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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/24/1989 MeetingMINUTES Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session Amazon Community Center July 24, 1989 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Shawn Boles, Debra Ehrman, Emily Schue, Freeman Holmer, Rob Bennett, Roger Rutan. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bobby Green. The adjourned meeting of July 19, 1989, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Mayor Jeff Miller. I. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES FINANCING STUDY Warren Wong, Finance Director, gave the staff report. He said the proposed Development Services Financing Study responds to council direction and policies to pursue user fees and minor revenue sources as a means of . supporting General Fund services and addressing the gap between financial resources and requirements. Most of the City's development -related services are provided by the Planning and Development Department, the Department of Public Safety, and the Department of Public Works. Mr. Wong said the current policy framework that the City operates in with respect to financing municipal services can be outlined in the following four statements: 1. Additional property taxes to support operating services is not a viable option until the rate per $1,000 assessed valuation is below the current rate. 2. Methods for addressing part of the financing gap are service reductions, eliminations and modifications, funding shifts, intergovernmental agreements, use of automation and productivity improvement techniques, and organizational/human resource management improvements. 3. User fees or minor revenue sources are a viable means of achieving financial and service stability --that is, emphasis on relating the benefiting entity to the financial support for the services is a fundamental assumption in any service financing strategy. MINUTES --City Council-- July 24, 1989 Page 1 Dinner/Work Session 4. Investment in existing infrastructure and creation of new infrastructure to reduce operating costs, respond to council and community goals, and to foster economic diversification are critical to addressing the overall financial situation. Mr. Wong said that in the FY90 budget, $800,000 of the General Capital Projects Budget is not funded. The City Manager's proposal, as affirmed by the Budget Committee and council, is to fund these capital projects by a combination of service reductions/adjustments and user fees/minor revenue sources. Thus, the work on the Development Service Financing Study is critical to ultimate realization of the adopted FY90 budget. Mr. Wong said development -related services include but are not limited to land use and zoning, building permits and inspections, safety inspections, business assistance and development, and economic diversification. He said that this study will focus on development services supported by the General Fund. Mr. Wong reviewed a chart depicting the City's current resources and requirements. The resources generated by user fees total $1.1 million. The requirements total $5.6 million. This leaves $4.5 million worth of services that are not currently funded by user fees. Mr. Wong reviewed the methodology for the study. He said the technical analysis will consist of: identifying all development -related services; identifying the direct and indirect costs of providing each service; • determining appropriate user fee support for development services; identifying existing user fee support; determining if adjustments to the existing user fees are feasible and develop recommendations for changes; if not, identifying new user fees to meet the policy level established for user fee support, and initiating a process to secure new or enhanced user fees. Mr. Wong said the full council can be involved in this study, or the study can be processed through a council committee. He said staff recommends that the study be processed through the Council Committee on Economic Diversification (CCED), with feedback to the full council. Mr. Holmer asked how the levels of user and nonuser fees should be related. Mr. Gleason said staff believes this is a policy decision that the council must make. Mr. Rutan said the goal of the Development Services Financing Study should not be to rationalize a policy of 100 percent recovery of costs through user fees. Rather, the study should give council the information it needs to set policy regarding user fees. Mr. Boles suggested that the study be processed through the Council Audit Committee rather than CCED. He said CCED already has its own agenda and a set framework through which it analyzes issues. He thought it would be best to process the study through a committee with a broader perspective. Mr. • MINUTES --City Council-- July 24, 1989 Page 2 Dinner/Work Session Bennett suggested that a new committee be formed to process the study. Councilors Boles, Ehrman, and Rutan agreed to serve on this new committee. Commenting on the work plan for the study, Mr. Holmer said he would like the public to have an opportunity to comment on staff's final recommendation. He asked that this be added to the work plan. II. CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT Gretchen Schutz, outgoing chair of the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) gave the report. She said the CIC was formed by the City Council in February 1979 and charged with "maintaining a citizen involvement program for the City of Eugene that ensures the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the land use planning process." That charge was expanded in February 1987 to include review of Citywide public information and participation processes. The committee serves as the City's "citizen advisory committee" on citizen involvement in land use planning, as mandated by Oregon's Statewide Planning Goal #1. Ms. Schutz reviewed the responsibilities of the CIC, which are: 1) review and analyze existing processes used to encourage citizen involvement during the formulation and adoption of major policies; 2) review and analyze the process for approval of specific actions under adopted plans and implementing legislation; 3) review existing planning documents (especially informational materials, applications, etc.) for clarity and adequacy; 4) initiate review • of the Citizen Involvement Program every other year; and 5) present annual or more frequent reports to the City Council and Planning Commission. Ms. Schutz said that the CIC has several added responsibilities since the committee's charge was expanded. These include: 1) review of the Citywide public information work plan; 2) assist in developing and reviewing Citywide policies and plans which are identified in the public information and participation work program; 3) continue review and approval of citizen involvement component of all major City plans; and 4) evaluate and make recommendations to individual departments on their citizen participation processes. Ms. Schutz referred councilors to the committee's annual report for a list of the specific activities undertaken by the CIC since its July 1988 report to the council. Ms. Schutz said the CIC has spent a considerable amount of time working on the issue of citizen involvement and development partnerships. She said that local governments are turning increasingly to the private sector for help in building facilities or improving the local economy through joint development efforts. Past site development partnerships in which the City has been involved, such as the Riverfront Research Park and the proposed Willamette Street opening, have caused much controversy. It was apparent that citizens, staff, and policy makers were becoming frustrated with the public process. Members of the CIC began to question whether citizen involvement in these projects was generating more "heat" than "light." As a result, the CIC decided to explore the role of citizen involvement in site development MINUTES --City Council-- July 24, 1989 Page 3 Dinner/Work Session • projects. Specifically, what is the appropriate nature, scope, and timing of citizen involvement for site development partnerships? Ms. Schutz said that in studying site development partnerships, the CIC: 1) reviewed information gathered by staff on experiences in other communities; 2) held a meeting with Abe Farkas, Director of Planning and Development, at which he described the history of such partnerships and the constraints and opportunities they present for citizen participation; and 3) sponsored a panel discussion with City Councilor Shawn Boles, Budget Committee Chair Kappy Eaton, and University Planner Diane Wiley. Ms. Schutz said a number of common themes emerged through interviews with development staff in Eugene and other communities, a review of selected readings, and discussions by CIC. She mentioned two of these: 1. Citizen involvement works most effectively at the front end of a project, during design and planning phases. It is less effective, and can even be detrimental, once a project is at the negotiation stage or is under.actual development. 2. Each project poses its own set of constraints and opportunities, and requires its own citizen involvement plan. It is probably not possible to develop a standard set of policies and detailed procedures that could be followed for all projects. Ms. Schutz referred councilors to the CIC's proposed decision-making model • for site development partnerships. She said the model is very tentative. She said the committee would like an affirmation of council's interest in having the CIC continue its work with this project. Ms. Schutz said public-private partnerships hold the promise of enabling cities to provide services and facilities at a lower cost to the public. But, because they seem unfamiliar to the general public, they are viewed with skepticism. Effective citizen involvement which emerges from City policy and guidelines cannot help but generate greater public understanding. Mr. Boles said he feels this project is appropriate for the CIC, given its charge. He thought that the CIC should formalize its model. Ms. Schue expressed doubts about whether the public, in general, could be educated about the way public/private partnerships work, but said it is worth a try. She thought the CIC should formalize its decision-making model for site development partnerships. Ms. Bascom agreed. She stated that one way to educate the public about the benefit of public/private partnerships is to publicize those that are successful. Mr. Bennett said the model should be used to analyze past partnerships that were unsuccessful. He said this might illuminate reasons why the partnerships failed and show how a different outcome could have been achieved. MINUTES --City Council-- July 24, 1989 Page 4 Dinner/Work Session Mayor Miller summarized the discussion, saying that the council would like the CIC to continue its work on citizen involvement in public/private partnerships. He also commended the CIC on its work, assuring committee members that their work is effective. III. TOUR OF RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AT AMAZON CENTER Linda Phelps, Facility Supervisor for Specialized Recreation of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department, led councilors on a tour of the recreation facilities at Amazon Center, including the accessible playground, pool, and the future site of the specialized recreational facility. The meeting was recessed until 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submi ted, Mic eal G n Ci y Manag r (Recorded by Tanya Northman) MNCC 072489 • • MINUTES --City Council-- July 24, 1989 Page 5 Dinner/Work Session