HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/26/2012 Work SessionCity of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF T14E WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26. 2012
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, November 26; 2012 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri. VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston and
Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City
Attorney Matthew Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Library Board Applicant Review.
Library Director Rob Everett presented the staff report on this item. The Library Advisory Board was
seeking to fill the position of departing Board member, Carol Philips. The Board interviewed three
applicants on October 30, 2012 and voted unanimously to recommend the appointment of Gary Ross
to a four year term on the board. One candidate, Carol Dawes withdrew from the process prior to
being interviewed.
Mr. Ross was a former teacher / librarian who oversaw library service for Springfield Public Schools
and held a similar post at the Lane Education Service District prior to his retirement. He was currently
the President of the Willamalane Board of Directors. He was a long -time resident of the Thurston
neighborhood. If appointed his term would run from January 1. 2013 through December 31, 2016
Councilor Pishioneri asked if Ms. Puetz was still a candidate.
Mr. Everett said she was a candidate. Ms. Puetz had just received her Library degree and was a
resident, mother and Library patron. Talking to her after the interviews, she expressed interest in
becoming involved with the Friends of the Library. The other applicant, Ms. Easton worked for
NEDCO and was also interested in becoming involved in the Friends of the Library.
Councilor Pishioneri said he knew Mr. Ross and thought highly of him. Mr. Ross currently served in
other capacities and he would like to provide others with an opportunity to serve in some way so they
could all be serving.
Mr. Everett said the Library Board was hoping to get some gender balance and also someone from the
Thurston area which was part of their decision. Ms. Puetz did have a lot of potential. Mr. Everett had
used the Friends of the Library and the Library Foundation to get people started and then recruited
them for Library Board positions. It had been a good training ground to get them accustomed to the
Library issues.
Councilor Wylie said Mr. Ross was retired, had a lot of background and would have time to dedicate
to the Board.
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Mr. Everett said he had talked to Mr. Ross regarding his role with the Willamalane Board. Mr. Ross
would be reducing his role with the Willamalane Board to allow time to focus on the Library Board.
Mayor Lundberg said she agreed that it was nice to get new people involved in the different boards.
She knew there were three entities involved with the Library_ and she wanted them to all work
together.
Mr. Everett said the Friends of the Library were grass roots; hands on and raised money for the
Library. The Foundation was more for long-term fundraising goals. He explained what was funded by
the Friends. The Library Advisory Board was the sounding board for the community about how the
Library was run.
Councilor Pishioneri said he would support appointing Amanda Puetz. He felt the Library Board was
expected to take new people on and allow them to grow into the position. The Planning Commission .
was a good starting point for Councilors, but not always necessary. He had concern about someone
serving on a Board of another agency. The City wanted to get new people applying to expand our
volunteer population.
Councilor Wylie said Ms. Puetz could get a lot of experience with the Friends. She felt it was best to
choose the one with the most experience.
Councilor Woodrow noted that the balance was nice for the Library. Thurston representation was very
important when possibly looking at a satellite Library site in Thurston. She liked the idea of bringing
someone new in as well and could see both sides.
Councilor VanGordon agreed we should encourage new people to get involved. The bar had been set
high in terms of those selected. Mr. Ross had a lot to offer. but Councilor VanGordon didn't want to
lose people who were willing to serve. He would support Ms. Puetz.
Councilor Ralston said he agreed with Councilor Wvlie. The Board made their choice and they needed
to work with the person. He was not concerned about who was already serving in the community. He
didn't want to discourage anyone.
Councilor Moore said the recommendation from the Board was worth a lot and she would vote along
with the Board. She was pleased that any of them were willing to volunteer.
Councilor Woodrow said she would go along with the Board recommendation. The other two
candidates could remain involved with the other Library groups, giving them an opportunity to be
considered next time there,was an opening on the Board.
Mr. Everett said he would be mindful of the Council comments and would relay them to the Board.
The Friends of the Library was not a lesser role, but rather a different role. They had provided the
Library with $14,500 last year.
2. Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan: Economic Element Policies to Address Commercial and
Industrial Land Needs (Metro Plan Amendment File No. LRP 2009 - 00014).
Planning Supervisor Linda Pauly presented the staff report on this item. Adoption of the Springfield
2030 Refinement Plan (SRP) Economic Element would allow the City to articulate its desired
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November 26, 2012
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economic future and its preferred land use strategies to attain that vision in compliance with Statewide
Planning Goal 9, Economic Development.
The draft SRP Economic Element policies addressed the City's economic opportunities, land needs
and strategies for the SRP 2030 plan horizon. Adoption of the SRP Economic Element would
establish a clear economic development policy direction that identified the City's strengths and
opportunities, and its position in the broader Southern Willamette Valley, region. The adopted policies
would provide support for job creation in Springfield by: 1) identifying industrial/employment land
needs; 2) designating and zoning a 20 -year land supply to provide opportunities for commercial and
industrial development and use: and 3) confirming the City's commitment to growth of the local,
regional and State economy through excellent community development aligned with Springfield's
interests, values and assets.
The draft Economic Element policies were developed through an extensive multi -year public process,
with input from City Council and Planning Commission work sessions, public hearings, the
Commercial and Industrial Lands Stakeholder and Technical Advisory Committees, an on -line
community development survey, two visioning workshops, a series of public open houses to review
options and concepts for potential Land Use Efficiency Measures and potential expansion of the Urban
Growth Boundary, and additional analysis by staff of potential commercial and industrial sites inside
and outside the Urban Growth Boundary. Economic development goals and strategies from the draft
2006 Springfield Economic Development Plan, the Metro Plan and the Regional Prosperity Economic
Development Plan (adopted by the Joint Elected Officials in 2010) were considered and incorporated
into the draft Economic Element.
Ms. Pauly said it was great that they were speaking about Comprehensive Planning in Springfield as
one entity. Because they could have these policy discussions as their own entity, they could now put
their stamp on the plan. This was a new era in planning and an opportunity to custom fit the policies to
fit Springfield. They would still have the Metro Plan.
Ms. Pauly said staff was requesting Council input on the draft Economic Element of the Springfield
2030 Refinement Plan. She described the Economic Element and what it included. Tonight's focus
was on the goals and policies of the document. The other piece, the Implementation Strategies, would
be discussed on January 7, 2013.
Ms. Pauly said the draft goals and policies were staffs interpretation of what was heard at previous
Planning, Council and public meetings. She acknowledged Community Development Manager John
Tamulonis who spent hours helping to get the packet finalized. The policies Council would adopt
would be the City's roadmap for advancing Springfield's economic involvement, growth management
and community livability objectives, and the City's land use planning, zoning and development
processes. Having and maintaining a sufficient supply of buildable lands for commercial and industrial
development and zoning those lands to create more employment opportunities was a critical step for
Springfield. Without land zone to create those opportunities, we wouldn't be able to address the need
for 13,000+ jobs identified in the Economic Opportunities Analysis. Having local adopted
Comprehensive Plan policies to guide that new development was important because it allowed the
City to articulate the preferred future and state the City expectations and aspirations. The Refinement
Plan could also serve as a communication to prospective community partners to vision, plan, fund and
build the kind of changes that would expand the economy. The Economic Element of the Refinement
Plan was more specific than the Metro Plan which gave the City an opportunity to connect broad goals
and objectives to specific places in the urban growth boundary (UGB). This positioned the City well to
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continue engaging with the community in supporting the type of projects that could expand our
economy.
Ms. Pauly noted the regulations for studies such as the Economic Element Analysis and how complex
the planning goals were. Each time a City tried to expand its UGB, there were appeals which created
some uncertainty for staff as they went forward. Those decisions would either confirm or create new
precedence and interpretations of the law. The City hired the consultant ECONorthwest to do the
technical analysis for that reason. The technical analysis was very important as it was the factual basis
for the policies and action the City chose to take. The Analysis would be adopted as a technical
supplement to the plan as was done with the Residential Element. The set of economic policies the
Council would adopt in response to that analysis was the most important thing. Goal 9 allowed cities
to be aspirational and look at historic data. It also allowed cities to go for bigger, better and different
things as long as the analysis could Live factual basis to support those things. When they began the
analysis, the consultants met with the Council, walked through every step and discussed factors used
for the analysis. Staff had considered all of the data analysis and input from the community to date and
drafted the draft policies for Council to review.
Mr. Grimaldi said the focus was on the blue highlighted section on Attachment 2 of the agenda packet.
Mayor Lundberg referred to Policy E.43. Because many of the jobs in our area would include
engineering, she would like Oregon State University (OSU) included as a partner. She then referred to
Goal EG -2 regarding the Regional Prosperity Economic Development Plan goals. She asked how
many of the 20,000 net new metropolitan area jobs were attributed to Springfield. She would like more
clarification of where that figure came from.
Mr. Tamulonis said that figure was the number of jobs throughout the metropolitan area. If we kept
with the normal percentage of regional jobs that were in Springfield, it would be about 20% or 4000
jobs. That percentage was based on current population.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like clarification in that section including the percentage.
Ms. Pauly noted that in Springfield's analysis, the number ofjobs over the next 20 years would be
about 13,440. The regional goals reflected new jobs over the next 10 years, with a start of 2010. She
had been asked to include information connecting the Springfield goals with those of the metro area_
Mr. Tamulonis said the regional numbers were not based on the numbers used to set the figure of
13,440 for Springfield over the next 20 years.
Mayor Lundberg said the regional numbers were harder for the Council to relate to in terms of
Springfield's goals. She asked if Springfield ever had unemployment rates lower than the State
average and incomes higher.
Mr. Tamulonis said the unemployment rate in Springfield had been below the State level at times, but
could only be official when the census was done each ten years. The 20,000 was based on the
metropolitan goal that was set in 2010 when the economy was down. Many years ago, Springfield's
wages were above state average primarily due to the wood products industry, although employment
was up and down because of the seasonal nature of those jobs.
Mayor Lundberg said they needed the goals to be clear and show how they would get there. There
were only two policies listed below this goal and she felt it was a very robust piece and should be very
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clear. Having training facilities on the site of a manufacturer would affect our land use plans and it
needed to be clear whether or not that would be allowed. It needed to be defined that we wanted a
highly skilled workforce. She wanted that section more robust and identify that we had policies to
develop a work force that was well - trained. Companies would come here if we had the land and the
workforce.
Mr. Tamulonis said that was the purpose of having campus industrial in several areas in Springfield, to
provide for higher wage jobs. A number of years ago the Council's goal was to increase higher value
homes and increased homeownership and policies were put into place that helped to achieve that goal.
Policies could be put into this document as well to reach the goal of a skilled workforce.
Ms. Pauly said there were more action details in other documents that would be discussed at a later
work session. Those documents included information on urban growth boundary, economic
opportunity areas, creating large sites, target industries, working with other economic development
organizations to target or recruit businesses, and working with the State to have one or more sites
certified as project ready. A lot of the details were in the implementation strategies. She had used the
goals to organize those so they made sense.
Mayor Lundberg said she was shifting her thought pattern from employers and business to workforce
development. She wanted to give children opportunities and options when they got out of high school
towards workforce development.
Councilor Woodrow said she was also looking at having a work ready workforce. That was attractive
to businesses coming in to the area.
Ms. Pauly noted that was included as part of Goal EG5 -D, "Contribute to development of the region's
physical, social, education, and workforce infrastructure to meet the needs of tomorrow'.
Councilor Woodrow said she was looking for more specifics.
Councilor VanGordon said he was confused by the job figures of 20,000 (in the regional plan) and
13,440 (in the Springfield plan) and which figure was our goal.
Mr. Tamulonis said there had not been a large net increase in jobs over the last decade, although there
had been some job shifting into different sectors. Over the next twenty years, they were looking at a
growth that would bring in about 13,000 jobs in Springfield. In 2010, the regional partners were trying
to choose a target that was reasonable during the ups and downs of a tough economy. The 20,000
figure was only for 10 years and during tough economic times, yet was still an ambitious goal. Over
the next 20 years we would likely see that much of an increase if our population continued to grow at a
modest pace. The 20,000 wasn't based on statistics or the anticipated growth; but was j ust a goal.
Councilor VanGordon referred to said Policy E7, to "concentrate development on sites with existing
infrastructure or on sites where infrastructure can be provided relatively easily and at a comparatively
low cost". He felt this was one of the most effective things the City could do as a city. He would be
eager to see the implementation steps for this and how we could partner with developers. He next
referred to Goal E -5e. The School District was not mentioned in this goal and that was key when
talking about our workforce. Having that clearly noted as part of the highly skilled workforce was
important. Under Goal EG -5d he would like to see the different infrastructure identified, such as
electric and fiber optic. High speed intemet access would be increasingly important. It should also
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include our partnership with the Springfield Utility Board (SUB) and our competitive power rates.
Rail should also be specifically identified.
Ms. Pauly noted that high speed rail was part of Policy E17.
Councilor VanGordon said when talking about clusters, the agricultural business "part of that had been
missed. We were both a City and regional economy at the same time. Local food production and wine
and beer from the area could be included. He felt the implementation strategies would add detail to the
discussion.
Transportation Manager Tom Boyatt asked if Councilor VanGordon was talking about setting aside
land for agriculture or just promoting that type of business.
Councilor VanGordon said in looking at Goals EG -5c and EG -5g regarding regional identity, he
thought of local food production, vineyard and breweries. He felt it fit in that section.
Ms. Pauly read the following: "Consider future agricultural needs and economic opportunities to
protect agricultural lands f6r production of local food by developing policies that will impact
agricultural land outside the UGB ". She asked if that addressed his question.
Councilor VanGordon said he thought of it when looking at Policy E.28 which included Processed
Food and Beverage. The additional language could be added to that policy.
Councilor Moore said the Govemor's new plan for a ready workforce had three focus areas:
• Creating and enhancing private /public partnerships by business sector to better identify and
meet industry needs for a highly skilled workforce.
• Supporting Certified Work Ready Communities, which help citizens gain foundational skills
to compete for good jobs and help companies grow.
• Focusing on innovation in Oregon's workforce system to create efficiencies and respond more
effectively to the needs of today's industries while preparing for future shifts in the economy.
She noted the certification program and the National Career Readiness Certification Test and
providing that to the community. She thought there might be a place to mention encouraging that in
these goals and policies.
Mayor Lundberg said she agreed SUB needed to be included. There needed to be enough power to
bring businesses into the area.
Mr. Tamulonis said having infrastructure was important as well as sites for substations. We also
needed to look at how to work cooperatively with SUB to make sure we had resources available for
expansion.
Mr. Grimaldi said SUB was known for having some of the lowest rates around. Whenever we looked
at having a new user come into the community that required a significant amount of power, there was
concern that would bump us into a different tier, which could increase everyone's costs significantly.
There was some balance involved. A future discussion with the SUB Board may be beneficial to
discuss how to approach that issue.
Mayor Lundberg suggested a joint work session with the SUB Board
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Councilor Moore said water was also an important resource and protecting our water for the future
was important.
Councilor Ralston said he was amazed at the work being done in Springfield. He referred to Goal EG-
I and said he didn't see the need to include the phrase "enhancing the environmenf'. Everyone knew
there was enough regulation and anything that came in would need to be environmentally friendly.
The rest of the statement would be fine without that additional language.
Councilor Moore said that was an important aspect when an employer was looking for a place for their
employees to live. People coming from another state may not see it as a given. It showed we cared
about our environment.
Ms. Pauly said the language was consistent with the Metro Plan
Councilor Moore referred to the statement under "Springfield Economic Development Planning Goals
and Objectives: EG -5 a. Healthy Living — Champion businesses and entrepreneurs that promote a
healthy, safe and clean community ... ". She felt that was very important, Perhaps the wording could
be changed to read "Enhance, protect and make wise use of natural resources'.
Councilor Pishioneri referred to Policy E2 which spoke regarding minimum parcel size of 20 acres
and Policy E3 which spoke regarding prime development sites designated for employment use and
would "not be subdivided or used for non - employment use ". He referred to a document recently
approved by the Council that included language of being flexible. He was concerned that the language
regarding not being subdivided was not flexible and could cause issues at some point.
Ms. Pauly said the 20 acre minimum came through the Planning Commission process as a
recommendation. This section was referring to expansion of the UGB and bringing in large sites. It
was clear that in order to bring large sites in, they needed some type of restriction in order to maintain
those large parcels.
Mr. Grimaldi said when developers came into the communiry today, we did not have large enough
parcels.
Councilor Pishioneri said other documents allowed flexibility; yet this document didn't seem to allow
the same flexibility and that was not consistent. If everyone agreed we needed large parcels, the
flexibility should be taken out of the other documents.
Mr. Grimaldi said that could be something Council would want to look at as they looked at where
things might land. Tonight's discussion set up the target regarding things like the large sites. if they
felt those weren't appropriate, other actions could be taken as they got into the detail.
Mr. Boyatt said one of the reasons to expand the UGB was to have large sites available for
development. Currently, we had close to the acreage needed within the UGB, but it was all parceled
into a number of sites smaller than 20 acres. What came out of the Economic Opportunities Analysis
was the need to have an inventory of large sites and that drove the expansion of the UGB.
Mayor Lundberg said this may not be the time to address that, but rather when looking to expand the
UGB.
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Ms. Pauly said another work session would be held on the Urbanization Element. During that
discussion they would get into a lot more detail about how land would be developed, new lands
brought into the UGB and how lands would be reserved prior to development. As parcels started to be
developed, the Master Plan would be the place for the flexibility. This was an interim planning tool
before parcels were annexed into the City.
Councilor Moore referred to Goal EG -5 "Support the development of emerging economies guided by
the following principles'. She asked if the principles were those that were approved during the
regional economic development meeting in 2010. Yes. She said she loved the terminology of "local
resilience'. but was not sure that what followed related. She wasn't sure what was meant by "Promote
local businesses and entrepreneurs that lead the areas to a higher level of economic independence and
innovation". She said that wasn't clear and 'promote' didn't seem to be the appropriate word. She
wasn't sure how they could accomplish resilience, but it was a great concept and principle.
Councilor Ralston spoke regarding long -term land and site needs. and areas greater than 50 acres. He
didn't see anything to that affect in the goals. He thought that was why they were looking to expand
the UGB. He asked where that goal was located.
Mr. Tamulonis said 20 acres was a minimum for a master plan. Parcels of 50 acres would be used for
future uses. They might have four or five parcels that could be put together to make a 50 acre site.
Ms. Pauly asked Council to let staff know if they felt the minimum should be higher than 20 acres
Mr. Tamulonis said the reference to 15 acres was different and could occur in existing areas.
Mr. Goodwin said there was a need for 50 acre sites, but to restrict the minimum to 50 acres was
insufficiently flexible to allow development. Parcels of 20 acres offered a greater range of flexibility.
They could then look to see where there were parcels that could be assembled into 50 acres, and
maintaining the ability for one or two 50 acre sites without locking people into 50 acre parcels.
Ms. Pauly said Council may decide to have 50 acre minimum in some areas and not others.
Councilor Woodrow spoke regarding Councilor Moore's comment about resilience. She said perhaps
there was something they could add or imply that resilience came from promoting outside the local
area as well. That involved monev coming from the outside which gave better resilience.
3. System Development Charge Temporary Reductions.
Development and Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item.
Council extended certain reductions in Svstems Development Charges with respect to large
commercial and industrial developments on November 19, 2010. At a work session on November 3.
council directed staff to prepare alternatives for temporary reductions on other types of development.
Staff had developed a proposal which would extend the current 50 percent reduction through .Tune 30,
2013, subject to a monetary limit of $500,000 total during the period January 1 through June 30, 2013.
Staff also proposed a revision to the Municipal Code to permit payment of such charges to be deferred
until final occupancy, provided the applicant granted the city a lien on the affected properly to secure
payment of the fees. Staff would review those options with Council and seek direction in anticipation
of presentation of a proposal for action at the December 3, 2012 Council meeting.
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Mr. Goodwin referred to the chart on page 2 of Attachment 1 of the agenda packet, showing the
capital projects that could be affected if a temporary reduction were to be implemented. In looking at
the chart, it was important to remember that they were suggesting a reduction of $500.000 overall,
which was about $80,000 for each category of SDCs. There was some risk some projects may be
delayed for a year or two, yet if business were stimulated by the reductions; they could produce almost
as much revenue without any delay. In general, staff felt the proposed reductions could be
accommodated, although it was possible some project would have to wait a fiscal year. With good
economic times projects could be backloaded a little further down the road, not impacting any projects
that would be done in the next year or two.
Mr. Goodwin noted that not all development affected SDCs in the same way. Residential development
primarily affected the wastewater SDCs, with very little transportation or stormwater revenue
generated. If this program stimulated a lot of residential development the City might see the local
wastewater projects challenged. if instead it stimulated more commercial or industrial development, it
could affect transportation and stormwater SDCs. This could be accommodated up to the suggested
limit of $500,000 without adversely affecting the capital program.
Mr. Goodwin said the other thing that was considered was the duration of this program. Staff looked at
the option of three months and six months. Three months didn't seem to be effective, especially
starting in January as it was a very low construction season. There wouldn't be much impact with a
three month reduction. A six month reduction got them into the beginning of the next construction
season. Having it timed that way could provide an additional benefit by encouraging developers to get
their permits in June before the program ended.
Mr. Goodwin said staff also looked at where to apply the reduction. During the previous work session,
discussion was mostly around residential. In reality, there had been some small scale commercial and
industrial development during the temporary reduction. Staff would suggest that if the Council went
forward with a reduction for residential, that they apply it to small scale commercial and industrial
development and residential development, with a $500,000 limit. He discussed how they would decide
whose permit would go forward under the reduction as they reached the $500,000 cap. Staff needed
Council direction on whether or not to award it once the application was complete, or when filed. He
described the option in the agenda packet and pros and cons of either option.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if this program would just apply to new construction.
Mr. Goodwin said it applied to any construction where SDCs were due.
Councilor Pishioneri said he thought the intent of the program was to maximize economic
development with new construction. He would propose it applied to new construction for housing, but
could include expansion for commercial. He didn't like it capped at $500,000 as it made it difficult for
staff but rather preferred a term end date. New construction would minimize the financial impact and
having a date certain would apply only to plans submitted by that date.
Mr. Grimaldi said without a cap it could get expensive since they were talking about both commercial
and residential. A large commercial development could involve significant dollars.
Mr. Goodwin said there could be some fairly significant projects that didn't fit into the large
commercial that could heavily impact the SDCs. He provided examples.
Councilor Pishioneri said he preferred a set date
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Councilor Ralston said he would like to focus on new residential and any commercial. He felt they
needed to cap the amount at $500,000 up to and including June 30. When approaching the $500.000
cap, they could start looking at when the permit was done. If there wasn't a cap; we could get into
trouble. Projects on the CIP were important for future development
Councilor Wylie said it could get very expensive for large development. She provided the example of
RiverBend and the funds PeaceHealth spent to expedite the process.
Mr. Goodwin said in appropriate circumstances. if a business wanted to expedite the process and was
willing to pay for that accommodation; staff would accept their application.
Councilor Moore asked when they would start counting towards the $500,000. She asked how much
was done in the last round.
Mr. Goodwin said they would start the program on January L 2013 and end on .tune 30, 2013. During
the last reduction program, there was about $441,000 over six months and nearly all were residential.
As an example of large commercial, the Veteran's Administration Clinic would generate about
$600,000.
Councilor Moore said she wanted to encourage employment.
Mr. Goodwin said the areas the City was focusing on were downtown and Glenwood. During an
upcoming meeting, the SEDA Board would be considering whether or not to undertake assuming the
obligation of the reduced SDCs in those areas.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if the $460,000 was all new building.
Mr. Goodwin said it was new construction for residential under the old program, of which there was
about $300._000. The remainder was commercial and industrial, and a very limited amount for
remodel.
Councilor Pishioneri said he felt it would be easier for staff to have an expiration date rather than the
cap.
Councilor Woodrow said she was inclined to go with a cap. They could have the same situation with
an expiration date. Council could revisit this in May to see how the program was working. If they
needed to look at doing something differently at that time, they could do so if it was worthwhile.
Mr. Goodwin said staff was expecting both a cap and time limit. Council would not want it to go past
the June 30, 2013 deadline without a decision of whether or not to continue the program.
Councilor VanGordon said he was in favor of a cap and time limit, although he did understand what
Councilor Pishioneri was saying. Even if they kept the focus on new construction, having the cap was
important. He would like to meet on this again in May. If the cap wasn't met, we weren't limiting the
benefit. He agreed the focus should be on new construction and felt they should detennine those
eligible by looking at completed building permits.
Councilor Ralston said the City was trying to look at the budget for the next year and having a cap
provided more certainty in setting the budget.
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Mayor Lundberg asked about the staff recommendation. She agreed with both a dollar limit and end
date. The cost of SDCs affected homeowners as well as developers. She was happy they were given
copies of SDC charges for each local jurisdiction (City, Willamalane; MWMQ as it helped provide a
more complete picture. She asked Council if they were good with staff's recommendation.
Mr. Goodwin said staff needed direction on where to cut off when reachine the cap.
Councilor Ralston felt they should look at permits that were complete.
Mr. Goodwin said that was staff s recommendation.
Councilor Pishioneri asked about a situation where someone turned in their application and was
waiting on staff before they could make it complete.
Mr. Goodwin said staff would make sure to get the applications back to the applicant as soon as
possible. That would be easy for staff to comply with for residential. Commercial and Industrial could
be a little more complicated.
Mr. Grimaldi said that would be the down -side and someone may complain.
Councilor Pishioneri said they needed to allow some flexibility to go over slightly if there were a
number of people waiting on their permits. It could minimize the fallout.
Mr. Goodwin said staff would understand that Council wanted to make sure that on June 30. 2013 they
did not have a number of angry citizens.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
Minutes Recorder — Amy Sown
4�"A'
Christine L. Lundberg
Mayor
Attest:
Amy Sow
City Reco der