HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/11/2013 Work SessionCity of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street,
Springfield, Oregon, on Monday. March 11, 2013 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Moore, Ralston, Woodrow and Brew.
Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney
Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
Councilors Wylie was absent (excused).
1. Joint Meeting with the Springfield Arts Commission.
Arts Commission Member Niles Schartz introduced Kristen Cure. Librarian and staff liaison to the
Arts Commission. Each of the members of the Arts Commission introduced themselves and their areas
of interest in the arts: Roka Walsh, Bob Winkelman, Gary LeClair and Riley Smith.
Ms. Walsh said the Springfield Arts Commission promoted the arts and culture of Springfield. They
provided opportunities for artistic creations, such as exhibits, performances and events that created
cooperation among local organizations to make art accessible. The Commission sought to educate the
community about the role the arts played in enhancing the quality of life. The Commission consisted
of a nine member board and had a budget of $9000, as well as part-time staff support. The Arts
Commission was established by the City Council in 1986 and was charged with creating Art Alley and
encouraging Art in the community.
Mr. Schartz spoke regarding Art Alley and noted that most of it was gone. The City Council had
originally conceived the idea of Art Alley and created the Arts Commission to facilitate their idea of
cleaning up the city and creating a better environment downtown. The murals of Art Alley were an
important part of Springfield's identity. Some were nearly 25 years old and in need of repair. He noted
the mural on the Emerald Art Center and roof work that was done in a way not to affect or damage the
mural. There were several other buildings with murals that needed repair. The Arts Commission
would be able to assist in repair of some of the murals, but not all. When the Art Alley was complete,
the Arts Commission had a Walk of Art brochure with the murals, but some of those not longer
existed. In 2011, the Commission created a new brochure; doing nearly all of the work in- house. At
that time, the Commission decided they would like to come up with a new logo. The new logo that
was developed was displayed for the Council and audience. The new brochures were distributed to the
Mayor and Council.
Mr. Winkelman said one of the Commission's biggest focuses was to help facilitate arts throughout
the community by helping other groups develop art. Heritage Arts grants were available for groups
that applied. Those funds could range from $100 to a maximum of $500, with the only criteria being
that the funds for the project must be used to help produce something that would be of benefit and
accessible to the everyone in Springfield. They had funded concerts, dance recitals, art work in schools
and other public art. They were very proud to be able to facilitate those projects. Sometimes they
received more requests than funds available, which had totaled about $3500 the last few years, so had
to turn down some applicants that may not meet the criteria or provide enough information. Another
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Council Work Session Minutes
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part of the Heritage Grants umbrella was for groups that had very timely requests for funds. The
Commission looked at those applications and determined if funds could be allocated. Those
historically had been requests from the Library for special events. Over the last year, the Commission
had begun a more structured process for those funds and was trying to finalize a more precise
mechanism for those applications.
Mr. LeClair spoke regarding the Youth Arts Program. Over the last couple of years. the Arts
Commission had involved elementary schools in an art project that was displayed in the schools, then
at City Hall. Hundreds of students participated and enjoyed the program. In 2013, Ms. Cure would be
attending the Springfield Public Schools Arts Council as a representative. The Commission would be
doing more with high school students from A3 and another new project in May with Two Rivers /Dos
Rios Elementary connecting community artists with the school during the 2nd Friday Art Walk. They
also had a Teen Book Cover Contest and a Teen Short Story Contest which had proved very popular.
One of their biggest productions was the Puppet Festival, run for the last 20 years by Celeste Rose. It
was held in the Lobby and also at the Wildish Theater. This event had been sold out the last couple of
times and they had two shows scheduled this year on March 23, at 1:OOpm and 3:OOpm. This was a
very popular event with the kids.
Mr. Schartz said the Puppet Festival included five different arts in one medium: sculpture (paper
mache), painting, fabric art (clothing for puppets), music (singing) and performing.
Mr. Schartz said Arts Commission member Scott Wylie was the lead on the City Hall Gallery. The
Commission held several different shows at the gallery with one of their favorites being the Youth Art
Show. The kids loved seeing their art on the wall. This year they had changed it from the elementary
school students to the high school students at A3. Another was the Community Art Show held in the
summer. Local artists were invited from all over and their art was displayed. It was always a surprise
and interesting to see what people brought. The Mayor's Art Show was held each fall at the Emerald
Art Center. Three people were chosen to receive gift certificates in the amount $100. Those three were
invited to show their work in the City Hall Gallery in December. They were considering having the
Mayor's Selection Show in the City Hall Gallery next year. The Community Alliance of Lane County
(CALC) project had their exhibit up last week which included pictures of Neighbors without
Addresses. CALC was a recipient of the Heritage Arts Grants which allowed for the framing and for
Springfield to have the first showing of the exhibit.
Mr. Schartz said TEAM Springfield had worked very hard to bring social and cultural change to
downtown. The Art Walk was an important ingredient in that effort. The Store Front Project was led
by NEDCO, with Paula Goodbar as the primary people supporting this project. He asked if the Mayor
could recognize Ms. Goodbar for those efforts. NEDCO had a number of changes, but Ms. Goodbar
had been consistent and continued with the work. In 2011 the Farmers Market opened up in front of
City Hall which allowed the Art Gallery to open up as people came into the building. Turnout was
sometimes good if the artist invited a lot of guests, but otherwise people couldn't always tell City Hall
was open. Sales had been good at the Art Gallery during the Art Walks. Although NEDCO was
changing the director of the Art Walk, several Arts Commission members had been meeting with the
Main Street organization with an offer to help. They were able to provide $960 to pay for the Art Walk
signs which stores could put up in front of their businesses. The funds also helped with the printing of
the posters.
Mr. Smith spoke regarding some of the challenges for the future. The Arts Commission would
continue with its arts projects and programs, and facilitate the creation of art opportunities in
Springfield. The Commission would continue to increase the variety of programs that could be funded
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through the Heritage Grants, and was working on creating a separate grant cycle for community
groups to apply for smaller one -time funding. They strived to achieve goals using the arts to shape
downtown Springfield and celebrate art in the community. The Commission was eager to continue its
collaboration projects, such as the Springfield Puppet Festival, recruiting a variety of artists to the City
Hall Gallery, participating in the 2nd Friday Art Walk and supporting the creation of youth art projects
in the community. Springfield was a leading art contributor and would continue in that direction,
especially downtown with the A3 School. He wanted to provide a place where those students could
stay and be encouraged to become art graphic designers and build a portfolio.
Mr. Schartz said the Commission was looking for proper locations for future murals. One of the ideas
was to put something on the bare walls on the outside of City Hall above 6'h and A Streets. Rather than
have the artist paint the walls, they considered having the artist paint panels that would be installed.
There were a lot of places around City Hall that could use art.
Councilor Ralston asked if they had problems with vandalism on murals.
Mr. Schartz said they had not. People seemed to respect the art.
Councilor Woodrow commended the Commission on the collaboration with CALC and their artwork.
She hoped to see more partnerships with them in the future.
Mr. Schartz said they had received a number of lengthy comments from that display. It touched a lot
of people.
Councilor Woodrow asked if the A3 artwork would replace the elementary schools artwork in the
Youth Art Program.
No, they would continue with elementary art as well. Discussion was held regarding the strong
showing with the elementary program. Having their art displayed in public meant a lot to the kids.
Councilor Woodrow asked if the Arts Commission had considered joining the Lane County Arts
Council.
Mr. Niles said they actually belonged to that council
Councilor Brew commended the Arts Commission on their work and said he loved the City Hall
Gallery. He encouraged them to try to get more art photography. He remembered Bob the Dog, the
mural on the building that was torn down.
Councilor Moore thanked them and said she appreciated the Art Gallery and the Friday Night Art
Walk. She asked if they had funds for public art besides murals.
Mr. Schartz said they had a special mural fund and a mural maintenance fund.
Councilor Moore said some things such as the wooden bench and display had been added to City Hall,
which was nice. She would like to see more public art displayed in City Hall.
Mr. Schartz said the Tessa sculptures, metal welded sculptures, were donated to the Arts Commission
years ago and were currently stored in Maintenance. The Commission was looking for a place for
them so would put them up for silent auction in the Gallery in November.
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Discussion was held regarding safety concerns due to the sharp edges on the sculptures. Precautions
would be taken before they were set out in the lobby.
Councilor Brew said it would be a fun idea.to purchase the winner of the Mayor's Art Show and hang
it in City Hall.
Councilor VanGordon thanked the Arts Commission and said it was great seeing people wanting to
make a positive impact on the community. It really did impact all of Springfield and brought people
downtown. The Commission took a small budget and impacted many, promoting cultural life which
touched all of downtown and helped with economic development.
Mr. Schanz said the Commission put every bit of their $9000 budget to work. They tried to track the
cost benefit of each project.
Mayor Lundberg said she would get a letter to Ms. Goodbar and see if there was a way the City could
help make City Hall look more open during the 2 °d Friday Art Walk.
Councilor Woodrow said there could be someone in the community that would want to come forward
to put up a banner or other signage.
Mayor Lundberg said there were things the City could do to help. She felt it was worthy to look at
murals inside and outside City Hall. Spaces were now being used in the lobby area as more of a
gathering space. She appreciated everything the Arts Commission has done over the years. She did
note the sharp edges of the Tessa sculptures and the need to display them safely. She appreciated that
the Commission was looking at the grant cycle because it had been very confusing. The Arts
Commission was part of the City so we needed to look closely at how those processes were being
done. She would like Councilor Woodrow to be in on discussions about those grant applications as the
Council liaison to the Arts Commission. Currently the applications were a bit open - ended. Mayor
Lundberg served on the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAQ who gave out
millions in funds and they had a very strict process which gave people clarity about deadlines and
notifications. She wanted to encourage the Arts Commission to take that on as a priority and get back
to Councilor Woodrow and Mayor Lundberg so they could take a look and provide feedback.
Councilor Woodrow said there would be a transition for those that were accustomed to a casual
approach going to a more structured process. She felt they could spread the grant cycle into three four -
month cycles per year, with certain criteria required. Anyone in the community could apply as long as
it fit in the parameters. They needed to make sure the community was aware.
Mr. Schanz discussed the amount available for the Heritage Arts Grant and used for the Art Walk.
Councilor Woodrow suggested taking funds given in the informal process and divide it into three
cycles. She also suggested they have a referral source to provide to people they couldn't fund.
Mr. Schartz said they would love to give out more funds.
Mayor Lundberg said she understood they had a set amount. They could separate the funds and give
people parameters. Having clear criteria made it easier to explain why they did or didn't receive
funding, and allowed people to plan according to deadlines. It opened it up to more people that might
want to access the funds.
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Mr. Schartz said one of the thoughts was to run the Heritage Arts Grant in the Fall, then offer another
set of Heritage Arts Grants in the Spring after they knew how much was made by the Puppet Festival.
Councilor Woodrow said she would prefer it was more standardized even if it was at an amount less
than expected. It provided more structure.
The Arts Commission did not meet in the summer so they were not approached during that time.
Mayor Lundberg said she and Councilor Woodrow would be happy to sit down with the Commission
in a smaller setting.
Councilor Moore asked if they received monetary donations.
It was noted that they were not allowed as they were a City commission.
Mayor Lundberg said she appreciated the Commission members for taking the time to meet with the
Council.
2. Initiation of Amendments to Chapter N of the Metro Plan to Implement the ORS 197.304.
Planner Mark Metzger and City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith presented the staff report on this item.
ORS 197304 (1113 3337) established separate Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) for Eugene and
Springfield and was the impetus for the Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan and the Envision Eugene
planning initiatives. As these planning efforts were readied for adoption, amendments to Chapter IV
were needed to clarify which governing bodies would participate in decision making given the
establishment of separate UGBs. The amendments to Chapter N were intended to support a
framework for needed planning collaboration among the jurisdictions while respecting the autonomy
of each.
The most significant changes to Chapter N of the Metro Plan were summarized below.
• Three types of Metro Plan amendments were established by the amendments! Type 1 which
required the participation of all three jurisdictions; Type 11 which required the participation of
the home city and Lane County; and Type III amendments which may be enacted by the home
city alone. The current policy defined only two types of amendments' Types I and 1I.
• The proposed amendments more carefully defined `regional impact." Metro Plan
amendments having a "significant impact' on the water, storm drainage, wastewater, or
transportation facilities of the non -home city were defined as having a regional impact. The
current policy language used the term "demonstrable impact" which was a lower standard to
meet. Actions requiring amendment of a regional transportation system plan, or a regional
public facilities plan were assumed to have a regional impact. Amendments with regional
impact entitled the non -home city to intervene in a.Type 11 decision.
When governing bodies did not reach consensus on a Metro Plan amendment, the current policy
would send the matter to the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC). The proposed amendments
would send unresolved decisions to the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners and one or both
of the Mayors of Eugene and Springfield, depending on how many governing bodies were
participating in the decision.
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Mr. Metzger said they hoped to bring this to Council on March 18 for approval to initiate the process.
Attachment 2 of the agenda packet was the work program and timing for this process. It was in the
interest of all three jurisdictions to move this forward. It appeared the leadership from the other
jurisdictions was generally in favor of moving this forward.
Councilor Brew asked about the process to align the Metro Plan Boundary to Springfield's urban
growth boundary (UGB) which involved similar issues. He asked if that was a parallel process.
Ms. Smith said that was a parallel process. The first step was establishing the separate UGB and this
was the second step. The third step was expanding the UGB.
Mr. Metzger said currently, if the change to the Metro Plan Boundary crossed over the river, it would
take participation from all three jurisdictions even if it only affected Springfield. With the proposed
amendments, only Springfield and the County would participate.
Mr. Grimaldi said Councilor Brew may be referring to the ongoing discussions between Springfield
Utility Board (SUB), Lane County and the City of Springfield regarding the Metro Plan Boundary.
The key issue for that topic was the protection.of the well fields. Staff had a reasonable solution
agreed to by all three agencies that would be presented to the Council on March 18.
Mayor Lundberg said the key was whether or not Council agreed with the three types. Part of the work
would be to make the language very clear so there was no room for misinterpretation. The change
would also mean that Springfield would no longer participate on issues affecting only Eugene.
Mr. Metzger said staff and the attorneys would be working very hard on that language.
Ms. Smith said planners and lawyers had worked on this together and had very good collaboration.
There could be some slight changes during the public process as more input was received, but it was a
good product and should address the issue.
Councilor Ralston said the Type I amendment change was the only one that required all three bodies.
He asked what was meant by non site specific amendments.
Ms. Smith said it included fundamental policies in the Metro Plan that if changed would impact all
three jurisdictions. Those were included in Section 2 of the Metro Plan. There were very few things
that would require all three jurisdictions to participate.
Mr. Metzger said next week this item would be brought to Council with a motion to initiate the
process. Later in the process, after Planning Commission review, the Council would have more work
sessions, a public hearing and adoption.
Council was fine with moving forward.
3. Work Session to Review Springfield Development Advisory Committee Work Priorities and
Authorization of Next Steps by City Council.
Planning Supervisor Jim Donovan and Civil Engineer Matt Stouder presented the staff report on this
item: Mr. Donovan said staff was available to assist the Development Advisory Committee (DAC)
Chair and Vice Chair with their presentation. He introduced DAC Chair Renee Clough and, Vice
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Chair Ed McMahan. He noted that the DAC was on schedule and on point, and had accomplished
three major steps with meetings dedicated to each step. Staff had provided background on the different
topics, and then the DAC created their own matrix of priorities and final ranking. Staff was here to
answer questions about the public process and resources to move forward. They were on track to be
back to Council prior to summer break with information of where they were and to schedule
adjustments as necessary. They had spent a lot of time, but did have consensus on the committee. He
noted that Councilor VanGordon was the Council liaison and Commissioner James was the Planning
Commission liaison.
Ms. Clough said a matrix was created of the different items the DAC wanted to look at, with rankings
of each. In putting the matrix together, columns were included that the DAC felt the Planning
Commission and City Council would be interested to see. Most of that information was not held as a
priority other than public demand along with the committee members' personal feelings. She referred
to the matrix and topics. Site Review Applicability was the DAC's highest priority and although they
did not want to eliminate it entirely, they did want to explore it further for each situation. Project
Advocacy and Communication was the second priority. It was difficult to describe, but basically was
looking to have one contact person for a project even though numerous staff needed to be involved.
There were times when there seemed to be competing priorities among different departments, so they
wanted to look at how that could be dealt with internally and not involve the applicant. System
Development Charge (SDC) Context was the third priority. The DAC was aware there was some task
force work looking at methodology and the rates, but the DAC was interested in looking at the context
of the SDCs and how they were used. Fees were the fourth priority and were similar in that they
wanted to look at how fees could be used more efficiently through technology or other opportunities.
Planning Application Fees was the fifth priority with the same focus as #4 Fees. Incentivizing Use of
Brownfields was the sixth priority. There were a number of areas in the city the DAC felt could be
redeveloped, but for one reason or another developers were not interested. The DAC would like to
look at ways to improve those brownfield areas.
Mr. McMahon spoke regarding Project Advocacy and Communication and said it meant for the City
to say `yes until they couldn't, to be open for business, to champion a project as far as possible and to
get all of the departments together. He gave staff credit for implementing some of the good ideas from
the DAC which didn't require Planning Commission or City Council approval. He noted that the
information presented was also presented to the Planning Commission on January 15, 2013. He
acknowledged two other DAC members in the audience; Mike Koivula and Phillip Farrington who
were in the audience.
Councilor Woodrow asked if it was possible to have one staff member act as the lead for advocacy and
communication. Objectivity was needed both in communicating the process and acting as an advocate.
She asked if it would be possible to have that be one person.
Ms. Clough said that was their vision.
Councilor Woodrow said she liked the idea of looking at site plan review further and setting up
parameters of using it in only certain situations instead of across the board.
Mayor Lundberg said the City recently combined Public Works and Development Services so they
were still in the learning process. She asked if it was typical that the developer sent just one person to
work with the City. It would make sense to create a team where there was one staff person working
with one contact person from the developer side.
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Ms. Clough said most developers did just have one person working with the City.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like to see if we could just have one staff person as the contact.
Councilor VanGordon said that message had been carried.
Councilor Ralston asked about who would be incentivizing the brownfields.
Ms. Clough said the DAC was looking at how the City could incentivize through the Code or other
ways, not just monetarily.
Councilor Ralston said he liked Chinking outside the box and one of his priorities was to get those
areas redeveloped.
Mayor Lundberg asked if the City had an assessment of the brownfield sites in Springfield. if they
knew what was out there, they could have variations of incentives that were site specific.
Mr. Donovan said if this item rose to the top of the priority list, that work would be done. There were
different levels of brownfield inventory, different levels of contamination on those various sites, and
areas of blight. Staff was open to looking at process and assistance. They all had the same common
goal.
Councilor VanGordon said when looking at the matrix, most of the discussion had happened on the
first three items. His vision was if Council agreed on the first three tasks, the DAC could. work on
those. The top three were where most of the thought had been put and he would like to see where
those could go. There were good questions and creative solutions to solve the issues from the
committee. They were trying to balance the needs to be open for business with the needs of the City so
the end product from the DAC would be something that would make the City more effective and help
make it easier for projects to get started. He was excited about the work done so far and felt the first
three items were a good place to start.
Councilor Ralston asked if the old WareMart building was considered a brownfield.
Mr. Donovan said it was a fairly large site and may have required some cleanup. He believed it had
gone through the necessary steps and was now ready for redevelopment.
Councilor Moore asked about the SDC equity issue. She thought that was being addressed by the City
already and the issue of people paying their fair share.
Ms. Clough said there were multiple definitions of fair share. Some member's of the DAC felt they
should not have to pay SDCs in an area that was already fully developed to pay for an area that was to
be built out. The group was aware that some of the ideas would not work. The intent was to come up
with a list of what they thought were viable ideas and pass it along to the SDC group to explore
further.
Ms. Stouder said the DAC was aware of the current reduction of SDCs the City had in place and were
appreciative of that program. They wanted to talk about other issues and provide input to the SDC
CAC. Some of the things they were looking at had already been discussed.
Mayor Lundberg said staff was looking at which topics Council wanted as the DAC's focus
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Discussion was held regarding which three were considered the top three. It was noted that the top
three were: 1) Site Review Applicability; 2) Project Advocacy and Communication; and 3) SDC
Context.
Councilor VanGordon said those three would be his preference, but they could also have the DAC
brainstorm more about the brownfield item.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like to bump the brownfields topic.
Development and Public Works Director Len Goodwin said there was a regional grant through the
Lane Livability Consortium that would identify over the next year or year and a half between 60 -80
brownfield sites in the region. That could be a good place to start when looking to assess brownfield
development.
Mr. McMahan said he would like to work on fees as well. There could be some efficiency measures
used in other cities that could be used in Springfield.
Councilor Ralston said all of the topics were very important.
Mr. Stouder said they had a fairly aggressive timeline. Staff hoped to be able to manage the process
and bring an update to the Council in July regarding resources and times for each of the projects.
Mayor Lundberg said she very much appreciated the DAC's participation.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:02 p.m.
Minutes Recorder —Amy Sowa
Christine L. Lundberg U
Mayor
Attest:
(1,n inU"4'
Amy S a
City Recorder