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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/08/1998 Work Session (2) . MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING O~ THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1998 The city of Springfield council met in work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, June 8, 1998, at 7: 10 p.m., with Councilor Shaver presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Council President Shaver, Councilors Ballew, Beyer, Burge, Dahlquist and Maine. Also present were City Manager Michael Kelly, Assistant City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Senior Management Analyst Rosie Pryor, City Recorder Julie Wilson and members of the staff. 1. Springfield Bicycle Plan Review Management Analyst Eileen Stein and Traffic Technician Dean Bishop presented the staff report on this issue. The draft Springfield Bicycle Plan is complete, has gone through a public review process and been reviewed by the Planning Commission. Prior to adoption, review and a public hearing by the council is necessary. The public hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 15, 1998. . In 1997, a technical analysis of the city's local bikeway system was completed via an ODOT Transportation and Growth Management Program grant. This work was done pursuant to the requirements of the Transportation Planning Rule 12 (Oregon Administrative Rule 660-12) requiring local jurisdictions to develop local bikeway connectivity and design standards. The Springfield Bicycle Master Plan will become Springfield's bicycle element in TransPlan. The plan will also be used as a guide for evaluating bike route location during development reView. In response to the Planning Commission, acting as the Committee for Citizen Involvement, an 'open house' public review session was conducted in February 1998. Comments received were mostly positive and the specific comments are included in the staff report. The Springfield Bicycle Committee (SBC) reviewed the comments and found most issues could be resolved through citizen service requests rather than be included in the plan. One project, recommended by a citizen and endorsed by the SBC, suggested using the abandoned Weyerhaeuser railroad line that parallels 42nd Street for a separate multi-use facility. .The land is in public ownership and is a practical transportation option, especially if 42nd Street remains unimproved. Staff recommends this project be included in the final plan adoption. Federal grant funding, through the authorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21 st Century (TEA21) is likely. . On April 7, the Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on the Bicycle Plan, which was continued to May 5. Most of the testimony was positive in nature. However, concerns expressed centered around the alignment of two off-street projects, specifically the Millrace path and the Gateway / McKenzie path. In response, the SBC recommends the Millrace path be relocated to the north side of the Millrace, which would locate it inside the Urban Growth Boundary.\ The Planning Commission concurred in this recommendation. The Commission . Work Session Minutes June 8, 1998 Page 2 also voted to re~ommend that the path line for the McKenzie River path be removed and directional arrows be inserted at the southern point near Pioneer Parkway and the northern point at Deadmond's Ferry Landing, indicating a bike path along the river to be determined at a future date. The SBC does not concur with this recommendation. Ms. Stein reviewed the process followed to-date regarding the plan. Mr. Bishop introduced Bicycle Committee members present. He introduced Mike Higgins, Gary Guttomsen, Gene Holloter, Garrett Hinds, Chris Urhausen and Richard Farrell. Mr. Bishop discussed the plan, associated costs and reviewed the color-coded wall maps. He said the proposed resolution would include changing the proposed alignment of the McKenzie pathway to reflect new connections at the Pioneer Parkway Extension, Game Farm Road and the conceptual MDR road network. It would also change the proposed alignment ofthe Millrace pathway (east of the Springfield Quarry Bridge) and locate it within the Urban Growth Boundary. Ms. Stein discussed the 42nd Street multi-use pathway project. She discussed potential federal funding opportunity. Mr. Bishop said some of the alignments may change, however, the basic concept will remain intact and defined. . Mr. Bishop discussed grant application as it relates to the UGB. Planning Manager Greg Mott provided information regarding jurisdiction and zoning. City Attorney Joe Leahy also provided additional information regarding the conceptual plan. Public Works Director Dan Brown discussed use of funding available for off street bike paths. Council discussed this issue in detail. Mr. Bishop and Ms. Stein answered questions from council. Council was provided with a bike count report, which included information regarding the site, location, date, time of bicyclist. He and Ms. Stein further discussed the data. Councilor Maine discussed the benefits of providing a means for bicyclist to ride more often. Councilor Shaver thanked Bicycle Committee members for their efforts related to the plan. Council concurred with staff to hold a public hearing as scheduled next week. Council supported this. Council supported the resolution which would include the following plan amendments; a) include the 42nd Street multi-use path project; b) change the proposed alignment of the Millrace pathway and locate it within the UGB; and c) change the proposed alignment of the McKenzie pathway to reflect new connections at the Pioneer Parkway Extension, Game Farm . Work Session Minutes June 8, 1998 Page 3 . Road, and the conceptual MDR Road Network. Any adjustments necessary could be made following the public hearing and discussion. 2. Gateway Area Traffic Issues. Traffic Engineer Brian Barnett presented the staff report on this issue. Streets in the Gateway Street and Beltline Road area are nearing capacity. Traffic growth trends indicate a very near term capacity constraint which may soon impact approval of development projects. Council is requested to discuss preferred methods of dealing with this future traffic capacity problem. Mr. Barnett reviewed the Gateway Area Transportation action plan. He reviewed the plan steps which included; 1) meeting,major property owners in the study area; 2) identify the interim improvements which ODOT is funding; 3) assign the remaining capacity to the list of property owners' planned development projects and assess results; 4) establish a project development timeline; 5) work with the city of Eugene; 6) examine the lev~l of service policies in the draft TransPlan; 7) review all development in city for compliance with SDC, including TIA as appropriate; and 8) no annexations will be considered until completion of the plan of action except the Sony Daycare, Sony Plant Expansion, Federal Express and Mayor's Sports Complex. Planning Manager Greg Mott answered questions from council. . Councilor Shaver discussed video signalization and timing. He discussed timing inconsistencies that need to be fixed. He said this could be made part of buying into a system. Mr. Barnett said they have had long term problems with the area. He said the high-end detector cards were installed but this did not correct the problem. The group further discussed this issue in detail. Mr. Barnett discussed possible use of SDC funds in response to a question from Councilor Maine. Mr. Kelly discussed design options, time frames, and project plans. He discussed the importance of working with property owners throughout the project. Councilor Burge discussed the validity of the data figures and said they needed to be based on accurate facts. Councilor Beyer worried about the implications of what they were doing and not have any timelines. She hoped people in the Gateway area were not discouraged. She hoped everything worked out. Public Works Director Dan Brown discussed the importance of a proposed Gateway area transportation plan. ' . Council would like a copy of the ORS regulations regarding Public Facility Strategy and information regarding Wilsonville and their experience regarding enactment of the same strategy. Work Session Minutes 'J'un6e 8, 1998 Page 4 . Councilor Ballew expressed concern regarding annexation issues. Staff was asked to provide a status report on this issue within four months. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Julie Wilson ~~~ Mayor . .