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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 11/20/02 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall November 20, 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 Council President David Kelly called the meeting to order. He welcomed the new council coordinator, Lynda Rose, to the organization. Mr. Kelly distributed a copy of a letter opposing a war in Iraq for the council members to sign. He said the letter was identical to the draft that had been sent out over e-mail for council review. He noted that there were four copies going to senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden, Representative Peter DeFazio, and President George W. Bush. He noted that there was an alternative letter with amendments from Mr. Pap~ also circulating the table. Ms. Nathanson stated that the intent of the letter was to acknowledge that the Eugene City Councilors who signed were opposed to a possible war in Iraq. She said her preferred language was to urge the United States to comply with whatever action the United Nations deemed appropriate. Ms. Nathanson, seconded by Mr. Meisner, moved to remove from the table Council Bill 4800, an ordinance concerning transportation system maintenance fees, and to postpone action on this ordinance to December 9, 2002. Ms. Nathanson said she was making the motion because there was a sense of urgency that council finish its discussion and reach some sort of closure on the topic. She said it was possible that the legislature could preempt anything the City tried to do on the topic. Mr. Meisner agreed with Ms. Nathanson's comments. He expressed his discouragement at the County's reluctance to discuss the issue and Springfield's apparent change of head on implementing a gas tax within its city limits. Mr. Rayor said he would vote symbolically against the motion. He said the ordinance never had a good definition of what its funding would be used for. He said he would not support the motion until there was a better definition of what the maintenance fee would be used for in the ordinance language. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 20, 2002 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Pap~ reiterated Mr. Rayor's concern and raised concern over the speed with which the item was being reconsidered. Ms. Bettman said she would oppose the motion. She said she objected to "springing a motion" on the council when there had been no attempt to get public input or to have councilors discuss the matter before the meeting. Mr. Kelly urged the council to remember there were other items to discuss at the meeting. He noted that the substantive discussion on the item could be held until December 9. He said he would oppose the motion since no one had been notified before the meeting that the item would be raised. Ms. Nathanson acknowledged the desire of councilors to be made aware of motions before voting on them but noted that there had been instances where she had been unaware of a motion before it was made and had still made a decision based on the content of the motion. Ms. Bettman commented that the situation was different from a councilor crafting a motion the day before a meeting. She stressed that there had been plenty of opportunity to notify the rest of the council. City Manager Carlson said the reason for urgency was because of a required ten-day notice before the discussion on December 9. He noted that a tabled motion could not be put on the agenda since he had to wait for council direction to schedule the tabled motion. The motion passed, 4:3; Mr. Kelly, Ms. Bettman, and Ms. Taylor voting in opposition. A. WORK SESSION: First Annual Stream Corridor Acquisition Progress Report Therese Watch of the Public Works Department provided a PowerPoint presentation on the progress of the Stream Corridor Acquisition Program. She outlined the council direction from the previous year, the progress made by the program since that time, and a list of stream corridors acquired. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor regarding the Beverly property and what had happened since the purchase offer, Ms. Watch said the City's appraised value and the Bevertys' perception of the value of their property were far apart. The Bevertys were not willing to sell at the appraised value and staff had been operating from a willing seller approach only. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor regarding what the council could do to facilitate the purchase of the Beverly property, City Manager Carlson noted that without a willing seller the only thing that could be done was a condemnation ordinance. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 20, 2002 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Taylor moved to direct the City Manager to begin the process for a condemnation ordinance on the Beverly property. The motion died for lack of a second. Mr. Pap~ stressed that the purpose of the acquisition was to try to preserve whole corridors. He noted that, currently, it might appear that there was a patchwork of acquired properties but said that did not take away from the original purpose. Ms. Walch said the circumstances were so variable that immediate acquisition priorities changed often. Overall, however, the priorities remained as described in the study. In response to a question from Mr. Pap~ regarding what stormwater fee funds could be used for, City Manager Carlson said the funds could be used for stormwater-retated purposes and stressed that the money could not be added to the General Fund. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner regarding what effect the acquisitions were having on the available residential land supplies, City Manager Carlson said he would return to the council with data on that subject. Mr. Meisner suggested a work session to discuss what exactly could be done with stormwater funds. Ms. Nathanson expressed her appreciation of having a "lessons learned" section in the report. In response to a question from Mr. Rayor regarding what staffing was necessary for running the program, Ms. Watch said approximately 10 percent of her time went into the program. She noted that there was a contract with the Lane Council of Governments for staff work. She also noted that there was approximately .6 FTE Real Property Officer for stream acquisition. In response to a question from Mr. Rayor regarding the possibility of using the funding for removing piping from certain areas, Ms. Watch said there had been tacit agreement to concentrate on using the funding for protection of stream corridors only, as opposed to restoration. Regarding cost comparisons between piped streams and maintaining open waterways, Ms. Bettman said she would like to see any analysis that had been done. Referring to the Beverly property and the staff viewpoint that the Beverlys were putting a higher value on the property than its current worth, Ms. Bettman suggested that some smaller and less important acquisitions could be tabled and the funding could be used to pay the extra cost for the Beverly property. Mr. Kelly thanked the staff involved in the project. He said the program provided a lot of resources that were consistent with established council goals. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 20, 2002 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Pap6, moved to extend the time of the item by six minutes. The motion passed, 4:3; Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Meisner and Rayor voting in opposition. Ms. Taylor expressed her concern that the council was unwilling to protect the headwaters of the Amazon and commented that if a property owner was unwilling to sell then a condemnation ordinance should be considered. B.WORK SESSION: Update on Army Corps of Engineers Projects Regarding the letters being circulated opposing a possible war in Iraq, Mr. Kelly noted that six councilors had signed the original draft and four had signed the amended version submitted by Mr. Pap6. He proposed sending the original draft since it had the signatures of the majority of the council. He called for a motion to clarify council direction on the matter. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to send the original version of the letter. Ms. Nathanson said the letter was not an official statement of the City of Eugene. She thought that both of the letters should be sent. Ms. Bettman said both were acceptable to her even though she preferred the original draft of the letter. She said she was not in favor of sending both letters but only the one that the majority of the councilors were willing to sign. Mr. Kelly said two versions of a letter sent by some of the same people would seem like a mixed message. City Attorney Glenn Klein recommended that both letters be sent with only the signatures of the councilors who preferred a particular letter. The motion failed, 5:2; Ms. Taylor and Ms. Bettman voting in favor. Mr. Kelly said the original draft would be sent and noted that those wishing to sign the amended letter could meet directly after the work session. Moving on to the actual agenda item, City Manager Carlson introduced City Engineer Mark Schoening, who provided a PowerPoint presentation on Army Corps of Engineers projects. He reported that both projects had reached important milestones. He said the Delta Ponds project had its feasability report approved and would go to construction in the summer. He said the Metro Waterways Study Reconnaissance Report had been completed. He added that the local partners in that study were Lane County and the City of Springfield. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 20, 2002 Page 4 Work Session Mr. Schoening said the underlying strategy for Delta Ponds was to change the flow regime to increase the circulation of water through the ponds and increase the water in the ponds during the winter. This would help improve the habitat for salmon and decrease the water in the ponds during the summer, which would improve the habitat for the red legged frog. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman regarding what would be involved in maintaining the site on a yearly basis, Mr. Schoening said the Delta Ponds site would have an annual maintenance cost of $4,000, which would come out of stormwater funds. In response to a question from Mr. Pap6 regarding how the Delta Ponds project was rated on the United Front list, City Manager Carlson said it was a funded project. Mr. Schoening noted that it still had to go through the federal appropriations process but added that the work that had been done as part of the United Front in the past had put it in a good position to be funded. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner regarding when the Corps would consider cleaning up the Willamette River itself, City Manager Carlson said he would provide a written response. The meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Carlson City Manager pro tem (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 20, 2002 Page 5 Work Session