Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/03/2006 Regular . City of Springfield Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006 The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 3, 2006 at 7:35 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATIENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ballew, Ralston, Lundberg, Woodrow, and Pishioneri. Also present were Interim City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Finance Director Bob Duey, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Fitch was absent (excused). PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Leiken. SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT CONSENT CALENDAR . IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Fitch). Claims 2. Minutes a. March 20,2006 - Work Session b. March 20, 2006 - Regular Meeting c. March 27, 2006 - Work Session 3. Resolutions a. RESOLUTION NO. 06-14 - A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT PERMIT PROJECT P30373: WILLOW BROOK SUBDIVISION, PRASAD COURT (FORMERLY KA YLEE COURT) IMPROVEMENTS. 4. Ordinances a. ORDINANCE NO. 6163 - AN ORDINANCE VACATING PARCEL 2 ON PARTITIONS 94-P0498, 94-P0499 AND 94-P0500 IN THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, LANE COUNTY, OREGON. . City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 2 . 5. Other Routine Matters a. Approval of Liquor License Endorsement for Patty's Cafe, Located at 2303 Olympic Street, Springfield, OR. b. Approval of Liquor License Endorsement for Sonny's Tavern, Located at 533 Q Street, Springfield, OR. PUBLIC HEARINGS BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE . I. Curtis Greer, 357 55th Street, Springfield, OR Mr. Greer presented DVDs to the Mayor and Councilor Woodrow of the Veteran's Day Parade and thanked them for their assistance with the parade. He then went on to speak about concerns he had about the proposed ordinance for electronic reporting for second hand stores. He said Springfield should not be a follower of Eugene. He discussed the government in Canada and said it was a move to socialism to take our tax dollars and fund things in another country. Examination of systems in our country should be done first. He noted the funding needed to staff the j ail and his concern with the City considering this unproven program. He noted a past problem that cost the City thousands of dollars. 2. Hanalei Rozen, 1551 B Street, Springfield, OR Ms. Rozen said the first full week of April in Oregon was Arbor Week. She discussed events and programs in place when the City was a Tree City, and recommended Council consider that in the upcoming budget. She urged the City to take care of the trees we have. Ms. Rozen discussed the jail and the new complex, and said it was important to look at the thought of closing B Street in the context of urban development and the pattern in downtown. She said B Street and A Street were important historically and were important to keep. She was very concerned about closing B Street and urged Council to look closely to incorporate a passageway. She commended Council on their meeting with the Historic Commission. It was time to consider growing a city with heritage in mind. As development went forward, it was good to remind the public the City belongs to everyone and there were a lot of things Springfield had that other cities did not have. She was glad the Council had asked the Historic Commission to look carefully at how to grow our City and our downtown. 3. Aletha Lou Harmon. 145 Pioneer Parkway East, Springfield, OR Ms. Harmon spoke regarding the 2nd Hand Dealers license and the monitoring system that was proposed. She said she had a business with thirty to thirty-five dealers who went out to purchase items to sell in the store. She said she did have people that came into the store to sell goods about three to four times a week. She discussed the items she bought, including trinkets, but rarely. jewelry. She said she did turn people away that she was suspicious of. She asked Council to look at exceptions when considering this ordinance. She said she could go to Police to input those few things she buys if the City budget was unable to make those entries. She said her business would be under the ordinance and did not believe it would help the Police implement better control. She did believe better control was needed, but didn't feel this was the method. She discussed sandwich boards in downtown, and would like to be considered as part of downtown when putting up signboards. She asked that the downtown area be expanded to include Main Street to Pioneer Parkway East. . Mayor Leiken asked Ms. Pappas to look into Ms. Harman's question about the signboard. . City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 3 . 4. Tony Mills, 855 A Street, Springfield. OR Mr. Mills asked Council about the City's consideration of different taxation in the City, most recently the First Call Fire fees. He said he didn't understand this new fee being proposed and believed that's what taxes were paid for. He said the private sector had to adjust their budget each time the City added a new fee. He said there had been two letters to the editor about this fee and that was what brought it to his attention. 5. Fred Simmons. 312 South 52nd Place. Springfield, OR Mr. Simmons discussed the Olympic Trials request and that it brought back memories of a dispute over the rebuilding of Hayward Field in the 1980's. He said the proposal (for the Trials request) had a lot of strange numbers in it. He discussed the figures per day in room tax and questioned the figures noted during the event. He said he was supportive of offering some support to the Olympic Trials, but if it was going to be for hospitality for the media, local low-income citizens would not want to see it spent that way. He discussed the first request for shuttle service and said there was a lot of detail still needed. If the City was going to pay more than would be brought in, the people needed to be told where the money would come from. His second concern was regarding the 2nd Hand Dealer Ordinance. He discussed a program he saw today called "Pawn Master" which scanned the information from a person's driver's license and printed it on the same form used by the Springfield Police Department. He said if that system was in place, the store owner would need to just punch a button and the information would feed into the Police Departments system, decreasing the number of hours needed to input at a much lower cost. He said the goal was to track the stolen merchandise, decrease the personnel costs in the Police Department, and make it tough for those selling stolen merchandise. Part of that system was already in place and he believed the qualified people in our Information Technology (IT) Department that worked on the Library system, could implement similar software. He asked Council to look at those details to achieve the net results at a minimum cost. If a dealer had to buy some equipment, that would be part of the program. 6. Jeff Thurn, North Star Coin and Jewelry, 643 Main Street. Springfield, OR Mr. Thurn said he had been in business for five years in downtown. He said he was here to address the 2nd Hand Dealer requirements. He said he wanted to make sure that when the Council looked to solve a problem, they actually solved the problem. He asked them to consider the objectives. He said the proposed ordinance did nothing to prevent crime. To recover stolen property, a new system was needed that was more efficient and modernized. He said he didn't know what that could be, but it must be electronic. He said in his five years in business, no Police officer had come to his business to let him know who the criminals were in town. He said the owners operated in a vacuum, and each business was very different and that must be kept in mind. He said he supported Councilor Pishioneri's view that if the thieves left Springfield, that would be good. . COUNCIL RESPONSE CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS . 1. Correspondence from Thomas F. Murrill, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Royal Caribbean International, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami,FL Regarding the Lane Metro Partnership. 2. Correspondence from Don Oldenburg, Site Director, Symantec Springfield Campus, 555 International Way, Springfield, OR Regarding the Lane Metro Partnership. 3. Correspondence from Bob Albers, Chairman and CEO, United States Bakery, P.O. Box 14769, Portland, OR Regarding the Lane Metro Partnership. . City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 4 4. Correspondence from Lance Barkley, Gil Burgess and Buck Biggs Regarding the 2nd Hand Dealer Automated Reporting System. 5. Correspondence and Supporting Documents from O.B. (Buck) Biggs, BEST CASH, 1840 Main Street, Springfield, OR Regarding Pawnshops and 2nd Hand Stores. 6. Correspondence from John Mullen, 650 Harlow Road #114, Springfield, OR Regarding the EmX Route. 7. Correspondence from Barbara Blomquist, 1224 F Street, Springfield, OR Regarding the Pioneer Parkway EmX Corridor. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO ACCEPT THE CORRESPONDENCE FOR FILING. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Fitch) BIDS ORDINANCES BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL I. Committee Appointments a. Historic Commission Confirmations. . City Planner Kitti Gale presented the staff report on this item. The Historic Commission had two openings on its seven-member commission due to term expirations on March 1,2006, of Maren Tomblin who was originally appointed to the Commission in February of 2005 to finish the term of Donald McCormack; and, the term expiration of James McNett who was originally appointed to the Commission in February 2005, to fInish the term of Karen Glickman. On March 27,2006, the Council interviewed the two candidates and recommended their re-appointment to their first 4-year terms. Springfield Code 1-10-1, Historic Commission Charge, requires that the 7 -member Commission shall be residents, electors, or property owners within Springfield, appointees of other Springfield public agencies such as Willamalane Park & Recreation District and School District #19, or specialists with expertise in such fields as architecture, history, architectural history, planning or archaeology who live within the Metro-area General Plan boundaries. A Commission comprised of members who meet professional qualifications for State Certified Local Governments (CLG) accreditation is desired for State funding. Maren Tomblin is a Springfield resident property owner in the Washburne Historic District and a designer for Pivot Architecture. She holds a Masters of Architecture degree and has a background in preservation from Dubuque, Iowa. James McNett, a Eugene resident, is a U of 0 graduate and Historic Preservation student who previously worked for 25 years as an architect in the Los Angeles area. . IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO RE-APPOINT MAREN TOMBLIN AND JAMES MCNETT TO THE HISTORIC COMMISSION WITH TERMS TO EXPIRE APRIL City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 5 . 3,2010. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Fitch). 2. Business from Council. a. Committee Reports I. . Councilor Lundberg said the City had done well with meeting with business owners to try to find solution for past issues. She said a better way to get the information on used merchandise to a computer base was needed. She said there was a lot of opportunity for the process to change. That change could best be figured out by the businesses and the Police Department. She would like to see them work through this and try to come to a resolution before it came back to Council. Councilor Pishioneri said he would be happy to be involved in that process. 2. Councilor Ralston discussed LRAP A. He said discussion had been held during the last several meetings of LRAP A regarding regulating vehicle emissions and excessively smoking vehicles. He said it was unclear what that meant. He said there were different options on the table and he asked Council to relay to him any suggestions on how to approach this issue. He contacted three board members and there seemed to be a split vote on this issue. He said it was an enforcement issue, which was not LRAPA'sjob. . Councilor Pishioneri recommended drafting a letter to the leading law enforcement agency regarding the state statute in the driving code regarding visible exhaust emissions from a vehicle operating on a state highway. The letter could ask the law enforcement agency to step up enforcement in our area. He said a letter from . LRAP A would help. Councilor Ralston said that would be his suggestion. He discussed the difficulty in determining what was considered excessive emission. 3. Councilor Ballew discussed Coburg and the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC). She recalled that Springfield would not be opposed if the true total cost was acceptable to Coburg. Since that time, more pressure had been building. She said she planned to write a letter to Congressman DeFazio about Springfield's concerns and the cost issue. She said she could share that letter with the other Councilors before sending it out. 4. Councilor Woodrow said he attended the Veteran's Day Parade Committee Meeting. The committee agreed to move the Veteran's Day Parade to a Memorial Day Parade starting in 2007. This year they would have a Veteran's Day Parade in Springfield on November II. The Springfield Holiday Parade Committee was helping them accomplish that. He said it would be easier for all once they moved it to Memorial Day. He said the Veteran's Day Parade Committee was very happy to be in Springfield. . 5. Councilor Ballew commended the Library for their Library Kick-off event tonight. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 6 . 6. Councilor Pishioneri referred to Mr. Simmons comment about the program that scanned a person's driver's license. He said that was a great idea, but Oregon's current licenses were not scan enabled. The barcode on the back of Oregon driver's licenses included the name only. 7. Mayor Leiken said Governor Kulongoski was in our community today for the Tourism Conference, but took time to take a tour of Royal Caribbean. He noted the Governor's assistance in bringing Royal Caribbean to Springfield with a special public works grant. He said the Governor was very proud. The Mayor noted how beautiful the Royal Caribbean building was, especially at night when it was all lit up. BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER I. Resolution to Adopt State of Oregon Legislative Changes House Bi112776 to the Special Assessment Program. RESOLUTION NO. 06-15 - A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A RENEWAL OF A SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FOR RESIDENTIAL HISTORIC PROPERTY UNDER ORS 358.540 AND 358.541 AS PROVIDED BY HOUSE BILL 2776 (2005 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY). . City Planner Kitti Gale presented the staff report on this item. The State's Special Assessment Program offers owners of historic residential properties a 15-year tax assessment freeze in exchange for an approved plan to implement repairs and restorations oftheir property. During the 15-year implementation period, the property tax assessment is frozen and the owner pays only the current assessed value on the property until the completion of their improvements. In December 2006, the State Legislature passed House Bi112776, effective January 6, 2006, that will permit Special Assessment participants an opportunity to apply for a second, 15-year period to complete their restorations. The Springfield Historic Commission is dedicated to planning and protecting the community's historic resources. The Commission has adopted goals that serve as a framework for fulfilling this mission. These goals are consistent with City Council goals of: Preserving our hometown feel as we grow; Partnering with citizens and other public agencies; and, Participating in a renaissance for Springfield. The Historic Commission's Goal G states: Develop and Offer Incentives to Preserve Historic Resources. The state Special Assessment Program is one example of these incentives. Owners of historic residential properties may apply to the State of Oregon Special Assessment Program, which is designed to encourage restoration and preservation of historic residential structures. During the joint Historic Commission and City Council work session on March 27,2006, the Commission described the incentives offered to property owners of historic residential structures through the Special Assessment Program; provided the Council with background information regarding House Bill 2776 changes to the program; and recommended to Council that a resolution be approved to enable Springfield owners to take full advantage of the opportunities provided . through the State of Oregon's Special Assessment Program. . Ms. Gale noted that Springfield would get the benefit from a program run by the State. She explained the process. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 7 . IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 06-15. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Fitch). 2. Request for Room Tax Funds to Assist with Funding the 2008 United States Olympic Trials. Community Development Manager John Tamulonis presented the staff report on this item. The request to Council for $100,000 is in Attachment I, a letter from the Oregon Track Club for the United States 2008 Olympic Trials to be held at Hayward Field. Eugene and Lane County have already approved contributions of $150,000 and $250,000 respectively to assist with this major marketing opportunity and significant athletic event June 27th to July 6th 2008. The requested funds from Springfield would be to provide shuttle service through L TD for the athletes, trainers, and media staying in Gateway hotels. Co-chairs of the Local Organizing Committee Greg Erwin and Vin Lananna, (University of Oregon Associate Athletic directorlDirector of Track & Field) will be at the Work Session to present a very short video and discuss the request with Council. Kari Westlund, Executive Director, CV ALCO will also be at the meeting to provide information on the visitor impacts locally (See Attachment 2). . Room Tax revenues in Springfield from visitor stays are almost approaching pre-9/11 level, despite the reduction in overall room quantity since then. By the time ofthe Olympic Trials, Springfield's Gateway area room count is anticipated to be about 1,250 with the addition of two or more hotels to the area. With 100% occupancy and average rates of $110, the $1.5 million in room revenues translates into about $75,000 in Springfield Room Tax revenue just during the event. For comparison current average occupancy is about 75% for the 900+ Springfield rooms mostly in the Gateway area. As part of the Trials package, Nike will underwrite a premiere annual track event starting in 2007. That event will bring more room tax revenue in 2007 (and annually later) to build excitement and anticipation for the Trials. Significantly, both the annual meet and the Trials will focus national attention on our area. Mr. Tamulonis referred to a document that was distributed to Council listing potential expenditures for the money allocated by the City. He said Council had the option of suggesting other ways to fund this, but at this time the proposal was for the funds to come from room tax revenue. Councilor Ballew said the shuttle service amount seemed incorrect. Mr. Tamulonis said those were preliminary figures. This new document represented the suggestions that had been discussed during the work session for things that could be done in Springfield. Ms. Pappas said the amount may have also changed because the committee had met with LTD who was now stepping up more for the shuttle service. . Councilor Ballew asked about the banners and if they could be reusable. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 3, 2006 Page 8 . Mr. Tamulonis said they had several options and would work with them on that. Mayor Leiken thanked those that had worked on the Olympic Trials and bringing it back where it belonged. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO APPROVE ALLOCATING $50,000 IN ROOM TAX FUNDS IN FY2006 AND AGAIN IN FY2007 TO ASSIST WITH FUNDING THE 2008 UNITED STATES OLYMPIC TRIALS, AND THE LANE TRANSIT DISTRICT SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE FOR THE 2008 OLYMPIC TRIALS. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 Absent - Fitch). BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa . Attest: ~~ City Recor r .