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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 10/23/00 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting McNutt Room, City Hall--Eugene, Oregon October 23, 2000 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Scott Meisner, Pat Farr, David Kelly, Gary Rayor, Gary PapS, Bonny Bettman. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Nancy Nathanson. I.PUBLIC FORUM Barney McKay, 800 Greg Way, commented on the proposed smoking ban in adult establishments. He said that profits were not more important than human life. He said that the ban was the right thing to do and that it was not an issue of choice, it was an issue of public health. Paul Berger, PO Box 11136, raised a concern over the Land Use Code Update. He opined that industrial zoning was leaving out the possibility of information technology centers. He suggested a new chapter in the code that dealt with the subject. Jesse Springer, 1612 Lincoln Street, thanked the council for its hard work and presented a book of political cartoons to Mayor Torrey. Anthony DeSiena, 1940 Parliament Street, spoke of the dangers of secondhand smoke. He said that it was a wise move of the City government to ban smoking in all business establishments in the City. He urged the council not to protect the rights of people who harmed others. Councilor Pap8 thanked Mr. Springer for the book. II.PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Substance Reporting Requirements Under the City's Toxics Right-To-Know Program; Amending Section 3.696 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Declaring an Emergency Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Seeing no one wishing to speak, he closed the public hearing and called for councilor comments/questions. Councilor Kelly noted that there was a concern raised about the amendment to Section 3.696 that the City Manager "may" adopt an administrative rule. He said that the original intent of the charter amendment was that upon a federal addition of a new toxic substance, the new substance would automatically be added to the Eugene Toxics Right-To-Know Program. He called for ideas that would help to come closer to that original intent. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 23, 2000 Page 1 Regular Meeting City Manager Johnson said that staff had drafted language that would be inserted before the last sentence of subsection four in the code, to wit: "If the City Manager declines to adopt an administrative rule that implements the Toxic Board's advice the Manager shall explain to the City Council and the Toxics Board, in writing, the reasons for the decision not to implement the Toxics Board's advice." In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding the council coming to a different conclusion than the City Manager, City Attorney Gerome Lidz said that the council would need to adopt an ordinance to implement a position that the manager did not adopt. He noted that administrative rules were in the City Manager's authority, but it seemed possible that the City Manager would be persuaded by the reasoning of the council, if the council disagreed with the reasoning the City Manager provided. He said if that did not happen, the council would be free to adopt an ordinance that would take care of the matter. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding whether the same language could apply to Subsection 2 of Section 3.696 as well, Mr. Lidz suggested adding the suggested new language as a Subsection 5 to Section 3.696 that would refer to the Toxics Board's advice described in subsections 2 and 4. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4749, an ordinance concerning substance reporting requirements under the City's Toxics Right-To-Know Program; amending Section 3.696 of the Eugene Code, 1971, and declaring an emergency. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, 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. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved to amend the motion by adding a new subsection (5) to Section 3.696 that stated: "If the City Manager declined to adopt an administrative rule that implements the Toxics Board's advice as described in subsection 2 or 4 of Section 3.696, the City Manager shall explain to the City Council and the Toxics Board, in writing, the reasons for the decision not to implement the Toxics Board's advice." Councilor Fart questioned why that particular set of potential administrative rules was being singled out. He raised concern over the City Council micromanaging the City Manager's job. Mr. Lidz said that the situation was different because there was, originally, a provision in the Charter Amendment that if the federal lists of hazardous substances were amended to add new substances, those substances would automatically be added to the list that Eugene required reporting for. He noted that a court of appeals struck down that requirement, saying that the City was not allowed to say, ahead of time, that the Eugene law would be whatever the federal government decided. Therefore the amendments that the council received were designed to get as close as possible to the intent of the Charter Amendment. Councilor Kelly said that he did not see the amendment as micromanaging. Making an analogy to land use, he noted that officials were required to provide findings to back up whatever decision MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 23, 2000 Page 2 Regular Meeting they had made. He was in favor of the idea of the City Manager being required to provide reasons why there was a decision to go against the Toxics Board's advice. The amendment passed unanimously, 7:0. The main motion passed unanimously, 7:0. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4749 by number only. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage. The motion passed unanimously, and became Ordinance No. 20213. III.ACTION: Sale of Library Property and Olive Street Parking Lot Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved to authorize the City Manager to sell the existing Eugene Public Library property to Balzhiser & Hubbard Engineers consistent with specified terms and conditions. Mayor Torrey noted, for the public, that the Library would remain in its use as a public library until the new Library was opened for business. In response to a question from Councilor Pap~ regarding how long the delayed closing of the Library would last, staff said that the City would enter into a purchase agreement, in the near future, with the condition of a delayed closing at the time of the move to the new library. He said that the delayed closing was targeted for December 31, 2002 which was the projected completion date of the new Library. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding whether council would have an opportunity to review the final contract and the criteria for sale, Mr. Johnson replied that, typically, the night's action would be the final action that the council would take. Mr. Johnson said the City Attorneys would draft the language of the agreement and the City Manager would be empowered to carry out the sale of the property. Councilor Bettman commented that she would like to see how the objectives of density and compatibility with the neighborhood were going to be met by the purchaser. Councilor Bettman said that the sale of the properties was an example of asset mapping for the City. Councilor Rayor wished to clarify that the vacation of the old Library would coincide with the opening of the new Library. City Manager Johnson suggested adding a term and condition that ensured that the old Library could be used until the new Library was completed. Councilor Rayor, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to amend the motion to add a condition that the old Library could be used until the new Library was completed. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 23, 2000 Page 3 Regular Meeting In response to a question from Councilor Meisner regarding whether the purchaser would agree to a delayed closing, staff said that the City may be required to pay rent after a certain point if the new Library's completion was delayed. Councilor Kelly would not support the amendment. He said that he did not feel the need to make the amendment language an explicit contract term. Councilor Rayor, with the permission of his second, offered a friendly amendment to the amendment that would limit the delayed purchase for only six months. The amendment failed, 4:3, with Councilors Rayor Taylor and Bettman voting in favor. The main motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved to authorize the City Manager to sell the Olive Street parking lot property to Rick Duncan and Michael Foote consistent with specified terms and conditions. Councilor Kelly commented on the positive nature of the proposal by Mr. Duncan and Mr. Foote. He added that it would realize a lot of community goals of mixed use and downtown home ownership. He raised concern over a possible conflict of interest in the terms and conditions. He said the City was at cross purposes with itself in that it would be approving its own PUD application. City Manager Johnson replied that it was not unusual for the City to be a developer. As an example, he cited park improvement projects that required conditional use permits. He said that Public Works staff prepared applications and turned them in to Planning staff and Planning staff processed the application. He said that city departments got treated the same as any other applicant for a land use request. In response to a concern from Councilor Kelly regarding the saving of larger trees on the property, staff said that the largest tree had been examined by an arborist and found to be unhealthy and approaching being dangerous and may need to be removed anyway. In response to a concern from Councilor Pap~ regarding the funds generated from the sale and when they would be available, City Manager Johnson said that funding would not be a problem, given the urban renewal funding that was available. In response to a question from Councilor Rayor regarding the lack of a closing date for the sale of the property, staff said that a closing date depended on the successful zoning change. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. IV. ACTION: An Ordinance Concerning the Assessment Procedures; Amending Sections 7.175 and 7.407 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing an Effective Date MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 23, 2000 Page 4 Regular Meeting City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4750, an ordinance concerning assessment procedures; amending sections 7.175 and 7.407 of the Eugene Code, 1971, and providing an effective date. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, 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. Councilor Rayor thanked councilors Pap~ and Kelly for their work on the committee dealing with the item. In response to a question from Councilor Bettman regarding costs for county roads that were outside city limits, City Engineer Les Lyle said that the City would go to the Board of County Commissioners to ask for approval to include properties outside the City, in the local improvement district, so that those properties would be assessed as per the code. Councilor Taylor commented that the ordinance was improved but was still unfair. She expressed a desire to reopen the subject and search for other alternatives. She raised concern that people who did not even want the improvements in the first place would be forced out of their homes by the amount of the assessment for the improvements. She reiterated that the process was unfair and added that the only reason it was allowed to go on was because it was happening to a few people at a time and there was no united opposition. Councilor Meisner disagreed. He said that one of the great challenges of the committee dealing with the item was to create an assessment policy that met the challenge of equity. Councilor Kelly also noted that he had insisted that there be a sliding scale for Iow- and moderate- income families that would be assessed. Councilor Taylor replied that there were many families that were just above that sliding scale and would be hurt by the assessments levied. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. City Manager Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4750 by number only. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Fart, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage. The motion passed, 6:1, with Councilor Taylor voting in opposition, and became Ordinance No. 20214. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jim Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 23, 2000 Page 5 Regular Meeting