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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-06 TranscriptionPage 1 2. Proclamations 2.a. Arab American Heritage Month Teague: Well, welcome everyone and again, Mayor Pro Tem will jump on as soon as she can. Having some intemet issues. She was jumping in and out of our work session, so ... uh, she is trying to get that resolved. We're moving on to Item #2, which is Proclamations and I've asked, um, or actually several, uh... um, Councilors have volunteered to help with these. We have five proclamations. Mayor Pro Tem was going to read the first one, but I'm going to read it in her absence. So the first one is ... 2.a. is Arab American Heritage Month, and this is ... it states (reads proclamation) ...and to receive this is Newman Abuissa. Welcome! Abuissa: Thank you, Your Honor. As you said, my name is Newman Abuissa, and I've been a resident of Iowa City for more than 30 years. Uh, Arab Americans in Iowa City are a very diverse community. They are black, white, and anywhere in between. They are multi ... multi faith. They are Christians and Muslims and Jews and agnostics and others. And they have been living in this community and contribute to this community greatly. I want to thank the residents of Iowa City to elect one of us, an Arab American, Mazahir Salih, as a City Council Member, and I want to also thank the City Council for electing her, uh, as Mayor Pro Tem. So Arab Americans have been in this community for a long time. They contribute and they are vital part of the Iowa City society, and we are proud to be Arab Americans and contributing a part to ... doing our part in ... in this community. Arab Americans also stood with the African Americans and Asian Americans in their time of need, when ... when when they are not treated equally, and we stand for justice for all. So thank you very much for reading this proclamation and issuing this proclamation in our, uh, month for our heritage, uh, this year. Thank you, Mayor. Teague: Thank you. Happy that you are able to join us today. We're on Proclamation 2.b., Fair Housing Month, and I welcome Councilor Pauline Taylor. 2.b. Fair Housing Month Taylor: Oop, there we go! Sorry! Thank you, Mayor. (reads proclamation) Here to accept is Tracy Adams, President and Tyler Warner, CEO of the Iowa City Area Association of Realtors. Welcome! Adams: Thank you. My name is Tracy Adams. I am the President at, uh, Iowa City Area Association of Realtors. (mumbled) organization comprised of 470 realtors here within the Iowa City greater area. We are joined by 1.4 million realtors nationally, who have made a commitment in our profession to adhere to a strict code of ethics and uphold the values of fair housing for all. Fundamentally, fair housing means that every person can live free. This means that our communities are open and welcoming, free of housing discrimination and hostility. This also means that each one of us, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability has access to neighborhoods of opportunity where our children can attend quality schools; our environment allows us to be healthy; our academic opportunities and self - This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 2 sufficiency can grow. On behalf of all realtors at ICAR, thank you, Iowa City, for joining us in honoring the Fair Housing Act and observing April as Fair Housing Month. Together our commitment to fair housing is one that reflects the needs of our nation's ... our nation today and leads us to a future of true equality for all. Thanks again. 2.c. National Community Development Week Teague: Thank you, thank you so much. We are at Item 2.c. of proclamations, and this one is the National Community Development Week, and we're going to ask that, uh, Councilor Taylor read this one as well. Taylor: Thank you, Mayor. (reads proclamation) ...and here to accept is Maria Padron. Sorry if I mispronounced that, Maria, uh, our Housing and Community Development Committee Chairperson. Welcome, Maria. Padron: Hello, thank you. Um, I would like to thank the ... the Council for all ... all their support and hard work. This has been an extremely difficult year for everyone, and we really appreciate all you do to improve people's lives. Thank you. 2.d. National Service Recognition Day Teague: Thank you so much, Maria, for being here today. Item 2.d. proclamation is National Service Recognition Day, and this will be read by Councilor Weiner. Weiner: (reads proclamation) ...and accepting this proclamation is Emma Markowski or...I hope I didn't mispronounce your last name. Markowski: No, you're fine! Thank you so much, and Sloane Terrill is also on the call. We are both Vistas at Shelter House this year. Thank you so much for your support. This is our ...our first year in service, and we really enjoyed it. We've given up a lot to be ... to be Vistas with AmeriCorps, and we really appreciate having the support of the City Council. So thank you so much for reading this proclamation. Teague: Thank you so much, Emma, for all the work that you do, and ... and we certainly do recognize this day. I wanted to also acknowledge that our Mayor Pro Tem has joined us, welcome. (laughs) and hope your internet issues don't continue. We've all been there. Moving on to Item 2.e. Proclamations, Week of the Young Child (reads proclamation) ...and here to receive this proclamation is Missie Forbes with 4C's Community Coordinated Child Care. Welcome, Missie. Forbes: Thank you! Thank you so much for having me. As the Executive Director of 4C's and on behalf of the local Week of the Young Child Committee, I thank you for recognizing the Week of Young Child with this proclamation. The Week of the Young Child has been nationally recognized for 50 years, in an attempt to honor the hard work of childcare providers who This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 3 provide support and have the attention of our earliest learners, at a time when brain development is at its height. Over the past year of the Childcare Workforce was deemed essential during the pandemic, it was of -often went unrecognized by many in their thanks and recognition of other industries. I thank you as our City Council and Mayor for recognizing this workforce, um, recognizing the important work that they do, and your support in declaring the Week of the Young Child. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 4 8. Community Comment (items not on the agenda) [until 7 PM] Teague: We are on to Item #8, which is Community Comment, and this is a time where the community can come and talk about anything that is not on our agenda, that's not an item on our agenda, and I will ask people to keep their comments three to five minutes, and we're going to start with Martha. Welcome again, Martha. Hampel: Thank you, Mary ...Mayor. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn there. Again, I am speaking in opposition to the City of Iowa City possibly installing traffic cameras for the purpose of traffic law enforcement. In the past, Councilor Thomas has proposed this idea under the guise of equity. The claim is that traffic cameras would create equity by correcting racial disparities in traffic stops, and reduce the number of interactions drivers would have with law enforcement. This is definitely quite the spin and surely a Trojan Horse. There's a Stanford University study of nearly 100,000,000 traffic stops, and they found that police stopped and searched black and Latino drivers on the basis of less evidence than used in stopping white drivers, and folks can find the details of that study at openpolicing.stanford.edu. In an effort to find proof of Councilor Thomas' claims, I looked at some of the cities and states used in this study and found that many of them already have traffic cameras. For example, New Orleans has had traffic cameras since 2007; Philadelphia since 2005; San Francisco since 1996. So it appears at least in these cities, uh, it does not appear that traffic cameras have created equity or lessened racial disparities in traffic stops. There are many non -punitive measures that have proven to reduce red light running and speeding. For example, there is a ... at least one study out of Texas. There's tons of studies across the country, um, that have found that lengthening the yellow light time by even one second can reduce the rate of red light running by up to 70%. Whereas traf...red light cameras can only reduce red light running by 50 to 58%. So it would make sense, um, if we're really concerned about safety in the community, that we would use measures like this, and there's also a number of road engineering solutions, which I also heard, uh, Councilor Thomas discuss previously, and I hope that the City Council would look at those first, but there's many ways to reduce speeding and red light cameras, uh, red light running with non -punitive measures, and, uh... I also want to point out that I hope that the City Council, if they do take this up and officially decide to revisit red light cameras, that they be honest about the fact that this is repealing a citizens initiative that took place in 2012 and 2013. The reason Iowa City has a ban on traffic surveillance is because of an initiative petition that has already been passed, and so when you talk about red light cameras, please be honest about what you're actually doing. You are reversing the will of the people. Thank you, that was all. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Nicholas, followed by Jennifer. Theisen: Uh, good evening, Council. I want to address a statement Councilor Mims made at your work session on March 23rd. about what (laughs) she characterized as the "hateful tenor" of those of us who have come to address Council of late. Now this ... the reason why I wanted to address that specifically is because just yesterday Mayor Cownie... for those of you who don't know that's the Mayor of Des Moines, was actually discussing in their city council meeting (laughs) actually ways to essentially bring public comment to heal because he personally doesn't like the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 5 way people have been criticizing his tenure, even going so far as to suggest having armed guards at public meetings in order to keep order, and frankly, Councilor Mims, your authoritarian tendencies have already been on display. You wrote a lengthy missive for the Press -Citizen and other outlets proclaiming how appreciative you were for the actions of ICPD, even as they were being widely criticized by everyone else (laughs) for the violence they perpetrated against the same people that you now want to tone police. It's easy for you to ignore how some of those who have expressed their anger and frustration in this space have been the victims of those.....of those whose authoritarian violence you see fit to praise. Tell me, Councilor, what exactly is more hateful? The occasional F -bomb or the fact that this Council has let a housing crisis run unabated for years, and don't give me your BS about how like, oh, we contribute a million dollars to affordable housing. It hasn't done anything. In a recent ... and in a recent (laughs) University of Iowa survey, a full 60% of students said that they have skipped meals due to lack of money, and at that same Obermann Center panel (laughs) the panelists were in universal agreement that one of the primary drivers of food insecurity on and off campus is actually housing. And so while property values have risen precipitously in recent years, benefiting people like you, vastly increasing your own wealth and (laughs) by the way, your fellow Councilors, renters — who are the majority of all residents in this city — are literally starving themselves to maintain a status quo you all directly benefit from. And I don't have to wonder if you see this as a net positive. I don't have to speculate about your feelings, because in a recent budget discussion, you, unprompted, praised the City for both lowering the property tax levy, while also noting how rising property values have made sure revenues continue to increase. Both of these contribute directly to your bottom line. Meanwhile, the majority of residents who rent are paying someone else's mortgage, building their wealth, even as they struggle to scrape together enough money to eat. Is it any wonder that they might be just a little frustrated with a City Council who not only don't do anything about the conditions that immiserate them, but in fact actively encourage those conditions. So we come here pleading, hoping you will actually hear us and address the problems that affect the vast majority of residents. You all have the luxury of decorum because none of this is taking food out of your mouths. Those who serve your drinks, cook your food, clean your houses, clean your businesses can't even afford to live here. So frankly, from my perspective, it makes sense that we and others would be at their wit's end. As an elected official, it's incumbent upon you all to set your hurt feelings aside and actually do what people need, not what pads your bottom line. Thank you. Teague: Thank you, Nicholas. Welcome, Jennifer, followed by Dan. Banta: (garbled) Banta from the Iowa City Area Business Partnership. I wanted to give a quick update on our Climate Action Partnership with the City. Back in February, we kicked off the first in a four-part educational series in response to the City's Climate Action Plan. The Business Partnership was joined by the City's Climate Action Committee and representatives from Mid American Energy on February 8th. The presentation covered ways that small businesses could take advantage of different energy efficiency programs and rebates available to lower their energy costs long-term. Wendy Ford and Sarah Gardner answered questions from several Iowa City businesses about how they could take advantage of these savings and how they could get This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 6 themselves listed on the the "qualified service providers," um, on Mid America's website. This session was the highest live attendance we've had for a smart series event and the most active Q and A session we've had for any of our online educational programming, telling us that our business community is eager to learn more about how they can make their business more sustainable. So I'm here to tell you about our next session. Our next session is on May I Ith titled "LED Lighting, More Savings Than You Think," and we'll cover obviously LED lighting resources, how to make the switch, and the savings associated. These programs are open to the public. You can go to iowacityarea.com to sign up. Later this year we'll cover reducing water usage and green commercial transportation, um, in our future events. We're excited to partner with the City on this Climate Action Plan, because it aligns with our mission as well. We appreciate your leadership and making climate action a priority for our community and for our businesses, and look forward to the year of educational programming we have planned to help our business community become more sustainable. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Dan, followed by Paul. Kauble: Hi! Um, whether Members of the Council will admit it or not, they furthered white supremacy by voting to suspend the TRC. It is clear that the majority of you put personal relationships and questionable reasoning ahead of the well-being of your people. However, that is not surprising, since most of you have shown yourselves to be nothing more than tools of this town's racist establishment. On March 23'ti, the Mayor said that these meetings are not about the Council versus the public, but that is very clearly what it has become. How else can we describe you ignoring the most ... the voices of those who have (garbled) up and revealed just how awful the police system is here. Not only do you ignore them with your vote, but you also ignore their emails (garbled) reach out. The thing is, Council, several people, myself included, have indeed been very rough on you and at times insulting. Would you like to know why? That is because the majority of you have completely lost our respect! People are defined by their actions and accomplishments, and over the last year year your actions have revealed you to be duplicitous and lacking the least bit of integrity. Just because you were elected doesn't automatically entitle you to respect. We care much more about the active and passive ways you are harming this community. I get that (garbled) your positions, but terrible positions! Meeting after meeting, the public comes up here and provides well-rounded reasons for change, and yet you ignore the problems they just (garbled) they offer, not only that, but you continue to support and defend the root cause of those problems. What are you doing? So time for duh, duh, duh, dub ... shout outs! Susan Mim's, your statements and voting behavior have been harmful to this community at best. At the worst, malicious. More so than any racist who physically attacked us last summer (garbled) nurtured and upheld white supremacy in this community. You remember that open letter you wrote in September, criticizing IFR's attempt (garbled) change was (garbled) praising the police who abuse us. Yeah, it was published days after demonstrators were nearly killed by motorists and at a time when many of us were being unjustly harassed by police and stopped by being dangerous members of the Aryan Brotherhood. I speak for many when I say that was a very traumatic time and such a letter was inappropriate and tasteless. The police you speak of so highly did nothing when Michael Stepanek plowed his car into us, and more than that, they illegally detained numerous peaceful protesters throughout the summer for no valid This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 7 reason. At the work session (garbled) said that tonight you planned to "push back at criticism." So it looks like we're either going to hear you ... hear you make yourself look ridiculous tonight trying to defend that and justify the terrible things you have said and done, or just be silent (garbled) they were awful. Between now and the end of your term, I hope you do some serious self -reflection (garbled) racial justice. (garbled) just better if you announce your resignation tonight, because you are the Tom Gill of the Iowa City Council. Only he had the decency to resign. Laura Bergus, I honestly don't know what to say to you, by virtue signaling how progressive you are while using your position on the Council to (garbled) BIPOC friends events, you have revealed yourself to be one of the worst neoliberals in this community. You have failed to deliver on the liberal values you love to preach about. You have ... your view that you had no interest in stopping the abuse coining from former TRC members, but jumped at the opportunity to shut down the TRC when those members had been removed and progress had started being made. (garbled) expressed your outrage at the uses of spray paints and (garbled) activists faced at the hands of police and racist members of the community, to harp on about there being "a better way" to create change. The moment our people attempt to work within the system, you stand in their way. It's embarrassing that you don't realize it's not helpful to target the symptoms of social injustice without working in good faith to solve the underlying (garbled). Where was your op-ed condemning those who hit us with their cars, for the police who illegally harassed demonstrators. Nowhere! You have said you criticize demonstrators, while praising the systemic racism they oppose. I have more respect for people who come right out with their racism and those who hide it (garbled) better. Janice Weiner, you suggested that in order to heal the fractured TRC you wanted to use a mediator, who we rightfully called out for having political connections with Royceann Porter. This is just one instance of you not listening to anything we say. Like Mimes and Bergus, there have been countless moments where you have used comments, op-eds (garbled) to spit in the faces of those trying to advance (garbled) Your rhetoric has coddled police while antagonizing those trying to stop the ICPD from carrying out abuses (garbled) Mayor Teague, your unwillingness to speak out about Royceann's abuses as a member of the TRC reveals how you are more invested in your personal relationships within the (garbled) community. Furthermore, your conduct at meetings (garbled) was suspended shows you are more committed to criticizing demonstrators after this than fighting the City's racist establishment. I don't understand why you insist on upholding systemic racism, but it is ... it's clear to (garbled) that you are not interested in fighting against (garbled)policies, let alone racist police. Pauline Taylor, although you have been seemingly quiet about issues of actually (both talking) Teague: Thank you, Dan. (both talking) Thank you, Dan. Welcome, Paul, followed by Bailey. Keller: Hi there, my name is Paul Dirk Keller, and I am a resident of the Manville Heights neighborhood, specifically right across the highway from the VA Hospital, and I'm here tonight on behalf of my neighbors and I asking the City Council for help. I moved into this neighborhood specifically called the Capital View Block, because we have such a beautiful vista featuring Old Cap from our neighborhood. It sits up high above Manville Heights. For 29 years we have lived with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Life Care helicopters. They're a vital part of our healthcare system throughout the state, throughout the Midwest, and This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 8 what we've noticed in ... in the last three decades, almost, is a huge uptick in the number of flights, the size of the helicopters, and most importantly to us, the noise level of these much larger helicopters. You'd have to be here to appreciate it. I'm actually coming to you now from my basement office, and since I've been on the program the last 37 minutes, we've had two interruptions from life flight helicopters. Long story short, about a year ago I reached out to ... at first Geoff Fruin there with the City, who sent me ... who told me that there was really no regulations in place that the City could implement to address our issues with the noise factor, noise so loud, so deafening that if you're anywhere outside, you have to stop. You can't hear one another talk. You are pummeled, your body is pummeled (laughs) with vibrations from these helicopters. They're really loud, and the number of them these days has made it just really difficult to even be indoors. Our walls will vibrate and shake; uh, pat, the ... our pets are just terrorized. There's just ... they're so loud. It's hard to even hear yourself talk inside sometimes. Again, about a year ago Geoff Fruin directed me to Diane Lamb, who is the UIHC Department of Emergency Medicine Air Care Program Manager. She was very friendly to me a year ago, and said that, yes, we have rules in place. Their pilots are not supposed to fly over your neighborhood, and they bad specific other approaches and departures, and I said, well, that's not happening, and so from there, I went to our County Commissioners, who directed me to the Federal Aviation Administration, both locally in Cedar Rapids, regionally in Dubuque, then Des Moines, and then finally I ended up in Kansas City, Missouri talking to somebody, all of whom said they have no jurisdiction, they had no ability to address the noise issues, as if no one's in charge of the airspace above our city and specifically above University Hospitals. What I'm here tonight to do is ask you on behalf of my neighbors and I to consider this topic for a work session. I'd really appreciate if you'd discuss this. It is pretty unique and, as I said, I've been here 29 years. Back in the beginning, you know, you heard a life fight helicopter like the old days, you used to make a sign of the cross and say a quick prayer for whoever's coming in or going out. It was so rare back then. Now it's big business. This is a huge moneymaker for the hospitals, for the doctors, for the pilots, for everyone involved. All the staffing it takes to operate such a big business. But yet there don't appear to be any regulations on noise, and I'd really appreciate if you would see it to have enough value to discuss it further at a work session, maybe assign a staff member to work with me to communicate with Diane Lamb. She's promised me for a year that... she's talked to the pilots and ... and they just keep making so much noise, it's really a quality of life factor at this point in our neighborhood. Other than that I don't know what else to say. I'd appreciate hearing back from somebody. I appreciate you being here tonight and allowing me time to speak to you. I wish you luck in all the other challenges that are before you. Thanks so much and be well. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Bailey, followed by Taylor. Baker: Can you hear me? Teague: Yes. Baker: All right, well, I wanted to second everything that Nicholas said. Um, I also have a very genuine concern that the Council's attitude and many other things that are happening at both the local and state level in Iowa are setting a dangerous precedent for our local freedom of speech. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 9 Um, I especially believe this because of the time restraints and almost cutoffs that, um, Council faced when discussing the TRC. If it wasn't for a Council member standing up, the meeting would have been ended and a lot of people's voices wouldn't have been heard, which is the purpose of these meetings. Um, Nicholas said this better than I did, but I've been reading about everything that's been happening in Des Moines with Mayor Cownie. He is trying to cut down on people's time, um, completely banned people who are not being germane, which I think is not acceptable at all, and the current attitude of our Council makes me worried that we might follow suit. Um, there's also been some nitpicking that people from Coralville are speaking in the meetings, which the cities are combined so I think that's a moot point, and um, especially that the GOP is backing legislation right now that would ban teaching diverse... divisive concepts in government agency diversity training in school curriculum. These divisive concepts are that the U.S. and the State of Iowa are fundamentally are systematically racist or sexist. Um, so there's just a lot going on right now that I believe, um, protesters are being attacked at a state level. Um, the Associated Press just published today that Iowa police have had a significant increase in use of force. Um, in 2020 there was an 83% increase in police drawing guns on citizens. Um, and there's all sorts of things that are going on. Um, people are going to be angry, as they should be, and enforcing decorum is a suppression, uh, tactic. If you all truly believe that you are doing a good job, you should not be upset by the hateful, as Mims said, reactions in past work session. Public officials are going to get reactions they do not like, and if you cannot handle that, um, maybe this isn't the place for you. I'd also like to point out that Council has broken protocol and the ... I believe the Chair of Council has broken protocol many times, I've seen with my own eyes. But when we do it there's a possibility that our rights may be restricted. I just don't believe that this is a fair system at all. Um, and honestly, people at Casey's put up with more than the City Council does at time, and you voluntarily took this position. You are paid with public dollars to this position. And people do not have to be polite to take part in local politics, um, when you're playing with people's lives you can't expect them to be polite, and also how I view play is not how you view play. Um, there's been a lot of things that have gone on that I have not agreed with and, yeah, so um ... if someone is concerned with their well being, they don't have to be respectful, and you should first and foremost be concerned about people's well being before you engage with your ego. And you must be able to be criticized because it is literally your job, so I just hope we can change some of the language being used, um, complaining about a position that you took voluntarily. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Wel ... welcome, Taylor, followed by Aleksey. Kohn: Hi there, can you hear me? Teague: Yes, we can. Kohn: All right. (garbled) Hi, I would like to second everything that Nicholas, Dan, and Bailey said. would urge you not to fall down the trap of tone policing us. I think you would find that we would speak a lot less angrily and we would be a lot less upset if we did not have cause to be upset, if we believed that we were being listened to. Instead we have been dismissed throughout this entire past year. Just at that... at that meeting where the TRC was suspended, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 10 immediately after public comment ended, immediately Bruce Teague said, `We've heard a lot of what IFR wants or we've heard from a lot of IFR.' I think there was something like 40 speakers (laughs) Not all of them were directly, you know, associated with IFR. IFR has organized a lot of people in this community and they've done awesome work but ... what you know and what you don't want to acknowledge is the IFR is just right and a lot of people just also feel the same way IFR does. I personally am not part of IFR. I don't know anyone in IFR, and I've been emailing you and have been ignored this entire past year, and I've heard things like, well, you know, IFR doesn't get to speak for the community. Well, what about, you know, how ...are you listening to the community, because it doesn't seem like it. And for every person who speaks up in these meetings, who has access and the ability and the time and the courage to speak, they're representing people who do not have those things. So I would urge you to think about the fact that almost three hours of public comment was almost entirely telling you to do something very, very simple and clear, and you did not do (garbled) and you have not shown up for the ... for this community and, um, I ... I would urge to not get on your high horse about language or about tone of voice, because that is not productive and it is not going to build any goodwill with the public, which right now there's very little. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Welcome, Aleksey. Gurtovoy: Hi. Teague: Hello, welcome. Gurtovoy: Thank you. Uh, my name is Aleksey Gurtovoy. I live in Iowa City. And I also want to comment on the subject of traffic cameras, and specifically address Council John Thomas, who suggested a couple of rimes that we will cut traffic cameras as a measure for reducing the number of police interaction... police interactions between the public and the ICPD. And I want to start with a specific statement from John, who was quoted (mumbled) Daily Iowan article saying that "traffic stops can cause strong feelings ranging from emotional distress to feeling like your life is threatened." Yes, I 100% agree with John here. Traffic stops do cause this feelings for a lot of people. But I want to ask him a question. And my question is, John, why do you think traffic stops cause these feelings? Do you think maybe the fact that the police have a reputation for unjustified, excessive application of force, including deadly force, has something to do with it? Or maybe the fact that the hop ... the cops have an absolute say in what is "right and wrong," and a license to do pretty much anything to you with impunity. And if you disagree with the cop's notion of how a citizen ought to act during the interaction, even in the slightest, chances are that they're gonna end up in jail or worse, especially if you're a person of color. So do you think maybe those things apply to other police interactions as well? And perhaps we should address the root cause here. Are we really saying, yes, our City police... policing is prejudiced and harmful and violent, but we lack the political will to fix that. So we are going to (mumbled) policies and practices be, we're gonna let the belligerent cops keep their jobs, (mumbled) just not over here. Let's get them off the road, but everywhere... everywhere else it's fine. Is that the message here? Now I personally think it's (mumbled) to hope that even if, and that's a big if, but even if we somehow get the number of cops off the roads, they just This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 11 going to sit at a desk and not interact... interact with the public, or that they're going to stay off the road (mumbled) Why would they? We can't reform or keep them under control now. That's what John is all but saying here. So what makes us think you'll be able to do so when they're out of the spotlight, when they decide to entertain the public enough. But what's really frustrating to me in this whole discussion is just how matter of factly Council Thomas is talking about implementing technology that is explicitly barred from being used on our streets by our own City code. It is currently against the law to install traffic cameras anywhere in Iowa City. Yes, the City Council does have the authority to repeal an ordinance, but that is not the power that should be taken lightly, and most certainly it's not something that you skip over, as Council Thomas seem to be eager to do. Not only the majority (mumbled) traffic cameras, but specifically 4,300 Iowa City citizens signed the petition that resulted in the current prohibition of the punitive and oppressive automatic ticketing systems. That's 4,300 people who put their name on paper to say no to this. So please have some respect. If you don't, I can guarantee you a lot more people will show up at the polls to repeal your repeal and then at the next City Council election. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to address Council that hasn't already? Please raise your hand, or if you're on the phone press *9. Okay, seeing no one, we are going to move on to Item #9. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 12 9. Planning and Zoning Matters 9.a. Annexation — Finkbine — Resolution to annex approximately 3.61 acres of land located near the intersection of Finkbine Commuter Drive and Melrose Avenue conditioned upon a 28E Agreement between the City of Iowa City and the City of University Heights, approving the 28E Agreement and authorizing the Mayor to sign and the City Clerk to attest the 28E Agreement. (ANN20-0002) 1. Public Hearing Teague: I'm going to open the public hearing, and staff presentation. Welcome. Sitzman: Good evening, Mayor and Council. Danielle Sitzman, Neighborhood and Development Services. Um, I'm going to give one staff presentation on the first two agenda item, which are related to each other, the first one being the annexation that the Mayor just introduced and the second being the rezoning of the same for most of the same area. Um, this is an application submitted for annexation and rezoning of just about six acres in total (garbled) currently owned by the State Board of Regents for the University of Iowa, and parts of which are located (garbled) reflecting first about the (garbled) located in another city, located in the City of University Heights. This slide shows the area of the annexation which is under consideration tonight in the white dashed outline, and then the rezoning which would be for that area and some land also in Iowa City. The property that was ... is owned by the University of Iowa, um, what was formerly the Athletic Club, has been demolished and as a part of that redevelopment, the University actually issued a request for proposals to select a third -party developer to create a unique and attractive neighbor for its recently renovated golf course clubhouse area. Um, the University would be maintaining ownership of the land, but entering into a long-term use with a private developer, um, and the proposal would be shifting the boundaries between Iowa City and University Heights to avoid the redevelopment of the building itself actually straddling two jurisdictions. (garbled) the annexation and rezoning, University Heights (garbled) with doing on their side of (garbled) steps (garbled, noises in background) jurisdiction. Typically the City does not review University of Iowa projects owned by the State, um, we don't have that authority; however, in this case, because they will be leasing the land for development (garbled) zoning. Um, the zoning (mumbled) an overlay zoning district since the University retains ownership. So it's a combination of the existing zoning and adding on the other zoning district. In this case, a medium -density multifamily zoning district. Um, the boundary of the total rezoning shown in the white outline here. Um, staff does recommend that the area be, uh, go through a subdivision process as well to create lots that correspond with (garbled) those boundaries of the zoning districts more accurately. So that would be a future step. Um, because the site does contain sensitive features, there's also a site plan (garbled) development plan included in this. Uh, so this shows the general layout of the development in (garbled) the building footprint, and they're proposing a four-story multi -family building that fronts Finkbine Community Drive on the west, which is a private street. Also Melrose Avenue across the bottom to the south. Um, the development would be for active senior housing, not age - restricted necessarily. It would include 116 dwelling units, 263 parking spaces located both This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 13 inside the building as you can kind of see on the southern end of the building, and outside the building on the surface parking lot to the east, and the primary access to the parking would be off of the driveway on Melrose Avenue, um, both to the surface (garbled) the interior parking lot through the existing Commuter Drive here. There would be some parking in front of the building, uh, accessible there, but only a very limited amount of (garbled) parking stalls. Um (garbled, noises in background) annexation staff looks at the criteria for annexation. Primarily those have to do with considering whether the land area is appropriate to be annexed into the City. In this case, University Heights is completely surrounded by the City of Iowa City, so this is not peripheral area, this is an area that's already urbanized and well within all the boundaries of Iowa City. Um, this request is to transfer simply a portion from one city to the other. Um, there are existing utilities in the vicinity, and actually the City of Iowa City provides quite a few services to University Heights in one way or another, including transit, fire, water, and sewer. So, um, it's not imposing an undue burden. Um, we're already involved in the services, and finally, whether the control is in the best interest of the City. Um, again, uh, adjacent to the city limits and not stepping beyond what we've already committed to doing. Um, the annexation's also conditioned upon the 28E agreement between the two cities for cost sharing. Um, it facilitates the annexation (mumbled) development. Again, it would straddle two cities. Staff does not believe that this particular annexation is subject to the affordable housing annexation policy. Um, that's really meant for greenfield annexation of property on the City's fringe area, um, transferring land between unincorporated Johnson County and into the City, which is not the case. Um, really that kind of agreement acknowledges the discretion of the City to determine whether to grow or not. Um, that's not the circumstance. Again (garbled) shifting boundaries between two urbanized areas in this circumstance. So, moving on to the rezoning, which would be the next case on your agenda. Um, we do have general and specific criteria that we review as part of that. The particular area does not have a specific district plan, but it does meet several of the goals of the overall comprehensive plan, relating to compact and efficient development that's connected to existing neighborhoods, provides a diversity of housing options, and supports infill development and redevelopment in the areas where there are services and infrastructure (garbled) in existence. Um, applications for planned development rezonings are reviewed for compliance with the additional following standards. (mumbled) go through them here. (garbled) for some variation from the zoning standards. In this case, this project is only asking for one variation (garbled) the maximum height. Um, they're asking to modify the maximum height from the 35 -foot height limit to 63 -feet in height. Again, for a four-story building. So walking through some of the considerations for the specific criteria having to do first of all land uses proposed. Um, the proposed zone allows for a density of 24 dwelling units per acre. The proposed development is within that zoning (garbled) designation. Um, again 116 multi -family units targeted to active seniors. Um ... (garbled) did mention the rezoning (garbled) the design, um, criteria that we also review. Um, this is a block scale building, um, approximately 700 -feet in length, four stories, as I mentioned. The front's flanked by Commuter Drive on the west, and it is adjacent to some single-family development directly to the east, which is of smaller height, um, one to one -and -a -half (garbled) Um, this development is providing a landscape buffer between itself and those existing homes, um, locating itself over 100 -feet away from the adjacent lot lines to the east. It is also adjacent to some single-family development, but that'd be on the south side of Melrose Avenue, across the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 14 street. Um, the proposed building will be required to conform to the City's multi -family site development standards, as well, which regulate the design of parking, landscaping, and screening. The multi -family site development standards are reviewed at site plan stage, um, so that is a stage that happens after the zoning and platting would occur. Moving on to open space, there's several kinds of open space that we discussed, one is parkland dedication or fee in lieu. Um, that will be satisfied at the subdivision stage. Fee in lieu is probably the most appropriate option in this circumstance. The private open space or on-site open space for residents is being provided as part of this project. Um, they are exceeding the requirements. They're providing 7,300 -square feet of private open space. The base requirement is closer to 2,500 -square feet. So they used (mumbled) extensive distance and landscape buffer and open space and adherence to the multi -family site desan ... design standards. There's also in the proposed project being complementary and compatible in density and design with the adjacent development. Height maximums may be modified as requested, provided as the design of the development results in sufficient light and the air circulation for each building, and adequate accessible over space, for instance, of the development. Typical University development, as I mentioned, does not require City review, so the development will not adversely affect things like (garbled) and property values and privacy any more than a conventional development that the University might choose to undertake without our regulation. And finally just to talk a little bit of traffic circulation. Um, we did ask the applicant to conduct a traffic study because there was concern about the level of operations, service operation of the intersection of Commuter Drive and Melrose Avenue. Not unexpectedly, the results of the traffic study did indicate that several of those turning movements are currently failing under current traffic conditions and that a traffic signal would be warranted at this... at the intersection of Commuter Drive and Melrose Avenue. However, this particular project is not adding to that burden and, as I mentioned, most of their traffic flow will come (garbled) not through that intersection. So really at this point staff is not recommending a traffic signal (garbled) be added as this development is not contributing to them. There is improvements that staff has conditioned upon the rezoning for turning movement, cast bound on Melrose Avenue left turn in. That turn lane will be required to be installed to help facilitate turning movements and free flow of the public street. Um, all of the existing queuing, not all ... some of the significant queuing issues do occur, but they occur on the private drive. The University is aware of this condition and has interest in resolving that. Um, certainly, as I said, staff would not recommend further development on Commuter Drive. It does increase traffic without addressing the traffic signal, but however at this time we do not recommend it as part of this project. As I mentioned, there are some sensitive features on this property. Most important are the red areas indicated here of slopes that are being impacted by the development. Um, the developer has tried to adjust the location of their building to avoid those areas as much as possible, but it does require a level two design review tonight, so as a part of this application. Just to go over the steps of this development, again there are two steps under consideration tonight — the annexation 28E agreement, and then the rezoning (garbled) overlay (garbled) Um, eventually there will need to be a plat, as I mentioned, to facilitate the zoning designations (garbled) with lots, and then final reviews of (garbled) and building permits (mumbled). So as I said (dog barking) presentation (dog barking) Sorry about that! ...and two motions. So the first motion along with the annexation (garbled) tonight is based on the review of relevant criteria. Staff does recommend approval of the proposed annexation. At its This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 15 February 18th meeting by a vote of 7-0, the Planning and Zoning Commission did concur with staff's opinion and recommended approval. A good neighbor meeting was held on (garbled) report. Teague: Thank you. Does Council have any questions for Danielle? All right, hearing none, I'm gonna ask if the public has any questions. If so ... or I'm sorry, has any comments, please raise your hand and I'll call upon you. If you're on the phone press *9 and I will call upon you, and welcome Sara Barron, followed by Dan, and we also ask people to keep their comments three to five minutes. Barron: Hi, Council, this is Sara Barron from the Affordable Housing Coalition. Um, I'd like to read to you from the policy that you adopted regarding the affordable housing component of the annexation policy. It says the annexation policy is hereby amended to include the following. If the annexation is for residential development that will result in the creation of 10 or more new housing units, the development will support the City's goal of creating and maintaining the supply of affordable housing. Such support shall be based on providing affordable units equal to 10% of the total units... I won't read the rest; however, I see nothing in here that indicates that this is limited to greenfield annexation, um, rather than an area that's already urbanized, and I ask the Council to continue their commitment to this annexation policy and require that the affordable housing policy, um, be enforced for this new annexation. Thanks. Teague: Thank you, Sara. Wel... welcome, Nicholas, followed by Dan. Theisen: Hello, Council. Um, actually Sara (laughs) put ... put it quite eloquently. Um, you ... you already have rules about how your own affordable housing like requirements are supposed to work. And it's sort of annoying when you just refuse to implement them properly. I would also note, Mayor, that, um, during public comment you skipped over someone. It would only be appropriate to give them an opportunity now to speak, considering that was your mistake. I know you don't want to be silencing a trans woman at a time when we were literally coming here to complain to you about possible censorship, so I really hope that you do the right thing and you let Harry speak. Thank you. Teague: Thank you, Nicholas. Um, I will respond to that. I did not see Harry ...hand at all. So, um, maybe we need to connect with Harry, um, and... and maybe if you can raise your hand now, Harry, I would allow you to speak, but I'm going to go ahead to Dan Kauble. Welcome. Manaligod: Hi, can you hear me now? Teague: Yes. Manaligod: Oh great, awesome, all right. Firstly... firstly, I want to second everything that's been said about the City Council's failure to address calls to defend the police. Firstly, y'all spend a lot of time talking about how your feelings are hurt and how you're like worried about businesses and shit like that. Nobody wants to hear that, trust me. Like... especially when all of us only get like This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 16 three to five minutes to talk. Come on, all right. And ... but like come on, we only get three to five minutes to speak and hold you accountable and tell you to do your jobs. We're not even like trying to hurt your feelings. We're just trying to do our civil duty as citizens. All right, now I'm trying to keep it germane, so I'm going to keep going. I know that City Council is listening in detail to what we are saying. I know that they hear our calls for mental health professionals in place of police. My evidence for this is that Geoff Fruin's naive plan for police reform included a proposal for mental health professionals to respond to situations where they're needed. Unfortunately, it included police coming along with them, and I've said before that this does not solve the problem of discretion. I personally believe that this section of Geoff Fruin's plan was to attempt to use revolutionary language about mental health and twist it for his own police ... pro -police agenda. Teague: I have ... (both talking) I have one question for you. Manaligod: As long as it doesn't cut into my time. Teague: Oh, we'll... we'll restart that. Will you state your name for us, please. Manaligod: Harry Manaligod. Teague: Okay, for whatever reason, it's coming up as Dan Kauble. Manaligod: I don't know... shoot, I ... sorry, I got my link from Dan. Yeah, why is that going on? I ... that must be why you didn't hear me. Um... Teague: Yeah, I'm ... yes, I'm sorry about that, but please continue and your time will be given back to you. Manaligod: Okay, I personally believe that this section of Geoff Fruin's plan was to attempt to use revolutionary language about mental health and twist it for his own pro -police agenda, because he wants to appeal to the people, but is not committed to defending the police. He is not committed to protecting us. I don't know if anybody in the City Council is, and I'm sorry, but that's just the truth of how much I trust or just don't trust you guys at this point. Secondly, I'd like to talk about the traffic camera thing. I've heard many people say that they trust traffic cameras to be less racist than police officers, but ... (both talking) Dilkes: Mayor... Mayor... Teague: Yes? Dilkes: This is not germane to the public hearing that's in front of you. If you choose to let him, the gentleman speak, then you're going to need to allow anybody who wisses ... wishes to speak off - topic speak. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 17 Manaligod: I mean was ... I ... I was trying to speak during general comment, but I was not seen. That's why I'm speaking about whatever I'd like to speak, Eleanor. Teague: Harry, I think what we'll do. I thought you were Dan, but certainly I ... I do believe that the Council would agree to have you come back and speak. But we're going to ... (both talking) Manaligod: (both talking) to continue to speak now, because I tried to speak during general comments, and you know, I ... I've been kind of like waiting all day for this and I kind of want to go outside while it's still sunny. Okay, and so (both talking) for my general comments that I'm trying to give you, and can I ... can I say it without being interrupted? Teague: Harry, if I can have you come right after I close this. I'll go back to public comment and I'll allow you to start your time over. Manaligod: How long will that be? Teague: Once we're done with this item. Manaligod: How long will that be? Teague: I can't tell you, but once we're done with this item. Manaligod: Well I'm asking that you keep it under 20 minutes. Can you ... can, is that a reasonable request? Teague: I can't, you know, give you a time. Manaligod: Well can I ... (garbled) you speak now then, like why ...what's the deal like ... why do you have (both talking) Because I mean everybody else got to speak during general comments. Teague: And I am very sorry that I did not notice that it wasn't under your name, but what I'm going to do is come back for ...to allow you to speak and if you're present we'll hear you. I'm gonna call Dan Kauble at this time. Thank you, Harry. Manaligod: (mumbled) at that time, okay. Well... Teague: Welcome, Dan. Kauble: Hi, yeah, I think that ... this is the real Dan, um, I think Harry should be allowed to speak now. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address the topic on hand for the annexation of Finkbine? Welcome, Raneem. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 18 Raneem Hamad: Hi, my name is Rancem Hamad. My pronouns are she/her/her and I also request that Harry's able to speak at this time. Teague: Thank you, Raneem. And we are in the middle of a public hearing for the annexation of Finkbine. so we have to continue with the ... with the public hearing. Would anyone else like to address the annexation for Finkbine? Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve, please? 2. Consider a Resolution Mims: So moved, Mims. Bergus: Second, Bergus. Teague: All right, Council discussion? Taylor: I ... I ... this is Pauline, and, um ... I was a little disappointed at first (garbled) property that the Athletic Club was demolished because I always thought that it was a very attractive building and on that entrance into Iowa City, uh, on ... on Melrose. It was always nice to see that building, so it's good to see some development here, um, and it...it just makes sense to approve this annexation plan since (mumbled) the University Heights is willing to go along with this, uh, so we should take this opportunity to do so. Uh, it just would be logical to have all of the units in ... in the same property, rather than some in Iowa City and some in U Heights, but there... there's several items that are concerning to me about... about the development, and I don't know if this would be the time to talk about them and ... and maybe propose some conditions. One that really stuck out to me was there's... on one of the pages it talks about a grove of trees, and it said that 71.5% of the trees are planned to be removed. That's a lot of trees, and at this time of climate action and ... and the importance... people seeing the importance of trees, uh, in our environment, that's a lot of trees to be removed; and along those lines that ... of the proximity to sensitive slopes. It seems like it's like right on the verge of that slope, and I would hope that it could be redesigned a little bit or, uh, maybe lessen than the size of it so it's not right on that slope. Also it quotes that the proposed development is larger in scale than surrounding properties, which we traditionally haven't liked to see that. We like things to be sort of in proportion, or maybe corner properties to be taller. This is not... definitely not corner. It's kind of in the middle of a block. Um, also that they're requesting a waiver, uh, for the 35 -foot height maximum to... to exceed 63 -feet. Let's see, what was another thing ... oh, the ... and what's been brought up is that the... our annexation policy that we recently enacted. Uh, we've allegedly been told that this property doesn't qualify for that affordable housing language, and that's concerning to me, especially in light of the fact that in ... in general, most of the units that they spoke about were on the higher end of the cost of units. So I just have a lot of concerns about the actual project itself. I'm ... I'm in favor of the annexation. It makes sense, makes logical sense, but I'm ... I'm concerned about the development itself. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 19 Fruin: Mayor, uh, perhaps I can give a little bit more background on ... on just how ... how this came together. I think it would inform some of the Council discussion. Um, as this building sits right now, uh, as proposed I should say, um ... uh, close to 60% of it would be in University Heights and about 40% in Iowa City. Obviously, I think we can all agree, we wouldn't want to building split between two cities. So that really brought us and University Heights together. At first we thought it would be logical to place this in ... in University Heights because of just the percentages that I talked about with the majority of that being there. The more that we talked with University Heights, the more we circled back to this being in Iowa City. Um, and we did that because we are more of the full-service municipality. So as Danielle mentioned, oftentimes we're the service provider in University Heights, so we felt it was, uh, long-term probably best interest that this be pulled into Iowa City, and ... and then, you know, negotiated the revenue sharing agreement that's detailed in your ...in your staff report, with University Heights. So both jurisdictions would ... would be essentially compensated for what would have been in their community. You know, dating back to the ... well, let me start with, uh... um, the ... the issue of size and scope. This is a large building, there's no there's ... no doubt about it. Um, that's a ... it's a long building, it's a tall building. This has already been considered by University Heights, and they found it acceptable. They, you know, their jurisdiction is directly adjacent to this. They have neighborhood directly adjacent to this. I think you need to consider the ... the unique setting of this, facing a golf course, and if you really look out from an aerial perspective, you'll realize that, urn ... um, I think this isn't your typical project that's... that's sandwiched in a ... in a residential zone. This is a golf course style development with a lot of open space surrounding it. So we felt that that size and scope was ... was ... was okay for the context in which this ... this building sits. With regards to the annexation policy, when we were developing that policy we certainly had a lot of discussions with Council on that. We really envisioned that more typical annexation, the greenfield type of annexation, where the City's extending services. We're bringing water, we're bringing sewer, we're bringing police and fire into these neighborhoods, and ... and really thinking about that. It's 99% of the ... the annexation we do, is that ...that kind of greenfield. The annexation is the technical tool that we're looking for here. University Heights severs and we annex, but ... but this is very much a boundary line adjustment. Um, going back to that first slide that Danielle shared, this is about redrawing the boundary lines to accommodate a single building. We did not feel like that was the ... the intent of that ordinance, and again with ... the building could have gone in either jurisdiction. Certainly University Heights does not have those same types of policies as ... as Iowa City. So we viewed this very differently from a typical annexation, which is why we don't think that there's a fit for that ... that policy in a boundary line adjustment case like this, involving... involving two adjacent communities. Hopefully that provides a little bit more context, uh, certainly understand the comments, but ... but wanted to make sure you have that background from staff too. Mims: (mumbled) I'm sorry, we're still in the public hearing or did you close the public hearing there? Teague: I already closed the public hearing. Mims: Okay! Just wanted to make sure (laughs) Um, I think a couple of the comments have been made there that are really important is while there are residential properties to the south and to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 20 kind of south-southeast. As City Manager just said, this is not like dropping this in the middle of a major residential area, and the fact that it's gotten approval from University Heights. There's been the good neighbor meeting, and essentially (mumbled) said this is, you know, this is a golf course development type thing with that outlook. So I think when you look at the distances and the small number of residences that are really close to this, I think that it's a good fit for that spot, and I think it certainly makes sense that it is all in one jurisdiction, and since Iowa City is the major provider of the services, that it's in Iowa City, and I'm glad we've been able to reach agreement with University Heights on that. Thomas: I ... I did notice that at the good neighbor meeting there was some discussion about the screening from the residential properties and an acknowledgment that the ... the site plan had not been completed. So I certainly would, um, you know, encourage the team to look at the question of screening more carefully, uh, as they further develop the design. I did look ... I requested from our... Kellie, our City Clerk, the material on the ... the annexation policy, and, um, insofar as the ... the resolution for affordable housing, uh, references the comprehensive plan. Um, I think it is fairly clear that the comprehensive plan is looking at annexation, you know, as it pertains to development outside the corporate boundy...boundaries. Um, I mean I am ... I'm feeling a little bit ... I am feeling frustrated by this project in some respects. It's ... it's, um, you know, it's almost twice the allowable building height, as would be allowed typically. You know, as was noted at the Planning and Zoning Commission, uh, meeting on this. Typically when we do something of this sort, there might be some benefit that we could obtain by..by the waiver of the building height requirement. Uh, but it doesn't appear we have any language to cover that kind of scenario. So we have it in say Riverfront Crossings, where they're, you know, allowing ta... taller buildings, um, through the Riverfront Crossings zoning, can result in a affordable housing component, but we don't have it for this situation. So, you know, the opportunities to try to, uh, you know, add to our affordable housing stock, um, as desirable as I certainly would want this to be, I don't see any ...any avenue by which we can achieve that at the moment, but I thunk it is something we need to consider in terms of language that would capture this ... in the future. Weiner: (mumbled) Go ahead, Laura! Bergus: Well I was just going to (garbled) follow up, um, based on John's comments. I mean I saw the ... in the P & Z minutes, they sort of made a recommendation, in looking at the affordable housing component relating to the height. So just, I mean, if...if somebody can kind of walk us through what the code does or doesn't say, if we would have that opportunity.. or just how that would work in this ... in this rezoning, or if it has to be in the annexation what that ... how that works. Fruin: Well, I think, Danielle, maybe you can help with ... with just explaining how density bonuses work in different parts of the community where we have, you know, obviously Riverfront Crossings is probably the example that most people are comfortable with. The code is written in a certain way for Riverfront Crossings to provide additional public benefit for density This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 21 bonuses, but we have density bonuses elsewhere in the code that doesn't have those same type of public benefit provisions. Danielle, can you expand upon that please? Sitzman: (garbled) that ... that's true. Um, so there's several different tools that use density and maybe trade-offs. Um, there's one specific zoning district, the PRM zone, that has its own point scoring system built into it. Riverfront Crossings is another tool. Really the tool that's being used here is the plan development overlay, which gets you an insight into seeing what the site development would look like at an earlier stage than you would typically with the annexation or a rezoning. You wouldn't have a concept plan at all. So ... so really what you're getting in exchange for the request is an insight into the eventual site development, um, so you can react to that site development, um, earlier, as part of the OPD rezoning request, but that's... that's really the, um, the tool here, with the bonus. Um, with the waivers or modifications that are allowed to the zoning standards, you get to see that that ... what product that results in. So typical for a planned development to have variations and setbacks or other standards that are being buried. In this case it's just height. Salih: Danielle, I...I really still struggling on understanding why the, you know, the annexation policy is not applying to this and, you know, the matter of fact that the annexation is the few times that we can really like use it to do affordable housing (garbled) Sitzman: So I think staff's interpretation has been that the ... as Geoff explained, the annexation was for greenfield development, where the City is providing the services and has greater discretion over accepting land into the City, because it's taking on those responsibilities and then the affordable housing agreements were part of that process. It's really not the case when it's already an urbanized area (mumbled) basically just shifting boundary lines between, uh, two cities that are already... developed those services. Salih: Is there something written on the policy? Fruin: No, it's not ... it's not explicit in the policy. I think it's recognition that, um, part of this building was already in the City. So as you lay the building over the current jurisdictional limits, you've got part of the building that's already in the City and part of it that was in University Heights, in a developed ... in a ... in a developed state, so this isn't a site that's new for development. You had a ... you had a Uni... uh, you had a University club here, a very intense use already here. So you're going from one intense use to ... to another in ... in the same urban area, receiving the same services that it ... that it did. At the same time, part of the building's already in Iowa City, as laid out. So it's ... I, it's very, very different than a traditional annexation, there's... there's no doubt about it. It's ... it's really a boundary line adjustment. Dilkes: I ... (both talking) If I ... can I (both talking) Salih: I just want to finish my comment, place. Yeah, I understand what you're saying, Geoff, but it's still, you know, I understand it is on the urban area, an area that's already been developed, but at the end of the day it's our side, Iowa City and those people try to annex it to the City. So I think This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 22 we can use the annexation policy for the (mumbled) of the, you know, the building, because, you know, it doesn't matter if..whether it is located and like urbans develop area or not. It still is annexing to our city, and I don't think that will interfere with the policy. Dilkes: If I can just make a couple comments. Um, when I looked at this, um, I agree with the comments that have been made about what was contemplated when we did that annexation policy. In this case, we could just as easily be doing a severance as doing an the annexation. Um, if...if we had decided to do the boundary adjustments so that the whole development was in University Heights, um, then we would have been doing the severance and there would have been obviously no applicable policy, and they would have been doing the annexation and they don't have, um, conditions for annexation as ... as we do. The second part of it is the reason for the annexation policy was, um, was because we have considerable discretion at that stage with annexation, and that is not the case here either. Um, our ability to accomplish this is entirely dependent on the agreement of University Heights. Salih: I still want to just bigh light that the policy make no exception for previously developed area that will be redeveloped. I don't think that will (mumbled) you know, like really make us not applying the annexations policy to the site that going to be annexed to the City, and I want really proof in the policy, uh, like I want something to be showing on the policy itself, is that something has been written or not. Dilkes: If the Council has a reasonable interpretation of that policy that says otherwise, then you're free to make that interpretation. Unlike a typical annexation situation where the person applying would be out of luck, because you would not ... they require your approval to annex in this situation (mumbled) likely result is that there will be a request for annexation (garbled) in University Heights. Salih: I just believe that we have to follow our current annexation policy. It doesn't say anything about whether the ... (mumbled) building will, uh, whether it was in urban area or was in ... was in. It just say when we annex building, this is what we going to do. I mean any ...any kind of annexation, building or just land or whatever. Teague: I think this is great conversation. I have to agree with Mayor Pro Tem on this one, because the annexation certainly, you know, doesn't talk about when another community... well, I guess, and anne... when someone severance, um, their part, as well as, um, there's this 28E agreement, and so I believe that in this situation, at least for me, there, you know, if in order for me to, you know, support it would be an acknowledgment and something from the developers and agreements between the cities related to our annexation policy, uh, with affordable housing, and so I think that's important, especially given some of the things that we want to do within our community, as well as how we're treating other applicants that come, um, to our city, um, that want to annex, and ... and so ... this is unique. I ... I would agree that it is on the border. It's a, you know, if it was the same product, um, you know, another university being expanded, um, athletic club, then, you know, we wouldn't be having this discussion, or if it was a property that was being, you know, torn down and expanded I might think about it different, um, if it was the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 23 same type of...if we didn't need to do the rezoning, but we have to do the rezoning as well. So, for me, I won't be able to ... I won't support this tonight. Taylor: Mayor (garbled) (both talking) Mims: I was... Taylor: (both talking) ...in calling it unique, because this has always been a unique situation. It's been kind of a joke for many, many years that ... that Iowa City should just annex all of University Heights. Sorry ...sorry, uh, Mayor (mumbled) that's been a joke, but it's not a joke. It's ... it's U Heights is its own entity, but it's ... it's unusual and unique, as you said, because it's right in ... right in the middle of Iowa City, I mean how many communities can say that. So this is ... this is a unique situation, and I think it needs to be looked at a little bit differently, and ... and looked at more clearly, as far as, uh, on the fringe of the city versus right there on the boundaries of our city. I think we do need to look at that annexation language. Mims: I would suggest that when we think about this, we made ... we may have ... when we did that annexation policy two years ago, I would suggest that we did not anticipate a situation like this. I think staff looked at it. I ... I believe, maybe not, and I think Council looked at it as annex... annexing greenfield land, land outside of the city, you know, unincorporated area, not what essentially, as the City Manager said, is a boundary adjustment with a neighboring entity. So we don't necessarily have the language in place to specifically address this situation. So we have to make a determination then, how we want to interpret that and how we want to apply it. When I look at that from a very practical standpoint, um, I said... as the City Attorney just said, I think there was probably a really good chance that if we turn this down ... that this will turn on its head, and University Heights will be asking to annex, and asking us to do the severance, because the developers will say, `Forget it, Iowa City, we want this whole project to be in University Heights instead.' So, then we will be contracting to offer services to a large building outside of our jurisdiction. It doesn't make the most sense on any part of this to do it in that form. Are we potentially missing an opportunity here because we didn't think about this type of situation? Yes, we are, but I don't think it's worth losing the whole project and what that entails. If we want to go back after this and .... I don't see this type of situation hardly ever happening where we're doing this kind of a boundary adjustment between municipalities. I see the City Manager and City Attorney shaking their heads no, this is incredibly unusual. And so I would encourage the Council to move forward with this, knowing that maybe not it's the ... it may not be the ideal, but I think too often we let perfect get in the way of something that's really darn good. Thomas: Well the...the one sentence that, you know, I looked both at the amendment, which pertains to the affordable housing language, which then references the comprehensive plan, which has a section on annexation policy, and the first sentence under that annexation policy is `growth and development outside the corporate boundy...boundaries within the long-range planning area and beyond is influenced by the City through annexation in the Iowa City, Johnson County Fringe Area Agreement. So as much as I would like to consider this for annexation in the sense I ... that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 24 would ... would allow for 10% affordable housing. It seemed clear to me in reading the ... the annexation policy as it is stated in the comprehensive plan that that's the intent of the annexation policy. So, you know, I ... I would have to say that it's ... it is ... it ... my interpretation would be that that's how this should... annexation poli ... policy should be used in this case, which would not entail the affordable housing component. Bergus: I also want to play this out a little bit. If...if it flip flopped and, um, the area was fully within University Heights, the, um, do they have a sensitive areas ordinance, anyone know? Dilkes: I think ... I think they do. I can't say that for sure, but I think it was an issue, um ... when the original (mumbled) was originally planned for there and there was some, uh, sensitive areas issues. Bergus: (mumbled) (both talking) Fruin: I'm sorry, Councilor Bergus. It ... it may not be the same ordinance that, you know, they're going to have some differences and you're going to see differences in design standards and site plan ... site design standards as well, and we haven't looked at those to see how that could influence positive or negative (mumbled) project. Bergus: Okay, I mean I'm inclined to, um, you know, following Councilor Thomas' line of thinking, you know, before we even had this discussion, I was looking at this as a tool, right, the annexation is the mechanism to get a building fully within our city limits, rather than have it straddling between two, and given that we're going to have a perpetual like forever contract relating to, you know, the ... the supports for that, it makes sense to me that we would make it permanent in this way and bringing it into the city and for providing all the services, and are going to have a permanent agreement between the two municipalities anyway. So, I mean, I very much appreciate that affordable housing is and has to be a priority. I think it's outside of the purview of this particular project, in terms of the annexation policy, and we should continue to look for ways that we bring it in, you know, at whatever stage that we can. That's where I'm landing on this. Dilkes: I'll just note too that ... that the Iowa Code actually has a separate section that's called boundary adjustment between cities, and then within that it...it talks about the annexation and severance being the mechanism by which you accomplish that, but it is its own separate process. Teague: Any more comments? I do have a question. So annexing of the land, if we ... if...if we annex this, if the Council annex this, and the rezoning doesn't pass, then they can't ... they can't do the project as it is. Is that correct? Dilkes: Yeah, um, yeah, yes, the annexation, the severance and annexation will not happen if the zoning does not pass, because the 28E that you're approving as part of this item is ... says that ... that the approval of the severance by University Heights and the approval of the annexation by the City This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 25 is contingent on both the tax revenue sharing and the rezoning, that is your next item. It doesn't mean you have to approve the rezoning, but if you don't, the annexation will not go forward. Teague: Yep. All right. The one ... the one, so I just wanted to make sure I understand that, um, Mims, Bergus, and John is supporting this? The one question that I did not ask up front was what ... were we in favor, but I was kind of, you know, not sure. Um, Councilor Taylor? Taylor: Mayor, um, I'm in ... I'm in favor of the annexation and rezoning. I just had those concerns that I was hoping we could put in some sort of CZA, but apparently (garbled) possible. Teague: Yep. Okay, I think if we're ready to take a vote, I guess for me, clearly I kind of set this ... it's the ... it's the ... it's the rezoning part that I'm not in favor of. The ... the annexation sounds great. But it seems like it should be (laughs) I don't know. I'm gonna ... I'm going to support the annexation for now, but the rezoning I'm not going to support. So, I don't know if it makes sense to (laughs) just not vote for the annexation now, but I'll have to decide when I vote. I think we're ready for a vote. Roll call please. Motion pass pass ... passes, uh... (both talking) Salih: 5-2. Teague: All right, Item #9.b., is the rezoning ... do ... does Council mind if I just go to our public comment, uh, really quickly. Uh, we're gonna... and... and Harry, I'm so sorry that I wasn't aware that your name was Dan Kauble, um, and so I'm going to ask Harry (garbled) to come and give (mumbled) up to a full five minutes and sorry about that. Welcome. Kauble: Hi, um, actually this is regular Dan. I'm gonna get off and let Harry... Teague: Thank you. Manaligod: Hello, can you hear me now? Teague: We can hear you, welcome. Manaligod: So where was I? Anyway ...so I'm going to start a timer for five minutes, right, and nobody's going to interrupt me or tell me to be germane, right, and I'm going to start it now. All right, I've heard many people ... so, firstly, I already talked to you all about how like I don't trust y'all, how y'all are complaining too much, and how we're just trying to hold you accountable and how we need to do a better job with like approaching mental health, all that stuff, um, but anyway, the traffic camera thing. I've heard many people say that they trust traffic cameras to be less racist than police officers, but personally I am not so trusting. Firstly, I believe this will be fun ... just funding to extend the reach of law enforcement without any reduction on the end of the police force as a whole. Secondly, (garbled) does not currently exist any government body in Iowa City that I would trust to plan this without creating racial disparities, either in the form of placing traffic cameras in areas where black and brown people live, in the form of enforcement, in the force of how deep these punishments and tickets are, or I don't know, use This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 26 your imagination. The problem of discretion still exists as long as this is built on a white supremacist foundation. Thirdly, I don't believe that putting a law in the hands of surveillance equipment and computer programs is necessarily a good idea, and I certainly disagree with the idea that it has less potential for racism. I don't know if you've heard about this, but I'd like to talk to you about something called the correctional offender management profiling for alternative sanctions or COMPAS. COMPAS was an Al program used in court cases to assess the likelihood of a defendant becoming a repeat offender. The results from COMPAS had black defendants being labeled as recidivists more than twice as much as whites, almost as much as ... almost twice as much as white defendants. It also disproportionately labeled white offenders as low risk, though a vast number of these white people commit ... went to continue to commit crimes. I don't trust any computer program to not be racist because the people behind it will always be racist. I don't trust any of these like solutions that any of you are proposing, because they all ultimately do not defend the police. They do not extend the reach of law enforcement, like if you catch me like speeding or whatever, like I'm still gonna have to pay a ticket and if I don't have to pay a ticket, guess who comes and tells me to pay a ticket. It's still the police, um, but basically, yeah, there will always be some kind of disparity, no matter (garbled) you try to be. I think ... I don't know. With the traffic thing, I think it might be worth it to look into like roundabouts, yellow lights, I think that was said earlier, other situations based in civil engineering, but that's another discussion. Just give me a second. Regardless, we need to make sure that we are ultimately defunding law enforcement at every angle, and surveillance and omnipresence need to be curbed at every attempt to introduce them into the community before they happen. My third point is to express my overall distrust in the City Council to help advocate for our struggle. I believe that this City Council and the surrounding bodies have ties to either business owners, pro -police organizations, or just other people with power that stand to lose something from defunding and abolishing the police, and thus the City Council has something to lose from defunding and abolishing the police, and therefore they are not fit to truly advocate for our struggle. You continue and continue to whine about proceduralism and you continue to insist on giving a voice to people who are advocating for a police department that tear gassed, tackled, and otherwise brutalized protesters this summer, in addition to bringing harm to black and brown people every single day. You continue to whine about keeping it germane, but y'all refuse to have a real discussion about Iowa City Police Department's records with regards to police brutality. You refuse to have a discussion about Chris Kelly. You refuse to talk about the June 3rd incident. I still haven't heard anything about that — who's been held accountable? I'm still like personally pissed about that, like my eyes got fucked up, bro, like come on! I could go on! You've dug yourself into such a massive hole with regard to the public's trust in you. At some point you need to stop digging and start addressing the people's calls to defund the police. Otherwise your political careers will die in those holes. Seriously, I'm not playing... quit playing with me, like seriously, like I ... but seriously like you need to take this discussion seriously, you need to lead the ... fuck it! I don't know. Y'all aren't even listening... this point. Teague: Thank you, Harry. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 27 9.b. Rezoning — Finkbine — Ordinance conditionally rezoning approximately 6.12 acres of land located near the intersection of Finkbine Commuter Drive and Melrose Avenue to Medium Density Multi -Family Residential (RM -20) and Institutional Public (P-2) with a Planned Development Overlay (OPD/RM-20/P-2) (REZ20-0012) Public Hearing Teague: And I'm going to open the public hearing, and I'm going to ask for staff presentation. Welcome, Danielle. Sitzman: Thank you, Mayor. Uh, so the presentation was made previously with the annexation. I will just summarize here the motion of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Based on a review of the relevant and general specific criteria, staff did recommend approval of the rezoning with two conditions. The first one has to do with the (mumbled) building permit until a plat is recorded, so that we can memorialize the boundaries of the zoning itself, and second that prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy that the Ieftbou... left turn eastbound (mumbled) left tum lane on Melrose Avenue is installed by the developer to address turn movements at the ... in the vicinity of the project. At its February 18a', uh, meeting by a vote of 7-0, the Planning and Zoning Commission (garbled) staff's opinion and also recommended approval with staff recommended actions. Um, the CZA has been signed. And that concludes my remarks! Teague: Great. Thank you. Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? Please raise your hand and I'll call upon you, and we'll ask for you to keep it to three to five minutes. Welcome, Sara, followed by Nicholas. Barron: Hi, it's Sara Barron from the Affordable Housing Coalition again. I just wanted to take an opportunity to note that the argument, um, developers won't like it if we enforce our affordable housing policies can be made literally every single time you have a proposed development before you. And we know this, and when you made this rule you knew this, and I heard that argument about Carson Farms as well. And so I ... I'm just going to ask you to reflect on tonight's discussion. Did you really come prepared to ask the questions that you needed to ask, in order to further the City's goals of affordable housing? Um, and did you make a decision that really reflects the spirit of the discussions you've had about affordable housing? I feel disappointed tonight to say that my answer to those questions is no. Thanks. Teague: Thank you, Sara. Welcome, Nicholas, followed by Dan. Theisen: Hello, Council, once again. Um, I want to second everything that Sara said, and actually I want to follow up on the point that she made about the Carson Farms discussion. Because if I recall correctly, Councilor Mims, in that discussion you made a big deal about the point of like having to stick to the letter of the law. And now suddenly in this context, when it benefits a developer, oh well, you know, we can fudge the rules a little bit. You see, it's this kind of hypocrisy that is so infuriating. I mean literally in your work session you had, I mean I don't This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 28 want mischaracterize what, um, Mayor Pro Tem said, so if I do that, Mayor Pro Tem, please correct me, but if I remember correctly, what she said was she really wished that you had as much urgency for affordable housing as you always seem to have for anything else. And this here is a perfect example of that! Like you have your own policies, you have claimed that these are things that you want, you have something in place that you could use to enforce that policy. And then you didn't do it! Like that's the problem..is that whenever it comes to a crisis moment, whenever you have to actually finally take a side and actually have the courage of your convictions, you always choose the wealthy, you always choose developers, you never choose the people who are going to get screwed over by these policies. And you always find a way to do it, you always find some twisted logic to justify your decision, and it's so infuriating! These are the sorts of things that make people mad. Like I ... I wish I could be as calm as Sara is about these things, because you just do it over and over and over again, and you don't even hear yourselves doing it. So honestly, sometimes I wish you would just actually sit down and listen to the recordings of these sessions and hear your own bizarre logic, because it's maddening, maybe it's not maddening to you because you don't care, but it's maddening to the rest of us. Thank you. Teague: Thank you, Nicholas. Welcome, Dan. Manaligod: (both talking) Sorry about that, oh whoops, yeah. Yeah, I don't know ...yeah. Just a quick reminder, I forgot I need to address this at some point. This is still Harry and I know I've already spoken but, uh, considering y'all wasting my time I'll waste your time a little bit more. Um, but anyway, Eleanor, and anybody else in the City Council or anybody that's like involved with this kind of stuff, I'm a woman and I use she/her pronouns and like I just want ... before I go outside and close the Zoom meeting, I just want to like set that record straight, cause I'm going to be in here. I'm going to be like talking to you all about this until y'all do your jobs, which I don't have faith you're going to do anytime soon, but anyway, I use she/her pronouns. My name is Harry Manaligod. Stop. That's it. Teague: Thank you. Would anyone else like to address this topic? Please raise your hand; if you're on the phone press *9. Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to give first consideration? 2. Consider an Ordinance (First Consideration) Thomas: So moved, Thomas. Bergus: Second, Bergus. Teague: All right, Council discussion? Hearing none, roll call please. Item passes 4-3. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 29 9.c. Yellow Rock Preliminary Plat — Resolution approving Preliminary Plat of Yellow Rock subdivision, a 40.62 -acre, 7 -lot subdivision with six outlots located in unincorporated Johnson County, south of Rapid Creek Road NE, approximately 3,000 feet east of Highway 1 NE. (CSUB21-0001) Teague: Could I get a motion to approve? Weiner: So moved, Weiner. Salih: Second, Salih. Teague: All right, we're gonna have staff presentation ... here. Sitzman: Thank you, Mayor. Danielle Sitzman again, NDS. This is an application for a preliminary plat for land located in Johnson County. (mumbled) fringe agreement in fringe area A, outside the growth... growth boundary. Um, located south of Rapid Creek Road NE, and it's approximately 3,000 feet east of Highway 1 NE. Like I said, it's in the fringe area. This is a case that was recently approved by the City for the rezoning, uh, from agricultural to R, residential county. Um, it was done in December of 2020. Um, the applicant stated that their intent at that time to redevelopment... redevelopment into seven lots (mumbled) and that's what they're coming forward with now, is seven single-family residential lots and several outlots, um, intended to accommodate storm water infrastructure. Um, the (mumbled) property, both and in regards to its zoning, and in regards to the location in the ... in our growth boundary areas (garbled) and the outside of the boundary area (garbled) Um, as I said, it would be a seven -lot, single-family residential development, including several outlots. You can see those laid out here along the cul-de-sac road. Stormwater management would be accomplished primarily on- site. (mumbled) any concerns about stormwater. With regards to infrastructure, this is subject to the City's Waal design standards in the fringe area agreement. Um (garbled) is also being provided with a well water system, uh, shared and individual sanitary sewer system, as regulated by the County. The outlets are primarily to accommodate, uh (garbled) shown here in blue as well, so the areas where the lots are being developed (garbled) As far as steps of development (garbled) previously gone through a recent rezoning (garbled) come back to you on your consent agenda when they complete the subdivision and are filing the final plat. Um, based on a review of relevant criteria, staff recommended approval of the plat, as did the Planning and Zoning Commission at their (garbled) concludes staff report. Teague: Thank you. Does anyone have questions for Danielle? All right, I'm gonna ask if anyone from the public would like to address this topic. Please raise your hand and I'll call upon you, and we ask that you keep your comments three to five minutes. Hearing none, Council discussion? Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 30 10. Court Street Transportation Center Lease Extension — Resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign and the City Clerk to attest an Addendum to a Lease Agreement with Graze Iowa City, LLC for commercial space within the Court Street Transportation Center to extend said lease. 1. Public Hearing Teague: I'm going to open the public hearing. And yes, we're going to welcome Juli. Fruin: Actually I'm going to take this one here. Teague: Oh, okay (laughs) Fruin: This is a commercial space that the City owns in the Court Street Transportation Center. The transportation center was built with federal FTA dollars, and the commercial rent that's received in that space directly funds our transit operations. A previously established coffee shop closed, um, probably about a year, maybe a little more than a year ago. We've since been marketing the space. Um, Graze was a restaurant located downtown that was displaced with a recent redevelopment project. We were able to accommodate them in this space. They are currently working to build out the site. Uh, under my authority, I signed a short-term lease with them, uh, so that they could limit their business interruption. They wanted to get started right away, um, so we were able to negotiate a lease for fair market value of the space. However, Graze does... Graze does anticipate being a long-term tenant and once that security from the City, which is certainly reasonable to expect for a tenant like this. Uh, they are asking the Council for an extension of that lease, and that is before you, um, to ... tonight. That's specifically what you're looking at is four or five-year renewal options to Graze, on top of the three- year lease that I previously authorized. Happy to answer any questions. Teague: Great. Weiner: Is this ... is this the spot where the coffee shop used to be? Fruin: Yes it is. Teague: All right, would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand. Okay. Salih: I'm sorry, Geoff, what you said it going to be? Coffee shop also? Fruin: No, this is Graze. It's a existing restaurant downtown, uh, that was displaced as part of the Tail- winds project. Salih: Yeah, sure, okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 31 Teague: Okay! Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand and I'll call upon you. On the phone press *9. Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve please? 2. Consider a Resolution Mims: So moved, Mims (both talking) Taylor: (both talking) Teague: Moved by Mims, seconded by Taylor. Council discussion? Taylor: I'm really (garbled) see this. Uh, to be honest I've been missing the food from Graze. They've got wonderful, wonderful food, and this ... this is so exciting that it's just a short, maybe block, block and a half move from where... where they were before. So I'm excited to see this and ... and approve this and hope it does stay there, uh, as long as that lease goes forward. I did have just a technical question, Geoff, if I could ask it. hi our consent agenda there was their liquor license renewal for their Clinton Street address. Will that carry over to this new address or will they have to apply for a new one? Fruin: I'm going to defer to Kellie, if she can ... she may be more familiar with that than I am. My guess is they're just transferring it over. Fruehling: (mumbled) um, yeah, I think when we talked to the State they wanted them to apply for thein.. their current location and then do the transfer after. Taylor: Okay, thank you. Mims: Well I'm glad to see this go forward. It's great for the business and it's great for the City to have, uh, what hopefully will be a good long-term tenant in there, so glad to approve this. Teague: Yeah, I would agree. Graze is kind of a small... business owners and they have great chicken lips (laughs) that's what people are ... in the community (laughs) recognize them for, so happy to support this tonight. Hearing no more comments, roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 32 11. Gilbert Court Sidewalk Infill — Resolution approving project manual and estimate of cost for the construction of the Gilbert Court Sidewalk Infill Project, establishing amount of bid security to accompany each bid, directing City Clerk to post notice to bidders, and fixing time and place for receipt of bids. 1. Public Hearing Teague: I'm going to open the public hearing, and staff presentation. VanDyke: Hi, everyone, I'm Mani VanDyke. I'm the Project Engineer for the Gilbert Court Sidewalk Infill Project. So this project is generally located at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Gilbert Court, which is just north of Highway 6 and east of Gilbert Street. So the project includes construction of sidewalk on the east and west sides of Gilbert Court, which is shown here in blue. And then we'll also be updating the curb ramps at the intersection, so the two existing ramps will update and then we'll add another ramp on the south side of Highland Avenue. So this is an area where we've had multiple requests to put sidewalk in. It does see a lot or a decent amount of pedestrian traffic. So it'll be good to provide a safe and accessible route for everyone. The schedule for this project would be to open bids April 28th and award the contract May 4th. And then one of the adjacent business owners requested that we wait until their busy season is over to start construction. So for that reason, we will wait until August 2nd to start, and then construction would finish September 30th, and the estimated construction cost is $87,000. So..and I'll give it back to you for questions. Teague: Any questions? You got away easy (laughs) All right. Anyone from the public like to address this topic? Please raise your hand and I'll call upon you. Hearing none, I'm going to close the public hearing. Could I get a motion to approve please? 2. Consider a Resolution Salih: Move, Salih. Weiner: Second, Weiner. Teague: Council discussion? Thomas: This is a nice little infill project, uh, given... given the activity on this street, so I'm happy to see it move forward. Weiner: I've actually heard from business owners there and... and walked by when it was sort of you have to slog through... through rain paddles, so it's, um, it will really help the area. Teague: Hearing no more comments, roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 33 12. Alcohol in Park Shelters — Ordinance amending Title 4, entitled "Alcoholic Beverages," and Title 10, entitled "Public Ways and Property," to allow alcohol in park shelters. (First Consideration) Teague: Could I get a motion for first consideration please? Mims: So moved, Mims. Taylor: Second, Taylor. Teague: All right, and we're gonna invite Juli at this time to talk to us (laughs) Seydell Johnson: Hi, good evening, Mayor and Council. Juli Seydell Johnson, Director of Parks and Recreation, with you tonight to talk about changing the ordinance to allow alcohol within shelter rentals in the parks. Currently alcohol is only allowed at Terry Trueblood Lodge, Ashton House, the Shakespeare stage, and during events hosted by the City Parks and Ree Department. This would allow alcohol, meaning just beer and wine, to be consumed within any shelter that is rented. The two exceptions would be shelters at Kicker Soccer Field and Napoleon, because they are youth sports complexes. We had one person ask why not City Park baseball fields, um, the reason is there's no shelter there to rent, so there wouldn't be...it wouldn't be allowed there anyway. This was discussed at the March Parks and Rec Commission meeting, and they recommended approval. And it has been brought to the attention of the Partnership, um, the University of Iowa Partnership for Alcohol. Sorry. Alcohol Safety Partnership for Alcohol Safety, and we haven't received any comments back for that. So staff and Commission both recommend approval. Teague: Any questions for Juli? All right, would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand or press *9 on the phone. Welcome, Dan. Kauble: Hey, urn, I have some questi ... questions, uh, just to kind of clarify (mumbled) what the current situation with this legislation is. Um, firstly, who ... if someone is violating the alcohol policy in a shelter, what is the process of kind of enforcing the no alcohol policy, and then, um, are there any records about enforcement of the policy. Um, that's all I have, thank you. Teague: Thank you, Dan. Would anyone else like to address this topic? Seeing no one, Council discussion? Mims: I just want to thank staff and the Parks and Ree Commission for taking the time to really look into this and see what kind of changes we might be able to make to accommodate people. We'd ... we started really ...I remember I had a call or an email from somebody. They wanted to have a small wedding reception, and you know, were wanting to have something like beer or wine there. So I think, you know, it'll take some ... some watching to make sure that it's not creating problems. I certainly hope it doesn't and hope some people can abide by it responsibly. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 34 Taylor: If I remember correctly our previous discussion of this, uh, we were concerned about what the Partnership for Alcohol Safety would think about this, and we hadn't really heard much from them. So this time around I'm glad to hear that they are in favor of this. So I'm supportive, but also (mumbled) as Susan said, for those folks who can't afford those more expensive venues, this ... this will be a nice... to be able to have an event there at the City Park shelter with some alcohol for their guests. Fruin: Mayor, if I can just clarify on the Partnership for Alcohol Safety. I think that's important. So after your work session, which was a little over a month ago I believe, we sent a note out to the Partnership for Alcohol Safety membership, informing them that this would be on the Council agenda in roughly a month and requested that anybody with feedback get, you know, return those comments to the City Manager's office. We did not get any comments back, but I don't want to go so far as to say that the Partnership for Alcohol Safety supported this. There was never a vote of that group, they just... none of the individual members chose to provide feedback. Teague: Well I'm excited that this is actually on our agenda. This is ... I think Susan said it best when when she mentioned the opportunities for people having small gatherings in the parks, and this is one way, I believe, to allow for equity. Of course, we want to make sure that we keep just an eye on it, a little bit, just to make sure that it's successful, but I'm ... I'm excited to support this. Salih: I just want to ask question to Juli, kind of same question that Dan raise. Yeah, how was rules being enforced and who will enforce the rules for this? Seydell Johnson: Sure, so alcohol use in the parks in general is enforced on a complaint basis, and it is enforced by the police. They can ... they can issue a citation because it's against the ord... park ordinance, rules, and regulations. So we aren't actually actively out looking at each shelter reservation, but if other park users or anyone else would register a complaint, it would be checked out. We really have not had very many issues with this in the five years that I've been here. Um, in fact I'm not aware of any large parties that have had to be, you know, broken up by police because of alcohol. Salih: I'm glad, and hopefully not ... we are not gonna have any (laughs) Thank you, Juli. Teague: I do know that there was considerable research at other places throughout the state that allow alcohol in the parks, and so I know in the past we've been informed about that, and so this is, uh, good that this is happening here. Any other comments? Hearing none, roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 35 14. Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant Allocations for Fiscal Year 2021— Resolution Adopting the Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant Allocations for Fiscal Year 2021. Teague: Could I get a motion to approve? Bergus: So moved (both talking) Weiner: So moved (both talking) Teague: Moved by Mims, second by Weiner (laughs) It was...it was kind of simultaneous. Mims: I think it was Bergus and not me. Teague: Oh, okay (laughs) move by Bergus, seconded by Weiner and, urn ... staff presentation. Welcome, Stefanie. Bowers: Good evening, so this is a recommendation from the Human Rights Commission for the Social Justice and Racial Equity Grant for FY21, and the Commission is recommending to the City Council to fully fund the following organizations, which are Open Heartland, the Labor Center, Sankofa Outreach Connection, the Food Pantry at Iowa, and also the Bike Library. They are further asking that the Council partially fund the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, and the reason for the partial funding of this particular organization is the Commission, um, realized that they would be going over the 75,000 that is allocated for the grant for FY21, which is why the Housing Coalition will... would receive $15,000, as opposed to $25,000. If this resolution is approved, these organizations would build capacity in the community on racial justice and social equity, and some of the activities include an inventory of specific housing needs from BIPOC and low-income residents. It also includes a Kid Power Program to youth living in mobile home communities here. In addition, the Labor Center would be providing high-quality job training opportunities, including skilled trades. It would also include from Sankofa Outreach Connection a ethnic studies leadership academy for young women of color, and then the Bike Library would be doing a series that would honor historically significant locations to the black community and black businesses. If this is approved tonight, staff would work on getting funding out to these organizations no later than June 1 st of this year. Thank you. Teague: Thank you. Any questions for Stefanie? Salih: I'm sorry, Stefanie, but you know my internet is not, you know, I ... you've been cutting off to me, but you mean you requesting, you know, like more fund. That what you ask or... Bowers: The Commission at this time is not requesting more funds. They are asking for partial funding to the Johnson County Affordable Housing Coalition, with the expectation that for future years that they probably will be asking the City Council (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 36 Salih: Sure! Bowers: (both talking) ...provide more funding for this particular grant. If you looked at all of the submissions, the total was a little over $400,000, and so it would provide them an opportunity to have more organizations receive funding of -under this grant, if they were able to allocate more than 75,000 each year. Teague: Mayor Pro Tem, I think you froze up again. So I'm not sure what all she heard. But good frozen picture. All right (laughs) Any other questions for Stefanie? Would anyone from the public like to address this topic? If so, please raise your hand... and if you're on the phone, press *9. Seeing no one, Council discussion? Taylor: I'd just like to thank Stefanie and the Human Rights Commission for their ...their work, the work they do all the time, but ... but especially in ... in allocating these funds. It can't be an easy task to look through all of these worthwhile organizations. As Stefanie had said it was ... the requests total over $400,000 and what they have is 75,000, which sounds like a lot to work with, but when you've got that ... that long list of very worthwhile organizations and 400 - something thousand being requested, that's a difficult task. So ... so thank you very much for what... what, the work you've done. Weiner: Agree with what Councilor Taylor said, thank you very much, Stefanie. Thank you so much to the Human Rights Commission for your really hard work on this. Mims: Ditto. Teague: I'm hoping Mayor Pro Tem'll jump back on, and we can wait for her while we take this vote. I'm excited for this. I, you know, I read through the deserving names, and so this is really good. It's a great opportunity for the work of social justice and racial equity within our community, and very happy to the Human Rights Commission who gave great attention to all of the applicants. Of course, there are some that didn't get awarded that have very worthy causes. Um, when you talk about, you know, over $400,000 worth of request and only having 75,000, I do believe that, you know, Council, we're at a place where we probably should, you know, look at raising this grant in ... in the future here as that's been mentioned by the Human Rights Commission thoughts. Um, I am happy to support this and look forward to the individuals that will do great work within the community with these funds, and Mayor Pro Tem is back! Great. Salih: Are we still the same item? Teague: Absolutely! We were waiting for you (laughs) Salih: Thank you! Yeah, I just want to say, you know, all those organization have been great organization, they do an amazing work in the community. Whenever we can able to be support them, and you know, even increase, you know, Human Rights Commission fund. I will be This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 37 happy to, because I really believe on the work that all those who are (garbled) I will support this hundred percent. Bergus: Agreed, thank you all. Teague: All right. Roll call please. Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 38 15. 2020 Certified Local Government Annual Report — Presentation of the 2020 Certified Local Government Annual Report. Teague: And staff presentation. Bristow: Hi, everyone, Jessica Bristow here, Historic Preservation Planner, and I'll share some slides. It's hard to believe that I actually am still nervous and have adrenaline even though we've been here for hours already this evening (laughs) So every year we submit an annual report to the State Historic Preservation Office about the activities of our Historic Preservation Commission. Over the last two years they've started making that report digital and with that they have also suggested that we present to City Council, so this is the second time that we have done so. A little background, the National Historic Preservation Act was established in 1966 and it provided for a nationwide program, encourage the use of historic resources, establish the National Register of Historic Places that we talk about a lot, and also established the state offices, the State Historic Preservation offices. It was in 1980 when there was an amendment to the Act that created the certified local government program. In Iowa there is a lot of participation in this program. There are 91 certified local governments in Iowa, which is a huge number considering we're in the middle of the country. The certified local government program is about encouraging historic preservation activities and work at the local level. It encourages local governments to use the Secretary of the Interior standards for historic preservation. It also provides technical assistance through the State Historic Preservation office, and provides funding opportunities for preservation activities. In Iowa City, as you know, just a little background, we have eight historic districts on the map. There's like the Brown Street District, Northside, Longfellow, Summit, Woodlawn, all of these districts are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places as historic districts, and they encompass 689 properties. We also have five conservation districts. They include the College Hill Conservation District here; Governor, Lucas Street Conservation District. Unfortunately this map was created before the Goosetown, Horace Mann Conservation District, which encompasses a lot of this area right here. The conservation district is only a local designation, so it does not have a counterpart with the National Register of Historic Places, but it includes in Iowa City 806 properties. Currently we have 65 individually designated local landmarks, 45 of those are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A little general information, this map shows those districts and the red dots are all individual landmarks, just for your information. Our Commission consists of 12 seats. We have some at -large seats, as well as a Commissioner for each of those eight historic districts. Right now three of our seats are open. This year ...the year of the report is the year 2020, and during 2020 we had 12 regular meetings. We did not have any special meetings. And we have a budget of, um, staff, and we do an annual mailing to all of the property owners as well. In addition to that, we have the Historic Preservation Fund, which started July 1, 2017. So the report's put into several sections, and the first section is talking about things at more that level of the National Register of Historic Places. So they title it "Locating Historic Properties, Identification, Evaluation and Registration Activities," and so when we document in this section it's about the properties that are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. One of the things that we did this year but was not completed during the 2020 calendar year was our Iowa City Downtown Historic District, which is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 39 nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. That will be sent to the National Park Service very soon. We review alterations, as you know, within our our historic districts and conservation districts. The way the ... the State wants us to calculate and tabulate what we have done is they want us to count the number of properties that were actually altered, that are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. So of the reviews that we did in 2020, 31 properties were actually altered. The next section is about managing, protecting, and preserving historic properties, and this is where we can talk about like our conservation districts and some of the stuff that really just relates to our local ... our local work. This is also where we talk about how the Commission and staff provides their expertise to others. For instance, we work with all of our applicants very early in the approval process to try to make it more, um ... easier to get things approved by the Commission. We provide resources on property history, resources about materials and contractors. We provide direction or options on project design during the review process, and we review applications and suggest modifications, if needed. Sometimes also, for instance, the State had the architect for a project on the Poor Farm, which is a County owned landmark. They had that architect consult with staff because we are kind of the local contact for projects within our general region as well. We also consulted with planners in Washington, Iowa about a.....a moving of a building as well. For the local designated only projects, so that would be only local landmarks or projects in local conservation districts, we documented 22 properties that were altered. This photo or this image here is just a little bit of the drawing from the College Street project downtown. Along those same lines, we do give them some more information about the work we do. For instance, in 2020 during the COVID pandemic and the shutdown, we reviewed 85 applications for historic review. That is down from the high of 98 in 2019, and we really assume that has to do with people's budgets to move forward with projects. Because on the other hand, we had 248 inquiries during that same calendar year. These are people reaching out to us about potential projects, sometimes they'll reach out to us about multiple projects. In the last two years, that has increased 55%. We think in 2020 a lot of that was related, again, to people working from home or spending a lot of time in their home and dreaming about the things that they would really like to do to fix it or alter it or something like that. As you know, we also have our Historic Preservation Fund and in 2020 we were able to give out 10 grants. Typically we have eight grants, $5,000 each. We just had several projects were ... that were less than our $5,000 maximum. So since July 1, 2017, we have issued, um, we have approved 28 grants that improved 25 properties, a few properties had multiple grants. We also invest a lot of our time and resources into public education. As you know, we do our Historic Preservation Awards every year. In 2020 it was our first time trying to do something through Zoom and it was a hybrid of a live and recorded event. I personally found it really fun to watch. I think that the Commissioners enjoyed introducing themselves and watching themselves recorded and ... and we had good viewership. We presented 18 awards for properties and individuals, like contractors, and the categories are listed here, and I just wanted to point out that we will have our 38th annual Historic Preservation Awards, same format, um, and it's going to be May 20th, which is a Thursday. We wanted to get it in right before everybody went on their whirlwind vacations after getting vaccinated for Memorial Day. Also last year on February 25, 2020, we presented.... we had a presentation that talked about the civil rights grant work that we had for the Tate Arms and the Iowa Federation Home, and we presented that. We worked with Stefanie Bowers to get that presentation set up. (mumbled) our annual report to This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 40 the State also provides an area for us to just kind of talk openly about the challenges and successes we've had over the year. Because of COVID limitations on some activities, you know, we ... I think maybe our activity level was a little bit lower. We had to adjust our processes and stuff. We had the challenge of, uh, there was a clerical issue at the State with how they do their process for the review of the nominations for the National Register and that caused us to have to do our downtown twice and their State review was postponed, which we think ... that was a little bit of a challenge, and we had some concerns about that. We also have the challenge of the open positions that we've advertised for. We have several districts that are very small, and you know, if you only have a dozen or so residences and families or whatever in that area, it's kind of hard to get new Commissioners. Currently we have two University students on the Commission and we have really enjoyed that. They tend to be active, they speak up. It is really nice to get a larger perspective on things by...by having students and... and rental tenants in our historic districts can also be eligible for the Commission. It's not necessarily the owner of the property if they don't live there. The other thing is just with the derecho. Everybody is working in Cedar Rapids, and so we've really had a difficulty. Probably that's part of the reason why we've had fewer applications is people have had problems finding contractors who can work on projects. I know I've personally fielded calls all over eastern Iowa of people asking for contact information about contractors because they're so busy right now. Some of our successes that we have had is, of course, our Historic Preservation Fund. I've been here for six years and it has been amazing thing to be able to have this fund to help some of the homeowners who really want to do the right thing and can't afford it, or they really need to take care of some repairs to prevent further damage, or...or whatever. It's been a great fund to be able to use. Um, of course we really champion the success of the agreement between the City and the University for the preservation of the Sanxay-Gilmore House and really look forward to seeing that project come to fruition, and we also really think that the work that we did with other commissions and developers to save both the... the house at 410, 412 North Clinton street which is pictured here, and the properties downtown. We think that those are good projects that we worked hard to review them multiple times during this year, and we look forward to putting those landmarks on our list for next year, since we only count them once they're finally put through Council, and that's all I have! Thank you very much. Teague: Thank you. Any comments or questions for ...from Council? Weiner: Just really appreciate the perspective you offer us on ... on this as a whole, very helpful. Thank you. Teague: I would agree. All right, well thank you so much, Jessica. Enjoy the rest of your night! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 41 16. Council Appointments 16.a. Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission —Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission — Four vacancies to fill unexpired terms, upon appointment— June 30, 2022 Teague: And we have four vacancies, two female, one male, and then one, um, no gender requirement. And ... all right, so wanted to see what people are thinking. I have some (laughs) Dr. Wangui, Dr. Wangui, and maybe I'll just give names for now and then... take... take a count of names and then we can come back and see where we land. Nakisha Jones, Angel Taylor, David ... I didn't ... I didn't write his last name down, but I know that Councilor Taylor suggested him the last time. Um, it's two names Bor... Borman. Let me see. Borger German. Taylor: Yes! Fruin: Yep. Teague: And then Caleb Beinings. Weiner: Um, so, Mr Mayor, there ... there are two, um (mumbled) Are you speaking.... are you referring to (mumbled)? Teague: (garbled) Weiner: (mumbled) Okay, thank you. Who is ... who is on, um, was on my personal list as well. I was really impressed by her ...by her counseling background and work in the community. On my list as well are Clifton Johnson, Chastity Dillard, and Priscilla Culp. Bergus: Mayor, I also had, uh, Chastity Dillard and Clifton Johnson... and... Priscilla Culp. Now I can't find my notes. Oh, and Wangui Gathua. Mims: (garbled) as Laura did. Taylor: My list is also very similar and I did recommend David Borger German. Again, I think with his background, he would be an excellent person to be on this Commission. Also, the same, uh, Nakisha Jones and Wangui, is that how you pronounce ... Wangui? Um, would ... would be good. I had Amanda Nichols because of the (garbled) and I think I read... recommended her last time also because of that, because we at one time had said it might be nice to have somebody from the CPRB on that. So I ... I had her. I know that's probably too many now. Uh, and of course I know Dan Daly and I'll give a shout out to him because he's ... he's a great guy, but he also has said that he's interested in the HRC, and I think he would be very excellent on the HRC. So I hope that when a position comes up for that we can appoint him to the HRC, if we don't at this time. Thomas: I have David Borger German, Chastity Dillard, Clifton Johnson, and Wangui ... Gath ... Gathua. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 42 Taylor: I don't (garbled) Daphne Daniel has been mentioned yet. I ... I had her circled also with her background in fact-finding and ... and also familiar with the TRC in South Africa, and she just, I thought, had a very good application and would be good on this also. Mims: I think if I'm counting right, we have at least four supporters for Clifton Johnson, Chastity Dillard, and Wangui. Teague: Yes. Mayor Pro Tem? Salih: Ah, I support Wangui and, you know, that's one of the top of my list. I really don't have (garbled) and as the one whoever, I will support. Teague: Okay. All right, so thanks for helping me keep track. I was (laughs) I was writing a lot. (garbled) I actually left my printed copy of all the names and my comments on my desk. Sorry about that! Okay, so let's go through some name ... some names that's been mentioned, um, that has at least two p ... two or more people supporting. So Nakisha Jones, Priscilla Culp, and actually Priscilla Culp has ... has, um ... three right now, yes ... Priscilla (garbled) Um, so those are the Nakisha Jones, Priscilla Culp. Weiner: I think there were also a couple of suppor...people supporting David Bor...Borger German. I'm not sure how he pronounces his name, sorry. Teague: Yes. David... yes. Yep! So we do have ... let me, so we have, um, and do we know how Chastity identifies? I don't have that before me right now. Weiner: She ... I spoke with her this afternoon. Teague: Okay. So we have two females... and one male, and we have one more opening. Bergus: Mayor, I heard. Um, yeah, Nakisha Jones Jenkins and Priscilla Culp were both kind of in my short list. So if one of the other people I named didn't make this cut, I think either of them is ... would be great. Teague: Okay. Taylor: And I'm ... I'm still supportive of David Borger German (garbled) Teague: Okay. Salih: Me too, David. Teague: David. Well that ... John, you...were you supportive of David? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 43 Thomas: Yeah. Teague: So I think with that, that gives us the fourth person, if Council ... we have four supports there. Bergus: Do we have many -many who has more than four, as we were going through those names? Salih: Yeah, Wangui, I thinks. Weiner: (several talking) ...and, um, Cliff have (garbled) more. And Chastity had at least one. Teague: Yep. Yes. So I have Clifton Johnson, Chastity Dillard, Dr. Wangui, and David Borger German. Is Council in agreement with that? Salih: Sounds good. Taylor: Yes. Teague: All right. All right, could we get a motion to appoint the four names that I just mentioned? Salih: Move the four name you just mention. Weiner: Second. Teague: All right, all in favor say aye. Any opposed? Motion passes 7-0. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 44 19. Community Comment [IF NECESSARY] (Items not on the agenda) Teague: We are at Item #19, and I know, Ryan, I ... we saw you earlier at our work session, so welcome from UISG Longenecker: Good evening, Council. I got a few announcements tonight. First is just let you all know that Anna and I met with Tracy Hightshoe and Erika Kubly last Friday to talk about some options to expand affordable housing to students, and connecting the City with the University more so that they can work on affordable housing, since it's so hard for many students to access who still need it. So they'll be working on that going forward. Also, just to let you know, a sustainability gen ed for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences did pass, so any students entering during or after summer 2021 will be required to compete a ... to complete a class in order to graduate. Next, some more unfortunate news, um, the move -in checklist bill at the State level, which our GR team has been advocating for unfortunately died, uh, for this session. So we'll hope to pick that mantle back up next session and continue to try and get that passed in the future. And lastly, as you all know, the presidential search for the next University of Iowa President has been going on. Four finalists have been selected and those names will be released, I believe, this week. And they'll be visiting over the next two weeks on campus, and both the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate Professional Student Government will be meeting with them, along with other stakeholders in the University, to welcome them and just ask them different questions, and there will also be, I believe, some town halls with each of the finalists going forward for students to ask them questions. Um, that's all for me tonight, and Anna's not here tonight because it's her birthday, so I let her off the hook for tonight's Council meeting, so happy birthday, Anna. Thanks (garbled) Teague: Yes, thank you for your comments and happy birthday, Anna, for certain... This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 45 20. City Council Information Teague: ... and all right, we are at Item #20, which is City Council information. Just jump out there, if you have any... Mims: I would just like to start. Eleanor, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you for the last 11 -plus years. Uh, thought we'd make it to 12, but you're bailing on me (laughs) So I just, uh, I can't say enough good things. It has been an absolute pleasure. You are both incredibly professional, capable, caring person, smart; you've got an incredible team, and any time the City Council has needed, you know, professional legal advice, you have been there to guide us, not only on the legal issues, but also to help relate, you know, where... where the legal ends and where the policy and politics kind of begins, and so, you know, where your line is and which side of the line you're on, and where we... where we are and what decisions we have to make. And the thing I felt really good about is not only all of that, but I have ... I really feel strongly that when you felt it was in the City's best interest to fight for something, you told us and we fought, and I don't remember us ever losing, um, in court. We probably did, but I mean, yeah, I mean you ... you gave us really good advice and when it was ... it was like, no, we're in the wrong and we're going to own it. Um, and we owned it, and so you've... you've given us really good advice and it's been just areal pleasure work with you. So enjoy your retirement and I'll be calling you and we'll get on our bikes. Taylor: Eleanor, I echo everything that Susan said, except that it's six ... six years for me, but it's been a very great six years. I've appreciated all of your advice and going... going to miss you ... miss you a lot, but I'm wishing you the best in your retirement. Dilkes: Thank you. Weiner: Um ... (both talking) Salih: (garbled) As I said earlier, again I wish you the best and thank you for your service during this years. You know, I just feel we just getting to start to know you and you're leaving (laughs) you know. That's like something but, you know, just ... you have to do what you want to do, but wish you the best luck for years to come. Also, I would like just to report since this we're reporting also like event, I would like just to tell the public that, you know, there is money, as you hear about many amazing organization, they come together to help the people applying for IFA, uh, the IFA programs, the Iowa (mumbled) programs, but I would like our City Council to know something about this. That home owner must, I don't know if they're going to be eligible or not, because there is a requirement of 14 days foreclosure notice and most likely the people need time to be like they need maybe three months, four months not paying for their bank to start send them that foreclosure. I mean like it will take time and that's one of the requirement that you have to upload, uh, foreclosure, if you are homeowner. There is many low-income homeowner who are really applying for this programs, but I don't know if they gonna get it or not. We haven't hear, uh, somebody get it or not, and keep in mind those people (mumbled) those people, they are not eligible for utility and electricity. So what ... the City have to do This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 46 something for those people, you know. we ... we said that, I don't know, but just keep that in mind and figure it out. We need to do something for the people who are not eligible for IFA, regardless if this is just (mumbled) or because they are homeowner. Thank you. Thomas: Eleanor, I wish you the best, and you know what they say about retirement, you never have a day off, so best of luck and happy trails. Dilkes: Thank you. Weiner: Eleanor, thank you very much for ...for all your advice and helping us work through a whole variety of issues. Haven't known you anywhere near as long as the others, but it's ... it's been incredibly productive. And I always tell people what ... what my parents said after they retired, which is they couldn't figure out where they found the time to work. And I suspect it will eventually be that way. Um, I have two other issues that I want to raise fairly briefly. One is about COVID, vaccines are open to everyone. Real ... I've had my first, really urge people to ... to get their vaccine. I talked to Johnson County Public Health. They're coordinating with U ... the U of I mobile unit, and at Pepperwood, there's the Coralville Library clinic this week, and they're continuing to plan for additional sites. And also urging pharmacies to expand their hours, so that they're not just 9:00 to 5:00, so that it makes it more inclusive, uh, and are also working with JCS on how ...on figuring out a way to get out to those who ... who are housebound and cannot get out of their home. So ... and if you have problems accessing the internet, you can call 2-1-1 and get setup with ... with, refer to someone who can help you navigate it. Cases are going up, but there's... there really is hope through the vaccines. So hope that you will, if you have questions that you will ask about them and otherwise that you will sign up for a vaccine, and finally I'm going to take a couple of minutes of your time. We had a lot of...we had a lot of proclamations. We didn't have one ... we don't have one yet about fighting hate against the AAPI community, and I just I wanted to cite a ... an editorial that Hannah Pinsky wrote on March 18th for the Daily Iowan. She's the ... she is, uh, runs the opinions page in the Daily Iowan and it was entitled "The Reality of Being Asian American," and just a few experts... excerpts, I'm sorry. She said that, `While I'm essentially I'm ... while I'm relieved that we're finally having a conversation, and I'm grateful for people have reached out, I'm hurt and heartbroken that it took eight lives to do so, eight lives for people to realize that our dehumanization is a problem. We're fighting for humanity and it's a battle that shouldn't need to be fought in the first place. We needed solidarity from the community sooner,' and she's referring to the community in the United States as a whole. We need to recognize that anti -Asian ideas already present have harmed the AAPI community and that COVID-19 only added fuel to the fire. The damage is done. And the question right now is how to move forward. We can't just ask ourselves how we can prevent this from happening again. We need to ask why we didn't recognize this problem sooner, and we why we allowed it to happen in the first place. Thank you. Bergus: Thank you for that, Janice. I also was just gonna mention the COVID vaccine availability for everyone 16 and over, and also just encourage people to continue wearing your mask and social distancing. With the warmer weather it's really hard to not just snap back to, I don't know, something before COVID I guess, as I look around town. So let's just hang on a little while This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 47 longer. The ... the mask mandate is still in effect countywide, and I did just want to say, Eleanor, congratulations and thank you. It was when I had my first job, I was 15 years old in the Iowa City City Council chambers behind a camera, and you were there! So that was exactly 25 years ago. I didn't realize you were brand new city attorney then, so congratulations and thanks. Teague: So I did want to acknowledge that our Mayor Pro Tem represented the City of Iowa City at the #StopAsianHate on March 28th and ... and so we did stand in solidarity with the Asian community. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, for representing Iowa City's heart. Really appreciate that, and of course I said things earlier to our City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes. Um, again, thank you for all that you've done. I have to keep it professional because typically when I'm at celebrations for retirement, I love to break out with "Take This Job and Shove It," but I won't do that tonight (laughs) but I wish you the best in your retirement and sleep late, do it for me. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 48 21. Report on Items from City Staff C. City Attorney Teague: And I think we're gonna bump up to Item c. first with our City Attorney. Dilkes: Oh, glad that's all over (laughs) I guess I would just like to thank, uh, you and your predecessors for appointing me to this position and ... and continuing to employ me, particularly through a time when I had young children and the Council was flexing out ... flexible enough to let me go to a reduced schedule, which I think is incredibly important fon.. for women in the legal profession. And the ... the job has been really, you know, more rewarding and challenging than I certainly thought it would be when I applied for the Assistant City Attorney job, and my boss resigned, you know, shortly thereafter. So it's been great, it really has been. And I'd also like to thank the incredible staff, my staff, and... and the team of problem -solvers that I get to work with at the City, um, Geoff and Kellie, and the department directors, and I feel just wholeheartedly that while people doubt this more often than I think they have justification to do, is that this staff works incredibly hard to try and accomplish the objectives of the City Council. And we keep that at the forefront of our minds, and certainly that's my ethical obligation, but I think it's ... it's the, um, the obligation that has been taken on by...by every member of the staff, and I just feel incredibly grateful to have worked... worked with them, so thank you for that. Teague: Thank you, thank you, and we'll jump back up to our City Manager! a. City Manager Fruin: Well I'll say this, there's nobody better at what she does than Eleanor, and I mean that from bottom of my heart with, um, all the experience that I've had over my career, um, there's nobody better and we're going to miss her, but this might be her last Council meeting. I still get to live in denial for another week and a half, because the last day is next Friday, so I'm going to choose to stay in denial for just a little bit longer and and share some comments later. Teague: Great! Our Assistant City Manager... Ashley. b. Assistant City Manager Monroe: Hi, um, I have just two comments, one of them being business related. We had a really healthy applicant pool for our Climate Action grants. Uh, we're incredibly thankful that those will be coming through and getting reviewed, and we've extended the student grants for $500 or or less, um, for ...till May 7a', so people can look for that on our website, and I71 just say, you know, that I'm with Geoff in denial, but thank you so much, Eleanor. You're just a great example and we're so thankful for you. Dilkes: Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021. Page 49 Teague: All right, and our dear City Clerk that's always working behind the scenes (laughs) d. City Clerk Fruehling: Well yeah, Geoff kind of took the words right out of my mouth. I'm still trying to figure out how to get her to stay, so I'm just gonna leave it at that (laughs) Teague: Great all right. Well, Eleanor, thank you again on behalf of the City of Iowa City. We all say thank you for the work that you've done for this city. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council regular formal meeting of April 6, 2021.