HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 02 Council Minutes
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
SPRINGFIELD
CITY COUNCIL
Meeting Date:
Meeting Type:
Department:
Staff Contact:
Estimated Time:
November 5, 2007
Regular Meeting
City Manager's Office
Amy Sowa, 726-3700 ()P
Consent Calendar
ITEM TITLE:
COUNCIL MINUTES
ACTION REQUESTED:
By motion, approval of the attached minutes.
ISSUE STATEMENT:
The attached minutes are submitted for Council approval.
ATTACHMENTS:
Minutes:
a) October 8, 2007 - Work Session
b) October 15, 2007 - Work Session
c) October 15, 2007 - Regular Meeting
d) October 22,2007'- Work Session
DISCUSSION/
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None
Sowa/agenda/minutes AIS
City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2007
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225
Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 8, 2007 at 5:34 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
p'residing.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew and Ralston. Also present
were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Attorney Matt Cox, City
Recorder Amy Sowa and members ofthe staff.
Councilors Woodrow and Pishioneri were absent (excused).
The order of the meeting was changed by Mayor Leiken, moving the GatewayIBeltline
Intersection Project Update to the first and the Historic Commission Interviews to second.
1. GatewayIBeltline Intersection Proiect Update.
Transportation Manager Tom Boyatt presented the staff report on this item. Staff is seeking
Council direction to review an optimized GatewayIBeltline Intersection project concept with
both our public and private stakeholders. These include Federal Highways (FHW A), ODOT,
L TD, and directly and indirectly impacted business and property owners.
The optimized project concept and a discussion of other potential optimized solutions are
included ill Attachment A - Council Briefing Memo.
Last spring staffbecame concerned about the cost and impacts of the full Environmental
Assessment (EA) Couplet project in relation to the operational benefit of those system
improvements. In June, Council provided staff direction to investigate an optimized approach to
the project that could potentially have fewer initial impacts and lower cost, but still meet the
intent of the approved Environmental Assessment solution. The project team is narrowing in on
the initial phase of an optimized concept and believes it is time to share this concept with our .
public 'agency partners and private stakeholders to find out if there are any significant challenges
to moving an optimized project forward at this time. Issues that may need resolution could
include access and cross over easements, treatment of neighboring intersections, fulfilling any
obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEP A) EA requirements, and
appropriately matching up GatewayIBeltline intersection improvements with current and future
construction phases of the I-5IBeltline interchange. (Both the intersection and the interchange are
pieces of the larger I-5IBeltline Project and are set out in the same environmental document
(EA).
The City, our consultant contractor, and the ODOT procurement office have successfully
amended the current project contract to provide for this work.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007
Page 2
Staff would hope to work through any remaining project issues, in addition to any new issues
that may result from an optimized project, and bring back a specific project recommendation to
Council in January 2008.
Mr. Boyatt discussed the issues with the couplet design. He referred to photos in the Council.
packet which showed the different options for the intersection and couplet designs. He
distributed a photo showing the proposal that staff would recommend. The proposal was of an
intersection without the couplet. He described the intersection and the advantages and
disadvantages of the proposal. The recommended proposal would allow time to see how the
current projects impacted the traffic in the Gateway area. If this could be considered a phase
under the Environmental Assessment (EA) documents and the access points could be negotiated,
staff would bring it back to Council for approval. This would give fiveto ten years to seehow .
the full scope of projects affected the area.
. .
Councilor Ballew said the last proposal made the most sense and cost the least. She asked about
the last proposal compared to the mega-intersection and if it could transition into a mega-
intersection at a future date.
Mr. Boyatt said that could be the case. The proposal was designed to allow it to be added on to in
the future if needed. He noted the green marks on the photos and that those areas represented the
landscaping that would be brought into these areas. He noted two areas that would be used for
gateway urban treatments to make this the nicest urban facility possible. Stakeholders had
offered suggestions for enhancing the entrance of the City, such as flags or fountains. They
would look at both landscape andhardscape treatments that would enhance the visual value.
Mayor Leiken asked how agreeable PeaceHea1th was to this proposal.
Mr. Boyatt said he believed they were agreeable. Tonight's meeting was to get Council's
permission to bring this proposal to the stakeholders on October 16.
Mayor Leiken said he appreciated the communication with ODOT, but felt it was also important
that PeaceHealth was agreeable. There may need to be some amendments to the original
agreements with them to address this proposal.
Mr. Boyatt said he believed a meeting was set to go over all of that on October 22 at the staff
level. He said it was his belief that with reduced right-of-way takes, this could be on a faster
track than originally anticipated.
Mayor Leiken asked if Mr. Boyatt was comfortable with the design with the additional employee
base in the Gateway area now and in the future. The MLK Parkway was a big advantage
regarding traffic in this area. The idea of the couplet was to move traffic.
Mr. Boyatt said the couplet was. designed to store traffic. The amount of congestion in either
system was comparable. Any proposal would be congested for several hours during the day.
Managingthe congestion with some additional facility and timing the signals would help.
Stacking up the costs and impacts to businesses, he felt this was the best decision, This proposal
would allow them to see how the system worked once the other projects were operational.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007
Page 3
Mayor Leiken said Springfield would be approaching $2B worth of investment in the Gateway
area. He liked that staff was thinking this through, being creative and waiting to see how the
other projects settled.
Mr. Boyatt said traffic counts taken now would not have any bearing on anything. A few things.
needed to happen before true numbers could be found.
Councilor Lundberg asked about the priorities in this area. She asked if traffic coming from the
north was being prioritized over traffic coming Gateway onto Beltline.
Mr. Boyatt said it was prioritized that way so traffic from the east could also be moved. He
explained further. .
Councilor Lundberg said she was happy to see the minimum lane now, but she wanted to make
sure it could serve inthe future. She said this spoke higWy to planning according to what could
or couldn't be done over periods of time. This was more realistic than planning out twenty to .
twenty-five years. It was important that this was agreeable to the hospital. This area was the
gateway to the City and she liked the room for additional green space. She appreciated that they
were accounting for current growth and future growth to the north. Whatever was planned now
. needed to accommodate that growth. She was glad we stayed with an at-grade design and she
was happy the project was being done incrementally.
Mr. Boyatt said doing it incrementally saved money and allowed more flexibility on the next
increment. Some of the other options would lock the City into a position that may not be the best
in the future. The stakeholder group had not yet seen this so there would be new discussions
following the meeting on October 16. Staff would ask the stakeholders to take some time to
discuss the proposal that could lead to some modifications.
Mayor Leiken said it almost dispelled the notion that something could be planned out twenty
years. He' felt this was an excellent test case that showed planning couldn't always be out twenty
years. The area of concern for him was the relationship with ODOT and that they were amenable
to this idea.
Mr. Boyatt said ODOT hadn't built their complete EA alternative for the interchange, but had
. done it in phases. This would fit into their phasing.
Council consensus was to move forward with the recommended proposal and for staff to meet
with the stakeholders.
Mr. Boyatt said staff would come back to Council in January with a recommendation for a
project.
2. Historic Commission Applicant Interviews.
City Planner and Liaison to the Historic Commission, Kitti Gale, presented this item. The
Historic Commission has two openings on its seven-member commission. The recruitment for
these openings began August 16, 2007, and closed September 13, 2007. Two candidates have
City of Spnngfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007
Page 4
applied. The first applicant is Commissioner Kuri Gill, whose term expired September 30, 2007.
She has requested to be re-appointed to the Commission. The second applicant is Springfield
resident, Sean VanGordon.
Section IX, 3.8 of the Springfield City Council Operating Policies and Procedures, states that the
H. ;. Mayor and Council will hold formal interviews of applicants for positions on the Budget
Committee, Historic Commission, and Planning Commission and a recommendationfi'om these
bodies is not necessary although they may have a representative present to participate in the
interview process. . .'"
Springfield Code 1-10-1, Historic Commission Charge, requires that the seven-member
Commission shall be residents; electors; property owners within Springfield; appointees of other.
Springfield public agencies such as Willamalane Park & Recreation and School District #19; or,
specialists with expertise in such fields as architecture, history, architectural history, planning, or
archaeology who live within the Metro-Area General Plan boundaries. For state certified funding
it is recommended that a majority of the Commission have professional qualifications.
The two vacancies on the Commission are a result of term expirations. Kuri Gill was appointed
to the Commission in November, 2006 to complete the term of Michelle Dennis. Ms. Gill is now
applying for her own, fIrst four-year term.
The second opening is that of Commissioner Tama Tochihara, who has served on the
Commission si~ce April, 2004. She chose not to apply for a second term due to fa~ily
requirements.
The Council determined which questions they would ask of the applicants.
Ms. Gale said Kuri Gill was currently on the Historic Commission and was reapplying to stay on
for a full term. The second applicant for the second position, Sean MP VanGordon, was not able
to attend tonight's meeting for the interview. Ms. Gale asked if she could have Council's
permission to put out a new posting for the second position to try to get additional applicants.
Council gave approval for her to put out another news release for the second position.
Ms. Gill was interviewed by the Mayor and Council.
Mayor Leiken asked Ms. Gill if she had any questions for the Council.
Ms. Gill said she didn't have questions for Council. She had served on this committee for a
. couple of years and had seen the support from the Council.
Mayor Leiken thanked M~. Gill for re-applying.
The Council discussed the applicant and came to cons~nsus to re~appoint Ms. Gill to the Historic
Commission during the October 15,2007 Council meeting.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007 .
Page 5
3. First Station Functional and Space Program.
. Project Manager Carole Knapel presented the staff report on this item. On July 16, 2007, the City
Council authorized the City Manager to execute a contract with Paul Bentley, Architect, for
Thurston Fire Station #16 design services. As part of the design services, a Fire Station
Functional and Space Program was developed with input from City staff. The Program was
necessary to document the current and future functions and space requirements for the new.
station. In addition, this Program will serve as the model for any future fIre station remodels or
new construction projects. The Program incorporates Best Management Practices for issues
which include the (ollowing:
· Gender Neutrality/Equity - Individual sleeping rooms and single-user restrooms allow
for a gender neutral facility. .
· ADA Accessibility - Restrooms, entrances, and upper floor access (if needed) are all
ADA compliant.
· Turnout and Equipment Storage - Turnouts must be protected from UV radiation, vehicle
exhaust, moisture, and other environmental factors that could cause degradation.
. Blue Line Separation - The Blue Line Separation policy prohibits turnouts and other
contaminated clothing or equipment in the living areas of the fIre station.
· Apparatus Storage - Apparatus storage allows for drive-through bay access for two
primary response vehicles (engine and ambulance) and stacked bay access for two
backup response vehicles.
These design requirements impact the square footage requirements for any fire station which is
designed to be consistent with Best Management Practices. The project team looked at three
options for the new fire station. The option included in the Program (Option A) is 11,862 sq. ft.
This design provides for the Best Management Practices in the most complete manner. Option B
includes 9550 square feet. It addresses the most important functional requirements in a reduced
square foot allocation. Option C .includes 7796 square feet, but eliminates space for some
required functions. City staff recommends that the Thurston Fire Station be designed in
accordance with Option B because it meets all the requirements consistent with Best
Management Practices in the most economical manner.
Ms. Knapel noted that this program document could be used as a model for other fire stations as
they became ready for remodel or reconstruction. She discussed the different options and how
they fit the best management practices. She discussed Option C, which was closest to the cost
and size that was originally discussed with Council, but would not accommodate all of the best
management practices.
Councilor Ralston said he was glad to hear staff recommended Option B. He asked why the
building was required to be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible since the fireman
had strict physical standards and would not be using it.
Ms. Knapel said staff did some research and found that the U.S. Justice Department had written
an opinion that the building needed to be ADA accessible. In the event of an emergency, fire
. stations were often a refuge for citizens and would need to be ADA accessible in those instances.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007
. Page 6
Accessibility also needed to be available for maintenance or administrative personnel, or Fire
and Life Safety employees that were released back to. work on light duty.
Councilor Ralston asked if this was for the current site and if it would be a. two-story building.
Ms. Knapel said it would be built on the current site. Staff had asked the architect to make two
options, one as a one-story, and one as a two-story. Staff would bring those two options back to
Council for approval.
Councilor Ballewsaid she didn't recall the replacement cost being so high.
Ms. Knapel said the original estimate from the architect was about $1.9M, but that did not
include some of the City costs, including staff time, permit fees and other costs.
Councilor Ballew asked if there would be elevators.
Ms. Knapel said if the building was two stories, elevators would be part of the ADA
requirement.
Councilor Wylie asked about parking the largest vehicle.
Ms. Knapel said in Option B only one bay could accommodate the largest vehicle.
Mayor Leiken asked Chief Murphy if the firefighters were o.k. with Option B.
Chief Murphy said the firefighters agreed with Option B and felt it fit the budget. The
firefighters participated in the discussions regarding the plan.
Captain Rodney Stewart from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) was present
in the audience. Captain Stewart said the firefighters had a lot of input in this option. He referred
to turnout storage and the need for separate storage. The fitness room was important. Also, the
apparatus bay was important for safety. Option B allowed pull-throughs for the first-out
ambulance and the first-out engine, allowing them to keep an ambulance and engine available for
the shift change during a busy time of day. The living quarters in Option B were much like those
in Fire Station 5. The IAFF approved of Option B.
Mayor Leiken said once the station was complete, it would be there for a long time. Thurston
was a growing residential area, and he wanted to make sure this option would grow with the area.
He wanted to make sure it was done right. He appreciated Captain Stewart's feedback. He
commended Ms. Knapel and her team for providing Council with detailed information.
Councilor Lundberg said she agreed with Option B. She said she hoped notes had been taken
since the beginning of this process so we could learn from this experience. She agreed F&LS
was a critical service and providing adequate facilities for firefighters was important.
. Councilor Ralston asked why this was named Fire Station 16.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007
. Page 7
Chief Murphy explained why the station had been renamed when Eugene and Springfield
coordinated efforts. .
Mayor Leiken asked if all new public buildings were required to be ADA accessible.
Mr. Leahy said that was correct. When asked by Ms. Knapel for an opinion, the City Attorney's
office stated that point. They didn't want the City to be in a position of not being able to provide
those types of facilities. for those that needed them in a public building. Later, Ms. Knapel found.
the Department of Justice opinion which said the same thing. .
4. Fire Station 16 Temporary Housing.
Budget Officer Bob Brew presented the staff report on this item. Temporary housing is needed to
accommodate assigned Fire and Life Safety personnel during the demolition and construction of
Fire Station 16. A Request forBids was prepared and a bid was received for temporary housing
facilities.
The Thurston Fire Station (Fire Station 16) has been uninhabitable for the past 12+ months.
During that period, personnel assigned to that station have been living in temporary office
trailers located on-site. While the status of the Station was in flux, these trailers were viewed as a
temporary solution; however, now that it is clear that the new station will be in construction for
12-IS months, a more appropriate housing solution is required.
A Request for Bids was prepared and distributed for an IS-month lease of a 36' x 60' temporary
office building to be fitted as a residence, with five bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, laundry
facilities, two restrooms, and a central living area. One responsive bid was received from
Modern Building Systems, Inc. in an amount of $69,040 for an IS-month lease.
Mr. Brew noted that the firefighters had been living in dormitory trailers since September 2005.
He gave some of the specifications of the current living situation that made it difficult for the
firefighters and affected response time. He discussed the proposed temporary facility and the
options that were before Council. Consideration had been made to purchase the temporary
housing, but staff felt leasing the housing on an adjoining site would be a better option. He
explained why. Currently the fire apparatus was kept in a heated tent.
Mr. Brew said this would come back to Council on October 15 for their fmal decision.
Councilor Ballew asked for a comparison of costs associated with current living conditions and
the proposed temporary housing. She would prefer to see a side by side chart showing that
comparison for future items.
Mr. Brew noted anecdotally what the costs were now compared to the proposed costs.
Councilor Ralston asked about the food cost.
Mr. Brew said there was a set amount allocated to the firefighters for breakfast ($l 0) and dinner
($15). Lunch was on their own. The firefighters turned in their receipts and were reimbursed. He
said he would be back on October 15 for a decision.
. City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 8, 2007
. Page 8
Mr. Grimaldi said the functional and space item would also be brought to Council for their final
decision on October 15.
. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:44 pm.
Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa
Sidney W. Leiken
Mayor
Attest:
. Amy Sowa
City Recorder
City of Springfield .
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2007
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225
Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 15, 2007 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken.
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow and
Pishioneri. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy,
City Attorney Matt.Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Barking Dogs, Continuous Annoyance Ordinance.
Animal Control Officer Tracy Sparks and City Attorney Matt Cox presented the staff report on
this item. Adoption of this ordinance would add to the existing Springfield Municipal Code
language regarding the offense of barking dog. Ms. Sparks believes that the ordinance as drafted
will assist her in dealing with the public and in citing offenders who allow dogs to cause
continuous annoyance through barking.
Mr. Cox said they had talked to other local jurisdictions and their animal control offices. The
fifteen minute limitation was tailored from the Lane County and City of Eugene code.
Ms. Sparks did not believe there will be financial impact on the City but instead that the
ordinance will make her job regarding noise disturbances due to barking dogs easier to manage.
Ms. Sparks said she had received a number of requests from citizens, both with barking dogs al1d
those complaining about barking dogs, to make the definition of continuous more clear. She
spoke with Lane County Animal Regulation about their code and how it helped to make it clear.
She said the issue had surfaced during court proceedings as well when the judge asked for a
defmition of continuous barking~ She noted the large volume of calls she received regarding
barking dogs.
Councilor Woodrow asked how the time was documented, by the owner or by Ms. Sparks.
Ms. Sparks said due to time constraints, she was not able to go and sit and listen to see how long
the dogs barked, and had to rely on the neighbor to document the time. That was how it had
always been. There were instances where she did go out to listen to dogs bark when requested by
a judge or if she knew it was an ongoing problem.
Councilor Woodrow also said he appreciated Ms. Sparks' work on this item.
City Attorney Joe Leahy said that he was aware of people bringing tape recorders of barking
dogs to the Lane County Justice Court.
City of Springfield .
Council Work Session Minutes
October 15, 2007
Page 2
Ms. Sparks said the City of Eugene requested citizens record the barking dog in order to submit a
complaint.Ms. Sparks did not feel that was necessary because not everyone had a tape recorder.
Councilor Pishioneri asked how the time was calculated. He gave an example of a dog barking
for ten minutes, then stopping for five, then barking again for ten minutes, and so on. He also.
discussed other noise ordinances and the distance from the house. He appreciated where they
were going with this ordinance. Barking dogs could be a nuisance. He asked how complaints
were received.
Ms. Sparks said the citizen filed a written complaint.
Councilor Ralston said he didn't see a distinction between barking for 15 minutes at one stretch
or a dog barking for five minutes off and on through the day or night. He would like to see the
time quantified, such as number of minutes per hour. He discussed whining versus barking and if
that could be considered. He discussed dogs inside the home.
Councilor Woodrow noted that whining was included in the ordinance.
Ms. Sparks said barking complaints were not taken regarding dogs inside homes. She said part of
the complaint was to give a description of the dog and if they were in the home it was difficult to
give a description.
Councilor Wylie said she agreed with Councilor Ralston regarding continual barking. She felt .
that it shouldn't be a complaint if a dog was barking for a specific reason, such as a wild animal
in the yard, and not just barking continually.
Mr. Cox said part of the ordinance included the phrase that an owner had to unreasonably permit
the dog to cause continuous annoyance. If there was an intruder or wild animal, that would be
reasonable. He said they would look further into quantifying the time within an hour and check
with other jurisdictions. He asked Councilor Pishioneri if he would like something included
about distance from home.
Councilor Pishioneri said he didn't want to be unreasonable, but would like consideration taken
that this ordinance matches the other noise ordinances.
Councilor Wylie said regarding other noises, she was awakened often in the night from train
whistles and she hoped that could be addressed at some point.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if they would consider a person gone on vacation as a defense for a
barking dog.
No. Ms. Sparks said all dog owners received a warning from her before they were cited. If the
homeowner was not home when she came to the house, she would leave a doorhanger and they
usually called her back. She also encouraged the neighbors to talk to each other before filing a
complaint with her office.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 15,2007 .
, Page 3
CouncilorLundbetg said issuing warnings was good. Some people had great dogs that barked
when the owner was out. The owners often didn't know the dog was barking if they were out.
She appreciated that Ms. Sparks was working with the owners and resolving it in a community
, . service way.
Mayor Leiken thanked Ms. Sparks for bringing this item to Council.
2. Review Options for Council Goal to Analyze Municipal WiFi as an Incentive for Economic
Development in Nodal Zones.
Information TechnologyDirector Rod Lathrop presented this item. In January 2007 the City
Council adopted a goal to identify possible WiFi locations in nodal development locations. It is
estimated that as many as 400 municipalities through out the United States may be considering
municipal WiFi networks. .
There are many reasons for considering a municipal WiFi network. One of the chief benefits is to
mobilize traditional municipal services, such as Police/Fire, Public Works, and Development
Services. Additional benefits for municipal WiFi networks include social inclusion by providing
Internet services at low or no cost to under~served populations, possible economic development
gains, and demonstrating to the world that Springfield is a contemporary, wireless-enabled
digital city.
Municipally owned WiFi networks can cost as much as $75,000 - $150,000 per square mile. Due
to the significant geographic distribution of our City and the associated high capital costs this
option is not presented here.
Many Cities such as Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California are trying to develop
Municipal WiFi networks as Public/Private partnerships. Four options are presented for Council
discussion, ranging in cost from little more than staff time up to $l 0,000 plus additional staff
costs for items such as Coverage and Interference engineering reports.
EarthLink, the dominant provider in the Public/Priv~te partnership market space, has recently
suspended new projects after losing $30M in the most recent quarter. Due to other failures and
underperforming projects in the municipal WiFi market, coupled with pending technical
innovations such as WiMax, Option 4 "No action at this time" is the IT recommendation.
Mr. Lathrop discussed the municipal service and noted that the mobile data computer Police
Chief Smith used for his department was much more economical than any Wi-Fi service for
internal communications.
Councilor Ralston said he never liked this idea and this report just reinforced his opinion.
Mr. Lathrop said the one place this had been a success was in small rural towns because it gave
those that couldn't get access to the internet in their homes, a broadband choice. Most larger
cities were reconsidering this service because of the many issues and costs.
'\.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 15, 2007
Page 4
. . -
..
,. . .
Mayor Leiken said it was challenging for the government to get involved in something like this,
particularly when private carriers could provide the service and sell subscriptions. He asked if
that was what Clearwire was doing.
Mr~ Lathrop said Clearivire was doing very welL That's what the City of Eugene was using out at
the airport.
. Councilor Wylie said this should be left up to the private sector.
Mr. Lathrop said it originally made sense, but hadn't panned out.
- . .
Mayor Leiken noted that he thought there should be a way to capture revenue from things going
through the air, but realized that would be another discussion at another time.
3. . City Property Naming Privilege.
Community Relations Coordinator Niel Laudati presented the staff report on this item. The City
currently has no official policy on the naming of buildings and facilities. Following a February
2007 City Council Work Session on the issue of naming, staff developed the attached draft
policy. The policy is separated into Honorary and Philanthropic naming opportunities. Staff .
developed the policy with initial input from Councilor Joe Pishioneri, the council liaison for the
project.
The attached document outlines a proposed process for both Honorary and Philanthropic naming
opportunities. Along with opportunities for public engagement, the policy stipulates thatthe fmal
decision in all cases rests with the City Council.
Mr. Laudati thanked Councilor Pishioneri, council liaison on this committee, and City Attorney
Joe Leahy for reviewing the many versions of this policy. He said the policy was split into two
sections: Honorary Naming and Philanthropic Naming. He explained the honorary naming part
of the policy. He discussed some of the highlights of the policy. Council would have the fmal say
, ,
on any recommendations that came from this policy.
Councilor Ralston said he recalled when a citizen came and asked that a street be renamed. He
asked if this policy related to this type of request. He didn't see any mention of naming streets in
this policy. He said he had objected to the name change because there was no process in place.
Mr. Laudati said this policy was generated from a January meeting regarding naming of a public
building.
Mr. Leahy said this policy did not relate to streets. Renaming a street involved coordination with
the post office, Public Works Department, regional partners and the Lane Council of
Governments (LCOG).
Councilor Wylie asked if there was a policy for naming a street. She said she lived on South E
Street and there was a lot of confusion related to that name.
City of Springfield .
... Council Work Session Minutes
October 15, 2007
Page 5
. Mr. Goodwin said the City ~tandard was a rectangular grid where all east/west streets were.
named for letters in the alphabet, and all north/south streets were named by number. Within.
subdivision, however, the developer of the subdivision had the right to apply for a naming .
convention for naming the streets within the subdivision, as long as those names didn't involve
inappropriate words, did not duplicate names in Eugene, and did not create confusion. Those
could be rejected by the Council, but he had not seen Council reject subdivision naming
conventions. .
Councilor Wylie asked about her situation of trying to rename a street
Mr. Goodwin said it would be an action of the Council to change that street name.
Mr.Leahy said Council had avoided those because it could cause confusion for the Police and
Fire departments and not all neighbors would be agreeable to a change. There was a name
change sometime back for a development to try to promote that it was high end housing, but
since then Council had been reluctant to get into street renaming.
Mr. Laudati noted that two of the things Councilor Pishion~ri wanted included in this policy had
been included: 1) The proposal must be in writing; and 2) The final approval must be made by
Council. Mr. Laudati reviewed philanthropic naming.
Councilor Lundberg said'in the past, Council had often had a chance to review and provide input
on the make-up of committees appointed for different tasks. She would like Council to have the
opportunity to review any naming committees the City Manager may appoint. She felt it would
also give the public an opportunity to see the make-up of the committee. She also noted that
there could be a situation when something needed to be unnamed.
Councilor Pishione,ri said the policy was well written and was what he wanted and what he felt
the Council would feel was important. He didn't completely agree with CounCilor Lundberg's
suggestion to have Council's input on the committee because he felt it added more steps to the
process. He said he would trust the City Manager's office to choose an unbiased committee.
Councilor Lundberg said Council approved all committees that gave Council recommendations.
Mayor Leiken asked for further clarification on committees.
Mr. Towery said this policy did allow other committees to take on the responsibility of
recommending a name. He gave the example of naming a meeting room in the Justice Center and
using the Police Planning Task Force (PPTF) as the naming committee. There could be language
in the policy that the City Manager runs the committee membership by the Council for review.
He asked if they wanted it noted in the policy that if a new committee was formed by the City
Manager, that the Council have a chance to review and provide input, but if a standing
committee was used, there would be no need for Council review.
Mayor Leiken said he liked having the City Manager bring the names of the proposed committee
to the Council either way. It would also give Council a chance to appoint a Council liaison to the
committee.
. City of Springfield. .
Council Work Session Minutes
October 15,2007
Page 6
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Councilor Lundberg said she would just like to see the category of people that would be on the
committee. The.Council had to make the final decision and she wanted to have input regarding
the committee.
. . .
..Mr. Towery said staff could add language to reflect that in the policy. .
Council commended Mr. Laudati and Mr. Leahy for their work creating this policy and thanked
Councilor Pishioneri for serving as liaison. .
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 pm. .
. .
Minutes Recorder ~ Amy Sowa
. Sidney W. Leiken
Mayor
-Attest:
Amy Sowa
. City Recorder
City of Springfield.
Regular Meeting
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2007
. The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 15,2007 at 7:03 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
presiding. .
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow and
Pishioneri. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy,
City Attorney Matt Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Pledge of Allegiance was . led by Mayor Leiken.
Mayor Leiken recognized Arlene Link who was present in the audience. Just prior to the start o~
. each University of Oregon Football game, they have the Bellotti Book Brigade for SMART
Readers. On Saturday; October 13, Ms. Link was honored for her commitment to the SMART
Reading Program.
SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT
I. Recognition of Ken V ogeney, 1 0 Years of Service to the City of Springfield.
Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery introduced Ken Vogeney, City Engineer. Mr. Towery
discussed Mr. Vogeney's work history with the City and also some of the accomplishments of
Mr. V ogeney over the last ten years. Mr. Towery presented Mr. V ogeney with a plaque
acknowledging his years of serVice to the City of Springfield.
Mayor Leiken said it had been a pleasure working with Mr. V ogeney. He appreciated how
accessible Mr. V ogeney had been to himself and the Council. Mayor Leiken also thanked Mr.
Vogeney's wife, Sherry, for allowing the time Mr. Vogeney needed to devote to the City.
2. K9 Program Donor Recognition.
Detective Rich Charboneau asked Angelika Boggs and Councilor Woodrow to come forward., For
the last nine years the K9 Program had been able to take donations from citizens for the dogs and
equipment for the K9's. He discussed Ms. Boggs past support and recent donation and presented
her with a plaque. Detective Charboneau then discussed Councilor Woodrow's contributions over
the years and his current donation. He presented him with a plaque.
CONSENT CALENDAR
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes'
October 15, 2007
Page 2
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IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR
WOODROW TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. THE MOTION PASSED
WITHA VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (lAbsent - Ballew).
. . .
1. Claims
a. Approval ofthe September 2007, Disb~rsements for Approval.
. 2. Minutes
a. September 17, 2007 - Regular Meeting
b. September 24,2007 - Work Session
c. October 1, 2007 - Work Session .
d. October I, 2007 - Regular Meeting
3. Resolutions
4. Ordinances
5. Other Routine Matters
a. Approval of Liquor License Endorsement for Ciao Pizza, Located at 3342 Gateway
. Street, Springfield, Oregon.
b. Approval of Liquor License Endorsement for Cafe Yumm! #10005, Located at 3340
Gateway Street, Springfield, Oregon.
c. Accept the bid from Modern Building Systems, Inc. in the Amount of $69,040 for an IS-
month Lease of a 36' x 60' Temporary Office Building for Fire Station # 16.
ITEMS REMOVED
PUBLIC HEARINGS - Please limit.comments to 3 minutes. Request to speak cards are available
at both entrances. Please present c~ds to City Recorder. Speakers may
not yield their time to others.
1. Supplemental Budget Resolution.
RESOLUTION NO. 07-44 - A RESOLUTION ADJUSTING RESOURCES AND
REQUIREMENTS IN THE FOLLOWING FUNDS: GENERAL, STREET, JAIL
OPERATIONS, SPECIAL REVENUE, TRANSIENT ROOM TAX, COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT, RIVERBEND DEVELOPMENT, BUILDING CODE, FIRE LOCAL
OPTION LEVY, POLICE LOCAL OPTION LEVY, BANCROFT, BOND SINKING,
LOCAL W ASTEW A TER CAPITAL, DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT CAPITAL,
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, DRAINAGE CAPITAL PROJECTS, POLICE BUILDING.
BOND CAPITAL, STREET CAPITAL, SDC LOCAL STORM IMPROVEMENT, SDC
LOCAL WASTEWATER REIMBURSEMENT, SDC LOCAL WASTEWATER
IMPROVEMENT, SDC TRANSPORTATION REIMBURSEMENT, SDC
TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT, LOCAL WASTEWATER OPERATIONS,
AMBULANCE, DRAINAGE OPERATING, BOOTH-KELLY, REGIONAL FIBER
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 15,2007
Page 3
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CONSORTIUM, INSURANCE, VEHICLE & EQUIPMENT, AND SDC
ADMINISTRATION.
Budget Officer Bob Brew presented the staff report on this item. At various times during the
fiscal year the Council is requested to make adjustments to the annual budget to reflect needed
changes in plamied activities, to recognize new revenues, or to make other required adjustments.
These adjustments to resources and requirements change the current budget and are processed .
through supplemental budget requests scheduled by the Finance Department on an annual basis.
The-supplemental budget being presented includes adjusting resources and requirements in the
General Fund, Street Fund, Jail Operations Fund, Special Revenue Fund, Transient Room Tax
Fund, Community Development Fund, RiverBend Development Fund, Building Code Fund, Fire
Local Option Levy Fund, Police Local Option Levy Fund, Bancroft Fund, Bond Sinking Fund,
- Local Wastewater Capital Fund, Development Assessment Capital Fund, Development Projects
Fund, Drainage Capital Projects Fund, Police Building Bond Capital Fund, Street Capital Fund,
SDC Local Storm Improvement Fund, SDC Local Wastewater Reimbursement Fund, SDC Local
Wastewater Improvement Fund, SDC Transportation Reimbursement Fund, SDC Transportation
Improvement Fund, Local Wastewater Operations Fund, Regional Wastewater Fund, Emergency
Medical Services Fund, Drainage Operating Fund, Booth-Kelly Fund, Regional Fiber Consortium
Fun~, Insurance Fund, Vehicle & Equipment Fund, and SDC Administration Fund..
The City Council is asked to approve the attached Supplemental Budget Resolution. The overall
fmancial impact of the Supplemental Budget Resolution is to increase total appropriations by
$20,154,175 and increase total FTE by 1.0.
Mr. Brew explained that many of these adjustments were housekeeping adjustments. He
explained the different types of adjustments and allocations included in this supplemental budget.
. Councilor Ralston referred to page 3 on Attachment A. He asked about moving the "budgetary
authority from the generic capital line items 'Neighborhood Improvements' and
'Intergovernmental Human Services' and allocates the budgetary authority to more specific
CDBG funding-eligible projects and programs".
Mr. Brew said Council approved the list of projects each year that would be funded with
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The timing of the City's fiscal year and
the Federal Government's fiscal year were slightly different so this transaction took the lump sum
(under 'neighborhood improvements' or 'intergovernmental human services') and put it into the
projects that were identified.
Mayor Leiken opened the public hearing.
No one appeared to speak.
Mayor Leiken closed the public hearing.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR
WOODROW TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 07-44. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A
VOTE OF 5 FORAND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent-Ballew).
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 15,2007
Page 4
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. BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE
1. Kathy January, 82971 Scott Lane, Creswell, OR Ms. January said she was a volunteer with
the Feral Cat coalition and the Feline Assistance Network. She addressed issues regarding
feral cats in Lane County. She discussed the number of feral cats in Oregon and noted that
everyone needed to take responsibility in helping these cats. The Q Street Animal Hospital
. got cats left on their doorstep nearly every weekend. A lot of cat rescue groups spent their
own time and money trying to help the cats. Cats were continuing to breed at an alarming rate
. and it had become a health concern. The baby kittens were born with diseases and a lot of
cats were being dumped and drowned. She had written a number of letters to many
representatives to get help for these cats. She provided those letters to the City Recorder for
. distribution to the Council following the meeting. She felt that cat licensing might someday
. help fund a program. There needed to be stiffer.animal cruelty laws. She said she had talked
with Lane County, but they had told her it was hardto enforce cat issues due to the budget.
Mayor Leiken thanked Ms. January for coming before CounciL
Councilor Ralston said hehad a meeting set up tomorrow to discuss this issue withMs. January. .
2. Eldon Andrews, 187 Deadmond Ferry Road; Springfield, OR Mr. Andrews discussed the
property that his parents once owned that had been purchased by PeaceHealth. He
congratulated Springfield for their great bike lanes on Main Street and South A Street. Mr.
Andrews said he used to work for his brother at ESV Scooters in Springfield. Scooters were. .
low on power and having a good bike lane for scooters to be able to travel on made a big
difference. There were no bike lanes in Glenwood and it was impossible to be legal riding
through Glenwood to Eugene on any street. The bike paths were accessible for disabled
people, but although he had a disability, it was not regarding walking, which is what the bike
paths accommodated. He felt Eugene had a bad reputation for their treatment of scooter
riders. He congratulated Springfield on their good treatment of scooter riders. He noted the
State law for scooter riders and said Eugene had overridden that law.
COUNCIL RESPONSE
CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS
BIDS
ORDINANCES
BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL
1. Committee Appointments
a. Historic Commissioner ConfIrmation.
Planning Manager Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item in Kitti Gale's absence.
In work session on October 8, 2007, the Council interviewed and selected Kuri Gill to serve
on the Springfield Historic Commission. Ms. Gill will serve a four-year term that extends to
September 30, 2011
City of Springfield
. . Council Regular Meeting Minutes
. October 15,2007
Page 5
On October 8, 2007, the Council interviewed and selected Kuri Gill to serve herfrrst, four-
year term on the Springfield Historic Commission. Ms. Gill has a background in historic
preservation and is currently the State of Oregon Historic Cemeteries Preservationist.
In addition, the Council advised staff to re-openthe recruitment process to fill the seat of
retired Historic Commissioner Tama Tochihara.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY
COUNCILORWOODROW TO RE-APPOINT KURlGILL TO THE mSTORIC
COMMISSION WITH A TERM EXPIRATION OF SEPTEMBER 30,2011. THE
MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Ballew)
2. Business from Council
a. Committee Reports
1. Mayor Leiken spoke regarding the MPC meeting. He said some people from other
jurisdictions were upset that two Springfield projects were being moved to the .
constrained list. ODOT leadership testified in favor of the two projects. He was
pleased to hear from ODOT leadership including Jeff Sheik.
. Mayor Leiken said Senator Wyden was in town to discuss affordable housing. The
senator was very passionate about that issue and it was nice to have one of our
representatives in the majority in Washington DC with a passion for this topic. An
award was given to Senator Wyden from Warren Weathers, Mayor of Lowell, for his
support of their program.
The Mayor's Art Show was very successful.
Mayor Leiken said he attended the preview tour of Sacred Heart and the PeaceHealth
Annex. He noted that there were nearly 1000 employees in the PeaceHealth Annex.
2. Councilor Woodrow said that he and Councilor Pishioneri attended the Pacific
Program last week. He thanked the Mayor and council leadership for giving him the
opportunity to attend this training. He said it was a great course and he learned a lot.
He was very appreciative that he was able to attend. It was well worth the week
invested. . .
Councilor Pishioneri said he also attended the Pacific Program. He could understand
now how the previous attendees could lead. He had determined he would follow that .
course to get things done the right way and the responsible way. It was a lot of work,
but he felt it would payoff. He was thankful he could attend.
b. Other Business
I. Letter of Support - 2007 Ridgeline Area Open Space Vision and Action Plan.
. City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 15, 2007
h~6 . . ..... . . ... .
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Assistant City Manager Jeff Towerypresented the staff report on this item. On August
22, 2007,. Pat Hocken, President of the League of Women Voters of Lane County
submitted a written request to the Mayor and Council to provide a letter of support for the
2007 Ridgeline Area Open Space Vision and Action Plan. Planning Supervisor Mark
Metzger contacted Jeff Krueger from the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) and
received a copy of the plan. The Ridgeline Plan includes a multi-use path that
Willamalane plans to build to connect Dorris Ranch and Clearwater Park. Willamalane is .
working with the city and with SUB to finalize the alignment and design for the path. .
The Vision and Purpose of the plan are noted below:
The Vision
The ridgeline area is a unique and valuable community asset spanning the twenty mile
corridor between Fern Ridge Reservoir and Mount Pisgah.
This special area contains high value habitats, outstanding scenery, and working farms
and forestland. It protects, connects, and enhances a variety of habitats; provides regional
recreational opportunities and trail connections for residents and visitors alike; and
showcases the area's natural, scenic, and historic landscape.
Purpose
The Ridgeline Area Open Space Vision has been developed to serve as a conceptual
framework for future open space and recreation efforts for this area. In addition to the
. Vision, a detailed Action Plan has been developed to help direct the implementation of
the Ridgeline Area Open Space Vision and is included in this report. The Action Plan .
includes goals, recommended actions, and strategies organized under the following five
categories: Habitat Conservation and Management; Recreation; Tourism; Water
Resources; Views and Viewsheds; and Urban-Rural Transition.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY
COUNCILOR WOODROW TO APPROVE SENDING THE LETTER OF
SUPPORT FOR THE 2007 RIDGELINE AREA OPEN SPACE VISION AND
ACTION PLAN FROM THE MAYOR ON BEHALF OF THE FULL COUNCIL.
THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent-
Ballew).
BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER
1. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Forest Lands.
RESOLUTION NO. 07-45 -A RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE
MANAGEMENT OF OREGON'S PUBLIC FORESTS.
Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery presented the staff report on this item. The BLM is
proposing to revise existing plans to replace the Northwest Forest Plan land use allocations and
management direction. Four alternatives (including a No Action Alternative) have been proposed
and are currently under review and comment. The comment period is open until December 10, ..
.2007. On September 24,2007 Anna Morrison, on behalf of Citizens for Sustainable Forests and
Communities, made a presentation about the options and requested that the Council consider
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 15, 2007
Page 7
adopting a resolution that supports both sustainable forest practices in general and the BLM
recommended alternative (No.2) specifically.
At the conclusion of the presentation Council requested staffto prepare a resolution and carry it
to Council Leadership for a review and recommendation. Council Leadership discussed a draft
resolution on September 27,2007 and asked for the item to be brought to the full Council for
consideration. Legal Counsel has also reviewed the resolution.
Councilor Ralston asked if the resolution specifically stated a preference for Alternative 2.
,. .'
Mr. Towery said it did specify that preference.
Mayor Leiken said council leadership had asked Mr. Towery to draft the resolution to fit . .
Springfield. .
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR
WOODROW TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 07-45. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A
VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Ballew).
2. Fire Station Functional and Space Program - P20534.
. Project Manager Carole Knapel presented the staff report on this item. On July 16, 2007, the City
Council authorized the City Manager to execute a contract with Paul Bentley, Architect, for
Thurston Fire Station #16 design services. As part of the design services, a Fire Station
Functional and Space Program was developed with input from City staff. The Program was
necessary to document the current and future functions and space requirements for the new
station. In addition, this Program will serve as the model for any future fire station remodels or
new construction projects. The Program incorporates Best Management Practices for issues
which include the following:
· Gender Neutrality/Equity - Individual sleeping rooms and single-user restrooms allow for
a gender neutral facility.
· ADA Accessibility - Restrooms, entrances, and upper floor access (if needed) are all
ADA compliant.
· Turnout and Equipment Storage - Turnouts must be protected from UV radiation, vehicle .
exhaust,_ moisture, and other environmental factors that could cause degradation.
· Blue Line Separation - The Blue Line Separation policy prohibits turnouts and other
contaminated clothing or equipment in the living areas of the fire station.
· Apparatus Storage - Apparatus storage allows for drive-through bay access for two
primary response vehicles (engine and ambulance) and stacked bay access for two
backup response vehicles. -
These design requirements impact the square footage requirements for any fire station which is
designed to be consistent with Best Management Practices. The project team looked at three
options for the new fire station. The option included in the Program (Option A) is 11,862 sq. ft.
This design provides for the Best Management Practices in the most complete manner. Option B
includes 9550 square feet. It addresses the most important functional requirements in a reduced
square foot allocation. Option C includes 7796 square feet, but eliminates space for some required
functions. City staff recommends that the Thurston Fire Station be designed in accordance with
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 15,2007
Page 8
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Option B because it meets ~ll the requirements consistent with Best Management Practices in the '
most economical manner.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR
WOODROW TO APPROVE FUNCTIONAL AND SPACE PROGRAM FOR THE
THURSTON FIRE STATION #16 FACILITY AND DIRECT STAFF TO PROCEED
WITH OPTION B. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0
AGAINST (1 Absent - Ballew).
BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY
Mr. Leahy noted that Councilor Woodrow's wife won the award during the Bellotti Book Brigade
for her involvement with the SMART Reading Program last year.
ADJOURNMENT .
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:37 p.m.
Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa
Sidney W. Leiken
Mayor
Attest:
City Recorder
City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2007
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on "Monday, October 22, 2007 at 5 :34 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lunciberg, Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow and
Pishioneri. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy,
. City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
Councilor Wylie was absent (excused).
I. Sanipac Update.
Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. Mark
Wall, newly appointed General Manager of Sanipac, has requested an opportunity to introduce
himself to the Council and to learn what issues related to solid waste handling are of interest to
the Council and citizens. He will make available Sanipac's annual report and be prepared to
discuss other issues.
Sanipac continues as the exclusive franchise hauler for disposal of solid waste in the City, a
relationship that has existed since.the mid-1960s. Although there remains continuing controversy
over the exclusivity of the franchise, some perceived benefits of this relationship have been a
rate advantage for residential customers, as well as a perception that exclusivity induces the
company to offer superior customer service.
Currently, the most significant issue for Springfield citizens with respect to Sanipac service is
the absence of a program for curbside collection of yard debris. As detailed in the Briefmg
Memorandum, this remains the largest single source of customer service calls concerning
Sanipac. The Council has considered this issue in the past and concluded that the alternatives
offered by Sanipac are not suitable in Springfield. Mr. Wall has continued to examine
alternatives and will be available to review those and get feedback from the Council.
Mr. Wall may also wish to discuss a second issue with the Council. Sanipac has concerns about a
newly developing business practice where third parties enter commercial and multi-family
residential containers, remove recyclable material and attempt to.compact the waste in the
container. This can mean apparent savings to the customer because it may make it possible for
them to use fewer or smaller containers. Since it does increase the density of the waste in the
container it skews the weight studies Sanipac relies on in setting rates and increases Sanipac's
disposal costs above the estimates relied on in rate setting. Sanipac is interested in seeking
franchise changes to eliminate this practice. No other jurisdiction in Lane County has acted on
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 2 .
this issue, although cities in other parts of the State have. Staff discusses the issues involved in
greater detail in the Briefmg Memorandum.
Mr. Goodwin: introduced Mr. Wall to the Mayor and Council.
Mr. Wall gave a brief background of his work history and time in Springfield and Eugene since.
1994. He said it was great to be a part of Sanipac. He referred to the annual report included in the
Council agenda packet. The relationship between the City and Sanipac had gone well and he had
good access to Mr. Goodwin. Comments from residents in Springfield were mostly regarding the
yard debris issue. Staff at Sanipac tried to get back to all citizens that called.
Mr. Wall discussed theyarddebris issue and said there were two options for implementing a
yard debris program: a universal program or a subscription program. He discussed the costs for
each option. Implementing a yard debris program would also address the requirements from the
Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and would decrease the amount of waste deposited
in the Short Mountain landfill. He referred to other cities that had implemented a subscription:
yard debris service and how that was working for them. To be cost effective, about a thirty
percent participation rate was needed. There was the issue of people subscribing only when they
needed it and cancelling and rejoining as needed. A cancellation fee for those situations could be
implemented to discourage that. A survey was sent out with the Sanipac bills and about 300
people responded. There was a lot of interest from the citizens for a yard debris program in the
survey, but the survey didn't include the costs to the citizens.
Mr. Wall referred to the Annual Report included in the agenda packet. Recycling had increased
in the Springfield area, mostly due to the commingled recycling program. By using the
commingling recycle bins, efficiencies had been found in the overall program.
Councilor Pishioneri asked Mr, Wall what the $5+ subscription cost covered.
Mr. Wall explained the different costs covered, such as a new truck and driver and the
containers. They would be able to use some of the existing resources from the Eugene program,
but would need one additional truck and driver. He noted that a universal program would be less
of a risk for Sanipac.
Councilor Ballew said if she took the yard debris out of her trash can, she would generate less
trash.
Mr; Wall said most people did reduce their garbage can size when they went to a yard debris
pick-up. He explained,further.
Councilor Ballew asked about the reduction in the tipping fee due to less garbage.
Mr. Goodwin explained the tipping fee and other fees.
Mr. Wall said migration covered most of the costs.
Mr. Goodwin said there continued to be a cost in picking up the trash, but in time there should be
I
a reduction in costs. .
City of Springfield
Council Wark Session Minutes
October 22, 2007 .
Page 3
Mayor Leiken asked if the lOS emails/calls all related to yard debris.
. Mr. Wall said that was the number of calls to the City on alLissues. He said a survey was
included in the bills that went out to the customers regarding a yard debris program, and of those
surveys sent out, about 300 were returned.
Mayor Leiken said from a policy standpoint, he was wondering if that was enough to move to a..
yard debris program.
Councilor Ralston said he felt the commingling program was great. He didn't have yard debris, .
so was not interested in a curb side yard debris program. He felt, however, thatthose that had a
need should have the opportunity to sign up for that service. He was not supportive of a universal
program.
. Mr. Wall said Bend and Grants Pass both had subscription plans. Thirty percent was a reasonable
participation rate.
Mayor Leiken said this could start as a subscription program and be re-evaluated regularly.
Mr. Wall said a subscription program did put a risk on Sanipac because of the up-front costs. It
could start off really well, but could then decline.
Councilor Lundberg said she had done a lot of surveys and was comfortable with the results
Sanipac received. She agreed that perhaps starting out with a subscription service would be
.. appropriate. People did want the service as more environmental issues came forward. It could
mean no increase on the individual if they were able to reduce their garbage can size and cost.
She discussed the Spring Clean-up that the City provided each year that did include yard debris.
. She would be supportive of a subscription service.
Councilor Woodrow said it would be interesting to see how many residents had each size of
garbage can. He was concerned that with a universal program, those residents that were low
income or on a fixed income could not afford the extra amount. He would prefer to see a
subscription program,
Mr. Wall said he could get the information on can sizes. Most customers did have a 60 gallon
. can. He discussed multi-family dwellings and mobile home parks and said certain areas would be
exempted from a universal yard debris program.
Council consensus was for Sanipac to go forward with a subscription program, but not a
universal program for yard debris.
Councilor Pishioneri said he could see the potential for Sanipac to capitalize on this as well.
Citizens would want to know that what they were paying for was fair.
Mr. Wall said Sanipac worked to keep their pricing fair and provided the City with their annual
report each year.
City of Springfield
. Council Work Session Minutes
. October 22, 2007
Page 4
Mr. Wall discussed the issue of dumpster diving. He explained the service being contracted by a
private business. The cost to the customer for this service is generally about twice what Sanipac .
. would charge for the same level of service. The business owner claimed they were recycling, but
the individuals could do their own recycling with the commingling program. For Sanipac, this
amounted to about $4000 a month that was basically being stolen from Sanipac. That cost was
spread across all Sanipac customers, and that was wrong in his opinion. He saidSanipac had a
full time person that nowwent around to multi-home facilities to monitor their trash receptacles
to make sure they had the right level of service. The gentleman that was running the dumpster
diving business came from California, where the city he was from banned his type of business.
Councilor Ralston said he was opposed to dumpster diving for many reasons. The commingling
program allowed for easy recycling. .
Mr. Wall said the one issue with an ordinance banning dumpster diving was that it could affect
police searches.
Discussion was held between Council, Mr. Leahy and Chief Smith about search and seizure and
how an ordinance banning dumpster diving might affect that.
Councilor Lundberg said there was agreement among Council members to have staff look into
what the City could do to prevent dumpster diving.
Councilor Pishioneri agreed that more information was needed, not necessarily to rectify the
problem.
Mr. Leahy said he would study this further and work with Chief Smith regarding impacts on
Police investigations.
Councilor Ralston asked if Mr. Wall would like an ordinance banning dumpster diving.
Mr. Wall said that would be his preference.
2. Fire & Life Safety Financial Challenges.
Fire and Life Safety Chief Dennis Murphy presented this item. The Department of Fire &
Life Safety is facing several financial challenges including Medicare ambulance
reimbursement reductions, fire/rescue vehicle and facilities replacement. Staff recommends
implementing an interim ambulance rate increase to begin addressing the Medicare issue and
a multi-step process to address fire/rescue vehicles and facilities replacement.
In 2002, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated a series of
ambulance reimbursement reductions that have resulted in a loss of income on all Medicare
and Medicaid patients transported by ambulance. A May 2007 report of the federal General
Accountability Office (GAO) confIrmed that the new reimbursement level is an average of
6% below the actual cost of providing services. The impact of the reduction on ambulance
revenues is being felt locally in Eugene and Springfield, statewide, and around the nation
(Attachment A). The financial impact iIi Springfield has resulted in depletion of the
ambulance fund reserves and recommendation for an interim rate increase (Attachment B).
City of Springfield.
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 5
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The interim rate increase will provide limited relief while a long term strategy is being
. developed.
Facilities maintenance and construction and vehicle replacement issues have become an
increasing problem for Fire & Life Safety. A General Obligation Bond paid for construction
of a new Gateway Fire Station and several new fire vehicles in 1996. However, the ongoing
funding for facilities maintenance and vehicle replacement since then provides for less than
10% of the actual need. In addition, no funding is available for construction of new facilities.
A consultant's report in January 2000 identified maintenance, safety, and functional space
needs for existing fire stations, however no funding was identified for these needs until
- October 2007 when the Council approved replacement of the Thurston Fire Station. A
. Standards of Cover report in April 2007 identified the need to relocate two other fire stations
. to accommodate development in Glenwood, downtown and Jasper/Natron. An October 2005
functional and space study of the Justice Center identified the needs for Fire & Life Safety
administrative offices to be co-located. However, the Justice Center project was scaled down
for the purposes of a bond election and fire offices eliminated. .
While the city routinely sets aside money for vehicle replacement, the amount budgeted for
this purpose is inadequate to fund replacements. In the last replacement cycle, one of the fire
engines was leased due to lack of funds forpurchase.
These heeds were identified as part of the FY 08 budget entitled Immediate, Intermediate,
Long Term budget needs (AttachmentC).Given the expense for fire facilities and vehicles a
multi-step resolution is recommended (Attachment D).
Chief Murphy said the Council had directed F&LS years ago to charge an amount to cover
costs for the ambulance service, and not to subsidize the service. Until Medicare cut their.
payment for ambulance service, the ambulance service was able to cover costs and set aside
funds for new equipment. The issue with Medicare brought about unforeseen losses on sixty-
seven percent of our clients. Only tiny communities with volunteer-only firefighters have
seen an increase in their reimbursement. He noted that a statewide FireMed sponsored
symposium would be held Wednesday, October 24 to determine the amount of money
actually being lost. He noted the details in the report included in th.e Council Briefing Memo
and attached documents. He discussed the recommendation from staff for the increase in
ambulance fees.
Chief Murphy noted the advantage of the Fire Med program as a means for those in
Springfield to avoid the higher cost of the ambulance fee. The shortage could be solved short
term now with this increase in ambulance fees, but staff wanted to keep FireMed at the
. current rate at this time, so the solution to the increases (FireMed) would not be raised.
FireMed was an effective and positive program that had been implemented by seventy-two
agencies in Oregon, and copied in other states. He discussed other ways to address this issue
including working with legislators to help find a solution. He did not recommend that we use
City of Springfield General Fund money to assist in this, nor charging only County residents
... a large increase. County residents had carried their weight by paying a higher rate for
- mileage. He wanted Medicare reform and rates to help, not use of the General Fund.
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City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007 .
. Page 6
Mayor Leiken asked if this issue was on the United Front agenda.
Mr. Towery said it had been discussed, but the United Front had historically focused on
requesting funds, and didn't normally lobby for policy. Staff had worked with the Chiefs and
the Intergovernmental Relations Officers about what type of lobbymg effort could take place.
There were Senate ad House bills out there on this issue, and a couple of key members of the
delegation had not signed on yet. Staff was looking to craft a lobbying effort. Neither
Senators Smith or Wyden or Congressman DeFazio had signed on.
Mayor Leiken said health care was one of Senator Wyden's issues and he felt this would be
something he would be supportive of.
Chief Murphy said there was time for them to sign on. The representatives had been
responsive to his calls and requests in the past.
Mayor Leiken said we needed to be proactive and push things along. He asked if we could
. hear from other cities around the state to see what they were doing. He also suggested
channeling the League of Oregon Cities (LOC), the National League of Cities (NLC) and the
U.S. Conference of Mayors. He appreciated knowing which legislators had not yet signed on.
Chief Murphy said the legislators had all been responsive in the past. The changes in
Medicare were from overcorrecting what the government saw as a profit making venture. The
additional costs would come at the expense to local taxpayers, unless they intervened.
Mayor Leiken said staff needed to show that this program (FireMed) reinvested in technology
that saved lives.
Councilor Ralston said he was supportive ofPire Med. He asked what a typical insurance
policy would pay.
Chief Murphy said there were a lot of factors that determined how much insurance would.
pay, but there was normally a balance due by the patient of several hundred dollars.
Councilor Ralston asked if the insurance companies still had to pay if a person had FireMed.
Chief Murphy said the insurance companies still had to pay, but the citizen didn't have to pay
any balance. Information would be going out to all citizens in Springfield and Eugene about
this issue and the opportunity to join FireMed. Keeping FireMed in a range for lower income
people that didn't qualify for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) or Medicare was critical.
Councilor Pishioneri said increasing the ambulance rate would mean that insurance
companies would be picking up the additional cost. This increase would, in a sense, get
passed on to insurance companies and could directly affect insurance rates.
. Chief Murphy said that was correct. F&LS was a public agency, but the ambulance service
was health care. They were doing what the health care facilities were doing, raising rates to
cover costs. Unfortunately, that cost .gotpassed on to insurance companies and the citizens.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Mmutes
October 22, 2007
Page 7
The ambulance se~ice was only a small part of that cost, but a cost nonetheless. It was not a
great system. The use.ofSpringfield General Funds was the last resort.
Councilor Ballew asked for clarification on the figure of 1~.13% on the chart on page. 3 of3.
Chief Murphy said he would need to come back to that.
Councilor Ballew asked if there were ambulance charges that were not paid, such .as by
people without insurance or funds.
Chief Murphy said a chart showed what was written off. Anything less than one hundred
percent payment was uncollectable. Patients covered by Medicare could not be charged for
the balance due.
Councilor Ballew asked what the percentage was of people that had no insurance.
Mr. Towery said it was less than five percent.
Chief Murphy referred to the items noted in Attachment D. Those items would be addressed
in a routine budget document after June 30, 200S. He discussed the contemporary issues the
Council had taken action on, such as the funding for the new construction of Fire Station #16.
Other issues would be coming up with the movement or reconstruction of the other fire
stations. Staff would cpntinue to look at annexation agreements as a potential source of
funding for fire stations for the future. Annexations and growth would require a couple of fire
stations to be moved. The City needed to start capturing funds now to pay for those costs in
the future. They didn't want to increase the cost for development to a level that would make it
undesirable, but didn't feel the existing taxpayers would want to pay that expense. They
wouldn't need to build new fire stations, but just relocate existing stations to service new
areas that would be annexed. The blue ribbon committee was trying to think of innovative
ways to generate revenue to address this issue. He referred to attachment E outlining a
process for F&LS to follow to purchase vehicles. The fleet was aging without adequate
replacement funds. There had not been enough money put into fund 713 over the last few
years to purchase additional fire equipment. In 1996, a bond measure was used to help fund
equipment purchases. It was time now to determine what to do. Staff would give the Council
multiple alternatives. .
. Mayor Leiken asked if the fire facilities and vehicles would come through the Budget
process.
Chief Murphy said it would. Finance Director Bob Duey would call out any significant .
impact during the midyear Budget meeting. .
Mayor Leiken said he felt that all citizens should be obligated to pay the cost of relocating
fire stations. The fire stations belonged to ev~ryone. Annexation fees were adding up and .
beginning to tip the scale on costs for developers. He didn't want to see the City adding more
charges for development. Relocation costs should be shared by everyone. This was more of
an issue for Bob Duey to consider. He didn't know the answer, maybe specialized
improvement districts. He would like staff to look at as many other options as possible.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 8
Chief Murphy said staff would provide as much information as possible to Council and leave
it up to Council to make the decision. .
Mayor Leiken said he appreciated that F&LS staff were looking at where the community was
going and growing. .
Councilor Ballew said when staff came back and identified needs, she would also like to have.
them identify a Plan B, if nothing could be done.
Chief Murphy said Council would receive all the options.
Councilor Ralston said he agreed with the Mayor and Councilor Ballew. There were two
. categories of need. Development moving into new areas that required new facilities should
partly cover those costs. There was still the responsibility of the City for certain services. The
reason the City hadn't put money into the vehicle replacement fund was because the City
didn't have the money. The community needed to know the issues and he would consider
bonds as an alternative to fund certain things.
Chief Murphy referred back to Councilor Ballew's question about the 19.13% listed on the
chart on page 3 of 3. He said on page 2 of 3, the figures showed the amount that would
actually be received from the rate increase and itwas only 19.13%. The figure on page 3 of3
should read 100%. He discussed the benefit of FireMed and noted that FireMed was
submitted for an Innovations in Government Award from Harvard University. Ifawarded,
that would be a $100,000 prize to put back into the redevelopment of the next great idea.
Improvements had been made regarding the FireMed program over the last few years.
Mayor Leiken said one advantage F&LS had over other departments, was their image in the
community as the department that saved the day. F&LS could ask the community for funds
when other departments could not.
Chief Murphy said staff would bring back options for Council consideration.
3. Residential Lands Study Progress Report.
Planning Supervisor Mark Metzger and Planner David Reesor presented the staff report on this
item. Assumptions about the city's rate of growth will affect the fmal estimate of how much land
is needed for future residential development. Three rates of growth are analyzed in the
memorandum from ECONorthwest: 1.3%, 1.7%, and 2.1%. The resulting scenarios identify a
need for between 740 and 1,655 acres of residentially designated land to meet Springfield's
.. future needs. Each percentage rate can be supported from historic data or from past action of the
Council (adoption of the 2004 Coordinated Population Allocation). At issue is the rate of growth..
that will be assumed in the Residential Lands. Study.
Robert Parker of ECONorthwest, the consulting firm for the Study, will present the initial
fmdings of the housing needs analysis that his firm has prepared, The findings described in the
housing needs analysis reflect the completion of a land supply analysis that shows that the city
has about 530 acres of vacant, redevelopable and underutilized land for future development. The
. City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 9
'l.
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. assumptions and definitions used to define land that is vacant, redevelopable and underutilized
were approved by Council in its June 6, 2006 work session.
Attachment I discusses the topics listed below. Staff and Mr. Parker willbe prepared to discuss
a~d answer questions about these issues. .
· Population scenarios
· Current inventory
· Housing need
· Comparison of current inventory with future housing need
· Land use efficiency measures
Next Steps: Staff is reviewing the ECONorthwest findings with the Planning Commission on
November 6. A final draft of the Residential Lands Study Report will be presented to Council
early next year, in time to coordinate with the Commercial Industrial Buildable Lands (CffiL)
project. The fmdings of the Residential Lands Study will be combined with those ofthe CffiL to
allow staff to more accurately assess Springfield's future land needs of all types and to plan
accordingly for any necessary UGB amendments.
Mr. Reesor distributed hard copies of the power point presentation.
Mr. Metzger referred to the power point presentatio~ by Mr. Reesor and introduced Bob Parker
. from ECONorthwest.
Mr. Parker said they had worked on this project for about a year. This process was very
complicated as noted on the chart in the power point presentation. He discussed HB3337 and
how that affected Springfield and their boundaries. He referred to the State requirements that
related to buildable lands. The population forecasts were the foundation for these reports and
Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) would continue to be involved in that aspect of this
process. He discussed the different growth scenarios. The initial issue was how much growth the
City wanted or could accommodate. He discussed development trends, which were evaluated in .
this process. Housing mix and density was another faCtor looked at by the State. He explained
the figures in the charts and how they related to densities. Other charts in the power point
presentation showed increase rate of sales prices, comparison of rental and sales increases, and
comparison of housing value, rent and income. Mr. Parker discussed each of the charts. He noted
that rental rates increased based on income rates.
Mr. Reesor went over the buildable land supply information. He discussed how the information
was compiled. He noted that net meant they had taken out the constraints on the properties. He
referred to a map showing Springfield's residential buildable lands and said that he and Mr.
Metzger had been keeping the map updated throughout the year.
Mr. Metzger said there was a lot of residential potential in Jasper Natron. He noted some
property shown in the Thurston hills that could be very difficult to build upon due to slopes.
They needed to have a finding that the land was unserviceable. When staff asked Springfield
Utility Board (SUB) and Public Works if that was the case, they would not say it was
unserviceable, but just that it would cost a lot of money to provide service. Staff was following
state law, but there were some flaws. '
City of Springfield .
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 10
" :. ",. .., .
Mr. Parker said that would be a significant issue in the analysis. Once the buildable lands
inventory was complete, they would need to turn that into residential capacity. He noted the
many issues involved in calculating properties that were developable. He discussed the bottom
line and how they came to their conclusions, which led to the three growth scenarios. He
discussed issues that would caution him against using the higher growth rate. He referred to a
chart that showed the needed residential acres. He gave the figures for needed residential acres
for the three growth scenarios: 1) low growth = 1202; 2) medium growth = 1633.4; and 3) high.
growth = 2116 .1. The chart with the comparison of capacity and need showed the amount of
. acres needed for addition to the urban growth boundary (UGB}.,Springfield could justify
increasing the UGB under all three scenarios. The housing need was for all types and all income
levels. The low-density residential (LDR) land base had limitations, such as sloping. The City
. .. would need to seek a variety of sites for LDR housing.
Mr. Parker reviewed the next steps: 1) Coordinate population forecast; 2) Verify land inventory;
3) Revise analysis; 4) Assess "land efficiency measures" (including impact of measures in place
. and potential new measures); 5) Finalize land need by housing type and income range; and 6)
Proceed to alternatives analysis. Upon completion of this analysis, the City would need to look at
expanding its UGB.
Mr. Metzger said they had talked about the three levels of growth. Each rate could be justified
based on sound methodology. The method of coordination was very important. The MWMC had
based their growth on a 1.8% average annua] growth. He explained why staff had also presented.
2.1 %. He explained why the different scenarios were given. The numbers needed to fit into other .
planning efforts. There were ramifications for choosing a number too high or too low.
. Mr. Parker said whatever number they picked would be wrong, and that was why there was a
need to monitor. LCOG would look at the forecasts about every five years.
Councilor Ralston referred to the inconsistency regarding numbers on some of the charts for
single family dwellings. He asked ifLDR comprised 91 % of the supply. It looked like we had
too much LDR zoned land for the balance of what had happened historically.
Mr. Parker explained the findings. He said on page 6 in the power point presentation, there was a
table that showed there was a deficit of land in every designation. The State would scrutinize this
carefully.
Mr. Metzger noted that the number of units per acre for each density came from the Metro Plan.
. Councilor Ralston said this was very thorough. He said that along with residential there would be
infrastructure and parks. Before considering expanding the UGB, they needed to look at the
industrial and commercial lands inventory. He asked if staff knew what percentage was
residential compared with commercial and industrial.
Mr. Metzger said the next step was to take these preliminary findings, and tie them into the
commercial and industrial lands study that Council already approved. They would then look at
the whole picture for one expansion.
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City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 11
Mr. Parker. said this didn't include land needed for parks, schools, etc. The State allowed you to
make a 25% gross to net conversion as a safe harbor. They would look at the ratio of acres per
thousand for those uses.
Councilor Woodrow asked if the number often houses per acre for LDR was mandated by the
State or the Metro Plan.
Mr. Metzger said the Metro Plan defined LDR as accommodating up to ten dwelling units per
acre. In reality, it was difficult to get that many homes on one acre. .
Mr. Parker said in this analysis, they calculated 4.5 units per acre. The City had minimum
density standards and the State looked favorably on those standards.
Mayor Leiken said this was outstanding work and he thanked ECONorthwest and City staff for
doing what Council had asked them to do. They did need to take into account the commercial
and industrial before moving forward. This was a great tool. HB3337 was not to punish other
communities, but to allow Springfield to take our future into our own hands. This provided
Council with information on a piece of this plan. When representatives from the Oregon
Business Magazine visited Springfield and were made aware that 10,000 new jobs would be
comipg into the Gateway area in the next ten years, they asked where they would live. He
discussed the new hospital and asked ifthere was a legal issue regarding number of miles certain.
doctors could live from a hospital.
Mr. Leahy said that cquld be a regulation from the hospital.
Mayor Leiken said this was very good work and would allow the City to develop a strategy.
They needed to be patient and do it right. The City grew about 2.1 % last year.
Councilor Lundberg said she agreed that the commercial and industrial analysis was an
important piece. She said the population type would determine the type of housing needed. She
too had heard that certain people at the hospital had to live within 5 or 10 minutes from the
hospital. Council would also need to consider what they wanted in the community as far as
population and housing. Springfield had a high end growth for a number of years. She also noted
that the City had a policy of more home ownership than rentals. Council needed to determine
what they wanted in terms of home ownership and high end housing.
Mr. Metzger said the process allowed for some aspirational elements built into the projections. ....
The advisory committee was good with representation from homebuilders, NEDCO and the
Planning Commission. They wanted to keep projections within rational tolerance so the City
would not be before Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) and losing. He noted that
ECONorthwest had a good record for standing before appellate bodies and winning because they
had done the right work with good sound methodology.
Councilor Ballew said she liked the 1.7% growth rate because it represented the most current
. history. She asked if there were some spikes and dips in population growth since 1970.
Mr. Metzger said there were spikes and dips over the years. He explained. He discussed the
issues with growing beyond the current UGB due to constraints such as steep slopes and flood
City of Springfield. .
. Council Work Session Mmutes .
.. October 22, 2007
Page 12
plains. Those issues could cause Springfield's growth rate to be somewhat slower. They did need
to be realistic and consider the type of growth they wanted.
Mr. Parker said the projection had to be coordinated with other jurisdictions in the area. A lot of
the population growth would come from migration and who would be moving over. Part of it
related back to the City's economic development strategy. The City's policy was for more home
ownership and fairly aggressive economic development. That would be important to articulate as
they went through this process.
Mayor Leiken said all communities in Lane County were evaluating population growth.
Councilor Lundberg said she appreciated that they would have LCOG evaluate this in five year
segments and make adjustments as necessary.
Councilor Ralston said he was on the Housing Policy Board (HPB). When it came to policy
making and strategies, there needed to be a focus on low-income and affordable housing. He felt
that would be a powerful statement for Eugene to hear.
Mayor Leiken said this was another tool for Council and he appreciated the good work.
Mr. Towerysaid staff would need more guidance on the methodology to move forward. If ther~
was additional information Council needed, he asked that they let staff know.
Mayor Leiken said he liked having as much coordination with MWMC as possible. They had
already been through the process with the courts, etc. That coordination made sense so services
were provided in a timely manner. .
Councilor Pishioneri suggested staff also work with the School District on projections: The
School District tracked trends in ages and growth.
Mr. Metzger said he was working with Steve Barrett, Deputy Superintendent from the School
District, on locating properties for this study. He asked if Council agr~ed to proceed based on a
1.7% growth rate. Yes.
Councilor Ballew said she would like to include a full range of housing from low-mcome to
higher end housing.
Mayor Leiken asked for information regarding whether or not the City could move towards a
thirty year supply when looking at the UGB, or if we needed to hold to the State minimum of.
twenty years.
Mr. Parker said the City could do that. It would be a separate process which would require the
. establishment of urban reserve areas. The City could provide between ten and thirty years
additional. He noted some of the benefits of doing that related to the priority scheme. It was a
different process and required a broader look. The City of Redmond established a 5000 acre
urban reserve area last year and a number of policies to implement that which was sound
planning.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
October 22, 2007
Page 13
Councilor Lundberg said consideration needed to be taken of the human factor when looking at
density. Higher density was not necessarily wanted in all cases. It could create traffic and other
Issues.
Mr. Parker said the analysis identified housing needs for all types and the City would need to
plan for that spectrum of housing. He noted that the City was planning, but the City did not build
housing. The best they could do was to adopt policies that provided land and removed barriers to
allow building. The market played a large role in this and those things had been considered.
There were good and bad examples of what density could and couldn't be. The State didn't have
density standards. It would all be based on this needs assessment.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:48 pm.
Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa
Sidney W. Leiken
. Mayor
Attest:
Amy Sowa
City Recorder