police Chief, who completes an investigation. (Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(A).) 2. When the Board receives the Police Chiefs report, the Board must select one or more of the following levels of review, in accordance with Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(1): a. On the record with no additional investigation. b. Interview /meet with complainant. c. Interview /meet with named officer(s) and other officers. d. Request additional investigation by the police chief, or request police assistance in the board's own investigation. e. Perform its own investigation with the authority to subpoena witnesses. f. Hire independent investigators. 3. In reviewing the Police Chiefs report, the Board must apply a "reasonable basis" standard of review. This means that the Board must give deference to the Police Chiefs report, because of the Police Chiefs professional expertise. (Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(2).) 4. According to Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(2), the Board can recommend that the Police Chief reverse or modify the Chiefs findings only if: a. The findings are not supported by substantial evidence; or b. The findings are unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious; or c. The findings are contrary to a police department policy or practice, or any federal, state or local law. 5. When the Board has completed its review of the Police Chiefs report, the Board issues a public report to the city council. The public report must include: (1) detailed findings of fact; and (2) a clearly articulated conclusion explaining why and the extent to which the complaint is either "sustained" or "not sustained ". (Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(5).) 6. Even if the Board finds that the complaint is sustained, the Board has no authority to discipline the officer involved. BOARD'S PROCEDURE The Complaint was initiated by the Complainant on July 27, 2020. As required by Section 8-8-5(B) of the City Code, the Complaint was referred to the Chief of Police for investigation. The Chief's Report was filed with the City Clerk on September 15, 2020. The Board voted on October 15, 2020 to apply the following Level of Review to the Chiefs Report: On the record with no additional investigation, pursuant to Iowa City Code Section 8-8-7(B)(1)(a). The Board met to consider the Report on October 15, 2020, November 10, 2020 and December 8, 2020. Prior to the October 15, 2020 meeting, the Board reviewed audio and video recordings othe incident FINDINGS OF FACT Officer received a call from dispatch stating there was a suicidal man who had stwgt[bed himself with a knife and still had the knife with him. When the Officer arrived at the scene a wo64ri painted out the intended suspect. When said man saw the police officer he jumped on a bicycle: aid: staved to ride away. The Officer called for him to stop and began to run after him. The man jumped oft.his bike and started to run, not responding to the Officer's calls to stop. When the Officer caught up to -the man he was able to stop him but the man was able to break away. He ran across the four -lane road and other Officers arrived and they were able to take the man down. They were trying to put handcuffs on the man while he continued to struggle. Even though the Officers were only holding his legs and arms, the man started crying out that the Officers were going to kill him, that he could not breathe and would someone help him. Several passerby', including the complainant had stopped and were filming the incident. When the man called for help, the passersby yelled out that they could hear him. As soon as the man was handcuffed the Officers sat him up. They pulled his shirt up to see if he did have any wounds. Three officers knelt down to be face -to- face with the man and reassured him that he was not under arrest, that they wanted to help him and were going to take him to the hospital. The ambulance arrived and after some persuasion the man agreed to get on the gurney and was placed in the vehicle. The original officer who had tried to gain some rapport with the man rode in the ambulance with the attendant and the victim. ALLEGATION 1 — Discourtesy. The complainant described the Officers of being discourteous in that when they asked what had the man done the Officer said he did not know as he had just arrived. The board affirmed the opinion set forth in the report of the police chief and/or city manager. Chief's Conclusion — Complaint not sustained Board's Conclusion — Complaint not sustained ALLEGATION 2 — Excessive use of force. The complainant alleged that excessive use of force occurred when the Officers were trying to get control of the situation. The board affirmed the opinion set forth in the report of the police chief and/or city manager. Chief's Conclusion — Complaint not sustained Board's Conclusion — Complaint not sustained COMMENT None CPRB REPORT OF SUMMARY DISMISSAL TO THE CITY COUNCIL Re: Investigation of Complaint CPRB #20-09 On December 8, 2020, the Community Police Review Board ("CPRB") reviewed Complaint CPRB #20-09, filed November 24, 2020, The Board concurred with the findings of the Chief of Police that the complaint did not concern conduct of an Iowa City police officer. City Code, Section 8-8-3 (A) provides: A "complaint to the board" is an allegation of misconduct lodged against a sworn police officer ("police officer" or "officer") employed by the City of Iowa City police department, where the complained of activity occurred while the officer was acting in the capacity of a sworn police officer. City Code Section 8-8-3 (E), provides: "...those complaints to the board which do not involve the conduct of an Iowa Citysworn police officer may be subject to summary dismissal by the board." In accordance with these code provisions, Complaint CPRB #20-09 was summarily dismissed. DATED: December 9, 2020 DEC 0 9 C:'If ' C:'erk, 10M.10A i CPRB REPORT OF SUMMARY DISMISSAL TO THE CITY COUNCIL Re: Investigation of Complaint CPRB #20-10 On December 8, 2020, the Community Police Review Board ("CPRB") reviewed Complaint CPRB #20-10, filed December 2, 2020. The Board concurred with the findings of the Chief of Police that the complaint did not concern conduct of an Iowa City police officer. City Code, Section 8-8-3 (A) provides: A "complaint to the board" is an allegation of misconduct lodged against a sworn police officer ("police officer" or "officer") employed by the City of Iowa City police department, where the complained of activity occurred while the officer was acting in the capacity of a sworn police officer. City Code Section 8-8-3 (E), provides: "...those complaints to the board which do not involve the conduct of an Iowa Citysworn po/ice officermay be subject to summary dismissal by the board." In accordance with these code provisions, Complaint CPRB #20-10 was summarily dismissed. DATED: December 9, 2020 S p DEC 0 9 w d C'ty Clea CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Item Number: 4.c. Description Community Police Review Board: December 22 (SEE RECOMMENDATION) CITY OF IOWA CITY MEMORANDUM Date: 1/13/21 To: Mayor and City Council From: Staff Member of Community Police Review Board Re: Recommendation from Community Police Review Board At their December 22, 2020 meeting the Community Police Review Board made the following recommendation to the City Council: (1) Accept CPRB Recommendations Report Additional action (check one) X No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action S:RECform.doc Final/Approved COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD MINUTES — December 22, 2020 Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) An electronic meeting was held because a meeting in person was impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of Board members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19. CALL TO ORDER: Chair David Selmer called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Jerri MacConnell, Latisha McDaniel, Orville Townsend MEMBERS ABSENT: Amanda Nichols STAFF PRESENT: Staff Chris Olney/Kellie Fruehling, Legal Counsel Patrick Ford STAFF ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT: Iowa City Police Captain Bill Campbell RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL (1) Accept CPRB Recommendations Report OLD BUSINESS Discussion Item No. 8 of Resolution 20-159 (Resolution of Initial City Council Commitments addressing the Black Lives Matter Movement and Systemic Racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police and calls for action from protesters and residents) Selmer asked members if there were any concerns or suggestions for changes to draft #6. None were noted. Selmer stated he was on the fence regarding proposed change #12 recommending that CPRB complaints could be filed anonymously. He felt allowing this could raise procedural as well as credibility issues that would result in an incomplete investigation of a complaint. McDaniel felt strongly that the proposal should remain in the recommendations report. McDaniel stated having the ability to file a complaint anonymously or through a third person would alleviate the fear of retaliation for reporting police misconduct. MacConnell stated the police department has procedures and policies about conduct and felt there would not be retaliation adding the complaint procedure currently allows the complainant to have a support person with them for the police interview. McDaniel noted that not everyone has a support person and feels that there should be some way for a person to file a complaint and to not be afraid of having their identity revealed. She felt that complaints are not being filed because of this. McDaniel would like to see an option for the complainant to have support from a liaison or third party throughout the complaint process. Townsend felt allowing anonymous complaints could create more problems such as how to conduct a thorough investigation if you are unable to do interviews. Ford stated City Code 8-8-5 states the complainant shall be interviewed by the Police Department and shall be entitled to have a neutral City staff person, or some other person chosen by the complainant present during the interview. Ford added that if a complaint was entered anonymously it would not CPRB December 22, 2020 Final/Approved allow the Police Chief the ability to comply with his obligation to investigate and the board would be unable to interview the complainant if it so wished. Ford noted as a good safeguard against frivolous complaints the board could discuss the possibility of a recommendation for the CPRB to have the ability to summarily dismiss a complaint if not enough information had been provided. Selmer felt there were valid reasons discussed for keeping the recommendation in the report and the related concerns presented had been addressed. The board agreed to keep proposed change #12 in the recommendations report with additional noted concerns. Motion by Selmer, seconded by Townsend to accept the recommendations report as amended and forward to City Council. Motion Carried, 4/0, Nichols absent. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by Selmer, seconded by MacConnell to adjourn into Executive Session based on Section 21.5(1)(a) of the Code of Iowa to review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition for that government body's possession or continued receipt of federal funds, and 22.7(11) personal information in confidential personnel records of public bodies including but not limited to cities, boards of supervisors and school districts, and 22-7(5) police officer investigative reports, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code; and 22.7(18) Communications not required by law, rule or procedure that are made to a government body or to any of its employees by identified persons outside of government, to the extent that the government body receiving those communications from such persons outside of government could reasonably believe that those persons would be discouraged from making them to that government body if they were available for general public examination. Motion carried, 4/0, Nichols absent. Open session adjourned at 7:01 P.M. REGULAR SESSION Returned to open session at 7:13 P.M. Motion by Selmer, seconded by McDaniel to grant extension request to February 1, 2021 for filing of the City/Chief's report to CPRB for complaints 20-02, 20-05, 20-06, 20-07, 20-08. Motion Carried, 4/0, Nichols absent. ADJOURNMENT Motion for adjournment by Selmer, seconded by Townsend Motion carried, 4/0, Nichols absent. Meeting adjourned at 7:14 P.M. COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2020 (Meeting Date) NAME 1/14/20 2/11/20 3/10/20 5/12/20 6/9/20 7/14/20 8/18/20 9/8/20 9/21/20 FORUM 10/15/20 10/23/20 11/10/20 12/8/20 12/22/20 Sam Conaway O O O Monique Galpin X X X X X Jerri MacConnell O X X X X X O/E X X X Latisha McDaniel O/E X X O X X X O/E X X X X X X Amanda Nichols X X X X X X X X O/E David Selmer X X X X X X O/E X X X X X X X Orville Townsend X X X X X X X X X X X X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting --- = Not a Member COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD A Board of the City of Iowa City 410 East Washington Street Iowa City IA 52240-1826 (319)356-5043 December 28, 2020 City of Iowa Council Members 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA 52240 RE: CPRB Recommendations Report Dear City Council Members: Attached is a memorandum from the Community Police Review Board, in response to paragraph eight of your Resolution No. 20-159. Thank you. Sincerely, Li*J1 David Selmer, Chair Community Police Review Board cc: Geoff Fruin, City Manager Date: December 22, 2020 To: City Council From: Community Police Review Board Re: Report and recommendation of proposed changes to the Community Police Review Board pursuant to Resolution 20-159 (Resolution of Initial Council Commitments addressing the Black Lives Matter Movement and Systemic Racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police and calls for action from protesters and residents). ********************************************************************* The members of the Iowa City Community Police Review Board (hereafter, "CPRB") submit the following report and recommendation for proposed changes to the Community Police Review Board to enhance community oversight of the Iowa City Police Department. PROPOSED CHANGE 1— THAT IN INSTANCES OF A SUSTAINED MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT, THE CPRB BE GIVEN INFORMATION ABOUT THE CORRESPONDING DISCIPLINE, AND THAT THE CPRB BE ALLOWED TO INCLUDE IN ITS REPORT ITS FINDINGS ON WHETHER THE DISCIPLINE IS REASONABLE AND FAIR. a. Proposed Change 1 The CPRB is requesting that, upon there being a sustained report of misconduct by the Chief of Police/City Manager, that it also be provided: A report from the Chief of Police/City Manager outlining the discipline to be administered to the officer as a consequence of the misconduct. Within the report, the Chief of Police/City Manager shall detail the factors used to cletermikee the discipline, including: (a) The severity of misconduct in the complaint; (b) Whether the officer was found to have committed the same or similar type of misconduct in the past; (c) Prior exemplary conduct of the officer; (d) Prior training related to the circumstances in which the officer was found to have committed miscoftduct; (e) Clarity of the conduct prescribed for an officer in the Iowa City Police Dekartment's Operating Procedures relevant to the circumstances in which the office r'co m m itted misconduct; and (f) Other circumstances that call for enhancing or mitigating the discipline to be administered. • Copies of the officer's: (a) discipline history; (b) exemplary conduct history; (c) the officer's training history; (d) any operating procedures relevant to the Chief of Police/City Manager's determination of discipline for the misconduct; (e) evidence or documentation relied on by the Chief of Police/City Manager of enhancing or mitigating circumstances that impacted the decision on the appropriate level of discipline to be administered; and (f) any additional documents or other evidence related to any of the above disclosures made by a reasonable request from the CPRB. b. Reasoning for the proposal The most critical role of the Community Police Review Board ("CPRB") is to provide an independent review, on behalf of the community, over the conduct of the Iowa City Police Department ("ICPD") including its Chief and all officers. When a complaint of misconduct is filed, presently, the CPRB only has authority to agree or disagree with the findings of the Chief of Police and/or City Manager as to whether or not misconduct has occurred. The CPRB is not provided with information about how an officer is disciplined in cases where misconduct is found, The CPRB believes having information regarding the disciplining of an officer, as well as any other consequences to an officer where the officer has been found to have committed misconduct, is integral to having effective oversight of the ICPD. Discipline information allows for oversight to make sure the discipline matches the offense, to help deter future misconduct, to ensure discipline is equitably administered, and to align the level of discipline and reasons for variances with precedent and the community's values. The importance of the CPRB having information is perhaps best explained by a hypothetical of an officer using excessive force resulting in serious injury to a community member. Assume that the Chief of Police issued a report finding the officer to have committed grave misconduct. Through the current CPRB complaint process, the CPRB would review the Chief's report and file its own findings in the CPRB report. In the current system, the CPRB would sustain the Chief's finding of misconduct, and report the same to City Council, having no information on, and making no finding regarding, discipline to the officer. Assume further, for this hypothetical, that the Chief issued no discipline to the offending officer, despite the seriousness of the misconduct, and despite such lack of accountability being in clear contradiction to the goals of the Iowa City Community. Such lack of discipline will go undetected by the CPRB under the current system. Further, instead of being able to raise public awareness as to the lack of appropriate accountability for misconduct in the ICPD, the CPRB report would be suggestive that the ICPD was correctly managing complaints of misconduct in so far as it sustained (concurred With) the ICPD's finding of misconduct. This hypothetical shows that it may do little good, or actual harm, for the CPRB to only report on the issue of whether misconduct occurred, without being able to review and opine as to the corresponding consequences when misconduct is found to have occurfed. fr�,) Establishing a process through which the CPRB can review and report on disciplinary;:decisions administered by the Chief of Police/City Manager will greatly improve the oversight into hoW;the ICPD holds its officers accountable for misconduct, increase transparency, and raise community confidence in the board's oversight capabilities. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration Consensus for proposing this change was reached by the CPRB as the members found it carefully navigated the line of allowing the CPRB to remain an advisory review board and not an administration board. That is, the CPRB would still be reviewing decisions made by the administers, as opposed to administering discipline itself. The issue of how much administrative functions the CPRB should be given, especially related to discipline, was the most debated subject for the CPRB. The majority opted to remain an advisory board for reasons that include: (1) that members are not trained in employment matters, police procedures, or administration tasks; (2) the need to preserve the administration autonomy of the Chief of Police to manage the department; and, (3) the potential liability that would attach to CPRB members if they were the ones determining employment matters such as discipline. Careful consideration must be given to protect the confidentiality of information such as discipline information. It is understood that some legislative changes must occur to allow for a CPRB review to be an exception to the confidentiality laws regarding discipline information. It is believed that legislation could be narrowly tailored to permit such disclosures. This may only be possible if the discipline part of the review were to remain confidential between the City Council and the CPRB and not be a public record. Even with this limitation, the public could still have assurances that the discipline in cases where misconduct is found is being reviewed, and that the CPRB can bring concerns to the City Council in cases where the CPRB does not find the discipline to be reasonable or fair. Further, legislation should be drafted so as to limit liability that may attach to a CPRB volunteer for any accidental disclosure of confidential information. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change Some police review boards across the nation have access to disciplinary information and varying degrees of related authority. In Daytona for example, the Police Department will "provide the board with the full internal affairs file, unless any portions are determined to be exempt from disclosure or confidential by law." (Daytona Beach close to launching Citizens' Police Review Board, 2020). The review board will "discuss the allegations of a case, the adequacy of the investigation, the final discipline that was meted out, and whether the police leadership response was appropriate" during their public meetings. Id. In addition, "[t]he board will issue a written report that includes the name of the complainant, the name of the accused officer or officers, a summary of the allegations and board members' decisions to agree or disagree with the disciplinary findings." Id. II. PROPOSED CHANGE 2 —THE CPRB SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO REQUEST THE CITY COUNCIL HAVE A DISCIPLINARY HEARING. a. Proposed Change 2 The CPRB proposes that there be a mandatory meeting within 30 days of the CPRB's request to the Chief of Police/City Manager between the CPRB and the Chief of Police/City Manager to discuss the discrepancy in their respective opinions on the reasonableness and fairness of the disciplinet�e Chief/City Manager propose to administer. This meeting would occur only in instances wher,all of the following circumstances exist: 1. There has been a finding of misconduct in a complaint; 2. The Chief and/or City Manager have disclosed a report with all information on their decision of how the officer will be disciplined for the misconduct (this assumes proposed change 1 has been accepted); and, 3. The CPRB disagrees with the reasonableness or fairness of the discipline to be administered by the Chief and/or City Manager. 3 If, through the course of the meeting, the discrepancy is resolved either due to the Chief/City Manager having made an independent decision to change the discipline to be administered, or the CPRB changing their majority opinion as to the reasonableness and fairness of the discipline, the CPRB report will note that the meeting occurred and that the CPRB agrees to the reasonableness and fairness of the discipline the Chief/City Manager have determined to administer in the meeting. If, despite the meeting, the CPRB cannot conclude that the discipline to be administered by the Chief of Police is reasonable and fair, then the CPRB shall have the discretion to either (1) issue a report detailing their disagreement with the discipline, or (2) make an additional request that the City Council for Iowa City ("City Council") conduct a disciplinary hearing to independently determine whether the proposed discipline is reasonable and fair. In the event of a hearing, the CPRB shall be allowed to attend, and, in any event, be informed of all outcomes related to the hearing and/or disciplining of the officer. b. Reasoning for the proposal The majority of the CPRB believe that this proposed change would allow for the effective oversight of the disciplining of officers in cases where misconduct is found, while allowing the CPRB to remain an agent for community review and not an administrator. The goal of the review is to try to ensure that the operations of the ICPD are in line with the interests of the community. This goal can be best achieved, when, in instances of disagreement between the CPRB and the Chief/City Manager as to the appropriateness of the discipline to be administered when misconduct is found, a meeting can be held to try to reconcile the discrepancy. The CPRB is not trained or authorized in matters of disciplining police officers or employment law. Deference to the Chief/City Manager's autonomy in their capacity to govern the ICPD and their knowledge of inner working in the police department beyond the discipline of a particular case must also be given. The meeting is a forum that would allow for additional consideration of the Chief's/Manager's position that may better inform the CPRB members of the reasonableness and fairness of the discipline to be administered. Similarly, the CPRB might inform the Chief/Manager of the community's concerns and values as it relates to disciplining of the officer(s) for the misconduct found. Thus, the meeting in instances of incongruity of opinions between the ICPD and the CPRE, would hopefully resolve the discrepancy. Such resolution would potentially save:tiine and tax -payer money by foregoing the potential for a disciplinary hearing. The meeting is very similar to recent ordinance changes proposed by the CPRB and adopted by the City Council, to allow a meeting between the Chief/City Manager with the CPRB when there is a discrepancy between the finding of whether misconduct occurred by the Chief/City Manager""—and the CPRB. The CPRB requests the additional authority of being able to recommend that the City Council conduct a disciplinary hearing in cases where the CPRB and the ICPD disagree on the reasonableness and fairness of the discipline in cases when misconduct is found. The CPRB believes this gives some "teeth" to its findings that may not just be ignored by the ICPD in cases where there is a discrepancy. Importantly, though, this change would still leave the CPRB being a "review" board, as the administrative functions for determining and implementing the discipline would remain in the hands of the City Council and/or the Chief/City Manager. The effectiveness of the CPRB having the authority to recommend to the City Council to hold an independent disciplinary hearing for an officer should not be understated. First, it is the consensus of the CPRB that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and shining light on discipline matters rd that need additional review for the public has bite itself. In addition, the very real threat of City Council conducting a full disciplinary hearing, and certainly the consequences if the discipline proposed to be administered by the ICPD was found to be unreasonable and unfair by the City Council after such a hearing, give the CPRB's recommendations real effect. C. Additional comments/concerns for consideration The current CPRB is split on whether the CPRB should be given authority to administer discipline itself. A majority of the members are of the opinion that the CPRB should remain an advisory board as opposed to an administrative board rely on the following points in support of their position: • The CPRB is not trained in employment law or matters of disciplining officers. • The CPRB should not over -compromise the Chief of Police from carrying out administrative functions. • Privacy laws rightfully protect dissemination of sensitive employment information that would be required to be disclosed to make a truly informed decision on the administering of discipline in any situation. • Liability would attach to members of the CPRB when they make determinations affecting an officer's employment. • The CPRB members are appointed, and not elected as officials to make such a decision for the community. Some members of the current CPRB urge that the CPRB be given the power to administer discipline. In support of their position, they contend that CPRB decisions on misconduct are irrelevant unless their decisions carry the power to issue corresponding discipline. They would like the CPRB to have the authority to: • Discipline an officer for misconduct; • Discipline an officer for failing to cooperate with an interview or investigation into the complaint; • Require an officer to participate in mediation with a complainant; • Call for a public hearing to hire/fire an officer or Chief of Police; and, s • If there were a disciplinary hearing that there be opportunities for the public to comment and the final decision as to the appropriate discipline to administer would .be made by a majority vote of the combined bodies of the CPRB and the City Council. w. CPRB members wanting authority to discipline officers directly contend that such author'itr and public disclosure of the disciplining of an officer is necessary to enhance the understanding of -the officers of the ICPD's interactions with citizens, give opportunities to explain officer actions to citizens, enhance satisfaction with the complaint process, empower the community members — complainant and non -complainants alike, give opportunity to learn from mistakes of officers, and enhance the opportunity to meet community goals. They further contend with regards to the public hearing for hiring/firing of the Chief of Police, that such a public event would greatly improve the community confidence in their oversight of the ICPD by allowing real feedback and accountability to the community members directly. 5 Ultimately, the consensus of the CPRB was propose the limited change for the CPRB to allow it to review discipline matters and, in the cases where the CPRB disagreed with the ICPD as to the reasonableness and fairness of the discipline, to have authority to request the City Council have a disciplinary hearing. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change Regarding the authority to review or administer discipline: o The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Citizen Review Board makes recommendations to the Sheriff regarding discipline, policies, procedures, and programs (2020)" o Columbus, Ohio, has a measure on the ballot that would create a review board that would "make recommendations to the Division of Police, including recommendations for disciplinary actions if relevant.""' o The Virginia State Senate recently advanced a bill that would allow review boards to ""make binding disciplinary determinations in cases that involve serious breaches of departmental and professional standards.iv o Steven Morrison, a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law, said police review "boards are probably better than nothing, but as far as changing things he believes they have minimal value unless they are given enforcement power."v Regarding the opinion of a minority group of the CPRB that the CPRB should have authority to require mediation between a complainant and officer(s): o According to a guide from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, "[m]ediation focuses on mutual understanding, problem solving, and reconciliation - all vital aspects of increasing trust between parties." v' The guide further details mutually beneficial outcomes for mediation. Id. The guide reports tha, "[i]n a series of focus groups in Omaha, Nebraska, individuals were asked to discuss,Whether they would file a complaint in response to a hypothetical incident of police m' ;conduct and what they wanted to achieve if they did. Many participants indicated a desire for an explanation or apology from either the officer or a responsible official,:or they wanted an opportunity to express their views to the officer in person." Id. - o The Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board found that in some instances, "all'the citizen wants is an apology" and that mediation provides the officer with a forum in which to "explain to a citizen why he or she acted in a particular manner" (Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board 1997)°" "Research indicates that complainants who choose mediation do report higher levels of satisfaction than those who choose the traditional process." !d. o "Mediation introduces a new dimension to police accountability. In traditional complaint procedures, an officer accused of misconduct is directly accountable only to other police officers: internal affairs investigators, the immediate supervisor, and, in some instances, the chief of police v"'(Walker 2001). The officer never has to directly face or account to the citizen who has filed the complaint. In contrast, an officer participating N in mediation is directly accountable to the citizen who filed the complaint. Mediation may help personalize American policing." Id. o In her report on community justice, restorative justice, and community policing, Caroline Nicholl explains that community justice "is shifting criminal justice from a purely adversarial approach to include problem -solving methods"'x (Nicholl 2000a). o The DOJ paperx would be a tremendous resource in planning as it goes beyond the benefits of mediation and details various practical ways to create a program. It states that "mediation is much less expensive than traditional complaint investigations. The Minneapolis Civilian Review Authority (CRA) pays a flat rate of $2,000 a year to the Minneapolis Mediation Center (a community-based nonprofit organization supported by funding from city and county government agencies, civic organizations, and individuals and clients) to provide mediators, who work pro bono, to handle police cases." o There is a nonprofit mediation center in Iowa City, Mediation Services of Eastern Iowa (About Us - MSEI, 2020)x', with the structure in place like suggests. Regarding the authority to hire/fire the Chief of Police: o In Oakland, California the Mayor is required "to appoint any new Chief of Police from a list of candidates provided by the Commission" (2020)x" III. PROPOSED CHANGE 3 —THAT AN ACCUSED OFFICER BE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH A CPRB INVESTIGATIONOR BE DISCIPLINED BY THE CHIEF OF POLICE/CITY MANAGER. a. Proposed change 3 — The CPRB is requesting that the ordinances be changed so that the Chief of Police shall discipline an officer in the event an officer does not cooperate fully with a CPRE investigation. Discipline should occur for failure to cooperate with an investigation regardless if the officer is the one accused of the misconduct. Cooperation includes appearing for, and giving thoughtful responses under oath to, interview questions by the CPRE. b. Reasoning for the proposal Currently, as part of the CPRB investigation, the CPRE has the authority to inter vjewawitnesses, including officers, both accused and non -accused alike. However, there is no present duty o'' -order that requires an officer to participate in the investigation or interview. Similarly, there is no repe`r-cussion to the officer for not participating. Without such a duty or repercussion, it is likely that an Officer will not participate in the investigation, respond to a request to be interviewed, or participate in a name -clearing hearing. Indeed, the collective experience of the CPRB over the years has proven this to be true. With such repercussions, it is much more likely the Officer's participation can be secured, greatly enhancing the CPRB's investigation and ensuring more accuracy of its findings and reporting. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration At least some members of the current CPRB have concerns over the legality of compelling an officer to testify in instances of alleged misconduct, especially when the officer may be asked to provide self-incriminating information. Also, and relatedly, officers may want or need to be represented by legal counsel to protect their interests. The CPRB, in kind, will likely also need an attorney present for consultation. This has the potential to add a large amount of taxpayer expense to the review process. It is hoped that the discretion of the CPRB would be exercised with this expense in mind so that the requirement for compelling testimony under oath would be used judiciously. It is believed such interviews may be compelled sparingly given the prevalent access to body -cameras, car -cameras, and other data that may make this part of the interview process superfluous. That said, without question, officers will be interviewed if deemed necessary to complete a thorough investigation of the facts. Further, in the interests of fairness, an officer would reasonably want the Complainant to be required to be interviewed as well. Hand in hand with this, is the chilling effect on community members filing a complaint if they may be interviewed by attorneys. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change None. IV, PROPOSED CHANGE 4 - A COMPLAINANT SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO RESPOND TO THE CHIEF'S FINDINGS IN THE CHIEF'S REPORT BEFORE THE CPRB SHALL CONDUCT ITS INVESTIGATION. a. Proposed Change 4 — The CPRB is requesting that, after the Chief of Police/City Manager has issued a report to the CPRB with the findings of fact and whether allegations of misconduct are sustained, that a copy of that report be disclosed to a complainant. A complainant would then have opportunity to respond to the Chief/City Manager report for the CPRB to consider in advance of their investigation. b. Reasoning for the proposal Presently, the CPRB conducts its investigation after receiving a copy of the Chief's- report. -,The Chief's report summarizes a narrative -type complaint, identifies specific allegations ©f,misconduct, and makes conclusions for the same. In some instances the narrative complaint and the specific allegations of misconduct are clear. In others, it may be somewhat challenging to ascertain all of the allegations in the Complaint — most likely prepared without the assistance of legal counsel. While the CPRB has the capacity in its review to interview a complainant in the cases of ambiguity of allegations of misconduct, this is not required. Further, there may be an unintended chilling effect on the filing of complaints if a complainant is required to be interviewed; many people would be uncomfortable about speaking to a panel of strangers investigating their sensitive matters. In any event, there is not any opportunity, otherwise, for a complainant to provide clarifying information or object to how the Chief/City Manager characterized the allegations of misconduct in their report. If a complainant were given an automatic opportunity to review the Chief's report and respond to the CPRB in a timely fashion, the CPRB report can be more accurate, and it would be more likely that a complainant would feel his allegations were fairly identified and reviewed. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration H one can conceive that by providing a response after the ICPD has responded to a complaint may provide a complainant with a vehicle to keep tacking on complaints. Such a step might allow "too many bites at the apple." Also, in the interests of equity, the Chief and/or City Manager may want or need to have an opportunity to respond to any additional report of misconduct or clarification by the Complainant. At some point the process must stop and run its course. Still, it is believed that with careful procedural guidelines, a response from the Complainant could be incorporated that would benefit the CPRB's review. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change None. V. PROPOSED CHANGE 5 —THE ONLINE DATABASE OF OFFICER COMPLAINTS SHALL BE IMPROVED TO ALLOW FOR QUICK SEARCHES OFCOMPLAINT HISTORY AND A COMPUTERIZED RISK -MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO ANALYZE TRENDS. a. Proposed Change 5 — The CPRB is requesting that the online public database be enhanced so that one can search complaints, discipline, and training records of any officer. Currently, to protect sensitive identifying information such as the officer's name, each officer of the ICPD has been assigned an individual tracking number. This number can be used in lieu of officers' names to allow for tracking of complaints, reports on complaints, discipline, and training records for any officer while still protecting the privacy and safety of the officers. Notably, the database shall include all complaints, not just those filed by members of the community or through the CPRB process. The database shall be searchable for snapshots for -the number and type of complaints in any month or any year, their resolution, and any trends. A computerized risk -management tracking system should be implemented to quickly analyze data in search of trends. b. Reasoning for the proposal The CPRB believes that data tracking is important to its effectiveness of examining tre6as and repeated instances of misconduct carried out by a few of the officers. When evidence shows that officers who engage in misconduct tend to do so repeatedly, it is vital to be able to identify officers who have emerging patterns of complaints. Treating each complaint as an isolated incident without tracking data of individual officers makes it impossible to discover problematic officers and remove them from public engagement. Having a database online that allows the public to quickly identify all complaints for an officer will allow patterns of conduct for an individual officers to be identified and investigated. Similarly, snapshots of the type of complaints over a month, and a year, will allow for identification of trends and areas where more oversight is needed. Further, if the CPRB is given authority to review discipline, having access to other complaints, discipline, and training will be important to assess the reasonableness and fairness of the discipline. The database should be searchable type of complaint, and findings of misconduct, on a monthly and annual 0 report, and identify the officers under the categories. This would allow any member of the community to see the trends and raise concern in the public section of the CPRB meetings. While some members of the CPRB would like names to be released, the clear majority disagreed out of concern for officer safety. A compromise was reached whereby each officer will be assigned a unique, consistent, anonymous identification number that would accompany each complaint, to allow for more thorough tracking and review while still protecting the privacy of the officer. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration Extreme caution should be taken to protect against disclosure of identifying information of officers outside of their tracking number to protect the safety of the officer. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change Regarding the need to identify repeat offenders/trends: o According to a 2001 National Institute of Justice Research Brief (Walker, Alpert and Kenney, 2020)x"', "10 percent of officers cause 90 percent of the problems," and investigations have revealed that approximately "two percent of all officers are responsible for 50 percent of all citizen complaints." o A publication by the West Virginia Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights states that "Improving existing accountability procedures will assist in preventing police misconduct and will provide the public with confidence that such acts of misbehavior will be documented and that officers will be disciplined accord ingly."x" Regarding the use of tracking systems: o Computerized tracking systems have been installed in various police departments across the nation, including the Pittsburgh city police, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the New Jersey State Police, among others. In Pittsburgh, reports of police misconduct have dropped by more than half on average since the tracking system was installed." (Chapter 4: Alternative Models for Police Disciplinary Procedures, 2020)x° n VI. PROPOSED CHANGE 6 — ALL COMPLAINTS OF MISCONDUCT SHALL BE INCLUDE=D IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S MONTHLY DISCLOSURES TO THE CPRB. a. Proposed Change 6 — The CPRB is requesting that copies of all complaints filed by a community member to the ICPD be included with the monthly packet of information the ICPD discloses to the CPRB. b. Reasoning for the proposal Currently, the CPRB is only given the reports from community members that are made to the CPRB directly, as well as a quarterly summary of complaints made to the ICPD. If the CPRB is provided with copies of the reports made to the ICPD and not the CPRB, it allows for the CPRB to exercise 10 discretion for doing additional independent investigation of the complaint. Disclosure on a monthly basis would allow the CPRB to do so in a timely fashion. Also, since the George Floyd incident, it has become even more obvious that many persons in our community did not have knowledge of the CPRB or its functions. There is a very real possibility that complainants may not have knowledge of the CPRB when filing a complaint directly with the ICPD. This is especially true with Iowa City being a college town with many students temporarily transplanted in Iowa City. Having the reports filed with the ICPD within a month of when they were filed would help protect against these community members missing out on the oversight of the CPRB in instances they did not know of the CPRB. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration None. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change None. VII. PROPOSED CHANGE 7 - CPRB SHALL BE PROVIDED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT QUARTERLY REPORTS TO REVIEW FOR CERTAIN TRENDS a. Proposed Change 7 — The CPRB is requesting that, included in the quarterly reports provided by ICPD, that it also be given the following information: i. Total number of detained individuals; ii. Demographics of the individuals detained; iii. Total number of arrested individuals; and, iv. Demographics of those arrested. b. Reasoning for the proposal Perhaps as important as providing an independent examination and report of individual claim's, is to provide such oversight for trends and larger ways in which the Iowa City Police are executing its duties on a day-to-day basis. While the CPRB is provided with some information already to assist with such larger oversight, some additional information would be useful to help protect against intentional or unintentional bias or disproportionate outcomes. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration None. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change None. 11 VIII. PROPOSED CHANGE 8 — CPRB SHOULD HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO HIRE AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR TO REVIEW THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S INTERNAL INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES. a. Proposed Change 8 — The CPRB is requesting that it be given authority and sufficient funding to hire an independent auditor to review ICPD's internal investigation procedures. b. Reasoning for the proposal Since ultimate authority for investigatory outcomes is held by the ICPD, it is vital to ensure that its procedures are unbiased, complete, and follow best practices. A regularly scheduled independent audit (every 1-2 years at the CPRB's discretion) would provide an opportunity for the Police Department to receive consistent review and recommendations for improvement that can be implemented in the interims. In addition, the CPRB should have the authority to recommend an audit if they believe that there is an immediate procedural issue that cannot be reconciled through other means. None. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change Other cities that have used independent auditors to review police procedures include but are not limited to: o Charleston SC (https://www.charieston-sc.gov/2250/Racial-Bias-Audit), o North Charleston SC, (Yee, 2020)x°' (Dennis and Yee, 2020)X°" , o Salem NH, (Audit of Community Policing Policies, Procedures and Programs, 2020)Xv"' (Police Audit I Salem NH, 2020)X'X, o Albany NY (https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Albany-hiring-firm-to-study- racial-bias-in-police-15509749.php), o Roswell (https://www.ajc.com/news/local/roswell-pay-77k-for-external-audit-police- department/EfCl6kzsYigRhzhIOBUYSK/ ), o Vallejo CA (https://www.nbcbavarea.com/news/local/north-bay/vaIIei'o-�o-release- third-party-aud it-of-police-dept-next-week/2308338/), o Eugene OR (https://www.eugene-or.gov/DocumentCenter/View/18785/Civilian=Review- Board-Policies), o Los Angeles CA, (http://www.lapdonline.org/inside the lapd/content basic view/8772) IX. PROPOSED CHANGE 9 — CPRB SHALL BE PROVIDED CITY FUNDING TO PROMOTE AWARENESS OF THE CPRB AND ENHANCE ACCESSIBILITY TO ITS SERVICES. a. Proposed change 9 — The CPRB is requesting that it have sufficient funds provided to advertise its existence, services, and make its services more accessible to the public. This would include, but not be limited to, funds for 12 outreach activities, meetings being streamed live, and enhancements to the website to make them more user friendly. b. Reasoning for the proposal After the George Floyd incident and the protests, attendance at our meetings and public forum was high, and a common report from feedback from the community was that they did not previously know of the CPRE. It was also obvious many in the community who were informed enough to attend the CPRB forum did not have a clear understanding of the purpose or function of the CPRE. Presently, there is little effort or funding provided to inform the community about the CPRE. To be effective, the CPRB needs to improve public engagement. The CPRB proposes the following specifically: 1. Making the CPRB website more user friendly; 2. Having all CPRB meetings live streamed on the City of Iowa City Facebook page (and posted about on that page in advance), 3. Holding community forums twice a year, 4. Having basic CPRB contact info printed on the back of every police officer card. (The suggestion was offered during our 2020 Community Forum by one of the longtime community members who just recently learned of the CPRB); 5. Having funds to host other awareness activities from time to time; and, 6. Having information about the CPRB services provided to every community member at the time they are issued a citation or at the time they are released from custody in the event they were arrested. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration None. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change The Eugene, OR CRB Code states that its board is to "conduct outreach activities and disseminate information throughout the community" and "seek open, candid and non -defensive dialogue -with stakeholders to both educate and learn from different communities in Eugene." (EUGENE CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARD POLICIES and PROCEDURES MANUAL) - X. PROPOSED CHANGE 10 —COMPLAINANTS SHALL HAVE ACCESS TO A LAWYER AND SOCIAL WORKER/MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WITH TRAUMA AWARENESS TRAINING FOR PURPOSES OF ASSISTING COMPLAINANTS THROUGHOUT THE COMPLAINT PROCESS. a. Proposed Change 10— The CPRB proposes that community members have access to both legal counsel and a social worker or other medical professional with trauma awareness training for purposes of facilitating and assisting complainants with a CPRB complaint throughout the complaint process. 13 b. Reasoning for the proposal It is reasoned that community members file complaints against officers because they believe they have been wronged. It is therefore important to acknowledge that the experience may have been traumatic for a complainant. Indeed, some community members have reported the trauma from the underlying event, and a separate trauma from fear associated with reporting the complaint, including fear of retaliation, fear of sharing a personal traumatic event, and fear of their claims being judged as either validated or invalidated. Such trauma deserves a trained professional to help a complainant at the outset of the complaint process and through to its resolution. It should be recognized that in CPRB complaints, there is an inherent imbalance of power due to the complaints being against an officer who has several advantages including access to reports and information, familiarity with procedures and personnel, and levels of tort immunity. While the CPRB tries to be accessible to all members of the community and strives to make the complaint process as straight forward as possible, the process can be daunting and pose certain challenges. This may be especially true for marginalized populations such as community members that are undocumented, unhoused, sex workers, drug users, and/or formerly incarcerated. Put simply, some members of the community simply do not have the capacity or resources to file an effective complaint. Having access to legal counsel would greatly assist community members with the filing of complaints. They will be informed of legalities, have clarity of the process, as well as other assistance that would greatly enhance the complaint process. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration At least some members of the CPRB are of the opinion that If Iowa City provides the complainant services such as use of a lawyer and/or social worker/medical professional with trauma awareness training, that the mere act of providing such services would be an admission of culpability by the City on behalf of the ICPD for its alleged conduct in any complaint. Further, such services could be laying a foundation for a complainant to initiate legal actions against an officer and/or Iowa City regardless of the actual merits of a complaint. The majority of the CPRB believe that Iowa City can provide the legal and medical services for a complainant without acknowledging culpability. To the contrary, legal counsel and trauma/medical professionals for the complaint process in some instances might facilitate a more thorough and - meaningful resolution of an incident for a complainant — regardless of the complaint being sustained or even filed. Having assistance to understand the events and processes might reduce the need for additional litigation and draw a sense of closure and completeness to the incident in which the community member perceived to be harmed. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change Evidence suggests that individual -level secondary prevention interventions aimed at bolstering resilience and reducing the likelihood of adverse effects following trauma are effective." (authors & Magruder)." "Trauma affects how victims see themselves" and "these beliefs affect how victims respond to services and the criminal justice system and underscore the importance of task forces taking a 14 trauma -informed approach, not only through service delivery but also throughout the investigation" process. (Human Trafficking Task Force e-Guide)xx" "Public health impact of trauma exposure is staggering for both communities and individuals" and that "the social environment can stimulate recovery after trauma." (authors & Magruder). "The perception of social support has been found to be an influential factor for the effects of traumatic events on the individual as well as the community" (Kleber, 2019)xx," • "Many suggest that a true public health approach requires mental health integration beyond primary care to include sectors such as education, justice, welfare, and labor through partnerships with government, non-governmental organizations, and the faith -based community." (Collins, Insel, Chockalingam, Daar, & Maddox, 2013; Ko et al., 2008) Providing a professional trained in trauma awareness to complainants would be a step towards such integration. Urbana, Illinois Community Police Review Board has a designated representative to provide mental support and other relevant assistance with the complaint process for the complainant. (https://www.city.urbana.il.us/ Agendas - Packets - Minutes/Agendas 2006/07-10- 2006/Citizen Police Review Ordinance Draft.gdf). See, also: Columbia, Missouri (https://www.como.gov/law/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/04/CPRB-Brochure.pdf), Dallas, Texas (http://mothersagainstpolicebrutality.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Task-Force- Report-on-Citizen-Review-of-Police-l5-February-2017-FI NAL. pdf). XI. PROPOSED CHANGE 11— EXPAND THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE CPRB FROM FIVE TO SEVEN OR NINE MEMBERS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MINORITY REPRESENTATION AND REPRESENTATION FROM A CURRENT OR FORMER MEMBER OF THE POLICE OR POLICE POLICY EXPERT. a. Proposed Change 11— The CPRB requests to change its membership from the current five -member -board to having seven or nine members. In selecting from candidates for the CPRB, an emphasis shall be placed on persons being of a minority race, requiring at least four of the members shall be from a minority race. Further, it should be made mandatory that at least one member be a current or former member of the police force or otherwise considered an expert in police procedures and/or police policies. b. Reasoning for the proposal Having additional members increases the diverse opinions of the board, will disperse the workload, and allow for larger subgroups to meet without constituting a quorum and triggering the public meeting requirement. As is, the current members are volunteering time to review individual complaints. This almost always entails watching hours of video footage, possible additional investigations, procedural discussions, voting, report writing, and review of report before its filing. Members also review various police ordinances and policies, as well as quarterly reports from the police. Besides this, members are tasked with writing public forum reports, and, from time to time, having various sub -committees for purposes of completing tasks. Presently, subcommittees can only be comprised of two members as more would entail a forum requiring a public meeting. There is a large 15 time and workload commitment required of the CPRB members. Proposed change outlined in this document would only increase, in some cases dramatically, the amount of work being carried by a five - member volunteer board. With additional members, the individual burden would be lessened. With regards to the composition being favorable to minority groups, this stems from an agenda to help achieve racial equality in the justice system. Objective data points to clear racial disparities in policing on a statewide and national level. Having a minimum composition of members from minority groups for overseeing the police would help protect minority interests in the carrying out of CPRB reviews. The Board feels there should be no less than three members who are of a minority race if the CPRB is increased to seven members, and no less than four members who are of a minority race if the CPRB is increased to nine members for its composition. To help ensure fairness and equity in the review process, the recommendation that one member of the board have a police background shall become mandatory. It is important that, when reviewing police conduct, someone with police experience and training be consulted. If there were concerns over objectivity, perhaps the residency requirements for this member should be waived, and/or a police procedure expert be retained for the CPRB to consult with regularly during the closed sessions. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration None. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change None. XII. PROPOSED CHANGE 12 - CPRB complaints should be permitted whether filed anonymously or through third persons so long as there is sufficient knowledge Of the underlying circumstances.; a. Proposed Change 12 — The CPRB is requesting that complaints be permitted whether they are filed anonymously or through third persons without naming individual complainant, so long a sufficient personal knowledge of the underlying circumstances is alleged in the complaint. b. Reasoning for the proposal The purpose of the CPRB is to provide effective community oversight of the ICPD. If information can be brought forward to help identify instances of misconduct without the need of the person who was perceived to have been harmed being personally named, the CPRB procedures should allow it, provided there are sufficient safeguards against unfounded complaints being filed. Allowing for anonymity may well remove a very real obstacle preventing community members from filing complaints: fear of public humiliation and/or retaliation by those implicated in the complaint. This could especially be true with several marginalized members of the community including those that are undocumented, unhoused, sex workers, drug users, and/or those formerly incarcerated. These members statistically have a higher number of interactions with the police and are more likely to be 16 subject to police misconduct. This change would provide some assurances that they can file a complaint without retaliation. Perception of fairness and equity is also important for the community members to have faith in the CPRB system. Currently, for a CPRB complaint, the identity of the complainant is disclosed while the identity of an officer implicated in a complaint of misconduct is not. This seems inequitable, especially considering the inherent power imbalance in filing a complaint against a police officer, and can be resolved with the option to file anonymously. To protect against unfettered complaints being filed against officers, a threshold requirement for the complainant to allege sufficient facts to demonstrate the complainant has personal knowledge of the underlying circumstances alleged in a complaint should be put in place. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration Some members of the CPRB are fearful that allowing a complaint without the identity of the complainant and their respective attestation to the truth of the statements (the current system), will open the floodgates for frivolous complaints. Those minority members believe the CPRB complaint process could be used to harass officers and deter them from interacting with certain members of the community that might try to use the process to retaliate against officers themselves. The majority of the CPRB believes that the safeguard of requiring demonstration of personal knowledge of the events will check potential abuses. Another procedural safeguard that could be put in place would be to give the CPRB authority to summarily dismiss a complaint if there is not enough credible information in the filing of an anonymous complaint. Further, until abuses of frivolous complaint filing occurs with regularity, the majority of the CPRB believes the benefits for incorporating this change outweigh the costs. Additional concerns have been raised about the procedural issues anonymous complaints will raise. For example, how will the Chief of Police/City Manager and the CPRB contact the complainant to inform them of the steps in the process? It is understood that as part of the Chief's obligations under the current ordinance, Chief must interview a complainant; something that cannot be done if tl e� complainant is anonymous. The majority members believe that there could be procedural changes such as a liaison contact or some requirement for contact information to be disclosed to the CPRB but remain confidential to the police and public. Currently, the officer's identity is kept confidential in the complaints. Ther«: may be solutions akin to the confidentiality measures for the officers that could be extended to a complainant that would allow for anonymous complaints to be filed without procedural technicalities that would make them impossible. d. Additional sources relevant to consideration of the proposed change The National Association For Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) supports anonymous reporting and complaints of police misconduct may be filed anonymously in: Cleveland, OH's"' — Anonymous reporting in Seattle, WAxxv Anonymous reporting in Wolcott, CTxx"" 17 XIII. PROPOSED CHANGE 13 — THE STATUTE OF LIMITATION FOR FILING A CPRB COMPLAINT SHALL BE LENGTHENED FROM 90 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE ALLEGED MISCONDUCT, TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE ALLEGED MISCONDUCT. a. Proposed Change 13 — The CPRB requests that the timeline for allowing a member of the community to file a complaint with the CPRB be extended from 90 days after the underlying incident of misconduct alleged in the complaint to 180 days from the same. b. Reason for the proposal When a community member has had an interaction with an officer that may warrant the filing of a complaint, there needs to be time to process the occurrence, and perhaps handle other ways the encounter impacted them including loss of job, criminal charges, and trauma. The CPRB believes 180 days from the date of the alleged incident better accommodates complainants with those circumstances. The CPRB further believes that such an extension still preserves the recency of the events so that memories may be recalled and evidence gathered. c. Additional comments/concerns for consideration Some members of the CPRB support having no statute of limitations. In support they site the trauma and fear that may be associated with being a victim of police misconduct that world take perhaps several years or more to bring forward. The majority of the CPRB members, however, believe the 180 days is a better balance between allowing sufficient time to file a complaint and tkse ability to investigate a complaint with recent evidence. d. Additional sources relevant to the proposed change For comparison, the deadline to file a complaint to either the Iowa Civil Rights CoMmission or the Iowa City Office of Equity and Human Rights is 300 days. 'i ' The Daytona Beach News -Journal. 2020. Daytona Beach Close To Launching Citizens' Police Review Board. [online] Available at: <https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2020/09/24/daytona-beach-to-choose- citizens-police-review-board-members/5850368002/> [Accessed 28 October 2020]. ii 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/Pages/InternalAffairs-CitizenReviewBoard.aspx> [Accessed 28 October 2020]. "' 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/Pages/InternalAffairs-CitizenReviewBoard.aspx> [Accessed 28 October 2020]. '" 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/Pages/InternalAffairs-CitizenReviewBoard.aspx> [Accessed 28 October 20201. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/Pages/InternalAffairs-CitizenReviewBoard.aspx> [Accessed 28 October 2020]. 18 v'Walker, Samuel, Carol Archbold and Leigh Herbst, Mediating Citizen Complaints Against Police Officers: A Guide for Police and Community Leaders Web Version (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, (2002) "" Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board. 1997. Judgments. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Law Enforcement Review Board. I"' Walker, S. 2001. Police Accountability: The Role of Citizen Oversight. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth ix Nicholl, C. 2000a. Community Policing, Community Justice, and Restorative Justice. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. I Walker, Samuel, Carol Archbold and Leigh Herbst, Mediating Citizen Complaints Against Police Officers: A Guide for Police and Community Leaders Web Version (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, (2002) xi MSEI. 2020. About Us - MSEI. [online] Available at: <https://mediateiowa.org/about-us/> [Accessed 6 November 2020]. x" Cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://cao- 94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/oakO62931.pdf> [Accessed 1 November 2020]. x"' Walker, S., Alpert, G. and Kenney, D., 2020. Early Warning Systems: Responding To The Problem Police Officer. [online] Ncjrs.gov. Available at: <https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffilesl/nij/188565.pdf> [Accessed 6 November 2020]. xiv Coping with Police Misconduct in West Virginia: Citizen Involvement in Officer Disciplinary Procedures—A Review of Existing Law, Legislative Initiatives, and Disciplinary Models. (n.d.). Retrieved September12, 2020, from https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/wvolO4/main.htm xv Usccr.gov. 2020. Chapter 4: Alternative Models For Police Disciplinary Procedures. [online] Available at: <https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/wv0104/ch4.htm> [Accessed 6 November 2020]. x"'Yee, G., 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.postandcourier.com/news/north-charieston-officials-cast-first- votes-toward-racial-bias-audit-of-poli ce-department/a rticle_682b6916-01d b-lleb-b325-d3855f59169e. html> [Accessed 31 October 2020]. xv" Dennis, R. and Yee, G., 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.postandcourier.com/news/north-charleston- awa rds-contract-for-long-awa ited-race-bias-audit-of-police-force/article_9841779e-09a6-lleb-b038- cb026ceed72b.html> [Accessed 2 November 20201. x"'' Cityofsalem.net. 2020. Audit Of Community Policing Policies, Procedures And Programs. [online] Available at: <https://www.cityofsalem.net/Pages/police-audit.aspx> [Accessed 1 November 20201. xix Townofsalemnh.org. 2020. Police Audit ( Salem NH. [online] Available at: <https://www.townofsalemnh.org/home/news/police-audit> [Accessed 30 October 2020]. xx Coping with Police Misconduct in West Virginia: Citizen Involvement in Officer Disciplinary Procedures—A Review of Existing Law, Legislative Initiatives, and Disciplinary Models. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/wvOI04/main.htm xxi Authors, A., & Magruder, K. (n.d.). Trauma is a public health issue. Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://www.tandfonli ne.com/doi/full/10.1080/20008198.2017.1375338 19 xx" Human Trafficking Task Force e -Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved November 04, 2020, from https://www.ovcttac.gov/taskforcegu ide/egu id a/4-su pporting-victims/41-using-a-trauma-informed-approach/ xx"i Kleber, R. (2019, June 06). Trauma and Public Mental Health: A Focused Review. Retrieved October 13, 2020, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00451/full """ FAQs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2020, from https://www.nacole.org/fags?fbclid=IwAR2fuO7OU7ixwrOkzl risKZkhbx8j BIq_iOG06epR1wOz8RuQ_1TUvleo9l xxv City of Cleveland Office of Professional Standards Civilian Police Review Board. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from http://www.clevelandohio.gov/sites/default/files/ops_publications/OPS_BrochureEnglish.pdf xxvl Anonymous Complaint Form. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://www.seattle.gov/opa/complaints/file-a-com plaint/anonymous-complaint-form xxvi' Civilian Police Review Board. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://www.wolcottpd.org/about/civilian-police-review-board/ " Iowa Civil Rights Commission 2020. [online] Available at: (hLVs://www.ic og v.or city-govemment/departments-and- Iowa City Office of Equity and Human Rights divisions/equity-and-human-rightsl; 2020. [online] Available at: (httys://icrc.iowa.gov/file-comRIaint). 20 Item Number: 4.d. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Description Economic Development Committee: July 13 EDC July 13, 2020 APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE JULY 13, 2020 VIA ZOOM PLATFORM, 4:00 P.M. Members Present: Susan Mims, Mazahir Salih, John Thomas Staff Present: Wendy Ford, Geoff Fruin, Eleanor Dilkes, Sarah Hektoen, Ashley Monroe, Rachel Kilburg Others Present: Michael Sather, Brandon Smith, Josh Sherburne (Tailwinds), Kevin Monson Andrew Ballard (Neumann Monson) RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: CALL MEETING TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 4:04 P.M. Chairperson Mims welcomed everyone and asked those present to introduce themselves. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 27, 2020, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING: Minutes from the January meeting were reviewed. Salih moved to approve the minutes from the January 27, 2020, meeting as presented. Thomas seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0. Discuss Tailwinds' proposal for historic preservation and redevelopment proiect on south side of 100 block of East Colleae Street: Ford stated that it was last August that Tailwinds first came to the Economic Development Committee with a $65 million project, for which they planned to request $9 million in TIF from the City. At that time, Tailwinds was asked to refine their concept and to submit information supporting the project costs and the projected financials in order to determine a financial gap on the project. Ford noted since then, enough had changed from the initial concept that staff felt it would be a good to have Tailwinds explain the changes because, what had been a $65 million project with a $9 million TIF had changed to $61 million project with a $13.5 million TIF. Brandon Smith with Tailwinds then joined the conversation to further clarify Tailwinds' proposal. He began by giving Members an overview of the project, noting its location on the 100 block of College Street downtown. He described the project, including the residential, commercial and retail, noting current and proposed tenants. He continued, further explaining where the changes came from and how they arrived at these numbers. Speaking to the goals of the original project, Smith noted the various aspects and what is contemplated, such as achieving landmark status for the ped mall facing buildings. Speaking to LEED platinum certification, Smith noted that they have been looking into achieving this in their project. The drop in overall project costs was attributed mainly to going to a steel structure versus concrete. The increase in space for Riverside Theatre also created some changes to the projected revenue stream. EDC July 13, 2020 APPROVED Speaking directly to the TIF request and the public benefit of this ask, Smith noted the LEED platinum certification as a big positive. The project will include solar, a rain water management system, a green roof, electric vehicle charging stations, and an entryway garden area, to name a few. The Riverside Theatre portion of the project was addressed next, with Smith stating that the theatre's Board of Directors will be considering Tailwinds' letter of intent at their next meeting. Riverside is expected to occupy the entire third floor of the Crescent building, as well as the entire second floor, minus a storage area. The main floor will house the entryway, along with a ticket booth and kiosk. Smith described the historic preservation piece next, stating that the Historic Preservation Commission met in April to review the project. He added that three of the buildings were voted through without any problems, which allows them to move forward in this area. The affordable housing aspect was also addressed, with Smith stating that they do want to discuss this further with the Committee. He asked if there was a preference on providing the affordable with in certain portions of on-site, off-site and/or fee in lieu. Smith then spoke to the timeline of this project, noting that they have been working on it for several years now. The first building was purchased in 2017, and since then they have been purchasing the remaining parcels. Looking ahead, Smith stated that they hope to get the financial review done by the City's third -party consultant and then move forward with a development agreement with the City, possibly having the TIF finalized in September. Wrapping up his presentation, Smith noted the local tenants that want to be a part of this project, as well as local contractors. He stated that their bank is also excited about the project, which helps the team keep the momentum going on this. Mims stated that she may have a conflict of interest regarding this and that she would need to discuss this with the City Attorney before contributing anything further, especially at the Council level. She asked the other Members to go ahead with any questions or comments. Thomas stated that his question would be in regards to the duration of the TIF. Ford responded, stating that she believes it would be between 17 and 20 years. Fruin also spoke to this, stating that they will have a more precise number after the analysis is performed. He did agree that it would be a longer time period than what they typically see. Thomas continued, stating that the project has gotten better in his view and that he believes the Riverside Theatre portion will be very valuable to the downtown. He also spoke to the LEED certification and how they might want to look at that when considering the financial picture. Regarding affordable housing, Thomas said that he would be in favor of exploring opportunities in the close -in neighborhoods. The Tailwinds team responded to Thomas' comments regarding LEED certification, noting that they have considered different levels. It was stated that this would be the first project in Iowa with LEED platinum for multi -family housing. Salih then spoke to the project, noting that it has many good aspects to it. She asked if the team could further speak to the affordable housing piece. She also asked why the increase in TIF at this point, adding that she would need to have more information before making a decision. Fruin stated that the TIF policies adopted in late 2017 require a minimum of 15% affordable housing, for tenants at or below 60% of the area median income. He further explained what the policy entails and gave Members an example of a project —Augusta Place — where a combination of off-site and on-site affordable housing was accomplished. He asked Members for their thoughts on this. Mims asked if they would be needing a vote from the Committee today, and Fruin noted that a general consensus of the Members is all that is needed at this point, along with any concerns/comments they may have. Mims weighed then stated that she would be interested in looking at what the real differences are between the gold and platinum LEED certification and what it really means regarding features of the building. Regarding the affordable housing piece, she said would like to see a mixture of on-site, off-site, and potentially fee in lieu of. Thomas spoke to the affordable housing piece, as well, stating that he would like to see the real numbers before making any decisions. Salih noted that increasing the number of units downtown is one of their goals. She stated that she would like to know what the options are for EDC July 13, 2020 APPROVED housing and what the developer can offer. The discussion turned back to the $4 million increase in the TIF and how the LEED certification is affecting this number. Fruin further explained to Members how the certification works, and the Tailwinds team added further information regarding the point system. Smith then touched on Members' questions and concerns, trying to clarify further the increase in the TIF ask. Members stated that overall they are supportive of the project, but that further clarification of various aspects is needed. Fruin stated that staff will work with Tailwinds to get the information the Members have requested. He added that staff would like to go ahead and start the financial review with the consultant, and then begin to work with the City Attorney's office on the needed urban renewal amendments. Committee Members agreed that staff should move ahead with these steps at this point. STAFF REPORT: Ford noted that the urban renewal amendments are currently underway for the three industrial areas targeted for energy improvement projects. She also mentioned that they are getting ready to accept applications for the first-ever Climate Action at Work Awards. Winners will be announced at the virtual climate festival in September. COMMITTEE TIME: None. OTHER BUSINESS: None. ADJOURNMENT: Thomas moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:10 P.M. Salih seconded the motion. Motion carried 3-0. EDC July 13, 2020 APPROVED Council Economic Development Committee ATTENDANCE RECORD 2020 Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused TERM NAME EXP. 4 w 0 0 Susan Mims 01/02/22 X X Mazahir Salih 01/02/22 X X John Thomas 01/02/22 X X Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused Item Number: 4.e. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Description Parks & Recreation Commission: November 18 �.® CITY OF IOWA CITY -T4 MEMORANDUM Date: January 14, 2021 To: Mayor and City Council From: Juli Seydell Johnson, Iowa City Parks & Recreation Director Re: Recommendation from Parks & Recreation Commission At their November 18, 2020 meeting the Parks & Recreation Commission made the following recommendation to the City Council: Moved by Serenda, seconded by Russell, to approve the Parks and Recreation fees and charges for FY22 as proposed. Motion passed 8-0. Additional action (check one) X No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action S:RECform.doc IOWA CITY PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION APPROVED MINUTES NOVEMBER 18, 2020 ZOOM PLATFORM Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) FcoAn electronic meeting was held because a meeting in person was impossible or impractical due to cerns for the health and safety of council members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19. Members Present: Stephen Bird, Alex Hachtman, Boniface Penandjo, Ben Russell, Melissa Serenda, Angie Smith, Jamie Venzon, Brianna Wills Members Absent: None Staff Present: Tyler Baird, Brad Barker, Juli Seydell Johnson Others Present: Tea Ho CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Bird called the meeting to order at 5 p.m. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): Moved b_V Serenda seconded by Russellto approve the Parks and Recreation fees and charges for FY22 as Proposed. Motion passed 8-0. OTHER FORMAL ACTION: Moved by Hachtman, seconded by Serenda to approve the September 9 2020 minutes as written Motion passed 8-0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION: Tea Ho, Iowa City Girls Softball (ICGS) Commissioner, was present via Zoom. Ho was inquiring about the status of the ICGS storage agreement with the City. She had heard that there was a request from the City to make some changes to their existing storage arrangements including the sharing of space. Barker explained that he thought there may have been some confusion regarding this request. Barker will be meeting with Todd Kruse, President of ICGS to discuss in more detail. He shared with Ho that what is being proposed is a trading of spaces which will provide more storage space for ICGS by transferring equipment and supplies to a larger site. Ho was pleased with this plan and thanked the staff for their willingness to assist in this matter. Bird asked for clarification regarding the agreement between Girls Softball and the City. Ho explained that approximately 45 years ago, a group outside of the City organization created the Iowa City Girls Softball program. Funds were raised by the group to help fund the construction of the fields that are now located at Napoleon Park. She stated that it is a unique agreement and that should would be happy to share that agreement with commission members. Barker noted that the most recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was in 2011 and that staff would like to review this agreement with ICGS in hopes of making it a more clearly outlined document. He added that the department has similar agreements with other sports affiliates such as Iowa City Boys Baseball and Kickers, etc. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION November 18, 2020 Page 2 of 5 COVID-19 UPDATE — JULI SEYDELL JOHNSON Seydell Johnson presented the commission with a summary of the COVID-19 effects on the department budget. She explained that approximately 20% of the department's budget comes from revenue. She shared that the department's overall revenue is expected to be 30% of a typical year. During the pandemic the sources of revenue that remain include dog park admission and annual tag fees, athletic field rentals, farmers market vendor fees, summer camp registration fees, and, until today, lap swim lane reservation fees. She explained that, although, not an ideal situation, with most of the part time staff furloughed and the cancellation of most of the recreation programs, the department expenses have decreased which has offset drop in revenue. In response to less programming, the departments Program Supervisors have been helping in other areas of the City where needed. For example, they have been assisting the Public Works Department with leaf pickup around the City as well as painting inside the Recreation Center. Regarding department operations throughout the ongoing pandemic, Seydell Johnson shared the more recent changes since the Governor released a new proclamation on Monday, November 16. With this most recent order, the department has shut -down the pool for lap swimming through December 10 and all the departments facilities are closed to the public. Reservations that were scheduled at The Park Lodge at Terry Trueblood Recreation Area have been cancelled by the renters due to the limits on group sizes allowed in -doors. Seydell Johnson announced that starting Monday, November 23, the lower level lobby and gymnasium of the Recreation Center will be utilized by the Shelter House as a warming center for those in need. The Cares Act is funding this program which will be run solely by Shelter House staff. To avoid cross contamination during this program, City staff will be limited to the upper level of the Rec Center, while Shelter House staff and participants will only have access to the lobby and gym as mentioned. Wills asked if the shelter house had been working with the Agape Cafe to provide food. Agape serves free breakfast to those experiencing homelessness and/or food insecurity. Seydell Johnson said that the Shelter House staff have planned for meal delivery for the participants. Bird asked what went into the decision to cancel lap swimming since it was not specifically addressed in the proclamation. Seydell Johnson explained that due to the rising COVID numbers and the fact that staff levels have been diminishing as well due to the pandemic, there are not enough resources to cover lifeguarding needs etc. during lap swim. FY 22 PARKS & RECREEATION FEE SCHEDULE — BRAD BARKER Barker directed Commission to the FY22 department fees and charges spreadsheet in their packets. He said that it looks the same as the FY21 fees and charges as many of those fees were not implemented this year due to most programs being cancelled. In FY21 the department proposed a 2 to 4 percent increase in fees across the board. Staff is proposing to stick with those numbers for FY22. Moved by Serenda, seconded by Russell to approve the Parks and Recreation fees and charges for FY22 as proposed. Motion passed 8-0. REPORTS ON ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF: Parks & Recreation Director — Juli Seydell Johnson • Seydell Johnson announced that five new playgrounds have either opened or are very near completion. Those open include Willow Creek Park, Villa Park and City Park. Wetherby will open in a couple of days and Scott Park is also very near completion. In addition. Napoleon has PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION November 18, 2020 Page 3 of 5 some new equipment and a bocce court has been installed at College Green Park. The department will start promoting these parks on social media very soon. Seydell Johnson announced that the department is partnering with FilmScene to offer outdoor movies in Chauncey Swan Park next year. City and FilmScene staff will meet on-site soon to continue planning. They hope to offer movies on Wednesday evenings following the farmers market as well as other times throughout the season. Staff have gone through budget talks with the finance committee. Budgets are looking pretty good and staff is doing their best to move forward and feel confident in doing so. Recreation Division Superintendent — Brad Barker: • Barker announced that on October 15 the department launched the "Root for Trees" program. Parks and Recreation staff worked together to put this program into action. Information from the website (www.ic og v_or root4trees) is as follows: The City is working to grow and expand our tree canopy coverage and Tree diversity. You can help by participating in the Root for Trees program. Fill out an application to receive a tree voucher and save 50% off on the purchase of a tree at participating Iowa City locations. Trees obtained through the Root for Trees voucher program must be planted on the purchasers private property. For residents wishing to plant their tree in the right-of-way, a no -fee permit will require City approval before purchasing the tree. Barker noted that there is also a voucher available to income eligible individuals that will reimburse 90% of the cost of the tree to the home -owner. This program is an initiative to provide an increased tree canopy in Iowa City. The department has distributed 350 vouchers to date and is scheduled to run through May 15, or until vouchers have all been distributed. Trees may be purchased from Earl May or Iowa City Landscaping who have partnered with the City in this endeavor. It is the desire of staff to offer this program annually. Barker announced that the department is now offering meeting room space for small group gatherings at Mercer, The Park Lodge at Terry Trueblood, and the Ashton House at a reduced rate of $10 per hour. This is designed to provide space for groups of no more than 10 people and masks will be required. There have been a lot of groups meeting in the parks over the last several months and the department wanted to provide a space for people to use during the winter months as well. The user will be required to set up and clean up the space. Recreation staff will be managing the program. These are limited to 90 minutes and only available for non-commercial purposes. Barker shared that the department ran a free contactless Halloween drive-in movie event on October 30 at Mercer Park. Reservations were required and all the spots filled. All recreation staff were present during this event. Surveys returned after the event were very positive. Staff is hoping to offer more of these events in the future. It was a real boost to the staff moral to be able to offer a program to the community. Barker said that the staff continues to look at offering virtual programs and is currently working with Green Iowa AmeriCorps volunteers to create these options. Bird asked if the department had considered partnering with other organizations in the community that may be have a broader reach for more participation in programs. Barker again noted that the department will be working with Green Iowa and is open to working with other organizations. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION November 18, 2020 Page 4 of 5 Wills commented that she is very pleased to hear of this partnership with FilmScene. She loves that the City is partnering with local nonprofits and supporting local businesses as this is a win-win for all involved. Serenda asked if it is feasible within the tree program to offer some education on how to take care of a newly planted tree. Barker noted that this information is included on the website. Parks Division Superintendent — Tyler Baird: • Baird noted that staff has been working on snow removal plans. Staff will plow additional trail areas this winter to provide more outdoor exercise opportunities during COVID-19. • Parks staff, like Recreation staff, are also assisting Public Works with leaf pickup in the city. • Parks crews are still watering new trees and planting new where some were lost during the Derecho. • Baird talked about some new equipment that the department has acquired. One of those items includes a stump shredder. This equipment will allow staff to grind some stumps rather than having to hire a contractor to do so. CHAIRS REPORT — STEVE BIRD: Bird expressed his amazement by the number of improvements he has seen in the parks since being on the commission. He said that this is a testament that staff is doing great work. He encouraged staff to create some programming that would encourage families to get out and visit the parks, such as a scavenger hunt. Bird thanked staff for their hard work. COMMISSION TIME/SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Smith noted that November is Native American Heritage Month and asked if the city offers any programming in honor of that heritage. Seydell Johnson there have not been programs to date, however, the Mayor signed a National Native American Heritage Month Proclamation at a recent council meeting. Staff will incorporate into future programming. Smith also talked about how Black Friday will likely look a lot different this year. She suggested that this opens opportunities for new ideas and traditions that include outdoor activities. Serenda noted that there is an existing program called #OptOutside where the premise is go outdoors on Black Friday instead of shopping that perhaps we could possibly promote. Wills asked if there was an update on the deer management program. Seydell Johnson reported that the rifle season is done, however, is not certain about bow season. She will find out and report back to commission. Wills said she fully supports Smith's suggestion about planning alternative activities for Black Friday and suggested that perhaps developing a mini campaign around this would be a good idea. She would like to see more information get out to the community reminding them that a part of their tax dollars goes to park development and they should get outside and enjoy the parks whenever possible. ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Wills, seconded by Hachtman, to adiourn the meeting at 6:05 p.m. Motion passed 8-0 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION November 18, 2020 Page 5 of 5 CORRESPONDENCE ATTACHED: 1. Email from Paula Swygard dated November 9, 2020 re: Follow-up for Parks and Recreation Commission November 2020- Benton Hill Park 2. Memo from Chris Stephen dated August 24, 2020 and titled Tree Removal in the Scott Park Stormwater Basin. PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD NAMEall N o 0 0 0 0 0 �y 0 N N 0 N 0 N TERM N M v, o� o 00 EXPHtES 00 '" '"' Steve Bird 12/31/21 X X X X NM NM X NM NMX LQ X Alex 12/31/20 * * X X NM NM X NM NM X LQ X Hachtman Cara 12/31/19 X * Hamann Boniface 12/31/23 * X O O NM NM O NM NM O LQ X Penandjo Lemon a Ben Russell 12/31/21 X O/E X X NM NM X NM NM X LQ X Melissa 12/31/23 * X X X NM NM X NM NM X LQ X Serenda Angie Smith 12/31/21 X X X X NM NM X NM NM X LQ X Jamie 12/31/20 X X X X NM NM X NM NM X LQ X Venzon Brianna 12/31/22 X O/E X X NM NM X NM NM X LQ X Wills Blake Winter 12/31/22 X X X X NM NM O/E NM NM O/E LQ Joe Younker 12/31/19 X * KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting LQ = No meeting due to lack of quorum * = Not a member now Tammv Neumann From: Paula Swygard <pswygard@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, November 09, 2020 8:34 AM To: Tyler Baird; Juli Seydell Johnson; parksandrecreation; Mary Knudson Subject: Follow-up for Parks and Recreation Commission November 2020 -Benton Hill Park Hello - Just a reminder to please include this email and the attachment from October with the Parks and Rec Commission for their November meeting as the October meeting was a tour of parks. Thank you, Paula Swygard On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 4:47 PM Paula Swygard <pswyeard(@gmail.com> wrote: Juli and Tyler - please share this email and the attachment with the Parks and Recreation Commission for their meeting Wednesday, October 14, 2020. Members of the Parks and Recreation Commission, We are writing to provide additional information and clarity about the Miller Orchard Neighborhood Association's pursuit of the re-establishment of screening between Benton Hill Park and Prairie Hill Cohousing through the award of PIN grant funding to plant trees in Benton Hill Park. Benton Hill Park underwent major transformative changes during a Clearing and Grubbing Project in 2017. This project was a City project, and it changed the character of the park. It removed many trees and shrubs far into Benton Hill Park and included the vegetative screening along the border between the park property and the private property to the south. The Clearing and Grubbing Project coincided with two things: 1) The construction of homes by Prairie Hill (Iowa City) Cohousing. As part of their rezoning approval, they were required to put in a sidewalk along their property on the west side of Miller Avenue. 2) The need for the City to continue the sidewalk along Miller Ave from the Prairie Hill property along Benton Hill Park to the corner of Miller and Benton Street which would also meet the goal of improving connections to Benton Hill Park, a goal listed in the Parks Master Plan of 2017, p. 50 https://www8.iowa-city.ore/weblink/0/edoc/1762673/2017-10- 05%20-%20Parks%20Master%20PIan%20-%201owa%20City%201A%20-%20RDG%202016 487 00%20- %20reducedsize.pdf Installing the sidewalk necessitated both the removal of trees (many invasive) and the undergrowth along the eastern side of the park along with the regrading of the steep topography there. Because of the remaining hilly topography, a retaining wall was installed along the eastern border of the park with the sidewalk and prairie grass was planted between the interior sidewalk and the retaining wall. In the fall of 2019, Mary Knudson and I, in our role as Miller Orchard Neighborhood Association representatives, felt that re-establishing vegetative screening between the public and private properties would add greatly to the enjoyment of the park. Because the screening was removed during the City's Clearing and Grubbing Project, we focused on establishing the screening on park land. In November 2019, we reached out to members of Prairie Hill Cohousing with the assistance of Marcia Bollinger, Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator, to gather their input. Additionally, we met with park staff Zac Hall, then Assistant Park Director, Tyler Baird, and Marcia Bollinger along with interested members of Prairie Hill Cohousing in January 2020 to discuss the project. During the meeting, park staff confirmed there were no plans by the City to re-establish trees for screening between the public and private properties and we decided to proceed with an application for PIN grant funding. PIN grant funding is available from the City of Iowa City for use on neighborhood projects and funds are not typically awarded for projects on private properties. At the meeting, all in attendance also discussed tree choice and placement with park staff. Iowa City Landscaping provided the low bid and once funding was approved the trees were purchased. After another meeting with Tyler for final approval of placement, the trees were planted in October 2020 by neighbors who volunteered their time. Because it is easier to see the changes in the park that led to our concerns about the lack of screening, pictures and information are attached. We appreciate the time park staff has spent working with our neighborhood, especially Tyler Baird, and we hope to continue to work together on any future plans for Benton Hill Park. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions, Paula Swygard Mary Knudson (signed with permission) Miller Orchard Neighborhood Association Representatives x W Benton Hill Park 2017-2020 !0 Benton Hill Park — Entering park before the Clearing and Grubbing Project of 2017 Benton Hill Park — entering park 2020 Win Entrance to Benton Hill Park 2020 in late winter before trees gain their leaves and prairie grass grew .. � J r � �t..� _ yr s • � 'se �.. _ _ �:r _ ' �� .. • ,. �,. F 1 1 r �• a � n Y y ! �I. �± r. _ �� `� �� 1 ti' i1 � ,t � _ - r .� R - mow ' - . rv&l� Clearing and Grubbing Project 2017 information .'i Z4A (A I. i 7�;Au CIT. -,f 10WACITY A V N L 6 '. 0 C ' I Q Search this site Nome CmiawonPrqjtos COMPETITIVE QUOTATION - 2017 Clearing and Grubbing Project Description, This Project will Include clearing and/or clearing and grubbing at three (3)locations in Iowa City: Berwtoni-iRl Pak at the comer of W. Benton Street and Miller Avenue, Dover Street near Mercer Park and the Iowa Interstate Railroad, and Hebl Avenue SW near the Iowa City Landfill and Recycling Center. Project Schedule Information: Late Start Date: March B. 2017 Clearing Completion Date (at all sites): April 1. 2017 I'mall Completion and site restorations (at all sitesy April 22.2017 Working Days: 34 Liquidated Damages: $100 per day Date plans available: Wednesday, February 22,2017 Obtainfrown, Engineering Division City Of kwa city 410 IF Washington Street Iowa City, K 52240 319.356-5140 Cost No" Pm -bid Conference: None Wed Language ! V 1-b Project Status Awarded Awardee DeWng Construction Engineer's Estimate 843,838 Aid Deadline Friday. March 3.2017 - 3:00pm Council Award Date Friday, March 3, 2017 Document(s) 9 Bid tab Quick links City code City coura C4mnrm o, services, consulting bids Cemiruction proimt blds Fim lorry City Public LibraryJohopenings Online payments and servicesM�'^NM• Parking and tranwartation Parks and rerreativn Pm,Mts. Licenses. and Pkru Permit Inkmnawn ..-....-._........__...» Police - _.............. Public documents ~ Road construction Seeking assistance services _ ^� Senior Center saga wrrguaRe v W'1 COST ESTMAIM O4T6': 33N7 Ek At�*l76wr"Wft 3'NMfY ENOWEER'S ESTMATE Oa1611p coftvw 500 T-1,19 4M Eacara6n2 ITEM DESORPTION ESTIMATED QUANTITY UNITS UNIT PRICE EXTENDED AMOUNT UNIT PRICE EXTENDED AMOUNT UNIT PRICE MENDED 1. ClnrtnpwW SVubbft, SanlMNE P.&Sw 023 ACRE 106,W0.W 21.15000 68800.00 14.074.00 93000.00 AMOUNT 21.30000 I. Clow" Oo qft 136a 0.33 ACRE 45,OW.00 11850.00 44.500.00 KNEW 116000.00 36.280.50 8. 4• C ow.M Habl Av Sa 68.5 UNITS 43.50 3,08020 83:50 &M.W 1150 903.50 6. Pd ---M 8Wtrgand Sbdlira7m0. 9eiton Kill Pad 60a 023 ACRE 1,750.00 40260 10000.00 2,35000 17AWOO 34.7000 Tanpwwy S"ft and Stabias" D1WSitaal Sb 0.33 ACRE 1,000.00 33000 7,650.00 2ST4.W 17,000.00 5610.50 6. kWW.UW and Ramat Fiber Sock 230 LP 260 67090 600 1,36000 4.50 100500 7. Tb67e Co" 7 LS 650.00 SW00 285000 2.6009D f400.W IAM-00TOTAL43,67720 44,112.50 72, UJO Ek At�*l76wr"Wft 3'NMfY Benton Hill Park Clearing and Grubbing Project 2017 :: ippliqpRo� .F— j.''�1G►.r-r.V t-+ L m Kol 11 1 1. •a � a-�'r: `� •- a r r '� ' ^�� �' a •. .1 r Trees planted along southern border of Benton Hill Park with PIN Grant funding — October 2020 Southern border of Benton Hill Park — trees planted October 2020 to eventually provide vegetative screening between park and private property hill, TREE REMOVAL IN THE SCOTT PARK STORMWATER BASIN Date: 5-24-20 To: Iowa City Parks & Recreation Commission Cc: Iowa City Climate Action Commission From: Chris Stephan Removal of trees along the Ralston Creek streambeds within the confines of the Scott Park Detention Basin raises a number of questions that need to be addressed by the Iowa City Parks & Recreation Commission and the Iowa City Climate Action Commission. These thoughts are being submitted to support issues raised by John Barr during the Public Discussion segment of the Iowa City Parks & Recreation meeting on June 17, 2020. Although I'm not one of the ecologists or foresters mentioned at the second paragraph of the Public Discussion minutes, i am the professional engineer in Mr. Barr's Scott Park neighborhood. My comments are also intended to address some of the information that Jul! Seydell- Johnson, Parks & Recreation Director, presented to the Iowa City Climate Action Committee, at their meeting on July 6, 2020. The suggestion that removing trees from the creek bed for those areas within the Scott Park Stormwater Basin will reduce flooding, is poorly reasoned. As a registered professional civil engineer, I spent 30 years designing stormwater basins throughout the greater Iowa City area and have also designed numerous small dams for various other clients. I can state with some knowledge and authority that any trees along the creek and within the confines of the inundation area of the Scott Park Dam DO NOT contribute to flooding of property in and adjacent to the basin. The property lines adjacent to the stormwater basin were established so that the properties would be located outside the flooding limits. The Federal Emergency Flood Maps for this area are based on this information. Trees along the creek bed will slow down the velocity of stream flow, thereby contributing somewhat to functionality of the dam (reducing stream flow volumes below the dam). There is no way that trees located within the designated inundation area of the dam increase flood hazards or elevations. The downstream dam is the entity creating the flooding. We residents adjacent to the Scott Park detention basin witness this phenomenon each and every time a significant rainfall event occurs in the Iowa City area. One wonders how much additional carbon will be sequestered when an acre of trees is removed and an acre of prairie is established. The trees grow each year and at season's end drop their leaves and the underbrush goes dormant, so the carbon captured during the growing season is pretty much held In-place. We understand that one of the 'good practice' requirements for prairie health is periodic burning. This burning would suggest that some of the carbon that has been captured by the prairie grasses will be released into the atmosphere. Does the life cycle of an acre of prairie grass sequester more carbon than an acre of creek side timber and underbrush? I think this is a legitimate question to be asked. It was also mentioned that an effort will be made to replace each tree removed by planting two new trees. Has anyone counted and/or documented the number of trees that have been, or will be removed? Is there any provision for providing similar documentation for the trees being planted to replace the removed trees? Another result of the selective removal of trees along the creek bank in Scott Park will be the loss of screening that these trees provide for each of the residents living on either side of the creek. I have had several residents express to me that they specifically purchased their house along the creek bank because of the trees that are presently there. The trees provide very much of a 'rural'feel to the area. They help screen the lights and activities from opposite sides of the creek, which is a major reason for choosing to live where we do. In fact, one neighbor told me that she spent five years looking for a house on a lot specifically with the park and creek tree characteristics present in Scott Park, prior to purchasing her house on Scott Park Drive 0 One lesson I learned during my years working with local developers of mixed use developments, was to develop the higher density parcels first, so that the single family parcels could not suggest that they were unaware, or were not told, of the higher density development that was near their property. It would seem that Iowa City, through the removal of the trees along the creek in the Scott Park detention basin, is significantly changing the character of the area after homeowners adjacent to the area specifically chose their location based on the present condition of the creek. If the City wants to change the character along the creek, perhaps it should be done prior to the sale of any of the lots along the creek. Having watched the mowing operations in the Scott Park Stormwater Basin for the past 28 years, I have to question how much grass mowing effort is going to be reduced when trees on either side of Ralston Creek are removed and the area from which the trees have been removed is planted in prairie grasses. To my observation, the areas now occupied by trees on either side of the creek are not now being mowed and will not be mowed when planted to prairie. So how much mowing effort have we saved? I might also suggest that the periodic burning of the prairie areas will not be well received by the residents downwind from the burn. With the prairie areas being bounded on virtually all sides, it won't matter what direction the wind is blowing when the burn occurs. A number of neighbors have summarized the question at hand by asking, 'Do we want the area along the creek in the Scott Park detention basin to look like a golf course, or do we want it to remain a natural looking streambed?' Should any of the commission members, or City staff wish to contact me, my email address is: Chrisreml3@vah00.com Thank you for your time and consideration. '7T Item Number: 4.f. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Description Planning & Zoning Commission: December 17 (SEE RECOMMENDATION) CITY OF IOWA CITY ®�T MEMORANDUM Date: January 11, 2021 To: Mayor and City Council From: Anne Russett, Senior Planner Re: Recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Commission At its December 17, 2020 meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission have the following recommendations to the City Council: By a vote of 6-0 the Commission recommends approval of REZ20-0009, an application to designate 410-412 North Clinton Street as an Iowa City Local Landmark and rezone from High Density Multi -Family Residential (RM -44) to RM -44 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/RM- 44). By a vote of 6-0 the Commission recommends approval of REZ20-0011, a proposal to rezone approximately 1.9 acres of land located at 700, 710, 720, 730 South Dubuque Street and 220 Lafayette Street from Community Commercial (CC -2) zone and Intensive Commercial (CI -1) to Riverfront Crossings — Central Crossings (RFC -CX) zone subject to the following conditions: 1. Improvement of Ralston Creek and the adjacent pedestrian street in accordance with the Form -Based Development Standards for Riverfront Crossings as follows: a. Removal of invasive trees. b. Stream bank stabilization, including necessary grading and addition of rip -rap. c. Planting of trees in accordance with a plan approved by the City Forrester. d. Installation of a minimum 6 -foot wide sidewalk adjacent to the top of the stream bank. e. Installation of pedestrian -scale lighting. f. The above work shall be done according to a plan prepared by the Owner and approved by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of a building permit. 2. Prior to issuance of building permits, provision of a sanitary sewer easement, in a location to be determined by the City Engineer, and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney's Office. Additional action (check one) No further action needed Board or Commission is requesting Council direction X_ Agenda item will be prepared by staff for Council action MINUTES FINAL PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION DECEMBER 17, 2020 —7:00 PM ELECTRONIC FORMAL MEETING MEMBERS PRESENT: Susan Craig, Maggie Elliott, Mike Hensch, Phoebe Martin, Mark Nolte, Billie Townsend MEMBERS ABSENT: Mark Signs STAFF PRESENT: Ray Heitner, Sara Hektoen, Anne Russett OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Clark, Mike Welch, Michael Apt, Jeff Edberg Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) An electronic meeting was held because a meeting in person is impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of Commission members, staff and the public presented by COVID-19. RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL: By a vote of 6-0 the Commission recommends approval of REZ20-0009, an application to designate 410-412 North Clinton Street as an Iowa City Local Landmark and rezone from High Density Multi -Family Residential (RM -44) to RM -44 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/RM-44). By a vote of 6-0 the Commission recommends approval of REZ20-0011, a proposal to rezone approximately 1.9 acres of land located at 700, 710, 720, 730 South Dubuque Street and 220 Lafayette Street from Community Commercial (CC -2) zone and Intensive Commercial (CI -1) to Riverfront Crossings — Central Crossings (RFC -CX) zone subject to the following conditions: 1. Improvement of Ralston Creek and the adjacent pedestrian street in accordance with the Form -Based Development Standards for Riverfront Crossings as follows: a. Removal of invasive trees. b. Stream bank stabilization, including necessary grading and addition of rip -rap. c. Planting of trees in accordance with a plan approved by the City Forrester. d. Installation of a minimum 6 -foot wide sidewalk adjacent to the top of the stream bank. e. Installation of pedestrian -scale lighting. f. The above work shall be done according to a plan prepared by the Owner and approved by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of a building permit. 2. Prior to issuance of building permits, provision of a sanitary sewer easement, in a location to be determined by the City Engineer, and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney's Office. CALL TO ORDER: Hensch called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 2 of 10 PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA: None. CASE NO. REZ20-0009: Applicant: Jeff & Bryan Clark Location: 410-412 N. Clinton Street An application for a rezoning from High Density Multi -Family Residential (RM -44) to RM -44 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/RM-44) to designate the property as an Iowa City Historic Landmark. Russett reiterated this is a rezoning to designate this property as a local historic landmark. The property is located at 410-412 North Clinton Street, just north of Davenport Street. Russett showed an aerial view of the property and also the current zoning map. The current zoning is RM -44, which is a higher density multifamily residential zone, across from this property is University property, dormitories, and then most of the rest of the neighborhood is also multifamily. Russett explained there's a lot of background related to this local landmark designation request. The Commission previously reviewed this request in 2018 but that rezoning failed at Council so it's coming back now. This application is also associated with two other cases that the Commission saw earlier this year, a text amendment to PRM, which is a multifamily zoning, and the rezoning of 400 North Clinton and 112 East Davenport Street to PRM. Martin asked why Council rejected the request previously. Russett replied the property owner at the time was not voluntarily landmarking the property and opposed the rezoning. To allow it to pass it needed a supermajority vote at Council and they weren't able to achieve a supermajority. After the landmark designation failed at Council, staff reached back out to the property owner to see if there was any way that the City and the owner could come to an agreement on him supporting a local landmark designation and what they came to at the staff level was a rezoning of the property to the south to allow more development potential and in exchange the property owner would be willing to landmark 410-412 North Clinton Street. Russett stated in terms of the review criteria when reviewing rezonings staff looks for compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. This property is in the Central Planning District and there are goals in that Plan to preserve and protect historic buildings. The Historic Preservation Plan is also an element of the Comprehensive Plan and has goals related to identifying historic resources and adopting strategies to preserve historic neighborhoods. Staff finds this rezoning is consistent with all those goals. Russett next showed some building pictures noting the original structure and the newer addition from the 60s. She then showed a rendering of the historic structure with the proposed new development, which is being proposed to the south of the property. In terms of next steps, the application has already been reviewed by the Historic Preservation Commission, which recommended approval of the landmark and City Council has set a public Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 3 of 10 hearing on Tuesday, January 5, for the first reading. Staff recommends approval of REZ20-0009, an application to designate 410-412 North Clinton Street as an Iowa City Local Landmark and rezone from High Density Multi -Family Residential (RM -44) to RM -44 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/RM-44). Townsend noted in the background information on the first page it says something about the assuming acquisition of these properties and the property owner was open to exploring a scenario with which the City would grant extra development potential on those lots in exchange for the local landmark designation. Townsend asked what special exchanges they are looking for. Russett said that is related to the PRM text amendment which would allow additional flexibility in that zone. The PRM zoning district has bonus provisions and the text amendment was to add a bonus provision that allowed additional development, potential additional height, and parking reductions and in return they would preserve a historic structure. Russett also recalled Townsend may have voted against either the text amendment or the rezoning as she was concerned with the height. Hensch opened the public hearing. Jeff Clark (applicant) was present to answer any questions from the Commission. Hensch asked for clarification that they, the applicants, are a willing participant in this historic designation. Clark confirmed there is no hesitancy and they've worked with staff to come to a project that will work there, and he believes it'll be very nice when it's done. Hensch closed the public hearing. Nolte moved to approve REZ20-0009, an application to designate 410-412 North Clinton Street as an Iowa City Local Landmark and rezone from High Density Multi -Family Residential (RM -44) to RM -44 with a Historic District Overlay (OHD/RM-44). Craig seconded the motion. Hensch noted this is a remarkable property and has been around since the late 1800's so it will be wonderful to have it preserved. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. CASE NO. REZ20-0011: Applicant: Gilbane Development Location: 700, 710, 720, and 730 S. Dubuque St. and 220 Lafayette St. An application for a rezoning from Community Commercial (CC -2) and Intensive Commercial (CI -1) to Riverfront Crossing — Central Crossings (RFC -CX) zone for approximately 1.9 acres of land. Heitner began the staff report with an aerial view of the subject property and a view of the zoning Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 4 of 10 applied to the area. Currently there are two zoning designations covering the subject property, the northwest corner is CC -2 (Community Commercial) and the balance of the property is CI -1 (Intensive Commercial). Regarding background, this is a rezoning for 700 through 730 South Dubuque Street and 220 Lafayette Street to the Riverfront Crossing — Central Crossings (RFC -CX) zone. Heitner noted there's a separate application accompanying this project not on the agenda tonight but will be discussed at a later Commission meeting regarding vacation of an alley that separates the South Dubuque Street properties from 220 Lafayette Street. It is staff's understanding that with this rezoning the applicant intends to build a six -story building on the subject property. With the current zoning, the CC -2 is generally intended for retail goods and services typically applied to major business districts and the uses tend to generate a considerable amount of traffic. CI -1 is similar to CC -2 but there's a bit more allowances for outdoor display and storage and is typically used for motor vehicle sales and repair businesses. The proposed zoning of Riverfront Crossing — Central Crossings zone is a zone of moderate intensity of mixed-use development striving for pedestrian friendly streets and streetscapes, uses are comparable to what is allowed in CB -5 with a few exceptions. In terms of building mass, generally buildings have a maximum base height of four stories up to eight stories. The proposed project associated with this rezoning is looking for a six -story building with bonus stories applied for public art and LEED. In terms of existing land uses of the property, there is some general commercial service at 700-710 South Dubuque Street occupied by the Iowa City Bike Library, multifamily residential at 720 South Dubuque Street and 220. Lafayette Street, and then some commercial land use at 730 South Dubuque owned by Public Space One. Heitner stated for general review criteria for rezonings they look at two points of emphasis, one is compliance with the Comprehensive Plan and two is compatibility with the existing neighborhood. With respect to compliance with the Comprehensive Plan there were several objectives that they noticed as being achieved with the proposed rezoning here, specifically regarding planned improvements to the Ralston Creek frontage and the pedestrian streets. From what staff can ascertain, the building and associated rezoning would add some appropriate contextual infill in terms of height, scale and use typically seen in the Riverfront Crossing — Central Crossings zone. Also, it is an appropriate scale of density to contribute to potential future transit -oriented development as there is a remote possibility that the two adjacent rail lines could accommodate future passenger rail. An image from the Comprehensive Plan illustrated the goal for the Ralston Creek frontage improvements specifically along the west creek bank in terms of cleaning up the creek bank, beautifying it and trying to make it an amenity for new buildings that will come in the area. Heitner showed an image of some of the improvements that took place just to the north at 225 East Prentiss Street. There is six -foot -wide sidewalk on top of the creek bank with separation for some landscaping and then some riprap on the ascension of the creek bank. He showed an image of the frontage that the proposed building has on this on this area and an image of the proposed elevations. Although these are just conceptual renderings, he noted the images show compliance with the aesthetic direction that the form -based code is looking for. In terms of compatibility with the existing neighborhood character Heitner noted this neighborhood is in a bit of transition from a land use and zoning perspective. There is some Riverfront Crossing — Central Crossings zoning adjacent to the subject property and a generous amount just to the north across from the Iowa Interstate Railroad, and then also west of the Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 5 of 10 subject property on the west side of Dubuque Street. In the context of the surrounding neighborhood it is in a bit of transition between moving forward some of these projects that are more fitting of the form -based code within the Comprehensive Plan and also accommodating preexisting structures. Craig asked about the parking ramp and lot that was nearby. Heitner noted those are the County's ramp and lot so there cannot be overnight parking there, however there is a City parking ramp just a few blocks north and to the west. Heitner also noted this rezoning would trigger the affordable housing requirements at 10% of the total number of dwelling units, assuming that more than 10 dwelling units are built on site. Heitner did want to touch on the floodplain aspect as it does clip the existing property a little bit, in the northeast corner and southeast corner. The majority of the floodplain would be in the Ralston Creek stream corridor and is in the 500 -year floodplain. Heitner stated they did receive some correspondence with some concern regarding whether these improvements would result in flooding on the east side of the creek. He stated the Public Works staff hasn't gone through a full site plan review of this rezoning, as that doesn't happen until later on in the process with the site plan review, but what they have informed is that their opinion right now is that since the cross section of the creek or the width of the creek bank should remain roughly the same and they don't believe there will be flooding to the east or downstream. Heitner reiterated the improvements to the west side of the creek would be reviewed upon site plan review. In terms of next steps, upon recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission, a public hearing will be scheduled for consideration by the City Council. Staff plans to have this application on the January 19, 2021 City Council agenda, with public hearings set at the Council's January 5, 2021 meeting. Staff recommends approval of REZ20-0011, a proposal to rezone approximately 1.9 acres of land located at 700, 710, 720, 730 South Dubuque Street and 220 Lafayette Street from Community Commercial (CC -2) zone and Intensive Commercial (CI -1) to Riverfront Crossings — Central Crossings (RFC -CX) zone subject to the following conditions: 1. Improvement of Ralston Creek and the adjacent pedestrian street in accordance with the Form -Based Development Standards for Riverfront Crossings as follows: a. Removal of invasive trees. b. Stream bank stabilization, including necessary grading and addition of rip -rap. c. Planting of trees in accordance with a plan approved by the City Forrester. d. Installation of a minimum 6 -foot wide sidewalk adjacent to the top of the stream bank. e. Installation of pedestrian -scale lighting. f. The above work shall be done according to a plan prepared by the Owner and approved by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of a building permit. 2. Prior to issuance of building permits, provision of a sanitary sewer easement, in a location to be determined by the City Engineer, and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney's Office. Hensch noted Heitner said that these specifications are similar to what was done at 225 East Prentiss Street. Heitner said they are very similar with the hope of getting a pretty similar product. Hensch asked about item B of the conditions, about the riprap, he stated when looking at Axiom's presentation they talk specifically about adding natural stabilizing materials on the bed Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 6of10 and bank of the waterway. He really wants to specify no concrete rubble or no broken up concrete should be used, it is done along the river and it's horrible. He wants to really strongly advocate that the City specify that it cannot be that or specify and use wording of using natural stabilizing materials on the bed and bank. Craig notes she had a thought when reading the letters and the concern about the loss of the small commercial that's happening, it appears this is definitely a residential building but will the zoning allow small commercial in this building if they chose to. Heitner confirmed yes the zoning does allow for mixed use buildings that would typically have a commercial element on the ground floor. However, in this case it is likely going to be a residential building but theoretically they could have commercial in this building. Elliott asked for more information about the possibility providing a connection under the railroad bridge to the existing sidewalk along the west bank of Ralston Creek. Heitner replied that's something that the City initiated but it's outside of the scope for the applicant for this project at the moment. The City is working with potential consultants on the possibility of making that connection. There are a few options that staff is in discussion with some consultants about to possibly make that connection and doing so in a way that wouldn't undermine the structural integrity of the railroad overpass. It would probably be some kind of a sidewalk that clips along the overpass, but those discussions are pretty early on right now. He reiterated however that is not part of this rezoning at this point, it's something that City staff is looking into right now outside the scope of this project. Hensch noted staff made a brief comment about the adjacent Iowa Interstate Railroad and how there were some studies going on about commuter opportunities between Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and can staff elaborate on that. Heitner stated this property is uniquely situated between two different railroads, the Iowa Interstate Railroad to the north and Cranic Railroad to the south. He noted there are ongoing studies about potential commuter rail between Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty on the Cranic line. There's also a potential, although not very likely potential, of an Amtrak service on the Iowa Interstate Railroad to the north, which would terminate at the existing station that's about a block west. He cannot speak of the timeframe for either of those passenger rail projects, but from a planning perspective they don't want to shut the door on any potential to those projects. He noted this is the appropriate kind of infill development or redevelopment that they would look for in a transit oriented development in terms of the scale of the building, the likely density with something that's six stories on this site and adjacency to potential other amenities. Hensch opened the public hearing. Mike Welch (Axiom Consultants) wanted to add a couple of comments he thought of during staff's presentation, who did a nice job of covering the project, and hopefully he can show their intent and give the Commission a clearer picture of what they intend to do. First he noted they didn't do the good neighbor meeting due to COVID going on but they did send out a mailing on November 16 to the surrounding properties and included not only deed holders but also residents of the specific buildings in the area. From that mailing they did receive a couple of comments, some of which staff addressed, but one other that hasn't been brought up was a question about parking on South Dubuque Street and would that change or not with this project. Welch noted obviously they haven't gotten to the point of doing a site plan yet, but their intention Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 7 of 10 is that they would be eliminating the curb cuts that currently exist on South Dubuque Street so likely there would be an increase in street parking. But again, he reiterated that would be flushed out during site plan approval. Welch noted he (or Axiom) was involved in both the 225 East Prentiss and the property on the east side of Prentiss so they'd be looking for a lot of those similar Ralston Creek improvements. He agrees with Hensch that they should do a natural product and avoid waste concrete, as it is not a great thing. Michael Apt (Gilbane Development) stated Gilbane Development Company is a family owned, privately held company based out of Providence, Rhode Island. They've been around a long time and are celebrating their 150th year. They've been around since 1873 and done a lot of development over the years. They also plan to be owners for a long time when they come into a community and be part of it and not come in and build something and disappear. They do development, market rate housing, multifamily, mixed use, student housing, build -to -suit, public private partnerships and affordable housing, so they do a very wide array all over the country. They have over 40 offices around the country, the closest one to Iowa City is in Ames, Iowa where they have three projects totaling about 1000 beds. They also have an office close by in Chicago, Apt is based out of Philadelphia. Gilbane consists of two operating companies, they have Gilbane Building Company, who did four projects at the University of Iowa Hospital system in 2013 and their building company also has done many projects throughout the state of Iowa and are familiar with the state of Iowa. They brought on Mike Welch and his group from Axiom as a local consultant to help with the zoning and everything and Jeff Edberg also to help with the seller and the development. They are looking forward to it fitting in and becoming part of the Iowa City Community. Hensch asked what brought Gilbane to be interested in Iowa City? Apt noted it is because of The University of Iowa as it is a fine institution that's growing. He noted there's not much purpose-built housing that houses the students other than the market rate there and they're looking forward to capturing not just students but the community to live in the project. Jeff Edberg (Lepic-Kroger Realtors) stated he felt this is a good example of what the Council and City officials have brought in with form -based housing. Frankly, he didn't understand it when it was first introduced but he's seen some of it come to fruition and it offers the flexibility to deliver the type of buildings that are appropriate to the site. Jeff Clark is here and he can attest prior to form -based housing there was a one zone model they had to follow and his building at 507 Gilbert was required to have commercial on the first floor when it was built in 2011 and still has vacant space on the ground floor, it just wasn't a good fit. With regard to displacing commercial, in the downtown and surrounding areas there's 78 vacant spaces right now so they are not displacing commercial property with this project that couldn't otherwise be absorbed immediately in other good spots. Hensch closed the public hearing. Nolte moved to approve REZ20-0011, a proposal to rezone approximately 1.9 acres of land located at 700, 710, 720, 730 South Dubuque Street and 220 Lafayette Street from Community Commercial (CC -2) zone and Intensive Commercial (CI -1) to Riverfront Crossings — Central Crossings (RFC -CX) zone subject to the following conditions: 1. Improvement of Ralston Creek and the adjacent pedestrian street in accordance with Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 8 of 10 the Form -Based Development Standards for Riverfront Crossings as follows: a. Removal of invasive trees. b. Stream bank stabilization, including necessary grading and addition of rip -rap. c. Planting of trees in accordance with a plan approved by the City Forrester. d. Installation of a minimum 6 -foot wide sidewalk adjacent to the top of the stream bank. e. Installation of pedestrian -scale lighting. f. The above work shall be done according to a plan prepared by the Owner and approved by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of a building permit. 2. Prior to issuance of building permits, provision of a sanitary sewer easement, in a location to be determined by the City Engineer, and in a form acceptable to the City Attorney's Office. Elliot seconded the motion. Hensch started the discussion with two points. First, it's really interesting as he is on his second five-year term and believes this is the first time they've ever received a letter where somebody complained about wanting commercial on first floor, usually just the opposite with people noting all the commercial unoccupied throughout the City. Second, he does enthusiastically support improvements to Ralston Creek and is pleased with how the project just right across the railroad treated Ralston Creek and is keeping it from a being treated as a drainage ditch, and turning the buildings to face the creek and use it as a natural asset to be highlighted rather than something just to dump stormwater in and ignore. Craig agrees with the whole Ralston thing, the beauty of this project is getting a corridor there that one might actually want to walk down or ride a bike down so that is a strength of this project. Russett clarified that the condition related to streambank stabilization just applies to the west side. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING MINUTES: DECEMBER 3, 2020: Townsend moved to approve the meeting minutes of December 3, 2020. Martin seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. PLANNING AND ZONING INFORMATION: Russett gave a quick update from the Council meeting on Tuesday. She thanked everyone for participating in that discussion with Council on the Carson Farms annexation and Council did defer the public hearing at the request of the applicant to January 5. The County rezoning along Rapid Creek was recommended for approval to the Johnson County Planning Commission and Planning and Zoning Commission December 17, 2020 Page 9 of 10 the rezoning and the text amendment and the Comprehensive Plan Amendment all associated with that proposed development on Riverside Drive and Myrtle Avenue were approved by Council. Townsend noted that Hensch did a great job presenting to Council at that meeting. Hensch thanked her and reiterated he has never ever felt like anybody did anything other than vote what their conscience says in all his time on the Commission. ADJOURNMENT: Craig moved to adjourn. Townsend seconded. A vote was taken and the motion passed 6-0. PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD 2020-2021 KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member 7/16 8/6 8/20 10/1 10115 11/5 12/3 12117 CRAIG, SUSAN X X X X X X O X DYER, CAROLYN O/E O/E -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ELLIOTT, MAGGIE -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X X X HENSCH MIKE X X X X X X X X MARTIN, PHOEBE X X X X X X X X NOLTE, MARK -- -- -- -- X X X X X X SIGNS, MARK X X X X X X X O/E TOWNSEND BILLIE O/E X X X X X X X KEY: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused --- = Not a Member Item Number: 4.g. CITY OIF IOWA CITY www.icgov.org January 19, 2021 ATTACHMENTS: Description Senior Center Commission: November 19 Approved Minutes November 19, 2020 MINUTES SENIOR CENTER COMMISSION November 19, 2020 ELECTRONIC Formal Meeting ZOOM MEETING Platform Members Present: Lorraine Dorfman, Zach Goldsmith, Angela McConville, George Nelson, Paula Vaughan, Linda Vogel, Scott Finlayson Members Absent: None. Staff Present: LaTasha DeLoach, Kristin Kromray, Michelle Buhman Others Present: John Johnson Electronic Meeting (Pursuant to Iowa Code section 21.8) An electronic meeting was held because a meeting in person was impossible or impractical due to concerns for the health and safety of council members, staff, and the public presented by COVID-19. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order by McConville at 4:00 PM. RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 20, 2020 MEETING: Finlayson asked Nelson to go through the notes he had written regarding the minutes from the August 20, 2020 meeting which were distributed via email. Nelson recounted each point. The first point was.a clerical error that commissioner Vogel was not at the last meeting and the attendance sheet did not correctly mark this. Nelson agreed that points two through five were comments he had made and did not need to be removed from the minutes. Points six and seven he did not believe needed to be included in the minutes. Kromray noted that those items were discussed at the meeting, which is why they were included. Finlayson asked for a motion to accept the minutes with suggestions from Nelson. Having no motion, he asked for a motion to approve the minutes with the clerical correction. Approved Minutes November 19, 2020 Motion: To accept the minutes from the August 20, 2020 meeting with the clerical correction regarding Vogel's attendance. Motion carried on a vote of 6/1. Goldsmith/Vaughan PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None. OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW: DeLoach reported virtual programming is going well. Currently the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) is in the middle of open enrollment. Discussions have begun with the AARP tax aide program volunteers on how that program might work virtually for the upcoming tax season. Friends of The Center will be sending out an annual appeal in the next couple of weeks. DeLoach noted that KCRG will be doing an interview with Michelle Buhman highlighting the Write Your Life Story group and how getting together socially, even virtually, is very important in helping with social isolation. COMMISSION DISCUSSION: DeLoach noted the public survey had just closed for feedback regarding the building master plan proposals and she would have additional information in the future. She discussed the three different options that are proposed as well as the potential options for the Washington St entrance. She urged the Commissioners to watch the presentation from the consultants (which is located on the Senior Center website) if they had not already done so. DeLoach stated that the reconfiguring of the Washington St entrance would need to go before the Historical Preservation Committee and Neighborhood Development Services staff would like feedback from the Commission. McConville noted from a safety standpoint she preferred an entrance where the receptionists could see who was coming into the building in case of an emergency, which was shown with option 1. She likes the style of the option number 3 better, however. Dorfman said option 1 fits more with the exterior aesthetic of the building but thought option 3 was much more functional and gave additional space. Kromray noted that the interior is not set in stone and the reception area might not be where it is currently labeled on either drawing. Goldsmith noted that the enclosed area in option 3 would be ideal for people waiting to be picked up for dropped off, especially in the winter. He also noted he really liked the exterior seating spaces. He noted that it would be hot on the south side of the building and suggested incorporating some shade structures. 2 Approved Minutes November 19, 2020 DeLoach noted the plans presented did not include the kitchen designs. The consultants needed to bring in outside contractors to look at that space and it will be presented later. Goldsmith questioned the capacity numbers on the Assembly Room layouts. DeLoach noted that they were correct, but that the fire code numbers are much higher. These numbers would more comfortably fit people for programming. McConville stated she liked the addition of potential reception space on the current 2nd floor by the skywalk entrance. She particularly likes that when people come into the building they would come by staff. DeLoach noted that the Senior Center still only has staffing for one entrance but that it could be a consideration at a future date. McConville asked if the plans had taken ADA requirements into consideration. DeLoach confirmed that an ADA assessment had occurred, and this was in part why the decision to close the Linn St entrance was made as well as the reasoning for moving the main reception area to the Washington St entrance. The historic nature of the Linn St entrances makes it very difficult to make them ADA compliant. McConville asked about the kitchen entrance. DeLoach noted it would likely remain as kitchen access only. McConville wanted to note that whatever happens with staff offices that natural light be a consideration. She noted that some of the proposed offices, especially those on the current mezzanine level, if the additional floor space was built out, would not have exterior windows. She also noted that would likely be a very expensive option. DeLoach agreed and stated the placement of staff is not finalized and was still weighting having staff spread throughout the building or mostly centralized. DeLoach asked if Commissioners had any additional thoughts or ideas they reach out to her. Finlayson noted that his term on the commission will be completed at the end of December. Motion: To Adjourn. Vogel/Dorfman 7/0 3 Approved Minutes November 19, 2020 Senior Center Commission Attendance Record Name Term Expires 12/19/19 1/16/20 2/20/20 3/19/20 4/16/20 5/22/20 6/18/20 7/16/20 8/20/20 9/17/20 10/15/20 11/19/20 Kenn Bowen 12/31/19 X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Lorraine Dorfman 12/31/21 X X X NM X X NM X X NM NM X Robert (Scott) Finlayson 12/31/20 X X X NM X X NM X O/E NM NM X Zach Goldsmith 12/31/21 X X X NM X X NM X X NM NM X Angela McConville 12/31/21 X X X NM X X NM O/E X NM NM X George Nelson 12/31/22 -- X X NM X X NM X X NM NM X Paula Vaughan 12/31/22 -- O/E X NM X X NM X X NM NM X Linda Vogel 12/31/20 -- X X NM X X NM X O/E NM NM X Hiram (Rick) Webber 12/31/19 O/E -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Key: X = Present O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = No meeting -- = Not a member 2