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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/14/1991 Meeting (2) e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Council Chamber--Eugene City Hall October 14, 1991 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Roger Rutan, Shawn Boles, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Bobby Green, Paul Nicholson, Kaye Robinette. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Randy MacDonald. The regular meeting of October 14, 1991, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. Mayor Miller welcomed Boy Scout Troop 50 in attendance at this meeting. Mayor Miller noted that Minutes Recorder Traci Northman was leaving the City of Eugene staff. He presented her with a letter of commendation for her work and thanked her for her service with the City Council. 1. PUBLIC FORUM e Mayor Miller explained that the rules governing public testimony would pro- hibit Martin Montoya from testifying on the public hearing postponement for the University of Oregon's alley vacation request. Mr. Montoya said that he is frustrated by the public hearing postponement and inquired about the sta- tus of the construction on that site during the postponement period. Mr. Gleason clarified that the item was placed on the consent calendar only to establish a future public hearing date for the issue. Staff stated that because a price for alley vacation has not yet been negotiated, the public hearing has been postponed. Mayor Miller said that staff will contact Mr. Montoya to respond to his questions. Mr. Boles encouraged citizens to raise these types of concerns with the City's Public Service Officer. Bill Blair, 350 Pearl Street, testified in support of having a whistle-free zone in Eugene. He noted that as resident of the Ya-Poh-Ah Terrace, he is often bothered by train whistles as they pass through Eugene. He proposed that City officials request that the Southern Pacific Railroad in San Fran- cisco send an official to visit Eugene to observe the problem. He suggested that the whistles be required to stay within the limitation established by the City's noise ordinance. He also voiced concern that trains are exceeding the 30-miles-per-hour speed limit when passing through the city limits. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 1991 Page 1 e Cameron Hutcheson, 251 South 35th Street, Springfield, requested that the City of Eugene make improvements to the Amazon Adidas Trail in Eugene. Spe- cifically, he requested that the City install lights and rest rooms along the trail and said that if the City is unable to maintain the improvements, it is likely that citizen volunteers from the Oregon Track Club, Oregon Interna- tional, and Oregon Track Club Masters would be willing to do so. He also asked that the lights along Pre's Trail be restored and maintained. Wayne Ford, 1020 Fillmore Street, speaking on behalf of the Homeless Action Coalition, presented the council with "rights cards" that the coalition dis- tributes that explain citizens rights when they are stopped by a police offi- cer. He noted that he has heard that the Whiteaker Community Resource Center refuses to distribute these cards. He also reported that the City has dropped its charges against the Opportunity Shelter demonstrators. Mr. Boles asked that City staff investigate the claim that the Whiteaker Community Resource Center refuses to distribute the cards. Richard Lee, speaking on behalf of Larry Hamlin, President of the Oregon Track Club Masters, said that he and Mr. Hamlin would support Mr. Cameron's request for bike path improvements along the Amazon Adidas Trail and would be willing to volunteer time toward this effort. He clarified that neither the Oregon Track Club nor the Oregon Track Club Masters has taken official action with respect to this request. Kevin Hayden, 996 West 4th Avenue, Apartment 5, echoed Mr. Ford's testimony e regarding the Opportunity Shelter protestors and asked that all outstanding violations on demonstrators be dropped. He noted that there is a large popu- lation of homeless persons who are camping at Armitage Park and requested that City officials contact the Oregon Department of State Lands asking that they rescind their order to vacate the park. He commented that many homeless people refuse to go to the Eugene Mission because of the constant presence of violence, drugs, and racism. In the future, the Homeless Action Coalition will be asking the City to overturn the camping prohibition. II. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes of July 17, 1991, Lunch Work Session; August 5, 1991, Dinner Work Session; August 5, 1991, Meeting; September 9, 1991, Dinner Work Session; September 9, 1991, Meeting; September 23, 1991, Meeting; September 25, Lunch Work Session B. Resolution Authorizing Issuance and Sale of Special Assessment Improvement Bonds Res. No. 4274--A resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of Special Assessment Improvement bonds, 1991 Series A and B in a principal amount of not more than $4,610,000. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 1991 Page 2 e C. Postponement of Public Hearing: Alley Vacation Request (Universi- ty of Oregon: AV 91-2) Mayor Miller noted that Councilor MacDonald has indicated that a minor cleri- cal error was made to the July 17, 1991, minutes. He has asked that the second sentence of paragraph 3 on page 2 of the minutes be amended to read as fo 11 ows : "He said that the council is rushing its decision without fully understanding the implications of moving to a PAID parking system, . . ." Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, to approve the items on the City Council consent calendar, as amended. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. III. PUBLIC HEARING: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE REGARDING MCI FRANCHISE City Manager Mike Gleason introduced the topic. Tony Mounts, Finance Divi- sion, reported that this is a second reading of an ordinance granting a fran- chise to MC! for use of the right-of-way to lay their fiber optic cable. He said that the council agenda packet contained a memorandum addressing coun- cilors concerns raised at the last meeting and said that staff from the City of Eugene and MCI were present to answer questions. Mayor Miller opened the public hearing. There being no requests to speak, the public hearing was closed. - CB 4330--An ordinance granting to Me! Telecommunications Cor- poration the nonexclusive privilege to use the public way to construct and maintain public communications facilities within the city of Eugene. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read the second time by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at this time. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Council Bill 4330 was read the second time by number only. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, that the bill be ap- proved and given final passage. Mr. Robinette said that he has heard from constituents that fees charged by the private sector for utilization of the private right-of-way are often considerably higher than similar fees charged by the public sector. In es- tablishing its franchise fees, the City should consider what public benefit is to be gained by having the MC! cable run through the city. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 1991 Page 3 e Roll call vote; in a 6:1 decision, with Councilor Boles dis- senting, the bill was declared passed and became Ordinance 1980 l. IV. PUBLIC HEARING: SECOND READING OF ORDINANCE RENEWING RAILROAD FRANCHISE City Manager Mike Gleason introduced the topic. Tony Mounts, Finance Divi- sion, said that this is the second reading of an ordinance granting a fran- chise to the Burlington Northern Railroad Company for use of the public right- of-way. Mr. Boles said that he has also been informed by constituents that the fees levied by the private sector to citizens for the privilege of crossing rail- road rights-of-way are considerably greater than the franchise fees levied by cities for use of the public right-of-way. He said that the City should be charging market-rate franchise fees. For this reason, he will be requesting that the issue be tabled. In response to a question, Mr. Mounts said that he does not have information from Burlington Northern with respect to the fees it charges for crossing its right-of-way, but agreed to investigate the issue and report back to the counci 1. In response to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Mounts said that City staff e has inspected 5th Avenue and has verified that the piece of track on 5th Avenue and Grant Street has been removed. Mr. Green inquired about the ramifications to the City of not granting Burlington Northern access to the public right-of-way. Mr. Mounts responded that it would be difficult for the City to deny access to the public right-of- way. Without a franchise agreement, responsibility for liability in the event of an accident would be unclear. Mr. Rutan asked about the potential negative impacts to the City and Burlington Northern of a decision to postpone the franchise. Mr. Mounts responded that there would be no negative impacts on the relationship between the City and Burlington Northern. The City will not be able to collect the franchise fee until the agreement is in place. If the ordinance was changed, the City would have to go through the franchise adoption process again. Mayor Miller opened the public hearing. There being no requests to speak, the public hearing was closed. CB 433I--An ordinance granting to the Burlington Northern Railroad Company, a Delaware corporation, its succes- sors and assigns, the franchise to maintain its rail- way tracks over certain streets in the city of Eu- gene, and to operate trains and cars thereover, and to transport passengers, freight, mail, baggage, and e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 1991 Page 4 e express thereon, and to maintain its present poles and wires over certain streets in the city of Eugene, Oregon. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read the second time by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at this time. Mr. Boles moved to table the motion to the December 2, 1991, meeting. Mr. Boles withdrew the motion. Ms. Ehrman commented that in light of the fact that the ordinance may be changed, the council should not have held a public hearing until after the ordinance comes before the council again. She suggested that rather than tabling the motion, the council hold the item over. Sharon Rudnick, City Attorney's Office, clarified that if the ordinance is amended, the council will have to hold another public hearing on the item. With the consent of the second, Mr. Rutan withdrew the main motion. By consensus, the council agreed to delay action on this item until the December 2, 1991, meeting. e V. DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (DDD) ORDINANCE CHANGES City Manager Mike Gleason introduced the topic. Lew Bowers, Planning and Development Department, reported that at the July 17, 1991, meeting the coun- cil approved discontinuing the Downtown Development District's special taxes, establishing a paid/validated parking program, and supporting Downtown Eugene Inc. (DEI) in the establishment of private service contracts. The council directed staff to implement the recommendations as adopted. Mr. Bowers pointed out that the ordinance, as outlined, would be amended to discontinue collection of the DDD Gross Receipts Tax. If approved, the ordinance would be effective October 31, 1991, and the transition to the validated parking program would be implemented November 4, 1991. Mr. Boles noted that it was his expectation in the council's direction to staff, that the Gross Receipts Tax would be removed from the ordinance, rath- er than simply discontinuing collection of the tax. He asked for clarifica- tion. In response, Mr. Bowers said said staff is recommending that tax col- lection .be stopped entirely, but that the tax remain in the ordinance so that it can be reinstated if there is interest expressed by the council. He pointed out that it is possible in the future that there might be room under the cap established by Ballot Measure 5 to collect this tax. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 1991 Page 5 ~- e In response to questions from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Bowers said that the council newsletter reported that DEI has collected its threshold level of private service contracts, triggering the $70,000 match. He said that Lane Community College (LCC) has expressed conncern with how this parking transition will impact their students. LCC has created a short-term committee to make recom- mendations on this and is also going to create a second committee to explore the most appropriate role for its Downtown Center over the long term. The City has been invited to participate on both of these groups. Ms. Ehrman suggested that the council be notified of those meetings. Mr. Boles suggested that the Downtown Commission would be the most appropriate forum for this discussion. Mr. Robinette said that mothballing the Gross Receipts Tax creates ambiguity in the code and suggested that the council repeal the tax entirely. Mr. Nicholson agreed. Mr. Nicholson asked about the memorandum the council received stating that the deadline for DEI to reach its private service contracts was extended. He asked who set the original deadline and on what authority the deadline exten- sion was granted. He also asked whether the City has verified the contracts. Mr. Boles responded that the council approved the deadline extension by tacit consent. Mr. Bowers said that City staff has verified that the contracts are 1 egit imate. CB 4334--An ordinance concerning taxes and user fees in the e Downtown Development District; amending Sections 3.700, 3.715, 3.743, and 3.746 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and declaring an emergency. Ms. Bascom said that she would prefer to leave the Gross Receipts Tax in the ordinance. By consensus, the council directed staff to modify the ordinance to repeal the Gross Receipts Tax and bring the ordinance back before the council for final approval. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Resp~~~ /~ .' .i2 ~~.'::7? Mi chea rGl eason ~ '.#' J.\~. City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 101491-730 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 14, 1991 Page 6