Happy Labor Day Weekend! In this council meeting (which will be on TUESDAY rather than Monday night), we don't appear to have any major items likely to stir controversy. I do have a question about the math for proposed fall/winter bus service (Item #20) and a few other minor questions. We'll also be voting on a new ordinance to change our 48 hour parking rules (Item#26), in its first of three readings, At 6:25, we'll also be holding a Committee of the Whole meeting to interview Amanda Lynch (Wellness Director @ Western Home Communities) for a position on the Planning & Zoning Commission. Both meetings will be televised on Channel 15 and streaming via YouTube, or join us in person at City Hall!
Call to Order by the Mayor
Roll Call
Approval of Minutes
1. Regular Meeting of August 19, 2019. Simply enters these minutes into the record as an accurate reflection of what transpired at the meeting. No questions.
Agenda Revisions
Old Business
2. Pass Ordinance #2953, amending Ordinance No. 1923, 2122, 2461, 2696, 2785 and 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, 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, Dike-New Hartford 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 Amendment No. 5 to the Cedar Falls Unified Highway 58 Corridor Urban Renewal Area, upon its third & final consideration. Adds this section of land to the 58 Corridor TIF 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.)
3. Approve the recommendation of the Mayor relative to the appointment of Craig Schwerdtfeger to the Community Center & Senior Services Board, term ending 06/30/2022. The mayor appoints board and commission members with the consent of council. No questions.
4. Receive and file the Committee of the Whole minutes of August 19, 2019 relative to the following items: Simply enters these minutes into the record as an accurate reflection of what transpired at the meeting. No questions.
a) Cedar River Recreation Enhancement.
b) Visitors & Tourism Division Update.
c) Cultural Programs Annual Update.
d) Bills & Payroll.
5. Receive and file a communication from the Civil Service Commission relative to a certified list for the position of Planner II. Two city staff members tested for promotion. No questions.
6. Receive and file Departmental Monthly Reports of July 2019. These are comprehensive listings of city actions. The police reports are always eye-opening! No questions for staff at this time.
7. Approve the application of Cypress Lounge, 209 State Street, for a cigarette/tobacco/nicotine/vapor permit. The council is the approving authority for these kinds of permits. No questions.
8. Approve the following applications for beer permits and liquor licenses: The council is the approving authority for these kinds of permits. No questions.
a) Sidecar Coffee, 2215 College Street, Special Class C liquor & outdoor service - renewal.
b) Hilton Garden Inn, 7213 Nordic Drive, Class B liquor, Class B native wine & outdoor service - renewal.
c) Wilbo, 118 Main Street, Class C liquor - renewal. 1
d) Great Wall, 2125 College Street, Class E liquor - renewal.
e) Casey's General Store, 5908 Nordic Drive, Class C beer & Class B wine - change in ownership.
f) Casey's General Store, 601 Main Street, Class E liquor - change in ownership.
g) Casey's General Store, 1225 Fountains Way, Class E liquor - change in ownership.
h) Casey's General Store, 2425 Center Street, Class E liquor - change in ownership.
i) Casey's General Store, 5226 University Avenue, Class E liquor - change in ownership.
j) Amvets, 1934 Irving Street, Class A liquor & outdoor service - temporary expansion of outdoor service area. (September 13-15, 2019)
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.)
9. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Landlord Estoppel, Consent and Agreement between the City, the Board of Trustees of the Municipal Electric Utility, and Cedar Falls Solar Farm, LLC, relative to a Lease Agreement for the use of certain city-owned property located at 800 Viking Road as a solar garden. First I'd ever seen the term 'estoppel' before. This resolution is meant to allow the Calfornia-based owner of the solar farm equipment to obtain bank financing, while protecting the city's interests. No questions.
10. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Standard Form of Agreement with Failor Hurley Construction for The Falls Aquatic Center - Pump Building and Dumpster Enclosure Renovation Project. This will put $110K in taxpayer funds toward improving the pump building at the Falls. No questions.
11. Resolution approving and adopting the Cedar Falls Tourism & Visitors Bureau Strategic Plan for 2019-2022. (Starts on page 176) No questions for the council meeting, but I will ask for a meeting with the Visitors & Tourism Bureau to better understand the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which led to the goals and objectives described in this plan. Ideally, this information should be included in the plan itself so all stakeholders can better understand the context of the plan.
12. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Professional Service Agreement with Zimmerman, Laurent & Richardson, Inc., d/b/a ZLR Ignition, for digital advertising. Council is being asked to expend $25K in taxpayer funds for ads on Facebook and other Social Media outlets. I would like to know how we tracked the success of similar campaigns in the past, and if we'll be using similar metrics this time around.
13. Resolution approving and authorizing the expenditure of funds for the purchase of an aerial boom truck. $147K in taxpayer funds are being requested by Public Works to replace a 20 year old aerial boom truck which has failed. This is just a move-up from a previously scheduled replacement in 2021. No questions about the purchase; I'm curious to know what will happen to the older truck (Sell? Spare parts? Scrap?).
14. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of an agreement with INVISION Architecture, LTD for design services relative to the City Hall Remodel Project. (Pages 208-249) 15K in taxpayer funds is requested for a design of a City Hall remodel. With Police Ops now out of the lower floor, this area can be repurposed for other city operations. I will be following this project closely to ensure that the resulting design retains City Hall as the true 'seat' of government in Cedar Falls, and is welcoming and accessible for civic engagement. No questions about the design fee.
15. Resolution receiving and filing the bids, and approving and accepting the low bid of Vieth Construction Corporation, in the amount of $224,575.00, for the 2019 Peter Melendy Park Renovation Project. $225K in taxpayer funds is being requested for the rebuild of the triangular park across 1st Street from Downtown. This park is a centerpiece for Cedar Falls, and comes in under the engineer's estimate. We approved design mockups in our last council meeting; no questions about the project.
16. Resolution approving and accepting the contract and bond of Vieth Construction Corporation for the 2019 Peter Melendy Park Renovation Project. This allows the project to move forward. No questions.
17. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Storm Water Maintenance and Repair Agreement with Owen5, LLC relative to a post-construction stormwater management plan for Lot 16, Northern Cedar Falls Industrial Park Phase I. These plans are required for new properties, to ensure rainfall can drain from the property without negatively impacting neighboring properties. This one is for a new business property in the Northern Cedar Falls Industrial Park. No questions.
18. Resolution approving a public improvement, authorizing acquisition of private property for said project, and establishing just compensation, in conjunction with the 2018 Street Construction Project. This is a temporary easement acquisition on Cyber Lane. No questions.
19. Resolution approving and accepting a Lien Notice and Special Promissory Note for property located at 1931 Iowa Street relative to the Rental to Single Family Owner Conversion Incentive Program. The city provides a $10 forgivable loan to qualifying properties to carry out exterior improvements. We don't usually see tree removals in these requests ($350 worth) but the program allows up to $1000 to go toward landscaping. It's always great to see these investments in our original neighborhoods. No questions.
20. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Transportation Services Agreement with Metropolitan Transit Authority of Black Hawk County (MET Transit) for downtown shuttle services from September 5, 2019 thru January 18, 2020. Council is being asked to spend up to $10.7K in taxpayer funds (with Community Main Street covering up to 25% of that) on bus service over to the Gateway Park parking area. The summer period cost taxpayers $6,450 and resulted in 176 free rides, so each ride cost taxpayers $36.64. If we assume each person took the shuttle to and from their vehicle at a Gateway Park (the purpose of the shuttle), that's 88 people over 39 possible nights, or 2.2 people a day. In our last Council Session, the council approved an agreement with Viking Pump to use 69 spaces in their lot on 4th and State, and now the city is on the hook for maintaining that lot. Given the 69 new usable spaces in that lot, and the average 2 downtown visitors per night on the buses, is the $10.7K expense a wise decision?
21. Resolution approving and authorizing a Memorandum of Agreement for Professional Support for Housing Choice Voucher Program with the Iowa Northland Regional Council of Governments (INRCOG) relative to the City's Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. Council is being asked to pay INRCOG $90/hr for part-time support for our Section 8 program November, by which time the City intends to have a full-time staff in place to administer the program again. No questions.
22. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Termination of Real Estate Purchase Agreement with DS Warehouse, LLC relative to Lot 1, West Viking Road Industrial Park, Phase I. DS Warehouse was given land for free in the Industrial Park, but wasn't able to carry out their building project. So the city is taking back this land , and will offer it to another development project. No questions.
23. Resolution supplementing Resolution #21,663, being a resolution approving the voluntary annexation of property to the City of Cedar Falls which lies within two (2) miles of the corporate boundaries of the City of Hudson. This corrects with an administrative oversight about taxing authority for the newly annexed property. No questions.
24. Resolution setting September 16, 2019 as the date of public hearing on a proposed amendment to the Future Land Use Map by changing the designation from Greenways/Floodplain and Neighborhood Commercial to Low Density Residential for property located in the vicinity of 1700-2000 Union Road. No questions about the date.
25. Resolution setting September 16, 2019 as the date of public hearing on the proposed rezoning from A-1, Agricultural, to R-1, Residential District, of property located in the vicinity of 1700-2000 Union Road. No questions about the date.
Ordinances
26. Pass an ordinance amending Chapter 23, Traffic and Motor Vehicles, of the Code of Ordinances relative to 48-hour parking on city streets, upon its first consideration. This ordinance change is intended to address complaints about trailers, boats, etc. parked on city streets more or less "permanently". One way people are getting around the 48-hour rule is to move the trailer or vehicle a couple of feet, so that the vehicle legally has been "moved" and starting a new 48-hour timer. It was proposed by a council member last session to require that the vehicle/trailer be placed at least 2500 feet away. How will this be tracked? What if it's only 1000 feet? Can the city legally prove it? Will the city be in the business of tracking the location of vehicles? In short, is this an enforceable ordinance?
Allow Bills and Payroll
27. Allow Bills and Payroll of September 3, 2019. No questions.
City Council Referrals
28. Refer to city staff a request to develop a policy which names city streets after the annually-awarded Representative Citizens of Cedar Falls. I brought this forward as a discussion point for council, since new subdivisions are being proposed for the city. I look forward to hearing councils' thoughts on the idea.
29. Refer to the Committee of the Whole a request to designate the Public Safety Facility as Cedar Falls Public Safety Center. I also brought this referral forward, since I hear this complex called lots of different names. It doesn't seem that a formal name has been decided yet, so thought I'd propose one.
30. Refer to the Art & Culture Board/Public Art Committee, to work with the Community Development Department to incorporate a plaque in honor of Barbara Brown into the Main Street streetscape design. Barbara Brown recently passed away, and as a civic leader did much for the arts in Cedar Falls. I look forward to this discussion as well.
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 | 09/03/19 |
