HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-06 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Bergus, Mims, Salih, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner
Staff Present: Fruin, Monroe, Kilburg, Dilkes, Fruehling, Sitzman, Russett, Ralston, Bowers,
Knoche, Havel, Nagle-Gamm, Bockenstedt, Hightshoe, Sovers, Seydell Johnson
Others Present: Longenecker (UISG)
Process for interviewing City Attorney applicants:
Teague/ Well welcome to everyone to, uh, the Iowa City City Council work session for Tuesday, April
6t'. As you know, we are on a new time zone, 4:00 PM, and so we will be starting all of our
meetings just one hour earlier. So 4:00 PM will be our work session and 6:00 PM will be the
start of our formal meetings. We are on the first item for our work session, which is, uh,
process for interviewing City Attorney applicants, and so, um, Councilors, as many of you
know, today is actually Eleanor's last meeting with us, work session with us, because her last
day will be on the 16th of April, and so certainly wanted to invite her to be a part of this
conversation, because I think she can offer us something here. But ... and also wanted to say
thank you to Eleanor, who was hired by the City in 1996. Don't be doing the math because
people try to do math and add up some stuff (laughs) but she was, uh, March 18', 1986 she was
hired to be the Assistant City Manager. I'm sorry, City Attorney and then September 29d, 1997
she was appointed as the City Manager and so thank you for all of your services that you've
given to the City. We are so appreciative for all that you've done, and even though it's COVID,
we send big hugs (laughs) and we say thank you, and... even though this is your last meeting, I
know that you're a part of our great city and you'll continue to be a part of the work that we do
at the City, even after you're gone, so thank you so much for all that you've done.
Dilkes: Thank you.
Teague: Yes. And then we are going to dive into the conversation about interviewing City Attorney
applicants. The applications are, uh, for this position are du ... they're all due by April 15a', and
so there's two things that we want to talk about. One would be the review of the applications,
and the second would be the interview process. So for the review of the applications, currently
Councilor Bergus and Mims and I are ... we were kind of the ... the ad hoc group (laughs) of the
Councilors that is working with the City Manager to kind of go through the application. We
posted the applications and and did that, uh, reviewed that information for the applications, and
now once the applications come in, we just need to talk about how ...how would Council like us
to review those applications and kind of elevate the ones of interest, uh, to engage in the
interview process. So right now, we do have three of us appointed, and I wonder if, um,
Council would entertain us three working alongside with Geoff to kind of thumb through the
applications and then, you know, kind of figure out the ones that we want to bring for
inteview... for interview. And I think that's where the, you know, where we ... if...if Council is
comfortable with that or there's another Councilor that wants to be part of that process, I think
we certainly can talk about that right at this moment.
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Taylor: I know Councilor Mims has served on, uh, committees like this before, cause (garbled) one of
them with her for this, uh, Clerk (garbled) So I would be interested to see, I mean that's kind of
the process we (mumbled) sifted through the applications that you have and narrow it down to a
certain number, uh, of the ones you think are the best qualified, and then (garbled) proceed from
there with interviews and not necessarily interview all of the applicants, unless maybe you only
have two or three applicants. I don't know how many you have, but I'd be curious to see what
Councilor Mims has to say.
Mims: Yeah (garbled) I think that is a reasonable way to start is for where the City Manager and with a
group of the three of us too, do a preliminary look through all the applications and kind of
narrow those down, and certainly if we have trouble narrowing down or if there's issues in
terms of numbers — too many, too few — we can certainly, you know, come back to the full
Council, but I would hopefully envision the three of us, along with maybe some guidance from
Geoff, of narrowing that down to a pool that then we would all look at, and out of that pool
decide who we wanted to bring in for interviews. I ... I would certainly want to bring back to the
full Council more than just who we think we might want to interview. I think the whole
Council needs to be involved in kind of that second narrowing down.
Weiner: Do you all have any idea of the criteria that you're looking for? Is it basically going to be sort
of look and see what you get in and see, um ... and then see what looks like a good fit for the
City, based on a (mumbled) based on the, um, the request that you put out to ... to pull in
applications?
Mims: Well we've got the job description, and I haven't looked at it in quite a while, but typically, you
know, you've got your minimum criteria and your desired, and obviously I think ... I know
personally I would be, you know, hoping we would find somebody with city attorney
experience, if not at the highest level, at certainly an assistant at a decent sized city, somebody
who's got that municipal law experience, I think, would be ... certainly would be a real positive to
me. So, you know, we'll just have to go from there.
Weiner: (several talking) ...can I ask you briefly what ... what you think are some of the most important
attributes going forward?
Dilkes: Was that a question to me? Oh! Um, well I think as I always told you, I ... I mean obviously I
think the ... the job app... application sets out the minimum qualifications, and ... as well as the
preferred qualifications, which ... which would be in ... I think it says in-house city attorney for
five years, but it could also be someone who's had substantial municipal practice in a ... in a
private practice. I think that's... that's hard ... hard to find. But after that, you know, I think that,
um, I think it's good you have two lawyers in the group of three, because I think ... I think as a
lay person it's a difficult thing to evaluate a lawyer. But I think, you know, there's things about
lawyers that will speak to you, whether they have recommendations from people who are
respected within the legal community; what kind of reputation they have in the legal
community; and the... whether they provide timely advice, whether they've had experiences that
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require them to do complex problem -solving, um, preferably in areas that they're going to
encounter at the City. So, I mean, really it's just kind of the whole package. Obviously you
want to have someone that you feel like you can relate to too. Um, you know, I would caution
you for looking for flashy and that kind of thing in a lawyer. I don't think that ... you really need
that in a lawyer. You just need a solid, smart, they ...you know, they just need to be really ...they
need to be smart and they need to be, um, and they need to be willing to work as part of a team,
um, and realize that there are ... that there are many things that the Council and staff members are
trying to figure out and ... and it's just, I think I said in the ar...it's just trying to figure out what
the possible solutions are and then taking those to the policymakers to decide what ... what
course they want to pursue.
Weiner: Thanks.
Salih: I ... first I would like to thank you, Eleanor, for your service across the years, and you know, just
wish you the best for your retirement. And I just think that you ... since you been like our City
Attorney for long times, you know the challenges and like every thing that our City went
through. Do you think you can write some questionnaire for, uh, like when we interview the
people. If you can just write some kind of question that it will guide us (mumbled) interviews
the, you know, that the person, like some challenges question that you think we should ask the
applicant, since you know (mumbled) the thing that's really happening in our city, and you
know, some challenges that you think it is good to ask that question to the person so...
Dilkes: I (garbled) I have a list of, you know, questions that I've used over the years when I hire
assistant city attorneys and I'm not sure the questions would neces... I mean there might be
some, um, obviously that ... that would need to be amplified, but a lot of the questions are
probably good questions for a city attorney, um, as well, so I can certainly share those.
Salih: Yes, please.
Teague: I think that'll be helpful, and I ... I would agree with Mayor Pro Tem that just reviewing what
you already have and just coming from some of the comments, that you talked about the
attributes of what we should look for. Now, of course, there is the HR proper questions (laughs)
that we have to ask, and of course this, um, be ran by Karen, um, the interview questions or
have involvement from our HR department, but I would agree. I think that would be kind of
good for you to review and, um, cause you do have a vantage point that as lay folks (laughs)
don't have. Of course I ... I do appreciate this process with having two attorneys on ... on staff and
then, of course, um, we cannot discount the 12 years of service that Councilor Mims have also
provided for us, so yeah (both talking)
Dilkes: (both talking) I'll share ... I'll send those questions to Geoff, um, if that works for you all.
Teague: Yeah, and I also have to say that we're pretty fortunate, because we have some ... some labor
people, you know (laughs) Councilor Taylor and... and Mayor Pro Tem. I mean, these are
people that, you know, work with workers, myself included, right? (laughs) I hire people, so
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the good thing is that we do have some ... I think we have a great team to kind of review some
stuff, and even Councilor Thomas has worked in, you know, the municipal arena in his
professional life. So, yeah, this would be great just as a team to work through this
and... and... and unless there's any more comments about this then, is ... if everyone is in
agreement that Bergus and Mims and I will shift through the applicants, bring them back to the
full Council, which I'm assuming that we'll have to have an executive session for.
Dilkes: You ... I mean, cities do it different ways. I think typically Iowa City has done it where the
whole Council, as opposed to a subcommittee, does the interviewing, and obviously that has to
occur in executive. No ... it doesn't have to occur in executive session, but it typically does, and
the, um, the applicant needs to ... Kellie knows this process, the applicant needs to request a
closed session.
Teague: I guess maybe we should, you know, discuss that ... at this point if we're talking about the
interview process. What do people... what are people thoughts?
Bergus: I think what Eleanor just said of the interviews happening with the full Council, but probably
in closed session, if that's what the applicant requests, makes sense to me. Once we (garbled)
three of us read all the applications, provide a initial, um, list that we anticipate would be more
than those that we would interview, Council as a whole can select a few to interview, and then
we conduct those interviews?
Teague: Okay. Great. What about timeline? Appli ... applicants close on the 15th. And then ... when
would Council like ... those to be completed by? And I guess maybe this is something that we
can coordinate our schedules offline with the three that is going to do the application review
with the City Manager, but would it be, um, so the 15th is next Thursday. So then if we gave
ourself, um, at least a week or two to shift through those, and then get that to the Council the
first Tuesday in .... in May.
Mims: I'd like to see us try and get through them in a week, if we can. We don't ... it'll depend on
numbers, but I'd like to see the three of us try and get through that first round, uh, within a week
and then be able to, um, send our recommendations for that pared down list to Council, and then
maybe a week or less to then kind of determine our finalists, that we would bring in for
interviews. I don't know if that (garbled) seems reasonable to people.
Weiner: (several talking) ...if there aren't very many applications, would ... how would, I mean, I know
that in ... that sometimes we have to go back out and, as we did with police chief and ask... and
prolong the search period a little bit. Is there ... is there sort of a threshold for that or is that ... just
based on who you get, regardless of how small the applicant pool is?
Mims: I think it's based on who we get. I mean ... if we, even if it's a really small applicant pool, but we
have somebody in there that we think is very qualified and would really be the right fit, I don't
see the reason to prolong the process, um, and drag it out, but we can have a huge applicant
pool and not have anybody that we think is ... we're comfortable with or is the right fit, and we'd
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still need to go back out. So I think it just depends on ... the quality of the applicants, and we'll
have to see once we start reviewing those.
Dilkes: I think your ...your application period has been sufficiently long if you've got attorneys who are
looking for this kind of position. My guess is they'll be tuned into it.
Teague: So it sounds like we ... the proposal right now is for the week of the 19th, um, we'll review the
applications, and then the week of the 26'x', submit the recommended applications ... applicants to
the full Council, and then May 4", we'll have to review our work session (laughs) agenda, um,
but if we can get that on that work session agenda. Mayor Pro Tem and I, along with the City
Manager will review that and then, um, we can go into a session on that day. Does that sound
okay? All right. Great. Anything else? Well, thank you again as the City Attorney, Eleanor,
and we hope that this the ... the start of 4:00 PM, you're a part of this historic moment (laughs)
here in our city.
Dilkes: Yeah, you finally do it after 25 years, you're starting at 4:00.
Teague: I know (laughs)
Dilkes: I almost forgot today! Like, oh my goodness, it's four o'clock! (laughs)
Teague: Yes! So ... well at least you can say you are a part of it, right?
Dilkes: Yes, yes, part of the change! (laughs)
Teague: Yes! So thank you again for all that you've done.
Dilkes: Thank you.
Discuss Capital Improvement Plan and Market / Jefferson one-way to two-way conversion
proiect (03)•
Teague: All right, we're going to move on to the next agenda item, which is dis... discuss Capital
Improvement Plan and mark ... plan for Market and Jefferson one-way to two-way conversion
project, and that is on the IP3. I don't remember which date. I believe that was the second one
that we had.
Fruin: Mayor, would you like me to do a brief intro for this item?
Teague: Yes, please.
Frain: Okay, um, well, thank you. So in your information packet on the Is', uh, included a background
memo and then shared a copy of an email that I had previously sent to you, uh, when we had
some public comments about the removal of the Market and Jefferson project. So ... so that, uh,
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between the ... that email and the memo, hopefully we answered most of your questions. We do
have staff here to answer some questions tonight. The short recap is that the Market/Jefferson
two-way project was first identified in the downtown streetscape plan back in 2013. We then
did some ... some traffic studies to better understand how that project might function, both on
Market and Jefferson, and some of the surrounding streets were traffic could be pushed. We
had a preliminary budget of 500,000, which is ... is pretty consistent for conversion costs, uh,
when it's really just focused mostly on restriping a road. As we ... as we do every year, we
review the CIP projects and as projects get closer, we take a little bit deeper dive into the ... into
the design, try to anticipate what might, uh, what other changes might be needed, and in this
one, uh, the more we got into it and started looking at the condition of the ... of the traffic signals,
which are probably 1970s vintage, we felt like it would be appropriate to replace those traffic
signals, uh, one to just improve functionality and ... and better accommodate pedestrian
movement along the corridor. But knowing that the life of a traffic signal isn't going to extend
much beyond 50 years either, uh, we're currently probably right around that 50-year...year mark
right now. That pushed the project cost up to, um, at least the estimate, up to about 2.6 million.
So about a $2 million increase when you have to replace all the signals, and when you're getting
into that work, you're doing a lot of curb ramp work as well. So the project scope ballooned
quite a bit and I think Council's aware that we do have limited resources in the CIP. We have
some bonding limits that we ... we try to stay true to ... to keep our tax rate stable, and that
increase just wasn't able to be accommodated without dropping what staff felt would be, uh,
more impactful projects in the community. So we removed that from that project from the CIP
and really focused on keeping other projects that were contemplated in... in the CIP, uh,
and ... and not delaying anything further that we felt was ... was super critical. So a couple of
things I'll...I'll mention. Um, just because we moved it out doesn't mean that that corridor
doesn't get looked at anymore. In our road resurfacing efforts this year we'll focus on Jefferson
Street. So we'll do some pavement improvement. We'll take that opportunity to restripe the
bike lanes and make those a little bit wider, uh, put some buffer onto those, uh, which should
have some ... some effects on... on, uh, the traffic calming, as well as just making it more, uh, a
comfortable bike, um, bike lane on that street, and then next year for resurfacing we'll give
Market Street a good hard look too and see if that rises to the top to where we can do
some ... some interim improvements on Market. Outside of that project, I thought it'd be helpful
just to give you a little bit more background on ... on the changes made to a CIP, uh, from year to
year. So ... also in your work session is a ... kind of a differential report or a change summary, and
you can go through and you can see every CIP project and how it changed from last year to the
currently adopted CIP that you just approved last month. Um, you'll notice most projects
experience some change, whether it's a dollar amount estimate or a movement forward a year,
backward a year, uh, removal from the CIP or...or in some cases, new additions to the CIP. It's
quite a bit of work that goes into putting that CIP together, and we have to look at things like
the urgency of the need. Sometimes we think, you know, something may last another four or
five years, and all of a sudden it has to be replaced on a more urgent basis or...or contrarily we'll
get some more life out of...out of pavement or a park playground than we thought we would, uh,
and then as we experienced with this project. On an extreme level oftentimes we'll more
closely evaluate scope and the price will go up or down based on ... based on that refined
analysis. So that report's in there. Um, we can answer any questions you have about those
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changes and how staff compiles our recommendations to you. If you are looking to add that
project, uh, that Market/Jefferson project back into the CIP, we'll need some direction from you
on ... not only kind of a year to target that in. It's not possible for us to ... to pull that together now.
I think it was scheduled for next year previously, but we'll probably need to be looking at a
couple of years out, uh, so that we can get an engineer working with us. But we'll also need
some guidance on ... on just how to fund that and whether, you know, you want us to identify
projects to cut and bring those to you or if you'd like to do that, um, as a ... as a Council. So
again, we have our Engineering and Planning staff here to answer any questions that you have.
Hopefully the work session packet items helped get in front of some of those questions.
Salih: Geoff, can I ask you a question? How is the condition of the road?
Fruin: I'll leave that to ... if we have Ron or Jason on the call, um, has probably more closely looked at
that condition.
Havel: I would say overall it's in decent condition. We did identify at least a portion of Jefferson Street
that we would ... that we're planning to overlay this year. We were planning to take a closer look
at Market Street for next year. So I think they're in okay condition. It's probably getting to the
point that at least portions of them are going to need some attention, but I think overall they're
probably not in terrible condition.
Salih: If there is some, uh, street in town, they are in worse condition than those two street?
Havel: I ... I would say yes there are.
Salih: In a bad condition, I mean?
Havel: Yeah, I ... it's certainly not the ... those two streets are not the worst condition that we have around
town. I would note that the estimate that we included doesn't really address street condition.
It's more signals and curb ramps and that kind of stuff, but to answer your question, no, I would
not put these in the lowest category as far as condition.
Taylor: Well I'll ... I'll kind of be the elephant in the room here and ... and talk a little bit about this,
because I have to admit I was disappointed when I found out that ... through word of mouth, that
it had been pulled from the CIP, uh, because it seemed as though when we had initially
discussed this, it had strong support even by the Downtown District and the
neighborhoods ... surrounding neighborhood, the Council, and ... and other folks. So I thought it
was a go, and I'm ... I'm remembering that past precedent has been set on this, as far as
increasing estimates on projects. I'm thinking in particular ped mall, which of course was
necessary, the changes were necessary, but that skyrocketed almost double the initial cost that
was in the CIP, but instead it was modified and left in the CIP. So I can only see this project
as ... as getting even more expensive. You're talking about the signals, but somewhere in your
info you said, uh, if we're doing two-way signals, they would have to be different than what you
would put in for one-way signals. So we certainly wouldn't want to put the one-way signals in
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there and then have to turn around when we do convert it to two-way and do two-way signals.
That would just seem not ... not right. But ... so I would ... I would just say and encourage that as
soon as possible if you're saying now it can't be 2021 or 2022 obviously, uh, as soon as possible
after 2022 and 2023 we need... we need to look at getting it in the CIP and getting it done,
because there seems to be a lot of support out there in our surrounding communities, Des
Moines and Cedar Rapids, they've all found that it's kind of an archaic thing to have one -ways
and they've... they've been slowly eliminating their one -ways, so I just think we need to follow
suit and do that.
Frain: Yeah, if I could just add on to that a little bit. We certainly would not ... I think when we ... when
we remove this project, our thought would be that when the time comes to replace those signals
that that would be the time to look at this. What we didn't want to do is ... is go in and spend a
little bit of money now and then five, 10 years from now go ... go back in and have to redo, um,
redo anything or undo anything. So, um, yes, you're right. When those signals need to get
replaced, I think that's the time we would do it, and we ... we've done a lot of these conversions
over the last few years. I think we've been pretty ...pretty good at pursuing, um, some of these
one-way to two-way conversions. We agree it's ... it's not a disagreement on the ... that the project
needs to be done. It's ... it's a ... it's a question of urgency, um, and... and you know, unlike the ped
mall project, which, you know, had to address some really core infrastructure underneath, this is
one that the urgency isn't there, um, at least in our particular view as staff, uh, compared to
some of the other CIP projects where you have really failing conditions on major roadways or
some park improvements that ... that you have what we feel are some more critical updates, but
just to be clear, staff still supports the project. We just didn't see a way to fit it into the puzzle of
the CIP, given the -the cost increase.
Mims: Geoff, can you remind me, is this going to be a one-way to two-way conversion on the entire
length of Market and Jefferson or just near the downtown area?
Frain: Yeah, it...it would be the entire length, except we're not sure that, um, how it would work west of
Clinton, uh, as you get into the University campus. There may be good reason to keep that one-
way, uh, given the really high volumes of pedestrian crossing, uh, there at the Cleary Walkway,
but the idea would be that... would be the entire ... the entire way.
Mims: I ... I've never been real supportive of this and I ... I can understand staff's position, but I think
when the broader community sees this moving forward, I think you need to be prepared for an
incredible amount of pushback. I don't think many people even know this is on our radar. Um,
on the north side, you know, when you look at traffic flow, there's... there's not ... we've got, you
know, major arterials on the south side and you got Burlington going through the center, and it
makes it a whole lot easier for people ... as I've mentioned to people this might happen they're
like, `Oh no!' They can't imagine it and I would certainly agree with you, Geoff, that once you
get into the campus, I think having it two-way on those hills that go down to the river is inviting
potential disaster in the winter. I mean, I've seen people slide down Market Street hill. I
personally have been in situations of trying to get up Jefferson Street and having to back down
because you can't get up and see other cars do the same. So to have those two really steep hills
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two-way, I think, is going to be problematic, and I think... I think when the word really gets out
to the broader community, I think just ... I think Council and staff that are here at the time need to
be prepared for a lot of pushback.
Thomas: Well, give a few ... a few thoughts trying to provide a little bit of context on this. You know, I
did look at the ... the streetscape master plan in terms of its implementation and what were
prioritized in that master plan, and what was said there was that generally speaking, the highest
priority projects are those that address safety and public infrastructure needs, and Market Street,
and ... and the ... the focus I think in the downtown streetscape master plan was on the commercial
activity portions of it. Market Street was identified as one of the four streets in the priority one
category. So it...it was identified as a high priority. The Downtown District advocacy statement
in September of 2019, under access and mobility, felt that the change would be critical to the
success of the retail neighborhood in Northside Marketplace. So ... so we have those two
entities, you know, those two reports, uh, suggesting that it's a high priority project. I think it's
important to think about Market and Jefferson in the notion of repairing what ... what might be
called the, you know, the connected network of streets in the core of Iowa City, the grid
connected network, and ... and the damage that the one -ways do in terms of that sense of
connection. Um, in part, you know, we've talked about the speeding, right? It's, you know,
two ... multi -lane one -ways do accelerate traffic speeds. You know, there's a tendency when
you're driving on multi -lane one -ways to jockey from one lane to the other, depending on where
the gaps are. So the speeds tend to be higher. They also have an impact on adjacent property
values. You know, I think we can all sense of how, you know, if one lived or had a business on
a street where there was high-speed traffic, uh, that that would degrade the quality of life of
those adjacent properties, and I've talked to many people about that, and that's, you know, that's
what I hear. You know, `John, please, when are we going to be converting our one-way
systems,' because of the impacts they have on ... on the adjacent properties. The... another issue
is the convenience. It's ... the one -ways tend to be confusing. They can force circuitous routes
when you're trying to get from one place to another. We have a lot of traffic that tends to go the
wrong way on the one -ways. Uh, I talked to a ... a clerk at John's Grocery not too long ago and
said, `What do you see at your corner there,' you know, John's is at the corner of Gilbert and
Market, and he said he sees a car going the wrong way about once an hour... during his time
there, and ... and we see it all the time, all of us have seen that, and that ... that has to do with the
connectivity and I think the expectation of people ... what people have, uh, given the size of Iowa
City, you know, that ... that the one -ways, and I think in part it's because we are beginning to ... to,
you know, block by block reduce the presence of the one -ways, but there isn't an expectation,
certainly with visitors, that a city like Iowa City would have one-way traffic. So there is, you
know, that issue as well, and then I would say the other ...the other factor would be, you know,
following up on our conversations over Black Lives Matter. One-way streets don't self -
regulate. You know, they ...they do require more policing because of the fact that people do
drive at higher speeds. There are drivers who fail to understand that we have them in the first
place, and so they do require more policing and then, of course, if there is a collision,
responding to the collisions. As ... as Pauline was saying, they... they... and this ... this is what I find
interesting is you do find cities, and our ...our neighbor to the north, Cedar Rapids. They
converted their entire downtown. That was ... that was their high priority. Let's convert all our
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grid network in the downtown from one-way to two-way, and they started that in 2015. But
there are other... and... and the, I have a quote here from Jennifer Pratt who was their
Development Director. "These two-way conversions are a critical piece to make it feel like a
place where you want to live and walk ... walk around and feel safe." So that if...if we value
safety, both for vehicular travel, pedestrian travel, and bicycle travel, many cities have taken the
position that it's very important strategy to ... to bring the streets back to two-way traffic as soon
as possible. Some other cities in Iowa that have done this would be Daven... or planning or have
completed conversions would be Davenport, Des Moines, Indianola, Muscatine, Dubuque. So
it's ... it's a very popular strategy. Uh, South Bend, Indiana, it's a national strategy. Pete
Buttigieg, when he was Mayor of South Bend did something similar to the downtown streets
there, uh, as Cedar Rapids did and, um, I think was in part the work that he did in South Bend
that gave him the opportunity to serve as U.S. Secretary of Transportation. So my feeling is ... is
that, you know, I've been kind of waiting for this project. I felt, you know, given the way in
which the master plan called for priority, safety is priority one. That with the exception of some
intersections, we weren't really looking at the corridors that, in my view, are the most dangerous
and that really do disrupt the character and feeling of the downtown area. So ... so from my
standpoint, I was kind of patiently waiting while we were going through these projects, and as
Pauline said, some came in higher than was expected, and I said, `All right, fine,' you know,
`I'm looking forward to seeing the one -ways converted.' So I would also note that the cost
over ...you know, this additional cost is not for aesthetic enhancements. It's for replacing the
signalization and the curb ramps, and the signals, you know, are arguably already in a deferred
maintenance status at this point, um, being that they were installed in the 70s. Some of the
potential funding sources that I was looking at, and this obviously would take some time to
consider would be, um, we have a curb ramp annual fund. We also have a traffic signal annual
fund that could be drawn from, and one project that I walked over the last few days was
Fairchild Street, from Clinton to Linn. It's a two block segment on both sides of Dubuque.
That's a $1.4 million project. Um, you know, it's ... it, yes, it's not in great condition, but none of
the brick streets are in really great condition. It ... it seemed Linn Street may be in worse
condition than Fair... Fairchild, just based on my observation. So that might be one to consider
and see if there are ways we can ... repair what needs to be repaired and ... and hold off on the
wholesale replacement, um, of either one or both blocks. I'm sure there are more, but those
were some that, you know, I just looked at quickly before the work session today.
Salih: I got disconnected earlier. I was asking my questions. Uh, you know, I'm still going to ask the
same questions. I did the first one, but the second one I ask if there is another street. They said
the street are in decent condition. If there is another street in town that really in a bad
condition... that we need to repair? If you can give me an answer to that question.
Frain: If you think back to the work session we had in March, when we reviewed the street conditions,
we have a great number of streets that are in worse conditions than this. But again, this ... this
was really not trying to solve the street condition. It was trying to solve the traffic circulation
and pedestrians circulation. But your ...it's the same funding source. Uh, so if...if pavement
condition is a higher priority, yes, this ... these streets would not be at the top of the list in terms
of what's... what's in worse condition in Iowa City.
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Salih: Okay, Geoff, can you remind me what the source of the fund normally for like streets?
Fruin: Yeah, we would either do general obligation bonds or road use tax in a project like this. We
would probably look at that traffic signal account too, that's a fairly minor account. We have
about 150,000 a year in that account. So that's a, you know, that's not even quite a complete
intersection there. That's less than an intersection would cost. That tends to be an account
where we accumulate it for a couple of years and then we ... we, uh, we spend it, but you're either
looking at general obligation bonds or road use tax.
Salih: And... and how much it will cost if we want to convert both of them?
Fruin: Right now our estimate is 2.6 million.
Salih: 2.6 million. Yeah. I understand what John and Pauline saying, but ... if there is, you know, if
Iowa City resident, all of them are taxpayer, and there is some street even like in a bad
condition, then those two street that I guess Ron and, uh, said is in decent condition. I thinks
we need to focus for all Iowa City, not only like certain street for the people, just because of, uh,
like I don't even what the reason for doing it right now, uh, for traffic and whether it is like
circulation of traffic or whether this is will benefit the, you know, some business around the
area or I really don't know what that is (mumbled) right now, but I think there is many street in
bad condition. I even ... I know certain street that I will drive on and it's really in bad condition
and need our attention. I'm not (mumbled) like converting this is, you know, whatever the
reason is, but is not the time for it. I believe we need to focus on the street that's really in a bad
condition. You know, it is really interesting that we just like, you know, the payment are getting
higher, and that's concerning us, and Black Lives Matter and that's concerning us for all this.
You know, by the way, affordable housing also is a big thing that we never move forward on it,
and houses getting, you know, really higher every year. If we don't like really have affordable
housing is still we, you know, since we (mumbled) I hope the same mentality that we use for
this, we use it when we talk about affordable housing and try to find fund for them too. We
haven't done a lot, you know, for long time we did not move. I don't want to say we haven't
done, but we did, but we need to do more ... in certain areas. (mumbled) is look decent for now,
and I think we need to look ... if we're just talking about a street, we need to give the
prio... priority for the other streets that really need to be fixed, and ... and when the time come for
it, for this one, we can do it. I just support the staff decision on this. Thank you.
Bergus: Geoff, to put a little finer point on it, I did hear you say that when the traffic signals are at the
end of their life and would be replaced that ... that the conversion would happen at that time. Is
that right?
Fruin: Yeah, that ... that, to us that's the logical nexus.
Bergus: So if this project isn't in this current five-year CIP, do you have any sense of how or when we
would know that that would hit?
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Fruin: Um, I would ... I would, and I'll ask Jason and Ron and Scott there to ... to jump in if they disagree,
but I'm guessing we're looking at five to 10 years with ... with the age of those signals. Is
that ... okay assumption for the Engineering crew there?
Knoche: I think that's a good assumption, Geoff.
Weiner: I guess I would just add that as ... I think there ... there are legitimate issues with the Northside
businesses. It's tougher to ... to support these small businesses when ... when it's hard ... when it's
harder to get there, and you have to drive around. We're trying to ... we're trying to reduce car
traffic. Um, and... but backing up a little bit and ... and also referring to what Mayor Pro Tem
did, we're gonna have an enormous chunk of money coming our way that I ... that I think we're
going to all take ... want to take a really good look at, coming from the American Rescue Plan,
um, and that ... that may not address the street, but I think it can ... it can address some other
things, such as among others, affordable housing. So I'm not ... I'm not personally concerned that
we're not going to have the opportunity within the next year or so to really make an impact
there.
Teague: So I wanted to, um, kind of get a sense of where people are on ... on this, um, as far as staff
direction. So it sounds like, Councilor Bergus, I know that you want a clarification or...about
the conversion and the traffic lights. Um, are you in a ... is your position to kind of wait until that
takes place?
Bergus: I'm comfortable with that. Yeah, I'm not asking that it be put in ... put back in in the near term.
Teague: Okay, and then (both talking)
Salih: I support the staff too.
Teague: Okay. And is there anyone else that support staff? I ... you know, to ... and I guess I can ... I ... in
this situation, I think when I look at the 2.6 million to convert, um, the traffic lights are going to
be happening, um, five to 10 years. One question that I do have is when we do the conversion,
is this more paint ... on the street or does that actually involve the changing of some of the roads
widening, shortening... essentially digging up the road (laughs)
Fruin: Yeah, Ron, why don't you field that one or Jason.
Havel: I think for the most part the pavement would stay ...the same in between intersections. There
may be some work at the intersections to address the radius returns and curb ramps and that
kind of stuff, but for the most part the pavement between intersections would remain, consistent
with what it is today. We may look at reallocating that similar to what we're doing with
widening the bike lanes, but I think as far as total curb -to -curb width, we'd be about the same.
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Teague: Okay. I did want to also point out, or maybe seek some clarification, I understand that the staff
is supportive of this, just kind of down the road. You know, Councilor Thomas made great
points when it came down to the one-way, two-way conversions. Is there a greater plan to look
at all of our one-way streets and try to convert them, and... and I heard Councilor Mims, you
know, bring up some points about, you know, that ... having a one-way ...or two-way conversion
west of Clinton Street, those are concerning, right (laughs) you know, those are steep hills,
absolutely. Of course my mind was trying to figure out a solution on the snow days, you know,
do we go out and do some cones and only have one way traffic coming up Jefferson Street
(laughs) you know, I don't know (laughs) But ... but yeah, that is concerning, right, those are
steep hills, but, urn ... is there a plan for one-way to two-way conversions throughout our entire
community?
Fruin: Yeah and, uh, I see Kent Ralston on the ... on the call. Ken, if you could help me with this one.
While Kent's getting ready, I do ... I do want to make it clear for those, you know, listening. We
have done one-way, two-way conversions in recent years. Uh, we've done them in the
downtown. Uh, it wasn't too long ago where Washington Street was ... was one-way, and
we've ... we've continued to look at that. We've been pretty aggressive, as ... as this Council
knows, with ... with other roadway design changes, with four to three -lane conversions as well,
that have been tough projects in the community, but we've ... we've forged ahead on those. We
continue to do that. I think the guiding plan that comes to mind for me, before I turn it over to
Kent, is ... is the bicycle master plan. A lot of those projects were identified in that, uh, that
effort. Kent, can you add on to that?
Ralston: Yeah, I can. So I was sitting here trying to actually think about how many one-way streets we
had left in town. Geoff did mention, you know, we reach ... we recently changed Governor and
Dodge, both south of Burlington, and in fact Dodge just finished up this year, but downtown
streets certainly, uh, we changed Washington a few years back. If and when we get to Market
and Jefferson, the only main one-way roads I can think of that would be left in town are Dodge
and Governor north of Burlington, which are also a part of the highway system, part of the State
highway system. So that presents some challenges that we'll have to work through if and when
we ever get to that point. The other one-way that I can think of currently would be down
around the County Administration Building, around Benton and Dubuque and Clinton, and I
believe the current thinking is that when some of those properties redevelop in that area, the
City Carton property and some others, that we would look at also sort of unwinding those
one ... that one-way loop that currently exist thaEs a little awkward, and I think thafs the time we
would ... we would look to get rid of those. With Mar ...uh, with Jefferson and Market, I did want
to mention too, we haven't talked about level of service a lot, and when we did the actual traffic
study back in 2015, 2016, certainly there was a lot of good points made by Council and others
tonight that I won't argue. I do just want to mention that when it comes down to actual level of
service for bikes, pedestrians, and vehicles, the actual study showed it was pretty much a wash.
So there are certainly other benefits to that, but when it comes down to the actual level of
service, I don't think we're going to see any, um, really great improvements when we make that,
with respect to how long it takes a vehicle, uh, bike, or pedestrian to travel those corridors, or
across those corridors for that matter. So just wanted to point that out as well, but yeah, I
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think ... I think the ... the bigger goal, Mayor, is to ... to look at all these corridors and eventually get
rid of all our one-way. It's just sort of a matter of time and then, of course, working with the
State if we ever get to Governor and Dodge, which will be a little bit of a challenge.
Teague: Is there any plans, Kent, to kind of, you know, have ... have this planned out, a ... you know, from
you all, and even including the, you know, the ... when you reach out to the State about north
Dodge?
Ralston: Sure, so like I said, I think the area down around the County Administration Building will
work itself out, I think when those properties turn. I think that's the idea there, and when we put
in the extension of Capitol Street, which is in the Riverfront, um, Crossings master plan. Um,
Market and Jefferson, of course, we're talking about tonight, and then Dodge and Governor, I ... I
don't have a ... an outlook on the time frame for that. That gets into how those roads are funded
as well, and I would have to defer to the City Manager on that and the ... the Engineering folks,
but if and when we ever convert those, if the State would not allow it and we did it anyway,
they would be more than happy to allow us to do it, but then we would also own those streets,
which we share funding for those now. Dodge Street reconstruction is in your CIP here in a few
years. It's something like a $10 -plus million project, and of course the DOT will be paying for
roughly half of that, I think, when the time comes, but if we were to ever gain jurisdiction of
those roadways, they would be ours to pay for in perpetuity. So I th... I don't know how that
conversation will go, Mayor, but that's certainly a conversation that will have to be had
when ... when we get to that point.
Teague: Thank you, and it sounds like, you know, staff is on board with one-way to ... one-way to two-
way conversions, um, in general. I ... I won't (laughs) you know, say that is across the board, but
in general. Yeah, so I ... at least for staff direction, um, there's a majority of Council that doesn't
support moving forward with this and, um, and I have to agree with Mayor Pro Tem when she
mentioned that the road conditions, there... there are worse roads than, um, that are out there
right now that we can be spending $2.6 million. If there wasn't any type of plan for this, um,
for conversion for the Jefferson, Governor, then you know... Jefferson and Market, I'm sorry,
then there might be ... I might have a different position, but as of now, um, I don't support any
change. So it sounds like there's a majority of Council that don't support the change and so
there's no direction to staff to do anything different.
Fruin: Um, Mayor, as we transition to the next item, I ... for those listening, I want to make sure that
folks know we're still committed to that downtown streetscape plan. We've invested quite a bit
in follow up to that plan, when you think of Washington Street reconstruction, the ped mall
reconstruction, um, and... and a lot of smaller projects that surround that. Your CIP also has the
Dubuque Street reconstruction between Iowa and Washington, which will be a very significant
project, much like Washington was a few years ago. So we are continuing to work on that plan.
Uh, we do feel like it's a ... it's a good guidebook for us, and Market/Jefferson's still a ... still a key
piece to that, but much like Clinton Street and Linn Street, and ... and many others that are there,
um, it's just ... for staff at least right now, uh, it's not the ... not the highest priority, but hopefully
we'll get to it and we'll get to it and in soon. Uh, we'll make sure, uh, to take another look at it
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with ... with next year's CIP, and we'll make sure on the Public Work side that as we do, uh,
signal checks and inspections, that ... as that date gets closer, when we know that we're going to
have some, that the engineering is ready to go for the conversion piece. So there won't be
whole much ... a whole lot of delay there.
Explore text amendments to facilitate more neighborhood commercial in residential areas (IP4):
Teague: Great. If nothing else we'll move on to the next item, which is explore text amendments to
facilitate more neighborhood commercial in residential areas, and that's in the same IP of April
1 st, IN in the information packet. All right, Geoff, you want to take this away?
Fruin: Yeah, thank you, Mayor. This is an item that's been hanging out there since you created your
strategic plan about a year ago. We're really just looking for some Council discussion here.
We're not expecting you to be able to articulate the exact code changes that you'd like to see, but
we really didn't have a chance during the strategic planning effort to get too detailed in our
discussions, but this centers around the idea that the Council would like to see some smaller
neighborhood nodes in and around residential areas. You know, those ... those walkable
neighborhood commercial centers that ... that residents would ... would really benefit from. We do
have several examples of those, uh, probably to ... to varying degrees of success Certainly the
area that we just talked about in the Northside is looked at as a very, um, kind of very successful
neighborhood commercial node. We also have smaller neighborhood centers, for example, like
Olde Town Village on the east side that is walkable from a number of different areas out there.
Council's aware that earlier this year we presented some code changes that you approved that
could help facilitate more infill of existing, uh, commercial nodes, and some of that is going to
help, uh, surrounding neighborhoods. You can think of the north Dodge coffee shop example
that we brought to you. That certainly has a good residential base around it, um, so there's been
a little bit of progress on this item, um, but really want to ... just a chance for you to articulate
which ... which you would like to see more of in the community so that we could give some
critical thought to ... to code changes that might be needed to ... to facilitate that, and the last thing
I'll mention is, uh, you're well aware that we're working on the form based code for the South
District. There is a neighborhood commercial district that, uh, is part of that code proposal that
we'll be bringing to the Planning and Zoning Commission, then to you here shortly. And so as
we think of new greenfield developments, whether it's South District or West or East, when we
apply this form based code, we will have, we believe, the tools in place to ... to really facilitate
that type of development. So I'd encourage you to think more on infill opportunities, um, than
greenfield, cause I think the greenfield solution will be coming your way, and we can have a
discussion on that in the future.
Taylor: Geoff, I was wondering if there's been any outreach to like the neighborhood association, in
particular like the South District Association. They meet pretty frequently, and like asking for
input from them on ... on what they feel their neighborhood might need for some commercial
area? So I'm very much in favor of this and we have some very, as you'd mentioned, some very
successful neighborhood commercial, and then we have the few that were grandfathered in, the
Thoma's Meat Market over there off of Muscatine has been very successful, and it's in the heart
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of a very walkable single-family neighborhood, and ... and of course there's the wonderful
DeLuxe Bakery that also was grandfathered in, uh, because it had been commercial prior,
and ... and it's just very successful also. Uh, there's always someone there. A very busy place
and in the heart, again, of a single-family neighborhood. So I'm very much in favor of those
kinds of things, but looking around and driving up and down that Highway 1/6 corridor, and
there are some vacant buildings. But I was just wondering, I was looking... when I looked into
neighborhood commercial it listed, you know, things like convenience stores and, you know,
those ki... banks and ... and going up and down that corridor, we've... we've... we've got an
abundance of those kinds of things in that area, pizza places and banks and convenience stores,
but one thing that I did not see and we should maybe try to encourage more of, uh, we're
lacking daycare. I would like to see that, and I would hope ... and I would think that that's
probably what these residents would ... would say is that they need some form of daycare over on
that side of town.
Frain: Yeah, good...good comments there. That's helpful. Um, we have not done any outreach
probably I would ... I would guess the last time we did any type of related outreach would be, uh,
the last time we updated the comprehensive plan, whether that's the entire umbrella
comprehensive plan that we have or district comp plans is probably the last time we did targeted
outreach on this subject.
Teague: I guess personally I ... I think having, uh, commercial... opportunities throughout the, you know,
neighborhoods is ... is a good idea. One of the concerns that I have, of course, is ... the neighbors
(laughs) then that may complain if there is some type of a business that has a lot of foot traffic.
We could anticipate that there would be some people that would complain about that. It's ... it's a
different use, they didn't buy their house to have, you know, all this foot traffic and all the
parking spaces in front of their house taken up. So, I mean, I support the idea of commercial
spaces. I think it make a lot of sense, you know, to explore, but I can hear some, you know, just
neighbors coming forth with ... with complaints, um, substantiated or not most rimes, while
whatever would be going there as commercial wouldn't even be there yet. So it would all be
assumptions made by neighbors how that one business will change their neighborhood and... and
make it feel different. So ... I'm all about commercial spaces being in residential areas. I think
that's just something that we have to consider.
Taylor: Mayor, that's a very excellent point, and I'd forgot I was going to bring that up. We did have
that situation a while back when Paul's left, uh, their building, and the neighbors are obviously
missing Paul's, but the ... the business that went in there, no fault of their own, had bright lights,
brighter lights than what Paul's ever did, and they, uh, right behind them, uh, to the north of
them, was a residential neighborhood, an older residential neighborhood with not much
screening, uh, for trees or fences or anything. So the bright lights shone right into there, so not
necessarily the foot tra... traffic, uh, Mayor, but those sort of, um, unanticipated things like the
lighting and the noise perhaps.
Weiner: Then I think there's ... I hear you both and I think those things are solvable too, through good
neighbor meetings and working with the community. There's... we're always going to encounter
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when there are new uses or new things come in a certain amount of NIMBYisrn, um, and
people... and change is hard. But if we're looking at...at walkable communities, things that we
can ... that people can get to that they don't need a car to get to, um, then small businesses,
groceries, coffee shops, whatever... whatever we can encourage. I think our greatest info, the
question is, are they viable ... as businesses.
Teague: One other thing that I did want to mention is for, you know, these commercials spaces in
neighborhoods, there is somewhat of an equity where, um, my assumption is that the properties
would then be charged commercial taxes. Is that correct... potentially?
Fruin: If you're thinking about the examples that were given with the ... the meat market and ... and
DeLuxe, then yes, those would be commercial. Um, not necessarily the same for ...for like a
home-based business type of operation that already takes place in neighborhoods. So ... depends
on the degree ... if you're thinking coffee shops and daycares, then yes.
Teague: What about a clothing store?
Fruin: Yeah, I would think that that's going to be commercial.
Teague: That's going to be, okay. So ... and the only reason I bring that up is when I think about just
some of our minorities, you know, within the community. If they want to get into having their,
you know, renting a property just for commerc ... commercial use, uh, some of that could be a
little cost preventat... you know, prohibitive, but, um ... I at least wanted to make mention that,
you know, we probably should keep in mind what type of businesses will be ... will be charged
the commercial versus not, be very clear, and we probably already have that, but we just want to
be cognizant that, you know, someone may already have a little small business that they want to
take it to a next level and rent a space for commercial... um, and the revenue may not be that
great, you know, starting out. So just wanted to at least make mention that whatever we're
doing, let's put on our equity lens, as well.
Bergus:Thanks for that comment, Mayor. I was going to just ask Geoff, I think in the memo this really
was directed towards the more pure commercial uses, I guess is how I read it. Just off the top of
your head, I mean the home-based business, there's some flexibility there, if you ... if you reside
in the place where you're, I mean, there's certain activities that are allowed in ... in homes. I
wonder if maybe an educational campaign relating to some of that might be useful, so that
people understand what they can do in their ...in their residence, versus if they had a, you know,
property that was really only used for commercial purposes.
Fruin: Yeah, we can ... we can definitely promote some of that and, um, Anne, I see you're on the call.
Uh, if you've got more information on this, let me know, but generally your home-based
businesses, you can think of it as someone that does an in-home daycare, which the City's
actively funded and supported workforce development in that area, to promote in-home
daycare. That's something that can take place in ... in your own home. You have ... you probably
have a lot of people in the community that may make something and sell it out of their ...sell it
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out of their home, you know, maybe someone's making jewelry and selling it online. Uh, you
know, that ... that type of business generally works good for an in-home type of use. Uh, where
we start to ... where we start to draw that line is ... is, um, what the Mayor brought up earlier,
which is foot traffic, you know, how many people are coming and going, what does the parking
look like, um, what are those other effects on the community. Probably, you know, a common
one that cities struggle with, um, not necessarily that I could point to here, but there's a lot of
people that might try to do a car repair business in their own driveway and then, you know,
you'll occasionally hear complaints about disabled cars on the roadway or just the noise and the
negative aspects of doing that mechanic -style work in a residential area. That's a ... that's a
common one that cities struggle with that would be, you know, borderline incompatible in a lot
of different areas, depending on how large that, you know, that operation grew to be. Um, and I
think that is the, you know, that is the struggle, is finding that line. I think, you know, a lot of
people like that idea of a morning bakery that they can walk to and have coffee at. But if you're
asked to think of five or six other uses that may fit, you may be hard pressed to do that, and
that's... that's where it gets tricky in writing... writing code and... and trying to make some
allowances. I think what you've seen in the past is ... like the coffee shop example. When we
have a good proposal like that that fits, we analyze our code. We try to figure out how to make
that project work, and we tend to do it in a narrow way so that it doesn't have negative,
unintended consequences.
Thomas: Some ... some of my thoughts on this would be in the matrix, uh, that kind of covers the types
of commercial zones we have, some of them do not allow residential. And in terms of
the... the... kind of the concept of the suburban retrofit in commercial areas that are struggling,
and they have large parking lots, uh, some have seen the introduction of residential
development, partly to give kind of a mixed-use component, uh, which is inherently walkable.
So you have more people living nearby who can then use that commercial district. So that's
certainly one thing that could be considered or assessed as to whether there's an opportunity for
that ... that type of retrofit. Other commercial districts, and we've seen it on ... in Northside
Marketplace, is the creation of a public space. The closure of Linn Street between Market and
the alleyway there, I would say, has been the most significant move in that ... in that
neighborhood commercial district since ... well, in the last 10 years. So it's ... people are very
excited about having that come back, at least people that ... that I've been talking to. That ... that's
something the downtown has, uh, as well. So, you know, try ..trying to see how that could be
replicated in some of our other commercial districts would be something to think about. In
terms of the greenfield, I do think the ... the vision that we should try to, you know, create, uh,
accomplish would be the idea that, uh, we are creating a small town. So you have that same
level of mixed-use, walkability. There are lots of moving parts that go into achieving that. Uh,
it's not just missing middle. It's not...not 10 -foot lanes. I mean all of those things play into it,
but it's really a complete picture made up of a lot of elements. Um, so I'm hoping that say in the
Carson Farm that's what we see ... uh, is the creation of a viable mixed-use, uh, place, which has
the feeling of either a small Iowa town or an urban, um, an urban neighborhood like the
Northside, which has its own mixed-use components. Um ... the other interesting thing, I think,
is that we've seen a lot of, uh, with COVID, and I think it will stay with us, is many people are
at home working virtually now. So it's almost like we've brought, without any significant
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impacts on the neighborhood, more people, uh, in the neighborhood all week long. And if you
create ... so there ... it's, you know, people are staying home now instead of commuting to work
somewhere else. So there's a larger population who is interested in things close by. So if we
provide those things and make it easy to get to them, um, that ... that should help revitalization. I
mean, certainly in the Northside, you know, those... those of us who are working at home now,
um, really the thought of being able to go to Northside Marketplace — it's an outdoor public
space — is very inviting. That ... that could also be replicated, and I think there are more people
who will be interested in having those sorts of opportunities, either within walking or
bicycl... uh, bike distance. Um, you know, there's a concept that I think Iowa City is really set
up well to achieve, and that is the idea that either by walking or bicycling you can pretty much
access all that you would ... you need in your life, uh, within 15 minutes. So that just simply
means making sure we have, you know, that bicycle network, safe streets to walk, pleasant
walk, comfortable walk, um, connecting us from our homes to the nearest commercial
neighborhood district. So I think there are some great opportunities, um, both in the short and
the long- term, in terms of creating more ... more vibrant neighborhood commercial areas that
also generate more taxable value, because some of these auto -oriented, um, commercial districts
are... are really, I would say, underperforming, um, and I think there's an opportunity to turn
them around.
Bergus: Geoff, how often do ... do potential businesses come to the City with a ... with a location that's in
a residential neighborhood and just essentially at that first step or first inquiry get turned away
because the idea of, you know, I guess they would have to rezone, right, and the ... and the
concept of rezoning within a residential zone just isn't ... is kind of a non-starter, so they just get
turned away. Does that happen often, do we have examples? I mean not necessarily specific
businesses, but like is that something that happens at the staff level?
Frain: I certainly don't hear many requests at all for ...for that. Um, Anne, if you ... if you field those,
please jump in and let me know, but no I don't think we ... I don't think we get a ton of those
requests. Um, it's not just the compatibility with a ... with necessarily the, um, the ... the
neighborhood, but it's also there's difference in code, in building code requirements, when you
start to get into a commercial venture that could make conversion of a residential space a lot
more difficult.
Russett: I would just add, this is Anne Russett with Neighborhood and Development Services, that
since I've been here, I think ... for three years, um, I received two inquiries of businesses that
wanted to locate to ... in a residential zone.
Teague: (mumbled) (laughs) Well I'll just add that I personally came before Council in 2006. I
requested zoning to a commercial, uh, right next door to Lensing Funeral Home, my house
there, and I was denied. So I know the feeling about being denied (laughs) but I did want to
maybe just add and ask Anne about any accessibility concerns, or is that something that
typically goes into consideration for the conversion?
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Russett: I think in the inquiries that I received, they were proposing a use that was not allowed in the
zone. So it was ... it was really a function of our residential zones not allowing very many non-
residential uses.
Teague: Sure, okay. I'm done.
Mims: To me the issue ... and I don't know that I can give any clear direction (laughs) as staff requested
at the end of the memo, but when I think of, you know, businesses and commercial in a
residential area, the idea of having businesses and amenities there that people can walk or bike
to are just great. I think the viability of very many of those in this day and age, unfortunately, is
probably pretty limited. You don't have a whole lot of people that can come in and do what
Jamie Powers did with the DeLuxe Bakery. Not to say there aren't others, but those are the
exceptions, not ... not real common, and so, um, people unfortunately are still going to be, you
know, getting in their cars and driving across town or, you know, to the grocery store or to the
hardware store and, you know, we've got (mumbled) from the north side, etc, but it's finding
businesses... it's trying to remove roadblocks from people who do have an idea for a business
that could work well in the residential, without having a negative impact on the life of people in
that neighborhood. So in other words, not creating an excessively large amount of foot traffic
or vehicular traffic or noise or odors, things like that. To me if those are not factors, then why
not let the business be in the residential area, as long as it's not having that negative impact on
the neighborhood. So I don't know if that ... it really helps staff, but when I think about trying to
open things up for more business in those residential, it's like, yeah, anything that's not going to
have that excessive volume of traffic, excessive noise, smells, or anything else that would
deteriorate from the quality of life in the neighborhood.
Bergus: I agree with that. I don't, again, Geoff, thanks for saying it's not up to us to figure out the how,
but when we think about what ... what the differential between commercial and residential zones
is, you know, I think we're trying to control or buffer for those things that Susan was
mentioning — the traffic, the hours of operation, right, lights, sounds, smells, parking. So ... so,
yeah, if there's a way to address those concerns, and I guess for the couple that are the non-
conforming but legal uses, that still ... is that still like a pretty intensive case-by-case process
where you would figure out, you know, all those elements as it goes? I mean if there was some
way to ... if there was some way to implement like that... that sort of review that you would have,
you know, for any business that would want to locate in what would otherwise be a residential
area, so that you could address all of those factors and it's not like a, you know, use by right for
any type of business.
Russett: I guess one thought I have on that is with the legal non -conforming situations, we don't have a
lot of...we have a handful of commercial uses within residential zones. I don't think it comes up
that often where we're analyzing whether or not there's a legal non -conforming situation. So I
don't think it's ... I don't think it's very time -intensive cause it's ... it's not that frequent.
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Bergus: Yeah, I guess I was just imagining is there some process, like some evaluative process that
could occur if someone inquired, hey can I do this in my neighborhood. You know, that ... that
would be on a more case-by-case basis.
Dilkes: I think what you're talking about is some kind of special exception process. I mean the ... the
code would have to define what the, you know, what ... the availability of the special exception
would have to be put in the code, but then it would be the Board of Adjustment that would
impact, for instance, the effect on the neighborhood, etc.
Bergus: Thank you, Eleanor, and just one ... one thing that Councilor Thomas raised that I wanted to
make sure. Based on your memo, Geoff, it looks like that residential multi -family is allowed in
most commercial zones, just not in the intensive or highway commercial district. So individuals
could come in with like a mixed housing and commercial development now in something that is
a ... most of our commercial zones. Is that right?
Fruin: Anne, you want to take that.
Russett: Sure, that's true. I would just say that in most of our commercial zones that we have a
requirement that the first floor of any building has to be commercial. So if you're thinking
about redeveloping kind of a strip mall, which I think Council Member Thomas was talking
about, to incorporate any residential uses, they have to be above the first floor.
Bergus: Okay, thank you.
Teague: So, Geoff, did you ... did you get what you needed?
Fruin: I think we have enough to kind of further our staff discussions on it, so it's been helpful to hear
this and there's a couple of different thoughts that we'll ... we'll take from here and we'll ... we'll
come back to you if we need some more guidance or if we want to bounce some ideas off.
Clarification of Agenda Items:
Teague: All right, great. We are on to clarification of agenda items.
Bergus: Mayor, I don't know if this is the right time, but I think we talked about resetting a work
session for going over the preliminary plan to restructure the police, and I think we looked at
dates and then we're going to reschedule that, but is that still hanging out there?
Teague: It is.
Bergus: Okay. Just wanted to make sure we don't lose track of it.
Teague: Yep, yep.
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Fruin: It didn't sound like a work ... a special work session in April was going to be possible for all
seven. So we either need to get that scheduled on a regular work session agenda or look
towards May.
Teague: Can we then .... I do wonder if our next ... I can't recall some of the things that we have lingering
for our next work session.
Fruin: For the next one, uh, staff is preparing to have a COVID-related discussion with you. I don't
know that that'll take the whole time, but wanted to get your thoughts in regards to some of our
reopening plans, and as well as give you a chance to, um, talk about going back to in-person
meetings and what ... what that would look like, as well. So we're busy pulling that together and
would hope to have that in the April 15th information packet so it could be discussed on the
20".
Teague: We could ... I guess my assumption is we could potentially do it on the 20a'. It seemed like we
should probably get it done sooner than later, start ... start the conversation, um, and then ... so that
would be the next ... the next work session, if people are in agreement with that.
Bergus: Mayor, I can't remember, did we, um, were we waiting to get some of the feedback that ... that
we were outsourcing... to be prepared for that work session? I guess I wasn't in necessarily
super hurry, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't falling off the radar.
Fruin: Yeah, you know, we haven't ... we haven't started with that outreach. As we started to explore
that, I think the ... the feeling was that it would be much more beneficial to ... to wait until we
could do more in-person meetings to gather that feedback. So we were hoping to initiate that
here late spring and summer. Really with the preliminary plan, it's a little bit different than the
CPRB and the OIR report. Really what ... what I'm looking for and... and for some of these
you're going to say we want more input on this before we ... before we go. I'm kind of looking
for that direction on what ... what do you really want to see input on and what does staff have a
green light to start working on, and you know, I'll give you a couple of examples, would... would
be, you know, the idea of working to expand the local mobile crisis program, working to begin
9-1-1 integration discussions countywide. I hate to have that linger too long. I'd like to get to
work on that, but I also feel like I need that permission from you, because there may be other
approaches to, um, those ... those issues that you want to take, or perhaps you want to wait till
there's public input. So it's not going to be necessarily yes or no to all these items. It's going to
be ... staff can proceed ahead and begin planning on this, and we should really hold off
and... and... and wait on ... on these other items.
Teague: Yep, and I just want to at least make the point that we're actually talking about IP, information
packet from March 18'x'.
Dilkes: I had ... I had thought along the police, the preliminary plan, that there was some discussion,
maybe I'm making this up, but some discussion about meeting the staff direction on the
interstate access as being something that needed to be done sooner rather than later. I have a
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memory that when I was asked for the .... the memo that I'm working on ... on First Amendment
activity within the protest context was kind of...during that discussion.
Frain: Yeah, I think that that ties back to the OIR report there, so I think you're right, Eleanor (both
talking)
Dilkes: Okay.
Frain: (both talking) ...legal analysis is done we'll need to .... we'll need to jump in and have that
discussion.
Dilkes: We just want to make sure my memo was not (both talking)
Frain: Right.
Dilkes: (both talking) ...on target.
Teague: So I guess what I would ask the Council is does it seem reasonable that the 20th we start the
conversation?
Salih: (mumbled) need the public, we have to wait for it. I don't know why we in hurry, but if there is
something that staff need us to talk about it and that doesn't need a public (mumbled) we can
just talk about those things, so we can give them direction to start, but I just believe that we
should wait for more public input.
Teague: I think once we go through the ... because the staff kind of categorize and color things, um,
some, you know, do ... can they get the green light to start working on, doing some research. So
I do think that as we go through there, we'll be able to identify as a Council either what our
plans are for the public, you know, engagement. But I do feel, I mean, this has been out since
December, that we do need to have a conversation.
Salih: (both talking)
Teague: Yeah I ... I do agree that there are some things that the public, you know, we should, you know,
get their input on. I think as we're going through the items, I think we'll be able to decide that
as a group.
Salih: And I want to (mumbled) agree on something, and after that we hear feedback from the public,
and we say, oh, we should have just wait for that or this. I don't know.
Bergus: Would we have Eleanor's memo by the 20th that we could ... talk about that?
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Dilkes: My plan is to put that memo out before this, you know, the week of the 16', right before I
leave. I mean I'm working with ...Sue well know what I'm doing so she can respond to
questions and stuff, but that has been my plan is to try and get that out to you before I leave.
Teague: The ... the other, I mean, the other option is if we were to have a. Just a work session only. We
can potentially do a work session, if people can maybe give me some assessment. The week of
the 26th when ... when we need to ... maybe we can then have a discussion that week for, one, the
applications, or we can just keep that for the 4', uh, for the attorney applications, but then we
can go into a work session the week of the 26h. So there's a, you know, something that people
can identify the week of the 26th and if I remember what we did was we went on Tuesday the
20a' ... we went on a Tuesday, and I want to say we started at 3:00 PM. So I don't know what
people thoughts are for Tuesday the 27th at 3:00 PM where we can just do a work session. So
maybe we just have just that on our agenda and...
Salih: You mean we. Just to start our work session one hour early, that what you saying?
Teague: No, it would be the week of the 27a' (both talking) You're not available that week? Okay. So
then it would just be the... either the 20th or we can do it on the 4th.
Salih: What do we have on the 4th, Geoff?
Fruin: Um, I don't know. I'd have to ... I'd have to spend some time and look at ... look at what we have.
Maybe it's something that I can ... I can talk to the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem about and in the
coming weeks. You know, we also may be needing to schedule a discussion on the recovery
funds that ... that the City's been allocated once some of those Treasury guidance documents
come out. So I could see that sneaking up on us and and taking some time on the 41, but maybe
in another week or two we'll have some more clarity on ... on a couple of these outstanding
issues.
Teague: What I might propose is, cause I would agree. I think that recovery, uh, we need to spend
some time there. So what I might suggest is that I'll put one more thing out there. Um, can ... are
people available on Tuesday the 11th of May at 3:00 PM, and if we don't get consensus now
then I'll just have Kellie reach out to us (laughs)
Taylor: I'm free on...
Teague: So, looking at May 11 at 3:00 PM.
Mims: I could.
Thomas: I'm open on that day.
Weiner: That's okay. It's right ... it's right before (mumbled) does that impact you, I mean (mumbled) on
the 12th.
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Teague: You're on mute, Mayor Pro Tem.
Salih: I was just thinking about that but let me see my..I'm opening my calendar. One second please.
Teague: All right.
Salih: But thank you, Janice! You always remember this. Okay. Yeah I can do it. How long it gonna
be?
Teague: I think we should at least plan for two hours.
Salih: Okay then, I'm for it.
Teague: Okay, all right, look like we have consensus. Everybody's ... Bergus, are you ... you said yes.
Okay. All right. All right so we'll do it that day. Anything else ... well let's, uh, formal agenda,
anything else from there? Well, I guess we were actually at March ... let's stay with March 18th
IP. Anything else from that IP?
Dilkes: Mayor, while we're on schedule here, can I just mention one ... one more thing? So the other
kind of major assignment I need ... have before I leave is to address the CPRE recommended
proposals for changes to the ordinance. And I'm starting to work on that, but I think that's going
to have to hold until we get through the legislative session. There's some bills that are going
through that ... that look like pretty likely may become law and they're going to influence what
we can and can't do with with the CPRB, I think, so I think we need to wait until that's done to
do that.
Weiner: That should be drawing to an end by the end of this month. They're working o... they're
working on budget now. If they go past the end of April then they don't get per diem, so they
don't want to stay.
Dilkes: We'll just do what we can do before I leave, but I won't put that out before I leave.
Teague: Okay, understandable.
Dilkes: And Sue will follow up with that.
Teague: Yep. I'm seeing shaking heads if we understand, yes, all right. Anything else with info packet
March 18a'?
Weiner: I just wanted to point out the really ..the really thorough, um, plan ... work planned from the
Historic Preservation Commission. It ... it's I ... I found it really worthwhile going through and
really helpful to ... to see how they want to integrate essentially climate and a lot of other things
into their work as well as well .... as racial justice.
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Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees:
Teague: Great. Anything else? March 250i? April 15L? Okay, hearing nothing else, any updates on
assigned boards, commissions, and committees? I know we've been doing stuff. I used to be a
little more organized with my...my calendar, uh, to pull it up, but that's gone by the wayside.
Weiner: Well we had a meeting of the JECC and I can't even remember what we did, which is really
terrible. But Susan, do you recall offhand what we ... what we did?
Mims: Yeah, there's an issue (garbled) there's an issue with our contract for the radios. That's being
changed, we just haven't been able to get a bid from one of the companies. So that'll probably
be changing. Um, budget's all set. That really is about all.
Taylor: We did have a meeting of the MPO. Most all of us were also at that and major thing was
approval of streets projects that Iowa City had presented, so that was a good thing. The other
was the federal swap, Federal Aid Swap Program came up yet again and was, again, our group
voted to opt out of that program.
Teague: Hearing nothing else, then we are adjourned until our formal meeting, um, within about 20
minutes, which will start at 6:00 PM, and that is a different Zoom, and I'll see you all there.
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