>> on the agenda is jester insurance. Heath.
>> if you'll just
push the button on the microwave on the microphone so it turns green. [laughter] >> throw
one for joe.
>> can everyone hear me? >> yeah. >> perfect. Good afternoon, everyone.
my name is heath hockinbery. I'm with jester insurance, and we are the broker for
city of council bluffs for the property and casualty insurance coverages. This afternoon, we're just going to walk through the july 1st of 2025 renewal proposal.
we've already walked through this with the city staff. Everything is in very good order.
excited about what we have to bring forward to all of you this afternoon.
if you start by opening the proposal tab, we'll just walk through this coverage by coverage.
not going to hit on every line item, just some of the highlights.
as we go through it, if you have questions, please just jump in and interrupt me,
and I will get them answered. On page 1 there, this is the start of the city's property insurance coverage.
one thing I want to highlight here is the city obviously has more property value than the $250 million loss limit that we carry.
but theoretically, there should never be a single event
where all $454 million of the city's property would be impacted.
one thing that we did this year, if you flip to the max loss projection tab,
we had our data analytic folks run the city's insured properties through our system,
and what this shows you is a map, just laid out of where the majority of the exposure would lie.
what they did is they ran worst-case scenario of a 1.5-mile-wide tornado,
which is actually in excess of the largest tornado, generally, which is 1.25 miles,
just to give us an idea of what property is in that path to make certain that that $250 million loss limit is adequate.
and what we found out was there's about 211 million in values in that catastrophic worst-case scenario path,
so we're very comfortable to continue with that $250 million coverage limit,
even though you have 454 million of total values. Wanted to run that through this year just to give you guys insight as
to the comfort level that we have with that current limit.
if you flip to page 2, one thing to point out here,
and we've talked about this year after year, there still is no wind hail deductible.
in a wind hail event, the city would still have a single per occurrence or per claim, $100,000 deductible.
that really at this point is unheard of in the industry, most have gone to a percentage or a much larger single higher dollar deductible amount.
conversations with city staff is we want to ride this out as long as we can.
the minute that we have a large wind or hail event, we're likely going to see that deductible increase,
so we're basically going to get a freebie. Then at that point, we would anticipate an increase in the deductible,
but it's good that we can continue to maintain it where we have it.
this is some of the most positive news. If you see in the renewal,
the property premium is actually down 6%. When I gave budget figures to the city staff back in january,
the property market was improving, but I still try to be pretty conservative. When we get to the end, you'll see we came
in quite a bit lower than what we had budgeted, and it's a lot of that's being driven by two things, primarily,
the property market is improving a great deal for larger property owners like cities, municipalities.
you've probably not seeing that in your own homeowners insurance yet. You're probably still seeing those premiums increase,
but we are starting to see a softening market, which basically means there's more capacity,
more carriers getting involved, and that makes the rates more competitive.
very happy with where the property market is trending. On the excess liability,
what I'm going to do is have you flip to the last page of this proposal tab.
you should see a sheet that looks like that on the very last page under that proposal tab.
this year, we did market the city's excess liability coverage.
we were notified by the city's current carrier states last fall that to anticipate a pretty significant rate increase,
15-20%, which was beyond what I was seeing in the marketplace, so we proactively went to market.
now, these premiums that are reflected here are worst-case scenario.
we're still in negotiation with both these carriers, since we have a few weeks ago to july 1st,
but we wanted to at least put in front of you what we have to date, so you would know this would be absolute worst case.
I'm pretty confident it's going to come in a decent amount better than this, but we at least wanted to put this in front of you.
states initially, like I said, it indicated a 15-20% rate increase,
and you'll see that in this side-by-side comparison. The far left column is your current coverage with states,
the middle column would be the renewal, and then the far right is the most competitive option that we found or located outside of states,
which is obsidian specialty. A couple of things to note here in its current iteration format,
the city has $20 million in total liability coverage for the year.
you have 10 million for a single claim, so that means you theoretically could have
two $10 million losses in a given year and still have coverage for both.
states has indicated that they're going to move that down to a $10 million aggregate limit.
for the year, you'd still have 10 million for a claim, but it essentially would cut your total coverage available to you in half.
again, still working through that with them and seeing if they would reconsider that.
but the other option that we have with obsidian, they're actually willing to leave it at the $20 million limit.
a couple other things to note, as far as differences,
the obsidian quote does include unmanned aircrafts or drones, which currently your coverage is not,
so you're self-insuring that today, so that would be a nice benefit. The obsidian one does not include a co-payment for claim.
right now, your self-insured retention is $1 million. Anything then above that,
the city takes on 10% of whatever the losses. With the alternative option, with obsidian,
it's just your self-insured retention, anything above that, they would take on all of it.
there's no co-payment or no participation from the city beyond that,
from a financial standpoint. Then probably the best thing that I
like that obsidian is offering there is a two-year rate lock. It doesn't mean your premium won't change.
if the exposure goes up, the premium would go up along with it, but the rate that they're charging for each of
those exposures is not going to change for two years. When I evaluate whether that's a good option or not,
I'm looking at what is the market doing? If I saw excess liability coverage trending downward, I would say,
don't lock it in, I think the market will continue to see a downward turn,
you want to take advantage of that at the next renewal. As far as excess liability goes,
things are continuing to trend upward, and then there's continued pressure on the retentions and then the available coverage limits.
if we get this locked in for two years, from a budgeting standpoint,
this along with your work comp which we'll touch on too,
which we have a two-year rate lock, it's about 40% of your cost, so it would go a long way in helping the city budget,
not just for this upcoming fiscal year, but even for the next one. Moving forward. All in all,
where things stand today, I would recommend a move to obsidian,
but, again, we're finalizing everything. This will be worst case, and then we'll get updated information to the city staff as soon as we have it.
just one other comment on the excess liability.
it's very difficult as the market continues to change
and carriers are not wanting to give a full $10 million coverage limit.
in a lot of cases, what we're having to do with brokers is combine two companies to get to that $10 million limit,
so one company for five million and another one for five million on top of that.
what that does is that drives up costs. As an example, munich re gave us an indication,
they wanted 400,000 for just five million in coverage. Then that next carrier for five million,
they're going to want a minimum premium as well for offering up $5 million of limits.
the longer that we can get a single carrier to provide us 10 million, the better off we are financially for the city.
we're going to continue to push for that as we move forward. If you flip back in the proposal to page 3,
one thing to note here on the city's crime coverage. We are going to increase the social engineering limit form 100,000-250,000.
this can be called a variety of different things. It's called phishing, social engineering, impersonation, etc.
what this is intended to cover, generally would be electronic communication comes into the city typically from a vendor,
and we've seen this across the state, pretty a dramatic increase in these claims.
says, hey, we changed bank account information, wire our next payment,
we see it a lot in construction projects, to our new bank. Public entity in iowa doesn't pick up the phone and validate that that's correct,
doesn't get anything in writing, they just do it, they make the payment. They don't find out until that payments more than 30 days past due when they
get the past due notice that it was actually sent to a fraudulent bank account. Money's gone. That's where this coverage comes into play.
there's an additional 100,000 in coverage for that area under the city's cyber policy as well.
if you google it, there's a pretty large case of this going on right now in eastern iowa actually
between a county and a city and funds that got transferred to a wrong account fraudulently,
and they're now battling back and forth who owes the money. It's an important thing to make sure we have covered.
then on page 4, excess liability. A couple of things to hit on here.
midwest employers, they too are offering a two-year rate lock,
which I think is a good deal, again, from a budgeting standpoint, with your excess liability,
the workers' compensation locked in for two years, and the property premium trending downward, we're in a really,
really good spot from a budget standpoint for the insurance costs for the next 24 months,
not just 12 months. The city has, through conversations with the staff,
the recommendation is to increase the self-insured retention for the chapter 411 employees only from 750,000-1,000,000.
now, that decision was came upon just by looking at loss history,
and then the annual premium savings. Midwest employers is offering that premium that's reflected there,
it's $25,000 less than if you kept that retention at 750,000.
we looked at this last year and the year prior, and that savings was less than half of the 25,000.
when a carrier is starting to offer that type of discount,
they're giving us, as the broker, the indication they really want to see the city move in that direction.
we have to gauge timing on that because if we don't do it, and then next year,
they could come back and say, you have to go to a million, and they're not obviously going to give us
a savings at that point when they're forcing it upon us. This is not unusual.
we're seeing every excess carrier work comp carrier go that route and continue to want to see increases on their self-insured retentions.
it's a limited number of carriers as well. The city's had a lot of good luck and has
a long-term relationship with midwest employers.
on the cyber, if you look down at the bottom of page 4,
that 100,000 for that social engineering, that's where that additional limit comes into play.
then on page 5, if you look at the total cost,
they're actually down 1%. Again, I could see with our continued negotiations with the excess liability,
we could actually come in under a 1.8 million figure,
which at that point would be about a 3% reduction in overall cost.
a much better message than what I've had to deliver the last few years.
really happy with where things came together on this renewal. Again, it was quite a bit lower than the $2-$2.1 million budget
figure that we had conservatively given staff to account for back in january,
when I was still cautiously optimistic with what the property market was doing,
but wasn't confident enough at that point to tell you guys to budget for this type of decrease.
any questions for me from the group?
>> I don't think so.
>> well, we greatly appreciate your business. We love working with the city staff,
they do a great job getting us the information that we need, so we can do our job, so we appreciate all of you. Thank you.
>> thank you. >> thank you.
>> tony, solid water, or matt, or whoever.
>> good afternoon. >> good afternoon. I'm here to talk
about a little loan program in the solid waste code, solid waste vacancies.
this program allows a resident to apply to the city and state that their property is vacant.
the current program gives the ability to stop
billing for a minimum of four months and a maximum of up to 12 months.
the program initially started in the 1990s with pretty strict rules.
property need to be uninhabited for 90 days, water meter removed, other documented minimum utility use.
over the years that shifted to an honor-based system without much verification.
currently there's about 155 properties in the program
that equates to a little under 1% of the total 19,800 solid waste accounts.
these adjustment fees are allowed in chapter 4.12 as necessary and equitable.
what are the key issues with this? What we've seen over the years as we take a look at this,
it stops the billing for the resident, but it doesn't stop the administrative costs that the city incurs,
so turning on and off these accounts, it takes about an hour and 45 minutes each.
there's a lot behind the scenes that has to happen.
it;s a little bit more. It's more than just the regular billing process and the regular payment receipt process.
that costs about $80 per account, but then the resident doesn't pay for any of the services.
financially, there's a little over $10,000 a year in administrative costs,
and then on top of that, there's lost revenue to the enterprise fund of a little over $34,000.
some of the admin costs, what's involved in there,
after the account is turned off, when it gets to the point where it's approximately 30 days out,
the city does send a reminder letter. Says, "hey, your property is about ready to come off a vacancy.
we're going to start billing." that's not always seen. People don't really pay attention to those letters, unfortunately.
then that triggers the billing to start, and then once that billing starts,
sometimes they notice it, sometimes the goes another quarter and notice it,
and then they come back to us and say, they want to appeal the fees. We adding even more layers to those administrative costs. Other issues.
I talked about the additional manual processing for the administrative staff,
and then it's inequitable to shift these costs, so we're suspending billing for these properties.
we're still incurring these administrative costs that all the rest of solid waste customers are paying for.
other issues with this, lack of verification. There is no reliable system to confirm these vacancies,
short of going out, quarterly and checking is a property vacant.
that needs to be done on collection day. Again, that verification,
about 45 minutes per account adds even more financial burden to the system.
recently, this has just happened in the last couple of weeks, cite an example.
there was a owner occupied property with an upstairs apartment. The person purchased the property about three years ago,
immediately claimed a vacancy, and I got a call from the tenant within the last couple of weeks wondering,
"well, where's my recycle carts?" well, your accounts not turned on,
but the property owner is cheap, now this person has been paying for solid waste.
they've been using services through the subscription cart service, but not paying for the service, so there again,
there's an added layer there that the abuse of the system is going on.
anytime we make changes to the program, we take a look at what are our peers in the state doing?
how are they handling, you know, the different processes? We surveyed 12 large cities in the state of iowa.
three do allow temporary exemptions under specific conditions,
nine do not, so if you have a property, you're paying for service,
or they drastically limit that vacancy to a water service must be disconnected type of system,
and a lot of their billing is tied together. The billing for the water and solid waste is all in one system.
where are we going from here? We're updating the solid waste collection and billing suspension program to limit
the eligibility to properties that are truly vacant and registered on chapter 17 vacancy program.
that comply with the annual fee requirement. That's a $300 per year annual fee.
they submit that paperwork in community development, properties with an active demolition permit through the building division, and of course,
new construction properties without a co, and then any vacant property owned by the city or
the housing redevelopment authority will be allowed to do a billing suspension.
that the property owner will be required to
submit proof of the above conditions when applying for that,
so they'll get their paperwork in order with the chapter 17 or the building division,
bring it and submit an application to the treasury department to enact that vacancy.
these changes will go in effect immediately, and all the 155 ish that are still on vacancy right now,
we will send them a letter and let them know, once this vacancy lapses,
here's the new guidelines for the program, if you want to take advantage of it,
by all means you can, but we are going to limit that.
any questions?
>> typically it's snowbirds in the wintertime there?
>> yeah, and their are properties have been on this vacancy program,
like I cited that one for three years that should be on.
>> twenty seven dollars a month they pay? >> new rate will be 22 july 1.
>> twenty two? >> yeah. >> for three months?
>> for three months, yes $66.
>> we lose money on all of them?
>> thank you. >> thanks, tony.
>> review agenda. Are there any questions on the consent agenda?
>> 6649. Can I just get a little clarification?
when I was reading through the paperwork, is that going to be city sewer,
or is that going to go in, because it had storm drains,
we're going to have area for storm drains. >> no, there's no city sewer.
>> no. That's what I wanted the clarification for. Thank you.
>> other questions on the consent agenda? >> mary have a proclamation as well.
>> I get it here.
this is a city of council bluffs, iowa office of the mayor proclamation,
notating neighbor works week, whereas neighbor works week was initiated in
1984 by the united states congressional resolution.
co-sponsored by more than 240 members of congress,
and the formal induction of neighbor works week occurred in the spring of 1986 and began an annual national celebration,
held the 1st through the 2nd saturday and june,
and whereas neighbor works week is a celebration of neighborhood pride,
and unity among 250 organizations in all 50 states,
and whereas neighbor works week celebrates the efforts of local organizations working with partners
and volunteers to create healthier communities and neighbor works home solutions,
and neighbor works organization has worked in councils for 16 years.
therefore, I walsh, mayor and the city of councils, do hereby proclaim june 7th through 14th of 2025
as neighbor works week in the city of councils iowa, and honor of the invaluable contributions of neighbor works home solutions and
the entire neighbor works network to our community and beyond with the seal of the city of council bluffs.
I do hereby proclaim. David, anything particular, you want to say?
>> I will say that neighbor works week is an example of how we come together with
a community to showcase the activities that we provide through affordable and workforce housing.
this is just one of the many mechanisms that we utilize, and we're very proud to say that we
are a continuing partner with the city of council bluffs, and we appreciate everything that you do to support us. Thank you.
>> thank you very much for all you do.
questions on the public hearings?
ordinances on first reading or resolutions?
let's just take them all because there's only one ordinance. >> 7g25156.
as it sits currently right now, and I know I spoke to roger.
I won't approve it on my end because of that through street.
reason being, I spent a lot of time on tipton. My kids play on tipton,
I have friends and a bunch of people on tipton. That street after you hit the stop sign at the top,
I believe on oren is a race track. If you punch that street through,
it's just going to be a cut through race track to get to eastern hills. By them making that left turn and having to go around the state orchard,
it does slow traffic down. Kids aren't riding scooters and bikes on sidewalks anymore.
I was over there saturday for a few hours, and probably 40 or 50 kids on back and forth, back and forth.
now we can't tell where to ride, but it's a safety thing.
anybody that knows that drives up there, everybody's cutting through everywhere to get to these spots.
I spoke with steve about it, and I know roger spoke to joe.
I'm proposing to amend it and get rid of the through street to tipton.
it's a non-starter with, I think most of the council,
because it's a safety factor. There's enough neighbors up there too that have the same sentiment,
and they're probably going to speak tonight, but the rest of the project,
I think it's going to be fantastic. It just doesn't make any sense.
>> actually, I think it reduces the traffic in the neighborhood and increases the safety.
>> you spend time up there like I have, it is not going to reduce it. It's a race track.
>> I race down, they got to take a left, then they got to take a right. I'm familiar with it.
I financed up there. Rather than go out and get out of the neighborhood quicker.
>> I guess it's a matter of opinion, but as it sits, I'm not going to support it.
I know, roger, I spoke with him earlier, he can't be here. He's not going to support it as it is,
and I'll let anybody else weigh in on it. >> I would just say, our intent is to always
provide interconnection between neighborhoods. That's why those stub outs are there when they're originally connected.
I would just ask that you understand that it is our three, so they can do this by right without the pr.
the city of council bluffs, the staff asked for that connection.
if you're going to make an amendment, I would just say, approve less the connection to tipton,
would be my recommendation for tonight.
>> can you talk about the connection through?
as we go through neighborhood to neighborhood,
I think it is the ease there. I don't live out there, so I don't know what the traffic is.
I knew that people were against it, but to walk in and see this.
I was going to ask maybe to push this into the next meeting just so we had an opportunity to talk to people or look through this,
but the project itself, I think is a great project.
I guess maybe chris, I need to ask you. I got to go drive out there, I guess,
because I don't understand why we would not connect neighborhoods from one to another.
>> this apartment complex has multiple entrances into it anyway, doesn't it?
>> it will. This will be a secondary entrance. >> fire department signed off on the safety of how it was set up without tying in tipton.
>> the connection is not needed by fire. That is correct. >> then it's awful steep hill coming out of tipton down into there,
and so I would support just doing
away with that little tie in and just keep it isolated into the [inaudible].
>> I would say that the benefit is to the neighborhood. I know they don't see that,
and they're going to be all shaking their heads if they hear me say that, but the folks that are going to use that are the folks of briarwood that are
looking for a connection to greenview quicker,
the apartments can stand alone without it. That's absolutely true.
this connection would allow for another access point to the neighborhood, and regardless of the children playing in the street,
I think that it is an important way to make sure that we're always looking at our neighborhoods and how we tie them together, but again,
if counsel's recommendation is to remove it, the subdivision or the apartment complex can happen without it.
>> is there an option to put in speed bumps out there, and additional signs to slow down?
well, I'm just looking at because to have two access points to get in there,
I think would be beneficial for those people that are living there. >> there's already two access points.
if you come into that neighborhood, you come down the hill from forest glen,
you hit the bottom of the hill, you turn left, you go approximately a eighth of a mile,
and then you turn right to get out. Some of those people could exit right there at that access point and
get down to state orchard drive and not have to drive.
the people in the apartments are not going to go up into that neighborhood.
some will, I won't say it never will happen, but primarily,
they're going to leave through the main exit onto state orchard, which is the cleanest clearest route for them.
there would be no legitimate reason to go up into that neighborhood.
>>do what you need to do. >> I just want to make it clear that it is zoned r3,
and they could start pounding nails tomorrow. >> well, I don't want to slow the the meat and the potatoes of
this project down by pushing it off to another meeting.
I'd like to approve it and move forward tonight. It's just the road as the hot button. As it sits, and I spoke with some planning commission people.
it sounds like it went through pretty fast, and they all like the project,
but some of them on the road, and that's where we're at. >> the vote was 4-3,
and the three that said nay were because they did not like the connection.
again, I think that it sets a precedent that the neighborhood adjacent can
control things that are happening that it is always our standard to connect neighborhoods.
would just be what I would say to that. Broadmoor is here, if you have any questions about the specific project.
justin, are you coming up here to say something? >> yeah. >> go ahead.
>> one thing I'd say is the apartment complex doesn't need the street connection,
but the fact is it's pretty common sense to say if we're coming down greenview,
it's a lot easier to access that neighborhood by a new street than it is to cut up into golden hills or whatever it is,
and then cut left, and then come to the stop sign, hang right and then drop in.
the other thing is it's also stubbed for water. Currently, you have a dead end hydrant at the end of
tipton because it was designed to be extended the rest of the way down to the actual I think it's a 12 inch main?
there's a 12 inch main on greenview, and when you do that, if you bring the water back up into that neighborhood.
now, don't get me wrong. We got a lot of pressure in that neighborhood. But one thing water works doesn't like is dead end hydrants.
the reason is it becomes the holding pot of all the debris into the water system.
there's an interconnection back to the water main too that probably will exist with the city road there.
we tried to gis it and look at it and see how much it would save us on response time.
gis really doesn't like it when you're talking seconds, but common sense would tell you that it's a lot faster for us to get to
that neighborhood if we come down greenview and go up a new street straight into the neighborhood,
or we come down and we hit three stop signs or two stop signs to get it starting and stopping 70,000 pound trucks.
steve can tell you, they don't fire as fast when they come to a complete stop. That'd be the only thing I'd add.
>> do you have anything else for me? >> no. [inaudible] >> thanks. Just wanted to if it does go the route of not having a street connection,
I would encourage you to at least make sure there's a pedestrian connection from that street so that
that neighborhood can better access the amenities in that area,
the trail and the park that's over there, I think the neighborhood would appreciate that pedestrian and bicycle access there.
also, if you're removing the street, maybe make it clear that a secondary driveway to eastern hills is approved with this,
because I think as it's shown, it's the street that comes through that is the access point for the development.
I think if it's not that, there's only one access point.
>> that's the second access point I was talking about that to get in and out of there.
>> two access points in addition to this.
you got any questions for tim. Tim is the president of the homeowners association of [inaudible].
well, only if they ask questions, tim. You can talk tonight if you want, but. If they have questions for you that helps them understand I think they made the run.
for the comments? Other questions on the ordinance on first reading or the resolutions.
anything on the permits and cancellations?
what did I have down there? Anything on the amended budget?
danielle is here, this is a process we go through every year,
18 months ago, roughly, we put out a budget.
it's a budget work is not a science, it's an art,
and we have to go back in at the end of the year and true up our costs.
some things affecting that are we did not bond this year,
and so money we got in 2024 is being used against this year, mets,
working on the levies that we get reimbursed from
the state flood mitigation program we've had similar high.
this is $13 million, without, we have not made adjustments to the revenue side,
just the expense side, but that's not a typical. We had 10 million two years ago at this juncture and ended up, I think, positive,
at the end of so I know people look at it and freak a little,
but it's nothing to freak about. See you at seven.
>>
>> before I call the meeting to order,
show all council members are in attendance and I'd entertain a motion for approval of the consent agenda.
>> motion to approval. >> second. >> is there any discussion?
hearing none. All those in favor signify by saying aye? >> aye.
>> oppose, same sign. Tonight, we have two public hearings. If you'd like to address a council in regards to either one,
please step forward to the microphone, give your name and address for the record. Now it's time placed for a public hearing regards to resolution 25-148.
this resolution approves the amended and restated, consolidated urban revitalization plan amendment 2.
as proof of publication on file? >> yes, it is. >> any written protests received? >> none received.
>> anyone wishing to address the council in regards to this matter?
seeing none, is there a motion from the council? >> motion to approve. >> second.
>> is there a discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye?
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. Now is time and place for a public hearing in regards to resolution 25-149,
a resolution to approve the proposed amendment to the current city budget for fiscal year ending june 30th, 2025.
is proof of publication on file? >> yes, it is.
>> any written protests received? >> none received?
>> anyone wishing to address the council in regards to this matter?
is there a motion from the council? >> motion to approve. >> second.
>> is there a discussion? All those in favor signify by saying, aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. Madam clerk. >> ordinance 6052,
an ordinance to amend to the amended and restated consolidated urban revitalization area,
amendment 1 within the city of council bluffs. >> motion to approve.
>> second. >> is there a discussion? All those in favor signify by saying, aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-150, resolution amending the list of
authorities for execution of financial transactions between the city of council bluffs,
iowa, and institutions to hold city funds. >> motion to approve.
>> second. >> is there a discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-151, a resolution to accept the property legally described as block 3,
block 1, in hillcrest addition, that is being donated by the board of water works,
trustees of council bluffs, iowa. >> motion to approve.
>> second. >> is there discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-152, a resolution accepting the work of western iowa utilities,
hildreth landscape inc., as complete and authorizing the release of retainage after 30 days,
if no claims are filed in connection with the kingsville sanitary sewer extension phase 1 project.
>> motion to approve. >> second. >> discussion. All those in favor signify by saying aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-153 a resolution,
establishing the park maintenance worker three position to support the barks and recreation operations.
>> motion to approve. >> second. >> is there a discussion? I think after the summer fest,
the kids in the bubbles got in the water feature and then taken down,
drain all the bubbles out. >> get it back up here now?
>> tomorrow, I think. Any further discussion? All of those in favor signify by saying, aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-154,
a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with tidewater transit, llc,
a wholly owned sub subsidiary via transportation inc.,
to provide para transportation services under the city's special transit service? Motion to approve.
>> second. >> any discussion? >> this service was formally provided by [inaudible] gave us a little better bid,
and so I'm hopefully, that will be an improvement to the transit services.
thanks to [inaudible] for their pass.
all those in favor signify by saying, aye. >> aye.
>> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-155, a resolution to amend
the adopted planned industrial development plan for a new data center on property located in part of
section 217543 and part of section 287543,
more specifically described in the council packet. >> motion to approve.
>> second. >> is there a discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye.
>> aye. >> oppose, same sign. >> resolution 25-156, a resolution to adopt a pr planned residential development plan for
a multifamily residential development on property legally described as being that part of
the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 47443.
>> I moved to amend this resolution 25-156 to reflect that there'll be
no vehicular interconnection between the proposed development and briarwood subdivision shall be completed with this project.
>> second? >> is there a discussion? >> yes. If we take a look at the attachment c that was in our packet.
bringing it up here second.
no. Sorry. This one. There you go. That one.
the part that we're talking about is looks like the river on the top right hand side coming down from tipton.
thanks, roger. I understand during study session,
we discussed the concerns of the neighborhood of having if that's there,
that traffic from the apartment complex would move through the neighborhoods.
I mentioned that I'm not very familiar with that area out there.
after dinner, I did take a drive out there. To me, those people that are living in those lots right up above,
that's where your traffic is going to actually go down and those kids that are out
playing in the street are going to see less traffic there because instead of going through the neighborhood,
they're going to come right out on eastern hills drive, instead of going back through the neighborhoods that's concerned.
if we take that out, to chief james' point, then,
we have a dead end of a fire hydrant. That's there.
we're going to force that traffic to continue to go through the neighborhood that's currently there,
so we're not going to see any relief there. To me, I can't see the apartments going through that neighborhood.
they're going to pop right out on eastern hills drive and either go right or left.
you're going to go up if you're going to try to go the interstate, you're going to come around and go out that way,
or if you want to go to iowa western, you're going to again,
come out the apartment complex. You're not going to drive through that neighborhood.
>> go ahead. >> no. That's fine. >> the folks that are at the end of tipton there,
I don't think are requesting any relief from traffic is the thing.
the folks that have been in the neighborhood have been in the neighborhood for some going on 20 years.
I don't think any of them especially what we can see on the papers we've been given,
none of them have been saying, oh, hey, we need more relief from our traffic issues.
they seem to be fine with how traffic currently flows for them.
>> but the information that we were given for all,
they're opposed to the plan extension drive through it and that into the new development feels that there's no need for it.
when we spoke earlier, the conversation, chris, or the concern that you brought up was the safety
and that the cars would be going through there. In all of our other neighborhoods that we plan out,
we don't try to singlize a neighborhood so it doesn't connect in somewhere else.
I'm just trying to address. I went out there, I looked at it. I don't see how you would have more people funneling into the neighborhood actually,
quite opposite, you would have people from the neighborhood funneling out so you're not working or you're not going against the kids that are playing out in the street.
they're going to get out quicker so it's going to relieve some of that traffic that's going through there.
>> what I talked about today, the safety, I spent a lot of time on tipton, and I know the traffic patterns very well.
it wasn't the people in the apartment complex going into the neighborhood.
it was the fact that it now creates a heck of a shortcut, and it's already a speed trap,
and there's no stop sign once they hit the top one and I believe it's on.
they take off. Again it's a punch through to a collector street,
but just I don't see it. I just think it's going to create speed and problems. We can't put another stop sign down there.
safety is a huge thing for me I know the citizens that are here will speak to the traffic patterns there.
like I said, in talking with some of them, it's not people leaving the apartment complex and going back through,
it's the shortcuts that are going on up there. There's deadheads all over there, to pick and choose which ones we're going to open.
for me, I look at them either open all of them up or don't select them.
I know there was talks too about potentially a pedestrian path through there.
that's got to be a longer conversation because I know there was some discussion on,
possibly, like snow removal and maintenance, but I just think it's a huge safety thing for me and
spending the minute to get over onto state orchard to eastern hills I still think it slows traffic down.
I see it. That's where I was with that.
>> I agree. I think it's a good project. I don't think we need to connect tipton they're just going to go on briarwood.
the neighborhood will go on briarwood out to state orchard and down eastern hills.
>> but, we want to move the project forward, and that's why we wanted to amend it and split it
because it's a great project in the long run. >> the amendment to make sure that there's at least two outs to eastern hills then,
if we take that away. >> there's two. There's one at the bottom one at the top.
the top and bottom will be retained, but the dog leg off into.
>> we're just going to come in here.
>> at least that, I guess I think that's what you're saying.
>> with chief james' concerns that then we're shutting that off if they're already in that neighborhood,
they're going to have to go around, we're okay with those safety concerns? >> >> they're doing it now. They're just going on briarwood.
>> here and I could ask but the first trucks are coming are coming up greenville. >> that's true.
>> I don't know if we need to delineate that former street connection and make it a driveway.
that was what brandon was saying. >> make it a driveway, and it could be the house there?
>> well, no that it's a second access point for the apartments.
>> because if you take that out. >> won't connect through to afton,
but it would be the second entrance to the second apartments for the apartment.
>> because you need two entrances for all the driveway. >> you're saying we need to make make a note
that we're retaining the piece from the apartments out to >> this language was from courtney to accomplish that.
>> because they would need obviously more than one means of egress or whatever here.
[overlapping] have the top side and the bottom side still. >> this just says it won't connect to briarwood subdivision.
>> correct. >> that piece going up in there will still be there. >> they'll still be able to get onto there.
>> two entrance. >> I definitely would like to hear from the citizens that came out to speak tonight,
but I also understand the concerns, but, I would like to hear from whoever would like to speak. Come on up.
>> please give us your name and address for the record. >> your time limit is 5 minutes if you'll push
the little green button or the button, the light will turn green.
>> you guys can hang back till she goes, and then we'll just come up one at a time that way we're not all standing.
>> [inaudible]. Go ahead and come up and sit next. >> good evening, mr. Mayor and council members.
my name is barbara schlott. I'm secretary of the briarwood hoa association here in council bluffs.
I have lived at 1525 berwick circle for five years and was one who went door to door to have people
sign a petition to stop a planned extension of tipton drive into the approved apartment complex.
as I understand from the plan, there's supposed to be a perimeter between
single family housing neighborhood and the complex. If this is true,
the end of tipton drive should be closed off to provide continuity to that perimeter.
in the planning portion of pott county commission online description of their purpose,
it says, step 1 is background.
planning begins with the collection of data to provide a comprehensive picture of the areas being studied.
analysis of the data provides a basis for the development of
forecasts and do what the future will be within the city planning.
step 2, consensus and recommendations.
planning is the development of a general plan which establishes specific and practical guidelines for
improving existing conditions and guiding future growth.
the comprehensive plan is presented in narrative, maps, and charts, describing what the residents want in the city.
the comprehensive plan provides a public process designed to identify,
assess and develop goals and policies in the areas of land use,
housing, public facilities, transportation, and plan maintenance.
the plan contains proposals and recommendations that need to be
implemented in order to be of value to the residents of the city.
I cannot see any improvement in the existing conditions of our neighborhood by extending tipton drive.
if the planning department means what it says that we, the residents who do not want a pass through
our neighborhood into and out of an apartment complex, should be heard.
if you hear what we, the residents truly want, you will remove tipton drive extension from this proposal. Thank you.
>> motion to receive [inaudible]. >> second. We need to vote on that or.
>> all those in favor signified by saying aye. >> aye.
>> keep an eye on me. >> good evening. My name is laura fox,
and my address is 1715 tipton drive.
my husband, leland and I reside there, just five houses away from where the city wants to
open our quiet street to connect to the new apartments that are to be built.
we moved to our home in august of 2014 just before we were to be married.
it's both a second marriage with children that we raised there along with a grandson.
this house we turned into a home, and it has brought us many wonderful second chance in life memories for all of us involved.
we enjoy quiet nights and feel safe. It is unfortunate that the apartments are going in,
but you can't win them all. I do like to roll with the punches, but some things I do take a stand on and
stand up for I'm going to let you know my points, and I apologize there are typos in here.
number one, the noise, we are all used to the fact that it is a quiet neighborhood.
many of the homes that sit on tipton drive have bedrooms that face the street.
I really don't want car headlights, car music, and car noises waking me up or anyone else in our neighborhood.
I still must work while I do suffer from some health issues and require
a good night's sleep so do my neighbors that work and all the young kids that need their sleep to get up and go to school in the morning.
safety. Picture a modern norman rockwell setting,
kids on bikes, skateboards, playing ball, riding scooters,
people walking their dogs and joggers who like to jog in the early morning hours before dawn.
yes, we can do that now and live there for now anyways.
the houses are close to the street. These homes do not sit that far back from the street.
let's say a car loses control in the middle of the night. They swerve a car that's already parked on one side, which,
by the way, you can only park on one side of tipton drive. The streets are not wide.
I have provided pictures of where it is proposed to open up.
the slope and the height from the entry over to the apartments.
what about cars that think they can run the stop sign, even if one is to be put in?
the corner to turn onto redwood from tipton is sharp. We know that, but will others coming to
visit or looking for those apartments and how to get to it. The slope will be hazardous,
especially in the winter. Think about ice. I won't be taking that road to get out of the neighborhood,
I don't want to encounter that or other cars. Many other ways to get out of the neighborhood,
and this is not necessary. Again, I understand that the apartment complex is a go.
I am asking you to please reconsider your position on opening our quiet,
peaceful, and safe street. Let's compromise. You have the apartments.
let the neighborhood of tipton drive be just that. Not a through street to open it up to all kinds of chaos, but a neighborhood.
thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, laura.
>> my name is tom quigley, 1719 tipton drive.
I'm the president of the briarwood homeowners association. We have 199 households,
just north of the proposed new apartment complex. The hoa board was asked to do a campaign to try and remove
the addition of tipton drive as a through street into the new apartment complex.
concerned about more traffic in a residential neighborhood, rather than using existing through fares like eastern hills or greenville.
they just show the map right straight out. We went door to door as well as emailed a letter to all of our residents.
we have 104 letters signed by our residents, ask you to take tipton drive extension out of the plan.
that's 53% of all of the people in briarwood.
of the 51 briarwood residents that live on the two streets,
redwood and tipton drive that intersect with the proposed cut,
78% said, no, we don't want it. We won't use it. We understand that
adding tipton drive extension wasn't in the developer's original plans.
the city planning commission requested that the tipton drive be extended into the new development plan.
the minutes of the may 13 meeting at one time was on the website.
that's why I pulled the information that said it was to provide an additional access route for the briarwood subdivision.
I went back to get it to show the rest of the board and that minutes are no longer on the website.
there's no need from the briarwood area for that additional access.
there's an existing access out of briarwood, just one block away. There are four ways to exit briarwood now.
no need to add more traffic to the residential area. There'd be multiple outlets for the apartment complex
they don't need an outlet in briarwood. With 53% of the homes in briarwood saying they do not want tipton drive extended,
78% of the homes in that local area of that intersection said, no, we don't want it.
why would you still do it over those impacted? Plan also calls for controlling of dust while the project is underway.
we had a very serious issue of dust while they were digging all that dirt away.
we complained several times. It still continued. People on redwood, they couldn't use their decks most of
the time because of the stack of dust that was on there. Hopefully, the city will reinforce the dust issue while they build the new apartments.
>> any questions for tom? Thank you.
>> thank you. >> anybody else? Anyone from the council?
>> I have a question for the developer, because he stated that it was not in
the original plan is this something that you have asked for? Are you in favor of this?
are you not in favor of this additional outage?
>> was it in the original development agreement or not.
I guess that was my question too, piggy back on what you're asking. >> bob stratton briarwood, 809 north 96.
our original plan did not have the connection going to the neighborhood?
>> thank you. >> I guess, for me,
I don't see why I should connect. I don't think folks are going to go from the apartment complex up into the neighborhood.
I think as chris said, people will pass through and use it as a pass through to eastern hills.
as far as traffic, forest glen drive,
I live on lilac circle over in westpring oaks, and forest glen drive is a race track.
I can tell you that it's all hours of the night two houses down,
and we hear it all. I understand that concern, but you guys have to hear some of that stuff from eastern hills anyway,
and state orchard, to be honest with you. But I just don't see the necessity to connect the neighborhood to
this when I do think everybody from the apartment complex will just go out on eastern hills and go whichever way they're going to go.
that's why I'm in favor of taking out the connection. I don't think it's a huge value.
these gentlemen here today and john said that they didn't have it in their original plan,
so I don't think it's necessary.. That's where I'm at.
>> further discussion? We have a motion on the table to approve the development agreement.
>> to amendment. >> but to amend it to not include tipton. I don't know.
>> we're voting on the amendment >> not voting, I proposed it.
>> sorry. >> all those in favor signified by saying aye.
>> aye. >> oppose same sign? >> no. >> [overlapping] then there needs to be a motion to approve the [overlapping].
>> I'll make a motion to approve the amended resolution. >> second. >> is there a discussion?
>> same as referred to previous. >> all those in favor signified by saying aye.
>> [overlapping] aye. >> oppose same sign.
>> we have resolution 25-157, a resolution authorizing a joint application to
the iowa economic development authority for workforce housing, tax incentive program benefits.
>> motion to approve. >> second. >> is there a discussion? All those in favor signify by saying aye.
>> aye. >> aye. >> opposing same sign. >> john real quick. Sorry to interrupt. John jerkervitch.
>> almost made it. >> here you go. >> sorry to interrupt. I meant to ask him something before he leaves.
I want to grab him. John, I apologize. I meant to ask something, and maybe the developer, too.
I had a lot of complaints about dirt during the dirt work being done.
I want to make sure the city will stay on you, but I want assurances from you, gentlemen,
that you will keep the desk down as much as possible in regards to what we require,
because I had a ton of people in that neighborhood reach out when the dirt work was being done.
I know you probably tried, but we need to do a better job.
while we did approve it, I do want to make sure you guys are concerned about the dirt and getting up on the houses.
>> I apologize, we backtracks. >> no words. Again, bob stratton and broadmore.
once we take over our phase of the project and the construction and the dirt work.
>> you're saying it's john's fault. That's fine. >> yeah. >> [laughter] no problem.
>> we figured it as much. I've been talking with our dirt contractors that do a lot of our work on
how to set up something that we can do quickly and efficiently.
I'm not here to tell anybody we're going to be perfect, but I'm talking with them about how can we set it
up where we have a water wagon that's always on site. [overlapping] >> water trucks have. >> whether we have a water truck that's always on site.
anything from where we purchase the water truck, and then when this project's done, we sell it to the next guy.
but we're working on things to improve. [overlapping] >> understood. >> going onwards.
>> I just wanted to make sure I brought it up. I meant to, and I forgot. Thank you.
>> I apologize [inaudible] won't be as conscientious as [inaudible].
>> thank you. >> [overlapping] thank. Thanks again. >> sorry [inaudible].
>> you're good. >> applications for permits and cancellations, liquor licenses 8a,1-9,
8b, c, and d. >> motion to approve.
>> motion to second. >> is there a discussion?
>> all those in favor signify by saying, aye. >> [overlapping] aye.
>> opposing same sign.
>> any citizens requesting to be heard? >> I've received none.
>> anyone from the council? Anybody from the audience.
>> my name is jacob pez down on 2645 avenue m here in consuls.
the project of the triplex down there on l. Jamie augustine.
I've heard and I've called to check in on updates and stuff. I've heard that he is trying to change it to a duplex now and put an easement road
in to get into the back of another property that he purchased behind another house down there.
that's now we're saying if it's going to get approved, and the guy that I spoke with said there would be no more meetings on this.
it would be pretty much he can do what he wants now. But according to what you guys said in the last meeting,
that there is what the triplex that was approved, and that was it, and if he tried to change anything else,
there would be more meetings, and you guys would not approve it. >> I believe that's what we told [overlapping]
>> I'm just asking if [overlapping]. >> I asked courtney because he called me. What's your address again?
>> I'm 2645 avenue l. I'm a house away from the property that's going to get built on.
>> I asked courtney when you called me to and so I went down to her office,
and actually in the city's office. The property that he bought,
there's two of them. Because we approved a triplex.
by right, he can go lower. He can't go to four.
he can go down to a duplex. >> in my understanding in the meeting, you guys said he wasn't approved for a duplex because
of some reason because of the [overlapping] >> duplexes weren't allowed at the time,
if I remember right in [overlapping] that's why he wanted to do triplex. >> we changed the code for the whole city, not just for him.
that changed so he can do a duplex. The lot behind him,
again, apparently, by right, it's landlocked.
it's in the middle of [overlapping] it's an island in middle between l and j.
he can put he can give that land [overlapping] >> self-access.
>> he can give him self access to his property and build a house on that lock. [overlapping]
>> that duplex. Then what? He has to sell the other house with it? >> well, no, the easement [overlapping] it would go into perpetuity
that cause you couldn't shop off and landlock that guy back box.
if you build a ho one house back there and the man lives there and he's, oh, I'm selling mine. >> we're getting into you know, invading our privacy.
where you guys said that's why we couldn't he was putting it so far back, and we argued on that,
and you guys pushed it back forward, because now we're into people's backyards, like this lady here, it'll be right against her back property line in her yard.
it pretty much what you're [overlapping]. >> going have to comply with setback, so it's [overlapping]
>> I understand that, but it's still in the back of our yards. We bought these properties for privacy, not to have I can't go in my back yard and yes,
I can put a privacy fence up. I understand that. I don't have the money to do that, or the means to do it, because I was okay with who I seen in my backyard.
but now if I go out or my kids go out to go swim in the pool, I'm going to look over and say,
how you doing over there at their house, and who knows who's going to live there 'cause he ain't go to control who lives there. He said it himself.
he said he's going to try to get handicapped in there and stuff, older people in there, but he's not going to control that.
he's there to make money, not there to profit for anyone else. He's there to profit for himself.
on your guys' end, it's tax dollars, and I get you guys are trying to boost because we
need housing and stuff like that, but I mean, there's other places that he can build all this in cause I mean,
I'm okay with the duplex as much as I don't want it, but I mean, it is what it is, but now you're getting into people's backyards and privacies.
you're going to force people to put fences up. >> this, I guess and I don't mean it like this,
but anybody could have bought that lot. >> I understand. >> I don't mean it like that, but he bought the lot and he can give himself access there.
>> again, he said it'll have to comply with setbacks. It's a completely separate lot.
>> I understand that, but just like I said, it's still, it's invading people, it's invading her privacy in
the house that's in front of that property's privacy for [overlapping] >> I guess if somebody else bought it,
they'd be able to build a house there it's not just him. Does that make sense? I mean, it does.
>> pretty much I mean, in my eyes. >> let him finish. >> in my eyes, so you're trying to take my house,
turn it into a duplex, because I have upstairs and downstairs.
I can turn my basement into a one-bedroom apartment, my upstairs into a three-bedroom,
and put an easement into my backyard to go to my neighbor's backyard, if I bought it and put a house back there.
>> I believe you could. That's what you guys will let me do, if I want [overlapping]. >> no, you neighbors ring into the reeds here a little bit different.
>> that house already would a structure on it. >> well, so does my neighbor's.
>> no, that's what I'm saying. Your neighbors already has a structure on it.
>> what did the property that he bought, except the one behind it, was the backyard that someone owned behind,
and that gentleman sold it to him because he was under the impression he was going to try to put apartments there.
>> it's a separate lot on paco. >> the lot is vacant on [overlapping]
>> I mean [overlapping]. >> give me a call tomorrow. >> yeah, we need [overlapping]. >> you didn't call me so I don't know,
and I don't want to assume. >> [overlapping] I called you. >> no. I know you didn't say that, but I'm saying since you didn't,
I didn't research it, so I don't know. Let me do some research. >> then I do have pictures because that was concerned too.
I think you said you'd go down there yourself I don't remember what time you drove I
pictured 6:24 in the morning on a saturday and sunday [inaudible].
>> the other end. >> they would have to meet parking requirements, but that doesn't always mean everything.
[overlapping] if you got four or five cars. >> [inaudible] >> yes, I
know he really
well.
>> still anything that would have to go up would have to meet parking [overlapping] requirements,
setbacks, and things like that. He couldn't just put in.
but I'm saying like, we're not going to set a separate set of rules for this.
>> down there >> it's sandy.
>> it was a nice checking see you guys later. >> you're probably right. Give me a call.
>> thank you. >> thank you. >> yes, ma'am. Name and address, please.
>> penny farrell, and I'm at 2623 avenue l,
which the property that he's talking about where the house is going is right next to our property.
now, two years ago when this individual purchased this property,
the first thing he did, and like he said, anyone could have bought it, he went in and cut all the trees down, the walnut trees,
and then they used it for construction because they were fixing our street for sewer lines,
which that was okay. There was a lot of noise and whatever,
but two years ago, when he cut down all these trees,
they are piled way up high above the fence line in the back there.
what makes that okay? Now, way back when,
we had a small little brush pile in the back yard during the flood time,
and we got a letter from the city saying it has to be removed. But yet this guy has his huge, and not only that,
he's never cleaned out any of the fence lines between that.
there was a fox that was back there. Now, we used to at one time have a million rabbits,
and the fox ate every single rabbit. The thing is, our grandsons,
like, what happened to all the rabbits? He's the one that really noticed it. I didn't really notice it until they're gone.
that fox even came up all the way when I pulled into my driveway,
it was clear up here by my back door. Now, I don't believe the fox is there now because the rabbits are returning.
>> are the trees still there? >> yes. The trees are still there.
every single time when I call the planning committee person, individual, he'll say that.
are the trees still there? Well, I'll take a look at it, I'll drive by and look at it,
and I don't believe that he has. I don't believe that he has. Now, I go down.
the man that lived and owned that property passed away, and that's why his son sold that land.
when we bought our property, that was like a dead lock kind of.
at that time, I think he bought it for like $500.
because we were going to buy it back then. But now the price was like,
I think he sold it for 15,000. What do we want it for?
he asked the people also adjoining the backyard.
of course, the guy that's going to build all of these things, he purchased it.
I said to the city planner right in the beginning, is he going to put a privacy fence up there because all along,
apparently, rumor, I don't know for sure.
the construction people that had been back there all that time, and they're using it for their construction site.
I don't know, I heard that they were paying him to use it.
now, I don't know if that's true or not. But the bottom line is like he said,
parking issues, our issue is water. If they're going to put a house right in our backyard,
and we already have water issues down in that area, there's not a year that doesn't go by that our basement doesn't flood.
that's why they're working on that street to help fix that. But I'm just saying I'm against them building in my backyard.
I'm okay with the three unit, the two unit up here but [overlapping].
>> there's an incredibly high water table, as you well know, which is some collapse of the sewer system on a routine basis anymore.
water comes up, it floats it up. The pipe leaks out,
and dirt goes into the void that's created when, so we're trying to figure that out.
that one church caved in. >> that's my concern is the water runoff,
and if he can go in there two years ago and cut down
all the walnut trees and still leave them there piled higher than a house,
that's telling me that he thinks that he can do anything he wants.
>> I've got a note to myself for both of you. If you give me a call,
I'll tell you what to find out about it.
>> you got to come up here so everybody can hear [overlapping]. >> you have to come up. >> thank you.
>> thank you. >> where you were saying with that water that comes up, it's about every two years,
right where he's going to build that, where the driveway is going to come out where his street he wants to build is,
is it caves in right there, literally, right where that street is going to come in.
if I keep bringing that up at the meeting too, that's something you guys probably as a city want to look for, too.
>> thank you. >> thank you. >> anybody else? Thank you,
have a safe and great week. Weather supposed to warm up a little so we are adjourned.
>> thank you, guys.