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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/31/1990 Meeting . e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall January 31, 1990 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue, Debra Ehrman, . Bobby Green, Freeman Holmer, Shawn Boles. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Robert Bennett, Mayor Miller. The adjourned meeting of January 24, 1990, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Council President Emily Schue. I. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. Skating Party Ms. Ehrman announced that the Jefferson Neighbors and the Westside Quality Project Neighbors recently had a very successful neighborhood party at the newly constructed ice skating rink and suggested that this might be a possible activity for other neighborhoods to participate in. e B. Earth Day Mr. Boles noted that Earth Day is soon approaching and requested that staff from the Intergovernmental Relations Department give a presentation on what activities the City has planned for this day. C. Nude Dancing Mr. Holmer drew council attention to a letter from a citizen concerned with the prevalence of establishments which allow nude dancing, and asked whether council members were interested in pursuing this issue. Ms. Ehrman commented that one of the enterprises in question has already changed its business which might serve as an indication for the future success of this type of business. Ms. Schue also noted that cities seem to have difficulty effectively regulating this type of business. E. Committee Assignments for Councilors Dave Whitlow, Assistant City Manager, informed council members that the City Manager's Office (CMO) needs the Committee on Committees to convene to deal with committee appointments and assignments and said he would schedule a time for this. Barbara Belamy, CMO, added that the CMO also needs councilors to turn in their requests regarding on which committees they are interested in ~ serving. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 31, 1990 Page 1 e F. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Mr. Whitlow said that the City has scheduled a meeting with BPA officials on February 2, at the City Manager's Office to discuss and offer input into BPA issues and invited interested councilors to attend. Ms. Ehrman said she would be present at this meeting. II. SCHAEFERS BUILDING PROJECT REPORT Mr. Rutan provided an overview about the Schaefers Building project. He said that he participated last summer as a judge for a design project undertaken by University of Oregon students at the historic Schaefers Building. Daphne Walwyn, building owner, sponsored a contest whereby students in the Architecture and Allied Arts Department were to design and develop models for different types of space in the downtown Eugene area. e Mr. Rutan said that this program was a tremendous success and that many of the designs generated out of this contest were the best that have been developed for the downtown area in years. He pointed out the enormous resource that the City has in the University of Oregon and suggested that this type of partnership be considered in the future for similar types of projects. Ms. Walwyn indicated that the idea to sponsor this design project came out of the need for practical use and enhancement of the public space in downtown Eugene. The project was particularly beneficial in that it provided students with a IIhands-onll experience for the process of city design. Jim Gibons, University of Oregon staff, gave a slide presentation demon- strating the structural needs that must be considered when undertaking city redesign and identified aspects of student's projects which captured these needs. Mr. Gibons pointed out that this project was successful because it focused on an organic, piecemeal approach to growth most desired for downtown growth. His presentation included slides from other cities such as Portland and Seattle that have successfully assimilated many of these aspects in their downtown architecture. Mr. Boles commented that of all the contributions that the University has made to the larger community, this city redesign project is one of the most important; the University has provided the community with a high-quality resource which can help solve problems associated with downtown redesign. Mr. Boles expressed disappointment that the City will not have the opportunity to have this same group of students and faculty assist interested business owners in applying such principles to their downtown design projects. Ms. Ehrman offered appreciation to the students for their work and pointed out specific places in the city which, as outlined in this presentation, make for a more integrated urban environment. Mr. Green also complimented students on their efforts; students demonstrated a good knowledge of what ;s needed to draw people to any downtown area. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 31, 1990 Page 2 e e e Mr. Holmer suggested that the City continue to use the University of Oregon as a resource on its other projects as well. Students might be able to identify broader options for problem solution than have been generated in the past. Ms. Bascom pointed out that the areas immediately surrounding the University of Oregon are good examples of the type of development that are envisioned for a successful downtown. Mr. Gibons agreed that the University area has benefitted from organic kinds of growth and can serve as a microcosm of what downtown could be like on a larger scale. III. WORK SESSION: MODIFICATION OF BUILDING CODES Doug Eveleth, Planning and Development Department, provided the council with an overview of code origination. He indicated that because several code adoptions will come before the City Council in the preceding months, discussion would revolve around the adoption of the State structural code, mechanical code, and plumbing code. Code adoptions are updated on a three- year cycle. Mr. Eveleth said that the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) creates the model codes used in the western United States. He emphasized that model codes evolve slowly over time; code modifications can be proposed by any person in the form of an amendment submitted to the ICBO. The State of Oregon receives its model code from ICBO and has the authority to make amendments to this code. Amendments which are proposed must be at least as strict as the model code requirements. Ms. Bascom drew attention to the numerous volume of pages which signify Oregon's amendments to the building codes and asked whether other states in the western region also make numerous amendments to the code. Mr. Eveleth commented that Oregon is considered fairly active in terms of making amendments to the model code. Mr. Eveleth said that although all construction within the State must comply with the rules and regulations of the State codes, local agencies can be responsibility for administering their own building codes. Eugene has chosen to administer building codes locally. Responding to a question from Mr. Holmer regarding the rationale behind this decision, Mr. Eveleth said that local administration of building codes ;s more efficient. Tom Rogers reviewed items which have been identified for changes in the building code. He said that the section of the code which deals with hazardous use has been changed to correspond better with the Fire Code and to catch up with technology. Changes in this regard will affect businesses which contain some type of hazardous material. Mr. Rogers said that changes have also been made with respect to group-care facilities. Although such regulations do not appear in the model code, they are needed to fill a gap between residential and institutional type nursing homes which, over time, have tended toward the smaller types of care facilities. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 31, 1990 Page 3 e Mr. Rogers indicated that seismic design, which deals with earthquakest represents the first real change to the model code since 1976. These code changes come as a result of increased information about the forces which are applied to buildings during earthquakes. Mr. Rogers said that the chapter of the code which deals with skylights is specific to Oregon. This change has made the requirements less restrictive in.some cases. Energy conservationt a change which is also specific to the State, attempts to make the code easier to apply in order to promote conservation practices. In response to a question from Ms. Bascomt Mr. Rogers said that when an amendment is made, the City is required to reprint the entire page of the code that was revised even if only minor wording modifications were made. Ms. Ehrman asked whether changes in the code are applied only to new construction and new permits or whether they are also applied retroactively. Mr. Rogers indicated that while updated code requirements apply to the construction of all new buildings and any new additions to a buildingt it does not necessarily bring the entire building into compliance with the revised codes. Mr. Boles asked how this information is integrated with HAl-MAT requirements. In response, Mr. Rogers said that this information closely corresponds to HAl-MAT standards and is applied at the time of plan review and inspection. e Mr. Boles asked how code enforcement is monitored. inspectiont construction is inspected to check for difficult, howevert to ensure compliance with code inspection has been made. Mr. Rogers said that upon compliance. It is requirements after Ken Nagao, Building Construction Advisory Committee (BCAC) Chairt spoke about the relationship between BCAC and the City. Seven members of the community make up the committee which represents and serves as a sounding board for a broad cross-section of citizens in the construction industry. Most of the complaints which have come to BCAC have revolved around coordination and communication between the Fire Department and the Building Department. Mr. Nagao emphasized the importance of maintaining consistency in the application of building codes. Mr. Nagao noted that a plan review audit recently conducted by the State revealed that the City.s building department was reviewing building plans with the same degree of intensity as the State has recommended. The committee itself has also compared our building department with that of Salem and Washington County, and has also concluded that plans are being reviewed similarly. e Mr. Nagao indicated that decreasing the time for building permit issuance is paramountly important across the industry. He noted that developers within the industry that have attended BCAC meetings have indicated that they would support an increase in user fees, if a decrease in plan review time can be attained. Mr. Eveleth pointed out that the method by which the City can MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 31t 1990 Page 4 e e e charge fees for a building permit is regulated by the State; the City is currently at this ceiling. There is a process to go above this ceiling which requires a public hearing in Salem. Responding to a question, Mr. Eveleth said that in order for an inspector to do more than one type of inspection, he or she would need additional certification; such a certification plan is currently being instituted and many of the field inspectors can perform more than one specialty code inspection. IV. CULTURAL SERVICES FUNDING Ms. Bascom reminded councilors that at their January 22 discussion of funding for cultural services, unanimous agreement was not obtained on the source of funding increase. She emphasized the importance of addressing this issue today. This new proposal submitted by the Ad Hoc Arts Funding Committee is attempting to address Mr. Rutan's concern for networking with other groups in proposing a room tax increase, Mr. Boles's concern for broader support for a variety of quality of life issues, and Mr. Bennett's concern for a broad framework under which arts fund monies will be spent. Mr. Holmer noted that the proposal in the packet neglected to provide for a 9:1 division of support to include the Cultural Arts program which is administered by the commission through the Lane Regional Arts Council (LRAC) as well as the performing arts. He underscored the importance of this type of visible, direct City support for the arts groups. Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Ms. Bascom, that the council urge the City Manager to include in his budget for FY91 recommendations for allocation to the major local performing arts organizations of approximately 90 percent of the amount by which the transient room tax revenues for FY90 exceed the estimates in the original budget for FY90, and that 10 percent of that amount be allocated to increased support of the Cultural Arts program; and that the sums approved in the FY91 budget be allocated in accord with criteria developed by the Cultural Affairs Commission and approved by the City Council. Mr. Rutan commended the committee on submitting an excellent proposal that he can support. He pointed out that that the transient room tax revenues are currently running approximately 13.8 percent ahead of last year, and although it is likely that this pattern will continue, there is no guarantee. He underscored the importance of arts to our community. Mr. Boles said that although he will support this proposal, this type of allocation to the arts does a disservice to non-performing arts groups as well as to Eugene as a whole. He said that the best program for economic diversification must include support for cultural, leisure, arts, sports, and science programs as a package. He also suggested a 10-year sunset, 5-percent restaurant tax which will raise a minimum of $40,000. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 31, 1990 Page 5 e e e The meeting adjourned at 1:10 p.m. Mr. Holmer's motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Respectfully submitted, ?;r7' ~ ~~~i~K~ ~1f City Manager " (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 013190 MINUTES--Eugene City Council ,........ ., '. --.:... January 31, 1990 Page 6