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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/20/2016 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY JUNE 20, 2016 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon,on Monday June 20, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon,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. Councilor Pishioneri was absent(excused). 1. Street Repair Ballot Measure. Anette Spickard, Development and Public Works Director, and Jeff Paschall, City Engineer,presented the staff report on this item. At Council's January 25,2016 work session, staff presented the results of the City's 2015 pavement condition report along with the list of unfunded High Priority Street Preservation and Repair projects. Council discussed several options for financing these projects and directed staff to conduct a scientific survey of registered voters to gauge the community's interest in improving street quality and their opinion of a fuel tax and/or general obligation bond(property tax)to fund needed repairs. While the City no longer has a pavement preservation program due to cutbacks that occurred in 2007, the City has been successful in leveraging federal and state dollars to maintain our most critical arterial and collector streets.Even with these investments 42% of arterials and more than 50% of the collectors and local streets are now rated in poor condition. The estimated cost of the repair backlog is $30 million. Staff will present example project lists of what could be completed in a five year period if a new revenue stream is approved by voters. If Council would like to ask voters for approval of a tax measure to fund street repairs,Council can give direction to staff at this work session to prepare language for a Ballot Title,Measure,and Summary for the November 2016 election and bring those back to Council for a vote at the July 18, 2016 regular session. If Council wishes to continue the discussion, another work session is scheduled for July 11,2016. The survey was conducted in late May 2016 and results received by the City in early June. The executive summary of the survey results were provided for Council review. In short,the survey revealed that voters are aware of the poor condition of the street system, addressing the backlog is a priority and there is support for a modest tax increase to keep the situation from becoming insurmountable.Results show support for a 2 cent fuel tax increase and potential support for a 3 cent fuel tax increase.Respondents preferred a fuel tax because it is directly related to usage and is seen as more fair than a property tax. There is little support for a general obligation bond(property tax) measure at this time. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 20,2016 Page 2 Ms. Spickard reviewed the survey results. The high level survey findings show that: • 64% agreed our streets are in serious disrepair;however 63% are not aware of the City's efforts to address the backlog. • 62% support a modest tax increase to repair Springfield's streets. • When given a choice of tax methods to pay for street repairs, 52% prefer a fuel tax increase, 27% prefer a general obligation bond,and 19% do not want a tax increase of any amount. • There is 62% likely support for a 2 cent fuel tax increase. • There is 55% likely support for a 3 cent fuel tax increase. • 52% said that the Council does not need a sunset clause on the fuel tax in order to have their support. • 55% said the Council's endorsement of a measure has the highest impact on their decision whether to support a measure. • 50% agreed that the elected officials in Springfield are completely trustworthy. Based on the results of the survey,the consultant would recommend the Council put a 2 or 3 cent fuel tax on the ballot,with outreach and education about the condition of the streets. Staff developed a project list of what could be done with a 2 cent tax or a 3 cent tax. She noted that each additional penny of fuel tax is estimated to generate about$370,000. The City's backlog is close to $30M. A fuel tax increase would be a start towards making progress. Councilor Ralston asked how much of an increase in the fuel tax would it take to catch up on our backlog. Ms. Spickard said it would take about 7 cents increase to cover the entire backlog. Mr. Grimaldi said the state is also considering some funding. Councilor Ralston said he was fine with the 2 cent or 3 cent tax. Councilor Wylie asked what City of Eugene has for a fuel tax at this time. Ms. Spickard said they currently had 5 cents. Councilor Wylie said she is good with a 2 or 3 cent gas tax,but feels we need to advertise the comparison with Eugene. She would also like to look at other options such as having the marijuana tax go to street repair. Councilor Woodrow said she was fine with either a 2 or 3 cent tax. She feels they could get the 3 cent increase with the margin of error in the survey. Councilor VanGordon asked about turning the gas tax into a revenue bond. Ms. Spickard said in consulting with the Finance Department,they determined they would need to use about 5 cents minimum to back a revenue bond. It would then tie up those funds needed for projects. Councilor VanGordon said he likes the idea of putting out a project list or map of projects that could be accomplished with the tax. He could support either 2 or 3 cents, but would prefer 3 cents. The survey data is not that different. He wants to be cautious about presenting information to the voters that this will not get us all the way. We need a state transportation bill. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 20,2016 Page 3 Councilor Moore agrees 3 cents is good. She would be concerned that the body of the ballot measure includes information that this will only begin the work, and would not take care of everything. She asked about street map for projects that could be done with 3 cents. Mr. Paschall said the 3 cents shows a first year project list that includes overlay preservation on 42nd Street,as well as the residential slurry seal program. He further explained the lines on the map and when projects could be done. The extra cent could get us caught up on residential slurry seal. Councilor Moore asked if they had a plan of how this would be put out to the citizens. Mr. Paschall said he took the project list from earlier this year that shows the high priority needs, and determined which projects could be completed with either 2 cents or 3 cents. Although this doesn't address the backlog, it should help keep the backlog from getting worse. Mr. Grimaldi said there is a 5 percent margin of error in the survey. He noted the difference between the 2 cent and 3 cent results. The Mayor has a lot of experience in polling trends. Councilor VanGordon asked if we would be able to remain caught up once we are caught up with the backlog. Mr. Paschall said we would need$4.5 to $5M annually to have a full-fledged residential slurry seal program, and keep up on our thin lift overlays, crack sealing, potholes, etc. Councilor Woodrow said any time people have had a slurry seal on their street,they have been happy. That could be a good selling point. Councilor Moore asked about the City's current shortfall. Ms. Spickard said we have no funds for preservation. Mr. Paschall said the revenue the City has been able to designate on the capital side has been used to leverage federal dollars for projects such as Gateway, Thurston Road, etc. Those grants go in cycles and always require a match. Ms. Spickard said state funding is for operations,engineering,maintenance, and daily operations. Any funds left at the end of the fiscal year have been set aside for funding opportunities. Councilor Moore said the City should let the public know when grants are awarded and for what projects. Mayor Lundberg said part of the concern is that people may feel we are going out for either this tax or the marijuana tax. It needs to be very clear and differentiated there are two measures. She said she spoke with Councilor Pishioneri and he supports a 3 cent tax. She said they need to have a group to form a yes committee.Mayor Lundberg said she is willing to help,but it will take all of the Council. An information campaign needs to get the word out and it will take some funding. Work has to be done. The councilors need to make those calls. Mr. Grimaldi said the consultant stressed that they would only get the positive results with an organized campaign. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 20,2016 Page 4 Mayor Lundberg said it was up to the elected officials to campaign for the measure. Ms. Spickard said she would work with the City Attorney's office to draft a ballot title for consideration during the July 18 Council meeting. It is difficult to determine what the funds would be used for since the project list changes and the tax would be ongoing. They can include the current situation and project list in the informational materials. Councilor Ralston said he agreed with 3 cents and would work on a campaign. This is an important issue. Mayor Lundberg confirmed the full Council agrees with 3 cents. 2. 2016 Council Priority Initiatives Update. Jeff Towery,Assistant City Manager,presented the staff report on this item. As the City of Springfield moves into FY17,Council may benefit from an update of current initiatives, setting the stage for leadership to effectively allocate resources and staff hours to the highest priority projects: • Consolidated Accounts Receivable—Finance Dept. • Priority Based Budgeting Analysis—Finance Dept. • DUII Court Program—Springfield Municipal Courts • New Art to Attract Visitors—City Manager's Office • Downtown Facade and Business Space Readiness Investments—City Manager's Office • Prepare Glenwood for Future Development—City Manager's Office • Advanced Timber Products/Cross Laminated Timber—City Manager's Office • Springfield Economic Look—Regional Competitiveness and Industry Assessment and Economic Strategy—City Manager's Office • Industrial Site Opportunity Look—City Manager's Office • Booth Kelly Redevelopment Strategy—City Manager's Office • Fire Local Option Levy Renewal—Fire Dept. • Police Operating Levy Renewal in 2017—Police Department • Main Street Traffic Safety Improvements—Development and Public Works • Age-Friendly Community—City Manager's Office • Workforce Diversity, Inclusion&Competency—Human Resources • Work with community to develop financing strategy for street system preservation and maintenance—Development and Public Works • City-wide bicycle and pedestrian connectivity and way-finding implementation plan— Development and Public Works • New Library Facility—Library • Code Enforcement—Police Department Any Council feedback will be incorporated into future project updates,work sessions and action items. Last April, Council was presented with a list of priority initiatives. Council asked to have all of those initiatives brought forward. In October staff brought additional initiatives related to economic development and Council asked to have those move forward as well. Over the course of the last year, City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 20,2016 Page 5 some of the projects have come back to the Council as updates. Many of the economic development initiatives did not have staff when first brought forward. Those initiatives were brought to the Budget Committee and staff and resources were identified. Councilor Woodrow said she read through it and she liked what was done and how it was put together. It outlined where we were and where we are now. She appreciated the timeline. Councilor VanGordon asked about the initiative related to the redevelopment of Booth Kelly. He asked if we are able to put money aside to invest in redevelopment in the future. Mr. Towery said staff is in the process of doing a capital assessment of Booth Kelly and what repairs need done. Money is set aside for some of those repairs. They wanted to do that first before doing the redevelopment plan. Councilor VanGordon referred to the DUII program and said he felt it was written in relation to causation and not correlation. As that program develops,he would like to look for other potential things may be driving down the numbers. Other than that, it looks great. Councilor Moore asked about adding a citizen review component to the Priority Based Budget(PBB) process. She asked if that was a separate committee. Mr. Towery said there is a lot of flexibility in how that gets done. We have examples of how other communities have done it. Mr.Duey said when setting goals,we want to check with the community to make sure it is what they want. Council was not interested in forming that committee last year,but it has remained on the list as something to consider in the future. They could check with the community through a survey or something similar. Councilor Moore said she was thinking of a committee such as the Budget Committee. She asked how much surveys cost. Mr. Grimaldi said normally between about$24,000 to $26,000. Councilor Moore said she was not sure she would like to have that type of survey, but perhaps asking people during community events. Mr. Duey said there are a number of ways to approach this. He explained. Councilor Moore said she would like to receive more citizen input. She asked if the art projects were all funded through transient room tax(TRT)dollars. Mr. Towery said the primary source of funds for the art project is from TRT,but they have also leveraged grants and some outside sources. Fox TV underwrote the costs for the Simpson Mural. Mr. Laudati said the Military Memorial would use some TRT funds as well. Councilor Moore said she would like to get that out to the citizens so they are aware of the funds being used. She appreciated the track changes on the document to see what has been changed, and how to move forward. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 20,2016 Page 6 Mayor Lundberg referred to the initiative about the fire levy being affected by higher ambulance call volume. She had asked Chief Groves about call volume, and scheduling a meeting to discuss this with Eugene and Lane County. It is now being referred to as Mayor Lundberg's Task Force on Call Volumes. The meeting is scheduled and she wanted to let the Council know. High call volumes are affected when people use the 911 system when it's not needed. She also referred to Main Street Traffic Safety Improvements. She likes the Safe Routes to School Program and the Point-to-Point Solutions,but she is not sure if they are always cost effective. She would like to look at those to see if they are cost effective. She also wants to teach bicyclists the rules of the road.If they are spending money on safety,they need to start promoting education to kids and adults. A Safety Corridor was discussed at one point. She thought Council was interested in a Safety Corridor Designation on Main Street if the speed limit is lowered. Mr. Grimaldi said he didn't believe that was currently on the list for Main Street,but it could be added. Staff will do follow-up and send information in a Communication Packet. Mayor Lundberg said it is something to consider. Enforcement is really what is needed and wanted from the businesses. She would love to have code enforcement in our UGB. Council agreed it was something to look into further. She would like to see figures for funds spent and support for special events. Mr. Grimaldi said staff could provide more information. Mayor Lundberg said she wants to see it as part of a work program similar to art projects. Mr. Towery said these initiatives were to focus on implementing Council goals. Some events have been done for many years and were not included. Staff could report back to Council. Mayor Lundberg said including it in the annual report would be fine. She asked when the PBB updates would come to Council. Mr. Grimaldi said they were not quite to that point. They are using PBB to do things internally. The City is not growing and PBB is often used to see where we want to grow, or where contracting might be used for certain services they want to eliminate. Mayor Lundberg said the Council should look at the PBB before it goes out for citizen comment. Councilor VanGordon said he would like to see a list of example activities that staff has taken action on internally through PBB. Councilor Wylie said one of the biggest flaws in PBB is that it often prioritizes unpopular things that are very important near the bottom of the list. They need to balance that. Mr. Grimaldi said the best opportunity to come back to the Council with PBB is early in the budget process next year. Currently,the major activity under PBB includes the new budget system implemented by the Finance Department which will have more of a program budget which will dovetail with PBB. Staff can provide a clearer picture when they bring it back next Spring. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 20,2016 Page 7 Councilor Moore referred to the initiative for the Library and preparing an RFP for Library Needs Assessment and Programmatic Facility Design. She asked if that had been done. Ms. Griesel said it has just been posted. Councilor Moore asked if they had any idea of the cost. Mr. Towery said they built the RFP around the funds available. Councilor Moore asked how they make the decision whether or not to renew the Police Levy in 2017. They won't be able to eliminate both the Fire and Policy levies. She asked when they would receive information. Mr.Towery said typically the Council would see information in late winter or early spring of 2017 to look at the November ballot. It will be around the discussion of the budget.During the previous legislative session,there was the possibility of a legislative fix to allow jurisdictions to roll ongoing tax levies into their tax base,but that did not move forward. Mr. Towery said as long as this format worked for the Council, staff would continue to update this and bring it back each year. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg / Mayor Attest: Amy So City Recorder