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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/21/2014 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY APRIL 21, 2014 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 21, 2014 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 Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Main Street Corridor Vision Plan. Mayor Lundberg said the Main Street Governance Team had been meeting to help with the planning of the Main Street Corridor. Some of the participants in those meetings include herself, Councilor Woodrow, Doris Towery (LTD Board), Mike Dubick (LTD Board), Gino Grimaldi, Ron Kilcoyne (LTD General Manager), and Frannie Brindle (ODOT). Part of the charge of this group is to go over the information before it goes to the public and before bringing it back to the Council. Linda Pauly, Principal Planner, presented the staff report on this item. She thanked Mayor Lundberg and Councilor Woodrow for participating on the Governance Team Meeting. Land use and transportation visioning is a huge task for a seven and a half corridor, but thanks to the State's Transportation and Growth Management (TGM) program they are doing their best. They are about halfway through the process. Ms. Pauly referred to Attachments 4 and 5 which include the timelines for this project. Tonight is a chance to listen to Council's ideas and responses to the Draft Visions and Goals and anything else they want to discuss regarding the three segments of the corridor and the corridor as a whole. An outline was included in the packet that will help with that discussion. Staff will be coming back to Council with this item in July, September and October. The Main -McVay feasibility study is starting up, giving them a.great opportunity to plan out land use and transportation at the same time. The next public event is scheduled for .Tune 18. During this event, they will see the two projects come together. Tonight they will listen to Council input and ideas. Ms. Pauly introduced Tom Lister, aid consultant from Otak who served on the TGM Vision Plan team. Mr. Lister displayed a power point presentation. He started by reviewing the project schedule. Currently, they are between implementation strategies and the vision /draft goals process, and are on the cusp of moving on to the next phase. An Open House is scheduled in the next month. He referred to the map showing the three corridor segments and noted they do overlap in some areas and are adjustable. In order to have effective implementation strategies, they feel it made more sense to divide them into segments. He referred to the Vision Plan Basics. The Vision Statements are something to capture the aspirations of the community and the technical review people. It is a way to facilitate dialogue about what they want Main Street to be in twenty years. Around those statements, they set some broad goals, which are meant to identify areas in which the City can focus action planning. The goals are for business activity, housing choices, transportation and public realm (what people see when going up and down Main Street). The next step is to come up with implementation strategies and actions. He referred to a slide listing some of the big ideas they heard during the public meetings. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 21, 2014 Page 2 Mr. Lister spoke regarding Segment One which is called the Couplet Area. This segment is two distinct streets and two visions. General activity and housing goals were set for this area. Mayor Lundberg said the corridor being studied is very narrow, but is impacted by the broader community especially in the industrial areas in regards to transportation, industry and businesses. A lot of things would impact that development such as jobs and schools. Those things may not need to be considered in the planning process, but did impact how they look at things as a Council in regards to zoning. There is a lot of industrial based rail along South A which impacted this segment. They need to look at how the land use patterns impacted the Main Street corridor. Mr. Lister said the corridor does have a very narrow boundary, but they realize the impacts of those surrounding areas. Councilor Woodrow said Main Street unifies and divides at the same time, even with the couplets lined up. North and south didn't always create a square of activity. When looking at a vision, they need to remember there is a dividing line going through the middle of each section. Mr. Lister said that came up frequently in discussions. This is not the best community street. People perceived it as a dividing line rather than a seam that held it together. Councilor VanGordon said he liked the division of Main Street and South A in the Couplet Area, and treated them differently. South A should have very limited housing goals because of the amount of industry in that segment. There is an opportunity to add more small workshops, like starter industrial space, along the South A corridor. Mr. Lister said those are referred to as `craft industries' Councilor Moore said the area labeled the Mid - Springfield Business Corridor had more housing, schools, and the Willamalane complex to the south. She felt this name didn't fit this area. The area in front of Willamalane was not yet developed. Ms. Pauly asked if she had a suggestion for a name. Councilor Moore said she did not. Mr. Lister said with the very narrow corridor it is difficult to find a name since it did the go into the different neighborhoods on either side. Councilor Wylie suggested calling it the 7 -Mile District between downtown and Thurston. That is characteristic of this corridor and is a mix of business, housing and schools. Characteristically, it will show itself in time. Councilor Woodrow recalled that they called it `Business Corridor' is because of what is along Main Street in that area. Back in the neighborhoods are the schools and homes; but the businesses are along Main Street. She liked the label of couplet in all three areas as it creates an association between all three. Once you get to 48" Street, the majority is residential except the Bi -Mart, Safeway and Albertson strip malls. It is hard to name them. Mayor Lundberg said the Council is looking at issues within all three segments. Mr. Lister spoke regarding the Mid - Springfield Business Corridor. Along that corridor is an affordable place to have a business and can be a place in the future for small incubator space or small start-up businesses. They could also look at how those types of businesses could be supported by the City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 21, 2014 Page 3 neighborhoods on either side. It is likely to develop more businesses in that area and if they cluster together, that is a good thing for businesses, transit and organizing the street. Housing is likely to happen one or two blocks off Main Street. It will also be important to integrate any transit with this area. Mayor Lundberg said one of the decisions Council needs to discuss is what they want Main Street, excluding downtown, to be. It is a transportation corridor. She asked for clarification on the difference between a truck corridor and freight corridor. She read that Main Street was not a freight corridor, but was a truck corridor. She would like clarification of the difference and the limitations. Council needs to know if it is going to be a major transportation corridor to consider whether to create more neighborhoods on both sides or-just one side. They need to determine if the design should eliminate the need to cross Main Street as frequently for services. Many of the businesses along this corridor identify themselves as `destination businesses' which means slowing traffic down enough for people to see the business in time to pull into the business access. If they want Main Street to be a destination area, they need to be able to control traffic and have adequate signage. There are areas that are underdeveloped commercial and industrial lands that need to be considered for employment hubs. She feels that bicycles have a separate place and there should be connecting paths away from Main Street. They need to think about how they want to use Main Street. She would like to meet one -on -one with staff and the consultant to discuss some other questions. She noted some formatting issues of the plan that made it difficult to read. Councilor Ralston said Main Street is a transportation route and he didn't want to slow down the speed. If people pass a business, it means they are not paying attention. He wants to make sure entrances to businesses are not affected so people could access them easily. He didn't like the center median as it limits which way vehicles can turn. Council can have a vision, but they can't let that limit how development occurs. It is important to decide where the bus stops are located and how to get bikes from one end of town to the other off of Main Street. Councilor Woodrow said there are certain safety measures that have been put in to make the pedestrian crossings safe and feasible. The bus stops had been plotted to give good vision for those crossing. They did need to enable a safe way to cross. While on Main Street the other day, they noticed that the pedestrian crossings created natural gaps in traffic which is essential in slowing it down enough to make it safer for everything. Councilor Ralston said he saw cars stop when people were done crossing the street. Councilor Moore said that has been publicized. Mayor Lundberg said public education is needed for the crossings. Councilor Moore asked if Highway 126 (the east end of I -105) was a truck route or freight route. Mr. Boyatt said the section of Highway 126 Councilor Moore is referring to is designated a freight route and highway by the State. He will get an answer about the designation of Main Street (Highway 126 Business). Councilor Moore said she had seen other communities create or assign other streets to take the load off the main transportation route. She would like to think about having frontage roads to make access to businesses easier and doesn't interfere with the main flow of traffic. Pulling out onto Main Street to the left from some businesses is difficult during some times of the day. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 21, 2014 Paee 4 Councilor VanGordon said the vision needs to rely on the fact that Main Street is a main transportation corridor and that will not change. Focusing on that is key. The mid - business area reminds him of small town Oregon with businesses on the main corridor and a lot of residential on both sides. He suggested looking to see how some of the smaller towns address that issue. He would like to get the names changed to something that is more appropriate because they will stick as they continued through the process. He asked about the fifteen foot sidewalks and said that seems excessively large. Mr. Lister said it is not a suggestion, but rather an option. They are making no recommendations, but are offering a menu of choices for the Council to consider. Councilor VanGordon said he would like to discuss connectivity and the ability to cross Main Street more. People will get better with the pedestrian crossings over time. Improving safety was something he looks forward to along this corridor. He feels the public outreach has been great. Mayor Lundberg said the themes have come out well. Main Street is a transportation corridor and will remain so for years to come until further notice. As they went forward with planning, they need to bear that in mind. She feels Council should look at the land use separately because there are areas now that include some not well - designed mixes of zoning. She would like to see some options of designations for Council to consider so they can better figure out how they want the neighborhoods along the Main Street to look. There will always be issues, but in the future Council can take a look at ways to consolidate and provide more definition to particular areas. Councilor Wylie said zoning is critical to redevelopment. They need to prescribe zoning once they decide what they want to happen in order for redevelopment to occur. Councilor Moore said she attended the visioning session and found that people lost sight of the fact that this is a transportation corridor. Expectations may be beyond what could be accomplished on Main Street. They do need to be realistic of what is possible. Councilor Brew said he agrees that Main Street is a transportation corridor, but other cities with a transportation corridor running through their towns have handled them differently. Main Street is a transportation corridor, but it is not a freeway so there are more possibilities. It is a business corridor so they can influence Main Street if they want. It is Council's job to set zoning and determine what should go in certain places. Mayor Lundberg said they need more clarification about corridor uses. There are mills along Main Street with trucks going in and out and those will not be moving. It is also a rail corridor. It would be helpful for Council to know the movement of all forms of transportation in this area. If she could do one thing, it would be to get a bike path that paralleled Main Street so people no longer have to ride along Main Street. They need to look at the conditions they want to keep and what can be altered, and also look at zoning. 2. City Hall and Carter Building Plaza(s). Jim Polston, Associate Project Manager, presented the staff report on this item. Direction was received from Council during the December 2nd Work Session regarding further design modifications to be incorporated into the City Hall entry and plaza redesign. Staff has included these changes in the design presented as Attachment 2 of the agenda packet. Since the December Work Session, two winter storm events have caused further damage to the City Hall plaza and entry area. This damage includes significant cracking and spalling to concrete surfaces City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 21, 2014 Page 5 originally planned to be incorporated in the project design to save cost. The updated design for the beautification of the City Hall plaza area now assumes that the damaged concrete will also be repaired as part of this project. The original budget for the City Hall Plaza project is $60,000 and the estimate for the damaged concrete repair is an additional $27;000. The plaza project is currently funded through the combination of CDBG and Building Preservation monies. Funding to address the concrete surface areas damaged this winter can also come from Internal Building Preservation funds through cost savings realized on current year preservation projects and deferring signage and wayfinding projects that are lower in priority and not ready for implementation. This would not impair critical projects. In addition to the City Hall plaza and entry repair and design work, a list of possible Carter Building area improvement activities, and associated costs, is provided in Attachment 3 of the agenda packet. Some of these activities already occurred as part of the Springfield High School Day of Caring event. In order to fund Council's preferred list of improvements DPW believes we can reduce the cost of a Fire Station paving project by use of our own forces. This approach could allow us to reprioritize $ l OK to $15K towards these improvements. Mr. Polston provided a power point presentation. He reviewed the drawing of the Plaza area and the recommendations from the Council. Three new materials are being proposed based on Council feedback. He discussed the design based on those new materials and where each of those materials could be used in the proposed design, He referred to the picture showing the design for the recognition wall on the landing going up to the Library. Mayor Lundberg said this is our front door so we want it to look nice. She liked the redesign. She asked Council for additional comments regarding each area. Councilor Brew asked about decorative street lights listed at $6000 each. He asked if those are different from the used lights recently purchased. Mr. Polston said there is the potential to use the fixtures recently purchased. They would need to be retrofitted and poles would need to be installed. They would also need to install wiring not currently in place which would involve pavement cutting, boring, and trenching. The major cost is installation. Councilor Wylie said she would like the color concrete in an interesting design. Her husband was an outdoor artist and often used colored concrete. It is a way to spruce up the area to look richer., Councilor Brew said he liked the redesign and colored concrete. He confirmed it would be a mixed -in color rather than applied. Councilor Woodrow said she also liked redesign and color concrete. She would like to see the Carter Building area usable with portable benches and things that encouraged people to use it. Mr. Polston described improvements made to a semicircular drive- through to make a larger usable area near the old Court entrance. Councilor Woodrow said she wanted it to be a place for people to sit and feel comfortable. Councilor Wylie said she would like as many amenities as they can afford at the Carter Building, including lighting if possible. They may not be using this space forever, but she would like seating and landscaping with trees. She wants it to be as inviting as possible to bring stages, bands, activities and vendors. This will be the people's plaza to use until a large plaza comes to fruition. It should contribute to the energy downtown. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 21, 2014 Page 6 Mr. Polston said they can keep the parking lot for parking, but improve and repave it so it will be a nice area for events. There is a pedestrian area south of the driveway, with the north side serving as a parking lot. Councilor Wylie said she would like improvements in the pedestrian area, with the ability for events to occur in the parking lot. Mayor Lundberg said they would like to be able to commandeer the parking lot for events, especially during the summer for Farmer's market and other weekend events. It does need to be setup with electricity so vendors can access that to provide lighting on their carts. The vendors should also be responsible for cleaning up their trash and help with security. That is a conversation they may need to have with NEDCO and the Main Street Program. There should be no uneven surfaces and it should be clean. She referred to the option of grass or ground cover and said for areas that need landscaping she prefers ground cover as it is less work. She liked color concrete. This is our entrance and the City needs to set an example for others downtown. Councilor Moore said she liked the safety material around the fountain, but thought it should be in a different color other than brown. She asked about signage for the Library. Mr. Polston said they would have lettering at the Library entrance that will say "Springfield City Hall ". "Library" was formed into the concrete on the building closer to the plaza area. It was decided to just put "Springfield City Hall" ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:03 p.m Minutes Recorder —Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: y. wv w A_ Amy Sowa City Recorder