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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/13/09 Work SessionMINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall -777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon July 13, 2009 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Mike Clark, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, George Brown, Betty Taylor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order at 5:30 p.m. A. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mayor Piercy extended appreciation to a local software company, Palo Alto Software, which gave away about $3 million worth of software business plans throughout Oregon in an effort to help local businesses. She acknowledged the Lane Angel Network, including the Eugene Chamber of Commerce and the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce for their efforts to bring businesses to our communities to get the economy going. She noted New Roads, which provided housing and other services for runaway and homeless youth, reopened their facility and remodeled kitchen following a recent kitchen fire. Eugene students were traveling to Jinju, Korea as part of the Sister City program. The College Hill Reservoir reopening celebration recently occurred. She thanked the Friendly Area Neighbors; the City's matching grant program and the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) for coming together to make it happen. She congratulated the Eugene -based Solar Consortium and the Bach Festival for very successful events. Mr. Clark said he attended the Sheldon Community Center police station community discussion with Mr. Brown and Mr. Poling. Those in attendance were fully in favor of the idea of moving the police facility to the Country Club Road location, with only two of over forty participants who expressed disapproval of the proposal. On June 29 he and Ms. Ortiz attended the ambulance ASA subcommittee meeting. The group was attempting to resolve the long -term financing for the ambulance service. He thanked Susan Muir and Michael Kinnison for arranging a meeting with the Cal Young Neighborhood Association officers to discuss their concerns with the halfway house going in on Meyers Road. He attended the Creswell parade on July 4. He wanted the City Council to have a discussion regarding the possibility of having a July 4 parade in Eugene. He spoke at the City Club on July 10 regarding using the current EWEB building for a new City Hall. He appreciated Ms. Taylor's willingness to debate him on the topic at the meeting. Ms. Solomon attended the grand reopening of Golden Gardens Park with Mayor Piercy and Ms. Ortiz on June 25, following significant reconstruction of the park to make it safer. The park was a wonderful asset for the community. The event provided an opportunity to honor the families. The event included food and blue grass music. She thanked staff for their work on making the parka jewel for Eugene. Mr. Brown reported he had attended the public forums regarding moving the police facility to County Club Road and a City Hall discussion. There were many in attendance at the Atrium meeting who did not like the idea of moving the police out of downtown including downtown business owners. Those in attendance at the Sheldon Community Center meeting were pretty much in favor of moving the police facility to Country Club Road. He attended the U.S. Track and Field Championships with Mayor Piercy, Ms. Ortiz, MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Zelenka, and Ms. Taylor. He attended a celebration for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) at First Unitarian Church. Mr. Poling commented that Travel Lane County had selected a local contractor to start the build -out of the new Gateway Adventure Center. It was hoped that the facility would bring travelers off the freeway and generate recreation and hospitality business. A small conference room was available for use by the public. He deferred to Mr. Clark and Mr. Brown for comments related to the meeting at the Sheldon Community Center regarding relocating the police facility to Country Club Road. Mr. Pryor attended the Bach Festival opening noting it was a great event. He attended an OPT planning meeting with Ms. Ortiz for Trainsong Neighbors. Residents were working to make the neighborhood more vibrant and be more involved. The Housing Policy Board (HPB) met July 13 to review the proposals for low- income housing. It was a very difficult choice in that both proposals were outstanding and it was a difficult decision. The HPB would forward a recommendation to the City Council in the near future. Ms. Ortiz attended an OPS grant meeting and Trainsong barbeque neighborhood meeting. The residents were dedicating a lot of effort and enthusiasm into making the neighborhood vibrant and empowering the residents. She added that Joint Elected Officials (JEO) from Lane County, City of Springfield, and Lane Rural Fire /Rescue were scheduled to meet on July 21. The meeting would feature a study jointly commissioned by the City of Eugene and City of Springfield around the viability and funding options for ambulance service. The overarching goal was to continue to provide good service for our communities. Ms. Taylor offered a correction and apology to Minutes Recorder Wade Hicks for calling him by the wrong name at the last meeting while complimenting him for his great performance in Humble Boy. She noted that Curtains was playing at Actors' Cabaret. She had a visitor from Prague, the Czech Republic, who attended and enjoyed both the Bach Festival and the Oregon Country Fair. She expressed pleasure that an arts calendar was being developed. She encouraged everyone to make contributions to the street fund for Crest area neighbors. Election of officers was on the agenda for the Southeast Neighbors meeting scheduled for July 14. She asked that the City Council meet with Lane County to discuss how to share car registration fees. She said fireworks had come and gone, and another year passed with the City taking no action. Now was the time to take action for 2010 before people made plans and based their budgets on fireworks sales. She suggested cars should be issued to all police officers and WG should be asked to use some of their space for a police headquarters for senior staff instead of renting some other place. Mr. Zelenka stated he had attended the U.S. Track and Field Championships. He commended the organizers for a tremendous effort in putting on the event. He recently enjoyed whitewater canoeing in Eastern Oregon and attended the Oregon Country Fair. He attended the Lane Workforce partnership meeting, noting what good work they did. A telephone hotline, 682 -7000, was available to assist people who needed help. He attended the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) meeting with Mayor Piercy. The MPC passed a motion that directed new money to help pay for the environmental study for the bicycle path under the new Interstate -5 bridge. The MPC provided feedback on its unanimous vote and recommendation for completion of the bicycle path and feedback to staff regarding further use of the STIPU money. He thanked Rob Inerfeld for work on the calendar which brought many disparate pieces of information together. He thanked Vicki Walker for her years of service in the Oregon Legislature and suggested it would be appropriate for the City Council to send a letter of thanks to her. He welcomed Emily Jerome to the City as the Deputy City Attorney. He announced the Fairmont Neighbors were having a summer party on July 19 and the Laurel Hill Valley Citizens Association was having a summer event on August 23. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 2 Work Session Mayor Piercy announced she would participate in a press conference with other partners on July 17 to thank the legislative delegation for their work on behalf of the City of Eugene during the most recent legislative session. This would provide an opportunity to extend a special thanks to Senator Walker. City Manager Jon Ruiz said recreation staff were offering Staycation opportunities for the community this summer. An overnight campout at Amazon Park attended by about 50 people was held last weekend. The event offered a variety of activities and dinner. Feedback indicated that people felt safe and had an enjoyable experience. He reported a farmers' market and family fun night would be held at Petersen Barn on July 21 and 22 in collaboration with the Active Bethel Citizens and the Bethel School District. The latest project of the Youth Action Board was a collaboration with the No Shame Theater, in which local high school students wrote and acted in a series of five- minute plays at the Atrium Building. Looking Glass was interested in partnering with the City on the Youth Action Board and verbally agreed to two hours staff time per week as well as $6,200 for community events. He thanked all of the recreation staff for their work this summer. City Manager Ruiz reported he would be reading at the Eugene Public Library as part of the summer reading program. Attendance was at record levels, likely a result of more people staying in Eugene during the summer and participating in local activities. He would attend the Downtown Neighborhood Associa- tion meeting on July 16. On July 14 he would participate in a cycling event with the Greater Eugene Area Riders (GEAR) around the city. This week's packet would include copies of the Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan (DESP) which tied back to the council's goals on race. This effort had been underway for a couple of years and received significant amounts of staff and community time. The purpose of DESP was to ensure that these were organizational and cultural values, and not just programs and initiatives. He had been participating in several conversations and meetings with Mayor Piercy and Ms. Ortiz regarding high- speed rail, and additional conversations would be held throughout the northwest. The challenge would be to get everyone focused on the same conversation. Mayor Piercy said it would be interesting to hear from Amtrak and UP regarding their plans B. WORK SESSION: Annual Meeting with Police Commission Joe Alsup, former vice chair of the Eugene Police Commission, provided an overview of the Police Commission Annual Report Fiscal Year 2009, and the work accomplished in 2009. He noted with the economic crisis the City was facing the commission was forced to suspend work on the Police Long -Term Staffing Plan. He said the jobs performed by the officers gave the impression there was not a need for a significant increase in the number of police officers on the force. He stated the commission felt the quality of the officers, the job they performed and the professionalism they brought to the work was outstanding, and the commission felt the community was safe. However, the need for additional officers was critical. He reviewed the committee projects, including those of the Policy Screening and Review Committee (PSRC), the Universal Access Committee (UAC), the Public Outreach Committee (POC) and the Use of Force Committee (UOF). Tamara Miller, Chair of the Eugene Police Commission, offered an overview of the proposed Police Commission FY 2010 Work Plan dated June 11, 2009. She said in addition to the information included in the work plan, the commission had an opportunity to participate in community interviews with the Police Auditor, some of the listening conversations with police, and the Police Auditor Ordinance Review Committee (PAORC). She reported that work plan objectives included continuing work of the PSRC, POC and UOF committees as well as a new committee that would relate to the City of Eugene's budget and resources affecting the Eugene Police Department (EPD). She noted as part of the budget cuts, the MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 3 Work Session Minutes Recorder for committee meetings had been eliminated. While EPD staff was doing a good job, the commission was hearing from the public that it wanted more information, perhaps in the form of televised meetings, and not less information. She hoped the committee could find a low cost solution to capture meetings and webcast them. The department was considering conducting a survey to gauge public opinion. She reviewed the expected Work Plan Outcomes. While the Magellan staffing study had been disappointing, a subcommittee would begin working on department resources before work on the FY 11 budget process commences. The commission welcomed the new Police Auditor. The Human Rights Commission (HRC) and other community groups had expressed interest in jointly working on a hate crimes conference. On behalf of the City Council, Mayor Piercy expressed appreciation for the commission's work. Mr. Brown stated the commission did an amazing job and EPD staff was always available at meetings to provide information. Mr. Clark thanked Mr. Alsup for his dedication and tenure as vice chair. He congratulated Juan Carlos Valle on his incoming opportunity to serve as vice chair, and he expressed his appreciation to Ms. Miller for her outstanding service as commission chair. He noted the Budget Committee made recommendations to the City Manager regarding the Magellan report for further discussions this year. He was impressed by the presence of Interim Police Chief Pete Kerns at Police Commission meetings and his willingness to solicit feedback from the commission, as well as by the quality of information Chief Kerns provided the commission. Ms. Ortiz thanked Ms. Miller and Ms. Alsup for their work on behalf of the City. She was challenged by the Magellan study in that she did see how the amount of pay equated to staffing levels, adding she thought officers were well paid. She commended the commission and Ms. Zimmer for their good work. She supported participating in a hate crimes conference, noting the last one in Eugene was held in conjunction with the Department of Justice. A previous event held at Churchill High School included a big name in conjunction with the University of Oregon Wayne Morse Chair that drew participants while a similar event at Petersen Barn lacked a big name and experienced a low turnout. She was pleased next year's workplan included conversations with officers. Mayor Piercy said the Police Commission could not have a staffing discussion without thinking about resources. While it was important to think about communicating with the whole community, it was critical to think about the whole public safety system and its needs. She asked if review by an outside organiza- tion to look at the various elements in the public safety system in both the City and across Lane County could provide suggestions for improvements. Ms. Ortiz asked if the Police Commission had had a discussion and formed an opinion on moving the patrol facility from downtown. Ms. Miller said the commission had the discussion on the patrol facility location and appreciated the opportunity to provide feedback although it was outside the commission's purview. Although a vote was not taken, Commission members had toured the proposed site on County Club Road and additional opportunities would be scheduled. She added it was scary to think the community could suffer a catastrophic event and many police resources would be at the existing City Hall location and not be able to be used. Mr. Alsup said the majority of commission members had done "ride - alongs" with officers and had an opportunity to see that the cramped quarters officers used were woefully inadequate. He opined MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 4 Work Session commission members would agree that something had to be done. There was no consensus on whether Country Club Road, EWEB or a new facility was the best way to go. Mr. Zelenka thanked Mr. Alsup and Ms. Miller for their work. He noted the commission now had liaisons with the HRC and the Civilian Review Board (CRB), and asked what formal mechanisms existed for commissioners in terms of integrating information from those groups into the commission's work plan. Ms. Miller said the issue had been discussed in a joint meeting with the CRB in June. The system was new and undergoing change. A CRB liaison attended Police Commission meetings and two annual reports had been received from the Police Auditor, one from Cris Beaumud and one from Dawn Reynolds. A formal mechanism had yet to be developed and there had been one request to look at an incident regarding flashlights which the UOF Committee had reviewed. There was still work to be done. The HRC had also experienced change and had been in a reforming period. Mr. Alsup said the most relevant aspect was the PAORC and the ability of the commission to come together with all stakeholders and community members. Mr. Zelenka encouraged the commission to implement the mechanisms for working with the HRC and CRB as soon as possible. He supported a hate crimes conference for the City and suggested contingency money could be used for such an event. Mr. Clark thanked the UOF committee and the CRB for their responsiveness in holding a special meeting on use of force issues. Ms. Ortiz asked that the commission ensure that trends were documented by the CRB and not necessarily the Police Auditor. Ms. Miller said some members of the commission had struggled with how issues had been presented to them. The CRB and the Auditor had been one homogenous group, going together to the commission, and presenting joint reports. She said it would be helpful for the commission to have clarification to know how the process flowed with the CRB work being separate and apart from that of the Police Auditor. Although their roles touched and concerned each other, they were different. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to approve the Police Commission's FY10 Work Plan. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. C. WORK SESSION: Current Status of Systems Development Charges Mr. McVey offered the staff report and provided a PowerPoint presentation entitled Systems Development Charges. He said the purpose of the work session was to provide the City Council with information related to the current status of Systems Development Charges (SDC) in Eugene regarding policy framework, purpose, use of funds, financial impacts on development projects, and efforts to provide relief for development during the current economic downturn. City Manager Ruiz stated that a three - pronged approach consisting of use of stimulus recovery package projects, planning for the next regional economy with other jurisdictions, and removing obstacles that supported development was used. He added postponing SDC increases as well as encouraging financing and working with developers had been identified by staff as one tool for removing obstacles that supported development. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Taylor asked what the interest rate was and when the SDCs were scheduled to be increased Mr. McVey responded the interest rate was currently eight percent, but staff was working on updating the rates to be more market -based through an administrative order. He added recently increasing the administrative fee component of the SDCs had been considered as well and the City Council passed a resolution adopting an adjustment of the rate and postponing the effective date to January 1, 2010. The City Manager determined the City would not pursue an inflationary adjustment to the systems components of the SDCs until after January 1, 2010. The inflationary adjustment would be brought back to the City Council in December 2009 for consideration. Mr. Zelenka asked if most people paid the SDCs upfront or if they used the financing terms offered by the City. He asked for an explanation of SDC credits. Mr. McVey stated approximately 80 percent paid SDCs through direct means or private financing at the time of permit issuance while approximately 20 percent contracted with the City. He added there were basically three kinds of SDC credits including: • Credits provided to developers who built capacity and infrastructure through a privately - financed, privately- engineered public improvement project (public improvement credits). • Redevelopment or credit for existing use. • Incentives that recognized when developments were built in a manner that reduced the impact on the capacity and systems. • The City Council had provided an exemption for low- income housing. In response to a question from Ms. Ortiz, Mr. McVey confirmed the SDCs were generally established by the State of Oregon. He added that SDCs must be spent on capital projects. Responding to Mr. Clark's inquiry regarding financing mechanisms, Mr. McVey said the financing mechanism for street assessments or other local improvement district assessments was the same type of financing mechanism, with some slight differences in the statutory regulations. An exception was in local improvement districts the assessment must be secured by a lien on the property, while the City was allowed by statute to consider other forms of security for SDC financing. Mr. Clark asked if there was a pool of funds available for the City to assist with SDCs and if developers did not take advantage of financing SDCs through the City since it was more expensive than private funding. Mr. McVey said the SDCs were essentially a pool of money that came in over time, and was spent over time, thus providing a stream of money coming from contracted payments that could be directed to capital projects. Therefore, it was not necessary to have another pool of money to provide financing although when the money came in more slowly it impacted the timing of projects. He concurred that market -based interest rates were lower than the City's and more attractive to developers. More people would take advantage of the City's financing of SDCs, particularly if other forms of security, such as certificates of deposit, could be used. Mr. Clark averred that by adjusting its internal policy, the City could increase the potential for economic activity and development. He asked if credits were transferable or could be donated to a 501(c)(3) organization when they were generated by a mixed -use development. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 6 Work Session Mr. McVey said according to the statewide framework it was possible to consider transferring or donating credits under the existing local policy. There were limited instances in which credits could be used within larger sites under phased development. Typically, under the City's policy, credits were not transferred from one site to another, but stayed within a site. If development occurred at the site in the future, or if more intensive use occurred, the credits could be used at the site. He added the credits were site specific, rather than property owner specific. Mr. Pryor, noting the specific restrictions on SDCs, asked why low turnover restaurants had high SDC rates when compared to other forms of businesses. He asked if development of a dry cleaning establish- ment would have a similar SDC rate. Mr. McVey explained low turnover was a term used in the transportation trip generation rate manuals that compared a low turnover restaurant to a fast food restaurant, and therefore generated fewer trips on the system than a fast food restaurant. He added that restaurants in general had some of the highest impact on the wastewater system in terms of volume and strength of their wastewater discharge, and the cost of treating that discharge. Mr. McVey stated dry cleaners also had significant impacts on wastewater. Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Mr. McVey stated that typical costs for development of a fast food restaurant in terms of construction value may be lower than other businesses, and as a percentage the actual costs were likely similar. Mr. Zelenka asked what the source of SDC was financing and if the City often used the SDC fund as a debt service fund for borrowing. Mr. McVey said the City took the payment over time rather than in a lump sum payment. In other systems, such as utility systems, because the City had upfront capital costs, the City borrowed money from the State revolving loan program to pay for infrastructure projects which was repaid with future payments received. He added only in rare exceptions did the City use the SDC fund as a revolving loan program although it was used to pay for some costs on the Ferry Street Bridge project. Money was loaned from the Parks SDC balance to the Transportation SDC, and eventually repaid. Mr. Zelenka opined that lowering the rate was a double -edged sword in that it reduced the burden on the developers, but at the same time created a potential for more defaults as well as costs associated with credit checks and other administrative costs. He asked what the security on such loans was. Mr. McVey iterated the traditional form of security was a first order lien on the property. Other forms of security, such as certificates of deposit in which the City was named as the recipient in the event of default, were acceptable forms of security. Mr. Zelenka asked if the City had done any benchmarking the City's SDC loan total compared to other communities. Mr. McVey said the City of Eugene conducted an SDC rate survey in 2004 of approximately 20 other Oregon communities, at which time the City was in the low- to mid -range of SDCs across the state. In 2007, the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) conducted a similar survey of Oregon communities. This survey also showed the City of Eugene to be in the mid - range. Mayor Piercy thanked Mr. McVey for his presentation. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 7 Work Session Mayor Piercy suggested moving Consent Calendar items scheduled for the City Council Meeting at 7:30 p.m. to the 5:30 p.m. City Council Work Session agenda. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to approve the items A. Approval of City Council Minutes and B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda, from the Consent Calendar, and to pull item C. Resolution 4985 Approving a Low - Income Rental Housing Property Tax Exemption for the Property Located at 560 -588 South Danebo Street, Eugene, Oregon (Prairie View LLC Applicant) from the Consent Calendar. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Linda Henry) MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 13, 2009 Page 8 Work Session