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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/25/05 Mtg M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Session Council Chamber—City Hall July 25, 2005 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Jennifer Solomon, Bonny Bettman, David Kelly, Gary Papé, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy convened the meeting of the Eugene City Council. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy welcomed everyone to the City Council meeting and reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Peter Ferris , 1400 Candlelight Drive, Space #224, explained that he was the owner of an older model trailer in Briarwood Mobile Home Park. He felt there was a crisis in such parks. He related that the management of the mobile home park indicated it might sell the side of the park on which his trailer was located. He said park residents met with the Mayor and representatives of the Planning and Development Department (PDD) and also with the Chair of the Housing Policy Board, John Van Landingham. He averred that mobile home parks represented the greatest resource for affordable housing in Eugene and in Lane County. He noted that there were over 18,000 mobile homes and 70 mobile home parks in the County. He stated that he paid $14,000 for his mobile home, $345 for his monthly space rent, and there was nowhere else one could find housing space at that cost. Dan Herbert , 1913 Potter Street, summarized his previous three presentations. He pointed out that three critical issues would likely dominate the City’s planning and development agenda: 1) population growth 2) the City’s role in problems related to inequality in its schools; and 3) and the development of mixed-use centers. He felt these issues would create new planning and development tasks that would demand rethinking the City’s role in development, especially for large projects. He suggested that a specialized public agency should be designated for such larger projects that would be empowered to formulate development policy and act as a partner in public/private agreements. He thought the Housing Policy Board, created by the City Council in 1989, and other national and regional examples could be used as a reference to help create this new agency. While he did not expect the City Council to endorse his suggestion, he asked that councilors consider asking its staff for a preliminary survey of the facts related to the ten points he had raised in his time at the podium. Those points were: 1. The projected population of 2050; 2. School inequality problems; 3. Mixed-use centers; 4. The present organization for planning and development; 5. An estimate of the changing demand for planning and development services in the coming decades; MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 1 Regular Session 6. The Brookings Report; 7. The Portland Development Commission; 8. Eugene Renewal Agency; 9. The Broadway Place; and 10. The affordable housing program. Mr. Herbert felt this information would provide a factual basis for a council discussion on how to proceed. He submitted his testimony in writing. Randy Prince , PO Box 927, asked the council to reconsider its goal for having an acute care hospital built in the “low-lying areas of Eugene.” He cited recent geologic findings by Brian Atwater that explained why this area did not experience frequent earthquakes. Mr. Atwater, he said, determined that the area did not experience small earthquakes, but was prone to large seismic events at a frequency of 300 to 800 years, with the last one occurring in the year 1700. He noted the recent changes in public policy, such as more frequent earthquake drills in the schools and the requirement that new construction be subjected to careful survey and seismic standards. He pointed out that there was no requirement to force seismic retrofits of City Hall or Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) dams. He underscored that land use decisions made in the present, such as one to site a hospital along the river, would last more than the lifespan of such a building. He said it was clear, looking at the Multi-Hazard Plan, the dams the ACOE built were below the standards a seismic event of great magnitude would require. He felt the City was subject to inundations of 10 to 45 feet of water should such an event occur. Charles Biggs , 540 Antelope Way, commended the Public Works Department Transportation Division for its workshop on traffic calming for the Sorrel Way area. He felt staff had done an excellent job of fostering grassroots support and had not come to the workshop with a preconceived notion of what to design. He thought the workshop should be held up as an example for all departments. Mr. Biggs also complimented the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Division for its Movies in the Parks program. He said that he recently attended a movie shown in Washington Park and noted the high attendance. He suggested the division put on movies in every neighborhood the City could afford to. Daniel Ronyak , 290 Knapp Lane, announced that there would be a Eugene Film Festival. He said he was part of the group called Oregon Screenwriters that sought to sponsor the festival, along with the Bijou Cinemas, the McDonald Theater, and the University of Oregon. Mr. Ronyak also addressed the issue of train yard noise. He asked that the City of Eugene approach the problem with creativity, such as forming a team of retired scientists or perhaps university students. He thought such a team could study the problem with a “wide-open mind.” He compared the trains with the Space Shuttle as both conveyed cargo and weighed in excess of a billion pounds. He said the shuttle would dock with the space station in orbit and the docking procedure would produce no noise whatsoever. He wondered if more could not be done to abate train pollution from the rail yard that parallels the Northwest Expressway. He questioned the need for the trains to slam together at all hours of the night with the same noise that a large amount of TNT might generate. He did not believe no technology existed that could mitigate this noise issue. He pointed out that building a berm along side the rail yards would do much to reduce the noise and that type of technology utilized only dirt. He underscored that the train yard should not be using 1940s technology when 1990s technology was available. In conclusion, he related that a study was conducted on the use of speakers that would generate a train whistle noise and focus it only at intersections. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 2 Regular Session Matt Purvis , 1391 West Broadway Street, a member for the steering committee for Chambers Area Families for Healthy Neighborhoods (CAFHN), thanked the council for adopting Councilor Bettman’s motion directing staff to incorporate opportunity siting as the primary strategy for achieving density targets in mixed-use centers. He was pleased that the council unanimously supported an approach to density that would protect the character of an established neighborhood while doing a better job of achieving compact growth. He reiterated that CAFHN distributed its most recent report to the councilors. He said the report was the result of hundreds of hours of work and consolidated the information contained in previously submitted reports. He noted that the Planning Commission was holding hearings on development standards for a Chambers Special Area zone. He shared that CAFHN was pleased that staff presented proposed standards that agree with many of its recommendations. However, he wished to call attention to one issue: in the area of preventing excessively tall or large infill structures adjacent to backyards “staff had presented proposals that [were] rife with error.” He averred that the public was opposed to the proposal, while CAFHN proposals had widespread support. He suggested that the public was watching this issue as a test of legitimate public planning and urged the council not to undercut citizen involvement. Norman Riddle , 1238 Crest Drive, said he read about the St. Vincent DePaul proposal to do outreach to homeless in the parks and it raised his ire. He related that he worked with the homeless population for nearly 17 years and heard “thousands” of stories of “these human beings.” He believed that the problem lay in a shortage of services available. He likened it to missing pieces of the problem. He noted that Congressman DeFazio said the area did not have a homeless problem because it could be solved immediately if the residents had the will. He thought, like the overnight parking program, the proposal would create a gray area that would deny vulnerable homeless people from the consistent and transparent grievance process they were entitled to as the proposed actions were contracted to private faith-based agencies. He averred that public health and safety was the fundamental responsibility of local government. He said to create a “level of obscurity” between the proper authorities and the community’s most vulnerable members was a “terrible idea” and an “admission of failure to accept responsibility.” Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called for questions and comments from the council. Councilor Papé thanked Mr. Herbert for his ongoing testimony and asked him to summarize his presentations in writing for the council. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone for testifying. She expressed interest in hearing more from Mr. Riddle. Councilor Taylor also expressed appreciation for the work Mr. Herbert had done. She shared her admiration for the work of CAFHN. Councilor Bettman thanked Mr. Riddle for “caring about people without homes.” She suggested that she meet with him to give him the “full expository” on the issue. She said the intent of the program was to conduct outreach to homeless people and not to police them. Councilor Bettman was reminded by Mr. Purvis’ testimony on CAFHN that she had a question regarding the assumptions on density. She thought the standards CAFHN based its proposal on were from older policy language and asked that staff clarify this for her. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 3 Regular Session Councilor Kelly thanked everyone for providing testimony. He wished to follow up on the mobile home issue, given that mobile homes represented a significant portion of the low-income housing stock in the City of Eugene. He said he would appreciate a summary from the Planning and Development Department (PDD) regarding the constraints on mobile home parks and whether they came from State or local law. Additionally, Councilor Kelly stated that he had yet to thoroughly review the material from CAFHN. He hoped that staff would do what it could to make sure that everyone was “heading the same direction” in order to avoid the potential for conflict when it came time for the council to vote on it. City Manager Taylor mentioned that a discussion at the Planning Commission level on the item was planned and that there would also be an opportunity for council discussion in October. Mayor Piercy thanked Mr. Ferris for speaking about the mobile home issue. She thought there might be some ordinances on which the council could work. She felt it was a relevant conversation, particularly in conjunction with the council priority issue concerning homelessness. Mayor Piercy also thanked Mr. Biggs for giving kudos to City staff, saying that she appreciated his comments regarding the development of creative solutions. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes June 22, 2005, Work Session - June 27, 2005, Work Session - June 27, 2005, City Council Meeting - B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved approval of the Consent Calendar. Councilor Kelly stated that he had previously submitted one correction to the minutes electronically. Mayor Piercy noted the correction. Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar passed unanimously, 8:0. 3.PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Offenses: Amending Sections 4.105, 4.807, and 4.990 of the Eugene Code, 1971; Adding Sections 4.710, 4.728, 4.822, 4.880, and 4.922 to that Code City Manager Taylor stated that City Prosecuter Dan Barkovic and City Attorney Glenn Klein were both available to answer questions, should they arise. Councilor Kelly noted that Municipal Court had experienced a 26-percent increase in activity and asked if there had been a reason for this rise. Mr. Barkovic explained that some of the increase was because more MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 4 Regular Session cases were being referred to Municipal Court by Eugene Police Department (EPD) officers. He recalled that the District Attorney had gone through a process during the previous year in which he decided not to file as many cases. As a result, he observed that more cases were coming through Municipal Court. He said, too, that the increase was due in part from focused patrols on various issues such as Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII), which resulted in a dramatic increase in arrests. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly, Mr. Barkovic affirmed that definitions in the language of the ordinance were identical to those in the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). City Manager Taylor said, in response to Councilor Papé, that staff recommended the adoption of the ordinance. Councilor Bettman indicated her support for the ordinance. She noted that financial fraud crimes were preventable and thought education and outreach might make up for what the City was no longer doing to prosecute such crimes. Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. Seeing no one who wished to speak, she closed the public hearing. Mayor Piercy ascertained from the councilors that there was unanimous consent for taking action on the ordinance at the present meeting. Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved that the City Council adopt Council Bill 4904, an ordinance concerning offenses; amending sections 4.105, 4.807, and 4.990 of the Eugene Code, 1971; adding sections 4.710, 4.728, 4.822, 4.880, and 4.922 to that code. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. 4. ACTION: City Manager Compensation Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to increase the City Manager’s compensation by a cost of living adjustment of 2.8 percent effective July 1, 2005. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to adjust the City Manager’s compensation to Step 5 of the salary range effective April 14, 2005. Councilor Kelly said he was happy to support the cost of living adjustment (COLA), but he could not support the move to Step 5 of the salary range in light of concerns he had expressed in the City Manager’s performance review. Councilor Ortiz conveyed satisfaction with City Manager Taylor’s work. She related that she had been excited to have him come into the community and to her neighborhood and she felt he was very accessible. She supported whatever compensation the City could give him, adding that he “earned every penny.” She likened working with the City Council to “herding cats.” MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 5 Regular Session Councilor Papé asked if it would be possible to create an intermediate salary step. Lauren Chouinard, executive director for the Human Resource and Risk Services, responded that a different step in the salary range could be created under exceptional circumstances. He added that, generally speaking, it was better to stay with the salary steps. Councilor Papé said while he thought a raise was merited he did not think it should be a full step nor did he think that it should be retroactive. He indicated his opposition to the motion. Councilor Bettman opposed the motion based on the performance evaluation she submitted. She hoped that the situation would improve over the next year and that then she would support a merit increase. Mayor Piercy stated that she would, based upon her positive review of the City Manager’s job performance, support the merit increase should the vote end in a tie. She opined that he deserved a merit increase in the full increment. Councilor Poling pointed out that any step increase should be based on the overall rating and not on an individual councilor’s opinion. He pointed out that if one tallied all of the rating numbers, City Manager Taylor met the expectation of a satisfactory evaluation. He believed the City Manager deserved the step increase. He clarified that the reason the step was retroactive was because it went back to the anniversary of his hiring in April 2003. Councilor Taylor opined that a merit raise should be based on more than just a satisfactory rating. She indicated that she would not support the motion. Roll call vote; the vote was a tie, 4:4; councilors Solomon, Poling, Ortiz, and Pryor voting yes and councilors Papé, Taylor, Kelly, and Bettman voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy voted to support the motion and the motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 6 Regular Session