2012 Council Meeting Summaries Aug- Dec.

August Summary

Fellow U-Heights residents,

Council met last evening here are a few highlights:

Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk

We voted on a design plan for the Sunset/Benton corner of the Sunset wide sidewalk project. This was an issue that the city engineer and council had been considering since the spring. After input at multiple meetings from property owners and other citizens the council voted 3-2 to proceed with a design that will have the sidewalk narrowing to 6 feet wide around the corner and the city will work to acquire easements for an expanded vision triangle at the corner. As the close vote would suggest, this was not an easy decision for council to make.

Council also accepted the master tree plan for the project as well. This plan gives a comprehensive proposal for which trees to keep, how to replace trees that will need to be removed for construction, and bring a unified feeling to the street. After final bids for the construction are accepted (late winter or early spring ’13 at the earliest) we will see if the tree plan can be completed at once or if financially it would be better to do it in stages. Tree plan can be found here.

Citizen Concerns Regarding Yards/Parking

Several councilors heard from multiple citizens in the past month regarding the amount of yard that had been paved at a house on Olive Ct. City attorney, Steve Ballard, reported that he has investigated the property and had held discussions with the owners last spring prior to their work, when he was assured this would not happen. The city will follow up on this and take action.

Future Meeting Locations

For the past several years, City Council has met at Horn Elementary during the school year. Due to scheduling changes, this site will no longer be available on 2^nd Tuesdays as it has been. Council will hold its October 9^th meeting at the University Club and is looking at options from there. Council discussed moving to other nights, or possibly looking at locations outside the city limits in Iowa City or Coralville. No decision has yet been reached.

As always, if you have questions or comments regarding city issues I'm happy to talk with you.

-Mike Haverkamp

 315 Golfview Ave.

November Summary

Fellow U-Heights Residents,

The U-Heights City Council held their regular November meeting last night at the University Club. Here is a summary of council action:

Video recording of meetings

John McLure, our volunteer videographer announced that this would be the last meeting that he will be recording. Everyone present thanked him for his service to the city. We will explore how we can continue to bring meeting information to the citizens of U-Heights.

Speed Limits

Council was presented a map last night showing all current speed limits in U-Heights. State law says that any street without a posted sign has a speed limit of 25 MPH. We have a lot of streets with no signs. That map can be found here:

http://www.university-heights.org/Streets/SpeedZonesCurrent.pdf

Council will begin to consider a proposal in December that establishes more consistency in our speed limits throughout town. Since this would be an ordinance change it would require three approvals. All residents will get a flyer with more information about the proposed changes, and council looks forward to feedback from residents.  

A short explanation of the guideline for speed limits would be:

·  Arterial streets 25 MPH (Melrose, South Sunset)

·  Short dead end  streets 10 MPH (these are also without sidewalks: Prospect, North Sunset, Mahaska cul de sac)

·  School Zone 20 MPH (Oakcrest)

·  Residential streets 20 MPH (Nearly every other street. Most streets west of Sunset don’t have sidewalks)

The proposed map can be found here:

http://www.university-heights.org/Streets/SpeedZonesProposed.pdf

Proposed Pet Ordinance 181

Council on a 3-2 vote passed a second reading of ordinance 181 which amends ordinance 55. The major reason for the changes was that there was no penalty for having animals at large. The specific issue was dealing with dogs defecating on private property. The proposed ordinance would allow for a $100 fine for anyone so charged. As part of the discussion amending this ordinance there was a proposal to eliminate the language requiring cats to be on a leash, so that was struck from the proposed ordinance. After the first approval of the ordinance last month, I heard from a resident who had an off leash cat get into his home. We heard last night from another resident who pointed out that no other Johnson County town allows cats off leash. I did vote “no” last night. As an ordinance is required to have three approvals before passing, it will be on the December agenda as well. I would encourage anyone with strong feelings either way to contact city councilors.

The proposed ordinance can be found here:

http://www.university-heights.org/council/1112/Reports/DraftOrd181.pdf

As always it is a pleasure to serve as your city councilor, any questions or comments are appreciated.

-Mike Haverkamp

315 Golfview

December Summary

Fellow U-Heights residents,

City Council held its December meeting last night, here are a few highlights:

Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk
Council finalized purchase of 3 small parcels of land that will allow for construction of the sidewalk. (2 parcels at the Sunset/Benton corner and 1 at the Sunset/Melrose corner) This will allow for the project to be put out for bid in early 2013 with a construction window of late spring/summer 2013

Pet Ordinance 181 
Council passed ordinance 181 updating ordinance 55 regarding pets. 

Speed Limits
Council began to discuss a proposal to make most streets 20 MPH speed limits except for Melrose and Sunset at 25, and dead end streets at 10. I mentioned that I had heard from a resident who proposed that Koser, west of Sunset, should remain at 25 due to the fact that it has sidewalks on both sides, and is longer than most other streets. The bottom of Koser is a school zone which makes it 20 MPH from 8 AM to 5 PM. I would strongly encourage people to contact councilors/mayor with their thoughts. A FIRST reading of a proposed ordinance will likely occur at the January council meeting.

Good News
If you haven't seen it already, U-Heights resident Eleanor Marshall, now a freshman at Yale University, has a published piece in the "Yale Daily News Monthly" about growing up in Iowa. It is a wonderful read, and she does us all proud:

Full of Wide Open Spaces

And finally I'd like to wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season!
-Mike Haverkamp
 315 Golfview Ave.