On Monday night, we'll be voting on whether or not to create a new TIF District in South Cedar Falls (E-1 below), considering budget appropriations (G.2.a), the city's fee schedules (G.2.c), and pay for city staff (G.2.b), some changes to the River Place development agreement (G.2.s) and a few other items. Let me know if I should be concerned about areas where I list "no concern", and be sure to let me know why. Join us Monday night at 7pm at City Hall or on CFU Channel 15!
A. Call to Order by the Mayor.
B. Roll Call.
C. Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 7, 2018. City Council is approving that the minutes are an accurate reflection of what transpired at our last meeting, not on the merits of the discussions in that meeting.
D. Agenda Revisions.
E. Special Order of Business:
1. Continuation of the public hearing on a proposed plan for the proposed South Cedar Falls Urban Renewal Area. This would create a new TIF District for the land northeast of the Hudson Road / Ridgeway intersection. The "Urban Renewal" is a misnomer - it's actually designed for economic development. According the 2012 Comprhensive Plan's Land Use Development Map concept, this area was targeted for Industrial, but the actual uses being proposed are commercial/office. I'd like to know the expected impacts of this change in land use.
a. Oral comments.
2. Resolution determining an area of the City to be an economic development 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 South Cedar Falls Urban Renewal Plan. The Council is supposed to determine if the development of this area is "necessary in the interests of the public health, safety, or welfare" of residents of the city. I know I tend toward a higher bar of requirements for government intervention, so I'm concerned about whether this resolution actually meets this threshold. Is this resolution really "necessary" or is it just "advantageous"? Where do we set the bar?
3. Pass an ordinance providing that general property taxes levied and collected each year on all property located within the South Cedar Falls Urban Renewal Area in the City of Cedar Falls, County of Black Hawk, State of Iowa, by and for the benefit of the State of Iowa, City of Cedar Falls, County of Black Hawk, Cedar Falls Community School District, Hudson Community School District, and other taxing districts, be paid to a special fund for payment of principal and interest on loans, monies advanced to and indebtedness, including bonds issued or to be issued, incurred by the City in connection with the South Cedar Falls Urban Renewal Area, upon its first consideration. This ordinance would be required, if we pass #2, to handle the taxing requirements of the new TIF district.
F. Old Business:
1. Pass Ordinance #2923, providing that general property taxes levied and collected each year on all property located within the amended Cedar Falls Unified Highway 58 Corridor Urban Renewal Area, in the City of Cedar Falls, by and for the benefit of the State of Iowa, City of Cedar Falls, County of Black Hawk, Cedar Falls Community School District, Hudson Community School District, and other taxing districts, be paid to a special fund for payment of principal and interest on loans, monies advanced to and indebtedness, including bonds issued or to be issued, incurred by the city in connection with the amended Cedar Falls Unified Highway 58 Corridor Urban Renewal Area (Amendment No. 4 to the Cedar Falls Unified Highway 58 Corridor Urban Renewal Plan), upon its second consideration. Also part of changing the recipient of property tax dollars from the taxing agencies to a special fund for developing that area -- this time in the 58 Corridor Unified TIF District.
2. Pass Ordinance #2924, amending Chapter 27, Utilities, of the Code of Ordinances, relative to sanitary sewer rates, upon its second consideration. We voted on this last session; I have no concerns about this. It needs approval this week and in the next session in order to become an official ordinance.
3. Pass Ordinance #2925, amending Chapter 27, Utilities, of the Code of Ordinances, relative to storm water management rates, upon its second consideration. This is also the second of three readings; will take another reading next session to become an ordinance.
G. New Business:
1. 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.)
a. Approve the following recommendations of the Mayor relative to the appointment of members to Boards and Commissions: The mayor appoints the members, and the council approves the appointments.
(1) Katy Susong, Board of Appeals, indefinite term.
(2) Phyllis Carter, Community Center & Senior Services Board, term ending 06/30/2021.
(3) Betty Danielson, Community Center & Senior Services Board, term ending 06/30/2021.
(4) Clare Struck, Parks & Recreation Commission, term ending 06/30/2021.
(5) Mary Carlson, Visitors & Tourism Board, term ending 07/01/2021.
(6) Annie Gougler, Visitors & Tourism Board, term ending 07/01/2021.
(7) Leslie Prideaux, Visitors & Tourism Board, term ending 07/01/2021.
b. Receive and file the Committee of the Whole minutes of May 7, 2018 relative to the following items: City Council is approving that the minutes are an accurate reflection of what transpired at our last meeting, not on the merits of the discussions in that meeting.
(1) Public Safety Awards.
(2) University Avenue Update.
(3) Bills & Payroll.
c. Receive and file the bids received for the Center Street Recreational Trail Project. No concerns; I need to find out what "DBE" stands for in Document #2.
d. Receive and file the plans, specifications, form of contract & estimate of cost for the 2018 Public Sidewalk & Pedestrian Trail Improvement Project. This is a memo for approving the Plans, Specifications and Estimate of Cost and Quantities, but without actually providing the document. I'll need to go to City Hall on Monday to actually see the documents. I'd love for them to be available in the packets themselves.
e. Approve the following special event related requests: No concerns.
(1) Street closure, College Street, June 7, 2018 (with an alternate date of June 14, 2018).
(2) Street closure, East 10th Street, June 8, 2018.
(3) Parking variances, College Hill Arts Festival, June 15-16, 2018.
(4) Street closures & parking variances, Gran Fondo Cedar Valley Bike Ride & FondoFest, August 18, 2018.
f. Approve the following applications for cigarette/tobacco/nicotine/vapor permits: No concerns about the permitting, only for the many health hazards of smoking. Every day is the right day to quit!
(1) B & B West, 3105 Hudson Road.
(2) Casey's General Store, 2425 Center Street.
(3) Casey's General Store, 5226 University Avenue.
(4) Casey's General Store, 5908 Nordic Drive.
(5) Casey's General Store, 601 Main Street.
(6) Casey's General Store, 1225 Fountains Way.
(7) Electric Underground, 5901 University Avenue.
(8) Prime Mart, 2728 Center Street.
(9) Thunder Ridge Ampride, 2425 Whitetail Drive.
(10) Walgreens, 2509 Whitetail Drive.
g. Approve the following applications for liquor licenses: No concerns.
(1) Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Café, 6507 University Avenue, Class C liquor & outdoor service - renewal.
(2) Harry's Five and Dime, 123 Main Street, Class C liquor - renewal.
(3) Montage, 222-224 Main Street, Class C liquor, Class B wine & outdoor service - renewal.
(4) Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom, College Square Mall, Class C liquor & outdoor service - renewal.
(5) The Other Place, 2214 College Street, Class C liquor - renewal.
(6) Hy-Vee Food Store, 6301 University Avenue, Class E liquor.
2. 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.)
a. Resolution rescheduling the date of the regularly scheduled Cedar Falls City Council meeting of July 2, 2018 to July 9, 2018. No concerns.
b. Resolution approving and adopting the City's FY19 Budget Appropriations. This is a REALLY useful document, as a simple way to see where we're putting our money, and what we're projecting for revenues. All city policies come down to money -- for administration, and for actual execution. Council is required to approve the final appropriations, and I foresee some useful discussions in the years ahead for how we're spending your money.
c. Resolution approving and adopting the City's FY19 Payroll Resolution. This resolution approves salaries for the staff for this fiscal year, and also includes the new pay banding that the Council worked through in our work session earlier this year. No concerns, I do want to find out what the "Workshop Session Event" document means. Is this the rate that we pay city staff for doing extra, or when we hire outside people for work, or what?
d. Resolution approving and adopting the City's FY19 Fee Schedule. The fee schedule lists all the charges that will be made for services. I have two items to bring up with this schedule (1) On Page 15, it says we charge $25 for 'street meetings', i.e. the use of barracades to close off streets for block parties. I would like this to be waived for neighborhood get togethers, because I believe that it's strategic for the city to encourage these activities. (2) The fee schedule lists on Page 12 the fees for rec center memberships. City councilors only pay $20 for a family membership, which costs $220 annually for other residents. I believe it's unfair for council to pay a lower rate than our constituents, and I don't know of a better time to bring this up as an issue than when talking about fees (even though it's not actually listed in the doc).
e. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Lease Agreement with the Cedar Falls Historical Society relative to the Behrens/Rapp Gas Station. An interesting writeup of the gas station's history, and how it came to be located on public property. Learning the "nuts and bolts" of how our city works is an especially fun aspect of being on Council.
f. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Lease Agreement with the Cedar Falls Historical Society relative to the Bennington Township Schoolhouse. An updated lease, similar to the gas station. I do wonder if it makes sense to keep the schoolhouse in its current location, due to the changes on the riverfront...but that's a discussion for another day!
g. Resolution approving and accepting the low bid of K. Cunningham Construction Company, Inc., in the amount of $457,535.03, for the Center Street Recreational Trail Project. This allows the rec trail project to move forward.
h. Resolution approving and accepting the contract and bond of Peterson Contractors, Inc. for the Campus Street Box Culvert Project. We've dicussed this in previous council meetings; this just allows the work to move forward..
i. Resolution approving and accepting the contract and bond of Benton's Sand & Gravel, Inc. for the 2018 Permeable Alley Project. We approved the project in the last council session, so this is the formal contract.
j. Resolution approving and accepting the low bid, and approving and authorizing execution of two Rehabilitation Contracts with Kirvan Enterprises LLC, relative to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) housing rehabilitation projects. This puts about $20K of Federal grant dollars into two properties located in the Sartori Park and Clay Street Park area, two of Cedar Falls's original neighborhoods. These funds will go toward lead abatement and other aids for these owner-occupied homes. No concerns.
k .Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Subcontract for Consulting Services with Tallgrass Archaeology LLC relative to a Certified Local Government Grant to prepare a nomination for the Wild Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places. This obligates $5K of Federal grant funds to a consulting company to prepare a a nomination package. The money was specifically given to the city for this purpose, so I have no concerns.
l. Resolution approving the River Place 3rd Addition Lot 4 Minor Plat. We reviewed these plans in the last council session; I voted to approve last time. Parking came up as a concern in our last meeting, and Community Main Street is addressing this in their Strategic Plan this summer. I have no concerns for the layout of the plat.
n. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Programming Agreement with Black Hawk County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) relative to the reconstruction of the Union Road recreational trail. As I understand it, this grant would build a new trail, it's not a 'reconstruction' of an existing trail. I support this as a means of providing greater access to the community from the mobile home park on Union Road (they're REALLY isolated) as well as for runners, bikers and joggers in the new Union Road subdivisions.
o. Resolution approving an amendment to the preliminary plat and phasing plan for The Arbors. No concerns.
p. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Keep Vacant Agreement for property located at 714 West 1st Street, in conjunction with the West 1st Street Reconstruction Project. City staff says it's cheaper to pay $1600/mo to the owner of this rental to keep the property empty, rather than to pay to move a tenant out later on (the I believe the building will be demolished). I'm wondering why we don't just buy the property now, if we know it will have to come down for the reconstruction.
r. Resolution of support for Community Main Street, Inc. and approving and authorizing execution of a Main Street Iowa Program Agreement with the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Community Main Street, Inc. This is how Community Main Street derives its authority in downtown Cedar Falls; an interesting read. No concerns.
s. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Second Amendment to Agreement for Private Development with River Place Properties LC relative to the River Place Development Project. This document accounts for some necessary changes to the River Place plans; I have no concerns with the changes. The Amendment provides significant detail into the whole project (timelines, building features, parking, etc)...it's the best single document I've found for this information. Importantly, it shows that between the residential properties and the hotels, it would mean five hundred people "overnighting" in Downtown that weren't there in 2012...significant opportunities and needs (grocery especially) for a proper downtown neighborhood. I hope we capitalize on that.
t. Resolution setting June 4, 2018 as the date of public hearing on the proposed plans, specifications, form of contract & estimate of cost for the 2018 Public Sidewalk & Pedestrian Trail Improvement Project. This just allows us to set the hearing date.
3. Pass an ordinance amending Chapter 26, Traffic and Motor Vehicles, of the Code of Ordinances relative to establishing a 35 miles per hour speed limit on Greenhill Road from Hudson Road to West 27th Street, upon its first consideration. No concerns; this seems to be a reasonable speed for this corridor.
H. Allow Bills and Payroll. No concerns.
I. City Council Referrals. No referrals.
J. City Council Updates. No updates.
K. Public Forum. (Speakers will have one opportunity to speak for up to 5 minutes on topics germane to City business.)
L. Adjournment.
| Council Packet Link | |
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| Meeting Date | 05/21/18 |
