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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 10/04/07 Workshop M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Workshop Council Chamber, City Hall 100 West 10th Avenue—Eugene, Oregon October 4, 2007 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Mike Clark. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Andrea Ortiz, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. WORKSHOP: West Eugene Collaborative Interim City Manager Angel Jones introduced Emily Proudfoot, landscape architect and transportation planner with Public Works, to provide background information on the status of the West Eugene Collabora- tive (WEC) effort. Ms. Proudfoot said she was the WEC project manager and introduced WEC members Rob Zako, Mary O'Brien and Gerry Gaydos. She noted that Mr. Pryor was also a member of the collaborative. She said the purpose of the workshop was to present a background of the project and current activities and discuss how to move forward. She reviewed the project's background as set forth in the agenda item summary (AIS) and invited WEB members to share their perspectives. Ms. O'Brien stated that the WEC had 32 members representative of various government agencies, environmental concerns and the community at large. She said to some degree the group formed itself as an outgrowth of round table discussions of West Eugene transportation concerns and was not an agency directed or funded effort. She said a good faith effort to include all stakeholders was made and she was not aware of any interested parties that were excluded. She said government entities represented a large component of the collaborative because they would need to buy into the collaborative's outcome or provide technical support to the effort. She list four committees formed to address specific issues: Land Use and MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 1 Work Session Transportation Technical Team, Environment Technical Team, Resources Task Force and Communication Task Force. She said groups were also formed to provide logistical and technical support for the commit- tees' work. She said the WEC would meet for two days in October to review maps and potential routes from the perspectives of environment, land use and transportation. She said to the greatest extent possible committees included representation from not only those with a specific interest in the issue, but those who would need to accept recommendations and implement them. Ms. Proudfoot pointed out that the committee's membership roster was included as an attachment to the AIS and demonstrated the unique, grass roots nature of the collaborative of diverse interests gathered to work on a single issue. She said it was encouraging to note that every WEC member and the groups they represented had stated support for the effort at some level. She reported that the WEC had already completed a significant amount of work, including white papers, a website, establishing committees, obtaining funding, hiring facilitators and identifying consultants. She said that funding included $5,000 each from Lane Transit District (LTD) and the City of Eugene, environmental interests and business interests for a total of $20,000 in seed money. Mr. Zako said the WEC purpose statement was to address transportation and livability problems in West Eugene and try to identify solutions that the community would accept and want to implement. He said the focus was on West Eugene near West 11th Avenue and the commercial area there, but the scope of work actually focused on the impact of issues in a broader geographic area that extended from downtown Eugene to Veneta and from the ridgeline to the airport. He said the WEC work plan took into consideration the other planning efforts in progress such as scoping for LTD's extension of EmX along West 11th Avenue. Mr. Gaydos thanked Rob Zako, Kevin Matthews, Rusty Rexius and Kitty Piercy for their support and contributions to the collaborative effort and recognized the financial contributions to the project from jurisdictions and groups. Ms. Solomon arrived at 5:50 p.m. Mr. Gaydos said one of the challenges was coordinating long- and short-term planning efforts and developing recommendations that complimented each other. He emphasized that the WEC recognized the authority of the LTD Board of Directors and the Eugene City Council and was acting as an advisory body MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 2 Work Session and not a decision-making one. He felt the WEC could provide valuable assistance to the agencies by reflecting the community perspective and encouraging them to look creatively at their own processes. He said LTD was driven by federal requirements and environmental policies, but was appreciative of the opportunity to participate in and be assisted by the WEC in its planning process. Mr. Pryor stated that he became involved with the WEC at the point when the grassroots effort was transitioning to a formal West Eugene Collaborative. He was amazed at the people who had come together to work on the same issue and his immediate impression was that it was not business as usual. He said the diverse group stayed together by a common commitment from every member and needed to survive by common support from government partners, business and other significant interests in the community. He said one purpose of the meeting was to discuss the mechanisms and safeguards that were in place to assure the investment of public funds. He urged endorsement of the WEC because it represented an organic and dynamic approach to issues in West Eugene that represented the diverse and major interests in the community. He described it as a government/private partnership that was working well and contributed constructive participation to jurisdictions official processes at a level not seen before. Mr. Pryor emphasized that the WEC understood its advisory role and recognized the authority of elected and appointed officials. He said the WEC process was parallel and complimentary to the work of jurisdictions and would use the same data sources; having government partners would assure the processes did not lose touch. He hoped the council would demonstrate leadership to other partners by providing financial support for the WEC that indicated support for the effort and a belief that it would provide effective advice. He said a request for $40,000 would be forthcoming and the intent of the workshop was to provide information on the collaborative and address any questions from the council. Ms. Proudfoot said the collaborative was responsive to TransPlan Goal #1 related to integration of transportation and land use. She identified the options available to the council as set forth in the AIS. Ms. Piercy called the council's attention to the work plan and the fact that it was well thought out and the WEC was on schedule. Mr. Zako added that the work plan was being modified somewhat to respond to LTD's need for information on the West Eugene EmX extension. He said a charette was planned to generate alternative ideas for LTD's purpose and needs statement. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Piercy remarked that in addition to the funds received from the City, LTD and environmental and business partners, support was also being provided by the Metro Partnership, realtors 1000 Friends; the Governor's Office was also interested in the collaborative as an innovative approach to planning. Mr. Pryor introduced the other WEC members who were present: Kevin Matthews, Ed Moore, Larry Reed, Mark Schoening, Tom Schwetz, Charles Snyder and Jim Welch. Ms. Piercy expressed her appreciation to all those participating in the collaborative process. Ms. Bettman asked if the City of Springfield, LTD and Lane Council of Governments were also being asked to make a financial contribution to the WEC. Mr. Pryor replied that the plan was to ask other jurisdictions for funding; that would include LTD, Lane County and the State, but not the City of Springfield. He hoped that grant funding could also be obtained. Ms. Bettman asked how many meetings would be held for $10,000 per month. Ms. Proudfoot replied that there were many activities under way; the WEC met approximately every six weeks, but in the interim the subcommittees were conducting their work. Mr. Zako added that WEC meetings were usually held over a two-day period and included subcommittee meetings to obtain maximum value from the facilitators. Ms. O'Brien noted that the facilitator's work was not limited to the formal meetings; they were also available on call whenever the WEC, subcommittees or associated staff or groups needed them. She said the Osprey Group was unanimously selected as the facilitator from among three applicants. Ms. Bettman said she was not tracking the WEC because it was a self-selected group of people who were active in government and business and she had worked with many of them before. She did not regard the WEC as a grassroots effort and felt it was top-heavy with government agencies. She found it difficult to be optimistic that the same group and the same process she had seen before would come up with something different. She asked if any WEC representatives were advocates for access management and rail, which she felt were the most important issues. Mr. Pryor said there was not a representative specifically from rail. He asked if Ms. Bettman meant access management to the infrastructure. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Bettman said her reference was to managing access to the transportation corridors in order to decrease congestion. She did not feel that everyone who needed to be was part of the WEC. She wanted to see people added to the membership list, a work plan and a written memorandum or agreement between the City and the WEC that specified what the City would receive for its investment of $40,000. Ms. Proudfoot stated that part of the West Eugene corridor study was looking at access management tools to improve safety and mobility along the corridor. She was not certain there was an independent community advocate for access management, but it was definitely part of the WEC scope of work. Ms. O'Brien said the WEC had established working agreement and those were posted on its website. She said that the subcommittees had members who were not part of the larger collaborative because they were just interested in a specific issue. She pointed out that all of the WEC and subcommittee meetings were open to the public and there was enough public scrutiny that if any issue was presented to the collaborative, it would be addressed. She explained the WEC included so many government partners because of the in- kind donations of technical expertise and support they provided. Mr. Zako asked if Ms. Bettman was aware of a particular person in the community who could represent access management. He felt that several committee members, including himself, did advocate for access management. He said that freight interests were represented, but rail was not a major topic at this time; a rail representative could be invited to participate if rail became more relevant to the process. Mr. Clark asked for more information about the shared goals of the WEC and what it hoped to accomplish. He had heard discussion of both improving the flow of traffic and minimizing vehicle trips and needed to better understand the collaborative's objectives. He imagined that at some point in the process it would be desirable to have more involvement from the State and perhaps include state representatives and senators. He also saw the potential for rail to change the dynamics dramatically in West Eugene. Ms. O'Brien said the idea of the WEC was to improve transportation and access in West Eugene while taking into account the implications of that for land use and the environment and thus avoid the type of problems that resulted in elimination of the West Eugene Parkway. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 5 Work Session Mr. Clark observed that 1,200 new houses were being built in Veneta and if each house had one or two cars, he questioned how that would be accommodated while trying to minimize trips. He hoped that the process would result in solutions that were practical and widely supported. Mr. Zako read the WEC purpose statement. He recognized that problems in West Eugene were very difficult and it would be disingenuous to suggest the collaborative would come up with a solution to all of them. He said the advantage of the WEC was that people were not fighting each other; they were all on the same side of the table to try to solve the problems. He expected that the process would result in a package of solutions that was more comprehensive than any one agency or jurisdiction could produce. Mr. Pryor emphasized that the collaborative was trying to remove the adversarial aspect from the transpor- tation and land use planning processes. He agreed that the work plan and specific products were not clearly defined at this point and information the council required in order to consider the funding request could be provided. He stressed the importance of having a plan and system in place in to achieve the WEC goals. He described the collaborative's transition from a self-selected, grassroots initiative to an official organization; at that time membership was discussed and the group decided that members should reflect a broad range of interests and be appointed by the bodies they represented. Ms. Solomon commended WEC for its willingness to undertake the mission. She appreciated being apprised of the collaborative’s activities by email. She indicated she was willing to allocate $40,000 to the effort, but was somewhat nervous about formalizing an agreement between the WEC and the City of Eugene for fear of jeopardizing the collaborative effort. She urged that any agreement be broadly written and not proscriptive in terms of defining the process and outcomes. Ms. Bettman stated that the WEC was requesting $40,000 and a “mantle of authorization” from the council and that concerned her as there was no work program or information on what was being authorized, expectations, objectives and products. She did not feel that all interests had been involved in the WEC as rail was not represented in the process and that meant that all the solutions were not being considered. She questioned the WEC’s decision-making process and said she saw only six members who could be catego- rized as environmental or progressive. She asserted that only 100 percent consensus was acceptable to avoid marginalizing those people. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 6 Work Session Ms. O’Brien said that one of the major factors in selecting a facilitator was demonstrated ability to help groups reach consensus. She contacted groups who had worked with those facilitators and feedback on the Osprey Group, which was selected, was unanimously positive. She said in each case the group had reached consensus without feeling “bullied” or “railroaded” in the process. She said there was strong support for a consensus model and that would be tested at the WEC’s October 24-25 meeting. She urged Ms. Bettman to bring her suggestion for a rail representative to the collaborative at that meeting. Regarding recommendations from the WEC, Ms. Bettman stated if there was not consensus, then it was just the same weighted majority rule process and was not acceptable to her. She reiterated her request for more information about the implications of providing funding to the WEC. She asked if the City was giving a mantle of authority to the group, if the council would see recommendations that were only forwarded by consensus and if a rail advocate would be added to the collaborative. Regarding a mantle of authority, Mr. Zako declared the WEC was under no illusion that it was a decision- making body; members understood they would only be making recommendations and it was up to the council to decide what to do with those recommendations. He said members recognized that recommenda- tions with less that unanimous support would not have much weight and for that reason were completely committed to making consensus recommendations. Ms. Taylor asked for an explanation of consensus. Ms. O’Brien explained the WEC had discussed a consensus model where all members accepted and bought into a decision and if it was not their first choice, they could live with it. She said members were being trained to not come to the table with specific demands from their own perspective or interests, but rather to present solutions that could work for everyone. Ms. Taylor said she was familiar with that approach and it often meant that less forceful people agreed to something they did not like. She was concerned that the collaborative assumed that EmX was the solution and had dismissed rail. Ms. O’Brien replied that nothing had been accepted and nothing had been eliminated. She liked the idea of including a representative of rail. Ms. Taylor remarked that the council was not involved in the process. Ms. O’Brien pointed out that Mr. Pryor was a member of the collaborative and all WEC members were charged with the responsibility to keep their organizations and constituencies involved and informed. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 7 Work Session Mr. Poling expressed his gratitude for the collaborative, which came together after 20 years of the community fighting over a traffic solution. He applauded people in the community who were willing to step forward and try to help the City solve those problems. He felt it would be asinine to withhold support for the WEC. Ms. Piercy reminded the council that when it eliminated the West Eugene Parkway as a solution, it asked for a collaborative process to work on the issue. She urged support for the WEC, which was in line with the council’s direction. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Zako explained that the WEC formally organized in April 2007; three meetings of the full collaborative had occurred since then, along with many subcommittee meetings. He said having a facilitator had made the process much more efficient and effective. Ms. O’Brien added that another important aspect of the facilitation was to assure that all members fully participated and had their points of view considered and that there was consensus, particularly on issues related to land use and transportation. Ms. Piercy summarized that the council was interested a WEC work plan and working agreements and possibly a memorandum of understanding. Ms. Bettman asked that the motion allocating funds articulate the status of the committee and that advisory recommendations were based on complete consensus. Mr. Pryor commented that the motion could incorporate aspirations for outcomes, but he would resist including a decision-making model as it was still being defined by the members of the collaborative. He wanted to avoid a situation where one person could “drop a poison pill.” He said that was not consensus. Ms. Bettman stated that unless there was a consensus model and a rail advocate she would not support the WEC effort. Mr. Clark encouraged the collaborative to involve a state-level elected official. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 8 Work Session Ms. Piercy observed that Senator Floyd Prozanski and Representative Paul Holvey were both very interested in the WEC process. Mr. Zako added that Congressman Peter DeFazio was aware of the WEC and his staff was informed about collaborative activities. Ms. O’Brien said that people could also engage in the process at the subcommittee level in their particular area of interest. Ms. Piercy noted that support from the City would be helpful to the WEC’s pursuit of grant funding. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Angel Jones Interim City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 4, 2007 Page 9 Work Session