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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/13/1989 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 13, 1989 11 : 30 a. m . COUNCILORS PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Rob Bennett, Shawn Boles, Emily Schue, Debra Ehrman, Freeman Holmer, Bobby Green, Roger Rutan. The adjourned meeting of September 11, 1989, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Mayor Jeff Miller. 1. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. New City Park Ms. Schue announced that Eugene may get a new park on Shasta Loop, along the Ridgeline Trail. A piece of property that has been used as an informal park for several years is currently for sale. One citizen in the area is e particularly interested in the park and is committed to raising enough private funds to purchase the property. Ms. Schue said the Joint Parks Committee will be discussing this issue soon. B. Parking Meters in the Overpark Mr. Boles said he has been contacted by downtown area merchants who are displeased with the enforcement of parking meters in the Overpark. He said patrons are being ticketed when they are only a few minutes late and are beginning to complain to merchants about the strict enforcement. Mr. Boles asked for a report on why the City chose to install meters in the Overpark rather than using attendant parking as originally planned. He felt that attended parking would have solved this problem and would have added a measure of security to the parking garage. C. Garbage Rate Increases Mr. Holmer submitted to the Mayor copies of a memorandum from himself pertaining to the administrative rules for garbage collection, a list of suggested changes to the rules, and a letter from the president of a local sanitary service indicating that he did not approve of the rate increase for a 90-gallon roll cart. Mr. Holmer expressed concern that a legal notice in The Register-Guard had falsely indicated that the local sanitary service providers had approved the rules. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 1 e Mr. Holmer said that he is particularly concerned about two aspects of the administrative rules. One aspect is the rate increase for the 90-gallon roll-cart service. Mr. Holmer said the recommended increase is 13.5 percent, but according to the provisions in Eugene Code Section 3.275 ("Solid Waste and Recycling--Rates") this increase should be no more than six percent. Mr. Holmer's second concern was that no effort has been made to determine the average rates of return for licensees; he said the City Manager is required to consider this rate of return when setting garbage collection rates. Mr. Boles asked that the City Manager consider the true cost of disposal as we 11. D. Council Discussion of Negotiations Mr. Holmer noted that councilors have received memorandums from the City Manager advising them of certain confidential negotiations. He indicated a desire to have the entire council discuss these negotiations very soon--in an executive session, if necessary. Mayor Miller said that the council would address this issue at the earliest opportunity. E. Hult Center Policy Regarding Infants Ms. Ehrman stated that the Hult Center's admission policy requires parents to pay full price for a ticket for their infants. She did not feel this policy was justified since infants do not take up a seat and do not watch the show. She asked for a report on this issue. e F. Representation on the Budget Committee Mr. Bennett said Don McCloud, his appointment to the Budget Committee, has resigned. Mr. Bennett thanked Mr. McCloud for his time and energy on the committee. He said he would appoint a new representative soon. G. Dispersal of Mobile Home Parks Mr. Green said that some of the residents in his ward are concerned that the Bethe l-Danebo a rea is a "dumpi ng ground" for mobil e homes. Mr. Green said while this may be more of a perception than a reality, he believes the City should have a policy encouraging the dispersal of mobile homes. Mr. Green added that mobile home parks also generate concern about congestion and safety. He said he is working with the Transportation Division on this issue, but would like the full council to discuss it during its next work session with the division. H. Council Endorsement of Parentsl Rally Against Substance Abuse Mayor Miller said a Parentsl Rally Against Substance Abuse will be held on October 3, 1989, at 7:30 p.m. at MacArthur Court. He said the organizers of the event have requested an endorsement from the City Council. . MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 2 e Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the Eugene City Council endorse the Parents' Rally Against Substance Abuse. The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. II. RESOLUTION CONCERNING TESTIMONY AND FUNDING APPLICATIONS Jody Miller, Intergovernmental Relations, said the Legislative Committee considered the suggestions made by councilors during its previous discussion of this item. The Legislative Committee recommended that in Section 2, the words "and, where possible the specific testimony and funding application" be deleted. In Section 6, the words !Iafter consultation with the Legislative Committee Chairperson" were added and liar if the issue concerns personnel or collective bargaining matters," has been deleted. The personnel and collective bargaining language has been put in a new Section 7 for clarity. Mr. Holmer noted that one of the requests at the previous work session was that a time limit of seven calendar days be imposed for the submission to council of testimony to the Federal government or funding requests to municipal corporations, the State, the Federal government, or private foundations. Mr. Holmer said this was requested in several sections of the resolution. Ms. Miller said the Legislative Committee discussed this and elected not to include a time limit in the resolution. Because the council, in advance of the session, adopts legislative policies and because the Legislative Committee meets regularly during the session and provides a bill-by-bill recommendation, very rarely is testimony submitted or are e funding requests made without prior council approval. Ms. Miller added that because the council adopts legislative policies in advance of the session, the Legislative Committee now only meets about monthly during the legislative session. She said imposing a time limit for submission of testimony to the council would cause extra paper work and cause the Legislative Committee to meet more often. Ms. Miller said that during the 1989 Legislative Session all testimony had prior council approval. Ms. Schue agreed. Mr. Holmer said the resolution indicates that a copy of all testimony submitted to the Federal government will be sent to the council; he is merely requesting that this testimony be sent to councilors in a reasonable period of time. Ms. Schue said there has been no problem with the Legislative Committee's current process and said the Legislative Committee needs the trust of the council. Agreeing with Mr. Holmer, Mr. Boles said the resolution as currently written clearly states that copies of testimony and funding requests shall come to council. He said that if the council does not receive this material, it will stand in violation of this resolution. Mr. Boles suggested that Section 2 be amended to require that testimony or funding applications come to council, via the Council Legislative Committee, for prior approval, modification, or disapproval. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 3 e Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to adopt the resolution in its amended form as recommended by the Legislative Committee. Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, that the motion be amended to delete Section 7 of the resolution. Mr. Holmer explained his amendment. He said that if a legislative issue concerns personnel or collective bargaining matters, the City Manager or his designee is authorized to speak on behalf of the City of Eugene. He said this Section is written on the mistaken assumption that personnel and collective bargaining is the exclusive jurisdiction of the City Manager. Mr. Holmer said that this is not true when a legislative issue is at stake. He did not feel the council should delegate its responsibility for legislative policy making to the City Manager. City Attorney Bill Gary said the City Charter does provide that the City Manager is responsible for representing the City in collective bargaining and in personnel matters and it also gives the council the ability to make policy decisions for the City, which could include taking positions on legislative issues. He said the council needs to make a policy decision about how much authority it wants to delegate to the City Manager in this area. If the council wants to retain all of its policy-making authority in the area of collective bargaining and personnel matters, it needs to be very careful to avoid a conflict with the Charter's direct prohibition on the council's interference with the City Manager's administration of personnel or e collective bargaining. Mr. Gary added that Section 7 does not conflict with the charter, although it does more to exclude the council from taking policy positions before the legislature than is required. Mr. Holmer said that the first paragraph of the resolution explicitly states that "under the Eugene Charter, it is the exclusive role of the City Council to set legislative policy for the City.1I He said that Section 7 of the resolution contradicts this finding. The motion to delete Section 7 from the resolution failed 3:5, with Mr. Rutan, Mr. Holmer, and Ms. Ehrman voting in favor, and Ms. Bascom, Mr. Boles, Mr. Green, Ms. Schue, and Mr. Bennett voting opposed. The motion to adopt the resolution in its amended form passed unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Holmer explained his vote, saying that the first finding--that it is the exclusive role of the City Council to set legislative policy for the City--is too important for him to vote against. Mr. Holmer said the council should follow this finding more strictly in the future. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 4 . III . WORK SESSION ON THE FORMATION OF A HOSPITAL AUTHORITY Mr. Rutan declared a conflict of interest with this issue and excused himself from the discussion. Ms. Bascom indicated that her husband is a physician at Sacred Heart General Hospital but she did not feel this was a conflict of interest. Mr. Gary agreed that Ms. Bascom did not have a conflict of interest since her husband works for a nonprofit corporation in which he has no financial interest other than his employment. Warren Wong, Finance Director, gave the staff report. He distributed copies of a memorandum from Public Financial Management--the City's financial advisor--listing existing hospital authorities in Oregon and the debt issues that are currently outstanding. Mr. Wong said a petition has been submitted by five citizens to the City Council requesting that the council establish a hospital authority for Eugene. Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) 441.535(1) obligates the council to consider the petition and to take formal action on it. Mr. Wong said ORS 441.525-595 authorizes a municipality to create a "hospital authority" to acquire, own, lease, or sell (but not to operate) hospital-type facil ities. It also allows an authority to issue debt for qualified applicants under the assumption that this will facilitate the provision of medical care to the residents of that jurisdiction. Indirectly, hospital e authorities can also assist the community in achieving certain desirable targets such as land use goals and economic diversification. Mr. Wong explained that debt issued by a hospital authority for an applicant health care provider is tax exempt and is backed solely by revenues generated by the applicant. The debt is not a legal obligation of the municipality but of the applicant. However, the perspective of the investment community and credit rating agencies may be that the City is "lending its name" to the authority.s debt. This may have ramifications for existing or future debt issues of the municipality if the authority (that is, applicant) defaults or fails to comply with the debt indenture. Mr. Wong reviewed key policy and administrative uses involved in the formation and operation of a hospital authority. (See memorandum dated September 1, 1989.) Ms. Ehrman asked why staff is recommending that the Board of Directors for the authority contain five elected officials. She thought that this was too many and that the board should contain some noncouncil members. Mr. Wong said this recommendation is intended to parallel other related organizations such as the Eugene Renewal Agency and the renewal agency for the Riverfront Research Park. He added that having councilors serve as the Board of Directors will help protect the bond rating of the City. Mr. Boles and Mr. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 5 e Holmer both favored a board comprising at least five councilors. They pointed out that the board can easily solicit advice from the larger community. Ms. Ehrman expressed reservations about including only councilors on the Board of Directors. She said that while councilors may understand the separation between their roles on the board and their roles on the City Council, members of the community may not. Community members may mistakenly assume that councilors have power over hospital practices. Ms. Ehrman also thought that it would be valuable to have community members serve on the board. In response to a question, Mr. Wong said staff recommends that the authority be limited to acute care facilities because the default rate on non-acute care facilities is higher than for acute care facilities. He said staff believes that the council should limit the scope of the authority initially, expanding the scope later if desired. Mr. Gleason added that by limiting the scope of the authority to acute care facilities, the risk that an applicant would default and create a secondary credit risk for the City is substantially reduced. Mr. Bennett asked whether debts could be issued for projects (e.g., parking structures) associated with acute care facilities. Mr. Gary said this type of project would be permissible--the definition of hospital facility is very broad and includes anything that is incidental to the provision of hospital services. e Mr. Holmer said that if applications were not limited to acute care facilities, the hospital authority could help meet the health care needs of Eugene's increasing population of senior citizens. Ms. Schue voiced concern about making a public contribution to an institution that does not offer all legal medical procedures to people who require them. Mr. Boles expressed concern that the hospital authority could issue debt for projects that are only indirectly related to the provision of health care. He said the council may want to consider restricting debt issuance to projects which are directly related to the provision of health care. Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to direct staff to draft an ordinance establishing a hospital authority, with optional sections pertaining to the composition of the Board of Directors. Councilors agreed to hold another work session on this issue before holding a public hearing. Mr. Gleason cautioned that the council should not delay its action too long; Sacred Heart General Hospital has capital expansion and equipment acquisition plans and is hoping to secure tax exempt debt from the newly formed authority. The motion carried 7:0:1, with Mr. Rutan abstaining. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 6 ~ IV. COMMUNITY RESPONSE TEAM--BUDGET UPDATE Tony Mounts, Finance Division, referred councilors to the budget update included in the agenda packet. There were no questions or comments. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Respe.~.t.fU,l .1Y SUbm:~~. ,.' 7;Y/- Mi"~e~so ..;., 1 City Manager ' (Recorded by Tanya Northman) MNCC 091389 e ~ MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 13, 1989 Page 7