Cautionary Optimism in the State of the City Address: Iowa City City Council Meeting, Feb. 19

Feb. 19 Formal Meeting Voting Results

The State of The City: Reasons for Fiscal Optimism Despite Potential Losses in Funding

Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek gave the state of the city address Tuesday evening at the beginning of the city council's formal meeting, trumpeting the city's successes while adding a few cautionary notes.

"2012 was a year of slow but steady growth. The good news is that Iowa City fared better than most communities," Hayek said while reading from a prepared statement. "As a local government, our health relies on careful planning and good fiscal management. While it is true that many university communities across the nation tend to do well, it is not the case that all perform as well as we have."

Hayek then went on to laud the city for maintaining its AAA bond rating as well as trimming the city staff ("tightening our belts," as he called it) by 22 staff positions through attrition, while still maintaining quality city services.

This came before two paragraphs warning how impending budget challenges due to potential commercial property tax reform, the Iowa Supreme Court's ruling on housing cooperatives, rising pension rates with an aging work force, and declining federal dollars will force the city to continue to do more with less.

That was the first page, a.k.a. the stage setter. Here are a few other highlights:

• There was a prominent mention of public safety next, including the addition of new police officers and the opening of the fourth fire station.
• He said the council has continued to focus its efforts on neighborhood stabilization as well as emphasizing economic development.
• Of the downtown he said: "Essential to this growth downtown is a live-work environment that we believe has real promise. Attracting residential renters and owners will foster an environment that harnesses the excitement of an academic community and is sensitive to professionals and families."
• Mayor Hayek said the recent changes to the 21-ordinance and bar-related zoning "will make downtown exciting attractive to all citizens."
• Riverfront Crossings and Towncrest development got several mentions as positive economic development ventures by the city.
• The city's "responsible approach" to Tax Increment Financing" will continue.
• There was a paragraph continuing to lobby for the state to approve funding for an Amtrak Passenger Rail line from Chicago to Omaha, which would likely pass through Iowa City.
• There was a message toward the end about forming partnerships with other neighboring municipalities and doing so in an equitable way to the local taxpayer. Editor's Note: This can be seen in Iowa City's recent handling with different municipalities in signing on with the Iowa City Animal Shelter project, as well as picking up for Johnson County to fund the SEATS program.

Landfill Bid Approved

The City Council unanimously approved a $1.3 million bid from J.B. Holland Construction out of Decorah to rebuild the landfill cell devastated by fire.

Dan Scott, a project engineer in the Iowa City Engineering Office, said the city had received special permissions from the Department of Natural Resources to make the cell smaller to and layer the safe trash not prone to burning on top of the rubber-tire drainage area, to reduce the chance of a fire beginning.

"We feel that we have a very good design," Scott said. "We tried to come up with a design that is much safer."

Scott also mentioned that the tire and trash layers would be separated by layers of stone that would compartmentalize the trash, preventing the rapid spread of fire that made the landfill fire so serious. He also said the city had upped the amount of insurance covering the fire.

Mayor Matt Hayek commented that the bid was also able to come in at $350,000 below projections, and wondered why this had happened. Scott said this was primarily due to the project going to bid early when bidding from contractors is more favorable.

Bar Performance Curfew Training Rules Adopted

The city completed its switch over to eliminating the curfew on 19- and 20-year-olds in bars by switching the training from the costly TIPS program to the state provided I-PACT training.

The I-PACT training for staff members is not only cheaper for employees, it also is more lenient in terms of punishment for serving to minors. City staff noted in the agenda item that these changes were due to positive behavior limiting underage drinking in entertainment venues: "staff has faith that management will continue to do well without the curfew."

The unanimous vote from council completed the change after the curfew policy part of the 21-only ordinance was modified, allowing underage bar goers to stay in entertainment venues until closing time.

City councilor Rick Dobyns, who was a long proponent of getting the 21-only ordinance passed in the first place, said that some of his former allies have approached him worried that the council is undoing the work that they had done.

Dobyns said that the 21-ordinance is only part of changing the tenor of the downtown. He said the city's bar zoning policy, and its pursuit against multiple offenders who repeatedly serve to underage drinkers, would continue.

"This is not just about rewarding the good guys, this is also about continuing to punish the bad guys," Dobyns said.

He said that he liked the curfew elimination idea as it rewarded the entertainment venues for their relative lack of underage drinkers while also providing more options for underage Iowa Citians in the downtown.