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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/21/00 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall February 21, 2000 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor, Nancy Nathanson, Pat Fart, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Gary Rayor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Gary Pap~. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. A. Items from Mayor, City Council, and City Manager Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, that the council direct the City Man- ager to send a letter to the General Services Administration (GSA) dated February 21, 2000, in which the City Council informs the GSA that the City Hall is not available for a new United States courthouse. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to send a letter to the GSA dated February 21, 2000, in which the City Council supports the greater Eugene area as the best location for a new United States courthouse. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to direct the manager to explore parking options for Eugene's new downtown library to increase the availability of shod-term parking spaces as close to the library site as possible. City Manager Jim Johnson said he had worked with the Planning and Development Department on a memorandum to the council regarding the issue of library parking. The memorandum described the current availability of shod-term parking and discussed other options for parking. He indicated he would include the memorandum in the next council packet. Mr. Kelly said that the issue was administrative in nature and he looked to the manager to create a viable parking option for the public. He called for a more global discussion of parking downtown. Mr. Meisner shared Mr. Kelly's interest for a more global discussion of parking, noting that currently the council appeared to address parking on a project-by-project basis. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to direct the City Manager to design and conduct a citizen involvement process to help the council determine the MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 1 5:30 p.m. best downtown location for a new police headquarters. The process should be timed to allow for a final council decision on the site prior to mid-April, 2000. Ms. Taylor asked why the decision needed to be made so soon. Mayor Torrey said that citizens were asking where the police station would be, which was why he wanted the council to discuss the issue. Ms. Taylor preferred to wait until the council decided to put a measure on the ballot. Mr. Rayor wanted to postpone the motion until after the discussion of item B on the evening's agenda. Ms. Taylor moved to table the motion to February 28. Mr. Rayor seconded the motion. Ms. Nathanson said she would not be at the meeting on February 28 but would have voted for the motion because it began the process of opening the public dialogue. Mr. Farr agreed. He saw no need to postpone action on the motion. Ms. Taylor said the time frame for discussion was too short, and there should be a public process about whether the community should have a new police station before a public process about where it should be. Mr. Meisner also did not support the motion to postpone as the motion on the floor merely began a process. The motion failed, 2:5; Mr. Rayor and Ms. Taylor voting yes. Mr. Rayor moved to postpone action on the motion until the end of the meeting. Mr. Kelly seconded the motion, which passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Lee reported on the results of the annual community survey, which indicated an increase in the number of people satisfied with City services and the direction the City was going. He commended staff for the results of the survey, terming it remarkable that the organization was doing so well in a time of limited resources. He added he continued to have concerns about the direction the community was taking; for example, people were concerned about growth and crime. In addition, the downtown approval rating had fallen significantly, and he believed the council needed to have a discussion of the community's perception of downtown as unsafe and undesirable. Mr. Farr stated he looked forward to his next three years on the council and to serving the people of Bethel-Danebo. Responding to Mr. Lee's comments regarding growth, Mr. Farr said he did not think the community was aware of burgeoning growth in the small communities around Eugene. He said that sprawl occurred when smaller cities grew into larger cities. He urged the manager to schedule a work session on the rates of growth in the smaller communities, which he believed adversely affected the quality of life in Eugene as people from those communities drove to Eugene to work. He said that growth was occurring because housing was cheaper in those communities. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 2 5:30 p.m. Mr. Fart said that the Human Rights Commission had heard a presentation from the City's diversity committees. He commended Mr. Johnson on the City's progress toward a truly diverse work force. He believed the HRC had begun to be more satisfied with the City's performance in this area. Mr. Meisner passed. Mr. Rayor mentioned a constituent contact from an Edgewood resident, who was experiencing erosion in an open creek created as an amenity for the development. The neighborhood association believed that upstream development was adding velocity to the creek, which had been stable for many years. He said that he would visit the site and attempt to identify the issues causing the problem, but he believed that the channels should be kept as natural as possible. Ms. Nathanson recollected her previously expressed concern that growth needed to be addressed at a countywide level, and her hope that Lane Council of Governments would sponsor a symposium on growth. The Planning Division had submitted a State grant to underwrite such a symposium. She requested a status report on any grant proposals that had been submitted to underwrite such efforts. Ms. Nathanson said she had asked about collaboration between the Public Works and Police departments in terms of locating street lights. She questioned the validity of using Police crime statistics in that effort given the under-reporting of property crimes now, and expressed a desire for better links between reporting and actual crimes. Ms. Nathanson requested tree survival rates for a planting on Amazon Creek in the vicinity of Bailey Hill Road, and asked if the City had a process to replace such trees or a link to a neighborhood program that did. Ms. Nathanson said she had enjoyed the Asian Celebration, terming it a great event. Mr. Kelly said he was pleased by the return of the monthly Police report, included in the council packets. He asked for follow-up on the situation in Rasor Park, and for follow-up on two assignments he had originated that had been on the council assignments list since April. Mr. Kelly commended the Asian Celebration. Ms. Taylor also commended the Asian Celebration. Ms. Taylor said that she recently attended a meeting regarding what Portland was doing to address the salmon listing, and expressed a hope that the council could consider the Key Waterways Ordinance sooner than planned. She expressed concern about the impact of development in the Amazon headwaters on the health of the creek, noting also the impacts from uses adjacent to the creek. Ms. Taylor said that she had been contacted by constituents arguing that the display advertisement regarding the police and fire facilities in the Sunday edition of The Register-Guard constituted advocacy. Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson, at the request of Mr. Lee, discussed Lane Council of Governments's application to the Land Conservation and Development Commission for a MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 3 5:30 p.m. regional problem- solving grant. He believed $200,000 had been requested for the grant and $150,000 was anticipated to be received. The cities of Lane County were in general concurrence that there were growth-related issues that must be discussed. He believed the grant would give Lane County an opportunity to discuss regional planning and study the issues involved. He anticipated more information about the grant would be received by March 31, 2000, and work would begin in summer 2000. Mr. Lee said that 4,000-plus additional people had attended the Asian Celebration, setting a new attendance record. He noted interest on the part of people from all over the Northwest in the event. Mr. Johnson reported that the two school districts had requested their measures be included in the City's voters pamphlet, but were prohibited from doing so by code. He requested council permission for staff to bring code changes allowing the districts to participate in the pamphlet, paying their fair share to the council. Responding to a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Johnson said the City had indicated to the district it would have to follow the ordinance to be included in the pamphlet. Councilors voiced no objection to seeing code language regarding the inclusion of the school districts in the ordinance. Responding to Ms. Taylor's concerns about the Amazon headwaters, Mayor Torrey said that he had attended the Mayor's Conference in Washington, DC, and had raised the issue of funding for urban parks with a member of the administration. He had been told that there was pending legislation that would provide funding for such parks. Mayor Torrey asked that the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations be prepared to discuss the legislation with Oregon's Congressional delegation. He noted that Representative Peter DeFazio had indicated he could support the legislation with some amendments. Mayor Torrey said that the council had been so quick to pass the motion on the courthouse issue that he did not want to give the wrong impression to the GSA that the council did not want the courthouse in downtown Eugene. He emphasized the unanimous nature of the council's vote on the subject. B.Work Session: Police and Fire Stations Recommendation. Tim Laue, chair of the Police and Fire Task Force, gave an overview of the process the task force had gone through to reach its recommendations. The process included a tour of other Oregon police facilities, a tour of existing Police facilities, and several meetings. Mr. Laue thanked Jim Carlson, Terry Smith, Captain Rick Siel, Matt Shuler, Mike Penwell, Russ McCready, Jan Bohman, Phil Weiler, Chief Jim Hill, and Chief Tom Tallon. He also recognized and thanked Jack Berry of Berry Architects, Steve Gund of Focus, Inc., and Curt Wilson of WGBS Architects. Mr. Laue also thanked the task force members and, in particular, recognized Rita Molina, the only member outside the councilors present. He recognized the time and effort put into the task force by council members. Mr. Laue reviewed the task force's charge, which was to determine the size, cost, and location of police and fire facilities. He contrasted current and projected space needs for the police and fire facilities. The time frame was for a 20-year facility with expansion possibilities to 40-year use. The task force had addressed the cost associated with the square footage projected. He emphasized the work the task force put into the effort of number crunching, and said that the task force had cut the soft costs for planning and design by 20 percent. A downtown police station of MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 4 5:30 p.m. 97,500 square feet was projected to cost $30.5 million, and 22,000 square feet for fire facility at a cost of $5.5 million, for a total of $36 million. He noted the initial split of opinion among task force members about location of the two facilities, and said the task force had finally concurred, with one exception, that the facilities should be downtown. Mr. Kelly, a member of the task force, thanked Mr. Laue for his work as chair of the task force. Mr. Kelly said that the community trusts the Police Department with its lives, and the Police Department deserves a safe and adequate place to work and he did not think current facilities were sufficient. Mr. Kelly said that the task force had deferred discussion of potential off-setting revenues to the City Council. He asked that the council have background material about possible revenue options discussed by the Council Committee on City Hall Alternatives. Mr. Kelly said that if the council went to the voters for the full $36 million, a house with an assessed value of $123,000 would pay an additional $65 annually. Ms. Nathanson said that along with the list of revenue options, she would like a list of pros and cons of using them to offset this particular bond as opposed to other projects. Ms. Nathanson referred to page 15 of the meeting packet and said the report lacked a specific statement about which off-site police activities would remain off-site and which would be brought into the facility. Mr. Laue said that the Rapid Deployment Unit and Traffic Enforcement would be brought into the facility; property storage and large vehicle storage would occur offsite. Noting that the report indicated that the precinct approach was cost-effective only for communities of 500,000 or more, Ms. Nathanson asked if anything in the report argued against neighborhood-based substations for a community the size of Eugene. Mr. Laue said no. Responding to a question from Mr. Rayor, Mr. Laue said that three quarters of a block was needed for the police facility. He said that parking would be secured, and would be intended for police and official vehicles. He asked the council to consider the parking needs of staff who worked shifts and needed to walk to their cars at odd hours, adding that the employees would pay for parking. He estimated that 175 spaces would be needed. Mr. Johnson referred Mr. Rayor to the diagram on page 89 of the packet showing how parking could be positioned on the site. He added that Chief Hill had been discussing the issue with employees, and there was mention of many incidents when employees were leaving City Hall late at night. Chief Hill said there were many such incidents, and as more civilians worked for the department during different shifts, the problem could worsen. It was a major issue for employees. Employees accepted the notion of paying for parking as part of working downtown. Mr. Rayor determined that the current proposal did not include employee parking. Mr. Johnson concurred. Mr. Kelly clarified that initially, there would be an option for some staff parking because the size of the parking area for official vehicles was planned at a higher capacity than would first be needed. He asked if it was possible to price the parking so that employees could afford it and the City could bond for additional structure levels against those revenues rather than a general obligation bond. Mr. Johnson said yes, adding that staff was looking into that possibility. Mr. Rayor requested information on the number of employees that City Hall could house if the two departments were moved out. Mr. Johnson responded that the City needed to do some MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 5 5:30 p.m. comprehensive space planning to determine that. He said that there would be rental savings that could be used to renovate the building and there could be assets, such as the building at 858 Pearl Street, that could be sold and the employees moved to City Hall. He did not think that study could be completed by May 16. Mr. Carlson said that some preliminary work had been done on the subject, and there may be some space in the basement the City may wish to convert back to storage. Projections were that the remaining space would be used up during the projected 2020 planning period. Mr. Rayor advocated for beginning long-term space planning immediately. Mr. Meisner concurred. Mr. Meisner, a member of the task force, agreed with Mr. Kelly's comments about the need for offsetting revenues, possibly from properties now in police use, freed up from the voters' acceptance of the proposal. Mr. Meisner clarified that the projected square footage for the Fire Station was 20,600 square feet. He added that he believed that a quarter-block was essential for that facility. Regarding the Police facility, Mr. Meisner said that the Police facility could be half of one block with a contiguous quarter block across the street. He said that the figures for the project included land acquisition and condemnation costs. Depending on contingencies, the figure could be lower. Mr. Lee thanked Mr. Laue for his work, saying he brought credibility to the effort. He stressed the seismic inadequacy of City Hall and said it was likely to experience either extensive damage or complete collapse in a moderate to heavy earthquakes. The area had experienced eleven moderate earthquakes in recent years. Responding to a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Laue said that May was selected for the election because of the requirement for 50-percent turnout. In addition, other issues of importance were on the ballot and he believed the turnout would be high. Mr. Laue observed that buildings housing emergency services must not only continue to stand in an earthquake, they must continue to operate. Mr. Lee expressed concern that the time before the election was short for the public to become acquainted with such a complex issue. Mr. Laue believed that the voters were up to the task. Ms. Taylor asked if the facilities would be considered in two separate issues. Mr. Laue said that was up to the council. He supported offering the voters a single measure covering both facilities. Ms. Taylor supported two measures, saying people should be able to vote for one independently of the other. She did not want to put the Police facility on the ballot at this time. She felt it important the facilities be in downtown. She asked if the money saved on rentals could be used to reduce the amount of the bond. Mr. Johnson said there was not much time to figure that out; he added that the council could choose to under-levy, but might also want to dedicate those savings to renovating City Hall. Ms. Taylor reiterated her support for separate measures. She wanted more time for the public to become familiar with the issues involved. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 6 5:30 p.m. Mr. Fart believed that if the voters saw the condition of the Police Department they would support the measure. He supported including both facilities in one measure. He believed the council should be able to articulate the need, and the community would make an informed decision. Mayor Torrey said that the council should not assume that the basement levels of City Hall were usable for office space. He requested a table summarizing all City leases, the square footage lease costs, and the termination dates for the leases. Regarding the issue of the timing of the measure, Mayor Torrey said that May was a great time to have the discussion. He thanked the federal government for impelling the discussion. Mayor Torrey believed that the council had made the correct decisions. Mayor Torrey encouraged the voters to attend the public hearings and let the council know how they felt about the proposals. Mayor Torrey complimented Mr. Meisner for focusing the task force on a downtown location. He said that he frequently heard people discuss how unsafe the City streets were at night, and said the City must find a way to overcome that problem. Mayor Torrey thanked Mr. Laue for his excellent work as chair of the task force. He said that the process showed it did not take two years to do a good analysis, and he believed the public would support a measure to construct the police and fire headquarters. Mr. Rayor thanked the task force for its work and a good report. He said that the lots do not need to be contiguous; if they were not contiguous, the City would have more options. Mr. Laue concurred. Mr. Rayor asked the council whether excess funds remaining at the end of the project would be directed back to the taxpayers. He would like to be able to say to the public that any excess funds would go back to the public. He believed that was good government. It was bad government to add in contingency costs that may never be needed and not return the money. Mr. Johnson said that the council could choose to under-levy to accomplish the same goal. He indicated he would prepare a motion to that effect for Mr. Rayor. Mr. Rayor said that he would like to see the City adopt such a policy as a pact with the voters. Ms. Nathanson noted that she had mentioned the concept of under-levying the previous week and she believed the council had received information and suggestions from staff about that option. Mr. Johnson indicated that staff would prepare the requested motion, pros and cons of the approach, and information about under levying. Ms. Nathanson did not support two measures. She said that both services faced the same serious space issues and she did not see how they could be separated; to do so would be to suggest that one was in less serious condition than the other. Ms. Taylor pointed out that one proposal cost considerably more than the other, and argued that the citizens should always be allowed to choose. Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Johnson said that a seismic upgrade was planned for City Hall, but the scope of the upgrade depended on whether the facility housed emergency services. Ms. Taylor said that the building should be made safe for everyone who worked in and visited it. Mr. Kelly noted two public information sessions scheduled on February 22 and February 24, and a council public hearing on February 28. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 7 5:30 p.m. Mr. Kelly determined that even if the issues were separated, a single bond could be issued to cover the costs. Mr. Johnson asked the council to clarify whether there was a single measure or two measures. Mr. Meisner supported the motion in the meeting packet to accept the recommendations of the task force. He did not support separating the issues, as both facilities needed to be moved and he did not want voters to select the cheapest measure of two, on the ballot. Mr. Meisner said that the council was not suggesting the move just because City Hall was unsound, but because it was inadequate for the City's use. He said that the council needed to discuss the inadequacy of the space as well. He said that the council would have to work proactively to educate the voters about the need for the new facilities. Mr. Meisner expressed appreciation to Mr. Rayor for his suggestion, saying he hoped the City could under-levy the project in the expectation that the costs will be less than anticipated. Mr. Fart said that the issue could be won or lost in west Eugene. Bethel voters have a long history of supporting their schools but do not always "buy everything" and pick and choose between the measures they support. He said that the council must be prepared to work to convince Bethel voters that the measures have something to offer them. Mr. Johnson said that Mr. Pearson of the GSA had asked if the City wished the federal government to consider selling the lot west of Good Times for use as a fire station. Mr. Johnson said that the City will need to do more research on whether the council could under- levy and whether it could return money to the voters. Mayor Torrey said that the City did not have to go to the voters to underwrite the costs of seismically retrofitting City Hall as an office building; it would be much higher to absorb those costs if the City must retrofit for emergency services. Ms. Nathanson clarified that she was also not interested in sequential bond measures. Regarding Mr. Fart's remarks about the voters of west Eugene, Ms. Nathanson said that the City needed to provide services citywide, because people travel and work all over the community and need a public safety response no matter where they are. Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to accept the recommendations from the Police/Fire Stations Task Force, hold the public information sessions on February 22 and February 24, 2000, to conduct a public hearing on February 28, 2000, and to direct the City Manager to design and conduct a citizen involvement process for choosing a location. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Ms. Taylor moved to put two separate issues on the ballot, one for the Police facility and one for the Fire facility. Mr. Rayor seconded the motion. Mr. Rayor supported the motion to separate, because while he agreed the two issues were linked, a combined measure may not pass in May, or there may not be a 50 percent turnout. He MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 8 5:30 p.m. said that the combined measure could appear to be an "all or nothing" proposition to the voters. He recommended that if one failed, it be offered to the voters again in November. Mr. Lee asked what happened if one measure failed and the other passed. Mr. Johnson said that the council would have a number of choices: it could go back to the ballot in November, it could move out the service to another location, or it could choose to leave one of the services in place and spend more money on the seismic retrofit. Mr. Farr spoke in support of a combined measure, saying if it failed the council had the opportunity to go back to the voters in November. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Farr. He said both facilities were essential because of the inadequacy of City Hall. If one measure passed and the other failed, the council would still have to act, and would have to scramble for interim solutions. Ms. Nathanson asked if the task force discussed the issue. Mr. Laue said yes. He said that the issue was one of leadership for the council. He said he criticized the legislature because it constantly referred measures to the voters, and to some degree the idea of "giving choices" to people seemed to be skirting responsibility. If the council believed the issue was significant to ask the public about it, it indicated its concern about the issue. He thought votes might be lost if the issues were separated, and the other options were not a good expenditure of public funds. Mayor Torrey supported a single measure funding both facilities. Ms. Taylor did not see how the City would be required to move the police to temporary quarters if the measure failed. She asked if both departments would be moved out. Mr. Johnson said it was likely. The motion failed, 2:5; Mr. Rayor and Ms. Taylor voting yes. The meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m. (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 21, 2000 Page 9 5:30 p.m.