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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Approval of City Council Minutes Meeting Date: July 24, 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 July 10, 2006, Work Session. ATTACHMENTS A.July 10, 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\M060724\S0607242A.doc NAME OF MEETING: Eugene City Council DATE OF MEETING: July 10, 2006–Work Session TO: Beth Forrest RECORDED BY: Lynn Taylor MINUTES FILE NAME: M:\2006\Central Services Department\City Manager's Office\City Council\Cc060710m1.Doc = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = R O U T I N G I N F O R M A T I O N 7/13/06 lt Draft to Staff (Date & Initials) Reviewed/Returned by Staff Returned to Minutes Recording Proofed/Revised by Minutes Recording Returned to Staff Council Amendments Incorporated = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall July 10, 2006 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Gary Papé. A. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted that Mr. Papé was unable to attend the meeting and Mr. Poling would be late. Mayor Piercy said the opening of RiverPlay Playground at Skinner Butte Park was an excellent example of how unique play opportunities and education about the area’s history could be accomplished at the same time. She welcomed a visiting group of teachers of the gifted from Korea and also said she attended the dedication of the Slocum Orthopedic Center, which was going to be a state-of-the-art example of both health care and sustainable building practices. She acknowledged an award to the law enforcement volunteer program and the significant growth of that program over the past few years. Ms. Ortiz commended the webcast of council meetings on the City’s website. She noted that the council’s Communities of Color meeting on July 12 would be held at the Eugene Police and Fire Training Center on nd 2 Avenue instead of the McNutt Room. She remarked that Lane County Public Health reconfigured its services and located reproductive health services in Springfield. She was concerned that those services would not be accessible to Eugene residents and would discuss the matter with the County. Mr. Pryor reported that the Human Services Commission continued its discussion of creating a new entity to manage commission activities and providing health services. He said it would take at least a year to develop a model. Ms. Bettman reported on her tour of Green Island with the various entities involved in restoration efforts. She was uncertain of the City’s role in that effort. Mr. Kelly reported that the Region 2050 policy board met and voted unanimously to submit the draft growth management strategy to public review and review by local elected bodies. He noted the council was scheduled to discuss the strategy at an August 14, 2006, work session and the strategy would be available shortly on the Lane Council of Government (LCOG) website. He hoped for council direction on the strategy prior to the next Region 2050 meeting. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 1 Work Session th Ms. Taylor asked why there were no hanging flower baskets on 10 Avenue. City Manager Taylor said the City maintained flowers in the downtown area but they were actually placed by Downtown Eugene, Inc. Ms. Taylor commented on the continuing problem of bicycle theft. She received complaints from constitu- ents regarding fireworks and hoped that the council would seriously consider banning fireworks before th people began to plan for the next 4 of July. She indicated she would likely request a work session on the subject. Ms. Piercy referred to an earlier discussion about waiving parking fees during the Eugene Celebration and encouraged the council to discuss the possibility. She said it was inconsistent to invite everyone downtown and then impose parking fines. Mr. Kelly said he was encouraged to learn that parking revenues during the celebration were only $5-6,000 and suggested that perhaps a contingency allocation could be placed on the Consent Calendar to address downtown parking during the celebration. City Manager Taylor noted the departure of Captain Elvia Williams to become the police chief in Maywood, Illinois and the retirement of Fire Chief Tom Tallon. He also observed with sadness the death of former Fire Chief Everett Hall, who served as a firefighter with the City for over 40 years and went on to become the State Fire Marshal. B. WORK SESSION: Collaborative Process to Identify a Transportation Solution for West Eugene and the FY06-09 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program City Manager Taylor referred to a letter from Matthew Garrett, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), related to the West Eugene Parkway (WEP) decision. He introduced City Engineer Mark Schoening to provide an overview of the issue. Mr. Schoening reviewed the council’s proposed resolution that would move forward the Metropolitan Policy Committee’s (MPC) adoption of the FY06-09 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP) and the collaborative process for west Eugene transportation solutions. He said the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) proposed an alternate southern route at the MPC’s June 8, 2006, meeting and illustrated that alignment on an aerial photograph. He noted that the letter from Mr. Garrett indicated a collaborative process was unacceptable because of the cost and potential delay, and if the City of Eugene was unable to accept either the WEP or the alternative southern alignment, then ODOT would recommend a “no build” decision, conclude the environmental process and terminate the WEP project. He reviewed a letter from Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) board chair Gary Williams expressing the board’s concern with the MPC’s lack of action on the FY06-09 MTIP and its inability to move forward on its delegated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) responsibilities and directing that a more effective dispute resolution process be established. Ms. Piercy relayed a request from Councilor Gary Papé that the council not act on the WEP issue until he was able to join in the discussion at the council’s July 12, 2006, meeting. City Manager Taylor relayed a similar request from Councilor George Poling. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Bettman asked if the July 12 meeting would be webcast. City Manager Taylor said the facility was not equipped for a live webcast but staff could look into the possibility of taping and rebroadcasting the meeting if that was the council’s wish. Ms. Piercy acknowledged the traffic concerns of those who worked and lived in west Eugene. She said she had made every effort to establish a collaborative process to address those issues and develop solutions. She felt that regional partners were willing to participate and expressed gratitude for that support but ODOT’s refusal to pursue a collaborative process eliminated that approach. She was prepared to support all other transportation projects and move the MTIP forward and work on traffic solutions for west Eugene. She did not agree with the LCOG board’s assertion that the MPC’s current process was not effective. Ms. Bettman urged that projects already identified to improve operational efficiency and safety in west Eugene be built as soon as possible. She said the WEP dispute had been a distraction from reducing congestion and increasing safety and traffic flow in that area. She asked if adoption of the MTIP with the WEP included would result in construction in about three years. Mr. Schoening said the schedule was based on an ODOT status report that indicated if a record of decision was submitted to FHWA in mid-December 2006 there would be two years of additional right-of-way acquisition and design, with construction as soon as three years. Ms. Bettman observed that ODOT was presupposing that the record of decision recommendation would be the preferred WEP alignment. She asked if another vote would need to be placed on the ballot if the alignment proposed by FHWA was selected. City Attorney Glenn Klein said a vote would only be necessary if an alternative alignment was too far away from the general alignment that voters approved in 1986. He did not feel the FHWA proposed alignment would require a new vote. Ms. Bettman stated that LCOG was composed of 26 different entities in Lane County and the MPO was the transportation management area of Eugene, Springfield and Lane County within the urban growth boundary. She questioned how those 26 entities could determine transportation priorities for the metropolitan area if MPO delegation was withdrawn from the MPC. Byron Vanderpool of LCOG replied that when the MPO was established in 1973, the governor appointed LCOG as the appropriate regional authority; the LCOG board delegated some MPO responsibilities to the MPC and subsequent to the 2000 census, the MPC added ODOT, Coburg, and Lane Transit District as members. He said the LCOG board continued to be of the opinion that the MPC was the correct body to carry out MPO responsibilities. Ms. Solomon stated that she continued to support the WEP and hoped that one of the two proposed routes would be selected as the solution to west Eugene transportation problems. She asked if the City would be financially liable for funds already spent on the project if the WEP was not built. Mr. Schoening said he did not believe the City would be responsible as the issue was between FHWA and ODOT. He said if the environmental process was not concluded federal regulations required reimbursement of federal funds; however, a no build decision would be a conclusion to the environmental process and not trigger the reimbursement requirement. Mr. Klein added that neither of the two contracts between the City and ODOT contained provisions for repayment of expenditures. Ms. Solomon asked if the funds reserved for the WEP would be allocated to projects elsewhere in the state if there was a no build decision. City Manager Taylor replied that the Oregon Transportation Commission would reprioritize the funds based on other pending projects that were ready to move forward. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Solomon asked if refocusing the City’s transportation priorities to the Beltline corridor in the event the council did not support either WEP alignment would be supported by ODOT. City Manager Taylor said that Beltline was already identified in TransPlan and the City was engaged in preliminary work. He felt that regional partners would be willing to address traffic issues in that corridor as an alternative to the WEP. Ms. Solomon was skeptical that ODOT would be willing to participate after the parkway problems and was concerned that the City would lose ODOT’s support for future transportation improvements. She pointed out there was no funding for other transportation improvements in west Eugene and the City could not afford to maintain its current street system. Mr. Kelly pointed out that the $14 million the State reserved for the WEP was only about ten percent of the current estimated cost of the parkway. He thanked Ms. Piercy for her efforts to foster a collaborative process. He felt it was unfortunate that ODOT did not acknowledge that the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Land Manager also had concerns about the parkway project. He hoped that other high priority west Eugene transportation projects could be restored to the 20-year transportation plan if there was a no build decision on the WEP. He supported all other MTIP projects and expected the MTIP would be moved forward at the MPC’s July 13, 2006, meeting. Ms. Taylor stated that for too many years the WEP had been a delay and a diversion from urgent transpor- tation projects and it was time to start thinking about solving real problems. She said the fact that funds had already been spent on the project did not mean more should be spent and it was time to quit. She was curious about who had purchased land along the proposed parkway route. Ms. Ortiz thanked Ms. Piercy and Mr. Kelly for their work on the MPC. She did not support the WEP and hoped that the City could focus on other traffic issues in the community. Ms. Bettman pointed out that three years after the voters approved the WEP and the council approved a motion to move forward, the parkway was no closer to being built and, according to Mr. Schoening, it would be another three years at the least before any construction would occur. She did not believe that the State could deny the City access to funds that were generated from taxpayers through the gas tax. She said the projects that were previously high priority should be returned to the process of competing for those transportation dollars. She asked if it would be possible to propose an amendment to the MTIP to include those projects in lieu of the WEP. Mr. Schoening said he did not believe that would be possible because MTIP adoption included adoption of air quality conformity, which was based on the projects in the MTIP; removing a project and including new projects would require another analysis. He said the process for moving those projects forward for funding would include establishing priorities at the council level and submitting those priorities to the MPC for review; if determined by the MPC to be high priority the projects would be forwarded to the Lane County Board of Commissioners for consideration as part of the area’s priorities and move through the funding process at the State level. Ms. Piercy remarked that ODOT indicated a willingness to continue future conversations with the City regarding regionally significant projects. Mr. Kelly said that five years ago a multi-agency charette concluded that the WEP could not go forward and the process should be concluded with a no build decision. He was pleased that the door was open for future MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 4 Work Session conversations and collaboration. He asked staff to prepare a summary of the process to move priority projects forward. Ms. Piercy said her interest in a collaborative process prior to a no build decision was to assure the public that there was a plan to address transportation problems in west Eugene before the parkway project was terminated. C. WORK SESSION: Resolution 4884 Adopting a Sustainable Buildings Policy for Buildings Owned and Occupied by the City City Manager Taylor introduced Facilities Manager Glen Svendsen to discuss the proposed policy regarding sustainable design, construction, operation and maintenance of City-owned and occupied buildings. Mr. Svendsen stated that the recommended policy represented a consensus of all of the City departments involved with building construction and operation. He said the policy recommendation was to apply to City- owned and occupied policies, both new construction and existing buildings, require certification for some buildings and require construction to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards for all buildings, even without certification. He said there were exemptions for technical and financial feasibility considerations and an annual report to the council was required. He reviewed the specific requirements for new construction and existing buildings and said an inventory and evaluation of General Fund buildings for all LEED criteria was currently being conducted. He supported an amendment that Ms. Bettman indicated she would propose. Ms. Piercy asked if the evaluation of buildings would establish a base for the City to measure progress in meeting the higher standards against. Mr. Svendsen agreed that the inventory and evaluation would help provide the City with a picture of how to proceed. Ms. Piercy emphasized the importance of measuring progress. She said a proposal from the American Institute of Architecture at the U.S. Conference of Mayors requested support from communities across the country to embrace standards for buildings that cities owned and occupied. Mr. Kelly expressed concern about the policy section related to exemption from certification of new buildings. He felt the exemption was too vague and easy to achieve and preferred to include the requirement that a waiver from certification would require approval from the council. He noted that the issue was not likely to arise more than two or three times a year. Mr. Svendsen said the attempt was to link the exemption to a measurable impact, such as funding. Mr. Kelly suggested that the policy language be modified to require approval of the exemption by the council. Mr. Poling arrived at 6:35 p.m. Ms. Taylor asked if there was a difference between certification and meeting the standards and whether there was an advantage to certification. Mr. Svendsen replied that project design and construction were more focused on meeting standards if certification was the objective and certification involved a third party review to affirm that standards were met, providing a credibility benefit. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to adopt Resolution 4884 adopting a Sustainable Buildings Policy for buildings owned and occupied by the City. Mr. Kelly noted that the policy was a first step. He pointed out that the City of Portland’s policy had been in effect for some time and was recently upgraded to require gold certification on all buildings constructed by the city and silver certification if the city contributed more than ten percent of the building’s cost. He asked staff to research whether Eugene should consider the silver certification requirement for buildings to which funding was contributed. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to amend Section 5 of the Sustainable Buildings Policy as follows: “…project, or and c) the City Manager City Council determines that the interest of the public is best served by an exemption approves the exemption.” The motion passed, 7:0. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to amend the Resolution and Exhibit A to the resolution by adding to paragraph C of the resolution the word “siting” be- fore the word “design,” and adding to paragraphs numbered 1 and 2 of the Policy the word “siting” before the word “design.” Ms. Bettman said she also had concern with the definition but said Mr. Klein indicated that making the definition consistent with the resolution and the policy could be addressed at a later date. City Manager Taylor and City Attorney Jerome Lidz agreed that could be accomplished administratively. Mr. Svendsen supported inclusion of the word “siting” to clarify the policy intent. City Manager Taylor clarified that if the resolution was adopted as amended it was the intent to ensure that siting was a criteria where LEED certification would apply not only in the policy but all related materials. The motion passed, 7:0. Ms. Piercy asked if staff considered an approach similar to Portland’s regarding leveraging sustainable building practices for facilities not owned by the City. Community Development Division Grants Manager Linda Dawson reported that the City was beginning to include green standards in requests for proposals and was researching wider application. The main motion as amended passed, 7:0. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 6 Work Session