Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 05/29/01 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber--Eugene City Ha11--777 Pearl Street May 29,2001 8 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Scott Meisner, Gary Rayor, Gary PapS, Bonny Bettman. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Pat Farr, Nancy Nathanson. CITY COUNCIL MEETING Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. 1.PUBLIC FORUM Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, called the council's attention to an article written in a Salem newspaper regarding problems for that city's downtown area that he opined were similar to problems facing Eugene's downtown. He called for a "united effort" to convince The Register- Guard to publish the article. David Hinkley, 1350 Lawrence Street, speaking as a representative of the Neighborhood Leaders Council (NLC), submitted a draft set of criteria for ward redistricting to the council. He urged the council to consider the document when making decisions regarding ward redistricting. Jim Hale, 1715 Linnea Avenue, congratulated the council on the acquisition of the federal courthouse site. He asked the council to consider the consolidation of the old Eugene Hospital and its surrounding lots for the site of a new PeaceHealth facility. He stressed the importance of keeping PeaceHealth in the downtown area. Councilor Kelly thanked Mr. Hale for his comments. He also expressed his thanks to the NLC for its submittal of the ward redistricting recommendations. Councilor Rayor thanked Mr. Hale for his comments on the PeaceHealth relocation. Councilor Taylor thanked Mr. Hale, Mr. Hinkley and Mr. Miller for their comments. She commented that the NLC had made some good points regarding ward redistricting. Councilor Meisner thanked Mr. Hinkley for submitting the NLC views on ward redistricting and urged NLC members to attend the June 4 public forum on the subject. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 1 Regular Meeting II.CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of Council Minutes; 1. April 23, 2001 Work Session 2. April 23, 2001 Regular Meeting 3. April 25, 2001 Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions D. Neighborhood Matching Grants Spring 2001 Projects E. Appointments to Boards, Committees, and Commissions Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar. Mayor Torrey pulled the minutes of April 25 for Councilor Nathanson, who was absent from the meeting. Councilor Pap~ pulled the work session and regular session minutes from April 23. Councilor Bettman offered a correction to the minutes of April 25, 2001 (meeting packet page 132) She said that she meant to say purview of legal counsel and not the manager's purview: "She expressed surprise that the effective date recommended by the City Attorney was based on budget and staffing issues, as she did not realize that was the manage~ purview of legal counsel." Councilor Kelly read the correction offered by Councilor Nathanson to the minutes of April 25, 2001 (packet page 127.) He noted the words "public" and "private" were reversed and offered the correct wording: "She observed that ~ public investment was often followed by pub!ic private development, such as happened at 2nd Avenue and Chambers Street." Councilor Kelly offered a correction to the minutes of April 23, 2001 work session (packet page 106): "Mr. Kelly agreed with some of Mr. Meisner's remarks." Councilor Kelly offered a correction to the April 23 regular meeting minutes (packet page 121): "Councilor Kelly acknowledged the monetary concerns but said facetiously that the City could address all such monetary concerns if it had the police issue all punishments on the spot at the time of arrest." Councilor Pap~ offered a correction to the minutes of the April 23, 2001 work session (packet page 97): "Mr. Pap~ called for a bi ~,q,qu~! semi-annual work session dedicated solely to reviewing progress on the council goals in an off site location." Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. III.ACTION: Approval of FY02 Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission Budget Mayor Torrey complimented the staff work in putting the budget together. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 2 Regular Meeting Peter Ruffier of the Public Works Department submitted the budget of the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission to the council for approval. He said the budget included expenses associated with the administration of the regional program as well as operations and maintenance costs for the regional facilities, which included the main wastewater treatment plant, the bio-solids facility, and the seasonal industrial waste site. Mr. Ruffler noted that the Wastewater Management Commission was administered by an intergovernmental agreement between Eugene and Springfield. He added that the City of Springfield was responsible for the financial administration of the regional program. He introduced Susie Smith, the Manager of Springfield's Environmental Services Division and General Manager for the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission, and Eileen Stein, a Senior Management Analyst for the City of Springfield. Ms. Stein provided a summary of the budget. She noted that Lane County was scheduled to ratify the budget the next morning and the City of Springfield was scheduled to ratify the budget on June 18. She noted that the new budget raised regional rates by five percent. Ms. Stein emphasized that the FY00-01 budget saw the completion of the commission's goal to manage the regional wastewater program for five years without a rate increase. Ms. Stein said that the rate increase would allow the commission to fund operations in capital improvements over the next five years with stable rates. She said that the rate increase amounted to a monthly charge of $8.53 for residential customers which was an increase of $.40 based on average monthly water usage of 5,000 gallons. Ms. Stein called attention to a survey, distributed to the council, which showed how the regional rate compared to other Oregon communities. She emphasized that administration and operations and maintenance costs in the proposed budget were within the range of inflation. She noted that staffing levels remained stable. She said that personnel costs increased six percent, largely due to increases in health care coverage. Councilor Rayor said that he found the budget process to be very clear and concise and recommended the passage of the budget to the council. He thanked commission staff for its work. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to approve the FY02 Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission Budget. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding reassurance that there were no Systems Development Charge (SDC) eligible expenditures in the capital budgets that were not paid for by SDCs, Ms. Smith said that one of the main reasons that the SDCs seemed Iow was that a huge percentage of the cost of the facilities were covered by federal grants. She added that the SDC methodology used by the commission was reviewed in 1997-98 with the idea of dealing with large industrial users. Ms. Smith said that previous SDC methodology had been based on a five-year capital improvement program and noted that there was currently a well-defined ten-year capital improvement program. She stressed that the SDC methodology was being reviewed in the current year to reflect a ten-year time frame. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 3 Regular Meeting In response to a question from Ms. Bettman regarding why a ten-year methodology was being considered rather than a twenty-year methodology, Ms. Smith said that a twenty-year look at the facilities had been done in 1997 and the plan, at that point, showed that the current design capacity of the regional wastewater facilities was good through 2017. She noted that Hyundai had not used as much of the capacity as planned, so that there was design capacity until 2022-25. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether the extra design capacity was included in the reimbursement fee, Ms. Smith said that all of the SDCs were a combination of reimbursement and improvement fees. City Manager Johnson said that the best way for the council to stay in touch with MWMC developments was through Councilor Rayor, a member of the commission. In response to a question from Councilor Pap8 regarding why the Poplar Field was not counted in the proposed budget, Ms. Smith said the property was recently acquired by the commission and its capital improvements were included in the budget, but operating expenses had not been included in the budget because the infrastructure would not be completed until the next year's budget. In response to a question from Councilor Pap8 regarding incentives for people to improve the wastewater system so that stormwater would not overflow into the system, Ms. Smith said that there was no incentive built into the rate. She said that the commission did not have authority to construct a private lateral system that would be required to divert stormwater overflow. Councilor Kelly complimented the program. He said it was cost efficient, well run, and a good example of a successful intergovernmental partnership. Mayor Torrey said the MWMC was the best example of efficiency in intergovernmental relations in the entire area and could serve as a model for other activity areas. He again complimented staff on its work. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. IV. ACTION: An Ordinance Amending Section 7 of Ordinance 20224 to Provide an Effective Date of August 1, 2001 and An Ordinance Amending Section 4 of Ordinance 20225 to Provide An Effective Date of August 1, 2001 In response to a question from Councilor Rayor regarding the two letters received on the subject, City Attorney Jerry Lidz said there was a letter from attorney Bill Kloos regarding the City Attorney's response to a prior letter. He said the ordinances in front of the council that evening were a response to Mr. Kloos's letter. He said the second letter, from a Mr. Davis, essentially was urging the council to adopt the amendments scheduled for action that evening. He said that neither of the letters presented a substantial legal issue. In response to a question from Mayor Torrey regarding verification of trees on a person's lot that could be removed and the associated costs, Senior Planner Teresa Bishow of the Planning and Development Department said the ordinance was to protect the property owner from cutting a MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 4 Regular Meeting preserved tree. She noted that the fee was to absorb the costs of verification rather than to rely on the general fund. In response to a question from Mayor Torrey regarding how much the fee would be, Ms. Bishow said that a rate had not been established, but she estimated that the rate would be $75 - $150. She reiterated that the rate was not set to generate revenue but to cover the staff costs of verification for a development site. She said that if a more efficient verification method was developed, the cost would be lower. In response to a question from Mayor Torrey regarding how the public was going to be made aware of the ordinance, Ms. Bishow said staff would use neighborhood group leaders, neighborhood newsletters, and whatever cost-effective means possible to get the word out. In response to a question from Councilor Pap8 regarding whether the issuance of tree cutting permits would be moved to the Planning and Development Department, City Manager Johnson said that permits affecting private property would be managed by the Planning and Development Department, with Public Works retaining issuance of tree-cutting permits on public land. City Manager Johnson asked that the council consider Council Bill 4765, an ordinance amending Section 7 of Ordinance 20224 to provide an effective date of August 1, 2001. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read a second time by bill number only and that enactment be considered at that time. Councilor Pap8 moved to amend the motion by extending the effective date to September 1, 2001. The motion died for lack of a second. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4765 by number only. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, and became Ordinance No. 20229. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4766, an ordinance amending Section 4 of Ordinance 20225 to provide an effective date of August 1, 2001. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, 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. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4766 by number only. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, and became Ordinance No. 20230. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 5 Regular Meeting Mayor Torrey adjourned the regular session of the City Council and called the council to a work session in the McNutt Room of City Hall. V. WORK SESSION: 2001 - 2002 City Council Goals Work Plan The council began the discussion on page 19 of the Goals Document (Healthy, Natural, and Built Environment). Councilor Rayor proposed a work plan item: Develop a plan and funding strategy for reducing the consumption of energy and fuels. City Manager Johnson said that staff were in support of the new goal and were currently implementing it. Regarding the work plan item Develop a library marketing Service Plan, Councilor Meisner suggested a change of language to reflect that it was more of a needs assessment than a marketing plan. Under the work plan item Examine local campaign finance review, Councilor Kelly suggested the following replacement language: Ccunci! review cf reccmmend~tic,-, from Citiz~,-, Ch~,,ler Review Ccmmitt~ on whether · Research local existing campaign finance law and propose possible Eugene ordinances. · Study how to improve timeliness and accessibility of contributors and expenditures reporting. Councilor Bettman suggested: · Respond to campaign finance issues identified by the Citizen Charter Review Committee. · Explore administrative strategies to increase information and streamline access of the information such as on the City's Web site. · Adjust campaign contributors and expenditures reporting to make it more useful as voter information and readjust the timeline so that it is more consistent with the timeline of the mail in ballots. There was general consensus for a change of language. Ms. Bohman said that she would prepare draft language for the council's approval. Regarding the Action Priority Explore new approaches to code enforcement and nuisance complaints, Councilor Meisner noted that there were many code enforcement issues that were not at the level of nuisances. He suggested alternate language to reflect that. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 6 Regular Meeting Under the additional resources item for that action item, Councilor Bettman suggested the wording: "Need for additional resources and cost recovery will be determined by the action plan." Under the work plan item Identify and implement funding sources (including existing sources) for operation, maintenance and preservation of the transportation system, Councilor Bettman suggested replacement wording: · Investigate ways to direct existing revenue sources to operations, maintenance and preservation. Councilor Rayor believed an added bullet that had been agreed to by the Budget Committee, and referred to Public Works Department Director Kurt Corey for the wording. Councilor Rayor read an addition suggested by Councilor Nathanson under the action item Improve Street Safety, which was: · Put the second speed radar trailer to use. Under the third work plan item for Improve Street Safety, Councilor Rayor suggested the following language: · Identify and implement sidewalk/bike path improvements to the extent possible to separate and reduce conflicts between modes. · Educate bicyclists of their duties and responsibilities under the law. · Keep bikeways maintained. The meeting adjourned at 10 p.m. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 7 Regular Meeting Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 29, 2001 Page 8 Regular Meeting