OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Cedar Rapids City Council Meeting – March 10, 2026

City CouncilTuesday, March 10, 2026
BodyCedar Rapids, Iowa
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, March 10, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

This meeting of the Cedar Rapids City Council will come to order.

0:05

Welcome everybody to the Cedar Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, March 10th, 2026.

0:11

I'd like to welcome our city manager, our city attorney, and our city clerk, and as always, thanks to city staff for being here and willing to talk with residents should they have questions.

0:21

A reminder for those of you here to turn off any cell phones or electronic devices that might distract us from our proceedings.

0:27

And note that all of our council meeting agendas, minutes, and videos are available on our city's website.

0:33

Regular sessions are also available to watch live on Facebook through Facebook live.

0:39

We'll begin now with our invocation by public safety chaplain Austin Spooner.

0:45

He will do that, followed immediately by our Pledge of Allegiance.

0:48

So thank you, City Council.

0:50

Let us pray.

0:51

God, we thank you for the leadership we have in the city, and we ask that you give them the knowledge and wisdom they need each day as they serve this community.

0:57

God, I ask that you guide the conversations and decisions that we made today and in the future.

1:02

Thank you for the opportunity we have to gather today, and I pray that you bless this meeting.

1:06

We ask these things in your name.

1:07

Amen.

1:30

All right, I'd like to invite those of you who are here for our first proclamation by 319 local day to join us here at the dais.

1:38

Councilmember Ann Poe will read that.

1:42

Come on up.

1:50

Hello.

2:01

Proclamation of the city of Cedar Rapids, whereas locally owned small businesses are the backbone of Cedar Rapids economy, creating jobs, strengthening neighborhoods, and contributing to the vitality and character of our community.

2:18

And whereas dollars spent at local businesses are more likely to remain within the Cedar Rapids region, supporting additional local jobs, public services, and continued economic growth.

2:33

And whereas these businesses provide essential goods, services, and gathering spaces that enhance the quality of life in Cedar Rapids.

2:43

And whereas the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance promotes initiatives such as Buy 319 to encourage residents and businesses to invest in local economy and recognize the impact of choosing local.

3:01

And whereas by 319 local day on March 19th, service as a community-wide call to support local businesses through purchasing goods and services, dining locally, engaging online, and sharing participation by using hashtag buy319.

3:22

Therefore, I, Ann Poe, on behalf of Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell and the entire Cedar Rapids City Council hereby recognize March 13 as by 319 local day and encourage our residents to support and celebrate local businesses.

3:41

Thank you so much.

3:48

We really just encourage local residents and um really anybody to support locally, especially on March 19th.

3:54

We thank you.

3:55

Thank you.

3:58

And next up we have a Transcend Employee Appreciation Day.

4:01

My colleague Scott Olsen will read that.

4:03

And if you're here, oh good, come on down.

4:10

Welcome.

4:12

Good to see you.

4:22

Whereas public transportation is a vital component of the city of Cedar Rapids, providing safe, reliable, and affordable mobility options that connect residents to their jobs, education, health care, and essential services.

4:38

And whereas transit employees, including bus operators, mechanics, service workers, operational clerks, and administrative staff work tirelessly to ensure that our transit system operates efficiently and safely every day.

5:00

And whereas these dedicated professionals often work early mornings, late nights, weekends, and holidays, demonstrating commitment and resilience in all weather conditions to keep our community moving.

5:11

And whereas National Transit Employee Appreciation Day provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate their hard work, professionalism, and service of those who make public transportation possible.

5:26

And whereas the City of Cedar Apics acknowledges that the efforts of transit employees contribute significantly to the economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and overall quality of life in this great community.

5:42

Now, therefore, I, Scott Olson, on behalf of Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell and the entire city council do hereby recognize March 18th, 2026 as transit employee appreciation day, and encourage our residents to recognize transit employees for all their great work.

6:04

So congratulations.

6:10

Thank you very much.

6:12

We are very excited about this proclamation.

6:16

So we appreciate and so very grateful for this opportunity to recognize our transit employees and their continued service.

6:25

Thank you to City Manager, our council members and great mayor for supporting this proclamation, and we're excited to continue forward, continue to improve transit.

6:35

Thank you.

6:41

Thank you very much.

6:42

Next up, our presentation today is on the flourishing neighborhood index in Wellington Heights.

6:48

Jeff Wolzencraft is here along with Stephanie and Keon Carter, who led this charge.

6:56

Friends, I'll recognize you.

6:59

Thank you, Mayor.

7:00

Just a quick introduction to our presenters today.

7:03

Um, so I'm here with Pastor Keon and Stephanie Carter who led the Flourishing Neighbor Neighborhood Index and innovative framework to engage Wellington Heights and look forward for that neighborhood led by the Wellington Heights Community Church with support from the city and community foundation.

7:21

So I'll let Stephanie and Keon take it away.

7:31

All right.

7:32

Well, thank you so much for having us.

7:35

Um Pastor Keon Carter Lee, Pastor Wellington Heights Community Church.

7:40

Uh, Pastor Stephanie.

7:42

Um, we want to say thank you again for having us uh and supporting this uh program.

7:48

Uh Pastor Stephanie and I we're going to present a brief recap of the vision of the flourishing neighborhood index, followed by uh I will highlight some findings followed by three priorities, and then where do we go from here?

8:06

Hi everyone, thank you, Mayor and Council, for inviting us to share some updates on the neighborhood index.

8:12

So I wanted to briefly highlight our value as an organization on the value of neighborhood development and listening.

8:21

As an organization, we seek the flourishing of Wellington Heights by listening to our neighbors and partnering with a multi-sector response for sustainable change to work for the well-being of our neighborhood.

8:32

And in 2023, we launched this process called the Flourishing Neighborhood Index, which is a formal process of data gathering, um, holistic gathering of data with the flourishing neighborhood index.

8:45

We did this alongside the support of the City of Cedar Rapids, the community foundation, United Way, Lynn County Public Health, and individual donors.

8:55

And a little bit about the flourishing neighborhood index is a reminder, it's a comprehensive assessment process that provides meaningful, holistic data.

9:05

And the FNI gives insight into the neighborhood so that the community's voices can be heard.

9:10

It gives space for agency or the ability to act upon all neighbors so that we can share our experiences, our hopes, and even some places that we may see some room for improvement.

9:22

One thing that is unique about the flourishing neighborhood index is that oftentimes in the community development world, we can treat community development and neighborhoods as problems to be solved or people to fix.

9:34

But the flourishing neighborhood index reminds us that neighborhoods are complex ecosystems where we have shared history, we have systems and structures, and all of those things intersect.

9:46

And as we honor this complexity and diversity in neighborhoods, and we build on existing strengths, we see that long-lasting transformation is possible, particularly as neighbors see that they have agency, the ability to act to be part of the process.

10:04

And the flourishing neighborhood index has four phases.

10:08

So it began in 2023 with the phase of assemble, which is where we shared vision of this process and we began to put together a multi-sector team to walk through this process together.

10:21

The next phase is assessment, which began with a parcel survey, which we walked throughout the neighborhood and took a survey of each parcel in Wellington Heights.

10:36

And both parties were compensated for their time in this valuable piece of the assessment.

10:41

The next phase is alignment, which we're just now wrapping up, is which neighbors have gathered to make meaning of all the data that was collected.

10:50

And it also included one-on-one conversations with stakeholders and organizations in Wellington Heights and having all of the collective represent representatives identify key priorities from the data.

11:02

And now we're launching into the activation phase, which is where we're creating teams based on the identified priorities from the neighborhood, and we are determining ways that we can sustainably work together for the long haul because we believe neighborhood development doesn't end.

11:17

It's a continual process.

11:41

I do want to give a shout out to public transport because I was just reviewing some of the data, and there was great reviews on the public transport that's offered in Wellington Heights, including the employees and their experience writing public transport.

11:54

So I just wanted to give another shout out.

12:01

All right.

12:01

As uh Pastor Stephanie said, uh, we were able to deploy volunteers to survey parcel conditions and engage neighbors to survey neighbors.

12:11

Um these surveys were thorough.

12:12

Um they were uh take took anywhere from 45 minutes to 60 minutes to complete.

12:19

Uh we were able to raise support to pay both the the surveyors and the those who participated.

12:26

Survey questions um covered uh structural economic and social indicators.

12:32

Questions include um anything ranging from uh how often residents uh volunteered, um are they aware of the leadership in the neighborhood and and um how how much access do they have of the leadership and community leaders?

12:48

Um uh the uh another good um range in question was uh how faith safe do you feel uh walking?

12:56

How safe do you feel with your youth walking?

12:59

Um I wanted to go into um I wanted to go into uh some of the survey process and the data.

13:10

Uh I wanted to highlight a few things uh from the survey.

13:13

So from the survey, we found that there was about 1,800 parcels in the Wellington Heights neighborhood, including homes, rentals, apartment complexes, nonprofits, and businesses as well.

13:25

Um there are around 5,000 people who live in the in the neighborhood.

13:29

Um we were able to survey 14% of the neighborhood based on household numbers, not that 5,000 number, but the 1800 number, uh, which uh came to 204 surveys.

13:43

Uh these surveys include uh various questions and included 13 open-ended uh questions.

13:50

Um, we were able to get a wide spread uh spread of age, race, socioeconomic uh status, uh rental, homeowner, and and gender as well.

14:01

Um neighborhoods were graded on a scale of one to five, uh broken down in four different um descriptive markers.

14:12

So the first one was fragile, which is one to two point four.

14:15

Um, straining was 2.5 to 3.4.

14:20

Um striving was 3.5 to 4.2, and then flourishing was 4.2 to 5.

14:27

Uh the Wellington Heights neighborhood.

14:30

This is what we were looking for, right?

14:32

The Wellington Heights neighborhood overall score was 3.35.

14:37

This marker was labeled straining, which described as uh which is described as a neighborhood under pressure.

14:45

There might have been some PaaS investments, but they're not they were not enough, leading to stagnation or stress on the residents.

14:53

Uh responses are mixed, ranging from slightly negative to slightly positive.

15:00

With the data dashboard, so uh we got a few deliverables of this data, right?

15:07

And um one of the bigger ones uh is uh what we call the data dashboard.

15:12

And uh when we go on, we when we go on to the data dashboard, we're able to um see data and break data down from anywhere from time lived in the neighborhood to um uh transportation to uh uh how to how the how to what is the main way people get transportation to whether or not family had health care.

15:35

Um I did want to um um highlight that um when it came to uh the neighbors that who took the surveys, um, about 53% of the those surveyed um earn less than 30,000 uh dollars a year.

15:54

Uh 31% had lived in the Wellington Heights neighborhood for more than 10 years.

15:59

Um 49% were renters, and 51% were female.

16:04

Um this data dashboard is really cool.

16:07

You could spend like the whole day in it.

16:10

Um if you wanted the the cool thing about the data dashboard is if you wanted to uh apply an advanced search, uh it allows us to um to get specific.

16:20

So uh race, gender.

16:22

Uh maybe you want to, maybe you want to see what someone who takes the bus says about the sidewalks.

16:28

It's it allows us to kind of uh hone in like that.

16:33

Uh with this data being uh neighborhood focused um and owned by the residents, you can see why we consider the the data sacred.

16:42

Um this means that we value people taking time to take this uh the and complete this survey, and we really want to use this for the neighborhood of Wellington Heights, not to be solicited for grants and things like that.

16:56

Um we believe this is sacred work.

16:59

Um I wanted to go into some um some highlights.

17:05

Um I'm not gonna go into all of the numbers, but I wanted to say uh say say some things that the neighborhood has said about each um indicator.

17:15

So I'm gonna go social, structural, and then economic.

17:18

Uh social cohesion, um, let me see, yeah.

17:22

Social cohesion.

17:24

Um here's a few things that were said.

17:26

Uh lack of community gathering spaces and the desire for more.

17:30

Uh unfamiliar with leadership and a sense of disconnection from them, a desire for more effective leadership.

17:37

Umnected to their immediate neighbors and and a pride for their neighborhood.

17:44

Um, structural integrity.

17:46

Uh, there is still an unease about crime with mixed views of police engagement in the community.

17:52

There's a need for lighting sidewalks and more green spaces, and an economic vitality.

17:57

And this is this is no surprise because we took these surveys around the time uh that high V was closed down, and so one of the biggest things was lack of grocery access uh was a major major concern.

18:10

So we took and compiled um a lot of the data, and we wanted to uh uh kind of uh hone in on three major priorities.

18:20

And so those three major priorities uh were community spaces, um, security and lighting and sidewalks, and then grocery.

18:28

So the next step, as Pastor Stephanie said, is um the activation team.

18:33

And so what does that look like?

18:35

Um the activation uh we are um kind of creating teams uh based on these three priorities to really uh co-create what it what does it mean, and what what might we do to uh kind of address these three priorities.

18:52

Um then we're gonna deploy these teams and co-create, and then we're gonna continue to utilize the data and engage a multi-sector response for the flourishing of the Wellington Heights neighborhood.

19:03

So that's where we're at right now.

19:04

We have those teams and we're meeting.

19:06

Um, each team, some people are in two teams, um, but it's all it's a it's a process that takes um capacity, it takes time, and so we're excited about what will come of that.

19:20

Uh the thing I like about uh meaning making process is that creativity is encouraged.

19:26

So for example, for the grocery store, it's not just primarily getting uh uh a grocery store in high V.

19:33

Uh it could be uh making that grocery store uh process um more accessible to the public, or it could be making uh some of the wins in our neighborhood more um more uh accessible as well, not pass up uh things like hornbill and and EuroHut grocery.

19:52

Or it could be an encouragement for someone to step up and and encourage them to do do their own uh small business.

20:00

For lighting and security priorities, a topic could be educating the residents about city and residents' responsibility when it comes to sidewalks.

20:19

And one of the things I learned when I was given the survey was a lot of times people didn't know what was around.

20:26

People didn't know the opportunities, people didn't know when it even when it came to site sidewalks, people didn't know the their responsibility versus the city responsibility.

20:36

So it could be educating residents on that.

20:39

And then finally the community space conversation.

20:44

It could be how do we maximize the existing community spaces that we have and community buildings that we have, right?

20:51

Are we really maxed out?

20:52

Do we really need to build something else?

20:54

Or can we capitalize off of what's actually going on?

20:58

Could we create groups?

21:01

And then we could gauge the community on whether or not we do need a new community space.

21:09

But all of these, all of these, I said all of that to say that it's not black and white.

21:14

These activation uh teams aren't just um, you know, we need a new community space.

21:20

It's uh what does that mean?

21:22

And so these places are, these teams are uh creatively thinking.

21:26

I just want to close with um, you know, our goal for this project um ultimately wasn't primarily to find out what was wrong in Wellington Heights, right?

21:36

But ultimately to cultivate co-creation, cultivate um a neighborhood that is closely knit together.

21:45

And um this is the the most diverse, dense um and somewhat deprived uh areas.

21:52

And so we want to be able to highlight what's actually going on.

21:56

And one of the things that I loved was that there was a high, high pride uh for uh for their neighborhood.

22:03

And so as residents, uh we can kind of uh echo that we are proud of uh Wellington Heights.

22:09

Um yeah, so that's all we have.

22:12

Um we'd love to continue to um we're we're going to continue to um move forward with this even after we um um tackle those three priorities because there was a lot Sid, and so uh this is an ongoing process that is a multi-sector response.

22:29

Thank you.

22:30

Thank you so much.

22:31

And now I'll invite counsel.

22:34

Councilmember Poe.

22:36

Thank you.

22:36

Oh, Stephanie and um Ken, thank you so much for your work.

22:41

I think about you guys often when I'm driving down the street and wondering how you're doing with this index and and the information that you're gathering is so critical to probably some of the decisions that we're gonna have to look at and face as well as a city and certainly as this council.

22:55

So thank you so much.

22:57

It's with a grateful heart I I send that out to you both.

23:00

Thank you.

23:00

Thank you.

23:01

Thank you, Anne.

23:02

Councilman Warney.

23:03

Thanks, Mayor.

23:04

Uh, pastors, thank you for doing this work.

23:06

I know that this data is really critical, and it's also um extremely time consuming to uh to gather.

23:14

Um, certainly as a historically red line area, um, that there's a lot of uh the city is certainly tried, but to overcome and compensate something like that that started, you know, way before any of us were uh were on this dais uh and to counteract those ongoing uh systemic issues is gonna be a big lift, and that's exactly what you've participated in here.

23:38

Um that data regarding green spaces, um, I personally heard um lighting uh in there as well, just as a safety issue.

23:47

Um we're only part of that, right?

23:49

So now it's engaging our uh private partners as well to understand how um some of their lighting and placement of really makes a difference in in safety uh as well as a quick turnaround with replacing lights and perhaps adding more lights uh just so that the neighborhood could be lit up.

24:07

It is um really gratefully rich of some older established trees and stuff like that.

24:12

So again, just factoring that in um as well as uh cleaning up and maintaining sidewalks.

24:17

I know that's tough, um, especially if you're uh a less resourced person, um considering getting out there and making sure that the sidewalk hasn't overgrown is a difficult thing to factor into and you know already compounding day.

24:30

Um and then I know that the the council is certainly dedicated to achieving uh better food access uh with Hornbill coming online.

24:37

I know that's part of the equation, but we're not done there yet.

24:41

Um the one thing that I would say too is that Wellington Heights has always had an incredible um rich diversity and uh an incredible amount of character with it.

24:50

Um I often find myself imagining what that neighborhood must have looked like when those homes, which are beautiful, uh were first installed and just how vibrant that neighborhood was then.

25:01

And I also in law who who comes from Hyderabad, India, and she told me one time visiting Iowa, she's like, where are all the people?

25:10

And there are plenty of places in in Cedar Rapids where you don't see people out walking, right?

25:15

But you do in Wellington Heights.

25:17

There is a sense of community where you really do see people engaging, or you see people sitting on the stoops or um, you know, gathering it with barbecues and you know, just collective uh collecting one another um throughout the neighborhood, and and I love that about Wellington Heights.

25:32

But uh it also there's going to be a huge lift that has to happen to restoring some of that vibrancy in the homes that is likely outside of most people's capacity, especially when you see where that index is right now, right?

25:45

But it is a really uh important point in time um reflection of where we are, where we're starting from, and then you know, trying to get a uh hands up uh of who is able to participate um and uh and just be honest about where they're starting from to see where we can go because I I truly believe in this neighborhood, and um I hope that there uh for a lot of other neighborhoods that there was as much activity and as much um participation in it uh as there is in Wellington Heights.

26:14

So really appreciate your efforts to bring us this data.

26:16

Thank you.

26:17

Thank you.

26:18

Anyone else?

26:19

Councilmember Todd.

26:22

Thank you, Mayor.

26:23

Councilmember, thank you for your your your comments on this.

26:27

Uh what the neighborhood has struggled with is over the years, it certainly has had its challenges.

26:37

But the thing I struggle with is a council member often, not just here, but in other neighborhoods.

26:44

Is who is the neighborhood?

26:46

Is it the person with the loudest voice or the biggest Facebook page, or you know, the the person that you know you're gonna see?

26:57

And you know, who really represents the neighborhood in the community and and what you did, you went and you contacted these people in the neighborhood.

27:08

And in turn, what you did you helped, and you're in the process of building the sense of community that just doesn't happen.

27:18

It takes time to do it right.

27:21

And so I in the one of my favorite uh city staffers years ago is a old guy, Kent Chote, Ken had a line.

27:32

He said, just let it bake.

27:35

Something good will come out of it.

27:36

And in this case, I think if we just you guys keep doing what you're doing, we stay out of it.

27:43

Let the neighborhood and the community, you know, really come together and talk about what they see as a priority instead of others saying what they think the priorities should be.

27:56

Then you really get something, you know, in terms of baking a product that you're really going to uh appreciate better in the long run.

28:04

So thanks for the the presentation.

28:07

Timely and good luck.

28:09

Thank you.

28:10

Yeah, and I'll just in closing, just add you know, my thanks to um, I know I lean on you guys a lot when I have questions about um the community and am uniquely aware and appreciate your candor when you tell me, you know, what's what's spot on and what needs work.

28:26

So I appreciate that.

28:27

And I think to your point, you know, Dale, Councilmember Todd, um, this is a master class and how to get things done in the city.

28:38

I mean, from our perspective, the lesson of getting out of the way, you know, providing tools support when needed and asked and able and then getting out of the way.

28:47

And I think most importantly, for anybody who may be watching or will watch this this council meeting, um, what leadership looks like.

28:55

Because there's a lot of people with a lot of really great ideas and good intention, but very few that are willing to knock on you know hundreds of doors or or find the people to do that and spend the time to do that, and then to continue on through this long since 2023.

29:10

So just it's a real credit to you.

29:12

And when anybody wants to know how you know what great looks like, I would say this process, FNI is really what great looks like.

29:21

So thank you truly and look forward to more to come.

29:24

Thank you.

29:25

Thank you, ma'am.

29:25

Yeah.

29:27

Okay, we will move on now to our public hearings.

29:32

I'll remind everybody who wants to speak today, whether during a public hearing or doing the public comment or public input periods of a few matters that we need to have to ensure an orderly meeting.

29:41

A reminder to remain at the lector.

29:43

If you have any documents, documents you want to share with us, please give them to the officer.

29:48

Um she will get them to us.

29:49

Second comments are limited to five minutes per speaker.

29:52

So when the light on that console turns yellow, you have one minute.

29:55

When it turns red, we'll ask you to take your seats.

30:00

And third, please be aware that comments must be directed to the matter of the public hearing, and that abusive, obscene, loud, threatening, irrelevant comments are not invited or allowed.

30:08

And finally, we need to hold an orderly hearing.

30:09

So we ask for no applause, cheering, booing, or other disruption from the gallery today.

30:14

Does the clerk have any written comments or objections in regards to any of the public hearings on our agenda today?

30:20

Your Honor for public hearing number three.

30:22

One petition containing 18 signatures was filed as a comment.

30:26

No other written comments or objections were filed.

30:29

Okay.

30:29

So petition, but no objections.

30:32

Okay, thank you.

30:33

Item number one is a public hearing to consider annexation of land at 80th Street and 16th Avenue Southwest as requested by AM LLC.

30:41

Jeff Wosencraft is here.

30:42

Jeff, I'll recognize you.

30:43

Thank you, Mayor.

30:44

As stated, this is a resolution uh for annexation of land at 80th Street Southwest and 16th Avenue Southwest.

30:51

Um an overview of the annexation.

30:53

It is a 100% voluntary annexation of two parcels, uh just around 25 acres.

30:59

Uh the annexation does include the full right-of-way of the adjacent portions of 16th Avenue Southwest.

31:06

It is what's called an urbanized area annexation because it is within two miles of the city of Fairfax.

31:11

Um, and they are applying for annexation to develop two city standards.

31:16

Um here is some aerial imagery of the annexation at hand.

31:19

We're on the far western side of the city of Cedar Rapids.

31:23

Um this is Highway 100 running on the left side of the image.

31:27

The highway 100, highway 30 interchange would be just down here.

31:31

Morgan Creek Park would be up over here on the upper portion of the image.

31:36

Um so staff review, city services are available and or proposed for the parcels.

31:42

Uh does not create any islands of county and is consistent with the existing Fairfax Fairfax annexation moratorium agreement.

31:50

A timeline um today we're here for the public hearing.

31:54

Uh, this would then go to the city development board meeting at the state on April 8th, if approved, and then if approved at that meeting, it would be recorded 30 days later.

32:03

With that, staff would recommend approval of the resolution.

32:06

I'll pass it back to the mayor.

32:07

Jeff, thank you.

32:08

This is a time and a place for a public hearing on this matter.

32:10

Does anyone here wish to address council?

32:13

Let the record show a public hearing has been held with no objections for the record.

32:17

Council.

32:17

Councilmember Van Orney.

32:18

Thanks, Mayor.

32:19

I just want to confirm.

32:20

Uh I did confirm this with city staff.

32:22

I know that this is an area that kind of uh abuts my council district, but this will uh expand district four.

32:29

So just to clarify where this will be going into.

32:34

Thank you.

32:35

Anyone else?

32:37

All right, seeing no further questions.

32:38

The adoption of this resolution has been moved by councilmember Scott Olson, seconded by Todd.

32:43

All those in favor say aye.

32:44

Aye.

32:45

Those opposed say no.

32:46

And the motion carries.

32:47

Thank you.

32:47

Two is a public hearing to consider the proposed plan, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the O Avenue Northwest Elevation Time Check Project.

32:56

This has an estimated cost of three million three hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

33:00

Rob Davis is here.

33:01

Rob will recognize you.

33:03

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council.

33:05

Uh simple title this time for a flood control project.

33:09

Uh the scope of work is uh about 700 feet of earth and levy.

33:13

Uh we'll also have streets, sidewalk, shared use path uh for the construction, and then it will also remove excess inf uh infrastructure uh in the uh area that's between the the levee and the Cedar River.

33:26

Depending on probable cost of 3.36 million dollars.

33:29

Here's a couple of renderings on the uh on bottom there.

33:33

The the levee will kind of run from uh uh near uh um Ellis Boulevard, which is just to the left of the drawings there, and then uh on those left drawing here, um Ellis Boulevard is right here, and then it will run uh southeasterly towards uh 5th Street.

33:52

Uh we will disconnect uh sixth, and that'll be cul-de-sact because O Avenue is actually going up in the air to go uh through the arch that uh we built in 2018.

34:03

This was designed a long time ago.

34:04

We were finally uh able to move forward.

34:07

Uh both the um uh West Side Rising sculpture on the south side of O Avenue will remain, as well as the park uh uh honoring the uh neighborhood uh before the 2008 flood devastation that that was also coordinated now a main.

34:22

You can see the uh the uh trail system that will go to the top.

34:26

Eventually that will connect with the uh uh trail that will be on top of the levee.

34:31

Um there's another rendering there from the right um looking from uh west towards the east.

34:37

Um there's a couple other um the same renderings here.

34:41

I would want to point out that the detour uh will be provided uh during construction.

34:47

O Avenue will have to close and just going up in the air approximately 15 feet.

34:52

Uh but Penn Avenue will be available.

34:54

Uh uh so there'll be access to all properties at all times.

35:00

There aren't that many properties over here, so this is a fairly easy construction closure.

35:03

Uh I want to spend a little bit of time on the infrastructure removal.

35:06

Uh, there's three maps here.

35:07

Uh this area shows the map uh when O Avenue is up and over.

35:12

We'll remove the existing one.

35:13

There'll be a new one up and over.

35:15

Uh and then everything here that's shaded.

35:18

Uh Penn Avenue will be removed uh up to O.

35:21

Uh, we're basically removing the streets, I always in Stormster and Sanitary Sewer uh that are not uh needed anymore.

35:29

I want to be clear again this doesn't remove any vehicular access or utilities to occupied properties.

35:35

We've uh removed a lot of properties over the years, so there's a lot of excess infrastructure that's not needed.

35:41

Uh this map here shows a sanitary sewer removal.

35:44

You can see a few lines in red that don't serve anything.

35:47

Uh those will be removed.

35:48

This drawing the left is the upper area from Penn to just south of O, and then the right drawing is from K to um M Avenue.

35:56

So you can see some areas where uh we're removing, but majority of the infrastructure still stays uh at this point.

36:02

Uh this will allow for the transition when you move the streets and you remove the uh utilities, they'll start to look more like the greenway as we're setting up for that.

36:11

Uh this map here again shows the pavement removals, but this one shows the storm sewer removes.

36:16

There's a lot more storm sewer being removed.

36:18

You can see some of the red red lines there.

36:20

Uh that's because as the area goes to green or goes to greenway, you don't really need uh storm sewer, which is draining streets.

36:27

Uh the last map is the here removing the water main.

36:31

Um I would point out you can see a lot of water main here again.

36:33

This not serving homes, so that can come out.

36:36

Uh this is the third infrastructure removal contract that we have done since 2018.

36:41

As more uh as this converts more of the greenway, there'll be some additional ones in the future.

36:47

Um, also happy to say that this is in accordance with the season relief program and it will plant 26 new trees with the project.

36:55

Uh again, the project is 3.36 million dollar cost opinion.

36:59

Uh this is funded uh from the American Rescue Plan dollars, the city council assigned to this project.

37:04

Bid opening is on March 25th.

37:07

Uh, assuming we get acceptable bids, the project was started in June of this year and be completed by October of 2027.

37:14

That's all I have.

37:15

I'll turn that back to the mayor with our recommendation for this project.

37:18

Thank you.

37:18

Thank you, Rob.

37:19

This is time to place for public hearing on this.

37:21

Does anyone wish to address council?

37:24

Let the record show a public hearing has been held with no objections for the record.

37:27

Council.

37:28

Councilman Van Orney.

37:29

Yeah, thanks, Rob.

37:30

Can you go back to the uh photos side by side?

37:34

Um, so uh I I believe this will likely come back to council.

37:40

Um I would just ask uh I think the visuals are really helpful here because there's so much going on, and it's going to be such an involved process that I think that it really does help to translate that to residents to understand what what this section is.

37:53

But if we could get an even pulled back view and see how this interfaces with the greenway plans, since this is kind of part of what that will be, that would be really helpful so people can understand in the entirety of it how much this portion is uh in that and then how much is left to go.

38:10

We could do that.

38:11

I would add we're presenting this to the Northwest neighborhood meeting uh next month, so they'll get to see that before construction starts, and we'll make sure that's there.

38:19

Thank you, appreciate it.

38:20

Wonderful.

38:21

Thank you.

38:22

Anyone else?

38:23

All right, if there are further questions, the adoption of this resolution is moved by Todd, seconded by Van Orney.

38:27

All those in favor say aye.

38:28

Aye.

38:29

Those opposed say no.

38:30

And the motion carries.

38:32

Next is a public hearing to consider the proposed plan, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the Richard Drive Northeast from Evergreen Street to Nancy Jane Lane and Nancy Jane Lane Northeast from Richard Drive to Brooklyn Drive project.

38:46

This has an estimated cost of 2,560,000.

38:50

Doug Wilson, I'll recognize you.

38:52

Thank you, Mayor.

38:53

Doug Wilson, Public Works Department.

38:55

Uh, this project includes water main storm sewer and sanitary sewer improvements, complete reconstruction of the roadway with new concrete, uh, new sidewalk construction throughout the neighborhood where none existed.

39:09

The engineer's opinion of probable cost is two million five hundred and sixty thousand dollars with bid opening scheduled for March 16th.

39:17

We had a public information meeting on February 4th, 2025 with the neighborhood, and construction is expected to start uh in uh this spring and be completed this fall.

39:28

The public works for exproval resolution.

39:31

Thank you.

39:32

This is time to place for public hearing.

39:34

Does anyone wish to address council?

39:36

Let the record show a public hearing's been held with no objections.

39:40

Council.

39:41

All right, seeing none, the adjustment.

39:43

Oh, oh, Councilmember Todd.

39:45

There is a bit of a concern with one of the neighbors there who's got some decorative bricks uh that abutt his driveway.

39:54

And uh he I spoke with him this morning.

40:00

He's supportive of the project, but just wants to make sure that when you guys get out there that you don't cut into the bricks of his.

40:04

And so I can talk to you offline on that.

40:07

But he he is supportive of the project.

40:11

Thank you.

40:12

All right.

40:13

If there's no further questions, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by Van Orney, seconded by Poe.

40:18

All those in favor say aye.

40:19

Aye.

40:20

Those opposed say no.

40:21

And the motion carries.

40:22

Four is a public hearing to consider proposed plan specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the 34th Street Southeast from Beaver Avenue to north of Terry Drive project with an estimated cost of $1,940,000.

40:37

Doug, I'll recognize you again.

40:38

Thank you.

40:40

This once again is complete pavement reconstruction of the roadway with storm sewer and sanitary sewer improvements.

40:46

There will be a shared use path added along this uh section of the roadway between Beaver Avenue and uh north of Terry Drive on the east side, um, where none exists now.

40:57

Uh the engineer's opinion of probable costs is $1,940,000.

41:01

Bid opening is scheduled for March 18th, with construction starting this spring in 2026 and completion of 2026.

41:10

This is the first of two projects on 34th Street.

41:13

The next section from where we stop this year, north of Terry Drive to uh Cottage Grove Avenue will be done next year.

41:21

Uh we had two public information meetings with this project, one on April 16th and 2024, and another in March 6th of 2025.

41:30

Public works recommends adoption of the resolution.

41:33

Thank you, Doug.

41:34

This is time to place for public hearing.

41:36

Does anyone wish to address council?

41:38

Let the record show a public hearing has been held with no objections.

41:41

Council.

41:42

Seeing none, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by Poe, seconded by Overland.

41:46

All those in favor say aye.

41:47

Aye.

41:48

Those opposed say no.

41:49

And the motion carries.

41:51

Next is a public hearing to consider plan specifications, form of contract, and estimated costs for the Nassau Street Southeast from Blake Boulevard Southeast to Linden Drive Southeast reconstruction project.

42:01

This has an estimated cost of $570,000.

42:05

Doug, I'll recognize you.

42:07

Thank you, Mayor.

42:08

This once again is pavement reconstruction of Nassau Drive and some work along Blake Boulevard to extend uh subdrain installation to an existing storm sewer.

42:18

There is sidewalk extension along uh the east side of this project.

42:22

Uh there's currently sidewalk along the northern two properties, and uh we will extend it uh through the southern two properties on the east side.

42:32

Engineers' opinion of probable costs is $570,000.

42:35

The bid opening is scheduled for March 11th tomorrow.

42:38

Uh public information meeting was held January 13th, uh 2026 with construction starting this spring and completion in the fall.

42:48

Once again, public works recommends approval of the resolution.

42:51

Thank you.

42:52

This is a time and a place for public hearing.

42:54

Does anyone wish to address council?

42:56

Let the record show a public hearing has been held with no objections.

42:59

Council.

43:00

Councilmember Todd.

43:01

This was the project I was referencing.

43:03

Oh, okay.

43:04

So we're good.

43:07

Councilmember Meyer.

43:09

Thank you, Mayor.

43:10

Um, just uh a comment on this.

43:13

Uh so I live a block away from the street, and there are two other council members who live nearby.

43:20

This has got to be one of the worst streets in the city.

43:23

Um, so I'm glad it's being repaired, but I think it's a good example of we have a paving for progress plan that identifies and prioritizes where things to get fixed.

43:38

And just because you have maybe a council member living in a street or some successful business people uh that also have their homes on the street.

43:48

There's no preferred treatment, right?

43:50

So we have a plan, and I just commend the city and I and want to make sure that the community is aware of you know, we have a plan in place, we follow that plan, and there's no favorites depending on elected officials or how you know how involved you are in the community.

44:04

So thank you.

44:04

Thank you.

44:06

Thank you.

44:06

If there's no further questions, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by Overland, seconded by Councilmember Tyler Olson.

44:13

All those in favor say aye.

44:14

Aye.

44:14

Those opposed say no.

44:16

And the motion carries.

44:17

Six is a public hearing to consider the proposed plan, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the Cedar Lake Amenities bid package to Shaver Road Northeast Roadway Improvements Project.

44:27

This has an estimated cost of $1,050,000.

44:30

Ben Warrell is here.

44:31

Ben, I'll recognize you.

44:33

Thank you, Mayor.

44:34

Ben Warrell Public Works Department.

44:36

This is a Connect CR project, which will construct a cul-de-sac at the end of Shaver Road.

44:42

That'll also include additional parking stalls and a trail connection at the south end of Shaver Road.

44:48

And this is all being coordinated with the challenge course project, which will be starting soon, and the Cedar Lake Bid Package 3, uh, which will have a restroom and shelter and kayak launch and a lot of the amenities that everybody's excited for.

45:03

There's an overview of this package, package two.

45:06

You can see the cul-de-sac and the additional parking on the east and west sides as well as on the south side.

45:14

And uh just for reference, the uh gray lines show the outline of package one, which put the trail on the east side of the lake.

45:24

Engineers' opinion of probable cost is one million fifty thousand dollars.

45:28

Bid letting is scheduled for March 18th.

45:30

Construction is expected May through September, and uh access to all the businesses will be maintained through construction.

45:38

There will be a short detour of the trail to the west side of the lake while the trail connection is made.

45:44

Public works department recommends approval of the resolution.

45:47

Thank you.

45:48

Thank you, Ben.

45:49

This is a time and a place for public hearing.

45:51

Does anyone wish to address council?

45:53

Let the record show public hearing has been held with no objections.

45:56

Council.

45:57

Seeing none, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by councilmember Tyler Olson, seconded by Hager.

46:02

All those in favor say aye.

46:04

Aye.

46:04

Those opposed say no.

46:05

And this motion carries seven is a public hearing to consider plan specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the FY26 sidewalk repair project with an estimated cost of 98,000.

46:17

Ben I'll recognize you again.

46:19

Thank you.

46:21

Sidewalk maintenance is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner, and that ties back to Iowa Code.

46:28

This project is part of an ongoing citywide program to repair damaged and misaligned sidewalk panels.

46:35

This is a citywide package.

46:37

There's a separate package for downtown work, which will be coming soon.

46:42

This package is 110 properties.

46:45

The bid opening is March 18th.

46:47

Engineers' opinion of probable cost is 98,000.

46:50

Anticipated construction is May through June of next year, but each location, the contractor only has 10 days to close and reopen the sidewalk.

47:01

And we believe it aligns with the council priority of strengthening and stabilizing neighborhoods because it provides safe and uh ADA compliant uh sidewalks.

47:13

Just an overview of the process.

47:15

The city will conduct routine sidewalk inspections, and we also respond to complaints that we receive through my CR through phone calls and other means.

47:25

The property owners with the defective sidewalks are sent a certified letter and then typically allowed about a year to make repairs, and they can get a partial reimbursement from the city for doing that.

47:36

Um, otherwise, the city will do the repairs through projects like this and assess the cost to the property owner.

47:43

And uh when we send those letters out, we do provide estimated costs uh and reimbursement and assessment estimates.

47:52

And again, I just wanted to take the time to highlight that the city does have financial assistance opportunities for residents that uh fix issues marked by the city on their own.

48:04

Uh the property owner can apply for a partial reimbursement for uh sidewalks that are repaired by the city through projects like this uh for property owners and owner-occupied single family homes that qualify financially.

48:19

They can apply for partial or even full assistance depending on the household income.

48:25

There's more information about that on the city's website.

48:30

And just quickly, some of the things that we're looking for.

48:33

A lot of this ties back to federal guidelines, any tripping hazards or uh you know major damage to the sidewalk is uh something that we would mark for repair.

48:43

And if anyone sees issues uh around town that they'd like to report, the best way is to use the MyCR website.

48:51

They can also call city services or visit us uh and and we'll enter it for them.

48:57

And uh we've had a lot of success in using this for tracking all these requests.

49:03

Public works department recommends approval of the resolution.

49:06

Thank you.

49:07

Thanks, Ben.

49:08

This is a time to place for public hearing.

49:10

Does anyone wish to address council?

49:12

Let the record show a public hearing has been held with no objections for the record.

49:16

Council.

49:17

All right, seeing none, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by Hager, seconded by Meyer.

49:22

All those in favor say aye.

49:23

Aye.

49:24

Those opposed say no.

49:25

And this motion carries here in the city of Cedar Rapids.

49:28

We have two public comment periods.

49:29

The first is a chance for the public to address the city council on any subject pertaining to council action scheduled for today.

49:36

And it looks like we don't have anyone signed up for this first public comment period, so we'll go ahead and officially close out.

49:43

City Manager Pomerance, do you have any changes to the agenda?

49:46

No change.

49:47

Do council members need to recuse themselves on any items or make changes?

49:52

All right.

49:53

Then that makes brings us to a motion to approve the agenda.

50:00

The approval has been moved by Meyer, seconded by Councilmember Scott Olson.

50:02

All those in favor say aye.

50:03

Aye.

50:04

Those opposed say no.

50:05

And the motion carries.

50:06

Thank you, Council.

50:07

That brings us to the consent agenda.

50:09

The approval of the consent agenda has been moved by Todd, seconded by Van Orney.

50:13

All those in favor say aye.

50:14

Aye.

50:14

Aye.

50:15

Those opposed say no.

50:16

And the motion carries.

50:17

Thank you, Council.

50:18

Moving on now to our regular agenda.

50:24

25 is a report on bids for improvements to existing sludge storage area at WPC project.

50:33

This has an estimated cost of 480,000.

50:36

Terry Tiedeman is here.

50:37

Terry, I'll recognize you.

50:40

Thank you, Mayor.

50:41

Good afternoon, Council.

50:41

Territum with Utilities Department.

50:48

The solids storage pad and containment walls outlined here in red were constructed in 2008 and are in need of repair.

51:01

Five bids were received for this project on March 4th.

51:04

The engineer's estimate is 480,000.

51:08

The bids ranged from 372,499 and 54 cents to 648, 723.80 cents.

51:20

Construction is anticipated.

51:22

Whoops.

51:23

Rochey construction company out of Marion, Iowa was a little bitter.

51:26

Construction is anticipated to begin this April and continue through August of 2026.

51:35

The Utilities Department staff is evaluating the received bids and will provide a recommendation to council at a future date.

51:42

Thank you, Terry.

51:43

Council, any questions?

51:45

All right.

51:45

There's no resolution on this, so uh we'll go ahead and move on to the report on bids for the South Hoosier lift station and force main improvements project with an estimated cost of $4,500,000.

51:58

Ben Warrell is here.

51:59

Ben, I'll recognize you.

52:02

Thank you.

52:04

This project is to increase capacity in the South Azure Lift Station to accommodate city growth.

52:10

It's a sanitary sewer pumping station.

52:13

New Force Main will be extended past the North Hoosier Lift Station.

52:17

And by doing so, we can bypass that lift station and address capacity issues in two locations with one project.

52:25

This project has been coordinated with the college community school district and other impacted property owners.

52:45

I will point out the uh two lowest bidders have rescinded their bid, and uh we are evaluating everything and we'll return to council with a recommendation at a later date.

52:57

All right, appreciate the context.

52:59

Thank you, Ben.

53:00

Council questions?

53:02

All right.

53:02

27 is a report on bids for the Mount Vernon Road Southeast from 20th Street to 26th Street Pavement Improvements Project with an estimated cost of $7,190,000.

53:14

Doug Wilson is here.

53:15

Doug, I'll recognize you.

53:17

Thank you, Mayor.

53:18

Uh, this project includes curb and gutter replacement, pavement patching, asphalt surfacing, water main, storm sewer and sanitary sewer improvements, sidewalk replacement reconstruction, median construction, and traffic signal replacement.

53:33

Engineers opinion on probable costs of $7,190,000.

53:37

A pre-bid conference was held on February 25th.

53:40

This will be a two-year project starting in the spring of 2026 and be completed in the fall of 2027.

53:47

The public information meetings were held August of 2023 and October of 2024.

53:53

Four bids were received with this project, ranging from $6,572,278.77 to $7,157,113.45 cents.

54:08

Public work recommends approval of the resolution to award the Chick-Fry excavating.

54:13

Thank you.

54:14

Thank you, Doug.

54:15

Council questions?

54:17

All right.

54:18

If there's no further questions, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by Van Orney, seconded by Poe.

54:23

All those in favor say aye.

54:25

Aye.

54:25

Those opposed say no.

54:26

And the motion carries.

54:28

28 is a presentation and resolution adopting the first Avenue East Corridor Redevelopment Plan.

54:34

Noah Zeker is here.

54:35

Noah, I will recognize you.

54:37

Thank you, Mayor.

54:37

No secrets.

54:38

City community development.

54:43

For a bit of background, uh this project began with the First Avenue East microarea action plan, which council adopted uh back in February of last year.

54:53

On the right here is a summary of the community engagement conducted as a part of that process.

55:00

In total, the plan resulted in 16 action steps, nine of which are currently started or ongoing.

55:06

A few of those as a part of the redevelopment plan.

55:10

The redevelopment plan I'm presenting today is proposed as an amendment to the microarea action plan to provide a visual description of the plan in the area's potential.

55:22

This side this slide highlights some of the key issues identified through the microarea planning process that the redevelopment plan helps to address.

55:31

First is long-term area divestiture along the corridor and the need for a clear framework for reinvestment.

55:38

The redevelopment plan is one of uh the primary responses to that generalized issue.

55:46

Second is the number of long-term vacant commercial spaces and the need to recruit and retain businesses.

55:53

The microarea action plan responded to this by proposing a neighborhood level task force focused on business attraction and retention.

55:59

The redevelopment plan would be a vital piece of their work in attracting those businesses.

56:18

And finally, pedestrian safety came up consistently in engagement through both the microarea planning process and this redevelopment planning process, which is why it explores streetscape and roadway design uh potentials to improve safety for everyone who uses the corridor.

56:40

Shown here are the boundaries for the First Avenue East Corridor Redevelopment Plan.

56:45

Um the boundaries are very similar to the uh microarea planning process, Co Road to 17th Street along First Avenue with the boundaries of A Avenue Northeast and 2nd Avenue Southeast.

56:59

We did also include a spur of uh mostly vacant land um between 14th Street and uh 15th Street Northeast and C Avenue.

57:14

Uh redevelopment plans uh at their core illustrate what an area could become.

57:19

They provide a shared vision for how underutilized properties and um public right of way could evolve over time.

57:26

Uh they also go beyond the planning process.

57:29

Um goal is to support existing businesses and property owners by helping to articulate a clear redevelopment vision.

57:36

Another is in to attract investment by highlighting the corridor's potential for reinvestment.

57:42

Uh the plan also helps demonstrate the need for improved streetscapes and enhance safety overall.

57:49

Um, it also helps to build a shared community identity around a common vision for the future of the corridor.

57:59

Shown here is the uh map for the overall uh uh concept of the corridor in the redevelopment plan.

58:07

The plan focuses redevelopment along First Avenue while pulling residents from both adjacent neighborhoods to shop on the corridor.

58:13

It introduces a mix of building types, including mixed use, missing missing middle housing and smaller uh commercial spaces, as well as a larger multifamily structures.

58:23

These elements are intended to create a more walkable, active corridor that can support both new development and existing businesses over time.

58:36

These images are um depictions of what the area could be like in the future.

58:41

Um they illustrate a redesigned street with uh new trees, lighting, landscape mediums, wider pedestrian areas, and new pedestrian-oriented development as described in both plans.

58:53

They show how the corridor could function both during the day and the evening with active sidewalks and more comfortable spaces for people visiting the corridor.

59:06

Residents can access the plan on the First Avenue East web page on the city website.

59:12

There is an interactive uh digital version as well as a printable PDF.

59:17

Uh shown to the left here is um a demonstration of the interactive plan document.

59:24

Um so residents can scroll through and read what staff heard uh from residents uh as well as what the plans are for the future.

59:45

Uh staff's recommendation is that City Council adopt the First Avenue East Corridor Redevelopment Plan as an amendment to the First Avenue East Microarea Action Plan and uh and its incorporation into envisioned CR.

59:58

And with that, I'll pass it back to the mayor.

1:00:00

Noah Zecker, thank you.

1:00:02

Apologies for mispronouncing your name.

1:00:05

Council.

1:00:06

Councilman Rory.

1:00:07

Thanks, Mayor.

1:00:08

Um, can we go back uh I think to the renderings?

1:00:12

Perfect, right there.

1:00:14

I really appreciate this because uh first off, you've always done uh a really lovely job, Noah, of visualizing this.

1:00:22

Um I think this is such a uh a grand investment.

1:00:26

I mean, there is such a reimagining of this area that this really helps to tell that story.

1:00:32

Um we know that First Avenue is a major thoroughfare here in City Rapids.

1:00:37

That's not going to change at all with any of these plans.

1:00:39

But I think bringing it up to speed about what it could be and making it safer for pedestrians, which are so abundant there, um, is a huge intent on this.

1:00:48

And I really appreciate that uh imagining of wider sidewalks.

1:00:53

Uh it looks like there is uh intent here to have uh perhaps protected bike lanes as well, um, or or something about that of knowing that people may be navigating that area like that.

1:01:04

Um anybody who has ever watched people cross uh you know to to what was the high V there, um it it's kind of harrowing to do that.

1:01:14

There it's too quick, too busy, uh too difficult, especially if you're lugging groceries across to get across in one light.

1:01:22

Um, and so having those medians, uh having bringing trees back into that area where it there just is not a lot of vegetation there, let alone it being as robust as this is going to be really important with helping people feel like it is a neighborhood and not just kind of the edge of town, uh, as it kind of feels like right now.

1:01:39

Um, and certainly appreciate um all the intention.

1:01:43

I know you guys went took great care to reach out to neighbors, but to council member Todd's uh earlier point, sometimes uh it does feel like there are people who I'm aware of don't even live in Wellington Heights and in this area who are kind of dominating the conversation.

1:01:59

It gets really distracting to invest in the neighbors that this predominantly impacts.

1:02:04

And so doing that with people who are adjacent to this, who are most going to be uh involved in in the impact that this makes uh is just greatly appreciated by by me and by the residents.

1:02:17

Um so thank you.

1:02:19

Councilmember Todd.

1:02:22

Thank you, Mayor.

1:02:23

Noah, thank you.

1:02:25

Noah has handled this project, uh, spearheaded it.

1:02:32

And uh there's been some discussions that probably haven't maybe not been embraced by you, but uh by by some of the residents, that's what I mean.

1:02:45

But uh one of the constances is that you know this neighborhood has experienced change over all these years, and the reality is that we have to do something.

1:02:56

There's no way around it.

1:02:57

If we don't do something, it's just gonna continue to present itself as a blighted strip of disinvestment, you know, near the heart of our city.

1:03:10

And so the time the timeliness of this is great because uh today we presented we've got improvements at the lake, significant capital improvement project there.

1:03:24

We did the Wellington Heights neighborhood index.

1:03:27

We're building community there.

1:03:29

Here, one of the biggest challenges we come across, especially when recruiting business, they say, what's the plan?

1:03:38

It's a plan for this neighborhood.

1:03:40

And to be quite honest, we haven't had a plan.

1:03:43

We've had a plan for New Bo, Czech Village, Time Check, you know, we've had a plans for every place else but this.

1:03:53

This is a nice plan.

1:03:56

And I expect three, four years from now, the city would be winning an Urban Land Institute award for uh the way you've you've been able to put this together with significant community input and buy-in.

1:04:14

Notice no one's here at the meeting today telling us we shouldn't do this.

1:04:19

And uh it is incredibly important to institutions like Co.

1:04:24

and others, but then at the same time, it builds on the framework of what you've done already over there.

1:04:32

The Heights Project won an award right there not too long ago.

1:04:38

And uh there you've got the medical district and Bruce Moore.

1:04:44

How do you clean up this area between those two entities institutions?

1:04:48

It's real doable if you had a plan and you make a commitment to get it done.

1:04:54

And I think as a council, uh, I think it's time for us to get this thing done.

1:05:00

So thank you, Noah.

1:05:02

Thank you so much.

1:05:03

And I I know I already used the word before, but master class and how to do things.

1:05:07

Can you just go back to show us how the public can currently engage in real time?

1:05:13

Um, this is on our city's website, folks.

1:05:15

So any questions about this?

1:05:16

You want to see a see it, you want to get excited about it, you got ideas about it.

1:05:21

Um, I'm so proud of the city team for embracing technology in this way in multiple ways on our website.

1:05:26

But this is just one example, and I firmly believe that that area is as cool.

1:05:31

That plan is as cool as it is because you did ask the people who are directly affected.

1:05:37

So gratitude, thank you.

1:05:39

If there's no further questions on this, we'll go ahead and adopt this resolution by Overland, seconded by Councilmember Tyler Olson.

1:05:47

All those in favor say aye.

1:05:48

Aye, those opposed saying no.

1:05:50

And that motion carries.

1:05:52

29 is a presentation and resolution accepting a proposal from the parkline LLC, which is an entity of Chad Pelley and Tyler Oswood for the redevelopment of three city owned properties.

1:06:02

It's 604, 614, and 620 I Avenue Northwest.

1:06:06

Jeff Wosencraft is here.

1:06:07

Jeff, I'll recognize you.

1:06:09

Thank you, Mayor.

1:06:09

Jeff Wosencraft Community Development.

1:06:11

Uh, as stated, this is a resolution to award a proposal for those three parcels in question.

1:06:16

Um, so a little background on the parcels.

1:06:19

There are three, uh just over a half acre in total area, currently vacant lots that were all acquired post-flood of 2008.

1:06:27

It's a mix of zoning between our urban village general, which allows for small scale mixed use development and urban neighborhood residential, which allows for small scale multi-unit residential.

1:06:37

Uh, all of them are located in the hundred year floodplain and would need to comply with our floodplain ordinance.

1:06:42

Um here are the parcels in question.

1:06:45

Uh I Avenue running along the bottom of the image, Ellis along the left side.

1:06:51

Um, reminder on the request for proposal objectives, alignment with the Northwest Neighborhood Action Plan.

1:06:57

Um, here is a snippet from that plan of transforming Ellis into a little bit higher intensity residential development and the parcels in question circled here.

1:07:08

Um, a preference for housing, um, calling again for higher intensity development along Ellis Boulevard, um, design that meets our urban form uh zone district and uh development that's financially feasible.

1:07:22

Um, so the city received one proposal um and recommending the proposal submitted by the Parkland LLC, um, the entity um comprised of Chad Pelle and Tyler Oswood.

1:07:33

Um, this is amendment of a previous proposal for the north half of the block, um, and in total would be 40 units of a residential project that include a mix of different types of housing.

1:07:45

Um, this portion in specific is three townhomes and one single family home.

1:07:51

Um, and so here's a a rendering of the town home side and the single family side would be similar.

1:07:57

Um, I've highlighted the area included in this proposal on the right side of this slide.

1:08:03

Um, and the previous proposal that was awarded by council is up on the northern half of that block bounded by J Avenue.

1:08:13

And so the review, um, as with all of our dispositions, it's reviewed by staff and the stakeholder review group that include a non-competing developer, neighborhood representative, and commercial lender to provide feedback on the proposal.

1:08:25

Um, the review group provided a unanimous recommendation to award the proposal, including comments such as um the fit with the neighborhood and like the style uh of the proposed project, um, and particularly like that a single family home was included.

1:08:40

Um the developer has proven capacity for these types of projects and uh just a general excitement for the redevelopment or continued redevelopment of the Ellis Boulevard corridor.

1:08:51

Uh with that staff would recommend approval of the resolution to award the proposal by the park lc and authorize staff to negotiate a development agreement.

1:08:59

And I'll pass it back to the mayor.

1:09:00

Thank you, Jeff.

1:09:01

Council questions.

1:09:03

All right, seeing none, uh, the adoption of this resolution has been moved by Hager, seconded by Meyer.

1:09:09

All those in favor say aye.

1:09:10

Aye.

1:09:11

Those opposed say no.

1:09:12

And the motion carries that now brings us to ordinances.

1:09:16

30 is an ordinance repealing chapter 33 of the municipal code building code and enacting in its place a new chapter 33 that adopts the 2024 edition of the International Building Code with modifications.

1:09:29

The approval of the ordinance on its second reading has been moved by uh Councilmember Scott Olson, seconded by Todd.

1:09:35

All those in favor say aye.

1:09:36

Aye, aye.

1:09:36

Those opposed say no.

1:09:38

And the motion carries.

1:09:39

Thank you, Council.

1:09:40

Councilmember Poe.

1:09:41

Thank you, Mayor.

1:09:42

I move the rule requiring three readings on three different days be suspended and the ordinance be adopted on its third and final reading.

1:09:49

Adoption of this ordinance on its third and final reading has been moved by Poe, seconded by Todd.

1:09:54

All those in favor say aye.

1:09:55

Aye.

1:09:56

Those opposed say no.

1:09:57

And the motion carries.

1:10:12

Those opposed say no.

1:10:13

And the motion carries.

1:10:15

And that will close out our formal business today, bringing us to our final input period.

1:10:20

This is a chance for Cedar Rapids residents, property owners, and business owners to address the city council on any subject pertaining to council business.

1:10:28

If you are not a resident property owner or business owner, you will not be permitted to speak.

1:10:33

But we encourage you to email or call council members and city staff with your comments.

1:10:38

As with the earlier public comment period, at this time, we are here as a council to listen.

1:10:42

I'll remind everybody to remain at the lectern.

1:10:44

Comments limited to five minutes when light turns yellow.

1:10:50

No abuse of obscene, loud, threatening, or personal comments.

1:10:53

If you've signed up to speak, please approach the microphone when called upon.

1:10:56

And we have one person signed up to speak today.

1:10:58

Rob Hogue here to speak on rail yard noise.

1:11:09

Council Rob Hogue, twenty-seven fifty Otis Road Southeast in Cedar Rapids.

1:11:21

But alas, the city sold that plan out.

1:11:26

So today, instead of having that, what we have is lots of rail noise.

1:11:31

This is Sunday afternoon.

1:12:06

And uh about an hour later, at two twenty-one PM, this was the noise at my house.

1:16:17

Mr.

1:16:18

Hog that we're eleven seconds over.

1:16:22

Thank you.

1:16:24

And that's going to close out our second public input period.

1:16:27

City Manager Tom Rance.

1:16:29

You have any No addition.

1:16:31

No additions.

1:16:31

If there's no other business to come before the council.

1:16:34

Yes.

1:16:34

Yes, Councilmember Van Orney.

1:16:36

Thank you.

1:16:36

Uh, I just want to take a point of personal privilege.

1:16:39

Uh, I know the council shares in my excitement about this, but uh, am happy to exclaim that Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School last week won their twenty-sixth consecutive state title for academic decathon, something that we should all be really proud of.

1:16:54

So what a what a streak.

1:16:55

What a thank you.

1:16:56

Way to go.

1:16:58

Way to go, Jeff.

1:16:59

Okay.

1:16:59

Thank you, Councilman Van Orney.

1:17:01

On that note, uh, City Manager Pomranch, do you have any communications today?

1:17:04

No to it.

1:17:05

All right.

1:17:05

If there's no other further business to come before council, Councilmember Tyler Olson moves to adjourn, seconded by Councilmember Overland.

1:17:11

All those in favor say aye.

1:17:13

Aye.

1:17:13

Those opposed say no.

1:17:14

And the motion carries we are adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Community Engagement███████████████████████████████31%
Engineering And Infrastructure███████████████████████23%
Procedural███████████████████19%
Economic Development███████████11%
Public Transit███████7%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Public Engagement██2%
Water And Wastewater Management██2%
Environmental Protection1%
Summary of Proceedings

Cedar Rapids City Council Meeting – March 10, 2026

The Cedar Rapids City Council met on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, with Mayor pro tempore Ann Poe presiding, along with Councilmembers Scott Olson, Todd, Van Orney, Poe, Overland, Hager, Meyer, and Tyler Olson. The meeting included proclamations, a presentation on the Wellington Heights Flourishing Neighborhood Index, seven public hearings, approval of the consent agenda, regular agenda items including bids and redevelopment plans, an ordinance adoption, and public comment.

Proclamations

  • 319 Local Day (March 19): Councilmember Ann Poe read a proclamation recognizing March 19, 2026, as "Buy 319 Local Day" to encourage residents to support locally owned businesses.
  • Transit Employee Appreciation Day (March 18): Councilmember Scott Olson read a proclamation recognizing March 18, 2026, as Transit Employee Appreciation Day, honoring public transit employees for their service.

Presentation: Wellington Heights Flourishing Neighborhood Index

  • Presenters: Pastor Keon Carter and Stephanie Carter of Wellington Heights Community Church, introduced by Jeff Wolzencraft (City Community Development).
  • The Flourishing Neighborhood Index (FNI) is a comprehensive assessment launched in 2023, involving a parcel survey and neighbor surveys. Surveyors and participants were compensated.
  • Key Statistics:
    • 1,800 parcels, approximately 5,000 residents.
    • 204 surveys completed (14% of households), covering age, race, socioeconomic status, rental/homeowner status, and gender.
    • 53% of surveyed residents earn less than $30,000 per year; 31% have lived in the neighborhood for more than 10 years; 49% are renters; 51% are female.
    • Surveys included 13 open-ended questions and covered social, structural, and economic indicators.
    • Neighborhood graded on a scale of 1–5: fragile (1–2.4), straining (2.5–3.4), striving (3.5–4.2), flourishing (4.2–5). Wellington Heights overall score: 3.35 (straining, meaning under pressure with mixed responses).
  • Key Findings:
    • Social cohesion: Lack of community gathering spaces, disconnection from leadership, strong pride in neighborhood.
    • Structural integrity: Unease about crime, mixed views on police engagement, need for lighting, sidewalks, and green spaces.
    • Economic vitality: Major concern about lack of grocery access (following closure of Hy-Vee).
  • Three Priorities: 1) Community spaces, 2) Security, lighting, and sidewalks, 3) Grocery access.
  • Next Steps: Activation teams are forming to co-create solutions for each priority, with a multi-sector response. The process is ongoing and encourages creativity (e.g., not just a new grocery store but improving access to existing options).
  • Councilmembers praised the effort, noting the historical redlining in the area, the importance of listening to residents, and the value of the data for future decisions.

Public Hearings

Seven public hearings were held. All had no oral objections from the gallery; one had a written petition (18 signatures, no objections). Each hearing was followed by a unanimous council vote to adopt the associated resolution.

  1. Annexation of Land at 80th Street and 16th Avenue SW (requested by AM LLC): Voluntary annexation of ~25 acres (two parcels) to develop to city standards. No objections. Approved.
  2. O Avenue NW Elevation / Time Check Project: Flood control levee (700 feet), street/sidewalk/shared-use path, removal of excess infrastructure. Estimated cost $3.36 million (funded by ARPA). Construction June 2026 – October 2027. Approved.
  3. Richard Drive NE and Nancy Jane Lane NE Project: Water main, storm/sanitary sewer, roadway reconstruction, new sidewalks. Estimated cost $2.56 million. Construction spring–fall 2026. Councilmember Todd noted a resident's concern about decorative bricks near a driveway but expressed support. Approved.
  4. 34th Street SE from Beaver Ave to north of Terry Drive Project: Pavement reconstruction, storm/sanitary sewer improvements, shared-use path. Estimated cost $1.94 million. First of two phases; construction 2026. Approved.
  5. Nassau Street SE from Blake Blvd to Linden Drive Reconstruction: Pavement reconstruction, sidewalk extension. Estimated cost $570,000. Councilmember Meyer noted the street was one of the worst and that the city's paving plan ensures no preferential treatment. Approved.
  6. Cedar Lake Amenities – Shaver Road NE Roadway Improvements: Cul-de-sac, additional parking, trail connection. Estimated cost $1.05 million. Construction May–September 2026. Approved.
  7. FY26 Sidewalk Repair Project: Citywide repair of damaged/misaligned panels at 110 properties. Estimated cost $98,000. Property owners can receive partial reimbursement for self-repairs; financial assistance available for low-income owner-occupied homes. Approved.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved unanimously (moved by Todd, seconded by Van Orney).

Regular Agenda Items

  • Report on Bids – Sludge Storage Area at WPC: Five bids received; engineer’s estimate $480,000. Lowest bid $372,499.54. Staff to evaluate and return with recommendation.
  • Report on Bids – South Hoosier Lift Station and Force Main: Estimated cost $4.5 million. Two lowest bidders rescinded; staff evaluating.
  • Report on Bids – Mount Vernon Road SE (20th to 26th St): Project awarded to Chick-fry Excavating (lowest of four bids: $6,572,278.77) with an engineer’s estimate of $7.19 million. Approved unanimously.
  • Adoption of First Avenue East Corridor Redevelopment Plan: Presented by Noah Zecker (Community Development). The plan updates the 2025 microarea action plan, providing a redevelopment vision for the corridor (Co Road to 17th St). Includes mixed-use, missing middle housing, streetscape improvements. Approved unanimously. Councilmembers praised the plan and community engagement.
  • Acceptance of Proposal for Redevelopment of 604, 614, 620 I Ave NW: Presented by Jeff Wolzencraft. Proposal from Parkline LLC (Chad Pelley and Tyler Oswood) for three vacant lots post-flood. Includes 3 townhomes and 1 single-family home (40 units total in the broader project). Staff and stakeholder review group recommended approval. Approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance – Repeal of Chapter 33 (Building Code) and Adoption of 2024 International Building Code with Modifications: Second reading approved; then motion to suspend three readings and adopt on third reading (moved by Poe, seconded by Todd). Approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Rob Hogue (27 Otis Road SE) spoke on rail yard noise, playing an audio recording of noise from Sunday afternoon. He noted the city had sold the plan out. He was allowed to speak but ran over the five-minute limit (11 seconds over). No other speakers signed up.

Key Outcomes

  • All public hearing resolutions and regular agenda items passed unanimously (with voice votes; no recorded dissents).
  • The Flourishing Neighborhood Index for Wellington Heights will continue with activation teams focusing on community spaces, security/lighting/sidewalks, and grocery access.
  • The First Avenue East Corridor Redevelopment Plan was adopted as an amendment to the microarea action plan.
  • The city moved forward with infrastructure projects, a building code update, and a small residential redevelopment in the Northwest neighborhood.
  • Councilmember Van Orney noted that Jefferson High School won its 26th consecutive state academic decathlon title.
  • City Manager Pomranz had no additional communications. Meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting of the Cedar Rapids City Council will come to order. Welcome everybody to the Cedar Rapids City Council meeting for Tuesday, March 10th, 2026. I'd like to welcome our city manager, our city attorney, and our city clerk, and as always, thanks to city staff for being here and willing to talk with residents should they have questions. A reminder for those of you here to turn off any cell phones or electronic devices that might distract us from our proceedings. And note that all of our council meeting agendas, minutes, and videos are available on our city's website. Regular sessions are also available to watch live on Facebook through Facebook live. We'll begin now with our invocation by public safety chaplain Austin Spooner. He will do that, followed immediately by our Pledge of Allegiance. So thank you, City Council. Let us pray. God, we thank you for the leadership we have in the city, and we ask that you give them the knowledge and wisdom they need each day as they serve this community. God, I ask that you guide the conversations and decisions that we made today and in the future. Thank you for the opportunity we have to gather today, and I pray that you bless this meeting. We ask these things in your name. Amen. All right, I'd like to invite those of you who are here for our first proclamation by 319 local day to join us here at the dais. Councilmember Ann Poe will read that. Come on up. Hello. Proclamation of the city of Cedar Rapids, whereas locally owned small businesses are the backbone of Cedar Rapids economy, creating jobs, strengthening neighborhoods, and contributing to the vitality and character of our community. And whereas dollars spent at local businesses are more likely to remain within the Cedar Rapids region, supporting additional local jobs, public services, and continued economic growth. And whereas these businesses provide essential goods, services, and gathering spaces that enhance the quality of life in Cedar Rapids. And whereas the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance promotes initiatives such as Buy 319 to encourage residents and businesses to invest in local economy and recognize the impact of choosing local. And whereas by 319 local day on March 19th, service as a community-wide call to support local businesses through purchasing goods and services, dining locally, engaging online, and sharing participation by using hashtag buy319. Therefore, I, Ann Poe, on behalf of Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell and the entire Cedar Rapids City Council hereby recognize March 13 as by 319 local day and encourage our residents to support and celebrate local businesses. Thank you so much. We really just encourage local residents and um really anybody to support locally, especially on March 19th. We thank you. Thank you. And next up we have a Transcend Employee Appreciation Day. My colleague Scott Olsen will read that. And if you're here, oh good, come on down. Welcome. Good to see you. Whereas public transportation is a vital component of the city of Cedar Rapids, providing safe, reliable, and affordable mobility options that connect residents to their jobs, education, health care, and essential services. And whereas transit employees, including bus operators, mechanics, service workers, operational clerks, and administrative staff work tirelessly to ensure that our transit system operates efficiently and safely every day. And whereas these dedicated professionals often work early mornings, late nights, weekends, and holidays, demonstrating commitment and resilience in all weather conditions to keep our community moving. And whereas National Transit Employee Appreciation Day provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate their hard work, professionalism, and service of those who make public transportation possible. And whereas the City of Cedar Apics acknowledges that the efforts of transit employees contribute significantly to the economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and overall quality of life in this great community. Now, therefore, I, Scott Olson, on behalf of Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell and the entire city council do hereby recognize March 18th, 2026 as transit employee appreciation day, and encourage our residents to recognize transit employees for all their great work. So congratulations. Thank you very much. We are very excited about this proclamation. So we appreciate and so very grateful for this opportunity to recognize our transit employees and their continued service. Thank you to City Manager, our council members and great mayor for supporting this proclamation, and we're excited to continue forward, continue to improve transit. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next up, our presentation today is on the flourishing neighborhood index in Wellington Heights. Jeff Wolzencraft is here along with Stephanie and Keon Carter, who led this charge. Friends, I'll recognize you.

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