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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/10/1990 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall October 10, 1990 11 :30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Robert Bennett, Freeman Holmer, Roger Rutan, Debra Ehrman, Shawn Boles. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Emily Schue, Ruth Bascom, Bobby Green. The adjourned meeting of October 8, 1990, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. 1. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER A. Taking a Position on Ballot Measure 4 Mr. Holmer noted that the council received a memo from Mr. Gleason which indicated that "it may be desirable for the council to seek the advice of the e City legal counsel on the possible adverse effect of the Eugene Water & Elec- tric Board's (EWEB) contract ural obligation on taking a position on Ballot Measure 4, the possible Trojan Nuclear Plant closure." Mr. Holmer said that the council has a responsibility to take a position on this issue, and should take a position as soon as possible prior to the election. He noted that some figures estimate that plant closure would cost the City approximately $2 mill ion. Mr. Holmer asked Mr. Gleason what type of advice is expected from legal counsel. Mr. Gleason responded that the municipality, through EWEB, has many complex obligations surrounding the Trojan Nuclear Plant. He explained that if Bal- lot Measure 4 was successful, there is bound to be much litigation. The public position, which the City is currently taking with respect to this facility, will be important to determine the future status of any City lia- bility. Mr. Gleason remarked that it is difficult to predict what position the City should take. He said that the consequence of the Trojan Nuclear Plant closure to the City would be greater than $2 million. Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to request legal counsel to provide a report to the council on what legal rami- fications exist for the City with respect to taking a position on Ballot Measure 4. The motion carried, 4:1; with councilors Bennett, Ehrman, Holmer, and Rutan voting in favor, and Coun- cilor Boles voting opposed. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 1990 Page 1 B. Councilor Rutan's Two-Week Absence e Mr. Rutan indicated that he will be out of town on business for the next two weeks and will be unavailable for council meetings during that time. He also noted that because he will be absent for the October 15 City Manager evalua- tion, he has submitted written comments on this evaluation. C. Council Process for Public Testimony Mr. Rutan said that the council needs to establish some ground rules for allowing testimony at meetings other than public hearings. Referring to the discussion the council had with Lane County Commissioner Jack Roberts at the council's Monday night meeting, Mr. Rutan said that although the discussion was very beneficial, he questioned whether it was consistent with council policy. He suggested that this issue be raised at the council's next process session. Mayor Miller clarified that allowing Commissioner Roberts an opportunity to speak at the Monday night meeting was permissible under Robert's Rules of Order. He agreed that this issue should be reviewed at the next process session. D. Naming of The Eugene Airport Mr. Rutan spoke about the article recently published in The Register-Guard regarding the name change of Mahlon Sweet Airport to The Eugene Airport. He e said that feedback from several community members who contacted him appears to favor "Eugene's Mahlon Sweet Airport." He asked for council discussion on this issue. Mr. Gleason said that the Airport Commission provided a recommendation to the council in May that the airport name be changed to The Eugene Airport. He noted the enormous controversy which often surrounds the naming of things and said that for the council to take part in this discussion would most likely require a great deal of time and effort. Mr. Rutan said that he would contact individual councilors to see if there is any council interest in dealing with this issue. E. Athletic Club Expansion and HUD Waiver Request Mr. Bennett indicated that he has been involved in the athletic business downtown for several years and said the business is now in the process of expanding and refinancing its loans. When the project was initially under- taken, the financing package included some secondary Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money; the business hopes to retain this money along with the private financing involved in its expansion. Mr. Bennett said that because of his involvement on the council, he is re- quired to make this matter a part of the public record. He indicated that he would be providing more specific written material to the council on this - MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 1990 Page 2 matter in the future. AdditionallYt he is required to request a waiver from e the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to retain the existing public financing which has been a part of this project. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrmant Mr. Gleason said that the council does have rules governing this procedure; the procedure which is being fol- lowed is consistent with council policy. He also noted that no direct pecu- niary conflict of interest exists in this instance because the council does not have a direct influence on the loan decision; it is for this reason that HUD would agree to consider a waiver. F. Councilor Boles Absence Mr. Boles indicated that he will be unavailable for City Council business November 7-11. G. Community Involvement in the Proposed Systems Development Charges (SDC) Ordinance Mr. Boles said that the Council Committee on Infrastructure (CC1) is in the process of considering a third draft of the proposed SDC Ordinance. He noted that CCI feels that it would be appropriate to obtain feedback on this pro- posal from those persons who will be expected to pay SDC charges and is plan- ning to invite representatives of the development community to a CCI-spon- sored meeting to provide feedback on this document. e H. The Copper Cricket Mr. Boles said that he has recently purchased a locally manufactured Copper Cricket solar hot water collector and invited councilors to come see it. 1. Selling the Overpark Mr. Holmer asked when the City Council would have its discussion on the pos- sible sale of the Overpark. Mayor Miller expressed concern that this issue was out in the community be- fore the council had an opportunity to discuss it. He said that in the fu- ture, these types of issues should be brought before the council earlier. Ms. Ehrman pointed out that the council was informed that this issue was being discussed. She said that it is not the fault of the department that the media became aware of this issue before the council had an opportunity to di scuss it. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 1990 Page 3 II. PARKING OF RECREATIONAL VEHICLES IN RESIDENTIAL YARDS e Marsha Miller, Planning and Development Department, reported on this issue. She said that on July 18, 1990, the council gave staff direction to prepare a code amendment that would reduce the amount of time that a recreational vehi- cle could be parked in a residential yard from the current code requirement of 48 hours to an amount of time that could be enforced more easily by staff, which was determined to be four hours. Ms. Miller stated that staff met with representatives from the City Attor- ney's Office on this issue and was informed that a reduction of the amount of time to anything greater than zero still creates staff enforcement demands and legal questions if the case goes to court. She explained that it would be necessary for a staff person to monitor the vehicle for four continuous hours or there may be questions raised about the vehicle being moved within that time period. Ms. Miller also noted that the City received a great deal of feedback from community members who were opposed to the proposed amend- ment. Staff is asking the council for direction on this issue. Mr. Rutan noted that Councilor Green brought this item before the council in response to community member concerns. He noted that part of the concern expressed within the community was that they were being saddled with the burden of enforcement. He felt that it would be in the City's interest to drop the issue. Ms. Ehrman noted that she was initially in support of pursuing this issue but e said that given the enormous amount of enforcement time which would be in- volved, she agrees with Mr. Rutan that the City should drop this issue. Mr. Boles concurred. Ms. Ehrman moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, to discontinue staff support for pursing code amendments regarding recreational vehicles. The motion carried unanimously, 5:0. Mayor Miller adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council at 12:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~~t.'7 ;;" v..., . .....,1 . , Micheal Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 101090 - MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 1990 Page 4