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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes-03/07/2005• • March 7, 2005 The Council of the City of Waterloo, Iowa, met in Regular Session at City Hall Council Chambers, Waterloo, Iowa, at 5:30 p.m., on Monday, March 7, 2005. Mayor Timothy J. Hurley in the Chair. Roll Call: Kincaid, Cole, Greenwood, Clark, Schmitt, Welper. Absent: Gunderson. Moment of Silence. Pledge of Allegiance: Junior Girl Scouts Troop 720 --Blessed Sacrament School: Alexandra Armstrong, Ashley Babinat, Abigail Burgart, Elizabeth Cutsforth, Danielle Deviney, Marie Deviney, Breanna Fencl, Maddie Morehouse, Neka Tuve, Celina Young; Queen of Peace: Elizabeth Fangman; and Daisy Girl Scouts Troop 38 --Blessed Sacrament: Haleigh Durnin, Alyssa McDermott; Sacred Heart: Alyssa Hellman, Susanne Kerr, Alex Thede. 121229 - Welper/Kincaid that the Agenda, as proposed, for the Regular Session on Monday, March 7, 2005, at 5:30 p.m., be accepted and approved. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121230 - Welper/Kincaid 121231 - that the Minutes, as proposed, for the Regular Session on Monday, February 28, 2005, at 5:30 p.m., be accepted and approved. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA Welper/Kincaid that the following approved: a. items on the consent agenda be received, placed on file and Resolutions to approve the following: 1. Resolution approving Schedule AP640, pp. 1-86, dated March 7, 2005, in the amount of $1,501,069.46, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's office, together with recommendation of approval of the Finance Committee. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-177. 2. Communication from Police Chief transmitting request of Easter Seals Camp Sunnyside to hold Pony Express Ride on March 25, 2005 with route beginning at approximately 3:00 p.m. along Lafayette Road from the city limits of Evansdale/Waterloo to 6th Street near the Black Hawk County Courthouse, then right one block to Mulberry Street to the front of City Hall. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-178. b. Motion to approve the following: 1. Communication from appointment of Nicole March 15, 2005. 2. Communication appointment of March 21, 2005 City Clerk transmitting Fischels to the position of from City Clerk transmitting Shellie Crisman to the position of recommendation of Clerk II, effective recommendation of Clerk II, effective 3. Cheryl Huddleston, Human Resources Manager, to attend National Public Employer Labor Relations Association Annual Training Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on April 10-16, 2005, with costs not to exceed $2,189.60. 4. Steve Grimm, Fire Department Instructor, to teach Industrial Tech Level classes for Advanced Transformers in Boscobel, Wisconsin on March 7-9, 2005, with costs not to exceed $410.00. 5. Randy Chapman, Police Sergeant; and Chris Gergen, Dave McFarland and Greg Fangman, Police Officers; to attend International K9 Conference in Aurora, Colorado on September 17-24, 2005, with costs not to exceed $6,270.00, including use of city vehicle. 6. Randy Chapman, Police Sergeant; and Dave McFarland, Chris Gergen and Greg Fangman, Police Officers; to attend USPCA Narcotics certification in Oskaloosa, Iowa on April 23-24, 2005, with costs not to exceed $894.00, including use of city vehicle. March 7, 2005 Consent Agenda continued Page 2 7. Dave Boesen, Fire Marshal, to attend Arson K-9 recertification class in Springfield, Illinois on June 20-23, 2005, with costs not to exceed $630.00, including use of city vehicle. 8. Noel Anderson, City Planner, to attend Heartland Economic Development Course in Excelsior Springs, Missouri on April 3-7, 2005, with costs not to exceed $1,335.00, including use of city vehicle. c. Beer/Liquor License Permit Application Class C CU & The Cellar, 320 East 4th Street (Renewal) (Expires 3/17/06) (Includes Sunday Sales) d. Outdoor Services Area Application CU & The Cellar, 320 East 4th Street e. Fireworks Display Application Supervisors Club, 3265 Dewitt Road on April 2, 2005 f. Cigarette Permit Application Ramada Inn Convention Center, 200 West 4th Street g. Bonds. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. HEARINGS & BIDS 121232 - Schmitt/Cole that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on F.Y. 2005 Street Reconstruction Program, Contract No. 687, as published in the Waterloo Courier on February 22, 2005, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121233 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections and there were none. Welper/Kincaid that the hearing be closed. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121234 - Schmitt/Cole that "Resolution confirming approval of plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with F.Y. 2005 Street Reconstruction Program, Contract No. 687", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-179. 121235 - Schmitt/Kincaid that "Resolution ordering construction in conjunction with above project", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-180. 121236 - Schmitt/Cole to receive, file and instruct City Clerk to open and read bids and refer to City Engineer for review: Bidder Bid Bond Bid Amount Aspro, Inc. & Subsidiaries 5% $3,032,677.29 Waterloo, IA Peterson Contractors, Inc. 5% $3,195,448.69 Reinbeck, IA Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. • • March 7, 2005 • • Hearings & Bids continued 121237 - Welper/Schmitt Page 3 that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on 2005 Riverfront Stadium Renovations and Improvements, as published in the Waterloo Courier on February 22, 2005, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121238 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections. Jerry Shatzer, 1829 West 7th Street, suggested the council put everything on hold as oil was under $50.00 a barrel and now it is $55.00 per barrel. Mr. Shatzer stated he was not impressed with the MidAmerican Energy campaign, as it did not help energy costs. Mr. Shatzer stated he can't afford $60.00 per month, and now the city is going to raise property taxes. Every time taxes go up, people's incomes go down. Mr. Shatzer suggested the council put everything on hold onto they have an energy plan. Mr. Shatzer stated he is for improvements that take care of citizens in this town, not just a select few. Paul Huting, Leisure Services Director, updated the council on the project. Leisure Services is acting as the prime contractor for the project. The council is opening bids on one part of the project this evening. Mr. Huting stated the total project will cost approximately $255,000.00, and tonight's bid includes a new restroom, concessions, office and entrance at an estimated cost of $97,000.00. Mr. Huting reviewed additional items that are included in the total project. Welper/Schmitt that the hearing be closed and oral comments be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121239 - Welper/Schmitt that "Resolution confirming approval of plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with 2005 Riverfront Stadium Renovations and Improvements", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-181. 121240 - Welper/Schmitt that "Resolution ordering construction in conjunction with above project", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-182. 121241 - Welper/Schmitt to receive, file and instruct City Clerk to open and read bids and refer to Leisure Services Director for review: Bidder Bid Bond Bid Amount Mike Dolan Concrete & Masonry 5% $ 99,900.00 Waterloo, IA Peterson Contractors, Inc. 5% $146,490.00 Reinbeck, IA Prairie Construction Co., Inc. 5% $143,400.00 Waterloo, IA Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. HEARINGS 121242 - Welper/Schmitt that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on request of Gerald Schoenfelder to approve a Development Agreement to vacate, sell and convey for $1.00 property generally located along San Marnan Drive between Sears and Penney's Street intersections at the location of the former Country Kitchen, Great Dragon, and auto repair building for redevelopment of site, as published in the Waterloo Courier on February 25, 2005, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. March 7, 2005 Hearings continued Page 4 121243 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections and there were none. Welper/Kincaid that the hearing be closed and recommendation of approval of Planning, Programming and Zoning Commission be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121244 - Welper/Cole that "an Ordinance vacating property generally located along San Marnan Drive between Sears and Penney's Street intersections at the location of the former Country Kitchen, Great Dragon, and auto repair building", be received, placed on file, considered and passed for the first time. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121245 - Welper/Cole that rules be requiring ordinances to be considered and voted for passage at two prior meetings be suspended. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121246 - Welper/Schmitt that "an Ordinance vacating property generally located along San Marnan Drive between Sears and Penney's Street intersections at the location of the former Country Kitchen, Great Dragon, and auto repair building", be considered and passed for the second and third times and adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Ordinance adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 4757. 121247 - Welper/Cole that "Resolution approving said Development Agreement", be adopted and Mayor and City Clerk authorized to execute same. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-183. 121248 - Welper/Schmitt that "Resolution authorizing said sale and conveyance", be adopted and City Attorney instructed to prepare and deliver deed accordingly. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-184. 121249 - Greenwood/Cole that proof of publication of notice of public hearing on issuance of not to exceed $900,000.00 General Obligation Bonds for an Essential Corporate Purpose to pay costs of aiding in the planning, undertaking and carrying out of urban renewal project activities under the Downtown Waterloo Riverfront Urban Renewal and Redevelopment Plan including costs associated with acquisition and clearance of properties for private redevelopment, as published in the Waterloo Courier on February 22, 2005, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121250 - This being the time and place of public hearing, the Mayor called for written and oral objections. Bonnie Leitz, 331 Independence Avenue, stated she is concerned with plans to tear down the Wonder Bread building. Ms. Leitz stated here in Waterloo we have a Wonder Bread Convenience Store where we can buy an assortment of pies. Mayor Hurley responded it is a misconception that the Wonder Bread building is going to be used for the Downtown Waterloo plan. Mayor Hurley stated that Wonder Bread is not included in any short-term plan and will stay where it is at. Don Temeyer, Community Planning and Development Director, stated the city has been working with Interstate Brand to relocate them to the Industrial site as they are landlocked, their trucks have problems loading and unloading and block the street. Mr. Temeyer stated the city will continue to work with them to relocate them because the employees have worked very efficiently to make them what they are. Mr. Temeyer stated there are not on any immediate plans to move 4110 them, but that is of to say in the future something couldn't come up. March 7, 2005 • • Hearings continued Page 5 Jeff Kutz, 4847 Edgebrook Drive, thanked the mayor and council for approving the Downtown Master Plan and their efforts in implementing it. Mr. Kutz stated this provides funds for the city to continue the implementation process. Mr. Kutz stated two parcels have already been cleared and this will obtain three more, and these types of activities will help foster the environment for private investment in the mixed use district by the Center For The Arts. Mr. Kutz urged the council to pass the resolution to continue that process. Welper/Kincaid that the hearing be closed and oral comments be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121251 - Kincaid/Schmitt that "Resolution instituting proceedings to take additional action for issuance of said bonds", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-185. PETITIONS FROM PUBLIC 121252 - Schmitt/Kincaid that communication from City Planner transmitting request of the CBE Group for a minor site plan amendment to the "C -2,C -Z" Conditional Zoning District property generally located south of the existing Tower Park Office Complex to add temporary modular buildings and parking areas during construction of new professional office building, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said minor site plan amendment", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-186. DOCUMENTS 121253 - Cole/Schmitt that communication from Police Chief transmitting application for one-year grant from the Iowa Department of Justice Attorney General's Office, Crime Victim Assistance Division, for a grant in the amount of $74,194.82, with required city match of $18,548.71, to fund Police Department Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) program providing salary and benefits for one full-time Dart investigator, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said application", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-187. 121254 - Cole/Schmitt that communication from Senior Planner transmitting Final Plat of Hall Minor Plat, including staff report, report of the City Engineer, Plat of Survey, Deed of Dedication, Legal Description and Permanent Easement Agreement, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said final plat", be adopted. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Councilperson Schmitt noted this property is located by the lighted intersection by McDonald's and asked if this development will do anything about the traffic. Councilperson Schmitt noted there is the former Hobby Lobby, McDonald's, the frontage road and now a new Dollar General Store. Don Temeyer, Community Planning and Development Director, stated the plat itself does not control that. Mr. Temeyer stated staff will watch the site plan as it comes in and not allow them to build where it will create a free for all. Following comments a vote was taken on the above motion, with the following result. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-188. March 7, 2005 Documents continued 121255 - Cole/Schmitt that communication from Associate Engineer transmitting Discontinuation of a Storm Water Discharge with Iowa Department Resources covered under Iowa NPDES General Permit 2 for construction in conjunction with F.Y. 2003 Hwy. 218/Cedar Valley Lakes Trail - Trolley Car Trail, Contract No. 584, be received, placed on "Resolution approving said notice", be adopted and Mayor authorized same. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-189. 121256 - Cole/Schmitt Page 6 Notice of of Natural activities Phase I & file and to execute that communication from Community Planning & Development Director transmitting an agreement with Waterloo Development Corporation to finance the purchase of the funeral home at 324 and 400 Commercial Street at a cost of $190,000.00, the NAPA Building at 207 West 3=a Street at a cost of $78,500.00 and the Veterinary Clinic at 400 Commercial Street at a cost of $189,500.00 plus the appraisal cost of $3,750.00, including demolition of buildings at an estimated cost of $60,000.00 at 3 percent interest until closing, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said agreement", be adopted and Mayor and City Clerk authorized to execute same. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-190. 121257 - Cole/Schmitt that communication from Community Planning & Development Director transmitting an agreement with Allbee & Son Company to purchase property located at 303 Jefferson Street at a cost of $467,369.00, be received, placed on file and "Resolution approving said agreement", be adopted and Mayor and City Clerk authorized to execute same. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-191. ORDINANCES TO BE ADOPTED 121258 - Schmitt/Kincaid that "an Ordinance amending the 2003 Traffic Code by repealing Subsection (e) of Section 312, Fees—Monthly and Reserved Ramp and Lot Parking; and enacting in lieu thereof new Subsection (e) of Section 312, Fees Monthly and Reserved Ramp and Lot Parking (remove fee to park under 218 viaduct)", be received, placed on file, considered and passed for the first time. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121259 - Schmitt/Greenwood that rules requiring ordinances to be considered and voted for passage at two prior meetings be suspended. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121260 - Schmitt/Kincaid that "an Ordinance amending the 2003 Traffic Code by repealing Subsection (e) of Section 312, Fees—Monthly and Reserved Ramp and Lot Parking; and enacting in lieu thereof new Subsection (e) of Section 312, Fees—Monthly and Reserved Ramp and Lot Parking (remove fee to park under 218 viaduct)", be considered and passed for the second and third times and adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Ordinance adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 4758. 121261 - Cole/Schmitt that "an Ordinance adopting the 2003 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code", be received, placed on file, considered and passed for the third time and adopted. Prior to a vote on the above motion, the following comments were heard. Mayor Hurley stated there are quite a few people here interested in this vote. This is not a hearing, and it will be up to the Council whether we hear any discussion. Mayor Hurley stated his office has been bombarded with visits, phone calls and e-mails from people who are naturally concerned about what this means. He found an awful lot of the fears and the opinions were based upon misinterpretation and bad information. Mayor Hurley stated many people have • • March 7, 2005 • • Ordinances to be Adopted continued Page 7 visited Mr. Cutwright in his office on their particular concerns and their concerns were abated. Mayor Hurley stated he asked Mr. Cutwright to address Council tonight because we really haven't had a chance to take on these concerns, fears and opinions of our citizens, and he asked Mr. Cutwright to put together a short presentation to address Council on this matter. Louis Cutwright, Building Official/Maintenance Administrator, stated there has been a tremendous amount of misinformation that has been flowing through the rumor mill, and we hope to not necessarily quail all the concerns that are out there because its not our purpose to have this Code meet everyone's needs. But it has a purpose to do several things. Mr. Cutwright reviewed questions that have been asked concerning the proposed ordinance. 1) Why do we think that we need to revise our current Code? The current Code does not address the minimum standards for external appearance of properties. The external appearance is directly related to home preservation, home value and ensures the public health and safety of our citizens. 2) How old is our current Code? Our current Code was passed in its present form, which is a Housing Code, in 1981. Does it exist in any other documents? It exists in the Waterloo Code of Ordinances where a current Code exists as a Housing Code. Is it effective in today's environment? It is not effective in today's environment and it does not meet our needs because we now have in the city many mixed neighborhoods where we have apartments and single family dwellings together. The current Housing Code only deals with the enforcement of housing by the Waterloo Fire Department. It does not address single families. Unoccupied homes are allowed to decay, to become a complete state of disrepair while the apartment houses have to follow Code by the Fire Department. However, this existing code for the apartments does not address completely the external preservation of the structure. And it does not address parking in the area. 3) What does this Code do in comparison to the Codes that we have? Section 111 of the International Property Maintenance Code provides for an appeal board. Section 302.8.1 it talks about parking, which has evoked or initiated a lot of discussion, and a lot of the discussion is from those who are misinformed. It says, no more than four (4) motor vehicles including cars, trucks, trailers, recreation vehicles, shall be parked outside an approved garage or on residential property. If a person has a three car garage, three cars can be inside, four cars can be out. A person can have six vehicles that they own and park on their property. Mayor Hurley stated there have been a number of concerns of what parking means in this Code. There have been people with genuine concerns that they can't have their family over for a family celebration, or Thanksgiving, and have more than four vehicles parked outside. Mr. Cutwright stated when you look at the definition of the word parking in the Code, it indicates parking for the person who owns it. If there is parking for an extended length of time, this does not have reference to having your family over for dinner or whatever it might be. You might have 10 or 15 cars parked around the next day depending on whether they stayed or left. Even if they couldn't go home that night, the Code does not say we are going to come out and do anything. The Code describes parking in the front yard. It says all parking in the front yard should be on hard surface, which is not presently in the Code. Hard surface is either concrete, asphalt or gravel. There are some concerns that some driveways in the city are still dirt driveways. Many times those driveways are only dirt because the gravel has gone down into the ground and they have not been able to keep gravel in there. That is a place to park that is in the front yard and we consider that as a gravel drive. The Code does address that the places to park in the front yard are not in green grass as far as permanent parking. Mr. Cutwright stated Code addresses the protective treatment of homes on the exterior of property and provides that the exterior surface must be maintained in good condition where we do not have peeling paint and many things that cause deterioration of the wood on that property. Overhangs, decorative ornaments and those things cannot fall into a complete state of disrepair as we have seen on some homes that lets pigeons roost in the attic portion of the home where people are still living there. It even addresses the rubbish that we generally see flying around the city in heavy winds. Where perhaps we have a 12 unit apartment complex that has a three yard container and by midweek all of the garbage is stacked around that container. Dogs, cats and whatever get into it and tear the sacks open and things blow around the neighborhood. This Ordinance tries to abate that by properly sizing the container. Question 4) How do we ensure that the elderly and low and moderate -income citizens aren't going to be hassled by someone busting down their door and taking their life savings to fix up their homes? It's a hypothetical question because we will not be breaking down doors, forcing ourselves into homes, spending the savings of these individuals. The city will work with anyone that has a need to help resolve their issue. Emergency repairs could be channeled March 7, 2005 Page 8 Ordinances to be Adopted continued through Community Development if this person meets the income guidelines. Banks and other charitable organizations may have to step up to help by offering paint. We had a situation years ago where we were looking at homes in the city that we wanted to do this very thing, and they did step up and offered the paint. This past year, we had a faith based organization come down from the Minnesota area. We forgave the building permit fees and they did fix up quite a few homes. Question 5) How will landlords who own property in decayed neighborhoods benefit from this Code? Owner occupied homes, which presently are not under the Code, that are in poor condition will be addressed to help the home owner look for ways to increase the property value, such as repairing the eaves and painting, thus preserving the life safety and health of that item. Question 6) Why did the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) come into existence? It came into existence for several reasons, one of the basic reasons is that code officials in states and city governments recognized that the aging city center of many cities were falling into disrepair. As early as 1996, the International Code Council (ICC) through committee began working to develop a Code that would address this aging problem. In 1997, the first housing code was adopted, and this is the 2003 addition of that code. As of January 5, 2005, as retrieved from the ICC website last week, there are 48 states plus the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense, the National Park Service in Puerto Rico, have adopted the international family of codes. Of these 52 states and jurisdiction, 30 have specifically adopted the International Property Maintenance Code and in five states it is effective statewide. In Massachusetts there is over 1,900 cities and in New York there is over 6,200 cities under this Code. They went under this Code for only one reason, and that is to preserve the safety, welfare and health of the citizens. And when it does that it increases property values and helps the appearance of the City. Question 7) Why is this Code a good thing for the City of Waterloo? Mr. Cutwright read section 101.3, "This Code shall be construed to secure its expressed intent, which is to ensure public health, safety and welfare insofar as they are affected by the continued occupancy and maintenance of structures and premises." The Code is there for the purpose of looking after the aging housing stock, property, appearance/city image and property value to increase those items. Question 8) How will the Code be implemented? The Code will be implemented by Ordinance and a phase application. The downtown Rath area 90 days after adoption, then Ward 4, Ward 5, Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 3, with the last Ward implemented in January 1, 2008. The Code will be in effect by complaint throughout the city. Question 9) Will it generate revenue that can be turned into use to help other people or to hire more Code Enforcement Officers? It is hoped that the implementation of the Code throughout the city does not generate revenue through fines. We hope that is the case because that would mean that compliance is being met. 9) What impact will it have on our Legal Department? If compliance is met it will add very little impact on our Legal Department. One of the things that the Code does is establishes an Appeal Board and to a great extent this will help assist in the grievances and resolve them before they get to a point of fines or come to City Council. It is hoped that this Appeal Board will be made up of five members, with three members picked by the Neighborhood Coalition, one from the legal community and one from the construction community. None will be employees of the City of Waterloo. This Board is established by the IPMC and should be put into place during the 90 day waiting period after the code has been adopted. Mr. Cutwright referred to the packet of material given to the Council which contains a printout list of all of those cities and states which have adopted this Code. The Code is a document that has been tested and tried in the Courts. The Courts have looked with favorability on the Code because it assists in the public safety, health and welfare of any city. Councilperson Welper stated it says emergency repairs could be channeled through the Community Development. Rudy Jones said last week that Community Development receives a million and a half dollars every year, and they have a waiting list of 600 people for the next 10 years. Any additional emergency repairs or maintenance requests going through Community Development would only be put on a waiting list. Councilperson Welper asked where is this money coming from. • . March 7, 2005 Ordinances to be Adopted continued Page 9 Mr. Cutwright responded he is not completely schooled in Community Development but he believes that waiting list is set for those who are going for full rehab of properties. They are on a waiting list that is that long. Mr. Cutwright stated one of the things he has done in working with Mr. Jones over the last three months, he has gone into doing emergency repairs and signed off when our inspectors go to inspect. Those repairs are taking place, and they preserve the health of the communities. Some of them are fixing soffits, some of them doing roofs, and he doesn't know if that can be a channel or a vehicle in which a person can avail themselves to Community Development. Councilperson Welper stated he believes Mr. Jones said that between 80 and 100 individuals are on a waiting list to have their roofs done. Councilperson Schmitt asked Mr. Jones if there are emergency funds available, are we talking about a waiting list for total rehabs and total roofs, and is there still a fund for emergencies. Rudy Jones, Community Development Director, stated concerning emergencies, most of the emergencies can address roofs but a lot of the emergencies deal with water service lines, sewer lines, some that are mostly interior of the house. Occasionally, Community Development does get some emergencies that are exterior such as the roofs and the soffits, but they currently have money available for approximately eight to ten roofs in the Brownfield area. But as soon as the weather allows that money is going to be spent before July 1 rolls around. After that point they will have no additional funds for roofs in the Brownfield area. What emergencies don't typically address are some of the maintenance types of things. Mr. Jones stated they cannot use Block Grant Funds to address a house that might be having a soffit problem or painting problem because of the regulations. A lot of what is being talked about in the International Property Maintenance Code does not fit under Community Development Block Grant guidelines. Then there is the timeliness of the waiting list and what it takes to for a person to qualify, if in fact they would be eligible, and it is a timely process. Councilperson Welper noted there is talk from President Bush and the federal government that it is very possible that this could be the end of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money. Mr. Jones responded that is correct. With the total funds that the CDBG receives annually nation wide, they have projected that they would like to take seven or eight departments, CDBG being one, and give it less to approximately $3 billion. So they are talking about combining 18 departments and giving it one billion dollars less than what we do with just one department. Councilperson Welper stated so this will be devastating for us here in Waterloo considering what we spend already. And now we are looking to add more to it, which may not even be there, so this is a mute point that we could go to Community Development for funds. Mr. Jones responded he doesn't see how Community Development could assist in a major way with what the Maintenance Code calls for simply because of the types of issues that the Maintenance Code addresses. Community Development has very strict regulations on what's considered an emergency and how we qualify people for a complete rehab. The regulations won't allow us to go in and address things unless we address it under a complete rehab, and that list is 600 deep with people who have been waiting since the mid to late 1990s. Even though the Brownfield is a target area we are really struggling to get those funds spent. Councilperson Cole stated as we have been discussing this at length for six months or so it has come out numerous times but obviously not clearly enough or often enough that the International Property Maintenance Code is not meant to target the elderly, low income, frail people who cannot afford to fix up their property and asked Mr. Cutwright if that is correct. Mr. Cutwright responded that is correct. Councilperson Cole asked is it also correct we will not have code police driving around the city looking for people whose soffits have a one foot hole in it. Mr. Cutwright responded that is correct, and that was one of the items that was touched on by Councilperson Welper relative to not having enough Code Enforcement people out there. Mr. Cutwright stated you would draw a smile if you asked the Police Chief if he has enough people on staff to correct or control all of the speeding in the city, or if you asked the Fire Chief if he has enough people to run his department 100 percent optimum, and that is how it is with code enforcement. Mr. Cutwright stated people think that it is going to be selective, but that is not the case. Mr. Cutwright March 7, 2005 Page 10 Ordinances to be Adopted continued stated you would have to drive around the city and look at the different problems out there. If a neighbor does not complain about his neighbor, that problem will probably exist, but if a complaint is made and its legitimate, code enforcement will try to work with those complaints to try to get a resolution, and not by the issuance of a citation but by working with the homeowner to correct the problem. Mr. Cutwright stated that 90 percent of the time that problem is corrected by the Code Enforcement Officer working with the homeowner. Councilperson Cole asked if it would be safe to say that 95 percent of the people in Waterloo will not be directly effected by this Code, and Mr. Cutwright responded that yes it is safe to say that. Councilperson Clark asked if we have a fee schedule as Mr. Cutwright has said if there is a violation, there would not be a citation issued, and he is assuming if there is continued noncompliance there would be a fine. Mr. Cutwright responded if there is continued noncompliance then it rolls into a municipal infraction. Mr. Cutwright stated he believes the Municipal Infraction schedule is $250.00 for the first fine, $500.00 for the second and $750.00 for the third violation. Councilperson Clark stated when this was initially brought before the council, Mr. Cutwright started his presentation with a statement that said he needed a certain amount of Code Enforcement Officers plus clerical workers in order for this to work. Mr. Cutwright responded that he said he would need three additional Code Enforcement Officers and one clerical individual. Mr. Cutwright stated we currently have three fulltime Code Enforcement Officers. Councilperson Clark stated section 304.2 says the exterior surfaces shall be cleaned and maintained in good condition and asked will that be arbitrary and whose opinion will it be whether or not they are cleaned and maintained. Mr. Cutwright responded the definition section of the Code talks about the exterior of the properties, the opening space, premises adjoining properties from coming underneath the control of the owner. The body of the Code in Chapter 3 basically says the exterior of the property and premises shall be maintained in a clean, safe and sanitary condition. That part of the exterior property which occupant occupies or controls must be kept in a clean and sanitary condition. Mr. Cutwright stated he thinks the average individual knows what a clean and sanitary condition is. Mr. Cutwright stated with the present Code when you look at the exterior of the property and you find a tremendous amount of junk on the exterior that is not clean and sanitary. Councilperson Clark stated he is not talking about the junk, but at what point is the paint peeling or the eaves falling or the window caulking falling out, and whose opinion will that be as to whether it is in violation or not. Mr. Cutwright responded that would be working with the Code Enforcement Officers. If the homeowner has a difference of opinion than the Code Enforcement Officer, section 111 establishes an Appeals Board where the individual who is aggrieved by the enforcement of the Code can appeal the judgment of the Code Enforcement Officer. Councilperson Clark stated one of his extreme concerns is the selective enforcement part of it. Councilperson Clark stated he agrees with the intent of this Code, which is to clean up our city, which we need to do. However, he feels like it is going to be very selectively enforced and we made the comment that we won't target the elderly, low income, etc. So basically we are going to target anybody who gets complained on and if one of those happens to fall into that category, there is no money from Community Development Block Grant funds or from the City. Councilperson Welper showed a graph of the Census track from the 2000 census that he had prepared by Neighborhood Services. The dark area is the highest concentration of our citizens who fall below the poverty level. If you look at some of these numbers you will see that it ranges with some of the higher areas with 38 percent, 30 percent, 35 percent of the people living in those tracks falling under the poverty level. Almost 3,700 households in our community are below the poverty level. The graph shows they are throughout the entire city but the heaviest concentration is in the dark area. Councilperson Welper asked where is the funding going to come from to help these people. Mr. Cutwright responded because that is a bridge we have not crossed as to exactly where the funding is coming from. Mr. Cutwright asked if every home in that Census track where individuals are below the poverty level, has a survey been made to see if all of those homes are in need of repair. Mr. Cutwright stated many of those people, even though they might live in the poverty level, have very nice homes that they keep up and they live in. And they do it for one reason because they like a place that is clean, safe and it looks good. • • March 7, 2005 • • Ordinances to be Adopted continued Page 11 Mr. Cutwright stated that is the mindset of people, and he believes the majority of people want to live in a clean, safe home without junk strewn around. Many people paint their homes, but he believes there are those who do not, who seem to bring down the value of properties, and our goal is to help those find a way to improve their property. Councilperson Welper stated he is not against trying to fix up Waterloo, but he is concerned about the money part of this. Councilperson Welper stated he contacted the Waterloo School System and spoke to the Food Service Director. She stated that 53 percent of our students either receive free or reduced meals. Over half of our children in the schools cannot afford to pay for food. Councilperson Schmitt stated he finds it absolutely incredible that a faith based organization from out of state has to come to Waterloo. If we listen to Mr. Welper's statistics, next we'll have the Peace Corp here because we are that bad. Councilperson Schmitt stated there are means in place to help ourselves and we need to utilize those. Church Row is a good example, and they beat the statistics we just heard as 75 percent of the children in that neighborhood have free or reduced meals. Church Row makes sure that they get meals when they come home after school as well. And that is all done through faith based organizations. There is no reason why we can't provide the same support for the rest of the community. Councilperson Welper stated a phone call was made to the International Code Council as to the numbers regarding how many communities are involved in the Code. Councilperson Welper stated they spoke to Bob Neal who said there are 2,801 cities involved, and we show 17,000. Mr. Cutwright responded on the ICC website when it discusses adoption of the Codes, they have it on there by city and they have it on their by state. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have adopted it. Of those 48 states, five of them have adopted the International Property Maintenance Code by state code. And when you look up the number of cities from each one of those states, it shows that there are over 17,000 cities. Councilperson Schmitt stated he talked to the Building Administrator from Rock Island, Illinois. They passed this in July of last year, had a 30 day cooling period by Illinois law, and it has been in effect since August. They are addressing it by CDBG grants, faith -based organizations and getting help through neighborhood associations for the people that need help. Mayor Hurley stated if the majority of council wants to entertain comments it would be under these guidelines: anyone who has spoken before would not be allowed to speak, three minutes to the subject, no open debate, its going to be civil, speakers will state their name and address, give an opinion or ask a general question but no back and forth between the Council or members of the chambers. Mayor Hurley asked council members what they would you like to do regarding public input on this item. Clark/Greenwood that members of the public be allowed to speak with the Mayor's prevailing conditions. Ayes: Three. Nays: Kincaid, Cole, Schmitt. Absent: Gunderson. Motion, failed. 121262 - Mayor Hurley called for a roll call vote on the motion to approve the third reading and adoption of the ordinance with the following result. Ayes: Four. Nays: Clark, Welper. Absent: Gunderson. Ordinance adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 4759. 121263 - Schmitt/Cole that the council recess at 6:50 p.m. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. RECESS 121264 - Cole/Schmitt that the council reconvene at 6:54 p.m. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. March 7, 2005 NEW BUSINESS 121265 - Cole/Schmitt Page 12 to instruct City Engineer to prepare plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with F.Y. 2005 Asphalt Overlay Program, Contract No. 688, be received, placed on file and approved. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121266 - Cole/Schmitt that plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with F.Y. 2005 Asphalt Overlay Program, Contract No. 688, be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. 121267 - Cole/Welper that "Resolution preliminarily approving plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. in conjunction with above described project", be adopted. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-192. 121268 - Cole/Schmitt that "Resolution setting date of hearing on plans, specifications, form of contract, etc. as March 28, 2005 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers and taking of bids on the above described project", be adopted and City Clerk instructed to publish notice of same. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Resolution adopted and upon approval by Mayor assigned No. 2005-193. ORAL PRESENTATIONS 121269 - Marry Potter commended the council for passing the International Property Maintenance Code. Ms. Potter stated many people in her neighborhood are elderly, low-income and young people who need help, and Code Enforcement will work with these people and help them. Ms. Potter stated that many of the people yelling in the hall are thinking only of themselves and not the city. Ms. Potter stated they do have a choice to fix up their home and fix it in a reasonable way. Ms. Potter stated many people in this community think their homes should be rehabbed by the city. Ms. Potter stated the elderly are not complaining. Ms. Potter stated she thinks it took a lot of courage for the council to do this, and that sometimes Waterloo has to stand up and do what is right. Albert Stammler, 100 Byrnes Drive, stated he served in the Army and was honorably discharged with a disability, and worked for 30 years for John Deere and retired with a disability. Mr. Stammler stated he has raised three kids alone, one who is mentally retarded. Mr. Stammler stated he works on his car in the middle of the night in the middle of a snowstorm because he has to take his kids to school in the morning. Mr. Stammler stated his home looks the way it does because he doesn't have the means to pick up the telephone to call someone to ask for help. Mr. Stammler stated he is on a fixed income, and not one neighbor, nor one church has offered to help. Mr. Stammler stated that every time he has asked for help he has been turned down because his income is just above the poverty level. Mr. Stammler stated he doesn't need anyone on the council telling him how poorly he lives because he doesn't have their means. Mr. Stammler stated he would love to stop going to Goodwill or shopping at Wal-Mart for clothes. Mr. Stammler stated the only organization that has helped him is the Food Bank. Mr. Stammler stated he is very disappointed that the council is telling the citizens they have had six year to discuss and implement the new ordinance, and he is hurt and disappointed. Mr. Stammler stated he has five cars that are licensed. Mr. Stammler stated he feels the city has targeted him, and that is pathetic. Mr. Stammler stated the council could have tabled the ordinance and gotten everybody on board, and he doesn't think anyone needs to be aggressive or adversary. Mr. Stammler stated that not one member of the council has offered to help him. Dan Brandenburg, 600 South Hackett Road, stated the new ordinance makes his father's property in violation. Mr. Brandenburg stated Mr. Cutwright assured him that he could go before the Appeal Board, as he has eight or nine vehicles. Mr. Brandenburg stated he is a truck driver, and last Tuesday he heard about the ordinance in the paper. He and his fiance were going to buy a home, but stopped looking because they are concerned about the ordinance. Mr. Brandenburg stated he took three days off from work to be at the council meeting tonight, and he was told by Leon Mosley that he didn't know about the ordinance until last week. Mr. Brandenburg stated citizens elect the council to take care of business. Mr. Brandenburg stated they have a bid on a one • • March 7, 2005 • • Oral Presentations continued Page 13 stall garage so they would not be in violation. Mr. Brandenburg stated he does not want to give up his rights, and he called the City of Evansdale and they said they would not pass this ordinance. Mr. Brandenburg stated they looked at property in the Highland Historic District, and the realtor said you can't put up in vinyl windows because of the Highland ordinance, and they told the realtor they did not want to deal with these types of issues. Mr. Brandenburg stated he is disappointed and hurt citizens could not speak before the council passed the ordinance. Mayor Hurley stated the agenda with the ordinance on it has been posted for three weeks, its been talked about in the newspaper and has been on the government access channel. Mayor Hurley stated if Mr. Brandenburg and his fiance decide to buy a home in Waterloo, they would expect it to appreciate in value. Mayor Hurley stated the overall intention of the ordinance is to make homes safe, durable and appreciate in value. Mayor Hurley stated these are minimum standards. Mayor Hurley stated he hopes Mr. Brandenburg does not pay and fines, and if Mr. Brandenburg has any retribution because he spoke to call the mayor's office. Jerry Shatzer, 1829 West 7th Street, stated if the council thinks they have problems now, four years from now they will have more problems because of the price of oil. Mr. Shatzer stated he does not think the crowd was boisterous, but he sees it as fear. Mr. Shatzer stated as he looks at the council many are where they are today because they married up, inherited money or because of nepotism. Mr. Shatzer stated he feels the council needs to keep things in perspective. Pat Rooff stated he also called the Code Council, and Bob Neal gave him some figures and walked him through the web sites. Mr. Rooff stated he was told just because the International Property Maintenance Code is suppose to be statewide, not all cities within those states adopted the code, and that 2,801 cities are all that have really adopted the code. Mayor Hurley responded even if it is only 2,801 cities, isn't that a lot of cities. Mr. Rooff said that would be maybe 10 percent of the cities. John Sherman, 1715 Robin Road, stated we have problems with high taxes. The churches might help some of the folks. Mr. Sherman stated if we can't come up with $1.5 million how is anyone going to help. Mr. Sherman stated some need more money. One person has a scaffolding up, this is good but he has been doing it for nine years, and he understands the reason that he can take nine years is because it is a historical house. So if anyone has a problem, just get your house on the historical level, and then you can do it on your own time. Mr. Sherman stated a few members of the council said they would be more than glad to see that volunteers would get out and help these elderly folks and some of the other people, but lets see who is the first one on the ladder with a paint brush. Not supervising but working. Mr. Sherman stated many are getting too old for this. Mr. Sherman stated we all have to take care of our stuff, but it is real easy to say let the other guy take care of it. Mr. Sherman stated the council talked about ball diamonds tonight and spending money and that is good. Cedar Rapids is losing money on the baseball, and they have a lot more people, a lot more fan base and a lot more tax base than we do, but yet they are losing money. You can take a tour just around the courthouse and see the amount of work that is going to have to be done, and we could run out of money before we get two blocks in any direction. Mr. Sherman stated his neighbor has four boys he raised, and two more boys that weren't a part of his family, he got married, remarried and he has three more kids. When the kids come home, he is out of parking. Mr. Sherman stated some things we jump too fast, we try to work around it and we say well we'll take care of it. The council says we will have a committee, but how much will this committee cost, and who will in charge of this. Mr. Sherman stated these are all things the council should have dealt with before it was brought to the people. Cheryl Christiansen, 1702 E. Mitchell Avenue, stated she took a survey today of the downtown area, and there are five properties on the east side of Waterloo that are empty. There are eight properties on the west side of Waterloo that are empty, one of which has the base of the building that isn't even attached. They've been completely removed and they've been sitting there for years and nothing has been done. Ms. Christiansen stated we are talking about the Housing Code and getting houses fixed up, but she doesn't hear anything about commercial buildings being taken care of, and she wants to know how they are going to be taken care of. Ms. Christiansen stated there are so many holes in this ordinance concerning how the homes will be repaired, who is going to do March 7, 2005 Oral Presentations continued Page 14 the work, are the people going to have their own contractors come in or is it going to be mandatory by having someone coming in and telling them who is going to fix it. Ms. Christiansen stated there should have been a public hearing, and that the council has done this for six years, and we are in worse shape now than we were six years ago. Ms. Christiansen stated the council should know better than to pass something without the publics input first. Bob Smith, 143 Chicago Street, stated his dad lives on 222 Peoria Street, and he wants to know when the junk abandoned house located at 218 Peoria Street is going to get torn down. It has been abandoned for two years, he has talked to everybody, he can't get any answers. There are pigeons all over the place, and the council is going to pass this ordinance when they don't even have money to take care of that house. Mayor Hurley stated he doesn't remember which homes are on our list already, but that would be a place to start. Mr. Smith asked with the parking in the new ordinance is he is only suppose to have a combination of four vehicles, such as boats, trailers, trucks. Mayor Hurley responded four vehicles parked outside. Mr. Smith stated so if he has two trucks, a boat and trailer and a car, he will have to get rid of one because he can only have four. Mayor Hurley responded yes. Mr. Smith stated that means every 48 hours he would have to move one of them out of parking, off his property .onto the street for five minutes to satisfy the code because the city isn't going to enforce this because they don't enforce it now. Mr. Smith stated if you drive around Waterloo you see vehicles parked between the sidewalk and the curb in the grass on city -owned parking, and he calls the Police Department and tells them its city property, they are abandoned and they need to be moved and ticketed. When he goes back a day or two later, they are still there and he calls the Police Department to ask what happened and is told it is officer's discretion so this ordinance is not needed when the city can't even enforce what we have now. Mayor Hurley asked Mr. Smith what he would suggest on the positive side and does he agree we want a better Waterloo in terms of property values. Mr. Smith responded he would make sure that people do not park between the curb and the sidewalk. Mr. Smith stated there are people who abuse this parking situation, like what was discussed before about the guy over on Wisconsin Street but nothing has been done about that and half the vehicles don't have engines or transmissions so they are already in code violation and nothing is being done about it. Mr. Smith stated if the city would just enforce what we have now, within reason, we don't need the new ordinance. Mr. Smith stated a lot of people have more than four vehicles, and a lot them are not cheap. Mr. Smith stated he does not think the city will go to the Prospect area or Audubon Park and tell somebody who has a $30,000.00 - $50,000.00 SUV, a $50,000.00 Airstream and a big boat, that they have to get rid of one of them and that they can't park it in their driveway. Mr. Smith stated as far as the Christmas, birthday thing being exempt, the words birthday party, Christmas, holidays, nor Thanksgiving do not appear in the code, so technically if you have ten vehicles for a Christmas party in your driveway you are in violation. Mr. Smith stated his house is very old, it sits in the back half of the lot, and his back door is 10 feet off of the alley. Mr. Smith asked if his front yard is his back or is his back yard his front because the distance from the curb to his front door is eighty -something feet. Mayor Hurley responded that if we were in a situation where Mr. Smith might be approached or cited this is exactly the kind of thing where he would go to the Appeals Board. Mayor Hurley stated nobody can write an ordinance or law that covers every situation, and that some of the examples given by Mr. Smith are exactly the case with our existing ordinance. Mr. Smith stated that as he said before the city is not going to go to Prospect and tell some big shot lawyer to get rid of one of his vehicles. Mayor Hurley responded Prospect is in Ward 2 so it is the second to last ward we will implement. E.J. Lentsch, 1181 Cornwall, expressed his appreciation to the gentleman who worked so hard getting this put together as it has been a lot of work for about six years. Mr. Lentsch stated is has been his experience that people and society need a set of rules to live by. Often times if those rules aren't imposed on them or if they are left to their own discretion, they soon don't know what they can do and what they can't do. Mr. Lentsch stated he looks at the bitter blunt end of it, if they won't abide by the rules then they have to • • March 7, 2005 • • Oral Presentations continued Page 15 pay the cost. Mr. Lentsch stated he does not see anything wrong with the code that passed, and he supports it wholeheartedly. Mr. Lentsch stated he faced about 25 people this morning when he went down to George's for coffee because they saw him on television. They saw the back end of his head and they recognized him when he said that all we are trying to do is make the place look better, make it livable, and he doesn't see anything wrong with it. Mr. Lentsch stated he was surprised at how much misinformation is out there. Welper/Cole that the above oral comments be received and placed on file. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. ADJOURNMENT 121270 - Welper/Cole that the Council adjourn at 7:31 p.m. Ayes: Six. Absent: Gunderson. Motion carried. LAerittr4124± Nancy Eckert, CMC City Clerk