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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/24/1991 Meeting e e e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room April 24, 1991 11:30 a.m. PRESENT: Randy MacDonald, Kaye Robinette, Ruth Bascom, Shawn Boles, Paul Nicholson, Roger Rutan, Debra Ehrman {arrived at 12:11 p.m.}. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bobby Green. The adjourned meeting of April 22, 1991, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER Mayor Miller introduced Anne Marie Cling who was spending a "Day With The Mayor." A. High-Speed Rail Mr. MacDonald presented a letter from Donna lee Davis, a graduate student at Portland State College, who has explored high-speed rail. He said Ms. Davis had made a presentation to the Senate on the rail system and was willing to make a similar presentation to the council if it so wished. The council agreed that Mr. MacDonald should pursue this possibility. B. Health-Care Services Mr. Boles presented information on the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, a funding source for health care services and requested that the information be shared with the Department of Public Safety. C. Council Interns Mr. Rutan said that working with Kelly Chapel, a University of Oregon intern, had been an excellent experience. He said she had been of great assistance to him and she had attended everything from neighborhood meetings to meetings in Washington, DC. He said he had information on the intern program if other councilors were interested. Mr. MacDonald said that he, too, had been working with an intern. He said his intern would be working on fire prevention activities. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 1 e D. Concerns of William Mason Mr. Nicholson asked if staff had any further information about William J. Mason's questions regarding deposits. Mr. Gleason said he had been under the impression that he already answered Mr. Mason's questions. However, he said that since this apparently was not the case, the matter would require addi- tional time. He said this item was on an assignment list along with 18 or 19 other items. Mr. Nicholson noted that Mr. Mason's request was timely because of a due date on the deposit. E. Interfaith Emergency Shelter Program and Housing Issues Ms. Bascom noted that during the past week only two people had made use of the night time Interfaith Emergency Shelter Program housed in local churches) and that only two persons were being housed by the program so far this week. She suggested the program did not need to extend into the spring months be- cause of this under-utilization. Ms. Bascom said several reasons the shelter program might not be needed as greatly at this time were the 38 new low-income housing units on Coburg Road, the 15 new units at laurel Grove, and the 6 new units for families at the Eugene Family Shelter. Ms. Bascom said the Interfaith Program had received funds for a first/last month rent program from the Catholic Charities Program. She suggested the City could also contribute to this program. ~ Mayor Miller said three years ago the City Council had made affordable hous- ing its top social goal. He said the information just presented by Ms. Bascom showed that council goals can have an effect on the community. Ms. Bascom said the community was not doing as well at providing permanent housing. She said the Social Goals Committee had toured a new site in the Churchill area that morning which might be available in the future for low- income housing. Ms. Bascom said the first stage of landscape design had begun that week at the Walnut Grove site on River Road. She said one of the main concerns of the residents of this area was the preservation of trees and that the City's urban forester had worked with them on this issue. She said this was a good example of networking between City departments. Ms. Bascom distributed lobbying cards for the Federal Home Program. She said this program provided one of the City's best opportunities for local revenues if the City could raise match money. Mr. Robinette added that students at Madison Middle School had raised money for the first/last month rent program. Mr. MacDonald thanked Ms. Bascom for her work on affordable housing. In addition, he said the Interfaith Emergency Shelter Program had reported to - MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 2 e e e the Intergovernmental Human Services Committee (IHSC) the previous week. He said IHSC was monitoring the shelter program. He pointed out that the Day- time Access Center on Glenwood would continue to be open during the summer. Mr. MacDonald said the IHSC had approved the creation of a policy subcommit- tee to oversee social services throughout the area, including services for the homeless. Mr. Boles noted that a potluck would be held on May 10 to celebrate the first year of the Interfaith Emergency Shelter Program. F. 1993 Western Regional NAACP Conference Mayor Miller noted that lobbying efforts in Sacramento were successful and the 1993 Western Regional NAACP Conference would be held in Eugene. He said the Sacramento NAACP conference was worthwhile to him personally in helping him to understand problems related to national civil rights and affirmative action programs. He said he hoped many people would participate in the con- ference when it is held in Eugene. Mr. Rutan congratulated Mayor Miller, Councilor Bobby Green, and Planning Commissioner Greg Evans for successfully lobbying for this event. G. Cross on Skinner Butte Mayor Miller referred to a letter from attorney Charles Porter on the cross on Skinner Butte. He asked City Attorney Bill Gary to comment on the letter. Mr. Gary said the City Council had no role to play with respect to the place- ment of the cross because on May 26, 1970, the voters approved a Charter Amendment, adding Section 2 to Section 42 of the Eugene Charter, reading: "The concrete cross on the south slope of the butte shall remain at the location and in that form as the property of the City and it is hereby dedicated as a memorial to the veterans of all wars in which the United States has participated." Mr. Gary said a charter provision such as this, approved by the voters, could be changed only by the voters. He said that if the council wanted to change the charter, it would have to refer a charter amendment to the voters. He said Mr. Porter's letter, and potential lawsuit, questioned whether this section of the City Charter is constitutional. He said that in 1977 the Oregon Supreme Court resolved the issues specifically relating to the cross in a case called the Eugene Sand and Gravel and American Legion Post #3 vs. The City of Eugene. The Supreme Court held that the cross, as a war memori- al, did not violate the Oregon or US Constitution. Mr. Gary said that as the City Attorney, he would be constrained to advise the council that under the law as it stands today in Oregon, the cross is MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 3 e e - constitutionally placed on City property. He said that it would be the re- sponsibility of a court higher in authority than the Oregon Supreme Court to say otherwise. Therefore, Mr. Gary said the correct response would be for the City Council to take no action, unless it wished to initiate a charter amendment, and for the City to respond to Mr. Porter's claim in due course. Mr. Boles asked if the charter amendment authorized the City to maintain and illuminate the cross. Mr. Gary said there might be a provision for this in the City Code, although he thought it was done administratively. He said there was no such provision in the City Charter. Mr. Boles pointed out that the cross is illuminated at Christmas and asked how this related to its status as a war memorial. He suggested other holi- days might be more meaningful times to light the cross. Mr. Gary said the cross is lighted on days set aside to observe veterans of wars, as well as Christmas and Easter. He said he would investigate the process by which the cross is illuminated. Mr. Rutan said he was glad to hear the City Attorney's opinion on this issue so that the council would not have to waste valuable time on an issue which has long been settled by both the community and the courts. Mr. Nicholson confirmed that the City faces a potential ,lawsuit over the cross. He asked what the City's expenses would be and if the council could take no action on this lawsuit if it were filed. Mr. Gary said the City had the authority to decide not to defend the lawsuit, in which case the lawsuit would be decided by default. He said this would be an administrative decision to be made by the City Manager. He said it might be difficult to craft an ordinance which was consistent with provisions of the charter, and set a policy to not defend a lawsuit. He said this amounted to not defending the charter enacted by the voters. He said the council would have to be careful that it was not undermining the charter provision itself. Mr. Gleason pointed out that councilors take an oath of office to defend the charter. Mr. Nicholson said he was concerned about spending money on this issue. He asked how much was likely to be expended. Mr. Gary said Mr. Porter has esti- mated that his costs will be between $15,000-$25,000. He said the City's costs would be related to these figures but would depend on how long the case was litigated. Mayor Miller asked if the City could ask the Oregon Supreme Court to comment on the case. Mr. Nicholson asked if the City could ask this court to decide the case. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 4 e e e Mr. Rutan said the City had spent money in the past defending itself from frivolous lawsuits filed by Mr. Porter. He said Mr. Porter had the right to bring actions against Eugene, but the council should make it clear to the community that there are costs which must be paid by public tax money to defend against these lawsuits. He suggested that a record of this meeting, with specific reference to the comments of the City Attorney, be delivered to Mr. Porter for his consideration. Mr. Gleason said he felt the City Attorney's advice was very clear. He said the councilors had taken an oath of office to defend the charter, just as he took an oath of office to defend the law. He said that until the provisions of the charter were changed, he felt a moral and legal obligation to defend the charter. He said the council had the prerogative and the authority to amend the charter by initiative referendum. H. Public Information for Downtown Redesign (The following discussion actually took place later in the meeting, after Ms. Ehrman had arrived.) Mr. Nicholson said the City should take a non-partisan stand on public infor- mation on the downtown redesign plan. He said the council should resolve to publish either a minimal amount on the subject, or nothing at all. Mr. Gleason said public information for newspaper publication was nearly ready, unless the council decided it did not want to provide any additional public information on this issue. Mr. Gary said the City did not have to publish anything in relation to the downtown redesign plan, but that the City Council would have to make this judgment. Mr. Nicholson moved, seconded by Mr. MacDonald, that the City not publish anything as public information for the downtown redesign. Ms. Ehrman said she would not be comfortable publishing nothing. She said neither side in this issue had elucidated some of the issues she would like to see discussed, so more public information was needed. Mr. MacDonald said he agreed with Ms. Ehrman. He said it was unfortunate that the City had not prepared a Voter's Pamphlet for this election. He said the pamphlet would have provided a good forum for this information. He said staff, not the council, approved the public information to be published, although the community perceives the council as the originators of this kind of information. Mr. Gleason referred to a two-page newspaper layout on the downtown redesign just shown to the council by Mr. Nicholson. He said this material had not been public information because it was created by a citizen's committee in an effort to engage community debate. He said that he, as the City Manager, was obligated to be unbiased about issues facing a public vote. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 5 e e e Mr. MacDonald said that publicly and politically, the public perceives the council as promoting the downtown redesign ads. He said that in view of Eugene Decisions, the council's credibility is very important. Mr. Rutan said an information campaign on the downtown redesign would not affect people's perception of City government. He said he felt the correct process was under way for a public information campaign. He said any criti- cism of this information would come from those on the other side of the is- sue, and admitted that he favored the redesign plan. Mr. Boles said he supported the downtown redesign plan, but that he agreed with Mr. Nicholson on this issue. He said people were claiming that all City information was biased. Mr. Robinette said the council should follow the normal procedures for the public information process. He said he felt it was important that the City issue neutral information. Ms. Bascom said the council could not pass judgment on the actual materials to be published without risking litigation. She asked if it would be legal for the council to not publish public information. Mr. Gary said that it would be. Ms. Bascom asked if the council would set a precedent by not issuing public information and Mr. Gary said that it would. Roll call vote: the motion passed 4:3 with councilors Nicholson, MacDonald, Boles, and Bascom voting aye; councilors Ehrman, Robinette, and Rutan voting against. II. WORK SESSION: SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT DRAFT ORDINANCE AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF TASK FORCE Mr. lyle reviewed the final rate setting recommendations of the Systems De- velopment Charge (SDC) Task Force. Mr. Boles, responding to questions about the transportation SDC, said this rate-setting methodology was the committee's weakest--not due to lack of effort but because it is difficult to ascertain what portion of destination trips are pass-by trips. He said the group's choice to cap trip rates at ten was an effort to address the issue of pass-by trips. He said these figures could be adjusted in two or three years. Mr. Rutan said a cap of ten seemed reasonable in terms of the resulting SDC. He said ten was not necessarily the perfect number, but a good place to start. Mr. Lyle reviewed general rate setting issues. He said the task force recom- MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 6 e e e mended that the administrative charge be set at five percent of the fee charged prior to deduction of credits. He reviewed SDCs for other communi- ties and other ordinance recommendations. Mr. Lyle said the council could review the rate setting methodology if two thirds of the council voted to do so. Mr. Gary clarified that the council could review the rate methodology at any time. However, he said modifica- tions to the ordinance required a two-thirds vote. Keith Martin, City Attorney's Office, said an appeal of the rate-setting methodology would have to come before the council. He said the council would take action by majority vote. However, he said that if the council wanted to open the record, and take more testimony, a two-thirds vote (six councilors) would be required. Mr. MacDonald flagged methodology for later discussion. Mr. lyle explained the options for low-income housing which the task force recommended not be included as an SDC exemption. Mr. Nicholson suggested the council create a fund to subsidize low-income housing, at least in terms of SDC fees. He asked if the council could craft an ordinance which stated that it would maintain a fund dedicated to this kind of project and that this fund would be as large or larger than antici- pated SDCs. Mr. Martin said the council could create such an ordinance, although the issue would become how to budget for such a fund. He said other communities which have attempted to do this have looked not just at the SDC fees, but also other fees imposed on low-income housing developments, and have created a special fund. He said the Joint Social Services Fund could be used for this purpose or a new fund could be created. Mr. MacDonald said the Social Goals Committee had discussed the possibility of exempting projects from the SDC, case by case. He said he felt this was highly undesirable because of its unpredictability and the difficulty this would create for financial planning. Mr. MacDonald said he favored either an SDC exemption for low-income housing or the creation of a special fund to pay for SDCs and other development-re- lated fees for certain categories of housing. He said an ordinance should be written which specified the action that would occur to offset costs when a public or non-profit project qualified. Mr. Rutan said the purpose of the SDC exercise had been to recognize the monetary costs of development now and in the long term. He said that since these costs existed for low-income housing, just as for any kind of develop- ment, the question was how they should be funded. He said the creation of a special fund to pay these costs was strictly a budgetary concern. He pointed out that the council would have to remove funds from some other City service if it chose to finance the SDCs for low-income housing and suggested that if MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 7 e e e it did this, it should declare the amount of these charges and set up the funding source(s). Mr. Boles said it was never the intent of the Council Committee on Infra- structure (CCI) nor the SDC Task Force to argue that the council should deal with social good kinds of issues on a case-by-case basis. He said it was assumed that the council might wish to identify a class of activity as crite- ria for having part of the SDCs dropped and not borne by developers in that class. He said that if the council wanted to be true to the principle of SDCs, it should not allow exemptions within the ordinance. Ms. Ehrman asked if a tax exemption on downtown housing could be applied towards funds for SDC exemptions. This possibility was discussed. Mr. MacDonald said that if the council did not plan to provide SDC exemptions for low-income housing, it should develop some other method to help fund this kind of development which was external to the SDC Ordinance. Ms. Bascom said the council's second goal this year was to emphasize low-in- come and affordable housing. She said the City would not be flooded with requests to build low-income housing. She said that when the City attempted to raise Federal funding for housing, it would be helpful if City match money was clearly identified--such as an SDC exemption of a certain amount. Ms. Bascom said that if the City did not exempt low-income housing from SDC fees, it might appear to other local jurisdictions that they were being asked to provide funds the City would not provide. She said John Van landingham, a member of the Planning Commission, found that it was very helpful when seek- ing State funds for housing to be able to show that the City was providing funds for these kinds of projects. Ms. Bascom asked Mr. Boles how SDCs for the Richardson Bridge project would be funded. Mr. Boles said local support could be demonstrated as easily outside the SDC Ordinance as inside it. Mayor Miller summarized that every- one agreed that someone must pay SDCs. He said that if these fees were ex- empted, the City would have to find some other way to replace the lost reve- nue. Mr. Boles said that if there were only a few cases in which a project would qualify for an SDC exemption, it should be no harder to find an overt means of funding these projects than to offer an exemption. He said the principle of the SDC rate-setting methodology was that all development has an impact on the community. Mr. Nicholson said the Downtown Urban Renewal District indexes special funds according to growth and property values. He asked why it would be inappro- priate to set aside funds for subsidizing low-income housing with an index to SDC collections. Mr. Gleason said the Bancroft Program was the original SDC prototype. He said this plan and housing projects in the River Road area face similar prob- MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 8 e e e lems in that the City is placing a lien against sewer projects which are assessed against the construction of the projects and there is no place to file the lien. He suggested the council direct staff to come back with a proposal which include not only SDCs, but also how the City should deal with these assessments. Ms. Ehrman asked that staff calculate how much SDCs for current low-income housing developments would cost. Mr. Rutan suggested that the council approve the SDC Ordinance as written, with no exemptions, and request that staff investigate other means of funding low-income housing. (This recommendation was ultimately accepted.) Mr. MacDonald said he would like the SDC Ordinance to include a criteria for projects similar to the lincoln housing, which would apply to both public and private organizations; that the council identify a funding scenario both for funds and revenues; that the SDC scenario unit be specified, and that the council draft an ordinance that would clarify that for any developments which met this criteria the City would meet these particular costs through these funds. Mr. Gleason asked if the council would agree to also deal with the Bancroft assessment situation. Mr. Boles suggested this should be dealt with sepa- rately from the SDC Ordinance. It was the consensus of the council that low-income housing should not be exempted from SDCs. Mr. lyle said the SDC Task Force has recommended that a parks SDC be charged only to residential development and not cover regional facilities. Mr. MacDonald said that to the degree that development added incrementally to the demand for various services, the demand for regional facilities would also increase. He said that in the last 15 years the City has developed only 2.1 acres as parks. Mr. Rutan said the City has 1,842 acres of parks. He said the task force discussed the fact that the community would prefer to address the issue of swimming pools, golf courses, and regional parks on an issue by issue basis. He said inclusion of these areas in the parks SDC would cause this charge to be extremely high. Mr. Boles said that as a member of the SDC Task Force, he had originally argued that all development has an impact, and that some regional facilities are clearly impacted by new development. He said it was possible that a new methodology should be devised for the parks SDC. Mr. Boles said assessments are used to pay for on-site changes, whereas the SDC funds off-site impact. He said at question was whether new development has an off-site impact at the regional level on parks. He said if this was the case, then their cost should be factored into the parks SDC. He said the task force felt that development does not impact regional parks. The council approved the approach as recommended by the task force. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 9 e e e Mr. lyle said an information session on the SDC rate-setting methodology would be held on May 6, with a public hearing following on May 13. Mr. MacDonald noted that the words "no more than" on page 16, under "Method- ology," seemed unnecessary. He suggested deletion of these words. Mr. Mar- tin said these words were part of State law. Mr. Boles explained that the task force included these words because it was concerned that policy decisions might state that the City did not want to include the full cost of SDCs inside the SDC Ordinance. He said the council had now decided that the full impact of development would be collected through SDCs, so the phrase referred to by Mr. MacDonald could be removed. Mr. MacDonald said that because Eugene is a home rule community, the City must meet minimum State requirements, but can exceed these requirements if it chooses to do so. The consensus of the council was that the words "no more than" would be re- moved from the second sentence under "Methodology" on page 16 of the SDC Ordinance. Mr. Rutan commended Mr. Boles for his work on both the ceI and the SDC Task Force. Mayor Miller added that both Mr. Rutan and Mr. Boles should be ap- plauded for their efforts on the task force. III. NATIONAL WETLANDS MONTH Res. No. 4239--A resolution supporting declaration of May 1991 as National Wetlands Month. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, to adopt the resolu- tion. Roll call vote: the motion passed unanimously. IV. APPROVAL OF PUBLIC SAFETY lONG-RANGE PLAN: "PARTNERSHIPS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY" Bill DeForrest, of the Department of Public Safety (DPS), said staff and the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) recommended that the council approve the resolution adopting the Public Safety Plan ("Partnerships for Public Safety") . Mr. DeForrest reviewed the five points in the resolution and referred to a memo to Mr. Gleason from the DPS Director, Dave Whitlow, on the potential funding of social service agencies through the eight-point action program. Mr. DeForrest said the Long-Range Plan was a living document which would be MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 10 e part of the Eugene Decision process. He said adoption of the resolution would provide the community the best opportunity for the quality of life and level of safety it desires in the 21st Century. In response to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. DeForrest said recovery of stolen property would increase under the new plan partially due to a preven- tion program which would include printing on and marking personal property. Mr. MacDonald added that personnel changes would free more officers currently assigned to answering phones to investigate such crimes as burglary. Mr. Gleason noted that the Detective Division has an extremely heavy caseload each month. Res. No. 4240--A resolution adopting the Public Safety Plan ("Partnerships for Public Safety") and repealing Resolution 3948. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. MacDonald, to adopt the reso- lution. e Mr. Boles said social workers are also overworked. He confirmed that the council's approval of the long-Range Plan was conceptual and implementation would follow at a later date. He asked if the memo from Mr. Whitlow referred to funds currently in the budget. Mr. DeForrest said DPS staff had worked with the IHSC to produce these figures. Mr. MacDonald asked if funds identi- fied in this memo were already funded by the IHSC. Mr. DeForrest said the figures in the memo were above and beyond IHSC funding. Mr. Nicholson asked how the council could be sure that it would approve of the plan in its final form. Mr. Boles said the council would vote on approv- al of the final plan. Mr. MacDonald said findings G and H of Res. No. 4240 seemed out of place. Mr. DeForrest said the findings reflected the history which had led to the plan. Mr. MacDonald moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, that Section 4 of the resolution be amended to read: "The City Council in- structs the Public Safety Advisory Committee, working with the Department of Public Safety, and relevant social service agen- cies and the Intergovernmental Human Services Committee. . ." Mr. Rutan said the amendment seemed explicit in the resolution. Mr. MacDonald said he wanted to ensure that DPS and PSAC would work with IHSC and relevant social service agencies on a more defined model of a partnership between public safety and the community's social service agencies. Roll call vote: the amendment to the motion passed 6:1 with councilors Rutan, Boles, MacDonald, Nicholson, Ehrman, and Robinette voting aye; councilor Bascom voting against. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 11 e e e Roll call vote: the motion to adopt Resolution No. 4240 passed unanimously. Mr. Boles commended PSAC chair Richard Greene and committee member Jan Gund for their tireless efforts on behalf of the long-Range Plan. VI. WORK SESSION: REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: 11TH AND WIllAMETTE DEVELOPMENT SITE Bob Hibschman of PDD reviewed the background of the 11th and Willamette de- velopment site. He said the Downtown Commission recommended that the council approve a four-month period for Requests for Proposals (RFP) for this site. Mr. Boles suggested that in the Secondary Criteria section of the draft RFP for the 11th and Willamette development site, housing and parking points should be reversed so that housing received 50 points and parking 20 points. Mr. Hibschman explained how the criteria were originally set. Ms. Bascom said housing was not likely to be developed at this site and should not be given too much weight as criteria. Mr. Rutan added that on- site parking would be extremely expensive at this site. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, to direct the City Manager to issue the 11th and Willamette development site Request For Proposal and return with a recommendation for the Renewal Agency. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to amend the motion so that criteria G and l in the 11th and Willamette Development Site Request For Proposal be reversed. Roll call vote: the motion passed 3:2 with councilors Boles, Robinette, and Nicholson voting in favor; councilors Bascom and Rutan voting against. Roll call vote on the main motion: the motion passed unani- mously. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. ;;/~ ~i:~~easo (Recorded by Kris Bloch) mncc 042490-530 MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 1991 Page 12