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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/19/1989 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall July 19, 1989 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan, Rob Bennett, Shawn Boles, Debra Ehrman, Bobby Green, Freeman Holmer. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Emi ly Schue. The adjourned meeting of July 12, 1989, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. 1. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. World Veteransl Championships Mr. Rutan reminded councilors that additional volunteers are still needed to assist with the Championships. ..~ e B. Selco Construction Project Mr. Holmer requested a report on Selco's provision of parking. Mr. Gleason said the property is outside the exempt zone and the parking required under C-3 zoning is being provided mostly on-site. C. WISTEC Ms. Ehrman asked the council to consider whether City support should be given to WISTEC while it is in a precarious financial situation. Ms. Bascom indicated she supported investigating the situation. Mr. Holmer expressed strong reservations and said that because WISTEC is an educational facility that provides services countywide, its first request for assistance should be directed to School District 4J or Lane County. He wondered how WISTEC fits into the Cityls recently adopted Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Ms. Bascom said the issue should be considered by the Arts Funding Committee. She considered the possibility of losing the museum park, of which WISTEC is the first building, to be a serious community matter that warrants staff analysis. Mr. Boles concurred with Ms. Bascom's request and suggested exploring the possibility of leveraging State funding. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 1 , - Mr. Holmer said he would support spending staff time if it is under the auspices of the Arts Funding Committee or Joint Parks Committee. D. Skateboarding Ms. Ehrman reported a constituent concern with skateboarders congregating at Charnel Mulligan Park and she requested an update on the situation as it relates to park ruless and curfew and noise ordinances. Ms. Bascom reported that the Joint Parks Committee is moving ahead with a Skateboarding Task Force. E. Curfew Mr. Green said that ordinances the City is unable to enforce should be discussed and their removal considered. He specifically referred to the curfew ordinance requiring teenagers to be off the streets after certain hours. F. Graffiti Mr. Green suggested considering an ordinance to require the removal of graffiti after a reasonable period of time. He said that the Coalition for Prevention of Gang Activity considers graffiti to be a recruitment tool used by gangs. e Referring to a recent incident involving racist graffiti in Junction Citys Mayor Miller declared that such racist activity is unacceptable in this community and he commended the County for its quick response to the incident. Councilors concurred with his statement. G. EWEB Public Plaza Councilors accepted an invitation to dinner with the EWEB Board of Directors to celebrate the September opening of the public plaza. H. Television Coverage of Council Meetings Ms. Bascom said she would prefer eating without being photographed at the same time. A comment was made that editing with discretion would be appreciated. II. WORLD VETERANS' CHAMPIONSHIPS STATUS REPORT Ernie Drapelas Parkss Recreations and Cultural Services Departments introduced Tom Jordan and Barbara Kousky. Mr. Jordan reported that with the championships a week aways 4s951 entries have been accepted from 58 countries. Additional officials are still being recruited. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19 s 1989 Page 2 -- --- . More than 10,000 visitors to the community are expected. Ms. Kousky added that over $500,000 has been paid to local motels and hotels for rooms booked through the organization1s office. She expressed appreciation for the council1s support, particularly that of Mr. Rutan. Opening ceremonies are scheduled July 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Hayward Field and councilors were encouraged to attend. Admission is free for spectators except July 30 and August 5 when there will be a $2 charge for adults and a $1 charge for children. Answering a question from Mr. Green, Mr. Jordan said the event would receive national media coverage but not national cable television coverage. Mayor Miller commended the efforts of the organizing committee. Mr. Gleason thanked Ms. Kousky and Mr. Jordan for working to minimize the event's impact on City operations. III. LINCOLN SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS City Manager Mike Gleason introduced the topic. Jan Bohman, Planning and Development Department, gave the staff report. She said that three proposals were received for redevelopment of the Lincoln School Building, but one was withdrawn prior to interviews. The remaining proposals were rated on the basis of the following four criteria: 1) compatibility with a rehabilitation meeting historic requirements; 2) demonstrated ability to complete the project; 3) redevelopment concept and the degree to which it addresses the e project goals of historic rehabilitation, community access, and housing; and 4) financial capability of the developer and the feasibility of the projectls financial plan. The proposal submitted by the Friends of Lincoln School for developing the building as a multicultural community center including a nonprofit child-care center; teen activity center; classroom and office space for Headstart; office space for nonprofit and social service organizations; an open gym for sports, performing arts, and events; and public meeting rooms and cafeteria received a score of 65. The other proposal, from Lorig Associates, Inc., of Seattle for conversion of the building to 55-65 studio and one-bedroom market-rate apartments, received a score of 79. Ms. Bohman reviewed the relative strengths and weaknesses of each proposal. Both uses would require rezoning to R-2. The community center would require conditional use and the apartments would be outright use. The Westside Plan includes several applicable policies: one is that the City and the neighborhood will work to retain the school in public ownership and another is that if rezoning occurs, nonresidential uses are to be discouraged. Regarding parking, the Lorig proposal includes 1.5 spaces per unit and the Friends' proposes 40 spaces excluding the opening of the gymnasium. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 3 ------- e Answering a question from Ms. Ehrman, Ms. Bohman said lorig Associates proposes purchasing the building for $125,000, while the Friends propose ownership by a public corporation. Mr. Boles clarified that the Friends proposal requests conveyance of title. Ms. Bohman said the project for housing for head-injured individuals is compatible with both proposals and is awaiting final HUD approval. Mike Sullivan, Planning and Development Department, presented a comparison of the financing for the two proposals. Total debt was projected at $2,075,000 for the Lorig proposal and $2,426,885 for the Friends proposal. Mr. Sull i van reviewed projected operating expenses and income for the two proposals, and compared the rents required to carry costs of the projects. Answering councilors' questions, staff said the Friends' proposal assumes the receipt of operating grants to help reduce the per-square-foot rental rate to a marketable level. The proposals' estimations of operating expenses were accepted at face value to avoid discussion of the validity of assumptions at this time. Ms. Ehrman asked about maintenance of areas that would remain accessible to the public. Ms. Bohman responded that the Friends' proposal specifies that maintenance of the grounds is expected to be a City donation. She assumed that if the playground area remains in City ownership, lorig would expect it to receive City maintenance. e Mr. Rutan said that because the Friends' proposal appears to require City involvement, the council should clarify at the outset whether it intends to consider a proposal that does not meet the three criteria used in the RFP process. Mr. Boles commented that beyond conveyance of the building, the Friends' proposal does not require City involvement and he was unaware of any request for General Fund support. Mayor Miller reported that letters of support for the Friends' proposal have been received. He said supporters have expressed concern regarding the council making a decision without holding an additional public hearing. Saying that each proposal has serious flaws, Mr. Boles suggested that both be given an additional 30 days to remedy their deficiencies. He said many citizens believe that the westside area has been denied access to facilities commensurate with those available in other areas of the city and view the Friends' proposal as an opportunity to compensate for the loss of the Jefferson Pool facility. He anticipated neighborhood opposition to the zoning changes required for the Lorig project unless the Friends of Lincoln School is given the opportunity to strengthen its proposal. Answering a question from Mr. Bennett, lorig Associates representative Maris Hoffman said his company intends to apply for historic designation. The e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 4 e building has already received preliminary determination of its eligibility from the State. Ms. Ehrman pointed out that approval of a project may improve its chances of receiving grant and foundation funding. Ms. Bascom requested additional information about the child care component of the Friends of Lincoln School proposal. Rhonda Budd, Friends of Lincoln School representative, said approximately 60 children between the ages of 3 months and school age would be served by the child-care facility. An additional 36 children would be enrolled in Head Start. Mr. Bennett noted that he had advocated actively for preservation of the building. He call~d the council's attention to its original policy direction that City financial involvement was to be avoided. While he considered both proposals significant, he said only the Lorig proposal met that original policy direction. Mr. Bennett described historical building redevelopment as a complex undertaking that requires sound business planning to be economically successful. He considered the Friends of Lincoln School proposal an admirable attempt to address some of the community's basic needs, but said that its support would require the council to change its policy and to provide financial support of the project. He maintained that relying on grants for annual support is an unstable financial plan. Ms. Bascom expressed her support of the Friends of Lincoln School's desire to address community concerns and pledged that she would continue working on the e unmet child care needs of the community. She described her experiences teaching in Chicago in the 1940s and suggested that child care may be delivered more effectively in a smaller facility. Ms. Bascom pointed out that the Lorig proposal would help meet the council's goal of encouraging development and/or availability of low- to moderate-cost housing. She suggested requiring Lorig to construct and landscape a playground for public access to be maintained by the City. She also recommended exploring the possibility of incorporating a small child-care facility into the Lorig project. Referring to Mr. Bennett's comments on the council's policy goals as reflected in the RFP, Mr. Boles said that while the Lorig proposal may be superior in terms of development experience and ability to leverage private- sector financing, the Friends of Lincoln School proposal is stronger in the community access component which he considered an equally important council policy direction. He said that the provision of 600-square-foot units that rent for $420 per month does not meet the council's goal of providing low- and moderate-income housing. Recalling a visit to Hull House in Chicago, Mr. Holmer attested to the difficulty of maintaining such a facility. Saying he supported the idea of a project like that proposed by the Friends of Lincoln School,he favored delaying the council1s decision to allow the Friends to attempt to strengthen the financing component of its proposal. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 5 . Mr. Green preferred holding a public hearing before accepting either proposal. He pointed out that there are no multicultural centers in Eugene and he applauded the Friends of Lincoln School proposal for addressing that need. Mr. Rutan questioned the need for an additional public hearing. He agreed with Mr. Bennett that the Lincoln School building is a valuable community resource. He considered the Friends of Lincoln School proposal deficient both in capital and operating financing and said the City eventually would be expected to support the project financially. While he was willing to delay the council's decision, he said it would take more than 90 days for the Friends of Lincoln School to obtain funds from the sources that had been identified. Mr. Rutan cautioned against a delay that could alter Lorig's ability to construct a project at the cost currently projected. While she recognized the needs of the community addressed by the Friends of Lincoln School proposal, Ms. Ehrman considered the Lorig proposal more consistent with the policy direction set forth earlier by the council. She said that Patterson School and the library are within the neighborhood and provide facilities that meet some of those needs. Mayor Miller concurred with councilors' observations that the needs articulated by the Friends of Lincoln School are important community concerns, but he urged the council to avoid making gestures (such as delaying its decision) if there is little reason to expect a different outcome. Because of the proximity of the fairgrounds, he recommended encouraging Lane e County to become involved in the issue and asked the council representatives to the Fairgrounds Master Plan Committee to explore that possibility. Speaking on behalf of the Friends of Lincoln School, Ted Allen anticipated that a minimum of 90 days would be required for the Friends to adequately develop the financing aspect of its proposal. On behalf of Lorig Associates, Mr. Hoffman said the ability to include a child-care facility in the project would be contingent on the tenant's desire to do so. Mr. Boles asked the council to discuss the community access issue further if it awards the project to Lorig and to seriously explore incorporating a child-care component into the project. He felt strongly that the council's decision should be delayed 90 days. Responding to an earlier comment made by Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Boles said the library meeting rooms are too far away to be considered accessible to the westside neighborhood. Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to direct staff to proceed with the Lorig proposal and to work to strengthen the community access portion of that proposal with a playground area and a child-care facility. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 6 e Mr. Green said he did not feel that the Lorig proposal addresses the council's goal of low- and moderate-income housing and he could not support the motion unless some portion of the construction was set aside and designated as affordable housing. Mr. Gleason questioned the council's legal authority to require that designation and said money resulting from the project being granted a tax deferral (starting in the third year) would help underwrite low-income housing. He added that the financial status of the project could be undermined if the requirement proposed by Mr. Green were imposed. Ms. Bohman noted that the tax-deferred status of the project would produce approximately $9,000 annually, beginning in the third year. Mr. Rutan said his'interpretation of the motion was that it directed staff to meet with Lorig Associates to discuss the City's approval of the proposal and the remaining issues needing attention. Those issues include the investigation and discussion of the feasibility of a day-care center being incorporated into the project, and the landscaping and maintenance of the grounds surrounding the project. He said he thought the second issue could be resolved fairly easily. Regarding day care, Mr. Rutan's opinion was that because Lorig Associates is in the business of development and not of day care, it would be unfair to expect that more than a limited amount of energy could be devoted to that issue. Mayor Miller mentioned the possibility of revenue that is returned from the e project being used to build a day-care facility. He said there are many possibilities that could be explored. Ms. Bascom indicated her willingness to participate in the negotiation process to obtain a day-care facility as part of the project. Mr. Bennett said it would be a mistake to require Lorig Associates to build and/or operate a day-care facility as an additional cost of development not associated with the project. He encouraged the council to consider the proposals before it on their merits based on the criteria. He suggested that the ancillary bUilding near the school could present a possibility, but he was opposed to making the day care component a condition of the proposal receiving approval. Ms. Bascom clarified that her intent was not to require Lorig to donate a day-care facility to the community. Mr. Rutan added that a day-care facility could be part of the discussions relating to the project, but not a condition. Mr. Boles described the community responsive aspect of the Lorig proposal as weak and said the original RFP directed that community access should be part of the proposal. He said that the Friends of Lincoln School proposal addressed not only day care, but needs of the larger community as well (specifically needs of adolescents). Mr. Boles emphasized the need to assure community access by negotiating the conditions of the project1s approval. He e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 7 -- , , e considered it unfortunate that the council viewed the project primarily from a business standpoint and regretted that business considerations seemed to be the only force driving the decision process. Mr. Gleason clarified that what the council was being asked to approve was an exclusive negotiating relationship between the City and Lorig Associates. Based on the direction of council, staff would enter those negotiations and would bring back a final agreement for council approval. He said that instrument would either fulfill the council's expectations or it would be rejected. Mr. Sercombe pointed out that the instrument to convey the property would not require a memorandum of understanding because it would not be a complicated contract. Ms. Ehrman commented that the negotiation process could reserve the ability for the City to build and operate a day-care facility on the property. The motion carried, 4:3; with Councilors Bascom, Bennett, Ehrman, and Rutan voting in favor; and Councilors Boles, Green, and Holmer voting against. Mayor Miller suggested that work session time be scheduled for the council to discuss his idea of asking the County to participate in exploring possibilities for a day-care facility at the Lane County Fairgrounds. e IV. WORK SESSION: URBAN RENEWAL PLAN UPDATE This item was postponed to a future agenda. The meeting was adjourned at 1:47 p.m. ~~ll41~e~. . r ~ .~&: / .:'%..... ,,/ -4' "'" "" ,;:,,' ,',"_ .... ..','" ..,..-......'1;....-.:,.., / '/' (I' Mi chea 1 GYeason, City Manager (Recorded by Mary Feldman> mncc 071989 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 19, 1989 Page 8