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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 11/25/02 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room-City Hall November 25, 2002 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: David Kelly, Gary Pap~, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, Betty Taylor, Gary Rayor, Bonny Bettman, Pat Fart. A. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mayor James D. Torrey convened the work session of the Eugene City Council at 5:30 p.m. He called for items from the council. Ms. Bettman expressed concern that meetings were heavily attended by staff people and that this was costing the City money. She asked for clarification, in the form of a memorandum, on the policy regarding how staff were being compensated for attending meetings and whether it entailed overtime. Ms. Taylor commented that library fees could create a burden to Iow-income library users and indicated that she had written a letter to the library regarding her concerns. Mr. Kelly said that he had noted in The Register-Guard that the Request for Proposals had gone out for the parking lot by the old library site. He recommended that time be blocked out now for both the Planning Commission and the City Council to work on this in order to move on it in a timely fashion. Mr. Kelly observed that the Budget Committee would have a vacancy when incoming councilor Jennifer Solomon took office. He advocated for filling the position in January. He requested a straw poll on whether the position should be filled from the current pool of applicants or whether the pool of applicants should be reopened in order to garner more applicants from Ward 6. Five councilors felt that the latter approach should be pursued. In response to comments from Mr. Pap~, City Manager pro rem Jim Carlson said that a progress report on the bike path construction would be in the next council packet. He noted that construction may carry into the first part of 2003. Mr. Pap~ recommended to those present that they read the article entitled Market Solutions to False Alarms printed in the magazine, Prioritization Watch. Mr. Fart commented that the letter that had been circulated at the council meeting of the previous week should have come with more prior notice and should not have been signed when Mayor Torrey and himself were not present. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Farr expressed the hope that the council would look at qualified applicants from north Eugene/Ward 6 to fill the vacancy that Ms. Solomon was leaving on the Budget Committee. Ms. Taylor noted that there was no one from Ward 2 on the committee. Mayor Torrey predicted that there would be a great many people at the public forum that evening. He stated that if there was a 4:4 vote to extend the time limit on the forum, he would not cast a tie-breaking vote. He added that he would not accept a motion in the middle of a meeting that did not relate to items on the agenda. He clarified that he would accept an individual councilor's right to speak at the end of the meeting and that the individual councilor could make a motion at that time. He clarified that councilors were allowed to appeal the ruling of the chair and, with a second, could overrule the chair. Ms. Nathanson asked what the determining factor was that drove a motion to curtail the public forum speakers' time to two minutes. Mayor Torrey responded that such a motion was driven by the need to complete the evening's agenda. Ms. Bettman objected to instituting this change at the meeting to follow the work session. She felt that there should be seven days' notice of such changes. Mr. Rayor said that he could not support the resolution regarding the USA Patriot Act enacted at the federal level that would be presented at the City Council meeting. He noted that he had written a draft resolution and circulated it to the council. Mr. Pap8 stated that he had opposed limiting the public forum time to local residents or residents that live within the urban growth boundary when it had last been addressed, but that he would now be amenable to supporting such a motion. City Manager Carlson commented that another process session for the council would be scheduled for February 2003. B. WORK SESSION: Redesign of the Interstate 5 and Beltline Road Interchange City Manager Carlson said that staff knew that the Beltline Road/Interstate 5 project was coming to key decision points and so scheduled the work session. He noted that Mr. Kelly had participated on the Beltline Decision Team, the team formed by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to oversee the project. He stated that representatives from ODOT and CH2M Hill were present to provide an overview of the redesign project and answer questions. Jay McRae of CH2M Hill recapped the events that had occurred since the previous January 2002, as follows: · An environmental assessment was prepared and distributed to interested parties and made available through public news release. · A public hearing was held on June 5, 2002, and comments were received. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 2 Work Session · The comments were reviewed with a stakeholder working group consisting of a cross- section of both communities, user interest groups, and agency staff. Questions brought up at the hearing were answered in this forum. · A recommendation was made to the decision team and the team deliberated over two meetings on it. There was a decision by the team, 5:0, to proceed with the improvements to the interchange as well as Option 3 of the improvements to the Beltline/Gateway intersection. Mr. McRae introduced Karl Wieseke who spoke on the Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA) project as it related to Phase 1. Mr. Wieseke explained that Phase 1 was very specific in the environmental assessment and that a major element of that was the fly-over, which was the north to west movement on Beltline Road. He noted that OTIA was easier to understand if it was considered an element of Phase 1. He said that $18 million would pay for ramp improvements to the southbound and westbound movements on Beltline Road, an auxiliary lane from Interstate 5 to Coburg Road westbound, and the bike and pedestrian improvements. He added that OTIA was intended for a total project cost and, as such, the $18 million would also purchase right-of-way, relocate utilities, and would do preliminary engineering on the project. Mr. Wieseke related that the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) owned a portion of the property and that the conditions under which EWEB would accept the new bike and pedestrian facility entailed lowering the berm and replacing the existing fence with something more durable in nature. He noted that the changes would create a noise impact for the people who resided there and the Beltline Decision Team had made recommendations to address this. Ms. Nathanson asked why EWEB wanted the berm reduced in height. Mr. Wieseke responded that the slope of the berm made the vegetation difficult to maintain and also, as the new bike and pedestrian improvements cause some area to be paved over, EWEB was asking, as part of the mitigation, for the project to reduce the slope and increase the area that they could actually locate future utilities on. In response to a question from Mr. Farr, City Manager Carlson explained that the pedestrian and bicycle improvements were part of the TransPlan. Mr. Farr asked if it was felt that the improvements would be amply used by bicyclists and pedestrians. City Manager Carlson affirmed that they were projected to be well used. In response to a question from Mr. Rayor, Mr. Wieseke stated that the sound wall would extend along the south side of the Beltline Road corridor from Coburg Road to Interstate 5, and along the east side of the Interstate 5 corridor from Beltline Road to Interstate 105. Mr. Wieseke clarified, for Mr. Pap6, that OTIA 1 would not fund the sound walls. Mayor Torrey commended the vote on this project, noting that the $18 million in OTIA would have been lost. He felt that this interchange was very important to the area. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 3 Work Session Mr. Kelly expressed appreciation for the cooperative work of the three jurisdictions that had come together in this. Mr. Rayor thanked the BELTL1NE DECISION TEAM, ODOT, and the City of Springfield for the work that they had done on this project. He felt that the bicycle path would be well-used as it would connect a "huge" amount of people to the Gateway area. Mr. Farr thanked the decision team for its work and expressed hope that the people of the Bethel area would some day have a bicycle path that connected to the paths available to the rest of the City. City Manager Carlson noted that one reason this item had been put on the council agenda was that it was a big project and that it was the Metropolitan Policy Committee's (MPC) top transportation project priority. He said that it had been forwarded to the State, through the State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) process, and staff would also attempt to get funding earmarked for it on a bill in the next round of federal transportation funding. Mr. Meisner asked, with respect to the proposed PeaceHealth development, if its active response to the letter that had been in the news would make a difference in the planning or would it create changes in the project. Mr. Wieseke responded that he was unable to comment on that at this time. Ms. Bettman asked if the traffic counts that it had been modeled on included PeaceHealth development of the Riverbend site. Mr. Wieseke stated that both scenarios had been looked at and that development would accommodate the project for the next 20 years. He confirmed for Ms. Bettman that the entire project was slated to cost $79 million over the course of two decades. Mr. Kelly noted that PeaceHealth had made the traffic analysis work by agreeing as a condition of development that it would limit the total number of trips generated by the development. He added that this would allow the project to serve through the design life. C. WORK SESSION: Overview and Approval of 2003 Legislative Policies Document City Manager Jim Carlson introduced Intergovernmental Relations Manager Jason Heuser, who provided the staff presentation. He noted that the document had been reviewed by the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR). Mr. Heuser introduced Sara Breeden, new legislative analyst for the Intergovernmental Relations team, and spoke glowingly of her previous legislative work which included work in Washington, DC. Mr. Heuser said that he met with City Manager Carlson and the executive managers two months ago and discussed the importance of having the legislative priorities document in place prior to the MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 4 Work Session next session of the State Legislature. He noted that last year's document had not lacked some attention to the details and, as a result, there had been some additional work this year. He added that 32 coordinators had worked on the document. Mr. Heuser previewed the legislative landscape of 2003, stating that there was a significant Republican majority in the State House and that the Senate was evenly divided and would be devising a plan for power-sharing. He said another revenue shortfall was projected. He commented that Ballot Measure 28, to be voted on at the end of January, held $315 million "hanging in the air" and that $95 million of that was dedicated to the K-12 public school system. He felt that this would add up to a lack of transactional politics and the ensuing gridlock. Mr. Heuser predicted that there would be three primary issues, as follows: · How to bridge revenue deficits. Currently, polls indicate that Ballot Measure 28 may not be voted in. · How to fund K-12 public education. Voters want this problem to be resolved at the state level. This may involve some reform to the tax base, which could involve a dedicated sales tax. · How to reform PERS. The strain this has put on the State budget has made it a critical issue in the budget solution that would come from this session. There is now strong and critical data that indicates that the PERS system may not be self-correcting as had been previously predicted. There would have to be "miracle returns" on the stock market for the next 10 to 15 years for the PERS situation to regain financial health. Mr. Heuser delineated the two core principles of the legislative document, that of preserving local decision making and that of maintaining the stability of City finances. Mr. Heuser noted that the first issue that would be have to be dealt with would be PERS. He said that there were many emerging developments in the PERS issue, including a pending lawsuit, and as such, it had been difficult to craft definitive language regarding PERS in the legislative document. He circulated an attachment that delineated the most recently revised language regarding PERS. Ms. Bettman pointed out that a motion to accept the language would need to be made at the end of the presentation of the legislative policies document. Mr. Heuser summarized the PERS issue, explaining the two significant developments. He stated that one was a ruling in the lawsuit that determined that the PERS board had exceeded its statutory authority over the past few years specifically in regard to how earnings were credited to employees' accounts and that the other development was the determination that the PERS system would not likely be self-correcting in the long run. He said that currently there was a negotiated settlement between employers, employees, and the governor's office. He elaborated, stating that these entities were trying to arrive at a negotiated settlement that would be put into a statute by the legislature and would encompass some of the findings and remedies of the lawsuit as well as prospective changes that would make PERS sustainable over the next 50 years and potentially into perpetuity. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 5 Work Session Continuing, Mr. Heuser discussed local transportation financing options. He noted that there was potential that someone would introduce legislation that would provide for a five-cent gas tax statewide that would be shared with local governments, but would preempt local authority to enact additional gas taxes. He advocated for opposition of legislation that would remove local control of a gas tax. Mr. Heuser noted that every phone bill has had a 75 cent charge to cover the Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) or 9-1-1 Centers. He explained that there are large PSAP funding discrepancies from county to county and the funds dispersed have not been enough to operate the PSAP in Lane County. He said that if the one percent floor for the minimum amount of funding that counties were allocated was eliminated, there would be ample funding for every PSAP in Lane County. He stated that the City would be working with its government partners, other municipalities, and the League of Oregon Cities to track that legislation and work toward a more equitable distribution of those funds. Regarding the transient lodging tax, Mr. Heuser said that these funds had been used in the City of Eugene toward debt retirement from the commitment to Hayward Field renovation that had been made several years ago. He reported that this funding could be preempted and that the purposes for which the funds could be used could be so narrowly drawn that the City could only use the funding for tourism, such as only for billboards to advertise the area, and that this debt retirement would no longer qualify for the funding. Mr. Heuser discussed local telecommunications authority. He noted that during the last few legislative sessions, local right-of-way authority had been under attack. Ms. Nathanson added that several states had passed legislation that gave telecommunications authority to the state. She felt that there was a possibility that there could be a proposal at the State level for authority over telecommunications that would be promoted by industry and that this could look very enticing in the immediate future, but that it was important to think about how the shift in authority would impact the City two years down the road. Mr. Heuser reiterated the importance of maintaining right-of-way authority for local governments. Mr. Heuser stated that the railroad transportation budget had been saved by ODOT for the present and had not been tremendously impacted. He added that the federal government was considering the future of passenger rail in this country and may redesignate which rail corridors were of importance to the country and a state that did not show commitment to passenger rail could be lower in "the pecking order." Regarding the potential reform to the State tax structure, Mr. Heuser discussed the issue of shared revenues. He said that the State had done a "good job" of not diminishing local shared revenues, such as the tobacco tax. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 6 Work Session Mr. Heuser noted that the Ballot Measure 7 activity in the legislature would be monitored closely as the implications for local government were enormous. Regarding land-based application of bio-solids, Mr. Heuser stated that the Farm Bureau had taken exception to that practice and that this could impact the City's ability to engage in that practice and could potentially create fiscal implications for the City. Mr. Meisner commended the IGR staff and all City staff for their work on the document. He noted that the City was two months into the session in the previous year before such a document was in hand. He stressed the importance of protecting local and home rule. He commented that the local school bond measure had been the result of a State failure to fund schools. Additionally, Mr. Meisner requested an opportunity to give a presentation to the council on the activities of the Oregon Passenger Rail Advisory Council. He said that within ODOT, it was believed to be a possible source of funding to relieve the pressure of a possible cut in January and that the cuts from that would largely be imposed on passenger rail and senior and disabled transit services. Mr. Rayor likened the PERS issue to a "double whammy" in that it both took money from the State and from the schools. Mr. Kelly complimented the staff on the work it had done on the document. He noted that he had six corrections, four that merely typographical corrections and two that raised more substantive policy concerns. Regarding the latter, he explained that the first item of concern had to do with the Toxics Right- to-Know and that, after consulting with Glen Potter of Fire & Emergency Medical Services, he was amenable to leaving the language as it was. He stated that the second item, on page 62 of the document, addressed the confidentiality of police records that had been written too broadly. After consulting Ellwood Cushman and Chief Thad Buchanan of the Eugene Police Department, it had been recommended that this paragraph be stricken until a further bill was introduced that the CCIGR could work with. Mr. Pap~ concurred with the previously expressed commendation of staff. He recommended that the executive summary stress the importance of the discussion on PERS and funding for K-12 education. Mr. Farr commended Mr. Heuser and City Manager Carlson for their work on the document. He remarked that he was looking forward to working on issues that are important to the City of Eugene at the legislative level. Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation for the work that had gone into the document. She felt that the no net gain swaps for the urban growth boundary that were discussed on page 64 could have a negative impact on local planning and development. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 7 Work Session Continuing, Ms. Bettman cited the financial incentives provided to gasoline stations to upgrade their tanks, as addressed on page 77 of the document. She remarked that gasoline sales was one of the more profitable industries in the country and wondered where the funding for the financial incentives would come from. Ms. Bettman voiced concern that the language regarding the initiative process recommending an increase in the requirements for signatures for constitutional amendments and limiting the fiscal impact of constitutional amendments belonged in a ballot issue. Ms. Bettman indicated that she would be making a motion regarding language on pages 32 and 51 regarding the Highway Trust Fund. She explained that most of the language in the recommendations reinforced Eugene's commitment to the desire to utilize as much funding as possible to address the shortfall in road operations, preservation, and maintenance. Ms. Nathanson asked who was promoting the change in the allowable uses for the room tax. Mr. Heuser responded that he thought the name of the organization was the Oregon Lodging Association. Ms. Nathanson related that she had heard at State meetings that there are objections to using the money for general purpose government. She noted that some cities had made the case for using such funding to increase safety or attractiveness of a downtown area. She supported the use of funding for anything that improved the infrastructure as that improved the attraction of the area to visitors. Continuing, Ms. Nathanson said that she would like to see language about general precepts that discuss further restricting the use of funds. She strongly recommended that this language be added. Mr. Heuser suggested that it could be couched in language that stressed local decision- making in how revenues are used. Mr. Meisner felt that it could be put in the precepts by adding that the City should be able to "raise and use revenue." He suggested that it be a friendly amendment. Ms. Taylor complimented the document, but wondered who had suggested streamlining the land- swap process in the UGB. Mr. Heuser responded that he thought it had come out of the Planning and Development Department. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Heuser opined that he did not think that a sales tax could pass. Mayor Torrey urged the council to keep the list of requests for changes to the legislative policies "tight" as a long list would mire staff and reduce their ability to be effective in this endeavor. He noted that there would be a proposal for the United Front lobbying submitted within the month. Mayor Torrey felt that it would be highly unlikely that a sales tax would get out of the State House of Representatives. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 8 Work Session Regarding local control, Mayor Torrey felt it extremely likely that there would be legislation pushed through both houses, though he thought it unlikely that the governor would sign it, that would remove some local control over issues such as a gas tax. He believed that could preclude the council from addressing the road maintenance problem. Mayor Torrey stated that having a no net increase in the UGB was an appropriate and responsible approach to the expanding urban growth boundary questions. He thought it unlikely that the 20- year land supply would not stand a chance. He commented that the no net increase approach allowed the municipality to look at the UGB and decide where it could be moved to make best usage of the land. Mr. Kelly encouraged the council to think positively about Ballot Measure 28. He commented that he wanted the "opportunity to work hard for its passing." Mr. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to approve the 2003 Legislative Policies Document with the addition of the four small items listed in his e- mail, language responsive to Ms. Nathanson's concern about local use of revenues, and striking item F(4) on page 62 relating to public disclosure. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Mr. Farr, moved to amend the motion by revising Chapter 3, Section 3 (7) on document page 18 so as to strike all of the grey- line language and replace it with the revised language regarding PERS distributed to the work session. Mr. Rayor, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to substitute the following recommendation for the recommendation included in the revised language of Chapter 3, section 3 (7), as follows: "Support efforts to lower PERS costs to the City as soon as possible, including but not limited to making PERS a defined contribution plan." Mr. Meisner opposed the amendment. He stated that staff and the lobbyists clearly know the spirit and intention of the council and what methods are best to control costs. He felt that this amendment would "tie their hands" as it would make them pursue a single solution. Mr. Kelly concurred with Mr. Meisner. Mr. Rayor disagreed, stating that the time was right to "stick up" for the desired response. Mr. Pap~ felt that the PERS was not working and another system needed to be pursued. He said that the City needed to decrease the impact of the PERS. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 9 Work Session Mr. Farr said that he would not be supporting Mr. Rayor's amendment, but not because he did not believe in the spirit of the motion. He stated that he would be supporting Mr. Meisner's original amendment. City Manager Carlson advocated for supporting the motion with the amendment proposed by Mr. Meisner. With the concurrence of his second, Mr. Rayor withdrew his motion for the substitution. Mr. Rayor said that problem with the language was that it did not go far enough. He felt that the addition of the words "...to the greatest extent possible..." would add strength to the language. Mr. Rayor offered the aforementioned addition as a friendly amendment. Mr. Meisner accepted the friendly amendment. Mr. Pap~, seconded by Mr. Rayor, moved to amend the motion by removing the language that mentions PERS specifically and, instead, refer to it as employee retirement systems. The amendment to the motion failed, 6:2; Mr. Rayor and Mr. Pap~ voting yes. Mayor Torrey called for a vote on the original amendment, including the friendly amendment provided by Mr. Rayor. The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to amend Section 4, Transportation, sub-section A (1) entitled Highway Trust Fund on page 23 so that the words "any new" would be deleted. Ms. Bettman stated that the current wording forced the council to bank on new revenues for preservation of the existing system. The motion carried, 6:2. Mr. Pap~, seconded by Mr. Rayor, moved to amend the motion to have included in the executive summary something on PERS consistent with how the program was discussed at this meeting and also something on K-12 in the summary and in the body of the document. Ms. Nathanson expressed the wish that the executive summary not eclipse the other ideas being promoted by the council at the legislative level. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 10 Work Session Ms. Bettman offered a friendly amendment to the amendment to state that it would also include SDCs for public safety. Mr. Pap~ declined to accept the friendly amendment. The motion to amend failed, 5:3; Mr. Rayor, Mr. Pap~, and Mr. Farr voting yes. Mayor Torrey called for the vote on the original motion, as amended. The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 25, 2002 Page 11 Work Session