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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 08/13/07 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session Council Chamber 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon August 13, 2007 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER Mayor Piercy asked councilors to let her know if they wished to participate in the Eugene Celebration parade. She said she had received a number of inquiries regarding Civic Stadium and suggested that people interested in the future of the stadium should contact the School District 4J Board of Directors. Ms. Taylor reported on rededication of the restored torah and its return to the synagogue. She attended a Crest Drive neighborhood meeting and those present expressed their pleasure with the context-sensitive design process. She said that several constituents expressed concern about the “hate letters” to the editor regarding bicycles. She asked if generating more tax revenue from more houses and businesses would result in a reduction in the amount individuals were paying on bonds, such as the library bond. She noted that a work session on smoking was scheduled in October, but wondered whether there was any way to obtain relief in the interim for people affected by smokers and noise from The Old Pad. Mr. Poling said he recently attended a clean water agencies conference in Bend. He said the area's own wastewater manage agency, the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC), was praised by agencies from around the state. He said that many jurisdictions across the state and the country had plans to upgrade facilities similar to MWMC's plans. He was pleased that work had begun on Willakenzie Park. He attended a multi-cultural festival at Sheldon Community Center and remarked on the good attendance. He also attended a Cal Young neighborhood association potluck. Ms. Solomon reported on the Eugene Police Department's (EPD) partnership with Kiwanis International in a presentation of the Safety Town program. She said the program would educate children on a variety of safety issues over the next two weeks. Mr. Clark commended the new police auditor facility at the corner of 8th Avenue and Olive Street in downtown where he recently attended an open house for the community. He said the mayor's one-on-one session in north Eugene generated input from several different points of view. He had also attended the Cal Young neighborhood potluck and noted that the neighborhood association was searching for a new president. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Zelenka commented that the West Broadway Advisory Committee had hosted two recent public involvement events. He said about 400 people attended the first event and 130 the second event to provide input on the downtown project. He said the level of participation confirmed that the project was important to the community. He said the Eugene Pride Day event was well-attended and enjoyable. He agreed with Mr. Clark that the new police auditor facility was pleasant and people-friendly. Mr. Zelenka announced that the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) was developing a new, interactive website using Google maps to identify and provide details of every transportation project using State or federal funds in the metropolitan area. He said the Regional Transportation Plan was being updated and there would be a public hearing at the September MPC meeting. Ms. Ortiz reminded the community that the City was accepting applications for boards and commissions and encouraged individuals who were interested in becoming more involved in local government activities to apply. She attended the Human Rights Commission potluck and enjoyed spending time with members of the advocacy community. She indicated she had recently participated in a panel discussion before a group of Latino youth about being involved in local government and encouraged them to consider public sector careers, including firefighting. She hoped that councilors were responsive to feedback from staff on the council's goal related to race. She said that pollution in the railroad yards was a critical concern and the community was looking to the council for leadership. She hoped the problem could be the subject of a council work session. Mayor Piercy conveyed appreciation from the synagogue to the City for it support and speaking out against hate crimes. Ms. Jones thanked the council for the opportunity to serve as interim city manager. She said her objective during the transition period was to keep communications open to ensure she was following the council's direction. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to allocate up to $7,500 from General Fund contingency to provide for fully free event parking at all City garages and parking meters during the Eugene Celebration. Mayor Piercy reported that Downtown Events Management, Inc. (DEMI) felt free parking would invite people into downtown for the celebration. She said DEMI was also pursuing those things in which the council expressed an interest, including free buses, bike parking and alternative forms of transportation. Mr. Zelenka asked if the $7,500 allocation would go into the parking fund. Ms. Jones said it would. Ms. Bettman said she would be unable to support the motion even though it was not a significant amount of money because it meant the council was taking one step forward and two steps back. She said if the council wanted to move towards sustainability, it had to incentivize behavior that would lead to sustainability and disincentive behavior that was unsustainable. Mayor Piercy felt the motion accomplished several things: it invited people to come downtown, it encouraged an interest in the development of downtown, it supported a special event, and it encouraged the use of alternative forms of transportation. The motion passed, 7:1; Ms. Bettman voting in opposition. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 2 Work Session Mayor Piercy invited Laura Niles of the Hult Center to discuss a recent grant opportunity that had been presented to the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR). Ms. Niles explained that Cultural Services, on behalf of the Public Art Committee, had followed through on preparing a grant application for the National Endowment for the Arts in the amount of $75,000. She said the grant would support providing online access and coordination of all the City's public art materials, which was part of the work plan of the Public Art Committee. She said if selected, the grant funds would be awarded in June 2008 and work would be completed by June 2009. Mayor Piercy said staff had only recently been informed of the opportunity and applications had to be mailed by 8 p.m. on August 13, 2007. She related that staff had contacted the CCIGR via email regarding the grant application and two committee members were in support and one was not, requiring that the issue come before the full council. Ms. Bettman said that grants came to the CCIGR in a precipitous manner so often it was the exception if the committee was able to make a considered decision. She complained that committee feedback was dismissed because there was no time to consider it and that was a practice she had voiced objections to for years. She said in this particular situation, the grant proposal was a lower priority on the list of activities recommended by the Cultural Policy Review (CPR) Task Force, which had recently been adopted by the council. She did not consent to the proposed project because it was not a high priority and a Priority 1 project could be completed for the same amount of money. She said it was necessary to say "no" or such behavior never changed. In response to a question from Mayor Piercy, Ms. Niles explained that the project was Priority 3 in the CPR recommendations; however, the grant funds could only be used to achieve five outcomes identified by the NEA and the only one the City could pursue related to preservation of artistic works and cultural traditions. She said the other outcomes related to programming activities that were not CPR recommendations. She apologized if information about the application deadline and limited scope of the funds was not provided to the CCIGR. She noted that during the council's discussion of the CPR recommendations and prioritization, it was recognized that higher and lower priority activities might be pursued simultaneously if the opportuni- ties arose. Ms. Solomon asked if match funds were required. Ms. Niles said that it would be a one-time award, no local match was required and there would be no ongoing costs to the City. Ms. Solomon said she would support the motion, particularly as the City did not have to provide a match. Mr. Pryor saw no reason not to apply for the grant funds, even if the money could not be spent on higher priorities. He thought it was a reasonable request, the City could definitely use the funds and he would support the grant application request. Ms. Ortiz asked how much staff time was involved in preparing the grant application. Ms. Niles said that some of the work was done by an intern and estimated that her staff had spent between 20 and 30 hours on the application. Ms. Ortiz said it was worth a week of staff time to apply for the funds, even if the project was not one of the highest CPR recommendations. She thanked staff for bringing the opportunity to the council. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Taylor said she would support the application because the project would not displace other activities and no match was required. Ms. Bettman asked why the Community Calendar, which was one of the highest CPR recommendations, could not be the subject of the grant application. Ms. Niles replied that she initially thought that would be possible, but when she saw the specific outcomes that must be achieved by projects she realized it would not be an eligible activity. Mayor Piercy observed that during the CPR discussions, it was acknowledged that opportunities might arise where it would be advantageous for the City to pursue more than one recommendation at the same time and she felt the current situation was in that category. She asked the city manager to develop a proposal for handling situations in the future when grant applications did not go before the IGR in a timely manner. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to authorize staff to apply for a National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence grant in the amount of $75,000. Ms. Bettman said that since neither Priority 1 nor Priority 2 projects were eligible for the funds she would support the motion. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. B. WORK SESSION: Solid Waste Collection/Fee Structure Ms. Jones introduced Nancy Young of the Planning and Development Department to provide an overview of solid waste collection and fee structure. Ms. Young said the City Charter, Eugene Code, and administrative rules governed the solid waste and recycling collection system. She reviewed a history of the system, noting that in 1989, the council adopted an ordinance that moved rate-setting to the administrative rules and capped hauler licenses at the 22 that were active at the time, with the provision to retire licenses as companies left the business. She said the council adopted additional changes between 1990 and 1995 to address rising residential collection costs and Oregon's recycling laws. She said a comprehensive rate analysis was conducted in 1998 and the City began basing rates on the revenues and expenses of the largest haulers as most representative of the customer base instead of a combination of differently sized companies; at the same time the target rate of return for licensees was set at 11 percent. Ms. Young said that curbside yard debris recycling, begun in 2000, diverted more than 12,000 tons annually. She said in 2001, in response to rising residential rates, the council directed staff to maintain the current system and blend residential and commercial financial information to contain residential rates. Since 2003, the focus had been on cost containment, increased diversion, and education. She said the system currently consisted of seven local haulers and multiple services choices; rates had stabilized to be within the rate of inflation and in a recent survey the customer satisfaction rate was 97 percent. In the matter of collection rates, she said staff performed an analysis of hauler financial data and determined that an increased was needed to meet the current standards. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 4 Work Session Mayor Piercy remarked that one of the Sustainability Commission's goals would be zero waste. She was interested in the other green functions schools were engaged in besides recycling. Ms. Taylor asked when the requirement that people take their cans to the curb was imposed. She said that the haulers used to come up to the house or garage to retrieve cans and wondered how much they had saved by not performing that service. She asked if other cities guaranteed haulers an 11 percent profit. Ms. Young said there had been an additional charge if cans were not brought to the curb for as long as she could remember, but she would check into that. She said that cities approached the issue of profit in a number of ways. She said Eugene calculated it on revenue minus disposal fee; other cities used gross revenue. She said Portland's target was 9.5 percent, but that was on gross revenue and that made a substantial difference. Ms. Taylor wondered why haulers needed an 11 percent profit and asked how that target was set. Ms. Young said during the 1998 rate review a staff advisory committee looked at other comparable cities within the State and made that recommendation. Mr. Zelenka explained that in a traditional regulatory pact for a utility, there was a guaranteed rate of return for an exclusive franchise. He said typically the rate of returned range between 10 and 12 percent. Mr. Clark asked if there were other costs deducted from the 11 percent rate. Ms. Young said the rate was pre-tax and interest was also deducted. Mr. Clark asked if the customer satisfaction survey had been conducted before the rate adjustment in the River Road/Santa Clara area. Ms. Young said it happened in March 2007, before the adjustment. Mr. Clark commented that the River Road/Santa Clara area had a mix of City and County residents and County collection rates were not regulated. He said at one time, haulers would charge City residents a lower rate comparable to the County rate being charged neighbors, but were now required to charge the City rate. Ms. Young said that enforcement was prompted at the request of a hauler. She did not think the County had raised its rates to be comparable to the City's, but the County did not provide yard debris service as part of the base charge. Mr. Clark asked how much additional revenue haulers realized as a result of increasing rates in River Road/Santa Clara and if all City residents were now being charged the City rate. Ms. Young replied that she would provide the financial information following the meeting. She believed that all City residents were now being appropriately charged for collection services. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Ms. Young responded that rates were within the CPI (consumer price index) and there had not been a residential rate increase since 2001. She said haulers had been able to achieve a number of efficiencies. Ms. Bettman said she took issue with the rate-setting and whether or not generators of less waste were paying more per volume or pound than those who generated larger amounts. She also had an issue with the yard debris program, which was a great program except for the fact that people were paying year round when the bulk of yard debris occurred during certain times of the year. She thought it would be preferable to have weekly collection of yard debris during those times and it was unfair to charge residents throughout the year. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Bettman commented that 20-gallon cans were not available on an every-other-week basis. She compared the rate charged to commercial customers for one cubic yard to the residential rate for a 32 gallon can collected every other week and concluded that commercial customers paid about half the rate of residential customers for the same amount of waste. Ms. Young replied that residential rates were progressive by weight and weight studies were performed periodically to give an assumed weight, whereas commercial rates were progressive by volume because of the differences between businesses. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Young said that some cities established a rate of return range, such as 9 to 11 percent, instead of a specific rate like Eugene and it was misleading to compare Eugene's rate to other cities as other cities included the disposal fee. Mr. Zelenka said Eugene's rate would be 9 percent if it were calculated in the same way. Mr. Zelenka asked for clarification of the term "progressive rates" as it appeared the rate by volume decreased as the amount of waste increased. Ms. Young explained that residential weight studies had found that a 32-gallon container usually had more weight per gallon that a 60- or 90-gallon container, most likely as a result of people downsizing containers and putting more into them. She said for commercial rates there was a volume factor that took into consideration that a two-yard container would not be exactly double a one-yard container for the same reason. Ms. Taylor asked why 20-gallon cans could not be picked up every other week. Ms. Young said she did not know the answer, but a residential customer could choose to have a 32-gallon can that was collected once a month. She would check into the 20-gallon can issue. Ms. Bettman remarked that cans were getting heavier because people were removing yard debris and recyclable materials and what remained were heavier items. She said that worked against sustainability principles because a cheaper rate and larger can meant that people were less likely to remove things that did not need to go into the waste stream. Referring to a 32-gallon can picked up monthly in lieu of a 20-gallon can picked up every other week, she did not think it was feasible to keep garbage for that length of time. Ms. Young replied that typically those customers did not put garbage in their cans and that seemed to work for them. Ms. Bettman felt that presented a disincentive to the use of smaller containers. She hoped the council would have another work session to address the issues that had been raised. She referred to the schedule of fees on page 57 of the agenda packet and pointed out that if the residential rate for a 32-gallon can was converted to a cubic yard equivalent, it would be twice as high as the commercial rate. She said the City should choose either a per weight or per volume rate structure and apply it equally to both residential and commercial customers and make rates progressive by charging a higher rate for putting more material into the waste stream. Mr. Zelenka stated that Lane County charged a tipping fee by weight, not volume, and it made sense for the City's rate was based on weight. He asked for an explanation of how calculations went from weight to rates for the residential fees. He commented that there was no competition in the City's waste collection system as Sanipac had an 85 percent market share with the remaining 15 percent split among the other six haulers; that was why there was a regulated rate. Ms. Bettman requested another work session on the issue. She commented that operational costs for haulers were counted as the cost of doing business before the profit was added, but the public had no say in how those companies were operated while being responsible for guaranteeing an 11 percent profit. She asked MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 6 Work Session staff to provide information regarding what costs were included in the calculations and what mechanism the City used to audit those costs and determine if they were reasonable. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to extend the discussion by five min- utes. The motion passed, 7:1; Mr. Clark voting in opposition. Mr. Zelenka commented that the transportation funding subcommittee proposed a garbage-hauling fee of about $1.00 per residential can and an equivalent for commercial customers. He said that would have been treated like the disposal fee and not included in the calculation of profit; it could have been done at no additional administrative cost to the City and would have spread the costs fairly. He said the fee would also have been directly related to one of the reasons the streets were deteriorated—-heavy garbage trucks—and there was no objection from staff. He said the subcommittee had not found an administratively viable way to charge a fee to all heavy trucks. Mr. Clark commented that the rates for customers in River Road/Santa Clara had been raised earlier in the year to bring them up to the City's rates and now there was a discussion of raising the rates again. He asked staff to provide information on the number of households that were affected by the rate increases. Ms. Taylor remarked that not everyone had waste collection services as some could not afford it. She felt it was wrong for the City to establish a minimum instead of a maximum rate as that did not allow haulers to charge less. Ms. Young said it was unlikely that most haulers would charge less and if a maximum rate were established, it would allow the largest hauler to charge less than smaller haulers. Ms. Taylor asked if haulers could be required to provide 20-gallon can collection on a weekly basis. City Attorney Glenn Klein said that legally the City could impose that requirement. Ms. Bettman asked why residential rates incorporated the disposal fee but commercial rates for front load compactors and drop boxes did not. Ms. Young explained that one- to six-yard commercial containers did include the disposal fee; for larger sizes, the entire container was taken to the transfer station where it was weighed and the customer charged the actual costs. Ms. Bettman indicated she would request more information and options from staff for an additional work session. C. WORK SESSION: Report from Council Subcommittee on City Manager Recruitment Alana Holmes, Human Resources, said the purpose of the discussion was to provide information and a recommendation to the council on selection of an executive recruitment firm to lead the city manager recruitment process. She said a council subcommittee established selection criteria and used those criteria to narrow the initial 12 firms to three finalists. She said all three firms were interviewed by phone and Bennett Yarger Associates was unanimously recommended as the recruitment firm to assist in the city manager recruitment. Mayor Piercy commented that the firm being recommended stood above the others in terms of what it could offer and she supported the recommendation. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 7 Work Session Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to direct the city manager to executive a contract with Bennett Yarger Associates to assist the City Council with the re- cruitment and hiring of a city manager. Ms. Ortiz hoped that the process would move swiftly and be completed by the end of the year. Mr. Pryor thanked Ms. Ortiz for her modified motion, which strengthened the relationship between the City Council and the recruitment firm. He agreed with the selection of Bennett Yarger Associates and felt that the selection process had gone well, with the subcommittee generally in agreement with the choice. Ms. Bettman concurred with Ms. Ortiz and Mr. Pryor's remarks. Mr. Poling supported the motion and the recommendations of his fellow members of the subcommittee. Mr. Zelenka pointed out that many contracts included "non-poaching" clauses that prevent a firm from attempting to recruit a candidate it had already placed and Bennett Yarger had placed many people in city manager positions in comparable cities. Ms. Holmes said she would check into that issue. Mr. Zelenka asked if criteria for a city manager and outcomes anticipated in three to five years had been discussed with the firms. Ms. Holmes said that would be part of the next step of the process. Mr. Zelenka observed that $20,000 seemed like a fairly low fee. He asked if Robert Neher of Bennett Yarger would do the recruitment. Ms. Holmes said Mr. Neher had indicated he would be the primary person working with the City on the recruitment process. Mr. Zelenka asked how many other recruitments the firm was undertaking at the same time. Ms. Holmes said she would provide that information. Ms. Taylor hoped that all councilors would be deciding on city manager criteria and not just the subcommit- tee. Ms. Holmes said that would be something the full council would be involved in. Mayor Piercy said the only remaining work for the subcommittee was to establish a tentative schedule for the remainder of the process. Ms. Taylor asked if 90 days was a feasible timeframe to complete the process. Ms. Holmes said that Mr. Neher felt that timeframe possible. Mr. Clark was uncomfortable with expediting the process. He wanted the City to hire the best possible candidate and wanted the option to take longer if that was what was needed. Ms. Ortiz felt that 90 days was a reasonable amount of time, but it could be extended if necessary. She did not want an open-ended process and wanted to see a person in that leadership role as soon as possible. Ms. Bettman remarked that all of the firms thought 90 days was a reasonable period. She said most firms had similar processes for working with the council to establish criteria and objectives. She said that Bennett Yarger provided a wide range of services to jurisdictions beyond recruitment, including training, audits and budgeting and had many contacts in local governments that would provide access to high quality candidates. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 8 Work Session She thought the council subcommittee could recommend a range of questions and options for the council to consider for interviewing and conducting outreach to the community. Mr. Zelenka asked for clarification of the roles of the three individuals from Bennett Yarger who would be involved in the recruitment process. Ms. Holmes said she understood that Mr. Neher would be working directly with the City and the other partners would provide supporting services. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Holmes reviewed the next steps in the process. Ms. Bettman suggested that the September 10 work session could continue with the recruitment process as there was currently only one item on the agenda. The meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Angel Jones Interim City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 9 Work Session