HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/11/2016 Work Session City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY APRIL 11, 2016
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street,
Springfield, Oregon, on Monday April 11, 2016 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Moore, Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present
were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery,Assistant City Attorney
Kristina Kraaz, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
Councilors VanGordon and Wylie were absent(excused).
Present from the Springfield Museum were Board members Megan Lallier-Barron(Vice President),
Jeff Thompson (Treasurer), Carol Houde(Secretary),Kara Ellsworth,Jennifer Thompson, and
Kathryn Rifenburg and Board Director Ben Johnson.
Museum Board President Michael Herron and Board Member Kara Ellsworth were absent.
1. Annual Joint Work Session with Springfield Museum Board and Director.
Benjamin Johnson,the Museum Director, presented the annual report to Council which includes an
overview of their performance under the terms of the contract. The report further details the strides
that have been made to put the Museum back on solid financial footing. The final pages of the report
include three funding options proposed by the Museum Board for Council consideration; a"preferred"
scenario($65,000), a"moderate" scenario, ($55,000), and a"status quo" scenario($45,000)for the
2016/2017 management services contract.
The Management Agreement addresses compensation for Museum Board management services. The
contract will renew on July 1, 2016 for the 2016/2017 contract year. The base fee has been $45,000
since 2008 with some one-time allocations for specific projects in 2008 and 2010. The fee is paid from
the City's Room Tax Fund as a tourism project.
Mr. Johnson said the Board had increased in size by a number of people. Some other strides forward
for the Museum include increased attendance over the past year by at least 20% and a balanced budget
for the first time in a number of years. The travelling exhibit"Smoke Jumpers"was contracted to be
on display at the High Desert Museum in Bend for most of the coming year. The volunteer numbers
have increased at the Museum and they now have eight regular volunteers. They have eight board
members and they hope to have up to 13 by next year. They have started an inventory and assessment
on everything in the Museum,which will help to assess the condition of the Museum's collection.
They have collected hundreds of digital photos of each item. They have tried to get people that used to
come to the Museum to come back, and have also reached out to those who have not come to the
Museum in the past.
Mr.Johnson said the last three or four years were difficult for the Museum financially. Prior to that,
they had a good reserve. This year,they won't make money, but are not losing money. The number
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one thing when considering activities is to determine if they can afford it. One of the things he
challenged the Board was to create a master idea of what the Museum should be in the next five years.
They have done a good job over the last year or so in getting the Museum back to a sustainable
organization. One of the things they need is to create a plan to reach their vision.
Ms. Lallier-Barron said within the last couple of years,the structure of the Board has changed
dramatically. The members of the current Board are committed to seeing the Museum as successful.
Through their partnership with Mr. Johnson,the y can make it a viable community gathering place.
Mr. Thompson said he is excited with the new possibilities with the new board. They are focusing on
what is right for the Museum and how to move forward responsibly. Ms. Ellsworth jumped right in
and started working on the fundraising committee. As they being to move forward,they are looking at
what they want to be and how they can support the Museum.
Ms. Houde said she had years of experience with the Museum, and feels this is a great board. Ms.
Lallier-Barron had a background with museums and non-profits, and Kathryn Rifenburg had a
background with non-profits and also did grant writing. Kara is fundraising. Ms. Thompson is working
with Mr. Johnson on an Exhibit for October. Everyone is working and communicating together.
Mr.Johnson said it is great to have a group that is committed and engaged in what they are doing. He
didn't have any doubts that this could continue to be an anchor in downtown.
Councilor Moore asked about a deficit amount of$90,000.
Mr. Johnson said it was not debt. When he arrived he looked over the bank account and where the
money was going. There weren't a lot of decisions made to determine if the Museum could afford
certain projects. The intentions were good, but perhaps lacked follow-up. Since January,they have
only spent money they could raise. There were questionable decisions.
Councilor Pishioneri said because this is public money, he would like to call for a forensic audit to
determine if the money was spent appropriately.
Mayor Lundberg said she recalls asking for a budget in the past and never receiving it from them.
Councilor Pishioneri said he pledged fiduciary responsibility to the citizens. If there is a potential that
funds were misused,the Council needs to know and the public needs to know about the audit. There
are expenses and revenue that he has questions about, including miscellaneous revenue of$5,000.
Mr. Johnson referred to another page that should have been included in the packet that had a notation
about those funds.
Councilor Pishioneri asked about the annual cost of software.
Mr.Johnson said they use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe and Design to reduce design costs at a cost of
$50/month online subscription fee. He noted the missing document from the agenda packet that should
have included a note about the miscellaneous income. He said $4500 of that line item was for the sale
of the Smoke Jumpers Exhibit, $890 was the overpayment from the government for taxes, and a
couple of small donations.
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Councilor Pishioneri said the $45,000 provided by the City will not cover the Museum Director's
salary.
Mr. Johnson said that was correct. They begin each fiscal year about$5200.00 in the hole. They will
have raised about$20,000 by the end of the fiscal year. He spoke regarding other revenue coming in.
Mr. Grimaldi spoke regarding an audit. He said they will have accounting staff do an initial look and
provide feedback on what they believe could be found and costs for that type of audit.
Councilor Woodrow said they would then have a clean slate. It also lets future staff know what has
been done regarding finances.
Mr. Grimaldi said it is easy to explain why they went into the hole. It is more difficult to determine if
it was from inappropriate spending.
Councilor Pishioneri said that is what a forensic audit would show.
Mayor Lundberg asked if they are using the City's volunteer coordinator to get volunteers. She
suggested they use them.
Mr. Johnson said the number of volunteers wasn't the issue, but he wanted to make sure they had
things to do when they volunteered. He has several other people interested and has also used the
Experience Works Program, a federal program that gets people who are trying to get back into the
workforce some job training experience.
Mayor Lundberg said she emailed Kari Westlund,Executive Director of Travel Lane County to ask
her about opportunities. They have a Market Your Business Session scheduled for this Thursday
morning. It is free to members so they will contact Mr. Johnson and invite him to attend. Travel Lane
County is a great resource for marketing a facility.
Mayor Lundberg said she wants to get the collection inventoried, assessed and accessible. She also
wants the Museum as a visitor destination. She referred to the fact that the interpretative center is only
up through 1930 and hopes to get that more current. The space in the Museum building is broken up
badly. To have a viable Museum, it would be worth the City looking at the space to make some
changes. They could possibly apply for CDBG or other grant funding.
Mr. Grimaldi said it is easier to come up with funds for that type of one-time expense rather than
ongoing expenses.
Discussion was held about how the space is used and possible improvements.
Mayor Lundberg said the Museum used to have a nice store that did help provide funds, and that could
be another opportunity to make money. She asked if Council was supportive of looking at making that
space more workable.
Council agreed.
Mayor Lundberg said the Museum would be the perfect place to have a timber industry event in
cooperation with the School District or as a Team Springfield effort. We are now teaching our students
woodworking to build cross laminated timber(CLT)and it would be good for those students to see the
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history. She recalled other events the Museum held such as a wine tasting event, garden tour and other
events.People miss those events. She suggested looking through the budget and looking for the easy
things to do, such as the store. The contract still says the Museum will do 8 exhibits a year, but he is
proposing 6 exhibits per year. The contract also states they are open 240 days open.
Mr. Johnson said they are now open 5 days a week. They now have a good group of volunteers who
are assisting. The 240 days per year is not an issue. The only concern about doing 8 exhibits per year
is the time to set them up and take them down, and also the cost. It is easier to get sponsors for a
longer exhibition time.For the short term while limited by staff and resources, he would prefer to do
fewer and then look at more per year in the future. Having more exhibits also takes time from keeping
up on the collection, preserving and protecting our history. Six would be a doable amount each year
with the existing staff and resources.
Mayor Lundberg asked the Council if having six per year was adequate since the contract lists eight.
Councilor Woodrow said she is comfortable with six exhibits and would like to revisit it in two years
to see if that number could be increased. She wondered if there was a small area that could be
switched out once a month with local collections that are loaned at no cost. These smaller exhibits
might increase the attraction for the bigger exhibits. She asked about how long it takes to set up and
take down an exhibit.
Mr. Johnson said larger exhibits generally take about 3-5 days to set up and take down.
Councilor Moore asked if there is a plan for the six exhibits for the coming year.
Mr. Johnson said the rest of this year is planned out. The next exhibit will be up in May through early
July and will be on law enforcement in Lane County. It will focus on Springfield Police Department
and the Lane County Sheriffs Office. In August and September,they will have an exhibit on
Willamalane's history. In October and November they will have an exhibit titled"Oregon's
Unexplained"which will highlight strange, spooky stories from across the Northwest. They have held
preliminary talks about 2017, and are working to raise money.
Councilor Moore said she would like to see the costs paid by the City for utilities, maintenance and
repairs included in the budget.
Mayor Lundberg said it was $25,182.00 annually for utilities, custodial services, alarm, staff liaison,
maintenance, and property insurance. She agreed that it should be listed in the budget. She referred to
the request for funding from the Museum and the best venue to discuss that request.
Mr. Grimaldi said he would recommend the request from the Museum go to the Budget Committee.
Councilor Ralston recalled having the discussion about number of exhibits last year, and thought 6
exhibits were adequate for the next couple of years.
Mr. Johnson said the last discussion was after the current contract was already signed. That contract
included 8 exhibits.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if exhibits were money makers.
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Mr. Johnson said he only does exhibits up to what he can raise. They could potentially make money.
There is an inverse relationship between the number of exhibits and the quality of the exhibit. The free
exhibits were great fillers,but the ones that draw people are higher quality. He does hope it becomes a
money maker. The more they do this,the more opportunities they will have. The High Desert Museum
reaches a large number of people and having the Springfield Museum logo on that exhibit is great.
Councilor Pishioneri said he liked Councilor Woodrow's idea of the smaller displays and asking local
people and businesses to loan their displays or collections. Some businesses have a small collection or
display in their lobby which they may want to share with the Museum.
Mr. Johnson said that is how the Willamalane exhibit came about. Willamalane is providing the bulk
of the funding for the Museum to put it together, and then it will be donated back to Willamalane.
Councilor Woodrow asked how they tracked attendance.
Mr. Johnson said the volunteers use tally marks from a check-in sheet. They ask people to include
their zip code or email address for contact information. Another volunteer keeps a list of how many
visitors per day and per week. This works well so far. If they double their numbers, they may look at
another system.
Councilor Ralston asked about the insurance paid by the City.
Mr. Johnson said the Museum is obligated by the agreement to carry a minimum $2M per occurrence,
and $3M accumulative certificate of insurance. The Museum also must carry non-profit directors and
officers insurances as well. When he took over last year,the Museum was over-covered so they were
able to reduce that amount.
Councilor Ralston said he had never heard of any deficit for the Museum until this year.
Mr. Grimaldi said the Museum did not go into deficit,but spent down their cash reserves.
Mr. Johnson said four or five years ago the reserve was over$85,000.
Mayor Lundberg said one of the primary things she would like to see is our history updated beyond
1930. Our children should learn that history and have an ongoing educational program. She wants to
make sure our collection is preserved and logged. She also would like to see the Museum become a
bigger piece to the downtown core. She feels six exhibits per year are fine and should be in the
contract.
Mr. Grimaldi said staff will make sure the Museum knows when outside agencies can come to the
Budget Committee.
Mr. Johnson said part of the contract is to preserve the interpretative center. If they want it updated to
current,that language may need to be amended.
Mayor Lundberg said that might be part of making the building more useful. She said she appreciated
the work they are doing.
2. Proposed Changes to Springfield Municipal Code 7.330 and 7.332.
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Kristina Kraal,Assistant City Attorney, presented the staff report on this item.
The City of Eugene administers and enforces the business license requirements for public passenger
vehicles for both Eugene and Springfield. Eugene recently updated their code and license regulations
to allow for transportation network companies(TNCs)to operate in the area. For those operators to be
able to conduct business in Springfield with the license issued by Eugene,the City Council needs to
co-adopt the code amendments. There is no cost to Springfield for Eugene to provide this service,nor
does Springfield receive any license revenue.
Adopting the proposed code amendment will have no financial impact to the City. From the operator
perspective, it is more cost effective to obtain one license and follow one set of standards in order to
operate in both cities.
The proposed code amendments Eugene adopts are limited and mostly included a change in
definitions,with the regulations for implementation set in their Administrative Rules. The City of
Eugene held a public comment period that ended March 28, and they will make their final decision the
end of April, allowing Springfield to provide comments if they choose.
If Springfield co-adopts the Eugene public passenger code,the rules would apply in Springfield as in
Eugene as they do now with taxis and other public passenger vehicles. Eugene would be able to
license the drivers and will continue to administer the program for both cities. If Springfield does not
co-adopt the Eugene code amendments, Eugene and Springfield will have separate codes, which
means Eugene would no longer be willing to enforce Springfield's separate codes. Springfield would
then need to create its own code and administer and enforce the code. Future amendments would need
to be written in the Code to allow Uber and Lyft to operate in Springfield.
Councilor Ralston asked what it would cost to enforce our own code.
Mr. Grimaldi said it is a very time consuming process and was discussed in length many years ago. It
involves processing licenses and inspections, and also provides enforcement.
Development and Public Works Director Anette Spickard said if they had one FTE assigned to this
program, it would cost about$100,000 no matter how many licenses were issued. The economy of
scale is not beneficial to Springfield. The Code already addresses background checks so that would not
have to be added.
Councilor Ralston said he didn't like the idea of adding one FTE, but he doesn't like having Eugene
lead the way. There have been issues about Uber so he would like to hear more about this.
Councilor Pishioneri said he isn't opposed to having an FTE, but would lean towards having Eugene
administer the program. He would like to know the background check process and criteria for
approval. Even tow truck drivers have to have extensive background checks and are finger printed. He
wants to make sure Uber drivers have a thorough background clearance that is appropriate for this
service.
Ms.Kraaz said they are not requiring fingerprints, but the drivers must bring in their driver's license
which is used to run the name of the person for the check. She said she can find out the level of the
background check.
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Councilor Pishioneri said he would like to see the criteria for approval for all public passenger vehicle
drivers. Different law enforcement agencies have different systems and the information may not be
getting shared appropriately. Some things may not show up at the city level, or vice versa with the
county.
Councilor Moore said it looks like the rules they are adding apply to commercial taxi drivers as well.
She asked if the background check being proposed for Uber and Lyft would be the same as the current
check. She spoke regarding liability insurance and said she was more comfortable with the $2M the
City is proposing. We currently share other services with Eugene, so this makes sense. Springfield is
open for business in Springfield and this could help encourage this business.
Councilor Ralston said a background check should include the condition of vehicle,where they have
insurance,the number of accidents they have had, etc.
Councilor Woodrow said they have vehicle inspections as part of the process. She spoke regarding
liability insurance that is required in Portland, which varies based on when the vehicle is in use. She
agrees that they need thorough background checks to have a degree of security. Going off of the
driver's license rather than fingerprinting is not as secure as she would like. She asked if it would
come back to the Springfield Council for approval if Eugene were to change their code.
Ms. Kraaz said the City of Eugene has their administrative regulations and code provisions.
Springfield doesn't do the same type of administrative regulations as Eugene. If Eugene changes the
administrative regulations, and Springfield changes our Municipal Code, we are delegating the
responsibility to change the rules to Eugene. They do not need to come back to Springfield to change
those rules,but would go through a public process in which the City of Springfield could respond.
Any code changes in Eugene would come back to Springfield for an opportunity to change ours to
match.
Councilor Ralston said he wants to make sure Uber or Lyft doesn't undercut current taxi drivers.
Mayor Lundberg said the City can't regulate the fees they charge.
Ms.Kraaz said Eugene did incorporate Oregon Taxi at the corporate level and individual taxi drivers
when proposing these code amendments, and have made changes per their response.
Mayor Lundberg said she read all of the public comments from the Eugene process. She uses Uber and
taxis and is always comfortable so she is fine with the rules. She will be watching for flexibility
because some taxi drivers are also Uber or Lyft drivers. She noted the issue with Uber and Lyft not
allowed at airports. There are advantages in using Uber or Lyft in some instances. She would like to
see the signage less excessive and asked if she could get some feedback on that issue. The insurance
seems costly and she feels Portland had it right with the reduced amount when not driving. She asked
if it would be the same for taxis.
Ms. Kraaz said it is a bit different. She explained.
Mayor Lundberg said she wants to make sure it doesn't dissuade businesses in Springfield. Lane
Transit District(LTD)had good input about disabled customers and other issues. She wasn't sure if
LTD was happy with how it was set up. She didn't want this set up to be so complicated that it cost
more money to run than it was worth.
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April 11,2016
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Ms.Kraaz asked if she wants staff to relay her concerns about the signage and insurance to Eugene,
and to simplify it to be more in line with Portland.
Councilor Woodrow agreed and said it needs to align with Portland.
Mayor Lundberg said she likes the idea of allowing more ride options and entrepreneurs.
Council consensus was to bring back the information for this during the first reading.
Councilor Pishioneri said some of the criteria for tow truck drivers included not having active cases,
stalking orders, felonies or sex offenses. He would like to know what the regional scope is being used
for the background checks.
Mayor Lundberg thanked Ms. Kraaz for getting the feedback from Eugene's public hearing so Council
could see the comments from LTD and taxi drivers.
Mr. Grimaldi said will try to get their feedback to Eugene before they adopt their code amendments.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:51 p.m.
Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa
(Z/zAte .
Christine L. Lundberg
Mayor
Attest:
6-41(2.tart67_,..
Amy Sow
City Recorder