City Council Work Session

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Cedar Falls Duke Young Conference Room March 4, 2019 The City Council held a special work session in the Duke Young Conference room at 4:55 p.m. on March 4, 2019, with the following persons in attendance: Mayor Jim Brown, Tom Blanford, Susan deBuhr, Rob Green, Daryl Kruse (via telephone), and Mark Miller. David Wieland was absent. Staff members attended from all City Departments. Tom Nelson with the Waterloo Courier attended. Mayor Brown then introduced the first item on the agenda, Event Insurance. City Attorney Kevin Rogers reviewed a PowerPoint presentation to review the City’s process for special events held on City property. He reviewed how the City regulates this through the current ordinances and Risk Management policies. He reviewed the current practice for various types of events. Mr. Rogers stated there are challenges with the current practice, including fire code, requirement for a permit and necessary language updates to the ordinances and Risk Management policies. He stated he did reach out to other cities on how they handle these types of events. He stated there are various levels of insurance requirements. Mr. Rogers stated the process should be streamlined to simplify the process; with one point of contact at the city and one application which should include all the necessary questions. Mr. Rogers reviewed the staff recommendations: (1) Amend Section 23-3 of the Code of Ordinances to conform to Council’s desired regulation; (2) Direct staff to develop special event/street closure permit application form which will include various questions; (3) Publicize the new requirements once they are adopted; and (4) Enforcement of the new requirements to reserve discretion to issue citation to repeat offenders who violate the policy. A brief discussion was held and the council was in consensus with the staff recommendations. Mayor Brown introduced the second item on the agenda E-Bikes. Mark Ripplinger Director of Municipal Operations & Programs stated there are currently no motorized vehicles allowed on the recreation trails. He explained how the State Code defines three classes of motorized bikes and stated they are different than a moped. Mr. Ripplinger stated city staff and Risk Management Committee recommends allowing Class I E-bikes to use the trail system. He stated the Park & Recreation Commission review the three classes and recommends allowing Class I and Class II and the Bike Pedestrian Committee recommends all three classes be allowed. Roger White with the Bike & Pedestrian Committee stated it is hard to tell the difference in the three types of E-bikes other than with speed. He stated both the City of Hudson and Waterloo are reviewing their ordinances. After a brief discussion the council consensus was to allow Class I, Class II and Class III E-bikes. There being no further discussion, Rob Green motioned to adjourn the work session, Frank Darrah seconded the motion, and the motion carried unanimously. Mayor Brown adjourned the meeting at 6:20 p.m. Minutes by Lisa Roeding, Controller/City Treasurer