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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/25/1988 Meeting e e e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall May 25, 1988 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Robert Bennett, Debra Ehrman, Jeff Miller, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue. Mayor Obie noted there was a memorandum in the council packet from Finance Director Warren Wong responding to council's concerns regarding the budget process. Mayor Obie expressed misgivings about the budget process and the position he felt the council had been put in, which he termed "unfortunate." Mayor Obie said he had requested that staff set a special meeting of the council to study the budget issue. That meeting is scheduled fot the follow- ing Wednesday, June I, at 11:30 a.m. He noted that the Council Committee on Economic Development (CCED) is scheduled to meet that day as well, and he suggested this meeting be cancelled. Mr. Rutan said that he agreed with Mayor Obie's remarks regarding the pro- cess. He said that CeED is meeting with State representatives that day. Ms. Ehrman said she would be out of town that day. Mr. Miller also indicated that he would be unavailable. Mayor Obie said a meeting on the sign ordi- nance is scheduled on June 22. As so many council members are unavailable the following week, he suggested that the council take up the sign ordinance at its next meeting, and review the budget process issue on June 22. Mr. Bennett asked if there was a possibility of scheduling another noon meeting during the week. After extensive discussion, councilors agreed to meet on Monday, June 13, at 11:30 a.m. Mr. Wong said the City must issue a legal notice on the Budget Committee's recommendation, and the City must meet mandated deadlines. The date of June 7 is set for passing the budget. However, the council could choose to amend the recommendation made on June 27. That amendment would require six favor- able votes. Mr. Rutan clarified that the council could not use the June 13 meeting to reach council consensus for a package prior to the final vote June 27. Mr. Gleason said there is a civil penalty for spending without author- ization in Oregon under State law and under City Charter for which council members would be personally responsible. Ms. Wooten said that as far as she can see, there are four people on the council who believe that the original council priorities should become the FY89 budget. Mr. Miller said he did not think that was a correct assumption. Ms. Wooten asked if the staff was assuming that there was going to be a MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 1 e e e council deadlock on the budget vote. Mr. Gleason said no. Ms. Schue said if people have proposals, the sooner the entire council looks at those proposals the better. Ms. Wooten asked Mr. Rutan if he was working on an alternative budget. Mr. Rutan said that he was working with Councilor Holmer on some recommendations for the council's considerations. He hoped to have those prepared by the following Tuesday at noon. Responding to a question from Ms. Wooten, Mr. Rutan said his recommendations concerned the following year's budget. Ms. Wooten said she would like to have time to review and respond to the comments developed by councilors Rutan and Holmer. She said if the recommendations vary dramatically from the Budget Committee recommendations, there needs to be time for the council to go through the public process and involve the eight lay members of the Budget Committee. Mr. Wong said the legal limit to revise the budget is by ten percent in any fund. I. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mr. Rutan recognized the return of the NCAA Track and Field Championships to Hayward Field the following Wednesday, June 1. He encouraged councilors to attend the meet. He said the event is coming back to Eugene because of the hard work and effort on the part df the Oregon Track Club, the University of Oregon, and Convention and Visitors Bureau, in addition ~o others. Ms. Ehrman said there is a memorandum in the council packets regarding the Joint Social Services Fund. She said that there may be a further request for funds to all jurisdictions after the next meeting of the Joint Social Servic- es Committee June 9. Ms. Ehrman said she had attended a meeting on the task force working on the Shelton-McMurphey House. There is enthusiasm for the project as it is pro- ceeding. She discussed the issues of handicapped access and historical integrity. Members of the handicapped community had indicated a side en- trance to the house was unacceptable. Some people feared that the creation of a handicapped entrance could affect the historical integrity of the struc- ture. Ms. Ehrman said she would be attending a meeting of the Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to discuss the problem, share the task force's plans for the house, and bring the commission up to date on the work done so far. She wished to alert the council to the notion that this aspect of the rehabilitation may become a voting issue at some time in the future. Mr. Bennett said the issue of handicapped access is very important. He felt it had received support in the community. He said that the community needs to find a balanced position as it related to the development of older, his- torical structures. He did not think that that access should devalue the historical nature of the building if access can be achieved in some other fashion. Mr. Bennett said he is still waiting to hear from the staff regard- ing what flexibility exists in the code in terms of making a choice about access and other issues outside fire and life safety. Mr. Gleason said the statutes provide an appeal process, including a hearings official to make a determination about how the code affects the usability of the building. Mr. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 2 e Bennett referred to the State statute mandating the expenditure of no more than 25 percent of the total cost of rehabilitation for accessibility. Mr. Gleason clarified that this is mandated if feasible. Mr. Bennett said the City should take a position encouraging redevelopments and the council should decide how it will address issues such as accessibility and historic signifi- cance. Mayor Obie asked if the council could do something to provide clear parame- ters for the community. Mr. Gleason said that an attorney should review this issue. A lot of the confusion existing now has to do with the role of the Commission on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities vis-a-vis the Uniform Building Code. The UBC is clear about how access questions are resolveds and those determinations are final. However, in the past the commission has not felt as though the decisions were sensitive enough; if facts there have been commission resignations over the latest decision. The City is caught in the middle between the development community and the commission in trying to administer the code. Mr. Sercombe said a recent arbitration ruling over whether the 25 percent compliance was met on a rehabilitated building may lead to more flexibility regarding the administration of that rule. He will distribute copies of this decision in memorandum form to the council. e Mr. Holmer noted that he has served for three years on the National Council of Public Works Improvements. The previous Thursdays he had received a plaque from the Mayor for his service. He said his tardiness at today's meeting was accounted for by a visit from his fellow council members Peter C. Goldmarks vice president of the Times Mirror Corporations soon to be the president of the Rockefeller Foundation. Mr. Holmer praised Mr. Goldmark's global vision and expressed happiness that such a valuable citizen was on the national scene. Mr. Holmer referred to the Monday evening meeting on the Librarys saying he felt the council needed to keep its options for financing as broad as possi- ble. Mr. Holmer noted an article in the paper the previous mornings May 24s that included information about City property donated to the sponsors of a political event the following year. The property donated was a nuclear-free zone sign. He suggested that there be a City policy regarding gifts of City propertys and proposed that the council take this question up at its next process session. Ms. Wooten reported on the Monroe Street Park Forums held on Saturdays May 21. The forum was well attended and well run by the subcommittee. Ken Tollenaars Planning Commissioner and member of the Joint Parks Commissions has developed a seven-point plan out of the discussion that resulted. Mr. Tollenaar will present this information to the Joint Parks Committee and Commission on the Rights of Minorities that evening. Ms. Schue said she would chair the JPC meeting that evening, and expressed the hope that agree- ment could be reached between the committee and the commission on the route to follow. Responding to a question from Mr. Bennett about process, Ms. Schue said she was hoping a consensus was reached about direction. She wished to avoid formal action. Ms. Schue said that the park needed a groups e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25s 1988 Page 3 e such as a "Friends of Monroe Park," who can resolve issues and solve problems themselves. Ms. Wooten said during the weekend and the previous Monday, a member of the Jersey City, New Jersey, city council was in Eugene. This individual is the United States representative to the International Nuclear-Free Zone Authority of Elected Officials. He was here to discuss the upcoming international conference of nuclear-free zones from 20 countries. Ms. Wooten said that he presented a key to Jersey City, which she presented to the council. The Jersey City councilor is inviting all the delegates to the community to bring the keys to their communities as a gesture of friendship. Ms. Wooten said that protocol seemed to require a reciprocal response, and as a result she presented the delegate with a nuclear-free zone sign. Ms. Wooten agreed with Mr. Holmer that the City should develop a policy for just such occasions. Mr. Bennett expressed the belief that the City of Eugene should be able to exchange such gifts with other communities if there was a reasonable way to do so. He felt that the gifts of the sign and the key were good ceremonial gestures. He expressed concern that the visitor had chosen to take a posi- tion on the council's deliberations regarding the nuclear-free zone. He termed the decision to take a position bad timing in that the council has not completed its process. Ms. Wooten said that persistent questions from the press had prompted the answer from the visitor, and noted that the conference is not contingent upon the council's decision. She said it would not have been the visitor's choice to discuss the issue. e Ms. Bascom thanked the Public Works Department staff for their work on Public Works Day. II. WORK SESSION: URBAN RENEWAL PLAN UPDATE (DISTRICT EXPANSION/ DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS/FINANCING Mr. Hibschman discussed the urban renewal plan update process. He said there are two basic steps left in the process. The decision reached today by the council will result in a revised draft update of the renewal plan that re- flects the decision on expansion. In addition, it will reflect the fact that Willamette Street, at this point, is not recommended for opening to vehicular traffic. If necessary, after the November election, the plan can be amended. The second step will be the public hearing and final adoption of the plan. Mr. Hibschman discussed the background of the urban renewal district expan- sion. He said that the focus of the expansion was on underdeveloped and underused parcels, blighted conditions, and in an area staff feels has the best potential to stimulate private investment and development. Mr. Hibschman discussed the advantages of expansion, such as allowing existing resources in the district to be used in the expansion area without waiting for increment to be captured. Some of the disadvantages of expansion were that it could inhibit development in the original renewal district area and strain the limited resources existing in the area now. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 4 e e e Mr. Hibschman briefly discussed the criteria for expansion, which are from the adopted Downtown Plan. These criteria include access and entrance into downtown, linkages, relationships with other areas, and taking advantage of underused public facilities, such as the Performing Arts Center garage. Mr. Hibschman pointed out the areas on a map of the downtown that the assessor has determined that the buildings are in poor condition by virtue of age or physical state. He pointed out those areas on the map where land is not being used intensely; the buildings on the land are small and low in value. Mr. Hibschman discussed the modified recommendation, which eliminated a piece of property adjacent to 5th Avenue near the jail, eliminated the IBM building across from the arts center garage, eliminated street right-of-ways near 6th and 7th avenues, and added the block between 6th and 7th avenues and Oak and Pearl streets. Mr. Hibschman said there are three approaches to expanding the renewal dis- trict expansion areas: 1) use staff expertise in development in working with property owners on ways to expand or develop their properties; 2) use a loan program that is now used with the existing renewal district; and 3) leverag- ing of private improvements, such as another parking garage or other infra- structure improvements. Mr. Hibschman noted that the plan had received unanimous approval from both the Downtown Commission and the Planning Commission. Ms. Ehrman asked if the State Office Building east of the Conference Center was owned by the County and leased to the State. Mr. Hibschman said the State owns a quarter-block, and Lane County owns three-quarters of the block. Mr. Hibschman said staff has discussed the situation regarding the expansion of the district with State staff, but the State is unsure of how it wishes to proceed with the parcel. Ms. Ehrman asked why the parcel was being included if this was the case. Mr. Hibschman said that the City would like to have the tool in place to respond to the State1s eventual decision. Mr. Miller said that inclusion of property to the east and north makes sense to him. However, the inclusion of property to the west does not seem to be a prudent thing to do at this time. The areas designated as blighted on the map are to the north and east. He did not wish to use up the allowable 20 percent increase in the district to go to the west when the development downtown is moving east. Ms. Ehrman said she has toured the area to the west, and she considered it to be more blighted than the area to the east. Ms. Wooten added that the property in the west presented the most opportunity for infill. Mr. Miller said that he was also concerned about the impact of the boundary expansion on the existing density in downtown. Mayor Obie asked if the proposed expansion included the entire allowable 20 percent. Mr. Hibschman said yes. Mayor Obie asked what opportunities for expansion exist- ed beyond that. Mr. Hibschman said another renewal district could be creat- ed, or the Riverfront Research Park Renewal District could be expanded to the west to include such areas as Agripac and EWES. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 5 e Mr. Holmer asked if there was a price tag associated with the expansion in terms of tax increment income accruing when development occurs that could otherwise be directed toward schools. Mr. Hibschman said the staff has prepared a 20-year analysis that it will bring to council with the entire plan document. Mr. Farkas added that such an analysis is speculative. Responding to a question from Ms. Schue, Mr. Farkas said the State does pay property tax~s on buildings it does not own outright. The State has indicat- ed that it is currently building a new State office building in Portland, and this is its first priority over building in Eugene. Mr. Bennett said the area east and north of the conference center will proba- bly be developed sooner than the area to the west and for this reason he felt it made sense to focus on this area in the short-term. However, the area west is the most blighted and the most likely to be developed with housing. However, when is it reasonable to expect that to occur when the City is unable to get housing downtown in close proximity to office building employ- ment. He questioned why the district needed to be expanded now when there are vacancies in the core area. e Ms. Wooten said that at a previous meeting some time ago, the council had discussed the expansion question. At that time, there were indications from staff that it would be five to seven years before the City could begin infra- structure improvements to the west, and at least five years before increment revenue was realized. Mr. Gleason clarified that staff made these projec- tions based on anticipated development and said they did not really have a firm date. Ms. Wooten said she felt the area to the west should be included in the expansion area because of the less expensive opportunities it offered for infill development. She was most interested in the housing opportunities in the area. Mr. Bennett responded to Ms. Wooten1s comments. He said the question in his mind was what form would such housing take? If housing was driven by employ- ment, why be looking at this issue right now when the demand is not there? The demand may change. Ms. Wooten said this could be true; however, her inclination was to believe the City will see a broadening of HUD 235 moneys and get the opportunity to develop some low- and moderate-income housing to the west. Mayor Obie said he would like to return to this question. Ms. Bascom said the council had previously considered whether to have more or fewer options in the expansion. When considering the urban growth boundary, part of the rationale for expansion was that the City would be providing more variations for potential development. Ms. Bascom asked if the Lane County Elections building should be included in the area. Mr. Hibschman said that staff had discussed with the County staff their intentions regarding the property surrounding the building on 6th Avenue; they were unclear about whether or not the property would be offered for sale or its status, and he said he would find out more information. Mr. Gleason added that the County is not very happy with the building and is interested in finding alternative space. Mr. Farkas said that if the property is to be sold to the private sector it could be included. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 6 e e e Mayor Obie said the question of housing is an interesting one. He studied the housing situation to the west and concluded if the City develops the tax advantage zone previously discussed to the west, the council would not wish to include the western section in the renewal boundary because there would be no tax increment funds to work it off of. Mayor Obie believed a developer interested in housing would rather be in a tax advantage zone than a renewal district. Mr. Farkas said if someone develops "straight housing" it creates a perplexing situation: on one hand there is a tax increment advantage, and on the other hand there is a tax exemption for a ten- to fifteen-year period, after which the tax increment begins to flow. The exception to this rule is mixed-use development with retail, office, and housing space. Many other cities are doing this in denser areas. This allows cities to capture some tax increment funds and take advantage of the tax break. Mr. Miller said his problem going west was that the City has not been able to do the job the council wished to see in the basic core area. He asked if it would be a problem to include the portion to the east of the Hult Center and hold the other property in abeyance for future expansion. He shared some of the concerns Mr. Bennett expressed about the effect of retail development on the existing downtown core. Ms. Wooten noted that the Downtown Commission has spent 1-1/2 years on the expansion plan and included the western portion of the downtown area in its recommendation. She asked Mr. Farkas for the reasons the commission had advocated this area's inclusion in the expansion. Mr. Farkas said the Down- town Commission and the Planning Commission looked at the west in relation to its potential for the library, mixed-uses, or retail expansion, in addition to looking hard at the amount of blight in the area. These factors in combi- nation with the nearby existing parking structure at the Hult Center led the commissions to recommend the area1s inclusion. In regard to housing on the west, there is a zoning issue as some of the western edges of the downtown are zoned for commercial, rather than housing, development. Ms. Decker said staff anticipated that housing would be built west of Lincoln Street rather than between Charnel ton and Lincoln streets. Ms. Ehrman questioned the inclusion of the State-owned property as it is developed with a large building and has no blight problem. The State has shown no enthusiasm for being included in the district and elimination of this area would save a percentage for additional growth. Mayor Obie asked if this was possible. Mr. Farkas said yes. Mr. Rutan said the council was attempting to establish groundwork for devel- opment opportunities. Unfortunately, the council has no crystal ball that allows it to know when such development will occur. This is the benefit of expanding the district. Mr. Rutan asked if there was a way to implement the expansion district in a piece-meal fashion, such as an urban renewal "re- serve.1I Mr. Holmer said he thought that the district boundary could be expanded in short order with a specific project, and he did not see the urgency to expand MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 7 e the district when the council has no clear ideas about what development will occur in the area. He preferred to be "poised" for expansion when develop- ment occurs. Responding to Mr. Rutan's question, Mr. Gleason said staff believes that an urban renewal reserve is possible. When development occurs, with a single- ordinance action, council could include the reserve in the district. Howev- er, this does not capture the cash flow that generates projects. Mr. Miller asked if the land to the east and north would be included in the expansion district or made part of the reserve. Mr. Gleason said that the constraint has previously been on how to use limited expansion capacity; Mr. Gleason recommended that the entire area be included in the boundary. Ms. Wooten said the reason for inclusion of the State-owned property was to allow the City to work with a private developer and the State to build a new State office building and provide tax increment incentives. Mr. Bennett said he feels that the council has an opportunity to generate tax increment district dollars for the benefit of the district as a whole, the core area, and the City-owned property not yet developed. He wished to be sure that any development done independently downtown could be included in the district by the time a bUilding permit was requested. - Mayor Obie said that it appeared that the council was in consensus regarding the desirability of an urban renewal reserve, with the provisio that the City be able to move with dispatch to accommodate or take advantage of develop- ment. Mr. Gleason said staff would work on the legal issues surrounding the question and report back to the council. III. WORK SESSION: COUNCIL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING LINCOLN SCHOOL--PROCESS AND MAINTENANCE Ms. Bohman said that the council had previously discussed this item at its April 25, 1988, meeting. There were four recommendations from the council subcommittee, but no action was taken on those recommendations at that meet- ing as council members requested more information on one of the recommenda- tions, concerning the formation of a task force. Ms. Bohman said the council was interested in the composition of such a task force and the task force charge and work program. In addition, there were questions of how a Request for Proposal or Request for Qualifications to private developers would fit with the task force process. Ms. Bohman outlined the staff proposal for the composition of the task force. Ms. Bohman said staff recommended that the task force be composed of one or two City Councilors, one person from the Westside Neighborhood, one person from the Friends of Lincoln School, one representative of child care and social service interests, one person representing sports groups and arts groups, one person representing the development community, and a housing specialist. Ms. Bohman said the council subcommittee would make the appoint- e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 8 e ments by taking applications from the public and interested agencies. Ms. Bohman said a staff advisory team would work with the task force in order to cover the functional areas of development, block grants, historic preserva- tion, social services, building and permits, financial analysis, planning, recreation, and maintenance. This would involve the departments of Develop- ment, Planning, and PARCS, as well as a participant from the Lane County Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to this staffing, there would be private, contractual technical assistance. Ms. Bohman said the task force would provide input into the Request for Qualifications and the development and management plans for the ongoing operation of the project. Ms. Bohman pointed out the work program in the staff notes. The time line established for the work program is spread out over five to six months. Ms. Bohman said this is a heavy schedule that calls for the task force to meet once a week. She said the task force process could run two to four months over that time period. Ms. Bohman briefly discussed the staff resources that would be required for the task force process and overseeing the rehabilitation project itself. Ms. Bohman discussed the differences between a Request for Proposals and Request for Qualifications, noting that an RFP is generally a more detailed type of proposal speliing out the project clearly and eliciting a well-devel- oped proposal in return. An RFQ generally deals with the qualifications of a developer to do a project, including a conceptual approach. Staff recommend- ed that a Request for Qualifications be used in this case. Ms. Bohman brief- ly discussed the process used by Seattle in its school conversion projects, which used a Request for Proposal format. - Ms. Ehrman supported the task force proposal. She said the work program was too ambitious and expressed concern that this issue is taking priority over other mall issues. She said some of the issues downtown must be addressed, and did not wish to put this project over those priorities. Mr. Bennett said he was on the minority side of the three-person subcommittee formed to address the Lincoln School project. He said the main focus of the effort was to save the building and prepare it for development at the least possible cost. A joint public-private venture had been envisioned for this large building. The rehabilitation of such large, historic buildings can be very difficult. With this in mind, Mr. Bennett felt that the City needed to attract private development and investment to the project. The proposal before the council, which Mr. Bennett characterized as a very general propos- al, is not realistic. He said the City does not have the resources to devel- op the entire building. Mayor Obie said he did not see how the City could justify the staff work dollars needed in a time when the budget was very limited. Ms. Schue said she felt the problem was that the council has not decided what to do with the property in a realistic way. The proposals made to the coun- cil are wonderful, but Ms. Schue said the council has not decided if it has the resources to do all these things. She asked if the council members had e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 9 e agreed that the City needs a new senior nutrition site or more arts and crafts space. The council had discussed day care. However, it had not discussed what type of public-private mixed use would be acceptable at the Lincoln School site. Ms. Schue recommended that the council make some of these basic decisions before asking a group of well-intentioned citizens to go through a task force process. Mr. Holmer asked if it was too late to give the Lincoln School building back to the school district. Mr. Rutan said he agreed with Mayor Obie's remarks. He said the council is being a party to leading the public along by taking on this issue initially. He said it is time to re-evaluate the project. Mr. Rutan said he did not think the City should be spending its time and resources on the building. He said that some variation of Mr. Bennett's suggestion seemed appropriate to him. e Mr. Miller said there are community needs for day care. Many nonprofit groups serving the community are losing funding for needed programs, and much of that funding is concerned about where such groups are physically located. In the long-term, this site could'be a cost-effective, needed community asset. Mr. Milier said the issue to him is, is it worth taking a gamble and spending a few dollars with the possibility that the bUilding can be used for community purposes, knowing that private resources will be needed. Mr. Miller said the City spends money on other uncertain projects. He did not want to spend the public's money foolishly; however, the community has real needs for such proposed services. He asked why the handicapped accessibility to the mall play area has taken so long. Ms. Bohman said the department had worked with the architect from the Broadway project to develop plans, which had taken some time; in addition, much of Ms. Bohman's time was taken up with the Lincoln School issues. Ms. Bohman said the City had received an expression of interest from a devel- opment company regarding a project that included housing on the upper level and day care and other leaseable social service space on the ground floor. Ms. Wooten supported Mr. Miller's remarks regarding City investment in poten- tially feasible projects. The City has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the potential of other opportunities for private or private/public uses. She saw this as an opportunity for the City to invest in itself. Ms. Wooten said it is not a lot to ask to put faith in the combination of people proposed to come forward with a workable idea for the Lincoln School Build- ing. She said there are opportunities in the community that the council may be overlooking. Mr. Bennett moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to approve the expenditure of $20,400 now, as per recommendation 2, with a possible future expenditure of $10,050 annually, to secure and maintain the Lincoln School Building and provide interim maintenance pending a decision on redevelopment. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 10 e e e Mr. Bennett said there is an opportunity for community uses in the project. He said that such uses will require that local social service providers come together to make a solid, financially accountable presentation to be consid- ered along with other proposals. Ms. Wooten responded that, due to the strained resources of existing local nonprofits, such entities need leader- ship and technical advice to form a coalition and develop a financial plan. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Obie asked staff to schedule this topic as an agenda item at a future date, and to prepare two motions representing the viewpoints expressed by councilors today. The meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m. to June 6, 1988. (Recorded by Leslie Scales/Kimberly Young) Respectfully submitted, "! ;4 ./ '.'-"'~ "/" ~.-'" .'i...... - '. .' . ".~ ,,'u_ ~,,.,. ~l.J"'" ~ I.<..t~" . - ~....' "., :; '" / :,;.' M~:;\~"K~~~ , City Manager MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 11