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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MInutes - 02/17/09 Public HearingM I N U T E S City Council City Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon February 17, 2009 7:30 p.m. PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, George Brown, members. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. I. PUBLIC HEARING: FY 2010-2015 Draft Capital Improvement Program Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules governing the public hearing. She opened the public hearing. John Barofsky , 2010 Hubbard Lane, noted the Budget Committee’s recent review of the capital improvement program and its recommendation to approve the CIP as presented. While he agreed with the recommendation, he anticipated some difficult decisions ahead about the City’s capital spending. He recalled that full transfer from the Marginal Beginning Working Capital to the capital budget did not occur because the fund lacked sufficient money to make the full transfer. He suggested with that example in mind, the manager assume that there will be no transfer this year. He said the CIP assumed the money would be available in all five years of the CIP. He did not think that was wise. Mr. Barofsky suggested the manager include whatever part of the transfer he felt should be budgeted for capital projects, and use the Marginal Beginning Working Capital for other needs, such as funding reserves. He asserted that the City was budgeting insufficient money for maintaining City facilities and advocated for more money in that area. He suggested postponing other capital projects if necessary. Mary Ann Holser , 26 Cresta de Ruta, spoke of her love for City Hall. She thought the building a wonderful example of mid-century architecture that was reflective of Eugene and should be saved. Perhaps the economic crisis would aid in helping the City decide. She wanted to retrofit it for earthquakes. Speaking to the proposed police facility, she believed it was possible the police needed to be moved from City Hall and she asked the council to convince her of the value of that. She thought the City administration and police chief should be housed in the same place. She asked why General Funds were used on capital projects given budgetary shortfalls. Zachary Vishanoff , no address given, agreed with the previous speakers. There being no other requests to speak, Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. Mayor Piercy solicited council comments or questions. There were none. II. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Providing for the Withdrawal of Territories from the River Road Water District, the River Road Park and Recreation District, the Santa Clara Rural Fire Protection District, and the San- ta Clara Water District Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. There being no requests to speak, Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. MINUTES—City Council February 17, 2009 Page 1 She solicited comments and questions from the council. Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Planner Ann Siegenthaler of the Planning Division indicated that the ordinance before the council was very similar to ordinances the council had seen before the Lane County Local Government Boundary Commission was abolished. She said that there was little change in how withdrawals from special districts were processed except the council would see more withdrawals from such districts that used to be automatic. Mayor Piercy said she received no e-mails or communications of concern, and determined that Planning Division staff had received none. Mr. Clark had received no comments. He determined from Ms. Siegenthaler that the ordinance would not materially affect the River Road Parks and Recreation District effort to include Santa Clara in its boundaries. III. PUBLIC HEARING: th An Ordinance Vacating a Portion of the Alley Right-of-Way Located between 10 Avenue and Broad- way Parallel to Olive and Charnelton Streets for the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene (VR1 09-01) Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. Zachary Vishanoff , no address given, said the notice of the hearing in the newspaper did not include the item and encouraged the City to do more to let the public know that the hearings were happening. He was concerned that the council was proposing to take action because he maintained that there was a need for a park across from the library and downtown planning was broken. He urged the council to explain urban renewal to the public and the fact that private developers would get the alley and explain that it was in the good of the community to hand it over to private developers. He also called for an explanation of why action was not taken to develop a park across from the library. He agreed with Eugene resident Otta Poticha that the Downtown Plan was not a plan but a “parking ticket.” He termed the plan a “laundry list of characteristics.” Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. She pointed out to Mr. Vishanoff that WG was working on a mixed use development for the site in question that might include some open space. The council would consider that project on April 8. IV. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees for the Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2009 Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. There being no requests to speak, Mayor Piercy closed the hearing. She solicited questions or comments from the council. Mr. Brown noted the State per company cap on fees such as the City’s toxics right-to-know fee and determined from Management Analyst Glen Potter of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department that the City had several companies that benefited from the cap. About half of the companies in the program enjoyed that benefit. Mr. Brown asked if any of the companies had commented on the fee increase. Mr. Potter said he received no comments regarding the fees. He noted that companies who were charged were represented on the Toxics Board. Mayor Piercy determined that Mr. Poling objected to taking action on the item at this time. Mr. Zelenka asked if the City would seek legislative action to change the cap imposed by the State legislature. Mr. Potter said that the City’s legislative priorities included such a recommendation but the City had no success in MINUTES—City Council February 17, 2009 Page 2 pushing it. He understood from the City’s Intergovernmental Affairs Director that the City was not likely to be successful this session, either. Mr. Poling asked why the program cost so much more beyond a simple inflationary increase. Mr. Potter said the budget for the program had increased only by an inflationary increment of about $2,000, but because of the reduction in what he termed “billable FTEs” and the State cap, it cost companies more per billable FTE to operate the program. City Manager Ruiz pointed out the cost was being spread over few units. Mr. Poling suggested there could come a point where the number of businesses and billable FTEs became so low that the revenue would not support the program. City Manager Ruiz reminded the council that any such significant program change would require a charter amendment. Ms. Ortiz determined from Mr. Potter there were no General Fund dollars supporting the Toxics Right-to-Know Program. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 7:49 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz, City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES—City Council February 17, 2009 Page 3