The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page A4

Page 4A Des Moines Register Anderson said residential plans grew from 60 to 81market-rate a partments units since the initial proposal. The latest plans also eliminated a larger public parking garage that was originally planned. Plans now include a two-story garage with about 200 pots for residents and Hy-Vee customers and employees. Some of the pots will likely be open to the public in the evening. The grocery store with a Market Grill restaurant will employee about 100 people, according to city ocuments.

The only spark of opposition at the Monday meeting came from at- large Councilman Skip Moore, who voted against the preliminary proposal from Hy-Vee early last ear. Moore voted in favor of the item Monday, but said still disagrees with the proposal process that prompted his no vote last ear. He asked Anderson why the Hy-Vee-Knapp roject was recommended to the City Council from among five project proposals from different developers. Moore said all five concepts should have been presented to the council with a ranking de- ermined by city staff. feeling other people are receiving is that have staff directing council what to do instead of council directing Moore said.

Anderson said the City Council had access to all ive concepts submitted to the city for the property at 420 Court Ave. Hy-Vee and concept was selected after a thorough process, he said. created a staff team to review those, and made a recommenda- tion to you based on what we thought was the most iable project, economically, from a market A nderson worked as vice president of asset management for Knapp roperties in 2011and 2012 between an eight- year stint as Des economic development administrator and his current role as assistant city manager. Hy-Vee representative eter Hosch said the downtown store, a first for the company, is a developing concept that started many years ago but gained traction in the past five. always been receptive to the idea, just having the critical mass from a residential perspective to have it make said Hosch, group vice president of Hy-Vee store development.

With a little less than 10,000 downtown Des oines residents, the initial success will epend on vehicle traffic. still going to have be a facility utilized by the commuter traffic downtown, until ore density takes Horsch said. Since the an- ouncement, parking concerns have been a key talking point for some who publicly opposed the project. City staff said the issue is primarily an educational one for the public, with a ccess and plenty of space in nearby parking garages, some regularly at 25 percent capacity. Fifth and Walnut garage and the Science Center garage are severely Anderson said, noting that additional signs for traffic may be needed.

have parking assets that are sitting idle at peak Construction is expected to begin on the Hy-Vee- Knapp site in early spring or a tentative opening in spring of 2016. HY-VEE Continued from Page 3A row two-seat majority, leaders described a far ore expansive agenda, calling for more education funding and a higher minimum wage, among other priorities. Education appears likely to be an early flash- point in the session. Branstad will offer a proposal for additional K-12 school aid funding at his Condition of the State address, and Democrats are already girding for disappointment. In his speech to the chamber on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, offered a response directly to the governor.

funding is not, and should never be, primarily about partisan politics he said, a dding: the people you should be most oncerned about disappointing are pare nts, teachers, school administrators, school boards and community leaders. Governor, you eed to focus on the Iowa families for whom the oors to the local school are the doorways to a better life for their Even as they issued artisan warnings, hough, both sides voiced a commitment to cooperation. need to work with each Paulsen told his chamber. anting and drawing lines i the sand accomplishes ery little. We must not be afraid to work with people with whom we Senate President Pam ochum, D-Dubuque, an- ounced an in her speech to lawmakers.

state senators, we have a responsibility to ead honorably with our words and our he said. leaders we have a duty to set an example on how to solve problems in spite of our The Senate convened onday and seated all 50 of its members. Gronstal emained the majority leader, and Jochum was re-elected Senate presi- ent. Sen. Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, returned as the leader of the Republican inority.

In the House, 98 mem- ers took the oath of of- fice Monday. John Kooiker, R-Boyden, will be sworn in Tuesday, a nd a special election likely will be held next month fill the vacancy left by Mark election to the state Senate. The session is sched- led to last through May 1, when per iem payments expire. OPEN Continued from Page 3A FIRST DAY MARKED BY LIGHTER MOMENTS Beyond the speeches and the procedural steps necessary to convene a new session of lawmaking and budget-writing were the colorful moments expect in a day not unlike the first day of school. The Senate warmly welcomed back Sen.

Joe Seng, D-Davenport, who underwent successful surgery last fall to remove a brain tumor. He received a standing ovation. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, underscoring his tone of sharp- edged comity, set out Godiva chocolates for his Senate colleagues but warned them not to expect subsequent sweets. The Godiva just happened to be on sale at Target, he said. The House held its biennial desk derby Monday afternoon, reassigning seating in the chamber on the basis of seniority.

Long-serving incumbents like Dennis Cohoon, D-Burlington, and Jack Drake, R-Griswold, held onto plum spots on easily accessible exit rows, while newly elected members like Zach Nunn, R-Bondurant, and Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, were left with middle-of-the-chamber eats that will leave them climbing over clerks and briefcases for the next two years. Lawmakers from both the House and Senate also crowded into the House chambers Monday afternoon to perform the official canvass of last gubernatorial election. The in- ricate process involved the chief clerk of the House opening sealed envelopes containing vote totals from all 99 Iowa counties and handing them over to six specially appointed lawmakers who then read the figures to three tabulators with old-fashioned calculators at a table a few eet from the House dais. The process went on for perhaps 30 minutes, and ended with the same result reported on election night: Branstad was elected to a sixth term. Noble RODNEY REGISTER Rep.

Kraig Paulsen, center, is escorted to the podium to be sworn in as speaker of the House during the opening session of the Iowa Legislature on Monday. COMING THIS WEEK: IOWA CAUCUSES APP The Des Moines Register 2016 Iowa Caucuses app will be aunching this week and you can be among the first to get it. Sign up for the Iowa Caucuses Insider email newsletter, and send you an email as soon as the iPhone and iPad app is a vailable. (Android version coming soon.) The app is free, and get the following with your Register subscription: The latest news. See coverage of candidate visits, photos their appearances and video of their speeches, including live coverage of the Iowa Freedom Summit on Jan.

24. Event calendar and candidate tracker. Find out about vents scheduled by potential candidates in Iowa, as well as how many times each has visited and where. Twitter feed. Follow all the news about the Iowa caucuses i one spot.

Candidate bios. who? Learn about the backgrounds and views of potential candidates. Sign up for the alert and the latest caucus news from the Register at DesMoinesRegister.com/Newsletters. At a breakfast kicking off the new legislative session, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad had a few things say about national poli- ics.

peaking to a group of a bout 150 Republican officeholders, political staffers and lobbyists, the newly re-elected GOP governor called for party unity in the upcoming presidential contest a nd tossed a few barbs a Demo- rats from Des Moines to D.C. I look forward to 2016, I think the Demo- crats may be making the same mistake for president they made (in Iowa) for senator, for governor and for Congress in the 3rd Branstad said. going to clear he field for Hillary Clint on, another flawed candid ate, just like Braley was a flawed candidate, just like Hatch was flawed candidate, just like her already forgotten it just like Appel was a flawed Those were references, of course, to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Braley, guber- atorial candidate Jack atch and 3rd District andidate Staci Appel, all whom entered last general election without a primary challenge and all of whom lost in the 2014 GOP wave. Branstad was also stern with the Republicans in the room, though, insisting that they put aside intraparty divisions once a presidential nomi- ee is selected in 2016.

We Republicans are oing to have a wide open a nd a very talented field of he said. a lesson for us, though. Instead of attack- ing each other we need to focus on restoring He went on, in Iowa have a unique opportunity as we look forward to 2016 to work together, egardless of who our irst choice might be, to nite behind and support a epublican that can win back the White House and restore respect and fiscal integrity in this Branstad forgets name while insulting her By Jason Noble Terry Branstad.