04/30/1986 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. e e She said a present policy which indicates that the City will recover less from residential applications than from non-residential applications was initiated when the City was encouraging residential development. Now, the City wants to encourage commercial and industrial development as well. The Mayor and several councilors asked for additional information. Mayor Obie said he would like a cost justification for the increased fees. Ms. Bascom said she would like information about the kind of residential conditional use applications the City receives and additional information about the $625 conditional use fee for child care facilities. Mr. Hansen said he would like to know how many applications in each category were received last year. Ms. Wooten said she would like information about the staff time involved in residential and non-residential site review applications. Ms. Ehrman said she would like a staff recommendation about an exemption from the fee for an appeal for people with low incomes. II. REPORT ON LANE COUNTY JAIL Mayor Obie welcomed Lane County Commissioners John Ball and Jerry Rust and Lane County Administrator Jim Johnson. Mayor Obie introduced Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson said the old jail was pur- chased by the City for use as a maintenance shop in 1936. It was converted to a jail in 1952 and Lane County took over its operation in 1980. He said the voters turned down a County $12 million bond issue which would have provided a five-floor jail, and then passed a $9 million County bond issue to provide a two-floor jail in 1976. A third floor was added in 1978. He said 243 beds were available in the new jail, but jails should operate at only 85 percent capacity. Mr. Johnson said the peak population was 254 when the new jail was completed in 1979 and so the old jail was kept. He said the average jail population has increased because felony charges filed by the District Attorney have increased and because judges have been sending people to the County jails as a result of the lack of secure beds in the State prison system. Larry Sa1mony, Lane County Criminal Justice Coordinator, said that Lane County officials proceeded quickly when they received a complaint from two inmates about unsanitary and unhealthy conditions in the old jail. He said the quick action was to avoid long, costly procedures and control problems. County officials gave notice that the old jail would be closed in 30 days. They asked for a population ceiling of 207 for the new jail and a court-sanctioned release program. He said consultants indicated that the County's liability would increase greatly once it was notified of the unsanitary and unhealthy conditions in the old jail and that crowding would result in the new jail if a ceiling was not imposed. A crowded situation would have resulted in court action. Answering a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Johnson said the conditions in the old jail were definitely unsanitary and unhealthy. Mr. Salmony discussed jail crises in other counties which resulted in great expense for the communities. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 30, 1986 Page 3