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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-20 TranscriptionPage 1 Council Present: Staff Present: Others Present: Bergus, Mims, Salih, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner Frain, Monroe, Kilburg, Dulek, Fruehling, Coleman, Carman, Nagle-Gamm, Bockenstedt, Seydell Johnson, Knoche, Hightshoe, Ford Longenecker, Van Heukelom (UISG) COVID Update lIP4, IP51: Teague: It is 4:30 PM, and this is the City of Iowa City work session for Tuesday, April 20th. And normally we start at 4:00 PM, it is now 4:30. We delayed because of the verdict that came in in respects to the George Floyd case, and I am, um, certainly moved by what the verdict was. It was ... he was found guilty, the police officer, and as we take a moment to reflect on what just took place. I know that for our community there's going to be a lot of a grieving, a lot of emotions that we're going to be going through. Tonight at our formal meeting I will be addressing this topic. But just wanted to certainly state to our Councilors and to any of those that are watching right now, um, that I appreciate you allowing our community the pause to wait until the verdict came out today. I do not see our Mayor Pro Tem. I'm going to have someone to reach out to our Mayor Pro Tem, as we get started with our COVID-19 update on IP4, um, and IP5, which was submitted. There's quite a bit there, um, when we're considering what are the COVID reopenings that we're going to do with the City of Iowa City, and so I'm going to turn it over to our City Manager Geoff Frain. Frain: Thank you, Mayor. In your information packet you have a couple of memos related to COVID- 19 issues, as well as live -streaming Council videos. Uh, due to the delayed start, we have a little less time to work with. We are prepared to give you an overview of that memo if you wish. Otherwise I think we'd welcome your ...your feedback, both on the facility reopening details that we shared and probably most importantly just would like to hear your thoughts on how you envision the transition back to in-person meetings. So would you like us to walk through the memo, are you okay jumping right into discussion? Teague: I do think there is elements of it that we'll need to walk through when it comes down to the Council meetings. Uh, there are some options there for us to consider. Um, I don't know if anyone from Parks and Rees is available to kind of give us a overview, um, just to kind of share their thoughts, and Council can chime in as well, or any of the departments. Seydell Johnson: I'm here if you'd like. (dog barking) that was my puppy (laughs) Teague: All right. Juli, I'll ask that you kind of give us a overview. Seydell Johnson: Sure, so for Parks and Rec, first of all, um, pretty much everything outdoors is happening as normal. So sports have started at Kicker Soccer Field, Napoleon, the baseball This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 2 fields. Um, we're doing a lot of outdoor Rec programming in small groups (dog barking) so instead of having. classes in the Rec Center, we're having them out and about at the parks and more things like creek walks and that sort of thing. Farmers Market is scheduled to begin on May 1'. It will be an in-person Farmers Market, held at Chauncey Swan, like it always has been. A few less vendors than normal and we are requiring masks and spreading things out a little bit more, but that was happening. Um, you probably also noticed the theater going in in Chauncey Swan Park. We're getting ready to do the outdoor (dog barking) Film Scene. Sorry about the dog. And as far as the Rec Centers, Mercer is open and it has been throughout most of the pandemic, for various reasons. Right now, both the gym and the meeting room and the lap swim pool are available on a reserved basis, so you call ahead. (dog barking) It's also been used for a vaccine site for a number of different pharmacies have been in there doing vaccines in the gym. Robert A. Lee is closed at this point. It was a warming shelter throughout the winter season. Um, we just got word that we will get the gym floors resurface and resealed again, and then open up probably around the beginning of June, if everything goes as planned. Summer playground programs will happen. Um, Summer Party in the Park, and some pop-up Recreation activities will happen out there, so things are slowly getting back to normal. We would hope by fall that we would have both Rec Centers open and operating fairly... fairly normal. And most importantly City Park pool is open, or will be open for the summer. So I'll take any questions. Once again, sorry for the (dog barking) Teague: I guess my question would be are there key things that the public should be aware of as far as distance or any special COVID requirements that ... that the Parks and Recs will have in place? We know that the mask order for our city is ... is in place. Um, just wanted to know if there's any additional protocols that you have. Seydell Johnson: Sure, so first of all, cleanliness of everything has been stepped up and will continue. So cleaning any surfaces and any used areas. Masks required, social distancing required. So at the Farmers Market we will only have two entrances into the ramp, one on the north side and one on the south side of the ramp. And we don't have an exact number of people that we will allow in, but once it becomes hard to social distance, we will then, you know, limit the number of people coming in. The thing to remember with Farmers Market is for the first time in a couple years, we have Chauncey Swan Park available and, um, we will encourage people to go out there to socialize or to eat or to do whatever else they want to do around the Farmers Market. With the Rec programs, they're all being kept fairly small, so no more than six kids and one instructor in most cases, so that they can do activities that allow for social distancing. Um, trying to think of what else ... those are kind of the major things, mostly outdoor activities so that people can have space and be available to (dog barking) have their six -feet of social distance. Teague: Thank you. I don't know if the Council had ... has other plans ... or other questions. The only other one that I had questions about was really the Senior Center. Um, I understand that there'll be plans rolling out later in the spring. I'm just wondering if...who might be at the table having those conversations. Um, do we have some elderly people (laughs) that is a part of those conversations to talk about, you know, what they envision for safely returning in person. We know that mental health and, urn ... is a major concern of COVID. Um, being active and gray, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 3 uh, for our elderly people is very important, and so the Senior Center did provide just a slew of opportunity for people, um, and COVID did kind of take that away, so just wondering, um, you know, what ... what does those conversations look like? Frain: Yeah, Mayor, I don't believe LaTasha is available tonight, but I could say that the conversations are taking place with the members, and in particular your Senior Center Commission's involved in those discussions. And as you might imagine, there's a ... there's a range of feelings from the ... from the Center membership. Some are very anxious to get back in, uh, perhaps fully vaccinated and ready to go and enjoy some of those in-person programs and amenities, and then there's others that are understandably hesitant as well. So it'll be a slow process of reopening at the Center, but you should see some plans starting to, um, for ...for reopenings starting to take shape, uh, in the next 30, 60 days. Teague: Great, thank you for that. I know that the City Hall reopening and even Council meetings are probably the biggest ... the Council meetings are probably the biggest thing that, um, Councilors want to talk about, because I felt everything else was kind of pretty much laid out in the memo. Um, certainly want to ... Councilors just chime in there if there's anything you want to touch base on, but I would like to switch to the topic of Council meetings. And there were some opportunities that were ... or some options, shall I say, that were thrown out by staff for our consideration. Of course, Council, we can, you know, look at these and talk about these, but also if there's other things that we have, um, that we want to suggest, now will be a great time to get that out there and on the table as well. So there are a few options and wanted to know, oh, I do see Elsworth chiming in. Hello, Elsworth, from the Public Library (laughs) Carman: Hello. Teague: Hello, well, I just saw you chiming in, so before we start our conversation on the Council meetings, I wanted to allow you an opportunity just to talk about the Public Library, because I know that that's been exciting for people to have opportunity to enter after a long time of waiting. Carman: Absolutely, thanks for just a minute to talk about where we are. So we have a five -phase reopening plan. We're now in kind of what we're calling a modified phase three. We're so thrilled to have the doors open to the public. Folks can come in for what we're calling express browsing. Um, we ask that people limit their visit to around 15 minutes. We're not timing anyone, we're not putting a lot of pressure, we're just asking people to kind of think of it that way. (mumbled) also use our computers and technology for 30 -minute sessions. Um, the bookmobile is back out doing holds pickup and some limited browsing. And, of course, we still have all of our virtual services available. We do have a capacity set for the building of 140 people. So far we have not, um, not come close to reaching that, so there are no lines, no waiting. People are welcome in. Our next steps, um, we hope will be extending to our regular evening hours. And ... and working towards that in-person programming. Right now we're still doing all virtual programming. We do have some Story Time in the Park programs scheduled for mid -summer into late summer. But we're ... we're watching the .... the metrics on our This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 4 reopening guidelines very closely (mumbled) we can safely .. safely do more, but we're really appreciative to the public, who have just flexed with us through this whole year and adjusted to all the new ...the different things we're doing. We do, of course, require masks on everyone over age two. But other than that, your Library is open and we'd we'd love to see you here. Teague: Great, thank you. Thank you, thank you. All right, we are going to. uh... talk about Council meetings, and we also should have a discussion about the board and commissions. So maybe we'll start with our ...our Council meetings and then go to boards and commissions. I ... I wonder if I can have staff just kind of give us a brief synopsis so Council, uh, hears where we are ... with your recommendation. Monroe: Mayor, I can give you a ... a short synopsis of each of these options that we've identified. Um, clearly we've been operating on a different ... a different platform for each of these meetings, but as we return to holding meetings in-person, whenever that may be, um, you know, that's up for some of your discussion, we needed to figure out what the physical space allows for... for us to do under certain parameters. So we laid out at least three options. These can be modified or flexed at....at times, depending on what you choose, but I'll run through them just kind of really quickly. So option one would be to hold meetings in the regular Council chambers, Emma J. Harvat Hall. We'd have Council members set, um, kind of a compressed, um, compressed at the dais. There would be everyone seated at the dais, probably allowing for about three -feet of...of distance between each of the seven Council Members. City staff would move to a different area of the room. So we'd probably move on to the floor area or into the adjacent con... conference room to allow for adequate Council seating. Public seating would still be available in a modified form. So, um, currently the capacity for the Council chambers is almost 100 people, uh, under normal circumstances, and ... but with this distancing requirement, if we're choosing to make sure we're distancing participants, we can go about that in a couple of different ways. First would be just limiting the number of people inside the room physically for any particular agenda item. Um, we're thinking that that would be ranging from anywhere from six to eight, 10 people maximum, um, just allowing for that ... that spacing. We would be able to potentially have staff assist with getting people in and out for particular agenda items that they choose to speak about. We'd have a podium and a microphone set up so people can use that to address Council, and we could do whatever cleaning might be necessary in between those things. For any flow outside of the Council chambers, so if there are more people here that want to participate than can fit into the room at any one time, we'd be able to expand seating into the lobby. When, you know, village hall or City Hall is open until 5:00 PM. And so ... because the work sessions are now starting at 4:00, we'd be able to put seating out after 5:00, to allow for regular flow of traffic in City Hall. We normally broadcast our meetings into the lobby, so during usual times anybody that's coming in and out of Council meetings can ... can usually view the meetings, um, as they're taking place from the lobby, and so we'd continue to do that, and then just noting the ... the technology in option one. We would be able to facilitate all of the regular broadcast. So Council meetings are what we call cable casting, so broadcast on cable television channel, and we also do the video recording and streaming to our online platforms. So YouTube channel (mumbled) and our, you know, our City... sorry, Facebook Live on our City's Facebook page. So that's option one. Option two is just a essentially a, um, more spread This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 5 out version of that for City Councilors. We would just ensure that ... that there's a little bit more spacing. It may require a little bit of, um, placement in different areas of the room, so not everyone would be seated behind the dais because there just wouldn't be enough room to hold that six -feet. So that's option two, and most of the other things stay the same as what I've gone through. Option three would be to hold meetings in a completely different location, that are City facility. The memo sites the assembly room at the Center, the Senior Center, or in the social hall at Robert A. Lee Recreation Center. So those alternative locations would allow for ...for greater spacing for Council, for staff, and the general public who attend them. Meetings would be able to be recorded and live -streamed to our Facebook page, our website pages. We would need to do some adjustments to allow broadcast on the cable TV channel, if we were broadcasting from elsewhere. The accompanying memo that was in your work ... in your packet, um, describes what that scenario looks like, and then we'd also have to make some adjustments for a telephone, um, call-in in those locations. Um, the visual aids would be available (mumbled) both of those locations have large screens or...or we could do some type of projection to allow for, um, the public to be able to see and Council members to be able to see, but it's, you know, that situation is just a little bit modified. You'd be working with a temporary technology setup in those spaces, but generally feasible, if that's what you chose to do, and those two locations in particular have the ability to, of course, be downtown. There's parking and bus service access, as well. So those are the three options. I'll stop there and let you have discussion and ... and be able to answer any questions. Teague: I did have one question. Is ... are there any other opportunities outside of City properties that were considered for gathering, such as Macbride Hall? It could ... it could hold (both talking) Fruin: Yeah, I don't ... I don't believe we've reached reached out to the University. We could do that you. Um, you could be looking at, you know, a large ballroom in a hotel, as well, if you really wanted to get a much bigger space. We could explore those, but we limited our initial take on this just to City facilities. Teague: Understandable. Weiner: I mean it does seem to me that it's probably... more reasonable to start out in a larger venue, when we do shift back to in-person, such as the large room at Robert A. Lee. I don't ... or...or...or the Center, whichever one, as long as it can ... we can ... it can also be live -streamed and recorded. That just ... there's more room. They're accessible. There's more room for the public to be able to actually come in, as opposed to having the very tight strictures of..of Emma Harvat. I did want to ask the, um, Interim City Attorney if, um, what the ... what will happen if the Governor lifts her emergency proclamation? Does that mean that we no longer... that we then no longer have the ability to do these meetings via Zoom and have to then immediately revert to in-person program ... in-person? Dulek: Uh, no, the answer is ... is no, um, in my opinion that the Mayor, in conjunction with the City Manager and consultation with our office, can still make a decision whether meeting in-person This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 6 is impossible or impractical, because of...of COVID. To me that's still a local decision, and we can make it even if the proclamation expires. Weiner: Thank you. Salih: When it will be expired? Dulek: Currently it's set to expire midnight of Sunday, May tad, whatever that Monday is. I don't know if May 2nd is the Monday or if it's ... if it's Sunday, but that midnight, uh, on May 2nd, that Monday morning. Weiner: She... she's, the Governor's been expanding it month ... like a month at a time right now (mumbled) Dulek: Right, the current one was issued April tad, yes. Salih: Thank you. Bergus: I tend to agree with, uh, with Janice, that having a larger space to begin, at least when we come back. It doesn't seem really reasonable, at least option one, to try and fit everyone on the dais and only be three -feet apart. I don't think that would be probably recommended by our public health experts either, and then option two, spreading everybody out just so we can be in that room. I mean, I think as soon as we start moving people all over the place, we ... we also start to lose some of the benefits of Emma J. Harvat Hall, with the, you know, the built-in audio visual capabilities are kind of oriented towards the ... the dais anyway, so it seems to me that maybe figuring out a setup in a larger, higher se... you know, I guess the ceilings there are pretty high, but a larger space that, you know, we know has good ventilation, um, to begin would make more sense to me. Mims: Yeah, I would agree. I think starting in a larger space and I think, you know, as we get more and, you know, obviously we're going to have to determine when we're actually going to do this, but getting a better idea of the percentage of people in the area that are vaccinated, I think should potentially play into our decision of when we go back in person, and agree with the other comments of making sure that, you know, the public still has access via electronic means, and I think like both other Councilors have said, I think trying to start in Harvat Hall, where by the time we get Council spread out and staff spread out, we're going to be pretty limited on any public members coming in, so starting in a larger space, I think makes sense. Taylor: I agree that makes sense. I just have concern about the electronic means and ... and how complicated that would be, how difficult as far as getting all of the equipment needed, uh, to broadcast it on Channel 4 and Facebook, etc., if that wouldn't be too difficult. Thomas: I ... I would agree with the, um, moving into a larger space, although I ... I want to ask how long would we be in that larger space, I mean in terms of the transition. I'm anxious to get back in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session April 20, 2021. Page 7 City Hall, but if it looks like that's a ways off in terms of meeting the, you know, safety requirements that ... that we may be faced with, uh, it does seem existing City Hall is just too physically constrained. Uh, it would be nice to be in one room, and I think, um, comfortably in one room, and it suggests to me that we probably need to find an alternative to City Hall, if that's the case. Weiner: So my guess is that most of us either are ... most of us either already are or soon will be completely vaccinated. So among us the ... the concern may not be so great, and we need to still take... be, uh, take into consideration staff and the public. Um, so, you know, I'm not so sure that our spacing is so crucial. It's the rest of it. Salih: For me, I think although I really, you know, can't wait to come back and just socialize with everybody and just like be in person, but I really am not ready to come back right now. You know, it still is scary, still there is numbers of COVID and, you know, given the fact that my mom live with me, I'm not gonna bring COVID for my mom. So I'm really not ready right now to come back in person. I think we need to take our time. Uh, as long as now, even if the (mumbled) you know, according to the City Attorney, if the proclamation is lifted also it's going to be a local decision. We have to think about this, and also for the public sake, you know. They, I guess this is working fine for now until we figure out a way, until everybody get vaccinated, until like things start become normalized. To be honest, I'm not ready ...to come back. Teague: Mayor Pro Tem, you cut off just, uh, the last ... I would say 15 seconds. Salih: I said I'm just like ... I'm not ready to come back (laughs) Teague: Yes, yep. Thank you. And I think that, you know, and ... and totally understand and respect, uh, that. I think the hope is for us to kind of make plans for when we, you know, do feel that we can come back to, you know, in person, what that looks like, and you know, potentially this could be beyond, you know, the COVID. Um... Fruin: Yeah, Mayor, I think that's... that's correct. 1 think we're less concerned about nailing down a date tonight than we are identifying a path once ... once we know where the consensus is, and I think that's pretty clear right now. We can start to refine our plans and make sure when ... when you do make that decision that we're ready to go. Teague: So it sounds like the Rec Center at Robert A. Lee is going to be the more, is the larger space and looking at that is what at least I gathered and personally support. Let's talk about the boards and commissions for a little bit. Do we ... is there any thoughts or directions that we want to give on those or... Fruin: Just as a reminder to you or if you're not familiar, our boards and commissions meet in various locations right now, so you do have a few that meet in Emma Harvat, but we have folks that use conference rooms in City Hall, that use the assembly room at (mumbled) assembly room, but This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 8 a ... a conference room at the Center, um, and meeting times vary and ... and some of the meeting times may conflict with Council times, as well. So kind of all over the board in terms of where and what times they're meeting and... and certainly, um, a lot of variability in the typical number of public attendees. Many commissions meet and very rarely have anybody from the public, uh, there in the meetings and then others can pack the house. If you think of a controversial Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, you could easily have 50 to 100 people that want to comment on a particular issue. So quite a bit of variability there. Salih: I think we need to hear from them as well. We cannot make a decision for the committees. We ... we need to hear what they think and where they stand in term of this, you know, and maybe after that we can make a decision, but... Taylor: I agree with Mayor Pro Tem. I think getting some input from them, I don't think we can make a decision for them and order them, especially, you know, until ... until we say that we're safe meeting in person. We ... I don't think that we can delegate to them that they ...they must meet in person. Weiner: But I do think that when, you know, sort of when we start to move down that road, that it will be wonderful to have several larger spaces available. The, you know, the one that we're talking about at the Ree Center, potentially the larger area at the Center, as well as Harvat Hall, so that for meetings that happen to take place at the same time, there's always a larger space for a group so that they can meet safely. Salih: Yeah (garbled) best when we're ready to go. Yeah, I agree with you guys, you know, like I agree with everybody that we need biggest space, like, uh, you know, and you could distance and everything. Yeah, when we are ready to go back. Definitely! Teague: And I guess for me this ... this really seems like a long-term, more of a long-term option. I don't know if that's what Councilors are thinking or what staff is thinking, or if this is kind of just a temporary until the pandemic, as, you know, we've gotten beyond the pandemic, which, you know, that ... that doesn't seem all that likely. Mims: I think it just really depends on what we see in terms of vaccination rates and infection rates across the county, um, as to ... and then what the Johnson County Public Health Department says and recommends, as well, in terms of, you know, in-person meetings, especially when you could have dozens of people in the same room for two or three hours at a time. You know, what ... what is their recommendation of how to handle those and what kind of distance you should have, and especially in facilities where we don't necessarily have the best ventilation, etc. So I think to just keep revisiting this and keep getting information on, you know, like I say on what those vaccination rates are, what those infection rates are, and as they change their guidance I just think we need to keep an eye on that, um, to determine when we make a change. In terms of your comment, Mayor, about, you know, whether this is long-term or temporary. I would certainly hope, but none of us know, I would hope that we would get to the point that the vaccination rates are high enough and the infection rates are low enough that we can get back to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 9 a more normal type of thing, that we would be back in Harvat Hall, and that we could have the public in there ,and people could feel... could be and could feel safe, but that might be six months, that might be a year, and who knows beyond that. Teague: Yes, certainly remains to be seen. Weiner: The only other thing I'd add is I think it would be really useful, together with Public Health or UIHC (mumbled) to look at maybe sort of not (mumbled) air purification or moving systems that do not require, you know, redoing the entire HVAC system, but that can be smaller... smaller units that can be used and moved and so forth, that can help circulate the air. Teague: All right, so I saw some head shaking with the air purification. So I think that would be of interest just look into that as well. Frain: So (both talking) on the boards and commissions, maybe it's easier to think about it like this. Um, as long as Council remains virtual, um, should that be the ... the rule for boards and commissions as well? Okay, and then when it ... well, I'll let you talk about that, and then when ... when Council makes the decision to come back in person, um, I think what you're looking for is maybe some ... some feedback from the boards and commissions on whether they'd like to potentially retain... retain the ability to do virtual longer, if...if there's circumstances that warrant that. Is that the kind of feedback you're looking for? Okay. Teague: I guess, personally, if a board and commission came to us to say they feel comfortable, you know, trying to meet in person. Let's say it's a six -member board. It's not a ... they don't typically have a lot of public input, and they feel that they can do that. Personally I would entertain considering that. Mims: I would agree with you, Mayor, and I think a crucial part of that is, one, are they comfortable but yeah, what's the typical public attendance, and I think we just have to be careful that it's not, oh, we're going to meet in person this time cause we don't have anything contentious on the agenda, and we don't expect anybody to be there. But next meeting, oh, we're probably going to have 20 or 40 people because there's something contentious. I think it needs to be consistent, and so that... that... to me, that need for consistency could be problematic in having them get back to meeting in person too soon. I want to open that up to them if they want to, but I think we have to make sure it's going to be safe for the public, and I think be consistent. Frain: Yes. Sue, is there anything that we should be considering, um, on the variability here? Dulek: Once Council makes a decision, that is the Mayor and the City Manager, whoever is going to make that decision, that it's no longer impossible or impractical, um, and in-person meetings can occur, then that would apply to boards and commissions too. I don't think you can have a board and commission say it's impossible or impractical when the decision by the Mayor and Council and the City Manager have made that decision. Um, on the contrary, if they want to go forward and meet, seemingly they could, but I don't think vice versa. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 10 Fruin: Thank you, Sue Bergus: I was just gonna say when we first started meeting over Zoom, we certainly didn't think this was a long-term solution. So I ... my guess is that it may be longer than we ... than we are thinking right now just with the ... the excitement and the hope of vaccinations ramping up, but also, you know, cases are not looking great either. I think if we can roll this into the conversation about the ... the videoing, live -streaming boards and commissions as well, because I heard Geoff voicing, you know, the making sure we understand things are happening at different times. So if we're looking at right now for, I don't know, even ... even if it was 60 days into the future, if everything is going to stay on Zoom, right, we've got things happening at different times. Um, I think this platform makes it really, really simple to record. We have the audio and the video and live -streaming and retaining the ... the video, um, with just kind of a few settings and then deciding where to put that content once it's saved. So I've been an advocate of that for a while and, you know, I think we can maybe talk about finding ways to do that while we're still in Zoom, and seeing if there's, uh, good public reception to it, if people are using it, they come to rely on it and making a plan from there, depending on the technology, as we re- enter in-person What do people think? Mims: Yeah, I think anything that we can do within reason, when you look at the technical capabilities and staff time, commitment, and dollars, etc., to record and archive, um, at least audio, video if possible,of meetings so that its easily... easily archived and easily accessible to the public, I think that is really helpful. I know I've wanted to go back and look at certain meetings and basically I've had to go to staff and say, hey, can you send me, you know, can you send me these files so I can watch such and such a meeting, and so to make it more accessible to the public, I think that would be really helpful, again, looking at time, dollars, etc., to do it. Thomas: Yeah, it does seem to me the Zoom has been a pretty ...pretty good substitute and certainly has opened up, I think, access in some respects, especially through the winter months, to attending meetings and being present for ...for these various commissions and boards. You know, so, yeah, it's ... it seems to be working. I'm sure there, you know, most of us would agree that, you know, having it in person has its benefits too, and that we kind of long to get back to that. But it does seem the transition is a little bit complicated. You know, in the long-term, when ... one thought I was having was, you know, as we recently, you know, with ... with Council we decided to live - stream the work session, as we're doing now, and also the Economic Development Committee. So we've sort of incrementally tried to open up opportunities for, you know, providing visuals for some of our ...some of our meetings, and so I was just thinking about, you know, what ... which of the commissions and boards might also want to consider, might we want to consider and the boards and commissions themselves may want to consider, uh, taking that approach, such as Planning and Zoning to me seems one where, you know, I think the community may be interested in having access to that kind of video stream that they don't have normally, aside from Zoom. Um, you know, that might be one. Um, I don't have the list in front of me but, you know, some of the ones that do as we were saying have the potential for attracting a larger audience, you know, giving... giving them a little bit more visibility, uh, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 11 access was something that I thought we could use this opportunity to consider what to do about that. Teague: Are their options for streaming something on ... on Facebook that is in a different space than like the City website ... or the City Facebook page? Monroe: Yes, well, we would ... if we were recording a meeting for, um, and capturing that for Facebook Live, then it would ... then that would be the platform it would ... it would be used on. The other online options that you could either record and play later, or you could stream it, as it happens, it would be on our City YouTube Channel or on citychannel4.com. So essentially it...it links to our ...our Channel 4, um, television, you know, website, and so we play all three at once, like for example, during this meeting. Um, and then we could do that in remote location, so if there are meetings being held at Robert A. Lee or...or at the Senior Center, we could set up equipment that would allow for... for the streaming or the recording, and then later broadcast of that ... of that meeting or...or posting on the website for ...for accessing later. Teague: But ... but it would remain there on the Facebook, within the (garbled) Monroe: (both talking) ...to be able to get to it later on. Teague: One of the ... one of the things that I have a little concern about is, um, if we're posting a lot of things that don't get likes (laughs) or...or that the, you know, people aren't really paying attention to, then we're filling up our Facebook Live or our Facebook with a lot of content that, of course, is very important. But it...it could diminish some of the messaging opportunities that we really need to have to get out to the public, and so that's the only thing that I would caution us about is if we're going to do everything on Facebook Live that really could fill up, unless we remove it, and then store it, archive it someplace else. That could be an option, but maybe looking at the other option that you mentioned, through YouTube. Um, maybe that being the live stream for our boards and commissions, and not have it on Facebook might be a really good option, because there's a lot of messaging going out. Um, as many of you know, I've been doing the Community Connection, and we're trying to get out some highlights of things, and we just had the affordable housing that'll come out on Wednesday night, so stay tuned tomorrow. Um, Affordable Housing Coalition that was on there talking about, you know, the relief funds that are through the State for rent and utilities, and even mortgage, and that's, you know, that's critical information I believe that people need to hear about, not only the individuals that experienced it, but the greater public so that if they happen to know someone, they can share that information and say, hey, did you know there's an opportunity for you to get assistance, and so that's the one thing that I will caution us about is maybe we want to look at another platform where we don't have our Facebook so inundated with boards and commissions, which are important, but again, I ... I think, um, it ... it, you know, sometimes people don't look at all of that content. Bergus: Mayor, I think our ...I'm sure our staff experts would ... would agree and Shannon laid out nicely in the memo that that was a concern of kind of diluting the main City Facebook page. But This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 12 we've got... we've got the ... the City Channel website itself, as well as the channel, which are there for video content. That is the purpose, and the fact that we've got tens of hours, if not more, you know, every month of -the public's business that is happening in public meetings, that we're not capturing, and that we're not sharing, and I just think that for ...for the benefit of transparency, it's pretty low -hanging fruit to get, um, you know, the ... the video, an audio at the very least, I think, needs to be retained beyond just the time that it takes to finalize the minutes. But to get the video out there on one of these platforms, and you can use Facebook to ... to help drive traffic to where ... where the video is As we saw in that memo, Facebook isn't the format for long ... long video. That's not what it's good for. But I think we need people to be able to access, you know, this content somewhere. Weiner: You can let them know on Facebook that something is happening and where they can find it. It's much easier to copy a ... say a YouTube link and to send it to someone than it is if...especially not every ..since not everybody has Facebook. Uh, so that they can view something, as opposed to having to send them to Facebook or find it on Facebook. Teague: All right, any other comments on this item? Bergus: I guess I would just say with our new website, I hope that we can integrate video into the new website so that it can exist, you know, in places that makes sense to users as well, and I think the comment in the ... in the memo about, you know, just making sure we have a place to store it, that there ... as we were just saying, lots of platform options. So hopefully we consider that video delivery in the website too. Clarification of Agenda Items: Teague: Great. All right, we're gonna move on to clarification of agenda items. Moving on to IP8, April 8th. Fruin: Uh, Mayor, just a quick update. In the packet in IP2, there's a letter that I sent to the CPRB after your work session deliberating their recommendations. The CPRB did meet and discuss all those items, and you will see the first ordinance amendment to the ... to the CPRB come forward to you in May. So they, uh, staff from the City Attorney's office drafted language for those first two amendments to the CPRB ordinance. Uh, the CPRB agreed with staff's draft language and that'll, again, be packaged for you, for consideration in May and June, if it goes for three readings. Information Packet Discussion (April 8, April 15): Teague: Thank you. Mims: Mayor, if we could go back just one second. It's not a question about agenda items, but I just want to let Council know and staff, when we get to the formal meeting, um, in the consent agenda, I am going to ... if people agree ... ask that staff maybe elaborate on Item 7.b., that is the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 13 resolution authoring the redemption about standing taxable urban renewal revenue bonds. I think it's important for the public to hear how our staff is managing our outstanding bonds and what this means in terms of some of the tax increment financing or revenue bonds, uh, urban renewal bonds that we've done. I think that's really important. I think you just look at the fiscal impact interest savings alone of over $400,000. So, Geoff, if you or if Dennis is around, could be ... maybe prepared to just address that a little bit, I would appreciate it. Fruin: Yeah, uh, Dennis will be here and be able to walk you through that. Teague: Okay. So we're going to move on to April 15', and there's one item that we want to talk about. There was a memo, IP7, from the City Manager on follow up on changes to the City's Historic Preservation Handbook. Fruin: Yeah, Mayor, happy to go into detail if you'd like on this, but as you recall, this was some direction the Council provided after a recent appeal case and the memo captures the ... the discussions that have taken place since that time with the Historic Preservation Commission, and we're just asking for some ... some Council guidance on ... on how urgently you want us to work through this issue. We could bring it ... bring the change that staff has recommended, uh, to you as early as May. As you note in the memo, the Historic Preservation Commission expressed some concerns and would like more time to deliberate on that issue, perhaps two to three months, and so that's kind of the question before you. Obviously if you're ... we're trying to push this through to assist the homeowner that ... that had the appeal. Uh, you know, that homeowner is in kind of a state of, um, limbo right now, waiting to see if this amendment will go through or not, so they can proceed with their ...their desired home improvement project. So happy to answer questions. It's pretty lengthy memos, uh, and just looking for your ...your guidance on that. Taylor: Well, I believe the Historic Preservation Commission had been originally waiting to hear from the State, the ... SHPO, State Historical Preservation Commission, uh, received some guidance (garbled) believe they ...they did get that recently, and SHPO had actually raised some concerns. Sol...I would be okay with having the Historic Preservation Commission take a month or two more to look at those recommendations and... and provide some ... some guidance, some recommendations from there. Mims: I guess I'm concerned about the continued delay in this one. It's ... it's interesting some of the, I don't know if you call it division, dissension that we're seeing, even with ... within the Historic Preservation Commission about this issue and how we move forward, and it seems like there's a reasonable approach here with more modern, acceptable materials. I'm comfortable moving forward with this. I think certainly that to allow at least this homeowner to try to ... allow them to move forward. They've got a pretty difficult situation that they're caught in. I think it's something that can have more discussion and ... and review and fine tuning, maybe as we go forward, um, but I'm comfortable with staff bringing us the changes sooner rather than later. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 14 Thomas: Well one suggestion I would would make is in looking at these options, option three talks about moving forward with the staff recommendation, but further limit its applicability to homeowners and landlords providing affordable housing. So there could be ... we could limit the ... that applicability, which I think begins to address some of the concerns from SHPO regarding, you know, the language and the potential permissibility as ... as they described it, um, with the current language. You know, I would further suggest that, um ... if..if we were to move forward with that limit... limited applicability language, um, it seems to me if the HPC is still willing to put time into considering refinement to that language, uh, regarding, you know, the technical and, um, economic components that, uh, they had suggested, affordability and so forth, that if they were interested in ... in taking that time to review the... the ways in which the language could be further refined that that could move forward as well, and any changes that they might recommend staff could... could... could take that recommendation, revise the language, and bring it then back to HRC for their review and approval. So I'm kind of thinking of this as a ... little bit of a parallel track, I guess perhaps, where we do allow movement forward so that the Longfellow case can move forward, uh, while at the same time, you know, those ... if...if HPC, uh, is interested in doing that ... that research, that that could move forward as well, um, at the same time. Teague: I personally would be in support of option number three, as John just mentioned. Fruin: I can offer just a (garbled) a quick comment. Um, we can move forward with three and ... and that's okay. I do want to make you aware, I maybe should have had this in the memo, but I'm personally not aware of any historic preservation standard that doesn't apply equally throughout, I mean, throughout all ... all structures in a district. Historic preservation guidelines tend to be focused on the exterior, um, structures and the aesthetics and the materials. It may be the case somewhere else in the country or in the state but in all my years I've never seen a guideline apply only to rentals or only to ... only to cases of homeownership or rent levels. Um, so we'd be charting new ground there, and I'm not sure exactly where we'd be getting into with something like that. We can do it, but it, um, there's a lot of question marks surrounding it. Um, so if...if that's the direction you want to go, we'll ... we'll work with that, we'll go with that. We may not return to you as quickly as ... as we would otherwise. It may be, you know, a couple meetings out, just so we can sort through, um, that ... that particular issue. Mims: I'm not comfortable with this being predicated based on affordability. I guess my question becomes if it's an owner -occupied house, are we then going to require them to give the City their financial information to determine what standards they have to operate under and... and what standards they have to use to make the adjustments to the house, I mean I ... I was surprised when I saw this and listening to Geoffs comments just now, it seems to me that if we're talking about historic preservation and the standards we use for maintenance, repairs, etc., to historic structures or structures in a historic district, that those should be consistent from building to building regardless. Because what we're looking at is the buildings and the preservation of the buildings. To me it shouldn't change depending upon the financial situation of the owners or...or what they are charging for rent, and I .... I'm no lawyer, but let me tell you, I think this This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 15 one would be ripe for a lawsuit, and I just think it's going to be that much... also much, much harder for staff to administer. Bergus: I was for option number three until, you know, Geoff raised the concerns, but I guess I'm not sure ... I'm not sure I quite understand from the memo what the ... if option number three really isn't a viable option (laughs) then I think we should go with number one, but the, um, was this just a ... I don't know. I guess I'm not sure where... what... what the basis of sort of offering up that option is if it probably won't work, or I don't know. Can you (mumbled) more? Fruin: That's fair, Laura, and ... and I'm not saying it's not viable. I'm just saying we're charting new territory with that, that staff hasn't really explored and at least at this point there's no known examples. Typically when it comes to historic preservation, if you want to, um, achieve a certain outcome outside of just regulations, you would incentivize it, you know, you would have a grant program, you would have tax abatement programs or something like that to ... to incentivize what you're looking to do, and that would apply equally to all ... all of the, um, all of the properties. So I'm not saying it's not viable. I'm just saying that ... that was ... that was the suggestion at the last Historic Preservation Commission and really staff hasn't had a chance to ... to really dive into that analysis, and we want to make sure that we do that, prior to ... prior to coming to you with that, uh, with that amendment. We're moving... we're moving pretty quick on this one, simply because we know that the the homeowner's, again, kind of just waiting to see how this shakes out. Otherwise we probably would have taken some time before authoring this memo to ... to explore that in more detail. Teague: I feel this is a challenging one because taking time to really talk about all the ... all the elements to this, we're talking about affordability, we're talking about products, we're talking about climate action, you know. Um, there's a lot to this. And even though we know that the individual, you know, they have their project, they want to get moving, they need to get moving, I do understand that. The cost of that is going to be very different, um, you know, I guess if I was to ... after all the comments that have been stated, if I was to go back to the meeting that we had where, um, there was a word — capricious — um, you know, to go against the commission's (mumbled) you know recommendation to the Council, then .... I feel like this a little bit is tied to that. And so, even though I just moments ago, said number three after conversations, I really believe we need to, you know, talk about it, be consistent with everybody that come before us. Personally, I think I have to say I would have to go with number four, and that will take no action and leave the current guidelines in place, allowing and expecting that the Commission will come back before us ... in two to three months with their recommendations. Mims: I think number, option number two is the one that would give them two to three months to come back. I think number four we're not asking them to do anything. Teague: So I would say number two. (laughs) Sorry about that! Right now it ... yes, take no action. Mims: I would go with number one. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 16 Teague: We have a number one, we have a number two. Bergus: (mumbled) number one. Teague: Okay. Salih: Number two. Teague: Okay. Weiner: Because I'm with number one, I really wanted for the State Historical Commission to also be okay with it. Teague: Okay. Thomas: You know I would prefer number two, if it's not three. Taylor: I also prefer number two. Teague: Okay, so we're at number two and so that will be (mumbled) and that says provide the Commission two to three months to review the situation and allow them the opportunity to formulate their own recommendation. All right, we are ... any more thoughts on that? We're at Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Weiner: (mumbled) had a comment on the ... on IP8, um, just before we moved on, which was to be, um, I mean obviously Eleanor's not here anymore, but ... but really grateful to the City Attorney's office for providing this really exhaustive memo on First Amendment, that I'm going to go over probably twice more before I really have (mumbled) steps, but very ..really very helpful. Thank you. Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees: Teague: All right. Updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees. Bergus: I think this actually happened right before the last Council meeting that the ICAD board recently approved a new kind of agreement for ICR Iowa. Uh, previously that was the joint venture between the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, I believe, and ... and ICAD for shared, you know, marketing and staff and that kind of thing. So different direction that ICAD has taken that I think will enable a little more benefit to Iowa City or to the two communities that are collaborating to kind of be able to focus on the types of economic development that ... that maybe are a little more oriented for their specific community is one ... one takeaway from that, and the City of Literature board met last week and continues to work on formulating some working committees for, uh, from the recent strategic planning that they did. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021. Page 17 Teague: I wanted to acknowledge Supervisor Janelle Rettig for her service and at the Johnson County as a Board of Supervisor. She did resign on Saturday, and we certainly do wish her the best in all of her endeavors in the future. Um, Janelle, as many of us know, you'll always know what she's thinking (laughs) She is gonna let you know where she stands, and one thing that I will say about her is that she really did her homework and her research, no matter what the topic was. So we really appreciate all that you've done for our county and we wish you the best. With that, we will ... yes! Salih: I just want to say I agree with you, Mayor, I can't say it better than what you just said. She ... I guess the supervisors, you know, has been changed when Janelle and all the current supervisors (mumbled) they really made a lot change in the community, uh, which is, you know, it seemed like she said nine years but it seemed like really not even nine years, but we ... because we just start having a lot thing, you know, being approved by them and, yes, thank you for your service, Janelle Rettig. Taylor: I agree, I echo what people said about Janelle, and ... and appreciate her service, her many years of service, and I know she's going to continue to have her heart in the Iowa City and Johnson County communities, and ... and thank you, Janelle. Teague: All right, we will adjourn and return on another Zoom link for our formal meeting. See you soon. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of April 20, 2021.