West Side IC Co-Housing

Now here is something that should really make you go hmmm...

Here is the webpage of the Iowa City Co-Housing Group:

http://www.iowacitycohousing.org/

Here is what they have to say, this is the text of their welcome page:

Welcome

We are a group of local folks interested in creating a new housing alternative in Iowa City. We want to build a neighborhood based on the "cohousing" model which started in Denmark and has now spread worldwide. There are hundreds of cohousing communities in the U.S, Canada, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and elsewhere. We want the next one to be here in Iowa City.

Iowa Millenials, What it Means for U-Heights

From today's Press Citizen, a thoughtful guest opinion:

State leaders must recognize the 'driving boom' is over

Guest Opinion

Between World War II and 2004, drivers consistently traveled more vehicle miles virtually every year — so it’s no surprise that our policymakers expect that trend to continue about as much as they expect the sun to rise in morning, and act accordingly.
But hold onto your seatbelt — I’m here to announce that the Driving Boom is over.
A new study by Iowa Public Interest Research Group (Iowa PIRG) confirms that our driving is in decline, particularly among younger age groups. As a country, we now drive fewer total miles today than we did eight years ago, and fewer per person miles than we did at the end of Bill Clinton’s first term.
Have no fear. The sun will still rise. But our political leaders need to re-assess our transportation priorities to reflect changing trends. When policy views are out of touch with reality, it is policy that must change.
Why the change now? Simply, the Millennial generation.
Millennials, people born between 1983 and 2000, are already the largest generation in the United States and their choices will play a crucial role in determining future transportation infrastructure needs.

City News Updates

Here are some timely city news updates:

May City Council Meeting Webcast Now Available

With index points to jump to desired portions of the meeting!

 

Sunset Wide Sidewalk Update #3

Week of 5/20/13

May 20, 2013

 

University Heights Residents:

This is the 3rd update on the construction progress of the Sunset Street Wide Sidewalk project.  Work last week continued to concentrate on the north end with preparation for and actual paving of sections of the new sidewalk north of Highland Drive.  The work area also expanded south to the section between Highland Drive and Oakcrest, where existing sidewalk was removed, some trees were removed, and minimal grading work started.

The contractors planned work for this week (May 20-24) includes more work in the section between Highland and Oakcrest.  There are several locations where storm sewer work will take place, as several new drainage intakes are being installed behind the sidewalk in this section, with connections to the existing storm sewer pipe along Sunset Street, and the replacement of storm sewer pipe near the Oakcrest intersection with larger diameter storm pipe that will provide greater carrying capacity.

North of Highland Drive, where some of the sidewalk was paved last week, the curb ramp connections at the intersection corners still need to be completed, and we may see work to get these prepared for paving as well.

We also expect to see Mid-American Energy on site this week beginning to install new utility poles, working from north to south.  Here is the description of that work from Project Update #1:

"There are 6 overhead utility poles that will need to be relocated by Mid-American Energy.  They reported at the meeting that they plan to begin installing these new poles in the next 2-3 weeks.  Their process is to have all the new poles installed adjacent to the existing poles, then move all their lines over to the new poles. The next step is having the remaining utility companies (Mediacom, Qwest, and Windstream) then move their lines over to the new Mid-American poles.  Once complete, the old poles will be removed."

There are still trees scheduled for removal on the south half of the project that have not yet been removed.  The contractor informs us that these additional tree removals will probably be completed next week after the Memorial Day holiday.

Finally, with the rains last night, and more rain in the forecast for the beginning of this week, please keep in mind that we may have a couple of days of not much work on site if the conditions are too wet to accomplish these tasks.

Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks for your time.

Josiah D. Bilskemper, P.E.

Shive-Hattery, Inc.

2834 Northgate Drive

Iowa City, IA 52245

(319) 354-3040

  

May City Council Meeting Summary

From: Mike Haverkamp <mikehaverkamp1960@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, May 15, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Subject: U-Heights May Council Meeting Summary
To: Mike Haverkamp <mikehaverkamp1960@gmail.com>

Dear Fellow U-Heights Residents,

Council met tonight for our regular May  meeting. Here are some highlights:

Farmer's Market

Council approved ordinances and resolutions paving the way for a monthly Farmer's Market on first Tuesdays from June- October. The market will be from 5-7 PM at the St. Andrew Church front parking lot. Look here for more information Farmer's Market. Kudos to Mayor Louise From for her hard work to get this going!

Sunset Wide Sidewalk

Council got an update regarding the Sunset Wide Sidewalk project. Preliminary work has begun and will continue for 45 working days. Issues with visibility at intersections and sidewalks being blocked by signage have been identified and addressed. See the latest information here: Sidewalk Update #2. These updates will be occurring weekly and are posted on the U-Heights homepage on Sunday night/Monday morning. A PDF of the entire project can be found as well.

One University Place

Developer Jeff Maxwell came to council and requested to renew negotiations for the mixed commercial/residential  development on the current St. Andrew Church Site. This project is known as One University Place. I think it would be fair to say that public input regarding this was heated. The developer will present a timeline of the proposal to date at the June council meeting. That information will be posted to the U-Heights homepage a week prior to the meeting. Remember that webstreaming (look under "government" tab) and video on demand versions of this council meetings will be available in the next week to 10 days or so. This might be a good meeting to watch. I will be soliciting citizens' thoughts on this project as it progresses.

For even more U-Heights related information visit UH Forward. This is a spot where I post articles that are meant to be thought provoking and interesting. Take a look and consider subscribing to this as well. Your comments there are encouraged and appreciated.

As you plan charitable gifts please consider the University Heights Community Foundation

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.

Sunset Wide Sidewalk Update

 Winter King Hawthorn (one of trees to be newly planted on Sunset Street)
Sometimes it seems as all city projects move at a glacial pace. I got a good reminder of that last night when I received an email asking about all the trees on Sunset with X's on them. Did that mean they were going to be removed? I had to answer "yes." That got me thinking, we had approved the wide sidewalk plan a year ago, and the accompanying master tree plan nearly 8 months ago. Many people may not be aware or had forgotten details of those plans. 
 So here is what I replied:

 

Hey Citizen's Name,

Yes those trees with the "x's" will be removed. In some cases they are diseased or poor choices for street trees. Some trees that are healthy  are being removed because we are worried that the construction and new sidewalk location will compromise their roots. The good news is that we have created a master tree plan for all of west side Sunset to replace those removed trees. Besides the twelve trees to be removed there will be an additional 14 trees planted. 16 current trees will remain. This plan was created by Shive Hattery engineers, a landscape architect, and U-Heights residents. The replacement trees were chosen to create a better streetscape and are trees more appropriate for a right of way. The other consideration was to get a greater variety of trees to prevent mass loss from any particular pest or disease.

Here is a link from the U-Heights website to the master plan. This PDF shows trees that are staying, being removed and replacements: 

http://www.university-heights.org/Streets/SunsetSidewalk/TreeMasterPlan082012.pdf

Our city engineer, along with Jim Lane and I from city council, talked to Mahaska Drive property owners. In some cases the property owners were adamant that their particular trees be saved. Where possible we have made adjustments to the sidewalk, where not possible, owners understand that if trees die in the next several years it will be the owner's expense to remove them, not the city's. Trees removed now will be paid as part of the Sunset Wide Sidewalk project.

The entire project is part of a Federal transportation grant that will be funding 80% of the total costs. The good news is that the construction portion bid came in $20K under our projections so we should be able to fund the entire tree plan as part of the project.

With the trees (especially the crab-apples) in full flower right now, it is probably the worst time to remove them from a visual point of view, but I'm confident that at the completion of the entire project, Sunset Street will look even better.

Here is a link to the letter our engineer sent to property owners, and I posted on the City's website for everyone. We will likely have weekly updates as the project continues:

http://www.university-heights.org/Streets/SunsetSidewalk/Update01.pdf

Here is the general link to the city's webpage:

http://www.university-heights.org/

I hope this helps to answer your questions, I'm happy to talk further with you about this, or any other city concerns.

-Mike Haverkamp

 315 Golfview Ave.

Whoda Thunk It? More Election Analysis

Looking at the Johnson County Auditor's election results page for today's Justice Center Bond Vote is fascinating. Not only did University Heights have the highest percentage of YES votes of any precinct in the county, A GREATER PERCENTAGE of U-Heights voters said YES today than did in November. County-wide the percentage YES dropped two points from November.

Johnson County Results

Last 3 Elections with a U-Heights precinct record (ICCSD revenue purpose vote used different precincts)
 GENERAL ELECTION 11/6/12
U-Heights registered voters
      890
Turnout
     774       87%
Justice Center Bond result
     YES- 63%     NO 37%  (Bond failed 56% Yes 43% No, 60% required for passage)

COUNTY SUPERVISOR SPECIAL ELECTION 3/5/13
U-Heights registered voters
      890
Turnout
     64       7% 
Result
     Dahms 53%    Etheredge 47%  (Etheredge won 51% to 48%)

JUSTICE CENTER BOND 5/7/13
U-Heights registered voters
      890
Turnout
     134       15%
Justice Center Bond result
     YES- 70%     NO 30% (Bond failed 54% Yes 46% No, 60% required for passage)

City Council April Meeting Summary

I forgot to post this month's City Council meeting summary. If you'd like a monthly email summary of council meetings please contact me at mikehaverkamp1960@gmail.com

Listen to April Council Meeting Audio

April 9, 2013

Dear Fellow U-Heights Residents,

Tonight city council held regular monthly meeting for April, here is the BIG  highlight

Sunset Wide Sidewalk Bid Acceptance

Council accepted the bid of Vieth Construction Company of Cedar Falls, in the rough amount of just under $161,000.00. The good news is that this bid is nearly  $25,000.00 under the Shive Hattery estimate that the city was working from. This project will be Federally funded at an 80% level up to a Federal maximum outlay of $218,000.00. The city's portion of the expenses will come from Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money that the city has gotten a share of from the rest of Johnson County since 2009.

Construction will start at the North end of Sunset in late May or early June and  the construction timeline is for 45 working days to finish the project. This should be completed well before the beginning of the ICCSD school year on Aug. 21, 2013 and the start of the home UI football season on Aug. 31, 2013.

The other important news for residents are the following upcoming events:

1. Saturday April 27, 9:00 to noon U-Heights Clean Up Day: residents can bring garbage or unwanted items to dispose of for free in dumpsters on Marietta Ave. in front of Grandview Apartments. Tables for swap items available for unwanted but too good to throw away items. All leftovers will be donated. NO hazardous waste materials will be accepted this year.
2. Wednesday May 15, 6:30 to 8:30 AM U-Heights Bike to Work Week  Breakfast. Come enjoy Kalona Bakery cinnamon rolls and more in front of the City Office at 1004 Melrose Ave.
3. University Heights City Council Meeting May 14, 7:00 PM Our regular monthly meeting will likely have an agenda item from One University Place developer, Jeff Maxwell. 
4. With 15% of our residents biking to work (2010 U.S. Census data) make sure ALL of our bicyclists take the Think Bicycles Iowa City Area Survey

More info about all of the above can be found on the University Heights Municipal Webpage. Consider subscribing to our updates and google calendar.

For even more U-Heights related information visit UH Forward. This is a spot where I post articles that are meant to be thought provoking and interesting. Take a look and consider subscribing to this as well.

As you plan charitable gifts please consider the University Heights Community Foundation

As always 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.

SMARTER Smart Growth?

I read this article yesterday from a Smart Growth news feed I follow:

Is it time for "smarter smart growth"?

This was written by Ken Benfield and appeared on "Switchboard" the National Resources Defense Council's Staff Blog

Benfields's basic point is that it’s time to get past advocating for the fact of smart growth – it’s already mainstream in nearly every planning office in the country – and start working on its quality. He then goes on to quote Bill Adams 10 Rules for Smarter Growth. And then adds a few more of his own too. 

I won't go through them all, but I kept coming back to 1, 3, and 5 in my head throughout the day today at work, picking up my kids from activities, while outside with the dog. I'm not sure where this is all going, but it has lots to ponder.