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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 10/11/99 Mtg MINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chambers--City Hall October 11, 1999 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, Pat Fart, David Kelly, Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor, Gary Rayor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Nancy Nathanson, Gary Pap~. Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1.CEREMONIAL MATTERS A. "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" Proclamation Mayor Torrey proclaimed October 1999 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the City of Eugene, and called upon citizens to observe the occasion by raising awareness of the toll taken by domestic violence and by working to reduce this threat to community safety. B. "Disability Employment Awareness Month" Proclamation Mayor Torrey proclaimed the month of October 1999 in the City of Eugene as Disability Employment Awareness Month and called upon residents of the city to observe the month by learning more about people with disabilities, their strengths, abilities, and the programs that are designed to meet their needs. C. "Soroptimist International of Eugene Week" Proclamation Mayor Torrey proclaimed the week of October 24 through 30 as Soroptimist International of Eugene Week to recognize the services and contributions made by Soroptimist International of Eugene and to extend our headiest congratulations to its members as they strive to improve the lives of others on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee. Mr. Fart arrived at the meeting. 2. PUBLIC FORUM Mr. Torrey reviewed the rules of the public forum. Nick Urhausen, 2858 Warren Street, opposed the City granting insurance benefits to heterosexual couples who did not wish to marry. He did not think the City was required by law to grant the benefits and wanted the elected City Council to make such decisions rather than the City Manager. MINUTES-Eugene City Council October 11, 1999 Page 1 7:30 p.m. Rick Szakalski, 2115 Brittany Street, discussed the effort it took to place a disabled person in an employment position. He suggested that the City of Eugene was not doing all it could to place disabled people in City jobs, and asked the City Council to direct the City Manager to do more, maintaining that in five years his agency had been unable to place a disabled person in a City job. Mr. Szakalski invited the councilors to learn more about his program. Mr. Szakalski expressed appreciation that the council had not gone through the symbolic act of getting in wheel chairs or feigning blindness for Barrier Awareness Day. He said that disabled people did not go out into the community on "day one." Fred Piper, 2790 Garfield Street, identified himself as a local artist and commended the mayor for his support of the Shelton McMurphy Johnson House. He presented the mayor with a drawing of the Shelton McMurphy Johnson House and the council with copies of the drawing. Mr. Piper stressed the architectural importance of the structure, and suggested it be painted in order to preserve it. In response to Mr. Szakalski, Mr. Lee said that he took his criticism seriously. He had been looking for some sort of bench marking to ensure that the City's employees were representative of the community. He believed the disabled were under represented in the organization. Mr. Lee suggested that the Human Rights Commission be asked to follow up on the issue. Mr. Kelly concurred with Mr. Lee, noting his own experience with disabilities in his family. He asked Mr. Szakalski what organization he worked with. Mr. Szakalski said that he was with Alternative Work Concepts. Mr. Kelly endorsed Mr. Lee's request and asked that the manager report back to the council on the City's past and current efforts to hire and retain disabled employees. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes July 26, 1999 Work Session; September 13, 1999 Work Session; September 13, 1999 Council Meeting; September 15, 1999 Work Session B. Approval of Resolution 4606 Authorizing the Transfer of Funds from the Reserve for Encumbrances to Departments and to Non-Departmental Reserves and Balance Available Mr. Meisner moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, to approve the Consent Calendar. Mr. Kelly, Ms. Taylor and Mr. Rayor asked that item A, Approval of City Council Minutes, be pulled from the Consent Calendar. Mr. Kelly offered the following correction to the last paragraph on page 3 of the minutes of September 15 (struck text deleted, italicized text added): "He said that the poster gave the message that government would ,-,ct take care of the problem and people did not need to worry. That was not the Federal Emergency Management Agency message, which was that government would not take care of people and they needed to prepare." MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 1999 Page 2 7:30 p.m. Ms. Taylor asked that paragraph 4 on page 5 of the July 26 and asked that the last sentence be replaced by the following: "She asked for oral reports rather than written reports from the manager." Mr. Rayor referred to paragraph 4 on page 2 of the September 13 5:30 p.m. work session minutes, and asked that the text be revised as follows (italicized text added): "Mr. Rayor pointed out areas of concern with the document, specifically with notification prior to wet weather construction, and the expense-based method of determining if erosion controls were required." Mr. Torrey determined there were no objections to the corrections offered by councilors Kelly, Taylor, and Rayor. The motion to adopt the Consent Calendar passed unanimously, 6:0. 4.PUBLIC HEARING: AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING LICENSING PROVISIONS FOR SOLID WASTE COLLECTORS; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 3.245, 3.250, AND 3.270 OF THE EUGENE CODE, 1971 City Manager Jim Johnson reminded the council it held a work session on the item in July. He said that Nancy Young of the Planning and Development Department was present to answer questions. Mr. Torrey opened the public hearing. There being no requests to speak, he closed the public hearing. Mr. Rayor commended staff for its response to the council's concerns. 5.SECOND READING AND ACTION ON COUNCIL BILL 4703; ORDINANCE GRANTING TO NORTHWEST NATURAL GAS COMPANY A CORPORATION, A TWENTY (20) YEAR NON-EXCLUSIVE 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 Mr. Meisner moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, to move that council bill 4703 be approved and given final passage. City Manager Jim Johnson indicated staff was present to answer questions. Mr. Lee commended Para Berrian and Becky Koble of the Administrative Services Department for their staff work on the issue. The motion passed unanimously, 6:0, and became Ordinance No. 20170. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 1999 Page 3 7:30 p.m. 6. ACTION: ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 20126; AMENDING THE WEST EUGENE WETLANDS PLAN BY ADOPTING NEW AND REVISED PLAN POLICIES RELATED TO THE CRITERIA FOR WETLAND DESIGNATIONS; AND ADOPTING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE Mr. Johnson introduced Neil Bj0rklund of Planning and Development Department and indicated he was present to answer questions. Mr. Kelly, a member of the council/board committee that had reviewed the testimony submitted at the public hearing on August 4, said the committee recognized the limited nature of its charge and had come up with a total of four changes it believed would clarify the criteria. He said that three of the changes were described in the staff memorandum included in the meeting packet, and invited questions about the memorandum. He said that the fourth change was encapsulated in a memorandum from Mr. Bj0rklund dated October 11 and placed at each councilor's seat. Mr. Kelly said that the change was the addition of a sentence to Section 3.17 clarifying the policy. The memorandum explained that the sentence was added to correct the impression expressed by many in testimony that for a site to be designated for development or protection it must meet all the development or protection criteria. Mr. Johnson said that the council would consider Council Bill 4705, an ordinance amending Ordinance 20126, amending the West Eugene Wetlands Plan by adopting new and revised plan policies related to the criteria for wetland designations; and adopting a severability clause. Mr. Meisner moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, that the bill, with the unanimous consent of the council, be read the second time by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at this time. Mr. Kelly moved, seconded by Mr. Fart, to amend Exhibit A of the adopting ordinance to incorporate the three changes stated in the October 5 memorandum to the Council/Board Committee on Wetland Policy Amendments, and the single change reflected in the October 11 memorandum to the mayor and council. Responding to a question from Mr. Fart, Mr. Kelly said that to the best of his knowledge the City was acting in a manner consistent with the actions to be taken by Lane County. He noted that the changes were intended to be clarifications of the proposed plan text. Mr. Fart asked Steve Gordon of Lane Council of Governments if he had heard anything from the Board of County Commissioners regarding the amendments package. Mr. Gordon said that he believed the amendments could be acceptable to the board. Mr. Rayor discussed his concern about the amendment related to small occurrences of rare plant species on a site. He suggested that small occurrences of such plants were the reason they were rare. He acknowledged that such sites were often surrounded by developed parcels but he was troubled that the City would lean toward development for such sites. Mr. Kelly responded to Mr. Rayor, stating that while he was not comfortable with the criterion in isolation, within the context of the plan the criterion allowed the City to distinguish between sites that were more worthy and less worthy of protection. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 1999 Page 4 7:30 p.m. Mr. Kelly asked if the findings needed to be adjusted to include the criteria in their unrevised form. City Attorney Glenn Klein indicated that those changes could be made administratively. The motion to amend passed unanimously, 6:0. The main motion passed unanimously. Mr. Meisner moved, seconded by Mr. Farr, that the bill be approved and given final passage. The motion passed 5:1; Mr. Rayor voting no, and became Ordinance 20171. The meeting adjourned at 8:01 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 1999 Page 5 7:30 p.m.