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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/12/1991 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall June 12, 1991 11 :30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Ruth Bascom (until 1 p.m.), Debra Ehrman, Randy MacDonald, Kaye Robinette, Paul Nicholson COUNCILORS ABSENT: Bobby Green, Roger Rutan The adjourned meeting of June 10, 1991, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. 1. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. 20th Anniversary of the Bicycle Bill Ms. Bascom announced that June 13 marks the 20th anniversary of the Bicycle e Bill. Although nearly repealed when it was first introduced, the bill now allows one percent of highway revenues to be used for bicycle and pedestrian corridors. She reported that the "coast route" along the shoulder of Highway - 101 is used by 9,000 riders every year, 90 percent of whom are from out of state. B. Consideration of Good Neighbors Care Center at Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) Mr. Robinette noted that, in Councilor Bascom's absence, he has agreed to attend the next MPC meeting and asked whether the council had specific direc- tions on the Good Neighbors Care Center proposal. Ms. Bascom said that the Lane Council of Government's (L-COG) discussion on this issue captured the majority of concerns expressed by the council and suggested that Mr. Robinette draw on the points of that discussion when stat- ing the council's position. Mr. Boles asked that council representatives also be prepared to share with members of MPC the discussion the council had during its last process session about the need to have an interjurisdictional transportation planning commit- tee. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 1 ------- e C. Representation of the Mayor Before the Ethics Commission Mr. Robinette said that, with the council's permission, he would like a City Attorney's opinion about whether it would be appropriate for the City Attor- ney's Office to represent the Mayor before the Ethics Commission. By consensus, the council agreed to this request. D. Fairgrounds Master Plan Mr. Boles said that in a recent meeting of the Westside Neighborhood Quality Project, citizens expressed concern with the continual delay of the Fair- grounds Master Plan. He noted that the County has expressed little dedica- tion to beginning work on the master plan any time soon. Mr. Boles said that it is the position of the neighborhood that land use decisions for the area should not be made until there is a master plan for the area. He said that he supports the neighborhood's position and suggested that the council pre- pare a letter urging the County to begin the Fairgrounds Master Plan right away. The council offered its support for the suggestion. E. South Hills Fire Prevention and Education Program Mr. MacDonald reported that as part of the South Hills Fire Prevention and e Education Program, there will be a video presentation with tips for safe homeowner practices on July 18, at 7 p.m., in the City Council Chamber. He invited interested councilors to attend. II. EUGENE DECISIONS DESIGN APPROVAL Barbara Bellamy, City Manager's Office, updated the council on the Eugene Decisions process. She said that the Council Committee on Eugene Decisions has begun planning Phase 3 of the Eugene Decisions process, which is the development of preliminary strategies for the financing of City services. This phase is scheduled to begin in July and will provide the first opportu- nity for public involvement. Ms. Bellamy said that the committee has recommended that public input be focused on 13 key service areas. The committee has recommended that five service areas be set aside initially because either funding strategies are already in place to address the needs of those services (airport and waste- water treatment) or the services should be expanded or reduced relative to changes in other service areas (muniCipal court, emergency dispatch, policy support, and business functions). Responding to a question from Mr. Nicholson, Ms. Bellamy said that the activ- ities of the urban renewal district would be considered under the category of development services and would be included within the 13 key service areas. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 2 e Ms. Bellamy highlighted the committee's suggestions for public involvement included in the agenda packet. She emphasized that the activities are not all-inclusive and could be modified, as recommended by council. The commit- tee recommends concentrating publiC involvement activities in late July and early August to get the greatest citizen participation. Ms. Bellamy said that the annual community survey will provide another opportunity for public input. Responding to a question from Mr. MacDonald, Ms. Bellamy said that the Coun- cil Committee on Eugene Decisions will decide when the annual community sur- vey should be conducted, and noted that it would be conducted before strategy development occurs. Mr. MacDonald encouraged the committee not to conduct public involvement activities in the middle of August when many citizens leave town. Ms. Bellamy said that staff will summarize the public input from the first round of workshops in August and deliver it to council in early September for its review. If the process proceeds as planned, strategies should be ready for review by late October. Mr. Boles noted that the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) has asked that it be involved in the checkpoint process in order to monitor the adequacy of citizen involvement. Responding to concerns raised by Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Boles said that CIC has agreed to schedule additional meetings as needed to ensure that its review does not interfere with existing Eugene Decisions time lines. e Mr. Boles said that he has been contacted by Neighborhood leaders who have asked that the existing organization be used to process Eugene Decisions information. Referring to a memo to council from the Council Committee on Eugene Deci- sions, Mr. MacDonald said that he is not comfortable with two of the assump- tions that are being made with respect to this process. Specifically, he voiced his concern that the three- to five-year planning horizon is unrealis- tic for this complicated process and suggested that the time line be extend- ed. In response, Mr. Boles said that the committee has discovered, through the Eugene Decisions planning process, that there is a need for both short- and long-range strategies. The short-range strategies are needed to handle on- going daily operations while the long-range strategies set a broader plan for the future. While periodic updates will always be necessary, they will never be as extensive or detailed as the strategy which is being formulated in the Eugene Decisions process. Mr. MacDonald said that he is also concerned with the assumption that strate- gies for interagency cooperation might not be the focus of this round of the Eugene Decisions process. He noted that cooperation among agencies will prove to be very valuable, particularly with agencies such as the school district. These strategies need to be developed now, rather than targeted as e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 3 e an area for future discussion. He asked that the first round of scenario development not preclude the potential for intergovernmental cooperation. Ms. Bellamy said that the assumptions are a way of focusing community discus- sion. It was not the committee's intent to preclude the opportunity to ex- plore intergovernmental cooperation. Mr. MacDonald voiced concern that financing and automation should not be excluded from a review of administrative services. He pointed out the impor- tance of demonstrating the efficiency of City administration in its entirety to the public. Mr. Nicholson agreed with Mr. MacDonald and said that a review of the effi- ciency of administrative services should be included as an integral part of the review. By consensus, the council directed staff to proceed with the preliminary strategy development for this phase of the Eugene Decisions process. III. WORK SESSION: ALTERNATIVES FOR CONTROLLING SEARS BUILDING SITE FOR THE LIBRARY Lew Bowers, Planning and Development Department, gave the staff presentation. He said that it is staff's recommendation that the council instruct the City Manager to continue the option for one year to purchase the Sears building. e Choosing this option would allow the council the greatest flexibility to decide when to acquire the building and would enable the council and citizens to make decisions on the library financing together. Mr. Bowers noted that in the event that the owners do not agree to an option extension, staff rec- ommends that the council proceed with option 3: to allow the option to ex- pire and then to acquire the building through condemnation, if and when the council chooses to proceed. Mr. Bowers highlighted an error in the staff notes and pointed out that building condemnation would not relieve the owner of any environmental lia- bil ity. The City is in the process of conducting a more extensive evaluation of water quality in the area; testing should be completed within the next six months. He assured the council that there is no reason to believe that there are any greater environmental problems on the site than already anticipated. Mr. Robinette inquired about the cost of the additional environmental assess- ments and asked whether the City or property owner would be expected to pay those costs. In response, Mr. Bowers said that the bids for the environmen- tal assessments ranged between $8,000 and $40,000. If and when the council decides to acquire the building, the environmental liabilities would either be rectified by the owner or would be discounted off the fair market price of the building. Fair market value would discount any known environmental clean-up costs. The cost of the environmental assessment would be borne by the City. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 4 e Mr. Robinette said that it is in the property owners' interest to have an environmental analysis of the building, noting that such an analysis would be required if the property owner ever plans to sell the property. For this reason, Mr. Robinette argued that the owner should be expected to help pay the costs of the environmental assessment. Mr. Boles agreed and said that this should be negotiated in the agreement. Responding to a question from Mr. Boles, Mr. Bowers said that the property owners have not yet agreed to continue the option. In earlier discussions, an informal proposal was made that the building might be optioned for $60,000 for next year; half of that cost would be applied to the purchase price if the City decided to acquire the building. The current option, which expires this month, is $40,000. Mr. Boles said that he supports the staff recommendation to continue the option for an additional year. If the council decides to take this option, he suggested that the City negotiate with the property owners on two points: that the cost of the environmental assessment be discounted from the purchase price and that the purchase price for acquisition be a component of the agreement. Mayor Miller inquired about the fair market value of the bUilding. Adminis- trative Services Director Warren Wong responded that until the full extent of environmental assessments is known, the City cannot determine the fair market value of the building. The assessed value of the building is approximately $1 million. e Mr. Nicholson offered support for the staff recommendation. He also recom- mended that the City negotiate with the owner a maximum purchase price of $1.3 million with a provision that costs to correct environmental hazards be discounted from that price. Mr. MacDonald said that the citizens have given the council a clear indica- tion of their interest in the former Sears building as the future site of the library and recommended that the council proceed with negotiations for build- ing acquisition. He said that building condemnation would be inappropriate and would appear to citizens as heavy-handed and unfair. Mr. Nicholson said that the council does not have a mandate from the citizens to purchase the building because it did not ask them that question directly on the March ballot. He pointed out that the City does not know what the fair market value of the bUilding may be and should not negotiate a price until it has that information. He also noted that in the long run the City would be saving money by optioning the building. Mayor Miller recommended that the City proceed with building acquisition. If for some reason the building is not suitable for a library, the City might be able to use it to consolidate its administrative and service operations. Ms. Ehrman concurred with Mr. MacDonald that the citizens have expressed a strong interest in a library at this location. She noted that possible costs e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 5 -~.. - e of bUilding acquisition were included in the campaign, and said that it should come as no surprise to the voters if the City decides to purchase the building. She said that the City would need to go to the voters for a deci- sion on the financing of library operation, but noted that capital costs would likely be financed with General Obligation (GO) Bonds. She noted that a disadvantage to continuing the option is the possible loss of momentum on the issue. Mr. Boles agreed with Mr. Nicholson that the council would save money by optioning the building. He said that he wants assurances that the voters support some method of library operation in addition to site acquisition. The council should refer this question to the voters at the next available election. Mr. MacDonald said that it would be unwise to tie the decision of building acquisition to a decision on operation which will invariably be made at the end of the Eugene Decisions process. In doing so, the council risks losing its momentum on this issue. Mr. Bowers recommended that if the council chooses to proceed directly with building acquisition, it wait until the complete environmental review has been done to negotiate a purchase price for the building--approximately six months. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Robinette, to authorize staff to negotiate with the owners of the former Sears site to con- e tinue the current option, which expires June 30, 1991, for a period of one year. Mr. Robinette urged the council to withhold a decision on building acquisi- tion until after the Eugene Decisions process in order to be sure that it has a commitment for library operation. Mr. MacDonald said that support for library acquisition in no way demon- strates a lack of commitment to the Eugene Decisions process. He expressed concern that by holding an option, the City is attempting to protect downtown urban renewal funds for some other use. He does not agree with that strate- gy. Roll call vote; the motion carried 4:2; with councilors Bascom, Robinette, Boles, and Nicholson voting aye, and coun- cilors Ehrman and MacDonald voting nay. Mr. Boles emphasized that the vote to continue the option rather than proceed with acquisition should in no way imply a lack of support for the library project. Mr. Boles summarized the following points to be considered in option negotia- tions with the owner: 1) that half of the cost of the option be applied to the cost of the bUilding; and 2) that the costs of the environmental assess- ment be borne by the owner. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 6 e Responding to a request for clarification, Mr. Bowers said that a building appraisal is costly and should be made just before the purchase negotiation to ensure that it is current. Mr. MacDonald moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, to direct staff to develop preliminary strategies for full capital and operating costs associated with the new library. Mayor Miller urged the council to be aware of the implications of pulling the library funding decisions out of the Eugene Decisions process. Mr. Robinette concurred. Mr. Robinette moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to table the motion until Wednesday, July 10, with staff to return with information about funding issues and a time line at that time. The motion carried, 4:2; with councilors Ehrman, Nicholson, Bascom, and Robinette voting aye, and councilors MacDonald and Boles voting nay. (Councilor Bascom left the meeting at 1 p.m.) IV. APPROVAL OF MAY 29, 1991, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES e Ms. Norris introduced the topic and said that Glen Potter, Intergovernmental Relations (IGR), was available for questions. Mr. Boles requested clarification of the discussion that took place concern- ing SJRI0. Mr. MacDonald summarized the discussion which took place with respect to SJRI0, noting that the bill would have allowed local government to expand use of Highway Trust Fund dollars to include other transit issues. The committee gave it priority 1 support. Mr. MacDonald said that he recom- mended separating the issues of replacement revenue and expansion of the uses of Highway Trust Fund money. In later discussion, councilors agreed that HJR27 and HB3577 (other Highway Trust Fund measures) should be supported on a priority 2 basis and that the full council should have a policy discussion in order to develop a consistent, long-range strategy for Oregon Highway Trust Fund issues. At Mr. Boles' re~uest, the council reconsidered the priority basis of the following bills: it agreed that 581099 would be moved to priority 1 support and that 581215, 5B613, and 5B695 (if alive) would be moved to priority 2 support. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to approve, as amend- ed, the actions taken by the Intergovernmental Relations Com- mittee as reflected in the minutes. The meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 7 e ~~ Hie .-: G1:S: - - - - City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 061291-1130 e e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 8