[0:00] e

[0:45] follow

[1:16] we heard that start

[1:27] over good yes yes I think so

[1:34] yes wait until you say

[1:40] go okay all right okay we will call to order city council work session a

[1:46] regular business meeting for February 20th

[1:48] 2025 it is 6:03 PM Lindsay would you please call the RO council member Baker

[1:54] Brown here Co here Livingston miniki yes mayor Philip I'm here we have a quorum

[2:01] so we'll move on item number two is a pledge of allegiance would please rise

[2:04] and S the Pledge of Allegiance with

[2:10] me United

[2:17] States

[2:23] indivisible all right item number three is approval of

[2:28] the agenda we are going to remove move items 7 I and 7j from the agenda would

[2:33] anybody like to move any of the consent agenda items to the regular

[2:39] agenda none can I get a motion to approve the the agenda as amended

[2:45] motion second it okay so motion by Brown seconded by

[2:50] mini all those in favor say I I I I post same that motion carries item four is

[2:56] dedicated work session uh this is dedicated work session s for mayor and

[3:00] Council uh the regular city council meeting will begin following this work

[3:05] session item a is The Envision 2023 strategic visioning and goal setting

[3:11] review so Luke and Lindsay have been uh working with department heads to share

[3:15] the Strategic Vision formulated by C city council and myself uh we felt that

[3:21] this work session would give us a chance to talk to any questions and establish

[3:25] clarifications so that we have a solid document to guide the city

[3:30] lind's going to step us through the our visioning process mostly for the benefit

[3:36] of the V of the citizens present or watching online and then we're going to

[3:39] go and discuss the goals and refine the 2035 strategic Vision which is called

[3:46] Envision 2035 it's good name uh Lindsay floor is yours thank you uh so mayor and

[3:53] Council h of strategic thinking and execution planning session last November

[3:58] uh as you just said it's been en it's been titled Envision 2035 a pathway to

[4:03] norwalk's

[4:06] future thank you um we're aiming to create strategic goals to achieve

[4:11] alignment and Clarity for the city with specific actions and benchmarks to

[4:15] ensure

[4:19] implementation and as you're all aware uh we have our purpose statement

[4:24] here some of our past accomplishments included safety initiative staff

[4:28] development infrastructure and growth commercial development the bike trail

[4:33] and Industrial Development while maintaining our tax

[4:38] levy some of our critical Trends Show Stable growth a desire for increased

[4:43] Services State legislator's goal to reduce local government strong

[4:47] intergovernmental relationships and overall citizen

[4:53] satisfaction um from our citizen survey we compiled the top things that we feel

[4:58] like our citizens uh had expressed that they wanted or wanted us to improve

[5:03] which was our street and sidewalk conditions more Economic Development and

[5:07] expanded park and rec programs and Facilities we also did a SWAT analysis

[5:14] to identify our strengths opportunities weaknesses and threats I'm not going to

[5:19] go over each of those but you could reference back to this if you want

[5:24] to which brought us to our six um top 10e goals so the first one is championed

[5:31] by council member Livingston and it's the master plan and new urbanism so

[5:36] execute a master plan and include the Interstate 35 interchange and scurve

[5:41] area and to have a series of neighborhoods and Commercial

[5:45] hubs second one is championed by mayor Phillips and it's the North River and

[5:49] I35 interchange so to develop those areas and to have a fully developed

[5:54] interchange on Interstate 35 the third one is championed by

[5:59] councilman miniki and his walkability in connecting

[6:04] neighborhoods kind of self-explanatory uh the fourth is championed by Jason

[6:09] Brown and it's how Norwalk is viewed so distinct neighborhoods that are viewed

[6:13] as unique fun and proud to live in the fifth is championed by Ed Co and

[6:19] is uh Highway 28 so after dot reconstruction uh Council wishes to have

[6:26] the city owned Highway 28 inside corporate limits and this is been the

[6:30] one that we've gotten the most questions on from staff so they might ask for a

[6:34] little bit more Direction on that one and lastly Champion by Brian Baker is

[6:38] balanced tax base which this one rolled over from our 2028 Vision which is to

[6:43] have uh 30% of our tax base be commercial or

[6:49] industrial then we defined how we were going to accomplish these goals which is

[6:52] to dedicate staff time Implement communication strategies prioritize

[6:56] projects and funds identify and work with key stakeholders and review our

[6:59] comprehensive

[7:04] plan then we set threeyear one year and 90day benchmarks with specific action

[7:10] items for each time frame staff has already begun working on the 90-day

[7:13] benchmarks we've identified staff and departments to lead each of these

[7:17] projects or goals um I will then after tonight go in and add those projects to

[7:22] each department heads project management spreadsheet and Tai will create a Public

[7:27] Communication plan to get that get it out to the public

[7:35] so same slide as before with our 10e goals but with the lead Department above

[7:40] department or departments I should say above those goals um although there are

[7:44] one or two lead departments or people um for these it's important to note that

[7:50] accomplishing these will be a team effort and will require the help of

[7:52] numerous departments do these look okay as far as

[7:58] the Departments that would take lead on those goals

[8:04] yeah lastly just questions comments

[8:11] concerns have clarifying questions Wayne did you wanna uh do you

[8:18] want to bring something up about the Highway 28 question do you want me to no

[8:21] I can bring it up um first I just wanted to mention the

[8:25] walkability connecting neighborhoods I think that's a great goal and a great

[8:30] that kind of aligns with a bigger picture ADA compliance regulations that

[8:35] we're trying to accomplish so that is a great goal on there regarding the

[8:40] Highway 28 had a few concerns with um taking over the ownership of the

[8:46] highway if we were to try to take over ownership of it through Norwalk it'll

[8:50] still be a state controlled and owned Highway North of Norwalk and south of

[8:54] Norwalk the state will require even if we own it that the highway within

[8:59] Norwalk be operated and maintained to their standards and their rules so the

[9:04] rideway will still have access restrictions there'll still be the

[9:08] traffic control will still be under DOT

[9:14] regulations um so they're still going to have authority over how it's operated we

[9:20] won't have autonomous control over it they're going to want it to be operated

[9:23] as a State Highway it'll be there's some concerns with that another concern is

[9:30] along with the payment it's probably going come the rest of the RightWay the

[9:33] green SPAC is next to it and the storm sewer ditches the spiles the trees it's

[9:38] not just the pavement it'll be they want the entire right away to be conveyed

[9:43] over um and if that's what we want we can definitely work toward that if the

[9:48] goal is just more maintenance or an improved

[9:50] rideability of the payment I think there's a way to do that we can work

[9:55] with the dot we have a annual agreement with the dot for snow removal and winter

[10:00] maintenance on the road I think we could look at our annual agreement um to try

[10:06] to encourage more maintenance by the state or we can look at that to see if

[10:09] there's some options for um encouraging them to maintain the

[10:13] road better we might have other options to get an improved Highway 28 without

[10:17] ownership of it um it's just kind of wanted to know what the goals were was

[10:21] the goal if we want ownership of it that's fine but the goal was improving

[10:25] the rideability maybe there's another option site toing it

[10:29] comment yes okay my understanding from our meeting was that the purpose of this

[10:36] was for me to put together study group and to

[10:40] determine uh what the pluses and minuses were for City acquisition of this or

[10:49] state retention of it and if it was for the city at what point in time would

[10:57] that decision have to be made because obviously the state because you're going

[11:03] to rebuild that Highway probably go soon and my understanding is that

[11:09] nothing would happen anyway until after the state had

[11:14] rebilt so uh the impression I had was that you

[11:21] wanted me and the council wanted me to go out and collect the best minds and

[11:25] information I can to provide information both ways right yeah so that we can make

[11:33] an decision I think the points that he's made are well made and I don't

[11:42] disagree but uh to be objective about it you know I think you have to consider

[11:47] both sides and all the pluses and minuses that

[11:51] may uh you but anyway did it am I tracking is

[11:57] that what we were want to accomplish here or did I

[12:03] misunderstand I think that's

[12:07] what that's what I remember that's a good direction yeah yeah okay so I'll

[12:13] I'll task myself I guess to uh help to bring bring together that study group

[12:19] and we'll probably take different people at different times you know because it's

[12:23] hard to getbody one room at one time and try to get input in all that regard

[12:31] obviously big key is

[12:36] State any I don't know if that helps it mayor what what I'm hearing in in my

[12:43] words is I hear Ed and Wayne kind of saying

[12:46] the same thing it's more of a we're exploring what those options are for

[12:51] Highway 28 as opposed to the goal being to take over right the goal is

[12:57] information the goals information yeah making an

[13:02] informed decision yes I think we need to make the

[13:06] informed decision whether or not to take it right yeah yes

[13:12] sir I think part of what you said at the department had meeting the other day uh

[13:17] mayor mentioned he felt like it was the

[13:20] overall condition of Road the goal is to have Highway 28 approved so that when we

[13:25] do a community survey and our citizens say hey the drivability of a bunch of

[13:28] our streets are in bad condition Highway 28 is our major

[13:34] highest travel roadway in town currently it's not any part of our

[13:40] decision on when that gets approved so you were just saying overall

[13:45] improve drivability yeah of the highway

[13:50] yeah and maybe that's part of that well yeah that's right take a look at it see

[14:01] so so we might even think differently about

[14:05] what because this says so we might think the big goal is

[14:11] improve dve how we get there get to be deter

[14:17] determined and ownership might be the answer other things

[14:24] might about explore options for Highway 28 improve

[14:31] drivability it's just we want drivability

[14:36] period like that's

[14:42] so fure now for some reason my memory

[14:48] serves

[14:51] that I feel like Jackie was one of the most outspoken on this particular item

[14:56] well I disagree because would never

[15:02] she would appreciate that comment I'm sure she could she couldn't be here

[15:07] today I do remember she specifically brought that up as um as something that

[15:13] she wanted to address and she couldn't be here she was traveling she had a

[15:16] business thing that uh she just made it so she could be on the

[15:22] meeting so I feel like maybe that's even something we if she gets a chance to

[15:26] watch this maybe she could give us some additional feedback there are definitely

[15:29] some reasons why

[15:33] right and you know I think the trafficability was one of them also

[15:39] Aesthetics was another one you know and Community improvements I there all kinds

[15:45] of but you know you have to wave both ways right and the question is you know

[15:53] even even if we acquired that Highway would we still be able to do the things

[15:57] we want to do that's a question

[16:03] too so those are the questions we have answered but I would say if a person

[16:08] wants to sharpen the guidance on that it probably wouldn't hurt

[16:12] anybody but that's that's how

[16:18] I Lindsay did you get a good rewarding of

[16:21] that um I think so I think we'll get some feedback from Jackie first and then

[16:27] possibly either just ask add improve drivability to the statement or change

[16:33] it to exploring options for Highway 28 to improve

[16:37] drivability we could probably um we could email Brian and Jackie both that's

[16:42] not a quorum so we could email both of them and say hey if you wouldn't mind

[16:46] you know watch this segment they know about the background all that good stuff

[16:50] but we can get them to this point where they can listen to this conversation and

[16:53] then they can give us some feedback as well and ultimately we'll come back to

[16:57] council and explain what what the result of that is be

[17:06] good Wayne does that give you some comfort of yeah very much I like it you

[17:11] thought we were gonna own that baby tomorrow oh

[17:19] no there's been some a lot of conversation about that I think I can

[17:23] hear well enough that I heard some reservations

[17:29] yeah yeah I like the idea of exploring it more

[17:36] yeah anything

[17:40] else we go to the next topic Item B uh businesses with online sales only so

[17:47] Council may recall that we discussed a local entrepreneur that is starting an

[17:52] online sales business uh his business model did not originally include an

[17:57] immediate buildout of the storefront uh he had hoped to get the business

[18:01] going and then add a storefront at a later date and this has caus some

[18:05] frustration uh main issue to discuss tonight is if the city would be willing

[18:10] to adjust our zoning ordinance to allow online retail businesses in certain

[18:16] commercial districts without a storefront so staff had difficulty

[18:21] reconciling this as it distribution issue to discuss tonight is if the sorry

[18:28] muted somebody okay thank

[18:33] you there's the

[18:40] cther there's a

[18:47] few uh okay staff had difficulty reconciling

[18:52] reconciling this as it appear to be more of a distribution center rather than a

[18:56] retail uh storefront zoning ordinance does not specifically call out an online

[19:03] retail sales business while this is a short summary Luke do you have some

[19:08] additional clarification I don't I do know that

[19:12] Blake is here tonight if you'd like him to give any more clarification but I

[19:16] feel like you summarized it well sure Blake you wanna come up and sure if you

[19:23] if you want to if you don't that's fine well just a recap kind of what yeah come

[19:28] on up and state your name and address SCH 3147 perero

[19:34] Drive um yeah so I I have an online I've had

[19:38] an online business for for a while that I've that I've ran and now it's just

[19:43] it's more of a focus for me so I own the old Fairway building so I got a permit

[19:49] to build 4500 square feet of it is is basically office

[19:56] space product storage space whatever like Works Space for me and my business

[20:01] there so um as a start now the rest of it is just you know it's the old grocery

[20:07] store building so I mean it's just basically a warehouse building sitting

[20:12] there already so yeah my issue was is I wanted to permit I just want to get the

[20:17] permit to use the whole entire building and while my business fits you know it's

[20:23] a hobby business so it fits the c012 designation C to you know see why I

[20:31] couldn't go into the go into the space so and I ran into obstacles because

[20:36] because I'm not open to the public I was told I had to go into C3 so which seems

[20:43] maybe I'm more of the extrem you know looking at it and being able to reflect

[20:47] on it for for a couple weeks here but you know you might

[20:52] have you know Mona store somebody that you know like sells clothes you know

[20:57] might have people come into the store but mainly does it online like are you

[21:00] going to go tell them that they got to go into a warehouse Building and find a

[21:03] thousand square feet to to lease out a warehouse building and they could you

[21:08] know fill a vacant space and okay well what we were talking about was all

[21:12] Fairway building and how it's C2 right now appropriate uses in C2 and repeating

[21:18] myself a little bit uh it's I think it it's clear in the zoning code that C2

[21:23] does not allow warehousing as we're talking about here uh

[21:29] uh I believe the definition of warehousing is also clear that this is a

[21:32] form of warehousing receiving orders and storing property to be sent out uh for

[21:37] online sales uh what I was saying is that I'm not telling the council whether

[21:44] they should allow this or not but in order to permit this

[21:48] uh they you know the development department was correct in saying that

[21:53] you couldn't have that use currently what zoning is and uh the downside to it

[22:00] I think was kind of what I was addressing also I mean I could certainly

[22:03] talk about upsides and downsides the downsides to this is certainly that this

[22:06] is a dedicated commercial area and uh just like any type of zoning uh you know

[22:12] whether you know it's it's it's a bank or it's a medical

[22:18] facility when they locate someplace they kind of depend on the neighbors too

[22:21] being the same use uh so could the council rezone it uh we'd have to look

[22:28] at and see what the cooperat plan says but yeah legally there's a way that you

[22:32] could probably get it reson to allow this purpose

[22:36] um but you you still have all the arguments regarding spot zoning and

[22:41] everything like that and we've already turned down in this area businesses in

[22:45] the past number of years that were you know a commercial use that wasn't an

[22:51] industrial use so um yeah storage facility there was a

[22:57] doggy care facility that wasn't allowed there uh but with that being said

[23:04] currently our code would not allow this and I agree with the development

[23:07] department with their answer that no you can't do that and if they sold on the

[23:11] site if they had a walk in Custer and sold product would that me

[23:16] commercial if it was a clearly a commercial use yeah I mean you couldn't

[23:20] just window dress it and say oh yeah we got a we got a door over there and let's

[23:23] put ours you know based upon appointment only I mean if it's a legitimate

[23:27] business you can't you know dress it up as a

[23:30] business not have it be a legitimate commercial site um it's it's got to be a

[23:35] legitimate business and you know what's the definition of that you know I can't

[23:39] tell you what that is but you know when you see it I mean if uh because clearly

[23:43] it already looks like a commercial building so it wouldn't be that hard to

[23:45] say okay I'm commercial we're open for business whenever we get a customer that

[23:48] decides they want to come in and you they happen to have a customer come in

[23:51] and I'm not saying that that that's what's going on here but you know

[23:54] clearly there's a difference here commercial uses intended

[23:59] for Onsite

[24:03] transactions you know with maybe some sales I mean like O'Reilly certainly I'm

[24:07] sure they probably have some orders where they send off parts places uh and

[24:12] I'm sure there's other commercial people that do that as incidental to the main

[24:17] business but incidental the main use the main use is a commercial

[24:21] use if there was a walk-in business there that was a viable part of the

[24:26] business that was probably see more reasonable yeah with a commercial use

[24:32] there's a certain alloud amount of storage in the back whether you want to

[24:37] call it warehousing or storage there's a certain percentage of storage that's

[24:41] allowed within the building when it's a commercial use uh clearly not all of it

[24:45] can be out front when it was fair away there's a certain amount of storage in

[24:49] the back and like I said O'Reilly has a large portion probably half their

[24:52] building is storage in the back uh but you know that storage needs to be

[24:57] incidental to the main commercial use it can't be a warehouse that might have a

[25:04] cash register from that's incidental to the main use which is

[25:08] Warehouse so

[25:11] uh could we right now the way our code's written it doesn't necessarily talk

[25:17] about internet sales it doesn't talk about internet businesses uh certainly

[25:21] that can be addressed I think most of those internet businesses I think we

[25:24] probably have a lot of them in town out of houses is that certainly those are

[25:28] allowed to be sold out of houses and uh but uh right now could we put in

[25:36] definitions that maybe help the code a little bit on internet sales yeah we

[25:39] don't have something in there that says internet sales at this point in time but

[25:42] we do have something called called warehousing which fits this definition

[25:45] when you you know if you got packages that you sell online and ship

[25:53] out other cities anybody investigate what they've done with this

[26:00] uh I guess there hasn't been an investigation of but know this it's

[26:05] warehousing I it's pretty cut and dry I mean it's cut and dry what it is and

[26:10] this property's been zoned this way for a number of years now

[26:15] yeah that original store right what 10 15 years ago yeah

[26:23] obviously Fairway is a huge draw for that whole

[26:25] area now it's not there that's right and

[26:32] so it's a bad idea to do it because as it was put out by staff as well you can

[26:39] get a bunch of Internet

[26:43] businesses full activity yeah except for vehicles coming in picking up stuff once

[26:48] while whatever delivery which could harm though last

[26:53] person left that's actually retail cost of it would be I think

[26:59] industrial warehousing cheaper I could be wrong about that but maybe the new

[27:04] stuff more concerned about even old detail areas too that could go in there

[27:09] that'd be kind of the death Mill to an area

[27:14] that

[27:17] nobody it's cheaper I would guess have retail in there as opposed to

[27:22] internet thing where just not bringing anybody around

[27:29] yeah I would imagine if you talk to the businesses along that strip they've

[27:32] already been impacted somehow by Fair Way not being there right uh you know if

[27:38] that ends up being a long-term situation where there's no traffic in there it

[27:42] would be a long-term effect versus a temporary effect when another for

[27:46] another Commercial Business to come in but I think those are all kind of things

[27:50] that Council would want to discuss if they were inclined to do a zoning change

[27:54] or zoning amendment process for changing zoning would be not UNAM you know unlike

[28:01] other ones that we've seen where you know Council can initiate a resoning on

[28:04] their own that pnz look at it or the property owner can get a petition that

[28:09] satisfies the requirements uh

[28:13] to to require a zoning consideration to go to pnz consideration if it's not in

[28:20] line with our comprehensive plan well the council can't change that zoning

[28:23] unless comprehensive plan was also amended and I think that's the same

[28:25] process you've seen on the two items that were removed from the agenda today

[28:30] uh we had a couple that were removed for resoning where where we had a petition

[28:35] but it's also not in line with the comprehensive plan I think the owners of

[28:37] that property want to kind of regroup and look at it again before it went

[28:41] forward uh it's possible that the owner might

[28:47] decide to configure that business so it might be able to be in that kind of an

[28:53] area but that's entirely up to them I think and I this more hearsay from

[29:02] talking to the development department was that originally I think there was a

[29:04] plan submitted where there was going to be multiple retail businesses in there

[29:10] with maybe storage in the back that was warehousing I think the indication was

[29:14] okay might do that as long as you have the retail Parts out front but uh then

[29:19] there'll be indep independent uh occupancy permits you know as the

[29:24] building built out in pods or whatever you call it in

[29:28] but uh I think that's changed at some point in

[29:34] time I know that um Luke Paris is on and he I don't know if he has additional

[29:41] comments or not but I know that in my discussions with Blake I think there

[29:45] were a couple things I don't know if I'm going to hit them just right Blake but

[29:48] I'm gonna try to pass them along is one of the concerns

[29:52] was there there's a plan at some point in time in the future to have a

[29:57] storefront now I think you're actually moving forward with the storefront but

[30:01] we still wanted to to bring up the issue um but I believe part of the

[30:06] requirement to achieve approval and accomplish what he's wanting to do

[30:10] immediately is if you install a storefront then you're able to check

[30:14] that box you're meeting that requirement of the

[30:20] code so I think that he's you're moving forward of that to put in the

[30:25] storefront it's still because you're saying limit on storage if you have a

[30:31] storefront no percentage right from

[30:37] a from a real General perspective then somebody might say well how much time

[30:42] and effort does the city put in to make sure that storefront is

[30:46] active and so somebody kind of has to I'm not saying this coming from like

[30:50] this is just more running through my own mind uh just to fully think through it

[30:56] is if there's a the president of a storefront but there's not a lot of

[31:00] traffic very minimal but then you kind of feel bad

[31:05] from a government perspective saying hey do these things even though it's a you

[31:11] know I think I'd probably feel more comfortable if the if the owner worked

[31:16] with the staff to see if there was a way to legitimately accomplish what he's

[31:22] after I mean it's possible we'd like to have some other businesses in there too

[31:29] you know what I mean not just your business but some other businesses in

[31:33] with you that may be sub you know

[31:38] um but we've gota I I think we owe it to the other businesses in area to keep

[31:45] that area viable as much as we can because they invested you know they

[31:52] came in right they invested and they believed that it was

[31:56] zoned this way it was going to stay that and that there was going to be traffic

[32:00] in now I mean I you know we can only control we can control right so we

[32:06] couldn't control the the store movement and they needed a bigger area any so

[32:13] that's a big change right big change for those

[32:17] businesses so now if we just say oh we're just going to reone it I think

[32:22] we'd be kicking the legs out from under all those businesses and their

[32:26] Investments it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me on the other hand I I

[32:31] would like to accommodate the person that owns the property I mean I would

[32:36] like to do that because we need people to invest in the community so I'd like

[32:42] to see if if you're interested trying to

[32:47] work on a way to to make it work what would it take to make it

[32:53] work so we're not letting down those other businesses we're satisfying our

[32:58] code he can work in with what it is that he

[33:03] needs and I and I believe for the most part you have figured out a way working

[33:08] with staff of how to accomplish what you want to do but also meet the intent

[33:13] spirit and intent of the zoning ordinance so I think they've got

[33:23] there so so you think it sits right now where it would be without change in

[33:30] Z right this is um during discussions with Blake it was hey a last ditch

[33:37] effort before you have to go down that path of installing the storefront would

[33:40] be to come to council for some alternative

[33:44] Direction and that that's why we're having the discussion if if the end

[33:48] result is Council says Hey the ordinance covers it as best we

[33:53] can please follow that guidance from staff that's one alternative other

[33:58] alternative would to say staff hey tell you what take this to pnz and explore

[34:01] making a change of ordinance to allow what he wants to do those are kind of

[34:05] the two two options and I think you're looking at my building is like a

[34:10] different scale right so like 26,500 feet a lot different some a th

[34:16] square feet that might want to have a business that's similar to mine they

[34:20] just don't need right so much space in an area they might need a little less

[34:25] space I mean you're excluding them too so I just

[34:29] I think that's the reason for the discussion is is are we really excluding

[34:33] everybody that might you know need space that's more

[34:37] retail but it's online versus versus you know open to the public all the time so

[34:45] what where are you where you find that balance like what balance does the city

[34:51] want it's a little my personal opinion right is

[34:58] traffic Walkin traffic to draw Walkin traffic because I think that contributes

[35:04] to those other businesses in that area and I'm sure that that grocery store did

[35:08] there's no doubt in my mind right so when it left then that traffic volume is

[35:16] greatly reduced you know and I think those businesses suffered a little bit

[35:21] because of that so I would like to end in a place

[35:26] where we have some level of volume coming into that building traffic right

[35:34] of people and cars driving by the other businesses I think I'll have lunch or I

[35:40] want a taco or whatever it is right but it would be helpful to the other

[35:45] businesses too that's why I'm at I'm just

[35:54] one I don't know what you guys think to I feel your way be a

[36:01] [Music]

[36:09] streeta yeah but we don't control the kind of I mean you know right well

[36:13] you're trying to tell me I need traffic in my building in order to I I don't

[36:17] care what you do in that building as long as it's legal right but I want

[36:20] traffic in that building if it's in that zoned area you understand what I'm

[36:23] saying it just might I mean it's nothing going to replace the traic so no that's

[36:29] true but we don't have to we need to be smart too right that's all I'm saying

[36:35] right so I mean you knew that was Zone that way when you bought it

[36:40] right yeah yeah

[36:45] okay that's why at I don't know what everybody else think I feel the same

[36:52] way the bigger picture standpoint I think we need to consider not having

[36:57] Internet sales in C2 District not just this one piece but just

[37:06] period it's already excluded though right

[37:09] Elliot so yeah right now warehousing is excluded so you I think the definition

[37:17] of warehousing clearly fits when it's something that's exclusively internet

[37:23] [Music] sales okay

[37:28] and the reason why I wored it that way but you could have a hobby store that

[37:31] their main business is or gun store their main business is to sell a retail

[37:36] product out of their out of their store except you might still have some

[37:41] internet sales involved I like I say it would the warehousing has to be

[37:44] incidental to the main Commercial Business not the other way when

[37:50] incidental that means the primary purpose shouldn't be warehousing the

[37:53] primary purpose should be a commercial use which is not

[38:03] warehousing you know similar to maybe I'm talking too much but it's similar to

[38:08] home business now you know home businesses are allowed under Iowa Co but

[38:12] you can't move somebody out of the home and make it a home business still have

[38:16] to be legal I mean the primary use of that structure is still it's somebody's

[38:20] home and so the primary use on that home and a home business is incidental to be

[38:25] in a home so somebody couldn't decide to open up for instance an internet sales

[38:30] thing out of their basement which legally they cancel out as their home

[38:33] but if they move out they can't turn that building into exclusive warehousing

[38:37] and internet

[38:41] sales so what I'm hearing is is that there's no there's no desire to look at

[38:47] to changing zoning to allow internet business in a C2 area right correct you

[38:54] good with that okay

[39:01] do we need anything else we need to go no okay uh item C is talking about

[39:09] Beggar's Night I think uh Brian wanted to talk about that since Brian's not

[39:13] here I think we'll remand that over to the next work

[39:18] session good with that all

[39:23] right okay

[39:31] were we supposed to

[39:35] decide or were we just having a conversation work that's

[39:41] conversation I I would think that what would happen is if it was something that

[39:45] wanted to actually bring on to an agenda item at the end of the meeting when

[39:50] council members make motions to have it appear on a future agenda item certainly

[39:54] council member could ask that put on there for official decision or official

[40:00] deliberation well I do it's always difficult when you have an actual human

[40:06] being invol

[40:12] yes when you think about how that play what's intended there um that's not

[40:22] it and that's not a personal thing like just that's sure and you know you can

[40:30] you could make an exception because we're like I like that guy and doesn't

[40:34] seem like we're really you know nobody's really buying that spot and you know

[40:38] putting something in there with the kind of traffic We Wish It

[40:41] Would um but it's when you begin to play that out that it's like really in

[40:48] general do we like that idea no know and so it's uh I think there are times for

[40:58] ceptions right it's deciding whether or not this is a the right spot the right

[41:07] time or something that we would say we're we're fine without

[41:14] exception and I I feel like what I heard George say is we sure would love to try

[41:23] and figure out hold out hope for a business that would draw

[41:33] traffic

[41:36] right good to move on okay item number five welcome guest

[41:41] and public comment thank you for being here tonight participating in the

[41:43] meeting uh we'll open up the de for comment if you want to address uh myself

[41:50] or city councils uh this would be for non-agenda items give you three minute

[41:55] time limit realize we can't take action on on those on what you're talking about

[41:58] tonight because they aren't on the agenda and that would be talking about

[42:02] them then would be in violation of open meetings law also I'd like to comment on

[42:07] any item in the consent agenda now would be the time so anybody any

[42:11] takers I'm only going to look for takers within the room

[42:16] this maybe this is a good time to say it just so you know anybody that's showing

[42:20] up asking for Access yes I have a feeling it has to do with the fact that

[42:24] we posted on social media the link immediately before we got started that

[42:30] we're getting so many of them so I'm communicating with anybody any

[42:34] participant in the waiting room to get feedback on what agenda item they're

[42:39] here for and letting them know that they can access the meeting via YouTube

[42:43] stream that's awesome um Barry is still trying to join so I've asked Elliot to

[42:48] let him know to try via calling so you may see a phone number pop up there 614

[42:54] area code 614 are

[42:59] uh so just as a sideline Lindsay if you look at the host

[43:06] tools button there's only two things I'm allow I've allowed that's chat and to

[43:13] unmute themselves okay I think for now that would be okay okay

[43:21] but if we want to there we go uh we want to pull pull off unmute

[43:28] themselves we can do that some

[43:36] I okay that was sure

[43:41] fun uh item number six consent agenda can I get a motion to approve the

[43:45] consent agenda motion second okay motion by Co seconded by Min key Lindsay would

[43:51] you please call R council member Brown yes K yes miniki yes right Mo carries

[43:57] item seven old a new business for consideration discussion and possible

[44:01] action item a is a continuation of a public hearing regarding a zoning

[44:06] amendment to amend the Maple Heights plan unit development regarding location

[44:10] and type of residential uses so we'll continue the public hearing at

[44:14] 659m Elliot I'm gonna let you take this one and I'm gonna pass the Baton off to

[44:19] Paris if he's audible I am you all can hear me yes okay so uh I'm on Zoom

[44:25] appreciate the option to do this I've got to step out to my son's band concert

[44:29] here in a bit so um but I wanted to walk through this I've worked a lot with uh

[44:33] Lone Tree on getting this uh ready so they can take their next steps in

[44:38] development um we have the Lone Tree folks online as well um to answer some

[44:43] questions and there's a couple aspects of this that um maybe warrant some

[44:48] discussion and really some decision points um so want to start with uh

[44:54] really this is looking at uh a few different things um firstly it's mainly

[45:00] identifying where some specific use types will be if you can go into the

[45:05] ordinance um we can take a look at some maps um but it's identifying some Ali

[45:10] loaded product uh in the northern side of the development uh a town home area

[45:16] some traditional single family areas um and then uh again just increasing some

[45:22] numbers of those types um if you could go down Luke to page I believe it's

[45:27] 26 so I included in the staff report the uh original PUD just uh if anyone wanted

[45:33] to reference that um but let's go down and take a look at that initial map um

[45:39] sorry it was a long document um but there you go uh go back up to the parcel

[45:44] map the one right above that I guess it was

[45:47] 25 so um right now the Pud uh we're primarily in this amendment talking

[45:53] about parcel B yeah maybe you can open it up and turn it there I'm we're

[45:59] talking about parcel B and parcel F and while Luke gets that uh oriented

[46:04] correctly uh partiel B in the original PUD allowed for a mix of densities R1 R2

[46:11] and R3 and then parcel F and parcel B was on the west end of the project

[46:17] parcel uh I'm sorry parcel B was West End parcel F was a traditional single

[46:22] family uh type uh zoning development um and that was on the far East End of the

[46:28] project and the pond kind of separates the two so we're just talking about

[46:32] refining kind of what the land uses are here and what projects and things might

[46:36] go there uh if you scroll down to that next map that's kind of sideways you can

[46:40] see what their kind of initial layout was there were some town homes that were

[46:43] kind of on the exterior of the development some of those allei loaded

[46:47] products in the center on the and that's all on the west side and then on the

[46:50] east side you get over to more of a traditional Suburban single family

[46:54] development um but again with some uh options to do some of that R2 or R3

[47:00] stuff on the far East End so if we jump back up to I believe it's page uh

[47:05] seven um or I'm sorry eight um one page off today um page eight is the layout

[47:14] that they're proposing and what we've done is um to get granular with what the

[47:19] different develops are parcel B we've split into two so it's parcel B1 and B2

[47:26] um and then the rest of the west side of the development gets zoned as parcel f

[47:32] um so to talk quick about B1 B1 is that uh uh what do we call it

[47:39] uh Aly loaded Villa project project and so what you see there um is a public

[47:45] Street to the south of B1 and then there's a public Street to the West that

[47:50] goes up with paral a and then there would be private drives that came

[47:55] between these units um and then the other areas so like that

[48:00] would be a private drive but then the kind of opposing one which might

[48:04] normally be a public Street would be a green space with a walkway so um some of

[48:09] these units would face out to a public Street to the uh Far West and then the

[48:14] other all the other units would have kind of a front door that goes out to a

[48:17] green space with their uh access to their property on the The

[48:23] Alley um from like a car access um the other thing in parcel B is uh you see

[48:29] the north side of that development has a bunch of smaller lots and then there's

[48:33] kind of an area that's right above parcel c um we do allow for some

[48:38] traditional Town Homes to be in parcel B1 um in those two areas um just because

[48:44] of the shape of everything and the layout it worked better that way so

[48:47] that's B1 then partiel B2 is a more traditional Town Home Development again

[48:53] uh alley loaded so things have uh uh car access to the alley um the space

[49:01] in between things um in kind of in the center of B2 is again another Greenway

[49:06] walkway path um that provides access to every uh unit from a walking

[49:12] perspective um and again those are just traditional town home similar to what

[49:17] you will'll probably see in the Brownstones or or lots of our other uh

[49:21] town home developments um and then parcel F which is the remainder of this

[49:26] original partial B on the west side of the development is uh single family um

[49:32] so that went to just a normal um single family lot for what parcel F was um and

[49:38] then if you can go to the east side of the

[49:42] development um we didn't change parcel F over there but we did um definitively

[49:47] call out that parcel F can also have some duplex units some R2 duplex units

[49:52] and those are shown ghosted in there on the far East side of parcel F those

[49:57] smaller Lots um so that's really the how the layout of the development is

[50:02] changing with this PUD request um the other two points that are included if

[50:08] you go back over to parcel B1 um the developer has asked for some

[50:14] variations to what our garage requirement would be for a single family

[50:17] unit so for a single family unit we typically require a two-car garage um

[50:23] only in partial B1 they're asking for the ability to have uh units that have

[50:29] no garage a onecar garage a twocc car garage or or more a three-car garage

[50:34] potentially um so that's different than what our code would have um right now uh

[50:40] the ordinance before you does call out um that that can happen so that's how

[50:48] we've written the ordinance um let me I got to get to the right spot in my sheet

[50:55] um the way it's work Ed is that uh each unit is required to have a garage uh or

[51:03] 75% of the units are required to have a garage and uh no more than three uh

[51:10] units without a garage can be adjacent to one another so we're trying to

[51:13] understand that we don't want to have a bunch of the no car garages all in one

[51:17] spot um so that you know there maybe only be three in a row um um and then

[51:23] you know again a minimum of those B1 units minimum of 75% of them have to

[51:28] have a garage um with any town home that's shown in B1 or B2 um they're not

[51:34] requesting for no car garage stuff so any of those would have a single or a

[51:38] double car garage which is what our code currently requires for a town home um so

[51:42] that's garages and then the last thing that we

[51:46] have here is talking about adus and um we've had a lot of good discussion with

[51:52] uh uh lry and staff and pnz we had some good discussion about it um and really I

[52:00] think and I'll let them maybe talk from their side more from this the staff side

[52:05] and I think even when the city approved this PUD there was a desire to um really

[52:11] look at having an 8 Adu somewhere we'd had a a resident come in and ask the

[52:15] city to allow them on Residential Properties by right and we kind of felt

[52:19] like that was maybe jumping too far into the deep end and then this opportunity

[52:24] presented itself and we thought well that would be a good place to give it a

[52:28] try in dwalk would be a brand new development um one of the conditions

[52:34] that we put in this PUD originally was that the Adu had to be owner occupied um

[52:39] or rather that the lot had to be owner occupied for them to be able to uh use

[52:43] an Adu um from the development standpoint and and jamus or Jenny can

[52:48] talk more about this there were just some concerns that you know they

[52:52] wouldn't be able to Market that or or that it wouldn't work for them from a

[52:55] business standpoint of selling somebody a property with an Adu and then if that

[53:00] person wants to then move to a bigger property or move on in Norwalk or or do

[53:05] something now they don't have the right to rent out the house and the Adu um so

[53:11] that's something to talk about I think they're willing to uh give the adus a

[53:16] try in B1 um if we can come to an agreement on how that language be

[53:22] written right now the uh what pnz recommended and what's in the

[53:27] uh PUD would allow for adus um without being owner occupied uh main unit on the

[53:34] lot so that's kind of where we sit with that um they can uh talk a little bit

[53:40] more on their side uh about their thoughts on that but I think

[53:44] collectively it's just a matter of we're willing to do what council wants to do

[53:47] on this one from a staff perspective we think it would be a a good thing to try

[53:51] as far as housing affordability goes and and housing diversity but uh certainly

[53:58] um understand if if there's concerns about that so with that um I will answer

[54:03] any questions and I know lry is on the line as

[54:09] well I think it's a good

[54:13] idea so it's Innovative it's it's it's something new uh you know our good

[54:20] friends at pnz you know recommended it that always matters to me I'm not saying

[54:25] we got to go along with them but we asked them to do a job they've done it

[54:30] and I'm sure they took this very seriously I think staff is also probably

[54:35] excited about this as well um yeah it's it's different it's Unique and

[54:43] um I'm I'm glad we've got a developer that's you know saying hey we'd like to

[54:48] try something like

[54:54] this yeah I know Bri is not going to buy one of those houses that doesn't have a

[55:00] garage but okay however I have to go wander down wakanda they trying to cut

[55:06] across country and saw some houses but didn't have garages and there I know

[55:11] there's some on that east side of town that doesn't have garages so I don't

[55:14] have a big problem with not having garages I think they're going to put a a

[55:17] slab Park cars I believe so it's not so much on street parking am I correct on

[55:23] that l

[55:31] yes F he was available for questions but he was

[55:35] kid hear them so yeah then the ad I think that's yeah I get the idea that

[55:42] you can't de they own it or rent it yeah you manage that so yeah I'm I think it's

[55:49] a good idea I recall the discussion we had

[55:55] earlier uh uh in an earlier design because I know you know we traveled

[56:00] Eastern is we were looking for uh different designs for how we might put

[56:09] developments together for a portability as well as

[56:14] loil and we decided that a new development would be the best place to

[56:20] try that

[56:23] experimentation might not work real well in

[56:29] just so I don't have any problem with this because of that now the

[56:35] question about owning and renting I don't know quite how you make

[56:41] that I mean you can say that first first the

[56:48] to but can you really put a tie bar on an owner not being able to rent

[56:54] something out of that gets into all those private

[56:58] property issues I think they let that

[57:06] out I think they left that out should be it could be a renter or or a investor or

[57:14] an owner yeah it's it's difficult for a city to legislate own or occupy it only

[57:19] and fact there's some pretty direct State statutes that prohibit us from

[57:23] doing that uh certainly a developer can put whatever restrictions

[57:29] they want on it themselves uh so if they were to put restricted confidence on it

[57:34] saying owner owner occupied only they could certainly do that so if we move

[57:39] this as it sits right now that would not be a requirement in that's right I think

[57:44] the pz's recommendation was not to have an owner occupied

[57:49] requirement relating to that that's correct the uh the way the ordinance is

[57:54] worded right now would allow for adus without the primary residents being

[57:59] owner occupied was there a reason for that

[58:03] Luke the reason for why we have it it now was uh that's kind of what the

[58:09] lundry Development Group uh suggested they would need to feel comfortable

[58:13] building them yeah and and you and Elliot are

[58:18] good with that correct

[58:24] okay I kind of excited to see what they come up

[58:28] with I mean looks like a lot of variety of housing types

[58:33] here and it's pretty well divided up the way they've got green spaces in the pond

[58:38] there you know and I don't hear the Public Works

[58:43] director going crazy about the private streets

[58:49] so all right Lindsay have we received any oral written comments on this we

[58:54] have not okay we have public comment on

[59:01] this hearing none I'm going to close public caring at 7:14 p.m. item 7B is

[59:07] the first reading of an ordinance amending the official zoning map of the

[59:11] city of nor Iowa by amending the Maple Heights plan unit development regarding

[59:15] location and type of residential uses we just had a public hearing on this

[59:18] amendment to the Maple Heights PUD luk or Elliott do you have anything to add

[59:24] nothing else unless there's questions I'll answer him this time discussion

[59:28] from Council

[59:32] public he none can I get a motion to approve first reading as presented

[59:37] motion second okay Co seconded by Brown Lindy would you call roll council member

[59:42] Co yes yes Brown yes all right motion carries item seven C it's continuation

[59:50] of public hearing regarding an amendment to The Orchard Hills planned unit

[59:53] development related to high density resid itial and neighborhood commercial

[59:57] uses in PUD land use parcel one so we're going to continue the public hearing at

[1:00:02] 7:15 p.m. lcer Elliott I'm gonna let you take this one yep so I'll go ahead and

[1:00:08] do this one um request here this is the one that Barry account is is uh is on

[1:00:14] the call for so 614 area code he told me he's good so um we'll proceed with this

[1:00:20] one um I'm I'm kind of looking at item 7D while talking about this um basically

[1:00:28] we got a request for a PUD amendment in Orchard Hills PUD parcel one um the

[1:00:35] current Orchard Hills PUD allows for R4 high density or C1 uses uh but requires

[1:00:43] an amendment to the Pud affirming said uses whatever they end up being so um

[1:00:50] the request tonight mostly deals with the southern 2.75 Acres which is just

[1:00:56] over half of the parcel and the request is to allow for the construction of the

[1:01:02] concept you see before you which is a 62 and

[1:01:06] up residential project with h two row

[1:01:11] houses um the buildings that are oriented north south and then a three

[1:01:16] unit um R4 building with an elevator um

[1:01:22] oriented East West this concept originally had

[1:01:26] the larger building Ora north south directly adjacent to Orchard Hills Drive

[1:01:33] they decided to revise the concept and bring bring this one back uh to pnz um

[1:01:40] so pnz reviewed and approved this one um something that's worth noting as far as

[1:01:45] the rezoning technically as a PUD amendment being a rezoning this is in

[1:01:50] our future land use map as new urbanism so something that we wanted to have them

[1:01:55] do is put the park behind the building Froning the street

[1:01:59] and so we designed setback regulations to allow for that um that's what they've

[1:02:03] produced here so um staff is pretty satisfied with the layout uh the one

[1:02:10] thing that is a little bit different from typical Zoning for a property like

[1:02:15] this is they have 72 parking spaces while code normally would require

[1:02:20] 96 um I believe with Alice place that was kind of the first senior project

[1:02:25] where we looked at um doing a pretty significant cut to the

[1:02:28] number of spaces needed in addition to uh amending our code to not require

[1:02:33] garages for senior projects so if you're wondering about that element of the site

[1:02:39] plan or excuse me the concept this is not a site plan um that explains

[1:02:45] explains that piece uh the reason that we split this into Parcels 1 a and 1B is

[1:02:51] because the first time this uh came to the attention of council

[1:02:56] uh there there was emphasis on retaining commercial uses in the remaining ground

[1:03:02] and so that's the way that I have written the amendment here to um

[1:03:08] basically just keep that Northern 2.73 Acres the same as it is right now and

[1:03:13] still require an amendment affirming a use there um the application is only for

[1:03:20] the southern half and the owners of the remaining 2.73 Acres have decided not to

[1:03:25] move forward with any more detailed amendments at this time so we're not

[1:03:31] touching that it's just being cut off from parcel

[1:03:36] 1B um Minor Detail in the staff report I found out while um earning my way up to

[1:03:44] full-time employment with the city that a amendment to this PUD at some point

[1:03:49] deleted the land use table for the entire Orchard Hills

[1:03:53] development um and so so this thing is putting it back in there the way that it

[1:03:59] was supposed to be you know originally from the beginning it was inadvertently

[1:04:03] deleted so we're putting it back in there um along with this amendment so

[1:04:08] I'm happy to take any questions and uh we do have representation for this item

[1:04:13] here on the call

[1:04:16] tonight does it Alice's Place seem to work with not as much

[1:04:21] parking heard no complaints okay and like no

[1:04:34] garages I like the design of it uh I thought the last Council me or Council

[1:04:40] meting or two ago we talked about the north side as well and we restricted

[1:04:46] that or maybe we just talk be commercial yeah be

[1:04:51] commer but you're saying we're going to leave that open now or I TR the

[1:04:56] applicants are not choosing to move forward with making that change right

[1:05:00] now so we're just leaving that alone they will have to come back and do

[1:05:03] another PUD Amendment at a future date to affirm uses there which they've we've

[1:05:08] talked to them several times leading up to this meeting um Grant Wright who we

[1:05:13] heard from earlier um is kind of spearheading the real estate side of

[1:05:17] that so he's aware of I don't what the city's

[1:05:22] expecting we made no decision at that time no okay okay thank you what can go

[1:05:29] over in the panh handle an access easement for Public

[1:05:34] Works to get to the water tower um

[1:05:39] and if an accessory building of some sort will fit in there then that um it's

[1:05:46] technically rear yard so um it's not a very wide envelope I think

[1:05:52] it's about 45 feet in width my understanding is that's the geometry of

[1:05:57] the site uh just to get the right amount of space under control for the

[1:06:03] app okay so no apartment building could be put over there not with the current

[1:06:10] PUD language though

[1:06:14] okay but if we accept this P the way it is which

[1:06:20] proposed then that could be right no so I wrote the uh the language I wrote for

[1:06:27] this says that this concept will be predominantly followed at the site plan

[1:06:31] stage so if if we get a site plan back showing four buildings we're going to

[1:06:35] make him come back and do PUD Amendment just like what we're doing right

[1:06:39] now good assume the city owns everything

[1:06:45] South yeah so if you square this rectangle off the remaining space around

[1:06:50] the water tower is public

[1:06:54] ground l have we received any orally written comments on this we have not all

[1:06:58] right any public

[1:07:04] comment hearing none we're going to go ahead and close public hearing at 7:22

[1:07:08] PM item 7D is the first reading of an ordinance amending the master plan on

[1:07:13] rules regulations and guidelines for the excuse me for the Orchard Hills plan

[1:07:18] unit development as cont take in ordinance

[1:07:23] 04-05 uh we just had a public hearing on this amendment to The Orchard Hills PUD

[1:07:28] Elliot got anything to add any discussion from Council further

[1:07:33] discussion or public

[1:07:38] comment I get a motion to approve the first reading well I'm glad to hear that

[1:07:42] it's nailed down what we're looking at there and that we can't be

[1:07:47] surprised because I don't want to be surprised right like we were

[1:07:51] before yep so I'll move this with that understand sounds good second all right

[1:07:59] so motion by Co seconded by Min any further

[1:08:04] discussion Lindsay would you call a council member miniki yes Brown yes cool

[1:08:09] yes all right motion carries item seven e is a resolution initiating rezoning

[1:08:15] referring the rezoning proposal to the Norwalk Planning and Zoning commission

[1:08:18] and setting a public hearing regarding the proposed zoning Amendment to the

[1:08:22] Norwalk zoning map by changing 7680 County Line Road from AR agricultur

[1:08:27] Reserve to re1 rural Estates Elliot I'm going to let you take this one yep so

[1:08:33] this is a property that was developed back in uh in a subdivision that was

[1:08:37] approved I think 1978 and then subsequently annexed into the city so it

[1:08:42] defaulted to a zoning the owners want to do an expansion to the house that a

[1:08:47] zoning setbacks don't allow um it was developed in a in a in a in a fashion

[1:08:54] that resembles re1 rural Estates so if we rezone to that class they would have

[1:08:59] enough setback space to do their expansion all right any discussion

[1:09:04] Council or public comment I get a motion to approve moot

[1:09:12] second motion by Mani seconded by Co any further

[1:09:18] discussion Lindsay would you call the role council member miniki yes Brown yes

[1:09:23] cool yes all right carries item 7f resolution initiating rezoning referring

[1:09:29] the rezoning proposal to the norock Planning and Zoning commission and

[1:09:32] setting a public hearing regarding the proposed zoning Amendment to the Norwalk

[1:09:37] zoning map by changing 1421 Sunset Drive from C2 Community commercial to IP

[1:09:44] infield plan unit development with C2 uses Elliot yep so this properties is at

[1:09:49] the southwest corner of high road and Sunset Drive it's where the Rodney

[1:09:54] Albert's house uh was demoed within the last 30 days or

[1:09:58] so um currently Zone C2 so the setbacks take up about 94% of the parcel area um

[1:10:06] in order for it to be redeveloped we've got to get creative so we've got an

[1:10:11] infill plan unit development ordinance drafted up that we're ready to take to

[1:10:15] pnz if uh Council elects to S it there all

[1:10:23] right discussion from Council public

[1:10:32] comment and I get a motion to approve resolution as presented second motion by

[1:10:37] Brown seconded by Min any further discussion Lindy would you please call

[1:10:42] roll council member Brown yes cool yes Min yes all right motion carries I was

[1:10:48] waiting for another one there's usually more

[1:10:51] here uh item 7g as resolution accepting infrastructure and approving the final

[1:10:57] plat Marketplace at Echo Valley plat 5 so all the infrastructures in place for

[1:11:02] this we need to approve the final plat to create a buildable lot exactly that

[1:11:08] any anything else uh I made an error by saying accepting infrastructure there's

[1:11:14] nothing to accept so all right uh any discussion

[1:11:20] councel or public

[1:11:24] comment all right right can I get a motion to approve motion second

[1:11:30] George motion by Co seconded by Brown any further

[1:11:37] discussion ly call council member Co yes Min yes Brown yes all right motion

[1:11:43] carries item 7 H resolution approving the site plan of Pizza Ranch our

[1:11:49] previous action created the buildable lot where the new Pizza Ranch is going

[1:11:52] to be constructed this is approving the site plan

[1:11:55] Elliot yep so Pizza Ranch site plan um is that's the item um it's pretty

[1:12:04] self-explanatory I think it's about a 12,000 foot building um I did a little

[1:12:09] parking analysis in there kind of explaining how the the arcade space

[1:12:13] inside there um we didn't feel it was appropriate to um factor that into the

[1:12:18] parking calculation just because that's predominantly a use for people who don't

[1:12:24] drive they're typically passengers so um we thought that made made sense to uh to

[1:12:30] Omit that um something we' decided to be a bit more deliberate about in our staff

[1:12:35] reports is anytime something that Council can wave is being proposed we're

[1:12:41] starting to list that in staff reports so um the only thing that isn't

[1:12:47] necessarily Zone and compliant but wable by Council would be the space count uh

[1:12:51] for parking they're proposing a 100 rather than the typical 100 15 um we

[1:12:56] think that's appropriate because Marketplace Drive was designed

[1:13:00] specifically so that people could park on the street so we think that some of

[1:13:04] the spaces adjacent to the site can factor into that

[1:13:07] number um don't have a whole lot else to add other than um the folks working on

[1:13:13] the architectural elevations did a good job indicating uh sight lines that's

[1:13:18] something we don't see too often in some middles so that's good to see um and

[1:13:24] I've got nothing further to add but happy to answer any questions if I can

[1:13:28] all right discussion questions from Council or any public

[1:13:35] imput so the treatment on this building will be similar to what's up there now

[1:13:41] in that area I would imagine mostly um yeah mostly Stone

[1:13:48] composits a little bit of engineered wood composite yeah

[1:13:53] [Music]

[1:13:59] any want to make anybody want to make a motion okay motion by mini seconded by

[1:14:04] Co any further discussion lindsy would you call roll

[1:14:09] council member mini yes Brown yes cool yes all right motion carries item 7 K

[1:14:15] it's first reading of an ordinance amending chapter 92 water rates in

[1:14:19] chapter 177 rates and fees providing for amended secondary water or irrigation

[1:14:24] rates so irrigation continues to drive up

[1:14:27] water usage within the metro area uh in summer as a metro area we use about two

[1:14:33] times the amount of water than during winter uh also High nitrates lower the

[1:14:39] amount of water that de Mo Waterworks can produce and we're running into Times

[1:14:44] where we're looking at implementing water saving procedures it is very

[1:14:48] costly to the overall Metro to create more capacity uh purpose of this rate

[1:14:54] change is to offset the overall cost of producing more water we also realize

[1:14:59] that a secondary positive impact is a possible decrease of water usage we are

[1:15:04] asking Council to change our irrigation meter rates to an inclining block

[1:15:08] schedule and to use that rate schedule all year round Jean I'll turn it over to

[1:15:13] you okay thank you um as you know we have we charged $2 on top of the regular

[1:15:19] rate right now two months out of the year um last year here again was about

[1:15:25] 81 million gallons um in that two months

[1:15:31] the was about 20 million so there's about $61 million of irrigation or

[1:15:37] million gallons sorry of irrigation that we did not charge for um I think the

[1:15:43] best way to put this is um on an average day we use the city entire city uses

[1:15:51] about a million gallons during these high peak times when we're using

[1:15:55] irrigation we use about 2 million gallons and of

[1:16:00] our U 5,300 MERS about 1,200 of them are irrigation so

[1:16:06] 22% of the people IR using irrigation are kind of um increasing the cost for

[1:16:14] the entire city so we think it would make more sense to charge these uh

[1:16:19] irrigation rates and the schedule I don't think we mentioned that um would

[1:16:23] be 0 to6 ,000 gallons be 1.25 times the regular rate 6 to 9,000 gallons 1.5

[1:16:32] times the regular rate and above 9,000 would be two times the regular rate um

[1:16:38] the main reason for doing this um is central Iowa

[1:16:43] Waterworks not one of the it's just one of the additional reasons I should say

[1:16:48] uh Central Iowa Waterworks is going to be doing an expansion the Sailor Ville

[1:16:52] plant it's about 160 million 10 million of that will be norwalk's

[1:16:59] portion you just think about a 20-year srf loan at 3% it's about 695,000 a year

[1:17:07] we go a 30-year loans about 500,000 a year these rates just get us a little

[1:17:12] bit closer to paying uh making those payments it doesn't cover it completely

[1:17:17] um but will help in that regard and maybe hopefully people will pay

[1:17:22] attention a little bit more um I'm sure there's some

[1:17:26] overwatering that doesn't need to happen so just trying to offset those costs one

[1:17:33] thing we did talk about and I'm not going to ask you to do it tonight

[1:17:36] because I don't like to throw this on you but we charge an availability fee by

[1:17:41] meter size we put that in place last April and through our discussions about

[1:17:46] this uh we realized we only charge for one meter and we just charge whatever

[1:17:51] the larger meter is so if they have a 3/4 in regular meter and a 1 in

[1:17:56] irrigation meter we charge the availability fee only on that 1 in

[1:18:01] meter we might be bringing back we have an availability fee for irrigation

[1:18:06] meters as well as the base meter so that might be something to think about um I

[1:18:10] calculated that would be another 130,000 would really help go toward

[1:18:15] offsetting the costs that we are experiencing due to

[1:18:20] irrigation and I know that um Finance work group reviewed this and admin

[1:18:25] policy work group reviewed this and both recommended that we move

[1:18:31] ahead you have any questions how did you how how did you

[1:18:35] come up with the numbers there the one point two times rate 1.5 two times uh

[1:18:45] you know we really just kind of made some comparisons with other cities yep

[1:18:49] and um there's no consistency across the

[1:18:54] board we thought we would ease into it and we thought you know if you only use

[1:18:58] so many maybe not get uh dinged as much as someone who uses 20,000 so if you're

[1:19:04] only using 5,000 to irrigate maybe you pay a little less than someone that uses

[1:19:08] 20 we have some people that in the month of July we'll use 30,000 gallons for

[1:19:12] irrigation what's the average use per household is there for irrigation or for

[1:19:19] household usage household us overall I don't have that I don't have

[1:19:25] that because you know what it es and flows from year to year yeah um you know

[1:19:30] last year wasn't the beginning of the year was really wet uh it was less and

[1:19:35] then toward the end of the year got really dry the year before was super dry

[1:19:39] and um so I don't I don't really have that

[1:19:43] number I'm I suppose maybe I'm wondering a little

[1:19:48] bit I'm on the committee that talked about this so uh it's like um you

[1:19:55] know is if if some people are using 20 to 30,000 like that's not

[1:20:03] 9,000 and it's like so they're paying the same rate from nine to 50,000

[1:20:09] whatever they want so I'm wondering if the if there's partially a

[1:20:16] goal of reducing water usage if

[1:20:22] uh if we like if the rate would be even higher at

[1:20:27] some point too because there's kind of like wow that's

[1:20:33] excessive right I mean we're we're not really trying to penalize people who

[1:20:37] irrigate um but we are just trying to recover our Cost U Pick this is maybe a

[1:20:43] way to start looking at it see what happens the first year maybe we can

[1:20:47] increase it after that what I'm thinking about there is let's say we we also want

[1:20:52] to help people now not use as much water so like again it would be the creation

[1:20:59] of some sort of fund that would be that that our residents could take advantage

[1:21:05] of to like if they wanna do something to

[1:21:11] their lawn that would reduce the need for water that we might be able to

[1:21:17] be help like a some sort of a carrot there yeah we have talked about programs

[1:21:25] we kind of have a program in place that Elliot overseas uh we don't get much um

[1:21:32] traffic there we don't get many requests um like water barrels and soil control

[1:21:38] soil Rion control and or rain barrels I should say it's like a soil um what's

[1:21:44] the word I'm looking for where they soil quality restoration yes so we do have

[1:21:50] some programs in place to encourage and if you do that restoration

[1:21:55] you have more ideas then you end up with more top soil so you don't need as much

[1:21:59] irrigation to keep that on so we do have that available okay yeah maybe it would

[1:22:06] be matter of like if we wanted to make this a big deal overall to the city

[1:22:13] there would almost be a marketing game plan that would be hey we want to help

[1:22:20] people use less water for their for their laws

[1:22:25] again that may be just too big of a discussion on

[1:22:31] this why I could certainly talk to our um marketing and communication staff and

[1:22:38] see if they could come up with some ideas on how to try to promote some of

[1:22:41] those programs at the same time that these rates are going into

[1:22:47] effect yeah and if we find then that they're being more used then maybe we

[1:22:56] can think about how to make more dollars available I

[1:23:01] suppose that'd be a good problem to have

[1:23:08] yeah send me an email to remind me of this program because I might take

[1:23:14] advantage of it because i' turned off my irrigation the last two years three

[1:23:21] years now hit your water barrel and I mean the lawn in the back looks very

[1:23:26] interesting by the end of the summer but it's I I can't believe how much I

[1:23:32] would have to water to like keep it green yeah so it's like a loss

[1:23:39] cause to add on to well go ahead I'm sorry you're done so to add on so that's

[1:23:47] for the current for the Sailor bille expansion it's $160 million for 10

[1:23:52] million G 10 million gallons of water additional capacity the next expansion

[1:23:58] will be another from what I understand is planned to be another 10 million

[1:24:02] gallons of water per day but it's going to cost like

[1:24:07] $320,000 wow so the cost of producing water is going

[1:24:14] way and that's why it's essential to react on something like this because we

[1:24:19] somehow need to curve the use while we're setting money aside to be a pay

[1:24:24] for the find a grass that keeps green while

[1:24:28] it's out water huh need to have green grass with less water find a grass that

[1:24:35] will do that as opposed to I'm sure sports turf would be happy to talk show

[1:24:41] you some that stuff gets hot indoor outdo or country yards they look they

[1:24:48] look nice I like mine a yard of

[1:24:52] Clover Clover keeps green man one of my brothers in Nevada has

[1:24:58] painted rocks you know but no I I think this is uh something we need to do here

[1:25:05] okay any other discussion councel or public

[1:25:10] comment I get a motion to approve the first reading motion second motion by Co

[1:25:16] seconded by Min key any further

[1:25:20] discussion hearing none Lindsay would you please call a roll council member

[1:25:24] cool yeah miniki yes Brown yes all right motion carries item 7 L second reading

[1:25:30] of an ordinance granting to Mid-American Energy company it successors and assigns

[1:25:35] the right and non-exclusive franchise to acquire construct direct maintain and

[1:25:40] operate in the city of Norwalk Iowa a natural gas system and to furnish and

[1:25:44] sell natural gas to the city and its inhabitants and authorizing the city to

[1:25:49] collect franchise fees for a period of 25 years so we had a public hearing on

[1:25:53] this side item and first reading at our last meeting this is to replace local

[1:25:58] option sales tax on our natural gas bills with a 1% franchise feed like to

[1:26:04] also add that just a couple days after our last council meeting held normal uh

[1:26:09] mayor's chat in here we had several people in attendance where they asked

[1:26:13] questions about the franchise fee uh I was I was impressed with the detail the

[1:26:19] citizens of the citizen questions and their desire to learn what what was

[1:26:23] going on uh I can't say they were excited about

[1:26:26] the establishment of a fee but there seemed to be a genuine agreement that it

[1:26:30] was the right move to make uh their main issue was disagreement of the fee

[1:26:35] increasing Beyond 1% Jim Gan or Luke anything to add did

[1:26:41] not no all right discussion from Council or public comments yeah I was gonna say

[1:26:46] one thing is uh you know uh I'm sad that we're forced to do this you know the the

[1:26:53] LW stuff is is a way of saying hey we're good neighbors within our County you

[1:26:58] know people come here they spend money Norwalk people go there they spend money

[1:27:02] and it's a way of being a community it's a way of like sharing and you know uh it

[1:27:10] makes me sad that we have to turn to doing this because we're saying nope we

[1:27:15] got to keep it all but I think we've been forced to make that decision and

[1:27:20] overall I would say that I'm sad at the overall perspective on taxes because it

[1:27:28] feels to me like um we're just it's it's another way that we're losing a a sense

[1:27:36] of hey we're all in this thing together called a a good city with good streets

[1:27:43] good sidewalks good you know good safety good good schools right and there's just

[1:27:50] what's in people's ears saying I kind of want to opt out of that now just because

[1:27:55] I don't want to pay for that so I'm getting on a hobby horse I

[1:28:00] realize but doing this I'm just kind of like shoot it was nice that we were even

[1:28:08] though maybe we were getting a lot of Revenue we were sharing it with our our

[1:28:12] neighbors in Warren County I like that perspective um so I it's the right thing

[1:28:19] to do um

[1:28:26] they can do the same thing though yeah they are well they will they

[1:28:31] are I mean George I'm not saying that we shouldn't do it yeah yeah I just don't

[1:28:36] like the fact that our hand has been forced yeah let's get

[1:28:41] selfish right now looks like I just looked up Indian orans first time I

[1:28:45] looked at they got a 5% franchise fee right now yeah

[1:28:54] Johnson just went to

[1:28:58] 5% and did they do that explicitly because they're like Johnson

[1:29:03] at least was like we got to generate more

[1:29:07] Revenue yes to replace it's a house file 718 deal yes yeah they wouldn't have

[1:29:13] done that correct I think that's true yeah all right any other discussion from

[1:29:19] Council or public comment motion second all right motion by Co for second

[1:29:25] reading seconded by mini Lindsay would you call roll council

[1:29:30] member miny yes Brown yes cool yes all right motion carries item 7 m it's

[1:29:35] second reading of an ordinance granting to Mid-American Energy company its

[1:29:39] successors and assigns the right and non-exclusive franchise to acquire

[1:29:44] construct erect maintain and operate in the city of Norwalk Iowa an electric

[1:29:50] electric system to furnish and sell electric energy to the city and its

[1:29:54] habit and its inhabitants and authorizing the city to collect

[1:29:58] franchise fees for a period of 25 years got a public hearing on this item and

[1:30:03] first reading in our last meeting this is to replace local option sales tax on

[1:30:07] our electric bills with 1% franchise feed anything else to add Jim L te

[1:30:15] discussion from councel public comment one more thing I was I asked a

[1:30:20] few of my friends if they knew that they were even paying this one % and they're

[1:30:25] like no

[1:30:31] idea 4% was 4% yes wow you remember I mentioned when we got

[1:30:38] together with the Min Ministerial Association there was more than one

[1:30:42] Pastor that said they weren't sure if they were filed as exempt in paying the

[1:30:46] local op of sales

[1:30:49] tax yeah I'm not saying that's a positive or negative for it it was just

[1:30:53] an interesting thing that if it didn't show up on the radar maybe it wasn't

[1:30:57] that big of a deal all right can I get a motion to approve second reading motion

[1:31:02] second motion by Co seconded by Min Lindsay would you call roll council

[1:31:06] member mini yes Brown yes cool yes all right motion carries item seven n it's a

[1:31:12] second reading of an ordinance amending the code of ordinances of the city of

[1:31:16] Norwalk Iowa to adopt the Norwalk technology in Industry overlay District

[1:31:20] so we had a public hearing and our first reading of the addition of the overlay

[1:31:24] District to our ordinances at our last meeting Elliot anything to add uh per

[1:31:29] Luke Paris he added what council decided on for the makeup of the Niti Review

[1:31:34] Committee to the ordinance okay all right so can I get or any

[1:31:42] discussion from councel or public comment I get a motion to approve motion

[1:31:47] second reading as amended I got a motion by Brown seconded by I think

[1:31:54] rule uh Lindsay would you call rule council member Brown yes cool yes Min

[1:32:00] yes all right motion carries item eight future agenda items purpose for this is

[1:32:06] for Council to give direction to staff by way of motion to have items placed on

[1:32:10] future agendas it's not for a discussion of the merits of the subject matter do

[1:32:14] we have any future agenda items tonight car none we'll go on Council

[1:32:20] inquiries and staff updates number nine I'd like to remind everybody that this

[1:32:24] portion of the meeting is much less formal uh you may hear some back and

[1:32:29] forth banner and general joking around we believe this can build camaraderie

[1:32:33] and cohesiveness between staff and councel but please keep it professional

[1:32:39] Jim uh gotta talk about this gy look at

[1:32:45] that well I guess so that's my daughter Olivia uh she had her first college

[1:32:51] outing pitching softball lastek weekend down in Texas and she had three games

[1:32:57] that she pitched and as a result she was named athlete of the week for the

[1:33:02] Iowa I'm not sure what is NJCAA conference so all the junior

[1:33:09] colleges in Iowa she was named athlete of the week for it so she did pretty

[1:33:13] good for her first outing in college

[1:33:21] mother lot of ours sitting on a

[1:33:26] bucket yeah anything else uh I assume you'll talk about annexation so we'll

[1:33:33] let you do that I can do that our leader during that so you could take the glory

[1:33:37] of talk about it okay uh George Ed uh no sir

[1:33:44] Ellie real quick thing a little bit extracurricular you guys know that I

[1:33:48] sometimes send you articles and and interesting tidbits I run across uh two

[1:33:51] weeks ago today Donald shot passed away if you don't know that name don't be

[1:33:56] embarrassed he wrote The High Cost of free parking which came out in uh

[1:34:03] 2005 um it's a the book is big enough to be used as a weapon um but it has become

[1:34:10] kind of staple literature in our field and he was uh he's a very very funny guy

[1:34:15] he's got some TED Talks that are interesting to listen to um his actual

[1:34:19] website is shoot dog.org um so very enlightened fellow

[1:34:25] but he passed away two weeks ago and just uh you know encourage you to check

[1:34:29] out his material if you're uh ridiculously

[1:34:34] bored that's all I got good thank you car nothing tonight

[1:34:40] wait with the warm weather coming next week we're gonna have a lot of melting

[1:34:44] and we'll have refreezing at night that turns into pothole season so if you get

[1:34:49] complaints from residents we do have a form on our website where people can go

[1:34:52] and report potholes uh we will be out filling them next week so if they let us

[1:34:57] know we love it when we hear from people are telling us where they where they

[1:35:00] have issues at the next city council meeting

[1:35:03] I'm going to have a contract from both uh on the agenda to engineer what's

[1:35:07] called a dowar retrofit project on 50th Avenue this will be a project from North

[1:35:13] Avenue to County Line Road if you drive that segment you'll feel bumps the

[1:35:17] joints are starting to offset uh this project will put Dow bars

[1:35:22] at the joints then we diamond TR it to smooth it out it'll add about 15 more

[1:35:26] years of life to that road I'm just telling you now my plan I'm telling you

[1:35:30] now because my plan is to use reallocation of the ridge money the

[1:35:34] money we had set aside for that assessment project we tried hard to find

[1:35:39] a project that's going to affect a large percentage of the community but it

[1:35:44] couldn't be a full rebuild because I don't want it start over another

[1:35:47] assessment project I'm just trying to stay out of that for now um so we're

[1:35:52] proposing to use the money on that that'll be on the next

[1:35:56] agenda that's it all right Mr fire inspector nothing all right Chief yeah

[1:36:03] since the last council meeting unfortunately we at the police

[1:36:06] department had two resignations of officers um one for medical reasons and

[1:36:13] one change in family circumstances both were um not really anticipated so to uh

[1:36:20] fill those gaps uh you'll see at the next meeting or request for funding for

[1:36:25] um an Academy training and we are hiring now looking for two good applicants or

[1:36:32] actually we have one applicant in the pipeline so we're looking for one

[1:36:35] applicant now hopefully we find it uh just want to

[1:36:40] point out that because of the academy cycing uh when they start and when they

[1:36:45] end and where we are in a hiring process just starting um from today it'll be 15

[1:36:52] months um before we have a person in position trained and operating on the

[1:36:58] roads by themselves to replace the officer that resigned last week so just

[1:37:04] want to put that in perspective that's all sir all right thank you Jean Kelly I

[1:37:09] have nothing thank you olly you have some business updates um for retail and

[1:37:15] restaurants just a lot of tentative opening planning date plan dates so the

[1:37:20] sports plx Norwalk facility is open so that's kind of within the the bigger

[1:37:26] Sports plex facility next to our Fieldhouse that's the indoor tur and

[1:37:29] sports training so might have seen that on news story so they're doing good

[1:37:34] Ember Market Vivid lifespa will be opening soon probably the next couple of

[1:37:38] months mullets still scheduled for early April K High Golf is planning for June

[1:37:43] Christian Brothers Automotive this spring um Cooper Central table on

[1:37:47] cockail as you know has been open for a couple weeks doing super great they're

[1:37:51] doing so well that there's already maybe some talk of expansion in their really

[1:37:55] near future something cool with them is they are working with the Fairfield and

[1:37:59] I'm sure they'll be working with the Hilton as well once they're open but

[1:38:02] they their guests that stay at the Fairfield can put their food on um their

[1:38:07] Cooper's food on their hotel tab so it's kind of cool and then their outdoor

[1:38:11] patio will open this spring Sunset Lounge is now open already super packed

[1:38:15] and popular um so it's not just a cocktail lounge it's got the full food

[1:38:19] menu so that's kind of another just cool option for people to have hot works

[1:38:23] studio is looking to open by mid-march um just another great health and fitness

[1:38:28] opportunity for residents Pizza Ranch would like to be open sometime this year

[1:38:32] um I know they're still kind of in their early stages but them having an arcade

[1:38:36] is kind of a cool thing for families and all the kids that'll be here um over the

[1:38:40] summer for the tournaments and everything at Sports Flex so that's

[1:38:44] another good option art um Hilton Hotel also plans to open by late winter this

[1:38:51] year they've had lots of delays a lot of electricity and things like that that um

[1:38:55] you know we all deal with neure Smoothie Cafe and Bakery and Sports Nutrition

[1:39:00] Affiliates that's under construction north of chat plan to open by summer

[1:39:04] they'll also have an outdoor patio and then they're working on another

[1:39:07] development next door that'll include more retail and a fitness fitness center

[1:39:12] um we have another new upscale restaurant coming to the former Warrior

[1:39:15] Run Clubhouse they'll announce details on that soon couple weeks hyper energy

[1:39:19] bar will be building south of Subway in norlock central they'll double Drive

[1:39:23] through super popular um all over the place especially with sports and

[1:39:27] recreation areas nothing but healthy drinks coming out Health lot of caffeine

[1:39:32] as you know we like um Credit Union will be building just south of Hy River um

[1:39:38] planned to start this year as well the done industrial Flex buildings are full

[1:39:41] so they'll be announcing all their tenants soon the Koso State delegation

[1:39:46] trip tentative dates are June 22nd through the 27th if you're interested in

[1:39:50] that please reach out to me the Washington DC legislative and economic

[1:39:54] development trip is May 7th through 9th so talk to L Nelson and orene about that

[1:39:59] and budget um and then on Tuesday May or you

[1:40:03] want to talk about that governor and then oh this super fun um deas is they

[1:40:09] will be making an announcement this week we'll put out a press release with they

[1:40:12] purchased land along Highway 28 and Turnberry to build a new Clinic um

[1:40:16] they'll start this year around 20,000 square feet facility Orthopedic Urgent

[1:40:22] Injury Clinic um they'll also have physical therapy and sports performance

[1:40:26] training they will plan to be open by Spring of 26 and then lastly check out

[1:40:32] our new website we have for the Southwest development Corridor we can

[1:40:36] email you that link but even if we just Google Southwest Bor it will pop up um

[1:40:41] it includes our Economic Development guide as well and it's just a really

[1:40:46] cool comprehensive place for people to be able to get every bit of information

[1:40:50] going on in that whole area including the annexation developers looking for

[1:40:54] land or land owners looking to be included infrastructure utilities so

[1:40:59] it's kind of kind of cool let us know if you see anything that needs to be

[1:41:02] changed and that's it all right

[1:41:07] St would you like come

[1:41:12] on I just wanted to point out I did deliver the March April activity

[1:41:17] calendar so please take a look there's than 29 activities for all ages in there

[1:41:22] and we would to have you stop in and see what our residents are up to thank you

[1:41:26] all right thank you Robin said she didn't have anything so Lindy nothing

[1:41:32] all right uh Jason so the Norwalk girls team finished the season with one

[1:41:39] loss um they're ranked fourth in State uh and uh so they start their state you

[1:41:47] know Journey on Saturday um with you know if you have

[1:41:52] any time come join us at the Fieldhouse for that game uh there're a lot of fun

[1:41:58] to watch um and we we had two girls that were first team All Conference two girls

[1:42:06] that were second Team all conference two girls that were honorable menion all so

[1:42:10] six wow that's like one more than a starter uh so uh it's the tied for the

[1:42:18] best season in Norwalk history um and we were champ Co

[1:42:23] champions of the conference this year we beat dcg for the first time in nine

[1:42:28] years uh I don't know the last time we were champions of our conference um and

[1:42:35] so and you know if you come pay attention to the 59 real

[1:42:41] jumpy afraid to take shots stealing the ball passing for

[1:42:47] assists rebounding doing all the things good coaches like uh

[1:42:53] Pearl Brown also should say this since we're bragging about kids I think my

[1:42:59] middle son may have run the fastest mile of anyone who's ever lived in Norwalk so

[1:43:05] he ran a 406 out of Bost so Tony anania who's a senior he

[1:43:10] ran a 406 something 1600 at state so I'm sure he's going to try and beat that

[1:43:15] this year he's a senior but Jack didn't even do track in

[1:43:19] high school he did soccer

[1:43:25] so anyway nice yeah I know that his goals

[1:43:30] are more he's a sophomore it's he wants to run faster than 406

[1:43:40] but thank you yeah thanks for

[1:43:45] listening uh just a few items uh I I want to com commend the mayor on his

[1:43:50] mayor's chat that did happen last last Saturday two Saturdays go um it's good

[1:43:58] that you put that on I know you host that sometimes you don't get a lot of

[1:44:02] participation uh but the mayor invites me he says Luke I want you to be there

[1:44:07] it's a nice invite and I'm there and I was there at that one and um I I was

[1:44:13] pleasantly surprised with I don't maybe a dozen people yeah several outside

[1:44:19] corporate limits several from inside corporate limits on a couple different

[1:44:22] issues and I am quite confident that every

[1:44:26] person left that feeling better not saying happy but feeling better about

[1:44:31] the decisions from the city because they had a chance to speak it face to face

[1:44:36] one-on-one with what was going on with the mayor so I'm glad you do those I

[1:44:40] know that takes time out of your Saturday morning uh in case any of our

[1:44:44] staff doesn't realize it it helps us as staff a lot by him being willing to

[1:44:49] answer those questions with the public so thank you for doing that I wish it

[1:44:52] was better attendant we'll just say that yeah and unfortunately the way I think

[1:44:57] that you uh get better attendance is by frustrating some folks yeah I hate to

[1:45:03] say it but that's generally what gets people out not necessarily the good news

[1:45:06] and we have so many good things happening sometimes that just doesn't

[1:45:09] bring them out as much uh the other thing I wanted to note is uh Doug Stout

[1:45:14] is a local staffer for congresswoman Miller Meeks and he's done a pretty good

[1:45:21] job of being a ten to things happening in

[1:45:24] Norwalk uh he brought the congresswoman up last week and we presented her with

[1:45:30] this uh graphic this information little flyer that we gave her that talked about

[1:45:35] the new interchange and also the i435 interstate

[1:45:43] designation uh I was impressed that she knew exactly what we were talking about

[1:45:49] with the interchange she had remembered that when we uh visited her in D and

[1:45:53] also when she was here last time so just pretty neat that she took the time and

[1:45:57] Doug thought of us to bring her up for a visit and can you hold that up there for

[1:46:02] a second yeah um you know Ty's a good photographer but how do you'all feel

[1:46:07] about my picture I just texted her it looks

[1:46:10] awkward if you want the truth I did no in all fairness I said Ty I think I need

[1:46:15] to get a new picture she's like sure anytime and then I haven't done it yeah

[1:46:19] the flag flag's not there you think I look

[1:46:26] I think he look like a high school football player was trying to make him

[1:46:28] look like aular NE like you guys have seen like

[1:46:33] I'm not exactly out you know Mr Olympia you know

[1:46:38] so I am now gonna close this so that's all uh I was gonna mention

[1:46:44] about annexation but I figured you uh on the

[1:46:50] 12th we could go Wednesday uh staff and myself I was on Via Zoom but

[1:46:58] uh we met with the city development board about our

[1:47:01] annexation uh went through it was probably about a

[1:47:05] two-hour public hearing and at the end the city development board approved our

[1:47:12] annexation so we are in a 30-day review period at this point in time

[1:47:18] so things went well so good job staff

[1:47:23] they they were impressed with the submitt I point that out I mean it's uh

[1:47:28] a lot of them you just see people not showing up for their hearings and

[1:47:32] filling out filling inform forms not really providing a lot and I think the

[1:47:36] uh hours that were spent on that uh but whole staff putting together maps and

[1:47:43] assembling things uh they were quite complimentary of that they pointed out

[1:47:47] and saying how good it was and I think they really appreciated it and there was

[1:47:52] at least one one of the board members that indicated that uh we did everything

[1:47:57] right it looked like this is the way that it's supposed to happen yeah good

[1:48:02] and after a two-hour presentation there were hardly any questions whatsoever so

[1:48:06] I take that and I take that to me that hopefully the presentation answered all

[1:48:10] the questions that was kind of cool okay yeah then uh on Tuesday on Tuesday Holly

[1:48:19] and I went down to the governor's office uh where Governor Reynolds signed a

[1:48:25] proclam proclamation recognizing the 17th anniversary of kosovo's

[1:48:30] Independence so that was really good good all I

[1:48:38] have all right item 10 this closed session pursuant to Iowa Code section

[1:48:44] 2073 to discuss labor negotiations for Police Department bargaining unit

[1:48:49] agreement Jim is this AED reason go in close session yes it is can I get a

[1:48:53] motion to go in CL

[1:48:59] session can I get a second okay so motion wow I didn't think we were gonna

[1:49:05] go in close session motion by Man seconded by Brown

[1:49:10] Lindsay would you please call R council member miniki yes Brown yes cool yes all

[1:49:15] right that motion uh carries it is 804

February 20, 2025 Norwalk City Council Meeting

Transcript