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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 05/20/98 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall May 20, 1998 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Tim Laue, Bobby Lee, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Pat Farr. I. CALL TO ORDER The adjourned May 13, 1998, Eugene City Council meeting was called to order at 11:30 a.m.; Council Vice President Ken Tollenaar presiding. II. ACTION ITEMS A. Approval of City Council Minutes 1. March 18, 1998, Lunch Work Session Ms. Taylor prefaced her request for the following corrections to the March 18, 1998, minutes by saying they are "so defective that the whole thing should be done over--there was so much omitted... I will ask for things that I think definitely should be done--mainly that concern me": 1) a double space following Mr. Farr's comments under Item II. A.; 2) add the following to Ms. Taylor's comments on page 1: "Ms. Taylor also criticized the process, saying that this should have been an evaluation rather than a decision about termination, that it was far too soon to consider termination, that Ms. Elmer had barely had a chance to start her job. She pointed out that the executive evaluators included four acting managers and a chief who was no longer in that position. She predicted that, after a few years when Elmer had had time to choose her staff and work with them for a while, staff reaction would be different. She also said that firing Ms. Elmer at such an early date in her tenure would make the City look ridiculous and would make it difficult to hire a competent successor." 3) add the following to Ms. Elmer's statements on page 2: "The pain of downsizing, coupled with management changes, makes it not possible to start the change agenda until you are through with that. I have done all that realistically could be accomplished considering the circumstances."; 4) substitute the following for paragraph 6 on page 2: "Ms. Taylor, in reference to other councilors' comments, agreed that the job of city manager is not permanent, but said that one year is too short a time. She said that the turmoil, which some councilors wished to end, was caused by the council's turning the evaluation into a firing decision, and would end if a decision to retain was made. In reference to the contention that staff morale was low, she pointed out that employees had expressed a lack of confidence in Chief Cooke, that this extreme dissatisfaction had changed to support scarcely a year later. She expected the same change with Ms. Elmer."; 5) clarify paragraph 7 on page 2 as it is "vague and misleading." Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 1 11:30 a.m. Mr. Laue added that "unanimously" should be struck from the vote count in the motion on page 2. Mr. Meisner said that council meeting minutes are either summary or detailed and, although he has no objection to Ms. Taylor's corrections, those correction will product a "mixed bag," adding he hoped this was not a precedent. Ms. Taylor noted that her comments at that meeting had been minimized and she would only request changes only if she believed the record had been distorted and this was the case. City Manager pro tem Jim Johnson offered to produce a verbatim transcription of the meeting. The council declined. The motion to approve the minutes as corrected passed unanimously, 6:0. 2. April 20, 1998, Meeting Mr. Tollenaar said that the phrase "assessed value" in paragraph 3, under Item D, on page 4 should be replaced with "assessible frontage." Thereafter during that discussion, he said, the term "value" should be replaced with "frontage." Mr. Laue moved, seconded by Ms. Swanson Gribskov, to approve the minutes of April 20, 1998, as corrected. The motion passed unanimously, 6:0. B. Glenwood Jurisdictional Study The council was joined at the meeting table by Springfield Mayor Bill Morrisette and Springfield Council President Greg Shaver. Mayor Morrisette introduced the topic and said that "Glenwood has historically been a part of Springfield geographically, socially, and economically." He urged the council to adopt Option 1, transfer jurisdiction of Glenwood from Eugene to Springfield, but acknowledged that Option 2 was more realistic. Springfield City Manager Mike Kelley gave background information and reviewed the information attached to the agenda, summarizing that it appeared that the majority of the area residents and businesses favor a Springfield jurisdiction, and adding that the change would be revenue-neutral to the City of Springfield. Mr. Shaver said the issue was one that "is close to Springfield as Glenwood is close to Springfield, and perhaps not as close to Eugene as Glenwood is not close to Eugene." Having read Eugene staf?s recommendations he said that as much as he "hoped" the council would adopt Option 1, Option 2 was probably the most reasonable course of action. Mayor Jim Torrey arrived at the meeting. Mr. Shaver suggested that Option 2 be modified by the addition of a Eugene City Council/Springfield City Council subcommittee, with two members from each of the councils, to review the jurisdictional issue and make a recommendation to the Metropolitan Policy Committee as reflected in Option 2, adding he wished to serve on that committee. Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 2 11:30 a.m. Mayor Torrey declared a potential conflict of interest as he owns property in the subject area; the City Attorney's Office had indicated he may participate in the discussion. In response to a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Mayor Morrisette said that the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) had expressed a willingness to work with the Springfield Utility Board (SUB) in providing service to the area. Regarding tax revenue, Mr. Kelley said that even with the revenue from the 150,000-200,000 properties in the area, it still resulted in a loss over 20 years. He addressed schools by saying that both superintendents continue to discuss supervision of schools in Glenwood, Goshen, and the Gateway areas. He confirmed that both utilities have pledged to implement whatever the elected officials decide. Mr. Tollenaar pointed out that Option 1 does not identify a procedure for transferring the "territory," adding that his research indicates that there are several ways to initiate a transfer: a joint resolution of the two councils; a petition from 10 percent of the residents of the territory, or 50 percent of landowners; or, a boundary commission resolution. He noted that if the City of Eugene objected to the proposal forwarded, it would require an election within Eugene to approve the transfer. The same was true for Springfield if that City Council or 10 percent of the residents objected to the proposal. Mr. Tollenaar also noted that the report speaks of the revenue impact on the City of Springfield but does not address that for Eugene. He said Option 2 should produce more thorough research. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Tollenaar's comments, particularly with losses, given the development potential for that area. Ms. Nathanson arrived at the meeting. Mr. Meisner expressed support for Option 2 and asked for information on the impact to Eugene's industrial land inventory, adding he was not in favor of expanding the urban growth boundary (UGB) due to a loss of industrial land from that area. He pointed out that there was no consistency in public input garnered from resident, businesses, and property owners in the area and hoped for a more careful poll if Option 2 is adopted. Mr. Meisner asked staff also to clarify the assertion in the report that there is "no net cost" to traffic enforcement positions, noting he understood that there was no possibility of traffic enforcement paying for itself. Mr. Johnson said staffwill look at both the cost and revenue sides of the issue. Ms. Nathanson said the most important thing was for public officials together to decide how best to provide services to the citizens who live there. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, to adopt Option 2: To receive the Glenwood Jurisdictional Study from Springfield and direct that a staff analysis be made of the entire Glenwood jurisdictional issue. Mr. Johnson asked the council to consider Mr. Shaver's suggestion that there be some official level policy involvement in Option 2. Addressing a question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Johnson said staff considered referring the issue to the Metropolitan Policy Committee but currently there was no indication of interest in "deep involvement" by Lane County. Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 3 11:30 a.m. Mayor Torrey asked councilors Laue and Tollenaar serve on the committee. Mayor Morrisette said Mr. Shaver and Maureen Maine would represent the City of Springfield on the committee. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. C. Downtown Urban Renewal Plan Amendment Lew Bowers, Planning and Development Department, provided the report and noted that the Planning Commission recommended that the library be the priority project for urban renewal funds but that $2 million be set aside for other downtown projects. The Budget Committee has also discussed the item and have recommended the grandfathered option # 1, creating a local option levy maximum should it be approved by voters and the council wished to collect it in 1999. Mr. Bowers noted that the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved Option 1, the grandfathered option tentatively supported by the council. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Bowers said the Planning Commission's budget recommendation may not be prudent. Jan Childs, Planning Division Manager, said the commission has not had an opportunity to reconsider the matter. Mr. Meisner said he had learned that taking an imprudent action would affect the City's bond rating and that would reduce the amount that could be bonded for the library. Mr. Tollenaar suggested the council first settle on the set aside. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, to thank the Planning Commission for its interest, but express the sense of the council that it wished to continue urban renewal under grandfather option 1 to be used exclusively for the library and whatever other existing commitments the fund has. Ms. Nathanson disagreed, saying she believed the set aside would not take anything away from the library and taxpayers would be willing to direct $2 million for downtown improvements as the result to them was still a reduction in taxes. Ms. Taylor expressed support for the motion, saying the only reason she would "consider keeping any part of urban renewal is for the library and that doesn't mean that there aren't things that need to be done but I don't think that's the way to do them." Mr. Meisner agreed with Ms. Taylor's comments and reiterated that he has been told the set aside cannot be done without reducing the bonding authority for the library. Mr. Bowers said there were two ways of providing the set aside: 1) take $2 million out of cash that would be used for debt service reserve (which would put the general fund (GF) at greater risk); or 2) take the loan funds in urban renewal assets and transfer those to the GF and use the receipts from those loan funds for downtown projects, which would reduce the $18 million available for the library by about $900,000. At Ms. Nathanson's request, Administrative Services Director Warren Wong said one of the risks was the rating for the bond from the rating agencies, which determined the interest costs and marketability. He Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 4 11:30 a.m. explained that if the urban renewal increment was insufficient to make the debt service, funding for the Debt Service would go directly to the GF and take GF resources, which could mean reductions or elimination of GF services. The problem was that the only revenue source coming into urban renewal, under the concept here, has been counted toward making the debt service payments. The two revenue streams were the loan repayments and the tax increment. Mr Wong added that if the urban renewal revenue stream decreased, it would be related to an economic downturn and would also impact several other projects where GF funds have been pledged, i.e., parking garages and purchase of the Atrium. Ms. Nathanson summarized the discussion by saying that the decision hinged on the likelihood that the increment will be sufficient or will not be sufficient. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Wong said the effect of a negative bond rating change would be a higher interest rate, which reduced the amount of the bond. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she initially supported the $2 million set aside but given the discussion she would support the motion. Mr. Lee said some did not consider the library a magnet for drawing people downtown, adding he believed the library downtown provided social benefits. Mayor Torrey encouraged the council to look for ways to identify funds to accomplish the types of projects downtown suggested by Ms. Nathanson. Ms. Nathanson said the draw to the library was a function of library programming. She envisioned services that would be a draw. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Ms. Swanson Gribskov drew attention to the vote, saying the council was united in its support for the library. Mr. Bowers reviewed the summary of funding options for the library using urban renewal funds, and underlying assumptions. He called attention to meeting materials that depicted the impact to the individual taxpayer. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Klein said if the district sunseted, any remaining money in the fund goes back to the County to be distributed to the overlapping taxing districts--any returned to the City goes to the GF to be used for anything the council chooses. Mr. Tollenaar said there would be an issue of whether "we can get by" with one central library or branches are needed. He added that it was possible to phase-in branches and levy anywhere within the spectrum. Addressing a question from Ms. Swanson Gribskov, Mr. Bowers said the council had the choice of setting the levy to just cover the debt service, or levy up to the full amount and bank the balance for future expansion. In response to a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Bowers said the council each year would decide how much to levy as part of the budget process. Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 5 11:30 a.m. Addressing a question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Klein said the council could change the projects by changing the ordinance; in which case, it would "de-grandfather" itself. Mr. Laue expressed support for option 5A. In response to a follow-up question from Mr. Laue, Mr. Klein confirmed that future councils may change the amount of the levy at any year. Mr. Meisner also favored option 5A, adding that the committee will undertake private fund-raising. Mr. Bowers reviewed the urban renewal fund indebtedness and maximum indebtedness, election options, the time line, and staff's recommendations. Mayor Torrey expressed concern about trying to explain the maximum indebtedness of $49,136,925 to the public. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, to direct the City Manager to prepare an ordinance selecting Option 1 as the collection mechanism for the downtown district, limiting new projects to a library only, and creating a maximum indebtedness amount of $49,136,925. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Johnson said if a vote failed, the council would return back to the base, with the option of terminating the district. Ms. Swanson Gribskov expressed support for the motion but was concerned about the maximum indebtedness amount. She presumed that a plan would be developed that explained the figure to the public. Mr. Tollenaar asked staff to produce a chart itemizing all the items in the maximum indebtedness amount to promote understanding at the public hearing. Addressing a question from Mayor Torrey, Mr. Johnson explained that if the district boundary were extended it would be possible to expand the library at its current site. Mr. Klein said it was only possible if urban renewal remained at the base, but under the grandfather option that could not be done. Addressing a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Bowers said the council could choose to reduce the maximum indebtedness number but that would narrow the council's future options. Ms. Nathanson said there are times when the numbers approved by the council were so speculative that she preferred to approve the criteria and assumptions that lead to that number. Ms. Swanson Gribskov moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to amend the motion by replacing the figure for the language: "creating a maximum indebtedness to be determined at the May 27 council meeting following further deliberation on the assumptions." The motion failed, 3:4; with councilors Nathanson, Swanson Gribskov, and Taylor voting in favor. The main motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, that the council favored a single vote on the local option levy, with no separate public vote on the urban renewal ordinance; however, the ordinance shall provide that if a public vote on a funding measure for the Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 6 11:30 a.m. library was not approved by voters within the next 24 months, the urban renewal ordinance shall be automatically repealed. Mr. Meisner ascertained that the funding measure referred to the local option levy. Mr. Laue said he opposed the motion, believing that the council should take the initiative and build the library without a vote and later put measures before the people for operation. He added that he did not want to limit the council's ability to get the library built. The motion passed, 4:3, with councilors Nathanson, Laue, and Meisner opposed. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, to direct the City Manager to prepare information based on the council's recommendations for the public hearing on May 26. Ms. Nathanson asked that staff develop a list of the criteria and assumptions that were used to arrive at the maximum indebtedness figure. Mr. Laue clarified that if the issue did not go out for a vote this year, with the vote the council was making on the library was contingent on the successful passage of a funding measure in the next 24 months. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked staffto prepare the question of election dates for the public hearing. D. West Eugene Wetlands Plan Amendments: Action on Planned Transportation Corridor and Utility Corridor Amendments Jan Childs, Planning and Development Department, stated that the council had reviewed the amendments on May 13, 1998, and was now ready to consider the adopting ardinance. In response to a question from Mr. Lee, Neil Bjorklund, Planning and Development Department, said the EWEB community needs report had been replaced by a broader analysis. Addressing a follow-up question, Mr. Bjorklund said the analysis related to a plan amendment process, which does not include an opportunity for public participation in that alternative analysis. He added that the Planning Commission or the council have the opportunity to say that the analysis was not adequate based on public testimony and refer it back to staff. Ms. Taylor expressed concern that the transportation corridor amendment implied approval for new roadways to be built. Mr. Bjorklund said it allowed for the possibility but it did not approve them. Ms. Childs added that it restricts new roadway construction projects to those listed in the TransPlan as of 1992, which means the parkway would be able to move forward assuming it survived the supplemental environmental impact statement review process, but no new roadway construction project would be authorized under the policy. Mr. Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4650, an ordinance amending the West Eugene Wetlands Plan by adopting new policies and plan text establishing Planned Transportation Corridor and Utility Corridor wetland designations. Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 7 11:30 a.m. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, that the bill, with unanimous consent of the council, be read the second time by council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at this time. Roll call vote. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Mr. Johnson asked the council to consider Council Bill 4650 by number only. Mr. Tollenaar moved, seconded by Mr. Laue, that the bill be approved and given final passage. Roll call vote. Mr. Lee said there should be some kind of assurance that the public understands the process and is not sure that is the case without the public participating in the process. Having been unanimously approved, the bill was given final passage and became Ordinance No. 20119. Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 8 11:30 a.m. iii. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER A. Library Mr. Tollenaar asked the council to provide direction for the Council Committee on Finance (CCF) on the maximum indebtedness for the library. The council chose not to have the CCF do additional work on the item. Mr. Meisner noted that the library committee's final public forum was that evening, followed by three committee meetings in the next three weeks to complete a plan. B. Measures/Election Dates Ms. Nathanson said she would be absent for the next two meetings and gave input on election dates, saying she is concerned with election dates and measures likely to be referred. She emphasized that it was more important to take steps in the right direction than go nowhere at all, whether it is a library proposal for two or three stand-alone branches that ended up being too big for an operating levy two years from now or a parks proposal that people cannot afford because it acquired all the open space. She agreed with Ms. Swanson Gribskov that it was better to have a series of wins. C. Car Camp Ms. Nathanson said the issue of a car camp kept coming up and she was reminded that homelessness is not just a Eugene problem. She wondered if now was the time to leverage support in the Public Safety Coordinating Council and other venues where the City might be negotiating coordination of services. Mr. Meisner said one of the things of interest to him was that when a car camp was discussed the council talked of staffing it. He wondered if there were a way of combining the notion of allowing people to camp in their cars in industrial sections of town and a car camp without the City having to provide for social services staffing. Mr. Johnson said the issue will be scheduled for council discussion in the near future. D. Agenda Items Mr. Lee mentioned the following items for a future council agenda: neighborhood newsletters; the Immigration and Naturalization Services raid; and the St. Vincent de Paul funding issue. IV. ADJOURN The meeting adjourned at 1:38 p.m. Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 9 11:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager Pro Tem (Recorded by Yolanda Paule) R:~1998~Admin Services~CIS ~Councfl~cc980520wpd Minutes--Eugene City Council May 20, 1998 Page 10 11:30 a.m.