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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/26/2016 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2016 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon,on Monday, September 26,2016 at 5:30 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon,Wylie, Moore,Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith,City Recorder Array Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Arts Commission Interviews. Kristen Cure,Librarian, presented the staff report on this item on behalf of Thea Hart. In response to a press release in July 2016,the Arts Commission received six applications for two vacancies. The Arts Commission interviewed five applicants during its September 13,2016 meeting. Applicant Robert Green did not attend the meeting. Council Operating Policies state in Section IX, Subsection 1.3) Springfield's boards,commissions, committees,and task forces bring together citizen viewpoints which might not otherwise be heard. Persons of wide-ranging interests who want to participate in public service but not compete for public office may choose to be involved in advisory boards,commissions,committees and task forces instead. They also help fulfill the goals of the City's adopted Citizen Involvement Program to have an informed and involved citizenry. The Arts Commission requests that two candidates be interviewed by the City Council.The Arts Commission recommends that Jodie Davaz be appointed to the Arts Commission to fill one vacancy to complete the partial term that expires December 31,2018 and that Andrew Drake be appointed to the Arts Commission to fill the vacancy to complete the other partial term that expires December 31, 2018.The Arts Commission believes the candidates are eligible and qualified to serve on the commission. Following the interviews,the Council will formally ratify the appointments during the Regular Meeting on October 3,2016. The Council selected which questions each would ask. They introduced themselves and interviewed Jodie Davaz and Andrew Drake. 1. Why do you want to serve on the Arts Commission?(Mayor Lundberg) 2. Have you attended an Arts Commission meeting?If so,what were your impressions? (Councilor Moore) 3. Outside of the monthly Arts Commission meetings,what amount of volunteer time do you have to offer for work involving the Arts Commission?(Councilor VanGordon) 4. Describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your desire to become an Arts Commissioner?(Councilor Woodrow) City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 26,2016 Page 2 S. What initiatives are you interested in working on if you are appointed as a Commissioner? (Councilor Pishioneri) 6. Can you give us an example of your experience working with a committee?(Councilor Ralston) 7. Please name one way you would help inform our community about the Springfield Arts Commission and/or Arts Commission's projects.(Councilor Wylie) Council discussed the applicants and chose to appoint both applicants to the Arts Commission.Formal appointments will be made at the October 3 Council meeting. 2. Safety Grants for City and ODOT Streets. Brian Barnett,Traffic Engineer,and Tom Boyatt,Community Development for Transportation Manager, presented the staff report on this item. He distributed mock checks in the amount of each project. City of Springfield has been awarded safety grants for seven improvement projects to City of Springfield streets and ODOT streets.The program separates funding into"hot spot" and"systemic" projects. Overall,there is a$6.9M allocation into the City of Springfield for Oregon Department of Transportation(ODOT)facilities and City facilities.That is nearly 11% of the allocation for Region 2, which is significant. Overall,the cost/benefit ratio of all seven projects of 8.5911.The true benefit is the reduction in fatalities and property damage to vehicles. Traditional safety projects sought high crash locations at specific points, i.e. "hot spots"on the street or road.This method is useful to correct problems with a specific,narrowly defined site. Examples are the installation of a curve warning sign with a speed feedback indicator to help drivers reduce their speed enough to negotiate the curve without leaving the roadway or installation of a roundabout or traffic signal to manage vehicle flows through an intersection. "Systemic" safety programs recognize that some crash types are spread along a street and are not associated with a specific site but rather the character of the corridor. In these cases a system wide intervention is needed. Examples of a systemic improvements are adding reflectorized back plates to all signal heads in an urban area or placing center line rumble strips on a rural road when cross-over crashes are prevalent. Of the seven sites funded in the City of Springfield five are"hot spot"and two are"systemic"although the distinction is not rigidly applied. The largest of the awarded projects is for raised safety median treatments along Main Street. An in depth public involvement process to analyze potential economic benefits and impacts of safety medians,by location along the street, is required by state law prior to any final decisions on design or construction. This publicly guided analysis could take one to two years to complete and could be expected to delay final resolution of the Main Street EmX Locally Preferred Solution that is currently underway with the Main-McVay Transit Study,so that design for the two projects is coordinated and complimentary. Councilor Ralston asked if he would review the projects. Mr. Barnett said there is an outline in the council agenda packet,but he could go through them. Councilor Moore asked about the timeline for the projects and the approval process. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 26,2016 Page 3 Mr.Barnett said all of the projects will be part of the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).The funding starts in 2019. There will be an opportunity to process some of the projects more vigorously. Others, such as signal changes,are straightforward and can start as those funds are available. Councilor Ralston spoke regarding a raised safety median and said he is not supportive. The businesses along that corridor would agree. Mr.Barnett said it provides benefit and safety. When Mr. Boyatt discusses Senate Bill 408,he will go over the community's interests and the benefits and challenges. Councilor Ralston said that is a big project. Councilor VanGordon asked about Pioneer Parkway and Q Street and if that project included the westbound I-5 offramp that is in close proximity. Mr.Barnett said it does not include that offramp. Councilor VanGordon asked if that was something to look at for safety in the future. Mr.Barnett said the overall program is driven by benefit/cost ratio.Evidently,the intersection with the ramp at Q Street slid not have enough accidents to drive the benefit/cost ratio.When they do start looking at the Q Street and Pioneer Parkway intersection,and see something that the other ramp is integral to that project, he will discuss it with ODOT to determine how it could be addressed. Councilor Wylie asked if there were further descriptions of the projects in the packet. She has a lot of questions about design and the medians. Mr. Barnett said there will be a lot of project development for each of the projects. Mayor Lundberg said these were simply noting which projects were identified.There are no specifics at this time. She asked if the flashing beacons at Gateway and Kruse were the yellow flashing. Mr. Barnett said that would be the yellow crossing signal. Mayor Lundberg said these are projects that are part of this grant,and will have to go through an entire planning process. Mr. Boyatt said the significant award to construct raised medians is conceptual. In 2013,the State passed legislation referred to as Senate Bill 408 which was access management legislation. There are multiple provisions of this bill that gave ODOT further guidance on how to affect accesses. A raised median does not preclude right in/right out so legally doesn't impact access,but the State understands that a large median project will have real or perceived impacts on how driveways function and businesses perform. ODOT said they needed to do a facility planning effort to figure out where the medians would go, if there are any breaks in the median,what it will ultimately look like, and that it is a well-directed process based on the corridor. There is quite a bit of analysis to see if it would be an economic detriment or benefit.There are some places in the country where business activities goes up when a median is installed,but it can also cause a negative effect. It is a defined process that works with the corridor,the businesses and property owners,develops key principles and goes through an intentional planning process to see if the effective and immediately impacted community can come to City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 26,2016 Page 4 agreement. The process can take one to two years,and ODOT has pledged they will fund that process. They have brought in their on-call consultant to meet with City and Vane Transit District(LTD)staff to look at what a scope of activity would look like.They want to do it right and in a way the City of Springfield wants. If the Council doesn't want to move forward with a median study,ODOT would redirect those funds to other Region Il projects. Main Street is in the top 10% of very hazardous arterials. Mr.Boyatt noted that it is important to understand we would need to coordinate two projects: transit improvements and median treatments. For that reason,the bulk of the effort going forward would be to get the intergovernmental agreements(IGA)with ODOT for the consultant services,get the work plan together and start looking at the median. With that,the City would not be in a position to approve a locally preferred solution to the transit study until this process was complete.That is the trade-off. There are two choices: first to do the safety work and take pause on the transit; or to decline the offer and keep going with the transit. Councilor Wylie said the design would need to meet the needs of the area.There needs to be flexibility in the median designs with our needs in mind. If that is done with some sensitivity, it will promote the establishment of the safety median.The City has to have input. Mr. Boyatt said if Council wants to explore the design possibilities,they would relay that to ODOT and engage the SB408 process. If they don't want to see the outcome of that work,they would let ODOT know. It would be corridor based. Councilor Ralston said he feels LTD is doing enough work in the corridor to solve the problem and doesn't see the need to take funds that could be used somewhere,else. Councilor Pishioneri said SB408 is a good bill which requires integration of business and property owners affected by the project. He asked if the process would stop if a segment of the group affected believes they are not being appropriately represented.He has heard similar issues with the LTD process.He wants to make sure people are heard(business and property owners)and he doesn't want to see any of them negatively impacted,He suggested moving forward with caution, keeping a close eye on the process. Some people feel they aren't being heard. Mr. Boyatt said ODOT learned a long time ago that they aren't going to force things on Main Street. They are asking for a Transportation System Plan(TSP)amendment that adopts this process. Tracking a process to make sure it's fair and transparent becomes everyone's job.His understanding is that they don't want to pursue a failure,which raises sensitivity to doing it the right way. If the Council feels the process is adequately conducted and the outcome is acceptable,even if some feel they did not get their way,they will have to work through that and decide how to address that. Councilor Pishioneri said he was fine moving forward with this as long as they could stop it if it starts to negatively impact businesses. Mr. Boyatt said staff would keep Council updated and ODOT will also be at the table. Councilor Woodrow said she had two issues with Maui Street: safety; and maintaining traffic flow and accommodating businesses.They blend. She doesn't think is any business on Main Street that isn't concerned about safety. When they look at his type of project,they are all looking at it from the same perspective—benefits for businesses,and safety. Sometimes it will be either/or,but usually they can find common ground. She could see some safety benefits of medians,and sees that through this City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 26,2416 Page S process there could be places it is beneficial. They need to be conscious of where it would provide safety and where it would impact businesses. The only way to find out is through this conversation with everyone at the table to put together an analysis of what will and won't work. She is fine moving forward with the study, but wants to hear the input from everyone and see the outcome. Councilor VanGordon said he is willing to move forward as long as they have another opportunity to say yes or no. He is also concerned about the businesses.This has been a challenge for our community and how to address it one step at a time. They need to determine the communication plan and how to be transparent to businesses about all of the projects. Mr. Boyatt said there would be coordination and they are still figuring out the best way to do that so they can have both sets of conversation at the same time. One influences the other. Councilor VanGordon said that is critical because this is a big project. Councilor Ralston said this should all be done at the same time and LTD should be included. Councilor Moore said she is impressed that ODOT is willing to pay for this process. She sees a lot of staff time involved. Mr. Boyatt said the award for median is a construction award,yet he hasn't seen the IGA for the funds yet. Councilor Moore said she agrees with Councilor Woodrow that businesses and citizens of Springfield are concerned for safety, but also their businesses. Some people do avoid Main Street due to the safety issues. She wants to see businesses and people on Main Street involved in the process. She is looking forward to success. Mayor Lundberg asked ODOT Area 5 Manager Frannie Brindle if she had comments. Ms. Brindle said Mr. Boyatt had done an excellent job explaining the process and 513408. It is a good idea to take the time to do the study,work with the community,and then decide. Other communities have wrestled with pedestrian medians,worked through a long process,and are now happy with the medians, so it could be a win-win. They know that pedestrians don't necessarily cross where crosswalks are located,but where it is most convenient. Through the study,they will identify places that meet most needs and will be safer for pedestrians,bicyclists, and transit. Mayor Lundberg said if the Council agrees to this process, it affects the LTD transit study.For the good of the order it makes sense to coordinate the projects.This corridor has potential to be a stellar point of contact in the community. LTD's General Manager Aurora Jackson said typically they are very concerned when they can't submit an application,but they are currently in the beginning of the Fast Act which is a better position in the cycle of funding. This does change when they will need to submit the application,but could potentially make them more competitive since other agency funds are being leveraged. LTD has been the national model for bus rapid transit and now other communities are their competitors. This is an opportunity to step it up and show more and stronger partnerships,and a different model. She is excited for the different pieces the State is bringing forward. If they were at the end of the funding process,they would be candid about their concerns. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 26,2016 Page 6 Mayor Lundberg said this process will need us to use the"Springfield Way"to get to agreement. There are big concerns from businesses and they need to have a place at the table where their concerns are addressed. We also need to have safety addressed.She envisions a beautiful corridor that is enticing for businesses and visitors. Whatever can be done to improve the corridor is welcome. Mayor Lundberg said Council was fine moving forward with all of the projects and studies on their own pace. She thanked ODOT for submitting the application and LTD for accommodating the City. Mr.Boyatt said it would take a bit of time to get up and running.,so staff will communicate with all stakeholders.They will develop a scope of work for the IGA, accelerate and start in January. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:33 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Christine L.Lundberg Mayor Attest: df Amy Sow City Recorder