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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 10/05/98 Work Session MINUTES Eugene City Council Westmoreland Community Center--1545 West 22nd Avenue October 5, 1998 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Tim Laue, Bobby Lee, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Pat Fart. Mayor Jim Torrey called the October 5, 1998, Joint Work Session of the Eugene City Council with the executive mangers to order at 5:35 p.m. I. CITY YOUTH SERVICES City Manager James Johnson said the council was asked to review the range of services for youth offered by the City. He said it was an opportunity to discuss whether the services were appropriate and if there were areas about which councilors were concerned. Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Executive Manager Terry Smith referred to a matrix of City youth programs and activities distributed with the agenda of the meeting, which showed program titles, mission, number of participants, ages served, cost to participants, sites, evaluation measures, partner agencies, and source of operating funds. He pointed out that only specifically youth-oriented programs were included, but that virtually every service provided by the City served youth as well as adults. Mr. Smith pointed out that the programs in the matrix did not all track participants in the same way and that the data provided did not adequately illustrate linkages between the programs. Mr. Smith directed attention to a display of City youth program memorabilia from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s prepared by recreation program staff. Mr. Smith referred to a chart showing that eight City youth programs had no partner agencies, seven had one partner, three had two partners, and twelve had three or more partners. He referred to data which showed that one-half to two-thirds of adolescents are engaging in at least one serious problem behavior. Mr. Meisner said that he was aware of duplicate programs offered by the City and Lane Community College. He said he did not believe such duplication was always inappropriate, but that he was interested in seeing a report of its occurrence and how cooperation between the City and other public and private agencies was fostered. Mr. Smith replied that a "map" of such services was being developed. Mr. Lee asked if it was possible to determine "how Eugene youth were doing." Mr. Smith replied that most program evaluations were limited to subjective assessments and were not outcome- MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 1 5:30 p.m. driven. He said defining outcomes from such programs was a complex task and that the ability to do so was at a "primitive stage." Mayor Torrey said his experience with youth recreation programs led him to be concerned about their affordability for participants. Mr. Smith said a proactive search for private funding sources to make it possible for all youth to participate in City programs was underway. Mr. Tollenaar pointed out that few City activities differentiated between at-risk and not-at-risk youth and that there was not widespread recognition of the City's involvement in providing youth programs. Mr. Smith suggested that a reason the City's involvement was not widely recognized was that its offerings were mostly at the "development" end of a spectrum of such programs. He said that such programs were important in identifying youth who were at-risk, but that agencies providing programs for youth currently in crisis received more recognition. Mayor Torrey suggested that council representatives on the Public Safety Coordinating Council (PSCC) be aware that one basis for evaluating applications for youth prevention program resources from a special State fund to be made available to counties would be intergovernmental cooperation. City Engineer Les Lyle pointed out that the City served at-risk youth in a West Eugene Wetlands summer program utilizing participants from AmeriCorps. Recreation Director Linda Phelps said that she believed the value of City youth programs was just beginning to be recognized. Westmoreland Community Center Supervisor Sandy Tracy added that she believed all youth were at-risk. Mr. Lee said that he believed youth program services should be a high priority concern of the City. He suggested that an annual "report card" on how services were measuring up to their objectives be established for submission to the City Council and public. Mr. Smith replied that he had recently acquired case studies of comprehensive youth service programs developed in other cities and that he believed they could be adapted to create the report suggested by Mr. Lee. Mr. Johnson stated that a "gap analysis" of youth program needs in the City would soon be completed. He said that intergovernmental discussions about prevention and treatment programs would take place following the November election. He also said that consideration of youth programs in relation to council goals should be considered in a future review. Ms. Swanson Gribskov stated that she agreed with the comments of Ms. Tracy regarding the value of considering all youth at-risk, but that she also believed it was important to avoid labeling any youth and to consider them holistically. She suggested that needs assessment tools developed by the Lane County United Way could be helpful in evaluation of youth programs of the City. Ms. Taylor said that she believed program cuts caused by the revenue reductions brought on by Measures 47 and 50 had created dangers for all youth. She also said that she believed making the community better for all youth would improve the community for at-risk youth. Mr. Laue stated that he appreciated the report and comments of councilors, but that he had not yet heard anyone state the importance of cooperating with and involving the resources, strategies, and expertise of area school districts in youth programing. Mr. Smith replied that he agreed and suggested that the best single indicator of an at-risk youth was poor school MINUTES-Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 2 5:30 p.m. performance. Ms. Taylor said that she agreed with a comment made by federal Judge Ann Aiken that by the time that a troubled youth gets to school it may be too late to intervene or help. Mr. Laue left the meeting at 6:20 p.m. II. GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION Community Planning Section Manager Jim Croteau said the council and executive managers would be discussing implementation of adopted Growth Management policies covering three main discussion points. A. Current Growth Management Implementation Efforts Mr. Croteau described the formation, purpose, and work of an interdepartmental Growth Management Implementation Team made up of executive managers and other key staff responsible for programs in each growth management implementation topic areas. Mr. Croteau referred to a document entitled "Growth Management Implementation Efforts--Fiscal Year 1999" distributed at the beginning of the meeting. He noted that it contained a compilation of the 19 Growth Management Policies adopted by the council and City projects identified by staff as currently implementing the policies. Information Services Director Randy Kolb facilitated council discussion regarding current growth management implementation efforts. Ms. Taylor said that she was concerned that under Policy 1, it did not appear that the City was involved in affecting land use polices of Lane County. Development Division Manager Lew Bowers said that cooperative efforts between staff of the City and County were underway and that the project could be added to the list of those supporting the policy. Ms. Taylor said that most of the projects listed as supporting adopted policies were currently in existence. Mr. Bowers replied that the lists were intended to include such projects. Ms. Taylor said that she did not believe disposition of the former Sears building or creation of the Broadway Place housing and parking structure implemented Policy 3. Mr. Meisner said that he agreed with Ms. Taylor in her desire to increase cooperative efforts between intergovernmental partners, as identified in Policy 5. He suggested that growth management issues be considered on the agenda of meetings of established intergovernmental groups. Mr. Meisner said that he believed the Land Use Code Update (LUCU) was relevant to all growth management policies. He suggested that some elements of the update might be "pulled out" of the established approval process for earlier implementation. Mr. Meisner said he believed the Broadway Place project was the best current development example of mixing businesses and residential uses in the downtown area as called for in Policy 3. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 3 5:30 p.m. Mayor Torrey said that he agreed with Mr. Meisner regarding the Broadway Place project because it increased density and provided nodal development impact. He suggested that opposing the expansion of the urban growth boundary and opposing downtown area development were incompatible. He also said it would be impossible to encourage in-fill development without the removal of currently existing facilities. Mayor Torrey said it was important to recognize that the policies under consideration were for management of growth, not stopping growth. Mayor Torrey suggested that the City consider expansion of the urban growth boundary without expanding the total area included in it--a "no net increase" policy. Mr. Tollenaar said he agreed with Ms. Taylor that disposition of the former Sears building and the downtown library project would likely have little to do with "densification" issues involved in the implementation of Growth Management Policies 1-5. He said he did not believe branch libraries would reduce, but might increase, the number of vehicle miles traveled by those who used library services. Mr. Tollenaar said that he believed it was unlikely that any of the projects identified with Policy 15 currently implemented Growth Management Policies. He suggested that the next Capital Improvement Program (CIP) plan be developed with implementation of Growth Management policies in mind. Mr. Lyle said that the next ClP was being developed with prioritization provided by the policies. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she believed disposition of the former Sears building and construction of a downtown library could be viewed as implementation of Policy 3 because they involved in-fill and redevelopment, not expansion-type construction. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that she agreed with Mayor Torrey that the adopted policies were for managing, not stopping, growth. She said she did not believe implementing a "no growth" strategy was possible. Mr. Meisner said that he agreed strategies needed to be concerned with managing growth. He pointed out that all growth in Eugene was not from in-migration, but that some resulted from a larger number of births than deaths and from a sociological trend of living in smaller family groups. Mr. Meisner said he agreed with the comments of Mr. Tollenaar that the projects identified with Policy 15 did not currently implement it and that changes needed to be made to ensure that these projects did follow the direction in the Policy 15. Mr. Meisner left the meeting at 6:45 p.m. Mr. Smith commented that ClP-type plans had traditionally been used by municipalities as a way to codify the practice of developing infrastructure that encouraged development. He said that it would be possible to develop such a plan to support Growth Management Policies. Mr. Lee said that he believed the City was "on the right track" in its current growth management implementation efforts. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 4 5:30 p.m. Mayor Torrey recalled that one of the initial stimuli for the LUCU was cost-cutting, required by passage of Ballot Measure 47/50. Planning Division Manager Jan Childs said that study of LUCU and its cost impacts was scheduled for council review at a future work session. Mayor Torrey said he believed it would be important for the community to be better informed of the impacts of growth management issues such as in-fill development. Administrative Services Director Warren Wong said that staff was aware of the need for improving communications with the public about Growth Management Policies. B. Policy Trade-Offs Mr. Croteau stated that implementation of each Growth Management policy created possible conflicts with other established policies. He referred to wall charts which illustrated his statement in relationship to transportation and financing of public infrastructure issues. Mr. Tollenaar said that he believed it was important in considering growth management implementation to be informed of the fact that there would be 50,000 additional residents within the Eugene Urban Growth Boundary by the year 2015. It is important to move ahead with the direction of the policies. Mr. Lee stated that he believed each neighborhood in the City had different values. He said that an example was that residents in area of the University of Oregon which he served preferred high-density conditions and were not interested in large back yards. Ms. Nathanson joined the meeting at 7 p.m. Mr. Lee suggested that implementation of Growth Management policies needed to be neighborhood-driven. He said it would be "political suicide" for councilors to force policies on areas in which residents did not fully understand their implications. Ms. Swanson Gribskov suggested that the council should discuss "policy disconnects" which showed the need for trade-offs in implementation of Growth Management Policies. She said the council needed to be made aware of the "tough practical" results of policy development. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said that she disagreed with Mr. Lee about growth management policy needing to be implemented on a neighborhood level. She said she believed such policies needed to be implemented citywide. Mayor Torrey commented that development of areas in the neighborhood of the University of Oregon were not controlled by residents, but property owners who sometimes had disjunctive interests. He said he believed the council needed to clearly describe the implications of growth management to all who were involved. Ms. Taylor said that she did not believe "political suicide" should be considered when making growth management decisions. Ms. Taylor said that she did not believe most Eugene citizens wanted 50,000 additional residents and that she hoped it would be possible to convince State authorities that a continual 20-year supply of residential land was not needed within an urban growth boundary. MINUTES-Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 5 5:30 p.m. Ms. Taylor said that she believed the downtown area was a good place for development of compact density because it could easily "grow upward." Ms. Taylor said that those who had not realized the implications of Growth Management Policies should have the right to comment on them and seek their change, which was one reason she believed the current meeting should have been held at the City Hall, rather than a neighborhood community center. Mr. Smith reported that a recent public opinion poll of Eugene residents had showed that only ten percent of respondents believed managing growth was a significant issue. He said the same level of interest was reported in similar polls throughout the country. He suggested such interest levels indicated the need for a major education effort as part of growth management policy implementation. Ms. Nathanson said that the current discussion illustrated the difficulty of making policy decisions. She suggested that change was inevitable, whether there was growth, decline, or stagnant population; that a long-term view was necessary to deal with them; that all growth and change were not bad; and that change/growth did not necessarily mean a reduction in community livability. Mr. Lee said he appreciated the comments of Ms. Nathanson. He explained that his remark about "political suicide" was intended to mean that there were different values in each area of the city. He said his major concern was how to express to the public the value of protecting the urban growth boundary and improve livability. Mr. Tollenaar said that he believed it was important for the council to remain committed to the "Recycle Eugene" option which had evolved out of the Growth Management Study. He said he believed growth was a concern for residents of Eugene and that the council would need to live with the "static" which would come with implementation of the Growth Management Policies. Ms. Taylor stated that her involvement with the Growth Management Study had led her to believe that many participants did not feel adequate alternatives were available. Ms. Nathanson suggested that the Visual Preference Survey developed during the Growth Management Study should be offered to the public on a regular basis. She said it illustrated positive ways that density developments could be designed and placed throughout the community. Mr. Lee said he believed ways to deal with specific concerns of neighborhoods needed to developed. Mr. Kolb said that many of the concerns raised by councilors would be added to the topics of future council work sessions on implementation of Growth Management Policies and declared a five-minute recess in the meeting. C. New Initiatives Mr. Croteau invited counselors to discuss how new initiatives to implement Growth Management Policies should be handled. He said that staff felt there had been direction given to consider such possibilities through development of the annual budget and ClP. He reviewed wall charts providing time lines for development of the FY00 budget and CIP. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 6 5:30 p.m. Ms. Taylor said she believed efforts should be made to influence Lane County to implement the spirit of the Growth Management Policies of Eugene. Mr. Johnson suggested that councilors identify "gaps" in the identified projects which might be filled with projects funded by one-time and end of the year resources. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she viewed the implementation of new initiatives as a three-staged process: (1) determination of what would be desirable; (2) prioritization of options; and (3) development of financial resources. Mr. Lyle suggested that growth management issues be discussed in future joint meetings of the City Council and Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) Board of Commissioners. Mayor Torrey said that individual councilors could freely testify before the Lane Board of County Commissioners on topics of concern such as growth management, as long as it was not intimated that the testimony represented the views of the entire council. He said contact with individual commissioners was also permissible. Mr. Tollenaar said that he was concerned that there was no "institutionalized" way for dialog to take place between elected officials of the City, County, and other agencies. He said he believed it would be helpful if such ways of communication were developed. Mayor Torrey said he agreed with the comments of Mr. Tollenaar and said that he believed it would be possible for larger communities and Lane County to develop ways to assist smaller communities in development of infrastructure through such communication. Mr. Kolb summarized what he had heard during the discussion, as follows: (1) adding working with other area government agencies as a suggestion for a future council work sessions; (2) using budget and CIP processes for consideration of implementing new growth management initiatives seemed acceptable; and (3) staff requested more feedback about gaps in programs implementing growth management policies. D. Evaluation Mr. Kolb invited councilors to provide an evaluation of the substance and style of the meeting. Ms. Nathanson said that she appreciated what had happened during the meeting and wanted such meetings to continue. She said the discussion style which freely involved staff provided a long-range and holistic view of City issues not possible in regular business meetings. Ms. Taylor said that she also wanted to continue holding the joint meetings with the executive managers, but said she felt they should be held at City Hall. She said she would also like opportunities to meet with executive staff individually to deal with problems of constituents. Mr. Tollenaar said he believed the meeting had been successful in that it had provided in-depth discussion of policies, spun off direction to staff, and identified differences among councilors about growth management issues. Mr. Smith said he believed the meeting had been helpful. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 7 5:30 p.m. Ms. Swanson Gribskov said she believed future councilors should continue the joint meetings and encouraged development of other ways for councilors to become acquainted with City executive managers. Mr. Lee said he believed the meeting had been good because he had heard much from staff that he had not previously known. He said he liked the meeting format and believed that disagreements should be allowed to be "played out." The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, James R. Johnson City Manager (Recorded by Dan Lindstrom) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 5, 1998 Page 8 5:30 p.m.