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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/07/1979 Meeting - - . ~ M I NUT E S EUGENE CITY COUNCIL June 7, 1978 Adjourned meeting from May 31, 1978, of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller at 11:30 a.m., June 7, 1978, King's Table, Oakway Mall, with the following Councilors present: D.W. Hamel, Ray Bradley, Tom Williams, Eric Haws, Jack Delay, Scott Lieuallen, Brian Obie, and Betty Smith. I. Items from Mayor and Council A. Community Schools Coordinating Committee--Mayor Keller announced appointment of Jerri Bird, 2251 McMillan. Mr. Hamel moved, seconded by Mr. Bradley, to approve the appointment. Motion carried unanimously. B. Community Development Committee--Manager reminded Council of the. finalist interviews scheduled for three appointments Wednesday, June 14, 1978, at 4:30 p.m., McNutt Room. C. T-2000 Plan Joint Meeting--Scheduled for Thursday, June 15, 1978, 7:30 p.m., Harris Hall. Manager said hopefully Council would adopt the T-2000 Plan. A resolution is being drafted for Council action at the meeting. D. Handicapped Commission--A letter of resignation from Betty Bergman was distributed. Mr. Hamel moved, seconded by Mr. Bradley, to accept the resignation and to appoint Mary Jane Mori, 1650 High, to fill the unexpired term ending January 1, 1979. Motion carried unanimously. II. Date Selection and Discussion of Goals Session Agenda--Memos Distributed. Regarding selection of date, Manager noted two things were important: 1) that the entire Council be able to attend; and 2) that Don Murray be obtained as facilitator. Summer vacations and other conflicts eliminated July and August, but it appeared September 15 would be the best date as most Councilors and Don Murray would be available. Manager also noted an invitation to attend would be extended to those Council candidates who received a majority in the May election. 6/7/78--1 ~'3 ~ Manager then proceeded with a discussion of the present status of goals set by Council at its June 1977 session, as indicated on the Status 4IIJ Report on Priority Projects and Work Plans for 1977-78. Under Item I.B.2, relating to developing a more complete series of briefing papers for various types of agenda items, Manager said staff is preparing to better handle the reports to Council with a series of summaries and briefing papers. The purpose will be to bring the materials to Council in a more useful and precise form. Relating to Item I.E, reviewing Council Assistant program, Manager said a summary of Council Assistant activities could be presented to Council for study and discussion. Mr. Obie requested such a list be distributed to Council by the end of June. Mr. Delay expressed concern regarding the length of agenda items for the goals session, and wondered if perhaps a two-day session would be in order. Assistant Manager is working with Don Murray to develop a process for pre- paration of t~e September goals session and would present those options to Council. Council would be discussing the agenda and process probably starting in August. Regarding Item II.A.1, Annexations, Manager said a brief will be submitted by the City asking for a rehearing on the Cone-Breeden annexation before LCDC June 8. Regarding River Road-Santa Clara annexation, Council had recently sent a position paper to the County and was waiting further word. Regarding the Willakenzie annexations, there will be extensive discussions before the Planning Commission within the next several months. A report ~ for Council will be coming in late June. ~ Regarding Item II.A.2, Growth Policies, some discussion would be forth- coming today. Regarding II.A.3, Economic Development Policy, Manager said the City was waiting for further development before any port district dis- cussions were held. The overall economic development plan for the entire county is directed by L-COG. An economic development district may be created which eventually may assume this function, but in the meantime, L-COG is doing the work. The importance of forming such an economic dis- trict is related to whether the area will qualify for various EDA grants without ultimately forming such a district. Item III.A, Development of Program for Acquisition of Park Lands and Facilities--Manager said a report was complete and would be ready for review by City Council at a later date. Regarding the timing, Mr. Obie said a possible park bond issue would be delayed pending outcome of bond issues coming before the voters. In regard to Item III.B, Police Staffing and Facilities, Manager said substantial efforts were being directed in the 1978-79 budget for addi- tional staff and facilities in that department. Manager then reviewed a recent department head meeting in which the department heads were requested to identify major issues that would be coming before the Council in the next year and to select those deemed . 6/7/78--2 */~ - most important. The two leading issues were economic development (Port District, OEDP) and air quality. Others of high importance were the 1990 Plan Update, Growth Management Study, T-2000 implementation of policies and financing, work with the 1979 Legislature, retail development in the Central Business District, and metro sewer implementation. Mr. Lieuallen expressed high interest in Item II.B, Tax Policies for Public Services for both incorporated and unincorporated areas. He felt this would relate to many of the issues' to come before Council in the next year, and a basic understanding of the tax issues would help Council to deal with the implications of these issues. Manager noted the Govern- mental Research Bureau is now conducting a study to identify issues on this matter for further study, with the report due the end of July. Mayor Keller noted his interest in establishing groundwork for the 1979 Legislature. He felt it crucial for Council to have a work session and perhaps one with the elected legislators before the legislative session begins. Assistant Manager said Paget Engen was working on legislative proposals which Council may wish to consider as policy and guidelines during the session. He requested Councilors to share any concerns on items with Paget at this time. - III. Growth Management Study, Phase II: Status Report--Reports distributed. Manager reported the study would be going through an extensive review before the Planning Commission and today's discussion would be a defini- tion of the study and suggested processes to be followed. Jim Farah, Planner, said the report had been prepared through the efforts of several City departments and public agencies working in conjunction with the City's Community Goals Committee. That committee highly recom- mended the report receive intensive public review. The Planning Commis- sion will hold several study sessions between now and mid-July; public hearings before the Commission will be held toward the end of the summer. In mid-fall the results will be synthesized and a mini community goals conference will be held to get intensive public review. Subsequently, the Planning Commission would forward the report to the Council for action. Issues in the report are ones identified as coming before Council during the next year relating to growth management. Mr. Farah distributed a memorandum entitled "Neighborhood Leaders Asso- ciation--Preliminary Report on Growth Management.1I He noted the growth issue to be a complex one which deals with a variety of issues, some of which the local government is unable to control. Jim Carlson reviewed the memorandum for Council. He noted the great amount of interest expressed in growth-rate management and that the report was an analysis of growth rates. He referred Council to Attachment B and reviewed the historic growth rate for Lane County, the metro area, and Eugene. An annual average growth rate based on the 10-year census was calculated. For all three areas, the growth rate had declined during the 1970's from that of the 1960's. Lane County had the lowest growth rate in the past - 6/7/78--3 ~/5 50 years. Eugene had the lowest average annual growth rate since the 1930's. Growth rate due to in-migration for the whole county has 4IIt decreased in the 1970's from the 1960's. However, Eugene's net in- migration in additions to the population is more than double. The annual increase in population for the past 15 years (1960-75) has averaged out at 3,000 per year. He noted the components of growth in- cluded natural increase (which has been declining over the entire period); annexation of already developed land, noting the population jump of 16.3 percent because of the 1963 annexation of the Bethel area; and the net in-migration which accounted for 29 percent of the growth in the 1960's and about 76 percent of the growth in the 1970's. In making comparisons with other areas, Mr. Carlson noted that Oregon had the 13th fastest growth rate among all the states from 1970-77. Of the 36 counties in Oregon, Lane County had the 14th fastest growth rate. For cities over 10,000 population, Eugene had the 9th fastest growth rate, while Springfield had the 4th. In addressing the question of why the cities of Eugene and Springfield have been growing faster and the rate of in-migration has increased, while the County's rate has decreased, Mr. Carlson said it appears the urban service boundary concept and actions taken by Lane County (i.e., moratoriums in River Road/Santa Clara area) have focused development inside the cities. He directed Council to Table 14 which indicated the substantial increase since 1972 in the building of single-family homes inside the city. This also is causing in-migration and the population growth rate to be higher in the city. With the use of Table 15, he noted ~ the substantial increase in the resident population joining the labor ~ force and Table 16 indicated the decline in the average household size. He stressed the importance of these two social factors, plus the decrease in average household size which afect population growth, noting it to be a very complex issue. He said census estimates would be available in November. Components ~f growth estimates are based on the building-unit method, using the number of units multiplied by a vacancy rate. However, in 1975 the rules were changed, lowering the average number of household size; these rules will also apply this year. Therefore, even though there is a building boom in the area, the data will not indicate a large increase in growth rate because of the estimation methodology. In response to a question from Mr. Hamel, Mr. Farah said the bedroom count differed from household count in that the bedroom count would be based on recording the number of bed- rooms per structure when a building permit is issued. Referring to Table 14, regarding single-family units built, Mayor Keller wondered how healthy 91 percent for Eugene for 1977 was. John Porter said the trend of single-family houses is at a peak because if avail- ability of money. There is less money available for multiple-family housing, but if there were more, he felt the trend would be the same. He also said if there had been no in-migration, the city still would have needed 40 percent more single-family housing in 1977. - 6/7 /78--4 'il~ r ~ . Don Allen, Director of Public Works, referred to Table 14. He gave additional figures: In 1977, through subdivision activity, 1,788 parcels of buildable land were added, and 145 subdivisions plats are now under consideration. Mr. Porter noted, regarding supply and demand, the land available is an issue which will be faced in the 1990 Plan Update process. Mr. Carlson said the report implies that an average increase of 3,000 persons per year is expected for Eugene; and that the rate of in-migration is expected to continue to decline. IV. Improvement Petition Res. No. 2931--Authorizing initiating process for street paving and sanitary sewer construction to serve Whitepine Ridge Subdivision; and sanitary sewer construction in Fox Hollow Street from 300 feet south of Princess Street to 100 feet north of Saratoga Street (1560) was read by number and title. (Affected property on petition; assessable costs; Paving, 100 percent, sewers, 56 percent; city costs, none) Mr. Hamel moved, seconded by Mr. Bradley, to adopt the resolution. Motion carried unanimously. - V. Approval of Minutes Mr. Hamel moved, seconded by Mr. Bradley, to approve Council minutes of May 31, 1978. Roll call vote. Motion carried unanimously. A short recess was taken. Mr. Haws left the meeting. VI. T-2000 Plan: Final Report--Materials distributed. Jim Farah, Planner, said at the Joint Meeting on June 15 a resolution will be adopted by Council which will include changes that have been already agreed upon (pages 1-11 in handout). Regarding the Lorane Highway, a recommendation was made as follows: To strike the words [as appropriate] and insert the words to minimize the environmental impact to the area while providing a facility which will be adequate to accommodate automobile, bike, and pedestrian traffic in a safe manner. He said this will respond more directly to concerns of the Crest Drive Neighborhood Association. Also at the Joint Meeting, June 15, staff will be seeking endorsement of an air-quality statement which will state that it has not yet been determined whether or not the area will be in violation. Also, the TPC recommendations now in the Plan will be changed to read as statements. He noted the 30-30 connector issue remains unresolved between Lane County and the City of Springfield. e 6/7/78--5 ~'7 Mr. Lieuallen was concerned that the Jasper Road connector might facili- tate or encourage development of the Lowell/Fall Creek/Jasper areas. He ~ was not in favor of such encouragement, as he felt it was a dangerous precedent to set in terms of the urban service boundary. Mr. Hamel thought Commissioner Wood was considering it as an energy-saving device for industrial traffic. Mr. Delay shared Mr. Lieuallen's concern, noting it could be a direct corridor from the rural areas to downtown Eugene. It would have the potential for promoting development of that area as a suburban bedroom community. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Mr. Williams, to include the language regarding the Lorane Highway as suggested by Mr. Farah. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Delay hoped the same concern for safeguarding the environment while providing safe traffic would be reflected on all the goals and policies for the entire city. Ollie Snowden, L-COG, noted TPC did not view the Jasper connector as an alternative to the 30-30 connector. TPC had proposed that it not be included in the Plan, but rather studied in the coming year. However, MATC did recommend it be included at this time. There was some concern on the part of Springfield that some improvement needed to be made in the 57th Street area. MATC felt it was important and by including the facility it would show the State there is interest in this project. Mr. Snowden felt the State would respond that the facility was not in their six-year program and there would not be money available for construction. - Mr. Delay felt these were two issues: The improvement of the 57th Street area; and establishing a transportation corridor to Jasper. He again expressed concern regarding the effect on the urban service boundary. Regarding a question from Mayor Keller on the air quality statement, Mr. Snowden said the statement was written to show that the area was intend- ing to do a complete analysis and would be in complete compliance. U~dU)Y ~~, seconded,. and Charles T. Henr~ City Manager passed, the meeting was adjourned. CTH:DT:er/CM27a6 . 6/7/78--6 ~18