[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:00] Okay, this meeting of the Cedar Rapids City Council will come to order. Welcome to the Cedar
[0:05] Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, September 28, 2021. I'm going to try to wear this mask the whole
[0:12] time and keep my glasses and fogging up too much. Council Member Tyler Olson had a conflict today,
[0:21] won't be able to join us, but the rest of the council members are here. Thank you for being
[0:24] here. I do want to welcome our acting city manager, Casey Drew, who I think will be here
[0:30] shortly. Oh, there's, sorry, Casey. And our city clerk and our acting city attorney,
[0:37] thanks to the city staff who are here and will be here after the meeting to try to
[0:42] answer questions that citizens may have. Please turn off your cell phones, your other
[0:46] electronic devices that might interrupt the meeting, city council meeting
[0:52] agendas, minutes and videos are available on the city's website and the regular
[0:57] sessions like this are available to watch live and replay through Facebook
[1:01] live. We will begin with an invocation from Public Safety Chaplain Rick Gale
[1:07] followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
[1:16] Father, we come into this room. God, I
[1:19] I never come in here that I don't look around and say thank you.
[1:25] Father, the men and women of our council, they give of themselves.
[1:30] I don't think that we can comprehend or understand what they do and the time that they give
[1:36] and what it takes to fulfill the position that they're in.
[1:40] So I ask you to honor them and God equip them and give them wisdom that they need.
[1:46] Lord, I also ask that you honor their families because their families live this with them.
[1:51] So God, we say thank you for their lives.
[1:54] Thank you for what they do.
[1:56] Thank you for their leadership.
[1:57] And Lord, our leaders of the city that are over here, again, would you honor them and
[2:03] just be with them, give our city wisdom that God, we can grow and become a better city
[2:10] every day.
[2:11] And we thank you, amen.
[2:13] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for
[2:22] which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
[2:30] Thank you, Rick.
[2:33] Good news announcements.
[2:35] I'll have several.
[2:36] I'll try to go fairly quickly.
[2:38] Discovery Living had some representatives here a few minutes ago to get a picture.
[2:42] sure that in December they will celebrate their 40th year of providing intellectual disability
[2:49] services to adults in Cedar Rapids and Lynn County. They do wonderful work and 40 years
[2:54] is a long time to be doing that great work. Last week Mercy Health Center groundbreaking
[3:00] to another facility in our Med Quarter as we continue to grow services to serve everyone
[3:08] everyone in Cedar Rapids and the surrounding areas.
[3:12] We on our agenda today is a contract with a private company to help us start keep clearing
[3:20] our stumps in the right-of-way.
[3:23] The Forestry Department has been doing that work.
[3:26] There are thousands of stumps we need to get cleared, and we're going to do that.
[3:32] And we want to do it as quickly as possible, but so we're going to work with an outside
[3:37] to continue to work, and our forestry officers will still be doing that work.
[3:43] And hopefully, we'll figure out a way to get those stops removed as quickly as we possibly can,
[3:46] but this is a good step in the right direction.
[3:54] Yesterday, our flood control manager, Rob Davis, and I were on the phone with people
[3:58] from the U.S. Department of Transportation giving them information about the RAISE grant application
[4:04] that we applied for $20 million for the 8th Avenue Bridge,
[4:10] which is a really key component for our flood protection system.
[4:14] We thought it went really well.
[4:16] They were very pleased with the presentation,
[4:18] so everybody keep your fingers crossed.
[4:21] They're supposed to make that announcement by the 22nd of November,
[4:24] so we don't have too long to wait, so that would be good news.
[4:28] And finally, maybe the best news,
[4:30] and I don't want to, you know, I don't want to play this too big right now because we'll
[4:35] hear about it later, but today we will hear a presentation and I'm certain we'll approve
[4:42] our Community Climate Action Plan and that really is good news, good news for lots of
[4:49] reasons and we'll talk more about that when we get to agenda item 35.
[4:54] And with that, we do have an important proclamation today to recognize Monarch Milkweed Month,
[5:02] and Council Member Dale Todd will present the proclamation.
[5:05] And Clark, if you and others want to come up, you're welcome to do that.
[5:11] Is this working?
[5:12] Yeah.
[5:13] Clark, come on up.
[5:32] On behalf of the City of Cedar Rapids, where is the Monarch Butterfly as an iconic
[5:36] North American species, whose multi-generational migration and metamorphosis captured the imagination
[5:46] of millions of Americans, and whereas in the last 20 years the population of monarch butterflies
[5:52] in the Midwest has decreased by more than 90 percent in December 2020, the U.S. Fish
[5:59] and Wildlife Service announced that listing the monarch as an endangered or threatened
[6:04] under the Endangered Species Act is warranted.
[6:07] And whereas in March 2018,
[6:09] the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
[6:12] established goals to increase the milkweed count in Iowa
[6:16] to improve the habitat for monarch butterflies
[6:19] in hopes to add 127 million stems,
[6:24] about double the amount of milkweed
[6:26] that currently exists in the next 20 years.
[6:29] And whereas Cedar Rapids is situating
[6:31] one of the major migratory paths for the Monarch butterfly and is a vital breeding ground for
[6:37] the species and whereas cities and towns and counties have a critical role to play to help
[6:43] save the Monarch butterfly, municipalities in particular can provide habitat, public parks,
[6:51] median strips, community gardens, municipal buildings that serve this community hub such
[6:57] his recreation centers and libraries. Schools, homes and businesses can also provide essential
[7:04] habitat for monarchs, whereas educating citizens about how and where to grow milkweed is also
[7:11] a key piece of the puzzle as milkweed is crucial to the monarch butterfly. Milkweed leaves are
[7:19] where monarch butterflies lay eggs and the plant is the only food monarch caterpillars
[7:24] And whereas every resident of Cedar Rapids can make a difference for the monarch by planting native milkweed and nectar-producing plants and in beauty to the landscape and supporting other insects and birds as well.
[7:38] Now, therefore, I, Dale Todd, on behalf of Mayor Brad Hart, Mayor Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
[7:44] do hereby recognize October 2021 as Monarch Milkweed Month and encourage the entire community
[7:51] to commit to restore habitat for the Monarch by planting milkweeds so that these magnificent
[7:57] butterflies will once again flourish across the continent.
[8:01] There you are, Clark.
[8:02] Thank
[8:10] you Councilman Todd and the rest of the Council. Obviously we all know we're
[8:16] doing more than milkweed these days and I think though the monarch stands as a
[8:22] symbol for all of us that the environmental actions are broad and deep
[8:28] and this is just one of a million species at risk today. So it's broad
[8:37] based habitat trees especially in Lynn County for the next three to five years
[8:43] for us thank you all thank you you keep that that's yours and on behalf of the
[8:52] council thank you for your tree planting efforts we appreciate it we haven't
[8:56] said much about it but we we know you're out there and we appreciate it
[9:01] thank you Dale