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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/28/98 Meeting MINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chamber--City Hall September 28, 1998 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Fart, Tim Laue, Bobby Lee, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. Mayor Jim Torrey called the September 23, 1998, meeting of the Eugene City Council to order at 7:35 p.m. I. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Torrey reviewed guidelines for presenting testimony in the Public Forum. John "Mac" McFadden, 575 Knapp Lane, stated that he had been hired under a contract with St. Vincent de Paul to serve as City Homeless Car Camper Facilitator. He distributed business cards providing ways for councilors to contact him with concerns. He reported that 15 parking spaces were currently being used by homeless persons with vehicles and that he had secured an additional 12 spaces on private property. He described his initial experiences in his role and said that additional parking space continued to be needed. John Hubbird, 888 West 8th Avenue, said that he was concerned that the City did not have the capacity or will to solve the problems of homelessness. He said that "criminalization of poverty" was characteristic of the current time, that five percent unemployment was considered economically necessary, and that government needed to participate to a larger degree in programs to eliminate poverty. Mayor Torrey determined there were no other persons present wishing to present testimony and closed the Public Forum. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Resolution: Extending the Completion Date for Construction of Low-income Rental Housing Granted a Property Tax Exemption under Resolution No. 4497 (Metropolitan Housing Corporation/Woodleaf Village) Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to approve the City Council Consent Calendar for September 28, 1998. The motion was adopted unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1998 Page 1 7:30 p.m. III. APPOINTMENTS TO THE CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to appoint Lynn McDougal, 1355 Bailey Avenue, Eugene, 97402, Neighborhood Pool member, to position 2 on the Citizen Involvement Committee, to replace Robed Colson who resigned, term ending May 31, 2001. Ms. Swanson Gribskov stated that it would be helpful to councilors to receive paragraph biographies of each of the nominees for appointment. Mr. Johnson stated that membership on the Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) was required to include Neighborhood Pool and Voter Pool representatives. He said that Neighborhood Pool representatives were nominated by the Neighborhood Leader Council, that Voter Pool representatives were chosen without application, and that biographical information regarding the current nominees was not readily available. Mr. Meisner stated that he agreed with the request of Ms. Swanson Gribskov and also expressed a desire to hold a council work session about committees and appointment procedures. He said he did not believe the Voter Pool appointment process was working as was intended. The motion was adopted unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to appoint Ted Briles, 4500 Souza Court, Eugene, 97402, Voter Pool member, to position 5 on the Citizen Involvement Committee, to replace Greg Ringer who resigned, term ending May 31, 2001. The motion was adopted unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to appoint Rita Litin, 700 Fair Oaks Drive, Eugene, 97401, Voter Pool member, to position 6 on the Citizen Involvement Committee, to replace Greg Ringer who resigned, term ending May 31, 2001. The motion was adopted unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to appoint Laura Stockford, Human Rights Commission Representative, to position 7 on the Citizen Involvement Committee, term ending May 31, 1999. The motion was adopted unanimously, 8:0. IV. METROPOLITAN POLICY COMMITTEE REVIEW OF THE TCI AND AT&T MERGER Information Services Director Randy Kolb stated that adoption of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, had resulted in a number of mergers of service providers, including that of TeleCommunications Incorporated (TCI) and American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). He said the proposed merger could provide improvements for Eugene, including competitive local telephone service and "bundling" of services. Mr. Kolb explained that approval of the merger by various federal and local regulating bodies was required. He said Eugene could either take no action and approve the change by default, or request that an inquiry into the financial and management capability of the proposed new entity be made to determine if the established franchise contract should be continued. He said that Lane County had requested such an inquiry and that the Springfield City Council was considering MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1998 Page 2 7:30 p.m. requesting an inquiry at the meeting currently taking place. He estimated the cost of such an inquiry to be $5,000. Ms. Nathanson asked what was meant by the statement in the Agenda Item Summary that the possibility for an inquiry came at a time when "modification of citizen complaint process to reduce the number of complaints received by the City" was being addressed. Mr. Kolb replied that issues involved in the concern included a desire to reduce the number of complaints about TCI service which were directed to the City without having been considered with the service provider, and the ability of TCI to handle subscriber complaints. Ms. Nathanson asked what was meant by the statement in the Agenda Item Summary that the possibility for an inquiry came at a time when "resolution of differential rate structures for certain users" was being addressed. Mr. Kolb explained that an example of the concern was that certain private student housing complexes were treated as separate residences for cable television hookup by TCI, instead of having rooms be treated as subunits of the entire building, as was the case in other multiple occupancy residences. Mr. Lee stated that he supported seeking resolution of the unfair practice of charging individual cable television service sign-up and connection fees in these complexes. Mr. Tollenaar asked what would ensue if it was determined that the merged corporation would not have the financial and management capacity to provide adequate cable television service to fulfill the requirements of the current franchise contract. Mr. Kolb replied that he believed the franchise would be canceled which would likely result in litigation. He said he would not be able to guess whether cable television service in Eugene would be terminated, but that he was confident other service providers would compete to provide such service. Mr. Farr moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, that the Metropolitan Policy Committee conduct an inquiry into the qualifications of AT&T as a potential controlling party of TCI of Oregon. Mr. Farr stated that the requirement for approval of the merger of TCI and AT&T to continue an existing cable television franchise put the City in a powerful negotiating position. He said he believed TCI had given good service through the years and that he hoped negotiations related to the merger were entered into with that understanding. Ms. Nathanson noted that councilors had received copies of a customer survey of cable service in Eugene and that it showed areas where improvement of services was desired. She said she would support the motion because of the possibility that discussions related to approval of the merger could deal with how to address such concerns. Mayor Torrey asked if analyses of the actions of other cities with cable television service provided by TCI were being made. Mr. Kolb replied that all cities served by TCI had only received notification of the need for approval of the merger early in September, but that contacts made through an Oregon League of Cities group of communication directors indicated that most are pursuing an inquiry. Ms. Taylor asked if cable television access issues would be involved in the proposed inquiry. Mr. Kolb replied that the inquiry would not include all issues considered in a franchise renewal MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1998 Page 3 7:30 p.m. process, but if concerns about the ability of proposed new management structures raised such issues, they could be pursued. In response to a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Kolb replied that if the council chose to proceed with an inquiry, a report back and a request for action would be made by December. He also explained that Lane County, Springfield, and Eugene had different franchise agreements, but that it would be mutually beneficial for them to cooperatively pursue the inquiry. He said that further questions and suggestions for the inquiry should be directed to him. The motion to conduct an inquiry was adopted unanimously, 8:0. V. PUBLIC FORUM (CONTINUED) Mr. Fart requested that permission be granted to an additional member of the public to provide Public Forum testimony because of a late arrival to the meeting. Mayor Torrey determined there was no objection to the request and reopened the Public Forum. Anne Teters, 1765 West 14th Avenue, stated that she was involved with affairs of the Whiteaker Neighborhood because of her attraction to its spirit and creativity. She reported that discussion of the desirability of space for children to play and for residents to garden had taken place. She suggested that streets in the neighborhood fulfilled a negative function and requested that the council consider vacating one or two and turning them into gardening areas. She said such areas could provide broad paths for passage and would be free of automobiles, which annually killed thousands of ©regonians and polluted the air. She said the plants from gardens would produce clean air and that clean air was needed more than cars. She invited councilors to contact her by electronic mail to engage in further discussion of the issue (anteaters@mailcity.com). The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Dan Lindstrom) MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 28, 1998 Page 4 7:30 p.m.