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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 04/28/99 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall April 28, 1999 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Pat Farr, Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor, Gary Rayor, Gary PapS, David Kelly. Mayor James D. Torrey called the council to order at 5:30 p.m. CITY COUNCIL DINNER WORK SESSION 1.Action on an Ordinance Waiving the Budget Committee Term Limitation for the 1999 Appointment; and Declaring an Emergency City Manager Jim Johnson said that the council would consider Council Bill 4686, a special ordinance waiving the Budget Committee term limitations for the 1999 appointments, and declaring an emergency. Mr. Meisner moved, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, that the bill, with the unanimous consent of the council, be read by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at this time. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Johnson said the council would consider Council Bill 4686 by council bill number only. Ms. Taylor moved, seconded by Mr. PapS, that the bill be approved and given final passage. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. A. Items from the Mayor and City Council Mr. Meisner welcomed the mayor back from his travels. Mr. Meisner said the airport was recruiting a new airline and the Airline Fund would provide some funding for that effort. He said the rationale behind the fund, when it was initially established, was to provide funding to attract airlines with potential subsidies and marketing assistance. In this case, the funding for marketing assistance would come from the Airport's general budget. Mr. Meisner said that given there was less need for the funds in the Airline Fund, he had asked the City Manager to examine the possibility of transferring some or all of the reserve account to support the City's activities related to rail. He noted that the grant moneys received by the City for restoration of the Amtrak station may not be sufficient for the City to purchase and own the land. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 1 5:30 p.m. Mr. Meisner said that Jan Bohman of the City Manager's Office was looking into how other cities supported rail service to their communities. Ms. Taylor said that she had been contacted by a constituent about the difficulty of reaching the police through the non emergency line. She asked if there was anything the City could do to rectify the situation. Ms. Taylor said that she had been called by people wanting to know how Lane County Animal Control got the funding to patrol and why Animal Control was patrolling south Eugene. Ms. Taylor referred to a development proposal near the Amazon headwaters and asked if the City could combine parks money and stormwater funds to purchase the site. She said that if the property were developed, the stormwater drainage off the property would include pesticides and pollution from automobiles. Mr. Fart reported that the Bethel-Danebo Scoping Group completed its work on April 22. He reviewed some of the highlights of the group's conclusions and recommendations. Mr. Farr said that a survey of the area indicated a high degree of satisfaction with City services. Mr. Fart said that the Human Rights Commission had asked the City Manager to arrange for broadcast of its meetings on MetroVision, which had agreed to provide the air time at no cost. Mr. Johnson said that he did not anticipate every meeting would be broadcast, only those with a high level of community interest. Mr. Fart asked Mr. Johnson to provide him with more information on a 45-acre park the City purchased in the Beverly subdivision. Mr. Johnson indicated he would provide Mr. Fart with a memorandum. Mr. Fart called the council's attention to the American Head Association's Head Walk on May 1. He invited the councilors to participate in the fund raising event. Mr. Lee asked for the council's endorsement of a neighborhood clean-up in the West University neighborhood. The council agreed to endorse the clean-up. Mr. Papb passed. Mr. Kelly distributed a document entitled Draft Refinement Planning Process for Riverfront Research Park, Gateway and Riverview Sectors. He said that the document did not reflect what he understood to be the council's motion regarding the process, which called for the council to be involved in the appointment process for the two citizen members for the Riverfront Design Advisory Committee. In addition, the document stipulated that the two citizen members were to have alternative views on how the park might be developed, which was not reflective of the council's motion, which called for two citizen members with a demonstrated commitment to maximum feasible preservation of the area north of the railroad tracks. The draft document stated that University President David Frohnmayer would appoint the two citizen members. Mr. Kelly asked Mr. Johnson and Mr. Torrey to discuss the situation with President David Frohnmayer. Mr. Johnson asked if the council's motion was clear as to who would make the appointments. Mr. Kelly interpreted the motion as reading that the City would appoint the members. Mr. Torrey indicated he would discuss the issue with Mr. Frohnmayer. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 2 5:30 p.m. Mr. Pap~ and Mr. Fart indicated that it was not their recollection the council would make the appointment. Mr. Meisner and Ms. Taylor recollected that the City was to make the appointment, not specifically the council. Mr. Kelly said that staff had indicated to the council on March 17 that it would return to the council with ideas on how the appointment would take place. Mr. Rayor noted the council's receipt of a petition for traffic calming on Cleveland Street and said he wanted to ensure that the project got into the queue. He asked that City staff contact the petitioners to let them know how the City process worked. Mr. Rayor said that he would like to have further discussion of the Sears building soon. Mr. Johnson said that the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the building was coming back to the council for its review. The council would review the RFP before any action was taken on the Sears building. He said that the decision to sell the building would be part of that discussion. Mr. Torrey noted that if sold, the money from the building must be used on the library because of the council's decision to assign all the proceeds of urban renewal to the library. Mr. Rayor noted his concerns that the addition of City office space to the library would threaten the entire project or result in cuts to other programs. Responding to a follow-up question from Mr. Pap~, Mr. Johnson said that the City would have to purchase the Sears building from the renewal agency if it wished to use it for other purposes. Ms. Nathanson said she was distressed by the amount of usable materials discarded by University students after the end of the term and asked if there was a way for the City to make sure the materials could be redistributed and reused. Ms. Nathanson reported that the Council/Board Wetlands Policy Amendments Committee had met to work out differences between the recommendations of the Board of County Commissioners and City Council as they related to the criteria for protection, restoration, and development in the West Eugene Wetlands Plan. She believed the committee had made progress and had worked out, in concept, revised plan text the committee was ready to make available to the public for comment. She anticipated one more committee meeting before the public review occurred. Mr. Torrey expressed his appreciation to the manager for the work of Mike Redding of the City Manager's Office for his work at the legislature. He said that all councilors should be grateful for his work, which was very effective. Mr. Torrey said that he had recently returned from Russia and Japan, and residents of those countries had been very interested about the recent incident in Littleton, Colorado, as well as uncomprehending of how it could happen in a country supposedly as progressive and well- educated as the United States. He said he had been asked by residents of those places to ask the students what they would do if drug use was just beginning in their country and how they would stop it from reaching the point it had in the US. Mr. Torrey said that he would share pictures and his experiences about his trip at a lunch in May. B. Youth Leadership Program Reports The youth leaders introduced themselves and noted their ages and school grades attended. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 3 5:30 p.m. Chris Habliston, North Eugene High School, age 15, grade 10, discussed solutions for providing adequate athletic fields at the schools. He said that the school district was $1 million to $2 million short of what was needed for athletic fields. Mr. Habliston said that the school district planned to model its facility after Delta Park in Portland, which has an artificial turf more suited for Eugene's weather. The fields could be used in all weather. He said that the school district has not decided if such facilities would be built at one school or at individual schools. Mr. Habliston said that locating a field at each school would promote school spirit. He believed the fields could be installed with existing funds by taking advantage of cost savings realized through the use of volunteer labor. Sponsorships for the fields could be secured to offset maintenance costs. Kyle Lamb, South Eugene High, age 18, grade 12, said that a community that youth felt a part of was valuable. If youth felt part of the community they would stay in the community and would be involved and have no desire to destroy or tag public property. He suggested that recent events at Littleton created a sense of community because people were brought together and bonded. Mr. Lamb said that the Thurston event had the same effect. He said that it was difficult to be a kid today because kids were concerned about fitting in. A community was a place where everyone could fit in. People get pushed out of society, and it should be society's goal to incorporate those people. Mr. Lamb said that youth in Eugene do not currently have activities or places to go where "kids could be kids." He said that kids wanted to hang out with each other in a place where they could play pool or listen to music, but there were no such places. He said that youth frequently expressed the need for such facilities to him. Nicole Mason, age 17, grade 11, New Roads, discussed the homeless youth in the metropolitan area. She said that the number of homeless youth far outnumbered the amount of beds available. She said that youth could not go to school and succeed under those circumstances. She said that local government was not doing anything about the situation, and youth under age 13 had no where at all to go. On behalf of the homeless, Ms. Mason thanked Mr. Lee for staying at the homeless shelter and challenged the other councilors to do the same, or to try to live on the amount of calories a homeless person does. Ms. Mason said that the homeless do not want to be that way but do not have options. Funding was needed for programs such as New Roads, which had helped her a great deal. She said a youth shelter was needed. Ms. Nathanson asked Mr. Lamb if he supported funding for more planned activities or events or for places where youth could hang out. Mr. Lamb suggested that both were needed, but a place for youth to go was most needed in the long-term He said that such a place needed to be safe for youth, and its location was important. Ms. Nathanson said that the council was excited about the potential of collaborating with the school districts on fields and programming to maximize both the district's and City's programming. Mr. Pap~ clarified that the money Mr. Lamb referred to was school district funding. He agreed with Ms. Nathanson's remarks but questioned whether the City would be able to make up the shortfall in funding. He believed that the City Council would attempt to do the best job it could to provide fields for youth sports. Ms. Taylor asked Ms. Mason and Mr. Lamb if a youth center downtown would bring different types of youth together. Mr. Lamb said yes, although different programming would be required since different youth sought different activities. Ms. Mason agreed. She said that if a place was created for youth to go to, they would use it. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 4 5:30 p.m. Mr. Rayor said that the question of a youth homeless shelter was a difficult one. He asked Ms. Mason if bus passes for homeless youth would be helpful. Ms. Mason said yes, adding that New Roads provided bus passes or tokens for youth who attended a certain amount of hours. Mr. Lee said the City Council had formed the Council Committee on Homelessness and Youth and the committee conducted interviews of homeless youth to determine what programs were needed. The committee developed a list of activities and a summer program offering such activities to youth. Mr. Lee said that the program had failures and successes and the committee was getting a mixed message about its continuation. He asked Ms. Mason what the City could do to make the Summer Program more successful. Ms. Mason said that the City needed to get the word out about the Summer Program. Many youth were unaware of the program. Mr. Meisner asked Mr. Lamb if youth activities should be centralized or decentralized into the neighborhoods. Mr. Lamb likened the situation to the library and its branches, saying that youth wanted activities in one location but it was sometimes difficult to get to that location. He said that in the beginning, it was better to have one location and then the programming could be decentralized. Mr. Lamb said that if youth were given something to do, they would not be doing drugs. Mr. Fart said that the City Council was dedicated to a comprehensive youth strategy that included many activities and locations. He said that the strategy was a long-term strategy. He invited the youths' assistance. Angela Thompson, age 18, grade 12, Sheldon High School, spoke on behalf of herself and Angela Martin, also age 18, grade 12. She addressed the topic of the relationship between faculty and students. It was her understanding that the Columbine High School principle in Littleton, Colorado, had been unaware of the existence of the "Trenchcoat Mafia," even though its picture appeared in the yearbook. Ms. Thompson said that Sheldon High School students had struggled to implement Unity Week and Give a Little Love Week to bring students together as a school and community. The students had faced teachers who did not know what was going on outside the classroom, and teachers who did not want to take time away from class schedules to attend assemblies promoting love and unity. Ms. Thompson said students liked teachers who showed a personal interest in who they were, and strengthening those relationships were very important in preventing tragedies such as those at Thurston and Littleton. She pointed out that often students do not ask for help, and if teachers know them better on a personal level they could detect problems and get the students needed help. Ms. Thompson said that stronger relationships between students and teachers would encourage students to succeed in school by making them feel more important to the school. Melissa Cuddeback, Churchill High School, age 17, grade 11, addressed the mayor's question regarding drug use by discussing a program at Churchill entitled ASAP (AIDS and Substance Abuse Prevention). She said that she was a junior and had never had sex education in any class. When it was scheduled to be taught, the teacher taught something else. Ms. Cuddeback said that the program was initially focused on sophomores and provided health credits through a three-day program. She described the elements of the three-day program. Ms. Cuddeback said that the program was designed to combat misinformation and prevent the transmission of AIDS and other diseases. She said that the program had spurred students to be tested for HIV. The program was now being offered to middle school students. Mr. Kelly complimented Ms. Cuddeback on the ASAP program. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 5 5:30 p.m. Mr. Lee said that many of the issues facing youth, such as drugs and violence, involved peer pressure. He said that such pressure could be enormous, and sometimes people experiment with drugs to get recognition from their peers. He asked how the community could create an environment where people could get positive attention. Mr. Lee also asked the students how they felt about gun control. Ms. Thompson said that gun control might not be able to prevent such tragedies completely but it could make a difference by keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. She said that those using guns should be made aware of their responsibility and the sanctions against violent behavior. Ms. Cuddeback said that gun control would not make the situation worse. Anything that would keep even one unstable person from having a gun would be good. She said that ASAP was an attempt to get middle school students thinking about their values before they go to high school. Ms. Nathanson noted the council's limited purview over school and youth issues while stressing its collaborative efforts with the school district and other agencies on youth issues. She said that while she recognized the council's limited authority, she felt what the students were telling the council was so important she wondered what the council could do to help the students communicate those ideas. Following a similar presentation from the youth leaders, she had suggested that the council send a letter to the 4J School Board communicating what it had heard and asked if that occurred. She wanted to do the same thing now. Mr. Torrey responded that he wrote back to the students regarding specific issues and took his notes to a meeting with the school superintendents of Bethel and 4J. He liked the idea of sending a letter to the school board, and asked Council Coordinator Margaret Wilkenfeld to review the meeting minutes, encapsulate the student comments, and send them to the superintendent of schools, the president of school board, and the school board members. Mr. Papd thanked the youth leaders for their presentations and said all were well-spoken individuals. Mr. Fart said he would like to publicize the letter to the school boards as much as possible. He said that kids were not heard enough. Adults classified kids in groups and were hostile to them and their activities. Mr. Fart said that on occasion kids ostracize other kids and isolate them when they are different. He asked the youth leaders how kids could be brought to be more tolerant and all youth included in the group. Ms. Martin responded that the International High School program curriculum could be brought to younger audiences so they could develop a better understanding of different cultures. That understanding could help to increase students' tolerance and understanding of others in their own culture. Mr. Torrey encouraged Ms. Thompson to meet with her principal to discuss her concerns about faculty-student relationships. Addressing Ms. Cuddeback, Mr. Torrey suggested that the City's grant writer could help secure funding for a program for senior high students to mentor eighth graders transitioning into high school. He encouraged Ms. Cuddeback to think about such a program and how it could be made into a citywide program that was a role model for the remainder of the state. Ms. Cuddeback believed that eigth grade was too late for such a program. She suggested such programs could start as early as fourth grade. Mr. Torrey asked her to think about it and give him a call. C. Work Session: Neighborhood Services Redesign Options Planning and Development Department Director Paul Farmer introduced the topic. He said that he had recently attended the National Planning Conference in Seattle, and people around the country were very interested in what was going on in the Northwest, leading to a record-high attendance. A post-conference was MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 6 5:30 p.m. being sponsored by the City of Portland on April 29 to learn about the Oregon approach to land use planning, and that conference also would be more highly attended than similar conferences in the past. Mr. Farmer said that he had the opportunity to discuss neighborhood programs with people from around the country, and learned they came in all varieties, with all funding levels and many different approaches. Such programs were tailored to the needs of their communities and generally evolved over time. Mr. Farmer said that when such programs worked well they were very effective, particularly in terms of communication between a government and its citizens. He said that different programs defined neighborhood boundaries in many ways. There did not appear to be a "right" way to establish a boundary, although many cities use census tracts as a basis for boundaries. Mr. Farmer briefly described his experience in working with neighborhood programs. Mr. Weinman reminded the council of its past work sessions regarding the Neighborhood Program. He said that four issues remain: 1) adoption of a neighborhood association mission statement; 2) agreeing on elements of the program redesign; 3) identify program funding; and 4) clarifying definitions of active neighborhoods and the criteria for changing neighborhood boundaries. Another work session would be held on May 12. He asked the council to consider the budget and mission statement, and noted that the council had reviewed the mission statement before. Mr. Weinman reviewed the staff recommendation for the program budget. Mr. Kelly asked about the previous proposal to change neighborhood boundaries at a cost of $8,000. Mr. Weinman said that changing the boundaries would first require a council policy discussion. Assuming staffing was available for the other work program items, that staff would also be used to work on that project. Mr. Kelly asked if there were new assumptions behind the decreased newsletter budget. Mr. Weinman said that the initial budget was based on the cost of mailings from the Public Works Department, and he had discovered that those mailings were generally heavier and higher in cost than a newsletter, so the budget was lowered. Mr. Meisner said he was concerned that, given the level of council support for the boundary redesign, it was not included in the staff recommendation. Mr. Johnson pointed out the item was included in the packet on page 86. Mr. Meisner said that the information was not present in what he termed the "new staff recommendation," presented at the meeting. Mr. Meisner asked if the existing FTE was dedicated to neighborhood work only. Mr. Weinman said yes. Mr. Meisner asked if the newsletter funding estimate was based on current or projected costs. Mr. Weinman said the estimate was based on all households getting four newsletters each year. Mr. Meisner asked if that could be done at bulk mail rates. Mr. Weinman said yes. Mr. Meisner observed that was contrary to what he had been told before. Mr. Meisner expressed concern about starting the matching grant funding at the $100,000 level with no other options offered the council. He asked why staff was recommending $100,000. Mr. Weinman said that a playground, for example, could cost $50,000. One or two projects could consume that level of funding, and staff wanted to start out with enough money to make an impact. Mr. Johnson termed the amount small but MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 7 5:30 p.m. meaningful. Mr. Meisner said he did not want to build up community expectations given the City may have to cut that money in the future as it faced budget pressures in future years. Mr. Fart commended the staff recommendation. He said that he had assumed the boundary redesign would be inevitable. He was comfortable with the level of newsletter funding. He asked if the program budget would cover the cost of an additional 25 percent of the staffing that might be needed if more neighborhood groups began to meet. Mr. Weinman said yes. Mr. Johnson observed that the difficulty with program success was that it would mean the need for more staff and more money. Mr. Fart agreed, and said he hoped the program was successful because he felt there was no better way for the City to spend its money than at the grassroots level. He said that the staff recommendation was a move in the right direction. He endorsed the matching grants program, terming it the heart of the program redesign. Although he felt the amount of money involved was too little, Mr. Fart said it would empower neighborhoods to make decisions and represented a beginning. Ms. Taylor asked if there would be a public hearing on the staff recommendations. Mr. Johnson said that was a council decision. Ms. Taylor said that the council's decision to change the Wednesday meeting time meant the council's meetings will conflict with more neighborhood meetings. She expressed the hope that all City newsletters provided notice of neighborhood meetings. Ms. Taylor said that it would be nice if the local newspapers carried articles about neighborhood activities on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Ms. Taylor said that some neighborhood associations do not want to be split. She asked who would make the decision to break up a large neighborhood association into smaller associations. Mr. Johnson said the council would likely be involved in those decisions as the policy board directing the expenditure of funding for the associations. He said that staff raised the issue of boundaries because it believed the program should be a neighborhood-based, not regionally based, program. A neighborhood with one-eighth the city's population was probably not actually a neighborhood. He acknowledged that would be a difficult shift for some larger groups. Mr. Johnson said that he hoped the redesigned program, focused on smaller, more neighborhood- oriented boundaries, would attract more participants. In his opinion, such smaller associations would work better. Mr. Farmer noted that there was a variety of approaches to the boundary issue; in some cities the council made the decisions about neighborhood boundaries, while in other cases councils delegated that authority or established criteria on which staff would make such decisions. Regarding size, Mr. Farmer said that size of neighborhoods in other cities varied. Some communities had very large neighborhoods that established subsections with associations that met independently of the larger association. Mr. Rayor indicated general support for the staff recommendation. He confirmed the budget figures related to the newsletter postage and staffing. Ms. Nathanson expressed disappointment that a suggestion she had made previously regarding hand delivery of newsletters was not included in the recommendation. She said she felt strongly that community came from people knowing people in their neighborhood. Ms. Nathanson did not think communication exclusively by mail was a good substitute for individual communications. She said that some associations hand-deliver newsletters while others lack the resources to do so. She said she would like council discussion of how neighborhoods could get newsletters delivered personally. Ms. Nathanson acknowledged that such an approach was challenging in steep areas of the hills but there were many areas where hand delivery would be feasible. She suggested that youth groups such as Boy Scouts seeking community service credits or other volunteers could help. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 8 5:30 p.m. Mr. Meisner concurred with Ms. Nathanson regarding hand delivery of newsletters. Responding to a question from Mr. Torrey, Ms. Nathanson confirmed that her remarks were focused on a different way to use the existing budget. She added that she did not know what the council would do about the anticipated budget shortfall; she did not want to drop the different program approaches that had been suggested. She reiterated her other reason for the suggestion, which was communication between neighbors. Regarding the sources for the matching grant, Ms. Nathanson said she had previously suggested approaching commercial businesses closely associated with the neighborhood to solicit funds. Mr. Weinman said that staff would look into alternative ways of delivering newsletters when it knew more about the budget. He pointed out that neighborhood stakeholders also included property owners and businesses who did not live in the neighborhood, and if they were not contacted by mail they might not be reached at all. Ms. Nathanson agreed. Regarding Ms. Nathanson's sources for matching grants, Mr. Weinman said that businesses were a key source of funds, but he suggested that they were more likely the match for the grant than the grant source. Ms. Nathanson was concerned about start-up funds, saying if neighborhood stores and banks put a significant amount into the program it could be enough for seed money for some ongoing funding. Mr. Johnson asked about the source of the match if the City was soliciting businesses for start-up funds. Ms. Nathanson said she did not think that all businesses would have given to the initial start-up fund and could be solicited for matching funds. She said that larger businesses could be solicited for start-up funds or for capital moneys. Very small businesses could be solicited for the matching grant. Mr. Weinman said that staff could look into the potential of that approach. Mr. Pap~ said that the definition of "active neighborhood" would be key to the program, and noted that the Neighborhood Leaders Council had some ideas about that. He questioned whether the council would be able to develop such a definition in a single meeting, and asked why there was no funding for a collaborative effort to develop a definition. Mr. Weinman said that staff believed that the definition was a council decision that did not require additional staff funding. Mr. Johnson said that staff familiar with the program would assist the council in that effort. Mr. Pap~ said neighborhood associations could be a possible solution to the issues in the River Road/Santa Clara area, and asked how the City would work with the County inside the urban growth boundary. Mr. Johnson said the council should not just consider City residents in those areas because the City has responsibility for service delivery to River Road/Santa Clara. He did not think the City should differentiate between county and city residents in those areas. He acknowledged that there was probably insufficient funding budgeted to mail newsletters to those residents. Mr. Pap~ asked Ms. Nathanson what businesses would receive for their donations. Ms. Nathanson did not know. She said that the City needed to take care how it acknowledged the donations of private business. Mr. Fart agreed with Ms. Taylor's remarks regarding opportunities to publicize neighborhood meetings in City newsletters and publications. He noted that the northeast area of the city had a paper called Northeast Neighbors, which contained advertising. He said that the Bethel/Danebo area would like a similar publication, and suggested that it could parallel the City's efforts. He said that there was little commercial activity in the Bethel/Danebo area, so other ideas were needed for the source of the grant matches. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 9 5:30 p.m. Mr. Kelly liked the staff recommendation and did not want the issues raised at the meeting to stop staff progress. Regarding the anticipated budget shortfall, he noted that several Budget Committee members had raised the possibility of reallocating some General Fund money and that could result in "plugging the gap." Mr. Kelly suggested that staff solicit ideas from the Neighborhood Leaders Council regarding the boundary redesign issue. Mr. Kelly said he was not supportive of the concept of hand delivery. He said that such communication was a good idea but the reality was that with two-parent households working a variety of shifts, hand delivery of newsletters does not result in neighbors meeting neighbors, but rather neighbors seeing porches and doorsteps. He said that the limited volunteer energy should be put to more useful purposes. Mr. Kelly noted that the staff notes included an opinion from the City Attorney that the City must accept all advertising if it was to publish any advertising. He said that The New York Times will no longer accepting cigarette advertising, and asked if the fact the newspaper was a private company made a difference. City Attorney Glenn Klein said yes, adding that as a public entity the City was subject to the First Amendment. Mr. Meisner reiterated his interest in volunteer hand delivery of newsletters. He said that perhaps it would not be feasible for now-dormant neighborhoods but could be in the future. He said although the City provides an opportunity for neighborhood chairs to meet at the Neighborhood Leaders Council, it did not provide similar opportunities for neighborhoods to meet and work together. Some neighborhoods do a good job of using volunteers to deliver newsletters now, and he suggested that mentoring, joint meetings, and trainings would be a way for neighborhoods to cooperate and not just leaders to meet. Regarding the River Road/Santa Clara areas, Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Johnson with the caution that the County currently told residents in those areas to look to the City for services even when they were not annexed, and he did not want the nonannexed residents to believe that the City was going to deliver all the other services they wanted to have. Regarding the budget, Mr. Meisner requested more information of the money estimated for a one-time funding of $40,000 for neighborhood redesign, which was included under citywide newsletter, which had an expense of only $9,000. He also wanted more information about the one-time City Manager's Office publication. Mr. Meisner wanted outcomes from Neighborhood Program. He said that given the amount of money being added to the program, he wanted to know what the council expected to have happen. Ms. Taylor reiterated her desire to have a public hearing after the council had determined the details of the program redesign. Regarding hand delivery, Ms. Taylor agreed with Ms. Nathanson that it was good to bring residents together but she was hoping that occurred at meetings after residents received mailed notice. She said that apartments were difficult to deliver to, weather was a factor, and volunteers wear out. Mr. Rayor asked if staffhad defined eligible projects for the matching grant. Mr. Johnson said that staff would return to the council for more direction on the topic. Mr. Rayor said that many of the projects envisioned by neighbors have other City funding source, and if such projects were brought to the City there may not be as much funding needed as envisioned now. At the request of Mr. Lee, Chief Hill explained the elements of the Police volunteer coordinator position. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 10 5:30 p.m. D. Work Session: Emergency Preparedness This item was postponed. The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 11 5:30 p.m.