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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 2D: Ratification of IGR Action ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of September 10, 2008 Meeting Date: October 13, 2008 Agenda Item Number: 2D Department: City Manager’s Office Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-8441 ISSUE STATEMENT This is an action item to ratify the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee meetings of September 10, 2008. BACKGROUND As a matter of procedure, the City Council is routinely asked to ratify the actions taken by the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Committee. This is done by submitting the minutes of each committee meeting to the council. RELATED CITY POLICIES Ratification of IGR Committee actions is the making or affirming of the City of Eugene’s policy with respect to Federal and State legislative issues or such other matters as may come to the council from the committee. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may ratify or decline to ratify the IGR Committee’s actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends ratification of the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the committee's meeting. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to ratify the IGR Committee's actions as set forth in the minutes of the September 10, 2008, IGR meetings. ATTACHMENTS A. IGR Committee Minutes of September 10, 2008 Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081013\S0810132D.doc FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Brenda Wilson Telephone: 682-8441 Staff E-Mail: brenda.s.wilson@ci.eugene.or.us ATTACHMENT A M I N U T E S Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon September 10, 2008 1:30 p.m. PRESENT: Betty Taylor, Chair; Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, members; Brenda Wilson, Jessica Mumme, staff. 1. Call to Order and Review Agenda Ms. Taylor called the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) to order. Ms. Wilson noted that a grant had come forward and the committee agreed to add it to the agenda. Members discussed the meeting time and directed staff to look into whether the CCIGR could be scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. so it could start in the event that the City Council work session was abbreviated. Ms. Wilson stated that City Hall Day was scheduled for October 16. She said the City of Eugene was hosting it for 2008. She explained that the purpose was to get the state and local elected officials to convene together to discuss legislative priorities. She hoped the Legislative Policies document could be completed prior to this event. 2. Approval of Minutes from July 23, 2008, Meeting Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Ortiz moved to approve the minutes from the meeting of the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations held on July 23, 2008. The motion passed unanimously, 3:0. 3. Discuss H.R. 808 – Department of Peace & Nonviolence Mr. Poling said if this item was not time sensitive he would prefer to discuss the Legislative Priorities document. Ms. Wilson stated that the item was not time sensitive. Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to exchange Item 3 for Item 4 on the agenda in order to address the Legislative Policies document. The motion passed unanimously, 3:0. The committee decided it would discuss the grant proposal first, as it was a brief item. MINUTES—Council Committee on September 10, 2008 Page 1 Intergovernmental Relations 4. Grant Ms. Wilson stated that this item sought to notify the CCIGR that staff was applying for a grant from the 2008-2009 Alliance for Community Traffic Safety in Oregon (ACTS Oregon) through its Building Safer Communities Mini-Grant Program. She said no local match was required. Ms. Wilson reported that copies of a letter from the Sustainability Commission to the Oregon Transporta- tion Commission (OTC) had been included in member packets that asked the OTC to proceed with the roadside vegetation pilot program in Lane County. The County already had implemented a program to use pesticide free vegetation controls and the pilot program was for state highways. 5. Discuss Legislative Policies Document Ms. Taylor began the review of the City of Eugene Legislative Policies document for the 2009 Oregon Legislative Session. She offered the following corrections: ? Page 6, second bullet point: Eugene opposes restrictions on a city’s ability to raise revenue, diver- sity income base, or erode local flexibility in initiating revenue sources. ? Page 6, third bullet point: Eugene opposes actions that would reduce revenue to cities or increase costs to cities… Ms. Taylor thought the last portion of the third bullet point, which opposed preemption of local authority to raise revenue without reimbursement, was redundant. Mr. Poling countered that restrictions on local flexibility to initiate revenue sources and preemption of local authority were two different things. Ms. Wilson observed that the City had a long-standing opposition to any preemption. She said even if the revenue was replaced it could always be taken away. Ms. Taylor suggested that the segment addressing preemption be moved to the second bullet point and that the portion about reimbursement be stricken. Ms. Wilson surmised that the second bullet point should address preemption and the ability to raise revenue and the third bullet point would be in regard to the reduction of revenue and the increase in costs. Ms. Taylor recommended that the paragraphs under C8 and C9 on page 10 be deleted as the legislators already understood current laws. The committee was amenable to the change. Ms. Taylor made the following change to page 11: ? First bullet point: Bolsters Provides a more equitable share of funding for cities and counties; Ms. Taylor remarked that the second bullet point under A1 Highway Trust Fund did not make sense to her. Mr. Poling understood it to mean that the Highway Trust Funds would be divided through cooperative methods. Ms. Wilson affirmed that it was cooperatively determined distribution. She suggested that she split the first portion of the sentence away so that there were two different bullet points, one addressing the equitable distribution of the funds and the other addressing the cooperative decision-making process involved in allocating them. Ms. Taylor suggested that the first two paragraphs on page 12, regarding Highway Trust Fund expenditures and distribution, be deleted as she considered them to be redundant. Ms. Wilson concurred. MINUTES—Council Committee on September 10, 2008 Page 2 Intergovernmental Relations Ms. Taylor recommended the following change to page 13: ? Fourth bullet point under C: Eugene supports the use of State Highway Funds allocated to ODOT spent “off system” when it provides a flexible more cost-effective and livable alternative to spending funds on the State system. , and support legislation to enhance flexible uses of these dollars. Ms. Wilson noted that she had shifted the language somewhat so that the City of Eugene appeared to support more than oppose items. Ms. Taylor recommended deletion of the last paragraph on page 13, which discussed how the state’s population had grown. Continuing, Ms. Taylor thought the second bullet point on page 15 under Sustainable Development was redundant. Mr. Poling thought it was important to leave it in. They agreed to change it by making the following a separate bullet point: ? Eugene supports the regulatory process that provides incentives and financial measures for preser- vation of natural resources and that promote sustainable energy policies. Ms. Taylor, with Ms. Wilson’s input, made the following changes to Building Codes on page 15: ? Second bullet point: Eugene supports improvements to State Building Codes that streamline without jeopardizing health safety or integrity or infrastructure. ? Third bullet point: Eugene supports uniform application of Oregon building codes, funded to levels and funding that allows effective monitoring and enforcement. Ms. Wilson suggested the following changes under Housing on pages 16 and 17, in response to feedback from Ms. Taylor: ? Second bullet point: Eugene supports incentives for compact urban growth by promoting dense housing. ? Last bullet point: Eugene supports continued funding of immediate development of affordable housing development through the Housing Trust Fund… Ms. Wilson noted that the goal of the last bullet point was to speed up the process and to increase allocations to the area. Ms. Taylor thought the three paragraphs that followed the bullet points on page 17 stated things that the legislators already knew and could be condensed. Ms. Wilson noted that she had already significantly condensed it from the previous version. Ms. Ortiz thought some of the people elected from the community did not have prior political experience and could find the information useful. Ms. Taylor opined that the shorter the document was the more likely it would be to be read. She asked who would read the document. Ms. Wilson replied that she hoped the legislative delegation would read it. Ms. Taylor suggested that a separate fact sheet be included. Ms. Taylor wanted to add something to the language that supported the development of state supported emergency homeless shelters for every county. Ms. Ortiz opined that this was “kind of a pipe dream.” Ms. Taylor countered that a lot of things were. She said people had a place to go at night but they had nowhere to go during the day. She recalled that there used to be poor houses and other kinds of shelters. MINUTES—Council Committee on September 10, 2008 Page 3 Intergovernmental Relations Ms. Wilson said she would include a point that indicated Eugene supported having state supported homeless shelters. Ms. Taylor commented that she would like to eliminate the requirement to conduct a 20-year buildable lands inventory, though she acknowledged that the State required it. Ms. Wilson responded that the Big Look Task Force was looking into the 20-year land supply issue and could potentially come up with recommenda- tions for changes and a new state land use plan. Ms. Taylor reiterated her opposition to the use of collection agencies to enforce fine payment to the Municipal Court, per the bullet point on page 20. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Wilson indicated she would look into the meaning of the one percent guaranteed distribution floor for 911 systems referred to on page 21. In response to a question from Mr. Poling, Ms. Wilson explained that in 2007 the legislature had directed that funds specifically dedicated to 911 systems be used to pay for OWIN. She said the governor had used his line-item veto power to stop the transfer and it had been a “big fight” in the last days of the 2007 session to put the 911 money back into the Emergency Communications Account, which is a dedicated fund. Ms. Taylor disagreed with C14 Identification of Persons Stopped for Violations Law under Police Enforcement on page 24. She opined that people should not have to identify themselves for the police. Mr. Poling pointed out that it only referred to people stopped for violating the law. Ms. Wilson explained that the legislation sought to respond to an increase in the number of people giving false information in situations where an officer needed to give a citation to appear, which necessitates knowing a person’s real identity. She said it did not have to do with people failing to give information to police officers who were not in that situation. Ms. Taylor noted that under Firefighter Certification on page 25 it indicated that Eugene opposed the Department of Public Safety and Standards Training (DPSST) and asked why this was so. Ms. Wilson replied that it might be because of the make up of the people who provide the certification, but did not know for sure. Ms. Taylor suggested the City oppose requiring the certification. Ms. Taylor, with Ms. Wilson’s input, provided the following change to A3 Solid Waste and Recycling on page 28: ? Second bullet point: Eugene supports product stewardship containing “take back” programs encour- aging products designed for recycling. Ms. Wilson, in response to Ms. Taylor, said she would rework the first bullet point under Waste Reduction Goals on page 29 so that it indicated that the City would like to address the waste reduction goals and increase the emphasis on multiple waste reduction measures. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Wilson confirmed that Pam Berrian, Senior Management Analyst for the Information Services Division, had originally written the section on Telecommunications on page 39. She related that the City of Eugene could lose $2.4 million per year if its current franchise fee was preempted. She explained that Eugene had been working with the League of Oregon Cities on the development of a statewide gross revenues tax with the agreement that the City of Eugene would be grandfathered in. She related that two weeks earlier the City of Portland had recommended that Eugene not be grandfathered in. MINUTES—Council Committee on September 10, 2008 Page 4 Intergovernmental Relations Ms. Ortiz asked why Portland would take a position on this. Ms. Wilson replied that Portland believed that if Eugene, Veneta, Cottage Grove, and Creswell were grandfathered in it would reduce the chance for the bill to be passed. She said Portland would like the ability to have a four percent tax with an option to go for more locally. Eugene currently had a seven percent tax and would have to go out to the public if it wanted to regain the extra three percent. She added that the majority of her energy at this point was spent trying to stop this. 6. Items from Members and Staff Ms. Wilson said she had compiled a list of all the bills that the CCIGR had given a high priority in the last session and asked if there were any the committee members wanted to include in the legislative document. Ms. Taylor did not want to revisit them. Ms. Ortiz remarked that she would like to reserve the option to review them. Ms. Wilson reported that there was an issue with field burning going on at present. She said one thing the CCIGR should decide was whether it would back the Governor’s three-year plan to phase the practice out or Representative Paul Holvey’s bill which would immediately ban field burning. She noted the latter did not include Eugene’s exemption for ecologically-based burning. Ms. Wilson stated that the CCIGR would discuss the bill that sought to create a Department of Peace and Nonviolence at its next meeting. She said the bill called for the establishment of a new federal agency and though it looked like it would call for an international priority agenda it actually would provide grants for the prevention and elimination of violence at the local level, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and gang violence. She noted that Representatives DeFazio and Woo were sponsoring it. She explained that the options for the CCIGR included drafting letters of thanks to the sponsors, letters to the rest of Eugene’s federal delegation asking them to sign on as sponsors, and letters to the senators asking them to sponsor their own bill. She added that if the CCIGR wanted to draft a resolution it would have to start at the full City Council level. Mr. Poling commented that he could not support the bill as it was currently written. Ms. Wilson indicated she would send the CCIGR members a list of the League of Oregon Cities legislative priorities. The committee scheduled the next meeting for September 24 at 1 p.m. Ms. Taylor adjourned the meeting at 2:37 p.m. (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Council Committee on September 10, 2008 Page 5 Intergovernmental Relations