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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 06/22/09 Meeting M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon June 22, 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 Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She announced that there would be two public forums for the purpose of garnering input on the possible move of the police facility. She said the first would be at 7:00 p.m. on June 23, in the Atrium Building, and the second would be at 7:00 p.m., on June 25, at the Sheldon Community Center. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the public forum. City Attorney Glenn Klein reminded those present that the Local Improvement District (LID) for Crest Drive/Storey Boulevard/Friendly Street could not be a subject of public forum testimony according to the council ground rules because it had been heard by the Hearings Official. Pauline Hutson , 1025 Taylor Street, read a statement written by Mr. Siekiel-Zdzienicki and her. She averred that the future of the Lane Transit District (LTD) depended on increasing ridership and, given that, ththth the choices of 6 and 7 Avenues and 7 Place would meet the need for more riders and needs created by planned future development along EmX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines on Highway 99 North and River Road. She recalled that the council had passed a resolution that extended the Multiple Unit Property Tax thth Exemption (MUPTE) into the areas of West 6 and 7 Avenues, including the Trainsong neighborhood. She said this created the possibility for the construction of housing projects with commercial space on the bottom floor and residential housing above, which she believed to be “a perfect opportunity for this kind of activity.” She felt the commercial properties on the avenues needed upgrading. She noted that a survey of the Whiteaker neighborhood had indicated that 21.5 percent of families in that neighborhood were living below poverty level and that 2,326 people with disabilities resided there. She stated that this created a large pool of “transportation disadvantaged persons.” She related that the group Residents for Responsible Rapid thth Transit (3RT) was promoting the idea that the next BRT line be located on the 6 and 7 Avenue corridor. Jozef Siekiel-Zdzienicki , 1025 Taylor Street, thanked the council for holding the public forum at its meetings. He asserted that LTD staff had admitted at its previous board meeting that staff had not “communicated enough” with the City and the public, based on a University of Oregon Community Planning Workshop survey. He urged the councilors to initiate and accommodate any sorts of discussion. He asserted that he was trying to bring out facts and LTD was accusing him of inflammatory rhetoric. Mr. Siekiel-Zdzienicki supported keeping the police facility on the south side of the river. He said one council goal was to revitalize the downtown area. He believed that moving the police force out of the downtown area was counter to that goal. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 1 Regular Meeting th Randy Stenerson , 159 East 15 Avenue, #9, Ward 3, stated that Lane County was taking steps to open more jail beds. He observed that in light of the ongoing problems in the downtown area, he was “looking forward to the police department making sure the space was well-utilized.” He recalled that one year earlier, th the City was discussing what to do with the site on the corner of 10 Avenue and Olive Street. He averred that the City now had, after 16 years and several failed development plans, a million dollar hole in the ground. He had proposed that the site be turned into a Eugene Library park but had since changed his mind. He had talked with several business owners in the City who felt this was a bad idea because they believed it would be a magnet for drug addicted people, alcoholics, and others. He said since then the Downtown Exclusion Ordinance had been put into effect and had changed the downtown area somewhat for the better. He suggested that instead of “moving hundreds of jobs out of the downtown” the council should put the police where they were needed and not “over by a country club that rarely causes problems.” He believed that the placement of the police facility on the site would leave half of the site to be made into a Eugene Library park. Joe Collins , P.O. Box 24411, continued to be irritated by the group of people who repeatedly attended council meetings to object to the Crest Drive LID. He agreed that they had the right to complain about having to “pay their fair share” for upgrading the road, but he objected to their “dominating City Council meeting after City Council meeting.” He found it “unseemly” that those who lived “in…splendid homes” should band together to “bully” the council. He opined that the wealthy people were trying to browbeat the councilors into submission. He asked that the council not be intimidated by them. He wanted to ensure that the residents there were treated no worse and no better than any other citizen. He also asked that Councilor Taylor recuse herself from the vote if she lived on one of the affected streets. Majeska Seese-Green , P.O. Box 1214, averred that she and others sent emails to the councilors and never seemed to get any response. She felt it was hard to know whether or not they were being read or whether they were at least “pretending like” they were listening. She had reviewed the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) and some of the minutes of Sustainability Commission meetings while they were working on the work plan. She understood that there was a point regarding neighborhood associations that had been in a draft but it had been removed. She encouraged the council to “somehow put it back in the work plan.” She said it had been deemed redundant to the commission because an earlier point in the work plan included communications and getting information to groups in the public. She opined that getting communications to the public was not the same as developing a relationship with them. She related that the point that had been deleted had to do with strengthening the relationship with neighborhood associations and the Neighborhood Leaders Council in order to help achieve joint sustainability outcomes. She believed that the work of the Sustainability Commission was “hard for a lot of members of the public to relate to,” but neighborhood associations were reporting a lot of interest in sustainability issues, particularly in relation to food production. She noted that there was a citywide committee of the Neighborhood Leaders Council that focused on sustainability. She wanted it added back into the work plan because it would “bridge the gap” between all of the community members who were not relating to the Sustainability Commission’s work and those who had “a lot of energy” for it. Mayor Piercy closed the public forum. Councilor Clark thanked those in attendance for coming. He assured Ms. Seese-Green that he read all of the emails that came to him. He apologized for those emails he was unable to respond to, noting that he received quite a few. Councilor Ortiz also assured her that she read all of her emails. She underscored that the work load for the job of councilor was immense, though that did not mean that people did not deserve a response. She thanked Ms. Seese-Green for bringing up the Sustainability Commission. She said she was in the process of MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 2 Regular Meeting interviewing candidates for her appointment to the Sustainability Commission. She felt it was easy for people to say that they would give things up and make the carbon footprint smaller, but it was a challenge to see how the Sustainability Commission could connect with a person who was coming from the other end of the socio-economic spectrum. She underscored the difficulty in focusing on what the best practices were when a person was focused on paying the rent and getting food on the table. Councilor Zelenka reiterated that the volume of emails was too great to respond to them all. He said he read them all. He also wanted to address one of the misconceptions of moving the police patrol facility. He stressed that there were not hundreds of police employees in the downtown area; they were all working different shifts and were out on patrol. He said there were only a few members of the administration and command staff that actually worked in the downtown area. Mayor Piercy stated that the Sustainability Commission had made an “enormous” effort to reach out to all groups in the community. She said one thing the Climate Masters Program had been doing was to reach out to families and some stimulus dollars were going to help people weatherize their houses. Councilor Taylor stated that she did not live on the streets in the LID that the council had as an action item on the agenda. She averred that her concern was with justice. Councilor Zelenka said he was the council liaison to the Sustainability Commission. He reiterated that the Sustainability Commission had a public outreach program and took very seriously the importance of getting the message regarding the work of the commission out to the public. He also noted that each member of the Sustainability Commission served as a liaison to numerous groups in the community in an effort to make the connections. 2. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - April 13, 2009, Work Session - April 22, 2009, Work Session - April 27, 2009, City Council Meeting - April 29, 2009, Work Session - May 18, 2009, Executive Session - May 18, 2009, Work Session - May 26, 2009, Executive Session - May 26, 2009, Work Session B. Approval to Tentative Working Agenda C. Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Minutes of May 20, 2009, and May 27, 2009 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to approve the Consent Calendar. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. 3. ACTION: Resolution 4980 Electing to Receive State Revenue Sharing Funds Pursuant to Section 221.770 of Oregon Revised Statutes; Resolution 4981 Certifying that the City of Eugene Provides the Munic- ipal Services Required by Oregon Revised Statutes Section 221.760 in Order to Receive State Shared Revenues; and Resolution 4982 Adopting the Budget, Making Appropriations, Determin- ing, Levying and Categorizing the Annual Property Tax Levy for the City of Eugene Ad Valorem for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2009, and Ending June 30, 2010 MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 3 Regular Meeting Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Resolution 4980 electing to receive State Revenue Sharing Funds pursuant to Section 221. 770 of Oregon Revised Statutes. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Resolution 4981 certify- ing that the City of Eugene provides the municipal services required by Oregon Revised Statutes Section 221.760 in order to receive state shared revenues. Roll call vote; the mo- tion passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Resolution 4982 adopting the budget, making appropriations, determining, levying and categorizing the annual Ad Va- lorem Property Tax Levy for the City of Eugene for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2010, with the following amendment:  That it shall reduce the operating appropriation for Public Works in the Road Fund (131) by $900,000 to $9,157,594. City Manager Jon Ruiz explained that the amendment sought to subtract the anticipated garbage hauler surcharge out of the budget as the council motion to institute the surcharge had failed. Councilor Zelenka asked if there was a list of specific projects that would be postponed. Executive Director of the Public Works Department Kurt Corey responded that they did not have a specific list. He said the amount appropriated from the Facilities Reserve was $1 million and the Road Fund was approximately $860,000 out of balance. He stated that the department would not have generated a specific project list until it was known what funding would be made available. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council and convened a meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency at 7:55 p.m. 4. ACTION: Resolution 1052 of the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene Adopting the Budget, Mak- ing Appropriations, and Declaring the Amount of Tax to be Received for the Fiscal Year Begin- ning July 1, 2009, and Ending June 30, 2010 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Resolution 1052 of the Urban Renewal Agency for the City of Eugene adopting the budget, making appropriations, and declaring the amount of tax to be received for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2010. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency and reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council at 7:56 p.m. 5. ACTION: Resolution 4983 adopting a Supplemental Budget; Making Appropriations for the City of Eugene for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2008, and Ending June 30, 2009 Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Resolution 4983 adopting a supplemental budget; making appropriations for the City of Eugene for the fiscal year be- MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 4 Regular Meeting ginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2009. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanim- ously, 8:0. City Manager Jon Ruiz expressed appreciation on behalf of City staff for the work of the Mayor, City Council, and Budget Committee. He commended Budget Committee chair John Barofsky, for his leadership. He also commended Finance Division Director Dee Ann Raile, and Budget Manager Kitty Murdoch and the Finance Division staff who had put months of work in on the budget. Mayor Piercy echoed Mr. Ruiz’s appreciation for the work of City staff, and the work of the Budget Committee. Councilor Ortiz also thanked all of the City staff. She said it would be a challenging year and it seemed that they were doing a good job of bringing the City through “some rough times.” She acknowledged everyone for the cuts they were making. Councilor Zelenka thanked everyone for the hard work put into the budget. He commended staff for finding almost $12 million in cuts to the budget. He remarked that the General Fund was “in a world of hurt” and reiterated his appreciation for the sacrifices made. Mayor Piercy observed that the City was facing a lot of fiscal uncertainty. She felt the budget process had been a demonstration of working together to get through the times. 6. ACTION: Approval of Minutes, Findings, and Recommendations from the Hearings Official and Adoption of Resolution 4984 Forming a Local Improvement District for Paving, Constructing Curbs, Side- walks, Medians, Street Lights, Stormwater Drainage and Water Quality Facilities on Crest Drive from Blanton Road to Lincoln Street, Storey Boulevard from Crest Drive to Lorane Highway, th and Friendly Street from Lorane Highway to 28 Avenue (Job #4546) City Engineer, Mark Schoening, stated that he had prepared a memorandum to the council that outlined the three recommendations to help mitigate the impact of assessments on the three LID projects, Chad Drive/Old Coburg Road, Maple Street/Elmira Road, and Crest Drive/Storey Boulevard/Friendly Street. He reviewed the three options: 1. Use the $500,000 in funds that had already been appropriated but were not needed by the City for the Crest Drive project, because of low bids received, to reduce assessments for all three projects by approximately 13 percent; 2. The City Code stipulates a 10-year payment period for those who finance assessments through the City – but the payment period could be extended to 15 years; 3. The City Manager could revisit the administrative order to possibly amend it to tie the interest rate, currently at eight percent, more closely to the market rate. Councilor Zelenka asked why it would not be fair to allocate the $500,000 savings only to the Crest Drive LID. Mr. Schoening replied that for the Maple Street and Chad Drive LIDs, which had also been bid at lower amounts than anticipated, the City’s portion of the funding was from SDCs which could not be used to reduce assessments. He underscored that the intent was to be fair and equitable to all three projects. Councilor Ortiz agreed that the distribution should be fair and equitable. She ascertained from Mr. Schoening that Maple Street and Elmira Road were classified as neighborhood collectors and Chad Drive was classified as a major collector. She said those streets had “taken a hit” in being classified thusly, whereas the Crest Drive area had not. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 5 Regular Meeting Mayor Piercy noted that citizens were questioning why the City’s portion of the funding was discounted by a larger fraction than the residents’ assessment portion. Mr. Schoening reiterated that the funds that would have been used by the City were not fungible and could not be used for other purposes. He explained that the reductions in those particular areas could not be utilized to offset the assessments to the area residents. When the bids came in lower in a number of areas, the assessments to the residents and the costs to the City were reduced by different amounts. At Mr. Ruiz’ suggestion, Mr. Schoening reviewed the table delineating the funding sources for the City’s share of costs contained in the memorandum entitled Crest Drive/Storey Boulevard/Friendly Street Local Improvement District dated June 22, 2009, and the reductions to them that the lower bidding environment had brought about. Councilor Taylor indicated her preference to take the entire $500,000 and apply it to offset the Crest Drive area assessments. She understood that there was not enough council support to do so. She asked if there were not a greater number of people in the Crest Drive/Storey Boulevard area that could only access their residences via those streets but who did not have to pay the assessments. Mr. Schoening responded that this was correct. Councilor Taylor construed that this meant that those residents were paying more for the benefit of other people than residents in the other projects. Mr. Schoening said if one considered that the people who benefited were the people who traveled the road, one could construe that the Elmira Road/Maple Street area residents were providing this benefit to a greater number of people than the Crest Drive area residents. Councilor Taylor clarified that she was referring to the number of people who could only access their residences via area streets. She said this was why she thought the Crest Drive LID should receive all of the money to offset assessments. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to approve the Hearings Official’s Minutes, Findings, and Recommendations of June 8, 2009. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 7:1; Councilor Clark voting in opposition. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt Resolution 4984 forming a Local Improvement District for paving, constructing curbs, sidewalks, medians, street lights, stormwater drainage and water quality facilities on Crest Drive from Blanton Road to Lincoln Street, Storey Boulevard from Crest Drive to Lorane Highway, and Friendly th Street from Lorane Highway to 28 Avenue (Job # 4546). Councilor Taylor indicated she would vote for the motion despite her concern for the people who had to pay the amount of money they were going to be assessed. She averred that there were some people who could not afford the assessment and there were other people who were strongly supportive of moving the project forward, but were not being assessed. She said it was urgent that the streets get repaired and she understood that it would cost substantially more if the project was delayed a year. She related that if they waited until the council had a chance to change the method of payment, she could not be sure that any substantial changes would take place. She noted that she had been assured by some people who lived in that area that they would be willing to help defray the cost though they were not being directly assessed. She said donations to the project would be tax deductible. She hoped that some people would consider making such donations. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 6 Regular Meeting In response to a question from Councilor Taylor, Mr. Schoening stated that the assessments would come due in early 2011, upon completion of the project. Councilor Pryor ascertained from Mr. Schoening that the payments and the interest would be established at that point. Mr. Schoening said the change in the interim interest rate would be something they would seek to initiate now before the first project came back before the council as an assessment ordinance. He noted that the Maple Street/Elmira Road and Chad Drive projects would come back before the council as assessment ordinances in early 2010. Councilor Pryor supported moving the LID forward. He hoped they could find ways to be as flexible and to create as few hardships on people as possible. Councilor Poling said this had been a project that had gone on for a number of years and the people who were affected had been aware of the implications of the LID “from the get-go.” He emphasized that it had been a decision that had come from a great deal of public involvement that had changed the project from a collector to a local street which had, in turn, changed the funding mechanism and raised the assessment. He agreed that the assessment policy needed to be changed, but the current policy had been used before. He related that the current assessments were in the “ball park figure” of most of the other LIDs that had transpired to date. He indicated that he would reluctantly support the motion, adding that he hoped the council could change the assessment policy. Councilor Zelenka pointed out that the change in interest could be enacted administratively. Roll call vote; the motion passed, 7:1; Councilor Clark voting in opposition. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to direct the City Manager to re- duce the combined assessable costs for the Maple Street/Elmira Road, Chad Drive/Old Co- burg Road and Crest Drive/Storey Boulevard/Friendly Street improvement projects by $500,000 with the intent of reducing the assessments for each of the projects by the same percentage and with the reduced assessments reflected in the assessment ordinances for each project. Councilor Taylor reiterated her preference to have it allocated only to the Crest Drive area assessments. Councilor Ortiz asked if the council could move the money “anywhere.” Mr. Schoening responded that a portion of the money had come from County Road Funds and could be used for any transportation purpose. The same was true for the Delayed Assessment Fund. He explained that the Road Fund was restricted to public right-of-way. Councilor Ortiz remarked that if she had the votes she would move to place the funding into potholes. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to include an option for a 15-year payment period in the assessment ordinances. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimous- ly, 8:0. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved to direct the City Manager to continue to look for additional mechanisms or revenue sources for reducing the assessable MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 7 Regular Meeting cost of the Crest Drive project and to bring back to the council any new mechanisms that he or staff identified. Councilor Ortiz offered a friendly amendment to include the Maple Street/Elmira Road and Chad Drive/Old Coburg Road projects. Councilor Taylor accepted the friendly amendment, as did the second to her motion. Councilor Clark understood that the policy could not be altered. He asked where such funds could be found. Mr. Ruiz replied that he would ask staff to see what sources or mechanisms were there. Councilor Pryor said he would support it because it would not tie anyone’s hands; rather, it would ask staff to “keep [their] eyes open” for other funding mechanisms. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Piercy acknowledged that the project had been a “huge issue” for many people and that some would be satisfied by the council’s approval of the LID and some would not. The meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Jon Ruiz Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 22, 2009 Page 8 Regular Meeting