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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/22/02 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall July 22, 2002 8p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Gary Rayor, Gary Pap~, Bonny Bettman. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Par Farr. CITY COUNCIL MEETING Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1.PUBLIC FORUM Betsy Boyd, 2190 Washington Street, spoke in support of the school property tax levy. She submitted a petition signed by 170 School District 4J parents who support the levy. She cited programs that had been cut from the schools. She noted that she had accompanied some students to the forum who would speak of their own experiences in local schools. She urged the council to support the school levy in November. Christiana Zulner, 2479 Blackburn, said that more people in her classes made it harder for her to learn. She added that there was less opportunity for music in her school. She expressed a desire to use updated computers in her classes. Hank Brem, 3939 Terrace Trail, raised concerns over increasing class sizes and loss of programs in the school district. He also raised concern that physical education would be cut. Sara Appelbaum, 3327 West 25th Avenue, raised concern over programs being cut at her school. She cited her classes in computedintemet use that had been cut as well as library programs. She also raised concern over cuts in the district's sports program. George Glausser, 3572 Spring Boulevard, spoke positively of the drama program in the district. He said that each program was as important as any other. He stressed that school activities helped kids with their future careers. Megan Smith, 2145 Ridgeway Drive, raised concern over cuts in the sports program at her school. Students are worried about programs being cut. She noted that there were 35 kids in her current math class and added that the next year's calculus class could have as many as 70 students. She said that class size was a significant issue. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 1 Regular Meeting Nicole White, 3531 Spring Boulevard, raised concern over the cuts in funding. She raised concern over the increase in class size and the decrease in numbers of good teachers. She said the students of the area needed the help of the community to address the cuts being enacted. Cheryl McCabe, Eugene Business Owners, raised concern over the smoking ban. She cited the closing of several businesses in Eugene because of the smoking ordinance. She noted that lottery game losses were on the rise in Eugene as well. She submitted written material to the council in support of her testimony. She noted that Eugene was the only city in the State that did not follow the State smoking laws. She urged the council to revisit the smoking issue and follow the State guidelines that allowed smoking in bars, taverns, and bingo halls. Steven Barns, 491 East 53rd Avenue, urged the council to refer the school levy to the November ballot. He said it was not fair for children to live in a city that had a Hult Center when their schools did not have music programs or a city that was called "Track City USA" when sports programs were being cancelled. He raised concern that only a minority of families would be able to enjoy those programs when most who could not afford to had to do without. Nick Urhausen, 2858 Warren Street, expressed concern over schools not allowing the Boy Scouts of America to use school facilities. He noted that the Girl Scouts had the same problem. He commented that it was "sophisticated bigotry" targeting the children in the community. He called for a vote to allow youth groups on school grounds. Mayor Torrey closed the Public Forum and called for council comments. Councilor Rayor reiterated his oft-expressed concern over PERS liabilities for City employees. He noted School District 4J had the same PERS liabilities for its employees. He said it was a terrible situation that everyone had a piece in. He expressed a desire to see only public schools with no charter schools that offered all the programs kids needed and for the State Legislature to solve the education problem totally. He said the problem could not be solved until parents of school- aged children got angry enough at the State Legislature and demanded effective action. Councilor Pap8 thanked all who testified. He said he would like to hear testimony regarding how funds would be allocated to local charter schools. Councilor Bettman thanked the kids who testified. She asked the following questions to be answered during the upcoming Wednesday's work session: 1) If the levy passes, will it result in increased music and drama instruction? 2) Will it result in decreased class sizes starting in the first year of the levy? and 3) How would charter schools be addressed? Councilor Kelly thanked those who testified in support of funding for education. Councilor Taylor also thanked those who testified. She acknowledged that class size was very important. She said the City Council should do what it could to help education in the area. On the topic of school funding, Councilor Nathanson said the bottom line was to refer something to the voters. She said the work would begin in earnest when the district began trying to persuade the voters to approve the intended levy. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 2 Regular Meeting Councilor Meisner thanked those who testified. He raised concern that the State would never have to have a sustainable funding policy for education if the school levy were passed in Eugene. He said he was against the City enabling dysfunctional behavior in the State Legislature. I1. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Council Minutes: · June 12, 2002, Work Session · June 19, 2002, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Approval of City Manager Job Description and Profile Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. Councilor Taylor pulled items A and C. Councilor Bettman pulled Item B. Councilor Bettman suggested a change to the minutes of June 19, 2002, council work session, reflected on packet page 116. She suggested replacing "move forward" with the word "act." Councilor Taylor asked that the remarks attributed to her in the minutes of June 19 on packet page 119 be replaced with the following: "Ms. Taylor thanked staff for its work and the public for its testimony. She likened the parkway decision facing the council to the decision faced by Macbeth when he was deciding whether to use the opportunity to kill King Duncan, and said that just because the council could authorize the parkway did not mean it should be done. She enumerated Macbeth's arguments against the murder: Duncan was his king, his kinsman, his guest, and a virtuous man--also the consequences would be undesirable for the perpetrator and for the country. She said that the arguments against the parkway are that it would lead to sprawl, require exemptions to the land use goals, destroy wetlands, constitute a misuse of federal money used to purchase the wetlands, would lead to degradation of water quality and habitat, threaten endangered species, and would detract from an educational asset. She said the parkway would have an effect on generations to come. Ms. Taylor said that in Macbeth's case the other side was ambition; in the parkway's case it was profit for some." Councilor Nathanson offered a suggestion for the wording of the minutes of the June 12, work session on packet page 105. She suggested a phrase which would read: "...asking why some cities had intersections where all traffic stops while pedestrians crossed the street." Roll call vote; Item A passed unanimously, 7:0. Responding to a suggestion from Councilor Bettman to move the living wage discussion to the August 12 meeting, City Manager Carlson said it had been an accepted practice to leave time in the last couple of council meetings before the council break for any emerging issues. He cited MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 3 Regular Meeting possible appeals to resolutions for charter review. He noted that the last meeting before the council break would be to address any last- minute items. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding the process for appeals to the proposed charter amendments, City Attorney Glenn Klein summarized the appeal process for charter amendments. He said people would have five days after the ballot title had been issued to file an appeal. He said the council would have three days in which to consider that appeal. Councilor Nathanson, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to amend Item B by having the City Manager hold a public hearing on a gas tax after the council break and coordinate with the City of Springfield's hearing on the same subject. Councilor Kelly said he would support the motion. He stressed the importance of holding a hearing at the same time as the public hearing in Springfield. Roll call vote; the amendment to the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Roll call vote; Item B passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Taylor moved to amend Item C by eliminating "win-win" wording from the city manager job description. The motion died for lack of a second. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding the definition of "equivalent to a bachelor's degree" in the city manager job description, Human Resource and Risk Services Director Lauren Chouinard said there were people who had the qualifications to be a city manager without necessarily having a degree. He said staff was leaving enough flexibility for taking that experience into account when making a decision. Ms. Bettman believed that someone who did not go to the trouble of acquiring a bachelor's degree should not be considered for the position of city manager. She said her definition of "equivalent" would encompass someone who had a degree from a college outside of the country that did not have bachelor's degrees. She said the job description for the city manager should have a minimum requirement of a bachelor's degree. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to amend Item C by deleting the words "equivalent to a bachelor' degree" from the job description language. Councilor Meisner supported the motion. Councilor Taylor said she would support the motion. She expressed hope that the person considered would have completed graduate work as well. Councilor Nathanson stressed the importance of demonstrated skill and success over verified equivalence in higher education. Councilor Bettman said a bachelor's degree was a minimum requirement that Eugene should hold its applicants to. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 4 Regular Meeting Mayor Torrey said, although he would not do it, he felt he had enough experience to apply for a city manager position and noted that he did not have a bachelor's degree. He urged the council not to preclude people with the necessary experience from an opportunity. In response to a question from Mayor Torrey regarding applicants who did not have a degree and yet were preferred by the council, Mr. Klein said there was nothing that required the council to chose from one of the people who applied. He said all of the applicants could be rejected and the council could hire the person who was preferred. Mr. Chouinard noted that there could be a legal challenge if the job description required a bachelor's degree and the council chose to hire someone without one. Roll call vote; the amendment passed, 4:3; councilors Pap~, Nathanson, and Rayor voting no. Councilor Pap~, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved amend Item C by removing the phrase "performs related duties as assigned" from the job description language. Councilor Pap~ said the phrase was redundant and not specific enough. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding whether he could think of any reason to keep that phrase in the job description language, Mr. Chouinard said it was a "catch all" phrase that was included in every job description in the organization. Roll call vote; the amendment failed, 6:1; Councilor Pap~ voting yes. Councilor Pap~, seconded by Councilor Rayor, moved to amend Item C by adding the word "budgeting" into the job description experience language. Roll call vote; the amendment failed, 4:3; councilors Pap~, Nathanson and Rayor voting yes. Roll call vote; Item C passed unanimously, 7:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 5 Regular Meeting III.PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Transportation System Maintenance Fees and Adding Sections 7.750 through 7.795 to the Eugene Code, 1971 Public Works Department Director Kurt Corey provided the staff report. He said the this public hearing represented the culmination of a process that had begun over two years ago when the council had requested that the citizen members of the Budget Committee review and bring back proposals for addressing Eugene's transportation system funding shortfall. He noted that the FY03 budget assumed establishment of a transportation utility fund with funding provided in part by a transportation system maintenance fee. He said fees would be collected on a monthly basis. Mr. Corey noted the changes to the revised draft ordinance as they were presented in the meeting packet: · Include "alleys" in the list of transportation system elements. · Factor in residential characteristics, such as number of drivers registered at an address, that have a high correlation with usage. · Request for further consideration of incentives for businesses and individuals who are reducing their usage of the transportation system. Transit program credit needs to be based on demonstrated effectiveness rather than just participation. · Provide that rates will be adjusted as other sources of revenue are realized. · Eliminate requirement that EWEB collect the transportation system maintenance fee and authorize the city manager to contract with EWEB or another entity for collection. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding the purpose of the fee and how "improve" was defined, Mr. Corey noted that, in a previous meeting, activities had been described for which the funding would be appropriate. He referred Councilor Bettman to agenda page 154 where, under Section 7.76, use of revenues for capacity enhancing street improvements was specifically precluded. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman as to the effectiveness of participation in transit program credits could be demonstrated, Mr. Corey said that it would be part of the administrative rule-making process to address that issue subsequent to adoption of the ordinance. He commented that he did not know that it was appropriate to get to that level of detail on rate-setting and methodology as part of the legislative consideration of the issue. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding how the level of the fee would change with or without a gas tax as a supplement, Mr. Corey said staff were operating on the assumption that the council was going to conduct a public hearing later in the year to consider the other component of the recommended transportation funding package, which was a proposed gas tax. He said staff were not contemplating anything different than what had previously been reported to the council. Mr. Corey said that without the gas tax, the ordinance being discussed would not completely address the funding shortfall. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding the upgrading of alleys to City standards and whether that would be a capacity improvement, Mr. Corey said it was not intended that the ordinance would be enacted for the purpose of generating revenue to build new street improvements or alley improvements the first time. He said staff had always assumed a continuation of the assessment process to get those facilities brought up to standard. In response to a question from Councilor Pap8 regarding whether the ordinance could be perceived as akin to a property tax, Mr. Klein said the proposed fee would not constitute a MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 6 Regular Meeting property tax. He said a property tax, for purposes of Measure 5, was defined as one that was imposed directly on the property itself or one that was imposed on the property owner as a direct consequence of ownership. He said the fee in question would not be imposed either on the property or on the property owner. He said it would only be imposed when use of the property generated use of the transportation system. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Mike Broadsword, 3450 Strathmore Place, said the need for a transportation system maintenance fee had been established by City staff. He said staff had reached the determination of ramping up to $8 million per year to keep up with road maintenance. He said the majority of the roads in Eugene were reaching the end of their economic life as well as facing traffic increases and population growth. He stressed the importance of being proactive in maintaining roads since it would cost more to do it later. Terry Connolly, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, said it was difficult to support the fee until there had been a public hearing on the proposed fuel tax. He noted that there was a serious problem facing the community and stressed the importance of facing that problem in the most fiscally responsive way. Jennifer Solomon, 2005 Lemuria Street, expressed her support for the ordinance. She said providing a safe and efficient transportation system was an essential role of city government. She said the transportation system maintenance fee was a fair and equitable means to address the situation of the City's deteriorating streets. She urged the council to move forward on the issue. She noted that the cost of the preservation backlog had already increased substantially. Russell Styles, 2015 Eastwood Lane, raised concern that non-local traffic passed through his local community street. He noted that 2,400 vehicles used his street daily, resulting in severe road damage to a street that, until recently, had not been maintained by the City. He commented that he would be very angry if the City demanded that he share in the cost of maintaining his street since it had done nothing to enforce the "local traffic only" rule that had been in effect. He said the City should use discretionary funds to pay for street preservation. Gary Heldt, 3477 Onyx Street, supported the proposed plan but asked that no action be taken until public hearings were held for both the current proposal and the proposed fuel tax. He added his opinion that the fee included too much administrative overhead. David Monk, 3720 Emerald Street, submitted a written statement from the Southeast Neighbors neighborhood association. He said that delayed and deferred road maintenance cost twice as much as preventative maintenance. He said the association was opposed to the street maintenance fee since the citizens of the city had not been given enough background information regarding the proposed fee. He said the fee, in part, was due to over-commitment of funds to new road and highway projects outlined in the TransPlan. There being no other requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. Councilor Kelly stressed the importance of keeping Eugene's gas tax similar to Springfield's. He expressed concern that a gas tax as a sole funding source was not politically viable since it would mean a 12-13 cent per gallon tax, which would create an uneven playing field for Eugene businesses that would have to charge more for gas than businesses outside the city limits. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 7 Regular Meeting Councilor Bettman said she did not support the proposed ordinance as it was currently worded. She said it would be a tax that would be implemented inequitably. She raised concern over large companies being exempted by having bus passes for their employees when they could not demonstrate that the passes were being used. She added that there were a large number of entities from outside city limits that would not have to pay but still used the City's roads, which would leave the burden entirely on Eugene residents. She suggested an additional change to Section 7.760 that would also preclude funds from being used for any projects that qualified for systems development charges or assessments. Councilor Pap8 confirmed with the City Attorney that the fee would not be perceived as a property tax. Councilor Taylor said the ordinance was a regressive tax that would hurt many people who could not afford to pay it. She expressed her surprise that the council would be considering the ordinance at all. She said it would be impossible to make the tax equitable and suggested a County gas tax and a motor vehicle registration fee. She said the tax needed to be countywide to be more equitable since many people from outside the City used its roads. Councilor Rayor said he would write several proposed amendments to the ordinance in Section 7.750 of the ordinance. He said that anything that seemed like employee costs versus construction was an issue with him because of the high cost of public employees. In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding who would not be paying the gas tax, City Manager Carlson said it would be anyone who purchased gas outside Eugene and then used City streets. He confirmed that there would be city street users who would not be paying a City gas tax if it were implemented. In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding whether a gas tax would disproportionately favor business over residential users, City Manager Carlson said commercial users would pay much less in gas tax than they would in transportation system maintenance fees because they would not pay the gas tax for most of the trips their business generate, but only on their own gas purchases for company vehicles. In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding whether an average driver would see less vehicle operating costs per year if the ordinance were approved, Mr. Corey said no one would see an overnight decrease in vehicle operating costs. He stressed that the success of a street maintenance program was measured by results and not by the funding process. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to direct the City Manager to add a clause in the ordinance, under Section 7.60, at the end of the last sentence: ':.. or any costs that qualify for systems development charges or assessments." City Manager Carlson clarified that there had been a reimbursement component of the transportation SDC that was specifically being used for preservation activities. He noted that all preservation projects were eligible for reimbursement SDCs and suggested excluding reimbursement SDCs from this provision and limiting only the use of improvement SDCs and assessments. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 8 Regular Meeting Councilor Bettman, with the permission of her seconder, withdrew the motion and called for proposed amendment text from staff that met her intent when the council took action. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding what percentage of the fee would be paid by households versus the percentage paid by businesses, Mr. Corey said residents would pay 30 percent of the fee and businesses would pay 70 percent. City Manager Carlson said the fee was designed, in part, to pay for the operation and maintenance of the off-street bike system. IV. PUBLIC HEARING AND POSSIBLE ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning Special Events Parking and Amending Section 5.285 of the Eugene Code, 1971 Johnny Medlin of the Public Works Department provided the staff presentation. He said the ordinance, if passed, would remove the $3 dollar maximum allowable fee, currently contained in Eugene Code, for off-street special event parking in City-owned facilities and delegate the authority for establishing fees to the City Manager. He said the request was an attempt by Parks staff to mitigate inappropriate parking congestion and damages at Alton Baker Park due to the large number of people parking there during events at Autzen Stadium. He said the ordinance would also affect parking costs for Cuthbert Amphitheater and Hult Center events. He said there would be two categories of special event parking: 1. Events associated with City facilities ($5) 2. Events not associated with City facilities ($10) Mr. Medlin said there was some desire for the fees to be in effect before the first of four University of Oregon home games, which start August 31. He noted that council would need to adopt an ordinance that night for it to be in effect by August 31, 2002. He said if council took action that evening, staff recommended that language containing an immediate effective date be considered. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding damage to City property from inappropriate parking and whether the City charged the University for repair of that damage, Mr. Medlin said staff had internally discussed damage at the park, but as far as specific damage caused by inappropriate parking, he said there had been no discussion with the University of Oregon on parking damage. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding which parking areas associated with University of Oregon football games would be affected by the ordinance, Mr. Medlin said the only area being discussed would be the main Alton Baker Park lot. Councilor Bettman noted that Leo Harris Parkway was also a City facility and questioned how much parking revenue came from that area. Mr. Medlin said there had been analysis regarding the topic, and staff had determined that the City would gain more revenue in the current agreement with the University than if the City managed that area. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 9 Regular Meeting Charlotte Bim, 731 Poltava Street, Springfield, said she was happy that the City was considering a fair market rate for parking on the park lands. David Sonicson, 2435 Skyline Boulevard, hoped the ordinance would channel more money into the park. He expressed appreciation for Parks staff's work in the park area to monitor the impact of football fans traveling through the park. He noted that the University of Oregon only remunerated $300 per football game for 425 spaces across the street from the new entrance to the stadium while it charged more than double the rates than City staff were proposing for its parking. He urged the council to ask for more remuneration for those spaces, and opined that the University was not in a position to deny a request of that nature. There being no other requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. Councilor Kelly said he was opposed to the proposed ordinance because it did not make a distinction between market rate parking for spots on City property during football games and other types of parking uses. He said a blanket lifting of parking maximums would raise Hult parking and generate a great deal of public ill will for very little revenue gain. Councilor Bettman also opposed the ordinance. She said she was opposed to not charging market rates for parking for non-city events. She said the ordinance was "piecemeal" and did not provide specifics as to who would be charged and who would not. She added that it created an uneven playing field in terms of the WISTEC lot, the Lane Transit District bus lot, Leo Harris Parkway, and the BMX facility. She said the City would be bestowing a financial benefit on certain entities that other organizations had no ability to access. She opined that this would be a tax subsidy to those entities. Councilor Bettman said she was also against the proposed ordinance because the revenue gained from parking would go to the Parks and Open Space Division. She said she would rather see the money go to the Parking Fund. She raised concern that giving parking revenue to the division would create an incentive for staff to create more parking lots on park land. City Manager Carlson pointed out that nothing in the ordinance said where the money would go. He said action by the council would have to be taken either through the budget or supplemental budget process to decide where the revenue would go. Councilor Taylor said the City should charge more for parking on City park land. She added her opinion that the Cuthbert Amphitheater, Hult Center, and Eugene Celebration events should be exempt from the ordinance. She raised concern over making it more difficult for citizens to participate in cultural events. Councilor Rayor raised concern that the ordinance specified amounts and where the revenue would go. Councilor Pap8 said the City should charge market rate for parking wherever it is located. He said, at times when the City was strapped for money, the City should be getting market rate for all of its parking. Councilor Bettman agreed with Councilor PapS's comments but stressed that the ordinance before the council would not achieve what he wanted. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 10 Regular Meeting City Manager Carlson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4797, an ordinance concerning special events parking and amending Section 5.285 of the Eugene Code, 1971, and providing an immediate effective date. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read a second time by council bill number only and that enactment be considered at that time. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. City Manager Carlson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4797 by number only. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 4:3, councilors Kelly, Taylor, and Bettman voting in opposition, and became Ordinance No. 20260. V. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning Solid Fuel Space Heating Devices and Amending Sections 6.250 and 6.255 of the Eugene Code, 1971 City Manager Carlson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4798, an ordinance concerning solid fuel space heating devices and amending Sections 6.250 and 6.255 of the Eugene Code, 1971. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read a second time by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at that time. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. City Manager Carlson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4798 by number only. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0, and became Ordinance No. 20261. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Carlson City Manager pro tem (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 2002 Page 11 Regular Meeting