HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/22/03 Mtg MINUTES
Eugene City Council
Regular Meeting
Council Chamber--City Hall
September 22, 2003
7:30 p.m.
COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Nancy Nathanson, Bonny
Bettman, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon.
Mayor James Torrey called the meeting to order.
1. PUBLIC FORUM
Mayor Torrey reviewed the rules of the Public Forum.
Susan Bowie-McCoy, 770 Bailey Hill Road, spoke as a representative of Food for Lane County (FFLC).
She said that FFLC and the Lane County Food Coalition scheduled three "Let's Talk Food" forums for
the coming week. She noted that she had provided information on the forums to the mayor and
councilors via e-mail.
Ms. Bowie-McCoy said the councilors would want to attend one of the forums if they were interested in
any of the following questions:
· Where does our food come from?
· How can our children have and make heakhy food choices?
· Why buy local food?
· Is there enough food for everyone?
She related that FFLC had invited farmers, processors, retailers, parents of school children, people with
limited access to food, nutritionists, government representatives, and "just plain eaters" to attend.
Ms. Bowie-McCoy provided the schedule of the forums.
David Sonnichsen, 2435 Skyline Boulevard, explained that he served as chair of the Citizen Planning
Committee for the Whilamut Natural Area. He said that he would be introducing another member of the
committee to discuss the Talking Stones, a joint project of the committee, Eugene Parks and Open Space
Division, Willamalane Park and Recreation District, and the Calapooya people. He noted that this park
was the first in the state to officially recognize historical Native American names. He introduced Susan
Red-Door, a full-time instructor in the academic learning skills department at Lane Community College
who previously taught for seven years at Montana Northern University and five Montana tribal colleges.
He stated that Ms. Red-Door recently had the privilege of being one of 25 people to attend and participate
in a six-week institute focusing on Native American language, art, and literature in Olympia, Washington.
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He related that she had made a presentation on the Talking Stones to an international audience of
indigenous people.
Susan Red-Door, 2883 Kincaid Street, shared that Calapooya tribal member, Esther Stutzman, spoke of
the stones as representing permanence for the Calapooya language. She said that the inscriptions on the
stones serve to remind park users of the area's rich cultural heritage. She felt the process that this
community had engaged to honor the multi-cultural heritage of its public land was an exceptional process.
She said she had highlighted these efforts during a presentation at a National Endowment for the
Humanities Institute in the previous month. She explained that in attendance were visiting scholars from
all over the United States representing 25 universities and colleges, as well as international indigenous
leaders from Finland and New Zealand.
Ms. Red-Door noted that Maori tribal leader and researcher, Linda Troy Smith, during a panel discussion
had spoken of the importance of renaming the landscape to recognize indigenous heritage. She related
that the Eugene project had been received enthusiastically and was followed by a brainstorming session
on how to take the Talking Stones project as an important model and extend it into more communities.
Ms. Red-Door stressed that her purpose in coming before the council was to thank the City of Eugene for
its recognition of native cultural heritage. She affirmed that these actions mattered as projects and
programs in the City of Eugene were used nationally as models for other projects.
Janetta Overholser, 30300 Cottage Grove-Lorane Road, Cottage Grove, thanked Joe Mosely of The
Register-Guard for the ~great" article in which he brought up the history of animal control. She called
the history %ad." She pointed out that the lack of funding for the cattery and animal control was all of
Lane County's problem and it was the animals who suffered. She felt that the squabbles over funding
between the jurisdictions were counter-productive. She repeated her concern that cruelty to animals led to
cruelty to humans. She questioned the wisdom of waking until the problem was out of control to fund it.
She asserted that a small problem that went unfixed would grow. She said the message that the history of
animal control gave to the residents of Lane County was that animals do not matter and cats matter less.
She expressed appreciation for Mayor Torrey's comments in the article, adding that it was time to %top
chasing our tail" and find the funding to address this problem that would not go away on its own but
would, instead, get larger and larger.
Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, advocated for the University of Oregon to involve more students when
making major decisions. He felt that the University treated its students like children.
Mr. Miller suggested the Willamette Institute for Science and Technology (WlSTEC) site as a potential
site for the proposed University basketball arena.
Zachary ¥ishanoff, 1914 East 17th Avenue, commented that when redesigning the Erb Memorial Union,
the University of Oregon had placed a full-page advertisement in the student paper soliciting student
input. He noted, however, that the advertisement soliciting student input for the East Campus Plan had
been the size of a want ad. He felt there was no real attempt to involve the average student. He
advocated for providing at least a three-month notice when taking such an action.
Mr. Vishanoff said that the University of Oregon was currently collaborating with the PeaceHealth
organization. He called it ~alarming" that two entities with a past record of razing significant buildings
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would work together. He opined that Condon Hall was now at risk, due to negligence. He recommended
that members of the Historic Review Board not be involved in development.
Mayor Torrey closed the Public Forum and invited comments from councilors.
Councilor Kelly complimented the work of FFLC and conveyed his intention to attend to the Wednesday
forum. He also welcomed the new member of the Citizen Planning Committee for the Whilamut Natural
Area.
Regarding the East Campus Plan, Councilor Kelly stressed that the action sought at the current meeting
was only the initiation of the process. He pointed out that the process would include public hearings
before the Eugene Planning Commission and the City Council. He instructed staff to provide a news
release as soon as the dates for those hearings were scheduled.
2. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approval of City Council Minutes - August 11, 2003, Work Session
- August 11, 2003, City Council Meeting
- August 13, 2003, Work Session
B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda
¢. Approval of community Development Block Grant Funding for Non-Profit Capital
Projects
D. Initiation of Metro Plan Diagram, Refinement Plan and Land Use Code
Amendments: University of Oregon East Campus Area
r.. Approval of Resolution 4777 Amending Eugene City Council Operating Agreements
and Repealing Resolution Number 4739
Councilor Nathanson moved, seconded by Councilor Taylor, to approve the items
on the Consent Calendar.
Councilor Bettman stated that she had previously submitted minutes corrections to the minutes and
typographical corrections to the typographical corrections that Councilor Kelly had submitted via e-mail.
She pulled Item E from the Consent Calendar for further discussion. Mayor Torrey, noting no objections
to the minutes corrections, deemed them approved.
Councilor Nathanson offered the following correction to the minutes of the work session held on August
11:
· Page 1, paragraph 7: "Ms. Nathanson asked if there was a process for exempting streets from
the need to build sidewalks on one or both sides under certain circumstances when
reconstructed to City standards."
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Seeing no objections, Mayor Torrey deemed the correction approved.
Role call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of
Item E passed unanimously, 6:0 (Councilor Solomon was temporarily excused).
Councilor Bettman moved to amend Resolution 4777 adopting the council operating
agreements to remove Section 9.03 "Attending Conferences or Other Meetings."
Councilor Kelly provided the second.
Councilor Bettman stated that this issue had been discussed at length at the process session and the
council was awaiting advice from the legal counsel.
Councilor Meisner supported the amendment. He expressed his preference for pulling the section rather
than to returning to amend it at a later date.
Councilor Nathanson asked how staff would handle arrangements for councilors who were planning to
attend meetings without language to guide them in the operating agreement.
City Attorney Glenn Klein assured the council that by removing Section 9.03 the council would not
preclude councilors' attendance at meetings and conferences.
Councilor Taylor asked the City Attorney to explain what removal of the language would do. Mr. Klein
replied that the council was removing language from the constitution until the legal counsel could clarify
in a legal opinion what the council has the ability to do while at an outside meeting or conference.
In response to Councilor Nathanson, Councilor Bettman said that the first paragraph had been included in
the amendment because the process would be cleaner for it. She felt pulling it in its entirety would keep
the policy from being applied inconsistently.
Roll call vote; the motion to approve the amendment passed unanimously, 6:0.
Councilor Kelly moved, seconded by Councilor Bettman, to add a final sentence to
Section 2.01 which would read, as follows:
The City Manager and Mayor may then decide to place the item on a
future agenda.
Roll call vote; the motion to approve the amendment to Section 2.01 passed
unanimously, 6:0.
Mayor Torrey called for a vote on Item E, as amended.
Roll call vote; the amended motion to approve Resolution 4777 amending Eugene
City Council Operating Agreements and repealing Resolution 4739 passed
unanimously, 6:0.
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3. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning a Code of Ethics for Public Officials: and Adding
Sections 2.480, 2.482, 2.484, 2.486, and 2.488 to the Eugene Code, 1971
Councilor Nathanson moved, seconded by Councilor Taylor, that the City Council
adopt Council Bill 4847, an ordinance concerning the City Council Code of Ethics.
Councilor Bettman moved, seconded by Councilor Taylor, to amend the ordinance
by adding a new sentence at the end of both 2.486(1)(a) and (1)(b) to read as
follows:
A copy of the CityAttorney's report shall also be forwarded to the City
Council.
Councilor Bettman spoke to the amendment, conveying her belief that sending the report regarding
complaints against executive managers provided the council relevant information with which to evaluate
the City Manager. She stated that this would not give the council the ability to act.
Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson said that City Manager Dennis Taylor had indicated strong
opposition to the amendment. He stressed that, while such a report might provide a particular point of
view about a particular executive manager, it was a one-sided point of view because it would only be the
complaint side of the process. As such, he said it would not provide an overall view of personnel
management and would not be a good indicator of the job of the City Manager. He stated that the City
Charter was clear on separation of the manager and the City Council on matters pertaining to employment
of all staff below the City Manager.
Councilor Kelly said that, if as a result of receiving a copy of the report, the council could act, he would
oppose the amendment. However, as it was simply information, he felt that it would aid the council in
understanding a situation. He stated that, in terms of it being a one-sided presentation, there could be
ways to mitigate this, including the report submitted to the council from legal counsel on such a
complaint. He suggested adding language that would specify that the council would not receive a copy of
the report prior to the resolution of any personnel issue.
Councilor Taylor concurred with Councilor Kelly.
Councilor Meisner said the motion, as presented, applied to not only subsection (b) but to subsection (a)
in which no merit would be found to the complaint. He related that, having managed staff at the library
and in nonprofit groups, he could not imagine having what could be often frivolous, vengeful, or spiteful
complaints, complaints that were found to be without merit, become public documents by virtue of having
been distributed to the City Council. He opposed the amendment as it stood.
In response to a question from Councilor Bettman, Mr. Carlson stated that he did not know of any such
complaints brought to the City Manager. Councilor Bettman called receiving such a complaint an
unusual situation. She pointed out, regarding the concerns expressed by the City Manager, that the
council would be presented, should the amendment pass, with the City Attorney's report that would
present both sides of a complaint with comment as to the merit of it. She was amenable to deleting
subsection (a) from her motion.
Councilor Solomon joined the meeting.
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Councilor Nathanson expressed concern that a precedent would be set for councilors to be involved in
something that they were prohibited from being involved in by the City Charter. She recognized that
executive managers had a different sort of position than most employees, but asserted that many
employees who are not executive managers had highly visible positions in the eyes of the public. She
wondered if the council was going to start asking to review complaints or personnel evaluations at a lower
level. She felt uncomfortable getting involved at this level.
Councilor Meisner said he would support the motion with the deletion of subsection (a), providing the
process would not circumvent the personnel process.
Councilor Bettman offered a friendly amendment, accepted by Councilor Taylor, to
her motion that provided for the deletion of subsection (a) from the language.
Mayor Torrey asked legal counsel how the City Council could keep it from being a personnel issue. Mr.
Klein responded that the way the ordinance was currently crafted, it applied to some sort of disciplinary
action related to executive management. He said that a question for the council was what it would do
with the information. If the true purpose for the council in getting this information was to assist it with its
evaluation of the City Manager, it seemed that it would need, at a minimum, a full report including how
the City Manager addressed the complaint. As such, he suggested that if language was to be added, the
action should be tabled for this meeting in order to provide legal counsel an opportunity to assure that the
City would not be set up for an action filed by the City Manager as a result of being deprived his or her
due process rights.
Councilor Kelly supported tabling the item. He noted the language regarding the requirement for a
super-majority vote in Section 2.488 and questioned the necessity of such a vote. He asserted that this
detracted from the ordinance and asked the council to consider dropping this.
Councilor Bettman moved, seconded by Councilor Kelly, to table the item.
Mr. Klein said that he could return with revised language at the soonest date that the City Manager could
place the item on the agenda again. Mr. Carlson added that this would be for the meeting of October 13.
Roll call vote; the motion to table the item passed unanimously, 7:0.
5. ACTION: An Ordinance Amending Chapter 9 of the Eugene Code Regarding Hospital and
Related Medical Uses; and Adopting a Severability Clause
Mayor Torrey clarified that action on the item had been deferred. He said that all of the written testimony
had been submitted and all councilors and staff had received copies.
Councilor Bettman moved to direct the City Manager to return to the council with a
resolution for consideration on Wednesday, September 24, 2003, that reflects the
following:
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· That the council supported and welcomed the siting of a hospital in
Eugene.
· That the council appreciated the hospital board had many factors to
consider in choosing an appropriate site.
· That the council appreciated that siting decisions can have a positive
impact on the health of Eugene residents as well as creating significant
costs and obstacles to the residents of Eugene.
· That the council realized that a hospital location within the central City
(defined as within a two-mile radius of 2nd Avenue and Chambers Street,
south and west of the Willamette River) would result in a principal
public benefit in terms of better access to all levels of health services for
the residents of the City of Eugene, and reduced City expenses for
providing services and infrastructure to the hospital.
· That the council resolved to provide the following incentives in order to
achieve the above objectives at a site within the central City (as defined
above):
1) Assistance with land assembly.
2) Reductions in transportation systems development charges
(SDCs).
3) The provision of a facilitator to act as a direct liaison between the
City Council and the hospital entity. This "point person" would be
wholly supervised by the City Manager and solely dedicated to
working with a hospital entity. The facilitator would provide the
expertise, collaborative support, and credibility necessary to navigate
a successful siting decision.
Councilor Kelly provided the second.
Councilor Bettman advocated for the provision of incentives specific to the enticement of a hospital to
locate in a place that was in the best interest of the City. She asserted that the resolution would tell
hospital entities and the community that the City wanted the hospital in the heart of the city and was
willing to do what it could to facilitate this. She clarified that the three incentives she listed were not
necessarily exclusive.
Councilor Kelly voiced his enthusiastic support. He noted that Councilor Pap6 had requested no action
occur at the present meeting on this item. He reiterated that this was not an action but direction to staff to
bring back language for the council to discuss. He stressed that there were only two hospital providers
and a facilitator could be the mechanism to work with them directly and honor the confidentiality that
would be involved in doing that. He felt the incentives were in line with the Growth Management
Policies of the City.
Councilor Meisner conveyed his support for the motion. He emphasized that the council was not voting
on the merits of the resolution. He likened the recommendation from the Planning Commission to a club
as opposed to a carrot and a stick. He felt the resolution would allow the City to actively encourage and
work for what it wanted to see in the community. He asked staff to estimate the cost for a facilitator and
to inform the council if a budget amendment would be needed to fund this.
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Councilor Nathanson supported the concept behind the resolution. She called it a step in the direction that
she thought aligned with the wishes of the council majority. She asked if the resolution would be in
addition to the adoption of a staff or Planning Commission recommendation or if it would stand alone.
She questioned the ability of the City Council to reduce SDCs and wondered what the intended
parameters of the reduction were.
Councilor Nathanson stated her main concern, that although having one or two hospitals in the City of
Eugene would be optimal, the City needed to ensure that it would not end up with no hospital at all.
Councilor Taylor expressed her support for the motion, adding that she perceived it to be in addition to
the recommendation of the Planning Commission and not as a substitute for it. She questioned the role of
the facilitator and requested more information on it.
Councilor Poling asked, in regard to the reduction of SDCs, that staff provide an idea of the level of
reductions. He related that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel had provided information that
indicated it was not entirely necessary to have the hospital locate on the south side of the river.
Mayor Torrey reiterated that the council was not taking action and that a vote for the motion on the floor
was not a vote to take action.
Mayor Torrey questioned the verbiage regarding assistance with land assembly. He recommended that,
should the intent of the council be that it would obtain land through the condemnation process, the
council should be very clear about it. He asked if anyone had asked for this assistance and whether the
resolution applied to all hospitals that could potentially want to locate in this area. He also felt that the
cost of the facilitator should be known prior to voting upon it.
In response to a question from Mayor Torrey, Mr. Klein stated that there was nothing in the resolution
that conflicted with the ordinance in the packet or that precluded the council from directing staff to bring
back the recommendation from the Planning Commission.
Councilor Kelly opined that the facilitator could incur a "five-figure cost," but that it would further the
objectives of the council to site a hospital in an expeditious fashion. As a one-time expense, he thought it
could be funded with contingency money. He felt concerns regarding land assembly and SDC reductions
would be addressed, though not in this resolution. He likened the resolution to a "message in a bottle" to
the providers, adding that he would hate to constrain it at this point.
Councilor Kelly reiterated that he did not want to vote on a land use code amendment at this time.
Councilor Bettman clarified that land assembly, as applied, meant condemnation.
Regarding the facilitator, Councilor Bettman envisioned an ex-city manager or planner working in this
capacity. She stressed that she had purposely left out details from the resolution to accommodate input
from the council.
Councilor Nathanson felt the language of the resolution sounded to a certain extent as though it was
directed at one specific hospital. She said she hoped staff would work with Councilor Bettman on
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potential changes to the language that, while retaining the spirit of the resolution, would help it be clear
and acceptable in regard to what the council wanted to accomplish.
Councilor Solomon left the podium.
Mayor Torrey asked if the intent of the motion was not to allow one hospital to have any benefits unless it
decided to build a full-service facility in the center of Eugene. He asked whether a hospital with a major
certificate of need that had built a major facility at a location in Springfield would qualify for the
incentives to locate in Eugene. Councilor Bettman responded that it would not, that the incentives were
specific to a major full-service hospital with a certificate of need that would locate in Eugene. Mayor
Torrey stated that he could not support the motion as written.
Mr. Carlson said that, while he recognized that the intent of the motion was not action at this time, he
wanted to speak to the geographic definition within the language. He stated that the PeaceHealth Hospital
located at the Hilyard Street campus might not qualify for the incentives under the requirement to locate
within a two-mile radius of 2nd Avenue and Chambers Street. He also pointed out that either of the
hospitals were regional facilities and would not be ;;Eugene's hospital." He noted that over 50 percent of
the patients at McKenzie-Willamette Hospital were residents of Springfield.
Councilor Bettman asserted that the PeaceHealth move to the River Bend site would change the
demographics of McKenzie-Willamette Hospital patients.
Mr. Klein asked for clarification of the intent of the motion, for instance, whether counsel was to
determine what the reduction of the SDCs should be.
Mayor Torrey called for the vote.
Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 6:0, Ms. Solomon being out of the
room at the time the vote was taken.
Mayor Torrey called for comments on the published agenda item.
Councilor Nathanson stated that she would not support the recommendation from the Planning
Commission. She commented that she liked the suggested incentives in the language of the resolution.
Regarding the concern that building on one side or another of the bridge system would compromise
access to the hospital in the event of a natural disaster, Councilor Nathanson pointed out that millions of
dollars had recently been spent on seismic upgrades to the Ferry Street Bridge.
Councilor Nathanson remarked that it was in the best interest of the City to promote good access to health
care by easing the process of locating a hospital. She reiterated her interest in a ~needed update" to the
zoning code.
Councilor Kelly opined that, should the current PeaceHealth campus be excluded by the two-mile radius
rule, the City would likely fix the rule to include it.
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Additionally, Councilor Kelly related that he continued to be uncomfortable with the staff
recommendation on the hospital ordinance. He questioned the permissiveness in the code that was
specific to the hospital, noting that a high school or major manufacturer was subject to more stringent
land use requirements. He asked staff to respond to this concern. He also requested that staff review
language that specified that the certificate of need should be issued after October 1, 2003, and clarify
whether this would exempt the existing Hilyard campus of PeaceHealth Hospital. He asked staff to
respond to whether said campus, now proposed to house 70 beds, would still fall under the definition of
hospital in the proposed ordinance.
Councilor Bettman stated that it was a known fact that there were two hospital entities, McKenzie-
Willamette/Triad and PeaceHealth, and that PeaceHealth was building a major hospital facility at its new
site. She reiterated that the City was endeavoring to site a full-service hospital in the City of Eugene.
Councilor Meisner commented that he did not have a fixed position on either recommendation at this
point as he had concerns about both. He felt that the resolution left enough room for a successful
negotiation. He added that it would be specious and presumptuous to assume that the City would always
only have two providers of hospital care.
Councilor Nathanson, acknowledging concerns about the staff zoning change proposals, suggested that a
proposal could be made that was less broad.
Tom Coyle, Executive Director of the Planning and Development Department, responded that the
changes in the code with which some had taken issue were related to the industrial changes to the code.
He said there had been very little opposition on that from an interface issue. He related that staff had
excluded the C-1 zoning in light of the last discussion. He stated that the changes in this code had been
distilled down to whether the City would allow the hospital land use in an R-1 or R-2 zone under a
conditional use permit (CUP). He commented that a random survey would find that roughly between 40
to 60 percent of cities allowed it one way and the rest allowed it the other way. Mr. Coyle reiterated the
staff belief that this could be a compatible use with the development standards in R-1 and R-2 zones. He
said the question was how to fix the code in order to constrain it and, to that end, the council could take
the two provisions out of the code and make that change at the work session on September 24. He added
that the other comment regarding the hospital development site would have to be looked into in greater
depth and that staff would have a response at the work session.
Mr. Carlson stated that the other significant change proposed was to change hospital uses from being
conditional. He stressed that, at the present, any hospital was required to apply for a conditional use
permit.
Mayor Torrey asked legal counsel if certain thresholds would have to be met if more than one option was
available and if there would be a problem should the potential hospital ask the City to acquire land
through condemnation. Mr. Klein replied that, should the City Council make the determination that the
site was appropriate for such action, the council could legally do so.
Councilor Bettman suggested that there was a third option in the packet, an option to direct staff to amend
the code to allow hospitals with the provision to allow City approval on a site by site basis. She opined
that this was the most expedient and advantageous choice. She said that opening up the zones would
force the City to do the ~footwork" afterwards. She noted that she supported the removal of the
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R-1 and R-2 zones from the ordinance.
The meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis Taylor
City Manager
(Recorded by Ruth Atcherson)
cc030922m2, wpd
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