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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/01/2013 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JULY 1, 2013 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, July 1, 2013 at 6:00 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 Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sown and members of the staff. 1. Spring Clean -up Discussion. Development and Public Works Operations Manager Brian Conlon presented the staff report on this item. The City's annual Spring Clean -up continued to be a very popular program that provided City staff and volunteers a unique opportunity to connect with citizens on a more personal level. The Mayor and Council asked staff to explore adding a second annual clean -up or a new program initiative that would provide the same positive interaction with our customers and value to the community. Staff evaluated the following options: 1. Hold the Clean -up twice a year by adding it in the late Fall or early Winter In assessing providing a twice annual clean -up, staff discovered that our invested partners Sanipac, Lane County Solid Waste, NextStep, St. Vincent de Paul, Schnitzer Steel, and Habitat for Humanity were not able to absorb the significant operating costs associated with a second event. Staff estimated a project budget of $40K -50K would be needed to essentially duplicate the current Clean -up. 2. Engage the Team Springfield partners in collaborating on some project prospects in the Springfield "Promise Neighborhood" catchment A possible two- for -one approach was to attract youth volunteers by incorporating the Youth Day Of Caring annual event and the Promise Neighborhood project(s). Some initial project ideas included: a focused clean -up in the Springfield catchment area; general neighborhood beautification; improve pedestrian way finding; and safe route to schools enhancement. Initial project(s) estimate $1 OK -$20K. 3. Coordinate a citywide volunteer effort to do graffiti abatement in public right -of -way and on private properties A citywide graffiti removal project would enhance city beautification and promote safer neighborhood environments. Initial project estimate $5K- $1 OK. 4. Provide a pick -tip service for the elderly and disabled citizens allowing them an outlet to dispose or recycle their large unwanted items. Elderly and disabled citizens often did not possess the ability to dispose of large unwanted belongings. This could be an issue of their inability to transport and or pay for the steeper cost of disposing of their larger items. Initial project estimate $5K- $15K. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 1, 2013 Page 2 Mr. Conlon described the different options as presented in the agenda packet Councilor Moore spoke regarding Option 3, graffiti abatement. Some of the Police volunteers did that work, but she didn't know how much they were accomplishing. Police Senior Analyst Mike Harman said they did quite a bit of the graffiti abatement, but were not able to get to it all. Most of their work was focused on removing yard and garage sale signs, and covering up graffiti on public property. When there were large amounts of graffiti on private property, they had waiver forms allowing them to enter the property. Mr. Conlon said the SUB transformers often didn't get cleaned up. Councilor Moore suggested we coordinate with those efforts. Mr. Conlon said if this was chosen as a project, they would market, advertise and recruit volunteers at a larger level. Staff had done some projects through Youth Day of Caring in the past to address graffiti. Often, the students knew who was doing the graffiti and became vested in the cleanup. Councilor Moore said she liked involving the youth in the Youth Day of Caring. Whatever project they chose, she would like to involve the youth. It would involve volunteers throughout the City and the youth, and would show the City was trying to accomplish some beautification. Councilor Woodrow said sometimes when Springfield partnered with others, the City got lost. People took pride in the cleanup day and the City. Looking at it from that perspective, she would lean towards working with the Police Fleet volunteers to enhance graffiti abatement, or help the elderly and disabled to promote cleanup and assistance. There was a sense of pride in our citizens for what the , City did and she would like to do something that was from the City. Mr. Conlon said working with the youth involved both education and civic pride. There was a value in involving younger citizens so they learned what was involved in taking care of our community. Councilor Brew said when talking about the Spring Cleanup, they had talked about how much firn it was for the Councilors. Holding an event during the week could save overtime costs for staff, but would mean that everyone else had to take the day off of work to volunteer at the event. For him, the choice would be whether or not to have it on a weekday or a weekend. During the week, the Youth Day of Caring may get more youth, but during the weekend, more working adults would likely be able to volunteer. They needed to determine if they wanted to do a service to the community or if they wanted the City of Springfield organization to be more visible to the community beyond those that were already out there doing maintenance. He asked if they could switch the days off for employees in order to allow them to attend a weekend event without paying overtime. Mr. Conlon said they could possibly shift people's hours to accommodate a weekend shift. People were electing to work on that weekend and some wouldn't mind volunteering, but union rules didn't allow that. Graffiti abatement was different. When doing the cleanup, they needed the operators to run the equipment. Graffiti abatement could be done with any volunteer so there may not be a requirement for overtime if staff chose to volunteer to help. He would need to check with the union. Councilor VanGordon said his preference for a project would be graffiti abatement, and agreed that weekends could maximize the number of volunteers. A lot of workers could make a big impact on City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 1, 2013 Page 3 cleaning it up. The twice a year cleanup was still of interest to him and he would like to discuss it again after the Fall event. Going with something like graffiti abatement allowed them to make the Fall event open to whatever was needed each year. If they went with another cleanup, it could be something people started to expect. Keeping the Fall event different left it as more of an option, with the cleanup event continuing to be the Spring event. Councilor Ralston said all of the projects had some appeal, but he had been interested in a second cleanup, although it was too much of a cost. He didn't see this as a list they needed to pick something from. We didn't have funds and nothing from this list seemed terribly important other than a second cleanup, which was too expensive. If they announced they were going to clean up graffiti, they might get more. He felt the City was doing a good job of cleaning up graffiti. The elderly and disabled service was already offered. Item 2 might be worthwhile and could be done as a TEAM Springfield project. Mayor Lundberg said she liked the idea of doing the Spring Cleanup in the Spring and something else in the Fall. The City was good at getting something done and this was something for the City to take on. She liked the idea that the second event had to do with having a clean, livable city which was one of their goals, and could include members of the community. Others that might be able to assist could be the Lions Club, Boy Scouts and other service organizations. She noted a fence along the EWEB path that continually had graffiti, and it did change the atmosphere of that section of the path. It gave the City an option of something we could do that said we cared and involved the citizens rather than serving the citizens. Her second choice would be to find a group that would take on picking up appliances for senior citizens, or try to advertise that service better during Spring Cleanup. She was in favor of whatever they could do. Councilor Brew suggested posting fliers for the free appliance pickup service during the Spring Cleanup to Meals on Wheels and also the Senior Center. Mr. Conlon said they did have more people taking advantage of that service when they were able to advertise it better. Councilor Woodrow said since the Police Fleet had kick - started the graffiti cleanup, the City could enhance what they had begun. Part of this could also include educating people that helped with the event to recognize the different types of graffiti and what it could mean. Mr. Conlon said that could be done through the marketing process. Councilor Ralston said there was a place on Main Street that picked up appliances for free, and also took in items for free. They could find out the name of that place and pass that information along to the elderly to accomplish the same thing. That way there was no cost and the City could still be part of the solution. He said he could get the store's information. Mr. Conlon said that would work if they focused on appliances only. In the past, the big item pickup the City had done was for other large items such as bed frames and other things they were not able to dispose of without paying a high cost. Councilor Wylie said St. Vincent DePaul took old cars and could be a partner in getting rid of them. It really helped our community to get rid of those types of items. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 1, 2013 Page 4 Councilor Moore said this was her first year at Spring Cleanup and it was a lot of fun. People that were new to the area had heard about it on the radio. The City had done the cleanup event for so long that we forgot that not everyone knew about it. She suggested putting more money into advertising. She also noted that some people had mentioned the long lines in years past. She asked if they had thought about ways to improve efficiencies, Mr. Conlon said during the tough economic times, the City had looked for cost cutting measures, but they could ramp that back up. It was frustrating to have people waiting in line so staff was always looking at ways to make it move as efficiently as possible. Other ideas were welcome. There were fewer vehicles that went through this year, mainly they believed, due to the rainy weather. Councilor Ralston said they could have people check what they had, and be directed to the different lines. Councilor Brew said if they chose the graffiti cleanup, they could focus on areas that got tagged repeatedly and perhaps invest in the paint that wouldn't accept tagging. Mayor Lundberg said people that went to Spring Cleanup thought they had to get there immediately so everyone came first thing in the morning causing cars to back up. She suggested to people that they wait and come later in the morning or early afternoon. Perhaps that could be added to the information that went out to the citizens. The majority of the Council were interested in doing a graffiti cleanup as an experiment in the Fall. Councilor Brew asked if they could have a work session on just that possibility. Mayor Lundberg said timing may be an issue. Mr. Grimaldi said more details could be put into a Communication Packet with an opportunity for Council to contact staff if they had concerns or comments. Mr. Conlon asked when they wanted to have this event. The Youth Day of Caring was in the Spring. Mayor Lundberg said they would like to have something this Fall. Mr. Conlon said he would follow through and send out a Communication Packet with the details. 2. Cooperative Agreement for Low Cost Spay and Neuter Services for Cat Owners. Mike Harman, Senior Management Analyst for Police, presented the staff report on this item. City leaders and Police Department Animal Control staff were frequently asked to address the issue of free roaming cats in the community. The resources necessary to hire staff to address roaming cats or to contract for shelter and adoption services had historically been cost prohibitive. One option, suggested by citizen Curtiss Greer, would be to modify the existing City Ordinance which prohibited dogs at large to include all animals, including cats. Such a modification would subject cat owners who allowed their pets to roam freely to fines. Because of the difficulty involved in enforcing such an ordinance, especially the challenge of identifying a cat's owner, this was not a recommended option. Even if we had the resources to pick up cats running at large, there was not enough capacity in the community to take those animals. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 1, 2013 Page 5 Another option was to manage cat populations by encouraging responsible cat ownership practices to include spaying and neutering owned cats. Doing so should reduce the population of unwanted free roaming cats. This was the recommended option. City Staff had been working with Willamette Animal Guild, or WAG, to develop a cooperative program that would provide low cost spay and neuter services for cats to Springfield residents, as well as transportation to and from the WAG facility. Funding would come from fundraising efforts in the community. Staff recommended that the City Council authorize the City Manager to enter into a cooperative agreement with WAG to provide low cost spay and neuter services to Springfield cat owners. Mr. Harman said the Animal Control office had one full -time employee and a part-time volunteer helping with the office work to allow the Animal Control officer to be out in the field as much as possible. Even still, the majority of the Animal Control officer's time was spent licensing dogs and dealing with dogs -al- large, vicious dogs, and other animal calls. Mr. Hannan said the Mayor's Animal Subcommittee had met and decided on a cooperative approach with Willamette Animal Guild (WAG). Jill Winans, the Director of WAG, had offered to enter into a cooperative partnership with the City. The City and WAG would do fundraising together, so there would not be City funds other than minor incidental costs, until they raised enough money to fund 15 cats for surgery on a scheduled date. That date would be provided to one of the two businesses in Springfield who had agreed to act as partners, and the citizens would contact that business, fill out the paperwork, and pay the $10 deposit. WAG would pick up the animals, take them to the WAG facility on Highway 99, perform the surgery, and bring the animal back. The City's role would be to point people to this service and advertise the opportunities. As a 501(3)(c) organization, WAGS could manage the funds and give people a receipt for their donations. The agreement was prepared and would be brought to the regular meeting for approval. The cost per animal was about $48. The citizen would pay $10, WAG would contribute $10 and the other $28 would be raised by the community. Every time $420 was raised, they could schedule another surgery date. Councilor Brew asked what types of businesses were involved. Mr. Harman said one was a cat care business, and the other one didn't have anything to do with pets. The owner was just a concerned community member and was willing to participate. Councilor Brew asked if this was just for owned cats. Mr. Harman said someone could bring in a feral cat if it could be caught. The focus would be on owned cats from lower income families who couldn't afford to have them spayed or neutered. This was a way to make it affordable and convenient for cat owners to get their cat spayed or neutered, and to encourage responsible pet ownership. Councilor Ralston said this had always been an issue. Feral cats were a huge problem and anything they did was good, but he was not sure how much good this would do. He fully supported whatever was done, but the problem was very big. There were people that were irresponsible and some.actually felt it was cruel to spay or neuter their cat. Mr. Harman said they hoped this was the first step City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July I, 2013 Page 6 Councilor Ralston said getting the word out was the most important. It was a good thing, but educating the public about how serious a problem it was would be most important. Councilor Moore said this didn't address the feral cat problem, but anything would be a good first step. She received numerous calls from people who had neighbors that were feeding the feral cats. She agreed that anything they did was a step forward, but was concerned that they notjust drop it there. She asked if they had looked at what other cities were doing. Mayor Lundberg said they had looked at many things and felt they had to start somewhere. There were more steps involved, but this took a lot of coordination. Councilor Woodrow said there were many parts to this issue. There was a system to trap, neuter and release feral cats through Greenhill. She didn't expect the City would ever be able to get into a program that would address all feral cats. Education was the key. There were many people that were soft - hearted and would continue to feed the feral cats. By offering an opportunity for low - income people to spay and neuter their own cats, they could help eliminate some of the proliferation. The City wouldn't be responsible for the $28; it would be community supported. Once it got going, she felt it would be self sustaining. It was a response to something the community had been asking for. Councilor Moore said she appreciated this relationship with WAG and felt it could lead to other solutions. Councilor VanGordon said it was a good beginning. He referred to a meeting where Jill Winans from WAG spoke to the Council. She had really been paying attention to the cat population in Springfield and he would like to hear what type of effect this program had on those figures. Councilor Woodrow initially they hoped they could offer the service twice a month. Councilor VanGordon said doing anything like this would help stabilize the cat population. Councilor Wylie said in the advertising, they needed to emphasize the impact a single unneutered cat could have on the population growth. Every time a surgery was done, they were preventing a large number of litters. Mayor Lundberg said she took personal responsibility to move this forward. She referred to a national speaker at the County who said it was possible to get control of your population to the point where there were only adoptable animals because the community took spaying and neutering seriously enough. It would not happen overnight. Springfield was a big enough community to have our own facility for low -cost vaccinations or spay /neuter services, or even a shelter. This was the first step in getting the most likely candidates to bring the most likely pets to the most likely locations for the least cost. This was a service to the community that people had wanted. She was committed to sticking it out and appreciated staff working on this. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:57 p.m Minutes Recorder— Amy Sown City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 1, 2013 Page 7 Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: a /M Amy Sowa City Recorder