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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/07/2014 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting 051121 ills H THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY JULY 7, 2014 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday July 7, 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 -McVay Transit Feasibility Study Draft Purpose, Goals and Objectives (PGO) Senior Transportation Planner and Project Manager from the City for this project, David Reesor, presented the staff report on this item. Mr. Reesor introduced John Evans, Project Manager from Lane Transit District (LTD) for this project and Stan Biles, consultant for this project. Lane Transit District (LTD) was awarded federal funds to prepare a transit services feasibility study for the Main Street and McVay Highway corridors. Over the past several months, the City of Springfield and LTD have worked closely together with the Project's Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) and Governance Team (GT) to prepare the draft Purpose, Goals and Objectives (PGO). The draft PGO is provided as a recommendation from both the SAC and the GT. The purpose of a Transit Improvement Feasibility Study is to determine if Main Street and McVay Highway transit improvements are needed, technically viable, and have general public support. There are four related projects occurring in the Main Street corridor (Smart Trips, Downtown Street Lighting, Main Street Vision, and Pedestrian Crossings) that have been closely coordinated with the Main McVay Transit Study. A Project Team including City, LTD, and consultant staff has worked closely with elected and appointed officials from City of Springfield and LTD, and with the Project's SAC to develop draft Purpose, Goals and Objectives (PGO). The Problem Statement, Needs Statement and Evaluation Criteria are not under consideration at this time as they will be modified later this summer after completion of the Baseline Existing and Future Conditions Report. Mr. Biles said the SAC includes a wide representation with seventeen members. They have met three times and are nearly one quarter of the way through the process. The committee works well together and has found common ground despite their diverse backgrounds. In preparing the recommendations, several processes were used. He explained the steps in the process to get to the final recommendations which was very open and transparent. When it came time for the vote, it was unanimous as all of their concerns had been addressed. Mr. Reesor said the SAC reviewed the Purpose, Goals and Objectives twice, and the Governance Team also reviewed them. The material in the agenda packet was the final recommendation. The committee would go to the LTD Board later in the month to get their input. The Purpose, Goals and City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 7, 2014 Page 2 Objectives is an important piece of the project, and was like the foundation of the study and will help provide direction. He asked for Council input. Councilor Moore asked about Goal 3, Support economic development, revitalization and land use redevelopment opportunities for the corridor. She said it is a great goal, but asked if there are any funds available or more specifics. Mr. Reesor said the objectives got more into the detail of how the goals might get accomplished. Many of the projects are being coordinated closely with the Transit Study, including the Main Street Corridor Vision Plan. They need to make sure the transportation is done in a way to support the future visions of land use. Mr. Evans said as the committee went further, and as projects came forward, the goals would be used to develop criteria. He provided an example of transit service in regards to capital improvement. Councilor Woodrow said the goals and objectives have been set to make sure they get everything covered. When they get into further detail, they will come back to the goals and objectives to make sure they have met the criteria. Mr. Reesor agreed and said the goals and objectives were very overarching. They would be used later in the process to get to the evaluation criteria. Councilor VanGordon asked for clarification of Goal 5.1 "Improve transit operation ... beneficial to vehicular traffic flow .." The evaluation criteria refer to level of service. He wants to make sure something doesn't come out of this that meets level of service, but reduces total capacity for vehicles on Main Street. Mr. Reesor said this is still going through the committees for accurate wording and input. The point of this goal is to balance the different modes, specifically transit, with vehicular operations. He provided an example of the bus stopping at the transit stops and cars getting stuck behind them. The objective is to make sure any improvements to transit are mutually beneficial to the flow of traffic. Mr. Evans said it wouldn't put one type of transportation over another. Councilor VanGordon referred to Goals 1.1 and 1.2 which are to improve transit time and transit service reliability. A list of projects and policy components will come from the results of the study that may include investment in infrastructure. He asked if some of that would be driven internally by LTD, or if everything will go through the committee. Mr. Evans said the intention is to have the data show that one option compared to another represents different travel times. To the extent that data can be determined, and the options are varied enough, the evaluation criteria would attempt to show or prove the outcome. They could argue that LTD can find other efficiencies to improve travel time, but that would be outside the scope of this analysis. Councilor VanGordon said he wants to make sure that didn't need to be added in the scope. They could perhaps look at the historical forecast and something to look at how LTD can do things better. That is more of an internal discussion for LTD. Whatever the efficiency is, the report shouldn't be looked at to solve all of it. Some of that belongs to LTD to address. Mr. Evans said travel time is a key driver, but is just one criterion. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 7, 2014 Page 3 Councilor VanGordon said when they talk about the outcome, some part of that would be how LTD would help improve efficiencies. The study is not responsible for all improvements and he wants that spelled out in the report. Councilor Ralston asked who would pay for these improvements. Mr. Reesor said generally speaking these types of projects would be federal funding. Mr. Evans said this was a first phase. The second phase would involve looking at a more detailed study of alternatives the community wants to pursue. If there are some worth pursuing, the next step would be to look at possible funding. Councilor Ralston said most of this was LTD's problem, such as the delays in time, and he felt it should be LTD's problem to solve. Federal money is still tax dollars. They are trying to come up with solutions that improve traffic for LTD, but running more buses would delay more cars. The main goals should be not to interfere with the traffic. Any improvements will be very expensive. He is more concerned about how transit was already interfering with traffic. He asked about the need for Objective 1.6, "Enhance equitable transit for users without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, age or disability". Mr. Reesor said it was developed by the committees. Councilor Ralston said it was not a need to state this since it is already everyone's right to ride. Mr. Reesor said many large transportation projects have this requirement as part of Title 6. Rather than referencing Title 6, they wrote it out so it is laid out clearly. Councilor Ralston said everyone can ride the bus if they can pay for it, which they should. Councilor Moore said she would prefer to keep it in if we need it to receive federal funds. Councilor Brew said the time had been spent and it had been recommended by the committee. Mayor Lundberg said the committee was doing a stellar job. The committee included members from OMOT and BEST and business and everyday people. She is pleased they were able to get to a consensus. She is fine with the language presented as it was written with the intent that everyone had equal access. This study is to try to better the traffic flow along Main Street, and part of that is to improve transit. We need to get everyone on the buses and figure out how to encourage everyone to ride the bus because it does improve transportation. If we want Main Street to be an economic corridor, we need to find ways to get everyone to work and play. She asked Mr. Reesor to pass along her thanks for their fine work. She is happy Mr. Biles was able to help them work together. She asked about next steps. Mr. Reesor said staff will meet with the LTD Board next. Councilor Moore asked if this corridor included McVay Highway out to Lane Community College (LCC). There are a lot of unimproved areas out in that direction. Mr. Reesor said that was correct. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 7, 2014 Page 4 2. City Manager Compensation Human Resources Director, Greta Utecht, presented the staff report on this item City Manager Gino Grimaldi received a very positive performance evaluation for calendar year 2013 from all City Council members, as well as those employees who report directly to Mr. Grimaldi. Human Resources staff completed a survey of comparable agencies and applicable indices. In light of this information, Human Resources staff proposes that rather than adjusting his salary, Mr. Grimaldi be given a one -time -only bank of 80 vacation hours, which cannot be cashed out during the normal course of his employment. Should Mr. Grimaldi have vacation hours in his account at the time he chooses to retire, then he may be eligible for a lump sum payout according to City policy. However, Mr. Grimaldi uses his time off and rarely carries a large balance. Today's monetary value of 80 hours of vacation time is $5,782, but would not result in additional monetary costs to the City. Four different cost of living adjustment indices were averaged to come up with a percentage that may be used to determine what, if any, changes might be made the City Manager's compensation package. The percentage average is 2.5%, which, if applied to his entire compensation package would amount to $4,287. Mayor Lundberg confirmed this was just for one year. Councilor Woodrow said she supported the proposal. Councilor Brew said he feels the City is getting a bargain. It speaks well of Mr. Grimaldi that he proposes this and also that he feels he can take the vacation time and know the City is in good hands while he is away. Councilor Moore agreed. She asked about sick leave time and if that was separate. Ms. Utecht said it is separate and cannot be transferred from one to the other. Councilor Moore said she appreciated that he took the vacation time to relax and rejuvenate. Councilor Wylie agreed it is a good bargain. He had an excellent evaluation and this is a reasonable request. Councilor VanGordon said he also supported the request. It is reasonable and a one-time only deal. Mayor Lundberg said she understood the importance of staying in contact with your family when they are in other parts of the country. It is a benefit to the City as well as to Gino, and is well deserved. 3. Planning Commission Applicant Deliberation Planning Manager, Greg Mott, presented the staff report on this item. The seven member Planning Commission has one vacancy as a result of the term expiration of Commissioner Denise Bean. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 7, 2014 Page 5 The City received three applications for this impending vacancy during a five-week recruitment period. At the June 23, 2014 Work Session the Council interviewed all of the candidates. The Council deferred a selection until the July 7d' regular session to provide an opportunity for Councilor VanGordon, who did not attend the June 23rd Work Session, to listen to the audio recording of the interviews and participate in the selection process. Mayor Lundberg asked the Council for discussion. Councilor Woodrow said she reviewed the audio and feels it came down to David Brow and Joe Pishioneri. Mr. Brow presented himself very well and would be good on an advisory board where they could evaluate and determine a course of action. He seemed to be a very good evaluator. Mr. Pishioneri's responses were more tuned to detail and the process of details that would come to the Planning Commission. Because of that she supported Mr. Pishioneri for the position, but would like to find a position for Mr. Brow because of his skills. Councilor Wylie said they know Mr. Pishioneri and that he is well-informed and would do a good job. Mr. Brown is very intelligent, knowledgeable and a good candidate. They want to keep encouraging people to come into the system, but there are some major topics that need someone with experience and knowledge. Councilor Ralston said Mr. Pishioneri is very meticulous and detail oriented. He thought Mr. Pishioneri is the logical choice. Councilor Moore said she is impressed with Mr. de la O for going through the Springfield Chamber's Leadership class and wants to be involved in the City. She hoped he could be part of another committee at some time. She felt Mr. Brow brought as much experience or more than the last people appointed to the Planning Commission. She was impressed with his answers. The City did want to open up this opportunity to new people. Councilor Brew said he regretted Mr. de la O wasn't as prepared as he could have been, but would encourage him to try again. He would support Mr. Brow because he liked the idea of getting new people involved. He thought Mr. Pishioneri may consider running for the Ward 6 position. Councilor VanGordon said he listened to the interviews twice from the audio recording. Both Mr. de la O and Mr. Brow have good opportunities to volunteer, but is not sure they are ready for the Planning Commission. He did hope to find them an opportunity to be involved. He did like that Mr. de ]a O had gone through the Springfield Chamber Leadership class, which is a good recruiting ground for committee appointments. Mr. Pishioneri has a lot of experience and good idea of the direction of the community. He supports Mr. Pishioneri. Councilor Moore asked about the term expiration for the Planning Commission Mr. Mott said it is four years. One other commission member's term expires in October 2014 and two more in February 2015. Two of them can re -apply, but the other cannot since they will have already served to full consecutive terms. Mayor Lundberg said there are many upcoming decisions that are very important such as the Main/McVay corridor and the Region 2030 Plan and urban growth boundary (UGB) expansion which has many layers and steps. She is not as comfortable bringing someone new on board with all that is going on. It is important to choose someone with background and knowledge. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 7, 2014 Page 6 Councilor Wylie said with the upcoming term expirations, they have the potential of having several new people on board. She would like to support Mr. Pishioneri for this position as someone that can help anchor the Planning Commission with his knowledge and appoint Mr. Brow during one of the other vacancies. Mr. Mott said Greg James' position will be up for appointment in October 2014, Johnny Kirschenmann's position will be up for appointment in February 2015, and Stacy Sallady's position will be up for appointment in January 2015. Mayor Lundberg said as they went through the process moving forward, it would be helpful to provide an information sheet to people that have interest in applying. She met with Mr. Brow to help him understand what they did and the process. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Attest: Amy Sowa City Recorder t C �n-ishaie-E- Hillary Wylie Council President