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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/10/2006 Work Session . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, APRIL 10,2006 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 10, 2006 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Fitch, Ballew, Lundberg, Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were Interim City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. I. Prohibiting Nudity and Indecent Exposure in a Public Place. Police Chief Jerry Smith presented the staff report on this item. There would be no negative fmancial impact to the city. . The proposed ordinance prohibits public nudity/indecent exposure with exception provided so as to comply with Oregon case law. This ordinance addresses the issue of public nudity because the Oregon Criminal Code is deficient to address issues of public nudity not associated with establishments engaged in adult nude or erotic dancing. Chief Smith said the ordinance was brought before Council for their consideration. Councilor Pishioneri said he would recommend doing what needed to be done to bring this into line with state statutes. Councilor Fitch asked why the fine was kept at $720.00. City Attorney Matt Cox said they wanted to keep it as a violation and that amount fit into the schedule. Councilor Ballew asked if other cities had a similar ordinance. Chief Smith yes. This ordinance was modeled after an ordinance in Eugene and Portland. Councilor Fitch asked if this needed to come before Council as a public hearing. Chief Smith said it would. 2. Intergovernmental Agreements. . Interim City Manager Cynthia Pappas presented the staff report on this item. The proposed FY 06-07 Budget includes contributions for a variety of services provided through IGA's with metro area partner agencies. Allocation of those funds includes a total of $317,569 (General Fund); . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 1 0, 2006 Page 2 $11,069 (Street Fund); $18,166 (Special Revenue Fund); and $35,000 (Transient Room Tax Fund). For many years, the Council and Budget Committee have chosen to increase the contracts at the level requested by each partner agency, based on cost-of-living increases or a formula- driven increase, such as population growth. In recent years, the choice to increase the funding levels in these contracts has become increasingly difficult while at the same time, the Council has had to make reductions in City services and personnel to maintain a balanced budget. The proposed FY 06-07 budget has been entered into the budget system at a hold flat rate, equal to FY 05-06 payments made to agencies, pending direction from Council. The Springfield Museum contract is not included in this presentation, as the Council recently reviewed it at the joint Council/Museum meeting and provided direction to staff to hold the amount of the contract flat as requested by the Springfield Museum. . Ms. Pappas said this was brought to Council prior to the Budget Committee so more time could be spent discussing this topic. She said the contracts had currently been listed with no cost of living (COLA) listed. She noted the agreement with Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) for Metro Planning Services $21,530. Subsequent to putting those numbers in the budget system, Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor, LCOG Director George Kloeppel, Lane County Administrator Bill VanVactor and Ms. Pappas had a discussion about this and came to an agreement that since Periodic Review had come to a close and the coming year was more of a maintenance year for the Metro Plan, the work could be funded at a $10,000 level, rather than the $21,530. She said there were a number of representatives from the difference agencies in the audience to hear the Council's discussion and were available as resources if needed. Mayor Leiken spoke regarding the Lane County Boundary Commission and asked if Lane County was the only county with a boundary commission. Mr. Van V actor said that was correct. Mayor Leiken asked why. Mr. Van V actor addressed this question. He said this had been discussed often at Springfield, Eugene, Lane County (SEL) meetings. In the past, Lane County had sought to pursue some legislation to eliminate the last Boundary Commission in Oregon and had not yet reached agreement. They needed to review the statutes to see how each city in Lane County used the Boundary Commission. He said a straight repeal without consulting the other districts would not be prudent. Councilor Ballew said overall she felt the City got good value for their money. Regarding an increase of three percent, she would like to hold steady until each request had been made from the entities. Ms. Pappas referred to Attachment 2 included in the agenda packet which showed what each agency had requested. Councilor Ballew said that was unclear. . . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 1 0, 2006 Page 3 Ms. Pappas referred to Attachment 2, page 2, which showed the requested amount from the Health and Human Services. Councilor Ballew recommended looking at each agency's request and services individually to determine the amount to give. It may not be three percent for each agency. Ms. Pappas referred to the request from Intergovernmental Human Services. She said the amount was cut back because of a reduction in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) received by the City. Of the CDBG funding, the Human Services Commission (HSC) received fifteen percent, therefore the reduction to HSC was approximately $12,000. They had, in turn, asked for a one-time allocation of that amount of money to make them whole. Councilor Ballew said she would like to see justification for that figure. She referred to the Lane Metro Partnership. She said she was happy with them, and would be resistant to changing. She didn't feel a single staff member or new entity, such as the Springfield Chamber could take over that role. Councilor Ralston said he was not supportive of a three percent increase across the board until the City saw where it was standing with the budget. . Councilor Fitch said she agreed that an across the board three percent increase was not the best choice. She also agreed the Lape Metro Partnership had done good things in recent times. She would like to continue to see what the City would get for the dollars, and that it was outcome driven with actual goals. She said she would like to see a report on how much the Partnership was involved in recruiting and bringing in the large companies and how much was done by City staff or other sources. She agreed funding for business recruitment was needed, but was not sure where those funds should be going. She said she had not yet seen the proposal from the Springfield Chamber and agreed it would take some additional staff. She said Mr. Tamulonis was very good, but she had not seen a plan for him taking on that role either. She would like to see a plan from all three and what would happen for the dollars. She discussed the Glenwood area and asked how the Partnership might be able to help with an RFI to bring in some interested parties. She said she had no problem with those, such as the League of Oregon Cities (LOC), that were calculated by population. She had some questions related to LRAP A. She wanted to hear that they were on the right path. She said it would be interesting'to see what the outcome would be from the Lane County discussion regarding the Lane County Boundary Commission. She said she understood the Public Safety Coordinating Council (pSCC) was mandated. Councilor Lundberg said she supported the Springfield Chamber and the Convention and Visitor's Association of Lane County (CV ALCO). She was not supportive of a straight three percent for all agencies and felt each agency needed to be considered individually. She discussed the HSC. She said Housing Manager Kevin Ko had told her there would be a more generous allocation from CDBG next year. This was a bad year for CDBG, so she would not necessarily want to support an additional amount. She said LCOG dollars were spread all over. She was not supportive ofa three percent increase. She asked ifMPC related to the Periodic Review. . Ms. Pappas said the Metro Planning contract was separate from LCOG dues and Lane County Boundary Commission. . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 10, 2006 Page 4 Ms. Pappas said the dues paid to LCOG were similar to the dues paid to the LOC for base line services provided. Councilor Lundberg spoke regarding the Lane Metro Partnership. She said she would also like to see a work plan in terms of what the potentials were and some of the things going on specifically with the partnership. She said LOC could do more, and she would like to know what efforts they were making to lobby. She wanted them to advocate for things that benefited cities. She also had questions regarding LRAP A and said she was not supportive of an extra layer of government. She said there were good things that came out ofPSCC, but it needed to be determined what the most effective use of the committee was and budget accordingly. Councilor Pishioneri discussed the new hotel rooms planned for the future that would affect the room tax. He suggested an increase to the Springfield Chamber commensurately based on the increase in rooms for economic development rather than taking away funding from Lane Metro. This could mean some assistance for Mr. Tamulonis so two hands could be working for the same goal. Ms. Pappas confirmed his request. She reminded Councilor Pishioneri that the new hotels would be online in two years. . Councilor Pishioneri said this could be something to look at in the future. He agreed to leave the Human Services Commission status quo. He felt it was important for Springfield to stay involved with LCOG. He said he did not see exactly what the City would get or what was being proposed from the Lane Metro Partnership. He said he would like to see what could be expected from them. He said the LOC helped with training. He said he had an issue with LRAP A, because it meant we had an organization doing the same thing the DEQ was mandated to do. He did note that LRAP A was local and concerned about this community and our neighborhood. He would like LRAP A to keep the City in the loop. He said more needed to be found out about the future of the Lane County Boundary Commission. He noted the amount the City gave to the PSCC. He asked if the City was required to participate fmancially or only by membership in the PSCC. Ms. Pappas said the mandate was that we have a PSCC and they meet upon occasion. An agreement made several years ago included hiring a management analyst as staff support to the PSCC to monitor statistics, etc. She said it was not a requirement, but rather an agreement made by the participants. Councilor Pishioneri asked if Springfield was getting their money's worth from that staff as determined by the Council. . Councilor Woodrow said the LCOG staff member was doing a good job of providing assistance and statistics to the PSCC. He said he felt there was good analysis coming out of PSCC. He said he was not in favor of a three percent increase across the board. Status quo on PSCC would be fme. He asked LRAPA's Executive Director, Merlyn Hough, ifLRAPA superseded the DEQ in Lane County regarding air quality measures. It is not duplication. He said LRAP A was taking care of our businesses and as long as they continued to do a good job at that, he had no problem funding them. He said he also questioned having someone from Salem telling our businesses what they could or could not do when we currently have a local agency to monitor that. He said . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 10, 2006 Page 5 he had no problem with the request from the LOC. Councilor Woodrow agreed that he would like to see a plan from the Partnership, the Chamber and City staff of what could be provided for the money. Lane Metro Partnership had done some good things in the past and would hope they could continue to do so. He said he would agree to keep LCOG at status quo, but could consider raising it some because of the decrease for the Metro Planning. Ms. Pappas asked for clarification. Councilor Woodrow said Human Services should remain status quo. He said the amount for the Chamber should stand. He noted the many things the Chamber did for the City. Councilor Fitch said she liked the idea of the additional increase of funding coming from new room tax funds in a couple of years for economic development assistance. Councilor Ballew asked if it was the job of the Chamber to attract business. She would be interested in seeing a plan come forward from the Chamber, as well as the others. . Mayor Leiken said land supply was the issue regarding recruitment of businesses.. The Council had made addressing that issue one of its number one priorities and that needed to be addressed. He noted the recent appointment by the Governor of Bob Repine as the new director of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department and said he felt Mr. Repine was an outstanding choice. The City needed to stay at the table with Lane Metro Partnership to make sure Springfield was there to address who the next executive director would be should current director, Jack Roberts win his bid for Oregon Supreme Court Justice. He said he felt an Area Commission for Transportation (ACT) should be formed. He said the West Eugene Parkway (WEP) should not have been with the MPC. The MPC was addressed as a conflict and resolution committee and transportation was too specific for that committee. He said it was something to seriously consider and he would begin by speaking with Lane County Commissioner Bill Dwyer. He said he felt MPC would be better off getting out of transportation and back to where it did the most good. Councilor Fitch agreed with the Mayor's comments regarding the MPC and an ACT. Mayor Leiken said the City could be at a disadvantage this year with LOC. He noted Community Relations Coordinator Niel Laudati's role in monitoring legislation and what was going on. LOC needed a new director. LRAP A worked best with a non-activist board. He said he had worked with both DEQ and the Environmental Pollution Agency (EP A) and felt that having the local side worked well, but it depended on the board make-up. He discussed difficulty with the Baxter issue. When the staff was allowed to do the work, LRAP A did well. He said he was in agreement on the rest of the agencies. . Councilor Lundberg said there was a time when room tax went to projects in the community that in turn brought people to the area. She said we hadn't been able to do that for quite some time, but she was hopeful as the room tax rose, there would be an opportunity to do that again. She discussed some of those projects including a score board at the pool, gymnastic events and other things that promoted visitors that would stay in Springfield. She said the focus of LRAP A should be the protection of our air rather than as a regulation authority. She said our ACT was the Lane County Commissioners. She said she had no problem with the County Commissioners . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 1 0, 2006 Page 6 serving as the ACT. She discussed the make-up of an ACT and the issues that could cause. She said MPC was supposed to be a resolution entity, but that didn't occur during the meetings. That needed to change to bring the group back to what it was supposed to be. Mayor Leiken discussed the work plan from the Lane Metro Partnership and said copies could be obtained from Mr. Roberts, Glenda Poling or Kathy Baker. Ms. Pappas said a copy would be put in the next Communication Packet. She said staff would also ask the Chamber and Mr. Tamulonis about comparable information from them. Councilor Woodrow asked if the City's relationship with CV ALCO was just a membership. Yes. Councilor Ralston said he was confident that Mr. Hough, Executive Director of LRAP A, would bring a presentation to Council that showed what LRAP A was doing very well. He said it had been a difficult two or three years, but was now more balanced with a reasonable membership. He said Mr. Hough was a fine executive director. Councilor Woodrow discussed the good work Sharon Banks had done with the trucking industry. That project saved a lot of pollution going into the air in our community and LRAP A should be very proud. . Mayor Leiken also commended Sharon Banks. He appreciated the fact that LRAP A had been steadied. He said it was important to have a strong executive director in these agencies and he noted Councilor Ralston's comments that the LRAPA board was becoming more cohesive. Councilor Ballew asked Ms. Pappas if she had enough direction. Ms. Pappas said she understood Council did not want to give an across the board three percent increase, but wanted to look at each agency individually. She said she was not clear how Council wanted to address LRAPA's request as noted on page 7 of Attachment 2 in the agenda packet. Councilor Fitch said justification would be needed. Councilor Ballew suggested LRAP A present the information to the Budget Committee during the other IGA presentations. Ms. Pappas noted that the City was seeing nearly a fourteen percent room tax increase this fiscal year to date. Councilor Ballew said they had changed the ground rules on utilization of transient occupancy tax. She asked for a brief update on that information in the form of a Communication Packet memo. . Councilor Ralston said he thought the City should remain with Lane Metro Partnership, but was not convinced that we should stay with $50,000. He would like to see some justification and determine out best option. He said he wanted what was best for Springfield, whether that was . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April I 0, 2006 Page 7 the Chamber, additional City staff or the Partnership. We need to highlight what's best with Springfield. Councilor Pishioneri said he saw the Chamber as an important element in economic development. He discussed what he saw as the Chamber's job of assisting those businesses that had already arrived in Springfield and helping them to grow and expand. Economic Development was bringing in businesses for the Chamber. They were both equally important. Councilor Ballew said the $35,000 to the Chamber was now being used for visitor and tourism sefV1ces. Councilor Ralston said he agreed with the Mayor regarding the urban growth boundary (UGB). That issue needed to be addressed before our growth issues could be solved. Mayor Leiken said the City relied on the State as the chief recruiter for businesses brought to our state and area. He said it was challenging to compete against other states and places like Seattle, and we needed to rely on our partnership with the State. He noted the marketing for Eugene when Joey Harrington won the Heisman Trophy. He said strong partnerships were important as well as the coordination with the State. He relayed a story told to him by Tom Merrill from Royal Caribbean regarding a company choosing a site because of a coordinated effort. He said the Lane Metro Partnership had done a good job of that type of coordination. He said it was good to look at all options, but they needed to look at the track records as well. . Ms. Pappas thanked all of those from the partnering agencies that attended the work session. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:23 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: ~~~ Amy So I City Recorder .