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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/23/1980 Meeting , " M I NUT E S EUGENE CITY COUNCIL e July 23, 1980 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The adjourned meeting from July 21, 1980, of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by Council President, Betty Smith, on July 23, 1980, at 11:30 a.m., in the Council Chamber, with the following councilors present: Scott Lieuallen, D. W. Hamel, Gretchen Miller, Jack Delay, Brian Obie, and Eri c Haws. Mayor Gus Keller and Councilor Emily Schue were absent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. ITEMS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL, APPOINTMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AGENDA ADJUSTMENTS A. Request for Review of Park Concession Policy Mr. Lieuallen explained that a bicycle repair concessionaire on the Lane County Bicycle Path would like to extend the service to the city side of the river park system. Mr. Lieuallen' was told by Ernie Drapela, Parks, that it was a City policy that concessions other than food services are not allowed in city parks. Mr. Lieuallen asked that the matter be discussed by the Parks Committee. Mr. Drapela responded that the next meeting of the Joint Parks Commit- tit tee is August 12, at which time they could review the matter. The practice for the past years has been to have no vendors whatsoever in the parks. Recently they agreed to allow food service from Memorial Day to Labor Day in Skinner Butte Park. The Park Department receives numerous requests from various types of vendors and prefers to restrict vending to food sales. B. Pest Management Mr. Lieuallen said he had met with people from a workshop concerning integrated pest management. He requested follow-up on their presen- tations so that upkeep in the parks could be reduced over a period of time. C. Meeting to Begin Process of Selection for City Manager Ms. Smith suggested, since Mr. Henry.s resignation last Wednesday, that the City Council begin the process of selecting a city manager by meeting with Don Murray on Thursday, July 31, at 6 p.m. At th at meeting, the councilors will discuss qualifications for a new city manager as well as the process of selection. All councilors agreed it was important to move ahead. Mr. Haws said he would not be able to e 7/23/80--1 I attend. His main concern was that they give thought to delaying the selection process until the new City Council is formed since the city manager will work with the new council. Manager responded that e he could invite the councilors-elect if it was the desire of the council. Ms. Smith, Mr. Delay, and Mr. Obie felt that the current council should develop the process. Part of the process would be to have input from the public and the councilors-elect. Mr. Delay suggested "fast tracking" by submitting to appropriate journals an advert i sement for the job openi ng. Ms. Smith concurred and councilors agreed to advertise the opening immediately. D. Appointments Manager indicated that Council President and Vice President will be interviewing candidates for positions on MAPAC and the Commission on the Rights of Youth following the council meeting. E. Agenda Adjustments Manager explained that the Civic Center Commission had items to bring before the council. He suggested that Ed Smith, Civic Center, distri- bute the memoranda and that council consideration be at the end of the council session. He referred to the joint meeting of the previous evening between the City Council and the Civic Center Commission where it was decided to ask for council approval of these items. F. Announcements 1. City Council/KEED Baseball Game--July 26, 1980, Civic Stadium, e 6:15 p.m. 2. Spectra-Physics Meeting--July 30, 1980, 5:30 p.m. , 3. "Springfield Nite, II Our Town--July 30, 1980, dinner at 6:30 p.m., 5th Street Market, and Oregon Repertory Theatre performance, 8:30 p.m., Mall. G. Appointments Manager introduced Eric Mellgren, new Public Service Officer. He i s a sergeant in the Police Department. II. ROUTINE ITEMS FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL A. Approval of Council Minutes of July 2, 1980, and Amending Council Minutes of June 23, 1980. Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to approve council minutes of July 2, 1980, and amend council minutes of July 23, 1980, to delete "and Citizen Involvement Committee" from the motion as stated on page 10. e 7/23/80--2 Ms. Miller asked if there were a time line on fillina the appointments . on the Citizen Involvement Committee. Ms. Smith sai the intent of her motion was to have a public meeting of the council. Manager said the item would be on the council agenda the first week in August. Motion carried unanimously. B. Improvement Petition 1. 7th Avenue (affected property on petition; assessable costs: paving, total front footage 3,704; front footage petitioned 2,364, 63.8%; sanitary sewer, 100%; City cost, storm sewer, $33,000) Res. No. 3041--A resolution authorizing street paving and storm sewer construction in 7th Avenue from Seneca Road to Bailey Hill Road; storm sewer construction in Bailey Hill Road from 7th Avenue to 5th Avenue; and sanitary sewer construction to serve area between 5th and 7th avenues from Seneca to Bailey Hill Road (1849) Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to adopt the reso- lution. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. C. Call for Public Hearing 1. Airport Rate Increases (memo distributed) e Manager explained that the request for a public hearing was explained in the memorandum. He introduced Bob Shelby, Airport, to explain the increases. Mr. Shelby said that this was part of a continuing review process of all rates and charges. There is a continual adjustment of landing fees for commercial carriers, rents within the terminal, percentages of concessionaires, and from time to time, rates on the general aviation users as well. The aircraft parking fee and the fuel-flowage fee for a number of years have been the same. It is now time to look at the fee structure. Fee structures at other airports have been reviewed. This item has been discussed by the Airport Commission, along with other proposals. All three pro- posals under consideration produce approximately the same revenues. The real issue is who supports the Airport--users or property taxpayers. The council has made their decision clear. There is a real effort to make the Airport self-sustaining. Mr. Shelby asked for a favorable response from the council. Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to call a public hearing for July 28, 1980, for council to consider airport rate increases. Motion carried unanimously. e 7/23/80--3 III. ORDINANCE/RESOLUTION CALLING FOR SEPTEMBER ELECTION (memo distributed) Manager explained that this ordinance calls for an election on the Tier 2 budget considered by the Budget Committee which is made up of council e members and lay members. CB 2178--An ordinance ordering a special election to be conducted by the Lane County Election Department on the 16th day of September, 1980, for the purpose of submitting to the legal electors of the City of Eugene a measure authorizing a $1,233,820 property tax outs ide 1980-81 Charter 1 imitfor general City operat ions duri ng 1980-81 tax year; adopting polling places, and providing for all acts necessary for carrying on of said election; and declaring an emergency. Mr. Lieua11en moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, that the bill be read the second time by council bill number only, with unanimous consent of the council, and that enactment be considered at this time. Motion carried unanimously and the bill was read the second time by council bill number only. Mr. Lieua11en moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote. All councilors pres'ent vot i ng aye, the b ill was dec 1 ared p as sed and numbered 18684. Res. No.3402--A resolution referring Measure No. 51 to the legal electors of the City of Eugene authorizing the City to levy in excess of 1980-81 City Charter tax limit, general property taxes of $1,233,820 for the 1980-81 tax year. -- Mr. Lieua1len moved, seconded by Mr. Delay to adopt the resolution. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. IV. HEARINGS PANEL MINUTES/FINDINGS OF FACT FROM JULY 7, 1980, MEETING (findings distributed; minutes and staff report under separate cover) Manager explained that the findings of the Hearings Panel comprised of councilors Schue and Haws were to reverse the Zoning Board of Appeals decision to deny a request for variances to allow relocation of a resi- dence already on the property (1594 Mill Street) to four feet from the front property line on 16th Avenue with overhanging eaves extending to within two feet of that property line, and to allow an additional resi- dence (1590 Mill Street) to be moved onto the property and located with overhanging eaves extending to within one foot of the north interior property line. This was an appeal by Mr. Brad Perkins. Mr. Lieua11en moved, seconded by Mr. Obie, to approve and adopt the Hearings Panel minutes and findings of fact July 7, 1980. 7/23/80--4 - Mr. Delay asked that, since this was a quasi-judicial matter, the records e show that Mr. Perkins had contacted him several times regarding this matter. He had never discussed the merits of the case with him but had helped him expedite the matter with the City because of the unique circumstances involved. Ms. Miller announced that she had talked with Mr. Perkins about moving a building involved in this project, although it was a different building. The building he talked to her about had been demolished. He wanted to move the building onto the property where she was living at the time. They had extensive discussions about that. She felt it did not have anything directly to do with this project. (Mr. Delay commented later in the meeting on the variance process. See VI.) Motion carried unanimously. V. FIELD BURNING OF RYE GRASS ON EUGENE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT PROPERTY--STAFF PRESENTATION (memo distributed) Manager made a brief presentation in order to inform the council about burning on City-owned property in the vicinity of the airport. He wished the council to understand that due consideration is being given to the City.s policy, and posture on field burning generally, in this e. process. He introduced Mr. Shelby. Mr. Shelby explained that some five to ten years ago, the council's predecessors established a poli~y of not allowing field burning on the City's Airport property where rye grass is the principal crop. Airport management has adhered to that policy and has' asked the agricultural tenants to refrain from burning. As part of the implementation of the Airport Master Plan, they have recently acquired 150 acres northeast of the Airport. The acreage has successfully been in a burning program through coordination with the DEQ Burn Program. It has never presented a problem to the Airport. At the same time, there are 220 acres east of the Airport which have been the site of experimental burning. Mr. Shelby recommended keeping the 150 acres in the burn program and adding the 220 acres to the burning program with coordination with the control tower. He introduced Terry Smith, Public Works Department--Environmental Planning, to speak on the technical aspects of the burning. Mr. Smith explained that, after review of the issue, he does not feel that it will cause any serious problems. He did not feel it was wise to burn on the Airport proper. Mr. Smith reported on what he termed lIa near missll (smoke coming into Eugene) yesterday. He explained that a few years ago, similar bizarre wind patterns would have caused a smoke disaster. Due to the refinements in smoke management, they were able to avert the disaster. He distributed e a memorandum explaining the wind conditions. , 7/23/80--5 < , Mr. Delay asked if the City's cooperation with the seed ~rowers helped in averting the disaster. Mr. Smith replied it very defini ely did. He said the conditions yesterday, took hour-by-hour tracking; it was caught and the burning was stopped. Mr. Delay asked if the City's monitoring of the . daily ambience was working. Mr. Smith replied it was. - Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Hamel, to approve the staff recommendation with respect to burning around Airport property. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Obi e commented that it was a bi g day for the Eugene City Council when they approved field burning. VI. VARIANCE PROCESS Mr. Delay commented that the variance process, as presently constituted, is very time-consuming. Mr. Perkins started this process in April and unless the request had been expedited it would not have been resolved until August or September. Too many levels of bureaucracy can consume a lot of time. The current process is difficult for staff to work with, it is difficult for the appellant to work with, and it is difficult for the Hearings Panel. He wondered if during the code update some attention could be given to the variance process and procedure. Manager said that they could explore the trade-offs. He did not think it should be related to the code update, but that it should be an independent consideration and process. Mr. Delay asked for initial consideration by staff. If it were a large project, council should decide if it should be e pursued. Ms. Smith asked for a report back on posGible changes to the variance process. Manager said that it would be done. Mr. ,Perkins spoke from the audience. He felt that the main concern was with buildings that have to be moved. House moves are difficult in the central city. If the City wishes to infill and preserve existing structures, there has to be some relaxation in order to speed up the process of variance appeals. Mr. Haws left the meeting. VII. PERFORMING ARTS CENTER CONTRACT AWARDS--PHASE 4 (memorandum distrubuted) Manager referred to the supplemental agenda. He explained that the request was for approval of bids for Phase 4 construct ion. The bids were received June 26 in some 13 categories. There were substantial overruns. Since that date, staff, architects, consultants, and contractors have been 7/23/80--6 . . . working with construction management to change designs and find ways of cutting the bid costs. The result was set forth in the memoranda before . the council. Emerging from the joint meeting between the City Council and the Civic Center Commission last night (Tuesday) were recommendations for three actions: accepting of certain bids, rejection of all but two alternates, and application of $900,000 interest money for payment. Manager referred to the recommended deferrals which will be discussed by the Civic Center Commission at their later meetings. Under terms of the bid proposals, the City must notify the contractors by Friday of this week whether or not to proceed or to go through a process of asking for time extensions which could muddy the waters and make it difficult to get these things done. Manager introduced Ed Smith to provide background information. Mr. Smith referred to the first memorandum to the design team from Douglas R. Winn dated July 22, 1980, on the subject summary cost. Mr. Smith explained that they had considered all phases of the project and projected costs for the additional phases five and six. In balancing all of this, the budget appears to be $2,640,653 over budget. The second memorandum shows how they intend to balance the budget (budget reconciliation). They went back through all phases of the project, "value-engineered" all these phases, and reduced the cost by $1,058,801. In doing this, they have not sacrificed the artistic integrity or acoustical quality of the building. Mr. Smith referred to the list of deferred items. They felt that in the two years to completion, ways might be found to pay for the deferred items. Mr. Smith pointed out the additional bond interest revenues of $900,000. The Civic Center Commission/City Council meeting asked for a listing of items by priority and the date of decision. The commi ss i on e wished to discuss these items in more detail. Mr. Smith referred to a paper entitled Interest Income--Performing Art Center Bonds. This explains how they have spent the interest income and the reserve balance available ($1,153,646) . It also showed the reserve after subtracting $900,000 ($1,253,646). Mr. Smith said that this is considered a conservative appr.oach. The $900,000 is needed to cover the inflationary factor. Mr. Smith referred to the next page entitled Recommendation No.1, Phase 4, which indicates the contracts opened June 26 and the amount negotiated in the second column. There are two items to be rebid. Mr. Smith referred to the page entitled Recommendation No.2, Phase 4. When the bids came in June 26, the commission direction was that these be put out for alternate bids in the hope of acquiring some of these alternates. That has proved impossible. The recommendation is to reject all the alternate bids except numbers ten and eleven, which are credits. The Green Room and the Rehearsal Hall are being funded by the Performing Arts Foundation. In the hope of being able to value-engineer the cost for these two facilities, they have been put up for rebid. It wi 11 provide an opportunity to evaluate them in light of the new conference center and hotel. Recommendation No.3, Phase 4, was for the City Council to authorize the use of $900,000 of bond-interest fund. , 7/23/80--7 , . c' Mr. Lieuallen asked if the $900,000 was the total bond-interest monies and was told that $253,646 was left in the fund. Mr. Smith indicated that it would be wise to leave that amount until the end of construction at which time it could pay for the items in the deferral list. . Mr. Lieuallen asked if there were other phases. Mr. Smith indicated that Phase 5 would be for $1.7 million and that they hope to value-engineer it in order to keep it at $1.7 million. Mr. Delay said the process as it has been going on has been working all right in terms of covering inflationary costs with some of the commensurate interest return on the bond. It is obvious that this is the end of the road. There is no ultimate control over how these final bids will come in. It raises the question of whether the City is in a position to finish the project in the way the commission feels it should be done, which is going to take more funds than are available. The community should be asked if it wants to finish the building as it should be or if they want to cut corners. It is a tough decision; no councilor wants to commit additional General Fund monies to the project. Mr. Delay said that he would like to take this decision to the community. Ms. Smith and Mr. Obie agreed with Mr. Delay. Mr. Obie referred to the list of deferrals. He said that they were not a list of niceties--acous- tical doors for $5,000 are a must in order to use the theaters at the same time. They will have to find the money--it is hoped from more "value-engineering" and other sources. The City is getting less than a performing arts center if it does not include the deferred items. The problem is serious. He urged approval of the recommendations. He asked staff to report on items council has not heard about--the whole range of e fees and the project office costs relative to the budget and relative to the expectations for the entire project--costs to date relative to the project and projected costs for the entire project relative to budget. That is one area that the commission and the council have not looked at, and,one at which they should be looking in order to feel comfortable about it. Mr. Smith said that he would honor Mr. Obie's request to the commission as well as to the council. Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Hamel, to approve Recommen- dation 1 as attached. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. Recommendation 2--That bid alternatives included in June 26, 1980, bid opening be accepted or rejected as indicated in the attached. Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Hamel, to approve Recommen- dation 2 as attached. Roll ~all vote; motion carried unanimously. 7/23/80--8 . ~. ~ Recommendation 3--That the City Council authorize the use of $900,000 of bond interest reserve fund to compensate for the inflation factor. e Mr. Lieuallen moved, seconded by Mr. Hamel, to approve Recommen- dation 3 as attached. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. Mr. Hamel said that he hoped Mr. Smith had his back door well guarded on this one because the taking of $900,000 very much concerned him as to what would happen when they were short $1 million at the end of the project. Meeting was adjourned to July 28, 1980, at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, c~nr?~ Ci ty Man ager (Beth Conant, Minutes Recorder) BC:pm/CM23a19 e e 7/23/80--9