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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 080925 Work SessionMINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session Council Chamber 777 Pearl Street— Eugene, Oregon September 22, 2008 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon, Betty Taylor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. Committee Reports and Items of Interest from Mayor, City Council and City Manager Ms. Piercy announced that a fund raiser would be held September 23 for Michael Clay and she had attended the grand opening for the WestTown on 8 housing development. She attended celebration ceremonies for recovering addicts. She noted that St. Vincent DePaul would celebrate its 175' anniver- sary and she would be joined by Ms. Ortiz on September 30 for a one -on -one meeting with constituents. Ms. Bettman urged staff to research improved technology that would allow councilors to participate in meetings via telephone. She said the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission would hold a public hearing on September 25 regarding rate increases. She said the additional rate increase was necessary to offset the loss of revenue from the closure of Hynix in order to satisfy revenue requirements for capital bonds. Mr. Zelenka remarked on the theft of catalytic converters from automobiles and asked for a memorandum from staff on measures the City could take to prevent such thefts. Ms. Ortiz said the Railroad Citizen Advisory Committee would meet on September 24 to review a report on health issues and concerns. She announced that the Emerald Awards had named PeaceHealth as business of the year. Mr. Clark reported that the Police Commission met jointly with the Civilian Review Board on September 11 and there was an extensive discussion of the respective roles of both bodies. He said the Police Commission was conducting a detailed analysis of staffing levels in the Police Department. He said the Human Rights Commission met on September 16 and spent most of the time finalizing its work plan for the coming year. Ms. Taylor asked staff to prepare a resolution advocating for a department of peace for the council's consideration. She noted that a mural at WestTown on 8�' had been created by teenagers. She reported on a tour of recreation programs in Glendale, Arizona that she participated in as a member of the Human Development Committee of the National League of Cities. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 1 Work Session Mr. Pryor reported that the Red Cross facility had also experienced the theft of catalytic converters and those thefts were raising community awareness of the problem of metal theft. He said the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations included the issue in its recommendations. He intended to make a motion at the regular meeting requesting funding to complete the West Eugene Collaborative's (WEC) work. Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary reminded the council of a tour of neighborhood matching grant sites. She said the "Tom Brokaw Reports" show was in Eugene filming various sustainability projects in the community. She said the issue of metal theft was being discussed at the regional level and partners were working together to find solutions. Ms. Piercy commented that Eugene's Slug Queen had been featured in the Wall Street Journal. B. WORK SESSION: Willamette Street Study Chris Henry, Public Works, said the Willamette Street Study grew out of the Central Area Transportation Study (CATS), which considered converting Willamette Street from one -way to two -way operation. He noted that conversion of the section between 13 and 18 avenues had occurred, but concerns had been raised by businesses and the neighborhood about converting the remaining segment between 18 and 20 avenues. He said the Willamette Street Study was further analysis of that issue and a stakeholder group met over an 18 -month period to discuss possible solutions; that group developed the recommendations presented to the council. He described the process used by the stakeholder group to develop its report on existing conditions and an alternatives analysis, as well as the major issues that were taken into considera- tion. He said the group concluded that any degradation in level of service in the intersections analyzed was unacceptable and that was reflected in the final recommendation that Willamette Street remain one - way between 18 and 20 avenues, pending a major study to find an alternative route for a large portion of commuter traffic. He thanked stakeholder group members for their efforts and said the City Manager recommended acceptance of the group's recommendation. Mr. Pryor agreed with the City Manager's recommendation. He asked if there were financial implications for the other recommendations, such as studying bicycle lanes and adding bump outs, and whether they could be accommodated in other studies that were being conducted. Mr. Henry said there would be costs to implement, but those recommendations represented operational changes. He said the feasibility of those would be further investigated and the City intended to implement them. He said many of the improvements could be made for tens of thousands of dollars. Ms. Taylor asked if there had been consideration of changing Oak Street from one -way to two -way at the same time. Mr. Henry said that was significantly different from what was proposed. He said that was not considered during the Willamette Street Study, but was included in the 2004 CATS update. He said there was some discussion of changing the direction of the Pearl and Oak streets couplet so it could connect with Amazon Parkway to handle commuter traffic. Ms. Taylor asked if there was a long -term plan to make all streets two -way. Mr. Henry said CATS adopted several strategies that identified streets for conversion from one -way to two -way; some of those conversions had already occurred. He said there were no plans for conversion beyond those strategies. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 2 Work Session Ms. Taylor asked why an outside consultant was hired if there was capacity on staff. Mr. Henry said the capacity for the intersection analysis was limited within the organization and there were no staff resources to perform the calculations and gather data within the required timeframe. Mr. Zelenka asked if the same group of stakeholders met over the entire course of the study. Mr. Henry said there were some changes among representatives, but a majority of the group remained consistent throughout the process. Mr. Zelenka asked if the stakeholder group's recommendation was unanimous. Mr. Henry said one member opposed the recommendation. Mr. Zelenka said he understood that the advisory group would come back to the council with a solution to problems at the intersection, but the recommendation was to do nothing. He was not comfortable with that outcome that would leave the intersection as it was for a long time. Mr. Henry said the group recognized that the intersection was not working well, but their analysis determined that changing that section of Willamette Street would make it worse by increasing congestion at the intersection. He said their goal was to not degrade the level of service at the 18` Avenue and Willamette Street intersection. Mr. Zelenka asked if there were estimates for the cost and timeline of the study recommended by the stakeholder group. Mr. Henry said it would be an ambitious effort, but had not risen to the level of a transportation priority within the City, which was focused on Beltline and West 11` Avenue. Ms. Bettman said she was disappointed with the recommendation as it would not move a solution forward. She asked about the cost of the traffic analysis. Mr. Henry said the cost was over $10,000. Ms. Bettman asked how much more it would have cost to factor in an analysis of an Oak and Pearl streets conversion, and Amazon Parkway, to determine the impact those additional changes might have on the level of service. She asked why the City's transportation engineers agreed with the stakeholder group's recommendation when they had written the CATS recommendations for conversion. Mr. Henry said the CATS implementation strategy was for an analysis of the conversion of the segment between 18` and 20` avenues to be performed in collaboration with a stakeholder group and a recommendation brought back to the council. He said traffic engineers felt it would be disingenuous to make a recommendation that was inconsistent with the stakeholder group's conclusion. He explained that the analysis determined that operation of signals would meet the City's standards if the conversion was made, but stakeholders did not find this acceptable because of the impacts on the interests the group represented. Ms. Bettman asked about the feasibility of including Pearl and Oak streets in the further study. Mr. Henry said the complexity of the work grew as more signalized intersections were added and, combined with the necessary land use work, it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He said staff resources did not exist to do that type of work in -house and there was no budget for those activities. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Henry said the conversion of Willamette Street between 13` and 18` avenues was part of a pavement preservation project and with the construction of Fire Station #1 at 13`' Avenue and Willamette Street two -way access in the immediate vicinity of the station was desirable. Mr. Zelenka asked if there was data on the impacts of that conversion. He noted that the report was anecdotal and lacked hard data and asked upon what the stakeholder group's conclusions were based. Mr. Henry said technical memoranda were prepared by the consultant, including existing crossing opportuni- MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 3 Work Session ties for pedestrians between 13 and 18 avenues. He said the gap analysis concluded there were adequate gaps for crossing most of the time, except at 15 Avenue. Mr. Zelenka asked what it would cost to determine the impact of converting Willamette Street between 18 and 20` avenues and Oak Street between 13 and 20 avenues to two -way operation. Mr. Henry estimated the cost at $50,000, but said the project would need to be scoped. Mr. Zelenka did not want a solution to the problem to be deferred for an indefinite period of time. Mr. Pryor agreed that the study should not take forever or cost $50,000. Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to accept the recommendation of the volunteer citizen stakeholder committee that Willamette Street remain one -way southbound between 18 and 20 avenues pending a major study that would iden- tify alternative routes for a large amount of the traffic and be done in a timely fashion. Ms. Bettman offered a friendly amendment to add the following recommenda- tions: 1. Adding a southbound bicycle lane on Willamette from 18 to 20 if it can operate safely with no net loss of parking between 18 and 19 and a minimum loss of parking between 19 and 20 We also recommend this bicycle lane connect to the existing bicycle lane that currently ends mid -block between 17 and 18 th , if this can be safely done. 2. Adding bump outs (sidewalk extensions) at 18 and 19` for safer pedes- trian crossing while retaining parking. 3. Maintaining the traffic diverter and island refuge for pedestrian crossing at 20 th . Mr. Pryor accepted the friendly amendment. Ms. Taylor said she had hoped that the study would identify ways to mitigate effects on businesses and improve pedestrian safely, with Oak Street a part of the solution. She said the motion seemed to repeat the council's action of several years ago. Mr. Henry said CATS had looked at Oak Street, but could not find a way to meet service levels if there was a conversion to two -way; Willamette Street was the only opportunity at that time. Ms. Bettman offered a friendly amendment to direct the City Manager to direct staff to bring back a timeline and cost estimate for expanding the Willamette Street conversion analysis to include conversion of the entire lengths of Oak and Pearl streets to two -way operation and the impact on the level of service on Willamette Street. Mr. Pryor accepted the friendly amendment. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Henry estimated that information on study options could be provided to the council in a month. Ms. Solomon arrived at 6:30 p.m. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 4 Work Session Ms. Ortiz said she would support the motion, but wanted to assure that the City's current priorities, specifically Beltline between River Road and Interstate 5, were retained unless other direction was given. Mr. Clark commented that relocation of the Ems to the new baseball stadium would likely decrease pressure on the intersection during the season. Mr. Zelenka agreed the City's biggest priority was Beltline. He said that High and Pearl streets were a couplet, as were Oak and Willamette streets. He said if changes to Oak and Pearl were considered in the study, then High Street should also be included. He asked for clarification on what accepting the stakeholders' recommendation meant. Mr. Henry explained that it would mean there would be no change in Willamette Street pending further study. Ms. Medary added that the amended motion would also require a timeline and budget for that study. Ms. Bettman asked about the status of adopting an access management strategy for the City. Mr. Henry said staff had been working on language with the assistance of the City Attorney's office. Mark Schoening, city engineer, said the Oregon Department of Transportation and Lane County representatives were also involved in the project and a department advisory committee would be convened to develop a report for the council on the arterial and collector street system in early 2009. Ms. Bettman stressed that a solution should preserve parking for businesses, protect the neighborhood from cut - through traffic and create safe automobile circulation patterns. The amended motion passed, 7:0. C. Consent Calendar A. Approval of City Council Minutes of June 9, 2008, City Council Meeting; July 9, 2008, Work Session; and August 11, 2008, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Adoption of Resolution 4955 Approving a Low - Income Rental Housing Property Tax Exemption for the Property Located at 1070 West 6th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon (Asses- sor's Property Account Number 0473056) (St. Vincent DePaul Society of Lane County, Inc.) D. Ratification of Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions of July 23, 2008 E. Approval of Overseas Travel Request Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to approve items A, B, C and D on the Consent Calendar. Mr. Zelenka pulled Item C. The Consent Calendar, with the exception of items C and E, was approved, 7:0. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mike Sullivan of the Planning and Development Department explained that Item C was acquisition of an existing housing facility on West 6' Avenue and conversion of a small number of apartments for homeless veterans. He said it was the third phase of an ongoing project and would use Community Development Block Grant funds and Housing Rehabilitation program funds. He said St. Vincent DePaul had also secured federal and State resources to supplement local funds. He noted the tax exemption was for 20 years. MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 5 Work Session Mr. Zelenka asked how much the total exemption would be. Mr. Sullivan said he would report back with that information. Mr. Zelenka commended the project and St. Vincent DePaul's work on housing. He intended to support the tax exemption as it was warranted in this case. Item C on the Consent Calendar was approved, 7:0. The meeting adjourned at 6:47p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz -- City Manager (Recorded by Lynn Taylor) MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 22, 2008 Page 6 Work Session