Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/23/09 Meeting Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon February 23, 2009 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Betty Taylor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. CEREMONIAL MATTER Lane Transit District Board Member Greg Evans presented the City with a token of appreciation from the committee that organized the honoring of Rosa Parks with a statue on the mall. He underscored their appreciation for the contributions of the City, City Manager Jon Ruiz, the City Council and Mayor, and for Francisca Johnson of the Human Rights Program office. Mayor Piercy received the plaque and read its inscription aloud. Everyone present applauded. Mr. Evans noted that the City of Eugene was the first city in the country to have a sculpture of Rosa Parks located in a transit station. Mayor Piercy thanked him for coming. 2. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Greg Bryant , 2173 Alder Street, said the Tango Center was thriving “in some ways” and in other ways had “some difficulty.” He felt it was a point of civic pride, as it was the largest dance hall/educational facility dedicated to the Argentine Tango in the country. He said it also mounted the largest weekly tango event in the northwest. He averred that approximately 10,000 people had taken tango lessons at the center. He believed it to be a “major downtown institution.” He said the center had never asked for money from the City and was not asking for it now. He related that the owners had decided not to provide the center with a lease four years earlier. He felt that this made it difficult to provide stability for the center. He stated that the owners were willing to sell the building, built in 1929 as the first farmers market. He said the center wanted to utilize the City’s offices to help negotiate a purchase. He thought they needed six months to raise the money. He requested that the City act as an intermediary. nd Ev Marcel , 2125 West 22 Avenue, averred that Argentine Tango was “all about connection.” She believed the tango had the power to connect people and community of all generations and all races. She asserted that historically in times of economic woes people had gone out to dance for health reasons and to feel good. She asked that the City “do something tried and true from the past.” She cited the City Council goal for being the City of the Arts and Outdoors. She felt that the Tango Center had already reached the City’s goal. She underscored that the center MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 1 Regular Meeting needed a place that was secure and stable. She noted that she taught in one of the at-risk alternative high schools and some of her students were learning the tango. She reiterated the request for help. Rebecca Oswald , 685 Figueroa Street, explained that she was a professional composer and pianist and served as the volunteer music director for the Tango Center. She related that she had been dancing the tango for four years and had been accompanying the classes for three years. She said she would love to provide the Tango Center with a greater variety of music. She related her wish list for the center: a better piano, better acoustic treatment in the interior, a larger library of tango music to play, and to develop a local house band to play musical arrangements and to invite tango musicians from “all over the world” to include Eugene in their tours. She did not think any of these things would require much investment. She thought the center could develop an annual festival. She asked the City to consider facilitating taking over the lease. Maggie Tryk , 1992 Washington Street, stated that she was a single working mother. She had started dancing the tango and had started hosting the Monday night tango event. She invited the councilors to join her. She said a lot of people come to the downtown area because of the center and that if it closed down there would not be a place to gather downtown. She listed the things that were happening in the center, which included a farmers market. She underscored that all of the people who worked at the Tango Center were volunteers. Zachary Vishanoff , Ward 3, passed out some photocopied information. He congratulated the council on its vote to explore the possible use of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) headquarters building for a new City Hall. He thought that with some work the existing City Hall could be the police department. He related that he had been talking to a planner about form-based land use codes and the Walnut Node. He had urged the planner to “ask the difficult questions” so that the City did not “repeat past vision failures in the Walnut Node.” He stated that two forums on the Walnut Node were being held on February 24 at the Northwest Christian College (NCC) in its banquet room. He said it was not listed on the City’s Public Meetings Calendar, though it was listed on the City’s Web site. He urged the council to ensure that such meetings were on the calendar. He averred that the problem with node visioning was that “a lot of pretty pictures were put up” and there was no back and forth about what the past “sticking points” were. He asserted that they did not talk about the price tag on the project, which he believed to potentially be $100,000. He suggested that the historic preservation staff be brought in so that buildings such as the Joe Romania building could be integrated into “some future neighborhood.” He felt that densification would then not happen in four- or five-story blocks. Lucille Schaffer , 580 Crest Drive, expressed concern about the road conditions of Crest Drive but she was also concerned about the cost of improvements. She questioned how Crest Drive residents could afford it. She asked the council to “please take it easy” on them. Marion Eddie , 830 Crest Drive, Ward 2, felt that living in a city or town had advantages in the services it provided such as fire protection and library. She asserted that the City of Eugene had antiquated codes that “allowed” the City Council to “single out” a small group of citizens to pay “a large amount of money for the benefit of the entire city.” She declared that taxing “the few” for the benefit of everyone was not “the American way.” She asserted that a history of having a “bad law” did not make the practice right. She questioned the constitutionality of the code. She opined that the residents of Crest Drive, Storey Boulevard, and Friendly Street should not be “singled out” to pay for street improvements. Kim Heddinger , 763 Crest Drive, was unhappy about the way that City of Eugene charged homeowners for rebuilding the street they lived on. She took issue with the small number of people who were being asked for a benefit to “many.” She averred that there were approximately 183 homeowners who would be asked to pay for a $6 million project. She noted that approximately 143 homeowners resided on the streets that emptied into Crest Drive, Storey Boulevard, and Friendly Street. She encouraged the councilors to study the engineer’s report on the traffic counts. She thought the fact that the streets were never constructed properly to begin with should be taken into MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 2 Regular Meeting consideration. She felt they had not been maintained or replaced in “a responsible manner” by the City of Eugene and because of this the “burden” would fall solely on the shoulders of the residents. She opined that this was “wrong and unfair.” She believed that the estimated cost of $180 to $200 per lineal foot was not within reality of what a citizen of the community should be reasonably expected to incur, especially given current economic conditions. She asserted that homeowners were facing a bill that ranged between $10,000 and $20,000. She added that residents were “losing sleep” over the assessments. Lynell Stokes , 763 Crest Drive, asserted that the deterioration of Crest Drive, Storey Boulevard, and Friendly Street had been an ongoing problem for 30 years. She credited the neighborhood association for helping to develop a plan to construct new roads. She approved of the design of the roads and she looked forward to having a safe street to drive, bicycle, walk, and run. She felt that the way the improvements were being assessed was “just not right.” She questioned why this “huge financial burden” would fall on the residents with street frontage given that many other vehicles traversed the roads. She averred that 75 percent of the people who would use the new roads would not have to pay for them. She asked the councilors to consider the activities in Wayne Morse Park, which caused many people to drive on Crest Drive who did not live there. She listed some of the other driving uses of Crest Drive, which included school buses. She asked the council to change the road project assessments. Bill Eddie , 830 Crest Drive, Ward 2, echoed concerns expressed about assessing the families that lived on Crest Drive and Storey Boulevard $10,000 to $20,000 during one of the “worst financial crises” in their lifetimes. He considered the assessments to be “unfair at every level.” He thought that the current economic situation created the perfect time to “fix an unsustainable and outdated assessment policy.” He related that councilors Brown and Taylor had indicated to him that they considered the policy to be unfair but difficult to change because of how long it had been implemented. He opined that “long-lasting bad policy” could not be an argument for its continuance. He asked the council to consider enacting a citywide or ward-wide assessment in order to spread the financial burden. He thought a small assessment on many tax lots would raise as much or more money for future projects. He believed that unfairness to one group of citizens was unfairness to all citizens. Michiel Frishert , 251 West Broadway, #207, noted that he had come to the United States eight years earlier from the Netherlands. He said he lived in an apartment across from the Tango Center. He had started coming to Eugene one year earlier as part of his job as a chief software architect for a videogame company and he had started taking tango lessons. He had liked it very much and ended up moving to Eugene six months ago, in part because of the Tango Center. He averred that the center had helped him to make friends and feel at home. He lauded the tango activities for bringing him out of his work mode. He had tried to find a similar facility in San Francisco and there was no such center. He related that he had looked in New York City and found two similar centers but they were not as inviting as the Tango Center in Eugene. He added that his back problems had improved as a result of tango dancing. Paul Moore , 2586 Potter Street, Ward 3, stated that bicycling reduced pollution and could be a solution to many of the problems in the world. He lauded Councilor Solomon, who was not present, for speaking out in favor of bicycle lanes for the Crest Drive area. He averred that allowing people to safely and conveniently use the transportation device of their choice was something that Eugene needed to follow in all cases. He agreed that the streets in the Crest Drive/Wayne Morse Family Farm area were the only way for hundreds of residents to leave and return to their homes and that traffic in and out of the area were added to by many factors, including the park and Crest Drive Elementary School. He related the story of a friend whose children wanted to ride their bicycles to school but could not because the road was too unsafe and, thus, had to be driven. He cited the Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) and Lane County Transportation Rule, both legally enforceable rules, which required that bicycling be made available by local governments. He recalled the funding swap that the City of Eugene and Lane County had made, and that $2 million of the swap would be utilized to fix and rebuild the streets. He averred that the money had to be spent wisely and this meant that the streets should include a bicycle lane. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 3 Regular Meeting David Gusset , 1611 Lincoln Street, Ward 1, urged the council to come to the emergency aid of the Tango Center any way possible. He said the eviction notice required the center to be out of its building by February 28. He asked the City to “take this opportunity” to acquire the building from its owners and restore it. He felt that the downtown was the City’s cultural center with venues that provided food and cultural experiences. He believed that architecture was a key element that provided a sense of place in history. He noted that most of the architectural heritage had been demolished or covered over in the 1950s and 1960s. He acknowledged the desire to have more people move into the downtown area but he thought very few people were inspired to “surround themselves with a cultural vacuum.” He averred that the City would be wise to do everything possible to bring back the “architectural and historical richness” of the downtown in order to get more people there. He opined that the Tango Center had made excellent adaptive reuse of the former public market building and had become an important contributor to the social fabric of the community and an important part of the vitality of the downtown area. He supported granting recognition to the building for its architectural significance and its place in local cultural history. Jean Heneghan , 32547 Beymer Road, stated that she was a local realtor and an avid tango dancer. She asked that the council do what it could to keep the Tango Center open. She said if they wanted to get more people downtown there was no better way to get more “bang for the buck.” She considered the center to be a wonderful venue for people of all ages. She declared that tango dancing was good for all people and had been a good influence on young people. Tom Heneghan , 32547 Beymer Road, believed that the Tango Center had improved the atmosphere downtown. He felt there was some danger that things could “turn around and go the other way.” He asked the council to take this opportunity to keep the downtown “moving in the right direction.” Drix , Ward 3, observed that Oregon had just celebrated its sesquicentennial. He commented that there was a lot of pain in the history and it seemed that it had been resolved, as exemplified by the new sculpture of Rosa Parks. He said Rosa Parks had “just decided to sit.” He thought that sitting was something that everyone had in common. He related that Slumdog Millionaire had won a lot of academy awards. He pointed to how much wealth people had here. He remarked that Eugene had a lot of nothing, as exemplified by the two holes in the downtown area. He showed the council his “award,” made out of a stolen Mercedes emblem hung on a Mardi Gras chain he found in one of the holes. He said he would talk next time on “toilets that give back” and how they could help the community. Joe Collins , P.O. Box 24411, commented that the Crest Drive group was the best organized Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) people he had ever seen. He urged the council not to make any decision based on what they said at the present meeting. He noted that he had voted for Mayor Piercy because she supported the police oversight system that answered to the City Council. He thought the former mayor and some councilors would have preferred to have the Police Auditor answer to the City Manager. He felt that it would be easier to intimidate the City Manager than to intimidate five councilors. He opined that the judges, “cops,” and district attorney’s office used injustice and intimidation to “rule the City.” He reminded the council of his Web site, seethelawsuck.com. He expressed disappointment in some of the votes of councilors Ortiz and Clark. He asserted that they had supported giving “tax deferrals to any contractor.” He thought it was time for Councilor Ortiz to ask the other councilors to support a clinic in her ward. He averred that since the death of “Mercy Hospital,” a clinic would be a realistic request for her constituents. He believed that there could be more done for the homeless of the area. Lisa Warnes , 5020 Nectar Way, Ward 2, welcomed Councilor George Brown. She noted that she was Vice President of the Southeast Neighbors. She opposed the aerial spraying of bacillus thuringiensis subspecies Kurstaki (Btk) to control the gypsy moth over 600 acres in southeast Eugene. She said the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) claimed that Btk was safe and organic; she wished to point out that arsenic and uranium were also organic and they were not safe. She asserted that such spraying was not safe for people with asthma and could cause headaches, nosebleeds, respiratory problems, and flu-like symptoms. She believed that because Btk was a type of bacteria, they could “find their way deep into… lungs and into intestines” and there had been no long-term testing of MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 4 Regular Meeting problems created by this phenomenon. She related that the ODA indicated that it would be safe to go outside 30 minutes after aerial spraying, but she understood that small particles had been found floating in the air up to nine days later. She said the ODA had sent 1,700 notices to the area, but 13,000 people lived in the southeast neighbor- hood. She had sent out a notice to her database of area residents, gathered during the “Amazon Headwaters issue.” She alleged that she heard from several dozen people that they had not received notification. Because of this she thought the public record should be held open longer than March 6. She acknowledged that if the gypsy moth was left unchecked it would devastate the forest and she did not want to advocate for doing nothing. She believed that ground spraying would be less risky. She provided a letter from a neighbor. Tom Kamis , 94 West Broadway, said he lived in Ward 7. He thanked Councilor Ortiz for inviting him for being part of the Police Auditor commission. He hoped that more people in the public could take advantage of those types of opportunities. He related that he had poured his “heart and soul” into his restaurant in the downtown area. He said the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) had been trying to make something happen on the Kesey Mall so that there were all-inclusive activities for people in the downtown area. He believed that the Tango Center should be saved because it supported what everyone wanted downtown. He averred that the urban renewal projects that had been looked into were just trying to build “what the Tango Center already has.” He said there were some business owners in the downtown area who were willing to help the center become profitable. He suggested that the City provide bridge funding. He said there was money to help future entrepreneurs open businesses. He added that he had tried to call Connor and Woolley and his calls were not being returned. Jan Fillinger , 695 Crest Drive, Ward 2, stated that the Crest Drive, Storey Boulevard, and Friendly Street road repair project was slated to be completed in 2009. He said the council would soon be asked to select a contractor and to determine the assessment for residents. He considered the possible assessment of $10,000 to $20,000 per person to be an excessive burden on a few people. He urged the council to consider changing the assessment policy because it was a lot of money even in the greatest of economic conditions; it was unfair for a few households to pay for the road. He likened it to a tax on a few people to benefit many. He also believed the current assessment protocol was outdated because current construction costs had outpaced individual incomes. He said Crest area residents bore the burden of all of the traffic and would bear the burden of the construction. He urged the council to change the policy. Dana McGuire , 3445 Kincaid Street, stated that she had moved to Eugene from Houston, Texas, in part because of hearing about the Tango Center from a friend. She went to the Tango Center once a week. She felt that people were happy to have something wholesome to do and it would be a tragedy if it closed. She commented that there were few cities that had “such a cool thing” and the Tango Center presented the opportunity for Eugene to “stay rockin’.” Steve Ward , 84434 Pheasant Lane, Pleasant Hill, spoke in regard to the Coburg Road annexation, Agenda Item 8. He said the annexation would facilitate and enable the extension of Chad Drive to North Game Farm Road and because the City Council had assumed the responsibilities of the Boundary Commission, which had been disbanded by state legislation, the council would vote on it. He related that he was one of the landowners whose property was being annexed. He noted that he had provided the City with right-of-way in return for the City assuming all responsibility for the annexation. He estimated that the City had spent over $1 million in the acquisition of the property and in engineering costs. He related that there was an element of doubt that the annexation would be approved, though he could not understand why this would be so. He was present to advocate for the annexation. He stressed that the City had a “huge amount of money” invested in the property and it was already deeded to the City of Eugene. The property was outside the city limits but was within the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). He declared that the Chad Drive extension “just needed to happen.” He averred that if it did not happen, people would be left wondering why so much money had been spent. Lance Kaufman , 1894 Harbor Drive, Springfield, voiced his support for the Tango Center. He noted that many of his comments had already been said. He related that he was a PhD student at the University and the center had been his introduction to the community. He said even though he was an economist, he did not believe growth was MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 5 Regular Meeting sustainable. He had come to believe, however, that growth of a community and the growth of people getting together and interacting was sustainable. He believed this was the type of growth that was important for the council to support. He added that he bicycled from Springfield to Eugene every day. He said without bicycle lanes he would not be doing so. He supported inclusion of bicycle lanes in the Friendly Street project. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum. Councilor Clark thanked the people for coming. He asked City Engineer, Mark Schoening, to come forward to respond to a question. He noted that Mr. Schoening, Public Works Director, Kurt Corey, and several other staff people had been very helpful to the people in Ward 5 with a project much like the Crest Drive area, also a street that had not been improved to city standards. He recalled that the process was complex for citizens to vote on whether or not they wanted to upgrade their street. He asked when the vote to upgrade Crest Drive had taken place and how long the vote was “good for.” Mr. Schoening explained that there were two ways that a Local Improvement District (LID) could be initiated: the property owners could come together and initiate it or the City Council could initiate the project. He related that the council had initiated the Crest/Storey/Friendly project, the Chad Drive project, and the Maple/Elmira project of which Councilor Clark was speaking. Councilor Clark asked when the projects had been initiated. Mr. Schoening replied that they had all been initiated in the past three years through the budget process. He said before a contract was awarded to initiate construction on any of the three projects there would be a public hearing before the Hearings Official. He stated that if the people who would pay for 50 percent or more of the assessed cost remonstrated against the project, it would be heard by the City Council. He added that a two-thirds majority of the council was then required to move a project forward. In response to a follow-up question from Councilor Clark, Mr. Schoening stated that the hearings for all three of the projects were scheduled for some time in April. Councilor Clark wanted to ensure that the people who would be assessed were completely aware of the process. Mr. Schoening responded that everyone concerned would be notified as to the time and place for the public hearing. Councilor Taylor thanked everyone for coming. She hoped that the City could find a way to delay the aerial spraying in order to gain more information. She agreed with Crest area residents that the assessments were “outrageous” and the wrong way to pay for streets. She asked for information on whether the side streets that accessed Crest Drive to get out of their streets could be assessed. She also believed that the Tango Center was important for the downtown for all of the reasons that its proponents had listed. She believed that it fostered a connection to the University and provided a place for youth to go. Councilor Ortiz thanked everyone for coming. She asked if there would be a difference in the street assessment methodology if the street was classified as a collector versus a local street. Mr. Schoening affirmed that there would be. He said the underlying principle in the assessment code was that regardless of the classification of the street one lived on, everyone would pay the equivalent of a local street assessment. He explained that it would be different for the Maple/Elmira project than for the Crest Drive area. He further explained that the Chad Drive assessments would not be for the bicycle lanes or the center turn lanes, but would pay for the sidewalks and the rest of the asphalt. Councilor Ortiz ascertained from Mr. Schoening that there were “different monies” for the different parts of the projects. She recalled that in the three years that the City had been involved in the context-sensitive design process with the Crest Drive area residents, they had objected to reclassifying the streets to collectors. Mr. Schoening confirmed this. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 6 Regular Meeting Councilor Ortiz did not disagree that it was a lot of money but she believed that the City had done its due diligence. She asked if there would be a liability issue if the City did nothing and there was an accident that involved a bad outcome for someone that resulted from the condition of the road. City Attorney Emily Jerome responded that this was a larger question, though generally she believed that the City would not be liable unless it had been negligent in some way. Councilor Ortiz said this would be her concern; that the City could be held liable if it chose to do nothing and an accident occurred. Councilor Ortiz said though she was not certain the City had what the Tango Center needed “right here right now” she believed the City should try to provide aid to businesses that brought positive activity to the downtown area. She added, in response to the testimony about the possibility of spraying Btk, that she hoped the City could have some influence over that decision. Mayor Piercy asked the City Manager to comment on the Tango Center. Mr. Ruiz replied that it was premature to comment on it. He said they should talk through options at a later point. Councilor Poling stated that the work session on the street assessment policy was scheduled for March 9. He was aware of the problems that the assessment methods created, from experience with the Harlow Road area. He underscored that the Crest Drive area streets were not built “wrong,” they were built to the existing county standards of that time. He said the streets had been annexed into the City since then. He related that the Harlow Neighborhood Association had a subcommittee that had been meeting for two years to work on the assessment issue. He added that he hoped that the annexation that the Chad Drive project would require would be approved. He wanted to remove the obstacles to it. Councilor Poling remarked that an eviction should not come as a surprise after four years without a lease. He was a little disappointed that the Tango Center had not taken some action between four years prior and the present week to work out something. He underscored that though the City of Eugene could do “some marvelous things” it needed more than one week to do them in. He averred that the conversation should have started “a couple of years ago.” He said he would have to see what information the City Manager came back with before he considered investing any money in the building. Councilor Zelenka was also concerned about the potential spraying of Btk in the south hills. He recalled hearing a scientist say that malathion was safe when the Bay Area was being sprayed for the Med fly. He did not feel confident in the ODA’s claim that Btk was safe. Councilor Zelenka felt the road assessment policy was unfair. He reiterated that the council had a discussion on the policy scheduled for a work session in March. He asked Mr. Schoening to explain why the City’s policy was to make people on unimproved streets help pay for bringing the street up to city standards. Mr. Schoening responded that the policy had been “more by practice” dating back more than a hundred years. He explained that as the City had improved its streets, a portion of the costs had been assessed to the abutting property owners. He said once the improvements were completed, the City assumed the responsibility for maintenance of the streets into perpetuity. He acknowledged that the City had a $170 million backlog in preservation and maintenance work. He stated that the City also had 50 miles of unimproved streets that were expected to be brought up to the city standards. Councilor Zelenka commented that the Tango Center’s predicament was “not an easy issue.” He said it was not whether or not the center was “cool,” built community, or brought people to the downtown area – it was a business that was struggling financially. He questioned whether it was the City’s role to bail out businesses. He noted that a friend of his had just had to close down a long-time restaurant business in Eugene and wondered if the City should MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 7 Regular Meeting also have helped that business stay open. He reiterated that one week was not a very long time period in which to accomplish anything. Councilor Brown averred that aerial spraying in the south hills was the wrong way to go. He believed that hand spraying and pheromone trapping would be a better solution. He also hoped that the City could come up with good solution to the Crest Drive assessment issue. It did not seem fair to him to only assess the people who had frontage on the street. Councilor Brown stated that he had contacted Eagles View and presented an idea that would buy the Tango Center a little bit of time. He had not heard back. He closed by thanking everyone for coming down. Mayor Piercy related that she had contacted the ODA and requested that the record be kept open until March 13. She said the ODA had agreed to do so. In regard to the Tango Center, she appreciated all of the interest in it and that it was a place that made people feel welcome. She hoped the City could help to at least facilitate the conversation. Mayor Piercy reiterated that the council would discuss the assessment policy on March 9. She also wished to respond to Mr. Vishanoff’s comments. She said the police department was supposed to be in a facility that met certain seismic standards so that, if an earthquake struck, the department could continue to provide services. Councilor Clark commented that he was not sure he entirely agreed that the street assessment policy was not fair. He thought it was close to fair and he was glad the council would hold a work session in order to work on it. He said everyone on a street paid for it; they paid for it when the house was built and it was added to the price of the house and a person who moved into a house on a street that faced improvements was expected to pay for it as well. He agreed that the burden placed on people in these times was high. He believed that the people should have a voice to change the timing or the circumstance under which things were done. Councilor Taylor asked Mr. Schoening to stress to the people in the Crest Drive area that if more than 50 percent remonstrated, the project would not happen. Mr. Schoening clarified that the 50 percent remonstrance moved the public hearing from the Hearings Official to the City Council and, for the project to proceed, rather than a simple majority the council had to approve of it by a two-thirds vote. Councilor Taylor said the issue the Tango Center faced had arisen at the last minute. She felt that if the City could somehow facilitate some more time for the center to continue to exist, the City was doing something for the City and not for a particular person or business. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - January 26, 2009, Work Session B. Approval to Tentative Working Agenda C. Adoption of Resolution 4964 Adopting an Inflationary Adjustment of Systems Development Charges for Parks System, and Local Wastewater System, Stormwater System, and Transporta- tion System; Superseding Administrative Order 58-08-02-F; and Amending Resolution No. 4900 D. Adoption of Resolution 4965 Annexing Land to the City of Eugene (Old Coburg Road Annexa- tion/A 08-7) Mayor Piercy noted that Item C had been deferred. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to approve the items on the Consent Calendar with the exception of Item C. Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar passed unanimously, 7:0. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 8 Regular Meeting 4. ACTION: Ratification of Unanimous Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions and Discussion and Action on Non- unanimous Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions on Legislative Policy from February 11 and February 18, 2009 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to ratify the Intergovernmental Relations Committee’s unanimous actions on bills and approval of staff recommendations in the February 11, and February 18, 2009, Intergovernmental Relations Bill Reports for bills not pulled for discussion at those Intergovernmental Relations Committee meetings. Roll call vote; the motion passed un- animously, 7:0. Mayor Piercy directed the council’s attention to the bills that were not unanimous. Senate Resolution 1 – Urges governor to withhold deployment of Oregon National Guard to Iraq or Afghanis- tan. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a Support position on the Senate Resolution 1. Councilor Poling explained that he had voted in opposition to this resolution because of language that seemed to make reference to the President not setting any plans into place to withdraw the Oregon troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. He said the President had only been in office for a little more than a month and needed to be given a chance. He felt that without an exit strategy to protect the troops that were there, the wrong message would be sent. He averred that they needed to be shown support in addition to bringing them and all of the troops home safely. Councilor Pryor appreciated the debate on the resolution. He felt that the staff recommendation was the wiser one because, while many people did not make a distinction between the country’s action in Iraq and in Afghanistan, he did. He said he might consider the military action in Iraq to be an “incredibly ill-considered and bad thing to do” but he did not hold the same position about Afghanistan. He could not support “lumping” them together. Mayor Piercy ascertained from Intergovernmental Relations Manager, Brenda Wilson, that the language in the resolution was language on which many communities were voting. Councilor Clark echoed Councilor Poling’s concern. He stressed that he took this very seriously. He had lost a good friend from college in Afghanistan in September. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 4:3; councilors Ortiz, Taylor, and Zelenka voting in favor. Senate Bill 227 – Increases the penalty for knowingly furnishing alcohol to persons under the age of 21 years and imposes suspension of driving privileges or right to apply for driving privileges for 90 days in certain instances. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a Priority 3 Support position on Senate Bill 227. Councilor Taylor explained that she had moved to oppose the bill because she believed that the penalty was too extreme. She could approve it if it applied to furnishing alcohol to people who were under the ages of 16 or 18, but MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 9 Regular Meeting to penalize people who supply alcohol to people under the age of 21 seemed extreme. She remarked that she knew a lot of respectable people who furnished alcohol to people under the age of 21. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:1; Councilor Taylor voting in opposition. House Bill 2403 – Authorizes forfeiture of a vehicle with a hidden compartment if the vehicle was used or intended for use in commission of criminal offenses. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a Priority 2 Support position on House Bill 2403. Councilor Taylor opposed the bill because she did not know how one could tell if a vehicle was intended to be used in the commission of a crime. Councilor Ortiz supported the staff recommendation. She said it had been made clear that this was directed at cars that were modified for drug trafficking. She noted that there were also concerns expressed about vehicles that had been contaminated by the chemicals used in the making of methamphetamine. Councilor Clark asked if the forfeiture was meant to occur before or after a conviction. Ms. Wilson replied that the bill would address those instances where there had been probable cause to believe that the car was intended to be used or had been used for commission of a drug crime. She said forfeiture would be a recommendation at the time of sentencing. She noted that there had already been a hearing on the bill, which had been brought forth by the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association. She stated that there would be amendments introduced to clarify the definition of a compartment. She related that their concern was that, once such a vehicle had been obtained, they did not want it released back to the public because of potential hazardous drug residues or that the modifications made to a vehicle had rendered it no longer safe. Councilor Zelenka ascertained from Ms. Wilson that forfeiture would not occur until after sentencing. Ms. Wilson explained that the District Attorney could make a recommendation that the vehicle be forfeited at the sentencing and then the car could be either modified, the compartment removed, or the vehicle destroyed. Councilor Zelenka asked if there would be amendments to allow for modification to eliminate the hidden compart- ment and have the owner pay for it. He asked if this would be instead of forfeiture. Ms. Wilson responded that this depended on how extreme the modifications were. She explained that if the modifications were such that the hidden compartment could not be corrected, then the car could be destroyed. She noted that the hearing included those vehicles that had been contaminated with substances that could not be corrected. Councilor Zelenka asked what “or intended” meant. Ms. Wilson replied that this had been brought up by a committee member. She said the Oregon State Police (OSP) officer that testified stressed that an officer had to have probable cause and without that the forfeiture could not take place. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to table the motion. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 4:3; councilors Taylor, Zelenka, and Brown voting in favor. Councilor Taylor asked if the bill specifically indicated that the forfeiture would occur if drugs were present. Ms. Wilson replied that drugs did not have to be present. She said a vehicle had to have been modified to include a hidden compartment that was not a glove compartment or another container inside the vehicle. Councilor Taylor remarked that she could imagine “lots of reasons” that people might want to hide something in their cars. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 4:3; councilors Taylor, Zelenka, and Brown voting in opposition. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 10 Regular Meeting House Bill 2427 – Provides that a person commits the offense of refusal to take the test for intoxicants if the person refuses to submit to urine or blood tests when requested to do so under the implied consent law. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a position of Priority 3 Support on House Bill 2427. Councilor Taylor said this was just like the bill the council had discussed at its previous meeting. She believed that taking blood and urine were a violation of civil liberties and a “terrible invasion of privacy.” Councilor Clark agreed. He felt the bill was a fourth amendment invasion and went beyond a reasonable scope. Councilor Poling underscored that the bill only required such testing in very limited situations. He averred that all it did was expand the current law. He reiterated that a Drug Recognition Expert with many hours of training would be brought in to assess a person before the decision to require such testing would be made. He said the bill would institute the same penalty that was required by law for a person who refused a breathalyzer test. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:2; councilors Clark and Taylor voting in opposition. House Bill 2428 – Increases the penalty for assault in the third degree if the defendant commits the assault by means of a motor vehicle and was driving while under the influence of intoxicants. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a Priority 3 Support position on House Bill 2428. Councilor Taylor did not believe the penalty should be worse than the penalty for any other assault in the third degree. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:2; councilors Taylor and Brown voting in opposition. Senate Bill 29 – Clarifies that a county, city, or metropolitan service district may adopt an instant runoff voting system for nomination or election of candidates to county, city, or metropolitan service district offices. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to direct staff to monitor Senate Bill 29. Councilor Taylor wanted to support the bill. She recalled that this approach was recommended by the Charter Review Committee. She said it was the process used by the whole country of Australia. Councilor Clark felt that the bill would make things more difficult. Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to amend the motion to adopt a Priority 3 Oppose position on the bill. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 5:2; councilors Poling and Clark vot- ing in favor. Mayor Piercy supported monitoring the bill. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 4:3; councilors Taylor, Clark, and Ortiz voting in opposition. Senate Bill 422 – Increases the penalty for driving with a suspended or revoked license. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 11 Regular Meeting Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a Priority 3 Oppose position on Senate Bill 422. Councilor Poling related that there were concerns voiced by the Municipal Court judge and his staff about imposing mandatory jail time if it could not be enforced, given the lack of jail space. He said his view was that they were planning for the future; if “some day some miracle happened” and the City and County had enough jail space, people needed to be held accountable for their crimes. He stated that there were nearby communities that had the capacity to hold people accountable for the crimes they committed. Councilor Ortiz supported the staff recommendation to oppose the bill because of the inability to keep people in jail. Councilor Taylor thought the motion should have been to support the bill. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to amend the motion to direct staff to adopt a Priority 3 Support position on the bill. Roll call vote; the motion to amend passed, 5:2, councilors Zelenka and Brown voting in opposition. Roll call vote; the motion passed as amended, 5:3; councilors Zelenka, Brown, and Ortiz voting in opposition. House Bill 2426 – Imposes a minimum fine of $2,500 and mandatory imprisonment for a person convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicants if the person had 0.20 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the blood of the person at the time of offense. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt a Priority 3 Oppose position on House Bill 2426. Ms. Wilson stated that the bill had a hearing earlier in the day and it had been amended. She related that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had objected to the bill and asked that it be amended to eliminate the mandatory jail time but reduce the level of intoxication to .15 percent. Those amendments were adopted and the ACLU had pulled its opposition. Councilor Poling moved to amend the motion to direct staff to adopt a Priority 3 Support position. The motion died for lack of a second. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:1; Councilor Poling voting in opposition. House Bill 2429 – Modifies qualifications for property tax exemptions for business firms eligible to participate in an enterprise zone program. It requires firms engaged in private construction projects with a value of $5 million or more to comply with the prevailing wage rate law. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to direct staff to monitor House Bill 2429. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:2; councilors Poling and Clark voting in opposition. House Bill 2430 – Defines “building construction” and modifies the definition of “residential construction” for purposes of applying prevailing rate of wage to projects that predominantly provide affordable housing. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to direct staff to monitor House Bill 2430. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 4:3; councilors Poling, Zelenka, and Clark voting in opposition. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 12 Regular Meeting 5. ACTION: Appointment to Civilian Review Board Councilor Clark reiterated his request for staff to circulate a poll to the councilors on whether the council should hold a work session to discuss changing the number of civilians serving on the Civilian Review Board from five to seven. He wanted to run the selection process for the potential additions to the board concurrent to the hiring of the new Police Auditor. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to appoint Snell Fontus to Position 2 on the Civilian Review Board, the unexpired term of Munir Katul, for a term ending on October 31, 2010. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. 6. ACTION: FY 2010-2015 Draft Capital Improvement Program Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt the FY10-FY15 Capital Im- provement Program incorporating the recommendations forwarded by the Budget Committee and staff. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. 7. ACTION: 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 (VRI 09-1) Councilor Clark recused himself from the vote as he did business with the developer involved. He said he had consulted the City Attorney and legal counsel indicated that his involvement there did not constitute a conflict of interest. He recused himself, nonetheless, from the vote on Item 7 and the vote on Item 8. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved that the City Council adopt Council Bill th 4995, an ordinance vacating a portion of the alley right-of-way at 10 Avenue and Charnelton Street. Mr. Ruiz said the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) had indicated that no one had testified in regard to this item. He clarified that one person had testified. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:0:1; Councilor Clark abstaining. 8. ACTION: Resolution 4966 Approving a Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption for Residential Property Located at th 10 Avenue and Charnelton Street, Eugene, Oregon (WG Development Co./Applicant) Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to adopt Resolution 4966 approving a th Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption for residential property located at 10 Avenue and Charnel- ton Street, Eugene, Oregon (WG Development Co./Applicant). Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:0:1; Councilor Clark abstaining. 9. ACTION: An Ordinance Adopting Hazardous Substance User Fees for the Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2009 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved that the City Council adopt Council Bill 4996, an ordinance adopting hazardous substance user fees. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 6:1; Councilor Clark voting in opposition. MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 13 Regular Meeting 10. ACTION: An Ordinance Providing for Withdrawal of Territories from the River Road Water District, the River Road Park and Recreation District, the Santa Clara Rural Fire Protection District, and from the Santa Clara Water District Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved that the City Council adopt Council Bill 4994, an ordinance providing for withdrawal of territories from special districts. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. The meeting adjourned at 9:38 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 23, 2009 Page 14 Regular Meeting