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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 04/20/05 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall April 20, 2005 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Jennifer Solomon, Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Gary Pap6, Bonny Bettman, Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor. Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ACTION: Resolution 4832 Authorizing the City Manager to Make Application to the State of Oregon for Designation of a West Eugene Enterprise Zone Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to approve Resolution 4832 authorizing the City Manager to make application to the State of Oregon for designation of a West Eugene Enterprise Zone. Ms. Taylor declared that the City was entering into the enterprise zone process unwisely and without enough public input. She cited several resources that supported her argument that such a zone would insulate development from the public arena for ten years and that little benefit had been reaped from such tax incentives in other areas of the country. She averred that an enterprise zone tended to redistribute the existing business activity and did not increase jobs. She felt the zone would more likely transfer jobs from one area of town to another. She predicted that six to eight people would move to the City of Eugene for every job provided. She quoted Eben Fodor, who said enterprise zones robbed communities of their tax base, subsidizing only a few businesses and giving no advantage to others. Ms. Taylor cited related City policies, on page 24 of the agenda packet, adding that staff could "relate anything they wanted to do to City policy." Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to amend Resolution No. 4832, the Attach- ment B version on page 31 of the agenda packet, to add the following provision to Section B; 'in addition, no investment within the Enterprise Zone will receive a tax exemption greater than an amount per new job created, with numbers to be determined prior to the zone's implementation.' Ms. Bettman averred that the zone would transfer tax money from needed services to subsidize jobs. She felt the zone was based on the amount of the investment and not the number of new jobs new business would provide. She thought this benefit was disproportionate to the benefit to the community. She wanted there to be a threshold for achieving community standards. She said a vote for her amendment would motivate her to support the main motion. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Kelly voiced his support for the amendment. He averred it would maximize the benefit of the enterprise zone. He was pleased to note that the amendment did not break new ground; such a cap had been instituted in a prior zone. Ms. Solomon called it premature to begin to frame community standards at this point. She said the council had already decided to have a community discussion on standards after the initial zone application was submitted. Mr. Pap~ agreed, stating that standards were not needed at this stage of the process. He asked if such a standard would help or hurt the application at the State level. Loan Specialist for the Financial Services Division Denny Braud responded that it would be an interim standard similar to what had been already proposed. Mr. Pap~ reiterated that he would prefer not to discuss and implement individual community standards separately. Mr. Kelly underscored that there was no monetary amount included in the current amendment. He stated that the amendment demonstrated the council's intent to be flexible. Ms. Bettman stated that her intent was that this cap would become "one with the zone" and embed the cap as part of the entire zone within boundaries. Mr. Poling said the council had worked hard to get to a seven-to-one vote on the application process. He recalled that the intent at this point was that the council would go ahead with the process with the under- standing that a public process for job quality standards would ensue. He reminded the council that City Manager Dennis Taylor had recommended the council use 1997 standards as a placeholder. He did not want to be rushed because the result could be a "shoddy product." He averred that the amendment bypassed the public process and was, as a result, unfair. Mr. Pryor commented that there were two issues that the council was addressing individually. He appreciated the desire on the part of people to insert what they felt was important into the community standards, but stressed that this was "discussion number two." He said the need to get the application in place was "discussion number one." Ms. Bettman said this was not a new issue. She reiterated her reasons for incorporating the cap in the language of the zone. She felt that without specific language, it would be completely open-ended. She predicted the enterprise zone would fail should it come to a tie vote. The motion failed, 5:3; Mr. Kelly, Ms. Ortiz, and Ms. Bettman voting in favor. Mr. Poling said the process should remain as simple as possible. He commented that one tax lot was not railroad property, the site of an auto "pick and pull" yard. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 2 Work Session Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to adopt Resolution No. 4832, as amended in Attachment B of this agenda item, with the boundary as proposed in Attachment F of this agenda item, including the addition of the 49.3 acre Pick and Pull parcel (tax lot 3700) to the boundary. Mr. Poling reiterated that it would exclude the other six properties that were considered railroad properties. Ms. Ortiz said while she appreciated the spirit in which the amendment was offered, the chance that something of no benefit to the community would take over the property should it sell was too great. She indicated that she would place a motion to amend on the table should Mr. Poling's motion pass. City Attorney Glenn Klein suggested that Ms. Ortiz move to delete the language she objected to from the amendment. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to amend Mr. Poling's amendment to delete the Pick and Pull property. Mr. Kelly said it was important over the short term to respect the community's wishes on this. He pointed out that the City Council could, by resolution, amend the boundary of the zone at any time. Mr. Poling stated that the intent of his amendment was to make sure the definition of the railroad property was addressed and the council was clear on the issue. He expressed his willingness to support Ms. Ortiz's amendment. Ms. Bettman supported Ms. Ortiz's amendment. She added that she hoped the motion that removed greenfields would be adhered to carefully. Mr. Braud assured her that staff had reviewed the entire area and removed all of the greenfield sites according to the traditional Planning definition of greenfield. Mr. Pap~ commented that he had never considered this property to be a railroad property. He thought presupposing what would move on to this site was a mistake. He noted that substantial properties had already been pulled out. Ms. Taylor opined that the whole community stood to lose from the proposed enterprise zone. She said her goal at this meeting had been to influence others to vote against the enterprise zone. Now she saw that in all likelihood the main motion would pass and she wished to change her vote on Ms. Bettman's motion to amend. Mr. Klein explained that it was not possible to change her vote at this point. Ms. Bettman indicated she would remake her motion. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to extend the time by five minutes. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Piercy called for the vote on Ms. Ortiz's amendment to Mr. Poling's amendment. The motion to amend the amendment passed, 5:3; Mr. Poling, Mr. Pap~, MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 3 Work Session and Ms. Solomon voting in opposition. The motion to amend the main motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to amend the motion with her previously moved amendment. The vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; Mr. Kelly, Ms. Bettman, Ms. Ortiz, and Ms. Taylor voting yes, and Mr. Pol- ing, Ms. Solomon, Mr. Pap6, and Mr. Pryor voting no. Mayor Piercy voted in support of the amendment and it passed. Speaking to the main motion, Ms. Taylor averred that an enterprise zone did not fit in with the City's policy of supporting sustainable development. She felt the income level provided by incoming businesses in the last enterprise zone fell below State and national averages. She predicted the zone would cause growth in certain parts of the City. She reiterated her feeling that the assumption that development would not happen without the zone was unsubstantiated. Ms. Bettman conveyed her appreciation for the work of staff and for the support her amendment had received. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to extend the time by two minutes. The motion passed, 6:2; Ms. Taylor and Mr. Poling voting in op- position. Mr. Kelly thanked staff and his colleagues for their work. Mayor Piercy called for the vote on the main motion. The main motion passed, 7:1; Ms. Taylor voting in opposition. Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to direct the City Manager, in the event that Eugene's enterprise zone designation application is ap- proved by the State of Oregon this year, to bring back a resolution prior to July 1, 2005, for adoption of interim local criteria consistent with the Pub- lic Benefit Criteria included in Attachment B and amended in Attachment C, with the understanding that new job quality standards would be adopted as soon as practical following notification of a successful designation ap- plication, in accordance with a public involvement process approved by the council, with the intent that 25 percent of the tax exemption benefit for qualified enterprise zone investments would be subject to the job quality standards. Mr. Poling underscored that the motion reflected the council's intent as agreed upon at the Council Process Session. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 4 Work Session B. ACTION: Resolution 4831 Forming a Local Improvement District For Paving, Constructing Curbs and Gutters, Sidewalks, Pedestrian Medians, Street Lights, and Stormwater Drainage on River Avenue From 200 Feet East of River Road to 100 Feet West of Beltline Highway City Manager Taylor explained that this was a matter that had been coming before the council for some time. He noted that the project had first appeared in the TransPlan in 1986 and had been in the current TransPlan and is part of the Eugene Arterial and Collector Street Plan, adopted in 1999. He said the project, as it currently stood, had been included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 Capital Budget. He underscored that the entity that had submitted the successful bid to undertake the work had agreed to hold to the amount of the bid from July 2004 until May 2005. He emphasized that expenses would only continue to increase should the work be delayed. Mr. Papd appreciated the memorandum staff provided on the subject. He related that he attended one of the public sessions that had been held and a great deal of concern had been expressed about the level of development that had been proposed. He tended to agree with area residents. He felt, given that most of River Avenue was commercially developed by businesses that did not draw pedestrian traffic the need for sidewalks on both sides of the street and two bicycle paths was not great. He hoped the council would consider scaling down the project so that only one sidewalk and the curbs and gutters would be constructed. Mr. Kelly commented that it was disturbing that bicycle lanes were considered as an afterthought for many people. It was important to him that bicycle facilities be improved. He noted that State law required such facilities for major collectors. Regarding the plan for sidewalks on both sides of the street, he asked how flexible the standards were. Principal Civil Engineer for the Public Works Department, Michelle Cahill, explained that the standards required sidewalks for both sides of a collector and were not flexible. City Manager Taylor added that the same standards applied for the County portion of the road. Ms. Bettman acknowledged that there had been a lot of citizen input and that both sides of the issue had been heard. She appreciated that the City had standards. She remarked that perhaps the reason the street did not have pedestrian traffic was that it did not have sidewalks. She indicated she would support postponement of the item until more input could be garnered. She did not feel well-acquainted enough with the details of the engineering to provide a qualified response to it. She suggested that staff work with the affected people and come back with another proposal. Mr. Poling observed the similarities the situation on River Avenue had with the Crest Drive neighborhood. He agreed with some of the public input, stating that he thought the proposal was %verbuilding" for the street it was planned for. He did not believe it necessary to have a sidewalk go by the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant. He felt there was very little pedestrian traffic east of the post office. He recommended that the plan be made less ~frilly." He added that no one was certain what the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) was going to do with the River Avenue/Beltline Road interchange and whether ODOT would choose to shut it down altogether. He pointed out that if the latter should occur, the City would have a ~nice road to nowhere." Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to substantially modify the improvements, re-bidding if necessary, and then conduct a hearing on the modified improvements. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 5 Work Session City Attorney Glenn Klein advised the council that re-bidding would likely be necessary if the improvements were modified and that a public hearing would likely be required if the improvements were put out to bid again. City Manager Taylor reiterated that the present bid would be lost and a bid on a modified plan for improvements would %ertainly cost more" even if the level of improvement was substantially reduced. Ms. Ortiz asked how it would cost more if the project was less encompassing. City Manager Taylor attributed the potential increase to cost increases, such as those for petroleum products, which had occurred within the last year. He thought the City would ultimately pay more for less. Mr. Pap~ disagreed with the notion that the cost of the current project as proposed should drive whether it continued as it stood. Regarding State standards on bicycle lanes, he asked if one bicycle lane would meet the requirement. Ms. Cahill replied that she did not believe that a partial bicycle path would meet the rule. City Manager Taylor pointed out that the bicycle lanes would not be assessed as part of the local improve- ment district (LID). Mr. Pap~ agreed that no sidewalk was really necessary in front of the sewage treatment plant. He also agreed that the River Avenue situation was similar to the Crest Drive situation. He thought the City should at the very least allow the River Avenue residents and business owners the same latitude it had extended to the Crest Drive neighbors in letting them participate in the design process to a degree. Ms. Taylor thought the council should listen to the property owners and take its time. She said of the mail she had received on the issue, the preponderance was in opposition to the current plan. Mr. Pryor commented that standards were intended to serve a purpose. In this case, he said, the plan seemed to propose more improvement than was needed. He favored looking at the project to see if it could be scaled back even though it could cost the same or more. City Manager Taylor reiterated that the proposal sought to apply the design standards for a major collector. He asked if the council's intent was to be open, as a general policy, to redesigning all of the standards on all of the streets or was this specific to River Avenue. He pointed out that any time a project involving an LID was proposed, local residents come forward in opposition to it. Mr. Kelly remarked that a delicate balance was needed between having standards as a touchstone for the progress of development and having standards with some flexibility. Ms. Bettman advised staff to take into strong consideration the desires of an affected neighborhood when making proposals such as the one before the council in order to avoid reworking them. She said a proposal for local improvements that was being roundly opposed by residents in the area would likely not gain council approval. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 6 Work Session C. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Executive Session was held pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(e) Prior to beginning of the Executive Session, Mr. Klein briefly reviewed the Overview of Eugene Code Provisions on Disposition of Rea! Property. Copies were provided to all those present. He stated that the four different processes the City could dispose of a piece of real property were, as follows: 1) The City manager could either use a public notice that the City intended to sell a property or pro- posals could be solicited for the property; 2) The City Manager could declare a property "surplus" and the council would receive notice of it and could object or not; 3) The City Council could initiate the disposal of real property with or without public notice if it was to another governmental body; 4) When the manager had a proposal that was acceptable in his or her mind then he or she could present it to the City Council for approval. In response to a question from Mr. Kelly, Mr. Klein stated that the Urban Renewal Agency was another government agency but it would have to go through the same public process the council was required to go through to purchase property. Mayor Piercy adjourned the City Council work session at 1:10 p.m. The council then entered into an executive session. Mayor Piercy reconvened the meeting of the City Council following the executive session. Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to direct the City Manager to discuss with interested parties ideas that would facilitate the development of a Whole Foods Market, music school, and parking structure, all in the downtown area near City Hall. The motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 20, 2005 Page 7 Work Session