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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/12/01 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber--City Hall February 12, 2001 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Scott Meisner, Pat Fart, Bonny Bettman, Gary Rayor, David Kelly, Nancy Nathanson, Gary Pap~. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. I.CEREMONIAL MATTERS A. Nonprofit Awareness Week Mayor Torrey proclaimed the week of February 5,2001, as Nonprofit Awareness Week. B. Spay Day USA Mayor Torrey designated February 27, 2001 as "Spay Day USA." He called upon the people of Eugene to observe the day by having their pets spayed or neutered. C. DeMolay Month Mayor Torrey proclaimed the month of March as DeMolay Month. He thanked the members of the DeMolay group that were present to general applause. D. 1999-2000 Ready to Read Grant, Outstanding Project Award Mary Kay Dhalgren, representing Oregon State Library Board of Trustees, presented an award to Mayor Torrey for the Eugene Public Library's Outstanding Project 1999-2000 Ready To Read Grant. Mayor Torrey, on behalf of the City Council, offered the award to the Eugene Public Library staff for their wonderful work. E. Gilham KidCity Adventures Program Mural Mayor Torrey urged those present to view the murals, created by the Gilham School Kid City Kids, that were on display in the McNutt Room through the month of February. II.PUBLIC FORUM MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 1 Regular Meeting Mayor Torrey noted that there were 14 people signed up for the public forum. He called for input from the council as to how much time would be allowed for the public forum. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to allow three minutes for each person to speak. Councilor Nathanson noted that the council had agreed to allow only 30 minutes for the public forum segment of its meetings. Councilor Taylor commented that if people took the time to come and address the council then the council should listen to them. Roll call vote; the vote resulted in a tie. Mayor Torrey voted in favor of the motion. The motion passed, 5:4, with councilors Pap6, Meisner, Fart, and Nathanson voting in opposition. Susan Martin, representing the Kathmandu Sister City Committee, presented a token of appreciation to the council. Kathy Madison, representing the City Club of Eugene, presented the book A History of Eugene from 1945 to 2000 to the City Council. She noted that the book contained 22 essays on various subjects. She said that by studying the past, better decisions could be made in the future. David Wilde, 87016 Green Ridge Drive, spoke as a representative of the Veneta Planning Commission. He commended the Mayor for creating a partnership with Veneta regarding the West Eugene Parkway Project and suggested a joint meeting with the Veneta City Council. Richard Trainer, 730 West 28th Avenue, called for the council to endorse the Eugene Priorities 2001 document. He remarked that Eugene was at a crucial crossroads and that the council had an opportunity to take positive steps toward visible positive impacts. Linda Fuller, 2401 West 22nd Street, urged the council to endorse the Eugene Priorities 2001. She said that implementation could make the City money. John Herberg, 568 Ferster Street, noted that 18 organizations had signed the Eugene Priorities 2001 document. He reiterated that there was wide spread support for the document in the City. He stressed the importance of campaign finance reform for local elections. David Monk, 3720 Emerald Street, submitted 797 signatures of Eugene citizens who were in favor of the City purchasing land at the headwaters of the Amazon stream. He urged the council to begin a dialogue with the owners of the property who were thinking of logging the property and selling it to another developer. Margaret Robertson, 854 Martin Street, maintained that the remaining headwaters of the Amazon stream contained first growth forest. She urged purchase of the property by the City for parks and open space. Alissa Manske, 412 Heritage Oaks Drive, urged support of the Eugene Priorities 2001 document. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 2 Regular Meeting Kate Thompson, 1176 Brookside Drive, spoke against the closure of the Edgewood daycare facility. She stressed that it was a good program that was already in existence and stressed the importance of having a daycare facility in that area. She reminded the council of its commitment to children and families. Tom Halferty, 4510 Manzanita Street, urged purchase of the remaining Amazon headwaters that were not developed. Tim Bloch, 220 East 42nd Avenue, complained that there was no structure in place to help citizens remove bad tenants from nearby rentals. He related that he had been struggling against drug dealers in his neighborhood for over a year. Councilor Nathanson said that the abatement process could help get bad elements out of neighborhoods. She asked for an abatement process update from the City Manager. Councilor Rayor remarked that it was hard to address neighborhood rental problems. He stressed that the City needed to track complaints more efficiently. Councilor Rayor went on to say that he could not understand the closure of the Edgewood daycare facility. Regarding campaign finance reform, Councilor Rayor said that the Citizen Charter Review Committee would examine the issue. Addressing the problem of bad elements in neighborhoods, Councilor Meisner said that, unfortunately it was a problem all over the City. He recommended Mr. Bloch contact the Public Service Officer (Sue Collins), who would be able to connect him with available City services. Councilor Kelly thanked the representative from Veneta. He expressed support for the idea of a joint meeting with the Veneta City Council. Councilor Pap~ noted that City staff was developing a priority system for acquiring open space. He suggested that the Amazon headwaters land be examined for inclusion on the list. He remarked that it was regrettable that the land in question was not included in the parks and open space bond of 1999. Councilor Taylor commented that the Edgewood daycare facility should not be lost only to be redone again at another time. Mayor Torrey noted that the Edgewood facility only served 10 children and was cut because it was not breaking even financially. He urged that City staff not be blamed for making decisions it was told to make. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 3 Regular Meeting III.CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Council Minutes January 10, 2001 State of the City Address January 17, 2001 Work Session January 18, 2001 Boards, Commissions, and Committees Interviews January 22, 2001 Work Session and Regular Session B. Approval of Tentative Agenda C. Resolution Amending Eugene City Council Operating Agreements and Repealing Resolution Number 4590 D. Approval of Community Development Block Grant Funding for Neighborhood Matching Grants E. Approval of Housing Investment Partnerships Program Funding for Low-Income Housing F. Approval of Resolution 4661 Requesting that jurisdiction of County road 2113 (Leo Harris Parkway), now located within the corporate limits of the City of Eugene, be transferred to the City of Eugene, Oregon, within a specified period of time. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. Councilor Fart pulled items B and C, asking that they be considered as one item. Councilor Meisner also wished to pull Item C to consider at another time. He said that the section in the council's operating agreements regarding the minutes had language that missed the point and needed to be re- worded. Regarding Item E, Councilor Nathanson noted that she had asked for clarification of the location of the project and learned that it was located near another Habitat for Humanity house in the same neighborhood. There was general consensus to split Item C into two parts. Councilor Fart said that the council had decided to change its Wednesday work session time to 11:30 a.m. He said that he had voted with the council so that, by Roberts Rules of Order, he could bring the item back for discussion. Councilor Kelly said that the phrasing around minutes corrections proposed in Item C needed additional work so that the process would reflect council intent. He suggested sending that portion of C back to staff for more work. There was general consensus. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 4 Regular Meeting Speaking to Item B, Councilor Fart said that the tentative agenda had some 11:30 a.m. meetings scheduled. He noted that if it was accepted those meeting times could not be changed. City Attorney Glenn Klein clarified that the meeting times could be changed if there was an affirmative vote for the first part of Item C. Councilor Kelly offered a correction to the minutes of January 10, 2000, by noting that Councilor Rayor was present at the meeting. Referring to the minutes of the work session on January 17, packet page 45, he noted that there was a vote on an amendment to a motion and not the main motion. Regarding the minutes of the January 22 work session, packet page 52, he clarified that he said it was important to "not over-broaden perceptions." For the meeting of January 22, regular session, packet page 65, he offered the following substitute for the last paragraph, noting that at his request Minutes Recording staff had reviewed the meeting tape: "Councilor Kelly summarized the origin of the action item, recollecting that the City had been unable to prosecute for a violation of the sign code involving second- and third-party contractors. He said that he had originally been concerned over uniform selective enforcement of the ordinance but commended Mr. Klein's efforts to stay within the intent of the code by broadening it to include the concept of person responsible." Councilor Nathanson offered a correction to the minutes of January 22, regular session, packet page 66. She said that her use of "we" was referring to the City, not the City Council. Councilor Farr offered a correction to the work session minutes of January 22; he clarified that he did not want all the streets downtown to be two-way streets. Roll call vote; the motion, excluding Item C, passed unanimously. Councilor Farr, seconded by Councilor Pap6, moved to reconsider the vote moving the Wednesday work session from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. The vote resulted in a 4:4 tie. Mayor Torrey voted in favor of the motion. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:4, with councilors Meisner, Bettman, Taylor, and Kelly voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey urged the council to find a common ground on considering meeting times. He said that he was "leaning towards" evening meeting times. Councilor Farr suggested that day meetings could be changed to 90 minutes instead of 120 minutes if the rest of the council wanted to keep them during business hours. Councilor Pap6, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend a previous work session's motion by changing the Wednesday work session times to noon to 1:30 p.m. Councilor Nathanson raised concern that a 90-minute work session would not be enough time for effective deliberations. City Manager Johnson acknowledged that if work session times were shortened for the Wednesday meeting then more work sessions would very likely have to be scheduled. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend the amendment by changing Monday work session start times to 5 p.m. The amendment to the amendment passed, 5:3, with councilors Taylor, Nathanson, and Rayor voting in opposition. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 5 Regular Meeting Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Pap6, moved to amend the amendment by changing the Monday work session start time to 5:30 p.m. and extending the meeting until 8 p.m. The amendment to the amendment passed, 6:2, with councilors Fart and Rayor voting in opposition. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:3, with councilors Nathanson, Rayor and Kelly voting in opposition. Councilor Fart left the meeting at 9:30 p.m. IV.DIRECTION ON LANE COUNTY PARKS SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CHARGES (SDCS) Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to concur with the City Manager's proposed direction for use of the Metro Area Lane County Parks SDCs to fund regional parks and open space acquisition. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding the legal parameters of SDCs, City Manager Johnson said that they were limited to capacity improvements. He said that the County was proposing the systems development charges so any legal issues would be handled by Lane County Counsel rather than City of Eugene legal counsel. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether SDCs were leveraged on commercial property as well as residential, City Manager Johnson said that it was residential only. Councilor Kelly thanked the City Manager for an innovative idea. He said that the idea needed feedback from the Lane County Board of County Commissioners. City Manager Johnson said that the Lane County board was waiting for feedback from the City Council. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to direct the City Manager to bring back an ordinance giving consent for the establishment of a County Parks system development charge inside the City of Eugene. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. V.PUBLIC HEARING: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM David Reinhard of the Public Works Department reported that the Budget Committee had recommended that funding for traffic calming, curb cuts for wheelchair ramps, and the NeighborWoods Program be restored to the capital budget. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Bj o Ashwill, 1016 West 12th Avenue, urged the council to approve the restoration of curb cuts, traffic calming efforts, and the NeighborWoods Program to the capital improvements budget. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 6 Regular Meeting Greg Geisy, 42 West 19th Avenue, urged the restoration of the NeighborWoods Program to the capital budget. He said that the program was the most successful volunteer program he had ever seen. David Green, 180 East 25th Avenue, urged the restoration of the NeighborWoods Program to the capital budget. There being no further requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. VI.EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Torrey convened an executive session of the City Council to conduct deliberations with persons designated to negotiate real property transactions. Mayor Torrey reconvened the meeting of the City Council. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to adopt Resolution 4662. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to authorize the City Manager to sell to the General Services Administration, all or a portion of the AutoCraft property, for a price that the manager determined to be in the public interest, in order to allow the GSA to locate the new federal courthouse in that general area. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 12, 2001 Page 7 Regular Meeting