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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 05/11/09 MeetingMINUTES Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon May 11, 2009 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Ditty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order at 7:36 p.m. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Carol Berg -- Caldwell, 2510 Augusta Street, invited the councilors to attend a. town hall on tasers, to be held on May 21, in the Training Room of the Eugene water & Electric Board (EWEB). She said panelists would share their views and there would be questions and answers with the audience. She noted that the panel included James Salisbury, father of Ryan Salisbury -- a young man who was shot and killed by police officers responding to a call for help from the family. She greatly respected Mr. Salisbury for his willingness to share his personal tragedy with the community and to provide input. She hoped the Police Chief or another Eugene Police Department (EPD) designee would attend. She noted that Police Commissioner Juan Carlos Valle had indicated that he would attend. She provided copies of the flier for the event to the council. Maritza Herrera, 2583 Park View, stated that she was a resident of North Eugene. She requested that there be a park for the area. She said when she took her dog for a walk she had to drive to Alton Baker Park or to Armitage g Park, which cost $3. She related that her fiancee loved to play soccer and had to-drive south to do so. She understood that land had been purchased for parks in South Eugene, but parks were really needed in North Eugene. Margaret Thumel, P.G. Box 1966, had been recently annoyed by some of the things that the City of Eugene was doing and proposing. She objected to spending $6.2 million on a bicycle flyover from willagillespie Road over an abandoned quarry and freeway. She opined that the idea of charging a fee to garbage collectors was "hare- brained." She called this a"phantom tax" for the City to repair potholes. She had been galled by the request for matching funds from the City of Eugene, available for the project from Systems Development Charges (SDCs),' for a skate park. She averred that she did not know where the councilors lived or "which reality zone"' they were in, but she considered these types of decisions to be irresponsible. She asserted that the number one responsibility of the council was public safety. She alleged that the City had the lowest per capita amount of police officers in the nation; it was not uncommon for the City of Eugene to have only five off cers on duty at one time. She observed that Lane County Jail was letting felons out guided by a matrix based on the dangers the felons posed to the community, rather than a time matrix. She asked the councilors when they had last done a ride -along with a sergeant of EPD during -a regular shift. She . asked the council to forget the skate park and the "other tidbits" and prioritize public safety first. Erik Humphrey, 777 High Street, Suite 120, Vice President of the Eugene Police Employees Association (EPEA), indicated that he was providing testimony specifically under the guise. of Eugene Code (EC) 2.400(2) to file an official complaint against a City Council, employee, interim Police Auditor Dawn Reynolds. He stated that in MINUTES Eugene City Council May 11; 2009 Page 1 Regular Meeting accordance with EC 2.400(l), he filed an official complaint against Ms. Reynolds on April 10, 2009, in his capacity as an Executive Board member of the EPEA on behalf of the EPEA President. He had been notified by City Attorney Tenn Klein that the initial determination of the complaint was that it fell outside the scope of the council's formal complaint process. He averred that Mr. Klein's conclusion was that the complaint involved an allegation of misconduct but was not one that involved a violation of federal, state, or local laws. Because of this, he said, the council, would not take further action under EC 2.400 through 2.412. He had been perplexed by this finding and the council's lack of action. He asserted that the complaint dealt with retaliatory measures against the EPEA president due to his union affiliation. He asked how they could know for a fact that no violation of the laws had occurred without a formal and professional investigation into the evidence. He stated that the process had apparently come to an end and he was now before the council in accordance with EC 2.400(2) which stated that any complaints that do not allege a violation of law shall not be considered by the council as part of this process but may be presented by a complainant- to the City Council at its Public Forum. He asked the council to please consider his presentation as a formal complaint of an allegation of misconduct against interim Police Auditor, Dawn Reynolds, under EC 2.400(2). He provided the specific complaint in writing. He thanked the council for its time in dealing with the matter. Michael Quillin, 2735 Kismet Way, Ward S, expressed dismay that the Police Chief had decided to adopt a taser policy. He believed it was premature to make this decision without having consulted with the Police Commission and the public at large. He opined that this was akin to the former chief s determination that no misconduct had occurred when a protester.had been Lased while allegedly resisting arrest in 2008. He reiterated the invitation to the town hall meeting on tasers. Randy Prince, P.G. Box 927, requested that the City conduct a thorough review of zoning in light of new hazard information that may have been received over the preceding ten years. He said the relevance of this had to do with how they might acquire the Beverly property and what it might cost. He felt that it would also call to question how legally defensible the siting of critical facilities might be if they were in flood zone areas that were not developable before the dams had been constructed; dams, he asserted were now recognized to be ' seismically "under - engineered." He believed the Goal 7 process was required for the City. He averred that "after some landslides killed people in Oregon," the legislature revised Goal 7 so that when new hazard information came in, the zoning was to be "looked at." He said Part B of the law included a description of how the state was supposed to collect the information and then order counties to do things. He alleged that the state had never done this and the Legislature had held hearings to find out why this was not happening. He.believed that if information was Known, the City would be required to follow the goals in Part A. He asserted that the Beverly property was in a landslide zone and, should be rezoned. Zachary Vishanoff, Ward 3, said a public hearing on the "big G" on Autzen Stadium was being held at 1:00 p.m. on May 13. He related that someone had challenged it, adding "more power to them." He opined that the `G' was too big and was not legal. He appreciated that the hearing had been added to the Public Meetings Calendar. He asked if Councilor Clark would be available on July 10 or July 17 to participate in a City Club discussion on the possible use of the EWEB headquarters building as a City Hall. He indicated that he would welcome participation from the other councilors or the Mayor as well. Mayor'Piercy closed the Public Forum. Councilor Ortiz thanked everyone for sharing their thoughts. She indicated that she had gone on a police ride- along and had also participated in the Citizens Police Academy. She encouraged all of her colleagues to do the same, adding that she wished the councilors could learn about all City services in the same way. Councilor Clark agreed that North Eugene needed more parks. He said he also had participated in the citizen's academy during his tenure on the Police Commission. He had gone on a ride -along but believed he should go on another. Regarding Mr. Humphrey's official complaint, he asked the City Manager to suggest the next responsible steps having heard the complaint based on the ordinance. MINUTES Eugene City Council May 11, 2009 Page 2 Regular Meeting Mr. Klein requested the opportunity to get back to the council in writing g with some options. He interpreted the code as having provided a formal process for.filxng certain kinds of complaints , 3 . • y p nts and then, as a catch ail, If something did not fall within that parameter it was not covered b y the p rocess. Councilor Clark said he had been "intrigued" by how eve complaint against every p g �nst an officer was required to be investigated, but other types of complaints were not often investigated. • duality. - g He asked legal counsel to comment on this Councilor Clark indicated that he was willing to speak at the Cit Club. - p t 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - March 9, 2009, City Council Meeting March 11, 2009, Work Session B. Approval to Tentative Working Agenda C. Adoption of Resolution 4973 Authorizing an Electric Utility S ystem • ty y Line of Credit Agreement in the Aggregate Principal Amount of Not to Exceed Forty-Six Million T • � Thr Hundred and Fifty- Five Tho usand Dollars ($46,355,000) for the Purpose of Financin and Ref nanci for g ng the Hary Wind Project and Providing g Related Matters D. Adoption of Resolution 4974 Authorizing the Electric Utility S ystem ty y em Refunding revenue Bonds in the Aggregate Principal Amount of No to Exceed Forty-Six Million • � Three Hundred and Fi Five Thousand Dollars ($46,355,000) for the Purpose and Refinancing Wind Project and Providing or � of Financing g the Harvest g Related Matters E. Approval of Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Pro . p g gram F. Adoption of Resolution 4975 Annexing Land to the City. f Eugene . � g ne Site/County Farm Road Annexation I A 09 -1) G. Initiation of Metro Plan Amendment to Return River Ridge/Jeffries dgelJeffrz Property to Low-Density Residential H. Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Minutes - 2009 of April 1, 2009, .and April $, Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved approval of the . pp Consent Calendar, Councilor Zelenka pulled Item E. Roll call vote; the motion to approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Item E was ap- proved unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Zelenka indicated that he had pulled Item E, approval of a Homelessness melessness Prevention and Raped Re_ Housing Program because he felt it deserved to be talked about. - Stephanie Jennings, Grants Manager for the Community Development Iii notified �' p Division explained that the C • ity had been that it would be receiving federal funds for homelessness revention a would help p a nd rapid re- housing. She said the p rog r am p people facing financial challenges remain in their homes as well as help in p g the City address growing homelessness within the community. She related that there had been a 25 percent increase in the one - night homelessness count and there had been a significant increase in unemployment. She believed that the funding would make a difference in the number of households who were ' experiencing critical needs at this time. She stated that the City would be partnering with Lane County, noting that sol in homeless tY� g t the County had also $700,000 Hess and rapid re- housing funds. MINUTES Eugene City Council May I y 1, 2009 Page 3 Regular Meeting Councilor Zelenka also , wished to comment an Items C and D. He observed that EWEB was purchasin wind power, making it one of the greenest utilities in the country. g Mayor Piercy noted that Item E would not and address the crisis - . co �' �s�s at hand, but was �n line with doing due - dill diligence far following c o u ncil goals. g Roll call vote; Item E, approval of the Homelessness Prevention • unanimously, 8 :0. txon and Rapid Re- housing Program, was passed 3, ACTION: Ratification of Unanimous Intergovernmental g mental Relations Committee Actions and Discussion and Actin Non - unanimous Intergovernmental Relations Committ non ee Act�vns on Legislative Policy from April 29 and May 6, 2009 Councilor Zelenka explained that Senate Bill (SB) 719 was a bill that would provide no- interest loans from a revolving loan fund it would establish to help finance eligible infrastructure projects in urban growth boundary as. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark moved to a . adopt the staff recommended position of Priori 2 Support for Senate Bill 719.' Intergovernmental Relations Manager, Brenda Wilson noted that two other bills had not received unanimous support by the Intergovernmental Relations Committee CCIGR bu . ther of them had deadline � � t ned made it act the dead bi . She stated that the bill in question would establish the revolving 11 Iving fund, funding it from the issuance of lottery bonds from the State. She reported that the bill was moving and was currently in the Joint Ways and Means Committee. She said Councilor Taylor moved to change the � ' . failed. g pas�t�on to Priority 2 Oppose and the motion had .Mayor Piercy retailed that the bill had to do with expansions . p s #hat were already underway in the Portland area. Ms. , Wilson confirmed this, noting that the mane would also be a • y available to other cities, should they choose to expand their Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs). P Councilor Brown agreed with Councilor Taylor. He felt the ' Y - bill was premature, given that there had been no atibil discussion of an expansion of the UGB in Eu the o ' � P pulat� ene g on study had yet to be completed, and the buildable y was also not done. He also pointed out that the Infill Com P ' ty Standards and Opp Siting work was not yet tom q o rtun ity land curve feted. He likened ened it to sitting at a table for a feast that had y et to occur. Councilor Zelenka observed that the money would come from the Economic Development Department in the form of no- Interest loans. He noted that the State was rennin a deficit g f cat budget and questioned whether the move would be there. He also asked what sort of eligible infrastructure r - y p o�ects the loans would pay for. Ms. Nilson replied that the fund would be set up and administered b the Economic P Y om�c Development Department, but the mane for the fund would come from the sale of state lottery bonds. She said lone bands y transportation in �5' funded a wide variety of projects including trans P infrastructure, and water projects. She stated that SB 719 w . 15 after w as 1n committee; the economic forecast would be received on May which the Joint Ways and Means Committee would release get. She explained that this would be the benchmark the would its bud Y use to determine whether any of the bonds before it would be funded. She said, at present, when a local goverment expanded its UGB ' p � z# would not have the funds to invest in beginning infrastructure because the fees that pay for those projects had not et been aid. Y p In response to a follow -up question from Councilor Zelenka ' Ms. Wilson stated that other communities that had such projects planned included Gresham, several cities in Washington County, Wlsonvlle, and a cou ie of other central Oregon cities. P MINUTES Eugene City Council May 11, 2009 Page 4 Regular Meeting Councilor Poling wished to point out that the bill did not sp to the expansion of . a ' • P p UGB, �t only provided cities an additional tool in the event that an expansion of the UGB was necessary. He averred ' �'Y that the no- interest loan could be a viab tool for any community. Councilor Clark understood that it would be accurate to say hat some cities were under r a requirement, due to growth, to expand a UGB. He said when a city had to expand the UGB and had to rovide p the infrastructure to do so, the bill would provide a mechanism to pay for it out of a loan from state funds rather than having to cut local programs in order to afford the requirement. Ms. Wilson responded'that this was "one way o look at ' " Y �t. Councilor ,Taylor asked what the interest rate on the loans would be. Ms. Wilson replied ied that the interest rate was zero: Councilor Taylor asked where the money would go if it did not o into the loans. Ms. g Wilson responded that the bonds had not been sold yet; the bill would authorize the state to sell the bonds. • She noted that, theoretically, the state had a finite amount of bonds that it could sell. Councilor Taylor commented that this was a far lower interest rate than what ea le p p paying street assessments were charged by the City. Councilor Zelenka was worried about unintended consequences. Ms. Wilson replied ' p that �t would provide communities who wished to expand their UGBs, or Who were forced to do so additional resources. She thought it could provide an incentive for those communities that were thinking bout expanding g p g their UGBs, but did not have the financial resources to develop the infrastructure at the beginning of the expansion. g g p on. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 5:3; councilors Brown, Taylor, and Zelenka voting opposition. Y gin opposlt�on. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to ratify he Inter overnmen ' fY g tai Commit- tee's unanimous actions on bills and approval of staff recommendations in the April 29 and �, 2009 Inter overnmental Re P � May , g Relations Bill Reports for bills not pulled for discussion at those Inter- governmental Relations Committee meetings. Roll call vote; the motion assed unanimousl y, s.a. 4. ACTION: Appointment to Civilian Review Board Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to appoint Tim Laue top Position 4 on the pP osi Civilian Review Board, the unexpired term of John Norton Cabell for a term ending 3 1, 2009. . � on October Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to substitute Marisa Men - Mendoza for Posy tion 4. Roll call vote; the motion failed, 6:2; councilors Brown and Taylor voting g in favor. Roll call vote; the main motion passed, 7: l ; Councilor Taylor votin g PP in opposition. 5. ACTION: Ratification of the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission FY10 Regional Wastewater Program Budget and Capital Improvements Program Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to ratify FYI Metropolitan politan Waste - water Management Commission Budget. Councilor Brown asked how the departure of Hynix Semiconductor Inc, had impacted ' } p d the Metropolitan Wastewa- ter Management Commission (MSMC). Lori Davis, Business Manager for the Wastewater ' g ter D�visxon, explained that Hynix had been the largest industrial user and its departure had caused a large P g drop in revenue. MINUTES —Eugene City Council May l l 2009 Regular Meeting Y � Page 5 Councilor Zelenka asked Ms. Davis to explain the rationale behind the 18 percent increase. Ms. Davis replied that it was primarily to cover the 20 -year facility plan, funded through the bond. She pointed out that the facility plan had been put into place to meet regulatory requirements. In response to a follow -up question from Councilor Zelenka, Ms. Davis confirmed that a small portion of the increase was likely caused by the loss. of Hynix. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. 6. ACTION: Resolution 4976 Authorizing a Contingent Loan Agreement to Secure a Borrowing .by Lane Council of Governments Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adapt Resolution 4976 authorizing a Contingent Loan Agreement to secure a borrowing by Lane Council of Governments. Councilor Zelenka asked for an explanation of what the agreement was for and what the City's liability would be. Sue Cutsogeorge, Financial Analysis Manager for the Finance Division, stated that the resolution would authorize a contingent Ivan agreement with the City and the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG). She said LCGG was borrowing money for improvements planned for the Park Place Building, recently purchased by LCGG. She explained that LCGG had been caught "between a rock and a hard place," as the project's costs had increased and when they went to borrow money for it the bottom had fallen out of the credit market. She related that the resolution would help them to obtain the loan by saying the City would guarantee payments on the loan, in the event that was needed. She added that LCGG would create a reserve equal to one year of payments when the loan closed. She said as long as LCGG made the payments on time, the City would do nothing; if a payment was missed, the money would be drawn from the reserve and the City would replenish the reserve, to be paid back with interest by LCGG. She confirmed that in the worst case scenario, if LCGG could not make -the payments, the City would be "on the hook" for the loan. She stated that the loan was a 10 -year loan at approximately $70,000 per year and the City would take a position on some real estate that LCGG owned as security. Councilor Zelenka ascertained that the total amount of the loan was $550,000. Councilor Brown asked what was being used as collateral. Ms. Cutsogeorge responded that equity in the Park Place Building and the Schaefer's Building was being offered as collateral. She noted thata the City would be in second position on both buildings; the equity being offered in collateral was in excess of the loan amount. In response to a follow -up question from Councilor Brown, Ms. Cutsogeorge estimated the amount the City paid to LCGG in dues to be between $60,000 and $50,000. Councilor Brown asked what the money was for and the "worst possible thing" that would happen if the City did not help LCGG attain financing. Ms. Cutsogeorge responded that the money was for refurbishing the space for LCGG's tenants. She said LCGG would have to pay for the work itself if it could not get a loan, and this would create an issue with its auditor, Jones & Roth. Councilor Taylor opined that the City would be taking a chance with taxpayers' money. Councilor Pryor stated that he sat on the LCGG Board and had looked into the resolution in detail. He noted that LCGG had done this before; the County had acted as guarantor when LCGG purchased the Schaefer's Building. He underscored his belief that the City would be guaranteeing a loan that LCGG could repay. He averred that the co I lateral ization of both buildings made the City's exposure minimal, as LCCG's assets were better than what would be needed to cover the loan. He underscored that the bank was requiring a guarantor because of the current economic climate. He added that the building was an asset to the downtown. MINUTES Eugene City Council May 11, 2009 Page 6 Regular Meeting Councilor Clark stressed that he meant no disrespect to LCOG. He had received a number of comments from constituents. He understood that LCOG had bought the building for $6 million, but could. have bought it for $3 million a couple of years earlier and now wanted to make another $2 million in improvements to it. He was challenged to guarantee the loan when it seemed "extravagant." Councilor Zelenka asked Ms. Cutsogeorge to explain how spending the money would cause problems with LCOG's auditor. Ms. Cutsogeorge responded that LCOG would receive an audit finding on their annual audit report. Bob Swank, Associate Director of LCOG, explained that the audit finding that LCOG could potentially face would be that its reserves and its general fund had been reduced to possibly a negative or very low number. He underscored that the loan guarantee was not for a loan to pay for extravagance and that it had come from the economic climate; costs had gone up and LCOG had not been able to get a loan on its own. He stated that the reason LCOG needed to retain its general fund reserves was that it used those funds to make matching, funds for "all kinds of grants, many of which would potentially relate to the City of Eugene." Roll Call vote; the vote was a tie, 4:4; councilors Poling, Ortiz, Pryor, and Zelenka voting in favor and councilors Brown, Taylor, Clark, and Solomon voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy voted in favor of the resolution and it passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz l C- City Manager (Recorded by Rath Atcherson) MINUTES Eugene City Council May 11, 2009 Page 7 Regular Meeting