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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/18/2014 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2014 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at 6:00 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, City Attorney Lauren King, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie was absent (excused) 1. Arts Commission Applicant Interviews Librarian and Arts Commission Liaison Kristen Cure presented the staff report on this item. In response to news releases in December 2013 and January 2014, the Arts Commission received four applications for four vacancies. The Arts Commission reviewed and met with all applicants during its February 11, 2014 meeting. The Arts Commission recommended that Richard Reed and Amy Orre be appointed to the Arts Commission to fill the two vacancies left by term expirations for full terms that expire December 31, 2017. The Arts Commission recommended that Donald Durland and Jeanette Buxton be appointed to the Arts Commission to complete the two vacancies left by resignations for partial terms that expire December 31, 2015. Richard Reed is a painter, sculptor, potter and author. He has worked in many communities on the restoration of historic buildings and redevelopment of vibrant downtown areas, most notably, in St. Paul Minnesota. Amy Orre has a BA in art and was experienced in teaching elementary school children in extracurricular activities. She currently works part-time as a youth activity leader at Willamalane. Donald Durland served for six years on the Springfield Arts Commission from 2002 -2008. He is a practicing artist and retired from higher education, where he- taught classes in the visual arts. Jeanette Buxton is a musician who has served on the Oakland (OR) library board, the Oakland Museum board, the City Parks Commission, and co- founded the Maui Youth Theater and Maui Symphony Orchestra. The Arts Commission believed the candidates were eligible and qualified to serve on the commission. The Council was requested to review the Arts Commissions' recommendations and interview the candidates at the Work Session and appoint 4 members to the Arts Commission during the Regular Meeting on March 3. The Mayor and Council chose the questions they would ask of each of the applicants. The Mayor and Council introduced themselves to the applicants. They interviewed the following applicants: Richard Reed, Amy One and Jeanette Buxton. Donald Durland was ill and not able to attend the interview. 1. Why are you interested in serving on the Arts Commission? (Mayor) City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 18, 2014 Page 2 2. Describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your desire to become an Arts Commissioner. (Councilor Brew) 3. Describe your familiarity with the Springfield Arts Commission's past or current community arts initiatives. (Councilor VanGordon) 4. Which initiatives are you interested in working on if you are appointed as a Commissioner? (Councilor Ralston) 5. Have you attended an Arts Commission meeting? If so, what were your impressions? (Councilor Moore) Council discussed the qualifications of each applicant. Mayor Lundberg asked Councilor Woodrow for her feedback regarding the absent applicant who she met during the interviews with the Arts Commission. After discussion and input from Councilor Woodrow, Council agreed to appoint the four applicants to the Arts Commission during the March 3 regular meeting. Two of the applicants would be appointed to fill out the last two years of a full term (Donald Durland and Jeanette Buxton) and two applicants would be appointed to fill a full four -year term (Richard Reed and Amy Orre). 2. Lane Transit District (LTD) Route Review. City Manager Gino Grimaldi introduced Ron Kilcoyne, General Manager and Andy Vobora, Director of Customer Services and Planning from Lane Transit District (LTD). LTD was proposing to adjust the current service along Main Street (Route 11) to provide service south of Main Street. The new service would provide service along 32nd Street to Jasper Road and 42 "d Street. LTD was also proposing to eliminate Route 19 which served the Willamalane Adult Activity Center, Mill Street, Fairview Drive North of Centennial Boulevard and Aspen Street North of Centennial. Mr. Kilcoyne said several open houses would be held over the next few months, including one in Springfield. Public hearings would be held on March 19 and April 7. The Board will take action at the April meeting on the final draft with any changes generated from the open houses or public hearings. Mr. Vobora presented a power point on this topic. In 2010, LTD restructured their system during the recession based on input from the community. The proposed changes were the first time LTD had added services back in four years. Normally, this would have gone to the staff group much earlier in the process which would have led to an earlier discussion with the Council. Most of the focus was on needs for the future. He previewed a map showing Route 11 that went through Springfield and out to Thurston. This was a very active and productive route. He noted that they had served the south area in 2008 and were now adding it back to the route. Mayor Lundberg asked if the route would no longer go into the Thurston area to the north. Mr. Kilcoyne said the proposed route would cover the current route 5 times an hour, and would include the south portion one time per hour. Mr. Vobora said they felt the Thurston loop was over served at 6 times an hour, so had looked at ways to split that up as an interim solution to allow the south service. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 18, 2014 Page 3 Councilor Woodrow asked where the route ended in the northeast Thurston route during that one run. Mr. Vobora said it would end at the roundabout on 58h and Thurston Road. He discussed the timing issue and why it ended at that location. Councilor Woodrow expressed concern with the south route because of the number of school zones along that route. She asked if LTD had surveyed the neighborhood about the proposed route. Mr. Vobora said they had not done a survey, but would send a mailing one -half mile on either side of the route inviting those neighbors to the open house where they would solicit feedback. Councilor Woodrow said she would look forward to hearing the feedback from the neighbors. Councilor VanGordon asked if adding the south loop would increase the ridership on this route. Mr. Vobora said they would get an increased service area including the Relief Nursery and other neighborhoods that have grown in that area. Councilor VanGordon said he would expect to hear that ridership would increase with the proposed route. He wanted to make sure that the change was to help increase ridership. Mr. Vobora said they could isolate that change to determine what type of impact it was having. When they entered a new neighborhood, the population was told they would study the change for 18 months. Mayor Lundberg asked if there were any stops currently in the area along Main Street. Mr. Vobora said that main line service would remain. He explained further. They were looking for feedback from people about the times and routes. With the proposed new route, the RideSource boundary would also change. He noted the current RideSource boundary and how it would change, providing service to more people in that area. Mayor Lundberg asked if RideSource was a cost to LTD. Mr. Vobora said that was correct. He reviewed the Fairview route and boarding information. This was a low ridership route that was costly for LTD. The stops with the most ridership were close to Centennial and could be an option. LTD staff was recommending the Fairview route be removed. They were working with Willamalane to find ways to address transportation for those going to and from the Adult Center such as using Willamalane buses. This route ran every two hours. Councilor Woodrow said whenever she had been by the Willamalane Center, she had seen several people waiting for the bus. During inclement weather, Willamalane was not as reliable as LTD so she was concerned that people wouldn't have access to the Center: The area near Fairview had many low - income residents. She asked if they could alter the route so it wasn't as big rather than remove it. Mr. Vobora said the alternate was the Centennial Boulevard route, and the alternative for the Senior Center was Willamalane's bus. Councilor Ralston asked if they could run up Mill Street City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 18, 2014 Page 4 Mr. Vobora said Mill Street was even less used. Councilor VanGordon said he was concerned about the Senior Center as well. He recalled that in 2010 this route was nearly removed. Mr. Vobora said it was, but was reduced to number of trips instead. Councilor VanGordon asked if things had changed since then. Mr. Vobora said service levels actually got worse. When trying to make business decisions, they looked at productivity. Councilor Moore asked if service for the senior center qualified for RideSource. Mr. Vobora said some could, but if they were able to ride the normal LTD bus, they would not qualify despite losing a route. Councilor Brew asked how much it cost to run the Fairview route. Mr. Vobora said it was about $1000 a week. He understood that from a business standpoint it made sense to remove that route, but he would like to have them work with Bob Keefer at Willamalane to provide service. Mr. Vobora reviewed some of the other route changes proposed that were in Eugene. He noted that they would be restoring some holiday services that had been removed. There would be other service additions in the future due to growth and development. He reviewed the change for the Veterans Clinic and how it affected the Gateway area. He discussed the open houses scheduled in the next two months. Councilor Woodrow said she was not happy with the proposals. She felt that Route 19 was being swapped out for the south Main route. She would like to see community response for the Jasper area It was a nice quiet neighborhood with a lot of kids which caused her concern for safety. Councilor Moore liked the change to south of Main. Mayor Lundberg said with 10 minute service, buses were full. A route running once an hour was not convenient and people may not ride for that reason. This was not a good time for the change to the route running south of Main because of the other Main Street projects going on at this time. Mr. Vobora said this was just the beginning of the process. The proposal for south Main was a trade- off to get neighborhood coverage. If that was less of a desire than service on Main Street, they would take that into consideration. They looked forward to hearing from the neighborhood. Mr. Kilcoyne said the Route 19 and the route going south of Main Street were completely separate issues. There was no cost for the south of Main proposal. Mayor Lundberg said she would like to see how things went over the first year. There were a lot of changes coming to the area in the future. She thanked them for the presentation. ADJOURNMENT City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 18, 2014 Page 5 The meeting was adjourned at 6:59 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa L2J �G ?.� Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: arlJ Amy Solyj City Recorder