This Monday night's 7pm city council meeting is mostly routine. Notably in Item #3, the City Council is being asked to consider changing the Downtown Character District zoning rules to grant exceptions if the applicant is an institutional use (like churches, in this case). The council will also consider the four-way-stop at Lone Tree Road on its second of three required readings (Item 8).
At 5:15, the Community Development Committee will recieve a 20 minute update from the Cedar Falls Economic Development Corporation, a presentation on the transition of the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee to a formal city commission, and a review of the city's Comprehensive Plan.
I hope you can join us in person in the city council chambers, online on YouTube, or live on Channel 15. Thanks as always for doing the hard work to be an informed and engaged resident!
Call to Order by the Mayor
Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance
Approval of Minutes
1. Regular meeting of August 7, 2023.
Agenda Revisions
Special Presentations
Public Forum. (Speakers will have one opportunity to speak for up to 5 minutes on topics relevant to City business.)
Staff Updates
Special Order of Business
2. Public hearing on the proposed conveyance of certain vacated city right-of-way along Hudson Road. This would transfer ownership of city property to a homeowner with land adjacent, for the fair market value of $7000.
a) Receive and file proof of publication of notice of hearing. (Notice published 08/12/2023)
b) Written communications filed with the City Clerk.
c) Staff comments.
d) Public comments.
e) Resolution approving the conveyance and authorizing execution of a Quit Claim Deed conveying certain vacated city right-of-way along Hudson Road to David and Tamara Nicol.
3. Public hearing on proposed amendments to Chapter 26, Zoning, of the Code of Ordinances relative to parking requirements for institutional uses in the Downtown Character District (CD-DT). This is a very interesting situation, where the P&Z recommended denial of the proposed code update in a 2-5 vote. This means the council would need five votes to override the P&Z recommendation. I can see the merits of granting an exemption to this property, but I also appreciate the P&Z's logic in maintaining the two-story requirement building height requirement in order to foster the desired character of an expanding and thriving downtown. I'll look forward to the council discussion on this topic.
a) Receive and file proof of publication of notice of hearing. (Notice published 08/12/2023)
b) Written communications filed with the City Clerk.
c) Staff comments.
d) Public comments.
e) Pass an ordinance amending Chapter 26, Zoning, of the Code of Ordinances relative to parking requirements for institutional uses in the Downtown Character District (CD-DT), upon its first consideration. (requires 5 aye votes)
Old Business
4. Pass Ordinance #3036, amending Chapter 3, Advertising, of the Code of Ordinances relative to political signs, upon its third & final consideration. This would eliminate the requirement to get a permit to post political signs.
5. Pass Ordinance #3037, amending Chapter 2, Administration, of the Code of Ordinances relative to salaries for elected officials, upon its third & final consideration. This would increase each council member's pay by about $1500 per year.
6. Pass Ordinance #3038, amending Chapter 23, Traffic and Motor Vehicles, of the Code of Ordinances relative to establishing temporary long-term daily permits for municipal parking lots or facilities, upon its second consideration. This would address concerns by residents who live downtown and need long-term vehicle parking from time to time. It was discussed in our last meeting.
7. Pass Ordinance #3039, amending Chapter 23, Traffic and Motor Vehicles, of the Code of Ordinances relative to prohibiting parking on certain portions of Dakota Street, upon its second consideration. This would make the parking in front of the Demential Simulation House limited to 90 minutes. The staff is asking for a waiving of the three readings so that the new parking rules can be put into effect before UNI starts classes, and I believe this request makes sense.
OR
Suspend the rules requiring ordinances to be considered at three separate meetings (requires at least six aye votes), and pass the ordinance upon its third & final consideration.
8. Pass Ordinance #3040, amending Chapter 23, Traffic and Motor Vehicles, of the Code of Ordinances relative to establishing a 4-way stop at the intersection of Center Street & Lone Tree Road, upon its second consideration. This is the second reading for the two stopsigns on Lone Tree. It was discussed at length in our previous meeting.
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 City Council Standing Committee minutes of August 7, 2023 relative to the following items:
a) Retiring/Expiring TIF Districts and Process of Releasing Funds.
b) Pedestrian Crosswalks on University Avenue, Center Street & 12th Street.
10. Receive and file a communication from the Civil Service Commission relative to the certified list for the position of Traffic Technician. This is the list of qualified candidates who can be offered city positions, in order of ranking.
11. Receive and file Personnel Policies for the City of Cedar Falls that have been reformatted to the new standard policy format. Over the past two years, City Staff and I have been working to standardize all the city's policies and to make them easily indexable and sharable on the city's public website. I believe all a city policies should be readily accessible to the public, and these re-issuances are a necessary step in getting there. My goal is to have the whole project wrapped up by October 1st.
12. Approve the following applications for retail alcohol licenses: The city council is the approving authority for all alcohol permits and liquor licenses.
a) Whiskey Road Tavern & Grill, 402 Main Street, Class C retail alcohol & outdoor service - renewal.
b) B & B West, 3105 Hudson Road, Class E retail alcohol - renewal.
c) Panther Travel Center, 1525 West Ridgeway Avenue, Class E retail alcohol - renewal.
d) River Place Plaza, 200 East 2nd Street – Plaza, Special Class C retail alcohol & outdoor service – temporary expansion of outdoor service area. (September 2-3, 2023)
e) Metro Mart, 103 Franklin Street, Class E retail alcohol - new.
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.)
13. Resolution Calendar with items considered separately.
14. Resolution calling for a public referendum to authorize the imposition of a local sales and services tax in the City of Cedar Falls, Iowa, at the rate of one percent (1%), to be effective on January 1, 2026. This would continue our current Local Option Sales Tax, for use as street reconstruction funds (just as it is currently).
15. Resolution approving and adopting the rate of $3.89 per $1,000 taxable value for the Downtown Cedar Falls Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District (SSMID) for FY2025. This is a routine reapproval for the downtown district's self-imposed tax for projects in that district.
16. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Termination of Agreement for Private Development, and approving and accepting a Warranty Deed, relative to an Agreement for Private Development with Wayne Estates, LLC. The company received this plot of land from the city in early 2022, but is unable to add on the necessary improvements. As a result, it is returning the property to the city for future sale.
17. Resolution approving and accepting Diamond Arts & History grant funding from the Cedar Falls Community Foundation relative to developing an Art & Culture Mobile Tour project. This $3K grant allows for art programming in the city.
18. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Change Order relative to a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Rental Rehabilitation Project at 1009 West 3rd Street. This would provide an additional $5K in federal funds toward the rehabilitation of a distressed rental property for low-income residents.
19. Resolution approving the preliminary plat of Ashworth North Subdivision. This would allow the developer to continue planning for 7 new homes along the addition to Ashworth Drive.
20. Resolution approving and authorizing submission of an application to the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (IDHSEM) for hazard mitigation relative to purchasing repetitive loss (RL) and severe repetitive loss (SRL) properties in northern Cedar Falls. This action would allocate up to $171K to assist residents in relocating away from flood-prone areas ($19K per owner with a $31K federal match for a max total of $50K). This would help the process for residents to purchase suitable comparable homes once their properties are sold to the city and demolished as part of the flood mitigation efforts.
21. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of Amendment Number Four to the Subaward Agreement with the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (IDHSEM) for an extension of the Voluntary Property Acquisition Program funded through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program relative to the Northern Cedar Falls Flood Buyout Program. This adds two properties to our flood buyout plan; both are on Cottage Row Road.
22. Resolution approving the Certificate of Completion and accepting the work of Owen Contracting, Inc. for the 2022 Alley Reconstruction Project, and approving and authorizing the transfer of funds from Storm Water Bond Fund to the Street Construction Fund. This would provide $85K to Owen Contracting, Inc. for the completion of alley reconstructions.
23. Resolution receiving and filing, and approving and accepting the bid of Boulder Contracting, LLC, in the amount of $74,473.50, being the only bid received for the 2023 Sidewalk Assessment Project – Zone 1. This will allow the contractor to move forward with sidewalk replacements throughout Zone 1, if the property owners did not replace their own non-compliant sidewalks.
24. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a Cooperative Agreement for Construction Projects with Black Hawk County relative to the West Viking Road Reconstruction Project. This is necessary for the improvement of West Viking for increased vehicular traffic adjacent to the new industrial park.
25. Resolution approving and authorizing execution of a License Agreement with Unite Private Networks relative to installing a fiber optic telecommunications system within the public right-of-way along Technology Parkway. This is a common agreement with private utility companies. No concerns.
26. Resolution setting September 5, 2023 as the date of public hearing to consider entering into an Agreement for Private Development, and to consider conveyance of certain city-owned real estate to Cedar Falls Partners, LLC. This simply sets the hearing date. No concerns.
Ordinances
27. Pass an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Administration, of the Code of Ordinances relative to establishing a Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, upon its first consideration. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is a terrific recommending and action organization; they have requested consideration as a full commission for several years now. I fully support this move, as they already function like a city commission. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission members would be appointed by the mayor with the consent of the City Council.
Allow Bills and Claims
28. Allow Bills and Claims for August 21, 2023. The council is the approving authority for all bills and claims made against the city since the previous council meeting.
Council Updates and Announcements
Council Referrals
Executive Session
29. Executive Session to discuss Legal Matters per Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(c) to discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation.
Adjournment
| Council Packet Link | |
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| Meeting Date | 08/21/23 |
