HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/16/2016 Work Session a
City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY MAY 16, 2016
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street,
Springfield, Oregon, on Monday May 16, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Wylie,Moore, Ralston, and Woodrow. Also present
were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Mary Bridget
Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
Councilors VanGordon and Pishioneri were absent(excused)
1. Sanipac Rate Increase Request.
Anette Spickard, Development and Public Works Director, presented the staff report on this item.
Sanipac, the City's franchise hauler for solid waste, has requested an increase of 1.79 percent for
residential and commercial hauling rates. This request is due to an increase approved by Lane County
for the charges imposed for disposal of solid waste at the Short Mountain Landfill(tipping fee).
In March 2016 the Board of County Commissioners determined that the rate imposed on solid waste
haulers for disposal of waste at the Short Mountain landfill should be increased by $1.22 per ton to a
new total of$76.77 per ton, effective July 1, 2016. The County's new fee structure also includes an
automatic CPI increase to the tipping fee each year hereafter.
Under section 16.4.b of the City's franchise agreement with Sanipac, Sanipac is allowed to pass
through the cost of county tipping fee increases to Springfield customers.
The proposed increase represents an increase of$0.05 per month on the 21 and 35 gallon cart, $0.10
per month for a 65 gallon cart, $0.15 per month for a 95 gallon cart, and $0.40 per month for a 1-Yard
container.
Sanipac last increased its rates in November 2014 and is permitted to request increases annually but is
not asking for an increase this year beyond the cost of the new county tipping fee. Sanipac has
requested that the increase be effective July 1, 2016 to coincide with the effective date of the county's
fee.
Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on the increase at tonight's regular meeting.
Ms. Spickard described the increases for the different size carts.
Councilor Moore said she appreciated that they asked for only a small increase. She asked when they
would be discussing the move and closure of the transfer station.
Ms. Spickard said Lane County is going through a 20-year Master Plan which includes an evaluation
of moving the transfer station. The consultant's report was recently completed for the initial
(NC)
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evaluation. That report will go to the Lane County Board of Commissioners in June or July. The
discussion with the Commissioners will give staff direction on which parts of the consultant's
recommendation they would like to move forward. City staff has been attending stakeholder meetings
and receiving information, and saw the initial recommendation last month. Once staff has more
specific details, she will provide the information in a Communication Packet for the Council.
This will not affect the proposed rates.
2. Main Street/McVay Highway Transit Study Phase 2 Update.
Tom Boyatt, Community Development Manager, and Emma Newman, Transportation Planner,
presented the staff report on this item.
Phase 2 of the Main—McVay Transit Study seeks to identify a Locally Preferred Solution to
implement EmX bus rapid transit on Main Street and South 'A' St between the Lane Transit District
Springfield Station and the Thurston Station at Bob Straub Parkway; and Enhanced Bus treatments on
McVay Highway south through Glenwood to Lane Community College. The Project is a joint effort
between the City of Springfield and LTD to evaluate and select the most promising transit and
associated roadway improvements to address growing concerns about roadway safety, congestion, and
quality of life in the corridor.
In March staff provided Council with information about intensive efforts to reach out to Main Street
business and property owners to share the narrowed range of solutions proposed by the Governance
Team(GT). Since that time, staff has worked hard to associate every address along the Main Street/S.
A Street corridor with a business name and phone number. In April staff began contacting all the
businesses by phone to explain the project and offer to visit with each business and/or property owner.
As of early May, staff had identified 325 businesses along Main Street and S.A Street. Over 450
phone calls have been made, and contact was established with 253 businesses leading to over 35 sit
down meetings with owners or managers so far in the process. In several cases,multiple discussions
have occurred with the same business owner as they have had a chance to absorb and think about the
information and bring more detailed questions to the discussion. Staff is continuing to identify correct
business names and phone numbers for businesses not yet reached.
The week of May 2nd the Project partners began mailing letters to each identified business and
property owner on Main Street east of 21' St, and next week similar mail will go out to the Main
Street/South A Street business and property owners between 21st and Stn Streets. Each outreach letter
contains an invitation to meet with project staff, a summary of the study, a description of the narrowed
options being considered, cross section diagrams, and an aerial image of the address range of the
recipient that shows the approximate location of widening as proposed. The letter for the two-way
segment of Main Street also includes sketches of the concepts for that area.
The Council Briefing Memo included in the agenda packet provides information about project design
concepts forwarded by the Governance Team (GT) for public consideration and an initial summary of
input and feedback received to date. Staff expects to continue to schedule one-on-one meetings with
businesses and property owners once they receive the outreach letter inviting them to meet. These
meetings will continue throughout spring and will start focusing on more design solutions oriented
discussions throughout summer.
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Mr. Boyatt said this project is part of a larger ongoing effort in the metro area to determine which
corridor to implement EmX. LTD is studying Main/McVay and several corridors in Eugene. The
transit study for Main/McVay is grounded in the City's ongoing efforts to address citizen requests to
make Main Street safer, and to address our growing population, congestion and community changes.
The outreach has helped establish contacts with 100s of businesses and over 50 face-to-face meetings
have occurred to date. There are many other meetings being scheduled.
Mr. Boyatt said the City provided the consultant team with the City's standards for arterial roadways
with a minimum 7-foot sidewalk, 5-foot landscape strip and 12 foot travel lanes. In an effort to address
roadway safety and reduce speeds,they also provided standards for separated bike facility of 9 feet, a
center raised median at 8 feet in a roundabout corridor, or 12 feet in a signalized corridor.
Ms.Newman distributed a document showing safety figures for those concepts.
Mr. Boyatt said currently the two-way corridor of Main Street is generally 80 feet,wider in some
locations. Within that 80 feet are two sidewalks (between 5-7 feet), five foot bike lanes, four eleven-
foot travel lanes, and one 12-foot center turn lane. The design concepts include segments between
intersections that ranged from 92 feet to 126 feet wide. The concepts that will move forward by the
Governance Team (GT)for public input include two options that are 96 feet wide for EmX mixed in
with regular traffic and roundabouts at intersections, and 116 feet wide with EmX dedicated center
lanes and roundabouts at intersections. The Main Street/South A Street concepts included route
alignment and widening to 67 feet from 60 feet. The concept for the segment at 14th would include
widening Main Street as much as 17 feet. McVay Highway would have minimal widening for
enhancements.
Mayor Lundberg asked what the process would be if they wanted to change the concepts that were
approved by the Governance Team.
Mr. Boyatt said the Council would communicate their desire to the Springfield Governance Team
(GT)representatives (Mayor Lundberg and Councilor Woodrow), to bring it back to the GT for
review. The GT would then hear their input and review the concepts.
Councilor Wylie said there might be a benefit of continuity of design throughout the City to help
people become more familiar with the treatments.
Mr. Boyatt said that has been discussed. Each context is a little different and presents its own
challenges. The transit district has worked hard to address challenges as they go instead of having one
size fits all. Bus Rapid Transit in general has had as many iterations as it has projects. The Federal
Highway Administration (FHWA)has broadened how they think of bus rapid transit.
Councilor Wylie said she would like them to look at having continuity in our community.
Councilor Moore asked where the current bus stops were located in relation to the proposed stops.
Mr. Boyatt said he could get that information from LTD.
Mr. Boyatt said staff is about halfway through the outreach. Most people they have met with have
been located in the two-way portion of Main Street. Everyone appreciated the outreach, and people
have been respectful.A lot of people have expressed interest in safety improvements, but not a lot of
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interest in transit improvements. Overall,the majority feel that changes to the roadway will have a
negative impact on business or lower the value of their business. Many businesses in the corridor are
located on substandard lots that aren't deep enough for much on-site circulation. Staff believes this is
the result in part of development that was done prior to zoning, community growth and the widening
of Main Street in the early 1960's. Where the businesses are constrained, any change could have a
substantial impact on parking and the circulation of customers and services. He relayed some of the
stories about how they get trucks and customers into their businesses. Many of these businesses back
up to residential, so have no room to expand. As part of the planned next steps,there is a series of
design solutions meetings where project and city engineers can look at ideas to reduce impacts on a
site by site basis. At this point, there is very little, if any, support for raised medians, although left turn
pockets are acceptable at intersections with U-turn capability. Business owners feel that if customers
have to pass their destination to go back, it would deter customers. A median with freight traffic poses
issues, as well as site access.
Mr. Boyatt continued noting that most people feel the flashing beacons are working better as people
getting used to them.Feedback was received that accidents are due to people making bad decisions,
and safety improvements need to be weighed against economic interests. Most people do believe
safety is a concern. Reaction to roundabouts has been mixed. There has been a strong message about
avoiding impacts to the business corridors if roundabouts are designed. There is a lot of concern about
business viability during construction. People aren't choosing destinations that are impacted by
construction.
Mr. Boyatt said staff met twice with representatives from Springfield Utility Board (SUB)and have
heard concerns from them as well regarding undergrounding power distribution and the costs
associated. They are aware how street trees need to work in proximity with power lines. The water
main line is about 60 years old, and has met its useful life. It could have another 10-20 years left. SUB
knows they will have to replace that at some point and the cost will be high. Construction would
accelerate SUB's timeline to replace the water main. If raised medians are constructed,fire hydrants
would need to be on both sides of streets. They are currently only on one side of the street so that
would double their hydrants and laterals. Once a preliminary design is approved, staff from the City
and SUB will look at the impacts and how to work together.
Mr. Boyatt said staff will continue meeting with business and property owners and documented their
feedback, and will a broader community outreach. The GT meets on May 26. The current schedule,
which may change, includes going through the iterative design solutions process, running it by the
businesses to try to come up with something that would work for most everybody, review it with the
GT, and then come back to the Council.
Mayor Lundberg said she talked with Councilors Pishioneri and VanGordon this afternoon to get their
thoughts. Councilor VanGordon's was concerned with the routes on the list. He didn't want anything
between 96 and 106 feet. She attended a meeting this afternoon with Main Street businesses, and she
is thinking 82 or less would be the goal,to make the impact as minimal as possible. They can look at
landscape strips or other treatments to make the road narrower. The businesses don't have room
behind for parking. Both Councilor VanGordon and Pishioneri talked about the importance of business
success.
Mayor Lundberg said she wants safety for everyone, including bicyclists and pedestrians. She would
like to remove any hazards and get a speed reduction from ODOT. She heard that communication is
lacking so that has to get better. She knows staff is trying to reach everyone. They need to ensure in
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those communications that the City is not making any decisions until they are ready, and it is not
based on current timelines. She also asked that staff let the businesses know when LTD and the City
Council meet.
Mr. Boyatt said they were asking everyone to sign up for the email distribution list so they can be
notified.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like them to ask on the form the 'best way to contact you' because
not everyone has time to read their email every day. She would like to reconsider the enhanced transit
option. She noted that the signalized options were removed because they took 100 feet or more. The
GT was trying to keep it as narrow as possible. Roundabouts are very unpopular and affect ingress and
egress of businesses. She asked Council to let her know if they supported looking at signalized
options, and narrower options than the current proposals.
Councilor Ralston said he feels this is a waste of time. He had heard nothing but problems from
everything discussed tonight. He is opposed to raised medians in the middle. They are expensive to
build and maintain so he would not endorse those. He likes the no build and feels that 80 feet is
perfectly functional. Over the years, development happened as it happened. There is no way he will
support anything that takes additional land from anybody. He noted the issue with medians and
additional fire hydrants. People are supportive of safety improvements, but not transit improvements.
The majority of people use a car to get to work and other trips. He does not support anything that
slows down traffic. If they could add some more transit stops within the current width,he could
support that,but not anything else.
Councilor Woodrow said she is not supportive of raised medians because they create more problems
than it solves. She wouldn't mind having a couple of feet on either side to accommodate bicycles,but
no wider. Safety is her number one concern. She thinks there are ways to enhance safety for non
vehicle users that doesn't cause access problems for the businesses. They have been able to get to
'yes' with business owners on the crosswalk, so she feels they can do the same with this process.
Councilor Moore said she grew up in Portland and saw major growth. She appreciates that those with
businesses are concerned about the impacts. There are ways to solve the problems if we listen and
work together. She would love to see Main Street as a welcoming corridor as people come into our
City, and that people could feel they could pull off to visit the businesses. She feels lowering the
speed limits would help. She likes roundabouts and noted how traffic moves through so much more
easily. She realizes that is a difficult option due to the space involved. There are places roundabouts
could be realized. This is the beginning step and the City is open to listening. She feels business
owners want Main Street to be more inviting. She often has to turn around on Main Street to get to a
business because she doesn't see it in time, and she believes customers learn to adjust and will find
businesses even if they have to turn back. She would like this project to be a solution to the problems
on Main Street and deal with safety and access.
Councilor Wylie said Councilor Woodrow has been doing a lot of work to improve safety on Main
Street. The three goals she sees for Main Street are: improving transit, improving safety; and making
sure the businesses stay successful. She noted the project on 6th Street in Eugene and said she noticed
that the businesses were open and accessible during construction due to appropriate signage, etc. There
is now a beautiful street,bus route, and transition from what it was prior to the project. There will
always be problems when making major changes, but she feels the lessons learned from 6th Street can
be used here. Medians should not impede traffic or businesses. If they are for pedestrian safety or
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upgrading community, it is different, but we must be respectful of the trucks and traffic and
businesses.It is a major highway in our city and we can either leave it as a sprawling highway or
continue to work to make it part of our community.
Mayor Lundberg said tonight is a chance for the Council to offer what they could support and provide
direction.
Councilor Ralston said there is overall opposition to medians so they should remove those. Individual
islands for pedestrians getting off the bus could be acceptable as long as they didn't run the length of
the corridor. The way the businesses have been built,there is no room to take any property other than
perhaps a couple of feet if it would make a difference. They need to focus on the reality of what they
can support.
Mayor Lundberg said she suggested asking the GT to look at an enhanced corridor. Originally she
wanted to get the buses out of the right lane so they weren't impeding traffic. She wanted to move
them off without moving them into businesses. Enhanced doesn't do that, but she feels there should be
a hybrid where they could move the buses out of traffic in certain places. They all agree they want
safety improvements on Main Street and would like to have the speed limit reduced. She wants it to
be safe for pedestrians and bicyclists, and businesses have said the same. She would like to figure out
a way to do that and stay within a certain footprint so it is not so impactful. She would like to include a
signalized variation that isn't so wide. Another thing she would like to do is to figure out how to make
businesses more noticeable with better signage, or help with business access. The things important to
her are how to make it safe, efficient and business friendly, and within that have a bus system that
works for those that depend on transit to get back and forth to work or school.
Mr. Grimaldi reiterated what the Council would like the GT to consider moving forward: a variation
of the enhanced corridor option to improve safety,transit operations and through traffic.
Mr. Boyatt said no changes had been drawn into the enhanced option shown in Attachment 3 until
they could figure out where to pull stations off to the side, which would add 12 feet at those locations.
Mayor Lundberg said they have pull out stations in other areas of the City, and they help with the
efficiency of the corridor and safety of riders. She would like a signalized version of the EmX that is
less than 100 feet by looking at the sidewalk,planter strip, etc. to see what is necessary. We don't have
to have a corridor that looks the same the entire length and can look different depending on what the
businesses need. They want medians removed or look at other ways to use them.
Discussion was held regarding the symbols on the charts in Attachment 3. They were based on a
rating system using certain criteria. The two columns on the right indicated which options were
recommended by staff for advancement and which options were advanced by the Governance Team.
Councilor Wylie said there are areas with more space for bus pullouts and street enhancement.
Councilor Ralston said the 5 foot planter beds were a waste of money and not needed.
Mr. Grimaldi reiterated Council direction about their thoughts on medians, keeping a smaller footprint,
having a corridor with some enhancements where there is room and impacts were small, and
signalized options with a smaller footprint. Staff will work to put together something to meet the
Council's objectives.
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Council would like to get a schedule of the GT meetings.
Mayor Lundberg said she would like staff to continue to work on communication and getting meeting
notices out to people in the best way for each business(text, email,phone call, etc.)
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:01 p.m.
Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa
Christine L. Lundberg 40
Mayor
Attest:
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Amy Sow
City Recorder