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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/20/1989 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 20, 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 18, 1989, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Mayor Jeff Miller. I. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. Representation on the Budget Committee Mr. Bennett announced that Don McCloud, his appointment to the Budget Committee, had reconsidered his resignation. Mr. Bennett said he is in the process of deciding who his representative will be. e B. Sunset Park Ms. Schue said the Joint Parks Committee met to discuss the pros and cons of developing a new park on Shasta Loop. The committee heard testimony from residents in the area both in favor of, and in opposition to, the park. The Joint Parks Committee referred the issue to the area's neighborhood group for discussion. II. RECOGNITION OF RON SCHMAEDICK, CHAIR OF CITY PRIDE CAMPAIGN Ms. Bascom commended Ron Schmaedick for his leadership in the City Pride campaign and presented him with a plaque for his contribution to the community. Mr. Bennett said that Mr. Schmaedick contributes to Eugene in a number of ways other than the City Pride campaign, and thanked Mr. Schmaedick for his time and energy. Mr. Bennett stated that Eugene is lucky to have citizens like Mr. Schmaedick. Ms. Ehrman commented that the City Pride campaign has a very positive effect on Eugene and she expressed appreciation to Mr. Schmaedick for his contribution to the campaign. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 20, 1989 Page 1 e III. CALL FOR PUBLIC HEARING: INITIATION OF ALLEY VACATION (CITY OF EUGENE) (AV 89-2) Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to initiate alley vacation proceedings and call for an October 23, 1989, public hearing for an alley vacation request by the City of Eugene (AV 89-2). The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. IV. APPOINTMENT: DOWNTOWN COMMISSION Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to appoint Peter Bartel to the Downtown Commission to complete the unexpired term of Anne Bennett expiring December 31, 1990. The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. V. WORK SESSION ON DRAFT ORDINANCE REGARDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A HOSPITAL AUTHORITY Citing a conflict of interest, Mr. Rutan excused himself from the discussion. City Attorney Bill Gary explained that although Ms. Bascom's husband has staff privileges at Sacred Heart General Hospital, Ms. Bascom does not legally have a conflict of interest because Dr. Bascom is not an agent of the hospital. Ms. Bascom excused herself from the discussion, however, because e of the possibility of a perceived conflict of interest. Warren Wong, Finance Director, referred councilors to the draft ordinance for the establishment of a Eugene Hospital Authority contained in the agenda packet for the meeting. He noted that the draft ordinance provides the power to issue bonds and other obligations on behalf of acute care in-patient hospital facilities and supporting structures, services, and equipment. Mr. Wong said that the power to "acquire, own, lease, sell, and otherwise dispose of . . " is included in the ordinance because staff does not know at this time what type of security arrangements may be necessary as part of a debt obligation. . Mr. Wong said staff is recommending that the Board of Directors for the authority be composed of five elected officials. Staff considered other alternatives but feels this is the best course. If the council wishes to include lay members on the board, staff recommends a composition of four elected officials and one lay member, or of five elected officials and two 1 ay members. Mr. Holmer asked what type of projects could be financed by the hospital authority. Mr. Miller asked how the hospital authority might affect competition between medical businesses who do not offer acute care. Mr. Wong said that if a hospital authority were formed, medical facilities that offered acute care (i.e., Sacred Heart General Hospital) would be able to secure financing for facilities or equipment relating to in-patient care. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 20, 1989 Page 2 e For example, a loan from the authority could be used to construct an office to hold the records of an in-patient medical facility, but could not be used to construct offices for physicians. Mr. Wong said it is possible that businesses providing services similar to Sacred Heart's nonacute care services could be at a competitive disadvantage. Mr. Wong said the ordinance can explicitly restrict the type of projects that can be financed through the authority, or it may be relatively broad and responsibility for limiting projects can be left to the Board of Directors. Ms. Ehrman asked if terms such as acute care and in-patient are statutorily defined. Mr. Gary said these terms are not defined within the statute that gives the council authority to create a hospital authority. He recommended that the council define these terms in the ordinance. Mr. Holmer favored drafting the ordinance to create a hospital authority now, but reserving for future decision which organizations would be eligible to seek financing from the hospital authority. He thought the Board of Directors should be responsible for evaluating whether an applicant is eligible for bonding from the hospital authority. Mr. Bennett and Mr. Boles disagreed with Mr. Holmer. They felt that if a hospital authority is formed, there should be a clear intent of its use from the outset. Ms. Ehrman said the first sentence of the purpose section disturbs her because it does not address the cost of the care; the purpose of establishing the hospital authority is so that medical businesses are able to provide more e affordable health care. Ms. Ehrman suggested that the sentence be amended to read, "in order to provide the people of Eugene with access to adequate and affordable medical care and hospital facilities. II Mr. Bennett said he was comfortable with the purpose section as drafted. Mr. Boles shared Ms. Ehrman's concerns about the purpose section. He suggested that the words "not-for-profit health care" be substituted for the phrase "acute care in-patient hospital." Mr. Boles said public benefit is the primary reason for forming a hospital authority and the council should not restrict the potential applicants for financing as long as they are fiscally responsible. Mr. Boles suggested that the council break its discussion into two pieces-- Who can come before the authority to request bonds, and for what purpose may they request bonds? He said his suggested change to the ordinance addresses only the first question, broadening the charge to the authority to accept bonding requests from any nonprofit health care provider who wishes to provide medical projects for the community. Mr. Boles said this is the only way that the hospital authority can effectively serve the residents of Eugene. Ms. Schue voiced concern that the establishment of a hospital authority would give Sacred Heart General Hospital a competitive advantage that would eventually put independent medical facilities out of business. She said this is of particular concern since Sacred Heart General Hospital does not permit e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 20, 1989 Page 3 e certain legal medical procedures (e.g., abortion and some fertility techniques) to be practiced in clinics that are affiliated with the hospital. Ms. Schue said she would be very concerned about restricting access by Eugene citizens to adequate medical care, when the procedures they need are legal but are not practiced because of the religious beliefs of a hospital. Ms. Schue did not think that, as a public entity, the council should participate in the restriction of access to certain medical procedures. Mr. Boles suggested that the final sentence in the purpose section be amended to read, liThe hospi ta 1 facil i ty authority sha 11 have power to issue bonds and other obligations. . for facilities and supporting structures, services and equipment, where shown to be of direct medical benefit to the citizens of Eugene." Mr. Boles explained that the added clause would disallow financing for facilities such as parking structures that are of indirect medical benefit to the citizens. Mr. Boles reiterated that his suggested changes are intended to broaden the scope of potential applicants to include fiscally responsible, nonprofit hospital and health care organizations, and to restrict the types of projects that can be financed by the authority. _. Ms. Ehrman did not feel that financing of projects should be limited to only those projects with direct medical benefits. She said that indirect costs still affect the cost of medical care and this cost could be reduced by lower cost debt financing. e Mr. Holmer questioned the legal definition of the word "services." He was uncertain whether the authority should finance the provision of services unless they are utility services. Mr. Gary said that the authority can only issue bonds for hard construction; bonds cannot be issued for services. Councilors discussed the composition of the Board of Directors. Ms. Ehrman favored a board that was not entirely composed of councilors. Mr. Holmer stated that the responsibilities of the authority would be so close to the responsibilities of the council, that he felt the board should be comprised entirely of councilors. Ms. Ehrman moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the Board of Directors include four elected officials and one lay member. The motion failed 3:3, with Mr. Green, Ms. Schue, and Ms. Ehrman voting in favor and Mr. Holmer, Mr. Boles, and Mr. Bennett voting against. Mayor Miller voted against the motion, breaking the tie. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Holmer, that the Board of Directors be comprised of five elected officials. The motion passed 5:1, with Ms. Ehrman voting opposed. Councilors Holmer, Boles, Green, Bennett, and Mayor Miller agreed to serve on the first Board of Directors if the council should choose to form a hospital authority. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 20, 1989 Page 4 e Mr. Holmer pointed out that the population is aging and although Lane County has done a good job of keeping elderly citizens out of nursing homes, there is still a need for skilled nursing facilities. He said the scope of the enabling ordinance should be broad enough to include skilled nursing facilities so that the City can help make this type of care adequate, available, and affordable. Ms. Ehrman supported Mr. Holmer's position. She felt that excluding the possibility of issuing bonds to skilled nursing facilities would do a disservice to a large portion of the community. Ms. Ehrman moved, seconded by Mr. Holmer and Mr. Boles, to enable the authority to consider applications from all applicants that the statute allows the authority to consider. The motion passed 5:1, with Mr. Bennett voting opposed. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Holmer, to narrow the types of projects that can be funded through the hospital authority to those that can be shown to be of direct medical benefit to the citizens of Eugene. Ms. Ehrman thought that this motion was unnecessary because the authority could take responsibility for restricting the types of projects to be funded. The motion passed 5:1, with Ms. Ehrman voting opposed. Councilors asked for a staff recommendation about how to determine if e applicants are fiscally responsible. The council agreed to hold a public hearing on the formation of a hospital authority on October 9, 1989. Councilors clarified that they were only agreeing to hold a public hearing, but that they had in no way made a decision about whether or not to form such an authority. VI. WORK SESSION ON URBAN RENEWAL PLAN UPDATE The work session on the update of the Urban Renewal Plan was postponed due to lack of time. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. ReS~lY ?7: -? Mic ea~aso City Manager (Recorded by Tanya Northman) MNCC 092089 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 20, 1989 Page 5