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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 04/21/99 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall April 21, 1999 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, Pat Farr, David Kelly, Bobby Lee, Nancy Nathanson, Gary PapS, Gary Rayor, Betty Taylor. I. CALL TO ORDER The adjourned April 14, 1999, Eugene City Council meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. In the Mayor's absence, City Council President Scott Meisner presided. Mr. Meisner called attention to the revised agenda. II. ITEMS FROM MAYOR, COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER A. Human Rights Resolution Mr. Farr reminded the council that he distributed a draft resolution at its April 19 meeting affirming the City's commitment to the protection of human rights. He read the last three sections and asked the council to approve the document. Mr. Farr moved, seconded by Mr. Rayor, that the City of Eugene adopt the resolution. The motion passed unanimously, 6:0, Mr. Pap8 and Mr. Lee not yet having arrived at the meeting. Mr. Pap8 arrived at the meeting. B. Tree Protest Issue Ms. Taylor thanked City Manager Jim Johnson and Urban Forester Mark Snyder on their handling of the tree-cutting protest along the river. Other councilors echoed Ms. Taylor's congratulations. C. Y2KIssue Ms. Taylor requested regular reports on progress made on the Y2K problem. Mr. Kelly reminded the council that staff was reporting bi-monthly, which satisfied Ms. Taylor. D. Riverfront Research Park Planning Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 1 5:30 p.m. Mr. Kelly asked for an update on the process for convening the Riverfront Research Park Planning Committee, specifically how the citizen members would be appointed. E. House Moving Mr. Kelly said he was surprised to find that there are no civil penalties in the code for those who violate right-of-way usage and asked staff to consider imposing penalties for egregious, willful, repeat violations. F. Lorane Highway Mr. Rayor said he has received complaints about the condition of Lorane Highway and asked staff to report on any plans to include the highway in the City's street study. Mr. Lee arrived at the meeting. G. Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee Mr. Rayor expressed appreciation for the staff work on making recommendations on bills before the State Legislature. H. Code Enforcement Ms. Nathanson thanked Planning and Development Department staff for her ride-along on a code enforcement. She described the experience as "full of information and education," adding it was very helpful. I. North End Scoping Group Ms. Nathanson reported on the last North End Scoping Group meeting, noting that the General Services Administration (GSA, a federal office) was represented on the group. She said she wanted to make it clear that the site for the new federal courthouse has not been chosen, but of the three being considered, one is inside the area being studied and the others are close by, so the GSA's participation was very helpful. Ms. Nathanson said she was pleased to see staff from Public Works and the Police Department at the meeting. She made the distinction between the US District Court and the GSA, noting that the latter provides the facility and the former occupies the building. She said she would make available the vision statement developed by the District Court. J. Protests Mr. Johnson thanked the council for its praise for the City's response to the tree protest, crediting Mr. Snyder and the Police Department for a job well-done, and adding that it was particularly meaningful because there were five protests in the same week at an abortion clinic, the rodeo, the circus, and against the Yugoslav war. K. Contingency Fund Request Mr. Meisner recalled that the council had approved a quarterly process for considering Contingency Fund requests and added that with the council's consent he will present a request from the City Club at the council's Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 2 5:30 p.m. May 12 meeting. The request would allow completion of the history of Eugene. The council had no objection. iii. APPOINTMENT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE LANE WORKFORCE PARTNERSHIP (CONTINUED FROM APRIL 14, 1999) Mr. Meisner recalled that the council had raised questions about whether an applicant needed to live within the city of Eugene. He called attention to the April 20, 1999, staff memo addressing those issues and said staff was present to answer questions. Ms. Nathanson moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, to appoint Lynn Pocan to the Lane Workforce Partnership Board, given the information provided. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. IV. GOALS PROGRAM Facilitator Margot Helphand noted the progress made on the council goals and reviewed the meeting packet material, asking the council to affirm the vision and goals statements. This would be followed by a discussion of those statements and the action priorities. Jan Bohman, City Manager's Office, distributed results of council balloting on action priorities and an updated rating matrix. Mr. Kelly moved, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, to adopt the council's 1999-2000 Vision and Goals Statement, as reflected on page 7 of the council packet. Mr. Papd moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, to amend the motion by substituting the term "well-managed" for "sustainable" in the second goal. Ms. Nathanson said the term "sustainable" was problematic for some and that was why she preferred "well- managed," but did not wish to make an issue of it because the vote had probably not changed since the last council session on goals. Mr. Farr expressed concern that "sustainable" would be construed as sustaining growth. Mr. Kelly reminded the council that this was already discussed and voted upon by the council. Ms. Taylor disagreed with Ms. Nathanson that "sustainable" was a radical term, adding that it really described a conservative concept: "don't use things up; be thrifty; live in such a way that we can continue to live that way and not destroy everything." Mr. Pap~ said the confusion on the council would be reflected in the community--something to be avoided. Mr. Meisner said that the term "sustainable" may have been overused and that the council will have an opportunity, in a separate work session, to clarify its intentions and the meaning of the term. Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 3 5:30 p.m. The motion to amend failed, 2:6; with Mr. Fart and Mr. Pap~ voting yes. The main motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Helphand called the council's attention to its action priorities and criteria, and explained the scoring scheme. Mr. Kelly expressed frustration at the process used for ranking the council's priorities and said more weight should be placed on the criteria scores. Mr. Rayor drew a distinction between the criteria and the item's feasibility. Ms. Taylor said that was a good point, and the criteria scores were not as important as having included the item among a councilor's top ten. Mr. Meisner agreed with the council's comments, but added that he was not as troubled since these would be used as a springboard for the discussion. Ms. Nathanson said she concluded that the importance attached to a priority reflected what elected officials judged to be important to do on behalf of the community. She described the tension between "broad citywide impact" and items that would benefit a relatively small number of people, adding that often the indirect or secondary benefit to the City was large. Ms. Nathanson said she was unsure about even using the criteria scores. Mr. Fart said he considered results of the community survey in completing his ballot. Addressing a question from Mr. Kelly, Ms. Helphand said the priorities listed in the table received high or medium scores in either of the ways ordered. Ms. Nathanson expressed concern with the large number of items on the list, saying the council should focus on a few where progress could be made; otherwise, she concluded, the council was setting itself up for disappointment and frustration. Mr. Rayor suggested reducing the priority list, but maintaining a secondary list of those items dropped from the short list so as not to lose the history behind the priorities. Mr. Meisner expressed support for Mr. Rayor's suggestion and that of restructuring and rebalancing as services and priorities emerge over the next two years as suggested by Mr. Johnson. Mr. Meisner said it was important to have at least one action priority that related to each of the council's goals. Mr. Fart summarized the discussion by saying: 1) that some items should be dropped and moved to a secondary list, and 2) the council should concentrate on two to four items over the next two years. Mr. Kelly noted that some priorities on the list are already underway. Mr. Johnson said what was important to staff was that the council articulate and reach agreement on the level that priorities are accomplished, in addition to ongoing City operation activities. Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 4 5:30 p.m. Mr. Meisner said he was unwilling to limit the focus to a few goals and ignore the rest. Ms. Taylor expressed concern with setting the time line from 6 to 12 months, saying that these are long-term council goals, guides that should be supported by the majority. Ms. Nathanson expressed support and confidence in staf?s ability to distinguish between the short list of focus items and the other list of items where progress should be made. She was concerned with agenda control, often exacerbated by interjurisdictional issues that arise. Ms. Nathanson said if a short list was not developed, staff might conclude that the council expects progress on a large number of priorities that would result in progress reports reflecting incremental steps on those items without any major progress on any. The council reviewed its goals and the action priorities, commenting and initiating changes on the following. Goal 1. Safe Community 1. Achieve metropolitan approach to restructuring criminal justice system. This was deemed an action underway through the City's involvement in the Public Safety Coordinating Council. It was moved to the list on ongoing activities. 2. Implement Community Policing. Retained, referred to staff for more information. 3. Develop and implement comprehensive youth program. This was referred to staff for more information and refinement. 4. Outreach to communities of color and disadvantaged. This was retained but referred to staff for proposals for added efforts in this area. The council revised the agenda, deciding to continue this discussion and consider Item IV in the last 20 minutes of the meeting and postponing Item V. Mr. Johnson asked the council to read the summary on the postponed item and seek additional information as necessary. 5. Enhance Emergency Preparedness. This was considered an ongoing effort and move to ongoing list. Goal 2. Sustainable Community Growth and Change All action priorities under this goal were retained. Goal 3. Healthy, natural and built environment 1. Protect the natural environment. This action was considered an integral part of the adopted goal so it changed to "Implement the environmental management system." 2. Adopt a strong tree ordinance. This was changed to "Revise tree ordinance." 3. Review downtown plan.., retained. Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 5 5:30 p.m. 4.Develop and implement integrated (ESA) water resource plan. This was considered an ongoing action with regular progress reports. 5. Complete nodal development plans, expand application of principles as appropriate. This was combined with the Review Transplan action under the previous goal, and referred to staff for more information. Goal 4. Accessible and thriving culture and recreation 1. Resolve all issues (funding, design, etc.) to get a new library_ built by January_ 1, 2002. This was retained and referred to staff for more information. 2. "Ensure that communi _ty cultural resources (e.g. the Hult Center and festivals) are maintained" and "Work with other government agencies and private groups in the communi _ty to leverage our cultural resources" were merged and referred to staff for information on activities. Mr. Farr asked to add Item AA, Restore Adult and Senior recreation services to the list for more information from staff. The council agreed. Goal 5. Open, effective, accountable municipal government 1. "Continue to work cooperatively with other government units--IGR" was dropped. 2.Enhance citizen involvement. This was considered ongoing, staff will bring back proposals to the council. 3. Authorize, appoint Charter Review Commission - retained. 4. Implement system-wide complaint information management system - retained. 5.Provide safe, efficient infrastructure. This item was retained as ongoing pending more information from staff. 6. "Provide proper support for Ci_ty organization to recruit and retrain high quali _ty employees" was dropped. Goal 6. Fair, stable and adequate financial resources Mr. Kelly asked staff to develop more action priorities under this item as there is only one at this time. V. GRAFFITI REMOVAL PROGRAM Jeff Lankston, Public Works Maintenance Director, provided information on the graffiti abatement program. He indicated that the program was originally intended as a safety net for property owners who did not have the resources to remove graffiti, but it has become an abatement service provided primarily to commercial and industrial property owners without compensation to the City. He asked the council to consider three options: 1) no change in the current program; 2) adding additional resources to the program; or 3) changes to the code that would define graffiti as a nuisance. He explained that Option 2 would reduce the City's response to graffiti from the current 4 days but it would continue the resource drain and the problem of not Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 6 5:30 p.m. being able to require a property owner to abate graffiti if they decide not to have the City do it. The third option would define graffiti, declare it a public nuisance, and require commercial, industrial, and multi-family property owners to remove graffiti. Failure to remove the graffiti would initiate removal by the City for which the owner would be charged. The abatement program would continue on single family houses. Mr. Lankston said the Interdepartmental Cooperation Action Team (ICAT) has recommended that the City adopt Option 3. Ms. Nathanson wondered if it were possible for the City to keep an inventory of paint donated by retailers to give to those property owners who cannot afford it. Mr. Lankston cited paint storage as a problem but agreed it would be something staff could research. Mr. Kelly agreed that graffiti degraded property, but expressed concern that allowing property owners do their own abatement would extend the time graffiti is visible, exacerbating the problem. He asked for more information on charges for removal to ensure it recovered the costs and also on how other similar communities were dealing with it. Mr. Kelly said he wished to add the .5 FTE proposed regardless of any other changes. Mr. Johnson said staff would prepare the additional budget item for consideration by the Budget Committee. Ms. Nathanson moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, to direct staff to draft ordinances defining graffiti, declaring it a public nuisance, and requiring property owners, under certain circumstances, to abate graffiti on their property; and to bring to the council an explanation of funding an additional half-time position for graffiti abatement. Mr. Pap6 expressed concern that those creating the nuisance would go unpunished. Mr. Johnson said staff could provide information on what happens to individuals caught creating the nuisance. Ms. Taylor said she opposed the motion because it was like penalizing people who are victims of a crime. Mr. Meisner disagreed, noting it did not apply to residential property owners. He said unabated graffiti, which is mostly gang tagging, encouraged gang activity. Mr. Fart called for the question. The motion passed, 5:2; with Mr. Rayor and Ms. Nathanson opposed, and Mr. Lee having left the meeting. Ms. Nathanson ascertained that the draft ordinance would be reviewed by the council before a public hearing was called. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0, Mr. Lee having left the meeting. Mr. Rayor wondered if the City could require insurance companies to cover graffiti incidents. City Attorney Glenn Klein will research the possibility. VI. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT This item was postponed due to time constraints. Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 7 5:30 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) Minutes--Eugene City Council April 21, 1999 Page 8 5:30 p.m.