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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/17/1982 Meeting (2) e e - .I ....... M I NUT E S Eugene City Council City Council Chamber March 17, 1982 12:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Brian Obie, D. W. Hamel, Mark Lindberg, Cynthia Wooten, Gretchen Miller, Eric Haws, and Emily Schue. COUNCILOR ABSENT: Betty Smith. Adjourned meeting of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller. I. ITEMS FROM MAYOR & COUNCIL, APPOINTMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS A. Checkoff for the Arts Councilor Wooten encouraged Eugene citizens to consider the $1 checkoff for the arts on the State Income Tax forms. This money will be matched by the Oregon Commission for the Arts. B. Council Chamber Decor Ms. Miller noted that the decor in the Council Chamber was somewhat bleak. Carol Baker, Community Relations Director, stated that blooming plants would be brought in to the Council Chamber to help brighten things up. C. Joint Meeting on County Tax Base Ms. Miller stated that she had attended the joint meeting of Lane County/Spring- field/Eugene regarding the county's tax base. This meeting was well-attended. They discussed the county tax base issue and the fact that the county critically needs to be able to pass this measure. Without it, needed services cannot be provided. She is urging support from the various municipalities for this proposed rearrangement of funding. The cities seem supportive of the idea of the county taking over the responsibility for the jail. Another meeting will be held next week. Councilor Lindberg arrived at the meeting. D. Councilor Request Ms. Schue stated that a presentation from the Citizen Involvement Committee on possible changes to the Zoning Board of Appeals was made about three months ago. She asked that the proposed changes be brought back before the council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 17, 1982 Page 1 e e - -. E. Request for Examination of Section 5.540 of the City Code Councilor Obie stated that Section 5.540 of the Eugene Code indicates the sizes of signs required to notify owners of the policy for removing vehicles that are illegally parked. He would like an examination of this section to see if an administrative process can be incorporated to ease the financial burden of replacing signs which do not meet the requirements of the ordinance. Mr. Gleason stated that he will provide a report. F. Availability of Acupressure Course Councilor Obie stated that the Eugene Center for Acupuncture and Acupressure is offering a six-week course in basic Jin Shin Do. This course will cover major acupressure points for relief of tension and stress and basic acupressure theory. G. Groundbreaking of Alcohol Treatment Center Councilor Hamel stated that he had been the Cityls representative at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Eugene Raleigh Hills Alcohol Treatment Center. The treatment center will be located on Coburg Road. He is pleased to see both the construction business and the health care services the center will provide. H. Greeting by Mayor Mayor Keller stated that he had greeted Mickey Mouse at the train station today as the City's official representative. I. Appointments Ms. Wooten moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to approve as her Budget Committee appointment Shawn Boles, 105 North Adams, to fill the unexpired term of Margaret Hallock on the Budget Committee, term expiring December 31, 1982. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. II. ROUTINE ITEMS FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL A. City Council Minutes of December 9 and 16, 1981, January 25, 1982, and February 17 and 24, 1982; Dinner Session Minutes of February 8, 1982; Work Session Minutes of February 17, 1982; and the Legislative Subcommittee Minutes of February 24, 1982, and March 10, 1982 Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to approve the City Council minutes of December 9 and 16, 1981, January 25, 1982, and February 17 and 24, 1982; dinner session minutes of February 8, 1982; work session minutes of February 17, 1982; and the Legis- lative Subcommittee minutes of February 24, 1982, and March 10, 1982. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 17, 1982 Page 2 B. Payment of Bills and Claims (listing distributed) Res. No. 3640--A resolution authorizing the payment of bills and claims for the period March 3, 1982, through March 17, 1982. e Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to adopt the resolution. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. C. Improvement Petitions 1. Cogswell Plat (affected property on petition--assessable cost: paving, 100 percent; sewers, total square footage-- 285,166 feet/square footage petitioned--262,190 feet, 92 percent; City cost, none) Res. No. 3641--A resolution authorizing street paving, storm sewer, and sanitary sewer construction within Cogswell Plat and sanitary sewer construction within 160 feet of the boundaries of Cogswell Plat (1461) Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to adopt the resolution. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. e 2. McKendrick Street (affected property on petition--assessable cost: paving, total footage--1033.98 feet/front footage petitioned--530.13 feet, 51.27 percent; City cost, storm sewer, $3,100) Res. No. 3642--A resolution authorizing street paving and storm sewer construction on McKendrick Street from Graham Drive to Karyl Avenue (2006). Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to adopt the resolution. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. III. PUBLIC HEARING: SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET FOR FY 82 (memo, detail distributed) Public hearing was opened; there being no testimony, public hearing was closed. CB 2443--An ordinance adopting a supplemental budget; making appropriations for the City of Eugene for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1981, and ending June 30, 1982; and declaring an emergency. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the bill be read the second time by council bill number only, with unanimous consent of the council, and that enactment be considered at this time. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 17, 1982 Page 3 . -- e -~, Council Bill 2443 was read the second time by council bill number only. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; all councilors present voting aye, the bill was declared passed and numbered 18944. IV. REPORT OF HUMAN SERVICES CUTS HEARING (Memo, minutes distributed) Mr. Gleason introduced Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts, past chair of the Eugene Commission on the Rights of Women. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that she is no longer chair of the Womenls Commission as she was for the last three years, but she would like to thank the council for their support. Robin Casey is now president of the Women's Commis- sion and they are looking forward to a dynamic year under her leadership. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts is here today because the Women1s Commission co-sponsored a hearing in February regarding the impact of the human services cuts on Lane County. She was the moderator of that hearing. Other co-sponsors were KLCC-FM, the Willamette Valley Observer, and the Human Rights Council. Support from the other human rights commissions was given in the planning and advertising stages, as well as debriefing for future planning. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that the hearing consisted of a panel of repre- sentatives of human service agencies and client groups. Following the panel's discussion, the hearing was opened to those in the audience in Harris Hall. They also had a phone-in line and the public had the option of providing written testimony. The minutes from the hearing have been distributed to the council. The purpose of the hearing was to clarify issues and concerns and to provide a focal point for addressing the issues and for action. Some of the critical areas deal with Adult and Family Services which have been the backbone for crisis prevention previously. Now they can only use short-term crisis inter- vention. They are serving 1,000 fewer people than they were a year ago, but demand is significantly greater. This agency deals with basic services and those services that are being cut are food, shelter, and clothing. Child care was another issue that was discussed. Fewer families are now eligible for subsidized day-care because of cuts, which has caused some parents who had been employed to quit work because they cannot afford child-care. Others cannot enter the work force because they are ineligible for day-care subsidies. There has been a relaxation of the licensing and certification of day-care centers and it is suspected there will be an increase in child abuse and safety violations. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that high unemployment was taking its toll with increased aggression, domestic violence, alcoholism, and suicide. This is occurring at the same there is a decrease in funding to support the agencies that deal with these problems. The cost for institutionalization will have to be provided by the community and it will cost more than prevention. President Reagan has hopes for volunteerism to fill the gaps. That is not a reasonable expectation. Even in Eugene, with its high level of volunteerism, the number of volunteers are decreasing. Those who previously volunteered are now having more problems maintaining their own lives and do not have the energy left to volunteer. Also, the volunteers are no longer being reimbursed for their travel expenses. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 17, 1982 Page 4 - e e . -~ Organization and direction in the form of staff support is still a need. Many jobs must be filled by salaried people, such as those involving counseling and at the Employment Division. Volunteerism cannot be expected to fill the gaps. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that there has also been a change in the Aid to Dependent Children ruling. Now, funds cannot be used as before for vocational training. Funds can only be used for jobs programs to provide entry-level jobs. Funds cannot be used for other training programs leading toward upward mobility. This one ruling alone is likely to affect 400-500 people at Lane Community College in vocational programs. She continued by stating that the economists on the panel pointed out that the economy will not likely turn around until 1983 or 1984 because of the abandonment of the national housing program by the Reagan administration. This will increase competition among the social service agencies for funding. Much discussion was held on cooperative arrangements and fundings. Pain, anger, helplessness, and frustration were expressed, but people still have hope. They would like to find creative solutions. The Eugene Commission on the Rights of Women has sent minutes of this hearing to local, state, and Federal officials trying to work toward coalition-building and more specific hearings may need to be held. They are considering issue-specific brain-storming sessions on particular issues to help address the problems. A small town in Pennsylvania began a community corporation and expanded their food bank idea to a fuel bank, clothing bank, and soon there will be a shelter bank to help meet basic needs. On March 31, 1982, the Human Rights Council will hold an evening meeting for all human rights commission members. The purpose of this will be to try to build a kind of coalition among the human rights commissions and find ways to address the problems. They would hope that the council can help with guidance and support or networking with other cities. They would like to establish linkages to help solve problems and perhaps eventually inter-city problem-solving. Any support from the council would be appreciated. Concilor Lindberg stated that as a member of the Budget Committee of the Joint City/County Revenue Sharing for Social Services Subcommittee, they have passed two resolutions consistent with that thrust. The first resolution is a commit- ment for that committee to meet again in the fall, taking the initiative to encourage further cooperation among funding agencies to extend limited resources. The second resolution was to extend the invitation to the private sector as well as seek community approaches to solutions. The resolution stated "Whereas there is an increasing number of disenfranchised citizens in search of basic needs and on our streets, whereas there is a steady decrease of funding for services from the State and Federal government, including funding for health care and legal services for the poor, whereas the community continues to suffer from an economic decline and a high rate of unemployment, now therefore be it resolved that members of the Joint Budget Subcommittee contact community leaders of business, industry, and professional groups and board members of United Way in order to seek a community approach to provide social services combining governmental, philanthropic, and business and professional resources." MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 17, 1982 Page 5 ;: e e e . ..:;:;~..: Mr. Lindberg stated that they have started this networking effort and they would like to work together with human rights representatives. They also held a public hearing and some speakers were the same as those who spoke at the Human Rights Council public hearing. They do not want to fight each other for funding, but rather to find ways to arrive at solutions. The City Council addressed the concept of treating the economic development efforts in both the human and brick-and-mortar method. He would like to see help for the downtown merchants, customers, and those hanging out on the mall to find access to human services and ways to meet their needs. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that she was pleased to hear council members respond. The Women's Commission and Human Rights Council would be willing to do whatever they can to help. Councilor Lindberg directed staff to contact the League of Oregon Cities to see if they can be of assistance. The meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, z~ '. City Manager (Recorded by Lynda Nelson) MDG:LN:vr/CM7b22 MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 17, 1982 Page 6