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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 10/10/11 MeetingMINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chamber —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon October 10, 2011 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the October 10, 2011, regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She reported that the council had approved Item 2, Consent Calendar, at the 5:30 p.m. work session. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. Quintin McGuire, 1314 Brickley Road, reported he was involved in a bicycle accident near Sheldon High School because a vehicle driver failed to stop before entering the street. He believed the driver failed to stop because of an obstruction at the intersection and asked what could be done about such obstructions. He said drivers could not see at many intersections in that area, not just the one he mentioned. Josef Siekiel - Zdzienicki, 1025 Taylor Street, had provided a handout for the council showing daily EmX boardings for the Franklin and Gateway routes. He contrasted the boardings from those routes with LTD's daily ridership in West Eugene and cost of those routes with the proposed route in West Eugene and asked why the proposed route to West Eugene was so much more expensive. He reported that he had asked Lane Transit District about the costs without receiving a response and suggested the council should ask the agency that question. Michael Sussman, 2685 Oak Street, a member of Transition Eugene, expressed his support for the City's Climate and Energy Action Plan. He encouraged the council to be consistent with the guidelines in the plan in making policy decisions. He was concerned about the impacts of energy uncertainty and climate change and believed that working toward a more resilient economy was a wise step. He promise to follow progress on the plan and looked forward to partnering with the City. He encouraged the City to work with residents to achieve the goals in the plan. Zachary Vishanoff, resident of Ward 3, urged Councilor Brown to request a City Council work session on the University of Oregon's proposal to form its own police agency and suggested an outcome of that would be two public hearings on the proposal that provided students, staff, and others with an opportunity to speak on the topic. He believed the City could direct an outcome that made the UO develop a proposal that was "palatable, legal, and well- understood." He maintained that currently, the UO's proposal was amorphous. MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 10, 2011 Page 1 Regular Meeting Wayne Ford, 85560 Svarverud Road, chair of the Homeless Action Coalition, thanked the council for its support over the years. He viewed the council and Eugene Police Department as partners. He hoped that the City continued to consider adding more camping spaces to the St. Vincent de Paul homeless camping program. He reported the Lane County Parks and Recreation Commission had voted unanimously to start a pilot program in a County park to provide spaces to the homeless to be supervised by St. Vincent de Paul. He promised to return with future updates. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum. She assured Mr. McGuire the council was concerned about the issue he raised and recommended that he contact Public Works and Police staff. She thanked Mr. Sussman for his remarks and said it was good to hear his support. She agreed with Mr. Vishanoff that the subject of a UO police agency was an important issue on campus. She thanked Mr. Ford for his update and hoped the pilot conducted by Lane County was successful so more spaces could be made available. Mayor Piercy solicited council comments and questions. Councilor Clark expressed sympathy to Mr. McGuire and invited Mr. McGuire to contact him 2. CONSENT CALENDAR The council considered and passed the Consent Calendar at the earlier work session. 3. ACTION: Appointment to Sustainability Commission Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to appoint Stacy Vynne to Position 2 on the Sustainability Commission, an unexpired term ending on June 30, 2013. Roll call vote: The motion passed unanimously, 8:0 4. ACTION: Appointment to Planning Commission Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to appoint Mark Baker to Position 1 on the Planning Commission for the unexpired term ending on June 30, 2012. Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to amend the motion by substituting the name of John Jaworski. Councilor Poling believed the council had interviewed five exceptional candidates and his motion did not imply Mr. Baker was a lesser candidate. He noted the hard work Mr. Jaworski had done in overseeing the division of the Cal Young Neighborhood Association into three associations. Councilor Clark agreed with Councilor Poling and commended Mr. Jaworski's dedication and work ethic. Councilor Zelenka did not support the amendment because of Mr. Baker's long -term involvement in his neighborhood association and his familiarity with planning and livability issues. Roll call vote: The vote on the amendment was a 4:4 tie; Mayor Piercy cast a vote in opposition to the amendment and it failed on a final vote of 5:4. MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 10, 2011 Page 2 Regular Meeting Roll call vote: The motion to appoint Mr. Baker to the Planning Commission passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to appoint Sara Mason to Position 5 on the Planning Commission for the unexpired term ending on June 30, 2014. Roll call vote: The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. 5. WORK SESSION: Ward Redistricting Scenarios Division Manager Keli Osborn of the City Manager's Office and Associate Planner Jason Dedrick of Planning and Development Department were present for the item. Mr. Dedrick reminded the council that it considered several boundary scenarios at its work session of September 26 and the council had ultimately focused on scenarios 1C and IE. He shared a series of maps that juxtaposed the two scenario boundaries with current ward boundaries, illustrated the areas of change for the two scenarios, juxtaposed the scenario boundaries with current neighborhood and ward boundaries, and juxtaposed the scenario boundaries with the city limits and urban growth boundary. He said a resolution adopting a scenario was scheduled for action on October 24. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to direct the City Manager to prepare a resolution and map to adopt Scenario 1C as Eugene's new ward boundaries. Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to amend the motion by substituting Scenario IE. Councilor Ortiz solicited input from the councilors affected by the change. Councilor Zelenka supported Scenario IE because it minimized change and retained the Amazon neighborhood in his ward. He believed the Amazon neighborhood shared commonalities with other neighborhoods he represented due to its proximity to the University of Oregon and together with those neighborhoods created a "community of interest." Councilor Taylor supported Scenario 1C. She suggested the boundaries of Scenario I presented an appearance of gerrymandering. Councilor Taylor thought the eastern part of Ward 2 had more commonalities with the Amazon neighborhood because residents attended the same schools, shopped at the same stores, and recreated in the same places. She saw nothing wrong with two councilors representing one neighborhood. Roll call vote: The amendment to the motion passed, 7:1; Councilor Taylor voting no. Roll call vote: The amended motion passed, 7:1; Councilor Taylor voting no. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 7:56 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ' 8'a 1,,-.,t Beth Forrest City Recorder (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 10, 2011 Page 3 Regular Meeting