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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 10/10/00 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber, City Hall--Eugene, Oregon October 10, 2000 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Nancy Nathanson (after 9:40 p.m.), Scott Meisner, Pat Fart, David Kelly, Gary Rayor, Gary Pap~, Bonny Bettman. I.CEREMONIAL MATTERS Mayor Torrey proclaimed the month of October 2000 as "Disability Employment Awareness Month" and called upon the residents of Eugene to take part in its observation by learning about the strengths of people with disabilities and the programs which serve their needs. Mayor Torrey proclaimed the week of October 16 to October 20, 2000, as "Medical Assistance Recognition Week." II.PUBLIC FORUM Sandra Bishop, President of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB), read a resolution passed by her board opposing Ballot Measure 93. She urged the council to join the commissioners in opposing the ballot measure. David Owen, 45 North 3rd Street, Springfield, commented on the proposed smoking ban in adult establishments. He related that his health was affected by second hand smoke in the bars where he performed. He opined that bars would get more business if they banned smoking, and said that the ban was the right thing to do. Lorraine Demopulos, 1133 Olive Street, complained of the noise coming from the parking lot of Doc's Pad business establishment in the early hours of the morning. She submitted a petition of 150 signatures calling for the City to help limit the noise. Terry Connolly, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, spoke of the ballot measures that the Chamber had taken a position on. He said that the chamber supported Ballot Measure 84 and Ballot Measure 20-36. He said that the chamber opposed ballot measures 93, 91, and 8. Christine Lundberg, 127 Woodlane Drive, related that her son worked in a restaurant and was exposed to second hand smoke. Speaking for herself, she supported the proposed smoking ban and thanked the council for its work. Wendy Watson, 33604 Indian Drive, supported the proposed smoking ban in adult establishments. She submitted 50 signatures of bar employees who also supported the ban. She said that the councilors held the employees' health in their hands. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 1 Regular Meeting Beverly Hollander, 27850 Lady Slipper Loop, spoke on behalf of the County Health Advisory Council. She commended the council's work on the smoking ban. Michael Anthony, 925 Chambers Street, spoke of a recent "hemp revival" in September. He said that the participants had a candlelight vigil and prayed for an end to "the war against the people." He noted that copies of the United States Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence were taken down from the flag pole, where he had posted them, and thrown in the garbage. He claimed that he was persecuted for his religious beliefs. Mr. Anthony emphasized that he was involved in a peaceful protest and would continue to train people in nonviolent ways of protest. He noted that there would be gatherings on Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve. He urged the council to treat his circle with tolerance and respect. Craig Smith, 2611 Suncrest Drive, spoke as the Chair of the School District 4J School Board. He noted that the board opposed ballot measures 7, 8, 88, 86, 91, and 93. He noted that the board supported Ballot Measure 1. Mayor Torrey called for council response. Councilor Rayor said that the council would be taking positions on Ballot Measures 2, 7, 8, 84, 91, 92, 93, and 98. He said that the measures would be destructive to the state. Speaking to the subject of cannabis rights, Councilor Rayor noted that the cannabis laws that the City enforced were State laws. He said that the City Police had an obligation to carry out State law. Councilor Kelly called for a response from the police department on the noise complaint about the parking lot of Doc's Pad. Regarding the organizations that shared their positions on upcoming ballot measures, Councilor Kelly thanked them for sharing their positions and opined that the night's resolutions were in harmony with their positions. Councilor Kelly thanked Springfield City Councilor Christine Lundberg and the other people who spoke in favor of the tobacco ordinance and noted that he would support a similar ordinance in Springfield when its council proposed a similar ordinance. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 2 Regular Meeting III.CONSENT CALENDAR A.Approval of Council Minutes for the September 6, 2000, Work Session, September 11, 2000, Work Session, September 11, 2000, Regular Session, September 13, 2000, Joint Elected Officials Meeting, and the September 18, 2000, Work Session B.Approval of Tentative Agenda C.Appointments to Lane Work Force Partnership and East Alton Baker Park Citizen Planning Committee D.Call for Public Hearing: Street Vacation for Charles Wiper/Rest Haven Memorial Park (Sv 00-2) E.Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions Measure 7 -Amends Constitution: Requires Payment To Landowner If Government Regulation Reduces Property Value ................... NO Measure 8 -Amends Constitution: Limits State Appropriation To Percentage Of State's Prior Personal Income ...................... NO Measure 84 -Repeals Section 15a, Article Xl, Repeals Section 15, Article XI of Oregon Constitution ............................. YES Measure 91 -Prohibition Against Double Taxation .................. NO Measure 93 -Taxpayer Protection Initiative ....................... NO F. Resolution 4646 Regarding Transfer of Funds from the Reserve for Encumbrances to Departments and to non Departmental Reserves and Balance Available G. Resolution 4647 Authorizing Transfer of Funds Among City Departments Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved to approve the items on the consent calendar. Councilor Farr pulled Item E. Councilor Bettman pulled and held the September 18, 2000 minutes. Councilor Rayor offered a correction to the minutes of the September 6 work session. He noted that he was present at the meeting. In the minutes of September 11, he said that he had suggested considering scheduling more than one meeting for controversial topics. For the minutes of September 13, Councilor Rayor noted that he was present. Councilor Meisner offered a correction to the minutes of September 18. On page 4, he said that his statement was about using valuable land solely for commercial parking. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 3 Regular Meeting Councilor Kelly offered a correction to page 6 of the minutes of September 11, noting that text related to items from the mayor and council were erroneously added to sections one and three. In the minutes for the Joint Elected Officials Work Session of September 13, he noted that on the first page, the reference to Ward 5 should be a reference to Ward 3. On page 2, he said that there was a statement, attributed to him, that he did not make regarding supporting the addition of the Friends of Eugene text related to the location of a node in an area who's residents generate no more than 12 vehicle miles traveled daily. On page 7 of the September 18 minutes, Councilor Kelly changed the phrase "...religious services that exceed 25,000 square feet of total structure area..." to "... religious services, on residentially zoned land, that exceed 25,000 square feet of total structure area." Regarding Item E, Councilor Kelly he said that the language relating to Ballot Measure 84 should read retains Section 15, Article 11, rather than repeals. The motion to adopt the Consent Calendar passed unanimously, 7:0. IV. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Assessment Procedures; Amending Sections 7.175 and 7.407 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing an Effective Date Councilor Kelly noted that the ordinance that was before the council had undergone extensive revision in response to public input. He noted that the proposed ordinance had been reviewed by the County's Roads Advisory Committee and the City's Public Works Rates Advisory Committee. He added that the Board of County Commissioners approved the proposal by a 4:1 vote in recent weeks. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Ron Cooper, 3019 Delta Pine Drive, said that there were 17 to 19 homes adjacent to North Delta Highway that had no access to the highway by County edict. He noted that the City of Eugene wanted to charge assessments to these homes that had no access to the highway from their property and that was not fair. He commented that access to North Delta Highway was provided off of Delta Pines Road. Jerry Thompson, 110 South Garden Way, said that he had no idea of the revisions that were made to the ordinance. He commented that he got no benefit from Garden Way and did not want to pay an assessment. He called for more information. Mary Wirtz, 3756 Berkshire Street, commented that she had worked with the committee that set up the assessment recommendation. She said that it was a good policy recommendation that brought City and County assessments together. Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. Councilor Kelly thanked Ms. Wirtz for her work. Addressing Mr. Thompson, Councilor Kelly said that he should have gotten a mailing announcing the public hearing that provided a fact sheet with the revised proposal and outlined changes. Mr. Thompson indicated he had received that information. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 4 Regular Meeting Regarding the comments made by Mr. Cooper, Councilor Kelly said that he would ask staff to follow up on his comments and get back to him with information. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Pap~, moved to extend the deadline for public comment on the issue to October 13, 2000, at 5 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. V. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance concerning a Special Response Fee; and Adding Section 4.775 to the Eugene Code, 1971 Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Bob Teague, 3900 Coburg Road, supported the proposed ordinance. He said that it was about public accountability and expressed his support for the proposed fee. He stressed that it was on the second call in 90 days when the ordinance became viable. Robert Siegmund, 755 Foothill Drive, spoke as a property manager in the community. He supported the proposed ordinance. He opined that the 90-day period was workable and fair. He believed that the ordinance would be an effective tool for the City and for property managers to respond to large gatherings. He urged the council to adopt the ordinance as written. Charles Parker, 818 East 15th Avenue, spoke against the ordinance. He spoke as the president of Lamda Kai Alpha Fraternity. He urged the council to vote no on the proposed ordinance since it would make his fraternity guilty by location. He noted that the location of his house was in an area where people leaving from local drinking establishments regularly passed and congregated. He commented that the fact that members of his house could be charged a fee for other people's actions made no sense to him. Jay Breslow, 2250 Patterson Street, spoke as the president of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO). He expressed a desire to build partnerships with the City and the Eugene Police and to repair relationships that had eroded between students and the Eugene Police. He commented that the proposed ordinance would tear down relationships between the police and the student body since it was unfair and targeted students. He submitted an ordinance written by the ASUO as an alternative to the proposed ordinance from the police. Christa Shively, 441 East 16th Avenue, spoke in favor of the ordinance written by the ASUO. She urged the council to look at both of the proposed ordinances critically. She raised a concern that relationships were already worsening between citizens and the Eugene Police Department and the proposed ordinance would only aggravate that problem. Ms. Shively expressed a desire to see an ordinance that was as specific as possible. She acknowledged that parties of 50 to 100 people were difficult to break up, but noted that, the way the ordinance was currently written, gatherings of 10 people over a duration of 90 days were counted as frequent parties with a significant number of people. She stressed that the ordinance should address the specific problematic situation. She opined that the ordinance would perpetuate negative attitudes between the Eugene Police and students and other community members. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 5 Regular Meeting Ms. Shively said that ASUO had taken the writing of its own ordinance very seriously and addressed the unfair aspects of the proposed police ordinance and expressed a desire to meet with each of the councilors to discuss the differences between the two proposed ordinances. Danial Valle, 2140 West 15th Avenue, spoke against the ordinance. He acknowledged that there were problem parties that drained police resources, but raised concern that the ordinance did not focus on frequent and significant parties. He commented that the ordinance proposed by the Eugene Police was too vague and too broad. He stated that 10 people did not constitute a significant amount of people and that two gatherings within 90 days did not constitute frequent parties. Mr. Valle stressed that the ordinance needed to be specific and clearly address the problem of significant gatherings. Marian Fowler, 1671 Pearl Street, raised concern that the ordinance targeted students. She said that the ordinance proposed by the ASUO was formulated by a competent informed group of students, EPD officials, and Legal Aid. She urged the council to look at both ordinances critically and find what was best for the entire community. Brian Tanner, 290 West 19th Avenue, spoke as the Coordinator of State Affairs for the ASUO. He commented that the proposed ordinance was financially punitive and reactive rather than proactive in nature. He commented that the proposed ordinance ignored due process because of the City Manager's final decision in matters regarding the special response fee. He raised concern over the ability of the City Manager to remain impartial in decisions regarding the Eugene Police. Mr. Tanner commented that the proposed was worded too loosely and urged the council not to vote for an ordinance where the student voice was neglected. Norton Cabell, 1822 Princeton Drive, spoke in support of the ordinance. He believed that the interests and needs of the community were met by the proposed ordinance. Ilona Koleszar, 871 West 11th Avenue, urged a no vote for the proposed ordinance. She spoke as the director of the ASUO Legal Services. She said that the proposed ordinance was too broad in its reach. She commented that two events in 90 days did not constitute a frequent event. She noted that the City of Corvallis had implemented a 48-hour definition for frequent events. Ms. Koleszar said that the proposed ordinance was prone to unequal enforcement and lacked any due process. She commented that there was no language in the ordinance on the definition of reasonable response or how the level of response would be determined. Ms. Koleszar said that the ordinance would penalize nominal offenses with fines greatly in excess of the maximum penalties for those nominal offenses. As an example, she cited the Minor in Possession (MIP) offense. Ms. Koleszar said that the ordinance also encouraged police entry into residences to cite and document a first incident for future response fee purposes. She noted that there were already MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 6 Regular Meeting officers "crawling in through people's windows" to cite them with an MIP citation, which was not an arrestable offense. She expressed her concern that officers were entering through windows, without warrants, to cite MIPs. Ms. Koleszar said that there was already accountability built into the state laws and municipal ordinances that stated that minors were not supposed to have, or be furnished with alcohol. She said that there were already penalties for these offenses. She said that the ordinance completely ignored State and municipal ordinances already on the books and tried to penalize nominal offenses even more greatly. Ms. Koleszar called for assurances from the City Council that the proposed ordinance would apply to other events and locations in the City besides student parties on campus that also generated frequent violations of the proposed ordinance, as it was currently written. She cited the Eugene Celebration as an example. Brian Fahs, 640 East 15th Avenue, said that the proposed ordinance criminalized young people. He said that it was reactionary and extreme. He raised concern that police showed up in mass numbers, sometimes as many as the people actually attending the party, and opined that the police were inventing complaints to respond to. Mr. Fahs said that there were many more important things for the City to focus its time, money and effort on. He opined that the ordinance would hurt the reputations of the City and the University of Oregon since it would give the University a "criminalized" reputation. Mr. Fahs said that the ordinance wording was too broad and the penalties it proposed were too extreme and would make already poor students have even more financial difficulties. John Brown, 1260 Charnelton Street, stated for the record that he was speaking his own opinion and not representing any group. He raised concern that public land was exempt from the ordinance. He commented that if the ordinance was appropriate for the private sector, it was also appropriate for the public sector. Bruce Miller, PO Box 50968, Eugene, called for a delayed decision on the ordinance until citizens had been notified of both proposed ordinances. He opined that the hearing should have been held at on the University campus so that public turnout would have been greater. Genoa Ingrain, 13260 Buena Vista Road, spoke as a representative of the Multi Family Housing Council of Oregon. She said that the proposed ordinance struck a balance with the property owner by providing notification of a nuisance. lan Berg, 505 East 17th Avenue, urged a no vote on the proposed ordinance. He said that 10 people did not represent a significant gathering and two events in 90 days did not constitute a frequent occurrence. He said that the ordinance would worsen relations between students and the police. He related how he had been at small parties where police had blocked the doors and not allowed people to leave. He stressed that just charging students more money was not an answer to the problem. Joel Weber, 1018 Hilyard Street, commented that the ordinance singled out students. He urged the council to be proactive instead of being financially punitive. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 7 Regular Meeting Mayor Torrey closed the hearing. Councilor Taylor expressed her pleasure to see students testifying at the hearing. She expressed her interest in reviewing the ordinance proposed by the ASU©. She commented that the City's proposed ordinance was too extreme. She added that 90 days was far too long to constitute a frequent event. Councilor Meisner said that students would, and should be, constitutionally outraged if the City enacted an ordinance that targeted students. He opined that the ordinance did not do so. He added that they should be equally outraged if an ordinance was passed that gave some sort of immunity to students only. Councilor Meisner said that the main question was who should pay for the extraordinary costs of paying police overtime. He noted that citation money went to the State and municipal courts. Councilor Meisner said that he would review the student proposal. Councilor Meisner called for legal staff to address how the ordinance could be implemented on public property. Councilor Pap~ thanked the ASU© students for testifying and trying to address the problem by creating their own ordinance. Councilor Kelly reiterated Councilor Papa's comments and suggested that ASU© give staff a phone number and e-mail address so that council could contact the organization with questions. Councilor Kelly was generally supportive of the ordinance. He suggested language in the ordinance that if no arrests were made then any assessment should be refunded. He also raised concern over the ten person definition of a significant gathering. Councilor Kelly called for a separate response from staff on the subject of officers going through windows without warrants to issue MIP citations. Councilor Rayor expressed his pleasure that students testified at the hearing. He stressed that the ordinance was for the entire city and not singling out students. He noted that the council waited until school was back in session before they voted on the item. He expressed a desire to work with the ASU© to work out an option that was more palatable to students. Councilor Fart commented that the process was working and would eventually come up with the best possible solution. He thanked the students for testifying in the hearing. Councilor Bettman questioned the definition of 10 people as a significant gathering. She called for information from staff as to why that number was picked. Regarding frequency of events, Councilor Bettman remarked that the 90-day rule was a deterrent that she supported. Councilor Bettman said that she generally was not in favor of fee-based police action, but noted that there was a problem that needed a deterrent. Mayor Torrey complimented the ASU© for its work on the ordinance it proposed. He said it was as good a piece of work as he had seen presented to council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 8 Regular Meeting VI.ACTION: Consideration on Resolutions Regarding November 7, 2000, Statewide Ballot Measures Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Farr, moved to adopt resolutions regarding the November 2000 statewide ballot measures as recommended by the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations. Councilor Farr clarified that the statewide ballot measures referred to were measures 84, 91, 93, 7, and 8. He noted that the recommendation was to support Ballot Measure 84 and oppose the balance. Councilor Pap8 moved that Ballot Measure 7 be pulled from the vote. The motion died for lack of a second. Councilor Pap8 expressed his dismay that he had not been given enough time to review the measures to be voted on and commented that it was not fair to the process. Councilor Rayor, seconded by Councilor PapS, moved to postpone voting on Ballot Measure 7 until a date certain of October 11, 2000. Councilor Pap8 offered a friendly amendment to Councilor Rayor's amendment to include Ballot Measure 84. The friendly amendment was accepted. Councilor Meisner commented that, at the request of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, the resolution was timely prepared and submitted. Councilor Kelly noted that the next evening's meeting had already been extended by 20 minutes through council agreement. He did not want to extend the meeting further. The amendment failed, 4:3, with councilors PapS, Rayor, and Bettman voting in favor. The main motion passed, 6:1, with Councilor Pap8 voting in opposition. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Farr, moved to adopt a resolution opposing Ballot Measure 2. Councilor Farr noted that ballot measures 2, 92, and 98 were not directly considered by the committee. He suggested that the committee meet and make recommendations on the measures to council. Councilor Farr, seconded by Councilor PapS, moved to table the resolutions and have the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations review ballot measures 2, 92, and 98, and make recommendations to the entire council. The motion failed, 4:3, with councilors Farr, Pap8 and Rayor voting in favor. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 9 Regular Meeting Councilor Meisner said that he had drafted the resolution based on reading the information from the League of Oregon Cities and the analyses offered by other organizations. He described Ballot Measure 2 to the council. Councilor Fart did not support the motion. He believed that the measure needed more scrutiny. Councilor Pap~ did not support the motion because of the process used. The motion passed, 5:2, with councilors Farr and Pap~ in opposition. Mayor Torrey called a three-minute recess. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved to pass a resolution opposing ballot measures 92 and 98. Councilor Fart, seconded by Councilor Rayor, moved to table the motion until October 16, 2000. The motion passed, 4:3, with Councilors Bettman, Meisner, and Taylor in opposition. Mayor Torrey adjourned the regular session of the City Council and convened an executive session of the Urban Renewal Agency regarding real property in the McNutt Room of the Eugene City Hall. Councilor Nathanson arrived at 9:40 p.m. Mayor Torrey adjourned the executive session of the Urban Renewal Agency and convened a regular session of the Urban Renewal Agency. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Nathanson, moved to adopt the joint resolution in support of selecting a Eugene site for a new United States Federal Courthouse. Councilor Rayor called for some time to review the resolution. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend the motion by deleting language from the resolution about extending the Urban Renewal District. Councilor Kelly noted that the funds spend on analysis would be Urban Renewal District funds and not general fund money. He said that he would not support the amendment because it was removing a potential tool for helping to understand the dynamics of the proposed redevelopment. Councilor Rayor supported the amendment. He raised concern over the wording of the entire resolution. Councilor Meisner said that he would not support the amendment. He said that it was up to the members of the Urban Renewal Agency to assign the goals, objectives, and purposes of the Urban Renewal District. Councilor Bettman supported the amendment. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 10 Regular Meeting Councilor Pap~ did not support the amendment. He stressed the importance of responsibility in regard to any urban renewal district. He emphasized showing the General Services Administration (GSA) that the council was serious about improving the area around which the new courthouse would be built. Councilor Fart noted that the council had been meeting for six hours. He opined that all of the council had the same vision and expressed a desire to vote on the issue and get it done. The motion to amend resulted in a tie vote of 4:4. Mayor Torrey voted in favor of the amendment. The motion to amend passed, 5:4, with councilors Farr, Pap~, Meisner, and Kelly voting in opposition. Councilor Bettman, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to remove from section F, "...and GSA finance infrastructure improvements..." The motion failed, 6:2, with Councilors Bettman and Taylor voting in favor. The main motion passed, 7:1, with Councilor Bettman voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting of the urban renewal agency and reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Nathanson, moved to adopt the proposal, as amended, in support of selecting a Eugene site for the federal courthouse. The motion passed, 7:1, with Councilor Bettman voting in opposition. The meeting adjourned at 11:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jim Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2000 Page 11 Regular Meeting