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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 07/11/11 Work SessionMINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon July 11, 2011 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the July 11, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. ACTION: Police Auditor Compensation The council was joined by Police Auditor Mark Gissiner. Human Resources Director Alana Holmes and Compensation Specialist Denise Smith were also present for the item. Ms. Smith recalled the council's June 22 evaluation of Mr. Gissiner's performance as Police Auditor. The council was being asked to consider his compensation at this meeting. Ms. Smith asked the council to consider a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Mr. Gissiner as well as a step increase. She noted that Mr. Gissiner was currently at Step 4 of a six -step compensation schedule. Mayor Piercy solicited council questions and comments. Mr. Brown asked about the average Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the City's bargaining units. City Manager Jon Ruiz indicated the Eugene Police Employees Association (EPEA) received a COLA of 2.1 percent; the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) received a COLA of 2 percent; the International Association of Theater and Stage Employees (IATSE) received a COLA of 2 percent; and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) received no COLA. Mr. Brown concluded that the proposed COLA of 2.05 percent was generally in line with that received by other City employees. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to approve a 2.05 percent COLA effective July 1, 2011. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mr. Zelenka indicated his satisfaction with Mr. Gissiner's work and said he supported a step increase. Ms. Ortiz also expressed satisfaction with Mr. Gissiner's work and supported a step increase. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Brown, moved to adjust the Police Auditor's compensation to Step 5 effective June 29, 2011. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 1 Work Session B. WORK SESSION: Update on the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and Transportation System Plan The council was joined by Transportation Planning Manager Rob Inerfeld and Senior Transportation Planner Kurt Yeiter of the Public Works Department, who provided a PowerPoint presentation updating the council on the status of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan (BPMP) and the Transportation System Plan (TSP). Mr. Inerfeld described the public involvement done for the BPMP, which included the formation of advisory and technical committees, open houses, and a Web site. He overviewed the plan contents, highlighting the proposed capital projects. He noted that many of the capital projects were facility types not previously built in Eugene but were designed in a manner to facilitate bicycle use using physical separation or lesser traveled streets. Mr. Inerfeld shared examples of some of the facilities contemplated in the plan, which included access ways, bicycle boulevards, buffered bicycle lanes, cycle tracks, shared lane markings or "sharrows," and grade separated crossings. He reported that the plan also recommended nine feasibility studies of potential bicycle infrastructure improvements as well as some development code revisions. Mr. Inerfeld concluded the update on the BPMP by reviewing next steps in the process, which included additional outreach and council initiation of an amendment to the TSP to reflect the new capital project list. He invited questions. Mr. Poling asked about the origins of the projects on the project list. Mr. Inerfeld said the BPMP project list was a product of public input and a "cycle zone" analysis that considered density, topography, and zoning to determine where investments in bicycle infrastructure would most encourage bicycling. Mr. Poling asked if the City would do bicycle traffic counts to evaluate route use. Mr. Inerfeld said yes, adding that the City counted bicycles each spring using volunteers, and he hoped to do such counts in the fall as well. Staff was also looking into ways to automate the counts using counters integrated into the infrastructure. Mr. Poling asked if there would be community education on the proper use of sharrows. Mr. Inerfeld said yes. He noted that lanes were designed to show cyclists where to best position themselves on the road. He did not anticipate sharrows would be installed on streets with a high volume of traffic. Mayor Piercy encouraged staff to provide information about sharrows to the media. Mr. Brown asked where sharrows would be installed. Mr. Inerfeld said projects included Broadway and Willamette Street through downtown and High Street north of 5"' Avenue. Mr. Brown suggested that education about sharrows should be directed at motorists as he believed bicyclists would quickly grasp how the facilities worked. Ms. Ortiz observed that none of the examples of bicycle infrastructure improvements shared by staff were in the Whiteaker or Trainsong neighborhoods where bicycle use was extensive. She asked staff to consider a connection from the Bethel area via Barger Drive to the bicycle path on Bethel Drive. Ms. Ortiz hoped the bicycle improvements for Blair Boulevard were built soon. Ms. Ortiz said Maxwell Road included a bicycle facility but it was frequently blocked by parked vehicles. Additionally, the bicycle lane was very narrow as it traveled over the Maxwell Road overcrossing at the railroad tracks. She encouraged staff to consider improvements in such areas, where bicycles were less MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 2 Work Session used and where such improvements might encourage bicycling. Mr. Inerfeld said staff proposed bicycle improvements on North Park Avenue in recognition of how challenging it was to bicycle through that area. He said there were many improvements proposed for the areas mentioned by Ms. Ortiz. Mayor Piercy encouraged staff to provide the council with a more focused look at the facility improvements planned for the Bethel area. Mr. Farr said the Bethel area was linked to downtown through a bicycle connection from Terry Street, but that connection was out of the way, causing people to use less safe routes such as Highway 99. He acknowledged the improvements that had been made in the area but continued to advocate for better, more direct connections between Bethel and downtown and for improved access for Bethel residents to the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Trail. Mr. Inerfeld assured Mr. Farr that staff attempted to create a bicycle network for the entire city; the challenge was getting the system funded and built. Mr. Farr noted the challenge of reaching downtown from the Bethel area by either car or bicycle and advocated for improved access for all modes. Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Inerfeld said that the American Community Survey indicated that Eugene had the highest percentage of bicycle commuters (about 11 percent) in the country. Mr. Zelenka asked about plans to improve connectivity to the Laurel Hill Valley and if there was a way to access the river across the railroad tracks in that area. Mr. Inerfeld reported there was a proposed project that followed the alignment of the I -5 off -ramp to the Laurel Hill Valley as well as a proposed path at the south end of the valley to connect to the Lane Community College basin. In addition, ODOT planned to widen the sidewalk on the south side of Franklin Boulevard between Walnut Street and Judkins Point. He said the Oregon Department of Transportation looked into that possibility of river access in conjunction with the 1 -5 /Willamette River Bridge and found there was insufficient clearance to create a path. Mr. Zelenka suggested the frontage road would be a good opportunity for a separated lane due to the high speed vehicles traveled when leaving the freeway. Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Inerfeld said the City was using green thermoplastic paint markings to draw motorists' attention to conflict zones where bicyclists had the right -of -way. Mr. Zelenka asked the percentage breakdown for spending on bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Mr. Inerfeld did not have that information with him but said he could provide it. He asked if Mr. Zelenka was referring to discretionary dollars. Mr. Zelenka suggested the information would be most useful at the metropolitan planning organization level, although he was also interested in the City's expenditures. He recalled that the City Council directed five percent of the street preservation bond to bicycle facilities. Mr. Inerfeld said some street preservation projects funded by the bond included striping for bicycle paths where previously there had been none. He cited l Avenue as an example. Mr. Zelenka called staff's attention to a conflict area where the bicycle path crossed 19'' Avenue at High Street. Ms. Taylor asked what the City was doing in regard to bicycle theft, which was a serious problem. Mr. Inerfeld said the City offered bicycle registration to help track stolen bicycles for recovery and education on how to properly lock a bicycle. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 3 Work Session Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Inerfeld did not think the intersection at 12 Avenue and Willamette Street was identified as a conflict area in the plan. Ms. Taylor suggested vehicles traveling down Willamette Street should be made to stop for bicyclists entering the crosswalk at that intersection. Mr. Inerfeld said vehicles were not required to stop for bicyclists in crosswalks unless the bicyclist was traveling at pedestrian speed. He acknowledged that the law was somewhat ambiguous in regard to how vehicles and bicycles should interact in crosswalks, which added to the challenge of knowing what signage to employ to create safe crossings. Ms. Taylor suggested a stop sign for vehicular traffic was in order. Ms. Taylor asked if staff was looking to create connections to places where the bicycle path was signed as ending. Mr. Inerfeld said the City attempted to provide alternate routes at such locations. Ms. Taylor suggested that travel down West 11`" Avenue had become more challenging for bicyclists because of "bus only" signs. Mr. Inerfeld said that the area was restriped and green thermoplastic paint was used to mark conflict areas. Staff had received positive feedback about the markings. Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Inerfeld said a separated bicycle lane was proposed for Coburg Road from the Ferry Street Bridge area to Harlow Road, but the right -of -way was limited on Coburg Road and that would be exacerbated when EmX was added to the road. He anticipated that bicyclists would be able to use bicycle boulevards on nearby parallel routes. Ms. Taylor advocated for more community education about the rights of pedestrians and bicyclists. Mr. Inerfeld indicated such education was called for in the administratively adopted Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan. At the behest of Mr. Farr, Mr. Inerfeld shared information about proposed bicycle and pedestrian projects affecting the Bethel area. Mr. Yeiter continued the presentation by discussing the Transportation System Plan. He anticipated the plan would be adopted at the same time as Envision Eugene and emphasized the interrelationship between those plans as well as regional planning efforts. He described the elements of the two plan phases and provided a brief overview of the Transportation Community Resource Group (TCRG), which advises staff on the plan. Meetings were held monthly and were open to the public and on average, 30 -40 residents and business interests attend. Mr. Yeiter shared the TSP website: www.eugenetsp.org The web site included project updates, notice of transportation- related meetings, and a resource library. There was also a "conversations" feature on the site that allowed TCRG members to log in and post their suggestions and comments. Mr. Yeiter discussed the Sustainability Transportation Access Rating System (STARS), a program developed in Portland to evaluate transportation planning through a sustainability filter. He anticipated Eugene would be a test case for the rating system. Mr. Yeiter invited questions. Responding to a question from Mr. Clark about the relationship between the Lane Livability Consortium work program and the City's transportation planning work program, Mr. Yeiter said the programs were not yet fully coordinated. The TSP work program was established before the community received the grant establishing the consortium. He suggested the programs had the same goal, to determine what a sustainable transportation system would look like, but the intersection between them was not yet defined. Mr. Yeiter noted that Andrea Riner of Lane Council of Governments, the lead staff for the consortium, was also a member of the City's TSP project management team, which added to the coordination between efforts. MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 4 Work Session Mr. Clark asked if strategies that emerged from the Lane Livability Consortium would go through a different process than the standard transportation planning process. Mr. Inerfeld thought the work of the consortium was intended to inform local planning processes. He reported staff was looking for opportunities to revise the consortium work plan to better complement City efforts. Mr. Inerfeld said it was possible consortium funding could be used to underwrite some of the STARS analysis, for example. Mr. Clark said he heard concerns that the consortium would develop strategies the City would be mandated to implement whether or not it had the funding. Mr. Inerfeld was unaware of any consortium work plan items that would lead to adoption of specific deliverables; the work plan spoke more to how the region could coordinate better on sustainability and what tools it could develop to help it work more effectively across different planning areas. Ms. Ortiz emphasized the poor condition of Highway 99 for pedestrians and bicyclists. She said it was important for the City to take care of the facilities already in place before it added new capacity. Ms. Ortiz expressed concern that the narrow roads in new residential areas in some parts of the community were insufficiently wide to safely accommodate traffic. She acknowledged the cost of land, but said such streets needed to be functional. Mr. Zelenka expressed dismay that ODOT proposed to include pedestrian facilities on the Highway 99 overcrossing but ODOT had no plans to connect those facilities. Mr. Inerfeld said City staff continued to seek funding opportunities for those improvements, but it was difficult to secure funding in the amount needed. Mr. Pryor spoke of the challenge of creating a linkage between transportation and land use planning and the heightened public interest in that linkage because of concerns regarding growth. He wanted the City to be as thoughtful and deliberate as possible in its planning efforts, but he did not think that the increased linkage would make the discussion any easier; many people would want to be involved in the discussion because of what was at stake. Mr. Yeiter suggested that the City could learn from communities such as Portland and take advantage of the tools they had developed. Mr. Farr expressed concern that incorporating more multi - family development in existing neighborhoods to accommodate a higher ratio of multi - family housing would create additional transportation issues. Mr. Farr asked what transportation improvements were proposed in west Eugene since the West Eugene Parkway was no longer planned for. Mr. Yeiter said that staff would consider some of the recommendations of the West Eugene Collaborative when making recommendations for transportation improvements in west Eugene. Staff would employ data from Envision Eugene to model traffic in west Eugene and develop options for further consideration. STARS would also inform the process. Mr. Yeiter noted that the West Eugene Parkway had been designed to provide better freight access for industrial uses in west Eugene, and the Transportation CRG had emphasized the importance of maintaining good access to Highway 99 and on to Beltline and I -5. Mr. Farr questioned how the existing infrastructure in west Eugene could accommodate the growth he anticipated would occur there and to the west in Veneta. Mr. Inerfeld suggested that incremental changes could help, such as additional turn lanes and enhanced signal timing. He believed that the addition of EmX to West 11 Avenue would help with traffic flow because buses would no longer stop in the travel lanes and right turns would be prohibited from the through lanes. He further noted that existing plans MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 5 Work Session called for the addition of a new section of East 13 Avenue between Commerce Street and Bailey Hill Road, which would take pressure off the intersections of West 11 Avenue at Bailey Hill and Bertelsen roads. In addition, the West Eugene Collaborative had recommended improvements to 5 and 7` avenues that would enhance travel on those routes. Mr. Inerfeld acknowledged that the City may not achieve ODOT mobility standards in that area and might need to discussion alternative mobility standards with ODOT. Mr. Farr suggested if EmX had been directed down Highway 99 the needed bicycle and pedestrian facilities might have followed. Ms. Ortiz emphasized her concerns about the safety of residents using the Highway 99 overpass. Mayor Piercy encouraged staff to share information about how people could get engaged in the process with the Area Commission on Transportation and the Metropolitan Policy Committee and its Citizen Advisory Committee. Mayor Piercy said that ODOT did not foresee any significant funding would be forthcoming from the State for projects; there would be funding for projects that improved system functionality. She suggested the lack of State funding heightened the importance of maximizing City resources. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 6:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, '6 tt� 1 Beth Forrest City Recorder (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 11, 2011 Page 6 Work Session