End of the Line for LOST

From the Press Citizen, in the business section:

Iowa City sales tax to drop July 1
Beginning July 1, sales tax in Iowa City will drop to 6%.

The 1 percent Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) Iowa City voters approved four years ago to help raise funds for flood recovery and protection efforts is set to expire at the end of June. The City of Iowa City sent a news release Monday, reminding businesses not to collect the tax after June 31.

The tax helped raise more than $34 million for flood mitigation projects, and has helped provide the city's share of funding for two major public infrastructure projects: the relocation of the North Wastewater Treatment Plant at 1000 S. Clinton St., and the "Gateway Project," which will elevate a flood-prone section of Dubuque Street and reconstruct Park Road Bridge. 

Other than the obviously non-existent "June 31" in the article this is a very small and quiet ending for a very large chapter in University Heights.  Johnson County voters were given the opportunity to vote on a 4 year 1 cent local sales tax to help fund flood related projects on May 5, 2009. Any municipality in the county who passed a measure would be allowed to collect sales tax on eligible items (notably food and medical services were exempt) All money collected within passing jurisdictions would be pooled and then re-allocated back to those jurisductions. 

Here's what happened in the two largest jurisdictions in the county and U-Heights

City	Turnout	Percentage	YES	Percentage	NO	Percentage
Iowa City	7,279	15.14%	3,641	50.05%	3,634	49.95%
Coralville	1,921	17.25%	956	49.79%	964	50.21%
U-Heights	199	26.82%	159	80%	40	20%

Yes, you're seeing that correctly. Iowa City passed the measure by 7 votes and Coralville defeated it by 7 votes. U-Heights "Yes" vote percentage was the highest in the county. Every small town passed the measure EXCEPT North Liberty and the portion of West Branch that lies in Johnson County (where it failed in an exciting 6-4 vote). Unincorporated Johnson County also defeated the measure. Our turnout percentage was 3rd highest in the county, barely behind Hills and Oxford. 

Why did we pass it with such a high rate? One major reason was that we had applied for wide sidewalk grants and this would allow us to get the local money needed for our 20% match. The other major reason was that we barely had anywhere in town that would be collecting the sales tax! We paid it when we shopped in Iowa City or anywhere other than Coralville and N. Liberty.Our portion has averaged nearly $10K per month since our first payment in September 2009. For the last 4 years roughly 10% of our annual budget revenues has come from LOST. Our last scheduled payment will be this September.

Here was the revenue purpose statement that appeared on our ballots 

Summary: To authorize imposition of a local sales and services tax in the city of University Heights, at the rate of one percent (1%) to be effective from July 1, 2009, until June 30, 2013.

A local sales and services tax shall be imposed in the city of University Heights at the rate of one percent (1%) to be effective from July 1, 2009, until June 30, 2013. Revenues from the sales andnservices tax shall be allocated as follows:

• 0% for property tax relief.

The specific purpose for which the revenues shall otherwise be expended is:

• 100% for street improvements, sidewalk widening projects, and/or any other lawful purpose.

We have used, and will use the money for our sidewalk projects, and the revenue collected the past four years has also helped make up for budget shortfalls.  What has been particularly noticeable is that it evened out our cash flow, since we receive property tax revenues (the vast majority of our city revenue) only twice a year in April and October.

My Thoughts on Our Work Session

I'm still mulling over statements and ideas from last night's work session. I've also received interesting comments today from both people who attended the meeting, and people who received my email summary. For now I'd just like to report my answer to Jim Lane's question that started our conversation last night:

1.      What type of vision do you have for the development of the St. Andrews property to best meet the needs of our residents?

To talk about our future let’s look at our past: When I first ran for council in 2009 I talked about ensuring that U-Heights was “A financially sustainable community that maintains its high quality of life.” At that time I widely quoted the City’s Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2006. 

After the 09 election the new council, rather than rush to adopt any development plans followed through with a promise to update the Comprehensive Plan (link to process) which was amended in May 2010. 

Here is what our Comprehensive Plan has to say:

Page 1 Why have a plan?

A comprehensive plan establishes a general framework for zoning ordinance revisions and future development. The need to revise the University Heights zoning code prompted the City to initiate the comprehensive planning process. Comprehensive plans are valuable tools for directing future development. The process by which a comprehensive plan is developed allows community residents to express common community goals in a formal document. Once adopted by resolution, this document serves as a guide for decisions made by the city council and zoning commission.

City Council Work Session

This past Tuesday night, June 25, the University Heights City Council held a work session and we discussed our Vision of the future of the town, and how the development of the St. Andrew property fits into our vision. I had suggested we have this meeting and laid out some questions, which are in a previous blog post, to begin the discussion.

I offered principles about my vision of the development at the beginning of the meeting and they are:

1. The development should provide the residents a place to gather and interact with each other. I feel it needs to be a place where all residents feel welcome and can have a sense of community togetherness. 
2. The development should be profitable and be a place that most residents feel proud it is part of our community. 
3. The St. Andrew property needs to be included in the tax base of the City of University Heights. It is my firm conviction that this property not be controlled by the University of Iowa 
4. Development at this site should provide diversification of housing for our community. It must not compete with Grandview Condos in terms of price range. 
5. I strongly believe that a community center with limited commercial space is needed to draw more folks into our community as resident owners and provide a city center for all our residents. 

There was lively discussion among councilors about these principles and items that other councilors felt strongly about. Public input was given at the end of the discussion and there were good ideas suggested on several issues. The objective of the meeting was to discuss issues and to gain a better understanding of where each of us as councilors stood on issues. We did not try to reach any binding decisions or even consensus and I do think we all came away with a better understanding and appreciation of each other’s views.

Hopefully this type of meaningful discussion will carry over into our monthly council meetings, so that we can achieve the best result for all the Residents of University Heights. I encourage each of you to come to future council meetings to better understand the issues and provide your input in whatever way you are comfortable.

June City News Updates

As Jim Lane mentioned last night, city council will hold a special meeting/work session on June 25th in the Iowa Room at the University Club, 1360 Melrose Ave. at 7:00 PM.

Below is a link to the webcast of the June regular council meeting, with index points from the agenda you can jump to the section where the work session is discussed. Also below is a link to the meeting agenda and the attached documents and reports that are part of the meeting.

 JUNE CITY COUNCIL MEETING WEBCAST

JUNE MEETING AGENDA AND ATTACHMENTS

Here is my highlighted summary of the meeting, I sent this before the date for the work session was set:

Fellow U-Heights residents,

U-Heights City Council held their June meeting tonight. Here are a few highlights

Farmer’s Market- Mayor From updated the council on the first Farmer’s Market, it was a great success. Several  vendors completely sold out of their products every vedor reported it was a very successful night. NEXT MARKET Tuesday July 2nd 5-7 PM at St. Andrew front parking lot.

Council Work Session to be held late June early July. Separate agenda items tonight regarding:

1. long term vision for University Heights

2. discussion of PUD and TIF issues

3. a motion to limit council meetings to no more than three hours

Resulted in a consensus for a council work session prior to the regular July council meeting.  These issues all relate to a proposed redevelopment project at the St. Andrew Church site, One UniversityPlace. Visit the city’s website link for more information.  I also have information, along with my views regarding One University Place, at UHForward.blogspot.com

 

Sunset Sidewalk Update work continues and is roughly 1/3 through the projects. City Engineer has been sending weekly updates directly to adjacent property owners. Those updates can be found on the City website also.  U-Heights Streets and Sidewalks.

As you plan charitable gifts please consider the University Heights CommunityFoundation.

It is a great honor to serve as your city councilor, if you have any questions or comments I look forward to hearing from you.

-Mike Haverkamp

 315 Golfview Ave.

A Discussion of University Heights' Future

The City Council will be holding a work session at 7 pm on Tuesday, June 25, in the Iowa Room at the University Club to discuss where we would like to see the Community of University Heights move in the next 5-10 years and discuss the challenges ahead of us. This is especially timely as we begin to look at the development of the St. Andrews Property. I have posed some questions(shown below) to fellow councilors that will be part of the basis for our discussions at the work session. I expect additional questions will be brought by other councilors. Here is my list of issues to discuss:

1. Now that the church is moving, what is your vision for the development of the St. Andrew property to best meet the needs of our residents?
2. What plans should we make to provide a community meeting place with the potential loss of St. Andrew Church and the University Club in the next 3-7 years?
3. What level of commercial development, if any, are we willing to accept on the St.Andrew property?
4. Are we willing to give up control of the St. Andrew property and the potential to expand our tax base by 30-40% to an outside body, such as the University of Iowa?
5. What kinds of services do we want to provide our residents in the future in terms of community events (kids’ holiday parties, farmer’s market, community picnic) and potential meeting places for community groups?

The public is invited to attend this work session though public input at the meeting will be limited. I would encourage each of you to provide input to the councilors on these questions and other ideas prior to the meeting.

-Jim Lane

I Forgot!

In case you're reading this because you received the June University Heights city council meeting summary, I forgot to include a very important point. The One University Place developer, Jeff Maxwell, did not attend the June meeting due to his being involved in flood prevention efforts for the past month. Here is what was noted in city attorney Steve Ballard's legal report last night:

I met with Jeff Maxwell and his lawyer, Tom Gelman. As indicated in my prior email, Mr. Maxwell’s time and energies have been consumed by flood preparations. Thus, he was not in a position to submit development materials to the Council a week in advance of the June meeting as requested. He intends to submit materials in advance of and to appear at the July Council meeting.

Besides the link above to the U-Heights municipal website, if you'd like to see what has been written here on UH Forward about One University Place, please click on the "One University Place" label on the right hand menu.

Farmer's Market a Smashing Success!

I'll admit I was nervous this morning about the Farmer's Market. In an email I sent to city residents, I tried to lower expectations, saying there won't be much produce. Another local area market last week only had 5 vendors.  A brand new market could not hope to have more success than that, could it?

I couldn't have been more wrong. 13 vendors showed up tonight, and not only that, so did our community, in numbers not seen since the University Heights Diamond Jubilee parade in 2010.

The pizza vendor sold out. Both pie vendors sold out. The egg lady sold out of 25 dozen eggs. The cookie vendors sold out. Every vendor was happy, the customers were happy. It couldn't have been better. (Well maybe it could have, if it were less damp, but it never really rained between 5:00 and 7:00)

People came early and stayed late. It was an event. I watched our neighbors stop and visit with each other. I couldn't have been prouder. The tables and chairs were always full with people eating and talking. Young and old listened to live music. Kudos to Mayor Louise From for her tireless organizational efforts. Additional kudos to Pastor Matt Paul and the St. Andrew Session for agreeing to let the city host the market on their property.

I saw people enjoying themselves tonight who have been opposed to re-developing the St. Andrew Church site. Much of their opposition has been to a mixed use commercial and residential development. Maybe tonight was a gentle persuader of what could happen for our town if we had a small commercial center...

St; Andrew was not the first choice for the market location. Since the University Club is closed Mondays, Mayor From went to the University of Iowa first to ask if the market could be there. The University politely declined, citing liability risks that they didn't want to incur. I hope that people consider this as we move forward in looking at this property. If it is developed privately we will control how it develops, AND the city would reap the tax benefits of private property. If the University ends up owning the parcel we lose all control and potential revenue.

NEXT MARKET JULY 2nd! Come be a part of great event!

A Magical Night in U-Heights!

Lisa and I went to Fourth Room Theatre's performance of Shakespeare's Cymbeline last night. The company was amazingly talented and the performance was professional and intense. I've never been to a Shakespeare production before where I didn't have ANY idea what the plot was prior to the start of the play.

 

photos from Fourth Room Theatre's Facebook Page

What truly made the evening magical was the VENUE. Michael Flaum hosted the performance at his home, on Melrose Ave. at the very eastern edge of U-Heights. Watching in a beautiful setting made the play an exquisite experience. Walking there down the gravel lane transported us back to medieval Britain. Having our picnic dinner while watching the show was an added bonus.

Kudos to Fourth Room Theatre and Michael Flaum. I certainly hope this can become an annual event!