HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes
ECC
UGENE ITY OUNCIL
AIS
GENDA TEM UMMARY
Approval of City Council Minutes
Meeting Date: June 12, 2006 Agenda Item Number: 2A
Department: City Manager’s Office Staff Contact: Lynda Rose
www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-5017
ISSUE STATEMENT
This is a routine item to approve City Council meeting minutes.
SUGGESTED MOTION
Move to approve the minutes of the May 8, 2006, Work Session, May 8, 2006, City Council Meeting,
May 17, 2006, Work Session, and May 22, 2006, Work Session.
ATTACHMENTS
A.May 8, 2006, Work Session
B.May 8, 2006, City Council Meeting
C.May 17, 2006, Work Session
D.May 22, 2006, Work Session
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Staff Contact: Lynda Rose
Telephone: 682-5017
Staff E-Mail: lynda.l.rose@ci.eugene.or.us
L:\CMO\2006 Council Agendas\M060612\S0606122A.doc
NAME OF MEETING: Eugene City Council
DATE OF MEETING: May 8, 2006—Work Session
TO: Beth Forrest
RECORDED BY: Joyce Ogden
MINUTES FILE NAME: M:\2006\Central Services Department\City Manager's Office\City
Council\cc060508m1.doc
BACKUP STORAGE: Joyce C Drive
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R O U T I N G I N F O R M A T I O N
05/16 jo___ Draft to Staff
(Date & Initials)
__ Reviewed/Returned by Staff
__ Returned to Minutes Recording
6/6 ky __ Proofed/Revised by Minutes Recording
6/6 ky Retuned to Staff
______ Council Amendments Incorporated
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ATTACHMENT A
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Work Session
McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall
May 8, 2006
5:30 p.m.
COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, David Kelly, Betty Taylor,
Gary Papé, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Chris Pryor.
The Honorable Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order
A. Committee Reports and Items of Interest from Mayor, City Council and City
Manager
Mayor Piercy reported that four representatives from Durango, Mexico visited Eugene over the
past week to study urban forestry. She displayed a gift received by the City from the Governor of
Durango.
Mayor Piercy then announced that Saturday, May 13, was Kids Sports Day and onThursday,
May 11, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. a public forum would be held at the Lane County Fairgrounds
(with the Osprey Group in attendance) to discuss the assessment of the West Eugene Parkway. In
conclusion, Mayor Piercy stated that due to the full agenda at the regular council meeting at 7:30
p.m., the items pulled from the Consent Calendar would be addressed at the end of that meeting.
Ms. Ortiz spoke about the Durango visitors and stressed that the visit was a major step forward
for the Mexican environment. She explained that Mexico historically had not devoted significant
time to environmental issues and that the Governor of Durango was committed to creating a
template to address issues around the environment. Ms. Ortiz thanked staff for the effort it put
forth for this visit on such short notice. She then reminded the public to vote on May 16.
In conclusion, Ms. Ortiz reported that the Human Services Commission continued to address the
Community Health Center and how funds would be utilized wisely to provide services for that
facility.
Mr. Pryor reported that the Human Services Commission met on April 17 to discuss the budget
and receive a presentation from the HIV Alliance on the Needle Exchange Program. He
announced that the commission would hold a budget hearing at 5:30 p.m. on May 25, at a
location to be determined.
Mr. Pryor then reported on a recent Lane Metro Partnership meeting, and said that the partnership
determined it could do its work on a quarterly basis and revised its meeting schedule accordingly.
Mr. Pryor opined that this decision would make meetings more effective.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 1
Work Session
In conclusion, Mr. Pryor announced that the Springfield Chamber of Commerce withdrew its
financial support from the partnership. He expressed hope that the chamber would return when it
realizes the benefit of a collaborative effort.
Ms. Bettman reminded constituents in the Bethel area to look at both sides of the ballot when
voting. She then reported that the Police Commission created two committees to (1) craft
prototype ordinance language for the Civilian Review Board; and (2) craft prototype ordinance
language for the Police Auditor.
Ms. Bettman announced that the Farmer’s Market was now open for business at the Tuesday
Downtown Market.
Continuing, Ms. Bettman asked the City Manager if there would be an additional cost to post the
City Council Agenda via Metro Television. Ms. Bettman reasoned that constituents access such
information from their television sets more readily than the computer. City Manager Dennis
Taylor surmised that this cost could be absorbed into existing budget costs. He said he would
research the issue and advise accordingly.
Mr. Papé? reported that a member of the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) Board of
Directors recently reminded the board that it was the designated Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO) for the area and had delegated that charge to the Metropolitan Planning
Committee (MPC). As a result, staff provided an historical account of that delegation and the
LCOG board, which had expressed a concern regarding the status of transportation projects,
would begin to monitor MPC activities.
Mr. Papé? announced that he recently met with Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Director
Angel Jones and other staff to discuss the feasibility of transforming Fire Station #1 into a
community center for teens, however, it was determined the space would not be appropriate for
that purpose. He said he was hopeful staff would recommend other City-owned facilities for this
purpose. In conclusion, Mr. Papé? announced that the River Road/Santa Clara Transition Team
and Task Force would complete their work on June 30 and both organizations have agreed to
accept responsibility for future transition issues.
Mr. Poling congratulated the 70 firefighters who graduated from the Fire Academy in April. He
turned to recent “Letters to the Editor” regarding the removal of trees along the north side of
Oakway Mall off Coburg Road. He explained that the trees were beginning to deteriorate the
sideways, curbs, and streets, and causing issues with the storm drains. Mr. Poling said that
neighbors were notified of the tree removals and that new trees would be planted which would be
appropriate for the environment in that particular area. In conclusion, Mr. Poling announced that
an Accessible Pedestrian Signal Ceremony would be held at 10 a.m. on May 9 at the new
intersection at Oakway Mall.
Mr. Kelly clarified that with regard to MPO/MPC and transportation issues, in November 2006,
he and Mayor Piercy followed City Council direction when they cast their votes to forward 66 of
the 67 transportation projects on the list and reject the West Eugene Parkway project. Further,
new projects – amendments to current projects - that were time-sensitive had been supported 100
percent. Mr. Kelly then reported that he attended an excellent training devoted to issues related to
the Arab Muslim and Sikh communities and the dedication of the new Royal Carribean building,
which was a first-class facility. He shared that the company housed in the building planned to
employ a total of 500 employees over the next few years. In conclusion, Mr. Kelly reported that
Region 2050 Policy Steering Committee recently met and received information from the State
and LCOG which would be carefully reviewed. He said he plans to meet with Planning Division
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 2
Work Session
staff Susan Muir and Kurt Yeiter to review the materials. Mr. Kelly announced that the next
Region 2050 meeting would be May 30.
Ms. Taylor spoke about trees and reminded staff that the City Council continues to await the
implementation of the tree regulations adopted by the City Council. She stressed that tree
protection was critical.
Ms. Taylor reported that the Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA) would meet on May 9 to
discuss environmental odors.
Ms. Taylor asked for an explanation of what differentiates “The Charter permits” from “The
Charter requires,” specifically as it related to the hiring of the Police Auditor staff and an in-
house attorney. City Attorney Glenn Klein replied he could not respond to the in-house attorney
issue and that Jerry Lidz of his office wrote an opinion with regard to the Police Auditor staff. He
said he would review that opinion and then respond to the inquiry. Ms. Taylor opined that the
City Manager had the authority to hire all staff; however, he also had the ability to cede that
authority.
Ms. Taylor asked for a clarification regarding emails received by councilors which address
locations for a hospital and the notation that those emails do not need to be part of the record. Mr.
Klein explained that those particular emails could become part of the record should councilors
choose to forward them on to Planning staff designate Alissa Hansen; however, he stressed that
there was no requirement that they become part of the record unless they were sent to Ms. Hansen
to become part of the record. Ms. Taylor opined that the authors of those emails would wish the
content to be part of the record. Mr. Klein elaborated that once the Planning Commission
forwarded its recommendation on the hospital to the council, any emails received from that point
forward should be part of the public record.
Moving on, Ms. Taylor spoke to the Police Auditor selection process and asked how it was
determined who was an “outside expert.” Mayor Piercy responded that the Police Commission
provided a list of outside experts to the ad hoc committee for review and prioritization. Ms. Ortiz
added there were independent auditors from other jurisdictions on the list who have the history
and experience to provide valuable consultation.
Ms. Taylor turned to the unoccupied buildings and spaces in the downtown core and questioned if
the owners of those buildings/spaces could be taxed through a downtown empty building/space
tax structure and if a council work session should be scheduled to address this issue.
Ms. Solomon announced that she attended the Lane County Prayer Breakfast on May 5, which
was well-attended. She reported that on May 21, the Friends of Golden Gardens Park would
canvas area neighborhoods with flyers providing safety tips for park visitors.
City Manager Taylor reiterated the announcement made by Mayor Piercy that the meeting on the
West Eugene Parkway Conflict Assessment would be held at the Lane Events Center
Performance Hall on Thursday, May 11, at 6 p.m.
Mr. Papé? spoke to the emails referring to a hospital location and questioned if councilors were
permitted to advise senders that the emails have been forward to Ms. Hansen to be entered into
the record. Mr. Klein explained that if councilors want those emails entered into the record, they
could be read and then forwarded to Ms. Hansen for inclusion into the record. If they were not
read, they do not need to be forwarded to Ms. Hansen. Additionally, it was appropriate to
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 3
Work Session
respond to senders that the email had been forwarded to City staff to enter into the record without
further comment.
Mr. Papé? announced that the Annual Scottish Festival would be held on Saturday, May 20, at the
Presbyterian Church on River Road.
Ms. Bettman referred to Ms. Solomon’s announcement regarding Golden Gardens Park and
pointed out that the ponds continue to be dangerous. She said she sent a request to the City
Manager and City Attorney’s Office to fence the area, as there would be a period of time before
the safety issue could be addressed. Mr. Klein noted that Public Works was in the process of
responding to Ms. Bettman’s email request.
B. WORK SESSION: Cuthbert Amphitheater Update
Angel Jones, Executive Director of the Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Department,
reviewed the Agenda Item Summary (AIS). She was pleased to report that the community would
have the opportunity to attend more events this summer then in the past seven years with a total
of 11 shows scheduled, due to the contractual agreement recently signed with Kesey Enterprises
and Double Tee of Portland. Additionally, the contract provided an opportunity to build stronger
relationships with the University of Oregon, beginning with the Amphitheater hosting the
Willamette Folk Festival in May. Ms. Jones said that the contract guaranteed the City a minimum
of $30,000 profit per year for five years and she expressed confidence that due to the impressive
lineup of acts scheduled for summer 2006 this amount would easily be exceeded. Additionally,
she stated that Kesey/Leiken made an agreement with the International Alliance of Theatrical
Stage Employees (IATSA), Local 675, to ensure that union workers were employed for the
events.
Mayor Piercy solicited comments and questions from the council.
Mr. Kelly expressed disappointment that the City Council was not informed and consulted that an
RFP to manage the facility would move forward. He pointed out that council direction of 20
years ago was not an adequate sign to staff that it should start such a process. Mr. Kelly asked if
local, non-profit resident companies could play a role in recruiting acts for the venue. Laura
Niles, Acting Cultural Services Manager, pointed out that discussions around this issue have
ensued in the past; however, there were varying complexities, such as funding artist fees and
accessibility to artists during the summer months.
Mr. Kelly then expressed some anxiety about the danger of the Cuthbert turning into a
commercial/competitive model. He spoke to accessibility, which he defined as diversity of
programming and opined that if the model becomes purely commercial, diversity may be lost in
the process. Mr. Kelly questioned if the contract required a variety in the programming and/or
minimum number of shows. Ms. Niles responded the contract did not specify a minimum
number of shows; rather, it planned to schedule shows that were perceived to be attractive to
Eugene audiences. Mark Loigman, Operations Director, explained that the contract did speak to
accessible and varied programming. The Willamette Folk Festival, for instance, would be free to
the public (including parking) which spoke to diversity, and the contract included a clause
whereby the City retained a number of “no fee” uses for community events at the Cuthbert. Mr.
Kelly stated that he would prefer that the contract include a metric on that component.
Ms. Taylor stated she would be pleased if Eugene could be classified as the “Greatest City for
Justice for Working People.” She spoke to the stage hands and the fact that they would not
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 4
Work Session
receive benefits in the new arrangement. Mr. Loigman explained that the stage hands would
continue to hold a contract with regard to the activities that occur at the Hult Center and, while
working at the Cuthbert, these individuals would not be considered City employees and therefore
would not receive benefits for the hours worked there. However, he stressed that there would be
more opportunity for work under the new agreement then in the past. Ms. Taylor opined that
privatization of the Cuthbert could prove to be a detriment to employees. She expressed hope
that something could be done for employees who were working for lower wages and no benefits.
Ms. Bettman spoke to the parking issue and asked if that component would be changed. Mr.
Loigman explained that there would be adequate parking for park users and the parking ordinance
would be adhered to. He added that a small parking fee, such as $1 or $2, would be included in
the ticket price as opposed to being charged upon entrance into the park. (It was noted that the
previous parking fee at the park was $5.) Mr. Loigman added that the City would receive one-
half of the parking proceeds at the end of the season by formula with other ancillary revenue
sharing. Ms. Bettman questioned if the City could have held on to the Cuthbert and said that
inadequate information with regard to the RFP process did not reveal if this decision was a wise
and prudent step.
Ms. Ortiz pointed out that the removal of employee benefits amounted to a reduction in wages.
She then expressed hope that Kesey Enterprises would look at the entire community as it moved
forward with the future planning of events as the cost of some of the shows in the past were
exorbitant for many members of the community.
Mr. Pape? echoed Mr. Kelly’s comment that the City Council was not adequately informed about
the process. However, he complimented City Manager Taylor and staff for looking for
alternative models to provide services to the community. Mr. Pape? opined that the decision to
privatize was prudent and he supported it. He said he would look forward to attending upcoming
events.
City Manager Taylor commented that the Willamette Folk Festival had outgrown the University
facilities and the change in venue would bring out more members of the community. He said that
ongoing and new clientele accessing the Cuthbert would provide a stimulus for other ways in
which to utilize the venue.
Mayor Piercy stated she was pleased at the number of performances that were already scheduled
for the summer; however, she also expressed concern about the reduction in wages. She pointed
out that cultural services were essential for the community, as well as sustainability for the
City’s employees. Ms. Jones voiced her view that it was not the role of government to provide
the service; however, it was the role of government to ensure the service. She said she continues
to view the challenges around the delivery of services with the limited resources available and
competing priorities.
Mr. Poling voiced concern regarding the wage and benefit component; however, he was pleased
that the privatization allowed the Cuthbert, a great City asset, to remain open. He asked if the
contract could be renegotiated if deemed appropriate. Ms. Jones replied that the contract had a
five-year duration; however, if there was “good cause,” the City had the ability to withdraw if the
Cultural Policy Review Board deems it necessary. She added that Kesey Enterprises had been
diligent in adhering to the City’s values. Ms. Jones assured the council that it would receive a
report on the first year’s performance of this new arrangement.
Mayor Piercy solicited a second round of questions and comments.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 5
Work Session
Mr. Kelly spoke to the Roseburg Events Center and questioned why that area was able to bring in
popular acts when it certainly faced the same challenges as Eugene. Ms. Niles said that an entity
(such as the business community in Roseburg) funding such acts at a higher level in advance was
a key to such success. Mr. Kelly reasoned that the Roseburg community did not offer a Hult
Center with lineups such as the symphony, ballet, and opera company, and therefore there was a
limited scope for cultural contributions. Mr. Kelly turned to the labor issue and said it was
unfortunate the council was not involved in those discussions. He commented that the labor force
was ill-treated in the process and expressed an understanding that the union had filed an unfair
labor practices complaint.
In response to a question from Mr. Papé?, Ms. Niles responded there were currently eight resident
companies connected to the Hult Center and the City’s requirements for those companies have
not changed: six performances during the September to May season; paid staff; locally
based/non-profit, professional organization; “season ticket” offerings; and the provision of
educational outreach activities to the community. She noted there was a question about the
Opera’s viability at this time and a proposal to maintain its residency status would be reviewed by
the Cultural Services Advisory Committee. Mr. Papé? voiced opposition to a policy allowing
companies to lower their standards to remain a resident company.
Ms. Bettman stated she favored lowering the threshold to retain the Opera in Eugene.
She pointed out that profitability on the “private” side was related to the fact that there was
taxpayer subsidy in providing the facility, land for parking, and intangible services. Ms. Bettman
turned to the labor issue and said she regretted any profit that would be realized at the expense of
the workers. She conceded that the City Manager retained purview over contractual services and
therefore the City Council may have no role in aspects of the contract.
Ms. Bettman asked if the vendors would pursue any sponsorships. Ms. Niles replied that vendors
have a significant interest in supporting the venue but have had difficulty committing in the past
as there was not a season for them to support. She said it was certainly an option. Mr. Loigman
clarified that in addition to the $30,000 profit guarantee to the City by Kesey Enterprises, there
was an additional guarantee of $2.00 for every ticket sold and there would be income to the City
from food and beverage sales, parking fees, sponsorships, and cash donations. In addition, for the
six months the concessionaires were in residence from May 1 to October 1 they were responsible
for the maintenance and upkeep of the facility to the City’s standards as well as utility payments.
Ms. Bettman reiterated that she did not receive the figures related to this information so she could
not determine if it was a benefit for taxpayers. She suggested that as this arrangement was
subsidized by the taxpayers and as there would be requests for sponsorships and banners for
commercial entities, a banner thanking the citizens of Eugene for providing the venue/offsetting
the cost was appropriate. Staff concurred.
City Manager Taylor shared that one year ago, Ms. Jones informed him that it would be difficult
to hold future events at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre, as the operation was in serious financial
condition. She therefore recommended that the $50,000 allocation be put to other needs.
However, following the adopted slogan by the City Council of The World’s Greatest City for the
Arts and Outdoors, City Manager Taylor deemed that canceling the season at the Cuthbert was
not an option. He spoke to the loss the City incurred from last summer’s season, which totaled
approximately $100,000, and commented that to move forward with the privatization, it was
realized the number of performances could be increased which would increase the vendors and, in
turn, increase revenue flow. City Manager Taylor expressed that the Cuthbert was too important
a community asset to the community to be closed. With regard to the labor issue, City Manager
Taylor opined it was concluded it would be far better to have more work than no work at all.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 6
Work Session
C. WORK SESSION: Crest Drive Neighborhood Context Sensitive Solutions Process
Lisa Gardner, Senior Transportation Planner, recognized Kathy Suranpa and Fred Lorish from the
Crest Drive Community Team and Dave Roth, an intern from the University of Oregon. She
proceeded with a PowerPoint presentation outlining the components of the process:
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Process Review
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Identified Streets
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Crest Drive Community Team
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Group Agreements
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Decision-Making
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Meetings
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Communication
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Support
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Mission Statement
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Context Sensitive Solutions
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Context Sensitive Solutions Around the Country
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Context Sensitive Solutions/Context Sensitive Design in Eugene
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Work Plan Development
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Engineering Process
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Issues Identification/Existing Conditions
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Public Involvement Plan
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Next Steps/Timeline – 12 to 18 months
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Crest Drive Community Team Product
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City Manager’s Recommendation
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Crest Drive Website: www.eugene-or.gov/pwprojects
Mayor Piercy expressed appreciation to all members of the community and staff for their
exemplary contributions to this project. She then called on the council for questions and
comments.
Ms. Taylor expressed appreciation to the citizens and staff who contributed their talents thus far
to the process. She expressed hope that the City would continue to listen and work with the
citizens in unison. In the interim, Ms. Taylor urged the City to address the potholes on Crest
Drive.
Ms. Bettman opined that the project would be a model process for the community and
congratulated the neighbors and staff for their participation. In response to a question from Ms.
Bettman, Ms. Gardner replied that all of the neighbors who attended the May 4 meeting signed or
would sign the Group Agreement. She stressed there had been no expression of dissent as the
Crest Drive Community Team (CDCT) was a consensus model. Ms. Bettman observed that the
CDCT product was transportation-oriented and did not address neighborhood character, property
values, and other issues in which financially impacted residents would be interested. Ms.
Gardner stated that those considerations would be addressed as part of the Context Sensitive
Design Solutions (CSS) process and the product itself would be a recommended design and
reflective of the components Ms. Bettman put forth. Ms. Gardner noted that development of
criteria would ensue.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 7
Work Session
Ms. Bettman stated she believes in the primacy of the people who would be financially impacted
and concurred there would be improvements which fulfill transportation needs of other people in
the community; however, she stressed the product must be done in a way that did not negatively
impact the neighborhood and the property values. Ms. Gardner clarified that “McLean” was not
one of the affected streets as noted in the council packet. She turned to the property owner input
and said that input was part of the design of the Crest Drive Neighborhood Group Subcommittee,
primarily made up of property owners on the affected streets. Ms. Bettman stated she would
support the motion as a good portion of the costs could be reimbursed.
Mr. Papé? applauded the process and recognized that while this project would take more time and
energy, it would be a better product due to its consensus nature. City Manager Taylor
commented that the work of the neighborhood reinforced by the recommendation of the City
Manager captured everyone’s attention. Mr. Papé? expressed a desire to hear from the
neighborhood members. Ms. Gardner said that opportunity would present itself as the process
moves forward. In response to a question from Mr. Papé?, Ms. Gardner responded that
classification was not now a focus; rather, the focus was on the street design which was more
significant in terms of how the street would function.
Mr. Kelly echoed previous comments and complimented those involved in the process. He
concurred that this process could be a model for other projects throughout the City. Mr. Kelly
opined that some projects could sometimes take longer due to contentiousness between the City
and its constituents, whereas this project begins on a positive note. In conclusion, Mr. Kelly
spoke to standards and guidelines and noted that standards must follow the law. However, he
urged the members of the CDCT to bring any issues around standards (which could be amended
if deemed appropriate) to the City Council, in order to preserve the integrity and intent of the
process.
Mr. Pryor offered his compliments to all individuals involved in this project thus far. He stated
that the intent to “do it right” while being cost-effective may make the process more lengthy but
would result in an exemplary product. Mr. Pryor spoke to the collaborative process and pointed
out there must be a balance between a “context-sensitive design” and the assurance that a
boutique system was not created. He opined that the process would ensure an appropriate
balance.
Mayor Piercy called for a second round of comments and questions.
Ms. Taylor opined that the fact that only two neighbors were in attendance indicated people were
less concerned and less angry with regard to the process. She spoke to the financial component
and pointed out that property owners on side streets would not be contributing to the financial
aspect but would benefit. She revealed that some of those owners have expressed an interest in
contributing to the process. Ms. Taylor noted that some property owners may lose their houses if
they were required to pay an assessment fee. She urged staff to ascertain if there was an avenue
to allow contributions from side street owners and waive charges for property owners who cannot
afford the assessment fees.
In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Gardner replied there were four at-large
representatives from the neighborhood on the committee, in addition to the 16 representatives
from affected streets. Ms. Taylor noted that some of those owners were feeling neglected by the
process. Ms. Gardner assured the council there would be ample opportunity to involve both
affected property owners and broader representatives of the neighborhood throughout the process.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 8
Work Session
Responding to Ms. Taylor’s concern with regard to assessment fees for low-income property
owners, Mr. Kelly commented that there was a potential for a low-income subsidy.
Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to direct the City
Manager to implement the Crest Drive Neighborhood Context
Sensitive Solutions Process in anticipation of a General Fund
appropriation of $240,000 in FY07. The motion passed
unanimously.
The meeting adjourned at 7:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis M. Taylor
City Manager
(Recorded by Joyce Ogden)
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 9
Work Session
NAME OF MEETING: Eugene City Council
DATE OF MEETING: May 8, 2006—Regular Meeting
TO: Beth Forrest
RECORDED BY: Ruth Atcherson
MINUTES FILE NAME: M:\2006\Central Services Department\City Council\cc060508m2.doc
BACKUP STORAGE: Ruth #33
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R O U T I N G I N F O R M A T I O N
5/24/06rma Draft to Staff
(Date & Initials)
Reviewed/Returned by Staff
Returned to Minutes Recording
6/6 ky Proofed/Revised by Minutes Recording
6/6 ky Returned to Staff
______ Council Amendments Incorporated
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ATTACHMENT B
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
City Council Meeting
Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall
May 8, 2006
7:30 p.m.
COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, David Kelly, Gary Papé, George
Poling, Chris Pryor, Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor.
Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order and welcomed
everyone to the meeting.
1. PUBLIC FORUM
Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. She noted that 24 people had signed up to speak and
requested a motion. The council concurred that it would stay to hear all those who had signed up to speak,
and no motion was offered.
Jim Hale
, 1715 Linnea Avenue, requested that the council pull Consent Calendar Item G and vote against
it. He wanted to force the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) to provide answers to the following
questions, before taking its ballot measure to the voters:
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Why was EWEB in such a hurry to move when there was no pressure from McKenzie-Willamette
Hospital demanding action?
?
Why did EWEB want the City to approve the item at the present meeting “to save $50,000 on an
election” when it had “no qualms about spending several times that amount in bonding expense?”
?
Why was EWEB “anxious” to borrow $1.2 million for unknown contingency costs, $100,000 to
plan the future use of the operations yard, $700,000 to do a wetland fix on the Roosevelt Boule-
vard location, and $300,000 in ordinary EWEB staff costs associated with the move, when it could
“seemingly” pay most of these expenses from ordinary funds instead of borrowed money?
?
Why was EWEB “in a big hurry” to spend $4 million on design and site improvements for the
Roosevelt site, which he felt was far from the power and water sources in the Willamette Valley?
?
Why did EWEB intend to remodel the existing building?
Mr. Hale questioned the need for what he asserted were two city governments and two city managers. He
noted that City Manager Dennis Taylor supervised 1,482 employees and was paid $133,000 annually while
EWEB General Manager Randy Berggren supervised 472 employees and was paid $192,500 annually. He
asserted that EWEB paid its five division managers substantially more than the City paid its manager. He
believed that the administrative infrastructures of the City and of EWEB represented a duplication of
services and consolidation would bring about greater efficiency.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 1
Regular Meeting
Tom Snyder
, 1143 Monroe Street, proposed that the council host a public dialogue regarding what vision
the community would support in the development of the EWEB riverfront property. He read a futuristic
article he had written based on his vision of conversion of the EWEB steam facility into a “Live Steam
Museum.” He submitted his testimony in writing.
Zachary Vishanoff
, Patterson Street, approved of Mr. Snyder’s proposal. He reiterated his unhappiness
with the demolition of the former cannery, noting that he had gone to the site prior to the construction of the
courthouse and “gathered artifacts.”
Mr. Vishanoff circulated copies of an article. He asserted that Nike paid no taxes and reiterated his
opposition to the University’s plans for a basketball arena.
Betty Snowden
, PO Box 5166, Eugene, testified in support of a payday loan ordinance. She said as a
business owner she supported a friendly business climate, but not at the expense of low-income citizens.
She disliked that payday loan businesses frequently charged an interest rate of 500 to 700 percent.
Laurie Trieger
, 2710 Polk Street, stated that payday loans were short-term, high-interest rate loans
marketed to cash-strapped consumers. She cited statistics that indicated that in 13 years, the number of
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such lenders had grown from 200 to over 25,000 and Oregon was the 14 most saturated state for payday
lending. She pointed out that of the 31 licensed payday lenders in Lane County, 16 operated in Eugene and
the most common annual percentage rate was 532 percent. She explained that a person could borrow
$300, could roll over that amount three times according to law and, within 10 weeks could pay $240 in fees
for that loan. She stated that the State Legislature enacted payday loan reforms to address some aspects of
the industry’s practices, but a strong need for city-level reform still existed. She said it would be 14
months before Oregon consumers would be protected by the State from predatory loan terms. In an effort
to provide immediate relief to consumers, many cities used a model ordinance to establish basic protections
that were complementary to and not a duplication of the State law. She related that one of the few current
requirements to access a payday loan was that a person be employed. She understood, from her work at
Food for Lane County, that more than one-third of all households in Lane County that receive emergency
food boxes have at least one working adult. She stressed that with rising health care, utility, and housing
costs, Lane County’s working poor struggled to meet their basic needs. She cited a 2004 Oregon
Department of Consumer and Business Services survey indicating that 30 percent of all payday loan
consumers borrowed money to purchase groceries. She stressed that these people were “your neighbors
and mine.”
Lisa Warnes
, 5020 Nectar Way, a board member of the Southeast Neighbors and the Chair for Vision for
Intact Ecosystems and Watersheds (VIEW), stated that three planned unit developments (PUDs) were
slated for the southeast neighborhood. She reviewed a number of the PUDs in the South Hills over the last
few years. She asserted that the geology and hydrology reports were generally a “rubber stamp.” She said
neighborhood groups were “forced to raise funds” to hire geologists and hydrologists. She alleged that
three recent PUDs were all on “landslide mass.” She wondered why there was not better oversight in the
Planning Division. She felt the Planning and Development Department (PDD) only received reports from
the developers and those reports went unchallenged. She suggested that PDD and the Fire Marshal were
unwilling to address the issues. She commented that one PUD, Green Valley Glen, was planning for 14-
foot-wide roads, which she considered to be a fire hazard.
Ben Ennis
, 80 North Monroe Street, representing Leadership Adventure Education Direction (LEAD),
stated that he had been a part of LEAD for two years. He said LEAD was a local non-profit organization
serving low-income teenagers in Lane County. He stated that the mission of LEAD was to develop the
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Regular Meeting
leadership skills of low-income teenagers to empower them to address community problems and change the
world. He reviewed the history of LEAD, from its inception with the help of the Housing and Community
Services Agency (HACSA) in 1996 to the present. He said LEAD had served over 200 teens during that
time. He related that LEAD teens worked toward “life assignments” and explained that such assignments
were long-term goals in which the teen would work to create a positive personal community or world
change. He listed some life assignments, ranging from graduating from high school to becoming a marine
biologist. He said his life assignment was to learn all he could about computers and the “life assignment”
of the group was to create Nuestro Lugar/Our Place, a LEAD teen center in the city of Eugene. He
reported that LEAD representatives met with City staff and it had been determined that the former fire
station in City Hall would not work. Now they understood there were other City-owned properties that
could work. He asked that the council take a verbal stance to do whatever it could to make Nuestro Lugar
happen. He assured the council that supporting the center would help the council fulfill its priority
regarding youth.
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Marie Kale
, 767 West 8 Alley, stated that she participated in LEAD for four years. She said LEAD
teens would love to have the council’s support for the Nuestro Lugar. She invited the councilors to a free
lunch on May 24 during which a video would be shown and speakers from LEAD would make presenta-
tions. She felt the council would be able to see first-hand why LEAD was an “amazing program.” She
provided invitations to the councilors. She reiterated that LEAD had just been presented with an award
honoring it as the Outstanding Human Services Agency of the Year. She added that this means “we’re
awesome.”
Maj Rafferty
, 532 Olive Street, said LEAD had been spearheading the drive to create a teen facility in
downtown Eugene. She stressed that LEAD had a strong track record for working with diverse groups of
young people. She stated that she had been partnering with the City on the project since 1998 when she
worked for the Riverhouse Outdoor Program. She listed the other partners: Juventud FACETA, Youth
Advisory Board, University of Oregon Family Human Services program, and Trauma Healing Project.
She noted that the University’s program was one of the best in the country and utilized best practices,
evidence-based research, and interventions. She reported that Dr. Dan Close, department head for the
program, committed to provide interns for the teen center. University of Oregon Family and Human
Services program counseling psychology professor, Benedict McWhirter, an expert researcher on the
subject of at-risk youth and prevention, was interested in the center and wanted to contribute to the
program. She said a graduate student was conducting a needs assessment to help LEAD better understand
what the community needed. She added that LEAD also partnered with Juventud FACETA and the Youth
Advisory Board to provide services in a culturally inclusive manner. She related that Linda Wagner, who
started a successful teen facility in Arizona and now worked in research and development for the
Department of Youth Services, had written LEAD an outstanding letter of support noting that LEAD’s
development process matched up with successful practices in Arizona. She acknowledged that some people
felt the teen center concept had been tried without success and likened this to saying “I tried a sandwich
once and did not like it.” She reiterated that the LEAD facility would be a membership facility, where
parents would be required to sign their children up and teens would have to commit to obeying the law and
staying in school and graduating. She reminded the council that LEAD had a strong grant possibility with
Meyer Memorial Trust for $15,000 but needed a space commitment. She related that a space in the
Overpark structure had been suggested and she believed it would work. She asked the council to commit to
being a champion for the project.
Thomas Dodd
, 372 Lodenquai Lane, pastor of United Lutheran Church, spoke in support of the council’s
consideration of ordinances to regulate the payday loan industry. He called the special legislative session in
Salem promising, but the implementation date of July 1 left room for the industry to lobby to reverse the
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Regular Meeting
bill. He suggested that should the council act to regulate the industry, the action would keep the momentum
going and would give strength to the supporters of stronger regulation of the industry. He underscored that
people in crisis were very vulnerable. He said while a crisis such as a hurricane was very visible, the crisis
of being poor was much less of an attention-getter. He asserted that it is easy to ignore a problem that is
not part of our daily experience, such as what happens in the payday loan industry when fees equal 520
percent interest on an annual basis. He said someone was making money at the expense of others and such
practices were making things worse for many residents of Eugene. He acknowledged that the city of
Eugene was made up of people of many faiths and offered a reading from the Christian Bible, Psalm 72.
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Rene C. Kane
, 254 West 14 Avenue, co-chair of the Jefferson/Westside Neighbors, asserted that a Metro
Plan redesignation of the area to Medium Density Residential R-2 jeopardized the area and put it at risk of
being developed with “poorly designed infill.” She related that representatives of the neighborhood
association spoke with the Eugene PDD and awaited response. She related that the recent memorandum
from the PDD director to the council had no suggestions to prevent the damage that inappropriate
development might cause, nor any steps to fully implement the Jefferson/Far West Refinement Plan
policies. She said this type of development would destabilize the neighborhood. She asked, on behalf of
the Jefferson/Westside Neighbors that the City Council take swift action to oppose this change to core
neighborhoods by calling a temporary moratorium on zone changes.
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to extend the Public Forum by
57 minutes. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
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Paul Conte
, 1461 West 10 Avenue, commended the council for doing a great job in December of
protecting 14 blocks of the Jefferson/Westside neighborhood. He declared that the neighborhood was now
“about to lose 15 blocks” to similar destructive infill. He suggested that “common sense” would indicate
that an action allowing an intense multi-family development in an area of single-family neighborhoods
should not be “handled this way,” regardless of a policy in the Metro Plan. He recalled that according to
the PDD memorandum, staff testified to the Hearings Official in December 2004 that they were unclear
about the maximum density of the area and that local refinement plan policies were ambiguous. He said
the Hearings Official also found that many of staff’s interpretations of policies for a zone change were
wrong. He asked why staff had not brought these unresolved issues before the council. He asserted that
“staff had done nothing” to fully implement the policies that require protection of the character of this
neighborhood. He alleged that residents were left “to fear the worst.” He thought it was essential that the
council step in and provide temporary shelter for this “heritage neighborhood” while work was completed
and appropriate standards were put into place.
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George Stathakis
, 935 West 8 Avenue, chair for the Wayne Morse Youth Program, stated that the
program had operated on the Wayne Morse Terrace in front of the Lane County Building for 14 years. He
said electricity had recently been cut to the plaza and a heavy police presence had been brought in. He felt
this could be an opportunity to improve the image of the Eugene Police Department (EPD). He stated that
there had never been a uniformed officer at the Saturday free speech event, but seven uniformed officers
had been present the previous weekend. He agreed that it was good to “deal with the negative things” but
said it was better to enhance the positive things. He underscored that the young people involved in his
program were doing precisely what the Wayne Morse Free Speech Terrace was designed for. He
recommended that EPD be encouraged to create a friendlier image and that one officer who could get to
know who the “bad eggs” were be assigned to the plaza. He also requested that the council speak to the
Lane Board of County Commissioners on behalf of the youth program so that electricity could be restored.
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Regular Meeting
Iana Matthews-Harris
, 3050 Memory Lane, co-manager of the Wayne Morse Youth Program, stated that
the goal of the program was specifically to empower youth to get up and speak on a microphone, though
anyone was welcome to voice an opinion. She underscored that the program was the “only positive force”
there. She stated that the program’s energy was to support people doing things that were not drug-related
and not illegal. She agreed there was a serious drug problem on the terrace and some people there did
inappropriate things. She attributed much of the trouble to homeless youth and said the City and County
should address homeless issues as the real source of the problems. She heard that 2,500 youth in Eugene
were without a home and called this statistic “ridiculous.” She stated that the people of the city of Eugene
had money and should address the homeless issues. She related that two weeks earlier, EPD officers made
nine arrests and issued 19 citations.
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David Ishi Woods
, 953 West 8 Avenue, co-manager of the Wayne Morse Youth Program, asked where
the councilors had been when the unilateral decision was made by the County to “pull the plug” on the
weekly, open mike opportunity at the Free Speech Terrace. He stated that deeds spoke louder than words
and the youth program was “doing” in Wayne Morse’s name and not just offering lip service. He wished to
have more council support in this.
Misha Seymour
, 1313 Lincoln, #307, commented that there existed “creeping fascism in our midst.” He
proclaimed that fascism in Eugene was not creeping, it was “trotting.” He said Eugene was supposed to be
the City of the arts and outdoors but while the hanging baskets of flowers were watered and maintained,
there were no benches for citizens to sit on. He disliked the Library’s rule that people could not sleep there
for more than 30 minutes. He lamented that there were no benches to sit on and tie one’s shoes. He asked
why “we hate people here so much.”
Anthony Johnson
, 1291 Delores Street, asked on behalf of his classmates that Golden Gardens Park be
developed for the sake of safety. He thought it would be a wonderful thing for the Bethel community if the
area could be turned into a beautiful family park that would help raise awareness about safety issues at the
ponds.
Amanda Canterell
, 511 Langers Lane, related that her class had taken Golden Gardens Park on as a
community service issue. They chose to be responsive to area children by presenting safety information to
elementary school classes. She had focused, in her talk with school children, on safety around water and
she stressed that Golden Gardens Park was not an ordinary park. She felt what she was doing was just the
beginning of the information outreach effort. She asked why a dangerous park was being left untouched
and noted that the water-filled former gravel pit there was larger than any pool in Eugene.
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McKenzie Shepera Davis
, 2350 North Terry Street, an 8 grader at Prairie Mountain School, shared that
she had lost her brother, Brittain, and her cousin, Nick, at Golden Gardens Pond. She stated that it was
absolutely necessary to have funding for Echo Hollow Pool improvements. She observed that more young
people were moving into the West Eugene area and there was nothing to do but go to the skate park or go
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to Echo Hollow Pool, which was just a pool with two diving boards. She related that her 8 grade class
had done much to improve Golden Gardens Park. She wanted the park to look like a city park and not a
garbage pit and asked the council to help. She averred that her community deserved to have parks and
swimming areas like Amazon and River Road parks.
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Brandon McGinnis
, 2060 Irwin Way, an 8 grader at Prairie Mountain School, related that his class had
taken a trip to Golden Gardens Park to see the ponds. He said those who had not been there before were
shocked at the garbage and the condition of the park. He felt the park could be improved by adding several
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Regular Meeting
new bridges, a bicycle path, play areas, and other places to recreate. He thought so many things around the
ponds were dangerous and unpleasant. He reiterated that it should be improved.
Jenny Sink
, 393 Limerick Avenue, said she was the proud teacher of the students who had spoken about
Golden Gardens Park. She recalled that the school year had begun with plans for a memorial. She
applauded the class for dreaming big and related that they had been doing so from the day they visited the
ponds. She stated that a penny drive collected $2,500. She felt the kids’ passion was helping to make a
difference as well as speaking for six young people who could no longer speak for themselves. She said the
grieving was over and change was underway. The young people had become proactive, they heard from
numerous supporters of the park improvements, and now needed to hear from the council. She thanked the
Parks and Open Space Division for the work that had been done so far and to the council for listening.
Ruth Anne Paul
, 1475 Green Acres Road, Space 160, stated that nothing had been done by the City to
develop Golden Gardens Park. She said the part of the 1998 bond measure that had been allocated to the
Bethel area had been used for a number of things and she listed them. She reiterated the importance of
making Golden Gardens Park safe. She averred that an additional ten acres were needed to help slope the
edges of the pits so they would have the nature of true ponds. She felt an additional 100 acres was needed
to make the park user-friendly to more people. She called it imperative to include the development of this
pond in the upcoming bond measure. She reminded the councilors that the park had been locally known as
“the Pits” because it had never been developed or maintained as a park.
Diane Shock
, 5509 Barger Drive, reported that the Active Bethel Citizens group was working hard to
develop Golden Gardens Park. They were appreciative of the council support shown for the park thus far.
She said it remained critical that the project be considered a Priority 1. She recommended that additional
acreage around the ponds area be purchased because the population in the area had increased significantly
and the current area of the park was not adequate. She said another compelling reason to purchase the land
was that the property was close to the airport and under the path of the new runway. She thought it would
be prudent to purchase the land to maintain it as a buffer between the airport and residential areas. She
urged the council to consider purchasing the land for ball fields and additional recreational facilities for all
of Eugene.
Gary Davis
, 1635 Daugherty Street, Cottage Grove, asked the council to include funding for Golden
Gardens Park on the bond issue in November. He said the park in its present state was 90 percent water.
He agreed that additional lands were warranted, given the population growth in that area. He thanked the
councilors for the work that had been done to make the park safer. He explained that he was the
grandfather of two boys whose lives had been taken by the park.
Carrol Dower
, 1000 Welcome Way, thanked everyone and acknowledged that the Friends of Golden
Garden Park were well-received by the council and the community. She reported that the group received
good news coverage and donations from many local businesses and individuals. She reiterated the request
that funds for the park be included in the bond measure and that the park be made a Priority 1. She
underscored that the community was ready to put a great deal of sweat equity into the project, and it had a
commitment from Home Depot for some supplies, the penny drive proceeds, and other fundraising money
to contribute. She said she was just a mom who never wanted to see another grieving parent go through the
agony of losing their spirited 15-year-old to an accidental drowning on a hot summer.
Mary Monette
, 3261 Richard Avenue, stated that Golden Gardens Park would be a great park for Eugene.
She stressed that Bethel was a large voting bloc in the community. She said with the publicity the group
received, it could be a real asset to getting the bond measure passed. She said the group was working hard
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Regular Meeting
to develop the park and needed the council to “come along with us.” She echoed previous testimony urging
the council to place the park in the bond measure and to reclassify its development as a Priority 1.
Rick Bennett
, 9200 Southeast Sunnybrook Boulevard, Clackamas, spoke on behalf of the American
Association for Retired Persons (AARP). He stated that the AARP had more than 475,000 members
statewide and nearly 23,600 members in the City of Eugene. He provided his testimony in writing and
indicated that AARP members were consistently opposed to predatory lending practices, such as payday
loans, and in support of legislation to regulate it. He urged the council’s support for the ordinance.
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Jana Jackson
, 1012 East 22 Avenue, requested that the eight citizen members of the Budget Committee
be required to be representative of the eight wards of the city. She said three of the current members
resided in the same ward and this could be construed as lop-sided representation.
Peter Leung
, 2040 Shasta Loop, announced that a Chinese delegation would be coming to visit the State of
Oregon at the invitation of State Senate President Peter Courtney. He related that the delegation would be
visiting Eugene as well as the State Capitol in Salem. He stated that the delegation was interested in the
University of Oregon because of a potential working relationship and ongoing communications that recently
transpired. He noted that the states of Oregon, Washington, and California were prepared to establish
relationships with fast-growing China and East Asia. He related that Oregon State University was taking
advantage of this opportunity and planned to send a delegation to China during the first week of September.
The University of Oregon was also taking the initiative. He provided a proposal as to how the City could
receive the delegation from China and he hoped that the City Council and the Mayor would take advantage
of this opportunity to improve the city’s relationship with China.
Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and asked for comments from the council.
Councilor Kelly thanked everyone for their testimony. He continued to be impressed with the LEAD
program and what the young people were doing. He requested that the City Manager pursue other sites for
the teen center. He also thanked LEAD for the invitations to the May 24 event, noting that councilors
would not be able to attend because a council meeting was scheduled.
Regarding the Wayne Morse Youth Program, Councilor Kelly stressed that Mayor Piercy contacted the
County Commissioners as soon as she had heard about the situation and asked that electricity be restored to
the terrace.
Councilor Kelly also thanked everyone who spoke regarding the payday loan industry. Additionally, he
noted that he agreed with those who considered the EWEB steam facility to be a valuable community
resource.
Councilor Papé echoed Councilor Kelly’s comments regarding the LEAD teens. Referring to Golden
Gardens Park, he pointed out that there would be no bond money realized in 2006 because of timing, but
there could be other funding possibilities.
Councilor Papé requested a memorandum regarding Mr. Conte’s concerns about zoning in the Jeffer-
son/Westside neighborhood.
Councilor Bettman thanked Mr. Hale. She said it was time to “at least clarify” some of the jurisdictional
issues regarding EWEB and the City of Eugene.
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Regular Meeting
Councilor Bettman said the memorandum in response to concerns raised by the Jefferson/Westside
Neighbors was “not very illuminating.” She related that she was doing additional research on the issue.
She commented that it was counter to opportunity siting and likened it to trying to implement something
with one hand while undoing it with the other hand. She requested a list of options she could pursue, with
agreement from her colleagues, in order to take emergency steps to preserve the neighborhood and address
what had transpired without, she alleged, anyone’s knowledge.
Councilor Taylor called the testimony in the Public Forum “inspiring.” She related that she had also asked
if there was anything the council could do to reverse the situation in the Jefferson/Westside area. She
asserted that the item had “slipped through, hidden in a so-called housekeeping” item on the Consent
Calendar.
Councilor Taylor also liked Mr. Hale’s questions.
Councilor Taylor asked why the City did not have hydrologists and geologists on staff who worked for the
citizens. She opined that sometimes City staff was working just for developers.
Councilor Taylor found the idea of creating a museum in EWEB’s steam facility after its future closure
“fascinating.”
2. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approval of City Council Minutes
- March 13, 2006, City Council Meeting
- April 10, 2006, Work Session
- April 12, 2006, Work Session
- April 17, 2006, Process Session
B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda
C. Approval of 2006-07 Funding Allocations for Federal Community Development Block Grant,
HOME Investment Partnerships, and American Dream Downpayment Initiative Programs
D. Adoption of Resolution 4868 Calling a City Election on November 7, 2006, for the Purpose of
Referring to the Legal Electors of the City of Eugene a Measure Authorizing a Four-Year
Local Option Levy for the Funding of Library Operations
E. Adoption of Resolution 4869 Calling a City Election on November 7, 2006, for the Purpose of
Referring to the Legal Electors of the City of Eugene a Measure Authorizing the Issuance of a
Maximum of $25,490,000 of General Obligation Bonds for Parks, Recreation, and Open
Space Projects
F. Adoption of Resolution 4870 Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Electric Utility System
Revenue and Refunding Bonds in the Aggregate Principal Amount of Not to Exceed
Eighteen Million Three Hundred Fifty-Four Thousand Two Hundred Eighty Dollars
($18,354,280) for the Purposes of Financing and Refinancing Capital Improvements to the
Electric Utility System and Providing for Related Matters
G. Adoption of Resolution 4871 Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of Electric Utility System
Revenue Bonds in the Aggregate Principal Amount of Not to Exceed Eight Million Dollars
($8,000,000) for the Purposes of Financing Capital Improvements to the Electric Utility Sys-
tem and Providing for Related Matters
H. Approval of Police Auditor Recruitment and Selection Process
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to adopt the Consent Calendar.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 8
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Councilor Papé pulled items B, D, E, and G.
Councilor Kelly indicated he submitted corrections to the minutes electronically. He also wished to pull
Item H.
Mayor Piercy deemed the corrections to the minutes, without objection, approved.
Councilor Bettman said she previously submitted minutes corrections.
Mayor Piercy deemed them, without objection, approved.
Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of items B,
D, E, G and H, passed unanimously, 8:0.
Mayor Piercy stated that items pulled from the Consent Calendar would be addressed at the end of the
meeting.
3. ACTION:
Approval of Findings and Recommendations from the Hearings Official and Adoption of an
Ordinance Levying Assessments for Improvements Consisting of Paving, Curbs and Gutters,
Sidewalks, and Storm Water Drainage System on Debrick Road from Clinton Drive to Valley
Butte Drive, and Butte Lane from Clinton Drive to 700 Feet South; and Providing an Immediate
Effective Date (Contract 2006-05) (Job #4111)
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to approve the Minutes, Findings
and Recommendations of the Hearings Official of April 24, 2006.
Councilor Bettman conveyed her opposition to the motion. She was pleased to see that no members of the
public opposed it. She asserted that a large portion of the project would be funded by the City out of the
Lane County Road Fund. She said the road project was not an identified priority of the community.
Roll call vote; the motion passed, 7:1; Councilor Bettman voting in opposition.
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved that the City Council adopt
Council Bill 4926, an ordinance levying assessments for improvements to Debrick Road.
Roll call vote; the motion passed, 7:1; Councilor Bettman voting in opposition.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 9
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4. ACTION:
Approval of Minutes, Findings, and Recommendations from the Hearings Official and Adoption
of an Ordinance Levying Assessments for Improvements Consisting of Paving, Curbs and Gut-
ters, Sidewalks, Landscape Medians, Street Lights, Street Trees, Wastewater, and Storm Water
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Drainage on 3 and 4 Avenues between Pearl Street and Lincoln Street, North of Southern
Pacific Railroad and South of Skinner Butte Park; and Providing an Immediate Effective Date
(Contract 2006-04) (Job #3827)
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to approve the Minutes, Findings
and Recommendations of the Hearings official of April 19, 2006.
Councilor Bettman stated that she would support this project because it was an identified project in the
Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved that the City Council adopt
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Council Bill 4925, an ordinance levying assessments for improvements to 3 and 4 Ave-
nues. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT:
Police Auditor Candidate Profile
City Manager Taylor stated that Human Resources Division Manager, Helen Towle, was available to
answer any questions.
Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing.
Joseph Collins
, 2233 Hawkins Lane, submitted his testimony in writing. He believed the Eugene Police
Department (EPD) to be incompetent. He was concerned about the police auditor and the methampheta-
mine problem in Eugene. He did not think City Manager Dennis Taylor demonstrated any leadership on
this issue. He also thought the Mayor, the Police Chief, and Assistant City Manager were incapable of
handling oversight of a police auditor. He thought the police were bound by a loyalty that committed them
to abetting one another in bad behavior and good. He felt the police’s need to protect one another was
detrimental to the community.
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Bob Cassidy
, 1401 East 27 Avenue, recommended that the auditor be able to hire his or her own staff.
He suggested that the City confer with other jurisdictions that had hired such auditors to be sure that
Eugene did it right.
Zachary Vishanoff
, Patterson Street, believed more public hearings were in order to fully understand the
depth of the problem. He remained angry over an alleged incident that occurred several years earlier in
which he had been hurt by a police officer. He opined that the courts were being used to retaliate against
people like him.
Steve Smith
, 128 Lynnbrook Drive, submitted his testimony in writing. He wanted to address the issue of
who hired and supervised the auditor’s staff. He said an internal auditor should be a professional whose
job was to ensure sound evaluation of internal controls and that such evaluation was recorded properly. He
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Regular Meeting
averred that the auditor needed to ensure that the audit staff was properly trained in audit techniques and in
the roles they played in audit support. He felt the auditor needed to be able to enforce staff performance
and dependability. He recalled from his 30 years of serving as an auditor that it had been important that he
managed his staff and controlled the work environment. He listed three problem areas with an audit staff
reporting to an outside area:
?
How would an audit staff lead keep abreast of the changes of growing the audit function into
maturity or expanding or narrowing its coverage as experience dictates? For the sake of efficiency
and cost-effectiveness, the audit process should have flexibility and constant self-evaluation.
?
How would an outside audit staff boss manage to ensure maximum support for the work of the
auditor? He opined that an auditor’s needs would fall into a secondary priority with staff.
?
How would an outside staff boss be equipped to deal with the critical issues of independent re-
cording of audit findings and insuring strict confidentiality of audit examinations and records? He
did not believe these functions worked successfully without hands-on staff guidance.
Additionally, Mr. Smith predicted the City would lose high-quality candidates for the auditor job if the
position did not include direct management of his or her staff.
Arnold Ismach
, 5326 Tahsili Street, agreed with Mr. Smith. He congratulated Mayor Piercy and the City
Council for moving ahead on schedule with the selection of an auditor. He felt the City was moving in the
right direction. He had followed the police auditor process closely. He noted that in his work as a
journalist he had come in contact with many police complaints. He recommended hiring someone with a
good legal background or background as a judge or professional negotiator.
Rob Handy
, 455 ½ River Road, opined that the election regarding the West Eugene Parkway (WEP)
divided the community and the vote to hire an independent police auditor could serve to “heal our
community.” He said the voters clearly decided to make the police auditor independent of the City
Manager and the Police Chief. He urged the City Council to move forward with what the voters asked for.
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Jana Jackson
, 1012 East 22 Avenue, expressed concern that the job description for the police auditor
was “light.” She asserted that there was no requirement that the auditor have a background in police work.
She felt it would be difficult for an auditor to judge the behavior of police officers without being familiar
with the law and its application. She likened it to having a plumbing inspector who knew little about
plumbing. She also found the requirement specifying that the auditor can not have worked for the EPD
within 20 years to be offensive. She suggested that five or ten years would be more reasonable. She
opined that to say a person should not be affiliated with the police department was “prejudicial and
offensive.” She felt that it implied EPD personnel, their friends, families, and associates could not be
trusted.
Majeska Seese-Green
, PO Box 11692, Eugene said the Whiteaker Community Council (WCC) held the
position that Eugene needed “the strongest possible” independent public review of police practices. She
stated that the auditor needed to be a person who would not be intimidated in “the real difficult situations
that might come up here in Eugene.” She averred that the person needed to have a documented history of
being able to stand up under those circumstances. She felt that setting up the auditor without complete
independence could hamper the situation. The WCC also wished to relay its concern that the person hired
be willing and able to supervise staff. She said it was hoped that an amendment to the charter could be
placed on the ballot with a change in wording that would clearly state that the auditor’s office should be
independent. She commented that, as there was an election scheduled already, an amendment would not
add to the expense.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 11
Regular Meeting
Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing.
Councilor Ortiz thanked everyone for coming down. She said the work had been a “labor of love” for her,
but the bulk of the work still lay ahead.
In response to a question from Councilor Papé, City Attorney Glenn Klein affirmed that the reason the staff
would be included under the auspices of the City Manager’s Office (CMO) for the purposes of official
reporting, was that charter language required it.
Councilor Bettman wished to clarify that the budget for the police auditor and three support staff was
$500,000. She also explained that the intent was always that the police auditor’s office be neutral and
unbiased, and not an advocate for one point of view or another.
In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Ms. Towle said the issue of whether a felon could be
hired was not specifically addressed in the job description but under statute a person could not access the
criminal justice system with a felony background.
Mayor Piercy called for a break at 9:20 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 9:25 p.m.
6. PUBLIC HEARING:
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An Ordinance Concerning the Change of Street Name of the 3/4 Connector Which Extends
East from Lincoln Street to Pearl Street Within the City of Eugene, to Shelton McMurphey
Boulevard
Associate Planner for the PDD, Kent Kullby, read the criteria into the record. He reported that the
Planning Commission recommended approval of the ordinance.
Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing.
Majeska Seese-Green
, P. O. Box 11692, stated that the Whiteaker Community Council supported the
change. She averred it was in line with the Whiteaker Plan and it made sense to go ahead with the name
change.
Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing.
Mayor Piercy ascertained from the councilors that there were no objections to taking action.
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to adopt Council Bill 4924, an ordi-
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nance concerning renaming of the 3/4 Connector to Shelton-McMurphy Boulevard.
Councilor Taylor moved to amend the motion to substitute ‘Avenue’ for ‘Boulevard.’
In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Mr. Kullby said ‘boulevard’ was generally used to
distinguish a street that followed a path diagonal to other streets.
The motion died for lack of a second.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 12
Regular Meeting
The main motion passed by unanimous vote, 8:0.
7. PUBLIC HEARING:
An Ordinance Concerning Stormwater Provisions; Amending Sections 9.0500, 9.6420, 9.8030,
9.8055, 9.8090, 9.8100, 9.8215, 9.8220, 9.8320, 9.8325, 9.8440, 9.8445, 9.8515, and 9.8520 of the
Eugene Code, 1971; Repealing Section 9.6520 of that Code; Adding Sections 9.6790, 9.6791,
9.6792, 9.6793, 9.6794, 9.6795, and 9.6796 to that Code; and Providing an Effective Date
City Manager Taylor asked Development Review Manager for the Public Works Department, Peggy
Keppler, to speak to the subject of the ordinance before the council.
Ms. Keppler explained that the ordinance addressed stormwater development standards. She related that an
article in the Eugene Weekly confused the issue by suggesting that the ordinance would address rainwater
harvesting, though nothing in this ordinance related to it. She clarified that the ordinance addressed when
and what types of applications must meet development standards and also said the facilities would be
designed and constructed according to the Stormwater Management Manual. She stated that the manual
was being adopted administratively and a separate public hearing would be held on it. One of the items in
the manual was rainwater harvesting. She added that the public hearing for the manual was scheduled for
June 8 in the Les Lyle Room at the Public Works building on Pearl Street.
Mayor Piercy suggested that anyone interested in testifying on rainwater harvesting should attend the
aforementioned hearing.
Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing.
Charles Biggs
, 540 Antelope Way, requested that the record remain open for “two to three weeks.” He
asserted that the development standards should be updated periodically and should be expanded to include
existing development. He observed that stormwater rates were going up and he predicted that businesses
would be hit hard. He felt this would result in businesses being more inclined to increase the area of
adjacent impervious surfaces. He was concerned about the water flow on a site and how it was managed
with regard to pedestrians and bicyclists. He said “large sheets of water flowing across sidewalks” would
create problems.
Lisa Warnes
, 5020 Nectar Way, echoed Mr. Biggs’ request that the record remain open.
Teresa Damron
, 605 Howard Avenue, also wished to keep the record open. She called stormwater
“important” because we live in a wet climate. She stated that six of seven stormwater basins had master
plans, with only the River Road/Santa Clara neighborhood plan left. She said the plan was scheduled to be
completed in June 2006. She wished to be able to read the plan prior to the passage of this ordinance.
Kate Kelly
, 1185 Sunnyside Drive, reiterated the request to keep the record open. She said she enjoyed
looking at natural drainage. She did not like curbs and gutters because water did not move in its natural
way. She requested a reduction in the exemption from 3,000 to 1,000 square feet in order to decrease
runoff from impervious surfaces. She stated that River Road drainage was handled by bioswales. She also
wanted to review the stormwater basin master plan for the area.
Rob Handy
, 455 ½ River Road, submitted his testimony in writing. He asserted that the proposed
stormwater ordinance and related Stormwater Manual had significant implications for development and the
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 13
Regular Meeting
related urbanization that “results from development.” He said staff had done a great job of educating the
neighborhood organizations and others in an effort to inform citizens about the proposed policies. He also
wished for the record to remain open, as the review and preparation of comments had “proven to be
complex and time-consuming.” He averred that citizens from the River Road area wanted to offer “useful
and reasonable” suggestions for improvements specific to the area’s basin plan. They had been challenged
to do so because the issues were complicated. He shared two examples of issues of concern:
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Section 1.4(2) which outlined “destination design methodology” and which indicated that the City
of Eugene developed flood control strategies for each of the drainage basins within the urban
growth boundary (UGB) and published its findings, though he alleged that no strategy had been
adopted for the River Road/Santa Clara basin; therefore the flood control design storm information
did not have the necessary data to formulate the desired level of protection for the neighborhood.
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Section 2.2(1) which outlined the “simplified design methodology approach” and stated that a
simplified approach was a process for selecting and designing combined pollution reduction and
flow control facilities intended to save the project developer time and expense. He suggested in-
cluding language that addressed the intent of the simplified design methodology and encouraged
implementation of “natural systems’ functions where appropriate.”
Mr. Handy thanked councilors Ortiz and Papé for their interest in the transition team issues for the
neighborhood.
Kate Perle
, 4740 Wendover Street, reiterated concern that the stormwater basin master plan for the River
Road/Santa Clara was incomplete. She surmised the plan could ultimately dictate how the neighborhood
dealt with stormwater. She averred that the stormwater basin in that neighborhood was “distinctly
different” from the other basins in the city. She said it was important that the considerations given to the
headwaters area in the ordinance as written be allowed for other sensitive basins as well. She called it a
“red flag” for her that much of the language in the manual intended to create systems and to build systems
that “mimic” natural stormwater conveyance, filtration, and mitigation. She preferred to preserve what
already existed. She averred that the River Road/Santa Clara area had stormwater systems designed by
nature that she felt were “priceless.” She asserted that they performed at significantly higher levels than
man-made replacements. She applauded areas of Washington that utilized best management practices for
preserving native soils and vegetation.
Tammie Stark
, 843 Snell Street, stated that she was a rainwater harvesting consultant. She provided
handouts regarding her work. She agreed with testimony in support of preservation of natural systems that
were “already taking care of stormwater mitigation.” She supported the stormwater plan with the
exception of the reporting requirements. She alleged that she heard from “some professionals” that such
requirements were burdensome for them and expensive for clients. She wished to note, regarding rainwater
harvesting, that an outcome-based policy would be greatly advantageous as opposed to a prescriptive
policy. She believed it was important to have practitioner collaboration when reviewing code. She offered
to provide free student labor through the Lane Community College Rainwater Harvesting Design and Build
workshop, scheduled for this summer.
Megan Kemple
, 39 Cedar Street, reiterated the request to leave the record open. She said she found the
information on the Web to be difficult to access and unclear.
Anita Van Asperdt
, 1754 Moonshadow Lane, stated that she was a professional landscape architect. She
also requested more time. She echoed Ms. Stark’s comments.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 14
Regular Meeting
Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing.
Councilor Ortiz, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to leave the record open until
May 22, 2006.
Councilor Papé asked if the ordinance would affect the River Road/Santa Clara stormwater basin master
plan. Ms. Keppler responded that Therese Walch, civil engineer for the Public Works Department, was
working on the plan. She explained that they were in the process of calibrating the stormwater model in
that area. She stressed that the plan was not dependent on the ordinance nor was the ordinance dependent
on the existing structure of the hydrology in the area in order to operate.
Regarding Mr. Handy’s comments, Ms. Keppler stated that in the basin plan, the level of risk and how
many different areas should be protected from flooding was reviewed. She said all of Eugene had been
looked at and there was a measure for how much risk was to be put “in flooding.” She clarified that what
this meant was that if an area was less than 40 acres, development should be designed for a five-year storm
event and, if it was larger, it should be designed for a 10-year storm event. She felt chances that a larger
need would be created in the River Road/Santa Clara area were minimal. She did not see that higher levels
of protection would be necessary. She underscored that the ordinance indicated that the stormwater
systems would be designed according to the “flood control storm event.” She stated that this was not
identified in the ordinance as a specific number.
Councilor Papé asked if the ordinance was time-critical. Ms. Keppler replied that the reason this ordinance
was before the City Council was because it was a requirement for the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permitting process. She said the permit required the City to adopt
development standards, but it was not date-specific at this time.
Councilor Papé asked if there could be information from the River Road/Santa Clara stormwater plan that
would change part of the ordinance. Ms. Keppler replied that no information from the plan would impact
the current ordinance before the council.
Councilor Ortiz withdrew her motion.
Councilor Ortiz, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to direct the City Manager to
leave the record open until May 22 at 5 p.m. and not to bring the issue back before the
council until after the River Road/Santa Clara master plan in regard to stormwater issues
was complete.
Councilor Kelly said if there was a link between the basin plan and this ordinance he would agree with the
motion, but he did not see the link. He thought it would be bad public policy to make a “community
collaboration political statement” on what was actually a matter of engineering. He was familiar with a
basin plan and did not see a connection between the ordinance and such a plan.
In response to a question from Councilor Kelly, Ms. Keppler affirmed that the ordinance essentially
required someone who was building new development over a certain size to put systems in place to protect
water quality. She added that it did not include any design parameters, but it did dictate that someone
creating an impervious surface would have to show where the stormwater would be shunted and demon-
strate that it would be treated if the impervious area was 3,000 square feet or greater.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 15
Regular Meeting
Councilor Kelly asked if a public drainage way would be prohibited in any way should this ordinance be
passed. Ms. Keppler responded that it would not. Councilor Kelly surmised that the ordinance did not
have anything to do with such issues.
Councilor Bettman asserted that the reason there were no design parameters in the ordinance was because
the design parameters were going to be adopted by an administrative order that would be enabled by the
ordinance. She said in terms of the waterway, the ordinance would not change the disposition of such a
waterway unless development was planned. She did not think the council would be able to address the
issues if it came back to the council as an action item. She preferred for it to come back as a work session.
Councilor Bettman asked if the ordinance superseded the basin plan. Ms. Keppler replied that it did not
supersede the plan; rather it was a complement to it. She said the basin plans may identify all of the major
stormwater conveyance systems throughout the River Road/Santa Clara basin, just as it did throughout the
other seven basins, but it was not meant to direct exactly how the water should be conveyed through the
system. She reiterated that the ordinance merely looked at new development and what it needed to do with
stormwater before the water left a development site.
Councilor Bettman asked if “all of the details” were contained in the administrative order. Ms. Keppler
responded that the sizing and design standards were there, but the requirements came from Chapter 9.
Continuing, Councilor Bettman took issue with the exemption for a single-family and a double-family
residential structure. She commented that it was interesting to see the argument that one of the reasons this
exemption was made was so there would be equity throughout the City in terms of developing such a
dwelling. Regarding River Road, however, she wondered how much of new development would be
excluded from the ordinance. She believed that if the City really wanted its stormwater conveyance, flood
control, and pollution control to be sustainable, the City needed to move more into “green infrastructure.”
In response to a question from Councilor Kelly, Ms. Keppler affirmed that the master plans identified the
capacity that the City wanted to have in the system and identified areas where they were deficient. She said
the ordinance in front of the council was for development applications that came in. She clarified that if a
land use application came in, such as a subdivision or a partition including a public street in which a
developer would be required to construct public improvements, that would be addressed in the ordinance.
Councilor Kelly asked what would govern those privately engineered public improvements at present. Ms.
Keppler replied that currently, stormwater conveyance had destination standards in Chapter 9. She said it
dictated that such public improvements would be constructed to standards that had been provided through
Chapter 7 or in a public improvements design standards manual established by the City Engineer. She
noted that the latter had been adopted in 2002 and was currently being revised. She related that the manual
stated that stormwater facilities would be constructed to meet flood control levels. She stressed that it did
not require keeping any open drainage and it did not require any pollution reduction. It also had no site
development requirements.
In response to a follow-up question from Councilor Kelly, Ms. Keppler said the manual dictated that
closing an existing open drainage system would require further capacity of the entire basin to be con-
structed. She added that the manual explained what a person would have to do to design that system.
Councilor Bettman wished to clarify that the ordinance enabled the administrative order.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 16
Regular Meeting
Councilor Kelly asked that the issue regarding exemption be clarified. He noted that one person testified
that Portland had an exemption of 500 square feet. He requested information on why Eugene’s exemption
was “so much higher.”
Councilor Kelly also expressed concern that a large subdivision of single-family homes built in an existing
PUD would be exempted from the stormwater ordinance. He wished to see language that would close the
“big loophole.”
Mayor Piercy called for the vote.
Roll call vote; the vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; councilors Papé, Bettman, Pryor, and
Ortiz voting in favor and councilors Solomon, Taylor, Kelly, and Poling voting in opposi-
tion. Mayor Piercy voted against the motion and the motion failed on a final vote of 5:4.
Mr. Klein noted that the two motions had been combined and the request to keep the record open had been
denied.
Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to keep the record open for further
written testimony until 5 p.m. on May 22. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously,
8:0.
Mayor Piercy expressed concern regarding the time.
Councilor Pryor requested that the council address Agenda Item 8 and defer Agenda Item 9, action on the
Parks Recreation and Open Space project and priority plan, and work to “triage” the items pulled from the
Consent Calendar.
Mayor Piercy conveyed her support for addressing the two Consent Calendar items related to EWEB.
Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to extend the meeting time by 20
minutes. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
8. PUBLIC HEARING:
An Ordinance Establishing Local Criteria in the West Eugene Enterprise Zone and Adopting a
Public Benefit Scoring System; Repealing Resolution 4851; and Providing an Effective Date
Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing.
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Bob Cassidy
, 1401 East 27 Avenue, lauded the committee for doing an excellent job on development of
the local criteria. He felt the committee had made the plan better. He suggested that one more point toward
the tax credit should be given to people who pay at least $9 per hour to their employees.
Lou Christian
, 80767 Turkey Run Road, Creswell, stated that he had been a County appointee to the
committee and he supported the criteria. He felt the committee had engaged in a long, thorough discussion.
Representing the building trades, he conveyed his union’s appreciation for the inclusion of the “Build
Oregon Responsibly” language and the State apprenticeship criteria. He noted that much of the criteria
gave points for jobs created by businesses taking advantage of the Enterprise Zone benefits and it was good
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 17
Regular Meeting
that the construction jobs were being included in the tax credits as well. He greatly appreciated that job
creation was being recognized “on the front end,” as well as when construction was completed.
Roger Kaldahl
, 2350 North Terry Street, #99, stated that he represented approximately 200 construction
men and women who worked and lived locally and underscored that they supported local businesses and
paid local taxes. He stated that they supported the West Eugene Enterprise resolution. He said when
considering giving a contractor a construction bid, one would expect the contract to be a responsible citizen
that paid employees a living wage, provided a full family health plan, and supported the community’s
future by supporting State-approved apprenticeship programs.
Majeeska Seese-Green
, P.O. Box 11692, conveyed the support of the Whiteaker Community Council for
the community standards being considered by the council.
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Mitch Hanan
, 385 72 Street, Springfield, supported the ordinance. He said he worked in the construc-
tion trade. He felt it was important to support living wage jobs with good family benefits.
Mayor Piercy conveyed Lane County’s support for the existing recommendations submitted by the
Enterprise Zone Task Force, as provided by Lane County Commissioner Bobby Green.
Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. She called for council questions and comments.
Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to adopt Council Bill 4923, an
ordinance establishing local criteria applicable in the West Eugene Enterprise Zone and
adopting a public benefit scoring system repealing Resolution 4851 and providing an effec-
tive date.
Councilor Bettman opined that it was unfortunate that the criteria applied to “such a minimal amount” of
the development in the zone. She felt the criteria were negligible. She said she supported community
standards, but the effort of the committee had failed to tie the standards to jobs created and there were
several pieces she considered to be “giveaways” in terms of the point system. She called it “almost an
illusion of standards.” She indicated she would oppose the motion.
Councilor Pryor acknowledged Mr. Cassidy’s comments. He thought it was an intriguing option, but since
they were working with Lane County as a partner and the City was trying coordinate its efforts with those
of the County, he would support the motion as it stood. He thought it would be possible to discuss an
additional point for higher wages at a later date.
Councilor Kelly said he wished to echo “90 percent” of Councilor Bettman’s comments. He thought it
unfortunate that the community standards applied to “such a small percentage” of the tax exemption. He
continued to feel that the council was misled during the original application of the Enterprise Zone as to
what could be included in terms of community standards. He commented that he would have opposed the
Enterprise Zone had he known that the community standards did not govern the entire tax exemption. He
said he would support the motion as it was better than nothing.
Councilor Taylor called the standards “meaningless” and only slightly better than the previous standards.
She said she would oppose the motion.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 18
Regular Meeting
Councilor Bettman raised a point of process. She stated that when the council voted to extend the meeting,
the premise had been that it would only listen to the testimony and then would adjourn. She felt putting the
motion on the table at that point was inconsistent with the intent of the council.
Mayor Piercy understood the decision to address the agenda item as a decision to take the agenda item to
completion.
Councilor Taylor objected to taking action and the motion was deferred.
Mayor Piercy pointed out to the council that the meeting would end without having completed all of the
work. She anticipated that more time would have to be scheduled.
Councilor Papé noted that the time the council voted to end the meeting by had not yet transpired.
Councilor Papé, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved that the council address Consent
Calendar Item G before adjournment. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:3; councilors
Bettman, Solomon, and Taylor voting in opposition.
9. ACTION:
Resolution 4863 Approving the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Project and Priority Plan
This item was deferred due to the lateness of the hour.
10. Items Removed from the Consent Calendar
Mr. Klein reminded the council that the motion to approve Item G, adoption of Resolution 4871 authorizing
the issuance and sale of electric utility system revenue bonds in the aggregate principal amount of not to
exceed $8 million for the purposes of financing capital improvements to the electric utility system and
related matters, was already on the table.
Councilor Papé indicated he would support the resolution. He expressed appreciation to EWEB Commis-
sioner Ron Farmer for meeting with Councilor Poling and him. He related that Commissioner Farmer
believed that $8 million was high and indicated he would work to try and reduce this amount, particularly
with regard to any redesign of the current EWEB administration building.
Councilor Papé also commented that he would like to see a better relationship between EWEB and the City
Council. He recalled that the last meeting of the EWEB Board and the council was at least six years
earlier. He felt, since both entities were governed by the same charter, they should meet at least on an
annual basis. He suggested that the Mayor and Council President meet with the President of the EWEB
Board in order to move toward working more cooperatively.
Mayor Piercy responded that this was already underway and the meetings were scheduled.
Councilor Bettman said she appreciated the information that EWEB provided to the councilors. She opined
that $8 million was a lot of money. She asserted that the ratepayers would have to pay for it and should be
made aware of this. She questioned why EWEB was going out for the whole $8 million given that one of
the commissioners was questioning the necessity of that amount.
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Councilor Bettman felt Mr. Hale made a very good suggestion. She agreed some of the line items that were
presented in the documents provided to the councilors should have been in the existing budget.
In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Mr. Klein affirmed that a person would have 60 days to
gather signatures to put a referendum in to bring the bond to a ballot.
Councilor Bettman asked how many signatures it would take. Mr. Klein replied that the law required
signatures from five percent of the legal voters for such a referendum to be placed on the ballot.
Councilor Bettman said she would vote for the resolution and see whether there was enough public
sentiment to place it on the ballot.
Councilor Kelly also appreciated the additional information. He had ascertained that a rate increase of
around .4 percent could be possible, but this increase was in no way certain.
Councilor Kelly echoed the desire for a better working relationship between the EWEB Board and the City
Council.
Additionally, Councilor Kelly remarked that the master planning process for the existing site had struck
him as something that should be conducted with input from the Planning and Development Department.
Mayor Piercy related that she met several times with EWEB staff and commissioners and it was agreed by
both parties that the City and EWEB needed to meet more.
Roll call vote; the motion to adopt Resolution 4871 passed unanimously, 8:0.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:38 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis M. Taylor
City Manager
(Recorded by Ruth Atcherson)
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NAME OF MEETING: Eugene City Council
DATE OF MEETING: May 17, 2006–Work Session
TO: Beth Forrest
RECORDED BY: Lynn Taylor
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Council\Cc060517m1.Doc
BACKUP STORAGE: Lynn #26
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5/24/06 lt Draft to Staff
(Date & Initials)
Reviewed/Returned by Staff
Returned to Minutes Recording
6/5 Proofed/Revised by Minutes Recording
6/6 ky Returned to Staff
Council Amendments Incorporated
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ATTACHMENT C
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Work Session
McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall
May 17, 2006
Noon
COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Gary
Papé, George Poling, Chris Pryor.
COUNCILORS ABSENT: Betty Taylor.
A. WORK SESSION: City Council Priority Issue – Develop a Strategy to Help the Homeless in
Eugene
Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She announced that
Public Works Director Kurt Corey was named one of the top ten public works leaders of the year by the
American Public Works Association (APWA).
City Manager Dennis Taylor introduced Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Executive Director
Angel Jones and Urban Services Manager Richie Weinman to present options for assisting the homeless
population and/or addressing the local impacts of homelessness.
Ms. Jones said the presentation would provide information obtained from local service providers, community
stakeholders, the homeless population, and advocates for the homeless and frame a discussion of options for
the council to consider when it provided direction to staff. She said that many of those who participated in
the examination of options were in the audience and available to answer questions.
Mr. Weinman said the City’s staff team and others in the community worked together to develop a strategy
to help the homeless. He used a slide presentation to illustrate the issues, needs, conclusions, and response
options. He hoped to obtain direction from the council in several areas: budget parameters, target
population(s), and preferred response. He said the homeless had many faces and homelessness was the most
acute symptom of poverty. He said there were two categories of homelessness: situational and chronic. He
said that many people experienced situational homelessness because of an unanticipated financial crisis;
situational homelessness was often preventable and people often regained housing. He said those who did
not return to housing became chronically homeless and the chronic population was increasing and the most
expensive to address. He said in Eugene over 1,300 people were assisted by shelters or turned away on any
given night. He said the homeless population included families, youth and children, adults without children
living with them, single, chronically homeless adults, the mentally ill and veterans. He summarized the
conclusions of the work group:
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Homelessness is very costly to the community
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Homelessness will not go away on its own
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If not dealt with now, the problem will continue to affect all of Eugene
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 1
Work Session
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Assets: extraordinary cooperation between the public sector and nonprofit service providers and
opportunities to maximize grants
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Everyone needs a safe and stable home
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Rents are out of reach for many people with fixed or lower incomes
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The American dream used to be home ownership; for an increasingly large number of people it is
simply to have a home
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To succeed in school and in life, children need a safe, stable place to call home
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Homelessness costs the community in terms of public safety, public health, public education, and
parks and recreation, and can destroy families, lead to dangerous and illegal behaviors, rob people
of their dignity, and reflect poorly on the community
Mr. Weinman said that 95 percent of those who received services were rooted in the community and not
coming here from elsewhere. Resolving the problem locally would make a difference. He asserted that the
problem could be solved, but not quickly or inexpensively. He said the most effective response was
prevention, both programmatically and financially. He presented four tiers of response options:
Tier 4 Identify a long-term funding source to subsidize housing and fight homelessness
Tier 3 Identify one or more programs to financially support now: prevention/intervention, emergency
shelter, service-enriched housing, access centers, transportation assistance
Tier 2 November 2005 recommendations: increased library access, internet access at homeless cen-
ters, Safe and Sound funding continuation, utility assistance
Tier 1 Current City activities: Human Services Commission, homeless camping facilitation, Looking
Glass Station 7, White Bird CAHOOTS
Mr. Weinman said that the staff recommended the Tier 4 response option to identify a stable, long-term
funding source. He said an alternative recommendation was to continue Tier 1 and 2 activities and provide
$300,000 to fund the following Tier 3 activities:
?
$100,000 – one-time emergency payments to prevent homelessness
?
$50,000 – emergency permanent housing for domestic violence victims
?
$100,000 – increased hours at access centers
?
$50,000 – transportation assistance
Mayor Piercy called on the council for questions and comments.
Ms. Ortiz thanked all those who participated in efforts to address homelessness. She said the City did a lot
but more was needed, particularly to help people break out of the cycle of homelessness. She acknowledged
the cooperation among service providers to ensure there was no duplication of services or “fat” in the
system. She commended those who served the homeless and the work they did in the community.
Mr. Pryor also commended staff for the work done. He said it was an extraordinarily difficult issue not only
because of the financial and population questions but the preconceptions around the issue. He said that
simply moving the problem around the community was not a workable solution and he liked the “best
practices” approach around the key issues of housing, health and livelihood, which were cornerstones of a
successful strategy. He said that misconceptions about whether the problem was imported instead of local
and who constituted the homeless population were stumbling blocks that would need to be addressed through
community education.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 2
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Ms. Piercy agreed that it was important to have a strategic plan for moving forward. She said that
community awareness and ownership of the problem was critical. She found all of the issues compelling but
particularly compelling was the plight of homeless children with no one to care for them. She was
concerned that even with temporary shelter available, youth had to leave in the morning and had no place to
go until the evening. She said there was State-level interest in the problem and urged that the City have a
legislative plan to ask the State to partner in efforts to resolve homelessness.
Mr. Kelly stated it was immoral that such a level of homelessness existed in a wealthy country and
community and while it cost money to address, it was also expensive in emotional, psychological and
financial terms to not do something. He preferred an approach that mixed prevention services and services
to the currently homeless and sought a long-term funding source while providing funds for services now. He
would leave it to the professionals to identify a target population and asked if there were alternatives to the
General Fund for shorter term funding of services. Ms. Jones indicated that the Telecom Fund was used for
internet access services but everything else was through the General Fund.
Mr. Kelly referred to his proposed motion for the upcoming Budget Committee meeting and said he intended
to double his request and ask for one-time funding of $150,000 to provide $50,000 each to one-time
emergency payments, day access centers, and transportation. He indicated the next year could then be spent
seeking long-term, stable funding.
Ms. Bettman thanked staff and providers for their recommendations and continued work on the issue. She
asked for clarification of the proposed motion. Ms. Jones replied that a motion could incorporate one or
more of the tiers set forth in the presentation and that would provide direction for staff to proceed. City
Manager Taylor added that developing a long-term, stable funding source was predicated on the idea that
homelessness was a high-level, long-term community issue and, while it was appropriate for the City to
provide leadership, it would require collaboration with partners in a multijurisdictional, public/private
initiative to develop a long-term strategy in the region.
Ms. Bettman asked how the recommendations correlated with the Lane County homelessness report. Mr.
Weinman said the report outlined a strategy for the future but did not provide funding beyond State and
federal funds that were currently diminishing. Pearl Wolfe, Lane County Human Services Commission, said
the draft plan would be available for public comment during the summer and she hoped the Board of County
Commissioners would adopt it shortly after the first of the year. She said the plan identified service and
funding gaps and while federal dollars could fill some of those, more resources were needed and local long-
term multijurisdictional planning was essential.
Ms. Bettman said she was unclear about the multijurisdictional aspect and was concerned because she felt
that other partners who were not as passionate about the issue had contributed to its lack of progress for so
many years. She supported a multi-tiered approach but did not think that homelessness could be solved
because it was a societal reality, would always be present and required an ongoing commitment to address.
She was interested in the Tier 3 approach and preventing homelessness among children was a high priority
for her. She said that transportation assistance helped people but she questioned the amount proposed. Mr.
Weinman said that service providers had reported an enormous unmet need for rides and felt that $50,000
was a reasonable amount to meet current needs. He said he hoped to negotiate with LTD for a reduced cost
for tokens, with some supplemental funding by agencies.
Mr. Papé also thanked staff for the presentation. He favored one-time payments to prevent homelessness
and said if a target population was identified it should be youth. He asked if a central source of information
easily accessible to people in trouble was being developed and tested with the homeless population. Ms.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 3
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Jones said that was part of the access to library services and internet access at service provider locations
initiative.
Mr. Papé asked how many people were assisted and how many were turned away on any given evening.
Ms. Wolfe replied that the County’s snapshot one-night shelter count indicated that 1,100 people received
shelter and 200 were turned away.
Mr. Papé noted that approximately 95 percent of the homeless were local citizens and a strong community
awareness campaign would help the public understand it was a local problem.
Ms. Solomon asked how the school districts were addressing the problem of homeless youth. Kasey White,
4J School District homeless liaison, said the district received a federal grant to provide transportation
assistance in the form of bus passes, although transportation was a critical issue and she often exceeded her
budget. She also assisted homeless families with enrollment, documentation, immunization, and other
logistics of school attendance.
Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to support a strategy to establish a stable
funding source to address prevention, intervention and treatment of homelessness in Eugene
by appointing a multijurisdictional (public/non-profit) committee and charging the commit-
tee with the task of identifying a funding source, a revenue goal and an allocation process.
Mr. Kelly said there was no broad community awareness or commitment on homeless issues and one way
that people could be encouraged to help was if there was something they could do as individuals. He was
interested in a program similar to the one in Portland that would allow someone to hand out a voucher for
services instead of spare change when approached on the street. He asked if staff considered such a
program. Mr. Weinman said that providers considered such a campaign and while the Portland campaign
was showy, it was not as effective as it sounded in terms of actually connecting people with services and
having a significant impact on the issues. He noted that Portland and other large cities had different issues
than smaller communities and in Portland there was a gross receipts tax on downtown business to help get
people off the streets.
Mr. Kelly challenged the staff team to develop ways in which individuals could make a difference.
Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to amend the motion to provide $150,000 to be
divided among one-time emergency payments, additional hours for access centers, and
transportation assistance.
In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, Mr. Weinman said that one-time emergency housing payments
were typically provided directly to the landlord.
Ms. Solomon emphasized the importance of not reducing the funds available for emergency housing and
transportation assistance by using any of the allocation for administrative costs.
Ms. Ortiz noted that there were mechanisms in place to administer those programs and there would be no
additional costs. She asked if LTD was willing to be flexible with its bus tokens program. Mr. Weinman
related that in his discussions with LTD staff they had indicated a willingness to be flexible with current
policies and look for more opportunities.
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Mr. Poling thanked those who had worked on the issue of homelessness. He agreed with Ms. Solomon’s
point regarding use of funds for administrative purposes. He asked if there were mechanisms in place to
ensure that services were provided to those in need and eliminate abuse of the system. Mr. Weinman said
that all of the organizations who worked with the homeless tracked services to ensure there was no
duplication of service or system abuse; however, many individuals required assistance several times before
they were successful, while others only needed one-time help.
Mr. Papé said he would support Mr. Kelly’s amendment although he would prefer to concentrate on
prevention and youth.
Mr. Papé offered a friendly amendment to require an annual report on short- and long-term
goals. Mr. Kelly accepted the friendly amendment.
Ms. Bettman said that the single-tiered approach of funding human services and affordable housing it was in
the context of drastic budget cuts, but the City now could afford to transform its approach. She appreciated
Mr. Kelly’s proposal of $150,000 and while she did not think it was adequate, it was unlikely there would
be support for a larger amount. She pointed out that $38,000 was being spent for Working City and that
was a perfect venue for educating the public about an issue like homelessness.
Mr. Papé suggested that neighborhood newsletters, supported through the City’s budget, should be required
to include a section periodically that presented information on the homelessness issue.
The motion to amend passed unanimously, 7:0.
Ms. Bettman said that while investments could be made in prevention and treatment services, there would
always be a component of the population that required emergency shelter. She noted efforts to clean up the
river and abolish campsites and expressed concern about sanitation and dignity. She emphasized the need
for shelters for the chronically homeless and asked if emergency shelter should be added to the motion as a
discreet component. Mr. Weinman agreed with Ms. Bettman’s points. He said the challenge of emergency
shelter was that it was extraordinarily expensive and not an effective long-term solution to homelessness.
Ms. Bettman said she was referring to a campsite with sanitary facilities and supervision, not a building.
Mr. Weinman replied that such a proposal would require more study and review to determine whether it was
feasible, estimated costs, location and how it could be operated.
Ms. Bettman asked that the multijurisdictional task force include a possible campsite in their consideration
of solutions.
Mr. Kelly said his purpose in proposing one-time funding was that it was coming at the end of the budget
process but his expectation was that the exploration of long-term funding would include planning for FY08
and a continuation of FY07 services.
Mr. Pryor said he would not be able to attend the upcoming Budget Committee meeting but strongly
encouraged support for Mr. Kelly’s proposal.
The main motion as amended passed unanimously, 7:0.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 5
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B. WORK SESSION: Payday Loan Reform Ordinance
City Manager Taylor commented that the work session was requested by the council and introduced
Intergovernmental Relations Manager Jason Heuser to present the issue.
Mr. Heuser said he had been tracking activity on the issue at both the local and State level. He introduced
Laurie Trieger of FOOD for Lane County, and an advocate for payday loan reform who was available to
answer questions. He said that the payday loan industry was used by a growing segment of the population
who lived from paycheck to paycheck as they were part of the lower wage service sector economy. He said
that payday loans were short-term, high-interest rate loans used by people who were cash insecure, lacked
credit, and were “unbanked.” He said many people used payday loans as an alternative to banking and the
average customer took out 11 loans per year. Only two percent of customers were one-time users. He said
that roughly eight percent of American families held no financial assets such as bank accounts, retirement
accounts, or life insurance and they missed out on the long-term convenience, security and efficiency,
counseling and wealth-building opportunities that banks and credit unions could offer to consumers. Payday
lending practices placed borrowers at risk of greater indebtedness and long-term credit problems, although
they do meet a certain need. He related that a survey of borrowers revealed that 74 percent were unable to
repay loans when they came due. He said that banks and credit unions had been unwilling to enter into the
payday loan business and offer loans at lower rates.
Mr. Heuser said there was a long-term strategy to address the problem that included new or improved
services from traditional banks and credit unions and publicizing those services to low-income individuals.
Until that strategy was implemented, governments were beginning to take action to balance consumer health
with industry profitability. He said that Oregon lagged behind the rest of the country in regulating payday
loans and only four cities—Portland, Gresham, Troutdale and Beaverton—had taken steps to bring the
industry closer to more mainstream financial services by enacting local ordinances requiring a 25 percent
pay down of principle as requisite for each loan renewal, establishing payment plan options and allowing a
loan to be canceled within 24 hours (buyer’s remorse). He said that in April 2006 the Oregon Legislature
capped high interest rate down to 153 percent APR (annual percentage rate) over a specified minimum loan
term of 31 days, but did not address any of the other issues contained in local ordinances.
Mayor Piercy called on the council for questions.
Ms. Solomon asked why Portland had not included a cap on the interest rate in its local ordinance. Mr.
Heuser said that State law prohibited local governments from exercising that authority.
Mr. Kelly thought that payday loan practices were immoral and Eugene should move forward with a local
ordinance similar to those enacted by other cities. He noted that the Portland ordinance required a $1,500
annual permit fee per storefront and asked if other local ordinances imposed something similar. He also
asked how the permit fee was used. Mr. Heuser said he would research the issue and provide a response
when the issue was again considered by the council.
Mr. Papé was in favor of taking whatever local action was necessary to prohibit usury and expressed
disappointment in the legislature’s failure to effectively address the issue. He said if the State took
reasonable and timely action to regulate the industry, the City should back away from local ordinances and
let State law prevail.
Ms. Ortiz thanked the council for moving quickly on the issue. She asked if there was any type of regulation
currently on the payday loan industry. Mr. Heuser said there was some oversight by the Oregon Department
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 6
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of Consumer and Business Services and there were licensing requirements and certain conditions placed on
specifying loan terms and the number of renewals allowed.
Ms. Ortiz said that consumers reported that loan terms and interest rates were generally not well displayed
in storefronts and asked Mr. Heuser to check into the effectiveness of enforcement of those requirements.
Mr. Poling asked if the ordinances enacted by other cities were essentially the same. Mr. Heuser said they
were almost identical except for language variations to comply with local codes. He said that was done
intentionally to ensure a homogenous statewide approach would make it easier for the industry to comply.
He said Eugene’s proposed ordinance would be based on that model.
Mr. Poling joined in Mr. Kelly’s request for more information about the $1,500 annual permit fee.
Referring to Mr. Papé’s suggestion to remove the local ordinance if the State enacted regulations, he asked if
it would be to the City’s advantage to pursue violations through Municipal Court instead of the State courts
and would that be possible if there was no ordinance. City Attorney Glenn Klein said if there was a
violation of State statute, it would be cited into State court, but most provisions established the violation as
civil rather than criminal. He said the City of Eugene had typically dealt with civil violations through an
administrative process because it was less expensive than using Municipal Court.
Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to direct the City Manager to prepare a draft
ordinance consistent with the model ordinance adopted by other Oregon cities for City
Council consideration. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0.
The meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis M. Taylor
City Manager
(Recorded by Lynn Taylor)
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 17, 2006 Page 7
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NAME OF MEETING: Eugene City Council
DATE OF MEETING: May 22, 2006–Work Session
TO: Beth Forrest
RECORDED BY: Lynn Taylor
MINUTES FILE NAME: M:\2006\Central Services Department\City Manager's Office\City
Council\Cc060522m1.Doc
BACKUP STORAGE: Lynn #26
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R O U T I N G I N F O R M A T I O N
5/25/06 lt Draft to Staff
(Date & Initials)
Reviewed/Returned by Staff
Returned to Minutes Recording
6/5 ky Proofed/Revised by Minutes Recording
6/6 ky___ Returned to Staff
Council Amendments Incorporated
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ATTACHMENT D
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Work Session
McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall
May 22, 2006
Noon
COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Gary
Papé, George Poling, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor.
A. Committee Reports and Items of Interest from May, City Council and City Manager
Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She reported that
she attended the annual police awards ceremony and congratulated the officers and civilians who were
recognized at the event. She noted that it was Asian Pacific Heritage Month and she attended a martial arts
presentation over the weekend. She announced that the council’s advice and direction on the West Eugene
Parkway collaborative process would be sought at the May 25, 2006, meeting.
Ms. Ortiz reported that she attended the Willamette Valley Folk Festival held at Cuthbert Amphitheater and
was pleased to see the number of families in attendance at that venue. She invited councilors to participate
with the Human Rights Commission at the We Are Bethel Celebration on June 3, 2006.
Mr. Papé thanked staff for helping to find space for a youth center in downtown. He attended the police
awards ceremony and found it to be a moving experience, particularly the awards to citizens who assisted
officers with the apprehension of suspects.
Mr. Poling said the Harlow Neighbors newsletters announced a second workshop for the Willakenzie Park
discussion and the date was in error; the meeting was actually scheduled for Tuesday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m.
at Monroe Middle School. He asked if there was an established schedule for routine park maintenance.
City Manager Taylor said that in addition to a routine maintenance schedule established for all parks, the
City responded to citizen concerns as they were raised.
Mr. Kelly thanked City Manager Taylor and staff for approving the Hult Center as the site for the Japanese-
American memorial. He mentioned that approximately $15,000 was still needed for the project. He asked
the City Manager to provide the council with results of the Fairmount neighborhood and Agate Street traffic
studies as soon as they were available.
Ms. Taylor commented that she recently returned from a meeting of the Human Development Steering
Committee for the National League of Cities where policy recommendations on immigration reform, long-
term health care and concentrated poverty were discussed. She said the discussion of concentrated poverty
emphasized the importance of keeping a middle class in the city and in Eugene’s case that meant keeping
people close to downtown. She said the use of mixed-income housing, or inclusionary zoning, was another
strategy she hoped the council would consider for both houses and apartments. She was concerned about
permitting political statements from candidates in neighborhood newsletters and noted that statements from
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 22, 2006 Page 1
Work Session
some candidates and not others were included in the Cal Young newsletter. She stated that charging interest
to landlords on unpaid rental fees was harassment and no interest should be charged once the late fee was
paid.
Ms. Solomon thanked those who participated in the tour of Golden Gardens Park and hoped all councilors
could eventually visit the park.
City Manager Taylor conveyed his thanks to the Budget Committee for its hard work and difficult decisions
and to Kitty Murdoch, DeeAnn Hardt and Finance staff for their efforts.
With reference to the candidate statements in the Cal Young newsletter, Mr. Papé pointed out that all
candidates for all offices in the area were invited to provide statements.
B. WORK SESSION: Judicial Evaluation Committee Report
City Manager Taylor introduced Court Administrator Marilyn Nelson to present the Judicial Evaluation
Committee’s report on Municipal Court Judge Wayne Allen.
Ms. Nelson stated that a formal evaluation process was conducted once every four years and involved a
committee of citizens appointed by the council. She described the evaluation process steps as set forth in the
code and introduced Lane County Circuit Court Judge Kip Leonard to present the results of the evaluation
on behalf of the committee.
Judge Leonard provided an overview of the evaluation process. He said the Municipal Court was a very
high volume court and handled about 31,000 case filings, exclusive of parking citations, annually. It was a
very efficient court and handled issues of great significance to the community, both from the aspect of
criminal behavior and the aspect of quality of life, requiring a very human touch. He said the evaluation
instrument was sent to users of the Municipal Court, including defense attorneys, prosecutors, police traffic
officers, interpreters, advocates, other judges of the court and court staff. He said the response rate was 24
percent and appeared to be representative of those surveyed. He said the survey and tabulated results were
provided in the agenda packet and Judge Allen was rated highly overall by users of Municipal Court. He
read some of the compliments from respondents and noted one comment regarding lack of community
outreach efforts. He commented that judges faced restrictions on community outreach activities because of
the need to appear impartial on all issues, which prevented them from taking a position on an issue. Despite
those limitations, Judge Allen was a strong advocate for bilingual services and establishing a mental health
court. He concluded by stating that Judge Allen saw a number of issues on the horizon and planned for the
future of the court to effectively manage change; the committee recommended that Judge Allen be appointed
to another four-year term.
Mayor Piercy called on the council for questions and comments regarding the report.
Mr. Kelly thanked Judge Leonard and the committee members for their work. He asked about a comment
from a defense attorney in the evaluation that court staff obstructed access to case files. Ms. Nelson replied
that court staff followed the City’s public information policy; it was not the practice to deny attorneys
access to case files and requests were routinely honored. She was not certain what had occurred in the
situation that was cited.
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Mr. Kelly asked why a defendant survey was conducted in 2002, 2003 and 2004 but not in 2005. Ms.
Nelson said that because of budget constraints the survey, which had previously been done twice a year, was
now done once each year. She said the lack of a survey in 2005 was due to a change in timeline for the
distribution of the survey. She said a survey was recently completed but results were not available in time to
include in Judge Allen’s evaluation.
Mr. Papé complimented the council for requiring judicial reviews.
Ms. Bettman also appreciated the evaluation process. She suggested that in order to increase the response
rate from defense attorneys the evaluation committee could conduct follow-up phone calls to encourage a
higher response rate.
Mayor Piercy also thanked the committee. She asked why such a small number of defense attorneys
participated in the evaluation. Judge Leonard said that only a small number of attorneys practiced in
Municipal Court because of the contract to provide public defender services and a high percentage of
defendants were indigent; consequently, most defense attorneys in the community did not appear in
Municipal Court or did not appear often enough to do a fair evaluation.
C. WORK SESSION: Measure 37 Givings Tax
City Manager Taylor said the council had been searching for a balanced and measured response to Measure
37 since it was passed by the voters. He said there had been two work session to discuss options. He
introduced Planning and Development Executive Director Susan Muir and City Attorney Glenn Klein and
complimented their efforts to develop innovative recommendations for the council.
Mr. Klein highlighted the detailed information provided in the Agenda Item Summary (AIS). He said at its
January 25, 2006, meeting, the council directed staff to consider Option 1 and a modified version of Option
3 of the four options presented. A staff team reviewed those two options, conducted financial analyses and
concluded that Option 1 could be implemented without significant administrative costs and most of the
money raised could be set aside for payment of Measure 37 claims. Option 3 would entail greater
administrative costs to implement and a greater share of the revenue would not be available to pay claims.
Continuing, Mr. Klein said the analysis used 2005 as an example year for implementation and found that as
a result of upzonings, there was an increase of about $2.25 million of additional real market value. He said
a tax imposed on just that upzoning value would result in $113,000 for each five percent of tax. He said
that 2005 was a fairly typical year with 25 upzonings, but that number could vary from one year to another.
He said the recommendation based on council direction to date and the ability to implement without
significant administrative costs was that the council direct staff to draft an ordinance to implement Option 1
with the tax rate to be determined. He said the ordinance, which would involve amendments to Chapter 9,
would go first to the Planning Commission for recommendation to the council. Both the commission and the
council would hold public hearings and discussions on the draft ordinance.
Mayor Piercy solicited comments and questions from the councilors.
Mr. Kelly said that Measure 37, by requiring compensation but not providing funding for it, placed
jurisdictions in the situation of not being able to do land use well unless they developed funding sources for
those claims. He complimented staff for creative thinking and a thorough analysis of options. He initially
preferred Option 3 but acknowledged the challenges to implementation. He said he would support Option 1
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 22, 2006 Page 3
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and encouraged staff and councilors to consider whether a further-focused Option 3 could complement
Option 1. He could accept a 20 to 25 percent tax rate to establish a reasonable fund to pay claims since the
tax was only on the increase in value due to rezoning. He asked if urban growth boundary (UGB)
expansions would always be covered by Option 1 or only in certain situations. Mr. Klein replied that a
UGB expansion initiated by the property owner would be quasi-judicial and covered by Option 1. He said
that an expansion initiated by the government was a legislative process and could be included in Option 1 if
the council wished to capture those. Mr. Klein noted there was far more increase in value associated with
bringing land into the UGB than with most rezonings.
Mr. Kelly asked staff to explore the impact of including government-initiated UGB expansions under Option
1.
Ms. Bettman commented that the City only had two current Measure 37 claims, but one of those already
used considerable legal resources. She viewed the fund as a way to possibly offset those expenses as well as
to pay claims. She appreciated the recommendation of Option 1 and said when the motion to direct staff
was being considered she would propose an amendment to not limit it to citizen-initiated rezoning or changes
in designation. She felt that was fair because people with large projects could have leverage to get the
jurisdiction to initiate a zone change or UGB expansion that was not available to everyone. She cited
several recent examples. She said because the jurisdiction was increasing the value of a property through
legislative or quasi-judicial action, it was asking for a refund of a small portion of that benefit to come back
to the City and offset and balance Measure 37 claims. She suggested it should be called a “givings recovery
fee” or “benefit refund” instead of “givings tax.”
Mr. Papé said that the recommendation of Option 1 seemed a reasonable approach to Measure 37 but was
very concerned about burdening someone with a tax when the change that resulted in an increase in value
was initiated by the jurisdiction.
Mr. Pryor concurred with Mr. Papé’s concern and would support Option 1 in its current form where it
applied to citizen-initiated changes only. He said that Measure 37 was a voluntarily initiated process and
the givings tax mechanism should also be.
Ms. Bettman appreciated concerns about zone changes initiated by the City and those would be covered
under the legislative provisions of Option 3; however, in a situation where the City brought property into the
UGB, the fee could be recovered either when the property was sold for a higher value or the land owner
made an application to change the use, such as from farm land to residential. She thought those situations
could be accommodated under Option 1 and would offer an amendment to delete references to citizen-
initiated and include alternate language. She suggested 25 percent as the tax rate and expressed interest in
an exemption for very small rezonings with an increase in value of less than $1,000.
Mr. Poling was not certain he could support Option 1 unless it applied only to citizen-initiated rezonings.
He asked if the percentage rate could remain unspecified until after the public hearings. Mr. Klein replied
that it would be better to include a percentage to which people could react; the rate could always be changed
later based on public input.
Mr. Poling said he could support the option only if it applied to citizen-initiated changes and had a tax rate
no higher than 25 percent. He said that no matter what it was called, it was still a tax and would be
perceived as one by the public.
MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 22, 2006 Page 4
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Mr. Klein clarified that the term “citizen-initiated” meant requested by the property owner because the
rezoning would not become effective until the tax was paid.
Ms. Taylor said she would support Option 1 with a 25 percent tax and Ms. Bettman’s amendment with the
caveat that the tax would not be collected until the use changed. She felt that Option 3 was too expensive to
implement.
Mr. Papé thanked staff for a well written AIS. He asked if churches and nonprofit organizations would be
exempt from the givings tax. Mr. Klein said the option did not contain any exemptions as written, although
the council could direct staff to include specific exemptions.
Mr. Papé asked when a property would have increased value on the tax rolls and provide increased revenue.
Senior Management Analyst Larry Hill said that Lane County typically did not revalue property that had a
change in use or plan designation until the County became aware that the change had actually occurred and
that could be immediately or months or years later. He said typically the County was notified that a change
occurred when there was a land use permit filed and the City transmitted that information to the County. He
said it was not possible to rely on the County’s tax records to indicate the value at the current zoning or plan
designation.
Referring to Ms. Bettman’s proposal to not tax property brought into the UGB until it was sold, Mr. Papé
said he could not agree with that if the new owner was going to keep the property in the same use, such as a
homestead.
Ms. Solomon said the option still felt like double taxation and she would not support it.
Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to direct the City Manager to prepare an ordi-
nance for Option 1 with a flat tax percentage of a range and schedule a public hearing be-
fore the Planning Commission and City Council on the draft ordinance.
Ms. Bettman offered 25 percent as a friendly amendment. Ms. Solomon declined to accept
the amendment.
Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to amend the motion to specify a flat tax of
25 percent.
Ms. Bettman said the tax rate representing a starting point for discussion. She said that Measure 37 liability
in terms of future claims would require a funding source.
Mr. Kelly said that the rate would give the public something to react to during public hearings and he would
support the amendment.
The vote on the amendment to the motion was a 4:4 tie; Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, Mr.
Kelly, and Ms. Ortiz voting in support, and Mr. Papé, Mr. Poling, Mr. Pryor and Ms.
Solomon voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy cast a vote in support of the motion and it
passed on a final vote of 5:4.
Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to amend Option 1 as reflected in Attachment
A by deleting the words “citizen-initiated” and “site-specific” and providing a triggering
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mechanism for nonsite-specific zone changes or Metro Plan or refinement plan changes of
designation.
Ms. Bettman explained that currently the option was site-specific and the issue of the UGB was a nonsite-
specific matter. She said if there was a triggering mechanism for those nonsite-specific changes, then a
property owner who did not want to take advantage of a new designation did not have to pay the recovery
fee until the property was sold or the use was changed. She said deleting citizen-initiated eliminated
confusion about the all-inclusive nature of the option.
Mr. Kelly asked how site-specific was interpreted and whether it applied to particular parcels of land. Mr.
Klein said he understood Ms. Bettman’s intent was for the option to cover not only quasi-judicial actions but
also certain legislative actions and where those legislative actions, which could affect a number of parcels,
were not requested by the property owner the tax would only be triggered when the owner took advantage of
the change or the property was sold.
Mr. Kelly indicated he would support the amendment.
Mr. Pryor stated that the deletion of words proposed by Ms. Bettman transformed the option into double dip
taxation and he could not support it.
The vote on the motion to amend Option 1 was a 4:4 tie; Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, Mr.
Kelly, and Ms. Ortiz voting in support, and Mr. Papé, Mr. Poling, Mr. Pryor, and Ms.
Solomon voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy cast a vote in support of the motion and it
passed on a final vote of 5:4.
The vote on the main motion as amended was a 4:4 tie; Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, Mr.
Kelly, and Ms. Ortiz voting in support, and Mr. Papé, Mr. Poling, Mr. Pryor and Ms.
Solomon voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy cast a vote in support of the motion and it
passed on a final vote of 5:4.
D. CONSENT CALENDAR
2D. Adoption of Resolution 4868 Calling a City Election on November 7, 2006, for the
Purpose of Referring to the Legal Electors of the City of Eugene a Measure Authoriz-
ing a Four-Year Local Option Levy for the Funding of Library Operations
Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to adopt Resolution 4868 calling a City Elec-
tion on November 7, 2006, for the purpose of referring to the legal electors of the City of
Eugene a measure authorizing a four-year local option levy for the funding of library opera-
tions.
Mr. Papé said he requested during Budget Committee deliberations that staff develop a plan for integrating
library operations into the FY08 budget in the event the measure did not pass and, if it did pass, a plan for
eliminating dependence on revenue from the levy within four years. He did not see that plan in the AIS.
City Manager Taylor said that type of plan would take time to formulate and there was not sufficient time
between the request and timing of the council’s decision to place a local option levy on the ballot to present
such a plan. He said that based on the council’s direction during the past year, staff proceeded on the
assumption that renewal of the levy would be recommended to the voters.
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Mr. Papé asked what the last possible date was for referring the levy to the voters. City Manager Taylor
said it was the council’s last meeting before its break in early August.
Mr. Papé, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to table the matter until the council’s last
meeting in July 2006 in order to obtain more information on a plan to integrate library op-
erations into the budget.
Ms. Ortiz commented that action in July left little time to mount a campaign for a successful levy election.
Mr. Kelly echoed Ms. Ortiz’s concern and said that the intended amendment by Ms. Bettman, which was
distributed to the council, might address Mr. Papé’s concerns about a plan to transfer library services to the
budget over the levy’s four-year period.
Ms. Bettman also agreed with Ms. Ortiz regarding timing and said that her amendment would require
transfer of library services to the City’s General Fund over a four-year period and embed that intent in the
resolution and levy language.
Mr. Papé did not feel that waiting until July to take action would jeopardize the success of the levy as it was
no surprise to the voters that a third library local option levy was being put forward.
The motion to table failed, 2:6; Mr. Papé and Ms. Solomon voting in favor.
Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Papé, moved that recital C be amended and a new recital D
be added to the resolution to read:
C. On May 22, 2006, the City Council agreed that a four-year Local Option Levy of
$2,687,500 per year should be placed on the November 7, 2006 ballot. The proposed
levy would renew a part of the Library Local Option Levy currently on the tax bills of
Eugene taxpayers in order to continue current library services. The median Eugene
taxpayer will pay an average of $35 per year over the four year period of the levy.
D. It is the intention of the City Council that library services will be transferred from
the Library Local Option Levy to the General Fund over the four-year period of this
Local Option Levy. By FY12, library operations will be entirely funded in the City’s
General Fund.
and that Section 1 be amended by deleting “$.041 per $1,000 of assessed value” and in-
serting “$2,687,500 per year.”
Speaking to the motion, Ms. Bettman said the library was an outstanding asset, the services it provided were
excellent, and there was great community support for it. She believed that continuing to rely on levies to
fund library ongoing services placed the library and those services at risk. She said the issues were
thoroughly discussed during the budget process and a majority of Budget Committee members agreed with
the City’s stated and adopted financial policy that ongoing services should not be funded through a levy, but
were concerned with a precipitous change in FY08 from full levy funding to full General Fund funding. She
said her motion represented a compromise that addressed the concerns of the broadest range of committee
members and councilors and if it passed she intended to support both the levy and the budget. She said the
City was experiencing a healthy budget cycle because of its conservative fiscal policies over the years and it
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was the City’s responsibility to transition library operations into the General Fund consistent with those
policies.
In response to a request from Mayor Piercy, City Manager Taylor said that Ms. Bettman’s amendment
would put the City on a path to transition the library entirely into the General Fund over the period of the
levy, but also place an increasingly difficult operating expense on the budget and a reduction in the Reserve
for Revenue Shortfall.
Financial Analysis Manager Sue Cutsogeorge distributed charts that illustrated the impact of adopting the
levy as proposed and as amended by Ms. Bettman. She explained the impacts on the annual surplus/deficit
and Reserve for Revenue Shortfall of the levy as recommended by the Budget Committee and as proposed
by Ms. Bettman.
Mr. Papé asked if the levy amount could be reduced each year. Ms. Cutsogeorge replied that State law
prohibited levying a different amount each year; the same amount had to be levied each year but the full
amount did not have to be spent. City Manager Taylor added that the council had the option of levying at a
certain level and if the goal to transition was reached faster than anticipated, the annual adoption of the
budget could under-levy what the voters approved.
Mr. Kelly commented that while State law did not allow the levy approach Ms. Bettman intended, it could
still be accomplished from an accounting standpoint by spreading the funds over the four-year period.
Mr. Pryor remarked that the discussion was about two ways to reach the same goal as there was agreement
that this would be the last levy and library operations would be placed in the General Fund at the end of four
years. He said the question was how that would occur and the impact on other aspects of the budget. He
felt that the amendment to recital C reflected the council’s intent but created an unnecessary constraint. He
preferred the version in the resolution as recommended by the Budget Committee and supported by staff
because it would still allow the council to reach its goal of funding library operations while providing
flexibility. He supported the addition of recital D and would propose it if Ms. Bettman’s amendment failed
so that the public would be well aware of the council’s intent to move library operations into the General
Fund. He would not support the amendment to recital C.
Ms. Taylor said she would support the amendment and hoped the council would be stimulated to find new
sources of revenue as levies were not the right way to support the library.
Ms. Ortiz said it was difficult for her to abandon the idea of levies because she viewed the City as a whole
and there were services that some people would have more access to than others, such as branch libraries.
She was concerned that if library operations were entirely transitioned into the budget those services could
be reduced or eliminated and outlying communities would have much less access. She would prefer to have
a conversation about how the library could be made more accessible to the entire community instead of
trying to decide how to put it in the budget. She feared that if the library was in the budget it would be
competing against services such as police, fire, and social services. She thought it was easier to ask the
community to support the main library and branch libraries in neighborhoods than to ask for money for the
Police Department.
Ms. Bettman said the decision to cut services if the levy failed was one the council would make and she
noted that the City Manager’s proposed budget included $5 million in additions and the Budget Committee
had recommended another $2.7 million in one-time or ongoing funding. She asked how the voters would
react to a request for $4.3 million per year for the next four years to fund the library, which was an ongoing
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General Fund service, when the budget was used for all the other things that were added or increased. She
thought the voters would say no. She thought it was disingenuous to suggest this was the last levy, noting
that if the library could not be incorporated during a healthy budget cycle there was little chance it ever
could it be.
Mr. Papé agreed with Ms. Ortiz’s concerns and he felt that branch libraries were sacred. He agreed it was
necessary to move library services into the budget but did not think there was the discipline to do that if the
levy remained at the same level each year.
City Manager Taylor said he had taken to heart comments from both the Budget Committee and the council,
but the bottom line was the need to address issues such as police staffing shortages and other recommenda-
tions in the Police Strategic Plan adopted by the council, the council priorities for homelessness, neighbor-
hoods and cultural services policy review, and the potential impact of a decision not to pursue a school levy,
all of which could require decisions about reducing the level and mix of services across the entire General
Fund or pursuing other sources of revenue. He preferred to face those tasks without the constraints imposed
by recommending to the voters a levy lower than the current level for the library.
Mr. Kelly objected to Mayor Piercy calling on staff ahead of councilors and allowing them to express an
opinion or “lobby” the council. He asked why staff had not presented an alternative to Ms. Bettman’s
motion to accomplish the same goal. City Manager Taylor said the level of cuts required to implement Ms.
Bettman’s motion could not be accomplished in the two-week period since the suggestion was made at a
Budget Committee meeting. He said it would take some time and effort to develop the type of plan he knew
the council would want to consider and implement over the next several years. He agreed with Mr. Papé’s
comments, particularly regarding branch libraries, and felt that library operations could be brought into the
General Fund with a combination of Budget Committee, staff, and council creativity and the potential of
exploring a revamped revenue structure. He would support the amendment.
Responding to Mr. Kelly’s comment, Mayor Piercy said she wanted to hear the City’s Manager’s best
judgment in response to any of the actions the council was considering, as that was an important part of the
discussion as far as she was concerned.
Mr. Papé asked if the City could bond for an endowment fund for the library. Ms. Cutsogeorge replied that
the City could not borrow money to put it in the bank and earn interest to use for operations.
Ms. Bettman commented that if anything was cut from the budget it should be the additions and enhance-
ments instead of ongoing services. She said any cuts would come before the council and she was not
interested in cutting any library services. She noted that there were several other reserve accounts in
addition to the Reserve for Revenue Shortfall that could help transition the library into the General Fund.
She said her amendment proposed a 25 percent reduction per year over the four years of the levy.
The motion to amend the resolution passed, 6:2; Mr. Pryor and Ms. Solomon voting in op-
position.
The motion to adopt Resolution 4868 as amended passed unanimously, 8:0.
2E. Adoption of Resolution 4869 Calling a City Election on November 7, 2006, for the
Purpose of Referring to the Legal Electors of the City of Eugene a Measure Authoriz-
ing the Issuance of a Maximum of $25,490,000 of General Obligation Bonds for Parks,
Recreation and Open Space Projects
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Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to adopt Resolution 4869 calling a City Elec-
tion on November 7, 2006, for the purpose of referring to the legal electors of the City of
Eugene a measure authorizing the issuance of a maximum of $25,490,000 of General Obli-
gation Bonds for parks, recreation and open space projects.
Ms. Solomon indicated her intent to propose an amendment to include incorporate decisions by the Budget
Committee about Golden Gardens Park.
Mr. Kelly noted that the Trust for Public Land (TPL) would provide free assistance to jurisdictions
regarding ballot titles and other issue. He asked if there was time to use that assistance. Mr. Klein said that
within five business days of the council’s adoption of the resolution, a ballot title would be certified to the
City Recorder’s Office and then the public would have five business days in which to file an appeal of the
ballot title; that appeal would come before the council. He said that he had exchanged information with TPL
regarding drafting ballot titles.
Mr. Kelly asked if Ms. Solomon’s proposed amendment to increase the bond measure by $2 million included
$50,000 for a feasibility study and $600,000 for related safety improvements at Golden Gardens Park that
were recommended by the Budget Committee. Mr. Klein said the amendment would add $2 million for
Golden Gardens Park that could be used for purchase of land and construction of improvements and would
include $35,000 of bond issuance costs. He understood that the $600,000 would be covered by the phrase
“purchase of land or construction of improvements.”
Mr. Kelly said he would support the amendment but it was important to reflect the intent of the council that
the $600,000 would come from the bond measure if it passed. Mr. Klein said that was typically not the
level of detail included in resolutions referring a measure to the voters, but that language could be added.
Ms. Taylor said she was willing to support a larger bond measure but the council should take more time to
consider all of the other requests, such as for another swimming pool. She was opposed to adding something
to the bond measure just because a certain group of people decided they wanted it as there were many other
groups who would have proposed other additions.
Ms. Bettman said she would support Ms. Solomon’s amendment. She asked for clarification of language in
Section D of the resolution relating to joint development of synthetic surface ball fields on school district
property or City park property immediate adjacent, since it was explicit when the language was added that it
would be school district property. Parks and Open Space Director Johnny Medlin replied that the language
would allow, based on discussions with the Bethel School District, one of the sites on the south side of
Meadow View School to obtain enough land for a ball field close to existing parking and restroom facilities.
He said the ball field would span the property line and be partially on the district’s property and partially on
the park property.
Ms. Bettman said she could support that intent with the addition of explicit language to amend the resolution
by citing that one instance where City park property would be involved.
Mr. Pryor commented that it was always difficult to add items to a measure but addressing the safety issues
at Golden Gardens Park was supportable and could make the bond more responsive to the community. He
said he would support Ms. Solomon’s amendment and any amendment that would address the Meadow
View School ball field situation.
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Mr. Papé indicated he would support the motion and Ms. Solomon’s amendment with the intent that the City
budget would be reimbursed for the $600,000. He asked if those funds had to be used to purchase land.
Mr. Klein replied that the language allowed the funds to be used either for acquisition or development or
both.
In response to a question from Mr. Papé, Mr. Medlin said that $1.75 million was for the West Eugene
Wetlands Education Center and $5 million for ball fields. City Manager Taylor added that the number of
ball fields was not specified as it was council’s intent to maximize use of the funds and leverage repair of
existing synthetic turf. He felt that the council’s goals of adding at least five new assets and maintaining the
four existing fields would be achieved.
Mr. Papé asked if those arrangements would be formalized before the bond measure went to the voters. Mr.
Medlin said the existing agreement with 4J School District would be expanded and a new agreement reached
with Bethel School District. He said the intent was to establish and maintain equal partnerships on capital
investments over the participating entities budget cycles.
Mr. Papé emphasized the importance of informing the citizens of Eugene about exactly what they would be
paying for and hoped that those partnerships would be better defined. He did not think a ball field should be
owned by both the City and a school district.
Mr. Poling asked if there were any other locations in the City where school district property and City park
property were immediately adjacent, other than Meadow View School. Mr. Medlin replied that there were
many other locations.
Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to amend Section D of Resolution 4869 to
read: Joint development of synthetic surface ball fields on school district property and the
City park parcel property located immediately adjacent to Meadow View School on Bethel
School District school district property presents another opportunity to partner with other
public entities. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0.
Ms. Taylor asked if another public hearing was required if the amount and purpose of the bond measure
were changed. Mr. Klein replied that the change was to a resolution and a public hearing was not required.
Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to amend Resolution 4869 as follows:
Delete the figure $25,490,000 set forth in the caption and Section 1 of the Resolution
and insert the figure $27,490,000;
Amend the fourth sentence of Finding B to read as follows: In addition, land should be
acquired to crease a community park in Santa Clara, expand Amazon Park and park
land in front of the Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson House, and expand and begin con-
struction at Golden Gardens Park.
Amend the last sentence of Finding B by deleting the figure $18,250,000 and inserting
the figure $20,250,000.
Amend sections 1 and 4 by inserting the following after the words “preservation of open
space”: “purchase of land and construction of improvements at Golden Gardens Park.”
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Amend Finding B by inserting before the sentence beginning “Land also needs…” the
following sentence: “It is the council’s intent that up to $600,000 of General Fund con-
tribution to the Golden Gardens Park project be reimbursed with bond proceeds if this
measure passes.”
Amend Finding B by replacing the phrase “to acquire new park land” at the end of the
last sentence with the phrase “for these purposes.”
The motion to amend the resolution passed, 7:1; Ms. Taylor voting in opposition.
The main motion as amended passed unanimously, 8:0.
The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis M. Taylor
City Manager
(Recorded by Lynn Taylor)
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