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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 09/14/09 Work Session M I N U T E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room—City Hall—777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon September 14, 2009 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, Chris Pryor, George Poling, George Brown, Betty Taylor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. She announced that Ms. Solomon would be delayed and Mr. Zelenka was out of town. A. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Ms. Piercy invited people to attend the Mayor’s Art Show at Jacobs Gallery and the Teen Art Show at Maude Kerns. She attended a Labor Day picnic and a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new section of Bailey Hill Road. She announced the City had opened its fourth new park and renovated two existing parks. th She also attended the 200 birthday celebration for Eugene Skinner. She expressed gratitude for the federal stimulus dollars the City had received, including a grant to reduce carbon emissions. She noted that September 11 had been dedicated to a national day of service and remembrance. Mr. Clark reported that he and Mr. Zelenka had been meeting regularly with the Police Auditor and a budgetary issue had been discussed. He felt the issue had been resolved, but might come before the council at some point. He attended a Workforce Partnership luncheon and a joint elected officials meeting on the topic of economic development. The Police Commission met and discussed the University of Oregon’s (UO) request to expand citation authority and the liaison roles of representatives from the council and the Civilian Review Board (CRB). He invited input from councilors on the economic development work of the Lane Metro Partnership board before he attended the next meeting. He was looking forward to attending an Oregon Transportation Commission meeting and thanked Parks and Open Space Director Johnny Medlin and Public Works Director Kurt Corey for their responses to Bond Lane Park issues. Mr. Pryor remarked that the United Way’s needs assessment of the community revealed that the same issues as had existed in the community last year, still existed, and the annual campaign had begun. He hoped that the community could find ways to meet residents’ needs. He commended the work on Bailey Hill Road and said traffic was flowing well with the opening of school. He noted the many road projects that had been constructed throughout the community with bond funds approved by the voters. He attended a Lane Transit th District design review meeting for the West 11 Avenue corridor and urged everyone who was interested in the project to participate and provide their input. He was pleased with the attendance at a reception for the new Police Auditor. Ms. Taylor attended the Eugene Skinner birthday celebration and co-sponsored a health care options forum along with Ms. Piercy and County Commissioner Pete Sorenson. She pointed out that the County was conducting a series of classes for residents about County services and hoped the City would consider something similar for the purpose of informing the public about City government and encouraging them to MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 1 Work Session become involved. She noted that a former Lane Regional Air Protection Agency employee had started a new business to reduce pollution from idling trucks. Ms. Ortiz said she staffed the City’s booth at the Eugene Celebration and encouraged residents to take the neighborhood survey on the City’s website. She indicated that the last meeting of LRAPA had been challenging because of action to direct the agency to become involved in dispute resolution with Seneca. She said the action was determined to be in conflict with LRAPA’s charter and hoped there would be an opportunity to revisit the charter, which was 20 years old. She announced publication of a new Latino monthly newsletter and encouraged everyone to attend Fiesta Latina. She was pleased with the City Manager’s decision to hire Pete Kerns as police chief. Mr. Brown commented that he had been researching the history of the urban renewal district and would distill the information into a memorandum for other councilors. He attended a Jefferson-Westside Neighborhood meeting. He also attended a McKenzie Watershed Council meeting. Mr. Poling congratulated Pete Kerns on his selection as police chief. He also congratulated those who received awards from the Workforce Partnership and Lane Metro Partnership. As the Travel Lane County liaison he attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Diamond Woods Inn near Monroe and said Travel Lane County was developing a new informational website and continuing work on the Gateway visitor’s center. He announced that there would be a presentation on a new affordable housing development project during the September 16 Harlow Neighborhood Association meeting. He reminded the public that September 18 was the deadline for boards and commissions applications. City Manager Jon Ruiz said he would be attending a meeting of the Fairmount Neighbors, and the Citizens Police Academy would begin during the week. He had made several presentations to community organiza- tions about the joint elected officials’ economic development activities and planning for an economic development summit in October 2009. He attended a recent concert at Cuthbert Amphitheater and praised the venue. B. WORK SESSION: Interstate 5 Willamette River Bridge – Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Project Update Mr. Ruiz introduced Dick Upton, project manager for the ODOT Interstate 5 (I-5) bridge project. Mr. Upton said a crucial element of the project was the partnerships among ODOT, Eugene and Springfield. He used aerial photographs to illustrate the site and aspects of the project, provide an overview of the bridge design and demonstrate alignment of project components and sequence of construction. He anticipated that construction would be completed in 2012. He said the bridge structure would allow for three lanes in each direction, with the expectation that in the future that section of I-5 would be widened. He said the bridge structure was intended to last 100 years. He stressed that ODOT was working closely with several parks organizations to manage and mitigate impacts to the adjacent sections of Alton Baker Park. Ms. Piercy asked if local contractors were being used for the project and whether a stand of trees that buffered the bike path from I-5 would be preserved. Mr. Upton replied that the two primary contractors on the project for design and construction were local and the use of local subcontractors was being promoted. He said the highway needed to be widened in the section by 12 feet to the west and initial plans indicated that the slope would be cleared; however, during discussions with parks groups the importance of the trees MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 2 Work Session was emphasized and ODOT had an option to construct a wall at the top of the slope to accommodate the widening, thereby saving most, if not all, of the trees. The challenge was that there were no funds currently available for that option, estimated at $600-700,000. He said in the interim, while funding was identified; only trees that would be affected by construction of the wall would be removed. Mr. Poling commented that a wall had also been planned on the east side of the highway on Willamalane Park and Recreation District’s property, but Willamalane preferred a slope and perhaps the funds for that wall could be used for the west side of that section. Mr. Upton replied that the wall on the east side would actually be on ODOT property and was mandated by two federal permits. It would be necessary to convince the federal permitting agencies that a slope could be appropriately substituted for a wall and even if that occurred there would not be sufficient funds remaining for a wall on the east side. Mr. Poling commended ODOT for its public outreach regarding the project and efforts to respond to the interests and concerns of interested parties. He felt it was worth the effort to maintain the area in as natural a condition as possible and the council should indicate its wish to have the stand of trees preserved. Mr. Ruiz said staff would prepare language for a motion if that was the wish of the council. Ms. Piercy determined that councilors were in agreement with Mr. Poling’s suggestion. Ms. Taylor asked if the community had the ability to change the designed width of the bridge. Mr. Upton said that would not be possible at this point in the project, but although the bridge would have the capacity for three lanes in each direction in the future it would only be striped for two lanes when completed. Ms. Taylor asked if the temporary bridge would be removed. Mr. Upton replied that it would be removed and the beams salvaged for other projects. Ms. Taylor asked if there was controversy over the bridge design. Mr. Upton said the current configuration was popular. C. WORK SESSION: Downtown Outcomes Mr. Ruiz introduced Dr. Gary Manross from Strategy Research Institute to present the results of a recent survey on the level of public interest and support for downtown revitalization. He said the council’s collective statements developed in previous work sessions had begun to express expectations for downtown and the next step was to consider what projects and initiatives might help to achieve those expectations and the tools that were necessary, including the urban renewal district. He said the focus of the presentation was expectations, projects and initiatives, to be followed by a discussion of tools at a future work session. Dr. Manross explained the methodology used to conduct the survey and used a slide presentation to display the results. He said on a list of issues of local concern, economic development (jobs) topped the list and most people agreed that Eugene was a great community and they were happy to live there. He reviewed the results for questions related to the City’s budget, adequacy of public parks and open space, the need for urban renewal and more living wage jobs. He said over half of those surveyed were aware of plans to revitalize downtown, almost 90 percent regarded downtown development as important and 75 percent felt it should be made a priority. Continuing, Dr. Manross said the highest priority elements for downtown revitalization were expansion of Lane Community College’s downtown campus and a veterans’ medical clinic, followed by funds for MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 3 Work Session commercial building improvements and enhancements, an arts and entertainment district, park improvements and a civic center. Additional elements for downtown revitalization included adequate/free parking, greater police presence and ease regulations/incentives for businesses to move downtown and shops that sell what people need. In conclusion, Dr. Manross stated that 70 percent of respondents supported revitalization for economic development and over half supported the investment of public funds, particularly in a partnership with private investment. Mr. Brown noted that a similar survey last year ranked a subsidy for downtown economic development lowest. Dr. Manross said if the term “subsidy” was not explained, people had a negative reaction, but when they understood its use within the context of a plan for the downtown area they were more favorably inclined. Mr. Brown said he was pleased that attitudes toward the City’s budget had changed; with more respondents disagreeing there was waste in the budget. He felt that could be a result of the road projects being completed with bond funds. Mr. Clark asked what would be considered a base level of positive response in a survey for a levy in order to proceed with a levy measure. Dr. Manross said his company used a “go/no-go” model that resulted in accurate predictions of success of the ballot. He said a funding feasibility study would take all of the definite supporters, and half of the probable supporters, to calculate the likelihood of a measure passing. Mr. Clark felt that 53 percent of respondents supportive of subsidizing economic development was not a high enough percentage to predict success of a funding measure. Dr. Manross agreed and said the City would need to explain to the electorate a specific expenditure plan based on community priorities in order to gain enough support on the ballot. Mr. Clark said the City had gained credibility with voters by presenting a list of specific road projects to be funded with bond proceeds and would need to take a similar approach with downtown revitalization, although it would be challenging to identify specific projects that had wide support. He felt there would be greater public support for revitalization efforts related to removing regulatory barriers and improving public safety through a greater police presence. Dr. Manross agreed that public safety was very important to voters and he sensed there was also support for easing regulatory restrictions. He encouraged the council to present a package of revitalization strategies and not stop with the two or three top priority elements. Mr. Pryor said the survey was a valuable tool for informing decisions. The question of whether there was support for the strategies related to interest versus commitment. He said it was important to determine what the community was committed to doing and the City had done much to restore the public’s trust in a well- functioning government, as demonstrated in the survey. He was intrigued by the level of support for downtown revitalization and economic development and the council needed to spend time identifying the specific components of downtown development for which there would be a commitment. Dr. Manross noted that the survey was of high/moderate propensity voters, not a broad cross-section of the community. He said appropriate uses of the survey results were to help make informed decisions and to inform the public that a scientific survey was used to determine community interests. Ms. Solomon arrived at 6:55 p.m. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 4 Work Session In response to questions from Ms. Taylor, Dr. Manross said a random sample of 400 voters from across all eight wards was surveyed by telephone. He explained the techniques used to assure that people were willing to participate in the survey. He would provide a breakdown of survey results by ward. Ms. Piercy asked how the public/private partnership with respect to a civic center was defined. Dr. Manross said it was defined as “a civic center, including a campus designed as a public/private partnership where certain City offices would be relocated, combined with a blend of commercial and business entities in the private sector that thrive in a vibrant downtown environment.” Mr. Brown asked for a copy of the exact questions used in the survey. Mr. Pryor asked for a full report from the survey with cross-tabulation of results. Ms. Piercy said the council’s direction with the bond measure was to request a smaller amount for projects that could be completed over a shorter period of time, yet the advice with respect to downtown was to put together a larger package of priority elements. She asked if it made sense to try to complete a few things initially to gain trust. Dr. Manross said the issue was how it was presented to the voters and the council had already done that properly. The next critical step was to ask the public what it wanted based on the list of priorities identified in a scientific survey, rather than simply asking for more suggestions. Mr. Clark said the question regarding perception of waste in City government could be related to inefficien- cies, but he tended to see that as the expenditure of funds not matching someone’s priorities. Dr. Manross said that the public was generally cynical about government and most people did not understand that the City had little discretionary funding and how the municipal budget was constructed. He felt that more work was needed to better educate the voters about those issues. Mr. Ruiz stated that more detailed results from the survey would be provided and further discussion by the council would be scheduled. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 5 Work Session