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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/27/99 Mtg MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall September 27, 1999 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Bobby Lee, Gary Rayor, Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Gary Pap~. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Pat Fart. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. I. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Torrey outlined the process for the public forum. Asher Wren, 935 West 5th Avenue, spoke on behalf of the administration and student body of South Eugene High School. He spoke in support of a free wall, behind the building, for graffiti artists to paint on. He outlined a plan and wanted to request City funds to provide materials for the wall. He noted that he had up to 40 volunteers that would help build it. Frankie Houser, 28046 Crossly Lane, spoke in favor of putting a free wall behind South Eugene High School. He stressed that graffiti was art and not vandalism. He added that the art was not done justice by taggers. Ed Reiman, 1333 Oak Patch Street, thanked the council for the quick action taken on the matter of the siting of the federal building. He stressed his opinion that the 5th Street Market was the last bit of "charming Eugene," and called for caution from the City Councilors when dealing with the site for the new federal courthouse. As an alternate location, he suggested the lot across High Street from the current federal building site. Hugh Prichard, 101 East Broadway, offered his aid for the planning for the new city hall site and/or the new city hall. Richard Gabriel, 717 Country Club Road, expressed his pleasure that the site for the new federal courthouse was being re-discussed. He urged the council not to make hasty decisions. Nick Urhausen, 2858 Warren Street, commented that the Mayor should be able to vote during council meetings. He called for citywide votes for all of the councilor positions. Regarding the Human Rights Commission, Mr. Urhausen said that it did not represent anything more than a very small percentage of the community. He said that it had an on-going effort to demonize Hyundai which he attributed to politics, cultural bias, and racism. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 1 7:30 p.m. Mayor Torrey called for council response to the speakers of the public forum. Mr. Meisner addressed the question of an art wall behind South Eugene High. He explained the process that the supporters would need to go through to get the wall and provided a phone number of a person to contact that would help begin the process. Mr. Lee clarified that people could paint on walls as long as it was done legally with the permission of the property owner. Mr. Kelly also addressed the question of the free wall behind South Eugene High School. He provided the phone number for the City Manager's Office at City Hall in case the supporters needed to speak to the City Council again. Regarding the question of the siting of the future federal courthouse Mr. Kelly explained that full block sites were being discussed because the federal government wanted to leave room for future expansion on the same site. Ms. Taylor commented that she thought the plans for the free wall behind South Eugene High were a good idea and she hoped it would succeed. Regarding the site of the federal courthouse, she congratulated the citizens who had gotten involved in getting the location re-discussed. She disagreed with Mr. Urhausen regarding citywide elections for councilors, saying that too much money was spent on elections already. Mr. Pap8 complimented citizens on action taken on the site of the federal courthouse. He added that he did not want to lose site of the fact that the site was not a collaborative process with the federal government. He suggested that citizens open a dialogue with senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith. Mayor Torrey closed the public Forum. II. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes July 26, 1999 Work Session; August 4, 1999 Joint Elected Officials Meeting; August 11, 1999 Work Session B. Resolution Number 4604, Authorizing the Institution of Proceedings in Eminent Domain for the Acquisition of Property Interests for the Amtrak Station Project C. Call for Public Hearing: Alley Vacation for the New Library Project (AV 99-1) D. Approval of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of September 13, 1999 and Approval of Resolution 4605, Supporting Application for Oregon Business Development Fund Loan by Shepard Vrijmmoet Enterprises, LLC Mr. Meisner, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to approve the items on the consent calendar. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 2 7:30 p.m. Ms. Taylor requested that the July 26 minutes be pulled from the consent calendar. Mr. Kelly requested that item B be removed from the consent calendar. He also requested that the minutes of July 26, August 4, and August 11 be pulled. Mayor Torrey called for a vote on items C and D of the consent calendar. The items passed unanimously. Mr. Kelly offered a correction to the July 26 minutes. On page 1 he noted that his name was misspelled. In the minutes of August 4, page 1, he noted that Mr. Farrwas present at the meeting when he was listed as absent. Ms. Nathanson added that Mr. Pap8 was absent as well as Mayor Torrey, Mr. Lee and Mr. Rayor. In the August 11 minutes, page 9, Mr. Kelly noted that there was a single word missing. He added the word "chance" to the sentence on that page. The minutes of August 4, and August 11, were unanimously accepted, as amended. The minutes of the July 26 meeting were held for future review by Councilor Taylor. Regarding Item B, Mr. Kelly raised his concern that two of the parcels were only being included in the proceedings for the purpose of gaining access. He asked if the City Attorney had finished his addition in the wording to address that concern. City Attorney Glenn Klein said that the addition would go at the end of section 1 at the bottom of page 127 in the council agenda. "Property and parcels 1-3 shall be acquired under this resolution only as necessary for providing access to the facilities" was added. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to approve Resolution Number 4604 authorizing the institution of proceedings in eminent domain for the acquisition of property interest for the AMTRAK station project, as amended by the City Attorney. Mr. Pap8 said that he was voting against the motion for reasons he said he had made clear prior to the meeting. The motion passed 6:1 with Mr. Pap8 voting against. iii. PUBLIC HEARING AND FIRST READING OF COUNCIL BILL 4703: ORDINANCE GRANTING TO NORTHWEST NATURAL GAS COMPANY A CORPORATION, A TWENTY (20) YEAR NONEXCLUSIVE RIGHT AND FRANCHISE TO LAY, MAINTAIN AND OPERATE FACILITIES IN THE PUBLIC WAY WITHIN THE CITY OF EUGENE, OREGON; PROVIDING FOR PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION TO THE CITY; AND REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 18489, PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AUGUST 27, 1979, AND APPROVED BY THE MAYOR SEPTEMBER 3, 1979. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 3 7:30 p.m. Mr. Warren Wong, Acting City Manager, said that the resolution was a renewal of an existing franchise that expired in September. Staff corrected one item in the draft ordinance prior to the meeting. Becky Koble of the Administrative Services Department noted that councilors had been supplied with a replacement of section 6. She said that the replacement was the result of discussions of the draft ordinance at the time the original draft went to print. She recommended that the new wording be inserted to replace the original draft. Mr. Kelly confirmed that the nine numbered policy issues, listed in the briefing document, were reflected in the franchise agreement. He also asked about Oregon Administrative Rules requiring gas providers to pass on to customers everything above three percent, and to itemize it separately. Staff replied that there was a legislative effort, a few years ago, to pass anything above three percent on to the rate payers. The council had opposed that effort; nonetheless, Oregon Administrative Rules now contain that requirement. Ms. Nathanson asked the significance of amending the wording for section 6. Staff replied that the wording was an attempt to introduce consistency between franchises for a clearly defined term. Mr. Klein added that an example of the word change was in section 3 of the document. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner regarding the wording of the amended section 6, Mr. Klein said that the company was worried by the possibility that the City, although it had never done so, might try to require the company to pay if the removal or relocation was necessary because a new development was going in. He said that the company relied on State administrative rules to say that it could not pass on that cost on to the entire customer base; instead the private developer should pay for it. He went on to say that the revised section 6 was intended to say where the change is being made, because it is necessary for the public, the company shall pay for it. Mr. Meisner asked if the City would qualify as a property owner in a particular circumstance. He wanted to know if there were circumstances where the City would be forced to bear such an expense. Mr. Klein replied that what was intended was, if the City needed something to be relocated, for whatever reason, it would be at the company's expense. He offered a suggestion for an amendment that would clarify by adding the word "private" in the phrase "shall unnecessarily inconvenience the public or private property owners." Mr. Rayor questioned whether there should be wording in the ordinance covering liability. Mr. Klein said that section 8 of the ordinance addressed those concerns. Staff introduced Mr. Ron ©pitz, the Southern Willamette Valley District Manager for Northwest Natural. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Mr. ©pitz made himself available for questions and commended City staff for the job it had done working with Northwest Natural. Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing and called for council comments/questions. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 4 7:30 p.m. In response to a question from Mr. Rayor regarding insurance, Mr. Opitz said that proof of insurance was required when dealing with the City. He listed a wide range of insurance that the company carried. Mr. Meisner clarified the additional wording of the amended section 6. Ms. Nathanson called for more information regarding the financial risk assumed by the City in authorizing Northwest Natural to operate its facilities in the City's right-of-way. Mayor Torrey declared that the council had received the first reading of Council Bill 4703. Mr. Klein noted, for the record, that the reading included the amended section 6 wording. IV. PUBLIC HEARING: ORDINANCE CONCERNING EROSION NUISANCE ABATEMENT; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 2.018, 6.010, 6.080, 6.085, 6.090, 6.100, 6.110, AND 6.640 OF THE EUGENE CODE, 1971 Ms. Taylor raised concern that a $2,000 fine was too high and called for the words "and others" to be removed from the ordinance. City Engineer Les Lyle stated that $2,000 was the maximum fine that could be levied. He added that it would require administrative rule changes for the other program areas. He deferred to the City Attorney to see if the "and others" could be removed from the ordinance. Mr. Klein asked council to defer action, if it wished to make this change, until he had a chance to check the wording to make sure that there were no needed changes that got overlooked. Mayor Torrey opened the public hearing. Seeing no one wishing to speak, he closed the public hearing and called for councilor comments/questions. There was general discussion on whether to take action on the item that evening. In response to a question from Mr. Lee regarding public input on the issue, Mr. Lyle said that he had not received any input from the public on the issue. Ms. Taylor reiterated her earlier concern and suggested eliminating the words "and others" from the ordinance. Acting City Manager Warren Wong asked the council to consider Council Bill 4704, an ordinance concerning erosion nuisance abatement; and amending sections 2.018, 6.010, 6.080, 6.085, 6.090, 6.100, 6.110, 6.640 of the Eugene Code, 1971. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, 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. Ms. Taylor moved to amend the motion by deleting everything except the erosion part of the ordinance as it pertains to the maximum limit of the penalties. There was no second. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 5 7:30 p.m. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Wong asked councilors to consider Council Bill 4704 by number only. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved that the bill be approved and given final passage, becoming Ordinance No. 20169. The motion passed unanimously. V. SECOND READING AND ACTION ON COUNCIL BILL 4701: ORDINANCE GRANTING TO WILLIAMS COMMUNICATIONS, INC., A NONEXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TO USE THE PUBLIC WAY TO CONSTRUCT AND MAINTAIN PUBLIC COMMUNICATION FACILITIES WITHIN THE CITY OF EUGENE In response to a question from Mr. Meisner regarding duplication of EWEB's network, Mr. Wong said that EVVEB was building a network in phases to deal with its own electric business purposes, and it was not until it began building into neighborhoods that EVVEB would be able to reach all of the government facilities; and that was a long time away. Mayor Torrey noted that this was the second reading of the bill and action was requested that evening. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved that Council Bill 4701 be approved and given final passage becoming Ordinance No. 20168. The motion passed unanimously. VI. SECOND READING AND ACTION ON COUNCIL BILL 4702: ORDINANCE GRANTING TO ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP (ATG), A NONEXCLUSIVE FRANCHISE TO USE THE PUBLIC WAY TO CONSTRUCT AND MAINTAIN PUBLIC COMMUNICATION FACILITIES WITHIN THE CITY OF EUGENE Mr. Meisner, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved that Council Bill 4702 be approved and given final passage becoming Ordinance No. 20167. The motion passed unanimously. Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting. Respectfully submitted, MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 6 7:30 p.m. James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Joe Sams) MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 27, 1999 Page 7 7:30 p.m.