HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 01 Joint Elected Officials Meeting
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date:
Meeting Type:
February 12,2008
Joint Elected Officials
Meeting
CMO ~ ~
Gino Grir6aldl
726-3700
120 minutes
Department:
Staff Contact:
Staff Phone No:
Estimated Time:
SPRINGFIELD
CITY COUNCIL
ITEM TITLE:
JOINT ELECTED OFFICIALS MEETING
ACTION
REQUESTED:
Lane County Commissioners, Eugene Mayor and City Council members and
Springfield Mayor and City Council members will discuss the attached issues list
and establish priorities.
ISSUE
STATEMENT:
The three jurisdictions often meet together to discuss issues of regional impact.
Attachment 1: Issues List
ATTACHMENTS:'
DISCUSSION/
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
The Lane County Commissioners, the Eugene Mayor and Council and the
Springfield Mayor and Council often meet to discuss issues of regionally impact.
They have scheduled this meeting to discuss some major issues brought forth from
each jurisdiction. The elected officials will review and discuss the attached issues
list, establish priorities and determine work assignments and next steps on selected
Issues.
J oint Elected Officials Meeting
Issues List
February 12,2008
Presented by Lane County
o Right now the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan (Metro Plan) provides that cities
are the logical provider of urban services. With the passage of Ballot Measure 5 and then 47/50, is
this policy still appropriate? Lane County requests the three governments consider amendments to
allow the creation of mutually agreed upon special districts.
o Current policies of the Metro Plan support the concept of compact urban growth. Are there
strategies we can employ to allow this anticipated growth to occur but avoid the loss of high value
farmland as well as preserving and allowing for some urban farming to continue inside the urban
area? For example, how should the Metro Plan deal with the area south of the Jasper
Extension/Natron sites that are currently designated as agriculture and aggregate resource?
o Representation of citizens between the urban growth boundary and the city limits. Right now, under
ORS 190 agreements, we have transferred land use and building permit administrative authority to
the cities, and this is logical because this land is by defmition urbanizable and will eventually be
inside the city. Unfortunately, however, this creates a strong feeling of disenfranchisement for the
citizens just outside the city limits. Are there strategies we can employ to give those citizens greater
voice in urbanization and annexation decisions?
Presented by City of Eugene
o Homelessness - "Helping the homeless" has been one of the Eugene City Council's annual goals
since 2005. Homelessness is a serious regional issue, because on any given night 2,300 homeless
individuals impact the health, welfare, and budget of each local jurisdiction. These impacts are felt
through public safety and public health, and in the schools and hospitals. Ninety-five percent of
local homeless people are from this area. Many have a disability and one-third are children.
In November 2006 Lane County adopted a "Ten-Year Plan to End Chronic,Homelessness." The
plan was aided by cooperation from Eugene and Springfield. In 2007 Mayor Piercy appointed a 21-
member committee to consider funding options to address homelessness. The committee, which
includes a County Commissioner and a Springfield Councilor, studied the issue and found that in
addition to personal suffering, the impact to the community is significant and costly. Their final
recommendations, expected in February or March, are expected to promote prevention programs
and the "Housing First" model, which places people directly into service-enriched housing rather
than into emergency shelters.
Project Homeless Connect is an event that brings the public sector and greater community together
to provide a range of services to homeless people in one place-on one day. The event results in
long-term benefits and significant public awareness and education.
o Metro Plan - HB 3337 mandates separate UGBs and residential lands analyses for the cities of
Eugene and Springfield. The Metro Plan was written for a single UGB and allows buildable lands
inventories to be shared between Eugene and Springfield. It contains shared policies about growth
management, service provision, annexation, and processing amendments. The establishment of
separate UGBs will create the need for various Metro Plan amendments as the Metro Plan currently
references a single UGH.
ATTACf.IMENT 1 - PAGE 1
JEO Issues List - Page 2 of 4
o Public Safety - Public safety issues require inter-jurisdictional strategies and cooperation. Some
(like Fire-EMS responses and information support systems) are working very well. Those that carry
larger financial requirements (such as ambulance transport) and for which different system
components are the responsibility of different governmental entities (like the criminal justice
system) are much more challenging due to severe budget constraints on all of the jurisdictional
partners. Ambulance transport service, in particular, faces critical short-term sustainability issues
due to sharply reduced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and interagency solutions should
be among the options evaluated. Criminal justice system partners also face critical short-term issues
in the form of reduced county secure schools payments. Cross-jurisdiction, system-wide strategies
. will be needed to address these issues.
o Enhance Understanding of Race Issues and Improve Race Relationships - The council priority on
race outlines a plan that the council as a body, and the Mayor and councilors as individuals, can
engage in to build a better understanding of race issues among themselves and improve race
relations in the community. The plan focuses on community input and Mayor and council education
on issues of race as a background for action.
By acknowledging and illuminating instances of bias in the community and making a commitment
to change, the City Council is in a unique position to set the tone for race relations in Eugene and
the metropolitan area. To this end, the Mayor and Council met with a broad group of
representatives from the communities of color and later formed the Community Committee on Race
(CCR) to help advise the City on next steps. Staff, with direct input frpm the CCR, revised the
Council's action plan which was adopted in ~ay 2007. One of the foundational elements of the
action plan is the development of a Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan. This plan, to be completed
in 2008, will guide the organization's work to ensure a respectful workplace for all City employees
and equitable service delivery to all members of the community.
o Transportation PlanningfFunding - At its November 8, 2007 meeting, the Metropolitan Policy
Committee (MPC) adopted the 2031 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The State Transportation
Planning Rule (TPR) requires that Transportation System Plans, such as TransPlan, be consistent
with RTPs. According to the TPR, once the RTP is approved by the MPC, jurisdictions that are
party to TransPlan-Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County-have one year to do one of the
following:
o Find that TransPlan is consistent with the RTP;
o Update TransPlan to be consistent with the'RTP; or
o Develop a work plan for updating TransPlan to be consistent with the R TP and have this
work plan approved by the State Land Conservation and Development Commission
(LCDC).
Since the RTP adoption, staff members from the local jurisdictions have held two meetings with
ODOT and DLCD staff as well as several meetings amongst ourselves to discuss next steps. The
broad consensus is that the third bullet, developing a work plan to update TransPlan, is the right
approach. This recognizes that an update is necessary and that it will take longer than a year,
especially considering coordination with the comprehensive lands analysis and possible associated
Metro Plan updates. City staff and regional partners will continue to coordinate with ODOT and
DLCD on development of a draft work plan for a TransPlan update and will present a proposed
timeline, draft work plan, and associated costs at the April 9, 2008 City Council Meeting.
Area Commissions on Transportation: In 1996, the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTe)
authorized regionally-based transportation advisory commissions known as Area Commissions on
Transportation (ACTs) in order to expand opportunities for local citizen involvement in ODOT's
ATTACf.IMENT 1 - PAGE 2
JEO Issues List - Page 3 of 4
decision-making. The OTC responded to local jurisdictions and other stakeholders asking for more
opportunity to participate in the early stages of transportation project selection. ACTs consider
regional and local transportation issues if they affect the state system and they work with other local
organizations dealing with transportation-related is~ues. ACTs play a key advisory role in the
development of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which schedules
funded transportation projects. ACTs establish a public process for area project selection priorities,
and following adopted project eligibility criteria, prioritize transportation problems and solutions
and recommend projects in their area to be included in the STIP. A total of ten ACTs have
previously been formed representing all of Oregon except the Portland Metro area and Lane
County. Lane County elected not to establish an ACT and, instead, ODOT works with the
Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan Policy Committee and the Lane County Board of Commissioners
to coordinate transportation project planning and construction.
Transportation Funding: The City of Eugene has a documented backlog of deferred street
maintenance in excess of $170 million while Springfield and Lane County also face shortfalls in
transportation funding. A series of dynamic and complex issues related to intergovernmental
transportation funding solutions adds both opportunity and uncertainty to the mix.
Intergovernmental solutions, including the two mentioned below, are consistent with the
recommendations of the transportation funding subcommittee, but the outcomes are less certain
than those over which the council and the citizens of Eugene have direct control. Continue to
pursue other opportunities such as a countywide vehicle registration fee and/or countywide gas tax
as well as legislative remedies and funding solutions at the statewide level. In September, LCOG
convened a group that includes public works directors to begin discussing transportation funding
solutions at a regional level. These two options are the ones most likely to mesh with the county.
In addition, the 2009 Oregon Legislature is expected to consider some form of increased
transportation funding, including a commitment from the Oregon Petroleum Association, to seek
and endorse a significant increase to the state gas tax. A critical aspect of any funding solution
col~ected at a countywide or statewide level would be a distribution formula that guarantees
revenue, in perpetuity, to the cities.
Presented by City of Springfield
o TransPlan Work Plan - The recent adoption of the federally mandated Regional Transportation
Plan (RTP) included a planning horizon that extends to the year 2031. The companion piece to the
RTP is TransPlan, which shares the same adopted 2015 planning horizon as the Metro Plan. The
state Transportation Planning Rule (TPR) requires consistency between the federal transportation
plan and state required transportation plans, including similar out-years. The planning horizon for
TransPlan needs to be adjusted accordingly, but since TransPlan is a part of the Metro Plan 'a
similar adjustment to the Metro Plan is almost certainly necessary. As it happens, the updates to
the buildable lands inventories currently underway will be for a planning horizon of 20 years (2030
when finished). It seems propitious to combine these tasks.
o Metro Plan - UGB Changes - HB 3337 requires Eugene and Springfield to undertake several
actions, including the establishment of separate urban growth boundaries. Although it is not clear
when the best time might be to take this action, it would probably be in the best interest of all three
governments to allow this to occur as either a joint action or independently depending on when the
communities are ready to act.
o Metro Plan - Conforming Amendments - The establishment of separate UGB's for Springfield and
Eugene will create the need for various conforming amendments to the Metro Plan, which will
continue to reference a single UGB unless amendments are made to reflect compliance with the HB
ATTACHMENT 1 - PAGE 3
JEO Issues List - Page 4 of 4
3337 mandate for separate UGB's. One approach that would facilitate the work each city is
undertaking is to coordinate necessary amendments to the Metro Plan text for purposes of creating
conforming language that recognizes the changes brought about by HB 3337.
o Update - Inventories and Population Projections - A final draft of the Residential Lands Study
Report is nearly completed and the Commercial Industrial Buildable Lands (CIBL) project will
begin this month. The fmdings of the Residential Lands Study will be combined with those of the
CIBL to provide a complete inventory of all buildable lands and new strategies to encourage
economic redevelopment. The inventories must be based on population projections for each urban
growth boundary for that time horizon and adopted into the comprehensive plan. The existing
population projections are for the metro area, not for each city, and only go out to the year 2015. It
will benefit the inventory work of both cities to have the metro population projections
disaggregated and as soon as possible.
ATTACHMENT 1 - PAGE 4