At the 7pm regular council meeting Monday night, the city council will be deciding whether to fill the vacant City Council (at Large) seat by an appointment or special election (Item #33). It also is considering changes to the city's parking regulations (Item #32), hiring a consultant for modernizing the zoning code on College Hill (Item #27), going ahead with the $2.5M downtown streetscaping project (Items #2&3), and appointing an Acting Police Chief (Item #16). Lots of other items on the consent and resolution calendar as well.
Prior to this, at 5pm we'll meet to discuss upcoming projects in the Capital Improvements Program (CIP), which are typically major expenses not part of the city's regular operating budget. We also have an hour set aside for a presentation on Conflict of Interests, Ex Parte, and the Role of Elected Officials. Finally we'll spend some time learning about MET Transit's plans to restructure the metropolitan bus routes, and approve bills and payroll.
It will be my first night as the presiding official -- I'll try not to make it look like it. Hope you can join us in person at City Hall, on CFU Channel 15, or streaming live on YouTube. Also, keep an ear out for my quick council meeting video/audio recap Tuesday morning at http://mayorsoffice.buzzsprout.com/ (no account needed to listen). And thanks for working to be an informed and engaged resident!
Call to Order by the Mayor
Roll Call
Approval of Minutes
1. Regular Meeting of December 16, 2019. Simply approves the minutes an accurate reflection of what transpired at the meeting. rather than as an opportunity to debate the merits of the agenda items themselves. No questions.
Agenda Revisions
Special Order of Business
2. Public hearing on proposed plans, specifications, form of contract & estimate of cost for the Downtown Streetscape and Reconstruction Project. The public has the opportunity to weigh in on this project by letter, e-mail or in person tonight.
a) Receive and file proof of publication of notice of hearing. (Notice published December 20, 2019)
b) Written communications filed with the City Clerk.
c) Oral comments.
3. Resolution approving and adopting the plans, specifications, form of contract & estimate of cost for the Downtown Streetscape and Reconstruction Project. Voting "yes" would allow the city to move forward with the rebuilding of our existing parkade and the expansion of the parkade "feel' out to Washington Street. This $2.5M project will be paid for via downtown TIF district funds, private fundraising via Community Main Street, the BHC Gaming Commission, and Cedar Falls Utilities -- not general obligation (GO) funds. I have no questions about the cost estimates.
4. Public hearing on proposed Amendment No. 1 to the College Hill Urban Renewal Plan. This is the public's opportunity to weigh in on this proposed resolution.
a) Receive and file proof of publication of notice of hearing. (Notice published December 19, 2019)
b) Written communications filed with the City Clerk.
c) Oral comments.
5. Resolution determining an area of the City to be an economic and blighted area, and that the rehabilitation, conservation, redevelopment, development or a combination thereof, of such area is necessary in the interest of the public health, safety or welfare of the residents of the City; designating such area as appropriate for urban renewal projects; and adopting the Amendment No. 1 to the College Hill Urban Renewal Plan. This resolution simply adds proposed future projects to the College Hill Urban Renewal plan on pages 29-32; it does not authorize those projects (those approvals will require individual council votes) but allows for planning and budgeting projections to be prepared. Neither Black Hawk County nor the School District chose to attend the mandated "consultation session" on 12/10/2019; I'll ask why they declined to attend.
6. Public hearing on proposed rezoning from R-1, Residence District, to C-1, Commercial District, of property located at 4911 University Avenue. This is the public's opportunity to weigh in on this zoning change proposal request.
a) Receive and file proof of publication of notice of hearing. (Notice published December 27, 2019)
b) Written communications filed with the City Clerk.
c) Oral comments.
7. Pass an ordinance amending Section 26-118 of the Code of Ordinances by removing property located at 4911 University Avenue from the R-1, Residence District, and placing the same in the C-1, Commercial District, pursuant to provisions of a conditional zoning agreement, upon its first consideration. The petitioner requests to have a property on University changed from residential to commercial; it's just a thin sliver of R-1, surrounded by commercial properties along University. No questions about the change, which conforms to the Future Land Use Map.
Old Business
8. Pass Ordinance #2960, recreating the College Hill Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), upon its second consideration. We discussed this in a previous meeting, to renew College Hill's ability to have a self-imposed tax to improve that district. No questions.
New Business
Consent Calendar: (The following items will be acted upon by voice vote on a single motion without separate discussion, unless someone from the Council or public requests that a specific item be considered separately.)
9. Receive and file the resignation of Robert M. Green as Cedar Falls City Council Member At Large. Legally, you can't be both mayor and on city council, so resigned my council seat on January 2nd at noon -- the start date/time for the mayor position. I had considered resigning earlier (like in November) to get the seat filled sooner, but there seemed to be no overall benefit in that....I believe the seat still would have been vacant for the same period of time.
10. Receive and file the report of the Mayor relative to the appointment of the Mayor Pro Tempore. No questions (there better not be...I wrote that memo!). By law, I have to appoint a pro tem to serve in my declared absence (most likely, vacation or distant work trips). I chose Frank Darrah for the reasons described in the memo.
11. Receive and file the report of the Mayor relative to the appointment of the Administration, Public Works and Community Relations and Planning Committees. By ordinance, I also have to appoint the members of the standing committees. I chose not to make any changes to the chairs of those committees at this time.
12. Receive and file the City Council Goal Setting Report of December 9, 2019 and December 10, 2019. I HIGHLY encourage reading this, if you want to know what's being discussed by Council in our annual goal setting sessions (it's page 65-76). Where you see numbers in parentheses, that's the number of council members who mentioned a specific intiative or action in their one-on-one interview...not the number of council members who agreed that the 'thing' should be done. In 7c (page 68) I believe this should read "Exploring the establishment of a University Avenue Urban Revitalization District." rather than Downtown...this is an important initiative and I want to make sure there's no confusion. Check out, also, the plan for a Work Session for the PSO History and current reality -- it's 20e page 69. It wouldn't be a public forum, but as Mayor it will be paramount that I have a means to ensure that "both sides" are heard.
13. Receive and file the Abstract of Votes for the November 5, 2019 Municipal Election and the December 3, 2019 Municipal Runoff Election. Simply verifies and records the final vote counts for the recent elections. No questions.
14. Receive and file Departmental Monthly Reports of November 2019. [NOT YET READ.] As Mayor & CEO, I have to more responsibility for what's in these reports than I did as a city councilor. For this meeting, I was not given these reports until they appeared in the council packet. But since by City Ordinance 2-187(b)7 I'm required to make oral or written reports to the city council at the first meeting of the month, it follows that these departmental reports must be signed off by the Mayor BEFORE appearing in the packet. I'll make that change prior to next month's meeting.
15. Approve the following applications for liquor licenses: City Council is the approving authority for all alcohol permits. No questions.
a) Cedar Falls Family Restaurant, 2627 Center Street, Special Class C liquor - renewal.
b) Fraternal Order of Eagles, 2125 West Lone Tree Road, Class C liquor & outdoor service - change in ownership.
Resolution Calendar: (The following items will be acted upon by roll call vote on a single motion without separate discussion, unless someone from the Council or public requests that a specific item be considered separately.)
16. Resolution approving the recommendation of the Director of Public Safety Services and City Administrator by appointing Craig Berte as Acting Police Chief. This resolution complies with the city code for the appointment of an acting police chief; as Director Olson has resigned as police chief and is now only the Director of Public Safety. I will need to ask if this restructuring required council approval, and if so, when that approval was granted. I am not aware of a council-approved separation of the Director of Public Safety and Police Chief Roles. It was noted as being part of the Goal Setting process, but I do not recall the council approving it, and no mention is made of police chief changes in Item #12 above.
[1/5/20 UPDATE] Reviewing the ordinances, Section 2-918(b) grants the Public Safety Director the authority to appoint a separate Police Chief and Fire Chief; it also states that the Director 'may' serve as the Police Chief or Fire Chief, but since it's not a 'shall', it's not a requirement. The way I read it, since authority is already granted, no additional council approval was necessary, so that answers my concern from the above. I would note that, for any "acting" or "interim" position in the city, this is not an indication that the person is the 'heir apparent' for that position; simply a steward of the role until the appointment of the new director, chief, etc. A healthy national search process should still be conducted for those critical roles, with no assumptions made that the interim designation is just a formality.
17. Resolution approving and adopting certain revised Personnel Policies. For page 162, I will ask what the difference is between accrued and approved vacation time. No other questions about the proposed changes.
18. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Contracted Education Proposal with Black Hawk County Conservation/Hartman Reserve Nature Center and the cities of Elk Run Heights, Evansdale, Hudson, Raymond and Waterloo relative to providing public outreach and educational programs related to improving water quality and stormwater runoff. Grants $1.6K from the Stormwater Fund for educational outreach efforts at the Hartman Reserve. This action allows the city to meet its obligations under federal permitting.
19. Resolution approving and accepting completion of public improvements in Sands Addition. No questions about the acceptance of these public improvements in this subdivision.
20. Resolution approving the Certificate of Completion and accepting the work of Minturn, Inc. for the 2019 Bridge Maintenance Project. This releases $194K to Minturn for successful completion of this project. No questions.
21. Resolution approving the Certificate of Completion and accepting the work of S.M. Hentges & Sons Inc. for the Dry Run Creek Sanitary Sewer Improvements Project, Phase 2. This accepts the completed major sewer project for a total of $3.79M and releases payment to the contractor. No questions.
22. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Professional Service Agreement with AECOM Technical Services, Inc. for the Olive Street Box Culvert Replacement Project. Approval will allocate $166K for the design of a box culvert (i.e. mini-bridge) along Dry Run Creek at Olive Street; that project is budgeted at a total of $1.01M. In these cover memos, I would like to see greater specificity in the number (and ideally, names) which companies submitted bids. I'll ask staff what 'rules' are used to decide how this kind of information appears on the memos.
23. Resolution approving and accepting a Temporary Easement from CF Gateway Park, Inc., in conjunction with Gateway Business Park at Cedar Falls I. #23 and #24 are related - this pays the property owner $1 for a temporary easement so that the city can construct a recreation trail on Hudson Road. No questions.
24. Resolution approving and accepting a Temporary Easement from Shri Mahaganapati and Hanumanta, Inc., in conjunction with Gateway Business Park at Cedar Falls I. Same as #23. No questions.
25. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a First Amendment to Developmental Procedures Agreement with CF Gateway Park, Inc. relative to Gateway Business Park at Cedar Falls I. As I understand it, this resolution releases the developer from the previously-agreed obligation to build a segment of recreational trail, in exchange for paying the city about $22K for the city to take care of this at a later date. Would this render the whole trail area unusable, since trail users couldn't pass through this area? Is a safety hazard created if the trail users are forced to access the roadway?
26. Resolution approving and accepting completion of public improvements in Gateway Business Park at Cedar Falls I. (contingent upon approval of related First Amendment to Developmental Procedures Agreement). This resolution, if #25 is approved, would allow the developer to move ahead with their project in this area.
27. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of Supplemental Agreement No. 1 to the Professional Service Agreement with Ferrell Madden, LLC for the College Hill Area Study Amendment relative to the Cedar Falls Visioning & Zoning Code Update Project. Approval will allow the city to contract with the same consultant as did the Downtown Visioning Plan, for the College Hill area. This is a critical project with decades of potential impact. The contract is for $165K, through College Hill TIF funds and general revenue funds. My only question is why we wouldn't consider the campus proper as "College Hill" for the purposes of this study, as shown on Page 405. Otherwise, we end up with a weird "pandhandle" down by Panther Lane. Also, I noticed that the boundary for the study goes all the way up to 12th Street, which has traditionally been considered Overman Park. I'll wish to make clear that these areas under study aren't all part of what we'd consider the "College Hill Neighborhood".
28. Resolution setting January 20, 2020 as the date of public hearing on the proposed FY2020-FY2025 Capital Improvements Program (CIP). No questions about the date.
29. Resolution setting January 20, 2020 as the date of public hearing to consider entering into a proposed Agreement for Private Development with SDC Real Estate, L.L.C. No questions about the date.
30. Resolution setting January 20, 2020 as the date of public hearing to consider entering into a proposed Second Agreement for Private Development with Standard Distribution Co.No questions about the date.
31. Resolution setting January 20, 2020 as the date of public hearing to consider entering into a proposed Amended and Restated Agreement for Private Development with Owen 5, L.L.C. No questions about the date.
Ordinances
32. Pass an ordinance amending Chapter 23, Traffic and Motor Vehicles, of the Code of Ordinances relative to establishing parking regulations, in conjunction with the implementation of recommendations from the Downtown and College Hill parking studies, upon its first consideration. This ordinance revision contains some significant changes. I've skimmed it, but will have to go back and read it in detail on Monday to make sure I understand it.
Fill Council Vacancy
This item (begins page 446) gives the rules for how my city council (at large) seat may be filled, as per state law. Some residents and council just want an appointment in order to save time and money; other residents want a general election, which would hopefully coincide with the Cedar Falls School Election on March 3rd.
33. Resolution approving the filling of the At-Large City Council vacancy by appointment, directing publication of notice of the same, and establishing the application filing deadline and date of appointment. If this one passes, then residents can be nominated for appointment, beginning at the January 20th council meeting. The council would have 50 days to fill the seat via appointment. The public can then also send in a petition of 1000 resident signatures to force the special election to occur (though council could still appoint someone temporarily if it chooses).
OR
Resolution calling for a special election to fill the At-Large City Council vacancy. If this is the one that passes, then the special election would be held, and no 1000-signature petition would be necessary.
My one procedural question is, if the first measure doesn't pass, does the second measure automatically get adopted? I'll ask.
Allow Bills and Payroll
34. Allow Bills and Payroll of January 6, 2020. No questions.
City Council Referrals
City Council Updates
Public Forum. (Speakers will have one opportunity to speak for up to 5 minutes on topics germane to City business.)
Adjournment
| Council Packet Link | |
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| Meeting Date | 01/06/20 |
