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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/11/1991 Meeting e M I NUT E S . . Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 11, 1991 11 :30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Shawn Boles, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman (at 12:20 p.m.), Randy MacDonald, Kaye Robinette, Paul Nicholson, Bobby Green COUNCILORS ABSENT: Roger Rutan The adjourned meeting of September 9, 1991, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. Matt Shuler, Public Service Officer, welcomed students from the University of Oregon Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM) Department in attendance at the meeting as a part of a City tour. e r. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. Recognition of Recycling Efforts Mr. Nicholson presented Alice Soderwall with a plaque in recognition of her contribution toward the community's glass recycling efforts and her active participation as a neighborhood leader. Ms. Sodorwall recognized the community coordination necessary to make recy- cling efforts successful in Eugene. B. Shaping Oregon's Future Mr. Robinette reported that a Shaping Oregon's Future meeting has been sched- uled for today at 1 p.m. He volunteered to attend the meeting on behalf of the council and encouraged other interested councilors to attend as well. C. Active Bethel Citizens (ABC) Meeting Mr. Green distributed information to the council outlining the progress which has been made on the Beltline/Barger highway overpass project. The target date for project construction is 1992-93. He asked for guidance from the Council Committee on Infrastructure (CeI) regarding the potential impacts of the project on collector streets. - - e - MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 1 - . ' e D. Opposition to the Sanitation Franchise Mr. Green noted that he has received many calls from citizens inside and' outside the city limits who are opposed to the sanitation franchise discus- sions that are taking place currently. Mr. MacDonald said that he has also heard negative reactions from citizens. Mr. Nicholson said that the council is scheduled to hold a work session on the topic on September 23 and indicated that he has requested additional information from staff. Mr. Gleason said that the type of analysis that Mr. Nicholson is requesting is extensive; the City does not currently have the staff resources necessary to conduct that detailed an analysis. The council will need to discuss this issue at its work session. E. Prohibition on Glass Containers in Local Parks Mr. MacDonald said that he recently received a complaint from a constituent whose son was ticketed for having a glass container in Alton Baker Park. The bail was set at $150, with an even greater potential fine. Mr. MacDonald said that while the original intent of the ordinance was to ,regulate alcohol in public parks, the fine for such a violation seems excessive and asked whether the council might be interested in revisiting the ordinance. He also noted that many nonalcoholic foods are packaged in glass containers and sug- gested that the council consider placing recycling barrels in the parks to assist with the City's recycling efforts. e Staff agreed to review the ordinance and provide the council with a report and staff recommendation about what action, if .any, should be taken on the issue. F. Local Cable Access Referring to a recent article in The Register-Guard, Mr. MacDonald voiced concern that Channel 11, local cable access, is not very visible within the community. He said that the author of the article suggested that the newspa- per begin publishing local cable programming in its weekly television guide and suggested that the council send a letter to Managing Editor Patrick Yack requesting him to do so. By consensus, the council approved Mr. MacDonald's suggestion and requested that staff draft such a letter. G. University of Oregon's Housing Innovation and Energy Efficient Housing Program Ms. Bascom reported that the University's Housing Innovation Program has submitted site plans for six units of new housing on Villard Street. She said that a part of the project's innovation is an attempt to do in-fill. She noted that Federal funds are primarily responsible for project-design while State funds support housing construction. e .......... MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 2 ----------- e H. Bikeway-Corridor Along the West Eugene Parkway Ms. Bascom said that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has indi- cated that it does not plan to build an off-street bicycle corridor along the West Eugene Parkway because the potential use of this corridor is not. great enough to warrant its construction. It is expected that cyclists will con- tinue to ride on the shoulder of the road. Ms. Bascom said that if an appro- priate bicycle corridor is to be constructed, the project will need greater public demand and support. Mr. Boles noted that a new Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) transportation rule mandates support for an increase in infrastructure for alternative modes of transportation. He suggested that maybe this new rule has not yet been integrated into ODOT's policies and, if so, the City should bring this to its attention. r. Homeless Family Shelter Visit Ms. Bascom noted that she recently had the opportunity to tour the Homeless Family Shelter and said that shelter personnel are concerned that the re- quired placement of a fire exit in the playroom area may make it difficult to supervise playground activity. At Ms. Bascom's request, staff agreed to provide the council with a report from the Department of Public Safety's Fire Division on the issue. e J. Meeting of the Local Officials Advisory Council to LCDC Mr. Boles reported that he has agreed to represent the City at a meeting of the the Local Officials Advisory Council to LCDC. Likely topics of discus- sion at the meeting include the LCDC transportation rule, secondary lands, and the focus of the organization as it transitions to a new director. Mr. MacDonald noted that the Emergency Board did not allocate LCDC's funding request for the continuation and expansion of some of its operations in land use planning. This issue should be discussed at that meeting. K. Eugene Celebration Commemorative Pins Mr. Boles asked all councilors to wear their commemorative pins at the Eugene Celebration. Proceeds from the pins, which cost $2, will go toward the cost of the celebration in an effort to reduce the amount of public financial support of the event. Nonprofit organizations selling the pins get to keep a percentage of the proceeds. II. WORK S ESS ION: UNIMPROVED STREET STANDARDS AND FINANCIAL OPTIONS Les Lyle, Public Works, gave the staff presentation. The purpose of this work session is to provide the council with an opportunity to review and finalize the discussions on local unimproved street improvement standards e - MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 3 _. e approved by the Council Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) and to allow the council to make recommendations on a companion low-income assessment subsidy program. Mr. Boles stated that the council began addressing this topic over a year ago and said that the design standards were created in an attempt to give. local residents more flexibility in deciding what type of street improvements, if any, will be done in their neighborhoods. Mr. Lyle presented the council with the design matrix created by staff and CCI. He said the program is designed to give property owners more options regarding street improvements. Recognizing the unique nature of some streets and differing needs of some property owners, owners will be given a variety of choices over street width, sidewalks, street trees, street lights, etc. Mr. Lyle briefly walked through the property owner notification process that the City would use to inform property owners that their streets are being considered for improvements. He explained that once staff has reviewed and decided upon the ultimate needs of the street, a letter would be sent to property owners to determine if there is majority support for a street im- provement and, if so, what types of improvement the neighborhood would sup- port. If there appears to be majority support for street enhancements, a follow-up letter would be sent outlining the preferred approach to determine if there is still majority support. Mr. MacDonald asked whether signs would be installed outlining the new park- ing policy on streets. In response, Mr. Lyle said that enforcement of the e parking policy would likely be managed on a self-enforcement basis. However, if the City receives complaints from the neighbors, signage would be consid- ered. Referring to the property owner notification process, Mr. Boles asked how the process might address the instance whereby an option, initially selected by only a small group of neighbors, is rejected by the larger neighborhood, when another option might have been accepted. Mr. Lyle responded that in such an instance, the City may need to meet with the property owners to discuss the options and answer questions. Responding to a question from Mr. Boles, Mr. Lyle said that questions regarding street trees and street lights can be added to the initial survey sent to owners. The council requested that these options be added to the survey. Responding to a question from Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Lyle said that staff must first determine what the ultimate needs of the street will be to establish minimum standards. Residents would not be given the option to chose a stan- dard below that level. If the needs of a fully improved street change sub- stantially over time, the cost for street widening would be borne by the City. (Councilor Ehrman arrived at 12:20 p.m.) - - - MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 4 -- e In response to a question from Mr. Green, Mr. Lyle said that if properttes:do not respond to the survey, those properties would be classified as a negative response or "no" vote. Responding to a question from Mr. Nicholson about mandatory sidewalk require- ments, Mr. Lyle indicated that because it is difficult to get property owners to approve street improvements in the first place, staff has not pursued requiring property owners to include sidewalks as a part of the improvement when they are not determined to be necessary. Mr. Nicholson voiced concern that the City's sidewalk policy is not equitable to all property owners. Persons who live on culs-de-sac, for instance, would not have to pay for sidewalks, while persons living on higher-volume arterial streets would be forced to pay for sidewalks that many other persons in the neighborhood use. Mr. Lyle reminded the council that the recommendations are for unimproved streets only. Under existing sidewalk policies, sidewalks are a condition of development in new subdivisions or when a bUilding permit is processed. Mr. Boles suggested that Mr. Nicholson flag this issue for discussion at the CCI work session that will review comprehensively the City's sidewalk policy. Mr. Boles suggested the council include an additional street option from which local residents might choose; an asphalt mat, rolled curb, and gutter street option. Recognizing that that standard of street may be more compati- ble with community values but would need to be replaced more often, property owners would have to agree to pay for street maintenance provided by the City e in perpetuity. Mayor Miller questioned the impact this type of street would have on the storm drainage system. Mr. Boles said that this type of street standard only fits the needs of approximately 10 percent of the unimproved streets in the City and argued that having unimproved streets poses an even larger storm water runoff problem. Mr. Lyle said that City staff is not in favor of allowing the proposed rolled curb and gutter street standard because the costs of constructing the street are comparable to a 20-foot-wide street, the increased cycle of street re- placement is burdensome, and the question of long-term maintenance being borne by the property owner poses major administrative problems. Mr. Gleason added that it creates problems for property owners who have to go through street replacement every ten years and who purchase a house with the expecta- tion that the City would pay for street maintenance. Mr. MacDonald said that he supports the addition of a rolled curb and gutter street standard. Constituents in his ward have also asked for greater flexi- bility in street standards for low-use streets with unique needs. Property owners who choose this standard should realize that the street standard would likely affect their property values. Mayor Miller said that he has received constituent feedback_on the_neeg to allow greater creativity and flexibility in street standards. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 'Page 5 _. -------- e At Councilor Boles' request for an informal vote, the council reached consen- sus that it did not want CCI to review further the option of a rolled curb and gutter street standard. Mr. Lyle presented the council with an overview of the low-income assessment subsidy program. Staff considered two possible options for the program: 1) a deferral program similar to that provided for sanitary sewer assessments in the River Road area; or 2) a subsidy program modeled after the City of Springfield's. Staff recommends the subsidy program because they believe it will provide companion support for the street improvement matrix. Mr. Lyle said that under the proposed subsidy program, staff would model an approach followed by the City of Springfield whereby staff establishes a priority ranking system for street improvements (concentrating first on grav- el streets). The Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) stan- dard would be used as a basis for evaluating income. If the council approves the approach, staff would prepare the ordinance and allocate $200,000 to help with start-up costs in the first year. (This figure would revert to $100,00 in succeeding years). Mr. Lyle said that the City also hopes to receive some program assistance from urban transition and Community Development Block Grant funds. Mr. MacDonald noted that starting the program with $200,000 in the first year would likely create this expectation in the future and questioned the sensi- bility behind decreasing the allocation by half after the first year. Ms. tit Ehrman concurred. Mr. Gleason noted that the City of Springfield has been successful in lever- aging Lane County Road Fund moneys for its subsidy program and suggested that the City pursue that option as well. There is presently $83 million in the Lane County Road Fund; this money provides approximately $9 million in inter- est payments annually. The County spends approximately $12 million to main- tain County streets outside the city but does not help maintain roads inside the city. Because the city is part of the County, it would not be wrong for the City to ask for some County assistance with street maintenance inside the city limits. Ms. Ehrman supported targeting gravel streets for improvement first. Howev- er, she said that the focus should be on gravel streets in residential areas. Mr. Boles noted that council has been looking at a more assertive policy with respect to the initiation of alleys for improvements. It is often unlikely to get property owner initiation on gravel alleys that serve apartment build- ings. Mr. Boles also said that given the other priorities for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money in the next several years, it is unlike- ly that this money would be available for a low-income street program. How- ever, there may be some way to leverage CDBG funds for the program. Mr. Boles suggested that the council might want to send a letter to thf Coun- ty urging that it accept a greater financial responsibility for roads within e -- MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 6 -- e the City. Ms. Ehrman noted that this whole issue needs to be the topic of discussion at a future work session. The City Manager agreed to bring this' issue back to the council at a future work session. Mr. MacDonald discouraged the council from looking seriously at CDBG funds because of the other pressing needs on that fund source. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Ehrman, to approve recommen- dations for local unimproved street improvement standards and to provide direction on the low-income assessment program. Ms. Ehrman moved to amend the motion to allocate $100,000, in the first year from the deferral account for start-up costs. The amendment died for lack of a second. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. III. BATEAM SEMIANNUAL REPORT Abe Farkas, Planning and Development Department, reported that the Business Assistance Team (BATeam) was created by the council in an effort to transi- tion the local economy from a primarily timber-based economy to a more di- verse economy. Over time we have fostered an educational/service-based econ- omy. He said that the BATeam has been pleased with the success of its ef- forts toward this goal. e Mayor Miller requested statistics about underemployment in the local economy and the average wage earning power of the jobs .that are being added to the job base locally. Mr. Gleason commented that the decline in timber-related jobs has depressed the average salary of jobs in the local area. Lee Beyer, BATeam manager, provided an overview of BATeam efforts to diversi- fy the economy. BATe am assistance has been most successful when targeted at small local firms. Mr. Beyer highlighted some of the BATeam's business as- sistance strategies, including: loan programs, enterprise zone programs, and regulatory advocacy and site selection efforts, among others. He said that as a result of its efforts, 726 new jobs have been created with loan money. In addition, the BATeam has over 1400 annual requests for business assis- tance. Mr. MacDonald noted that Oregon Marketplace works to find local suppliers in Oregon and asked if the BATe am coordinates its activities with this firm. In response, Mr. Beyer said that the BATeam works closely with Oregon Market- place, as well as other members of the Business Assistance Network which the BATe am coordinates. Mr. Beyer highlighted several local companies that have benefited specifical- ly from business assistance. He noted that the BATeam can expect 50-75 loan applications next year. He indicated that lack of visibility within tne community is one of the factors which limits the BATeam's ability to help e .- MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 7 -- e local firms and asked councilors to continue informing the BATe am of local businesses which might benefit from its assistance. Mr. Gleason underscored the importance of economic development programs in successful job creation. He said that it would be very difficult to privatize BATeam services because of the types of technical expertise. that is involved, particularly in areas such as interpreting the City Code. Mr. Green observed that there are few business start-ups in the Bethel area and asked for statistical information about where new business start-ups are concentrated in the community and why. Responding to a question from Mr. Green, Mr. Beyer said that BATeam loans are only available to those companies that would not normally be able to receive commercial bank loans. The BATeam's Loan Advisory Committee is willing to work with loan applicants who have been rejected by banks to help them re- structure their applications to make them acceptable. He emphasized that the BATeam leverages its loan funds. Mr. Gleason added that the BATeam works closely with the Lane Community College (LCC) job training center in referral efforts to ensure unemployed city residents are hired. Mr. MacDonald said that given that most successful assistance in the communi- ty occurs with local business start-up and expansion, rather than large tran- sient corporations, the BATe am should continue its strategy focusing on local business assistance. Given those economic realities, the City should ask the Metro Partnership to begin concentrating its efforts in the same manner. e Mr. Boles pointed out that Business Development Fund (BDF) loans should con- tinue to be self-supporting. He added that job creation costs seem to be approximately one half to one quarter of what they are in other urban pro- grams. Mr. Boles noted that some job creation figures are being counted both by the BATeam and the Metro Partnership, while the performance success for securing small businesses lies with the BATeam. The City should discuss where the responsibility for job creation should lie. Ms. Bascom said that she spoke with a representative from the LCC Small Busi- ness Development Center who said that the BATeam and the Metro Partnership did not duplicate services. Mr. Farkas commented that one function of the Metro Partnership is to keep Eugene and Springfield from competing against each other for locating companies in the area. Mr. Gleason said that another function of the Metro Partnership is to process requests for information from businesses about locating in Eugene. He is confident that the Metro Partner- ship and its staff has been effective in bringing jobs to Eugene. Mr. Nicholson said that he is skeptical about job creation statistics and pointed out that it is difficult to know whether these economic development programs are instrumental in bringing jobs to Eugene. Given the finite re- sources, the City needs to decide whether this is the most efficient use of public dollars. - - e --------- MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 8 ---------- '. e Mayor Mill er said that.. there may be creat i ve ways to do economi c development. Eugene Decisions will,~fford an opportunity for the City to look in new di:' rections. I. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER (continued) L. Eugene Decisions Business Cards Mr. Green suggested that councilors be issued some of the Eugene Decisions business cards that have been available to staff which provide information about whom to contact with questions about the Eugene Decisions process. M. Lane Transit District (LTD) Station Siting Ms. Ehrman announced that she recently attended a meeting of the LTD station siting committee. The LTD board has narrowed the list of possible sites to two: 1) the International House of Pancakes lot; and 2) the Pasta Plus lot, located across from The Register-Guard. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom regarding the status of the Elec- tions lot, Ms. Ehrman said that the board decided to drop that lot from fur- ther consideration out of concerns that businesses located near the Elections site did not support locating the new station there. N. West University Neighborhood (WUN) Parking Permit Program e Ms. Ehrman said that she received phone calls from citizens in her ward who have questions and concerns about the implementation of a paid parking permit program in the University area. The program is being implemented to relieve some of the curbside parking problems in the area. She asked City staff to be prepared to respond to questions with information about what the parking payments are supporting and to be able to document how the parking program is being enforced. Mr. Nicholson said that he shares the concerns of neighborhood residents; it is unfair to have the victims of the problem bear the financial burden of enforcement. He added that fines should be set so that those who park ille- gally will be paying for enforcement and suggested that perhaps curbside permit parking should be citywide. At Ms. Ehrman's request, staff agreed to provide the council with a memoran- dum outlining how information about the new parking policy was being dissemi- nated. o. Marketing of the Validated Parking Program Ms. Ehrman said that given the strong public criticism with the proposed marketing of the validated parking program, she is interested in having sev- eral councilors review the marketing proposal before it goes out to the pub- lic. Councilors Ehrman and Nicholson agreed to review the material. e - MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 9 -- e P. Horn Honking Ms. Ehrman said that she has asked the City Manager to consult with the City Attorney's Office to see if the City has a compromise position on the citi- zens who were fined for horn honking during the Gulf War protests. Mr. Gleason agreed to provide the council with a memorandum on the issue. Q. Legislation Concerning the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) Ms. Ehrman said that legislation was enacted so that it is no longer mandato- ry to have three councilors on the LRAPA board. R. Citizen Participation Requirements for High-Visibility/ High-Controversy Issues Mr. Boles reported that the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) is consider- ing the possibility of increasing citizen participation requirements for issues which are highly visible and highly controversial within the communi- ty. The meeting adjourned at 1:45 p.m. e R~S~ _.~ - - Mich 1 Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 091191-1130 - e MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 -page 10 --