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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/11/1987 Meeting (2) e e - M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Council Chamber--City Hall February 11, 1987 12:15 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Debra Ehrman, Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Robert Bennett, Jeff Miller, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue, Cynthia Wooten. The adjourned meeting of February 9, 1987, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. I. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER A. Arleen Auger Ms. Bascom announced that soprano Arl een Auger was schedul ed to gi ve a performance at the Hult Center on Sunday and that the concert was sponsored by the Bach Festival. She noted that an anonymous donor had provided 500 tickets for students at a cost of $1 each. She said tickets were being distributed through high school choral directors. B. League of Cities Ms. Schue reported that she had been appointed to a National League of Cities steering committee on transportation and communication. She also reported that she was the Chair of a League of Oregon Ci ties committee that was negotiating telephone franchises and charges, primarily with representatives of Pacific Northwest Bell. She said meetings had begun, and she soon would be discussing negotiations with City staff. She also reported hearing a remark from a PNB representative, stating that the company "had not had clean skirts in Eugene. 11 Mayor Obi e congratul ated Ms. Schue on her appoi ntments. C. Air Transportation Mr. Holmer reported attending a recent meeting in Denver of several national and local transportation officials. He noted that an attorney for the Air Transport Association and Airport Operators had stated that Eugene Airport Director Bob Shelby ran Ila marvelously good airport." Mr. Holmer also reported receiving a letter from the City Attorney on the subject of tax-increment bonds for public votes. He said the letter stated that tax-increment bonds legally could not be submitted for a public vote, and he asked whether an advisory vote on issuing a tax-increment bond legally would be permitted. City Manager Mike Gleason said staff would provide an answer. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 1 e Mr. Holmer reported meeting with the director of the Denver airport, who had indicated that plans were being made for an entirely new airport costing $2.5 billion and that Denver planners hoped to receive $500 million in Federal funds. Ms. Wooten asked Mr. Holmer whether he intended to hold an advisory vote on tax-increment funding for the downtown district or the riverfront project. Mr. Holmer said he thought general obligation bonds previously had been issued in order to obtain voter support, and a similar approach might be wanted with tax-increment bonds. He said he had not concluded that he wanted a vote on bonds for the riverfront project. D. Neighborhood Traffic Mr. Miller reported receiving complaints from a citizen about numerous trucks parking and driving in the neighborhood. He said police had ticketed the trucks for illegally parking on a city street, but the problem had not been resolved. He asked whether the problem could be mitigated. He added that he understood that neither IIbootsll nor tow trucks were large enough to handle the offenders, and residents had resorted to deflating tires. Mr. Gleason agreed to check on possible solutions. e E. 5th Avenue Improvement District Ms. Wooten asked about the status of the 5th Avenue Improvement District Committee. Mayor Obie said he would proceed on the issue. Cathy Freedman of the City Managerls Office reported that applications for the committee had c10sed and that information should be distributed in the councills packets by February 23. F. Condominium Conversion Ordinance Mr. Rutan said he had noticed that many people at the recent hearing on the Condominium Conversion Ordinance had not understood that the council was just beginning to examine the issue and that it had not yet deliberated or made any decisions. He said a community understanding of the decision-making process seemed to be lacking in other major issues as well. He said even people who attended meetings regularly did not seem to fully understand the process, and, as a result, testimony often became defensive before the council had taken a position. He suggested developing an explanatory statement about process to be read at public hearings. Ms. Schue said she agreed that members of the public often seemed to misunderstand council process. Ms. Ehrman said she had attempted to explain the council's consideration of the Planning Commission's recommendation at the recent hearing. She also noted that staff had requested direction from the council, and because that had not been completed at the hearing, she suggested that councilors call Planning Director Susan Brody to explain their positions. Ms. Ehrman added that she favored the housekeeping changes to the ordinance, but she did not favor any changes to the special tenant categories. She said she saw no evidence or testimony advocating the changes. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 2 e Ms. Freedman said the council had scheduled a work session on the Condo Conversion Ordinance for next Wednesday, and she suggested that information be submitted to the Planning Department before then. Mr. Bennett said he thought the ordinance was an extremely important issue, and that was why the Planning Commission had spent almost a year trying to address the issues. He said records of the commission1s consideration provided information about why it was worthwhile for the community to take a serious look at the issue. He said he was hopeful that the council would consider the issue carefully. G. Song-A- Than Ms. Ehrman reported attending a Song-A-Thon for the Eugene Concert Choir on Saturday. She said the group had erased a $21,000 deficit in about one and one-half years, and it now was engaged in financial planning to avoid future deficits. She noted that the amount probably had seemed larger to the choir than it might to the council, and she commended the groupls efforts. She also praised the choir1s recent Christmas concert. H. Asian Celebration Ms. Ehrman noted that the Eugene Asian community would host an Asian Celebration on Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. and that she would give a welcoming address on behalf of the council. Mayor Obie said past Asian Celebrations had been unique and worthwhile events. Ms. Ehrman noted that a Sister City booth would be available to sign up interpreters and host families for the delegation from Kakegawa, Japan. e I. Lazar Berman Mayor Obie announced that he was scheduled to welcome to Eugene internationally acclaimed Russian pianist Lazar Berman. He said a ceremony would be held at 2:30 p.m. today in the Jacobs Community Room, and Mr. Berman would be the first person to receive a key to the City. Mayor Obie added that the performance tonight would be broadcast widely on public radio and said he was pleased that Mr. Berman had the opportunity to visit Eugene. II. CRIME ACTION TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL City Manager Mike Gleason introduced the item. Deputy Chief Marilyn Nelson of the Po 1 ice, Fi re, and Emergency Serv; ces Department presented the staff report. Ms. Nelson noted that the background of the Crime Action Task Force was described in the briefing statement and that the draft report had been presented to the council at a work session in November. She said the task force since then had conducted a community forum to discuss the draft report. It also had considered phasing in its major recommendations and had developed the implementation priorities described in the briefing statement for presentation to the Budget Committee. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 3 e e e Ms. Nelson noted that councilors had received copies of the final report) which contained the same 71 recommendations as those reviewed in November. She said additional background material and comments from the public forum had been added to the report. She noted that task force members were available to answer questions, and she requested acceptance of the final report. She said acceptance of the report would not involve approval of any of the specific recommendations in the report, but the task force requested that serious consideration be given to all of the recommendations that apply to the city of Eugene. Ms. Nelson also requested that the council consider establishing an ongoing advisory committee. She said councilors had received descriptions of two options for the committee. One option was for a committee appointed by the City Council. The other was for a department-advisory committee appointed by the City Manager. She noted that the options differed with respect to council involvement in the appointment process. She said representation on a council- appointed committee would be determined by ordinance, and changes to the membershi p would requi re council action; representation on a department- advisory committee would be set or changed administratively. Ms. Nelson said staff for either option would use the same public information processes, such as notices and forums, as with other groups. She said either committee would work closely with department staff, but an advisory committee would maintain a closer long-term relationship with the department, because it would focus on program, rather than on policy issues, and it would meet monthly rather than quarterly. She said a council-appointed board would have a more frequent reporting relationship to the council than the advisory committee, which would provide an informational report on its activities to the council once a year. Ms. Wooten described action taken yesterday by the task force. She said the group unanimously had favored the original recommendation for a committee that would be advisory to the City Council. She said task force members believed in the seriousness of the subject and that research, in particular, needed to be validated and recognized by the council in order to have credibility in the community. Ms. Wooten added that while the task force strongly favored the original recommendation, a department-advisory committee was second preference if necessary. Mr. Gleason said he believed it was the task force's intention that the ongoing committee provide a supportive communication link between the City Council, citizens) and the department. He said his experience with police advi sory committees was the reason he recommended making the commi ttee advisory to the department. He noted that committees appointed by the council were designed as policy committees. He said he thought policy issues that might arise should be heard only by the City Council. He also said he did not believe that a department-advisory committee would diminish effectiveness. Mr. Gleason distributed copies of an article about a Portland police audit committee. He said that although the Portland group was not identical to that proposed by the Crime Action Task Force, the article described how such committees could lose their effectiveness. Ms. Ehrman asked whether the task force had discussed giving the committee a broader charge that included fire and other public safety issues. Ms. Wooten MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 4 e said some fire prevention issues were included in the report, but she thought that expanding the committee1s authority to other areas of public safety would contribute to the loss of effectiveness that Mr. Gleason warned of. She said the task forcels primary concern was crime prevention, with education and information about fire prevention as a secondary focus. Ms. Wooten said the task force had indicated from its outset that it did not want to be a police review board. She added, however, that task force members had interpreted the department-advisory role as a IIdemotion.1I She said the task force wanted the ongoing committee to be able to consider policy issues and to make recommendations on them to the council, and that was the reason for the inclusion of an annual report to the council. She said she hoped the council would remain open to hearing research and policy issues that pertained to basic public safety. Mayor Obie thanked the Crime Action Task Force for its work. He said he hoped the task force would not view the committee's role as a demotion. He said the task force had completed its work, and that would not be diminished by allowing the new committee to take over. He said the task force had brought the knowledge level of the community and the council to a new high, as attested by the awards presented at the recent public safety ceremony. Ms. Ehrman moved, seconded by Mr. Holmer, to accept the Crime Action Task Force final report and consider implementation of those recommendations that apply to the city of Eugene. Roll call vote; the motion carried 8:0. e Mayor Obie thanked the task force and staff for their time and said he e~pected the work to have a positive impact on the community. He asked whether the council wanted to discuss or to take action today on the ongoing advisory committee. Ms. Schue noted that the library board had been appointed by the Mayor and occasionally presented issues to the City Council, but most of the time it worked primarily with library staff. She said she favored a similar arrangement with the Police Department, and if the committee perceived a problem that belonged at the council level, she expected it to be presented to the council. She suggested changi ng the proposal to have the commi ttee appointed by the Mayor rather than by the City Manager. Mr. Holmer suggested changing Item 6 to provide a report at least annually, in order not to restrict the number of reports. He added that he agreed with Ms. Schue1s suggestion for appointments. Mr. Miller suggested allowing the committee to determine its meeting schedule. Ms. Ehrman said she understood Items 1 through 6 to be suggestions, not directions from the council. Ms. Bascom said she supported Option two because her experience with the Bicycle Committee showed that most work was done by staff, and rather than considering the role a demotion, she hoped it would be seen as a vehicle to ensure that the recommendations were carried out. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 5 e Mayor Obie asked Police, Fire, and Emergency Services Director Ev Hall for his opinion of the proposals. Mr. Hall said the department was delighted with the work already done and was moving forward with the recommendations. He said having the committee reporting to the department would be ideal and would allow working closely together to improve the community. He added that the department would welcome the committee and hoped to have a good working group. Mayor Obi e noted that a consensus seemed to favor Option two with the modifications suggested above. He directed staff to prepare a resolution. Ms. Wooten said she favored taking action as soon as possible, so that momentum in working with the department was not lost. Mayor Obie said he was not ready to decide today on the advertising process for committee appointments. He added that he felt committee positions should be advertised in the same way as they were for other committees. Ms. Ehrman agreed. Mr. Gleason said a resolution would be presented to the council on February 23. III. SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE PRIVATE INDUSTRY COUNCIL SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT SWPIC Council Representative Roger Rutan introduced the item. SWPIC President Chris Pryor and SWPIC Executive Director Laurie Swanson presented the semi- annual report on the progress of the private industry council, the Federally funded employment-training program for Lane County. He reviewed goals set forth by the council: e 1) To better serve the eligible Lane County population. Mr. Pryor said the $5 million in Federal funds allowed the council to serve only a fraction of the eligible population. He also said the council wanted to knock down employment barriers such as child care and literacy. 2) To stabilize the level of funding. Mr. Pryor said all funding now received was Federally mandated and was subject to budget actions. 3) To create new job opportunities. Mr. Pryor said job opportunities and economic development "fit like two pieces in a jigsaw puzzle." He noted that the private industry council had supported economic development and that of $320,000 spent by private industry councils last year in Oregon, Lane County had spent $280,000. He said that investment directly or indirectly had resulted in several hundred jobs in the county. Mr. Pryor said strength in economic development came through local control, and he said the strong partnership was helpful in providing better quality jobs, training, and employment for Lane County residents. Ms. Swanson said the SWPIC had served about 1,200 people so far during this fiscal year, with 634 of those being Eugene residents. She said the summer youth employment program also served about 500 people, including 236 residents of Eugene. She said the private industry council this year had worked with 237 employers and was making progress in being accepted by employers. She noted that several outstanding contractors also worked with the council, as did local schools and colleges. She also noted that the dislocated worker program was one of the top ten programs in the country. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 6 e Ms. Ehrman noted that the summer youth employment program served people ages 14 to 21, and she asked about programs to locate permanent jobs for young people. Ms. Swanson said both in-school and out-of-school strategies were available to youth. She said the summer employment program was intended more to serve younger people while addressing the dropout problem and teaching youth basic work habits. Responding to Ms. Bascomls question, Ms. Swanson said the new training area for a phlebotomist assistant referred to work with blood. She said the health care industry had been surveyed and had suggested establishing training for the position. Mayor Obie commended the work of Mr. Pryor and Ms. Swanson. He said the private industry council was doing an exceptional job and was one of the better organizations in terms of enthusiasm and communicating with the partners. He also thanked Mr. Rutan for representing the City Council at SWPIC meetings. IV. REPORT FROM DOWNTOWN COMMISSION Mr. Gleason introduced the item. Downtown Commission Chair Ann Bennett presented the commission report. She said the commission had heard that the council was concerned about the pace of the recommendation on Willamette Street, the citizen involvement process, and the need to improve communication between the commission and the City Council. e Ms. Bennett noted that the redesign of Willamette Street had first been discussed in 1982 and had been included in the Downtown Plan. She said the issue had resurfaced in 1985-86 as part of the Urban Renewal Pl an Update process. She said the commission had spent almost all of 1986 on the Urban Renewal Update. Ms. Bennett said the citizen involvement process had been reviewed by the Citizen Involvement Committee, and several design options had been reviewed by the public in 1986, before the commission had taken a stand. She said two public sessions also had been held in 1986, and a joint public hearing had been held with the Planning Commission, all of which included both the redesign of Willamette Street and other Urban Renewal Plan Update issues. Ms. Bennett said the Planning Commission then had suggested extending the public process and making a specific but tentative recommendation on the project in order to hear public response to the recommendation. She said the Downtown Commission had taken the suggestions, and that constituted the strategy for 1987. Ms. Bennett said the commission had made a tentative recommendation on the redesign of Willamette Street, and that recommendation, along with other Urban Renewal issues, would be the subject of a public forum scheduled for February 26. She said the 1987 process had been reviewed by the Citizen Involvement Committee, and she distributed copies of a project chronology. She said the forum would be a joint forum with the Planning Commission, after which the two groups would discuss the issue and forward a recommendation to the City Council. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 7 e Ms. Bennett said the tentative recommendation for the redesign of Willamette Street responded to 1) knowledge of the importance of access and circulation to development; 2) public comments about the importance of the public right- of-way and public amenities, regardless of whether traffic was allowed on Willamette Street; and 3) community desire for the intersection at Broadway and Willamette to function as a place for major public gatherings until another public square or plaza is available. Ms. Bennett said communication was an important issue. She said the commission was an advisory body to the City Council and was composed of nine people who were concerned and committed to downtown. She said the group sought di rect i on and input from the council, along wi th ways to improve communication and public process. Ms. Bennett suggested that a councilor might serve on the commission or that the commission Chair might offer reports at council meetings. Mayor Obie thanked Ms. Bennett for her explanations and said he thought misunderstandings had involved the councills desire for broader public input before decisions were made. He noted that the Downtown Commission's recommendation was tentative and would be presented to the public for comments and response at the forum on February 26. Ms. Bennett agreed that the tentative nature of the recommendation could be clarified. e Ms. Schue said she agreed with a comment that the commission had proceeded in a style that was different than that used by other groups in similar City decisions. She said this was the first time she as a councilor had been asked for her comments. Ms. Schue said members of the Citizen Involvement Committee had given up in frustration after trying to explain the process they favored. She suggested offering several options for the street redesign to the public for response, adding that an 'Iofficial position" made it difficult for those who disagreed to offer comments. Ms. Schue said commissioners were talented salespeople, but sometimes selling was not what was needed. Ms. Ehrman asked whether the commission had held any discussions about other City projects occurring at the same time. She said one concern of the council was that a major vote on another department's project was scheduled for the end of March. She said votes on one issue might be affected by other decisions, and that was part of the reason for suggestions to postpone the redesign discussions. Ms. Bennett said the redesign decision had been postponed from the originally scheduled date of January 1. Ms. Wooten said she had a great deal of respect for the work of the commission and she was glad that the commission was proceeding in trying to implement the Downtown Plan, as it was charged to do. She said her concern about communication was that councilors frequently felt that they had not been asked for their input, and they sometimes felt that information had been deliberately withheld from them. She said the council could not be expected to support a decision that was a surprise. Ms. Wooten noted the sensitive and difficult nature of developing projects in a public/private partnership. She said she wished that a process could be developed for the council as the Urban Renewal Board of Directors to understand more clearly what type of projects were being worked on at the outset, so that relations between projects could be understood. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 8 e e e Ms. Bennett said she was committed to working with staff and councilors to provide information to the council. Responding to Ms. Bennett's question, councilors said they did not receive the minutes of Downtown Commission meetings. Ms. Bennett suggested that minutes and summaries be provided to the councilor that a commissioner provide updates at council meetings. Mr. Rutan said the council had been concerned about the commission's action to move ahead to this yearls budget a $200,000 capital improvement project and about the lack of communication. He said receiving the commission's minutes would inform the council only after actions had been taken, and he suggested establishing a City Council liaison on the Downtown Commission, perhaps as a non-voting position. He said he was willing to serve on the commission and he saw many positive things happening in downtown Eugene, adding that he thought bringing the council into the process was needed to fill the communication gap. Ms. Bennett introduced past commission Chair Micheal Schwartz. Mr. Bennett said he thought briefings were needed as items progressed, rather than trying to shorten the agenda for arriving at an advisory commission recommendation. He said he thought the issues of the Urban Renewal Plan and Willamette Street had received tremendous public involvement. He noted that the Chamber of Commerce had conducted mailed surveys and had spent much time coming to a position. Mr. Bennett said he was not uncomfortable with the fact that the Downtown Commission finally had taken a position. He said he agreed that decisions should not occur as surprises, adding that he appreciated the amount of time spent by the commission in coming to a recommendation, which he hoped the council could be comfortable in receiving. Ms. Bascom said she had thought that the forum on February 26 would be used to gather public input, which then would be used in proceeding with a decision. She said making the decision before the forum irritated citizens who were looking forward to participating in the process. She said that was one reason for the council I s action on Monday to remove from next year's capital improvement budget money for design of Willamette and for implementation of two-way traffic on South Willamette. She said the council wanted to show that decisions had not been made and that public input still was welcome. She also said she hoped that the process could proceed without the animosity and polarization that existed in the community. Ms. Schue said she would like to receive the commission's minutes and would find them helpful. She said she also would like to receive reports and other documents when they were received by the Downtown Commission. She said the council had not received the Miles report until six months after it had been adopted by the commission, and councilors then had asked for the report. She said the commission should not worry about sending too much paperwork. Mr. Holmer said he did not think the process had been harmful. He also said he thought it was inappropriate to have a councilor on the Downtown Commission. Mr. Schwartz said the City Council and Downtown Commission had held a work session in 1983, at which the reopening of Willamette Street from 8th to 10th MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 9 e e e Avenues and from 10th to 11th Avenues had been discussed. He said the issue had been proceeding for four years, and decisions now were being made. He said commissioners had assumed that councilors received the minutes, and he suggested working with staff to make sure documentation was provided to the council. Ms. Ehrman noted that the Ci ty Council in October 1984 had approved the Downtown Plan but had deleted the phrase about consideration of further openi n9 of Will amette Street between 8th and 10th Avenues. She said it appeared that the Downtown Commission had paid no attention to the deletion, and she asked how the commission had interpreted the action. Community Development Manager Elaine Stewart said the work program presented to the council with the Urban Renewal Update strategy had reintroduced access and circulation and specifically had cited the reopening of Willamette Street. Mayor Obie said he thought both groups should discuss ways to improve communication. He added that he appreciated the time and energy contributed by commission members. The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m. (Recorded by Leslie Scales) mnccfell MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 11, 1987 Page 10