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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/15/2013 RegularCity of Springfield Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2013 The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Chambers, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 15, 2013 at 7:00 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston, Woodrow and Brew. 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. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Lundberg SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT 1. El Dia De Los Ninos /El Dia De Los Libros Proclamation Mayor Lindberg read from the proclamation which acknowledged the importance of reading and education for our children. She presented the proclamation to Library Latino Liaison Kristen Cure. Library Director Rob Everett distributed El Dia De Los Ninos buttons to the Mayor and Council. 2. Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) Project Recognition. Rachael Chilton introduced John Simpson, Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWES) Commission President, who made the presentation. Mr. Simpson came forward with a plaque to present to Councilor Marilee Woodrow as Council liaison and current President of MWMC. The plaque was being presented in recognition for the substantial energy savings achieved at the Water Pollution Control Facility and for MWMC's commitment to intergovernmental partnerships and innovative business practices. He noted that a combination of advanced technology, strong partnerships and hard work by staff had resulted in significant energy management benefits at the regional wastewater treatment plant. The new design also allowed the treatment plant to manage its electrical demand to decrease load during peak power periods and grid emergencies. Decreasing peak demand saved electrical customers energy because it lessened the need to purchase higher- priced "peak' power. The design and construction of the new blower project was originally estimated to cost $1.4M; however, because staff at the facility participated in the design and installation, the majority of the work was done internally and they were able to reduce the initial capital expenditure by 35 %. Annual operating energy savings realized by this project were estimated to be 2 Million kilowatt hours, which was enough energy to power about 100 homes each year. Ms. Woodrow said over the years major improvements resulted in the opportunity to replace one of the original blowers with the high efficiency single -stage blower, the latest generation of the City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 2 frictionless air bearings and high - efficiency variable frequency drive on the new 750- horsepower engine resulted in significant energy savings. She commended the staff and MWMC Commissioners for working extra hard during the fall and winter holiday season to complete the blower installation on schedule. Despite a tight timeline that required a lot of work done in December, the installation of the new blower inlet discharge piping and the transformer switchboard and active filter were completed as planned, with the start up of the blower taking place on January 14, 2013. There were ongoing efforts by MWMC and the City of Springfield to create value from what most people considered waste – for example, using the methane produced through wastewater treatment to co- generate enough electricity to meet much of the treatment plant's energy needs. Personally, she appreciated her role as a commissioner on MWMC and as this year's President. She continued to be engaged by both the entire wastewater treatment operation and the cooperation among the principles themselves. She had learned so much that she didn't realize she didn't know. Everyone involved in the collaboration, the respectful cooperation, the discussions and the decision making process on the Commission were to be commended. It was very effective. 3. Introduction of Deputy Director of Development and Public Works, Annette Spickard. Development and Public Works Director Len Goodwin introduced Annette Spickard who had recently been appointed to the new position of Deputy Director of Development and Public Works. Ms. Spickard had formerly served as the Lane County Assessor. Staff was very happy to have Ms. Spickard join the department and what this meant for the future of the department and the City. Mayor Lundberg welcomed Ms. Spickard to the City of Springfield CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Claims a. Approval of March 2013, Disbursements for Approval 2. Minutes a. April 1, 2013 – Work Session b. April 1, 2013 – Regular Meeting 3. Resolutions 4. Ordinances a. ORDINANCE NO. 6292 – AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE SPRINGFIELD DEVELOPMENT CODE SECTION 4.3- 145— WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS FACILITIES; AND CERTAIN TERMS FOUND IN SECTION 6.1-110 - MEANING OF SPECIFIC WORDS AND TERMS. WHICH APPLY TO WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS FACILITIES: ADOPTING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE: AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 3 5. Other Routine Matters a. Liquor License Application for Willies Lebanese/Northwest Cuisine; Located at 400 International Way, Springfield, Oregon. b. Liquor License Application for Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, Located at 2770 Gateway Street, Springfield, Oregon. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WYLIE WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR WITH CHECKS NO. 120312, 120670 AND 120811 FROM THE MARCH DISBURSEMENTS REMOVED. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. ITEMS REMOVED 1. a. Checks No. 120312, 120670 and 120811 from the March 2013 Disbursements. Councilor VanGordon recused himself from this item as the checks were to his employer, United Parcel Service (UPS) and he had a conflict of interest. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WYLIE WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO APPROVE CHECKS NO. 120312, 120670 AND 120811 FROM THE MARCH 2013 DISBURSEMENTS. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (I ABSTENTION — VANGORDON). PUBLIC HEARINGS-- Please limit comments to 3 minutes. Request to speak cards are available at both entrances. Please present cards to City Recorder. Speakers may not yield their time to others. 1. Fiscal Year 2013 -2014 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) Recommended Funding Allocations. Housing Manager Kevin Ko presented the staff report on this item. The Springfield Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) reviewed six proposals and prepared CDBG and HOME funding recommendations for the FY2013 -2014 program year. The recommendations were being forwarded to the City Council for consideration and approval. The CDAC's funding recommendations were consistent with Springfield's local funding priorities and identified community development needs as documented in the 2010 Eueene- Springfield Consolidated Plan. The City of Springfield would be receiving approximately $429,897 of CDBG funds and $279,910 of HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2013 and ending June 30, 2014 (FY2013 -14). This was a 5% reduction from last year in both funding categories. These amounts, and approximately $102,000 of previously unallocated funds, were available. Mr. Ko said that despite the decrease in funding, the City had been getting good projects from these funds. This year, they had received some very good applications, making selection difficult as there were more projects than funding. He explained the process of the CDAC. Mayor Lundberg opened the public hearing City of Springfield Council Regular Meetin, Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 4 Tom Mulhern. Executive Director of Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Lane Countv, Springfield, OR. Mr. Mulhern said the CCS was on the list of potential fundees and he wanted to thank the Council for this process. They recognized there were not enough funds to fully fund all of the requests and appreciated the recommendation to fund half of their request. At that level of support, it would make a big difference to the overall success of the project if the funding could be provided as a grant rather than a loan as was recommended. The $35,000 requested was the public parking lot portion of a larger ($165,000) project to renovate the public service areas at the Springfield Community Center, a project they were actively raising funds for at this time. He hoped the Council would consider converting their allocation from a loan to a grant. 2. Leda Hermeiz, F.I.R.S.T., Springfield, OR. Ms. Hermeiz said she was a "Hatchling" at NEDCO. She had been a resident of Springfield since April 2010. At that time; she was looking for things to get involved with and found the Springfield Farmer's Market. She began writing in their Market Newsletter; then heard about their program for new businesses. After attending the Open House, which later became the first "Hatch ", she was sold on the concept of a Springfield business incubator and how it could help start her business. She submitted a business plan for a consulting business that helped food businesses go green. Hatch had offered that support to her in a number of helpful ways such as offering her low -cost office space that included utilities and internet use, positive and supportive staff, tools and information she needed, and organized business peer support. Because they were so linked into the community, they had also helped her network with other business owners and the Chamber of Commerce. One of the biggest hurdles was introducing the concept of her business to the public and she still had a lot to learn. She was very excited about the new framework that was being introduced allowing hatchlings to choose the level of assistance needed. The City of Springfield was in a unique place. There was a lot of energy coming our way and we had an opportunity that appealed to families wanting to live safer, healthier, happier lives in a small town atmosphere. She appreciated Council considering funding for Sprout and Hatch. Stuart Phillips. Red Wagon Creamery. Eugene. OR. Mr. Phillips said he and his wife made artisan ice cream from scratch and sold it at a variety of places including the Springfield Market. Everyone knew the health benefits from buying and eating local organic foods. He was speaking in support of funding for SPROUT to do some landscaping of the outside of the market and asked them to consider the monetary benefits that came from a Farmer's Market. Be and wife had made two jobs for themselves by buying locally and had been able to hire another person. They were also looking at opening another store in Eugene and hiring 4 more people. All of the dollars that went into something like SPROUT were dollars that multiplied and went into the full community. Something as small as making the new SPROUT more attractive to bring people in was going to be money well spent. 4. Roberto Peralta, Springfield, OR Mr. Peralta said he had lived in Springfield for six years. He formerly worked as a sales person and then lost his job in 2012. At that time, he decided to start his own business. Although he was a good sales person, it was very difficult to decide how to manage his business. A friend told him about NEDCO and he started the Hatch Program. Now he felt the confidence to speak in front of the Council and manage his own business. He had been in business for five months and had three accounts. Through the program he learned that he needed more cash flow so sold his cars. He was sure he would succeed in his cleaning business and sharing profits with his employees. The Hatch Program and NEDCO had helped him achieve his goals. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 5 5. Clair Seguin. Executive Director ofNEDCO. Springfield, OR. Ms. Seguin thanked the Council for all they had done for SPROUT since they started. There were two projects they needed to complete at SPROUT: the elevator, which they believed they had funding for; and the outside space so they could expand the market to an outdoor venue. She distributed a document showing the landscaping they were hoping to put in with the funding requested through CDBG..The regular season would start in May and they hoped to have some good handscaping and landscaping done in order to maximize the outdoor space to get the highest number of vendors in a good traffic pattern. They knew the crowds would be big based on the large numbers they had experienced over the winter. During the winter marketplace, they had seen over 14,000 people. They had room for 35 to 45 vendors this summer on the site as laid out. The hardscape and landscaping components would be very beneficial for all of the vendors. They felt the economic impacts from the market were becoming very clear. Jobs were being created and reinvestment in other businesses was occurring. They saw that people that shopped at the market also shopped at other businesses downtown. The support for the landscape project would be very helpful to maximize everything they could get out of the site to help the business community and downtown. 6. Shellev Turner. Vice President of Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity. She was speaking in support of Habitat's HOME grant proposal supporting their new R Street seven house development in Springfield. Their purpose was to aid in the elimination of substandard and poverty housing in the community. They accomplished this by building homes in partnership with families in their service area whose incomes were between 30 -60% of the area median income adjusted for family size. Habitat built basic, decent and affordable homes using mostly volunteer labor, including the partner families with a substantial amount of materials, supplies and professional services donated by local and national businesses. In addition to the 500 hours of volunteer labor contributed by the partner family, the families purchase the homes through a 0% interest mortgage. Of the forty-eight homes built in the area and more than 20 years of service in the community, there had been zero foreclosures to date. Through their HOME grant proposal, they were asking for funds to help ready the building sites for construction, utility infrastructures from water mitigation, interior streets, sidewalks, access, general site preparation and related activity. The HOME funds would help leverage additional dollars to complete the project. They were awaiting final word on a major foundation grant that would complement the city HOME grant funds in preparing the building site. Habitat already owned the property and had initiated planning activities for the subdivision, including a design charette, which was providing valuable insights into the subdivision development. They appreciated the great support received in the past for many projects including the Meyer Estates development at 40' and K Streets, and consideration of their request. Don Griffin, Executive Director. Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Griffin said their office was in Eugene, but he was a Springfield resident. They were excited by Council's consideration of their proposal for HOME grant funds for the R Street development. That development was one that would bring seven new homes to the Springfield area for low income families who worked in partnership with the volunteers and staff and funders to make their affordable housing possible. Habitat for Humanity brought together people who wanted to share in the betterment of the community. People who wanted to help sponsor the homes came to give back to the community, to provide their funds to help build these affordable homes. People who wanted to live a dream they thought they could never fulfill, one that would bring them stability in their homes, stability in their lives and could transform their lives and the lives of their children. They had heard from people that did scholarship interviews for a major foundation how Habitat housing had benefited their development as a student over the years and helped them be able to City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 6 attend college. During their fundraising breakfast next week they would be hearing from a Habitat homeowner who would be sharing their story about the successes of being a Habitat homeowner for her family and her children. He thanked the Council for their consideration for the proposal for the R Street development and said they were excited about the potential to bring more affordable housing to families in the Springfield area. 8. Betsv Hunter, Real Estate Development Director with Housing and Community Services Agency (HACSA). Springfield and Eugene. Ms. Hunter introduced Richard Herman, Executive Director for Metropolitan Affordable Housing. She said they were here to speak on behalf of Glenwood Place, their proposal for a major development in Glenwood with 150 affordable apartments with commercial space along Franklin Boulevard. They were confident this development would have a major impact on Franklin Boulevard and the redevelopment of Glenwood. Council support for this project was extremely important. The next step in the project was to take it to the State for permanent financing and tax credits. The State was looking closely at how local communities were prioritizing projects and providing financial support for development. She thanked them for their consideration of their proposal. Judy Harold Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) member, Springfield OR. Ms. Harold said she felt it was very important to have a CDAC member attend the Council meeting when these projects were discussed. She appreciated the opportunity to work with the CDAC, Mayor Lundberg and city staff Kevin Ko and Pemty Olsen. The CDAC members studied the grants thoroughly; listened to the presentations and questioned the representatives of the applicants during the public hearing. Intense discussions between the CDAC members took place. It was very difficult to make decisions when the needs were so great and the funds were so limited. The CDAC was in agreement with the priorities set by the City Council's One -Year Action Plan and agreed that increasing the supply of affordable housing was the highest priority. Currently, affordable housing was severely limited in our community. With her work in the community regarding homelessness, she had learned affordable housing was critical for stability in families' lives. She was here to answer any questions if needed. 10. Sarai Johnson, NEDCO Hatch Program. Ms. Johnson distributed a flyer regarding the Hatch Program. Ms. Johnson said she was here to urge the Council to support the CDAC's recommendation to fund NEDCO's Hatch Business Incubator Program. The program was started in 2011 with support from CDBG funds through the City Council. During the two years they had been operating, they had served a large number of new entrepreneurs and start -up businesses get on their feet. This program was a very unique approach to small business development that focused on a large number of different strategies to help businesses become stable, including the use of incubator space as well as the full selection of service items. The program used financial well -being and personal financial management as a foundation to help entrepreneurs become more financially stable. In addition, they took a community economic development stance with the business development by helping the businesses they served reinvest in their own communities. The program also leveraged their wide array of asset building services where individuals and the community could have access to financial resources and affordable capital through Community Lending Works. This program generated economic activity and also supported a lot of Springfield businesses who wanted their business to be successful in Springfield and who contributed to the economy through creation of jobs and economic activity. Hatch fees were designed to help cover the cost of the program. The request before Council was to support low- income entrepreneurs who met the qualification of being at or below 80% of the area media income. The program was a great way for low- income people to launch a business and bring additional income into their household. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 7 They were counting on the City of Springfield's support for this program and they appreciated their past support. Mayor Lundberg closed the public hearing Councilor Ralston said he appreciated the amount of work that went into these applications. With reduced funds this was more difficult. He asked what difference it might make in the funding if they changed the Catholic Community Services (CCS) allocation from a loan to a grant. Mr. Ko said they were trying to re -coup some of the funds knowing it would be awhile before CDBG rebounded. Repaying the loan wouldn't impact them for the next four or five years as they could be quite flexible in deferring the loan payments. The more critical question was regarding the process. When the applicants were brought in some were presented as loans and some as grants. The ones that were loans were brought to the front by the CDAC, not given a priority, but to note that those projects were asking for a loan and could deserve additional consideration. Whether changing that mid- stream skewed the application process and made the process less valid was up to Council to consider. Councilor Ralston said a business could build income in order to pay off a loan, but CCS was a non- profit and didn't have a lot of income. He leaned more toward a grant for those situations. Councilor Moore said she had a similar question. She asked if CCS originally applied for a loan. Yes. She asked if there had been a consideration by the CDAC to change it to a grant. Mr. Ko said that discussion did not come up during the meeting. It was proposed as a loan and considered as a loan when the CDAC made its recommendation. Councilor VanGordon asked if the City had converted NEDCO's loan to a grant last year, using a standard base framework and asking them to meet some benchmarks. Mr. Ko said that was correct. There was an alternative for a forgivable loan if certain criterion was met above and beyond what was in the application. Councilor VanGordon asked if this project would fit into that type of framework. Mr. Ko said they did have a lot of flexibility and he would be willing to discuss that with CCS to see if there was something additional they could offer. Councilor VanGordon said he would be comfortable looking at that option. He suggested Council have a discussion at some point regarding this issue from a policy perspective as CDBG funds continued to decrease. In this specific case and given what CCS was trying to accomplish, he felt a framework with benchmarks would be an acceptable solution. Councilor Woodrow agreed. She wasn't sure what they could do tonight. Mr. Ko said if Council gave him direction on how they wanted to proceed, he could negotiate with CCS and reflect the agreement in the One -Year Action Plan on May 6. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 8 Councilor Wylie said in the future she would like to see a policy or procedure for changing an applicant's designation from loan to grant that would go through the CDAC before coming to the Council. Councilor Brew said he would vote with the rest of the Council, but was not comfortable changing policy mid -stream so would like a policy for next year. Mayor Lundberg said she had served on the CDAC for years and seen years when they didn't have enough money for all of the requests and a few years when they had enough. They had changed from having a downtown set aside, yet many of the projects were in the downtown this year. Everyone that applied this year was more than wortbv of getting all of the funds they requested, and would have difficulty coming up with additional funds. They might be looking for other resources and funding. She thanked the CDAC for going through a very difficult process and for all the applicants. She thanked Mr. Ko for making sure the projects were as whole as possible. She agreed there should be a policy regarding this type of request. The CDAC should have the opportunity to make the decision on any adjustments. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WYLIE WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO ADOPT THE FY2013 -2014 FUNDING ALLOCATIONS AS SHOWN ON ATTACHMENT 2 WITH A MODIFICATION REGARDING CHANGING THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES (CCS) AMOUNT OF FUNDS FROM $17,500 AS A LOAN TO $17,500 AS A GRANT, AND ASKING STAFF TO NEGOTIATE BENCHMARKS WITH CCS THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE I . Curtiss Greer_ Springfield. OR. Mr. Greer referred to documents that were included in the Council agenda packet regarding health problems (from feral cats) which he had submitted last week. There was an easy way to help remove the problem before it became a large issue. It would give the necessary authority to correct the problem to remove two words after "bees" in City Code Section 5.041(2). This would bring the City in line with State health rules. Mayor Lundberg noted there was a Council subcommittee that was working very hard on all of the issues surrounding animal control. Mary Davidson, Springfield Shelter Rights Alliance (SSRA) Activist Springfield OR Ms. Davidson said SSRA existed to improve conditions for people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. SSRA was currently working with City staff to make Conestoga Huts available as a part of St. Vincent DePaul's parking program. Many of the Council had talked with the SSRA and been out to the community supported shelter location where the huts originated. She thanked them for that and noted that their construction was a community effort. The SSRA volunteers were charged to find sites for the huts on church property or industrial sites within Springfield. Three huts had been donated for use by Springfield residents who currently had no address. She was here to let the Council know of their efforts and to ask for their help in locating industrial businesses and churches that would be willing to work with them to find a temporary home and purpose for these responsible individuals who were working to get back into jobs and permanent housing. They had three huts available at no cost and several candidates who wanted to live in the huts, contributing to the community by watching out for the property, helping to keep it tidy, doing light yard work or in other ways as agreed upon by City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 9 the site host. They needed properties with room enough for the placement of a hut. St Vincent DePaul managed the program and worked with the resident and business or faith community to be sure it was a good match. They arranged for portable toilets and garbage collection for the but resident. The role of the Mayor and Council had provided them with the opportunity to know many people in our community. She asked that they share names of people — business people and people connected to faith based communities'— that had sites that could be used. Being able to use the Mayor and Councilors' names when approaching those people would be very helpful. She said she would remain after the meeting to collect names from the Mayor and Council, or could be reached by phone. Shelter was a human right and there were currently hundreds of our neighbors in Springfield who had no safe; legal place to stay. Councilor Ralston asked if the huts were considered a permanent structure or movable. Ms. Davidson said they were movable. Mayor Lundberg said they needed a partnership in finding locations. COUNCIL RESPONSE CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS 1. Correspondence from Curtiss Greer, Springfield, Oregon, Regarding Disease Spread by Feral Cats. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WYLIE WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO ACCEPT FOR FILING THE CORRESPONDENCE. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BIDS ORDINANCES BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL 1. Committee Appointments 2. Business from Council a. Committee Reports Councilor Brew said while in Ireland, he attended a City Council meeting on April 5 in Limerick, Ireland. Limerick was a city of about 60,000 next to a major university, located next to a major river, with a lot in common with Springfield; however their meeting was a very different experience. They had 17 members on their Council, plus the Mayor. They were elected by political party and there were four major parties in Ireland. It was very interesting to watch their meeting. The meeting he attended had eight items on the agenda and the first item took one and a half hours because each person would stand up to make a 5 -10 minute speech blaming the other parties. They made him feel very welcome, but it City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 15, 2013 Page 10 was a different experience and very partisan. He was glad he had the opportunity to attend. 2. Councilor Moore expressed her thanks to Laurie Treager and NEDCO who invited her to participate in the Meyer Memorial Trust Community Food Systems 2013 Convening in Corvallis last week. She learned a lot about local food production and would prepare a report to provide to the Council. She was very impressed to hear about all of the things going on in Lane County, particularly by SPROUT and NEDCO. Mayor Lundberg travelled to Washington DC last week for the United Front trip along with representatives from Willamalane Parks and Recreation, Lane Transit District (LTD), the Springfield School District, Lane County and the City of Eugene. They all went back and advocated for projects in the region and talked with congress people and with departments. Senator Merkley made special note to his staff that CDBG funds continued to get cut, but that they provided so much for our community, not only for housing but for senior and disabled services. They also met with the Economic Development Department and learned they had technical assistance and funding to help development with marketing plans. She felt the City's Refinement Plan and Downtown Plan could use a marketing plan. b. Other-Business. BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned 7:58 p.m. Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: City Re rder