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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/06/1986 Meeting M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall I August 6, 1986 11: 30 a. m. e COUNCILORS PRESENT: Richard Hansen, Debra Ehrman, Emily Schue, Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan, Freeman Holmer. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Jeff Miller, Cynthia Wooten The adjourned meeting from July 28, 1986, of the City Council of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. 1. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER; APPOINTMENTS; ANNOUNCEMENTS; AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS Mayor Obie reported that he attended the Eugene and Beaverton ceremonies which were held for the signing of Eugene's Sister City agreement with Beaverton. He said that the City of Beaverton presented the City with six rhododendrons and a commemorative plaque. He suggested that the e rhododendrons be planted in the City Hall courtyards. Mr. Holmer reported that he attended the meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures, which was held yesterday in New Orleans. He said that he presided over its Fiscal Oversight Committee, which addresses infrastructure matters on behalf of state legislatures. He sa i d that State Representative Mary Burrows also attended the conference. Mr. Hansen asked whether the City was assuming liability for the rodeo which is scheduled September 12-13 at Civic Stadium. Mr. Gleason said that the Eugene Celebration Foundation is sponsoring the rodeo, which is a part of the Eugene Celebration and since the City sponsors the Eugene Celebration, the City shares in the liability for the rodeo. He said that a separate insurance policy was written for this liability coverage. Mr. Rutan reported that he attended a presentation in which the State of Oregon presented a check for $972,000 to the City of Eugene. He commented that Mayor Obie did an excellent job in presiding over the event. Mr. Rutan said he heard favorable comments about Eugene's Airport Expansion Project. e Mayor Obie reminded the staff that the Kakegawa delegation arrives in Eugene on August 17. He anticipates this to be one of the largest - MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 1 delegations to date, since Mayor Jun-Ichi Shinmura and his wife will be part of the delegation. He said that a variety of activities were planned e for the group, and he encouraged council members to attend the festivities. II. ANNOUNCEMENT: EUGENE ARTS FOUNDATION BRICK CAMPAIGN e Ms. Bascom introduced Carolyn Chambers, President of the Eugene Arts Foundation. Ms. Chambers reported that four fund-raising phases were planned when the Eugene Arts Foundation was founded in 1978: Phase 1--$50,000 and over gifts; Phase 11--$10,000 and over gifts; Phase 111--$1,500 gifts; and Phase IV--under $1,500. She explained that Phase IV is a brick campaign, whereby some of the bricks in the front and in other areas of the Hult Center will be replaced. She showed an example of one of the "dog bone" bricks which will be installed. She said that the foundation's goal is to sell 10,000 bricks at a cost of $25 each between now and December 25. She said that proceeds from the the project will go sole ly towards capi ta 1 improvement projects of the Hult Center. She said that the foundation will select items from a wish list that is being prepared by the Executive Director of the Hult Center. She reported that a campaign office opened July 7, under the direction of Jennifer King, the campaign coordinator. Ms. Chambers also introduced Marcene Golden, Development Director. She said that the Rotary Club and community volunteers will participate in the project. She said that foundation staff will supplement Ms. King and the volunteers and provide seed money and support services to the project. e She announced that the campaign slogan is "Be a Brick," and that the campaign publicity theme is "You Will Be the Walk of the Town." She showed the group an advertising mailer that will be distributed. Ms. Chambers said that the bricks will be purchased from Willamette Graystone. She said that a Seattle firm will provide stencils, and the bricks will be engraved in Eugene. She said that architects will provide site drawings to indicate where the bricks will be installed. She said that 200 to 300 bricks will be installed at the September 14 campaign kickoff, and afterwards the bricks will be installed 600 at a time. She encouraged county-wide project participation from businesses and individuals. Mayor Obi e commented that thi s is an exce 11 ent opportunity for the community to become a part of the Hult Center. He thanked the Eugene Arts Foundation, and especially Ms. Chambers, for their continued support. III. EQUIPMENT FOR WATER RESCUE OPERATIONS The City Manager discussed recent memorandums he sent to council members regarding the July 15, 1986, water rescue incident, and on the cost of e providing the equipment for the Water Rescue Team. Mr. Gleason said that Lane County was notified one minute after the response call; the call was e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 2 received at 7:47 p.m., and Lane County was notified at 7:48 p.m. In case of a water rescue emergency, he said that the first responding unit will e take charge of the incident, stablize or prepare for the arrival of the other units, and additional equipment will be ordered. He said that this is a similar procedure to that which is used for other specialized equipment, and there are no time delays under this arrangement. He asked the council to consider spending $10,000 for the purchase of the water e rescue equipment. He said that the money would be drawn from contingency funds. He said that the City provides the water rescue training, which was allocated previ ously in the budget, and that everyone in Fire Operations will be trained to handle the equipment, which will most likely be stored at the central fire station. Mr. Holmer noted that Lane County's water rescue equipment is a long distance from the City. He asked if there was discussion with Lane County staff about having its equipment located closer to Eugene. The City Manager sa i d that the Ci ty had several conversations with Lane County staff, and any controversy about equipment duplication by the City and Lane County has been resolved. He said that the County's needs and response system is different from that of the City, and he believed that the location of the Lane County's water rescue equipment was appropriate since the County oversees approximately 50 bodies of water. Mr. Hansen moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, that $10,000 be drawn from Contingency Funds to purchase the water rescue equipment. Councilors Hansen, Ehrman, Bascom, Rutan and Schue voting aye, and Councilor Holmer voting nay, the the motion carried 5:1. e IV. WORK SESSION: DRAFT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM The City Manager reported that the City Council asked for a redesign of the CIP and capital budget review process, based on Budget Committee and Planning Commission concerns. Ms. Brody presented the Planning Commission's recommendation and suggested review process. She said that the proposal would have the Budget Committee hold a public hearing on the CIP, and at the same time the CIP would be referred to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission would not hold a public hearing, but it would have the benefit of the comments made at the public hearing before the Budget Committee. The Planning Commission would restrict its role to commenting on the consistency of the CIP with the Metropolitan Plan, and with other adopted City plans and policies. The City Council would then adopt the CIP with the benefi t of the comments from both the Budget Commi ttee and the Planning Commission. Ms. Brody reported that the Planning Commission considers it important to e hold a second public hearing before the City Council when the CIP comes to the counci 1 for final adoption. She said that there are currently two e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 3 public hearings in the process, and that the proposal would only include one public hearing. e Ms. Brody said that the commission suggested including a public information memorandum with the CIP since citizens have requested information stating why projects were deferred or dropped from the CIP. e Gary Long distributed a brief revenue summary on the status of the CIP. He explained that City policy has been to submit a CIP with a ten-year horizon, and with the first three years to be matched with a financial plan. Due to a loss of general revenue sharing, he said it is difficult to be consistent with the policy. He explained that the City is $706,083 short of FY87 revenues for General Capital Funding. He said the City is releasing as many projects as possible for implementation, but it will not release a certain number of projects until there are assurances of adequate revenue sources. If the projects are not financed, he said that they may run into FY88 , or they may need to be reprioritized. Mr. Long discussed the General Capital Budget financing for FY87-FY89. He pointed out that there is a significant increase in FY88 total requirements, which is primarily focused on the fire redeployment plan. He said that the council and Budget Committee will need to discuss whether to adopt the staff's recommendations of a serial levy to finance it, or whether to pursue other revenue options. He also explained that there are increased street projects in FY88-FY89. He said staff will continue to work on the user fee issue and he expects to have one-half to two-thirds of the $706,083 revenue identified in FY87. e Mr. Long explained that the $456,000 figure shown under FY87 to EWEB was a one-time Trojan-related refueling, which was a one-time expense above projections. He said this one-time revenue jump will not be repeated until there is another refueling event. Mr. Hansen asked what would happen if the Trojan Nuclear Plant closes. Mr. Long said that the City's $1.8 million revenues from Trojan would be affected. He also said that the City's revenue bonds that finance Trojan are City of Eugene bonds. He said that the City will meet with EWEB on August 11 to review that issue, and he will advise the council of the results of that meeting. City Councilors and staff reviewed the projects included in the CIP. Hult Center Mr. Holmer asked whether the Hult Center could be financed out of Tax Increment Funds. Mr. Hibschman said that the Hult Center is within the district, and that the City Attorney's office is researching this issue. In a previous budget discussion, Mr. Hansen said that there was $5,000 shown in the budget so that a sign could be studied for the Hult Center. He asked what happened to the $5,000. Hult Center Executive Director, Ed e Smith, said the Budget Commi ttee took it out of the budget. Budget Operations Manager, Tony Mounts, said that 1 ast fall when staff was e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 4 deciding how to allocate the remaining Federal revenue sharing funds, the City Manager presented a list of $1 million worth of projects that were e ranked in two tiers. He said that the Hult Center marquee did not make either of those tiers, and it was eliminated from the FY86 Capital Budget. Ms. Schue said that she believed that the Budget Committee changed some of the figures shown, since the draft1s January 1986 publication date. Mr. e Smith reported that $10,000 was approved for HVAC modifications for ticket and administration offices; $3,000 was authorized for design work for the storage area under the parking structure; $17,000 was approved for lobby tile replacement; and the relighting of the interior of the Soreng lobby was eliminated. Mr. Mounts said that the electronic marquee display and the exterior building signage projects, which were moved from FY87-88 to FY90-FY96, will be reflected in the development of the new CIP. Ms. Ehrman addressed the Hult Center kitchen facilities. Mr. Smith said that one of the Hult Center1s revenue sources comes from serving refreshments backstage to artists who perform at the center. He said the small kitchen is no longer adequate, and in order to retain the Hult's OLCC license and to maintain health standards, the kitchen needs to be upgraded. He said that backstage service was never identified as a potential revenue source. Airport Projects Mr. McKinley reported that the Remodel of the Administration Building, General Aviation Parking, and Storm Sewer Improvements were scheduled in FY87-88; all others are long-range projects. Mr. Hansen said that Mr. e Dale Fisher wrote a letter stating that he believed that the airport runway ends too quickly. Mr. Hansen said he agreed with Mr. Fisher on this issue, and suggested that the Runway Extension project be completed earlier than FY90-96. The City Manager said that the runway exceeds FAA standards by a large margin. He said that the only aircraft that the runway cannot accommodate is a fully loaded 747 at take-off. He said that the reason the Runway Extension is shown in the CIP for FY90-96 is that the City may want to have the capacity for larger aircraft in the future. Mr. Gleason said his opinion, which is supported by the Airport Commission and Airport Administration, is that any funds spent on the runway would be an unnecessary expense, and the project would not be supported by the FAA. It was suggested that the FAA respond to Mr. Fisher's letter. Mr. Gleason said that the Airport Task Force will bring at least two recommendations to City Council in September, after meeting with Lane County, the FAA, and the airlines. He said that one of the recommendations will address public indebtedness, and the other will work from existing City revenues. He sa i d that the latter option wi 11 radically impact the Capital Budget and/or the Operating Budget, which will be part the the analysis. At that time, City staff will modify the proposed document. e e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 5 Eugene Development e Planning staff said that several of the development projects are pieces of the Broadway Corridor Project--the restroom and visual clearance improvements, security lighting, and the mall awnings/raincover system. Mr. McKinley said_ that some of the long-range projects are based on the Eugene Downtown Plan, which are bei ng studied in the Central Area e Transportation Study, including the Lincoln/Lawrence Two-Way Conversion and the Olive Street Two-Way Conversion. In answer to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. McKinley reported that the Central Plaza Development/Landscaping will be included in the Urban Renewal Plan update. Mr. McKinley said that the proposed Downtown Mall Business Directories are included in the Eugene Downtown Plan since the Eugene Downtown Commission identified a need for a business directory. There was concern about the continual need to update the directory, and whether this cost is appropriate as a capital improvement. It was decided that the directories will be discussed at a later meeting. Mr. Hansen discussed Mr. Holmer's suggestion to use tax increment financing for the Hult Center. Mr. Hansen asked if that option was allowable and whether the City could go back and pick up past years' financing that didn't fall under that source of funds. Mr. Hibschman said that the funds are available, but the issue of using the funds for a public facility that was not originally financed with tax increment funds is a legal question which would be referred to the City Attorney.s Office. Libra ry e Ms. Ehrman noted that there was nothing in the CIP reflecting the proposed library expansion. She said that the Library Committee will submit a proposal at a later date. Ms. Schue asked whether the asbestos needs to be removed from the existing building before any decision is made on future library construction. Mr. Page said that three different proposals are being reviewed: to postpone the asbestos removal until the facility is either expanded or moved to another site; encapsulating the existing asbestos; or removing the asbestos. He said that if the asbestos is removed, the building can be vacated and it can be removed all at once, or it can be removed in a phasing process. He explained that the figure shown in the CIP is a best-guess cost of what would be required to remove the asbestos--the figure does not include the cost of relocating the 1 i bra ry operations during the asbestos removal. He said Federal regulations would be reviewed and consultants will analyze the situation before a decision is made. Mr. Page said that there is no measured medical problem in the atmosphere at the library. Parks and Recreation Mr. McKinley said that the majority of the parks projects in the first few years are mostly maintenance projects of existing parks. He said that the e seven-year wish list category has several projects that are included in the Parks Master Plan. He said that the Parks Department will be seeking e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 6 community development block grant funding for several of the FY87-89 projects. Ms. Bascom asked to move the Tugman Parking and Turf Drainage e project to FY87-88, instead of FY88-89, due to safety concerns on Hilyard Street. Mr. McKinley said that the $90,000 is for the drainage as well as the parking costs. Ms. Ehrman discussed the Acquisition/Development of the 4-J Schoo 1 Sites, and asked for an update on the negotiations to purchase the Dunn and Lincoln sites. The City Manager said that City e staff is exploring funding options of the two sites. Mr. Drape 1 a sa i d that the City provides grounds ma i ntenance to Lincoln through the community development funds, and said that the Friends of the Library use a portion of Lincoln. Mr. Drapela said that Dunn is being maintained by the Eugene School District 4J. In response to a question about the Echo Hollow Glycol Loop/Heat Recovery item, Mr. Drapela advised that the expenditure reflects City Council concerns about weatherization and energy conservation measures. He said that a portion of the cost includes connecting to the excess hot water system at Willamette High School. In answer to a question by Ms. Ehrman, Mr. McKinley said that West University Park will be extended to Hi lyard Street, in response to neighborhood requests to expand the park. He said that there is a willing seller so the City has the option to purchase the additional property. Mr. Holmer suggested that Oakmont Park be sold for commercial development, since it was not listed in the CIP. Police, Fire and Emergency Services e The City Manager discussed the Master Plan proposal which included the readjustment of the fire station sites. He said that the City has a very efficient, low-cost, high-production Fire Department, due to its training and capacity and also its equipment and response patterns. He said that the City will not be able to maintain the current response patterns unless the site s are relocated and the City is able to acquire additional technology. He said the only alternative would be to add additional fire station sites, which cost approximately $1 million to build and $350,000 for annual operation costs. Mr. Hansen asked whether the City will sell the existing sites. He was advised that City staff analyzed how much the buildings and equipment could be sold for, as well as the purchase price for the new equipment. Mr. Hall said that the figure did not include offset costs, and he anticipated that there would be a substantial reduction in those costs. Mr. Gleason reminded the council that this item is in next year's proposal, and it is proposed as a serial levy. A discussion followed on the River Road Fire Station/Training Facility. In response to a councilor's question, the City Manager said the City Council was asked last year if the City could proceed with the Master Plan for this site, since the building was vacant and there was a willing seller. Ms. Bascom said that she believed that the City Council did not have an extensive discussion of the training facility and no locations were e mentioned. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 7 e Public Works The Mayor asked what the current balance of the System Development Fund was. Staff said that some of the assumptions in the fund balance may be predicated on projects that will be undertaken this year. Mr. Mounts sa i d e that the funded budget, with no balance available in the Systems Development Fund at this current fiscal year, is $1.2 million. He said that staff anticipates using all the fund balance to fund projected tasks. Mr. Rutan addressed the Fern Ridge Bike Path. Mr. McKinley said that City staff is working on an interim plan to use the existing street system and eventually hook up with Lane County's western section. He acknowl edged that the Fern Ridge Bike Path should be included in the CIP. He said staff is exploring options on how to construct the bike path under Belt Line. If the City Council would like this subject addressed, Mr. Teitzel said his staff would attempt to incorporate it into the first three years of the CIP. Lane County Commissioner John Ball said that Lane County has the funds available to construct its portion of the bike path. Mr. Rutan asked the City Manager to direct staff to work with Lane County in the review and development of the Fern Ridge Bike Path. Mr. Rutan asked to have the Fern Ridge Bike Path included in the next CIP. It was noted that the bike path had been previously included as a $90,000 project in the CIP under Federal-Shared Revenue. Ms. Ehrman asked whether the railroad would assist in the payment of the Railroad Crossing Upgrade Program. Mr. Teitzel said that the railroad does join the City in providing maintenance personnel of the crossings, but this is mainly a City cost, since the e railroad does not do the work or assist in the funding of construction materials. Ms. Ehrman also asked whether City staff would be cleaning the Amazon Channel. She was advised that a private contractor will clean the channel. V. GENERAL COMMENTS Mr. Holmer discussed the work of the National Council on Pub 1 i c Works Improvement. He sa i d he read material from the Government Finance Offi cers Association, the American Planning Association, and from Deloitte, Haskins, and Sells. He said that his reading material commended Clp.s, and it also suggested that the ten-year program, or even the six- year program, tends to to be a wish list. He said he thought that the change to a three-year wish list would be applauded by the groups. He also said that there is a great deal of infrastructure maintenance that is buried in the Operating Budget--he would like to identify the City.s infrastructure maintenance costs and relate it to the City. s total investment in infrastructure and its condition. He said that the reference material discussed the desirability of setting national standards for data bases. He said that he did not participate fully in e today's discussion of the CIP because he believed that the City Council's time to review the CIP comes later in the process--after the council sees e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 8 the result of staff effort, to ensure that staff gives the council enough of a basis on which to judge whether the City Council needs to adjust the e CIP. He also said that he believed that 98 percent of the projects reflected in the CIP are staff-initiated, rather than legislatively i nit i a ted . He said that he thought these projects are staff-initiated, based on standards, and some of the projects may be irrelevant to the service needs of the community. He would like next year1s capital budget e committee to address the service needs of the community. Mr. Gleason explained that this year's process was not done the same as in previous years due to the loss of Federal Revenue Sharing monies which delayed the crp adoption. He said that changing the process will bring it back to a three-year wish list and adjust the timing of it so that the CIP will be adopted in front of the Executive Budget. Mr. McKinley said that the Budget Commi ttee wi 11 see the new crp in late November or early December, and the City Council will adopt the CIP in late January. Mr. Obie commented that there is a great deal of money allocated to the Hult Center. Mr. Gleason reported that two hearings are scheduled: one in front of the Budget Committee and one before the City Council. Mr. McKinley said that on August 13, staff will bri ng back what the Planning Commission recommended, as well as changes requested by the council. Mayor Obie adjourned the meeting at 1:15 p.m. The next meet i ng is scheduled for August 11. e Respectfully submitted, ~~~ Micheal Gleason, City Manager (Recorded by Sue Lewandowski) MNCC0806 e e MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 6, 1986 Page 9