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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 01/12/09 Work SessionM I N U T E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon January 12, 2009 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, George Brown Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. Committee Reports and Items of Interest from Mayor, City Council, and City Manager Ms. Piercy welcomed Mr. Brown to the council. She noted that the City had received a grant for $100,000 for its comprehensive land study. She thanked Acting Chief Pete Kerns, the Eugene Police Department and the City Manager’s Office for their quick action in response to recent bomb threats to local schools. She thanked staff and others who helped make the State of the City address a successful event. She would be attending the Conference of U.S. Mayors in Washington D.C. next week. She called attention to the Martin Luther King event at the Hult Center on January 19, as well as dedication of the Rosa Parks statue at the downtown bus station. Mr. Pryor commended the Springfield State of the City address. Mr. Poling welcomed Mr. Brown to the council. Ms. Taylor welcomed Mr. Brown. She listed goals and hopes for her next four-year term: protection of the environment, support for the arts, acquisition of the rest of the Amazon headwaters, a downtown park, empowerment and protection of neighborhoods, a living wage ordinance, regulation of “big box” stores, assistance to local businesses, change in the street assessment policy, elimination of all tax exemptions for developers except in the downtown core, new sources of revenue, a performance auditor and guidance of the entire government—staff and council—by a commitment to justice for everyone. She hoped the Sustainability Commission would be successful and was pleased with the time allocated to public forums by Ms. Piercy. Mr. Clark welcomed Mr. Brown. He agreed with Mr. Pryor that the Springfield State of the City event was very good and thanked Ms. Piercy for her courtesy to him during the Eugene State of the City address. He spoke to a number of businesses at a Downtown Eugene, Inc. meeting about the downtown parking issue. He noted there would be a Martin Luther King march on January 19 at 10 a.m., beginning at Eugene Water & Electric Board and going into the downtown area. Ms. Ortiz commended the efforts of Public Works staff during the recent snow. She expressed her appreciation to former County Commissioner Bobby Green for his many years of service to the community. She thanked EPD officers for speaking to residents in the Trainsong neighborhood about Neighborhood Watch. She announced that the match for the council’s $25,000 grant to Food for Lane County had been reached and distributed a letter of appreciation for EPD from Reuben Garcia. She encouraged everyone to participate in Martin Luther King Day events on January 19. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 12, 2009 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Zelenka welcomed Mr. Brown to the council. He commended the Eugene and Springfield State of the City events, and the Lane County State of the County event, as well as the Citizens’ State of the City and County event. He said the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee was meeting on January 13 and encouraged councilors to watch the webcast or attend the meeting. He also thanked Public Works snow crews and complimented the completed road system in the federal courthouse/Franklin Boulevard area. Ms. Solomon said the Wastewater Management Commission, to which she was newly appointed, had a meeting last week. She said wastewater management was a very complex issue, but it was an important government service and she looked forward to her work on the commission. She would also continue to participate on the Public Safety Coordinating Council. She said that a final meeting to discuss the Elmira Road/Maple Street project was canceled in December due to snow, but had been rescheduled for January 22. Mr. Brown remarked that he attended a Police Commission meeting and a meeting of the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee. He felt the committee was committed to moving along swiftly to complete its tasks. He attended the Citizen State of the City event at which many worthy goals were discussed. City Manager Jon Ruiz announced that Kristie Hammitt had been appointed Acting in Capacity (AIC) Director for Central Services. He thanked the police department and support personnel involved in the recent bomb threats and commended their swift response and Chief Pete Kerns' leadership. B. WORK SESSION Preparation for Joint Elected Officials Meeting Planning Director Lisa Gardner explained that the agenda for the Joint Elected Officials (JEO) meeting was established by the mayors of Eugene and Springfield and the chair of the Lane County Board of Commissioners. She said five items identified by the County were prioritized and the two items selected for the first JEO meeting were: ? Metro Plan Description of Urban Services ? Jurisdictional Autonomy/Metro Plan Boundary Adjustment Ms. Gardner said the Metro Plan was developed pursuant to Senate Bill 100, which provided a legislative framework for statewide growth management and natural resource preservation. She said the requirement for metropolitan areas to establish local comprehensive plans emphasized the need for local coordination. She highlighted three key boundaries that would be important in JEO discussions: city boundaries, the urban growth boundary (UGB) and the Metro Plan boundary. She said refinements to the Metro Plan included Trans Plan, growth management policies and land use codes adopted by the three jurisdictions. Ms. Gardner stated that the City provided most of the key urban services—fire, water, wastewater, public safety, etc.—needed for annexation and development. She said the County provided services that were used by City as well as County residents, such as animal control, sheriff, prosecution and regional parks and had been discussing how to fund those services and the Metro Plan’s relationship to the County’s ability to develop funding strategies. Ms. Gardner said the different boundaries within the Metro Plan translated into the issues of jurisdictional autonomy and regional relationships. She said the recent Delta Sand and Gravel application for a Metro Plan amendment was an example of that because the property was outside of the UGB, but within the Metro Plan boundary and Eugene and Lane County both participated in the process. She said the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) was responsible for resolving disputes related to the land use process and the County had raised concerns about a single MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 12, 2009 Page 2 Work Session jurisdiction veto because the MPC bylaws required an affirmative vote by each jurisdiction in order for something to pass. The County felt that presented a barrier to land use decision-making resolution. Ms. Gardner reminded the council that House Bill 3337 required Eugene and Springfield to conduct comprehensive lands assessments in order to establish separate UGBs. She said the County had raised the possibility that the Metro Plan amendments necessitated by HB 3337 could present an opportunity for the County’s goals to be considered. Ms. Piercy clarified that the two items for initial discussion by the JEO from the County’s list were selected because it was felt they presented the best opportunity for moving forward quickly and establishing a positive working relationship among jurisdictions, not because they had any greater priority than the other issues. She said commis- sioners seemed particularly interested in the issue of representation of County residents and recognition of the services the County provided. Mr. Clark agreed that the County was concerned about representation of County residents and he shared that concern. He had voted to limit the City’s annexation policies with respect to residents who did not wish to be annexed, especially in the northern part of the City. He asked if there was an interest in looking at whether the Metro Plan was even necessary. Ms. Gardner said there was a land use framework for the Metro Plan and the two UGBs that would result from HB 3337 compliance could produce two comprehensive plans instead of a single metropolitan plan. She noted that even if there were two plans, other regional relationships, such as wastewater, would remain and those would need to be codified in some form. She said Eugene, Springfield and Lane County planning directors had discussed the need to identify all of the issues before making any decisions. She said not all of the County’s concerns related to land use and those should be part of a separate discussion of things such as financing strategies. Mr. Clark asked for staff’s interpretation of the County’s basic public safety obligations under State law as there appeared to be differing opinions among residents and commissioners. Ms. Taylor recollected that at a previous JEO meeting a majority of those present were in favor of eliminating the Metro Plan. She asked if the poor condition of County roads was considered when the City annexed land. Ms. Gardner said that question could be better answered by Public Works staff. Ms. Taylor asked who had jurisdiction over land that was within the Metro Plan boundary, but outside the UGB. Ms. Gardner explained that was County land, but the City had a role in land use decisions involving that land if a Metro Plan amendment was involved, such as the Delta Sand and Gravel example. She said the City’s concerns when participating in those land use decisions were to maintain a 20-year supply of buildable lands, efficient delivery of services and future development patterns. Mr. Ruiz said staff could research any of the council’s specific questions and provide additional information. Mr. Zelenka indicated he was not clear what problem the County was trying to address. He noted that the issue of public safety special districts for funding purposes was an issue that had been frequently raised by the County. He asked what the original rationale had been for allowing cities to participate in land use decisions involving land outside their UBG. Ms. Gardner said the purpose was to allow cities to have some influence over development patterns as they related to the supply of buildable lands and growth management. Mr. Zelenka remarked that he did not want to relinquish the City’s role in those land use decisions or modify the current conflict resolution rules. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 12, 2009 Page 3 Work Session Mr. Brown asked when the City’s inventory of buildable land would be completed. Ms. Gardner said that the assessment would be finished by December 31, 2009. She said staff would provide regular updates to the council on progress. Mr. Clark used the River Road Parks and Recreation District as an example of how residents who wanted to develop their County property were required to annex to the City under the City’s ORS 190 agreement with the County; which then resulted in the parks district losing a part of its tax base. His chief concern with changes at the County level was the City’s response to the issue of public safety as the County’s financial problems diminished its role. He asked for information about the potential adverse impacts to or burdens on the City if the Metro Plan was eliminated. Mr. Zelenka stated there should be council involvement in the development of the buildable lands inventory and key points at which the council could participate. Ms. Gardner said staff would provide ample opportunity for the council to be involved before decisions were made and scenario development began. Ms. Piercy commented that the county commissioners seemed to be concerned that the cities planned to annex County land and that was a fundamental question that needed to be addressed during JEO meetings. C. WORK SESSION Police Auditor Recruitment Process Mr. Ruiz introduced AIC Human Resources Director, Alana Holmes, and Recruitment and Selection Manager, Becky Hopkins, to review aspects of the police auditor process. Ms. Holmes stated that recruitment was closed on December 8 and applications would be reviewed on January 14. Ms. Hopkins said the discussion of interview questions for candidates and interview process elements would need to be discussed in executive session. Ms. Piercy called the Eugene City Council into executive session to consider the employment of a public officer, employee or staff member, pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(a). The work session reconvened at 7 p.m. Ms. Hopkins asked for suggestions for the internal and stakeholder interview panels. Mr. Poling asked if internal panel members had been chosen during the city manager hiring process based on their positions and were some members of the stakeholder panel from the community at-large. Ms. Hopkins said people were chosen internally based on the positions they held; stakeholder panel members were invited based on recommen- dations from the council and their activities in the community. She said that stakeholder members listed their own affiliation. Mr. Clark felt the current composition of the community stakeholder panel did not reflect a balance of perspectives and suggested expanding it to achieve a better cross-section of the community by adding representation from the business community and more neighborhoods. Ms. Piercy noted that councilors could forward their recommendations for panel membership to Ms. Holmes and Ms. Hopkins. She supported expanding the community panel as long as the group remained at a manageable number. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 12, 2009 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Ortiz concurred with the need for more balance on the community panel to achieve broader stakeholder representation. Ms. Hopkins asked if the council preferred to have Civilian Review Board (CRB) members on the internal panel or the community stakeholder panel. Mr. Poling suggested reducing the number of representatives from the Police Commission on the stakeholder panel and adding two representatives from the CRB. Mr. Zelenka suggested inviting all five CRB members to participate. Ms. Taylor agreed with reducing the number of Police Commission members and inviting all CRB members. Mr. Clark hoped to see more representation from youth on the community panel. Ms. Holmes said she would email councilors with dates for steps in the process. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Ruiz said he found it helpful to have a written copy of the interview questions available at the interview for city manager. He enjoyed the community panel process. The meeting adjourned at 7:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 12, 2009 Page 5 Work Session