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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-11-16 Transcription Page 1 Council Present: Bergus, Salih, Taylor, Thomas, Weiner Council Absent: Mims,Teague Staff Present: Fruin, Jones, Kilburg, Goers, Fruehling, Knoche, Havel, Sovers, Hightshoe, Bockenstedt,Nagle-Gamm, Liston, Ralston Johnson County Board of Supervisors Present: Pat Heiden, Royceann Porter,Jon Green, Rod Sullivan, Lisa Green-Douglas Others Present: Van Heukelom, Miglin (USG) Joint meeting with Johnson County Board of Supervisors—Discussion on American Rescue Plan Act(ARPA) Funds: Salih: It is 4:00 PM and I would like to begin the November 16 City Council work session.Today,we have a joint meeting with the Board of Supervisors as the first item in the agenda.And I would like them,if you can introduce yourselves,please.Thanks. Heiden: I'm Pat Heiden, Chair of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Porter: Royceann Porter,Vice-chair. Green-Douglass: Lisa Green-Douglass, Board member. Sullivan: Rod Sullivan. Green: Jon Green. Salih: Welcome.The first item on the agenda,we are discussing the American Rescue Plan Act fund.And I would like to turn it to our City Manager, Geoff Fruin,to start the discussion, please. Fruin: Thank you. Uh,welcome to the Board of Supervisors.We appreciate, ah,your time.I understand you had a long ARPA meeting yesterday,so you're right back at it again with us today.We really do appreciate that.And again, appreciate you coming here and meeting with us at our regular time and your busy schedules.Uh, so the, uh,the hope for the work session today is to begin to identify areas of collaboration now that the initial public input phases for both jurisdictions have been completed. I think both elected bodies have done some initial prioritization of funds,uh,and,uh,uh,we certainly want to see where we can,uh,identify areas of collaboration.So, um, the staff at both the county and the city,uh,have, uh, shared some of the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 2 progress with each other and we've bullet point--bullet pointed up here, some of the reoccurring themes that came up in, in both of,uh, the early deliberations from the elected bodies. Urn, there's a lot,uh, the bottom line is there's a lot of opportunity to collaborate,which is really exciting.And,um, I know as, uh,both the city and the county staff are eager to, to work together, we could not work through all these issues in one meeting tonight. Urn, so what we've done is tried to identify some of the more urgent matters, uh, from our lens,urn,that, uh,we feel like we need to be moving into program implementation on. So,uh, for tonight,urn, our suggestion is that, uh,we focus on those four issues up at the top of the screen,there.That's the direct payments to eligible adults, eviction prevention,housing repair, and relocation, and affordable housing.We hope we can have a little bit of discussion on each of those four items, uh,so that we can begin to move forward together or separately, uh, depending on, uh, some of, uh,the,uh, deliberations tonight.Uh, that said,this is your meeting. Uh, if you want to, uh, tackle different topics,uh,you're certainly more than welcome to do that. We're again,just trying to structure this so we can get as much done in the limited time that we have, uh,tonight. It probably goes without saying,but, uh, uh,some of the, uh,benefits of collaboration,uh, obviously, uh, probably at the top is that it's, it's simpler for whoever the recipients are. If we're working directly with households, organizations,to only have one entity to work with, one application progress, uh,process, one set of eligibility criteria, uh, certainly can make things easier and expand access to programs, uh, we can simplify the grant administration process and, uh, some of the overhead costs so that more money can be put into,uh, the actual programs themselves.And, and that goes,you know, to stretching those dollars, as far as we can, uh, the more we can collaborate, the more programs we can get off the ground,and the further reach that we can have with these one-time ARPA funds. Uh, so again,this will be our areas of focus. Urn, what I would suggest to you as we tackle these one by one, uh, tonight. Um,but again, if, if you all feel comfortable with a different format, this is your meeting and you're free to take it wherever you would like. So I thought we'd start with the direct payments to eligible adults. Um,both, uh,the City Council and the Johnson County Board of Supervisors have identified this as, uh, a priority use of ARPA funds. Uh, it's our understanding that the Board of Supervisors will begin some intent discussions on, uh,this program tomorrow at your work session. So I understand you don't have a hard proposal that you're working off at this time,but that those discussions will begin tomorrow. I think there's a few key questions that, um,would,would,uh,be helpful in, in tonight's setting. Urn, and that's what these, the, the, the bottom part of this slide is just something to kind of kick things off,uh,where we can find some agreement.And then I'm sure your conversation may take you some different ways. But the first question there is whether there's agreement that one county-wide program is really the best way to go, as opposed to the City This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 3 doing one program and the County, doing,ah, one program. Uh,it seems pretty straightforward to me again,just from the application standpoint and communication, uh,standpoint out to, uh, uh,persons that may be eligible for a program like this,but that's the, that's the first point that we'd suggest that you try to come to a consensus on,and then, uh,you know, not knowing exactly how all the funding will be, uh, put together assuming the county's going to do a program,uh, for, for all residents within the county, um,you know,a discussion on what opportunities there may be,uh, for the city to supplement. So if, if Johnson County does not allocate enough funds and there's, uh, residents who otherwise would be eligible,uh, perhaps,but,uh, cannot access it because of limited, uh, County funding, can the City supplement that. Basically,how can we work with you, uh, to ensure that all of our residents, uh,uh, can access any type of program that the County may- - may launch. So, uh, obviously we've got county staff here,we've got City staff here.We're happy to, uh,try to talk you through any questions that you have,but I think I'll turn it back over to you, Mayor Pro Tem and allow you to lead the discussion. Salih: Yeah -- I can,we can open the discussion now. Sullivan: Urn,well, I can kick this off,uh,just as one supervisor, um,you know, the County has been doing General Assistance,basically in some form or another, since Johnson County became a county.And,uh, I think that, uh, an additional benefit that we would get from working together in that way is that our General Assistance people are very knowledgeable about other programs that are out there as well.And so, uh,part of their work is certainly distributing direct, uh, payment,but some of their expertise is in referring people to other services in the community that might also benefit them.And so I think there's some, uh, real advantages to capitalizing on that and using the, uh,the existing county General Assistance staff. Weiner: So the -- the --does the County,when, uh, in its General Assistance program, um, have the capacity to deal with people in different languages who don't, who don't all speak English. Green-Douglass: We currently have had, um, one of our General Assistance, um, employees who has been actually working out of CWJ to,um,work through the application process with people who are French-speaking and Spanish- speaking. Um,so for that yes, that--those two languages,um, but so far that's all. Specifically for that program. Bergus: I was just wondering about eligibility criteria. I think the General Assistance framework, the idea of having like, um,the staff that already are doing this kind of thing makes a lot of sense to me and having a unified program, if we can agree on the parameters makes a lot of sense to me. Um, is the county This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 4 receptive to having different,like,urn, dramatically simplified kind of application process compared to the existing General Assistance? Or is that something that's been discussed yet? Heiden: I think we have, urn,we have simplified the application process. Urn, I think we did that in, in August,uh, so that,uh, uh, there would be,uh,you know, more residents, urn,that would,would qualify for assistance. I think, uh,urn, you know,we're,we're always open to,to have those discussions,but,but I think that you would be pleased at, at,uh, uh, some of that simplification that's already happened. Bergus: Okay. Sullivan:And I think you could probably do something concurrently because there would be people that would be, urn,well,based on what we've done anyway, I don't know about you folks, but there would be people that would be eligible, uh,based on need.And then there would be people who would be eligible based on other circumstances and a person could in theory be eligible for either or, or both.And so -- Green-Douglass: And that's talking about two different things -- Sullivan -- two different things -- Green-Douglass -- general assistance,and then this direct payment-- Sullivan: --yeah-- Green-Douglass: ARPA funds to eligible adults,you know,we haven't defined as a board yet, eligible adults. Bergus: Okay. Sullivan: But it would be nice, I would think,for an individual to know that you only have to go one place to check your eligibility for both programs. Bergus: Mm-hm. Salih: For the direct payment.And what's the other the program? Sullivan: Well the existing General Assistance program. Salih: Oh, okay.You mean they cannot be eligible for both? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 5 Porter: They could. Green-Douglass: No,they could be. Sullivan: They could. Salih: Yeah.... Sullivan: But that way you'd only have to go to one -- Salih: --sure -- Sullivan: -- one person who could essentially,would be knowledgeable about both and could administer both. Weiner: I mean,so it sounds very much like the, almost the equivalent for governments, for what the non--some of the nonprofits do with coordinated entry at this point. So you get, basically you get,you just,you just put your, get all your inputs in once and you're able to apply for more than one. Is there, do you know if there's any, um, any talk or are you thinking at all about asking other municipalities to, um,to contribute to this as well? Course, we're not talking,we haven't really talked money,but obviously Johnson County, Iowa City have the lion's share of the money,but there is, there are funds elsewhere as well. Heiden: Uh,Johnson county staff who are in the audience--they have done a great job of reaching out to the other municipalities and,and have, uh, continuously reminded them and informed them that any type of collaboration that they'd like to do,we certainly would be interested in that conversation. Urn, I, I don't believe at this point,you know,we are,we are obviously collaborating with Iowa City and, and are so pleased to be here, but, uh, at this point we are not, uh,talking about reaching out to the other municipalities going forward,but, but always,always open to the conversation. Salih: My question is,you know, I know,like -- a General Assistance office and,you know, in the beginning this will be a lot of people,like, rushing to apply.Are you going to be just opening to the public for them just to come and apply, or, uh,this is going to be by appointment or, do you guys, are in that kind of stage of things or not yet? Heiden: So I think we're,you know,we're talking about two very specific things. Um, you know,the General Assistance,which, uh, certainly has,uh,been, uh, a County program forever.And again,that's what I was referring to, uh, uh, in This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 6 as far as, as simplifying the application process and, and the requirements, urn, as far as,as payment,urn,to,urn,to essential workers,you know,we are just working through that process now, as far as eligibility,you know, application process, how we're going to move forward. So we don't have,we don't have any specifics on that, but,but again, we'll start that discussion, urn, probably tomorrow at a work session. Salih: Sure. I think I'm personally interesting [interested]. I don't know the other councils,but we are interesting in knowing is the county going to like solely do the program for the,like,adults eligible for payment? And if after that, if some,like, uh, for example,you are assigned certain amount of money and if you run out, the City will put some, or yes -- I would like to know if you thought about that. Heiden: And we certainly will share those details once we,we,you know, have those at hand to share. Salih: Okay. Green-Douglass: Just to add to what Pat has said,we have a whole series of points for consideration that the ARPA leadership team has been, urn,working through that, that we need to bring to the full Board and say, these are things that we need to decide on and that's going to happen tomorrow. So we've got a little bit of a timing issue here that, uh, makes a full discussion of this kind of challenging because we haven't as a board pinpointed,some of those details that would make this discussion a little easier. Salih: Yeah. Taylor: I think that's very clear, um, Supervisor Douglass, uh,but I think a discussion amongst us would be helpful to you too,so that you have some points to consider in your meeting tomorrow so that you kind of plan ahead. Heiden: Very good. Salih: Royceann. Porter: Um, I would just like to say that being that we are doing a collaboration on what I see is, urn, since we already had, urn,somebody from our, uh, General Assistance program working over at CWJ because of the languages,if not stating CWJ do the work,but if the city can place somebody and an employee or-- and plus with one of our employees and people go over there,at least we would have the translation,you will have the Spanish,you will have the, uh,Sudanese,the, there will be various,um, ethnicities to --for people to fill This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 7 out the application and the help would already be there. So that's just my suggestion. Bergus:Yeah. I think if Iowa City, I mean,we,we, I know as a council, I think prioritize translation.And if that's something that the City can assist with, that makes a lot of sense.And maybe that's the kind of, kind of thing you're looking for from us. So we can, I don't know. But,urn, and I don't know, councilors, if we want to, ah, my, my sort of sense of this is we need to maybe decide for ourselves what we think eligible people might be, or at least talk about those parameters, and then the county's going to have their conversation tomorrow,but we may at least be able to help them see if we're on the same page or not. Salih: Oh yeah. Bergus: So I think,urn, I don't really know where to begin on that. I guess we're, we're talking about adults, right?Which was people 18 and older. Um,we're talking about people who have not received certain assistance, or, I mean, can we kind of flesh that out and maybe staff is better equipped to....do that? Green-Douglas: How would you, how would you verify that? Bergus: I mean, I personally am a fan of the self-certification. I mean, I think what we saw last year with the program that was being administered at CWJ with the Shelter House assistance,when we kind of were willing to take that step to say, if you,you know, are willing to say under oath that you meet these criteria and you are, uh,presumably a resident of the county is another requirement.And if there were, if we didn't agree on elements, right, if the city said,well,we want people to,we want some different criteria,then we'd have to figure out how to administer that. Um,yeah. I don't know how other councilors feel. Porter: Well,we do know that there's going to be some issues with identification.So one of the things that Johnson County has done is the community ID, so that right there would be most definitely one of the main things that if they didn't have it,they had their community ID.We can identify them thataway. But like you say,you have to be a resident of Johnson County.You couldn't get no better than the community ID. So. Green-Douglass: Right. Porter: For those who didn't have -- Green-Douglass: Cause they've already met-- This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 8 Porter: --they already went through that process.Yeah. Weiner: Hmm. I mean, I think that's,that's a cl--that's a huge advantage for this, for this county to have done, done that program and have, and have that idea out there.That's, that's an enormous step up because if they don't have other ideas, they can have that in that. Salih: I also believe there is some people who still,they don't have their community ID yet.And for example,yesterday at CWJ two people came and they, they don't have that community ID and I know that they live in Coralville. So if we're (mumbled), where are you holding,like for example, at the General Assistance,whatever you decide later, if we can have, urn, like a mobile clinic for community ID, it will be an advantage. Taylor: I think the trust factor is going to have to be very important too, on both sides and on, on the persons that are applying,because from what I've heard, there's still that sort of fear factor that, uh, ICE is going to be right around the corner and grab them if they say that they're not a citizen.And also, uh, on the fact that we have to trust that they truly are residents of Johnson County and really do qualify. So I think that trust factor is going to be very important. Salih: And also that I think also working with the leaders from those communities will be really huge. Uh, if you can work with those, like the leaders from the same community, from the,the communities that are eligible,uh,because those, the people that we know and the other people who know the folks around the area, so,you know, consider that too,like,to identify some people to help you, like-- paid help. I mean, uh,you know,with your program -- or our program too. Green-Douglass: Um, I'd like to go back to what Pauline said, um,that trust factor, um,applicants trusting us that, um,you know, if they claim that they aren't, you know, that they are undocumented,that there won't be,you know, someone waiting in the wings for them. Urn, the other end though, of that, of our simply trusting that they are residents, um, comes with a cost because of all of the compliance pieces that go with part of the U.S.Treasury guidelines and,and the compliance pieces that have to be there when you give money. Um, we would have to know that they are residents somehow. Um,just like with the community ID they did in fact have to show something that sh --you know, piece of mail or something that indicated,um, residency,uh,that it can't be -- and Laura stated that residents of Johnson County,you know,that that would be one of the criteria. So I, I think that we have to be move with that with, urn, an open heart certainly, but also caution and protection of, of us as an entity-- ah,the two entities. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 9 Weiner: Yeah, I mean, I agree, but I think that also what Mayor Pro Tem said is if, if there was a way to link up like a mobile, um, county ID station with this, so that people who don't have them have the opportunity either to do it there, or do it somewhere nearby, or know exactly what they're going to need to go and get one so that they can come back and register for assistance,linking those two up could help us all,because then we'd end up with more people with,with an ID.And,urn, and they'd also be eligible for the. Porter: Its definitely got to be thataway because right now, community ID is through appointment only. Porter: So that's not going to get people through fast. So -- Green-Douglass: Right.And also there's a timeline from when you make the application to when you get it. So, urn,that would certainly be something for consideration to start doing now. Um, some of those -- Porter: Yep. Green-Douglass: So that prior to the application process for,urn, eligible adults to receive payments, if we had a community ID or several options for getting that. Porter: And far as transportation,some of them might not have transportation. So we can go into the mobile parks.We know--we know where to go.You know, those that can't make it,we can go to them. Salih: I think that's where it come.You should identify some leaders and hire them to help you doing that. Because, uh, after you identify the programs,the people who going work on the programs.And if it can be not only at the General Assistance, maybe yeah.They can move around and do like a mobile -- and identify from each community,people who you trust that will point out the people who really are eligible for this and help you out.Yes. Porter: So are you suggesting they help out with the application process? Salih: I mean, like, uh, I,yeah --it's going to be application anyway. I don't think nothing will be without application. Porter: Right. Salih: It will be like, uh,that's what I am envisioning. I don't know what the others say. But I am reading it, like, application, simple questions. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 10 Porter: Yeah. Salih:And, uh, after that, do it, not only do it, like, for example,at the General Assistance,where I don't go -- like move around and go,like, to,uh,like have a clinic,mobile clinic for that somewhere and identify leaders to help you because they supposed to be,like, living on that place or they know that place very well. So you can work with them. Fruin: Okay. I certainly don't want to, I don't want to cut off any discussion, but, um, just to summarize kind of where I'm,what I'm hearing and give you an opportunity to correct me. Um, it does seem that there's consensus that there should be one program, General Assistance seems like the logical home. I think that's, uh, uh, uh, a great place to start. Um,uh, the County's got a little bit of work to do tomorrow and probably the days and weeks following to try to put together a framework of a program. Um, I think the City Council will be anxious to kind of review that and offer some,some thoughts.And then the ball will kind of be in the city's court to determine if, uh,we want to do anything above and beyond, uh, whatever it is that the county may propose, but good discussions on the, uh, application criteria,uh, proof of residency, age, uh,uh, there's some discussion about self-certification, uh, around the COVID impact and possibly other elements that may be required. Mobile efforts, translation, all things that, um,uh,we made note of and, and,uh, uh, we'll continue to talk with the County staff about, so anything else before we move on from the direct payments, it's nice to start off with one where we know we can really work together on it and have a, a good impact. Bergus: Just from a regulatory standpoint, as far as the Treasury guidance like Supervisor Green-Douglass was talking about, do we have any reason to think that there would be certain criteria that could not be self-certified? Fruin: I don't know that I'm prepared to answer that right now, look at the County staff or any of the City staff and-- Hensch: Two. Fruin:You wanna... Hensch: Mike Hensch, Executive Director, Board of Supervisors. Um, at least two criteria we have to take reasonable efforts to ensure it's correct would be the actual identity of the individual and their actual place of residence:that they are,in fact,a county resident. So those would be at least two,but of course, remember the decision-making's constrained by all the United States Department of Treasury regulations and applicable Iowa state code. So This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 11 there's probably actually a series of decisions you can make within a range. And so that's just a thought to keep in mind. Bergus: Thank you. Geoff: Anything else on the topic of direct payments? Okay. Urn, eviction prevention and I'm going to hit the lights,just so the screens are a little easier to see.All right.The second topic that we, uh,are suggesting you tackle is eviction prevention,again, showed up on, uh,both the County list and the City list. Uh, we already have some collaboration, uh,uh, in the works on this front. Urn, uh, particularly with the ah partnership with Iowa Legal Aid and Shelter House at, at the courthouse. Um, Iowa City has also done some additional eviction prevention work in the past year,uh,with both local and,uh,relief funds that we've received. I think it's safe to say that, um,we,we,the,the programs that have been started in the last year are built really for the emergent situation.They're not really built for a long-term administration. In other words, there wasn't a real push to really analyze the staffing needs and the resources,uh, it was, it was get the program stood up as fast as we can, and let's help as many people as we can. Uh,we have an opportunity with these ARPA funds to do,urn, a longer-term program, uh,you know,that the ARPA funds, uh, can extend use all the way into '25. Um, so if we're going to have long-term eviction prevention, or at least a two- three years of eviction prevention, I think it's really smart that everybody just kind of take stock of what's there right now,we have a good framework,but it may not be resourced for the long haul.We may need to invest in some,again, additional staffing for those agencies that are carrying out those programs, uh,some additional outreach. Uh,you mentioned translation in your earlier discussion,that would certainly apply to this discussion as well. So what we wanted you to talk about tonight, um, is,uh,your observations,your thoughts on the existing eviction prevention programs that we've stood up. If you're comfortable with the City and County staff working with those providers to really,uh, kind of bolster the program for, uh, for a longer period of time.And if you're seeing any gaps in the service, if you're, if you're hearing things from your constituents that you'd like to see addressed in a proposal,we can certainly work on that,uh,with the various providers in the community. I'll turn it back over to you.Thank you,Janice. Salih: Okay.Any...start the discussion? Bergus: I mean, I think it's worth the longer-term investment. I think it's something we should do. Urn, I just have anecdotal experience from talking with, urn, some people who participated in the Iowa Legal Aid program that it seems to be very,very effective with that desk that they've had at the courthouse.That is the absolute,you know,last step. However, it's not, I guess it is This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 12 preventative technically,um, but it's not proactive. Urn,so I guess there's a question about the existing programs.Are there any,urn, categories of people who wouldn't be eligible that we might want to consider expanding for, or...I'm not totally sure who we're serving. Weiner: I mean, I guess from the little bit, from the bit that I have heard, I'm, I would be more, I would be concerned about, or I would want to look at figuring out how to expand it on the front end so that we make sure landlords are fully informed and figure out how to get the information in the hands of tenants before -- in whatever languages they need -- before they get to this point. So they know that if they get some kind of eviction notice whether it's legal or not, they know what the resources are and where to find them. Cause I think that, I have the sense that there's still a lot of people who for,urn, don't really know what their rights are, urn, and don't know where to find out the information. Sure that-- certainly if they show up at the courthouse, there's going to be something there,but so many evictions and issues occur because people don't actually make it that far in terms of going to court. Sullivan: I know that,urn, the Affordable Homes Coalition and Sara Barron, they've done a lot of work in this area.And, uh, I, I'd certainly like to know what they thought about how things have gone and, and what improvements could be made or, or, or not. Urn,but that's certainly somebody we should bring to the table. I think Salih: I think from my experience with Sara Barron on that, I know that the state was taking a long time for the people to do. I know that the application process is very difficult and I know that taking times and telling us sometimes people receive evictions and they have,while they are waiting for this day, they have to go to the Iowa Legal Aid or they have to go to the,you know, Shelter House so they can prevent their evictions. I, I just believe,uh,we need a quick turnaround.We need um, a program that maybe designed by the City and the County where they hire people specifically of just doing that. I -- I -- I'm really going to be real from my experience and nothing against other programs, because other programs, the only thing, other programs have a lot of things to do besides like,helping people with this. And I think now we have money. We can hire people who specifically just to doing that, nothing else.And this should be like, uh, maybe a County employee, temporary, and a City employee,temporary.And we put a program. I don't know where your house is. I don't care if it's in the city or the county somewhere else,but people really to focus only on helping them as people and expedite the process and not make it difficult. If you -- they have all the criterias,they met, uh,you know,the eligibility criteria. Okay.Yes. Fast doing it, like verify from the landlord the behind and after that, do it because if we are going to do it the way that is currently doing, that is not going to be working.We still have This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 13 money.We have those money since last summer and it's still sitting there. There were (mumbled) really difficult. That's what I really want to say. Taylor: So I think, Geoff, that kind of answers your question. Some of the comments Mayor Pro Tem said was, and I think you described as bolstering the program.And I think that's what it would need is a, is a boost, urn, uh, in, in staffing and outreach,as you said, and,and funds, uh, something that would help. I think the extra person would help maybe in the delay process and letting these people know ahead of time. I mean obviously, most of my, I don't know the situations,but most of them are aware. I mean,they're probably already behind in their rent And so they're anticipating it's going to happen. So it's not going to be overnight and they're evicted the next day. So hopefully we can avoid those kinds of situations. Weiner: Yeah. My understanding is there, there are actions that are happening or have to be happening in Des Moines right now as well because this,Iowa is one of the bottom tier of states in terms of rolling out the funds to applicants. And I believe that by yesterday, they had to, they had to produce some,they had to submit some sort of report to the federal government to --that hopefully will result in them getting a streamlined process.And not-- because what's at risk because they're in the lower tier,what's at risk is if they're,if they are not pushing the funds out at, at the rate they need to be, and they don't sign up for one of these programs, the state could release funds to states that are actually doing a good job with it. Green-Douglass: Well, I'm kind of confused there. Um,we have until the end of...is it 2025?to spend them. Weiner: Th-- this is -- I apologize -- Green-Douglass: -- are we talking about a program specific-- Weiner: Um, I -- I apologize Supervisor Green-Douglass, I'm, I'm referring to the funds. So we're talking about,you know, putting some of the ARPA funds to, to help people navigate the system that exists to get money from the state. The state has funds that I think came from the CARES Act? I'm not sure what, what,where are they originated? But they've been really slow to respond to all these applications.And so, unless, at least, my understanding of what I've read is that,that unless they really improve their process,they may actually lose some of those funds to states that have, that have been much better at pushing at, at ands,at-- at responding to application. Green-Douglass: We're talking about CARES Act money here,then. Not what-- This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 14 Weiner: But what--the state is CARES Act: our money to help people get it implemented would be ARPA funds. Green-Douglass: Yeah.Well,we have time for the ARPA funds. Heiden: Yeah. Green-Douglass: We don't have to get those out the door right now and fear that they're going to be scooped. Bergus: I think the question is, are we, is the, oh, I'm sorry-- Salih: No,go ahead- Bergus: --to interrupt. Um, I think maybe just kind of a backup question that I have is, are we talking about, urn, are eviction prevention dollars are being spent on essentially people and outreach that are still facilitating those state programs? I think that's what, urn,Janice is referring to, that we could put some ARPA dollars towards helping,you know, those who are eligible for the state program, make sure they're accessing those funds and exhausting those funds. Weiner: Right. Bergus:And so maybe we just need to actually talk about-- is there something other than that with eviction prevention that we're talking about? I wonder if we could frame it even as, like, housing stability rather than just eviction prevention. Bergus: I mean,just as I'm sitting here thinking about it, eviction prevention feels so last-ditch, it feels so,you know, everything else is run out and it doesn't address,uh, any kind of homeowner help.So. Salih: I know that there is a time to spend this money until 2025,but,and I know that there is some money on the state that we're trying to ask,to push people, apply for it first.We, don't know,like I know that the state extends their,they said until December and after that,they extended to next year because they still had money,but we have to think to the simplest way.You mentioned that like maybe fund,be like-- fund somebody to help people, maybe continue to apply for IFA.That's one thing,but keep in mind,there is people are not like, they don't want to apply for IFA.They have a lot fear that they don't want to put their information, hand it to IFA. So that means there is some emergency portion of this fund have to be spent now for those people who are not eligible, not like kind of illegal because now they open the This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 15 eligibility for everyone. But some people they just don't want to apply for IFA. So they don't want to discuss their stuff.We can, [ think we can go on the same, like, like yeah, like help people apply for IFA, and the same time, allocate some fund for the people who are not eligible -- like I found that they don't-- either not eligible for IFA or they don't want to apply because of certain situation. Green: In a better world I'd agree that it would make a lot of sense to use our much more limited ARPA allocation to help folks a 1 to 1FA. But, uh, unless somebody has the ability to bring director to God, uh, I think that agency is going to continue dragging its feet.And I think it would be a mistake for us to hope that the state is going to be a partner in good faith with us.They've,they've shown no interest in getting these dollars out the door. I agree that it would be wonderful if we could invest our money as a force multiplier. But I think realistically,we're going to have to look at ways that we can use these dollars ourselves between Iowa City and Johnson County. Sullivan: Do folks, uh, on Council have an opinion about some sort of targeted outreach, particularly to Coralville and North Liberty? Uh, as far as this,this type of effort would go? Porter: I don't see any why not. They're getting evictions in Coralville and North Liberty too. Salih: Yes. Porter: Those same people from Coralville and North Liberty are being helped. Um, what did we give?40,000, 50,000.We gave all 50,000 for the eviction.And so we have money allocated for, urn,what we have down here is expand the eviction diversion program.And so that's not IFA, that's not nobody having to go to [FA.That's people who have been evicted who need the help right now.So we have money allocated for that. Sullivan: So I'm just kinda thinking that an official request, maybe from each entity would be a good way to make sure it was got on there in front of the right people. Cause it certainly makes sense to me to,to ask, officially ask. Porter: I think if you got an eviction,you don't need to go to IFA. Not for an eviction. If you got an eviction notice, this is just this program that's set up for that. Sullivan: No, I'm just, I'm talking about Coralville and North Liberty. Porter: Oh,okay. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 16 Sullivan: Yeah. Weiner: That's not in anybody's interest to have their,have their people out on the street Salih: Mm hm. Weiner: or risk going out into the street. Salih:Yeah....Any more discussion? Or Geoff can walk us through the next one. Fruin: Okay.Well, I, I think, I think we've probably picked up enough as staff to where we're comfortable working on a proposal that we could bring to both entities. Uh,certainly happy to, to, uh, engage Coralville, North Liberty with a formal request as well,to see if uh, they're interested in that.And, uh,uh, I think, I think we got the flavor for, for what you're,what you're looking at there. Uh, item three of four is housing, repair and relocation.These are urgent, uh, housing matters where there's life safety issues. Uh, I know at the City level we heard,uh, a lot of this in our public input, uh, efforts, I presume, uh,the county did as well since it showed up on your list. Urn, a couple of different things here and I, I'm not really sure what,what areas of collaboration,but your discussion may-- may help us identify that. Urn, for Iowa City, I think we have kind of a,um, a two-pronged kind of,uh,um, focus here.We know we have some emergent issues in one particular neighborhood.That's the Forest View neighborhood, uh,where we,uh, probably have,um,more relocation needs than,than ah repair needs based on not only the condition of a lot of those homes,but the overall condition of, uh, the larger,uh, the, the larger neighborhood and the infrastructure that supports it. So we're probably looking at a very focused program in Iowa City to assist,uh,the,the residents in the Forest View neighborhood. But we also know we have urgent housing needs throughout the city. So kind of where we're,what we're thinking at a, at a City level is whether it's one program with a little bit of target towards Forest View,we're actually two separate programs,uh, kind of, uh,that,that viewpoint. Um, I think at the County level, if I understand correctly,you've been talking about aging in place repairs. Uh,you've been talking about Healthy Homes programs.We do have a Healthy Homes program in Iowa City. It may not exactly align with what your thoughts are,but again, if, ah,you have a discussion tonight about what you really see at the County level, is, is the, uh, uh, urgent or need that you want to address with these ARPA funds, I think at a staff level,we'll be able to,um,uh,to,to better identify whether there's, uh, some collaboration on, uh, on repair and relocation programs, or it may be that, uh, it's just better suited,two different audiences,two different targets,to,to do them separate. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 17 Uh, so you can see a couple of prompting questions there,but,but hopefully my intro helps. Urn, really just wanna hear the elected bodies talk about the housing uh needs that,that you are thinking of as, uh, as these programs have risen to the top of your list. Green-Douglass: The, um,you mentioned the Healthy Homes and that was one of the items that we had identified as a potential for collaboration,funding a home repair program that would include lead remediation and promote Healthy Homes and childhood environments. Um,the other one that you mentioned, Geoff, about aging in place was targeted more towards rural, um, and aging residents, but doesn't mean that there couldn't be some collaboration as well there. Heiden: And that particular one we would work with, uh,local, uh, organizations that already do that. Green-Douglass: Exactly.Yeah.There are a few that are in fact on that. Salih: No discussion? Fruin: How about the City, City Council. Is there any, any particular, um, focus that you want us thinking about as we begin program implementation, or are we from a staff standpoint, do you think we're looking at this correctly with an acute need really in one neighborhood and then maybe a, uh, a second tier of the program that would be citywide, Bergus: I would say yes, but Forest View kind of maybe as its own thing with the immediacy of that need. (Taylor and Weiner talking over each other) It's not -- Seems to be the most needed -- more immediate -- Forest View is um-- Taylor: Urn, I think, um,Tracy Hightshoe had,has done an amazing job in, in the county and the city with the Healthy Homes project.And I think she would be a good resource and, uh,be able to, uh, elaborate on that project. Cause that's been very helpful and she's collaborated with, I think the AmeriCorps folks and even the College of Nursing to do some home inspections and some health--health teaching. Green-Douglass: Just to clarify,um,you identified Forest View as needing largely relocation over repair. Porter:Yeah. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 18 Salih: Yes. Green-Douglass: And then, um,because the other,the ones I can think of anyway, some of the other mobile home parks, um, are in definite need of repair, there are lots of them. Salih: Urn, I think there is many complaints for Breckenridge and also Regency and at the county level,you know, uh, outside the city limits. So that's something maybe you can think of,too. Weiner: I mean, but yes, the situation at Forest View is at a different level,basically it's very difficult to repair anything there anymore.And- Green-Douglass: Mn-hm. Salih: Even then the infrastructure is really bad over there. So I guess we reached the point that people need to relocate. Heiden: It--it sounds to me at least, uh, this preliminary discussion that, uh, this may be something that we not collaborate, um, on. It seems like our focus at this point anyway, is, is rural and, and aging.And, um,you know,you have a very specific target. So again,you know,that's,which absolutely is, is fine. Urn,but that's what I'm hearing right now. Bergus: I -- I think so, I mean, it's certainly to the extent that the relocation for Forest View is a separate thing. I wouldn't have the expectation that the County would be supporting that,but, uh,you know,with our staff collaborating and communicating, if we have kind of the second-tier program and you all are doing,you know, kind of what you develop, hopefully at least we can share information and see if there is any more opportunities for collaborating once those are a little more formulated. Heiden: Sounds good.Yeah. Taylor: The only thing I could see on the collaboration is perhaps the monetary amount,because especially mobile homes these days,if they're moving from one to another are very expensive and just giving them,you know,$1,500 or whatever is,is not going to be a major help. So putting funds together would be helpful in that respect. Green-Douglass: Uh, about four years ago, they started,um,talking about redeveloping in Forest View. I think you and I were on that together with some CWJ folks and the developers who were, I don't know, are they still This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 19 going to develop out there? Because they had said and promised that they would help with the relocation. Salih: I think that's really falling apart now. Weiner: That seems, it seems to be a dead letter at this point-- Green-Douglass: Yeah. Okay Weiner: -- with serious financial issues. Green-Douglass: Okay. Because they did relocate that one family they worked with. Salih: Right,yeah. Fruin: Okay.Well, I tend to agree with the,uh, the sentiment there raised by Supervisor Heiden and others that this is,this is probably one where we have,uh, distinct interests and maybe better,uh, pursued separate. So thank you for that Um, last topic I know,uh, has been, uh, tops on, on,uh,both elected bodies agendas for many years. Obviously we have a huge opportunity to, uh,accelerate some affordable housing projects.And, uh,uh, we thought,uh,just a, an initial conversation here would help. Obviously we have,uh, uh,some time,uh,with the ARPA, um, framework to,to make some decisions,but a couple of things that I wanted to bring up,uh, for, for the last, uh, uh, couple of years on and off, there's been a little bit of discussion about the county property at 821 South Clinton and the, the, uh, potential opportunity to,uh, partner, uh, City-County on a, uh, project that, uh, uh, could feature,um,any number of uses,but really focused on public benefit. So we've got listed here some, some ideas that have come up: childcare, could be government office space,permanent affordable housing. Urn, that's something that I saw showed up on the County list that, that it looks like you're going to be actively pursuing with some ARPA funds.We'd love to have that discussion to,to see how we might be able to,um, partner with you on that development I know you've extended that opportunity to us in the past,and we appreciate that.Uh,but as you ramp up,just kind of knowing how you're going to tackle that and whether, uh,there's a role for us to play, uh, in the coming months is good.And then we're both, uh, contributors to the, uh, Housing Trust Fund of Johnson County. Uh,we've seen, uh,proposals come in from the Affordable Housing Coalition through this process to supplement our funding, uh, to that entity, uh,to help, um, pursue affordable housing,uh, not only in the city,but,uh, throughout the county. So those are a couple of things that we wanted to prompt you with today.You may have other ideas outside of those two, certainly on affordable housing projects. I know we've had lots of ideas, uh,floated at the City, uh, from community land This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 20 trusts to active acquisition of new sites to pursue for permanent affordable housing. So by no means, am I suggesting these are the only two options, uh, but thought that,uh, those are two areas that, uh, either we're actively partnering on in the case of the housing trust fund or that we've discussed partnering on, uh,with your County-owned property on Clinton Street. So I'll, I'll take it from there. Maybe, maybe turn it back over to you.And if we could hear uh from the County,just to kind of some of your thought process on the, on, on your 821 property, uh,that might be helpful to start us off. Green-Douglass: Um,there are a few times when,when we had met together regarding that property and, um,then we kind of put the brakes on for a while for a number of reasons,part of it, um,you know, there's,there's rumor that the City is going to be reconfiguring the streets there, and that really would,you know,be helpful to know how that was going to be done before any kind of project takes place there. Um,the County has also been, um, has had multiple meetings with the owner of the other part of that property to the urn west in order to try to, um, reconfigure both,urn, owner's properties so that it would be a little bit more of a buildable lot and for us to get some street front and there were some problems there, maybe that's somewhere where you guys would have more luck than us. Urn,just getting us some street front there to work with. Urn, and I, I thought that at one point too,there were,we did kind of leave it in the staff's hands to look for,urn, ways of developing that. So I thought that's where we were on it....Did 1...did I miss something? Fruin: Well,I think we can figure out mechanics in terms of how to move forward. I think, uh,uh, hearing kind of some of the thoughts, ideas, and visions for that space might, might help us identify exactly how best to pursue that for childcare. Uh, certainly affordable housing from a City standpoint. Green-Douglass: Uh huh. Fruin: Urn,we've got a,you know,you're in the riverfront crossing zone. So as this moves from a public designation to potentially a private, if you,if you ultimately seek a private partner, um,there's an opportunity to, to build up quite a bit, uh,from what's there too. So we, I think we can explore all those options. Urn,uh,just want to confirm that it appears the County's moving forward with those discussions at this point. Uh, and, and looking at some ARPA funds maybe to, to jumpstart things. Green-Douglass: I, I think it does make sense,because it's county property but right in the city limits, for it to be a great opportunity for some sort of collaboration. Um, the talks that I was involved in were considering the bottom part,as you mentioned here, urn,you have a couple of the things, but This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 21 a childcare facility would be an option and then apartments upward.And the, the thing that we also need to remember is that while we can create some, um,you know, quite a bit of affordable housing there too,people at the real tip top might be willing to pay a lot of money for that great view of the river. And so that can be another consideration to have it just a multi,um, multi- layered in terms of,urn, folks that would live there. Potentially. Porter: We're talking about affordable housing,right? Salih: I think-- Green-Douglass: Both! Salih: Mixed,mixed -- Green-Douglass: -- what I'm saying Salih: Mixed income housing there will be great. So we, I really don't like to see like affordable housing by itself. So like people pointing to that as low-income housing. Green-Douglass: Mm-hm -- Salih:You know, if we can have like multi incomes,like mixed income, I mean,uh, will be great. Like some, I guess,market price, uh,you know,apartment and some affordable apartment.And yeah-- Sullivan: The County's been, uh, considering our campus footprint there recently, and we're going to engage in some renovations of the, of the current area that we have,but there's really,that is pretty much the only available unbuilt space that's out of the flood plain. Uh,as you know,from 2008, a lot of County stuffs in the flood plain. So,um,so we have to get this right.And I think we have to have an eye toward 50 to a hundred years because there's not really a plan B in the campus area. I mean,we would then be talking about probably,urn,you know,moving some sort of service farther away and that's not ideal. So,um,whatever we do here, I think we're going to have to think a little bigger than normal.We're going to have to think a little more long-term than,than maybe we always do,because it really is,uh,we kind of have one shot to get it right. Salih: Mm-hm. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 22 Heiden:And I think, uh,as, uh,my, my colleagues have stated,you know,we're excited about,uh, the potential opportunity with Iowa city and, and what that will look like going forward. Sullivan: Frankly, I think it'd be a huge mistake to not be working with Iowa city on this. Heiden: Absolutely. Sullivan: Urn, I don't know exactly how it looks, but I sure hope we're partners. Salih: Okay. Weiner: I would love to see mixed housing, some childcare in there,but,but really, truly affordable basically in perpetuity, not the,if it's -- Green-Douglass: right, not that it's owned -- [people talking over each other, garbled] Weiner: --that it's like owned by the city, by the city and county, as opposed to like 10, 20 or 30 years. Um, and there is like supervisor always,you're referring to sort of the,your footprint. I have no idea what's going to happen with the big city carton property,but there is this big chunk of property adjacent to all of that right now.That's,where nothing's happening. Green-Douglass: Open Heartland's over there now. Salih:Yeah. Fruin: Well,we'll certainly,uh, continue to engage,uh,the County on that. I think there's a lot of great potential there.And, uh, like we said,you know,we've got some time with the ARPA funds.We can,we can work to get that right. And make sure that, uh,your space need study's fully considered and that sort of thing. Urn, what about other affordable housing efforts? I mentioned the trust fund here,um, have either the Council members or Board of Supervisors. Is there anything else that you really want your staff to be, uh, looking at right now to kind of get jump-started on that, uh, larger priority with the ARPA funds? Sullivan: We did have one other thing in our list. Urn, for those of you that have been around long enough,uh,the County many years ago purchased a row of houses across the street from the jail.The thinking was that at some point there would be some kind of courthouse expansion and/or jail expansion, and that that space might get used, obviously that has never happened. The This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 23 County still owns those houses and they have been, um, they've been rentals, uh,to be completely honest,we haven't um,given them as much thought probably as we should over the last few years.And, and we,uh,just recently talked about taking a look at just how they're old houses.We need to take a look at their,uh, the efficacy they have going forward,but, uh,perhaps just, just putting them into some kind of making them affordable housing moving forward. I think the question is kind of,two-fold,it's,what's the longterm, uh, picture for that property.And I think the answer is we have no idea.And then,um,you know,how,how good are the houses?Are they worth putting people in?And, and I guess if the answer is,yes,that's a really good short- term use of the houses. So we'd like to think about that. I don't know that the City has any role there except telling Stan Laverman to be really nice. (Laughter) Porter: And too also,we also have on here to provide discounted fares for low- income individuals utilizing public transit. So that's transportation, that's one that we have allocated money to that.And we would like you to partner with us because Iowa City Transit. Sullivan: Mm hm. Mm hm. Fruin: Yeah,that's, that's certainly something that we could talk about that,that came up in our Council deliberations on ARPA as well.We had kind of tucked that under a workforce, uh, category, but it certainly, uh,you know, applies to housing-- overall housing cost just cost of living. So, uh,very happy to engage with you on that. Porter: Thank you very much. Salih: The other day,two people that stopped me and they said that after they knew I'm on the city council,they said why the city don't have bus for, for like the mobile homes.And when they identify the mobile home that was outside the city limit, uh, I don't know if there's something also on your radar, how can we get expanded transportations to cover, like county places? Bergus: I don't know that it comes into the ARPA discussion necessarily, but it certainly impacts that 821 south Clinton,which is the CRANDIC rail line is right there.And at the MPOJC meeting tomorrow,we're going to be talking again about the possibility of the CRANDIC passenger rail, at least North Liberty to Iowa city. So... Green-Douglass: Is that CRANDIC,there? Bergus: I think that one is CRANDIC,yeah, right there. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 24 Green-Douglass: Oh, okay. Taylor: Urn, Mayor Pro Tern Salih raises a good point about the mobile home courts, because two of them that are just kind of on the outskirts of, of Iowa city,uh, the two that are off of Scott Boulevard are actually county and not the city. And then of course the, the Lakeside lake view or Lakeside, uh, out further on Riverside Drive is county. So there's three of those that aren't serviced by a City transit currently,but it, is there something I think I agree with her that may be jointly with the County. Uh,we could work out something,some sort of a transit system to them. Heiden: And, and just to comment on counselor, uh, Bergus and,uh,the discussion about CRANDIC rail,you know,we have allocated funds to investigate alternative transportation, particularly rail, urn, options in Johnson County. So,so at this point,urn,uh,you know,we do have funds to work towards that. So, Bergus: Excellent. Heiden: Um,be very interested in how that transpires, Green-Douglass: I think that, urn,transportation is, is really a huge thing.And when we did our,urn, forum, I don't know what you want to call it.The status of poverty in Johnson County,urn, childcare, affordable housing and trans, transportation,spiraled through every aspect of it, and, urn,had more disproportionate impact on certain populations because of, um,where they live and they're living there because of,you know, so it,it was just kind of like a catch-22,which carne first, but, urn,transportation type things, uh, tend to, they need to originate within a city and expand outward. Um, and, urn,and when they do that,then,you know we have to provide paratransit wherever you have a fixed route. Urn, but currently to address some of those,those places outside of city limits,we do have a, like an on-demand SEATS-type thing it's, urn,not ideal. Urn, certainly what would be ideal is to have a fixed route, urn, that can --with expanded hours to address, urn,people who work second shift,third shift and that sort of thing,weekends. Urn,but it, I think that there's a lot of option for collaboration, but it has to start from within the city because that's the way transportation is funded. It's so tricky and multi layered in terms of funding and such. Urn,but I think that there's a lot of willingness for people to say,yes, let's find ways that we can make that happen. Salih: I think definitely for like, for example, Sunrise, and [mumbled] it still is just as Scott Boulevard and it's still the using the transportation that come like by This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 25 Scott Boulevard,gets [mumbled] straight from them. They can just walk into, but the problem really will be for something like Regency or Breckenridge and those other thing.And I really believed its work of collaboration between the County and the City of doing something like that,so we can include those folks. Weiner: So,so at the risk of,um,mixing apples with oranges, Geoff, do we have any sense how much public transit money is likely to come from the infrastructure bill that was just signed? Fruin: No, those,those details are still kind of filtering out right now. Um, a lot of it will be targeted towards infrastructure and fleet,urn,needs. So you're going to see a lot of bus replacement dollars and then,uh, in our, in our selfish hope, uh,hopefully facility, uh, dollars come through,um. There are some formula funding opportunities that could impact operations, but it's a little too early to tell what they might produce....0kay.Well, I think that's a-- Sullivan: Could I ask a question? Fruin:Yeah.You bet. Sullivan: I don't know if-- I, I don't think the county's ever done any kind of study. Does anybody at the city ever done any kind of study of some of these,uh, places just on the outskirts of the city, like a Breckenridge,has anybody ever tried to gauge the interest in bus service? I don't think we have,that might be a first step is, for, for us to try to figure out just what kind of interest there is. And I don't know if,since you folks have done,you know,you,you know how, how fixed route works. Maybe if you have, uh, surveys that we could, could take and modify, that would be helpful.We could try to gauge that interest. Green-Douglass: And, uh, Laura,you said you're on MPO. Bergus: Uh-huh. Sullivan: And I am. Green-Douglass:And you are. Heiden: And I am. Green-Douglass: Because didn't,they recently do a huge,um,transportation study. Bergus: Well, Iowa City, Coralville, and Cambus all together,those three transit operators did. But I don't think we went outside of those municipal areas. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 26 Weiner: No-- I think it would be worthwhile- Green-Douglass: -- and what they asked and how far out they asked it would help us to know where to start and how to make it articulate one with the other. Fruin: I think we learned enough through that study and just through our,through our operations to know if you're looking at going out to serve like a Regency, it's going to be extremely cost inefficient to do so on a fixed route basis. You're probably going to want an on-demand type of service, uh, to be able to do that. Um,you know,we have routes that run all the way through Iowa City, uh,without having to cross kind of the rural cross section, urn,that,that are pretty, I won't say inefficient, but pretty costly to run just because of lack of ridership. So I think you're going to see more,uh, focus on that, uh, demand-responsive model, especially if you're just targeting a specific neighborhood. I think it will be better from a customer service standpoint. I think it'd be better from a cost standpoint too,but we can certainly give you some data to help back that back that thought up. Green-Douglass: Well, and the on-demand service through SEATS does exist currently. Bergus: Geoff, are we still, I feel like the Council is going to be getting some additional,like, more defined information about some of those, urn, on demand options for like our late night and expanded service. So -- Fruin: We're on phase three of our transit study implementation. Phase one was kind of fare adjustment and alignment, two was the route realignment. Uh, three is Sunday service,which we will launch, uh, in, uh, early,uh, 20, um,uh, early, uh, uh, 2021. I got my years mixed up.What year is it now? (Laughter) 21 and 22.Jeez,been a couple of years. Urn, and then the fourth phase is that on-demand service.So,uh, as we look at on-demand for, for us, it was focused on, on late nights, overnights kind of third shift workers, uh, underserved neighborhoods, uh,with,with our current transit system. Perhaps there's some ways to extend that on demand service out to, uh, out to rural county, um, housing developments. Porter: Well, I just wanted to throw out there but-- this is the very last one for me. Urn,you have community violence intervention, and we also have, um,put some money over to hire a community violence prevention coordinator to -- to design and implement evidence-based approaches to reduce environments. So. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 27 Fruin: Right. These are, this last slide, if you didn't catch me flip it, it is just, it's some other areas that we've either seen on both lists or perhaps that came up on a City list or a County list that we thought there'd be some other areas. So, urn, I appreciate that, uh, knowing that there there's an interest there, if you want to discuss these tonight,you can,we didn't really anticipate getting into any of these. It's just an acknowledgement that we have a grant in front of us that, that we have a few years to put to use. Um,and, uh, hopefully there'll be a lot more opportunities to collaborate than just the,the three or four that we talked about tonight. Is there anything else from any of the elected officials, uh,that you wanted to cover tonight while you're here?We don't get together too often. Bergus: I don't know. Did we really give you much feedback on the affordable housing part? I guess I just want to say out loud, I am in favor of, of injecting something,you know,to,with the Housing Trust Fund. I think they have a really good track record of using and leveraging those dollars and, um, being able to do a lot more than we could on,you know, if we were doing that, uh, direct spend. So I just want to say that's where I am on that. Fruin: If I could just offer, I, I think, I think one benefit of that now, and I think you're,you're, I know you're going to see this at the City level. I don't, I won't go so far to say at the County level,because I don't know,there's only so much in terms of programs that we can stand up so quickly. So if we can identify those trusted partners in the community and allow them to get to work,to put to some of this, this money to use that, to me,that's a huge benefit because if it's,we have to wait till we do these first three programs, and then we're going to get to this list,it will take awhile to get this,these dollars out the door.We are going to need partners to help implement. So it's, it's a question of whether you're,you're comfortable making that decision this early on in the, in kind of the granting process. Urn, but both the County and the City have been funding the Trust Fund for years now. Uh, I know I've been very impressed with how they've been able to put those dollars to work.And I, I personally would be very comfortable giving them an initial allocation of ARPA dollars, uh,and, and allowing them and their board and their, their network to really explore, um,how best to put that to use. It doesn't have to be a huge chunk of dollars right off the bat, right? I mean,you can always supplement that a year down the road, two years down the road with additional funds, if you, if you, uh, saw fit. But to me, that's a really good opportunity to put some money out in the community and get another entity, uh,putting it to work faster than we could at a City staff level. Green-Douglass: Well, they certainly have the,the experience, um,the County does. Uh,we've been giving since I've been on the board at least, and I think that was the first year, around $640,000 annually through our regular budgeting This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 28 process to the Housing Trust Fund. Urn, I, I feel like that's a substantial amount and given the,urn, requests and, and,urn, need for these ARPA dollars, and I'm not saying this isn't a, a valid need,but,urn, we're,we're doing a substantial amount within that organization already. I think. Salih: Okay. Porter: And I too just want to state that a one bedroom for$945 is not affordable housing to me. I will continue to say it. I will continue to push it a one bedroom for$945 is not affordable housing. Salih: Mm-hm. (Applause from audience) Weiner: Nope. I would agree with you,Supervisor Porter.The, the one thing that I'd add is sort of looking at, I think,we'll know,within the next month,month and a half,whether whether, urn, Build Back Better will pass, urn, and with respect to, in particular with respect to, urn, uh, preschool, pre-K for three and four year olds, as well as huge investments in childcare. So, I mean, I think within about the next six weeks, we're going to know if that if, if funds are going to come our way for that separate from this. Salih: Okay.Anyone else? Heiden: Uh,we,we appreciate the invitation to,to be here tonight and really look forward to collaborating and, and partnering on these programs and projects that, that are appropriate.So thanks again. Salih: Thank you so much for coming in and we're going to continue to collaborate for the benefit of the Johnson County residents.Yeah. Weiner: Thank you for your time and good luck tomorrow. Heiden: Thank you. Fruin: All right. So, Mayor Pro Tem, I might suggest we just take a five-, ten-minute break in the work session and then come back if that's okay. Salih: Sure,yeah,we can do that. Five minute break then. [Break] Clarification of Agenda Items: This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 29 Salih: Okay.We're going to go to the second item on the work session agenda,which is classification of agenda item. I see here,we have item number 5f on the agenda, CPRB minutes,uh, the budget recommendation. Uh, Geoff, do you want us to do any like kind of action here? Geoff: Uh, no. I just wanted to make you aware. Sometimes it's a,the meeting minutes can get buried in these packets,but the CPRB did forward you a budget recommendation. Uh, staffs intention is to,to place that in the budget. Uh, it is, uh, $6,600. Uh,so a very small request for,uh, outreach to promote their services,uh,to the public, through a variety of different means. So you can take a look at those minutes and see how they plan to use those. Um, they did not have enough information on the social worker, urn,idea,if you remember,they wanted to make available the social worker for, for, uh, folks that file a complaint,uh, and they still need a little bit of time to do that. You know,we're putting together the budget now, so we'll incorporate the outreach budget and once they forward you that proposal,uh,my guess is it'll be several months from now. If you want to amend the budget to include that,we'll certainly work with you to be able to do that. So that was it. I want to call your attention to that item.And then also the, uh,three items pertaining to the development on IWV Road, Melrose? Urn,we did get a request from the applicant to defer to the next meeting. Uh, so I would go ahead and suggest when that item comes up, um,that,that you defer,that's certainly your call.You don't have to,but, uh,we did get that request,uh,um, just prior to the meeting. Salih: Sure. Okay. Um,about the CPRB, any discussion, or you guys agree? Okay. Information Packet Discussion: Salih: Then we can move the information packet discussion,and we will start with October 21 information packet. Does anyone have anything for October 21st information packet? Okay,no one. October 28?...Okay, November 10th? Thomas: November 4th. Salih: Sorry, November 4th. My bad. Thomas: I did want to uh,just mention, uh, I -- Weiner?: Can't hear you,John. Thomas: Sorry? Weiner: I can't hear you, sorry. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 30 Thomas: I wanted to mention the, um, the memo from the Police Chief,uh, IP2 on the Saint Ambrose traffic study. Uh,you know, so we're,we're seeing kind of modest improvement in some respects in terms of the disproportional contact. Um, one thing though I wanted to, to comment on was,uh, the mapping of where the traffic stops occur. Um, it's, it's pretty, uh, not shocking, but, uh,stunning to kind of see how it's concentrated, uh,if you were to take the downtown square mile area and then directly north and directly south of that area and combine them, over 50% of the traffic stops occur in those three-square miles.And, um, so I found that kind of interesting. I know that we've been,you know,the focus of this study was on the disproportionate contact,but I've certainly been interested in the question of traffic stops,um,and what, if anything, can be done to try to reduce the number of traffic stops, especially,um, by implementing a program where we would try to ensure that, that traffic,at least from a standpoint of traffic safety, uh, better self-regulate.And, um,what I found interesting was,you know, in so far as if we were to consider such a program, uh, over 50% of them are just in that three square mile area. So it'd be possible to,um, concentrate our efforts.This is not--traffic stops are not equally distributed throughout Iowa City. So there's an opportunity to do kind of a focused analysis of what's actually going on. Why is it that,that so many traffic stops are concentrated,those very specific areas. So that to me was a takeaway aside from the question of where,where does,how, how are we doing in terms of disproportionality that I wanted to mention? Fruin: I think I can give you a short answer to that, and then we can certainly elaborate it, uh, down the road if you want.And if the Chief has anything to add, he can come up and do so. Um,we're a very, um, uh, uh, focused department on OWls. Uh,we have a,a, a large alcohol culture downtown, and, uh,we do four to 500,uh, OWI charges per year on, on average.That's a significant amount. Uh, I think if we compared ourselves to other agencies, we do a lot more, um, OWI, um, stops, uh, in, in a given year than,uh, most comparable agencies.And, and certainly with the concentration of alcohol establishments downtown,that's why you're seeing a lot of that. I would venture to guess I don't have the numbers right in front of me on the report, but probably if you broke that down further,you'd see a high majority of those at night as well. Is that-- that accurate? Liston: Chief Liston, Iowa City Police Department. I would just echo that, um, most of our traffic stops are at night.And that is for the reason that the City Manager just mentioned.And most of the traffic certainly at night are in those areas. That's where the establishments that are open.They're not many people driving around neighborhoods at night. So that's just where the track-- where the traffic is,is certainly going to be where the traffic stops occur. But I This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 31 agree with you, there are certain things that we can do that you all can do. You've done it before on certain roads, urn, that, that do impact that.And,uh, I've seen it myself from living here 20 years ago, and then coming back and seeing how the roads are different and notice that,that,how that does impact traffic flow. Thomas: Right. So,yeah, I, I, I kind of thought that that certainly would be a contributing factor. Urn,but nevertheless, I mean, if, if we,we are concerned with, um, those who are driving under the influence, uh,their driving behavior then becomes a concern aside from your,you know,the arrest of those drivers.There are many that would,would not be arrested who are driving under the influence.And if, if the road conditions are such that they do promote high speeds and volume,you know, the chances of, of a collision, which is, again, I think one thing I didn't mention was if, if we were to overlay, if we had more precise information of where these stops were taking place to try to understand to what degree are they,urn, do they, how do they overlay with,with regard to where the collisions occurred,uh,where we have incidents of,you know, car on car, pedestrian,bicycle,you know,uh, collisions with vehicles and,and try to identify that as well. So it's you know, where,where,where is it critical that we, uh, improve not only safety and disproportionality,but, um,you know, quality of life and the experience in these areas,because if it's,you know, if it, if it is where we're seeing, uh, a disproportional, urn,behavioral factor,that too is something that would be of a concern to me.And, and if it's resulting in not only higher arrests,but higher collisions and so on, I think that's something that could be looked at. Bergus: I know the report had a recommendation that we were going to get the exact, or that we should get the exact sort of coordinates of the stops. Is that something we will be able to implement? Liston: Yes.We --we currently do with the systems that we have in the vehicles that gives exact latitude and longitude through GPS. We do. Bergus: And so we can correlate that? Liston: Absolutely,yep. Bergus:And then so going forward data. Liston: Yes. Bergus: Excellent.Thank you. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 32 Salih: Anything else for November 4th? Okay. Last one, November 10th? Okay. Um, last item, [mumbled] your council update and assigned board and commissions. Uh,anyone can start, maybe you can start with...Janice? Council Updates on Assigned Boards, Commissions and Committees: Weiner: I just wanted to, um, it's not, it's not specifically an assigned board, although I might sort of loosely be associated with the CPRB. Um, I wanted to, I wanted to make a, uh,just basically a comment with respect to the, um,process involved in the, in the arrest that took place at, at City Hall about a week and a half ago. Urn,and I'm really what I'm focused on here is community building and judgment and, and what constitutes public safety. Urn,because to me, um,when faced with a similar situation, um, I would like, I would like law enforcement to look at a non-emergency situation through the dual lens of community building and public safety. So for example, is this person a flight risk? Um, if the answer is no,then you move on. Is there any danger of violence? If the answer is no,you move on, is there any way we can do this, um,that we will be respectful of this person and the process and not be disruptive, um, or have a chilling effect on others? Um, I think quite often the answer is,yes. So for example, can we simply tell this person, hello,you may not be aware of it,but this, this particular issue is out there and you should go take care of it as soon as possible. I mean,yes,we could. So I, in the interest,truly in the interest of our community and in building community policing, um, I think for, I think it's really necessary that people that, that police and other law enforcement be as, uh, as aware as possible of what is going on in the community,be aware of the optics, assuming there's not an emergency situation or, or some sense or some threat of violence or somebody fleeing, um, and they need, and they need to think about building relationships as well. So, uh, my bottom line is I'd really like to see them think about what's truly in the interest of public safety and moving the process forward, including community building, um, and when there's no emergency, when there's no emergency there, um, it strikes me that there, there ought to be the time and capacity to do that. Uh,and that's, uh,so I would really like to see improvement in that going forward. Salih: Pauline? Taylor: Um, Mayor Pro Tem Salih and I sit on the um Council Rules Committee.And as you saw in item 7d on the consent agenda, uh,we recommended approval of the proposed amendment changes, uh,to,um,the Board of Adjustment's procedural rules.And,and that was expanding public notification.And we saw that many times in some of our planning and zoning, uh, questions, people questioned,whether it was still 300 feet.And for the board of adjustment,we,we did accept that 500 feet is more,urn, more acceptable,uh, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 33 to do that, and it's not prohibited by law. Uh, also, uh, that the, uh, chair, which it seemed odd, uh,to allow the chair to move or second motions, apparently they're just one of a few, maybe one other, CPRB or so,that, that that's not allowed,but, uh,the chair, uh, allow to second motions.And also for multi-family units,we'd seen that with some of our notifications where, uh, it goes to the owner of the multi family complex.And, um,so the residents aren't aware of these changes, and they would be more aware of them than someone perhaps who doesn't even live in the area. Uh,so that was another very positive,uh, change that,that we approved of. Salih: Okay,John? Thomas: Nothing. Bergus: Um, the Iowa City Area Development group, ICAD, um, had their annual meeting a couple of weeks back and they are continuing to work with the project Better Together 2030, larger community visioning that is happening. So hopefully people have heard about that and continue to,uh,kind of keep an eye on it, keep a pulse on it as they're moving into,um,additional kind of engagement after a big community event that happened in October. Um, again, that's not just an ICAD initiative, but they are part of it. Kauble: Is this [expletive] it,are you not going to talk about the how the city government is targeting the TRC? Is this, is this all? I mean,Janice,you're complaining about optics.Why isn't,why aren't more of you talking about the ways that ICPD, Chief Liston, are targeting their political opponents? Salih: I, I don't have any things to report on,but I really want to echo what Councilor Weiner said,uh, I just believe that it was unfortunate what happened, happened the way it happened and beside building community,this is really are not building the trust among BIPOC community. Each time we say, oh, you know,we are really starting building that kind of trust,an incident,like someone is asking will come up and really break that trust again and give the, like the sense for the BIPOC community that,you know,this is not going nowhere.You know, I think we need as a city to really look closely on this. Especially at the Police Department, I hope this will be an eye opening for many thing that been happening there and continue to happen to certain people in the community. Uh, the discussion for this is not like,this is not, I don't think now, this is the time for it<indistinct arguing from public>but it has to be,uh,you know,just have to be like some,another time to discuss this, because we don't have that item on our agenda. Okay. Kauble: <inaudible> It is! This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021. Page 34 Salih: (gavel) Please -- Kauble: (shouting) the Chief is right here.You can ask him about how his officers -- Salih: Okay. Now I guess, uh, if nobody else have anything we have,we're going to adjourn this meeting, Kauble: This is [expletive]. Petersen: Dude. Salih:Anything else? Okay. Meeting adjourned. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of November 16, 2021.