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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/03/2014 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, March 3, 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 Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie was absent (excused) 1. 2015 -2019 Capital Improvement Program, A Community Reinvestment Plan. Engineer Jeff Paschall presented the staff report on this item. The Draft City of Springfield 2015 -2019 CIP, A Community Reinvestment Plan, was reviewed at the Planning Commission's February 4. 2014 work session meeting. The Commission voted to recommend Council approve the plan at their February 19, 2014 meeting. The CIP attempted to balance the use of scarce capital construction funds with the long list of infrastructure needs for our community. The CIP served as a guide for programming funds and planning the annual workload of Development and Public Works staff. It was not a document with budget authority. The City's capital projects were budgeted for in the annual Capital Budget, which went through the City's normal budgeting process. There were a few new projects proposed in the next five years of programmed funding. The City had completed several projects from previous capital plans, and staff was making significant headway on several of the projects from last year's plan. Mr. Paschall presented a power point on the CIP with the first slide showing a stormwater manhole system near the Adult Activity Center that treats a lot of the water from downtown. This project had been in the Master Plan since adoption and was just completed. He reviewed the project criteria: 1. Project addresses State or Federal laws or regulations to eliminate or reduce the potential for environmental degradation or health hazards to address issues that affect the safety and general welfare of the community. 2. Project maintains existing assets, extends the useful life of assets, or improves or expands infrastructure such that operations are improved. 3. Projects respond to requests from citizens, neighborhood groups, advisory committees, or government bodies, and provides a public benefit. 4. Project is included in local and/or regional infrastructure plans. Mr. Paschall discussed the process used to identify capital needs, and the process of review and public input. He displayed a map showing the different projects in the CIP, and a list of the most recently completed projects. Some of the projects scheduled for 2014 -15 included: 10th and N Street Sewer Phase 2; South 2 °° Street Sewer Rehabilitation; Franklin/McVay Sewer Extension; Mill Race City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 3, 2014 Page 2 Stormwater Park; East 17`s Avenue Sewer; and Glenwood Boulevard Overlay. Projects scheduled for design in 2015 included: Pump Stations; Over/Under Channel; Channel Restoration Projects; and Gateway Street Overlay. He further discussed the Gateway Street overlay project. Councilor Moore asked how much of Gateway would receive the overlay. Mr. Paschall said they hoped to get from Harlow Road to where it would tie in with the Gateway/Behline project, and from the other side to International Way if there are enough funds. Mayor Lundberg asked when the bridge at Beltline would be complete. Mr. Paschall said he could get that information to the Council, but he understood it was a two season project as they went into Phase 4. There would be a lot of construction in that area for the next two to three years as they finished the final phases of that interchange. Mayor Lundberg said it would be important. She had recently met with the Gateway Business Group and they expressed concerns, and would be more concerned with construction on Gateway Street. They needed to be kept in the loop. Mr. Paschall said staff would work to coordinate the overlay project to limit impacts. They would likely ask to have the majority of the work done during the night. Mayor Lundberg said with the Beltline project, the Gateway overlay, and Gateway Mall remodel, there would be a lot of construction in that area. She wouldn't want people to see this as a construction zone and avoid completely. Councilor Moore said there was so much congestion in that area, in part because of the Beltline project. She asked if there was anything.that could be done. Mayor Lundberg said there was a complete fix for that intersection that had been developed years ago. She asked Community Development Manager Tom Boyatt to give a brief overview of that project. Mr. Boyatt said the first project the City built in Gateway was Phase I of a complete redesign of Gateway /Beltline that turned it into a one -way couplet at Kruse and Hutton Streets. The designs in the Environmental Assessment (EA) from 2002 showed significant demolition of buildings, such as Hop Valley, a motel and other businesses. The goal was to find another solution. They hoped to have some ideas in the next year or two that would be brought to Council. Mayor Lundberg said when they worked on this in 1999, they came up with the interim fix. Councilor Moore asked if the overlay would be a short-term solution, and if they would be back to do more work on the street. Mr. Paschall said it would be several years before further work was done as they coordinate with the GatewayBeltline project. ht the meantime, the overlay was maintenance and preservation. Mayor Lundberg noted that Hop Valley went into the building knowing it could possibly be demolished for this project. Staff would work with them to find a suitable place to relocate at that time if needed. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 3, 2014 Page 3 Mr. Paschall reviewed other planning projects planned for 2015: Franklin NEPA; Wastewater Master Plan Update; and Stormwater Master Plan Update. There were also a number of unfunded or underfunded high priorities for 2015 -2019. Those included: Street Preservation and Reconstruction; Wire Theft Remediation; ADA Transition Project; and Building Preservation. An intersection at 23`d Street and A Street only had one ramp. A request had come to the City from a citizen with mobility issues to update that intersection to allow them access. Fixing all four comers of that intersection would have cost about $100,000, so transportation was working with the citizen to find a feasible route to the bus stop. If a ramp was provided to get out into the roadway, they needed to provide a ramp for the person to get back out of the roadway. Due to utilities in many of these areas, the cost to make these intersections ADA compliant was often very expensive. Councilor Moore asked about wire theft remediation. Mr. Paschall said they had tried some techniques to help avoid complete damage. Councilor Moore said it might be a benefit to update with those techniques if it would save money in the long run, Mr. Paschall said the project as listed was to replace wire that had already been stolen. The new techniques are employed with any new projects that are done. Some other projects identified for 2015 -2019 included: Glenwood Park Blocks; Bicycle Wayfinding and Safety; and City Hall Bicycle Parking. He reviewed the capital funding outlook. The sewer rate payer revenues were much more stable than in 2009 when large increases were made to meet regulatory demands. SDC revenues were slowly improving. There was a need to identify a stable funding source for street and transportation projects, as well as building maintenance and preservation. 2. Scenario Planning Update. Development and Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. Staff, working with our regional partners, and the support of Kristin Hull of CH2M Hill as the Scenario Planning project manager, continued the work required to comply with the state's legislative mandate to prepare alternative scenarios for future growth to meet greenhouse reduction targets. Mr. Goodwin introduced Ms. Hull. As Council knew, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) was required to conduct this work, and the cities of Springfield, Eugene, and Coburg, and Lane County were obliged to cooperatively select a preferred scenario. At present, there was no obligation to implement any scenario. This work was being funded by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), as required by the Jobs and Transportation Act of 2009. Staff of the MPO completed a first phase of the work, which estimated the effect of continuing current planning assumptions (such as those contemplated by the draft Springfield 2030 Comprehensive Plan, and similar planning efforts by Eugene, Coburg and Lane County). This reference case would serve as the baseline for further scenario planning efforts designed to create options which each jurisdiction may choose to incorporate into the cooperatively selected scenario. Although the estimate documents a reduction in greenhouse gases, at this stage it does not appear to document a reduction large enough to permit the region to conclude that it will meet the legislative requirement without additional action. Mr. Goodwin said the mandate did not require that any selected scenario be implemented or meet the target. Early in the process, ODOT and the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) were obliged to come up with statewide efforts to reduce emissions. As a result, they City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 3, 2014 Page 4 projected sufficient reduction in emissions between now and 2035. That left local governments with a responsibility to select a scenario with a target of 20% reduction. During that period of time, our current population studies projected an increase of 64,000 people in the metropolitan area. The scenario needed to take that into consideration. This was a scenario, but did not consist of a one -size- fits -all solution adopted for the three jurisdictions. It would consist of a number of solutions that each of the local governments felt was appropriate to them. There was no obligation on the part of Springfield to consider what Eugene was implementing, or vice versa. By coordinating, they hoped they would not be at cross purposes. Mr. Goodwin said they would start by looking at what they would do if the current planning regime were to continue. They had just completed a reference case that assumed the Springfield 2030 Plan would be implemented and adopted as presented, and assuming a similar plan would go into effect for Eugene and Coburg. The result was what the reference case was designed to test. They were not suggesting that we reinvent the wheel. They were allowed and expected to rely on what each of the jurisdictions were planning to do. Mr. Goodwin referred to Attachment 2 of the agenda packet which included a list of assumptions in certain areas. Within those areas, they could suggest a number of things. He provided examples of things the City was currently doing in some of those areas. Council would choose which of these things they wanted staff to look at to see what would happen if they were changed. Staff would assemble those from each jurisdiction, review them and discuss the impacts. They would then bring that information back to Council for feedback. If Council was satisfied, staff would move forward in the process of putting them together into a scenario. If Council was not satisfied, staff would look for other ideas. The only limit to the process was the patience of Council to review numerous alternatives. A report needs to be submitted to the legislature showing what had been accomplished by 2015. Hopefully, this process would result in some excellent ideas that could be implemented. The exercise was to try to envision what alternative futures could be imagined for the City of Springfield that would have an effect on our ability to create a denser, more pedestrian friendly, and economically viable community. Springfield would be designing what they envisioned for Springfield and making choices for Springfield. Councilor Moore said this sounded expensive and that it took a lot of staff time. She asked if this was covered by the sustainability grant. Mr. Goodwin said some of it was covered by the sustainability grant. They were able to use some of those funds to look at things other than emissions, such as impacts on economic development and public health. In the future, this work would be funded by ODOT as they were mandated. He would expect there would be some City staff time spent that would not be reimbursed, but they were being very careful to document hours spent in order to be reimbursed. Mayor Lundberg referred to the Transportation Assumptions noted on page 3 of Attachment 2 in the agenda packet, "The Metropolitan GreenSTEP model is not detailed enough to capture changes to intersections, collector streets or pedestrian and bicycle network improvements ". Part of greenhouse gas emissions involved sitting at intersections. If we instituted roundabouts, vehicles wouldn't sit at intersections. She asked if there was a way to capture the reduction in emissions with roundabouts. The document also assumed five EmX Routes would be built, which was a pretty steep assumption. There was a 23% increase in delays for intersections, but with roundabouts there would be no delays. She asked if there was a way to count that towards our reductions. Another issue was that the GreenSTEP model couldn't capture that we were increasing connectivity. The map wasn't laid out very well in terms of mixed -use areas where connectivity would come into play. It may not be adding City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 3, 2014 Page 5 bike lanes, but removing barriers to allow people to get through areas more easily. They may be able to solve a lot of this without a great deal of expense. There were things she didn't feel were captured well that they needed to take into consideration. It was not clear how the goal was 20 %, but our reduction was 27% without including fleet and technology, reducing it to 3 %. There were so many variables that were out of the City's control. Mr. Goodwin said she was correct about idling time and the reduction of emissions as a result. She was also correct that the GreenSTEP model tool did not capture that so they would need to find another model tool to use with GreenSTEP in order to capture that reduction. The five EmX routes were included because they were included in the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The City was entitled to take into account those things which were in the RTP and they were taking advantage of that tool. It would be a difficult challenge for Lane Transit District (LTD) to fund and construct all five of the routes by 2035, but it remained in the RTP. He agreed mapping was on a gross scale and they would need to get into more refined mapping as they went through this process. Simple actions such as taking down fences or putting in gates for access did improve connectivity, so they would also need to find ways to show that and use it for this purpose. Ms. Hull said the model didn't show how they would decrease emissions or increase biking and walking, only that those changes would be made. She would work with our staff to determine strategies to achieve those changes. Councilor VanGordon said it was interesting that the approach to the model was top -down driven. His preference for modeling was to have a discussion about what was realistic and then take a bottom -up approach. The discussion should be about what could actually be done. Mr. Goodwin said that was one of the pieces of feedback they wanted from Council. The Mayor's suggestions and others were also welcome. Ms. Hull presented a power point. She discussed the GreenSTEP strategic assessment tool which helped them to understand implications of policy choices, provided guidance of where they wanted to be and how to get there. One of the things to look at was marketing and incentives such as the Smart Trips program and employee commute option programs. She discussed a program already in place in Eugene and how that type of programs could reduce GHG emissions. The information from the GreenSTEP model was based on national research and was not specific to Springfield. Parking pricing was another effective strategy. Because there was no parking pricing in Springfield, the figures were based on Eugene. Community design for mixed -use development was something else to consider. Councilor Brew asked for clarification on pricing parking. Ms. Hull said it is a summary cost total of paid parking. In the 2035 year, they were looking at parking prices in Eugene and the University of Oregon since there was no pricing in Springfield at this time. The prices didn't increase much over time and was a very complicated lever. She explained further when parking might be increased in a certain area. That was a policy decision. Mr. Goodwin said one thing they discovered was that minor increases in the urban growth boundary (UGB) didn't have a significant impact on travel, vehicle demand and vehicle miles traveled. There wasn't a specific analysis for UGB increases. Ms. Hull spoke regarding transit revenue miles and noted they had determined it would be best to use what was in the RTP to give the region credit for what was in their existing plans. At this time, they City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes ` March 3, 2014 ' Page 6 had about a 3% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions so we are heading in the right direction. They had a list to do to get the rest of the way. Based on assumptions the State had made about more fuel efficient vehicles, age of vehicles, etc. they hoped to see major reductions in GHG emissions over the next 20 years. There is a lot of value in technology changes. The team would be looking at ways to make policies more effective or implementing additional strategies that were consistent with local policies or changing policies. They were not required to select a scenario. Mayor Lundberg said there was something in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) about an employee parking garage. She said they could create a bus pass program for employees rather than a parking garage which would reduce GHG. Also, the Council could ride EmX once a month or do something else to help. Those were things that could be considered. At some point they we would need to pick what they wanted to consider and what they wanted to accomplish. She had worked under the assumption that the current work underway with bike lanes, transit, etc. was leading to that reduction. This was adding another layer to that work. They needed to consider everything carefully it order to choose a scenario with Eugene by the end of 2014 or early 2015. Councilor Ralston said he felt none of this was achievable. He spoke regarding technology and didn't believe a four -wheel truck that was heavy enough to do work would be able to get 48 miles per gallon. They would also never build a motor home or trailer that would get better mileage than what was currently made. This sounded like a lot of busy work, but it was not going to be possible. Mr. Goodwin said it would be a difficult challenge. Councilor Brew said he was concerned when they were told to come up with a plan that they were not going to be required to implement. They needed to carefully consider what they were committing to as it may come to fruition that it would be a requirement in the future. Mr. Goodwin said that was a reasonable fear. He would not encourage the Council to support anything that could be enacted as a requirement. Councilor VanGordon said he was concerned using the EmX lines listed in the RTP since it was unlikely they would be built during this time period. There needed to be an analysis that the percentage the state was asking for was not possible unless more weight was placed on fleet and technology. He felt they would get more results by looking at employee programs such as telecommuting or flexible hours. He had a lot of questions if scheduling a fleet dispatch could affect our idle time at certain intersections such as Olympic Street. He wanted to look at things that would have a more significant impact. Councilor Moore asked if Safe Routes to Schools was part of this plan. Ms. Hull said those could be implementation policies and could be examined further under the Community Design lever. Mayor Lundberg said the interest around vehicles could relate to business, but community levers could include things like connectivity and roundabouts. Council would get another report from staff as they continued to incorporate Council's suggestions. Mr. Goodwin said the City of Eugene was meeting next week and the Lane County Board on March 18. Staff would get feedback from all three groups and come back with more ideas possibly in May. At that time, they would look for comments or further direction. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 3, 2014 Page 7 Mayor Lundberg said she was interested in how the State was accounting for I -5 since it ran directly in the middle of Eugene and Springfield and we had no control. Ms. Hull said vehicle demand on I -5 and emissions generated were included in the region's count. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:58 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa x Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy Sow ' City Recorder.