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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2D: Ratification of IGR Committee Actions ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of June 15, 2007, and December 12, 2007 Meeting Date: January 28, 2008 Agenda Item Number: 2D Department: City Manager’s Office Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-8441 ISSUE STATEMENT This is an action item to ratify the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee meetings of June 15, and December 12, 2007. BACKGROUND As a matter of procedure, the City Council is routinely asked to ratify the actions taken by the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee. This is done by submitting the minutes of each committee meeting to the council. Actions on which the committee is not unanimous are brought before the full City Council for consideration. These bills must be addressed by the full council in order to provide direction to staff in Salem. RELATED CITY POLICIES Ratification of IGR Committee actions is the making or affirming of the City of Eugene’s policy with respect to Federal and State legislative issues or such other matters as may come to the council from the committee. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may ratify or decline to ratify the IGR Committee’s actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends ratification of the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to ratify the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the June 15 and December 12, 2007 IGR meetings. F:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080128\S0801282D.doc ATTACHMENTS A. IGR Committee Minutes of June 15, 2007 B. IGR Committee Minutes of December 12, 2007 FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson Telephone: 682-8441 Staff E-Mail: brenda.s.wilson@ci.eugene.or.us F:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080128\S0801282D.doc ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street, Eugene, Oregon June 15, 2007 3 p.m. PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Chair; Betty Taylor, Chris Pryor, members; Brenda Wilson, Jessica Cross, Randi Zimmer, City Manager's Office; Pete Kerns, Trent Spradling, Eugene Police Depart- ment; Richie Weinman, Kurt Yeiter, Planning and Development Department. 1. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Bettman called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order. 2. Review 2007 COPS Grant Proposal A memorandum about the grant was provided to the CCIGR members. Sergeant Kerns said the department intended to apply for the grant for community policing development. The department had only learned of the grant a few weeks ago. The Crisis Negotiation Team had never been adequately equipped and needed a storage trailer; the department also needed back-up radios for disasters and would use the funding for that purpose. The department also needed to update the Crime View software, which provided vital information about the location of crimes useful in community policing. The department also needed funds to hire a consultant prior to the 2008 Olympic Trials to test its planning for the event. Sergeant Kerns reported that the grant must be submitted by July 2. Ms. Bettman asked how much would be spent on the trials. Mr. Kerns indicated the estimate was for $130,000. Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Kerns clarified that the grant did not require a match, but all the agencies participating would participate financially as well. Mr. Spradling said the money must be used for homeland security, and the indirect benefit was to the 2008 Olympic Trials. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to approve the grant. Ms. Bettman asked if there was an established chain of command so that everyone knew who was in charge. Mr. Kerns said yes. The lead agency in charge of operations would be the City of Eugene. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Spradling was present to answer questions about the second grant proposal. Ms. Wilson reminded the committee it had received information about the grant, which was intended to fund improved radio MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations June 15, 2007 Page 1 interoperability, the previous week; the grant required a 25 percent match, and the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) agreed to fund the majority of the match amount; the remainder would be spread out among the other three agencies involved. Mr. Spradling said the City’s share was $183,000. The other $800,000 in match money would be paid for by the other agencies involved as more information was known about equipment needs. Ms. Bettman was inclined to refer to the proposal to the council given the ongoing cost and size of the match. Mr. Spradling noted the other agencies that might be brought into the match and said the match amounts were in flux. Ms. Bettman hoped to have more information by the time the council considered the item. Ms. Taylor recalled that the council had allocated money to interoperability in the past. She asked why communication was still difficult. Mr. Spradling said that money had been spent on different aspects of the system. He said that fire departments traditionally communicate on VHF frequencies, and the grant would allow those departments to communicate on the same UHF channels as other agencies as well as inside buildings, providing for greater radio interoperability. Ms. Bettman said the system was obviously countywide and was met to link the rural and county areas and she did not understand why the City of Eugene, in the form of EWEB, was taking the lead rather than the County. Mr. Spradling indicated the City was taking the lead because of the way COPS grants were structured; the federal government designated certain cities as lead agencies using its own definitions and solicited grants from them. He said the grant was designed to create a tie to what was being purchased to each agency involved, so the $183,000 that would be spent by the City’s Fire Department would be its share of subscriber units placed in vehicles and on units. Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Spradling said the grant had no connection to homeland security. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to refer the item to the City Council. The mo- tion passed unanimously. 3. Review Pending Legislation House Bill (HB) 3381 Ms. Bettman pulled the bill because she perceived that it reinforced home rule and she considered it good legislation. She asked if cities were the only jurisdictions that could implement urban renewal. Mr. Weinman believed counties could also do urban renewal. Ms. Wilson indicated the bill was likely dead, although the committee with oversight was still meeting. Mr. Weinman did not think the bill supported home rule; instead, it eroded it by allowing a school district to veto a district by not taking action on it. Ms. Bettman suggested an amendment that allowed a school district to opt out, or in the case of a county, a city to opt out. She thought the bill gave school districts more autonomy, which she also perceived as a home rule issue for the schools. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations June 15, 2007 Page 2 Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to change the status of the bill to Priority 2, Monitor. The motion passed unanimously, 3:0. HB 3566 Ms. Wilson recalled a similar bill was opposed by the committee but it had been reintroduced and more people had joined in support. Mr. Yeiter noted the lack of an agency to review extra-territorial boundary extensions now that the boundary commission was being eliminated. The bill made an exception for certain types of extensions, such as those on behalf of another government entity. Mr. Lidz did not see the bill as a being about whether extraterritorial extensions, but under which circumstances the City could say to the recipient of the service that if they wanted the service they must annex. The City did not have to provide extraterritorial service and if it did it could condition it. The bill stipulated that when a city provided such a service on behalf of another government, it could not use the service as a rationale for annexation. Mr. Lidz thought the bill was intended to address a situation where a city used an agreement to provide services on behalf of a rural entity to force annexation. If, for example, someone was receiving service from a rural water district that contracted with a city for water service, that city could use that as a reason to force annexation. He thought it had to do with the fairness of using Intergovernmental Agreement to force annexation. He was concerned because it was not well-drafted or precise, and there could be circumstances where the bill could prevent annexation where it should not. In addition, it was to be applied retroactively, which was another concern for him. Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Yeiter said that the City had agreements for service with the County that allowed development contingent on the signing of the annexation agreement by a date certain or when sewer services were provided. Sewers were being provided now in anticipation of annexation, and it might be that those agreements were affected. Mr. Lidz was unsure but was concerned about the unintended impacts of the bill. He said the intent seemed fair, but it was not well-drafted. Ms. Wilson said that the original bill, HB 3012, had died, but this was a priority for the sponsor, who had resubmitted it and received ten more votes of support. It had not had a hearing and had been referred to a committee. She did not think it would make progress. Mr. Pryor recommended that the City continue to oppose the bill. Ms. Wilson suggested a Priority 2 position. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to change the status of the bill to Priority 2 Oppose. The motion passed unanimously, 3:0. Ms. Wilson called the committee’s attention to request from Mayor Piercy to sign on to a letter opposing field burning to be sent to the Department of Environmental Quality Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to sign on to the letter. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Wilson said she would get the letter to the council. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations June 15, 2007 Page 3 Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to adopt the staff recommendation for priori- ties and recommendations for all bills that were not pulled for discussion at this meeting and all bills that were discussed and acted upon at this meeting. The motion passed unani- mously, 3:0. 4. Draft IGR Operating Agreements Review Ms. Bettman and Ms. Taylor offered some minor changes, which Ms. Wilson recorded. 5. Approval of Minutes Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to approve the minutes of May 8, 2007; May 22, 2007; May 29, 2007 and June 6, 2007 as amended. 6. Items from Members and Staff The committee agreed that staff would notify the committee if another meeting was needed. Ms. Bettman asked that a meeting be scheduled after that to discuss the United Front agenda. The meeting adjourned at 3:40 p.m. (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations June 15, 2007 Page 4 ATTACHMENT B M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street, Eugene, Oregon December 12, 2007 3 p.m. PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, Chair; Betty Taylor, Chris Pryor, members; Brenda Wilson, Jessica Mumme, City Manager's Office; Jeannine Parisi, Keli Osborn, Ron Inerfeld, Planning and Development Department, Councilor Mike Clark. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Taylor called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order. Ms. Wilson announced that Ms. Bettman would be arriving in 20 minutes. She added a grant authority request from the Green Building Division to the agenda. United Front Projects for 2008 Ms. Wilson said that Congress was currently operating under a continuing resolution and working on an $11 billion reduction to an omnibus appropriation bill in order to avoid a veto; that reduction would result in removal of almost all earmarks from the bill. She said that could impact Eugene because some of the projects on the current and proposed United Front project lists would not be funded of earmarks were eliminated. Ms. Wilson noted that some of the projects on the 2007 United Front list had not yet been funded because of the continuing resolution. She said under the City's policy projects remained on the list until they were funded or it was obvious they would not receive funding, which meant the 2007 projects, with one exception, would remain on the 2008 list and several new projects were proposed for addition to the list. She said that the West Bank Trail Extension project was recommended for removal from the list because Congressman Peter DeFazio had objected to its inclusion as a United Front priority and suggested the City seek funding through the State for that project. She said it was the CCIGR's decision whether to remove the project from the list. Ms. Wilson reviewed the suggested 2008 United Front list: ? Delta Ponds (update) ? Metro Waterways General Investigative Study (update) ? FAA Reauthorization (update) MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations December 12, 2007 Page 1 ? West Eugene Wetlands Environmental Education Center ? Forest Legacy ? Franklin Boulevard - Multiway Boulevard (NEPA request only) ? West Eugene Transportation Implementation ? Fire and EMS Simulator Lab In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Wilson explained that removing the West Bank Trail Extension project was recommended at the request of Congressman DeFazio. She said that if the City were unsuccessful in obtaining State funding for the project, there would be another opportunity to request federal funding with the support of the congressional delegation. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to remove the West Bank Trail Exten- sion project from the 2008 United Front list with the understanding that funds would be pursued through the State. The motion passed, 2:0. Mr. Inerfeld commented that staff would return in January 2008 with a proposed list of transportation enhancements funding requests. He said that the City could apply for up to three projects and the West Bank Trail Extension could be one of them. Mr. Clark said that State Senator Rick Metsger and Representative Terry Beyer were considered a statewide effort to address the operations and maintenance backlog. Ms. Wilson added that discussions had begun on transportation policy development for the 2009 legislative session. Ms. Taylor asked if there had been any discussion of daylighting the millrace. Ms. Wilson said that had been earmarked in an earlier bill as part of the Willamette Restoration project, with the Eugene Millrace given priority. She said the City would need to make a request in order for the millrace project to rise to the top of the list according to Congressman DeFazio's office. Ms. Wilson provided a briefing on the proposed 2008 project list. She said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be consulted regarding some confusion about how the Delta Ponds project would be funded. She intended to urge the Corps to list the Delta Ponds project as its top priority in order to be funded. She said the West Eugene Wetlands project would probably not be funded if earmarks were eliminated. The Franklin Boulevard project was a joint NEPA request by Eugene, Springfield and Lane Transit District and it would be in jeopardy if earmarks were removed. She said the Forest Legacy project was not affected by lack of earmarks; the national review panel would meet in January 2007 to develop its list of priorities for available funding. Ms. Wilson said the Fire and EMS Simulator Lab was a unique project and there was no obvious funding source for it. She said that staff were exploring a number of funding options and recommended including the project on the United Front list. Ms. Taylor suggested delaying action on the United Front list until Ms. Bettman's arrival. Approval of Minutes Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to approve the June 15, 2007, minutes. The motion passed, 2:0. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations December 12, 2007 Page 2 Grant Request from Green Building Division Mr. Pryor noted that the match requirement could be met in-kind with staff time. He asked if that would have an impact on staff's ability to perform other work. Ms. Parisi replied there would be little impact as most of the grant activities were ones the division would already be engaging in; that work could be used to leverage federal funds. Ms. Osborn added that staff time for work already being done by Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) under its Energy Management Program would also count as match, as would support from other organizations in the community with which the division would be collaborating. Ms. Parisi said a part of the grant project could be exploration of options for providing solar access protections in the City's development code. Ms. Wilson announced that Ms. Bettman would be delayed until 3:40 p.m. Ms. Taylor and Mr. Pryor determined, since they both needed to leave shortly, that they could take action on the United Front priorities and grant application and Ms. Bettman could cast her vote when she arrived. Ms. Taylor asked Ms. Wilson to discuss a potential 2008 meeting schedule for the committee. Ms. Wilson said a supplemental legislative session would begin on February 4, 2008, and no more than 109 bills could be introduced. She said the deadline for submitting bills to Legislative Counsel had passed and she expected information about bills to become public after the first of the year. She suggested a meeting in mid-January, followed by regularly scheduled meeting for the duration of the session, as bills would be changing rapidly. The committee tentatively scheduled the next meeting for Thursday, January 10, 2008, followed by meetings each Thursday at noon, subject to Ms. Bettman's concurrence. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to approve the proposed 2008 United Front priority project list for Eugene. The motion passed, 2:0. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to approve the Green Building Divi- sion's request to apply for a grant through the Department of Energy Solar America Initiative Market Transportation - Solar America Cities 2008 program. The motion passed, 2:0. Ms. Bettman arrived at 3:37 p.m. Ms. Taylor explained that she and Mr. Pryor had already voted on the minutes and United Front and grant request issues and Ms. Bettman could indicate her vote after her discussion with staff. Ms. Bettman asked for staff response to questions she had submitted. Ms. Parisi said the grant was an attractive opportunity because it allowed the City to leverage federal funds with work that was already ongoing. She said the Planning Division's approved work plan included an item related to green planning sustainability and part of that work was to investigate the EWEB solar access issues. MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations December 12, 2007 Page 3 Ms. Bettman indicated she voted yes on approval of the minutes and approval of the grant request. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Ms. Wilson explained that the State received federal funds through SAFETEA-LU and the City would apply to use those funds for the West Bank Trail Extension; if funding were not awarded, the project would be placed on a separate list of transportation projects for funding under the reauthorization bill. Mr. Inerfeld added that staff would bring a proposal for three project applications to the CCIGR in January, one of which would be the West Bank project. He illustrated the extension project on a map. Ms. Taylor and Mr. Pryor left the meeting at 3:45 p.m. Ms. Bettman asked why a Springfield project was included under Metro Waterways on the Eugene project list. Ms. Wilson explained the Metro Waterways had always included regional partners; Eugene was the lead on that project, which was why it appeared on Eugene's list, but the regional partners were clearly identified. In response to questions from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Inerfeld explained that the Beltline Corridor from River Road to Coburg Road was a new project that was not yet ready to be placed on the United Front list; the Division Avenue Bridge idea was suggested by staff as a possible component of the Beltline project. He said the initial concept was to apply for construction funds to prompt the State to expedite its systems planning project on Beltline, but it was decided to wait until the reauthorization. Ms. Bettman objected to staff circumventing established procedures by putting a project on the list before it had been vetted through that the council and the planning process. She said the CCIGR and the council needed to discuss criteria and protocol for placing items on the United Front list. Ms. Wilson reiterated that the next meeting was scheduled for January 10, 2008, and subsequent meetings would be held every Thursday at noon. The meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m. (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations December 12, 2007 Page 4