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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/11/1988 Meeting e - e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall May 11, 1988 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Robert Bennett, Debra Ehrman, Cynthia Wooten, Jeff Miller, Emily Schue, Roger Rutan. Mayor Obie called to order the adjourned meeting of May 9, 1988. I. TERMINAL PROJECT KICK-OFF Chris Anderson, Director of Public Works, said the department will have a kick-off ceremony on May 23, 1988, at the airport. Councilors will receive invitations. II. PUBLIC WORKS DAY VIDEO Ms. Andersen said National Public Works Week is the week of May 16. She showed the council a 3D-second video spot advertising the Public Works De- partment Community Open House. .Ms. Andersen said that this was the second open house, noting that Councilor Holmer attended the first one. Comments from those attending the first year were favorable, but they wanted it to be extended to after normal working hours. She said that last year more than 500 people attended the open house; this year 300 school children are already signed up to attend. She briefly described some of the planned activities. Mayor Obie noted that a man who rescued another from a sewage pond would be recognized at the event. Coun- cilor Holmer said the event is very interesting and recommended that council- ors attend. Responding to a question from Ms. Schue, Ms. Andersen said the video was composed of slides and projected on video tape. She said the video was prepared by Sandra Gleason of Public Works. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 1 ~ III. ITEMS FROM COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER ~ e A. Citizen Letter Concerning Monroe Park Mr. Rutan discussed a letter he had received from a citizen regarding the Monroe Park forum. He said it was his recollection that the council had referred the issue to the Joint Parks Committee. Ms. Schue said there will be a public forum May 21 at Monroe Park sponsored primarily by the human rights commissions. A neighborhood discussion of the problem will take place. Mr. Rutan expressed concern over the two different directions taking place. Ms. Schue said that communication between the two groups has oc- curred. B. Nuclear Free Zone Mr. Rutan referred to the nuclear free zone issue and the legal challenge the City is making regarding the Secretary of Statels decision about the advisory ballot questions. He said it was his understanding of council policy that once it is decided legal action will be taken on an item, the manager pursues it to its conclusion. Mr. Rutan recommended that the council instruct the manager to bring the nuclear free zone issue back to the council for further discussion. , Mr. Sercombe said the previous week the Court of Appeals reversed Judge Hargreaves, allowing the second question to go on the ballot. On Monday, the City appealed the Court of Appeals' decision by filing a petition for review. This petition asks the court to reconsider its decision and seeks the review of the Supreme Court in case the Court of Appeals will not change that deci- sion. He said the City also, earlier, filed a petition for writs of mandamus .in the Supreme Court. That case is still alive. Mr. Sercombe said that in his judgment, the only way the City will get a different decision on this issue between now and Friday, the practical deadline for affecting the bal- lot, is for the Supreme Court to grant the writ. If the Supreme Court refus- es to do so, only the first question will appear on the ballot. Mr. Sercombe said two weeks previously, the council had a discussion of what to do if the second question were taken off. At that time, the council instructed staff to return to see if the first question could be removed as well in case of an adverse ruling. Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals ruling was not received until the previous Friday, and Mr. Sercombe did not think that the City could remove the first question without a lawsuit. Mr. Sercombe said the Court of Appealsl decision has significance outside the practical consequences as to whether the second question appears on the ballot. Political home rule issues fundamental to the City's interests are involved. He suggested the council seek further information from staff on these issues. Ms. Ehrman said she wished to pursue this case due to its long-range implica- tions for the City and other cities in Oregon. Mr. Rutan predicted that the ballot will have only the single question, and the council will have the MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 2 e difficult decision of taking the results of the election and adopting a final decision. Ms. Schue said Mr. Sercombe has been saying for some time that the State needed a good home rule case to decide some key unadjudicated issues. She asked Mr. Sercombe if he felt this was the type of case that could form the foundation for a landmark decision. Mr. Sercombe said yes, but admitted his optimism had been dimmed by the Court of Appeals' opinion. Outside the labor relations area, there has been no case before an Oregon appellate court involving a conflict between local and State law for more than two decades. There has been no case before an appellate court regarding ordinances relat- ing to self-governance since the LaGrande-Astoria case in 1978. Mr. Sercombe said many Oregon city attorneys had been waiting for an election case to argue home rule questions about the way local elections are structured and what people vote upon. He said the court reached its decision quickly and he felt that they mischaracterized the issue. He hoped to see further action on this case at the Supreme Court level. Mr. Miller asked what Mr. Sercombe estimated it would cost to carry the case to its ultimate end. Mr. Sercombe said the City has generally spent what it needs to in order to pursue the case. A brief was filed the previous Monday asking the Supreme Court to take the case. If the case is not mooted by the election on Tuesday and the Supreme Court takes the case, additional costs will include those incurred in responding to written questions from the court and orally arguing the case. Mr. Sercombe estimated these costs at an addi- tional $4,000 to $5,000. ~ Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Sercombe described two elec- tions held in the last 30 years presenting the voters with more than a single question. Mr. Rutan said he felt the descriptions in the Voters Pamphlet regarding the ballot questions were well-balanced and well-done. He said that he would like to get feedback from the public regarding the pamphlet. Mayor Obie agreed with Mr. Rutan's remarks, but expressed concern that the pamphlet had not been read. Mr. Rutan asked Ms. Bellamy to look into ways of getting public feedback and bring that information back to the council after the election. C. Wedding Anniversary Mr. Bennett announced that it was the occasion of his 14th wedding anniversa- ry and he would shortly be leaving the meeting. He said he had enjoyed the time he spent as a family person and wished to say he was proud of his fami- ly. D. First Christian Church Mr. Bennett brought up the issue of the First Christian Church discussed in an article in The Register-Guard by Don Bishoff. He asked if the staff in the Development Department could explore ideas regarding short-term solutions e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 3 e with those people in charge of the physical plant at the church. He did not wish to see the building sustain further damage. E. Panhandle License e Responding to a request for clarification from Mr. Bennett, Mr. Gleason said that people could be licensed to panhandle within the confines of the down- town mall. He said that panhandling is protected by the State courts as a form of free speech. It is legal, for purposes of regulations, to describe where some activities of free speech takes place and the manner in which it takes place, which allows the City to license panhandlers. Mr. Bennett said the practical result of thiss particularly in good weather, means a lot of panhandling goes on. He said this is a problem in the community and a detri- ment to those who use the mall regularly. He wished to mention this as he has been called by his constituents several times about this issue. Mr. Miller said he had received similar calls in regards to the University area as well. Mr. Gleason said the solution appeared to be constitutional as opposed to legislative. Mayor Obie said the City could ban the practice. He did not think the panhandlers would sue the City. Mr. Gleason responded that the panhandlers would not be the one to sue them. He said the City could pursue this, and estimated it would cost about $40,000 in legal fees. Mr. Gleason said that the City cannot unduly restrict free speech; it can be regulated if the intent is to regulate, but if the intent of regulation is to inhibit peoples' const~tutional rights to free speech, the City is in viola- tion of those peoples' rights. Mayor Obie asked if the City Attorney could forward copies of the relevant opinions regarding this issue to councilors Rutan and Bennett. F. Airport Construction Budget Ms. Ehrman asked if the council could get a memo regarding the reasons the bid for the airport construction had gone over the expected budget. G. Sacred Heart Parking Structure Ms. Ehrman said Sacred Heart is beginning construction on the new parking structure on 12th Avenue and Patterson Street. She felt the public should be informed of the construction and notified there would be many dump trucks coming and going from the site. H. Citizen Concern Regarding Blackberries Ms. Ehrman said she had been contacted by a constituent regarding the clear- ing of alleyways of blackberries. She asked staff for clarification regard- ing who must pay for the clearing away of blackberries on public right-of- ways such as alleys. I. West Eugene Tree Tour Ms. Bascom distributed copies of the West Eugene Tree Tour, and noted the Mayor's Tree and Beautification Commission would be taking the tour at 7:30 . MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 4 e a.m. the next day. Ms. Bascom said the brochure will be featured in Sunset magazine. J. Shelton-McMurphey House Ms. Bascom recalled for the council the unofficial task force formed to get the Shelton-McMurphey House project off the ground. She said that she is representing the council on the project and asked for more participation from the council. Ms. Ehrman volunteered to work on this project. Councilor Bascom briefly described what has been proposed for the house thus far. K. Public Access Center Ms. Bascom referred to a memorandum from L-COG regarding the use of informa- tive videos developed by Public Works using the television center. She said she felt this is an excellent example of how best the center can be used. Mr. Gleason was unsure of whether the videos had been produced at the center, and promised to return to the council with this information. L. National Small Business Week Mayor Obie announced that this is National Small Business Week, and council- ors Wooten, Bennett, Schue, and Miller will be participating in an awards ceremony for Lane County small businesspeople the next day. He thanked them for their efforts. e IV. WORK SESSION: FUTURE LIBRARY PROJECT--ROLE OF BRANCHES Pat Decker of the Planning Department introduced the topic. She reminded the .council that they had given staff direction on siting at a previous meeting and said the council has more decisions to make on this issue. There will be more information and follow-up on questions raised by councilors at their last meeting at the May 23 dinner meeting. Mixed use, siting, and use of The Bon or Sears buildings are among the topics to be covered. Ms. Decker said staff is seeking a decision regarding branches from the council today in context of decisions made already regarding the future library serving the community in 2000. Ms. Hildebrand discussed the role of branches in libraries and how branches could be used in Eugene. She said library branches have been discussed for some time as an option by the Li- brary board and staff. Most cities the size of Eugene are served by library branches. The Future of the Library Committee had examined this topic and found there was great variety in the way such systems were set up. Ms. Hildebrand said there are four different types of branches operated by city libraries. The largest are regional libraries, which typically include a resource center with a large collection, reference services, specialized staff, meeting rooms, documents, and exhibit space. She cited the Chicago system, which has five regional libraries approximately the size of Eugenels present library, to serve 65 smaller branches. The next type is the IIcommu- e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 5 e e e nity library," which typically includes a selective, less broad collection of popular reading, with reference services available. This type of library is the type of library found in small outlying communities or in particular neighborhoods, such as the Albina branch of the Multnomah County Library. The Albina branch is located in a black neighborhood in Portland and the branch specializes in black history and interests. Ms. Hildebrand discussed the next type of branch library, the neighborhood library, primarily set up for popular reading and some homework help. This type of library has a limited collection geared to quick drop-in visits and would not have a meeting room or a specialized staff. These types of librar- ies sometimes share space in community centers and shopping centers. The last type of branch library, the self-contained kiosk, is designed to be trucked in and dropped off. These kiosks are dropped off in parking lots and are used to gauge the degree of local interest in bookmobile stops or actual branches. These kiosks have very limited collections and very small staffs. Ms. Hildebrand said in recent years, the trend in branches is to locate them in rented space. The bigger cities haVing public library branch systems in free-standing buildings have found themselves in the same situations as school systems when the configuration of a neighborhood changes: they own unused or underused buildings that are politically difficult to dispose of. Renting means that upfront capital costs are less and, if neighborhood pat- terns or financial stability changes, the buildings can be vacated. Ongoing building maintenance costs are less. The old tradition of putting branches in neighborhoods where people live is being replaced by locating them where people go, such as shopping centers. These locations have the advantage of being in a ready-made concentration of people, off-street parking, estab- lished shopping center advertising, and at night the branch is not isolated or dark. "Ms. Hildebrand said that another trend in branch libraries was to specialize, rather than create miniature libraries patterned after the main library. The staff pinpoints the use expected and designs the collection for the designat- ed population around the branch. For example, a senior center near a branch will mean the library carries more large print books. However, such librar- ies are limited. Ms. Hildebrand estimated that such a branch library would involve a collection of 10,000 items to cover all ages. There may not be items for everyone; there won1t be the depth and breadth of non-print materi- als, such as videocassettes or audiocassettes. Study space, magazines, story times, and programs would continue to be held at the main library. Ms. Hildebrand added that branch libraries do not offer much room for improvement of service, such as increasing the size of the collection. Branch libraries dictate the need for adequate budgets to purchase new books to make sure all the branches have adequate collections. Ms. Hildebrand said she had put together a "shopping center branch" budget. She said there is 3,000 square feet available at the Echo Hollow Shopping Center, and she has used this space to put together the budget. It would cost about $160,000 to set up the branch physically, depending on needed remodels, including equipment, furniture, telephone lines, and the opening MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 6 e day collection. Ms. Hildebrand said that the library branch would be staffed by 2-1/2 people. Ongoing maintenance costs, personnel, book acquisition, and equipment costs would be about $175,000 to $200,000 per year. She added that this figure could be different from location to location. Ms. Hildebrand cautioned the council that such branch libraries as the one she described did not substitute for the necessary square footage needed in the main library dictated by increased use and an increased population. She described the experience of the Salem Library, which has a single branch on the west side opened one year ago. Statistics regarding the use of the main library does not indicate when the branch was opened: main library use remained at the same, and higher levels, as previous. Ms. Ehrman asked if the budget figures for the branch reflected the same operational hours as the main branch. Ms. Hildebrand said her figures re- flected fewer hours, Noon to 8 p.m., six days a week. Responding to a question from Mayor Obie, Ms. Hildebrand said the library will check out about 1,200,000 items this year. Mayor Obie asked Ms. Hildebrand what impact a branch would have on this figure. Ms. Hildebrand said she did not think that Eugene's experience would be different than Salemls experience. She did not think that a branch would lessen the main libraryls circulation levels. Ms. Hildebrand confirmed that a branch library would have a high collection turnover due to the nature of the collection, and it is important to keep the collection fresh. e Mr. Holmer asked what affect branch libraries had on bookmobiles. Ms. Hildebrand predicted that bookmobile use would be different, as the bookmobile now visits shopping centers and senior centers. If there were branches, the bookmobile would most likely visit special populations who can't get out. Ms. Ehrman asked what effect a branch would have on the square footage of the main library. Ms. Hildebrand said that if the council established two 3,000 square foot branches, they could subtract that from the main library, but she noted that the library is already operating under a square foot IIdeficitll and should be twice as large as it is. Ms. Decker said that staff had used the Echo Hollow example because they concluded Bethel-Danebo citizens use the bookmobile more heavily than other citizens and the main library less, probably due to distance. Ms. Decker asked the council if, in putting together the library proposal to serve the population expected by the year 2000, they wished to see branches included it the first phase or add branches after the main library is expand- ed. Mr. Rutan advised the staff to wait on branches. Ms. Ehrman agreed. She said that the branches would increase costs. Councilor Holmer said he had not fully formed his opinion and did not wish to commit himself. He wished to revisit the issue before the final decision was reached. Ms. Schue said e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 7 e e e she felt that the branches should come after the main library expansion. Mr. Miller said he did not want to wait until 2000, but he wished to see the main library expansion take precedence. Ms. Bascom said she agreed with the staff emphasis on Bethel-Danebo even while agreeing that the City should not hurry into branches. Mayor Obie said that he favored going forward with branches due to questions of citizen access. Many people cannot go to the main li- brary. He would like the people in the community, particularly those in less affluent areas with limited access, to be able to use the library. He fa- vored a phased-in approach that depended on citizen support. Mr. Sennett said he had no comments at this time and appreciated the staff work. Ms. Decker summarized the council's comments. She said it appeared to her that the council favored waiting on branches, while directing staff to work on the possibility of adding branches in a phased approach before the year 2000. Responding to Mr. Holmerls concerns, she said the council will revisit all its decisions on June 15. The council will give its direction to the Council Subcommittee on Financing at that time. Ms. Decker clarified the upcoming meeting schedule for the council. She reminded the council that it had not yet determined who would serve on the subcommittee. Mr. Gleason added that the council had resolved to deal with the scope of the project so that the subcommittee had a tentative foundation to build upon. Mayor Obie said he may wish to ask each councilor to be prepared with a proposal on how to solve the financial issue and be prepared to do some creative thinking at the May 23 meeting. Ms. Decker said staff will try to have some concept of cost for the council at the June 15 meeting, based on the vision that the council develops regard- ing the scope of the project. .Responding to a question from Mr. Bennett, Ms. Decker said sale of the build- ing would not reduce the cost for building a new library, but would rather come back to the City in the General Fund. It would not reduce the bond issue, if there was a bond issue. Mr. Bennett said if a case must be made to the public on financial issues, it would be worthwhile to discover how much it would cost to make the building useable for the training facility. Mayor Obie added he would like to know how much the building would realize if sold. He said the training facility is another decision outside of the library project. As it is, the most valuable use of the building is as a library. Ms. Hildebrand said the engineers who did the work on the facility study pointed out the building needs approximately $2 million worth of work to maintain it as a library. This includes the asbestos removal, which brings the cost up. Mayor Obie asked Ms. Hildebrand if any library in the United States charged for its services. Ms. Hildebrand said preliminary findings from a study done by the American Library Association on fees and charges found no public library charging for a borrowers card. Libraries do charge for other servic- es. Ms. Hildebrand said the study will be available soon. Mayor Obie said it was non-traditional, but he likened libraries to renting video movies. A book providing entertainment is similar. He said that books for education MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 8 e e e were different. He estimated that 1.2 million items checked out for 25 cents apiece would realize $400,000 yearly in revenue for the City. Ms. Bascom suggested that such a tax could as well be charged on video rentals. Mayor Obie said that, from the information he had heard, there is a value in locating libraries adjacent to commercial enterprises, such as shopping centers. He also agreed with those who maintained that libraries should be located where it is in the best interest of the library, rather than in the interest of commerce. He said it seemed to him that the council might wish to put out a Request for Proposals to developers, stipulating the use of property owned by the City and allowing them to make proposals for the tenan- cy of the library and other efforts of their own. Ms. Hildebrand said that Syracuse, New York, has just opened a brand new library of 100,000 square feet in a multi-use downtown mall. She has written the director for more information. In addition, the Sacramento Public Library is being included in the renovation of a downtown square block. The Eugene Public Library has a copy of the RFP Sacramento prepared and Ms. Hildebrand is investigating the results of this project. The meeting adjourned at 12:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~/.hJ~ .,~~?- . '~., '/ Micheal D. Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Leslie Scales/Kimberly Young) MNCC051188 MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 11, 1988 Page 9