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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 06/25/07 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall June 25, 2007 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mayor Piercy announced that the item regarding the application of eminent domain to properties in the south hills scheduled for later in the evening had been removed from the agenda but would be rescheduled on July 9, 2007. She thought more time was needed to analyze the ordinance. Mayor Piercy thanked those participating in the recent Willamette River clean-up. Mayor Piercy announced a Mayor’s One-on-One at Jerry’s Home Improvement Center the following day, at which Ms. Solomon would be in attendance. Mayor Piercy announced the first West Broadway Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 27. Mr. Zelenka arrived at the meeting. Mr. Pryor reported that the West Eugene Collaborative had divided into two subcommittees, one focused on the Lane Transit District study of the West Eugene transportation corridor and another to talk about broader transportation issues. He had high hopes for the process. The subcommittees were currently talking about their interface with the elected officials. Ms. Taylor asked if the City would cease the Clean Water Act violations pointed out by the RiverWatch Group. Mr. Zelenka asked what violations she was referring to. Ms. Taylor said she was referring to the violations that generated the lawsuit. Ms. Taylor said the Planning Commission commented on plan amendments for the Urban Renewal Agency Plan but the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) for the item did not say what those comments were. Ms. Taylor wanted to know what the City would have to pay for the Golden Gardens property. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 1 Work Session Ms. Taylor referred to the Crest Drive context-sensitive design open house and said it was very well- attended. She was unsure the residents would be happy with the eventual outcome, and noted their hopes for more flexibility. Ms. Taylor said the Old Pad Tavern was located directly adjacent to some houses, and the smoking deck of the establishment bothered residents of the neighborhood. She suggested the code be changed if the situation was found to be legal. She said that residents also heard noise from the tavern late at night. She did not think the residents would be satisfied by mediation. Ms. Taylor said that people parking at the Farmers Market received tickets early in the morning and in one case, when they still had time on the meter. She asked why that was the case. Ms. Taylor noted her attendance at the recent International Making Cities Livable Conference. She said the importance of public spaces was discussed in several venues, and farmers markets were frequently mentioned as important. th Ms. Bettman said she also received a ticket in the 5 Street Public Market area when she still had time left on the meter. She said that practice must cease. She requested more information about what had been done to make sure the Parking Section did not continue the practice. Mr. Poling said the Police Commission held a joint meeting with the Civilian Review Board, which he termed worthwhile. Mr. Poling announced an upcoming Use of Force/Taser Policy Committee public forum on June 28. Mr. Poling spoke to the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) settlement with the RiverWatch Group, saying the commission continued to believe it was operating within federal and state guidelines. The settlement was a means to settle the suit at a lower cost to ratepayers. The settlement included a payment to the Long Tom Watershed Council for a restoration project, so some good was coming from the lawsuit. He noted that the MWMC’s 20-year master plan addressed the problems that could occur in the future. He pointed out that lawsuit, when initially brought to the council’s attention, was filed by someone who did not even live in Lane County or have a local partner, and the allegations were merely that, allegations. Mr. Poling said the MWMC was very busy and working to get some important projects started. The commission voted to hold a public hearing on July 19 at the Springfield Library Meeting Room regarding the design/build construction approach to one upcoming project Mr. Poling commended the turnout for Water Safety Day on June 23. Mr. Poling said he received an e-mail from Jozef Siekiel-Zdzienicki and the Residents for Responsible Rapid Transit (3RT), which stated that Lane Transit District (LTD) had indicated to the group that the City only th gave LTD direction to study transportation issues in the West 11 Avenue corridor. He asked how that could be cleared up. City Manager Dennis Taylor indicated he would follow up with LTD and provide the council with a memorandum as he also recalled that the council had discussed a broader corridor style study. Ms. Solomon agreed there was confusion as to what was to be studied by LTD. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Solomon recognized the Oregon State University baseball team for its recent College World Series victory and said that she, along with 200 other Beaver fans, had welcomed the team home earlier that afternoon. Ms. Solomon noted the upcoming One-on-One event in her ward on June 26 and invited residents to attend. Ms. Solomon reported the Active Bethel Citizens neighborhood organization was being reactivated and would meet on June 27 at Petersen Barn. City Manager Taylor noted the upcoming countdown to the 2008 Olympic Trials at Fifth Street Public Market on June 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mr. Clark said he attended the recent Human Rights Commission (HRC) meeting and the commission welcomed Mary Otten as its newest commissioner. The chair of the Police Commission requested the HRC’s assistance in encouraging public input at the upcoming public forum. He said that some Police Commission members had felt somewhat insulted by the remarks of Human Rights Commissioners and were considering their options. Staff was working to mitigate the conflict. He anticipated further discussion. Mr. Clark said the HRC wished to convey its desire to the council that the City establish a homeless facility that was non-religious in nature. He indicated he was not sure he agreed with that position. Mr. Clark expressed appreciation to Mayor Piercy for her remarks at the recent river clean-up. He had enjoyed the time he spent in a boat with Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) Commissioner John Brown, and was astonished by the things pulled out of the river. There were dozens of campsites along the river. He asked if the City’s illegal camping ordinance was enforced on a complaint basis or if regular enforcement occurred. City Manager Taylor indicated enforcement was both complaint-based and occurred through active enforcement as the City regularly addressed illegal camping on the riverfront. The City responded to complaints working with a social service network to help find homeless people better places to live. Mr. Clark said he had spoken to Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken about the subject of illegal camping and its impact on the river, and they had discussed the potential of working cooperatively. He indicated he would request a work session on the issue. Mr. Clark thanked staff for its work on Water Safety Day. He said it was a great event. Mr. Zelenka said the MWMC settlement was fortunate because it cut the City’s losses, but unfortunate in another way in that it rewarded such lawsuits. He clarified, for the benefit of the public, there were no outflows going to Amazon Creek from the MWMC system as had been erroneously stated in some arenas, and suggested that was a reason the plaintiffs were ready to settle. Mr. Zelenka reported on a recent event of discrimination against a local African American Eugene family. He said it was unfortunate the community still contained such ignorant people and he wanted to make it clear it should not be tolerated in the community. He said it highlighted the importance of the council’s goal related to race. He hoped the council joined him in condemning that action. Ms. Ortiz thanked Mr. Zelenka for his remarks. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Ortiz commended the Oregon State University baseball team for its College World Series victory. Ms. Ortiz said she had listened to “Hip Hop Hope” and thanked Craig Smith and his staff for their work with the City. Ms. Ortiz said she also heard about the joint meeting between the HRC and Police Commission through her role as the council liaison to the Police Commission. She encouraged staff to establish a “boot camp” or orientation for newly appointed board and commission members that touched on their roles and the legalities of their position. She said it was not okay to be disrespectful. Ms. Ortiz reported that she had attended the recent Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County awards dinner, and the Country Fair had received the organization’s Destination Award. Ms. Taylor continued her report on the International Making Cities Livable Conference, saying former Portland Mayor Vera Katz and current Portland Mayor Tom Potter received recognition for the transporta- tion system and open space downtown. Oregon Representative Earl Blumenthauer received recognition for his work on climate change. She noted that mixed uses in public spaces and accessibility by all income groups and ages to such spaces were also a topic of discussion. An emphasis was placed by participants on restoration and rehabilitation of space. Other discussion topics included the importance of local foods sources as well as keeping farm lands near cities and open spaces in downtown. 2. WORK SESSION: City Council Goal – Update on Homeless Initiative City Manager Taylor introduced the item, noting it was a continuing council goal for which much had been accomplished. Assistant City Manager Angel Jones and Community Development Director Richie Weinman were present for the item. Mr. Weinman requested approval of the proposed action plan. He said that the City had commenced with Phase 2 of its current plan. He spoke to the past year’s accomplishments, noting the Board of County Commission’s approval of the “Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness,” but said without funding, the goals were hollow. There were many potential sources for funding, and staff had worked hard to get funding from the State. The bill that would provide funding had failed to garner enough support to pass earlier that day but he anticipated it would be reintroduced. Mr. Weinman also spoke of the February 2007 Project Homeless Connect, which served more than 1,000 people and produced both long- and short-term benefits in the form of housing vouchers, LTD passes, and renewed connections between those who could be served and those who served them, such as homeless veterans and the Veterans Administration. Mr. Weinman emphasized the significance of the prevention funding provided by the City of Eugene, which in some cases was life-altering by ensuring that people did not become homeless. Mr. Weinman noted three next steps: 1) completion of the work of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Homelessness, 2) planning for the 2008 Project Homeless Connect, to occur on February 7, 2008; and 3) monitoring the value of the City’s special budget allocations. He invited questions. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 4 Work Session Mayor Piercy said a significant benefit of Project Homeless Connect was the way it let the service providers know how they interfaced, a benefit that endured past the event. She said there was more work to be done, but she thought the council needed to acknowledge the effort that had been made. Mayor Piercy referred to page 9 of the AIS and the reference to the camping program, and suggested that there were not many new camping spaces. Mr. Weinman agreed. He said that different churches and businesses continued to provide spaces, but public spaces were being lost for a variety of reasons. It was both critical and challenging to replace those spaces. He termed the spaces a community “safety valve.” Ms. Ortiz commended the membership of the blue ribbon committee. She was glad to hear the Project Homeless Connect event would reoccur. Ms. Ortiz spoke to the HRC request that the City consider establishing a non-religious shelter. She thought that would be a nice thing to do but feared the cost would be prohibitive. She thought the City could attain related goals through its partnerships with nonprofit providers. Mr. Pryor thanked Mr. Weinman and City staff for the hard work they had done. He emphasized the importance of partnerships to the Human Services Commission, of which he was a member. He thought the work being done by Mr. Weinman and Pearl Wolfe of Lane County was succeeding because of that partnership and was pleased to see how well the two jurisdictions were working together. Mr. Pryor thought the one-night census of the homeless population was very valuable and suggested that the City keep that up as an ongoing benchmark. It helped to keep a focus on the real issues. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to adopt the homeless goal action plan, which in- cludes Project Homeless Connect, assisting the “Blue Ribbon Committee to Finance Home- lessness and Housing Programs” to develop recommendations, and continuing community education related to housing and homelessness issues. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. 3. WORK SESSION: Enhancing Metro Area Fire and Emergency Medical Services City Manager Taylor introduced Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Randy Groves, who was present to discuss a concept that would enhance the community’s safety within existing resources. Mayor Piercy acknowledged the recent loss of nine fire fighters in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the largest single-incident losses. She called for a moment of silence to honor their memory. Chief Groves thanked Mayor Piercy for her remarks. Chief Groves reviewed a staff proposal regarding the “3-Battalion Concept,” which he proposed to implement in company with the Springfield Fire Department. The concept built upon the existing aid relationship between the two cities by expanding automatic aid throughout the community. Beginning July 2, the two cities would respond to the same number of calls but with systems that were virtually identical. He emphasized that the two departments would not be subsidizing one another. He recommended the council approve the concept. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Bettman believed that the agenda topic involved a merger of services and that issue was a council policy issue. She asked if the two departments spent similar amounts on equipment and capital investments. Chief Groves said each jurisdiction was invested in its own infrastructure; Eugene spent more because it was a larger agency. The department covered a service area of about 162,000 in population; Springfield’s department covered an area of between 50,000 and 60,000. Ms. Bettman could not imagine how there could not be a cross-subsidy. She asked about per capita expenditures and how they compared. She questioned what capital investment was being made and did not think that the outlay of equipment and infrastructure could be equitable between the two agencies. She asked if the City of Eugene would be subsidizing Springfield’s response to the Peace Health’s River Bend campus. Ms. Bettman considered the issue a budget and policy issue, and requested figures that demon- strated undeniably that there was no cross-subsidy. Ms. Bettman said her concerns were exacerbated by the fact that Springfield was now able to expand its urban growth boundary without Eugene’s permission. Chief Groves said Eugene responded to more calls for service than Springfield with a larger infrastructure. In regard to the River Bend campus, he noted the two cities had commenced work on the initiative long before Peace Health planned to relocate from Eugene to Springfield. He said in terms of moving back and forth, the two departments could do that now under its mutual aid agreement, but in reality, resources flow with the call load; given Eugene’s larger call load, some might say the shift in resources was the other way. He thought it balanced out over time, but agreed to attempt to provide those numbers. City Manager Taylor said that being able to train together had been an important step, and having the same terminology for apparatus and the same standards of coverage was very important. If the City expanded to a new station, it would use the standards of cover to make that decision. Springfield was using the same methodology in regard to its standards of cover. Over time, he thought staff could share information about response times and the fiscal impact of the initiative. Ms. Ortiz said she had some concerns about the cost to Eugene, but she had asked different medics at Sacred Heart about the issue, and they provided positive feedback, particularly with regard to training. She thought that it was a good idea for the two cities to work together, as it would make the training more streamlined and ensure that training was continuous. She shared Ms. Bettman’s concern about Springfield’s choice to make its own decisions about its urban growth boundary and the impact that might have on Eugene, and hoped the chief took the council’s remarks to heart. She said the council’s constituency was the city of Eugene. Mr. Pryor said he loved the concept presented by Chief Groves because if someone was in a house burning up they would not be thinking about the jurisdiction that responded. He hoped that if someone in Eugene could be saved by a Springfield response that would occur. He trusted staff to ensure that contributions did not get “too lop-sided.” He thought the automatic aid agreement demonstrated cooperation had worked. He also agreed as to the importance of shared training. He pointed out the two agencies were still operating independently with individual budgets so he did not characterize it as a merger, which implied shared governance. Mr. Pryor said the message the chief should be hearing was the need for Eugene to spend its money wisely, as well as that Eugene was not an island. He thought it important that Eugene recognized it was part of a larger community, and it was a good thing to partner with other agencies accountably. He appreciated that the two chiefs were working to coordinate services so that nobody had to die. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 6 Work Session Mr. Clark agreed with the remarks of Mr. Pryor and thought there was great wisdom in the proposal. He said that given Springfield’s expanding tax base, Eugene might be able to take advantage of investments that community made in fire and emergency medical services response. He appreciated the chief’s willingness to work with Springfield and to increase cooperation so that people on both sides of I-5 were safer. He suggested that the concept was more efficient and likely to save money for both jurisdictions. Mr. Zelenka also liked the concept. He said that if someone’s life was in danger, it was important to have the fastest, best response possible, no matter where one lived. However, he wanted more information on the cross-subsidization question raised by Ms. Bettman. He was concerned about Springfield’s ability to pay its bills because of all the new debt he anticipated form the infrastructure it would be required to build. Mr. Zelenka asked the difference between mutual aid and the 3-Battalion concept. Chief Groves said that mutual aid was an individual request for assistance generated by an incident commander. It did not automatically happen, and that automatic response was the essence of the concept; when a call for assistance was received, the closest unit would respond. As holes began to develop in coverage because of multiple calls for service or a large, site-specific incident, the backfill began to occur, so that the web of coverage would be thinner, but there would be no holes. It took the larger amount of resources to give the two communities more depth in the emergency response. Mr. Zelenka clarified that the two cities had a joint dispatch function. He determined from Chief Groves that it was possible Springfield firefighters could be responding to calls in Eugene to cover stations that were in the process of responding to an earlier call. If that depleted the response, the departments could go to the mutual aid approach, which called out departments of surrounding jurisdictions. He termed if a very organized process that could be tracked by reference to the standards of coverage. Ms. Taylor thought cooperation was a good thing but shared Ms. Bettman’s concerns about the expansion of the Springfield UGB and the need to respond to the Peace Health campus, and further noted the recent wild fires in California, which demonstrated that building outside the city could lead to fires. She suggested that rather than build its tax base through boundary expansions, Springfield was doing too much “tax-free” staff, and observed that the Springfield council discussed shortening library hours. Ms. Taylor shared Ms. Bettman’s interest in more financial information. Mr. Poling agreed with Mr. Pryor’s remarks. He said that the topic of training was particularly important. He said that many of the incidents that occurred in the Harlow area could be more quickly reached by Springfield emergency services than by Eugene, and he agreed that people calling for help did not care who responded. People would only see the fire protection they paid for with their tax dollars. He trusted staff to track the City’s expenditures and thanked Chief Groves and Springfield Fire Chief Dennis Murphy for their work on the issue. He thought the concept was a good thing. Chief Groves gave credit to his staff and the staff of Chief Murphy for their work on the concept. Mayor Piercy thought the council was expressing legitimate support for the concept as well as legitimate concern that Eugene not bear too much of the cost. She agreed that the concept was important and a good thing but also agreed that the questions asked about the cost needed to be answered. She also thought the points raised by Ms. Bettman about the UGB and the Peace Health campus were legitimate, particularly as MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 7 Work Session they related to the expenditure of Eugene tax dollars. She believed the citizens expected the City Council to work collaboratively with other jurisdictions when possible while still looking to the bottom line. Ms. Bettman continued to maintain that the concept represented a merger of services and asked if an Intergovernmental Agreement would be signed. City Manager Taylor said no. He said the concept was not a merger of services as there would still be two separate budgets and two separate departments with a common and rational way of responding to emergencies in keeping with past practice. Ms. Bettman termed City Manager Taylor’s remarks “semantics” and repeated that the concept was a merger of services. She recommended that the concept be placed on the ballot for a vote. The citizens and council had no control over the decisions made by Springfield, and if that community failed to keep up with its investments, Eugene would have to take on that responsibility. She suggested the first thing staff should have done was to look at the numbers. Ms. Bettman perceived the concept as a major policy decision and she opposed its implemen- tation without further discussion. She maintained Eugene ratepayers subsidized wastewater infrastructure rates for Springfield, and the more Springfield grew, the more it cost Eugene. Ms. Ortiz reiterated her support for the concept. However, she was unsure that the Eugene Emergency Medical Services goals were the same as Springfield’s goals. She recalled the Broadway tree-cutting incident in 1997 where Eugene could not speak to the actions of other responding departments, and there was no accountability in a riot situation. She asserted that those departments had their own cultures and belief systems, and while she was sure they were similar, she as concerned. Chief Groves said that in his experience, the Springfield department was a professional department with high standards. He reiterated that no money was changing hands, and without experience it was difficult to gauge the impact. He said under the current arrangement, units were moving back and forth across jurisdictional boundaries, but the incentive got the two departments on the same operating page so that incident commanders know what they were getting in emergency situations. Ms. Ortiz commended the work of the fire and police departments. Mr. Zelenka thought the concept would result in an increase in services for both communities. It should also save more lives. However, it “always mattered who pays.” He agreed that it was not a service merger, and questioned why that was not proposed. Chief Groves said that Tualatin, for example, was a fire district that served multiple communities, and that was always a possibility. What was being proposed for Eugene and Springfield was similar to the Gresham/Portland model, which enhanced automatic aid parameters. City Manager Taylor said that some fire districts were formed to get around the impacts of Ballot Measure 47/50. Historically, the metropolitan area had questioned the wisdom of creating such single purpose governments and has looked to other approaches that left the general government structure in place. The concept was intended to improve current operating and mutual aid structures. Mr. Zelenka asked how Springfield intended to cover the Peace Health River Bend campus, and what was expected of Eugene. Chief Groves said that Eugene was part of that response under its current automatic aid agreement. He pointed out the River Bend campus was a regional facility that benefited Eugene citizens as well as Springfield citizens. Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Chief Groves said Springfield had two ladder trucks to fight high-rise fires, very similar in type to what Eugene owned. Those were located at the Gateway station and th the station at Main and 66 streets. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 8 Work Session Responding to a question from Mr. Poling, Chief Groves said if Springfield was unable to respond, Eugene would look to its other automatic and mutual aid agreements for coverage. There were times when the closest station was tied up, but one of the attributes of the system was it allowed units to be moved up to fill gaps in coverage. Mr. Poling asked how much input the rank and file had into the concept. Chief Groves said that staff had a fair amount of input into the concept through the battalion and line chiefs, particularly in the area of training. Mr. Poling perceived no major policy changes; he perceived the concept as “mutual aid plus.” Ms. Bettman saw a trend toward regionalizing government and putting services in the hands of bodies that were not accountable in the same way as the elected officials. She cited the MWMC and Public Safety Coordinating Council as examples of her concern. She did not think Springfield adequately funded its services and asserted that the Springfield municipality operated on levies. Ms. Bettman recalled that the City Council had considered the issue of special fire districts and decided against them because it did not think they would be accountable. She suggested the proposal was an “end run” around that decision. Ms. Bettman agreed Eugene was part of a larger community but the council was elected to represent Eugene residents, not Springfield residents, and Eugene residents did not want to subsidize Springfield. She averred that Springfield planned a massive UGB expansion and she did not want to subsidize that cost. Mr. Clark asked if staff envisioned Springfield would spend more time on calls in Eugene. Chief Groves believed the response would equal out over time; currently, Springfield responded more into Eugene than Eugene to Springfield because of the location of the Springfield Gateway station. Mr. Clark thought that the concept had the effect of making Mr. Poling’s ward safer, and Springfield was subsidizing that. Mr. Clark expressed appreciation to Chief Groves for his work and for involving line staff. City Manager Taylor indicated that staff would provide written responses to the council’s questions as a council assignment. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 9 Work Session