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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 04/24/02 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall April 24, 2002 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: David Kelly, Gary Pap~, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Betty Taylor, Gary Rayor, Bonny Bettman. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Pat Farr. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. A. Staff Report on Hynix Tax Appeal City Manager pro tem Jim Carlson reported that Hynix appealed its property tax assessment to the Oregon Tax Court in December 2001. The County was a party to the action, so the assessor received notice in January 2002. City staff were notified at that time. The court's ruling would not occur for at least two months. The impacts on the City of a successful appeal were not known at this time. He said that the information about the appeal should have been provided to the council when it was considering the Hynix tax exemption request, given the controversial nature of the Hynix issue. He apologized that the council did not have the information, and said he had made it clear to staff it should have informed him and the council prior to its action on the Hynix tax exemption request. Mr. Carlson indicated that staff did not know if the City could reconsider its action regarding the tax exemption recently granted to Hynix. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to extend the item by ten minutes to allow for a one-minute bullet round. The motion carried unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Kelly said that the issue was not Hynix but one of withholding information. He said that decision makers needed to have the relevant facts at their disposal when making a decision. He asked that the manager communicate via memorandum with all staff about the organization's dedication to openness and information- sharing. Mr. Carlson agreed. Ms. Taylor agreed with the remarks made by Mr. Kelly. Ms. Taylor determined that Mr. Carlson was not informed of the situation when the council made its decision regarding the tax exemption. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 2002 Page 1 Work Session Ms. Bettman thought the issue a very big deal, and said it was scary to her that the manager was not informed. She requested a memo regarding where the fracture in communication had occurred and how it occurred. She wanted to see some accountability. Mr. Meisner agreed with what had been said. He was concerned by what seemed to be a change in policy in terms of staff openness. Ms. Nathanson had nothing to add in terms of what had been said. Mr. Rayor questioned how staff could have reached the recommendation it had on the tax exemption when it was aware of the appeal. Mr. Pap~ concurred with the comments of other councilors. He appreciated the City Manager's acknowledgment of the problem and his willingness to take responsibility. He wanted to know what occurred in terms of accountability. Mayor Torrey said that the council and manager were doing what they ought to be doing in the conversation. B.WORK SESSION: Funding for Transportation System Maintenance Kurt Corey, Public Works Director, joined the council for the item. He noted that staff from the City of Springfield was also present to answer questions about where Springfield was on the topic. Mr. Corey reminded the council of the $67 million in maintenance backlog needs, and its direction to the Budget Citizen Subcommittee to make a recommendation on the topic, which it had presented to the council in October 2001. He said that the council requested additional detail regarding a combination of a local fuel tax and a transportation utility, amounting to a total of $9 million annually. The council also directed staff to work with Springfield on the gas tax option, and on a public outreach program to help the public understand the issue. Mr. Corey noted the recent adoption of the modified transportation systems development charge (SDC) and the anticipated contribution from the SDC reimbursement component to maintenance funding (about $700,000 annually). Mr. Corey reviewed the contents of the meeting packet related to the item, noting the inclusion of a memorandum from Becky Koble with information about a local option gas tax, information about a potential transportation system maintenance fee (TSMF), a memorandum from Larry Hill and Fred McVey with information about a methodology to implement that fee, and a memorandum from Eric Jones summarizing public education efforts. The council viewed an eight-minute video on the issue of City road maintenance that had been prepared by MetroTV. Mr. Corey indicated staff was not requesting action at this point other than endorsement of the public information plan. Mr. Meisner commended the presentation and said that education was very important. Given that not all residents had access to cable television, he suggested that the video be shown in different areas of the community. He had found the tour the council went on to be very informative. Mr. Meisner indicated some MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 2002 Page 2 Work Session discomfort with a countywide vehicle registration fee as a primary funding method, given that the City would have to do a fee in concert with the County and he was concerned about the equitable distribution of revenues. He emphasized the importance of a gas tax that was regional in nature. He preferred a countywide gas tax increase, but again was concerned about the equitable distribution of revenues. Mr. Meisner was not opposed to the proposed TSMF, but was not happy with one based on the type of residence in which one lived. He said that on his own block there was one house with six unrelated occupants and five vehicles. He wanted a fee based more directly on use and was frustrated by the lack of alternatives. Mr. Rayor commended the presentation. He agl reed the City needed to work with Lane County and Springfield on a gas tax. Regarding the TSMF, Mr. Rayor thought the basis for the fee was good and the reason for a relatively low residential cost and relatively higher commercial cost. That was rational given the many more trips that those businesses generated. Mr. Rayor was concerned about the supply side of the issue. He thought that there needed to be a guarantee to the citizens that the money they paid was going into paving, not planning or administration or pension payments. He wanted to know how much of what was collected would be paid to contractors doing the paving. Those disclosures needed to be made now. He said that the City needed to work harder, smarter, and cheaper. Mr. Kelly thanked staff for the presentation, saying that the organization was heading in the right direction. He was pleased to see Springfield's participation and intrigued by Lane County's potential involvement, although he shared Mr. Meisner's concerns. He believed that both the gas tax and TSMF would be needed to bring down the maintenance backlog. Mr. Kelly suggested the council needed to discuss what other transportation- related expenditures would be supported by the revenues to be collected, such as bicycle paths and sidewalks. Mr. Kelly appreciated that the packet included information distinguishing the resident types, but he continued to be frustrated that there was nothing to distinguish between the types of houses Mr. Meisner described. He wanted to see a proxy for usage, such as square footage or the number of vehicles. Mr. Kelly asked about the Springfield council's level of support for the TSMF. Len Goodwin of the Springfield Public Works Department said that the council had been unfocused as to how the fee would be implemented. The council wanted to keep the fee at a minimum level for all, and to ensure that it did not unduly favor one segment of the community over another. The council wanted greater definition from staff regarding other alternatives, and staff would return on July 22 with that discussion. Ms. Taylor commended the presentation. She still did not like the TSMF concept because she considered it regressive. She preferred a combined approach of the SDC, the vehicle registration fee, and gas tax increase. She shared Mr. Meisner's concern about equity. Mr. Pap~ also commended the presentation. He thought the public outreach program being proposed was one of the best he had seen. He appreciated the opportunity councilors had to tour the roads, and thought the problem was well-quantified by staff. Speaking to Mr. Rayor's comments regarding working harder and smarter, Mr. Pap~ said he had recently learned of new cement technology that could bring down those costs. He asked Mr. Corey to discuss the advantages of asphalt versus concrete. Mr Corey said that what material was selected depended to some degree on what was in place and current practices. There was nothing wrong with either material, each had appropriate applications. Concrete vendors would point to a life cycle analysis in support of their product, and asphalt providers would point to lower initial costs. Those issues needed to be resolved at the project level. Those were technical issues, and not policy in nature. Mr. Pap~ suggested that MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 2002 Page 3 Work Session the City might want to favor one material over the other if the price came down. Mr. Corey anticipated a mix of products would be used in the future. Mr. Pap~ asked if staff had quantified the bicycle path maintenance backlog. Mr. Corey said the City tracks that data. Mr. Pap~ favored a local gas tax, and preferred a countywide approach with strong intergovernmental agreements with the County. Responding to a question from Mr. Pap6, Larry Hill of the Central Services Department said that there were eight Oregon communities with TSMFs; each used a slightly different approach but all used the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) manual to determine how costs were distributed. Each community used different categories, and they ranged from a few to more than 20. Ms. Bettman thanked Mr. Corey for the presentation. She said that the video was well done but it was only half the story. She thought the City needed to let people know what the funding options were and how moneys were currently being used. She thought that would be an issue for residents. Regarding the use of the ITE manual, she noted it was based on the average daily trip rate and addressed pass-by trips rather than trips generated by uses. Ms. Bettman was also concerned about equitability. She agreed with Mr. Pap6 about the countywide fuel tax, saying it seemed to be most equitable and addressed the issue of those who did not live in Eugene but used the community's streets. She suggested that while there was a problem, perhaps the City did not have to address the problem at the cost of $9 million yearly. She indicated interest in the information requested by Mr. Rayor. She wanted to make sure that the mechanism the council moved forward with was dedicated to maintenance, and that a future council could not redirect the money to another use. Ms. Nathanson recollected that the Budget Committee heard testimony from a citizen that perhaps the community could live with a few more potholes to fund another service. She said that argued for education of the community given that the cost of making repairs would be higher in the future. The community survey indicated that City street maintenance ranked about the same as preventing crime, traffic enforcement, and youth recreation programs. She noted that most respondents had responded to that question because everyone had an opinion on the streets. While the mean score was about average, the ranking might be lower than it would otherwise be it considered in that context. She thought the City had a way to go in explaining why the program was needed. She hoped that any gas tax contemplated would be a countywide tax, or at least a metropolitan tax. She thought that having anything structured around the city limits was problematic, citing the smoking ordinance as an example. Mayor Torrey said that those who use the streets should pay. He believed that studded tires should be addressed in whatever the City did. Regarding the identified need, he said he would like to see that put in the form of a Request for Proposals phased over time, issue it to the private sector and see what it would bid to do the job, and then the City could say what it would do the job for, and have a legitimate comparison. Mayor Torrey asked how much of the $67 million was intended to address stormwater improvements, and suggested that the stormwater reserves be used to pay for that impact. Mayor Torrey noted that those who purchased electric cars were upset at being charged for using the roads. The City might want to decide to provide some type of subsidy to those users, but if they use the road they should pay for it. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 2002 Page 4 Work Session Mr. Rayor summarized his previous remarks. He suggested that the entire system be privatized. He asked if local schools could be exempted from the fee. He said that the assessor ranked houses on an alphabetical basis, and suggested that the fee could be based on the class of house in question. Mr. Carlson clarified that the fee would not be a tax, it would be a user fee, and under the current proposal all would pay, including the University of Oregon, Lane Community College, and the schools. He said that the council could make a policy to exempt them. Mr. Kelly suggested that some of the things proposed for the administrative rules should be in the ordinance, for example, the categories of use. He concurred with Ms. Bettman about the need to get facts about current funding out to the public. He suggested a one-page information sheet that would be available at City facilities. Mr. Kelly agreed that the City needed to be as efficient as possible and be able to prove that to the public. He said that it was his understanding that large preservation projects were already contracted to the private sector. Mr. Corey concurred. He indicated that there were no personnel costs included in the projections, but there was about $300,000 included for the costs of collection and administration. He anticipated that private companies would do the majority of the work, and City crews would do small maintenance overlay projects. Returning to her previously expressed concern, Ms. Nathanson asked Mr. Carlson to give thought to how the City could change the way it does business in Lane County so that it was usual and typical rather than extraordinary to have City ordinances that could be applied in the urbanizing area routinely adopted by both the council and the Lane Board of County Commissioners. Ms. Nathanson cautioned staff about structuring an allocation proportionally instead of structurally. She pointed out that the County had many miles of roads, but they did not have many vehicles traveling over them. She hoped it was based on impact, need, or backlog. Ms. Bettman emphasized the importance of answering the question of how the City could build new roads if it could not maintain the ones it had. Ms. Taylor thought there should be a vote before the council adopted a TSMF. C.WORK SESSION: Report from Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority and Discussion of Request to Revise Eugene Code, Section 6.250 Ms. Taylor introduced Brian Jennisen and Kim Metzler of the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA). Mary Walston of the City Manager's Office was also present for the item. Mr. Jennisen emphasized the importance of good roads to good air quality. Mr. Jennisen provided a short history of LRAPA, noting it was the last such agency in the state. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was responsible for air quality in the remainder of Oregon, but State statutes allowed local governments to form their own body responsible for local air quality. Mr. Jennisen corrected the list of board representatives as outlined in the council agenda summary, noting four were elected officials and three were at-large members. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 2002 Page 5 Work Session Mr. Jennisen referred the council to proposed amendments to the Eugene Code being proposed by LRAPA, which regarded the use of wood stoves and limits on their use. LRAPA was asking the council to amend its ordinances to reflect the addition of PM5 particulate levels by the federal government. LRAPA was also asking the council to preclude the burning of garbage in wood stoves and fire places. He said that would give LRAPA a tool to address citizen complaints. LRAPA was also requesting an opacity regulation. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to direct the City Manager to initiate the process to revise Section 6.250 of the Eugene Code. Mr. Kelly said that the proposed amendments seemed acceptable. Mr. Meisner asked for information regarding the total of the City's contributions to LRAPA. He asked what other cities received from the DEQ in terms of air quality enforcement. He wanted to know what the community was getting from having its own agency rather than relying on the State service like other communities did. Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Jennisen said that work regarding diesel emissions was occurring at a national level because no local ordinance could address the problem effectively. Winter wood smoke was a problem that could be addressed locally. Ms. Nathanson hoped the information provided indicated whether the State contributed to the cost of LRAPA. She asked if there was evidence of the degree to which people voluntarily comply on yellow days and stop using wood stoves. Mr. Jennisen said that LRAPA had some evidence of effectiveness through its surveying. He said that there was evidence that there was 50 percent voluntary compliance. Mr. Pap~ agreed another work session was needed. He suggested that the problem was compounded by EWEB rate increases, and wondered if the council should consider the issue more comprehensively. He asked if wood stoves were becoming more efficient. Mr. Jennisen said yes. He noted Oregon's pioneering work in certifying stoves. Mr. Rayor determined from Mr. Jennisen that cities had local ordinances related to wood stoves because there were no statewide ordinances. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. The meeting adjourned at 1:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Carlson City Manager pro rem (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 24, 2002 Page 6 Work Session