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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/01/1978 Meeting - M I NUT E S EUGENE CITY COUNCIL March 1, 1978 Adjourned meeting from February 27, 1978 of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller at 12 noon on March 1, 1978, at the King's Table, Oakway Mall, with the following Council members present: Ray Bradley, Tom Williams, Eric Haws, Jack Delay, Scott Lieuallen, Brian Obie, and Betty Smith. Councilor D. W. Hamel was absent. I. Items from Mayor and Council A. Receipt of Travel Contribution--Mayor Keller noted receipt of $100 from Don Dushane to help defray expenses of councilors who wish to attend meetings in states not yet ratifying ERA. Mr. Dushane had expressed his feeling that Councilors, in order to better fulfill their duties of directing the City government, should be allowed to attend conventions at which they might receive valuable information. B. Council Meetings Schedule--It was consensus that Council would not meet Wednesday, March 22, 1978. e C. Field Burning Report--Manager noted Council's receipt of a report from the City Attorney, with discussion to be held at March 8 meeting. D. Youth Commission--Memo from Youth Commission dated February 23 distributed. Manager noted in the memo a request was made that Sara Hague be dropped from the Youth Commission and John Stewart be appointed. There was some question as to whether Mr. Stewart was intending to move from the city. It was consensus of Council to delay action on this item to March 8 meeting, with staff following up on determination of Mr. Stewart's residency. II. Approval of Commercial Activity Proposals for Downtown Mall Memos dated February 28, 1978, and October 11, 1976, with call for bids were distributed to Council. Ed Smith, Director, Parks Department, said the City ordinance states that any commercial actitivity on the Mall has to be approved by the City Council. Extensive advertisements for the proposals as presented had been completed, with four being received. The proposed activities would be limited to just food and drink on a six-month trial basis. The process included the calling for bids, set- ting a fee structure, obtaining business license tax, determination of attractiveness of the unit, withdrawing the activity every night, and activities being restricted to certain areas on the Mall. The Eugene Downtown Association has approved the four proposals and staff would like to have permission from Council to implement the activities. Pictures of the pushcarts were passed among Council members. The e Ptl 3/1/78--1 carts will be allowed to operate five days a week at least five hours a .... day with a choice of which five days and what hours they wish to work. ~ Council expressed support and approval of the activities and felt this type of activity should be encouraged for improvement of the downtown area. It was hoped that further proposals would be received. In response to a question from Mr. Williams, Mr. Smith said if any such business does not work out in the manner intended, it would be terminated immediately. Regarding the fee schedule proposed, Mr. Smith said the Finance Depart- ment had analyzed similar fees and charges, and presented a report to staff. The fee structure was adjusted to accommodate this type of business. He said it may be too high or too low, but that could be analyzed at the end of the six-month trial period. Ray McIver, Mall Manager, said the activities would encourage attention to and enhance the image of the Downtown Mall area. He noted this was one of many things that could be done to increase the attractiveness of the Mall, and he encouraged Council to support it. Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to accept the four pro- posals as submitted for commercial activity on the Downtown Mall. Motion carried unanimously. III. segre~ation of Assessment Russe 1 O. Costello, 2974 Bailey Lane, SE 77-17 - Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to approve the segrega- tion of assessment. Rollcall vote. Motion carried unanimously. IV. Improvement Petitions Res. No. 2841--Authorizing initiating process for street paving, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and pedestrian walk construction within and adjacent to Keeston Terrace Subdivision (1435) was read by number and title only. (Affected property on petition; assessable costs: paving, 100%, sewers, 100%; pedestrian walk, 100%; city costs, $4,000 for storm sewer) Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopt the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. Res. No. 2842--Authorizing initiating process for street paving, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer construction within Lona Subdivision and sanitary sewer and storm sewer construction in Hawkins Lane to serve Lona Subdivision (1555) was read by title and number only. (Affected property on petition; assessable costs: paving, 100%; sewers, 100%, city costs, none) 4IIt 3/1/78--2 '''* 2. - Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopt the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. Res. No. 2843--Authorizing initiating process for street paving, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer construction within South Vista Subdivision (1423) was read by number and title only. (Affected property on petition; assessable costs: pving, 100%; sewers, 100%; city costs, none). Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopted the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. V. Withdrawals from Water District: Calling Public Hearing March 15, 1978 Res. No. 2844--Calling public hearing March 15, 1978, re: Water District withdrawal, Final Order 466 of the Boundary Commission, that portion of Zellner property annexed between Country Club Road and Willamette River was read by number and title only. ' Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopt the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. - Res. No. 2845--Calling public hearing March 15, 1978, re: Water District withdrawal, Final Order 481 of the Boundary Commission, street right-of-way (Gilham) (CEU 78-2) was read by number and title only. Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopt the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. Res. No. 2846--Calling public hearing March 15, 1978, re: Water District withdrawal, Final Order 482 of Boundary Commission, street right-of-way (Crescent) (CEU 78-3) was read by number and title only. Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopt the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. VI. Energy Conservation Report Memo dated February 7, 1978, and a report of energy consumption distri- buted. Greg Page reviewed for Council that last March the City was concerned regarding major curtailment of energy because of the drought situation. That energy conservation program is continuing with the purpose being to respond to the BPA, to show the community energy con- servation can be practiced over a long period of time, and that that program has been very successful in the city. He said there had been an 11 percent decrease in energy consumption in existing City buildings, with an overall reduction, including the added facilities, of three per- cent over 1976. He said the savings amounted to approximately $12,000. e 3/1/78--3 1~3 Future efforts will be directed toward cooperation with the Federal ~ Department of Energy to examine other ways a municipal government can .., use capital investment to recover heating costs, and also to examine procedures for cooperation of energy conservation in the commercial and industrial sectors of the city. St. Petersburg, Florida, and Rochester, New York, are the two other cities involved in this study. Mr. Obie referred to last year's concern in energy conservation, with reductions affecting the swimming pools and ball fields in the city. He wondered if that program would be so great this year. Mr. Page said the amount of energy saved in the ball field lighting was one-tenth of one percent of the total electrical consumption. It has been decided for this year to go back to the 1976 schedule. Manager noted that as of today, the Downtown Development Board had re- ported that all office areas in the Parcade had been leased, noting this would increase the power consumption in that building, and would add to the total energy consumption. Mr. Page added that assessments of energy consumption would be directed at the designs of the new civic center and the new wastewater mantainance facilities. In response to a question regarding swimming pools, Mr. Smith said they do consume more power than the rest of the City combined as based on BTU; however, with the use of natural gas it is less expensive. There would be continued efforts to recover the heated air, and scheduling of hours for pools would be looked at more closely. However, all pools ... will be open. .., Mayor Keller questioned the large energy consumption from street light- ing and wondered if there was anything in the future to help the City reduce that amount. Mr. Page said the two ways available were (1) technical, and (2) social consideration. He said the technical aspect has gone about as far as it can, and now it is up to convincing citizens as to their perception of whether or not street lighting is necessary for safety. Don Allen, Director, Public Works, noted one problem regarding street lighting had been in the past the energy conserving lights had been unacceptable to the public. However, he said now they were being installed without seeking public acceptance. Regarding the drought, he noted that in the last year's maintenance of the sanitary sewers, the drought did cause more extensive root penetration in the sanitary systems which became a greater maintenance problem. Mr. Lieuallen wondered if there yet had been developed a technical process for auditing energy consumption. Mr. Page replied investiga- tion was being conducted into ways with which the City could cooperate with EWEB in auditing commercial and industrial customers. EWEB is now doing an extensive audit in the private sector. Mayor Keller reminded Council that the community will have be kept aware and conscious of energy conservation for a long period of time ~ in the future. He felt the City was well on its way to doing its 3/1/78--4 I~~ , - part in energy consumption, but noted it is critical that private, commercial, and industrial sectors each do their part. VII. ~iscussion of Lane County Proposals for Improving Inter-Governmental Communication and Legislative Cooperative Efforts Letter dated February 10, 1978, from Lane County Commissioners distri- buted. Manager noted the first request from the Commissioners had been to develop a mechanism to encourage communication and coordination between the Commission and the 11 cities within the county. The staff's recommendation was that it might be better to start with an exchanging of agendas of meetings; and, as to periodic meetings with staff, that could be quite time consuming. It was suggested that the chief adminis- trative officers continue their meetings, which take place at least monthly. Also, department heads and othen staff people are meeting as frequently as may be necessary. It was consensus of Council that Manager's suggestions were adequate, and it was not necessary to set up any further meetings consuming more of staff's or Council's time. e The next request was regarding more cooperation during legislative ses- sions. Manager noted this could be very helpful if done properly. Paget Engen, the legislative liaison for the City, was aware of what the County was doing in the legislative session. It was suggested that perhaps staff could work closer with the County, and perhaps a meeting in the fall with a Lane County legislative delegation would be helpful. Manager suggested there should also be some involvement of our own legislative committee. He said there had been no formal efforts to keep abreast of what either government is doing. Mr. Delay wondered how often the City was in conflict with testimony from Lane County. He could see only two areas in which there would be necessary involvement: (1) If both were working for the same posi- tion and needed coordination; (2) if both were working in opposite directions and needed to resolve conflicts. Ms. Engen replied there had not been that much conflict or duplication, as the County was often more interested in programs that did not directly affect the City. It was consensus of Council that the lines of communication on a staff level should be kept open with the County, and Ms. Engen should be encouraged to explore the intent of the request from Lane County, and be willing to have staff participation with the County. Mr. Williams noted a problem involved in the legislative session was getting elected officials to Salem to lobby for various bills. He said that could not very well be supplemented by staff. The third request involved a local intergovernmental conference in the fall in which Lane County would host all of the cities in the County. Manager noted this might be too large a group for effective business to be conducted. - I~S 3/1/78--5 - '. Mr. Lieuallen and Mr. Delay felt that perhaps such a conference could ~ work if it were set up properly. There were various areas suggested that might be beneficial for exchange of information such as transportation problems, social services, and juvenile court. Mr. Haws did not support the idea at all, but felt the staff and City Manager should handle all the suggestions made by the Commissioners. Mayor Keller noted the problem of conferences in which the major cities dominate smaller cities' interests, and noting the difference in problems of the various size of cities. He felt that if the County wanted to call a meeting for a specific proposal on a specific item, then all those in- terested in the County could attend. However, the very nature of the size and location of cities will create problems as there were many dif- ferences involved. He felt there might be other forums available in which the various issues could be discussed which would be much more beneficial to Council. It was consensus of Council if Lane County wanted to set up a meeting based on specific agenda with specific items to be considered, then they would consider attendance at such a meeting. VIII. Approval of Minutes Mr. Williams moved, seconded by Mr. Obie, to approve Council minutes February 22, 1978. Rollcall vote. Motion carried unanimously. - Upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, the meeting was adjourned to March 8, 1978. ~ Charles T. H~~ City Manager CTH:DP:er/CM8b2 e I l: ,Ltta 3/1/78--6