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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/19/1986 Meeting (2) . e e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council City Council Chamber February 19, 1986 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Richard Hansen, Debra Ehrman, Emily Schue, Freeman Holmer, Cynthia Wooten, Roger Rutan, Jeff Miller. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Ruth Bascom. The adjourned meeting from February 17, 1986, of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. I. ITEMS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL, CITY MANAGER, APPOINTMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS A. Airport Committee Mr. Rutan reported that he and Assistant City Manager Dave Whitlow made a presentation on the airport expansion plans to the Lane County Board of Commissioners this morning. He said the Lane County Commissioners are looking forward to the expansion and feel it is an important part of the regional economY. He said they will be active participants on the committee of Springfield, Lane County, and Eugene officials that will discuss the expansion. Answering a question from Mr. Hansen as to the date of the meeting, Mr. Whitlow said it has been difficult to find a time when the six elected officials on the committee can meet. B. Proposed Improvements to the Fifth Avenue Area Ms. Wooten said she would like to see the drawings for the proposed improve- ments to the Fifth Avenue area. She is still interested in the concept of forming a local improvement district to fund the improvements. C. Crime Prevention Advisory Group Ms. Wooten asked the staff to meet with her to discuss the formation of a crime prevention advisory group that she proposed recently. D. Proposal Concerning Hazardous Materials Mr. Holmer reported that he and Ms. Wooten are discussing with staff members a proposal to increase public awareness of hazardous materials. He said the matter will be presented to the council in due course. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Page 1 e E. Financing of Airport Expansion Mr. Holmer said the Springfield City Council recently received a report about the expansion of Mahlon Sweet Airport. He said the report indicated that people in Springfield consider the airport to be theirs, but they consider the proposed increase in the room tax to be too narrowly based. F. Influences on the City's Budget Ms. Ehrman said she saw snow removal crews out early this morning. She said the weather is an example of things over which the City has no control but which affect the City's budget. G. Council Representation on the Private Industry Council Mayor Obie said he currently represents the council on the Southern Willamette Private Industry Council and Mr. Rutan has been the alternate representative. Mayor Obie said he will send a memo to the councilors asking them to appoint Mr. Rutan as the council's representative and himself as the alternate. H. February 26 Tree-Planting Ceremony Mayor Obie announced that the councilors are invited to a tree planting ceremony on the north side of 6th Avenue at High Street on Wednesday, February 26, 1986, at 10 a.m. e I. Dinner Work Session City Manager Micheal Gleason reminded the council of its dinner work session on Monday, February 24, 1986, at the Eugene Community Conference Center. J. Agenda Adjustment City Manager Micheal Gleason announced that Agenda Item III (Ordinance/ Resolution Concerning Downtown Development District Tax Levy/Election) has been postponed. II. ROUTINE ITEMS FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL A. City Council Minutes of January 29, 1986 (minutes distributed) Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to approve the City Council minutes of January 29, 1986. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. B. Improvement Petitions 1. Sanitary Sewer on Goodpasture Island Road (assessable costs: sanitary sewers--36.5%; City costs--none) Res. No. 3961--A resolution authorizing sanitary sewer on Goodpasture Island Road from 750 feet to 1700 feet north of Valley River Drive (Job #2235). e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Page 2 e e e 2. Paving Alley Between Oak and Willamette Streets (assessable costs: alley--80.8%; City costs--apron, $1,500, and storm, $5,000) Res. No. 3962--A resolution authorizing paving of the alley between Oak Street and Willamette Street from 14th Avenue to 15th Avenue (Job #2237) Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to adopt the resolutions. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. III. CITY OF EUGENE FY85 FINANCIAL AUDIT (memo, resolution, report distributed) City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the agenda item. Leila Snow of the Finance Division gave the staff report. She said no management letter was presented with the audit this year. She said the correcting resolution involves a capital expenditure approved by the council which became a loan. She said the resolution also includes an unauthorized interfund loan involving JTPA funds which were closed out at the end of the year. Mr. Holmer, chair of the council Audit Subcommittee, said the committee reviewed the audit and recommends the council take the action proposed. Res. No. 3964--A resolution accepting measures taken to correct deficiencies disclosed in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1985. Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to adopt the resolution. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Mayor Obie recessed the meeting of the Eugene City Council and convened a meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency. IV. EUGENE URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY FY85 FINANCIAL AUDIT (memo, resolution, report distributed) Res. No. 918--A resolution accepting measures taken to correct deficiencies disclosed in the Financial Statements for the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1985. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Page 3 e Mr. Holmer, chair of the council Audit Committee, said the committee reviewed the audit and recommended the council take the proposed action. Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to adopt the resolution. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. V. EUGENE URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY CONSIDERATION OF DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (URBAN RENEWAL PLAN UPDATE) (memo, resolution distributed) City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the agenda item. Bob Hibschman of the Development Department gave the staff report. He said the proposed resolution will initiate the update process for the Urban Renewal Plan. He said the Urban Renewal Plan should be revised to conform to the Downtown Plan. He said the resolution designates the Downtown Commission as the study group for the revision and indicates the Planning Commission will review the revision before it is considered by the council. He said there will be opportunities for community involvement during the revisions which will take about eight months. e Answering a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Hibschman said improvements to the Overpark will be started in June. Mr. Holmer wondered why the Urban Renewal Plan needs to be updated and why there should be public involvement in the updating when the Downtown Plan has been adopted by the council. Mr. Hibschman responded that the Renewal Plan is a financial document. He said the Renewal Plan implements the Downtown Plan and should conform to the Downtown Plan and the State statutes which now govern urban renewal. He said public involvement is needed because some of the projects in the Downtown area are of interest to many people in the community. Answering a question from Mr. Holmer, Mr. Hibschman said the update of the Urban Renewal Plan may result in proposals to change the Downtown Plan. Answering another question from Mr. Holmer, City Attorney Tim Sercombe said the word "may" could be substituted for "shall" in Section F on page two of the resolution. Res. No. 919--A resolution of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency initiating the process to amend the Urban Renewal Plan for the Central Eugene Project. Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to adopt the resolution. Mr. Holmer moved to amend Section F on Page 2 of the resolution as follows: (Bracketed material should be deleted. Underlined material should be added) e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Pa ge 4 e e e F. The study area for the tax increment district [shall] may include the Central Eugene Project area, and other additional areas the Study Committee finds appropriate under ORS 457.010(1). The amendment was accepted by the maker and the seconder of the motion. Ms. Wooten said the original wording seemed appropriate, but Mayor Obie said the change did not seem to be substantive. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Mayor Obie adjourned the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency and reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council. VI. METROPOLITAN PLAN DIAGRAM AMENDMENT 8-15, NORTH GATEWAY COMMERCIAL (memo, map, background information distributed) City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the agenda item. Teresa 8ishow of the Planning Department gave the staff report. She said the Metro Plan Diagram Amendment 8-15 (Cockerline property) is a request to change 7.6 acres in the North Gateway Special Light Industrial Site to a commercial designation. She said the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) decided to let each juris- diction take action on the amendment request and the Springfield City Council tentatively denied the request. The Lane County Board of Commissioners has taken no action on the request. Answering questions from Ms. Ehrman, Ms. Bishow said the pUblic hearing on the proposed amendment was closed on December 3, 1986; consequently, the applicant has not submitted additional material. She said the Springfield City Council vote was 3:2. She said the original request was for 28 acres. It was then reduced to 4.6 acres when a trucking firm indicated it would locate on the property. The applicant later increased the area to 7.6 acres. Ms. Schue said she will vote to deny the request. She spoke with a Springfield councilor who voted to deny the request. She said requests for changes for less than five acres can be submitted as zone change requests, and the Springfield city councilors will consider a zone change for the Cockerline property. She said a zone change would give the City of Springfield more control over development which should be planned to accommodate the part of the Special Light Industrial Site which is in the flood plain. She added that a plan amendment would require justification of the need for additional commercial property. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Page 5 - e e Answering a question from Mr. Hansen, Ms. Bishow said the applicant probably can submit another request in six months if the amendment request is denied by the three jurisdictions. Mr. Hansen said he will vote to deny the request because Springfield should resolve the problem. Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to deny the Metropolitan Plan Diagram Amendment 8-15, North Gateway Commercial (Cockerline) request. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. VII. MALL ORDINANCE AND REGULATIONS REPORT (memo distributed) City Manager Micheal Gleason introduced the agenda item. Jan Bohman of the Development Department gave the staff report. She said the council requested a report in six months when it approved a change in the Downtown Mall regulations in September 1985. She said there has been a decrease in panhandling and congregating on the mall since September. She said publicity about the regulations may have caused the decrease in panhandling on the mall, but it seems much of the panhandling activity has moved to the University of Oregon area. She said it is hard to know whether the decrease in congregating was caused by the change in the weather, the start of school, or the regulations. Ms. Bohman said there were three citations and one arrest on the Downtown Mall from January 1 to February 20, 1985, and two citations and one arrest on the Downtown Mall from January 1 to February 20, 1986. She said the citations and arrests in the two years were for different activities and it appears the police used the new regulations to deal with unacceptable behavior. She said several development activities, such as the opening of Willamettee Street from lOth to 11th and the opening of the Downtown Athletic Club, may have affected behavior on the mall. Other activities in progress, including the mall public space study and the Centralized Retail Management Project, are also addressing mall security issues. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Miller said the rest rooms on the north side of the Overpark will be made "handicapped accessible." The rest rooms on the south side of the Overpark may be closed. Mayor Obie asked the staff to answer Ms. Ehrman's question in writing. Mr. Holmer asked for information about the impact of the regulations on rental properties the next time a report on the regulations is given to the council. He would like to know if there has been an increase in occupancy since the mall regulations went into effect. Answering questions from Ms. Wooten, Ms. Bohman said she was not able to get complete information about the arrests to determine if the juveniles arrested had been incarcerated. Mr. Sercombe said the American Civil Liberties Union has not inquired about the mall regulations. He did not know if arrests in the University area have increased since the Downtown Mall regulations were approved. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Page 6 e e e Ms. Ehrman said a group has considered expanding the area to which the Downtown mall regulations apply, but a recent Oregon Supreme Court decision needs to be clarified first. She said current regulations do not prohibit what some people consider to be unacceptable behavior in the University area. Answering a question from Mr. Hansen, Mr. Sercombe said the City must rely on State laws which regulate weapons. Violations of State laws are heard in the District Court. Mayor Obie suggested the next report contain more statistics. The meeting was adjourned at 12:40 p.m. (Recorded by Betty Lou Rarick) BLR:ky/1979C MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 19, 1986 Page 7