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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/15/1982 Meeting .. - -; M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council City Council Chamber September 15, 1982 11 :45 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: D.W. Hamel, Mark Lindberg, Gretchen Miller, Emily Schue, Betty Smith, Cynthia Wooten. COUNCILORS ABSENT: John Ball, Brian Obie. 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 AND COUNCIL, APPOINTMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS A. Performing Arts Classic Organizers of the First Annual Performing Arts Classic run presented Mayor Keller with a T-shirt and thanked him for his help in organizing the run. Mayor Keller announced that the Performing Arts Classic would be held on Sunday, September 19, 1982. e B. Alternate Councilor to Attend Metropolitan Area Transportation Committee Meeting Councilor Miller said she would be unable to attend the MATC meeting at noon on September 16, 1982, and asked any councilor wishing to serve as her replacement to contact her. C. Lane Council of Governments Appreciation Dinner Councilor Schue reminded councilors of the L-COG appreciation dinner for local elected officials, which would be held on September 16, 1982, and encouraged interested councilors to attend. D. West University Neighbors Street Fair Councilor Lindberg urged councilors to attend the West University Neighbors Street Fair, which would be held on Saturday, September 18, 1982, on East 14th Avenue between Hilyard and Patterson Streets. He said that the City of Eugene would have a booth at the fair. He asked for help in staffing the booth. Councilor Wooten agreed to help. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 1982 Page 1 :;; E. Harvest Fair . Councilor Wooten thanked the staff members of the Parks and Recreation Department for their help in organizing the Harvest Fair, which was held on September 11, 1982. She said that the fair had been a success despite poor weather. F. Report on National League of Cities Steering Committee Meeting Councilor Lindberg said he had been sorry to miss the council's goals session but that he had kept in close touch with the session by phone. He sai d that he had been at a National League of Cities' Steering Committee meeting on human development. Councilor Lindberg reported on three items from that meeting: 1) a public/private sector cooperative project for economic and housing develop- ment in the City of Minneapolis, which he felt could provide information useful in the City of Eugenels own efforts at public/private coordination; 2) a crime prevention program developed by the National Association of Corrections Officials, which had helped to reduce not only incidence of crime but also fear of crime; and 3) lobbying efforts to affect the employment and training legislation currently being considered in Congress and thus to ensure continuation of the current operation and goals of the City's CETA program. He noted he would be following up on some of these issues with staff. G. Governor's 1982 Award for the Arts Mayor Keller referred to a letter distributed to councilors from James Aday, regarding the Governor's 1982 Award for the Arts. Councilors agreed that the Mayor should send a letter expressing the council's support of the City of e Eugene's nomination for the Governor's Art Award. H. Council Goals Session Mayor Keller thanked staff members for the excellent reports, support, and participation at the council's goals session. He particularly thanked City Manager Micheal Gleason and Assistant City Manager David Whitlow for their excellent support. I. Appointments 1. Consideration of Council Subcommittee recommendations to the Metropolitan Area Plan Advisory Committee (MAPAC) (memo distributed) Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, to reappoint Jon Silvermoon to the Metropolitan Area Planning Advisory Committee and to appoint Vivian Wearne, 1510 Emray, to replace Rob Robertson, and Karl Eysenbach, 670 West 10th Avenue, to replace Steve Wood for terms expiring June 30, 1985. 2. Consideration of Mayorls nomination to the Historic Review Board Item was held over to allow the Mayor additional time to prepare a recommendation. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 1982 Page 2 . J. Announcements e 1. City Council meeting schedule for November 1982 (memo distributed) Mr. Gleason said that the regular council meeting of November 8, 1982, had been canceled, since the League of Oregon Cities would be meeting in Eugene on that date. He noted, however, that an additional night council meeting was needed in November to accommodate public hearings that needed to be held. He said staff recommended that an evening meeting be scheduled for November 15, 1982, at 7:30 p.m. Councilors concurred with this suggestion. 2. Department of Housing and Urban Development audit Mr. Gleason said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was in the process of auditing the City's $2.6 million 1980-81 Community Development Block Grant program. He said that HUD had contested the City's use of approximately $40,000 and that the City was reviewing the matter. Mr. Gleason said that the council would be kept informed as the audit and response progress. He 'noted that copies of the audit were available for interested councilors. II. ANNOUNCEMENT re: EUGENE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER/UNIVERSITY OF OREGON COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE Councilor Wooten noted that at an earlier meeting councilors had concurred with her suggestion that an event be scheduled to allow interested members of the e public to tour the Performing Arts Center. She said that this event would be combined with a community event being planned by the University of Oregon. She said that the Community Open House would be held from noon to approximately 11 p.m. on October 3, 1982, and would include refreshments in the conference center; cultural events and entertainers arranged by the City Parks and Recreation Department performing in the arcade area; hour-long guided tours of the center; shorter, self-guided tours; and continuous shows by community based arts organi- zations in the Soreng and Silva halls. Ms. Wooten said that diagrams explaining the role of the City and the council in the evolution of the center would be on display. She said that all events would be free and open to the public. Ms. Wooten said 10,000 people were expected to attend. Mayor Keller thanked Ms. Wooten for her efforts to ensure that the center, which belongs to the people of Eugene, will be open for Eugeneans to visit. III. BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION PROPOSED 500KV TRANSMISSION LINE LOCATION-- STATUS REPORT Mr. Gleason introduced Tim Sercombe of the City Attorneyls Office and noted that Councilor Wooten had requested a report on the status of the proposed transmission 1 i ne . Mr. Sercombe said that the proposed route through the South Hills of Eugene was intended to serve two functions: 1) providing an interconnection between an existing Pacific Power and Light line that runs from Medford to just south of Eugene and an existing 500kv line that is located on both sides of the -- MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 1982 Page 3 . . . e City, thus connecting that south line with a northern transmission route from Salem; and 2) providing a looping of transmission lines around the City of Eugene, so that, in the event of a power supply cut-off for one section of the City, power could be supplied through a different circuit. Regarding the interconnection function, Mr. Sercombe noted that the City of Eugene had testified before the Energy Facility Siting Council that it was inappropriate to make this connection through the South Hills of the City. Mr. Sercombe said that the City's position had prevailed and that the inter- connection would be made via a more easterly route outside the South Hills. Mr. Sercombe said that the question remained of whether the looping route was needed or what alternative routes could be found for the looping. He said that the Bonneville Power Adminstration was responsible for the looping decision and that the BPA had issued a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), which will come out in final form in December and which will specifically address the looping need, including when the need will occur and what alternatives exist for filling it. Mr. Sercombe said that staff members and concerned citizens had met approximately three weeks ago with BPA staff to discuss the looping and that BPA was considering the alternative of installing a single-circuit line that would require 120-foot towers rather than the 160-foot towers originally proposed. He said that the BPA was also focusing on the timing of the need. Mr. Sercombe said that, meanwhile, the City was pursuing the questions of timing and need with the Eugene Water and Electric Board. e Mr. Sercombe said that the City will pursue discussions with BPA regarding the content of the final EIS and what alternatives exist. He said that, as a result of this entire issue, there was a feeling in the City that the comprehensive land use planning process might be a better vehicle for identifying route locations than the Federal EIS process, over which the City has little control. Councilor Wooten thanked Mr. Sercombe for his report and for his work on this matter and encouraged him to continue to monitor the issue. IV. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT-FUNDED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (memo distributed) Mr. Gleason said that the council was considering the recommendation from the Council Subcommittee on Economic Development regarding CDBG-funded economic development. He said that the recommendation was to allocate $45,000 to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and local arts groups for a "Summerfest;" to reserve $14,000 for the staffing and promotion for the University Small Business Association, pending determination by HUD that these projects were eligible for the funds; and to set aside $210,000 for a Business Assistance Program. Mr. Gleason noted that recommendations on the format of this program would be I made to the council by the Council Subcommittee on Economic Development. I e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 1982 Page 4 . , . e Councilor Smith supported the recommendations of the subcommittee and said she was particularly pleased with the allocation for "Summerfest," which she felt was directly in line with recently adopted council goals. Councilor Lindberg said that the joint subcommittee meetings occurred, including the Council Subcommittee on Economic Development, a subcommittee of the Community Development Committee, and representatives of the Economic Diversification task team where CDBG-funded economic development had been considered and recommenda- tions developed that are very similar to those being presented to the council at th is time. He said that the CDC representatives on the joint subcommittee had been concerned that, very near the conclusion of the process of judging and selecting proposals for funding, a new criterion for evaluating proposals had been developed. Councilor Lindberg said that this criterion, one of cost of administration, had been added as a result of staff concern for rising admini- strative costs, and that several groups that had applied for the funds were upset that this criterion had been added after the requests for proposals had been sent out. Mr. Lindberg said that the council subcommittee had discussed this and had felt that, while the situation was unfortunate, it was not approp- riate to reopen the process. Mr. Lindberg noted that in the future he would be representing the CDC on the council subcommittee in discussions of use of CDBG funds. He hoped that this link would improve communications between the two groups. Councilor Wooten said she regretted that the process had been so frustrating but noted that there will be an opportunity for non-profit groups and small businesses to apply for a portion of the $210,000. She noted that the subcommittee had e endorsed the proposal to set aside 10 percent of these funds for minority-owned enterprises. Ms. Wooten noted that several representatives of the Native American community were present and said she regretted that the elimination of individually funded projects from CDBG allocations had been necessary to provide funds for the economic development program. She hoped that an application for CDBG funding for the community center project proposed for the Native American community could fit into the CDBG program in the future. She indicated that within 60-90 days more specific proposals would be before the council. Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, to approve the recommendation of the subcommittee. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. Councilor Smith introduced Mike Hartman, the new executive director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau. V. RATIFICATION OF FY1982-83 METROPOLITAN WASTEWATER MANAGMEMENT COMMISSION BUDGET (memo, background information distributed) Mr. Gleason said that the MWMC 1982-83 budget had been reviewed in detail by City staff and that staff recommended adoption of this transition budget. He noted that Bill pye of MWMC was present to respond to any questions from councilors. Councilor Wooten asked what the amount of the user rate increase attached to this budget would be. Mr. Gleason responded that it would be an increase of e approximately $4 to $5 per household. Ms. Wooten said she was concerned with MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 1982 Page 5 - . . the way in which fees were assessed to residents. She suggested that a lifeline e- rate structure be developed that would base one's assessment on usage and would thereby be fairer. Mr. Gleason responded that the MWMC will be undertaking a professional examination of the user rate structure and that the commission would be making a recommendation following study of that report. Councilor Wooten said that she was reluctant to support the budget and accompanying user rate increase unless a more equitable assessment process was used. Councilor Smith said she shared Ms. Wooten's concerns as did other MWMC members. She said that the council would have a further opportunity to review the MWMC rate proposals in two or three months, when the professional report was available. She said that meanwhile the approval of the budget before the council was needed to get operations under way. Councilor Schue said she would like to receive information on jurisdictions that make sewer assessments based on consumption estimates. Ms. Smith said she would provide this information to Ms. Schue. Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, to ratify the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission FY1982-83 budget. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. VI. COUNCIL WORK SESSION ON FAIRMOUNT/UNIVERSITY OF OREGON SPECIAL AREA STUDY Mr. Gleason reminded councilors that immediately following this meeting there would be a work session for councilors in the McNutt Room on the Fairmount/ University of Oregon Special Area Study. _- The meeting was adjourned to September 22, 1982. Respectfully submitted, ~~, Micheal D. Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Darcy Marentette) MDG:DCM:pv/CM26b20 -- MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 15, 1982 Page 6 -