MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
JANUARY 25, 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
North Liberty City Manager Brian James: Proposed North Liberty Annexation.............................................................. 1
Soil and Water Conservationist Adam Galluzzo: Progress Report/Update to the Board Of Supervisors........................ 13
County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek: Approval of Town Contracts for the Cities of Hills, Tiffin, and Swisher................. 16
Discussion: Appointments to the Trails Advisory Committee........................................................................................ 17
Discussion: Request to Join a List of Organizations to Promote Human Rights Ordinance at the State Level................ 17
Reports and Inquiries from the Board of Supervisors....................................................................................................... 18
Chairperson Harney called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:00 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
North Liberty City Manager Brian James introduced North Liberty City Planner Ken Trom and City Attorney Scott Peterson. The Board of Supervisors asked them to attend the meeting to address questions regarding the proposed North Liberty annexation. R. Sullivan asked James to give a quick overview of the annexation for the benefit of the public. James explained that they are discussing a portion of the properties covering approximately 950 acres of which 850 are voluntary acres to be annexed. The requests came in January 5, 2007. They have had consultations with the Board of Supervisors and the Trustees at this point and are waiting for the process to continue. They are anticipating action by the North Liberty City Council by February 27, 2007. Harney said that the City Development Board has asked that Johnson County have consultation with whomever is asking for the annexation. Johnson County asked North Liberty to meet with the Board of Supervisors so that they could get an idea of things they have talked about and get questions answered.
Neuzil asked if the proposed 950 acres is incorporating the other particular parcels of property that were also requested and if that is all part of one package now. James replied that the original annexation request does include all of the 100% voluntary. Neuzil said that altogether this request is for 950 acres of property that surrounds the Scanlon Farm. James said the southern border of North Liberty and the annexation would adjoin the Scanlon property.
Stutsman said to clarify the process, when the Board has an annexation of this size they usually have the City Officials come in and talk to the Board about the annexation so that they have an opportunity to know how it is going to impact Johnson County and whether it is in agreement with what they have agreed to in fringe area agreements and that if there are things that they feel aren't consistent with what they have laid out then they have written letters to the City Development Board expressing their concerns. Stutsman said the Board is not picking on North Liberty; this is the normal process that they go through. Coralville is coming in next week to talk about their annexations. It gives the Board an opportunity to see the annexation, to talk about it with City and County staff, and discuss the impacts it might have on Johnson County.
Neuzil said the County can communicate opinions and concerns with the State City Development Board about a particular annexation so, as far as process goes, this isn't anything unusual. Ultimately, the real issue is that when a city is ready to grow, it should be allowed to grow and the County has respected that. The County has concerns when cities annex so much property when the city isn’t ready to grow into that property. He asked what the City’s vision is for the 950 acres five years from now. James replied that a substantial amount of the property has already been developed to County standards, so he doesn’t see that property changing. Trom said that much of the remaining property will remain the same in the next five years. He said there is no intention for any development in that way for residential housing. If there is, it will be by the property owners and they will pay for all infrastructure needs that they would have in meeting North Liberty's standards for development.
Neuzil said when that process is ready, the City should be ready to grow. In the meantime, there shouldn't be a hurry. Neuzil asked why North Liberty would want to annex a piece of property if it has no intention of doing anything with it for the next 5 years. He suggested they keep it in the County, make an arrangement with Johnson County, the City of Coralville, and with residents; and when those areas of land are ready to grow, then annex into the area that has been worked out between all those entities. James said that an annexation application has been made to the City and they have taken no action on it. Neuzil asked them to relay to their City leaders that Johnson County wants to know what the City’s vision is.
Harney said his concern is the connectivity of the roads and the infrastructure to the County. He asked what effect this will have on North Dubuque Street or on other streets that aren’t even in existence yet. He asked what the effects will be on the County as a whole or on the budget. That's going to have well over $100,000 worth of tax effect on Johnson County. Harney said that it's taxes that Johnson County is going to lose to those communities.
Sullivan asked James when he would anticipate the City Development Board would look at this. Peterson said that he was just visiting with Coralville City Attorney Kevin Olson about the status of the appeal that has been filed. He said there was an action filed in Johnson County by certain citizens, and there was an interlocutory appeal to the Supreme Court followed by no action so far. If the Supreme Court declines to accept the interlocutory appeal, it will go back to the jurisdiction of the District Court. If they accept it, then they will consider it. There was a January 17, 2007 City Development Board meeting where no action was taken. Peterson said that until they hear from the Supreme Court, not much can be done at the City Development Board level. He added that this could certainly change. Peterson said it is discretionary on the Court’s part whether or not to take the case.
Stutsman said the County has fringe area agreements between Coralville and North Liberty. She asked Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak and Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore how this particular annexation fits into that agreement. Dvorak said when they did the first agreement with both Coralville and North Liberty, they used a fringe area agreement that they had agreed upon previously, so those lines were pretty well previously established and as of this date, that agreement between the two cities is gone. It expired in November, 2006. From that time on, Moore had been working with North Liberty on a new fringe area agreement because of the time frame that they are reviewed periodically. Then, Dvorak was to work with Coralville on their fringe area agreement, but then this all came about and it is in conflict with the fringe area agreements in place and with a post fringe area that Moore was working on with the City of North Liberty. Then, the Board requested that Planning and Zoning work with both of the cities to try to mediate some type of agreement, and they did that last week. They presented that to both municipalities asking them to take that document back to their respective cities, and they have not yet heard back from the cities.
Neuzil said the County at least has made a proposal to each of the entities, North Liberty and Coralville of what County staff thinks is the best idea according to their expertise. Dvorak said that is correct. They base that off of quite a few different reasons, partially, wastewater, which is one of the criteria they use. If the municipalities can sewer the properties by gravity flow, not having to pay for expensive lift stations and force mains and things like that, they should. Stutsman asked if this annexation would be serviced by lift stations. Dvorak said that he could let the City Engineers explain a little more, but the previous map that they started with was all gravity and most of this area was not included. They did revise that after one of their first meetings. They had an outside consultant revise that showing an area where they could do it with force mains. Trom said that there would be multiple lift stations required, probably three to four lift stations and one shared force main.
Meyers asked at what point does either city, Coralville or North Liberty, have to start providing those services. Dvorak said that Coralville's original proposal was to do it immediately. He doesn't believe that North Liberty expects to do anything. Stutsman said it is development driven, whenever somebody decides to develop the land. James agreed. He said that occasionally they have an industrial or commercial development where the City would sponsor the extension, but generally not for residential.
Moore asked if the area is primarily outlined as residential development to the south and east of town, not industrial. James replied yes, they don't project any commercial or industrial properties on the east side of town. Meyers asked James if the existing homes that are annexed would still use their wells and septic systems. Moore said he believes that under State Code there are different requirements for the type of annexation. If it is a voluntary annexation, then the City is not obligated to provide its services within a certain time frame. But if it is an involuntary annexation, then within 2 or 3 years, they are required to move their services to the annexed property to provide that service. Under the annexation that both cities are proposing, voluntary annexations, there is no time frame for having to provide the services of water and sewer lines.
Stutsman said that her concern with this annexation is the motivation behind it. As Neuzil said, the Board has been supportive of communities when they wanted to grow and have supported annexations that have been within their borders. The County has worked out fringe agreements for logical growth areas. These were planned, thoughtful approaches to growth, but this seems to be motivated by basically one thing: to stop the City of Coralville from growing. She said has a hard time with that. She said that this annexation would encourage urban sprawl and if the land isn’t going to be developed, it needs to stay as part of the County, not as part of a city.
Peterson said the City of North Liberty passed a resolution that set out the terms of the agreement with citizens with respect to the first application. There is a fair amount of detail in there. But there are parts of this are that have been developed residentially under County standards, and for those properties, it is not anticipated that there would be significantly more development or splitting of parcels. A significant part of the territory is not developed. The territory does start with the east end of the city limits of North Liberty and it is anticipated that over time there will be incremental development just as it takes place around the County. There are provisions in that same resolution in terms of meeting City standards when and if development does occur. He said that will be logical and incremental development west to east. The City does have to show that it can provide services in three years, but this is all depends on how and when the land is developed.
R. Sullivan said his concern is that if he were a citizen living in corporate North Liberty right now, it looks like there was some agreement that taxes wouldn't go up for the folks who are in this proposed annexation. If they are going to extend library and police and all the things out to this area, yet taxes aren't going to go up for these people, then don't taxes have to go up for people who currently live in the City. Peterson replied that what is set out in that agreement is what is provided by State Code. That is a provision that is often used in terms of annexation agreements between properties and the city they are working with that there be a transitional period. When development takes place, there are going to be changes to that but it is provided by state law and consistent with that. R. Sullivan said he doesn’t recall the exact language but was there a time frame under which they were going to maintain essentially the same tax rate. Peterson replied that James is more familiar with the financial aspect of it, but it is a 10-year period that is incremental. James explained that the 1st and 2nd year would be 75%; 3rd and 4th years would be 50%; 45%, 30% and 15%. Every two year period it drops where the property owner would pay more property taxes to the City. They are abated taxes, not the value, value is still there. Sullivan said 75% is the rebate, so it would go from 75 all the way down. James said they don’t pay the taxes on the increment above, they still pay the same amount they would always pay, plus in the first year 25% more whenever the values go up. Sullivan said then they are going to get rebates in that amount. James said there will not be any direct cash moving back and forth, the State will pay the taxes. Peterson said that to clarify, that provision is allowed by State Code, not required by State Code.
R. Sullivan said it seems like about 200 acres is annexed per year Countywide, but only in five and 10 acre increments. The requests don’t usually cover this kind of territory or number of people. This annexation request and the Coralville request are both really unique for Johnson County. Harney said this whole area is a natural growth area for the two communities and he certainly hopes they can work through the issues. He asked if the public wants to make a comment. He explained that the Board does not have any decision making power at this point. They can send a letter to the Commission.
Dvorak said that prior to applications coming before the Boards, cities or developers go to Secondary Roads Department because there will be a lot of roads that may have to be shared. He asked if they have resolved in writing any maintenance agreements yet because that is a concern of the public. James replied that they anticipate that being done before taking action on the requests. Stutsman asked if they need to take action by the Council or the City Development Board? James replied by the City Council, he assumes.
Stutsman said that when Harney talks about the dollars that the County will not recognize from taxes from this parcel, those are the dollars used to maintain and upgrade roads. In this particular annexation, most of those roads are annexed to the middle of the road, so that means the County is still going to have to continue to have some responsibilities for them. Therefore, they need to clarify how they are going to pay for Johnson County's roads it if they aren’t going to get the tax dollars to do that.
Harney said that is 1,200 acres between the two communities they are asking for plus the residences and some small subdivisions within that. Neuzil said that those are the kind of things that need to be addressed because technically, they are still residents of Johnson County and those folks are going to have questions about the kind of services both Coralville and North Liberty are going to be able to provide to them and roads certainly is one. He thought public safety is also a higher priority and hopes they are looking at the kind of impact the road will have on the relationship that is already in place between Johnson County and North Liberty and Coralville in regards to public safety. Ultimately, to Harney, the biggest issue of all is making sure that whatever happens in regard to what the State City Development Board decides is the relationship between North Liberty and Johnson County, Johnson County and Coralville, and most importantly, between Coralville and North Liberty. He hoped that no matter what happens on this particular issue that these strong relationships can remain strong.
Harney asked if there was anything else from the Board. Meyers asked if the annexation went through and came down around the south end of the Scanlon property, have they ever had any thoughts about the Scanlon family approaching them and asking to be annexed into North Liberty, if that would happen, and asking to be annexed into North Liberty? James said they are certainly open to that question. Whether the Scanlons are willing to get off their property in a way that would meet North Liberty’s requirements is probably more what they would need to confirm. Neuzil asked if he is right that the Scanlons would have to pick either one or the other. Chappell says that is not how he sees it. Chappell said they could force amendments. Stutsman asked what that means. Chappell said they can force amendments to the proposals, meaning they could force North Liberty to take part off or force Coralville to take part off. He said that is understanding and may not be a universal belief. Harney said they won't do that themselves, they will ask them to do that. Chappell said that they would condition approval by changes. Stutsman said she does not agree with some of the proposal that is coming forth from Coralville next week because it goes against the Fringe Area Agreement.
Meyers asked if there is any likelihood that the City Development Board would turn down both of them. Stutsman said that when they are voluntary it makes it difficult. Chappell said he couldn't speak for what the likelihood of that would be. Neuzil though the City Development Board will look at North Liberty, Coralville, and the County’s letter. Then, with all of the feedback from residents, the Board will have their work cut out for them.
Meyers asked if they will still be coming to this area for their hearing. Peterson said that has been proposed. He said that most everything is on hold, but that is an option that they can convene someplace in Johnson County. Stutsman said so this whole is on hold until they decide that about that Supreme Court and that interlocutory. Chappell said that is his understanding.
Greater Iowa City Area Homebuilders Association and Land Development Council Representative Dan Smith asked if this is the only opportunity for public input at this stage. He said they have some thoughts and concerns but only from a policy perspective, including the tax base, capitol improvements programs, and the effect it will have on the County in the long term. Smith said that one community can grow by leaps and bounds, while another can be landlocked. What is the plan, regardless of who has what annexation approved at any level, what is the plan? This will affect not just the 1,200 acres in question, but all the land north of that as well. It goes into Swisher and Shueyville. How will this affect the schools? These questions need to be answered. He applauded the Board for taking a deliberate approach. Smith said the City Development Board could force amendments, conditional approval, approve as is, or simply send it back to be hammered out among the communities. Again, the Homebuilders Association are only watching this from policy perspective. He asked what this project will do for the tax base and for the development of the North Corridor, if anything. These questions need to be answered and hopefully they can be resolved locally, as that would be the Association’s goal.
R. Sullivan pointed out this is the only venue for the Board, but obviously City of North Liberty and City of Coralville will have meetings that the Association can attend and offer input. Stutsman added that the City Development Board will also have meetings. Smith said that they have not taken any sort of formal position on this because it is one of those situations where there is obviously a pending lawsuit between the two communities, but their interest lies obviously in relating to planning. He asked at the Council of Governments meeting about affordable housing, inclusionary zoning. What is their regional plan for this? How does this fit into what the existing plans are? These are questions he hoped will be resolved, addressed, brought forth and discussed openly among all the interested local governments. Harney thanked Smith and told him that at this level, this is the only chance he has here, however, his other opportunities would be to go to each of the City Council's and the Annexation Board’s meetings. Neuzil added that Coralville has a newly proposed annexation request coming up for discussion next week. He also thought it would be appropriate to have their staff present on what they think the growth areas should be to at least put the County’s plan out there. Stutsman added that she agrees completely with Neuzil, but she wanted to add that the plan they came up was not developed by the County staff but by the community because it went through a community public hearing process. She doesn’t think it is a good idea to just throw all of that out.
Smith said it bears repeating that they are not interested in picking winners and losers. The bottom line is what is the plan. He said a plan was in place, fringe area agreements were in place and if those are no longer in place, fine. But what is the plan, what is the goal of this area? They should stick up and defend what they think is in their best interest. Planning is a thoughtful process that requires a regional approach and this Board has done a very good job--very deliberate, meticulous and transparent in that process. He said that the City of North Liberty and the City of Coralville will hopefully be able to resolve this amicably between themselves. If not, include the Board of Supervisors, City of Iowa City, Swisher, Shueyville, and the School Board. He said he has heard the adage that a trial is a failure. In his opinion, a resolution by a City Development Board may be a failure. They hope this can be resolved locally, that is their goal and anything they can do to help further that, they will certainly do. Again, if North Liberty takes the land, so be it. If Coralville takes the land, so be it. Either way, they need a plan for such a significant change. They need to think of long-term issues including the land around the annexation and issues such as the tax base, roads, commercial development, and affordable housing. Smith said that the community needs to sit down and think about the long-term issues not just with the land in the annexation, but the land around that as well, tax base, roads, commercial development, affordable housing. Meyers added that with the County undergoing a Land Use Plan Review later this year, he would expect that a lot of what Smith is talking about would come up in those discussions also. Smith said they generally participate in many of those. He though the City of North Liberty and the City of Coralville are doing what they need to do and what they are obligated to do for their citizens. He commended the Board and both Cities.
Douglas Paul told the Board that he lives on Peterson Place, just east of the Scanlon Farm. This whole discussion is interesting because the Board has taken into account their plan for this area, the opinion of the staff, and the tax base of $100,000 a year, but there has been no consideration given to what the people want. Paul said that the Board talks about community, but there are more than 1,000 people living in this area who have talked to Coralville, talked to North Liberty, talked to each other and they are looking at the long-term picture. They choose to live in North Liberty. The Board has dismissed this effort as being just a NIMBY group, but the people who live here want to be part of North Liberty and the Board has dismissed that as if it’s nothing. In North Liberty, they have voice in government, but they have not felt Coralville or the Johnson County Board of Supervisors has heard their voice. The Johnson County Board gives so much weight to what their staff says, but the staff has no interest in talking to the people who live in this area. When the staff talk about this annexation violating the current agreement and the proposed agreement, the proposed agreement is their proposed agreement, the staff’s agreement. North Liberty has not agreed to that agreement. It’s a proposal from staff. What they are calling a current agreement has expired. That was entered into when the situation was quite different. They look at this as a dispute between North Liberty and Coralville, but it’s actually an issue of what the people who live there want.
Neuzil asked Paul if he would rather live in Johnson County or North Liberty. He said if there was a way to plan so that Paul was going to remain in Johnson County until North Liberty was ready to grow, what would be a better choice? Paul replied that there are elements of living in the County that they all prefer, but the reality is that over the next decade, the southern end of the North Corridor will be developed and they accept that. As it is developed, it will be annexed, either by North Liberty or Coralville. Neuzil added that if the County could create a plan as Mr. Smith pointed out and he thinks that they want to, addressing this issue locally before a State City Development Board makes that decision. If the County could create a plan that says this is where North Liberty should grow, this is where Coralville should grow, and this is where Johnson County residents should remain Johnson County residents until growth is ready to move forward. If that is the case, would Mr. Paul rather remain in Johnson County until North Liberty is ready to grow. Paul answered it would depend on the plan. When the plan is assigned to be developed, there is no instruction to involve the people with it.
Neuzil said that the Board wouldn't be having this meeting today if the Board weren’t trying to represent the folks within this entire County. That is part of the reason why they have asked North Liberty and why they are going to ask Coralville next week to come in here. It's because they want to hear their perspective and to continue creating dialogue between residents and the County Board of Supervisors. He added that Johnson County staff has taken into consideration residents. When a city is ready to grow, that is when growth should occur. The point of all this is, can they plan where they think communities should grow or should they just have everyone annex right now; what makes better sense? Neuzil speculated that there are a lot of residents out there who live in Johnson County and want to remain in Johnson County.
Paul said that the County’s plan takes the decision away from the people because if the plan allows Coralville to annex the Scanlon Farm, then everyone east of the Scanlon Farm is permanently severed from North Liberty. Whether North Liberty is ready to grow or not into that area, they can't. The Scanlon Farm runs all the way up to Mehaffey Bridge Road, so once that land is pulled into Coralville, everything east of that either is County until someday Coralville is ready to take that land in, but it’s severed from North Liberty. Neuzil added that Coralville has already approached all involved and have said they are not going to involuntarily annex anybody, so they would remain a County resident. Paul said they may believe that, but the fact is Coralville will do what they need to do when it’s time. It'll take 10 years to digest the Scanlon land, but Coralville has made a public statement several times about either growing or dying. So they are not going to take in the Scanlon Farm, put dense development there, and then be done. Neuzil said he didn't think any community suggested that.
Paul added that again, the County is changing the argument. This is not an argument about Coralville. They are dealing with this land as if no one lives there. They have more than 1,000 people who live there whose opinions are not being considered. Their opinions are being dismissed as a NIMBY motivation, or as a stop Coralville motivation, where in fact, if they were part of North Liberty, they would have a voice in government. Paul said they are all concerned about the infighting that’s going on in North Liberty, but they all see that as a temporary glitch. Neuzil pointed out that just so Paul is aware, that what staff has done, is a proposal. The Board of Supervisors hasn't digested it yet and it has not gone in front of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The proposal has not yet had much public input because it is still a proposal of what the staff thinks is in the best interest of the land and the area. Paul agreed, but when Dvorak says to the group that this current annexation violates the proposed agreement, it is just that, a proposed agreement. Until North Liberty agrees to that, it is not an agreement.
Dvorak said that as Moore has worked with James on the proposed fringe area agreement to replace the one that is in place now, he doesn’t believe Moore was involved in total writing of the document. He was involved in the maps that were being looked at. James took that before the City Council and it was approved by the City of North Liberty and the County was then given a copy of it. The County staff didn't go to the hearing. They were not invited. So, the document was done totally by the City not by County staff. Moore thought that Paul was referring to the draft fringe area. Neuzil agreed. Moore said that Paul is referring to the fringe area map that they have been trying to work on with the two cities that was just a draft proposal from Johnson County staff to both cities and that was created a week or so ago. Dvorak said what Paul was saying it was already approved basically but the draft that Moore worked on was approved by the City. Dvorak said he is talking about the one that was approved by the city that has not yet gone before the County’s Zoning Commission.
Moore said that Dvorak's comments about the staff analysis of the requesting and compliance is with current agreements, agreements adopted by the Board of Supervisors, in public hearings with public input. That is what he is referring to in compliance. So there are a number of things out there including a proposed draft fringe area for the two cities, a proposed fringe area agreement that is on the table with North Liberty, and the current agreement with both cities. When the staff reference it as not in compliance, that's what they are referencing as not in compliance with, current agreements that are still valid that the County has with both of these municipalities.
Harney said he would like to address Mr. Paul in that the Board does have concern for the residents of that particular area and want to do what is best for them. When they have an area like the Scanlon property where the owners come to a particular city and ask to be annexed, he thought that community has to respond to that. Things have changed since then, so they are at a point where either the residents or North Liberty needs to talk to Scanlon about interest in bringing part of this in. Paul replied that it is interesting because the Scanlon property keeps coming up in the discussion, but the Scanlon opportunity to develop could be just the same in North Liberty as it is in Coralville. The Scanlon development is not the County's main issue because the County assumes that farm will be developed. The main issue is whether the citizens have any representation in the government and in the community where they live. The reason this group started is because primarily of traffic considerations. When they have so many different government bodies controlling traffic, it is hard to resolve questions, like the Oakdale Boulevard question, because nobody has exclusive ownership of it. Paul said there are problems because there are so many committees and different government bodies involved in this. What is important is if there is a proposed plan, if new fringe agreements are proposed, that those be taken to the people in the area to have input, rather than last minute notices and meetings where really its after the fact. It seems that people are invited to put in their two cents worth after the whole thing is already done.
R. Sullivan said there is a existing Land Use Plan from 1998, and there are minutes. The County put months of time and effort into inviting the public to participate at every level and solicited comments and had newspaper advertisements. Now that document guides what the County is trying to do. They are looking at some major changes, not because the County initiated them, but because the cities did. The County is in the middle of starting a review, and the public is still invited to participate at any and every level. It may not be what any of them had wanted to happen, the public has had an opportunity and will continue to have an opportunity to have their say in government. Paul said he agreed with Sullivan. The Land Use Plan was a very lengthy process, and interestingly, when the Land Use Plan is read carefully, they could use it like the scripture, to justify this position or the opposite position. He noted concerns that the revision of the Land Use Plan, when the Board's chairperson is vice-president at Southgate Development. Paul agreed that the Land Use Plan had lots and lots of public input, or opportunity for public input. He expressed concern over the negotiation with Coralville and North Liberty over an issue that is ongoing right now. The public should be invited to the table during that negotiation, not after the negotiation is finished. Neuzil thanked Mr. Paul, saying that they need to hear from folks like him. He hopes that Paul knows that Johnson County is trying to do its best to represent him and to represent the people of Johnson County. He said they want him to stay in Johnson County. Again, Neuzil hoped that Mr. Paul understands that they are trying to represent him and want him to stay in Johnson County. Paul said that he does understand. He appreciates that and that he also appreciates the difficulty that these conflicting annexation requests have created for the Board. The fact is that all of the people who live in the area already use North Liberty services. They use North Liberty Library, North Liberty Recreation Center, and if there is a police call they get North Liberty Police. He explained that their taxes are not flowing in to pay for those services, so in a sense, this annexation would be more fair. The money would flow where the services are coming from.
Stutsman said that the County pays for library services. Paul said that is very nice of the Board. R. Sullivan said that the Sheriff also responds to the police calls in North Liberty. Paul agreed and said the Sheriff would, but the Sheriff's deputies are on the road and are covering the entire county. The County is really understaffed. Even North Liberty is understaffed. Neuzil said they are addressing that in this budget.
Kevin Olson noted that the City of Coralville is totally against this annexation, most of this annexation takes property that was in Coralville's growth area for the last 10 years of the agreement. They have sanitary sewer stubbed out to 3 areas that are being annexed in North Liberty right now. They could serve most of this area by gravity sewer. He thought that everybody wrongly believes that this annexation is just the first step to Coralville annexing everything in the area. He said this is not the case. They have existing agreement with the City of Iowa City not to annex anything to the east of Dubuque Street. Some of the properties that are in the North Liberty annexation right now cannot be annexed by the City of Coralville without violating the agreement with Iowa City. Olson stated that if the annexation goes through, they will not annex people who do not want to come in. It is very difficult for the City to provide, its very costly for people to put city services in and its very costly for the City of Coralville to service some of these areas. He mentioned that the annexation they are going to talk about next week has some non-consenting owners. In the first annexation, they tried to take the road only and leave all the people in the County. They filed a lawsuit, claiming Coralville wasn't giving notice to people on both sides of the road and it was a shoestring. This time, Coralville is trying to correct the problems that the citizens' group brought up. As evident from the first effort, they are not trying to annex anybody into the City that didn't want to be in there. They have a connection to the road, they have water services right on that road and will bring sewer immediately to the area when it annexes. The people in the County are not required to hookup, even the people that come into the City of Coralville non-consenting are not required to hookup right away. They just had a subdivision in Coralville that was on a well that collapsed two weeks ago, so they would be in a position if there are well problems or anything out there, to serve the area, but they are not mandating that anybody take the services. They will not be taxing everything. He appreciated Moore and Dvorak and the Board of Supervisors trying to broker a solution to this problem.
Stutsman asked what the plan is for this area. During her 12 years on the Board, they, the community, and staff have fussed with a decision that was made in the 1960's, and that was blanket zoning of much of rural Johnson County for residential and this situation is similar. They will fuss with this decision probably for who knows how long when they have an opportunity to make a rational decision or make a well thought out decision that manages growth instead of letting it manage them. She hoped that they take this opportunity instead of turning into a battle of one entity against another. Olson concurred. Going back to the annexation point, if North Liberty and Coralville had a new agreement in place, they could both agree not to annex properties that want to stay in the Corridor, and the Development Board would have the authority to enforce that, which is what everybody wants. He thanked the Board. Harney thanked them for the presentation.
Soil and Water Conservationist Adam Galluzzo gave a summary of the services that he provides through the Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation District. He offered a map of where he has been working with owners and operators throughout the County. He explained that he provides technical assistance, applies conservation systems, and tries to be an advocate of agricultural land. Galluzzo has been out working on surveys and designs at waterways, grade stabilizations, wetlands, and basins on various properties around the County. The ultimate goal is to restore wetlands, prairies and woodlands throughout the County for habitat. He also assists Johnson County government departments, developers, consulting engineers and homeowners to plan conservation systems throughout the County and some of the more urban areas. He tries to promote conservation in Johnson County through various meetings. Some of the programs on the update of Part A, include watershed projects. Galluzzo has begun the Clear Creek project and has been working to assess the stream conditions. Galluzzo said he has been able to help with that a little, walking the creek, look at the adjacent land uses, look at the condition of the stream banks and water conditions through different sources, point sources of pollution and non-point sources of pollution. They are currently bringing together a report with some volunteers from the University and putting a map together on conditions of the stream. This should be available in the next couple months. The Lake Mac Bride watershed project should come to an end this year. Also, there is still an opportunity for landowners in that watershed to apply for projects and receive a 75% cost share.
Galluzzo said that they are on the list for the Conservation Security Program. They had a lot of interest last year, even though funding was taken away at the last minute, leaving them unable to serve those people. He hopes that money is budgeted towards the program this year and they will be able to get those people that were interested last year included in this program. It is a voluntary program, allowing farmers to do conservation practices on their land. They have people who are interested in a variety of projects and are trying to get these projects planned and rated so they can choose which ones are top priorities for County.
Galluzzo then noted the department’s accomplishments. Initially, when he came into the office in September, he was working on getting people re-enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. During that time, he talked with landowners and worked with them on getting their contracts renewed. He worked with 36 landowners, each one of these contracts required working with them on putting together a mid-contract management plan. The goal of these plans is to improve habitats for wildlife. During this time, he worked to put together a CRP buffer plan on a farm and another plan that included filter strips, contour buffer strips and quail buffers. There is a wide variety of plans that come into play in the CRP program and also working on the ag land. He has been out on multiple surveys on helping out other staff on projects with watersheds throughout the County. He helped survey 7 grade stabilizations, and has worked on basins and some waterway projects with landowners. He has also laid out some filter strips.
Galluzzo noted that based on phone calls from interested landowners, he has been out and had initial contacts with on some grade stabilization projects, a couple of rain gardens, as well as bio retention cells and permeable pavement projects up near Solon in some developing areas. He will be getting some more training opportunities and some conservation planning on some farms later this month. For the more urban areas, there are some new programs that will offer 3% low interest loans for landowners, developments, and other groups that wish to apply these conservation practices to their land, so this is a neat opportunity. Actually, the permeable paving and bio-retention cells are a couple of opportunities that good for looking towards the low interest loans program. The purpose is to get a low interest loan and the cost would be offset with a low interest loan throughout the longevity of the project.
For Planning and Zoning, Galluzzo has worked on looking at Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Plans, one from Mid-American Energy on 560th Street and another for Huberty Second Subdivision. He has made field visits with Secondary Roads, checking out a problematic culvert and ditch area just west of Highway 1. Galluzzo made a field visit with P & Z for Redwing Estates, an area where there are some issues with an access road and some erosion problems along that property border. Finally, to promote conservation throughout the County, Galluzzo participated and helped organize the storm water exposition, which took place on October 3, 2006. They had over 140 people participate in that and 40 vendors, and they were able to share new technologies for storm water management. Galluzzo said the commissioners talk about doing it every other year, so they could have newer ideas every year, instead of having repetitive conferences. Again, they are planning to participate in the Prairie Preview taking place March 20, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.
Harney clarified that Galluzzo's wages are partially paid by Johnson County and Soil and Water. Neuzil was hopeful that Galluzzo would be communicating closely with County staff in regards to the Sensitive Areas Ordinance that is likely to be coming down in the next couple of months. Neuzil asked if they have made a difference in the Clear Creek and Lake Mac Bride watersheds. Galluzzo answered that especially in the Lake Mac Bride watershed project, there have been positive results seen in the quality of the lake. Galluzzo said there has been discussion about removing Lake Mac Bride from the impaired waters list. There have also been over 40 landowners that participated in the watershed program. They are still getting calls from people wanting to help on other projects in the area.
R. Sullivan asked Galluzzo if what he does is contingent upon what happens in an upcoming rewrite of the farm bill. Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation District Director Wendell Jones said that the rewrite of the farm bill will have quite an impact on types of programs like the Conservation Reserve Program. That is one that is quite a bit of workload for their office and quite a bit of income for farmers who are doing conservation practices.
Galluzzo also spoke to the Soil and Water Conservation District in Linn County. They discussed different options for integrating the position a little more into the County payroll. Their agreement in Linn County has been in effect since 1979. He went through the agreement and made a few simple changes and said this is a draft and something that will need to have further discussion. Galluzzo hoped they could set up another meeting time to look through the different agreements and position agreements.
Neuzil said the Johnson County Board of Supervisors would want to know that the Linn Board of Supervisors is comfortable with this. Also, they could present this information to the Planning and Zoning Commission and get their recommendation. Harney said that M. Sullivan has been working on this. He has had contact with Linn County and will continue to work on this. M. Sullivan said that it still needs more discussion. R. Sullivan asked if Galluzzo basically took the Linn County position and changed Linn County to Johnson County. Galluzzo replied for the most part, yes. There were some pieces that needed to be integrated into the body, but it is basically the same. Nothing has been finalized by their commission. It is something that needs to be worked out by both bodies. Neuzil said that with the Sensitive Areas Ordinance they are not planning to hire additional staff. That is the Soil and Water Commission's duty. Galluzzo said that he thought about including and attaching that as well. When they know more specifically the duties of what it would entail. He will include that information in the future.
R. Sullivan asked Johnson County Soil and Water Conservation District Chairperson Dave Parsons if this is something that their commission plans to review and approve so that the Board of Supervisors can decide. Parsons said that they discussed it at their last meeting and it has been the topic of some emails flying around. They have not yet officially voted on it, but it is a virtual certainty. Stutsman said that they will need to have Human Resources involved and working with this too. Galluzzo added that upon investigating and talking with Linn County, it sounds as if the way they have the agreement setup, the position is very similar. It seems the agreement has worked really well for 20, almost 30 years, and he thought it would benefit the County and the district to provide County benefits to this position and hire someone who has a little more experience. Harney thanked Galluzzo for the report. Parsons added that without the Board's support, there are a lot of regulations that they have in place now and in the future that they would not be able to do alone. They support the Board continuing to help finance Galluzzo's position. Harney said they appreciate the cooperation they give the County.
Harney said County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek is present to approve the town contracts for the cities of Hills, Tiffin, and Swisher. Pulkrabek said they have discussed town contracts at length this year. The chairperson needs to sign the contracts for Hills, Tiffin and Swisher. Stutsman asked Pulkrabek if all of the cities have agreed to the increase in rates. She asked if he had visited all the City Councils, adding that she had gone with him to the City of Hills. Pulkrabek said yes.
R. Sullivan asked what kind of reaction Pulkrabek is getting from the cities. They have talked about over the course of the next 2 to 3 years getting the town contracts to cover the actual costs incurred and wondered how that has been received. Pulkrabek replied that cities have been receptive to it; they understand that even though the contract is between the Board and them, that the Sheriff got designated to negotiate these many, many years ago. The cities have been receptive, and understand the incremental approach taken by the Sheriff. They have all mentioned the understaffing issue that they see on patrol and it was interesting it came up again by a resident of the County. Tiffin had a slight increase. They are going to continue to ask for slight incremental increases for the next several years, as they discussed before. Shueyville laid out their plans for the next three years, including what they would like for incremental increases and what they would like the patrol division to concentrate on when they provide police services to Shueyville.
Sullivan asked if Swisher and Hills requested increases in hours as well. Pulkrabek replied they did not. The only increases were Tiffin and Shueyville. The City of Solon did speak to him about FY 09. They would like a significant increase in hours and that is something that is going to be difficult, because if they do not increase the numbers on patrol significantly, then they are going to have to tell them no. It’s a critical need. If they talk about serving the population of 30,000, which does not include North Liberty, and if they want to maintain the ratio of 1 officer per 1,000 residents; that would mean the patrol division should be sitting at 30 officers. He noted that the national average for law enforcement is 1.8 officers per 1,000. He thought Iowa City is at 1.4 and North Liberty is below the average as well. In any case, Shueyville will likely need to come back and meet with the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to resolve this.
R. Sullivan verified that Pulkrabek’s patrol division is at 22. Pulkrabek agreed and added that they have 22 total deputies with one whose duties are totally administrative and the other one who is about 1/2 administrative, including handling grants and functioning as a liaison to the City Council meetings. Harney asked if adding 4 officers in the City of North Liberty will take away from the contract that Johnson County has. Pulkrabek replied that it will not. He thought the number of new officers is at three now, and that according to the North Liberty Chief of Police, they expect to need the contract through FY 10 or FY 11, more likely FY 11. Stutsman said that she thought that North Liberty had said that they were going to add four more officers and that they wouldn't be using the Sheriff anymore. Pulkrabek said that he understands that the Board was told that by the Mayor, but he is acting off what the Chief and the City Manager have discussed. Harney said that these contracts will be placed on a future formal agenda for approval.
M. Sullivan said that the adopted resolution creating the Trails Advisory Committee established 11 categories for representation to serve on the Committee. They have already appointed a representative from the Bicyclist of Iowa City and one from a city or town and need to appoint another next week. They have one from the Friends of the Iowa River Scenic Trails. Planning and Zoning has been represented as has Secondary Roads. The Conservation Board will be represented by Conservation Director Harry Graves. The East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) will be represented by Mary Rump. They need to appoint two County residents, and they have two applicants who fall under this including Michael McGlaughlin and John Thiede. Neuzil asked if Douglas Moore would be eligible based on his address. M. Sullivan said that Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak looked this up, and he is not eligible. R. Sullivan said that Linn County Scenic Trails submitted the name of Ron McGraw, and the Snowmobile Club will be represented by Melvin Reinhart. Next week, the Board will need to appoint a person representing a city or town, a person from the Conservation Board, the ECICOG representative, the County residents, Linn County Scenic Trail representative, and the Snow Mobile Club representatives, and then the Trails Advisory Committee will be complete.
Neuzil said that it seems that their only choices are for the one person representing cities or towns. The Board agreed to forward their recommendations to M. Sullivan. Stutsman said that they should also consider the gender balance of this committee. R. Sullivan said that applicants are all really qualified and have a sincere interest in this. He said he hates the idea of having to choose from this group and hopes that they will all remain involved in the process even if they aren’t on the Committee. Harney said he appreciates all of the applications. Meyers said that one of the County representatives listed Snowmobiling as one of his leisure activities, so that is a bonus. The Board agreed to put this item on the formal agenda for next week.
R. Sullivan said that they got received an email from the Chair of the Civil Rights Commission about signing on to a petition asking the State to support adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Civil Rights Code. Basically, they are asking Johnson County to be a signatory on this. Neuzil said that considering that they have already passed their Civil Rights Ordinance for rural residents, it makes sense to sign on. R. Sullivan said that as Neuzil has mentioned, it would be nice if this protection did not come about in a piecemeal way but via the State of Iowa. R. Sullivan said they have had a number of people ask them to make this protection statewide. Stutsman said that they had decided to send a letter to legislators encouraging them to support an ordinance similar to Johnson County and wondered if that had been done. The Board agreed to sign the letter or resolution via the Chair of the Civil Rights Commission and to have R. Sullivan get back to them on how to pursue this.
Neuzil attended a key issues work session and will be having a Listening Post on January 25, 2007 at the Senior Center at 12:00 p.m.
Meyers attended a meeting of the Solon Living Roadways group. He went on some site visits with Planning and Zoning and did an interview with the jail consultants. He toured Uptown Bills and attended the Systems Unlimited Grand Opening. He had several liaison meetings and went to Des Moines for the County Officers School and the statewide County Supervisors Meeting.
Stutsman attended the County Case Management Services Board and a Decat meeting. She attended a JCCOG Rural Policy Board Meeting and an Urban Policy Board Meeting.
R. Sullivan also attended the JCCOG meetings. He also attended the Chamber of Commerce meeting and the County Assessor Conference Board meeting. R. Sullivan attended the Compensation Board Meeting and commended Administrative Secretary Casie Kadlec for collecting the information for this. He said that they have only a few budget meetings left before they approve the final budget, so he encouraged the public to attend some of these to get a sense of some of the discussions.
Harney had a Chamber Leadership Meeting including a presentation by the Interim President of The University of Iowa. He also met with the Farm Bureau about rural funding. He attended the annual County Assessor Conference Board Meeting and the Emergency Management meeting.
Adjourned at 11:05 a.m.
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Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor, By:
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