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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes - 06/23/04 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall June 23, 2004 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Gary Papd. His Honor Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Service Delivery City Manager Dennis Taylor explained that the work session was held at the request of the City Council. He asked the councilors to consider the mission of the airport: "To support quality airport facilities and services that meet community's needs and expectations for air service in a safe, secure, and cost-effective manner." He noted that most were familiar with the issues at hand that had been raised in collective bargaining with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). He asked Public Works Director Kurt Corey to speak about Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) service delivery. Mr. Corey provided a PowerPoint presentation on the ARFF service. He stated that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stipulated the provision of ARFF services. He said Eugene was only served by regional jets and could be classified as an Index A airport. However, Eugene chose to maintain its ARFF services under the Index B requirements. He noted that this meant Eugene had two vehicles and the according staff, instead of one. The presentation included ARFF cost comparisons, a graph of increased landing fees in the City of Eugene, and a comparison of landing fees, i.e. landed weight rates, among others. Mr. Corey related that a diminished economy and the effects of the tragic events of September 11,2001, resulted in the loss of the 737 planes United Airlines had previously flown in and out of the airport. He added that the transition to regional jets, coupled with the loss of seats in and out of the airport, had reduced landing fee revenues and caused fees to be increased dramatically. He shared staff's belief that landing fees needed to remain just above $2 per 1,000 pounds, but currently the airport faced an increase to $2.87 per 1,000. He felt this would impact the airlines using the airport negatively and could cause a further loss of service. Mr. Corey called attention to a letter, included in the council packet, written to the Airport Administration from Steve Dwiggins of SkyWest Airlines and dated February 13, 2003, highlighting the airline's concerns with increasing costs, particularly the cost of ARFF services. Mr. Taylor added three final points: MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 1 Work Session · Public safety comes first and would not be compromised when evaluating cost-savings proce- dures; · Keeping the airport viable was an important priority as it was a vital asset to the region's econ- omy; · Council support was necessary to continue the City Manager's ability to continue to run City operations as efficiently as possible. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to affirm that the City Man- ager has the authority to determine the best service delivery system for pro- viding ARFF service at the Eugene Airport. Ms. Bettman voiced her opposition to the motion. She opposed privatizing public safety services. She opined the move to privatize ARFF services would result in a reduction in the level of emergency services available to citizens and area residents using the airport. Ms. Bettman pointed out that the City would still provide back-up service to the airport, which would require the City to equip and train firefighters responding to emergencies at the airport. She also felt the amount of money in question was not %verwhelming" and, additionally, the projected savings had not been substantiated. Mr. Meisner agreed with the remarks of Ms. Bettman. Mr. Meisner, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to amend the motion by add- ing a second sentence reading, as follows: ~It is, however, the sense of the City Council that public safety ser- vices, including but not limited to ARFF service at the Eugene Airport, should not be privatized or contracted out." Mr. Meisner specified that he did not contest the authority of the City Manager, but that the City had made conscious decisions that had driven costs up. He noted that the City had decided to double the necessary equipment and staff. He related that he called a couple of the airports listed in the presentation for comparison and they were not staffed at the level Eugene had. He called this comparing ~apples to oranges" and suggested a comparison of half to the whole was inappropriate. Mr. Kelly expressed appreciation for Mr. Meisner's amendment. He stated that when it came to public safety, police and fire were the face of the City for most of its citizens. Mr. Kelly reiterated that it had been troubling that, during the discussion of regionalization of the airport, a different picture of the airport's financial health had been painted for the council. He noted, too, that the letter from SkyWest was 1-1/2 years old. Mr. Poling supported the amendment. He felt the issue was the provision of the authority to the City Manager to determine the best delivery of any service in any system in the City. He felt public safety was of primary importance. He felt the council and staff had reached a common ground in the amended motion. Mr. Pap6 asked for more clarification of the indexing system. Mr. Corey repeated that it was tied to the size of the aircraft utilizing a facility. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 2 Work Session In response to a question from Mr. Pap6, Mr. Taylor said ARFF services in Billings, Montana were provided by city employees represented by the Teamsters Union. He explained that it was an example of cross-utilization. Mr. Pap6 opined that safety services would become a regional question, should a regional airport district be formed. In response to a question from Mr. Pap6, Fire Chief Tom Tallon said to retain the status of an indexed airport, the City had to maintain ARFF services. Should ARFF services be somewhere other than the airport, planes would be instructed to land elsewhere. He stated that firefighters were cross-trained and rotated through ARFF-required fire safety services. Mr. Pap6 asked if there would be a change in how fire emergencies were handled should ARFF services be privatized. Chief Tallon noted that the City of Medford contracted with a private fire service. Ms. Nathanson pointed out that Mr. Poling was a retired public safety provider and that she was a long-time union member. She related that she was troubled by the cost comparison of ARFF services to other cities. She asked what the downside of proposing some policies to govern the cost of the service. Mr. Taylor said the City did benchmark and look at best practices. He stated that cross-utilization was the predominant way ARFF services were adequately provided and landed weight costs kept down. Ms. Nathanson asked why the services had not been made more cost-effective to date. Mr. Taylor responded that the scheduled work session on the item had created a chilling effect on bargaining. Sharon Rudnick of the City Attorney's Office stated that nothing in State collective bargaining laws prevented the City Council from directing an outcome of a collective bargaining issue. However, she felt concerned about the impact on progress that the policy question created. She said that the collective bargaining process worked because of the necessity for compromise. She suggested that the situation wherein the costs at the airport had been a part of the bargaining for quite a while and one party chose to invoke the political process had fostered an environment in which the party could posture rather than negotiate. Ms. Rudnick said the outcome of this was no longer dependent on the good faith participation in the process or the bad things that could happen if an agreement was not reached. She believed the timing of this discussion would create an impact on the ability of the City to manage its collective bargaining processes. Ms. Nathanson agreed that, in general, critical public safety jobs should be performed by public employees. She opposed having this discussion while the collective bargaining process was underway. She interpreted the City Charter to direct such discussion to be held in executive session only. Ms. Taylor supported the amendment. She supported directing the City Manager not to privatize services. She disagreed that this was a charter matter, stating that whether or not a City service should be privatized was a policy matter and was subject to the authority of the City Council. Ms. Solomon asked if the attorney had seen the amended motion. She opined that the amendment did not seem to be an improvement as it still neutralized the City Manager. She was compelled by the figures provided by Mr. Corey, stating that the City was clearly %ut of synch" with other cities. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 3 Work Session City Attorney Jerry Lidz stated that Mr. Meisner's motion fell within the City Council's power. He did not read the motion as a direction to the City Manager as to what the manager could or could not do. Ms. Bettman said that the issue had been raised before the Budget Committee and this was why the council had been ~dragged into the middle of it." Ms. Bettman expressed concern that, should an emergency truly arise, the fire fighters from the City would be put at risk by having to work with people they had not trained with and also who had less training. She stressed that the Eugene Police Department (EPD) had not been asked to cut costs and noted that the City was on record for saying that public safety was a top priority. Mayor Torrey called for a motion to extend time. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, moved to extend the time for discus- sion by five minutes. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Torrey stated that he had supported the fire fighters in his 13 years of service as mayor. He supported paying them well and providing the best benefits for them. He commended union president Gary Nauta for the work he was doing to represent the union. He could not agree, however, that it was in the best interest of the City to diminish the capacity of the City Manager to negotiate with the bargaining units. He urged the City Council not to micro-manage the City Manager. He stressed that Police and Fire services were held in high esteem and would never be privatized. He added that there was an opportunity for binding arbitration. Mr. Meisner agreed with Ms. Bettman that the political process was invoked and the collective bargaining was tainted by staff's ~ill-advised" decision to ask the Budget Committee to %ndorse" the privatization during the budget process. He pointed out that the airport doubled the required staffing and equipment. He asked staff to provide completely accurate comparisons between airports. He felt the sum numbers were not completely representative of the services provided by the airport. Ms. Nathanson reiterated that an executive session was necessary in order to discuss matters pertaining to collective bargaining. Ms. Nathanson, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to table the discussion un- til it could be held in an executive session. The vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; Mr. Poling, Mr. Pap~, Ms. Solomon, and Ms. Nathanson voting in favor, and Mr. Kelly, Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, and Mr. Meisner voting in opposition. Mayor Torrey voted in favor of tabling the item and the motion passed on a final vote of 5:4. Mayor Torrey adjourned the meeting of the City Council and convened a meeting of the Urban Renewal Agency at 12:50 p.m. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 4 Work Session B. WORK SESSION: Review and Approval of Sale Terms for the Oregon Research Institute-Sears Building Mr. Taylor asked Denny Braud of the Planning and Development Department's Development Division to speak to the council on the deal points and negotiations for the sale of the Sears property to the Oregon Research Institute (ORI). Mr. Braud explained that a summary of the final terms and conditions were included in the agenda packet. He said the selection and recommendation of the ORI project was based on some significant contributions that the project made to the downtown area. He stated that the project was a ;;rare combination" of desirable dense downtown development, quality jobs, and sustainable development. He suggested the council look back on the original purchase of the property in 1993 and consider the return on the investment. He noted the acquisition included the quarter block where the Sears building was and the half block on which the new library was built. The property had been purchased for approximately $900,000, the current value of the land alone was $1.5 million, and the City had realized two new developments: the library and the potential development of a new ORI building. Kelly Saito, Gerding-Eadland Development Company, explained that his company was a private develop- ment company that specialized in mixed-use urban development. He listed some of the projects of this sort with which the company had been involved. He called the proposed development for ORI a unique opportunity for the City and predicted it would bring 300 high-paying jobs into the downtown area. Henry Fitzgibbons of Soderstrom Architects, PC, provided a PowerPoint presentation on the proposed preliminary design for the ORI building. He stressed that ORI specifically chose the downtown area because it believed it would provide a positive impact to area. He said the proximity to the Lane Transit District (LTD) was beneficial to the people who act as human subjects for the research conducted by ORI. He stated that the intention was to build an ;;elite gold" or ;;platinum" building and to incorporate green building elements in the construction. Mr. Pap6 indicated that he had a potential conflict of interest as his son worked for Gerding-Easland Development Company, though not on this specific project. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to authorize the Agency Di- rector to (1) sell the Sears building property to the Oregon Research Insti- tute at a purchase price of $400,000, less the cost of any environmental as- sessment, up to $35,000, and (2) direct the Agency Director to bring back to the agency for the June 28 meeting a Supplemental Budget #3 item to in- clude authorization for the demolition and other costs anticipated by the Summary of Terms attached to the AlS. Ms. Bettman voiced her support for the motion. She commented that, in the past, there had been incidences wherein the City had worked with a private entity and ended up with the %hort end of the stick." She asked if there was a possibility that the project could fall through after the building was demolished and before the next building was constructed. Mr. Braud reassured the council that there was a penalty should the contract fall through such that ORI would be required to reimburse all costs. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Taylor indicated her enthusiastic support for the motion. She felt this would induce more retailers to move downtown. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Braud stated that, initially, ORI would provide 300 jobs. Mr. Meisner asked staff to provide more information on how the minimum of parking needs requested would be addressed. He commented that he did not like the preliminary design of the building. He opined it did not create a pedestrian-friendly street scene. He wondered if some of the windowless walls could be moved to the second floor. Mr. Pap6 expressed concern that the City was providing $750,000 in support and this did not, in the eyes of the public, necessarily indicate the City was working fairly in the public trust. Based on this, he could not support the deal. Mr. Kelly agreed with previous comments in support of the motion. He applauded the intention to utilize green building techniques. Regarding Mr. Pap6's concerns, he said that other than the environmental assessment, this project contained identical numbers to those presented the previous year in the request for funding proposal (RFP) process and the council had endorsed it at the time. Ms. Nathanson expressed disappointment in how the City was managing the site and the sale. She had hoped a park would be developed across the street from the library. Nonetheless, she looked forward to the development of the Sears building site. Mr. Poling, though he shared Mr. Pap6's concerns, felt it was better to bring 300 to 500 jobs into the downtown area than to have an "eyesore sitting vacant for another 15 years." Mayor Torrey remarked that if the City Council unanimously approved the design before it, it "would not be representing the City." He supported the creation of a critical mass of people in the downtown area. He said businesses will follow the people and he believed it was a great venture for the City. Ms. Solomon asked if there was truly sufficient parking available. Mr. Braud affirmed there was. Ms. Solomon opined that the design should include a pitched roof. Mr. Fitzgibbons responded that it was a unique building in that it was almost all office space, which made for a repetition of a ten-foot module. This created a need for a long ribbon of horizontal sun shades. He felt the building would ultimately be "stunning" in terms of its '~touchability and color." He added that there would be windows on the first level. He thought there was potential for more fenestration on the roof. Ms. Taylor asked if people would be coming and going in the evening. Mr. Braud replied that they would. Ms. Taylor commented that many subsidies had been provided without obvious benefits and this project had obvious benefits. In response to Mr. Pap6, Mr. Fitzgibbons explained that LEED stood for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 6 Work Session Mr. Pap6 expressed disappointment that the information provided to the council did not more clearly indicate that the proposal included a $750,000 subsidy for the project. The motion passed, 7:1; Mr. Pap6 voting no. The meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 23, 2004 Page 7 Work Session