HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-15 TranscriptionPage 1
Council Present: Bergus, Mims, Salih, Teague, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner
Staff Present: Fruin, Goers, Fruehling, Knoche, Hightshoe, Bockenstedt, Ford, Grier, Russett,
Sitzman, Hektoen
Others Present: Van Heukelom, Miglin (USG)
American Rescue Plan Act Outreach & Engagement f IP31:
Teague: Good afternoon, everybody, it is 4:00 PM on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, and this is the City of
Iowa City work session and want to again just welcome everyone. I see all of our Councilors
are present, City Manager, and our new City Attorney. Welcome, Eric. This is your first time
with us in your new capacity, uh, congratulations. I also wanted to make sure that we have
someone from USG present. If not, I think they'll jump on when they can. We'll go ahead and
get started. I wanted to kind of give a, um, overview of what ... what we're going to do during
the work session. We're going to have the first item, which is the American Rescue Plan Act
outreach and engagement, and then at 5:00 PM, we do need to do kind of a hard stop to make
sure that we have time to speak with P&Z on the item for Hickory Trail. So, I wanted to just
give that heads up. All right, we will get started, and our City Manager Geoff Fruin, welcome.
Fruin: Thank you, Mayor and Council, pleasure to be with you this afternoon. I am going to be pinch
hitting for Rachel Kilburg, who authored the memo in your packet but could not be here
tonight. So we're going to talk a little bit about the American Rescue Plan Act, the local fiscal
recovery fund. As you recall, this allocation to Iowa City of 18.3 million occurred shortly after
the President signed the ARPA legislation into law in March of this past year. Again, our
allocation is 18.3 million. We have received half of that now, with the other half expected about
12 months from now. But this afternoon we're going to be focusing on our engagement plan,
and again, that's outlined in your packet in a memo that Rachel put together. I think it's really
important to know up front that the outreach and engagement on this will likely evolve quite a
bit over time. As you might recall, we have until the end of 2024 to spend these dollars, and
there is a reason that the federal government is not giving us all the money up front, because
they do want us to undertake some public engagement and planning with these funds. So we're
going to start slowly, we're going to ramp up, and I imagine over the next course of years we'll
probably have to to start engagement and slow it down and start it and slow it down around a
number of different issues. The Treasury and the State of Iowa are still updating guidance.
They're answering FAQs and assisting cities and counties with clarification, so we are still
learning more as we go. The last update from the Treasury was just on June 10th. We have
kicked off an engagement with a few very small steps. We began with some website content,
some educational videos, news releases, social media posts, and an initial survey. We are
currently now working on expanding to translated materials and offering additional content for
the public related to these funds. Over the next two months we'd like to ramp up our
engagement, both by ourselves and in cooperation with Johnson County, and for our efforts,
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which are detailed in that memo, um, we're going to continue to collect that survey data that's
out there. Uh, we're going to begin taking open-ended feedback through email, and that can be
done in any language that's preferred by the emailer, and we'll ... we'll go ahead and translate
those responses. We're going to try to hold two listening sessions, one virtual, one out in the
community at a location to be determined. We also plan to attend and table at one of the
Farmers Markets this July and begin to engage with some folks in that setting. We're going to
look to create a list of stakeholders to engage with. Uh, those could include the Excluded
Worker Fund advocates that you've heard from at recent meetings, your Agency Impact
Coalition, small business support groups, arching... arts and culture groups, and so on, but really
trying to get targeted input from a few key stakeholders in the ... in the area. We're going to ask
all of your boards and commissions for any input that they might have. So we're going to ask
them to schedule a little bit of time at their, uh, next available meeting and ... and have them
consider what uses they feel might be appropriate for ...for you all as Councilors to ... to consider.
Similarly, we'll reach out to neighborhood associations and to nonprofit agencies in the
community, as well. I mentioned the collaboration with the County. We had a really positive
meeting with the County today. Met with their ARPA team, um, and it appears that they're
going to be pursuing some facilitated listening posts throughout the county, and they've
graciously invited us to participate with them for those in Iowa City, and we talked about
having them participate in ours, if they wish, and... and sharing information and really making
sure that we're working together, and hopefully making the public feel like if they convey their
priorities to one of the government entities that that'll be heard and shared with the other
government entity as well. So more to come on that, but ... but that collaboration will be in
addition to what's included in your memo here today. As we expand on public op ... uh, input
opportunities, I do want to mention a just a few th... a few key things that I think you'll need to
keep in mind as we move forward. One, uh, the guidance is still evolving. I know nobody
really wants to hear that. It'd be great if we had all the clarity we needed right now, but it is
important to know that we still are receiving updated guidance, and that level of detail is really
important when you ... when you begin program execution, when you really start designing
assistance programs, and you have to look at what relationships with third -party partners might
be like, uh, what eligibility criteria might need to be included, what documentation, if any,
needs to be maintained — all those things are things that we are learning as we go and as ... as,
frankly as the federal government develops additional clarifications. The second thing I really
think we're gonna need to do this summer is help people kind of imagine or dream what these
funds could be used for. Right now in our presentations to you, and even on our website, we are
describing the use of funds in the same language that is described in ... in the federal legislation,
which isn't exactly clear to, uh, to a lay person. We talk about recovery from economic impact
or the negative health impacts of COVID. We talk about infrastructure and premium pay. Um,
as we start to drill down into this guidance, we realized that there's a wide range of uses, and I
think we really need to challenge ourselves to make sure that those that are interested in the
community can really begin to imagine, dream, and take time to process what these funds could
be used for. So we're going to start to use some specific examples, or at least categories of
examples, um, that we feel could help. So, for example, we can talk about investing in
neighborhood community centers throughout the city or in certain portions of the city;
expanding transit solutions; new permanent affordable housing development; expanded mental
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health and crisis services in the community; targeted job training programs and business
incubators; wealth building opportunities for historically marginalized populations, whether
that's real estate, housing, or else. Um, climate resiliency activities, we're going to start
speaking more in those terms and hopefully get people thinking that, `Oh, could you do this
with that or could we use it for this,' and really what we're hoping is that natural partnerships
may form and... and... and the community will begin to kind of coalesce around several key
objectives that then we can really build upon in our future discussions. So look for some more
of that and certainly as we get into our public engagement this summer, we're going to be trying
to do that as opposed to talking strictly in that federal language, which we've done now while
we're learning the ins and outs of the program. And then, lastly, I fully realize that while the
public input process takes time, there may be some ... some urgent matters that we have to attend
to, and I'm committed, uh, along with the ... the staff here to making sure that we remain flexible
to respond to urgent matters that ... that you identify as a Council. I'm excited to kind of share
with you some very high-level details of one that's coming up. Uh, the City staff in your NDS
department has been working with the County, Shelter House, Affordable Housing Coalition,
and Iowa Legal Aid ... uh, Iowa Legal Aid to develop a, um, eviction, uh, kind of help desk at the
courthouse. So as the federal eviction protections start to slip away at the end of this month, we
really want to try to be a partner in making sure that those that might face eviction have every
opportunity to avoid that... avoid that consequence, so this is a partnership in which Iowa Legal
Aid and ... and their partners will have an actual presence in the courthouse and may be able to
intervene before that eviction decision is made, and not only prevent the immediate eviction,
but also then work with those individuals to get them connected to the other sources that are out
there — the State funding, the federal funding that's being administered through us. Those are
the types of partnerships that I think we're going to have to continue to look to build, uh, to
address some of these urgent matters. Now with the program I just ... I just briefly outlined,
we're going to use local funds to ... to stand that program up because we don't know enough
about the ARPA funds yet to feel comfortable to deploy those, and we certainly need your
approval for any type ofARPA- related decisions. So that'll be set up with local funds and
thankfully we have the ability to continue to be flexible with local funds while we navigate all
the rules for... for the American Rescue Plan Act. And then, lastly, as Rachel mentioned in the
memo, our hope is that we can get through this first round I'll call it of public input and really
have a detailed work session with you at your first meeting in September, where we can share
with you the ... the ... a summary of the input that we've received and really allow you to start
making some probably higher-level decisions on focus areas. So we're hoping at that meeting
you'll be able to really sift through that ... that public input and begin to tell staff that, `Hey these
are two or three really high priority areas that we want to begin to drill down on,' and then we
might, you know, depending on what those are and ... and what questions remain, we may have
to pull together even more partners to say, `Okay, for example, if we're going to be really
focused on affordable housing let's get some folks around the table and think of all the different
ways in which we can deploy these dollars to support our housing goals that we have here in
Iowa City.' So that's kind of our rough time frame. We feel like we need a good month and a
half to two months to do these engagement activities. I think the County is thinking roughly
along that same time frame with their facilitated listening posts, and I think by the end of that,
we should be in a really good position to have some ... some detailed conversations with you
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about the priorities that you see for the funds and the particular uses that that you see for the
funds. So I'll stop there. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have. We'd love to hear
any ideas that you have that might be in addition to what we put forward, and we'll certainly do
our best to execute on those.
Bergus: Um, I'll just jump in. Uh, thank you for that presentation, Geoff, and thanks to Rachel for the
memo. I'm really grateful to hear, as we're talking about having a .... a robust outreach plan, I'm
really grateful to hear a couple of things. Number one that collaboration with the County so
that people can hopefully just come to one or the other of those government entities and know
that they're... they're going to be, you know, that their input will be taken and passed along. And
then the other one, what you were just saying, since we have even this sort of short-term
immediate inputs time frame being, you know, month and a half or so, um, really grateful to
hear that we're still looking at emergency, kind of immediate things that we can do with local
funds, um, to kind of, you know, in the meantime, so that we're not having to wait until the end
of that public input period to meet some of those needs, and I'm just curious like if the ... so the
eviction protection program that we're talking about could be ... is being planned right now.
What's the status of the other relief programs that we're using local dollars, that... that we have,
cause I think it'd be helpful to contextualize that as we're talking about this time frame.
Fruin: Yeah, so, if you have your packet in front of you, it would ... in your, um, June 10th packet, it
would be page 21. It's a memo from Tracy Hightshoe on our COVID relief programs. We have
a couple of programs that are ... that are still open here, um, and ... and Tracy's on this call, so,
Tracy, please... please jump in if ..if I say anything wrong here. The local funds that are being
administered by the Shelter House for eviction, foreclosure, and prevention. This is rent and
mortgage and utilities. We have roughly $50,000 left there and, again, `as ... as we imagine that
fund when we created that. that was to kind of catch anybody that was falling through the
cracks on all the other relief programs, the State and federal programs. So about 50,000 left
there, about 75 spent out of that program. And then we also have our second round of CDBG
dollars, and we have about 187,000 left in that program, that again, Shelter House is
administering. That was the one, uh, the Council may recall, started with CommUnity Crisis
Services, and then we transitioned that over to Shelter House, kind of midway through the, uh,
midway through the pandemic. So between those sources of funds, we have over $200,000 in
existing programs to help those that may be facing eviction or utility shut -offs. And then,
finally, that doesn't include the State program. So we don't administer the State program, but
there's a lot of people in this community that are working really hard to connect people with the
State program. Uh, that's one that you might have heard some frustration surrounding because
it's been a really slow process, uh, once those applications are filed to ... to get them reviewed
and ultimately paid. So ... but there are quite a bit of funds left in that State program, as well.
Tracy, did I miss anything there?
Hightshoe: Um, nope. In my memo that ... that was funds spent to date, so out of the ... the second round
of CBDG funding that we got through the Iowa Economic Development Authority, we've spent
187,000. That's about 50% of what's ... what we have, so we have about 50% left.
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Fruin: (mumbled) thanks for clarifying (mumbled)
Salih: My question to Tracy, for the... for the CDBG fund that you said start in community and now in
the Shelter House, and we have 187,000 left. I know that there also was 3,000 or 4,000 or
something like that, can you tell me like how much?
Hightshoe: You can get up to six months. It has to be consecutive months of assistance, up to $4,800.
Um, that's the benefit through the CDBG program.
Salih: Okay, can you just tell me the consecutive months and the maximum, is this a City rule or
federal law?
Hightshoe: The consecutive part is a federal rule, so we can't change that locally. The amount we could
change. So the 4,800 was set locally, but the consecutive up to six months is a federal
requirement that I can't change.
Salih: You mean if somebody use three months last year, they cannot use anymore?
Hightshoe: No (both talking)
Salih: Because they not do the consecutive?
Hightshoe: Yeah, it has to be consecutive. Um, under the Community Development Block Grant
program, emergency payments were hardly ever used before COVID, and it was a maximum of
three months, and you had to take three months of consecutive amount of assistance. It was
not ... it wasn't meant to be like a tenant -based rent assistance program that you see in HOME.
So it had that provision that it can only do three months, and then HUD did a waiver, because of
COVID, that allowed you to go up to six months, but it still has to be consecutive.
Salih: What about the local money?
Hightshoe: The local money is three months of assistance, up to 3,200, and that does not need to be
consecutive. So if you got it in January, then you had some extra sources of income for
February, March, you could go back. So that... that's... that doesn't have to be consecutive. That
could be at any time, but just three months.
Salih: And if somebody used it last year, the ... the three months, they cannot apply again?
Hightshoe: The way that we've been administering the program is, yes, under those same pot of funds, I
think we allocated up to 125,000. For those funds, once you met your three months of
assistance, you'd be done. So it's either three months of assistance or you've reached the 3,200.
That is how Shelter House has administered the program.
Salih: But that (mumbled, both talking)
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Hightshoe: Yes, we can change the rules, yes.
Salih: Okay, thanks.
Bergus: And just as a comparison, Tracy, if you know what the Iowa Finance Authority, uh, length,
duration, or amounts?
Hightshoe: The funding that is available now for renters is 12 months ... up to 12 months of assistance.
Bergus: Okay. And is there a total cap ... like a total amount cap (mumbled)
Hightshoe: Not that I know offhand. I didn't see it on their website. They just said you could apply up
to 12 months, so ... I can find that out though.
Salih: For the home owner (mumbled) still 300...$3,600 max for the home owner, and it's only ...they
get one time, for the first round, and they can have another one for the second round, if they are
eligible. But for the renter is just like 12 months, but you have to apply every month. Yeah, it
is after 12 months, you have to apply every month. But that's a second round.
Hightshoe: Okay (garbled)
Salih: If you get three months last year, you still eligible for this year for 12 months.
Taylor: Kind of in follow up to Mayor Pro Tem's original question about the three months and 3,200,
obviously last year we had no idea that say in August that it was going, this COVID crisis, is
going to run through this ... this long, this late in this year. And some of those folks maybe are
faltering again, and so you'd said we as the City would have to change our rules. What would
we need to do about that? Would that be another meeting we'd make a resolution or what would
we have to do to go about maybe helping these folks out that ... that needs some help again.
Hightshoe: It would be an amendment. You could do that. I think originally we were thinking after we
got the 125,000 if any additional funds were allocated, at that point we'd come back to you
about do you want new rules, but yes, you can... you can amend the current agreement just by
expressing that desire and then we do it ... I think we've done an amendment six times so far for
the local funds, so it'd be ... it'd just be another amendment.
Fruin: Yeah, uh, Coun... Councilwoman Taylor, you don't need to wait for another meeting. You ... you
do have this as an info... information packet item in your packet. We would like Council
direction on any rule changes, because you ... you designate or you, I'm sorry, you ... you dictated
some rule changes early on in this process as a whole. So from a staff comfort level, if..if you
want to change rules, we'd appreciate that coming from, uh, the Council as a whole, but if...if
you know what you want to do tonight, you could do that, or if you'd rather us place it on an
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upcoming agenda, we could do that, um, as well, but we don't need a formal action. We just
need some... some idea of consensus with the Council.
Weiner: Yeah, I just ... I just wanted to point out that in addition to the federal eviction moratorium
expiring at the end of this month, the Governor has also cut off the ... the additional $300 a week
in unemployment insurance benefits, and that is .... I suspect that that's going to have a really
serious impact on ... on a number of people who were depending on that to get by.
Teague: I do know that there are a few things with the current program that, um, as I see that we had
125,000 allocated, and we still have funds available. Not knowing exactly why some of those
funds aren't already spent to date. I guess that ... as ... as Councilor Taylor mentioned, when we
started this, we had no idea that we would be in the same situation more than a year later, and so
I think I would propose that we switch or, you know, direct staff to do the amendment of three
months. Um, if we can do it, in a way, a second round ... for individuals that might be having the
same need. So that would be what I would propose is a second round. That ... it sounds like the
consecutive months are not an issue for the most part, but I do believe that at this point if
anyone would have financial needs that have already gotten it in the past, I personally would be
comfortable with a second round.
Hightshoe: For the implementation for the amendment, so you're basically saying you want to start ... so
they had 3,200, they're now eligible for 6,400, is that what you're saying? Okay. (both talking)
so six months, up to 6,400 or...
Teague: If that's the easiest way to do it is up to six months, 6,400. Um, I ... I think sometimes the ... the
up to six months might be a little problematic. I don't know if ..because one month you might
be good (laughs) you know, you might have some extra income, you didn't apply, or...I don't
know. Seem like... if...if you don't get all of the money, I think it can be ... you want to be able to
spend all of the money, that's a part of a challenge, I think.
Hightshoe: Just as an FYI, when Shelter House ... the local funds, they use this as funding of last resort.
So if they can get folks in the emergency shelter or Emergency Solutions Grant, if they can get
them through the CDBG or the Iowa Finance Authority, they're going that route. So they use
this pot when. When you had asked why there's money still left, it's because they use these
funds when there's no other sources available, and they can assist.
Bergus: I had a question about that phasing. We had in our late handouts a, um, memo from ... or an
email from Crissy Canganelli about eligibility or, as ... as you were just saying, Tracy, I think the
last resort, the idea that you apply for the Iowa Finance Authority funds and have to be ... you
have to show you're not eligible first, is that ... is that right? Maybe I'm getting this wrong
(laughs) If somebody can kind of summarize what, uh (laughs)
Hightshoe: Yeah, they're... they're leading people and they're helping people apply to all the other
funding sources available, and if they're not eligible, um, for any reason, that's when they're
using this fund or if somebody has received a, uh, forcible... what... what do you call that ... an
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eviction petition, that's when they ...they forego the IFA assistance and they help immediately, if
it's going to prevent eviction right away. So not everyone has to apply for IFA, so like I said, if
you get that ... that notice, then they'll help you right away, cause your landlord's not going to
wait.
Salih: (garbled) helping (garbled) yesterday they just help a ... like a wonderful case, which is some
person on who apply for IFA, but while he waiting for IFA, he get, you know, a court order and
they take him to the court, so they just decide to help him. He doesn't have to wait for IFA. I
think, yeah, sometime theyjust... (mumbled) go ahead and do that. They don't have to wait for
IFA, if you have eviction notice.
Weiner: Are there ... are there times when they can tell based on who the person (mumbled) on the
person's information that they will not qualify for ...for IFA and just ... just (mumbled) aside from
the... aside from the issue of eviction notices?
Hightshoe: That might be a question for Crissy, but I'm assuming if there's something that they catch
where they know they're not eligible, they would not have them go through the process.
Weiner: Thanks!
Fruin: The, um, the ... the email that you had from the Shelter House that's in your late handouts, um,
that was a request for an amendment to allow for undocumented residents to go straight into this
program, if they have a fear of sharing their information with a State or federal program. So as
it ... as it would be right now, if you're an undocumented resident, you still may be able to access
State or federal funds. But I think we can all understand and appreciate that there... there could
be some situations in which, uh, people are hesitant to ... to file. They may feel more
comfortable with local funds. So that's the amendment that's being requested. Um, Tracy and I
don't have a problem with them ... that amendment. We'd like Council to weigh in on that. I
think the consideration for Council is you will move through your local funds faster and thus
you may have a request to replenish those funds at a quicker rate. And, you know, keep in
mind, with the major relief funds that we have now, the 18.3 million that we're talking about
with ARPA, those are federal dollars and... and there very well likely will be some
documentation requirements. So we might run into that same issue and it's ... we certainly don't
have local funds to ... to match the 18.3 million. So that idea, urn ... um, we don't ... we'rejust
gonna have to talk through that when that time comes, because while we can replenish 25,000
here, 50,000 here, and keep that local fund going and help people, when it comes to significant
relief measured in millions, we're not going to have that flexibility as a local government.
Teague: So I do (both talking) Oh, go right ahead, Mayor Pro Tem.
Salih: I don't think that we need to match the 18,000 because we have (garbled) Iowa City may be
around 200 (garbled) Maybe they need local help, and I just believe that the American Rescue
Fund, I think according to you, Geoff, there is a way that the City can use those kind of fund
too, like for city things. If we really come to the point that we need some more fund to like help
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people who cannot receive help from government (mumbled) you know, like undocumented
people in general, we can just use somebody for American Rescue Fund to help the City cover
the eligible staff and use that money that we allocated for City thing. You know, I thinks as a
Council and as a staff, and I know that the staff is very creative. They can figure out a way and
keep in mind that is not like really 18 million, you know (laughs) just like few people who
going to be suffering. How much did you allocate for the local fund so far?
Fruin: Local funds so far, we've allocated 125,000 to the program, only 75,000 has been used.
Salih: Okay, then 75,000 only being used so far, and we have 50,000 left, that's we are thinking for
second round. Um, maybe that's will be another 75,000 that can be used. Uh, so maybe they
are not going to even use the American Rescue Fund. Anyway I'm just... that's my two cents,
and I ... I'm sure hundred percent the staff as many creative way to come up, because those few
people is not a lot in our community. So we figure it out or staff will figure it out, I'm sure.
Fruin: Appreciate that vote of confidence, Mayor Pro Tem.
Salih: Yes, I do! (laughs)
Teague: So when I read the email, as Geoff mentioned, essentially what is being asked of Council is for
us to consider households in our community who have undocumented citizenship status that
don't feel safe applying for these funds, and in these instances Shelter House wants to have the
authority to use City of Iowa City funds for eviction prevention and foreclosure prevention, as
the first response for these households, and so that is also, you know, zoning in on the eviction
prevention and foreclosure prevention program. I guess at this point I wanted to kind of get a
sense of where Council is on ... on allowing Shelter House to have that flexibility. Are people
in ... do we have a majority in agreement? Yep, so I do see that. Awesome! So we'll go with that
for staff direction. And then I did make a, you know, kind of proposal for somewhat of a
second round, um, and wanted to get some thoughts on that.
Thomas: Seems like a good idea to me, Mayor.
Weiner: And ... and in general, I mean, it's always better for people and... and better for the community to
keep people housed. Last thing we want is for this for people who are currently housed to end
up not housed.
Hightshoe: To be consistent among the programs, do you want it to go up to six months and 4,800 to
match that CDBG program?
Salih: How much is the CDBG program?
Hightshoe: The CDBG program, it has to be consecutive months, but it's six months up to 4,800.
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Salih: But I think when we say second round, just like the State, even the State gave the first round
3,600, but we being giving 3,200. I think as you said early, 6,400 which is the same second
round. That's (mumbled) we can call it second round. That's what I think.
Hightshoe: It doesn't matter on my end. I was just ... didn't know if you want to be consistent with other
programs that we have out there, or if you want....it's whatever you guys want (laughs)
Teague: Sure.
Bergus: I think we're already not being totally consistent with other programs. Like I do think allowing
the flexibility of non-consecutive months is important.
Hightshoe: Oh yeah, yeah. We went ... we won't do consecutive just because if you don't have to, it
gives us a lot more flexibility.
Bergus: I think a second round matching the first one that we did makes sense to me, so an additional
3,200.
Hightshoe: Okay!
Taylor: I agree (both talking)
Thomas: (both talking) reasonable amount on a monthly basis. I would say continue it.
Teague: So I guess the one question would be ... so let's say someone came and they're reapplying. And
they only got 2,000. I want to be clear to the Council that what we're saying is that 2,000 has
been accounted for. That's over and done with. So now they're, you know, they used that 2,000
within three months. They weren't consecutive. Now they're coming back and they're wanting,
um, is it $3,200, um, they're going to apply for, and so it's a new $3,200. They can't go then and
add $1,200 to the 3,200. I want to make sure that we're clear on what we're stating right now. I
personally am okay doing a second round with the 3,200, kind of, you know, if they ..if they
already have been said that they've, you know, maxed out or they met the other funding source,
then we would start with a 3,200, uh, with... redoing that three month, um, non-consecutive
months.
Hightshoe: So you're saying you're wiping the slate clean and they just apply for another 3,200 for up
to three months?
Teague: At least that's... that's what I'm proposing.
Fruin: Yeah, so I think the way that we would look at that, and we'll ... we'll have to coordinate with
Shelter House to make sure it works, is we would pick a date, say July 1 st or some date, and say
basically it's a brand new program, um, and whether you had received one month of assistance
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or three months of assistance, as of July 1 st everybody is now eligible for three months,
$3,200 ... if Ion capturing that correctly. I think that's Trow we would look (both talking)
Teague: Yeah.
Fruin: I'm hearing second round a lot, so it's almost like you have to end the first round and start fresh,
as Tracy said, with a clean slate.
Bergus: That makes sense because they could have been using the first round if they hadn't exhausted it
yet. Was there a limit of like if they did one month and then waited three months, and then
another month and then we ... like is. There (garbled) particular time frame?
Teague: I do think that there could be some people potentially that didn't get started until April, right,
and so..I guess if someone got started in April... yeah, we ... we have to think about that at least,
so that we're very clear with the Shelter House how that ... we need to be, you know, definitely
clear on when it stops and when they are re -eligible. Um...
Bergus: But I think restarting it or having the second round start very soon is important.
Teague: So maybe (garbled) so maybe if we just went ahead and said July 1, and then maybe we
potentially could allow anyone that has received maybe a first allocation. Um, well, I guess if
they ...if they were, let's say they came in May, June, and then they apply in July. Would we just
have them go into the next 3,200? Should we just have a fast, hard ... June 30th it's done, now
you're into the next 3,200?
Thomas: That seems the most simplest way to manage the funds, to me.
Salih: (both talking) is very fair because, you know, if you apply on ... you already now using your first
round. Okay, starting July 1 st you can start use the second round. So you'll be (mumbled)
that's the people who use their first-round long time ago. Yeah, I think's fair.
Bergus: And since we've done a number of rule amendments, I think hopefully Shelter House will be
communicative with us if they feel like that doesn't meet the need or if they're seeing other
circumstances that, you know, hopefully they know they should ... raise that issue and bring it up.
Fruin: Yeah, you know, they've been fantastic partners, they've been flexible, they ...they've shared
information with us through this whole process. Um, I ... I ... no reason to believe that will
change. I think they'll... they'll be very communicative with us.
Salih: (both talking) Going back to really to the CDBG, I don't know ... the money is there. I know like
some people who use the water (mumbled) you know, like they pay for their water for three
months, and they ...they saw (mumbled) now is not consecutive. They still have water bill, you
know, I really don't know. There is no way the CDBG (laughs) fund can be like...
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Hightshoe: No, ironically it was good timing (mumbled) brought up a few days ago. There's a listsery
between Iowa entitlement cities trying to figure out, um, if the ... the second round of money
through the CARES Act would ... would trigger, you know, could we ... could it not be
consecutive but...
Salih: Yeah.
Hightshoe: It was decided among the Iowa entitlement cities until we got confirmation from the Omaha
office that they would allow us ... and basically one of us, one of the cities, sent a letter to the
HUD to ask a question. We just basically got `go back to your waiver,' which is six months of
consecutive assistance, so we're pretty sure it's six months consecutive.
Salih: Yeah, you know, this is really now we have the money, we have people who need it, and we
cannot use it, so...
Teague: All right, so (garbled) I do think at least for the second round, which we're going to call it, um,
you have direction there. Staff, you need anything else?
Hightshoe: Nope, I think I can draft it. I think I have a clear understanding, but just Geoff's always
helpful. He sends that, you know, that letter... that email out afterwards just to confirm, so I
think we got it!
Teague: (both talking) We'll correct him if it's incorrect! (laughter) All right, any other item, um, now
is an opportunity still for us to talk about America Rescue Plan Act, um, the ARPA funds. So
any... any more, uh, thoughts there?
Thomas: Well, I would like to just comment that I was (garbled) Geoffs comments regarding, you
know, the ... the more long-term, medium to long-term envisioning that could be associated with
this plan, you know, the imagine and dream aspect of it. Um, and certainly when ... when Geoff
mentioned neighborhood centers, that ... that got my attention. I am very interested in that
concept. And I know I've spoken to other Councilors about this ... this notion of testing, uh, in a
sense, uh, modeling, trying to understand if say, for example, with neighborhood centers... how
that might work, and identifying sites where we could explore what that would translate to, uh,
in a kind of tactical way. So this would be like our tactical rescue plan, trying to understand,
uh, you know, how some of these elements could be applied to Iowa City. But yeah, I think it
really does lend itself to, um, seeing what other cities are doing and trying to leverage these
dollars, you know, small bets as, um, Smart Towns, you know, an organization that I'm
interested in would put it, uh, making small bets to try to advance what's more essentially kind
of a restructuring, if you will, of our society, because COVID did really reveal that as well. So
where we can make those improvements, uh, this ... this does seem to be a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to explore those ideas.
Weiner: With respect to the the ARPA funds, I ... there were ... I wanted to see how soon we can set a date
for public input, because when we're ... the last time we did, um, sort of rounds of public input, it
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was just really important not to, um, to get a date or both dates set, and the other thing that I just
wanted to mention was that I appreciate, Geoff, you're saying that you understood that some
of -that we may need to use some of these funds for emergent situations and be willing to do
that, and understand (mumbled) but with the understanding that there may be some other
documentation requirements, but it's important to know that we may (garbled) position at some
point where we need to say we're going to use 500,000 or a million or whatever of these funds
to fulfill some of these other needs to prevent whatever... whatever outcomes we don't want that
are a result of COVID.
Fruin: I think we can get the dates set, probably in the next couple of weeks. We wanted to have this
conversation first, just to make sure we weren't missing expectations on what this first round of
input looks like, but if you're comfortable with the plan that Rachel put forward, uh, we'll begin
to execute on that next week and... and hopefully set some dates for... for July, early August.
Salih: I really encourage you to reach out to (mumbled) associations and ask them to ... if you share the
survey with them, uh, they can ... they can share it with their (mumbled) group so everybody
(mumbled) and they (mumbled) I, uh, I see that we have received a CWJ and we just planning
to, uh, anyone who will come for help for IFA or anyone who come for help for My Home to
Yours, while they sitting there, we have this on like a tablet. So we can just give them the tablet
and ask them, yeah, while you're sitting waiting, can you just fill out this? So I think if we can
reach out to also like immigrant associations and refugee association and ask them to do the
same thing will be great.
Fruin: Yep. We can definitely do that and, um, as soon as we get the translated materials, I think we'll
make a push for that.
Salih: Sure!
Teague: The other thing I know that you mentioned, uh, the Farmers Market, but I assume that that's
going to be happening in, um, in August, is what I think I heard you mention. It will be great if
there was opportunity to do it at the Diversity Market, but the last meeting or the last time there
will be, um, the 10th of July, so if there's any way to kind of have opportunity for some input
before that is over, that will be great, but this is a great opportunity, the ARPA funds. I'm
looking forward to being creative with it, um, finding ways to stabilize individuals within our
community, as well as do some investment when we're talking about an affordable housing, if
that is what the, you know, the community really wants to kind of use some funds for. So I'm
looking forward to this. I know that we have heard from various groups, uh, Excluded Workers
Funds. Um, excluded workers have been a group that have come before us that ... or that's what's
been put before us, and I know that we want to pay, um, hear from them, and I like the idea of
doing a targeted input opportunities for people. So, yeah, looking forward to this ... 18.3 million.
That's quite a bit of money, very appreciative for it. All right, any other thing for this item?
Clarification of Agenda Items:
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None.
Information Packet Discussion [June 3, June 101:
Teague: Okay, I think, since we have a little time before 5:00 PM., um, I want to go ahead and jump
down to clarification of agenda items. Hearing none, I'll jump over to the June 3rd info packet.
I did want to just make mention of the tentative schedule for people. So our next meeting, the
City Council meeting, will be live and in-person, and it's going to be held at the Senior Center,
which is ... is it 28 South Linn Street, and will begin at 4:00 PM, will be our work session, and
then 6:00 PM will be our formal meeting, and so that will start next meeting, which will be July
6th. So wanted to make note of that for everyone on the call, as well as in the public. And I'll
also mention that we will not meet... we're switching up the last day of the month. So ... of
when we're meeting, so we'll meet the first Tuesday of the month and then the fourth Tuesday of
July, and our first meeting in August we will cancel. So the first Tuesday in August, will be
canceled. So just take note of that. All right. Any other items from that info packet? We'll
switch over to June 10th. And then... hearing none!
Bergus: Sorry, Mayor, slow on the unmute. Um, just the Neighborhood and Development Services
annual report, um, was really excellent and just fascinating data, so I really hope that people had
a chance to look at that and I hope we can promote that online, especially exciting to think like
looking forward as we accumulate, or we can kind of look at this from year to year. 2020 was
such an unusual year, so some of the ... some of the information in there I kept having to be like,
yeah, but that was 2020. (laughs) So it'll be really fascinating, I think, once we have, uh, you
know, additional full years if this format continues. Um, I think it's just really good information
about the community, about housing, about all kinds of things that, um, was just really useful to
learn more about the department too, so thanks to Tracy and her team for putting that together.
Fruin: Mayor, if you do have time, uh, in preparation for your in-person meeting on July 6`h, staff did
just want to check in with you and... and see if..if you wanted any mask requirements at that
meeting, uh, for the public, or if you're comfortable just promoting the CDC guidance and ... and
allowing those individuals to follow that themselves.
Teague: Yeah, so at least from my perspective, May 181h was when I lifted the mask mandate and asked,
you know, everyone to follow the CDC guidance, which means if you are not vaccinated, we
ask that you wear a mask; and if you are vaccinated, um, according to the CDC, you can be in
public unmasked. I guess personally I am still comfortable with that. I don't know what other
Councilors are thinking.
Taylor: I think that's a good point, Mayor, cause I'm ... I'm having a little trouble envisioning that Senior
Center meeting room and how that's going to be designed or laid out, uh, as far as for when the
public, how much public... how many public we're going to allow in, how we're going to have
the access in there, etc. And not knowing, I mean, obviously we can't require them to have a
sticker that says, `I'm vaccinated,' not knowing whether they are not, trusting them that if
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they're not vaccinated to wear a mask just for the sake and courtesy and health of those
who ... who might be more comfortable with that.
Teague: I think I'll just make mention that it'll be 30 to 40 seats, and they'll be six -feet apart.
Thomas: Will we have masks available at the meeting ... if anyone should forget to bring one?
Fruin: We certainly can, yeah.
Weiner: Yeah and ... and thank you for the clarification, Mayor, of how the the seats will be set out. That
was actually my other question, which you answered without my having to ask it.
Salih: And when is this going to be? I missed that.
Teague: Our first meeting in July.
Salih: Don't tell me that (laughs) I haven't had my second shot yet, but I'll see.
Teague: All right, any other items from... related to that?
Taylor: Oh, just ... just quickly, Mayor, then. I don't know whether members of the public would be
concerned about as far as the microphone and that sort of area, if we have a podium, if it's
wiped down in between speakers, whether we might think about that or whether that's a concern
or not anymore.
Teague: Yeah, I think we can certainly, um, potentially make some wipes available, um, for people who
have, you know, that concern. I think also we can be intentional in making sure the mic stand is
setup where people don't have to touch, as well.
Salih: And have we talked about like if people don't want to come to the Council meeting and how they
can still participate with Zoom or in (mumbled) or anything, are we going to still have that?
Fruin: We don't have plans for... for a hybrid for this transition back to in-person. We do have a screen,
you know, we'll bring in a screen for the public, like you normally would have in your Council
chambers, but we don't have any hybrid options. I think if long-term you want to pursue that,
we really need to be back in the Council chambers where we have some better technology to be
able to ... to do that. That would be ... I'm not sure we could pull that off in the Senior Center, the
way it's set up there today.
Salih: What about when the Council are not able to participate, they are away. Like for me, I will be
gone the month of July, and I used to call in on the meeting at the room here.
Froin: Yeah, Kellie can probably better answer that.
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Fruehling: Yeah, we ... we've got, um, Communications and IT staff looking into that call-in option for...
for Councilors, like you would normally have at Harvat Hall.
Salih: Okay, the... for now I'm going to just let you know that the month of July (mumbled) so the two
meeting of July I will ... I was thinking (mumbled) through Zoom but if it's not going to be a
Zoom, please find out something for me to participate. Please.
Council updates on assigned boards, commissions, and committees:
Teague: Great. All right, any other items from June 10`h info packet? Any Council updates on assigned
boards, commissions, and committees? Hearing none! All right! I think what we'll do is we
have ... just about five minutes before our meeting. We'll just take about three minutes and we'll
be back. Give Councilors a little break! We'll start at 5:00 PM.
(BREAK)
Joint Meeting with Planning and Zoning Camnission:
Teague: We have a live bunch and it is 5:00 PM, and we are going to tum into our work session.
Welcome, P&Z, our Planning and Zoning Commissioners. We're super excited that you're here
with us today. We'd love to have you in person here in Council chambers, but we'll get there at
some point. Wanted to maybe just make sure that all of our Councilors and our Commissioners
are present, and so I'm going to make sure that our Councilors ... I'm ... um, if our Councilors... if
everyone can turn on their video, if you would ... as well as our Commissioners. We have seven
Commissioners. We're going to make sure that our Councilors are here for starters, and that we
kind of just do a wave so that people know who ... who they are. So all of our Councilors are
there. And then I'm going to go ahead and just have our Commissioner say here. That way I'll
know that you are present. I'll start with ... in no particular order, Maggie Elliot. And we can't
hear you.
Elliott: Here.
Teague: There you go! Great! Signs.
Signs: Here.
Teague: Martin.
Martin: Here.
Teague: Mark Nolte.
Nolte: Here.
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Teague: Townsend.
Townsend: Here.
Teague: Michael Hensch.
Hensch: Here.
Teague: And Susan Craig. So I don't see Susan. If she should join, um, I'll make sure that I
acknowledge her at that time. So we are here to have a joint meeting with the Planning and
Zoning Commission, related to the rezoning of Hickory Trail Estates, and so I know that there
was a couple of rounds that this project came before P&Z, and this was on the Council's last
agenda where the ... the majority of the Council stated that they would not support P&Z, um,
find ... or vote, and so that's why we are here today, just to have a discussion about this project.
We always like to bring in P&Z when there seems to be a vote that will not be as the same that
you have given. So I'll just open up the floor for any of the Councilors or the Commissioners
that would like to start out this conversation.
Hench: I guess I'll go ahead and start as Chairperson. This is Mike Hensch. Um, hello, Mr. Mayor
and City Councilors. This my seventh year, I believe, on P&Z, and I think third or fourth year
as Chair, so if I can just hit a couple points of discussion that maybe we can talk about or just
reflect upon. The first off is ... is, as you well know, there's a lot of public input on this particular
development item, and it seems like, uh, the thing that was lost frequently in the discussion was
that this is in fact private property, and it is going to get developed eventually So just sort of to
start with that concept. Secondly, the P&Z's responsibility, and I believe that responsibility, I
believe we met, um, is to ensure that the comprehensive plan is complied with by the ... the, um,
the particular development application, that the district plan is complied with, or at least the
spirit of it, and all the various development ordinances are followed. Just to refresh your
memory, this came before P&Z three times and failed the first two votes and was approved 6-1
on the third vote. And each time it came back, the comments and recommendations and
concerns of P&Z were addressed, in my opinion, in subsequent applications or modifications of
the application from the applicant. I believe from the evidence that we saw is the developer in
the engineering firm worked in good faith with the City staff. It seemed like that went fairly
smoothly. It didn't seem like there was a lot of friction. It seemed like as above -board and
honest and open communication. And I believe that there should be some predictability for
applicants and developers that if they follow the rules, if they follow the comprehensive plan,
the district plan, and the various development ordinance... ordinances, that they will receive
approval by P&Z, and then by City Council. I think a couple things to particularly look at that
get lost sometimes in the conversation is the concern of the public (mumbled) on this was about
single -loaded streets, and you'll see in the third application that was approved by P&Z about
three-quarters of the housing on the main through street was in fact on single -loaded streets, and
it is interesting to note that about 14 acres in this development area, of about 48 acres, so about
30% of the rezoning area, not including the conservation easements, 14 acres will be added to
Hickory Hill Park, and that's a pretty substantial, um, growth, and, um, I ... I just know there was
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a lot of feedback from the... from citizens, but I think P&Z, our job is to ensure that the
ordinances are followed, and the rules are followed, and I think that's very illustrative when you
look in that P&Z packet, particularly the Bluffwood... Bluffwood neighborhood northeast
development plan map. If you overlay that with the April 29th Hickory Trail OPD plan, it's
almost a direct overlay. I ... granted there's not the streets with cul-de-sacs in it, but the pattern is
the same (mumbled) layouts of the houses are very similar and, lastly, I think it's important to
note, and I think this is a public policy issue, it's important to integrate older adult facilities,
whether it be, um, a ... just a independent living facility or something where somebody needs
assisted living or memory care or a nursing home. That those facilities are integrated into the
neighborhoods because those people are ... are our friends, our families, our neighbors, and they
shouldn't be relegated to commercial areas or industrial areas, that they should be part of the
neighborhood, they should be part of the community, and they should have equal opportunity to
access the amenities of the community, particularly the parks. And so I know there was some
resistance to the older adult facility, and I ... I just personally view that as misguided. So those
are just my, um, comments that I just wanted to share with you this evening.
Teague: Thank you, and I still welcome anyone just to chime right on in.
Martin: So since I was the dissenting vote, I ... or dissenting vote, I would think ... I'd like to chime in and
respond to what Mike said ... because I respectfully disagree with a few of those points. Um,
obviously, yes, it is private property, but I really do think that part of being on Planning and
Zoning is being able to take an opportunity to make ... to really look at every application and,
yes, there's a comp plan. There are these ideas, there's this, you know, wouldn't this be great if
this happened. That's not always going to be the case, because it doesn't always fit just so, um,
and I feel like, yes, that the last iteration of the plan was very, very close. Um, and it wasn't just
so, but I felt that, um, that this was the time that we could take that opportunity to get it closer to
what the comp plan indicated and really be thinking about this in the long-term, because as I've
said in ... in previous meetings, that part of our job is to leave a legacy of as good a choice as we
possibly can, for... for the future of Iowa City. So, urn ... I understand that it is private property,
yes it's going to be developed, but I just want to make sure that... every... every piece of it has
been looked at as carefully as possible, and that ... and that we don't give in to people just
because they are going to keep putting forward their requests. I don't feel that ... I'm not going
anywhere, you... you just cannot beat me down, I will ... I will still want to make sure that we're
looking at all of the information as best that we can. Um, Mike indicated that he felt that the
engineers had operated in good faith. I think so, with the exception of the (laughs) of the, um,
taking the single -loaded streets, yet moving the entire, um, the entire development over. I don't
have the ... the pictures in front of me, but I felt like it was almost as ... houses were just as close
to Hickory Hill, even though it was single -sided, it was still that much further over. Certainly
no argument on elder care facilities at all, and I don't know that that was even really a question,
or maybe I just didn't even think about it as being a question, because I think that's... that does
not seem like an argument to me. Um, I definitely appreciate the added acreage to Hickory Hill
Park. I wish we could have more, obviously we can't. That's okay. Um (mumbled)
predictability, that was such an interesting statement and, Mike, I want to unpack it just a little
bit. Um, I think that that is supposed to be what we do is have a modicum of predictability and
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part of that should be making all applicants really -really bring to the table all... all of the pieces
and their due diligence and making sure that they've really thought outside the box and made
sure that ... that all options have been looked at, um, and that's my opinion. I know that's not
always how it works. But that's... that's kind of where I've been at with this, that I know that we
can get to a point where... where we could all agree, and be 100%, and that the community could
feel supported. The community members that spoke in ... in favor of the development, if I recall
correctly, and this is just my brain going off of memory, um, all of those community members
were in some way affiliated with ACT, and I found that to be interesting. Um, so not that their
opinions aren't valid by any means, but I just thought that that was an interesting take. So I just
think about the community as a whole, and I want to make sure that we as ... as volunteers
are ... are doing our due diligence to make sure we're making good choices with the information
that we have. So...
Townsend: I just want to chime in a bit. Um, the ... the concern I had is, if I remember right, the
neighborhood organization are ... had a chance to buy that property and declined to do it. So they
had the option of acquiring that ... that acreage for Hickory Hill, if that was something that they
felt ... they felt they should do. We sent them back three times. I thought they came back with a
very good plan in the end and yeah, we would like to keep that Hi ... keep Hickory Hill Park as
that monumental spot in Iowa City, but again this is private property, and when you have the
option of buying it yourself and doing what you want, or someone else buying it and doing what
they want, I think we have to look at that. So...
Martin: May I ... may I chime in one more time? I don't want to take other people's spot. Okay, um,
agreed with, uh, Billie, absolutely, but one of the things that I thought about in our very first
meeting of this was the fact that we always do a, you know, the sanitary sewers, the looking at
the water retention, looking at all of that, looking at traffic studies, but one of the things that we
have not done because typically we don't need to do are the impact of wildlife, the flora, the
fauna, and because this is so close to sort of a refuge for so many animals of all types and, you
know, the fact that here we are experiencing an earlier drought than usual. These are all things
that we have to take into consideration, and I think that these are things that over time are going
to fluctuate, and it seems to me that that should be something that gets incorporated, and
because we haven't really had to deal with this, we have not had another, um, at least while I've
been on Planning and Zoning, we have not had another development so close to Hickory Hill
that has been empty just as long, and what impact does that carry and are we really, you know,
are we doing our full due diligence? I mean, yes, we did the, um, study for the ... oh my gosh, I
forgot... the artifacts. Sorry, don't remember the... the terminology, but anyway, I feel like this is
a unique property in that it has a ... a potentially greater impact on ... on another portion of our
community, which is our -which is our climate, is our environment, so ... I just wanted to throw
that in there.
Signs: Well I'll comment. First of all I want to thank the Council for reappointing me to the
Commission. I was very excited to learn that. I do appreciate that, looking forward to serving
the community for another five years on P&Z. So several things that I'll ... I guess I'll comment
on. Um, you know, when we ... the first vote we had on this was 7-0 ... or 0-1 (laughs) Nobody
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voted for it. Um, I think on the second vote we had one person vote for it, and the third time the
developer came back, you know, I think the majority of us felt like they had addressed as much
as they could possibly address, uh, in ... in ... trying to come up with a plan that, you know, that
came closer and closer and closer to what was originally envisioned in the ... in the neighborhood
plan and the comprehensive plan. One of the things I pointed out about... early on about the
neighborhood plans, the neighborhood plan is ... is almost 15 or 20 years old. I don't have in
front of me right now. I kind of was in a rush getting home. The neighborhood plan for that
neighborhood is quite old, um, you know, and the comprehensive plan had ... had some different
things in it that ... that weren't quite as restrictive as what the neighborhood plan may have ... may
have been, and I think we have to, you know, to ... to Phoebe's point, and you know, I think as
Commissioners, we have to ... we look at the plans. We look at the codes. We look at, you know,
we look at the community, and we, you know, try to find that, you know, to find that blend and
I, you know, and I feel like on this one, I mean it's... it's pretty unusual for us to have a 0-7 vote
and then go all the way to a ... to a 6-1 vote. I don't recall that ever happening, quite frankly,
which really indicated to me that most people felt that the developer had made some significant
changes. Um, to ... to Phoebe's point on ... on the ... on the people who spoke in favor being in ... in
favor of ACT, I was also amazed at the number of people who spoke against it who don't live in
Iowa City. The... the... the folks that did an amazing job of...did an amazing job of rallying the
troops, as they often do, and we got letters from all over the country, talking about this ... this
valuable space in our community, and I don't think... and I don't think anyone disagrees, Hickory
Hill is a ... is a unique piece of property. One of the... one of the things that I did find a little
humorous was one of the letters opposing this subdivision came from someone who lived on ... I
can never remember the name of the street, it's Hickory -something on the west side of this little
piece of property, uh, where they have, you know, three-quarter million dollar homes, um, one
of those residents spoke against the development on the other side, which I found a little bit
interesting. I, you know, I ... I also go back to, and I've said this many times, I always struggle
with trying to balance property rights with the community good. You know, and we get into
this, you know, as you know, with affordable housing and you've all talked to me about that
many times. You know, is ... as I understand it, this piece of property was offered to
Hickory.. the Friends of Hickory Hill Park years ago and they declined to purchase it. It was
offered to the City of Iowa City years ago and they declined to purchase it. You know, at some
point someone else has got to come along and do something with it, and they have, they have
now, and ... and I guess, um, you know, I didn't make any friends with the historical preservation
people, but I had the same ... I had the same, you know, challenge to them is if we ... if we feel
these pieces of property are so important to our community, then we need to be proactive about
taking care of them and not just reactive when someone comes along and does something that
we don't Like. You know, the the ACT people pointed out to us that, quite frankly, the public
has been trespassing on their property for many, many years. There are trails, there are
instruments, and another thing that was a little disheartening for me is after our second... after
the ... after the first vote maybe, uh, ACT went in and put up some ... some fencing and some no
trespassing signs, um, that were very quickly tore down ... by the ... by the park -goers, and I saw a
post on Facebook very clearly encouraging people to do that, you know, and I ... and that just
really rubbed me the wrong way. When, you know, if we're gonna ... if we're all going to play by
the rules then we don't need to play by the rules, and so ... that honestly did not sway me to vote,
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to change my vote. What swayed me to change my vote is that I felt the developers did an
amazing job of listening and trying to adjust what they were proposing and still make money as
they need to do as developers. I also ... the senior one was a little intere... the seniors housing
project was kind of also I found a little annoying because it wasn't hardly talked about at all in
the first conversation we had, but as ... as ... as the developer started addressing other issues that
were called...that were ... they were called on, then the focus turned on. At the last meeting a lot
of focus was on the senior housing, as ... as being atrocious and being a big problem, and the first
meeting I don't recall that even hardly coming up. Uh, so, you know, they ...the opponents were
doing what the opponents should do and speak out against it, but at some point, you know,
we've got code, we've got plans, we ... that we do (mumbled) this community spends a lot of time
on planning and community input, and I think does a very good job of seeking community input
in, you know, so we take all those things and we put them together and we try to make the best
decisions we can, um, and I ... I personally, I felt that the developer had ... had done a lot to get to
where they needed to be and I was comfortable moving forward with it.
Teague: Thank you. Um, just jump right on in there!
Martin: Um, so I'm just gonna keep going (laughs) you know, Mike, I see you laughing! Um, so I just
want to ... to respond to Mark that I don't ... I don't think anyone is debating the importance of
Hickory Hill. Um, I think one of my big concerns is making sure that we're being really smart
about, um, adding more development right next to ... sort of a sanctuary, as it were. Not the ... to
me, not the infringement on necessarily the views of Hickory Hill. I understand that a lot of
people think that's very important. Sure, that's great. My biggest concern is still how negative
another development right along there will ... will negatively affect the environment, you know,
because we haven't done the study, you know, studies before to see how that's going to affect
the, you know, whether it's the animals, the flora, the fauna, the ... there's a water, the creek, that's
down there, you know, I understand that developers are going to do their very best. I should
hope, to make sure that everything is, um, you know, they don't have waste running into that
watershed, but I think that it's ... it's so close to this that I feel like extra attention needs to be paid
to ... to those ... to those concerns.
Teague: Thank you.
Signs: I would love to hear from any... from the Councilors. Maybe ... I didn't see the Council session, I
apologize for that. But I'd love to hear ...maybe the ... from the Councilors who were objecting to
this what your objections were.
Teague: I will just say this is on our Council agenda tonight, but Councilors will be, you know, they...
they can be free to share whatever they want, but we will be back at 7:00 PM to talk about this
item. 6:00 PM, sorry, we have a new time (laughs) But I know personally I find it very
valuable to ... to have you all kind of share your thoughts and your positions.
Elliott: One of the things that I would say is it hasn't been mentioned but going to that single -loaded
street really opens up the park, not only to the people who live in the area, but to the
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community, because it's ... because we don't have the cul-de-sacs. It's a ... it's a through street. I
feel like it really is open to the community and well ... it's a welcoming area to the park that they
wouldn't have had otherwise. So I thought the developer did what ... what was asked of them.
Signs: And we did ... we did comment, um, there is a piece of a section where a lot kind of in the middle
was, um, being dedicated to the City, so there could be a trail access and ... and we encouraged
both the developer and the City to look at possibly putting a little, uh, a small parking area or a
little pocket park or something in that area, to make it a little bit more inviting, cause there were
concerns from the residents that in some of the entrances to Hickory Hill Park aren't necessarily
real, you know, visitor- friendly or...or accessible, and certainly there is an opportunity here, I
think, for that to happen. Um, so I would ... I would encourage if you move forward with this to
have (mumbled) encourage the Parks department to look at, you know, what ... what options
there are to make that trail head a little more inviting to the public.
Taylor: I don't know if now is the time that I can add something as a Council Member, not necessarily
about the plan, but, uh, Phoebe, I appreciated you said something about thinking about this in
the long-term and not necessarily thinking about this particular plan, but I think it's been on our
list of potential work session topics for a long time to revisit things like the form based code and
comp plans and zoning issues, and I think that's something that you folks as a commission, also
as Commission Members, could help us out and maybe even a joint session when we get to that,
but it needs to be done, and that is something long-term that ... and it really does need to be, and
this kind of brings to the ... to the height of that, that ... that we need to look at that and just really
see, because you or somebody had mentioned some of the plans being 15 years old or older.
Uh, it's time, uh, to ... to start revisiting that, so that's... that's just my thoughts on ... on all of it.
Weiner: I appreciate the ... I appreciate the views that the... everyone from P&Z has brought us, including
the... essentially the ... the focus on the codes and the ordinances we have, as well as the ... as well
as the comprehensive plan. Um, it's ... we have ... we have the codes that we have, not the codes
that we wish we had, and I ... I really am going to encourage Council going forward to look at
some of these issues we've been talking about doing for a long time, such as duplexes by right.
Um, such as ones we can finally get the South District form -based code finished, uh, mirroring
that in other areas of the city. Thinking about climate, including climate, including the missing
middle, including... including sort of different density, but that's not the code that we have out
here right now. But it definitely needs to be on ... on a coming session or a work session, so that
we can actually say like ... if...if indeed we believe that this ... and really creating more affordable
housing, our priorities, that we make sure that we make... that we ... that we get working on the
code changes and the zoning changes that we believe are necessary to get that done.
Nolte: I'll just ... I'll just offer, you know, it was interesting with this specific piece of land there were not
one, but two separate plans. Um, and I think that was the ... the challenge as this went through
P&Z is ... is we had ... we had what the community at that time envisioned and ... and I agree, um,
with you, Counc... Councilor, that some of those plans need to be updated, but I think this
developer was working within what the plan stated and that's what we were held to as P&Z.
And on the third... third attempt what they brought for us fit what had been laid out as the plan
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for that area. So I think that's what my vote to support was, I think they met the ... they met all
the the goals that were laid out in there and you can ... we can talk about whether or not those
goals should be modernized and all that, but given the ... the plans that they had and... and what
was expected of them, moving to the single -loaded street, I didn't see how we could as P&Z not
pass it on to Council for approval.
Teague: I personally want to say thanks to all the Commissioners. I know that I've read through your
meeting minutes and it seemed that it was quite intense at some ... some times. And ... and you've,
I think you all have kind of brought up a point that I've mentioned here a while. When we're
talking about the ... the comprehensive plan, we know that we have the South District form -based
code coming forth and that's going to really kind of drive where the Council goes, I think, with
doing some form -based codes throughout the community. Um, but I would like to say to our
Councilors as well as, and I heard someone give the invitation to the Commissioners as well to
be a part of this. We have two work session topics that are so critical that I believe that we need
to get to and it's ... it's, uh, item number two, which is discuss possible changes to residential
zoning classifications to allow and/or require greater diversity of housing types, missing middle,
as ... and then number four is discuss development of a new comprehensive plan to promote
housing affordability throughout the city. These are so critical, and I know that, you know,
Mayor Pro Tem talks a lot about how, um, kind of the heart of the community, like we know the
heart of the community and where... where we're, you know, getting in trouble is we don't have
the codes in place right now. And that is not good. It's not, you know, predictability, I heard
that mentioned. I think it should be predictable, staff should know, the P&Z Commissioners
should know, developers should know, and Council, when we go to, you know, make our
decision, we should know that... the plans that have been laid forth, people have abided by it.
It's a challenge, it is a challenge, so thank you all for going through that challenge of trying to
decipher, you know, what the old stuff with a little bit of the new, the CODA SAC, the, you
know, the single -loaded street. I do hear Phoebe, as well as, you know, what is the legacy that
we're going to leave. That's important and... and a part of the challenge is we as a Council, I
have to tell you again, and because it's in our work session and it's a part of our IP, I'm still, uh,
bringing up an item that is ... that I can talk about. We have to figure out how to engage staff and
Council with this infor...with looking at rezoning, so that it can be much clearer of what our
community heart is now and our values now.
Salih: I really agree with you, Mayor, and I'm glad we're, you know, talking about this even, you know,
last time we didn't approve it and we ask the Planning and Zoning to come up but, you know,
this kind of discussion will remind us about what missing in our master plan, and with, as you
said, what the heart of the community should go to, so but... that's true. I'm glad that we're
having this, so we can just look at our master plan in the future and just try to make the change,
and make it on the code so, uh, it will be there, we don't have to really come and say, `Oh,
we ... we need to do this,' but is not on the code. Yeah, let us really, uh, maybe on the coming
months is look at our code and just try to implement our value in the code, so the developer will
know about it, and we will know about it, and the public know about it. So I hope this is will be
the start of the discussion... moving forward.
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Thomas: I ... I too wish, you know, I think predictability is an important value in this process for
everyone. It's, you know, being on Council, and I've served on P&Z as well, the Council's at
the back end of this whole process. If the process isn't well managed and functioning well in
terms of understanding what (mumbled) what the issues may be on a particular project, uh, you
know, that echoes through the whole thing and by the time it gets to Council, there's this feeling
that, um, let's just ... why were these things not identified earlier? You know, can ... can come up.
You know, there was a famous book in the literature of landscape architecture, my, you know,
my ... my profession until I retired. It was called Design With Nature by Ian McHarg. And this
is ... this is a project where certainly would have, you know, speaking and kind of following up
on Phoebe's comment. It would have been a very interesting process to have started
from... from that standpoint, you know, what ... what would the design, if we were to design with
nature, where would that take us? At least as a, you know, a starting point from that point of
view and see to what degree it could help inform, uh, the outcome. And I think it would be
helpful if we, you know, at an early stage in a project begin to try to identify those projects
where perhaps a little bit different point of view, even if it's not in our code, because, you know,
this is why we have comm... comprehensive plans. It's difficult to identify every nuance as, you
know, a specific condition that may occur. But perhaps have a, you know, willingness to
consider what ... what other factors really need to be considered carefully before we move
forward, and having those on the table, and this is, you know, as we've noted, it's ... it's both
adjacent to Hickory Hill Park and the land form running through this area is this kind of
alternating rhythm of ridges that can be built on and natural areas that form ravines and steep
slopes. That's an interesting design problem. How do you ... how do you work through that kind
of configuration in a way which respects both, and, you know, I don't know that we had, I
would argue given that we're sort of here tonight, I think, as a result of the fact that we just
didn't quite have, in my view, sufficient information to be able to evaluate the, you know, what
would be the appropriate outcome.
Bergus: I think this discussion of process is really helpful for me to think about and certainly something
I care a lot about, and, John, thanks for pointing out that where Council comes in is on the very
back end. Right, and even Planning and Zoning, you know, my understanding is that a
development would ... would go to staff first and that it -and that staff is tasked with helping
make sure, for example, the sensitive areas ordinance is followed, and, as I look through the
items in our packet and I see how the, you know, the amount of woodland preservation has
increased and the buffer around the creek has increased, and you know, the buffer to the park
has increased, and maybe to your point, Phoebe, maybe that those underlying rules aren't
aggressive enough for the moment that we're in, in terms of climate, you know, and Iowa City
was really progressive with our sensitive areas ordinance and, you know, maybe we need to be
thinking about, you know, what the sort of margins of error are on that in today's world versus
15 years ago, um, but I do think that, you know ...you know that, at least ... I trust that those
things were considered, you know, and that it's not a question of is there any ...I mean I do,
again, just having looked at the changes that have come through the different iterations, I do
think that the ... the slopes were really considered and the ... the mature woodlands areas were
considered and the waterways were considered. I know that there's a lot more that we could do,
and ... and I've heard the concerns with the residents and read through all that correspondence in
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our packet too, but I guess the part that's just kind of resonating with me as we sit through this
is, um, is having that transparency from staff too of like what does that look like when a
development first comes in, and we're looking at not just the comp plan, but things like the
natural areas and how do we make sure that the ... the heart, you know, of the community and
these ideals and values are being represented there, because personally, I trust that they are, but
I hear and I believe that we don't ... we don't really have a lot of transparency into that part of the
process. Just something to consider.
Teague: I wanted to welcome Commissioner Susan Craig. We are about six minutes left in our
discussion time but wanted to offer you an opportunity to speak.
Craig: I apologize for being late. I had a contractor at my house, he just left, and I looked at my watch
and went `Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!' Um, well I don't know what's been said
before, but I believe that the developments that are proposed are generally in keeping with the
comprehensive plan. Overall I think they are needed kinds of housing in Iowa City, and I
believe that they have come a long way from the first proposal that they had. You know, I know
that there ... I love the park, as I said at, you know, the first meeting. I actually live on North 7'h
Avenue in a house that backs up to the park, and so I've lived here for 33 years. I know how
precious the park is and what it means to many people, it means a great deal to me as well, but
this is private property and... and everyone... most people seem to start all their comments with
it ... we know it's going to be developed and we're not against development but, um, I feel that
this development that is proposed, um, is ... meets the compre... the requirements of the
comprehensive plan and will be good for Iowa City.
Martin: Um, before we leave, Mr. Mayor, if I can make one more comment. I want to respond to
Laura's comments, if I may. Um, when you're talking about hoping that all of these things were
considered, you know, going back to the environment, um, and the ... the natural landscape.
Obviously, I was not in the room where it happened, but we can look at the plan that they've
drawn up in the slopes, you know, where they considered. I mean they're developed right up to
those slopes, where they can't, uh, where they can't be developed and that can't be a backyard.
Um, one of the things that I know we're always hearing and talking about are the fees in lieu of,
but really without knowing what those... what the consequences are, those fees don't help
anything, um, and so I still ... I still go back to, um (noises in background) smart development
and making (garbled) sure that we're doing all the research that that we can and that we should
be doing, and even if that's a new ... that it's something new, that that's ... that that's an ongoing
conversation, so I just wanted to harp on that one more (garbled)
Teague: Thank you. Any other final comments while we're here together?
Hench: Just one last one, Mr. Mayor. (mumbled) was talking about updating the comprehensive plan.
I think that's a great idea. There's, um, some subdistrict plan, um, district plans that don't exist
and other district... district plans that are quite elderly and need to be updated, and also the fringe
area agreements are pretty dated, and I understand that's being worked on now and almost
ready, but, you know, those three key elements of development — fringe area agreements,
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development plans, and our district plans, and comprehensive plans — they all see the need to fit
hand in glove, and so there's just a ton of work to be done, and so any support that P&Z can do,
particularly for neighborhood services, we certainly stand ready.
Teague: I think I want to correct the terminology and not say update, but overhaul. (laughing)
Townsend: Also one comment, I guess I have a problem with affordable housing being thrown out as
this phrase that we use, but nobody seems to be able to tell me exactly what this affordable
housing piece actually is, who can afford it. So I think that's something else we need to look at
and maybe tie down what is actually affordable housing, when we talk to these contractors,
cause we're not getting, I mean, they're getting something for this. They're getting, you know,
hike, um, hike... yeah, anyway, they're getting something out of it, and I think we ought to be a
little more specific about what we're asking from them.
Teague: Hear, hear! Anything else from anyone before we end our time together? Thanks again,
Commissioners, for spending time with us. We really appreciate all the hard work you do.
You've kind of shown us through your comments today just how difficult the decisions you are
and just how intentional you are at doing your research, uh, to make sure that you're listening to
the public, um, because they're valuable. You're also look, uh, doing what Council has charged
you to do, and that is to look at the plans and to make sure that it is in compliance, and so thank
you all for sharing your thoughts on what happened, from your perspective, uh, in ... in regard to
this project. Thanks to each of you, and we will end our time together, as an entire work
session, and we'll be back at 6:00 PM, Councilors. Sign out and sign back in, see you at 6:00
PM.
This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of
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