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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/25/06 Meeting M I N U T E S Eugene City Council City Council Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall September 25, 2006 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Andrea Ortiz, Gary Papé, George Poling, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Peg Renkert , 589 Covey Lane, related that on May 21 her house was demolished by a 90-foot-tall, 30,000-pound electrical transmission tower, causing over $200,000 in damage. She had been away at a fundraiser, but usually on that night of the week she had a family night at her house. Had her family been there, she felt they could have come to serious harm. She alleged that she encountered difficulties in her attempts to get “more than lip service and attitude” from the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) in this matter. She said the Quail Run Homeowners Association (QRHA) and the Harlow Neighbors Association (HNA) supported her efforts. She alleged that EWEB staff had destroyed evidence, kept information from her, and refused her requests to have access to the destroyed concrete tower. She related that she had been told by an EWEB representative that the concrete from the tower had gone to Eugene Sand & Gravel to be crushed. She inquired about the concrete at several such businesses, including Eugene Sand & Gravel, and no one seemed to know anything about it. She asserted that EWEB was hiding something. She stated that the QRHA was trying to get the towers rerouted, but EWEB had decided to keep the towers where they were. Kerry Lancy , 3626 Oxbow Way, Ms. Renkert’s daughter, felt that had May 21 been “a normal Sunday” for her family, she and her children would have been in the living room that was been crushed by the tower. She was very upset by this. She asserted that EWEB had withheld information and possibly provided false information about where the remains of the poles are. She alleged that EWEB did not include the citizens of Eugene in its decisions and actions. She cited as evidence EWEB’s unwillingness to discuss relocating the transmission lines. She recalled that EWEB was chartered by the City of Eugene to serve the interests of its citizens. She asked the council to require it to provide the information and to ask it to work with the QRHA and HNA in a participatory process to explore options for rerouting the poles. She noted that these types of poles were located all over the city and predicted that another one would fall. Clement Bosch , 469 Covey Lane, president of the QRHA, stated that when two poles broke, one falling on Ms. Renkert’s house, Quail Run area residents had ceased to feel safe. He averred that residents living by MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 1 Regular Meeting the towers were greatly concerned that one would fall on them, too. He said EWEB agreed to replace the two fallen towers and the two next to them with steel towers. While he felt that was a good start, he did not think it was enough. He stated that EWEB would not replace a fifth tower, the one that was immediately north of the one that had failed, although it was leaning. He related that EWEB indicated that the tower would not lean after the wires were reconnected. He did not feel this was reassuring, especially to the residents who could see the leaning tower from their windows. He stated that the towers had been placed there in the 1970s prior to any residences and were supposed to stand for at least 100 years. He thought EWEB’s 35-year-old assumptions were not valid today. He questioned how EWEB could think that it would not happen again. He said according to meteorologists violent weather was on the rise and predicted there would be more storms of great magnitude. He reiterated Ms. Renkert’s requests for more information and cooperation in rerouting the towers. Renee Gottesman , 473 Covey Lane, member of the board of the QRHA, had been out of town when the towers fell. She had been shocked to return to the damage that occurred. She said people had lost confidence in the structures. She related that she was present at the EWEB meeting at which the Quail Run residents testified. She was disappointed in EWEB’s response to this situation. She hoped that the City Council could exert some influence on EWEB. Matt Svoboda , 492 Covey Lane, stated that he and his wife looked out their bedroom window at the leaning transmission tower. He related that it was scary to look at. He urged EWEB to replace it with a more stable tower or, better yet, to move the whole set of towers. He read the tail end of Ms. Renkert’s statement as she had run out of time. Ms. Renkert wanted to emphasize that this type of transmission tower was in use in many different areas of the community. She wished to underscore that EWEB’s Website encouraged the public to participate in the utility’s process. She no longer believed this was true. Keith Nastiuk , 489 Covey Lane, stated that the number one issue the QRHA was addressing was that EWEB felt the utility facilities were there first and, therefore, should not be relocated. He averred that the dynamics of the area had changed and there was now a community of 200 people living there; some residents with a sizable investment in the area. He believed EWEB officials needed to sit down with all of the residents in order to provide them with the opportunity to work with EWEB staff to relocate the towers. He asserted that the towers no longer belonged there. Kate Perle , 4740 Wendover Street, registered her opposition to the “ongoing street annexations” in the River Road/Santa Clara area. She had seen a notice on a telephone pole regarding a street annexation scheduled to be considered on October 5. She was angered by this, as street annexations were supposed to be voluntary. She alleged that the residents who applied for annexation of their property in order to get a building permit were asked by staff if the street adjacent to them could be “piggybacked” onto their annexation and the residents had said no. She alleged that staff had proceeded with this annexation request anyway. She felt the street annexations were surrounding residents and removing from them the right to vote should “wholesale” annexation eventually happen. She called this an insidious, underhanded, and highly unfriendly treatment of the community. She asserted that City staff talked about annexation and likened it to being a band-aid that needed to be ripped off and would only hurt for a little bit. She found this offensive because the River Road/Santa Clara area was “not a sore on the edge of Eugene.” Rather, it was a “vibrant, valuable community” that she felt the City should treat with dignity and respect. She averred that the River Road/Santa Clara community was filled with capable collaborative “folks” who were interested in a positive future, but if City staff “continued to step on peoples’ toes” it would cause irreparable harm to area residents’ trust. She stated that both the Santa Clara Community Organization and the River Road Community Organization opposed connecting street annexations with property MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 2 Regular Meeting annexations. Additionally, she thought the reason for the annexations was that if the City annexed the streets on its own, it would have to pay the fee, but by tacking it on to an existing annexation request this was not so. Claire Syrett , 363 Adams Street, stated that she was a member of the Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI) Task Force and a representative of workers’ interests. She hoped the council would support the recom- mendations of the SBI Task Force and would understand that they were the first steps in moving the local economy towards true sustainability. She related that initially the task force had no idea what a daunting task they were undertaking. The process, approach, and goals, she felt, were uncharted territory for Eugene, as bringing business, environmental, government, and worker interests together to seek ways to promote sustainable business practices had never been done before. She hoped the council and community would build upon this work to continue to move the initiative toward success. She averred that success must include equal footing for the consideration of workers in the local economy. She noted that the press had focused on the environmental recommendations. She underscored that without the deliberate inclusion of the needs of workers and the greater community the initiative would fail. She said how workers were encouraged to do the work of the sustainable business would be critical to the success of the initiative. The Eugene/Springfield Solidarity Network (ESSN) and the Labor Education and Research Center researched local workers’ views on sustainable business and found great support for the concept and those businesses seen as sustainable. She related that workers also expressed skepticism that business would give the workers and their needs co-equal status with the needs of protecting the environment. She asserted that workers wanted real standards by which they could judge whether or not a business was sustainable and that included worker treatment and positive interaction with the community. She noted that there was struggle within the task force about how to set measurements for sustainability with regard to workers’ concerns, while environmental measurements were seen as acceptable. She felt this should be of concern to those who wanted the initiative to succeed. She also felt it offered an opportunity for leadership on the part of the City Council to work through the “sticking points.” th Kartar Khalsa , 795 East 37 Avenue, member of the SBI Task Force, thanked the Mayor for the vision and courage that it took to put the SBI group together. He highly encouraged the City Council to support the recommendations of the SBI. He said the most important part would be to set up a system that would live beyond this current administration and be self-sustaining for the length of time it would take to achieve the goals that had been set. He urged the council to establish a system to set an office or commission of sustainability to ensure the efforts were continued. He felt this was an opportunity for the City to take a leadership role and to partner with business and the Chamber of Commerce, in order to develop sustainable business and to bring new sustainable business to the community. He asked the council to look at the SBI recommendations carefully and to make the investment now for the future, because the future would be different. He averred that the resources available in the future would be different. He stated that he wanted a sustainable future for the children. Kathy Johnson , 465 Covey Lane, echoed the points made by her Quail Run neighbors. For he, it boiled down to an issue of safety, which should be the first priority. She believed EWEB was putting dollars and cents above the safety of the community. She urged the council to help bring EWEB to the table to come up with a viable solution that would be safe for all of the community. Randy Stender , 2898 Powderhorn Street, recommended the Council Chamber be converted into a Cultural Center. He reminded the council that DIVA submitted a statement of interest, signed by many of the cultural organizations in town, requesting the opportunity to do so. He noted that the signers included David Turner, director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum, and Bob Hart, of the Lane County Historical MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 3 Regular Meeting Museum. He related that they discussed the establishment of an outreach gallery for the University of Oregon. He thought this would be a bridge to the “town and gown” issue the town faced. He suggested the County-owned “butterfly” parking lot location for a new City Hall site. Jan Swanson , 489 Covey Lane, stated that she had bought a home in the Quail Run neighborhood because of the quality of construction. She wanted EWEB to take responsibility for the accident that occurred on May 21 and replace and relocate all of the poles. Carolyn Kranzler , 2660 Cresta De Ruta, urged the City of Eugene and the council to take a proactive role in the development of the city center as a comprehensive cultural center. She averred that adopting the theme “arts and outdoors” was a first step. She said the next step would be to provide funds and the direction to facilitate that development. She asked that the City retain the current City Hall complex as a cultural center. She thought the building was well-suited for it. She envisioned a mixed-use facility with arts-related retail, galleries, art schools, and live theater. She suggested that the Council Chamber could be used for films, videos, and cultural presentations. She asked the council to imagine the surrounding plaza as a sculpture garden. Noting she was an architect, she registered her objection to razing a serviceable building. She asserted that the City had done this many times in the past. She objected strongly to the expenditure of $500,000 “just to clear the site.” She also thought relocating city offices twice was a waste of money. She echoed Mr. Stender’s recommendation that the “butterfly” lot be utilized for a new City Hall site. st Lisa Arkin , 436 West 21 Avenue, a member of the SBI Task Force, thanked Mayor Piercy for convening the task force. She remarked that she had gone into the process with the idea that she knew a lot about sustainability, given that she was the executive director of the Oregon Toxics Alliance, but the task force experience had taught her how little she knew. She commended the work of Bob Doppelt and his interns for the leadership they provided, especially given that there were 16 members. She related that she had participated in a day-long retreat and had been paired with fellow member Rusty Rexius to explore the concept of sustainable purchasing. She said they spent three hours talking about it and determined they could “barely make the thinnest of recommendations” because of the vastness of the subject. She recommended the City lead by looking into a process by which products with toxic elements could be identified and by finding readily available alternatives. She hoped the council would take the task force’s recommendation seriously and create a commission and an office for the future. Pauline Hutson , 1025 Taylor Street, said she watched the City Council discussion on the Jefferson- Westside Neighborhood and had become concerned that there might be some misunderstandings about the economic circumstances of some of the residents there. She wished to underscore that she and her partner had lived in the neighborhood for five and a half years; they were a one-income family that could not afford to move. Their vehicles were more than 20 years old and they could not afford to replace them. She said the neighborhood featured diversity in households and economic backgrounds, with a mixture of renters, homeowners, and landlords. She noted that she and her partner were active members of the Chambers Area Families for Healthy Neighborhoods (CAFHN), which had a continuing interest in ensuring that the neighborhood remained attractive and safe. She added that 40 percent of the residents in the CAFHN area were renters. Jozef Siekiel-Zdzienicki , 1025 Taylor Street, did not believe bed and breakfasts were zoned correctly. He stated that such a business could have up to five rooms to let but was not required to provide off - street parking, though motels were required to do so. He said bed and breakfasts were 24-hour commercial MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 4 Regular Meeting ventures and could be noisy at all hours, seven days a week. He objected to the placement of bed and breakfast businesses in residential neighborhoods. st Scott Bartlett , 1445 East 21 Avenue, recalled the different city managers who had served Eugene over the years. He read in The Register-Guard that City Manager Dennis Taylor might be “lured” away by a job in Lawrence, Kansas. He valued all of the elected officials. He had met Mr. Taylor several times and understood that Mr. Taylor had originally come from Kansas. He remembered hearing that Robert F. Kennedy was a source of inspiration for Mr.Taylor. He appreciated the natural tensions that happened between a city council that would want “legitimate oversight” and the city manager who acted as “the traffic cop” that juggled all the elements of the City. Having viewed the City Manager on Channel 21 and read about him in the newspaper, he concluded that Mr. Taylor was a very decent human being, motivated by high principles. He averred that our country needed to be in touch with its greatest political thinkers on both sides of the aisle as we enter into difficult troubled waters. He presented a picture of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Ted Kennedy to Mr. Taylor that he had owned for 30 years. The City Manager graciously accepted the picture. Bob Kline , 594 Covey Lane, chairman of the Harlow Neighborhood Association and a Quail Run resident, related that he and his wife had witnessed the transmission lines fallen across their backyard. He attended two meetings with EWEB and felt that while many questions were asked, not many had been answered. He reiterated that transmission towers were all over the City and averred that this was not just a Quail Run issue. He asked if no one had oversight over EWEB. He read a resolution passed unanimously by the Harlow Neighborhood Association that demanded that neighborhood residents be allowed to participate in the process to place the towers and to inspect the damaged remnants of the tower that fell. Zachary Vishanoff, on Patterson Street, averred that if the City denied discussion of adaptive reuse of the current city hall complex “with people who really know about that stuff” it would be “continuing its destructive pattern.” He reiterated his unhappiness with the razing of the closed cannery building, now the location of the new federal courthouse. He asserted that adaptive reuse was “real sustainability.” He said the problem with new urbanism was that it always made “it new” and did not respect existing communities. He was afraid that creating a sustainable business initiative without public input to point out potential pitfalls, would allow there to be ways for a pesticide producer to declare itself sustainable. He noted that there had not been much public input at the SBI Task Force meetings. He was concerned that sustainabil- ity was a “slippery term.” He asserted that there were many “Fortune 500” companies with sustainable initiatives and he did not want them expanding in Eugene. He wanted a public hearing to be held. He recommended that the councilors Google the following: “Smart Growth: Smart or Not.” Charles Biggs , 540 Antelope Way, expressed his agreement with the Quail Run residents’ demand to inspect the remains of the concrete towers, the testimony objecting to the annexation of roads, and the supporters of the Sustainable Business Initiative. Regarding the latter, he had tried to attend as many of the meetings as he could. He encouraged the City Council to learn as much as possible about the “triple bottom line: the environment, the economy, and the social aspect.” He thought it important to engage in “whole system thinking” and asked that the City Council think about how sustainable a decision they were about to make would be in all aspects of it. He wished to see sustainability permeate the status quo of local government. Cary Thompson , 966 Jackson Street, expressed his support for the work of the SBI Task Force. He hoped the report would not sit on a shelf and gather dust. He thought the initiative was an opportunity to MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 5 Regular Meeting engage in ongoing collaboration between city staff, the University of Oregon, the general public, and the business community. He urged the council accept many of the recommendations, especially the recommen- dation to form an office of sustainability and board or commission. David Hinkley , 1350 Lawrence Street #1, said he had provided initial comments in regard to opportunity siting and infill to the council via email. He asserted that infill was not being built to destroy neighbor- hoods, rather the intention was to provide housing for people, in many cases affordable housing. He noted he was one of the “48 percent” of Eugene residents that rented. He averred that rental housing was more susceptible to market forces than owner-occupied dwellings. He felt that if there was a limited amount of housing available, the people willing and able to spend the most money for housing would have a roof over their heads while “the rest of us end up in cars and under bridges.” He underscored that the City needed to ensure that there was adequate rental housing available to meet the need. He felt that zoning out large portions of the city as “permit-able” places to develop rental housing was not a way to address the problem. He said he was seeing and hearing people who, for a variety of reasons, were worried about the impact infill would have on their neighborhood. He wished to point out that a large number of homeless people might have a greater impact. He added that apartments were residential in nature and renters were people deserving of a place to live. Chris Bush , 495 Covey Lane, a licensed electrical engineer, stated that he had moved into the Quail Run neighborhood 18 months earlier. He noted that prior to being an electrical engineer he had worked as a lineman and that he was an electrocution survivor. He was bothered that the residents were not able to analyze the failed structures. He found the circumstances regarding the remains of the towers that were alleged to have disappeared to be “suspicious.” He read a passage from a chapter entitled Accidents Waiting to Happen in an engineering book that stressed the importance of keeping the discussion of the cause of a failed of a structure as open as possible. He had formerly believed that “[his] industry” would proceed to do the right thing but he no longer had confidence in this. He related that he walked or rode his recumbent bike under the transmission lines every day. He said it was common that the industry was finding that projected lifespans of such structures were compromised by unexpected corrosion of the steel supporting members. He asked why such an important lesson was “destroyed.” Rob Handy , 455-½ River Road, echoed Mr. Bartlett’s comments regarding the City Manager. He restated the recommendation from the Neighborhood Leaders Council for the work plan the council would review on September 27. He related that the council had two priorities: 1) the implementation of infill compatibil- ity standards and 2) the next generation of enforceable neighborhood plans. He said they also had a companion motion that talked about preserving the natural environment, which was a high priority “encompassing a broad spectrum of tasks and projects” including watershed and wetlands protection, stormwater management, tree preservation and more. He indicated he would send the full text of this advisory. Mr. Handy advised, regarding the River Road neighborhood, that first the City should “do no harm.” He said this needed to be kept in mind when looking at how to balance development, heritage neighborhoods, and the protection of the stability and quality of those neighborhoods. He wanted to examine how low- impact development standards could be designed and implemented. He also wanted to look into how the City could preserve its green space. He asked the council to consider how to incorporate things that everyone talked about in the transition project. He felt the “nice things from the framework strategy” should be implemented city-wide, or if not city-wide at least on a case by case basis in the River Road/Santa Clara neighborhood. He asserted the neighborhood was trying to “prove the. . . new culture of trust” and if area residents could see those elements “on the ground” it would be helpful. He echoed Ms. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 6 Regular Meeting Perle’s concerns regarding street annexations. He noted that Planning and Development Department (PDD) staff had called street annexations reasonable and logical. He opined that this was not “panning out.” He questioned why the City was looking to create a contentious situation for a possible short-term gain. Mike Morin , 361 West Broadway, #12, wished to second the comments of Ms. Syrett. In regard to the Sustainable Business Initiative, he averred that if profits were to be made then profits should be reinvested in the community. He declared that sustainability must address global warming, peak oil, noise, and air and water pollution. He said by 2020 people needed to radically reduce their dependence on the automo- bile. He lauded Mr. Rexius for the work he had done, but disagreed that the community should have as a goal to attract outside businesses. He questioned why the City would do so when it had “such a talent pool” associated with the University population. He said the big issue was equity; sustainability without equity and equity without sustainability would not work. He felt the goal should not be more rental housing and wages but rather the goal should be to give ownership to the less fortunate members of society. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called for council comments. She conveyed her appreciation for all of the work that the task force members had done on the Sustainable Business Initiative. She wished to point out that the process had included two community forums, surveys, 750 people, and 50 people on a technical advisory committee in an attempt to be as inclusive as possible. She thanked the people who spoke about the initiative for coming to the council meeting. She also expressed appreciation for the people who spoke on other topics. Councilor Papé echoed the Mayor’s comments regarding the public testimony. He had been very concerned and disturbed to hear of the Quail Run homeowners difficulties in communicating with EWEB. He intended to call EWEB Commissioner Ron Farmer regarding the tower issue. He noted that unless there were issues related to money, the City Council had very little influence over EWEB. Councilor Papé was also concerned about the practice of “piggybacking” street annexations on top of property annexations. He asked for a memorandum in response to Ms. Perle’s testimony. He thought there should be a community discussion on this issue. Regarding the reuse of City Hall, Councilor Papé said he was concerned with the safety of the structure. He explained that the City had obtained several studies of the seismic inadequacies of the structure. He averred that he would not put a public place in the place of the City Hall without improving the building structurally. He added that the City would not have the resources to provide the needed seismic upgrades. Councilor Solomon said she also wished to have a memorandum clarifying the council’s authority over EWEB. She wanted to know what the council could do to encourage EWEB to move on the issue. She thanked the Quail Run residents for coming down and testifying. Councilor Solomon announced that residents in her ward, the North Eugene/Bethel/Danebo area, would have an opportunity to provide comments on September 26 to the Mayor and her at the Albertson’s Store. Councilor Poling said he had the same question regarding the delineation of authority over EWEB. He urged his colleagues to do what they could to ask EWEB to work more closely with the Quail Run residents. He declared that something must be done about the problem. He said he had been invited to view the damage and had been amazed. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 7 Regular Meeting Councilor Kelly thanked the members of the public for their testimony. He seconded Councilor Solomon’s request for a memorandum regarding the council’s legal authority over EWEB. He thought if nothing else Councilor Poling could draft a letter to EWEB for the City Councilors to sign. Additionally, Councilor Kelly suggested that the City Council hold a work session on the annexation policy. Councilor Taylor expressed concern about the River Road area residents, especially given that the residents that had testified had talked about their trust being destroyed. Councilor Taylor echoed the comments of her colleagues regarding the Quail Run issue. Continuing, Councilor Taylor also agreed with Mr. Morin regarding whether to attract outside business. She preferred to preserve local businesses. Councilor Taylor, noting she was in the minority, reiterated her preference to save the existing City Hall and continue using it for that purpose after retrofitting it. Councilor Ortiz supported the proposal to have a work session on street annexations and also supported the idea of sending a letter to the EWEB Board. Councilor Ortiz had been moved by the picture of the Kennedy brothers presented to the City Manager. She was saddened by the news that City Manager Taylor was considering another city management job. She supported his need to do what was best for him but hoped he would remain in Eugene. Councilor Bettman commented that EWEB had come up “over and over” as an issue. She asserted that there was “no oversight” over EWEB. She said EWEB’s authority was granted to it by the City charter and given that the charter was created by the people of Eugene it would be up to the people to change the charter. She opined that EWEB was “an entity unto itself with virtually no oversight except the oversight that happens internally.” Councilor Papé asked if a work session was scheduled with EWEB. City Manager Taylor replied that the Mayor and he had been trying to meet regularly with EWEB and had discussed having a joint meeting. He related that a tour had been set up for November 15 to understand better the property issues associated with their location. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - August 14, 2006, Work Session - August 16, 2006, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Approval of Exchange of Real Property Interests on Franklin Boulevard D. Appointments to Lane Workforce Partnership Board Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 8 Regular Meeting Councilor Bettman indicated she had submitted a minutes correction electronically. She also wished to pull Item C. Mayor Piercy deemed the correction, without objection, approved. Councilor Papé also wanted to pull Item C. Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Item C passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Bettman asked if the City had formally applied for an easement from the Oregon Department of Transportation and whether the application easement had been rejected or denied. City Engineer for the Public Works Department, Mark Schoening, replied that the City had not formally applied for an easement, but had consulted ODOT regarding its access policies. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Mr. Schoening affirmed that the Tedron properties were the only properties adjacent to the existing City-owned property. Councilor Bettman asked if that property surrounded the City-owned parcel. Mr. Schoening replied that the ODOT right-of-way lay on one boundary and the Tedron properties bounded the other sides of the property. Councilor Bettman asked how wide the long and narrow parcel was. Mr. Schoening surmised from the aerial photo that it was approximately 10 feet wide on one end and 20 feet wide on the other. In response to a follow-up question, Mr. Schoening explained that the Millrace lay between the back of the building and the railroad. Councilor Bettman recalled that when looking at a property exchange with the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) she had been told that “property in the water does not count.” City Manager Taylor asked if she was talking about property lines within the Willamette River. Councilor Bettman affirmed that she was. City Manager Taylor explained that those principles did not apply in this instance. Councilor Bettman felt the Tedron property was a useless strip of land and the City was trading a prime piece of property for it. She opined that the City had not made a formal application for a right-of-way and then had used hearsay as a justification for trading a prime piece of property for a substandard piece of property. This did not make sense to her. In response to a question from Councilor Papé, Mr. Schoening said while he did not know the exact terms of the easement, it was for protection of the Millrace and having control of the property adjacent to the city- owned park property. Councilor Papé asked if there was any way to purchase enough property or to get enough of an easement to further develop the bicycle path. Mr. Schoening replied that this was part of the intent. He assured Councilor Papé that there would be enough “dry ground” between the railroad and the Millrace to build onto the bicycle path. Councilor Papé asked if anyone had looked at the property to ascertain whether there was enough property to give a level of flexibility in planning for future uses. Mr. Schoening did not know the answer to that question. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 9 Regular Meeting Councilor Papé, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to table the item until that answer was known. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:2; councilors Poling and Ortiz voting in op- position. Councilor Kelly said he could not tell from the map how much of the easement was the Millrace and whether there was the potential of acquiring an additional easement from Tedron properties that could provide space for a bicycle path. He also understood that ODOT was in the process of transferring jurisdiction over a part of Franklin Boulevard to the City and asked if the City parcel in question was fronting on this portion of Franklin Boulevard. Councilor Bettman asserted that given that the area this property was located in was in a redevelopment process should the City “wait a few years” the City would make more money on the property. 3. ACTION: Resolution 4890; Expressing Support for Measure 20-114, A Measure to Change the Charter of Lane County Government City Manager Taylor explained that the Lane Board of County Commissioners and Jim Johnson had brought the proposed Resolution to the council. The material in the council packet was prepared by Mr. Johnson. Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Ortiz, to adopt Resolution 4890, expressing sup- port for Measure 20-114, a measure to change the charter of Lane County government. Mayor Piercy related that initially she had not supported the Public Safety District as she had been concerned that it would impact some of the other financial needs of the City. She had agreed to meet with the County and work on something that she could support. She and Councilor Kelly met with the commissioners and with mayors from throughout Lane County over the course of some months. She said they reviewed the services that were provided and the “holes” in the public safety system. She said over half of the resulting measure was dedicated to prevention, intervention, and treatment. She felt the City should support the public safety system. Councilor Kelly echoed Mayor Piercy’s comments. Councilor Solomon said she was satisfied that the measure had arisen from a thoughtful process. She called the existing system “dismal.” She appreciated that a rate had been set in the measure and that a property tax credit had been included. She noted that she was the City Council representative to the Public Safety Coordinating Council (PSCC). She stressed that at present the County had too few people trying to do too much work for public safety. She hoped the voters would support it. Councilor Bettman said she had sent a memorandum with questions. District Attorney Doug Harcleroad reviewed some of her questions. He said 100 percent of any reserve funds that were raised by this public safety tax measure would be dedicated to public safety. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 10 Regular Meeting Lane County Intergovernmental Relations Manager, Tony Bieda, stated, in response to Councilor Bettman’s second question, that the mix of funds that were applied to the health and human services programs and services that the County currently offered would require analysis to determine how the public safety tax would be applied. Mr. Harcleroad noted that Councilor Bettman’s third question sought to clarify what process the County Commissioners would use to modify the revenue allocation proposal. He explained that the charter amendment said, under (2), that through 2012 Lane County would focus increased revenue on significantly reducing illegal drug production, dealing, and use, especially methamphetamine; reducing family violence, enhancing drug and alcohol treatment programs for addicted adult and youth, and providing prevention programs to reduce future crime. He said the board had to do so for at least five years. There was a detailed list of all of the programs put together by the task force on which the Mayor and Councilor Kelly had sat. Regarding a question from Councilor Bettman that asked whether a $30 refund due to a renter who paid income tax could potentially be given to his or her landlord, Mr. Harcleroad stressed that it was not a refund; rather it was a credit that went to the individual that applied for the tax return. Mr. Harlcleroad stated, in response to another question from Councilor Bettman, that the cost to administer the program was estimated to be three percent, or $800,000. Councilor Bettman agreed that there was a deficit in funding the public safety services that the City did not address. She also agreed that the task force had done a good job of identifying the problems and the solutions. However, she opposed the funding mechanism. She believed it would lose at the ballot. She said she would have supported the tax if it had been configured differently. She said if the measure failed, she would be happy to serve on the next tax force. Councilor Bettman said she had a problem with the measure as it was written because she felt it was a simple process for commissioners to add or take away services. She interpreted the language as allowing capital infrastructure to be built with this money. She asserted that the measure was not constrained enough to the “valuable services” people would endorse when voting. She called the charter amendment “a Machiavellian mechanism” that said the income tax would be limited. She thought the charter amendment should have “strictly called out” the percentages that would be allocated to prevention, treatment, parole, and the capacity at the jail. Councilor Papé said the need was well-documented and he trusted the commissioners to do the right thing. He also respected the process, though he would have done it differently. He supported the resolution. He was concerned by the greatness of the need. Councilor Poling thanked Mayor Piercy and Councilor Kelly for their comments. He stated that the matrix system for early release from the county jail had been put into use in 1986. At that time, he worked with a deputy and the worst crime for which arrestees were “matrixed out” had been a “Theft 3” or a Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII). He said over the years, the cutoff point for the matrix system kept growing and the number of inmates kept growing and the caliber of inmate being released became more serious. He averred that the system had been crumbling since 1978. He declared that the measure was one of the best proposals he had seen over the years to try and help fund the law enforcement community in Lane County. He supported the measure and hoped that his colleagues would support it as well. He did not believe that a commissioner would come in 2013 and circumvent the charter amendment. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 11 Regular Meeting Regarding the property tax credit, Councilor Taylor ascertained from Mr. Harcleroad that it was a credit for a portion of the taxes that went to the County. She said supposing a homeowner in Eugene paid $3,000 per year in property taxes, what portion of it would go to the County? Mr. Harcleroad replied that no property tax paid to the City of Eugene would be reduced. He stressed that the only property tax that would be reduced would be the portion paid to Lane County. Councilor Taylor opined that this would be a much smaller amount than people would think it would be. She felt it was deceptive to give people the impression that they would receive a large refund. She asked how much of the administrative costs could be attributed to the reduction in property tax. Mr. Harcleroad responded that he would obtain that figure for the council. Councilor Taylor indicated that she was not ready to approve the resolution. Councilor Bettman agreed it was unlikely that a commissioner elected in 2013 would circumvent the intent of the charter amendment. She thought the rural patrols would be covered, according to the charter amendment language. She said the amendment was not the ordinance implementing the income tax and the programs as it basically limited the tax to two percent or less and dedicated it to public safety. She declared that public safety was a broad category. She felt because of this the ordinance could pay for rural patrols, the building of a jail, or building “any kind of building that could be construed as providing public safety services.” She asserted that the County could end up in the same position after ten years; that the majority of the revenues could ultimately be dedicated to infrastructure and the services would still not be funded. She wanted the charter amendment to be more constrained and circumscribed in order for her to support it. Councilor Papé asked why Mr. Harcleroad was at the council meeting and not a County Commissioner. Mr. Harcleroad explained that because of his position as District Attorney, he was more knowledgeable on the subject of public safety. Councilor Papé, seconded by Councilor Poling, called for the question. The vote was a tie; councilors Papé, Poling, Solomon, and Pryor voting yes; councilors Kelly, Taylor, Ortiz, and Bettman voting no. The Mayor voted against calling the question and the motion failed. Councilor Bettman asked how many of the other communities had endorsed the measure and, of them, how many had given unanimous support for it. Mr. Harcleroad replied that 12 cities had been asked to endorse the resolution. Veneta provided unanimous endorsement, Florence provided unanimous endorsement, Dunes City provided unanimous endorsement, Creswell provided unanimous endorsement, and a motion had been made to endorse it at the Coburg City Council but it died for lack of a second. Councilor Bettman asserted that Eugene residents would be subsidizing rural services. She could not support the resolution. Mayor Piercy shared her belief that it takes everyone to build a system together. The motion to approve Resolution 4890 passed, 6:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting in opposition. The meeting was adjourned at 9:32 p.m. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 12 Regular Meeting Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 25, 2006 Page 13 Regular Meeting