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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/28/2005 Work Session . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2005 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, On Monday, November 28,2005 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Fitch, Ralston, Lundberg, Woodrow, and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Mike Kelly, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Ballew was absent (excused). 1. Arts Commission Appointments. . Librarian Barbara Thompson presented the staff report On this item. The Arts Commission will have three vacancies on its board due to the December 31, 2005 term expirations of members Scott Wylie, PJ Sargeant, and Don Durland. Mr. Wylie and Ms. Sargeant have both served two terms and are not eligible to re-apply for membership. Mr. Durland has served One term and is eligible to re-apply. In response to the news release of October 10,2005, the Arts Commission has received five applications to fill three vacancies. The Arts Commission reviewed all applications and met with the five applicants during its regular November 14 meeting. At that time, Betty Adams asked that her name be withdrawn from consideration, because she decided she could not give the commission the time it requires. The Arts Commission recommends that Don Durland be re-appointed and that Charlene Eckman and Robert Winkelman be appointed to the commission, with terms to expire December 31, 2009. Don Durland is eligible to serve another term. The Arts Commission has found him to be a valuable member. Ms. Eckman is a retired classroom and art teacher with extensive experience teaching art to children as well as experience with fund raising for non-profits. Mr. Winkelman is a photographer and a downtown business owner with experience in both the arts and in marketing. Ms. Andrews is a musician with experience in the performing arts. The commission believes her skills will be most useful in the future when the Performing Arts Center is functioning. The commission will encourage her to re-apply for a future vacancy. The commission believes all applicants are eligible and well qualified to serve On the Arts Commission. The council is requested to review the Arts Commissions' recommendations at the Work Session. Council is requested to appoint three candidates at tonight's Regular Session. . Council COnsenSus was to re-appoint Don Durland and appoint Charlene Eckman and Robert Winkelman to the Arts Commission during tonight's Regular Meeting. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 2 . 2. Fire and Life Safety Blue Ribbon Committee Report. A Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee was formed to make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council regarding options for short-term resolution of fmancial issues facing the Department of Fire and Life Safety. The scope of the committee's work was limited to reviewing service level impacts for various revenue and expenditure options and making recommendations for preparation of the FY2006-07 budget. With reductions in the department-generated revenues and continuing increases in costs, the Department of Fire and Life Safety will be facing an increasingly difficult time in developing a fiscal year 2006-2007 budget that will be adequate to continue existing service levels to the community. A Blue Ribbon Committee was formed consisting of fourteen members representing various stakeholders of Fire and Life Safety services. In addition, two City Council members served as liaisons to the committee. The committee convened three meetings in October and November, 2005 and reviewed the department's services and budget in order to make recommendations On service and funding levels for the FY2006-2007 budget Fire Chief Dennis Murphy introduced the Chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee, Rick Varnum, who would be presenting the report to council. He noted that Councilors Ballew and Ralston were council liaisons to the committee. . Mr. Varnum said it was his pleasure to be part of the committee and the chair. He discussed the diversity of the committee members and acknowledged the support from Niel Laudati and the Fire and Life Safety (F&LS) staff. Mr. Varnum presented the report from the Blue Ribbon Committee, which was included in the agenda packet. He said about two-thirds of the recommendations included increases in revenue. He explained that many of the increases related to raising existing fees and others included adding new fees. He discussed the new fees. He discussed other ways funds could be raised, such as grants. He said the secondary search for funding was the reallocation of existing resources. He said the committee discussed the three existing fIre contracts the city currently had and reallocation of some or all of those funds would be beneficial. He said lastly, the committee looked at cutting services. He said there was little interest in reducing essential fIre and life safety services to the residents of Springfield. He said the committee believed the council should direct Chief Murphy to enter into discussions with the City of Eugene regarding the anticipated increase in dispatch services fee. There could be some savings to the department through a decrease in that fee. He hoped the panel fulfilled the Mayor's charge in the recommendations provided. Mayor Leiken thanked Mr. Varnum and all of the members of the committee for their service. He said this was a very important subject for both short and long term. . Councilor Fitch also thanked Mr. Varnum and the committee members. She said she had worked with a number of fIre districts in her job as an insurance agent. The committee did a very comprehensive look at this and looked at it as a broader way to increase revenue. Chief Murphy had shown in the past that FireMed could be very successful in selling a program that could bring in revenue. She said it was also time to look at the building permit fees and grants, which could be very beneficial. Councilor Fitch said she was supportive of the way the committee had looked at this. She said the city had worked hard to reopen and man the fire station in Ward 4 and she did not want to see that cut again. She said it was also very important to talk with the City of Eugene regarding their increase. If they could not reduce the increase, . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 3 Springfield may need to look at other options. Overall she was very impressed and agreed to move forward with the committee's recommendations. Councilor Woodrow said he also appreciated the work of the committee. He asked about response fees and if they were fIrst responder fees. He would like more information On that issue. He agreed with the rest of the recommendations. Mr. Varnum said the F&LS Department had a consultant's report received in July 2005, which included additional information On all of the proposed fees. He said the committee's recommendations were consistent with what the consultant was also suggesting. Councilor Lundberg asked about the creation of a Fire Rescue Fund. Chief Murphy said it was similar to the Street Fund, although it would not be a dedicated fund. A Fire Rescue Fund would take the funds from fIre and rescue and acknowledge where it had come from. It was more of an acknowledgement of the work and the revenues that came from F&LS. Councilor Lundberg had a question On the building permit fee and the breakdown of that fee. She asked if they were in line with the developmental fees between residential and commercial. . Fire Marshall Al Gerard explained how he calculated those costs, which was different than the Development Services Department. Residential properties were inspected only at the time they were built, so there were nO ongoing costs for those buildings. Commercial properties were inspected at the time they were built and also on an annual basis, which related to an ongoing cost. Councilor Lundberg asked if the city charged for annual inspection. Mr. Gerard said the city had not charged for those annual inspections in the past, but could potentially begin to charge. He said there was an annual fee for specialized permits for hazardous materials. The city did not have an annual fee for annual inspections. Councilor Lundberg said it was something the city could consider doing. Mr. Gerard said there were cities that did charge an annual fee. Councilor Lundberg said she would like information about what other cities charged. Mayor Leiken discussed the building fees. He said although commercial buildings required more follow-up regarding annual inspections, residential buildings took more ofthe F&LS Departments time for fire suppression. He said it may make more sense to have the fee more even between residential and commercial. He said the commercial buildings needed to be up to State code. Chief Murphy said it would be up to council to determine where they would like to charge more. Staff was providing options for council to consider. The figures for residential and commercial were created by staff for the committee to consider, and the committee made their recommendations from that information. . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 4 . Councilor Woodrow asked if the thirty cents for commercial buildings would incorporate the ongoing inspections. Mr. Gerard said that was the intent, but perhaps the annual fee would be more appropriate. Councilor Woodrow confIrmed that Springfield F&LS still inspected every business each year, whereas Eugene did not. Chief Murphy said commercial occupancy loss was greatly reduced in Springfield because of the Fire Marshal's program. Councilor Pishioneri said the concern he had regarding the response fees was that the people that needed the help were not those who were calling. He asked who would be billed, the caller or the patient. Chief Murphy discussed past practice when Springfield was covered by private ambulance services. He said this new proposal would not put the responsibility On the caller. The patient had the right to refuse services. If they accepted services, there would be a bill. Councilor Pishioneri said he wasn't sure how this could be used to raise the funds noted. Chief Murphy discussed this fee directly related to services and how it might be perceived. Councilor Fitch gave an example of an auto accident. . Chief Murphy said this was also a way to increase FireMed customers. He explained. The committee did recommend the FireMed fee be increased. Springfield would be the fIrst fIre organization to apply a First Responder fee, but we also have FireMed to give citizens an option that would cover that cost as a member. Councilor Fitch said she would like to see this brought forward to goal setting On December 5. This alone would not initiate a new fee. Council would need to find the balance following good discussion. Councilor Ralston noted that Blue Ribbon Committee member Corkey Gourley pointed out that most homeowners policies had coverage for fire response included. He asked Chief Murphy how many fires the department responded to each year. Chief Murphy said for that fee, it would be about 150 times it would be charged. Councilor Ralston said somebody had to pay for fIre response. Councilor Fitch said this was being considered all around the state. Chief Murphy said staffwas not pitching any fee or service and would be comfortable with whatever council felt comfortable with. Staff wanted to give council as many options as possible to choose from. . Mayor Leiken said it came down to asking what Springfield city government did well. Fire and Life Safety was something Springfield did well. He said discussing this during goal setting would be a great exercise. He said it may be necessary to do similar exercises for all City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 5 . departments because of the low resources. He said the committee did an outstanding job and it was One of the fmest blue ribbon panel discussions presented to council in a long time. Councilor Woodrow thanked the committee and said he would like to have it come back to council. Councilor Ralston said the goal of the committee was to cover the $1.2M deficit. He said it was good that revenue sources were found, but more important was the proposal of the Fire Fund. He said so many revenue sources collected by the city in the name ofF&LS were going straight into the General Fund and it looked like F &LS was not paying for itself. He said it was an accounting method showing the income from the Fire and Life Safety. Mayor Leiken thanked Councilors Ralston and Ballew for serving On this committee. 3. Proposed Springfield Development Code (SDC) Amendments. City Planner Gary Karp presented the staff report On this item. The proposed SDC amendments are consistent with recently adopted Downtown Refmement Plan policies affirming the Public Land and Open Space (PLO) District as enabling legislation for the Justice Center. The proposed amendments to SDC Article 23 are divided into three categories: . 1) Revising the use list in SDC Section 23.020(2) "Government" to allow the uses that comprise the Justice Center and other specific uses along with minor siting standards exceptions specifically applying to setbacks, height, parking and fences in downtown Springfield. 2) Changing the approval process for uses listed in SDC Section 23.020(2) "Government" from Type III Discretionary Use (Planning Commission) to Type II Site Plan Review (staff). Currently, approval of all uses in SDC Section 23.020(2) requires Type III review. The Planning Commission recommended some proposed uses be reviewed under Type II procedure, but some should remain Type III. 3) Adding existing pedestrian amenity text from SDC Article 40 to SDC Article 23. These standards would be applied by staff during the Site Plan Review approval process. The proposed standards include sidewalks incorporating ornamental paving treatments, outdoor seating, additional landscaping, public art and pocket parks. These pedestrian amenity standards are consistent with recent amendments to the Downtown Refinement Plan which allows PLO zoned property in the Nodal Development Area and encourages pedestrian amenities in compliance with the Oregon Transportation Planning Rule. At the public hearing, the Planning Commission voted (5-0, with 2 absent) to recommend adoption of the attached Ordinance to the City Council. The Ordinance includes the Planning Commission's several revisions to the SDC amendments. However, during the preparation of the Ordinance, staff realized that there may be an unintentional consequence caused by requiring Type III Discretionary Use approval for fire stations, police stations, including jails, and public transit facilities. This issue is discussed in detail in Attachment 2 which suggests options for the City Council to either adopt the Ordinance as written or amend the Ordinance. If the City Council decides to amend the Ordinance, that amendment can be included in the second reading of the Ordinance. . Mr. Karp referred to Attachment 1 which outlined the amendments approved by the Planning Commission. He referred to Attachment 2 regarding the type of review. He discussed the City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 6 . options being presented to council regarding the review process. Staff was asking council to direct staff to amend the attached ordinance with one of the options listed. Councilor Ralston asked if staff had taken the modifications to the Planning Commission's recommendations back to the Planning Commission. Mr. Karp said they did not take it back to the Planning Commission. Option C kept the Planning Commission's wishes intact, but through a different review process. Councilor Lundberg described the process. She said staff recommended to the Planning Commission and the Planning Commission recommended to the council. She said if staff changed it again it should go back to the Planning Commission. She said she didn't have a problem with the amendments, but with the process. Council COnsensus was to take this back to the Planning Commission for their final recommendation before council took action. Councilor Fitch asked if this would hold up the process. She said tonight's public hearing should still be held. Mr. Karp said a second hearing had been scheduled for January 17,2006. Staff would do what they could to bring this to the Planning Commission before that date. 4. Justice Center Functional and Space Program. . Project Manager Carole Knapel presented the staff report on this item. On July 5, the City Council approved a contract with Liebert and Associates for the development of a Functional and Space Program for the Justice Center. The Program was necessary to document the requirements for the Police Department, Municipal Courts and City Jail. The work was to be completed by January 2006 for a cost of $93,600. The Draft Program was completed approximately 2 months early with a cost savings of approximately $10,000. Staff reviewed the Draft Program with the City Council On November 7. At that time, council had questions regarding the inclusion of a maintenance bay in the outbuilding. This bay has been provided for police staff to use for gathering evidence from vehicles. The staff will also be able to use this space for cleaning out police vehicles or doing minor repairs which can be done without taking the vehicle off site. Council also requested more information regarding the cost per square foot for the jail and courts used for the construction cost estimate. These estimates are based on national averages for building of similar types and sizes. Costs for these types of buildings are higher than for commercial buildings due to security requirements in construction methods and security features in the facility. Staff will present more detailed information On typical construction costs at the council Meeting. Additionally, at the November 7 work session, staff briefed the council On the following policy issues, which will ultimately affect the internal design and operations of the facility: . · Use of Bail Only Release Housing Offenders with Medical Issues · Charging Practices Good Time Credits · Jail Alternatives City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes Nov~mber 28, 2005 Page 7 . · Housing Women · Leasing Beds Staff is recommending that a Task Force, comprised of the Assistant City Manager, the Police Chief, the Municipal Judge, the City Prosecutor, the Finance Director, and a council representative, be formed to discuss, evaluate, and make recommendations to the council on these policy-related issues. Task Force recommendations and decisions would form the basis for future Justice Center policies and procedures. It is anticipated that this work would be completed in approximately One year. At that time, the council can decide whether to extend the work of the Task Force to include ongoing operational issues. Ms. Knapel referred to questions council had at the last work session. Ms. Knapel introduced Dennis Liebert, author of the program and Dan Wiley, who did the court portion of the program. Mr. Liebert focused on the police department and the jail portion of the facility. Ms. Knapel said there was a question from council at the last work session regarding the service bay provided in the ancillary building and whether or not that was a duplication of service. Mr. Liebert said there were two bays in the building for evidence processing. That bay could also be used for some technical maintenance as well. Ms. Knapel said it would be used for minor maintenance On vehicles to allow the vehicle to stay on site rather than taking it offsite. She referred to the cost per square foot and the question regarding the high amount for the jail portion of the building compared to other commercial buildings. . Mr. Liebert said one of the large costs was the concrete and rebar. He said that also expanded the net to gross. He discussed the cost of security and electronics, access controls, and greater circulation. Courts also have issues with volume, higher ceilings, different fmishes, and circulation. He discussed the corridors of the Police Department used to keep inmates separate and circulation issues related to those corridors. He noted that all of the building products needed were increasing in cost dramatically. Councilor Lundberg said she understood why the cost would be so high for the jail. She asked why courts had higher ceilings. Mr. Wiley said they were not excessively high ceilings. He discussed the issue of proportion in a room of this size. He said it was typical to raise the ceiling somewhat to give the room more volume and give a better sense of space. He said it was also commOn to raise the judges' bench up two or three feet. He said they would be about 12 foot high ceilings. Councilor Lundberg discussed conceptual and said it was an impressive amount of work. She thanked Mr. Liebert, Mr. Wiley and staff for their work. Councilor Pishioneri said he wanted to make sure the animals had physical barriers between the animal shelter and the K9 dogs. He said the K9 dogs were an investment and should have a safe place. Police Chief Jerry Smith said there was a place for them nOw that was rarely used. . Mr. Liebert said it was intended to be separated. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 8 . Councilor Pishioneri said the state had wide parameters regarding charges against prisoners. He said there was a symposium On charging inmates in the state at a conference in Salt Lake City. They would be coming up with standards. He discussed the good time credits and an automated computer system. Ms. Knapel said there would be policy issues for council's consideration. Mr. Liebert presented a slide show. He said there were seven issues that were starting points regarding the number of jail beds and how the beds were used for the city. Those seven issues included: use of bail only release; housing offenders with medical issues; charging practices; good time credits; alternatives to jail; housing women; and leasing beds. The goal of the discussion was the recommendation that a user committee be put in place of key players to address these issues and the design process continued. The decision the City of Springfield made On these issues would impact how the beds were used, how many beds could be leased and how many staff would be needed. He discussed issues of each of the seven options. He noted that those issues could be overcome, but needed to be discussed with the committee. He said data would also need to be collected once ajail was opened to see the impact of the decisions. A year after opening some changes may be needed based on that data. Discussion was held regarding the option of not taking certain inmates and sending them over to the Lane County jail. Councilor Pishioneri referred to combative arrestees and inmates and at what point they could be moved to Lane County. . Mr. Liebert discussed some possible options in that situation. Ms. Knapel said the task force was recommending those issues were dealt with at a policy level. That would be the basis for the Police Department to develop operating policies and procedures. Councilor Woodrow asked if that type of committee would be beyond the scope of the Police Planning Task Force (PPTF) or if it was something they could look at in conjunction. Chief Smith said a second set of eyes would be beneficial. Ms. Knapel said some of the issues involved court operations issues which would not be something the PPTF would be as familiar with as they were with some ofthe jail operations. Councilor Woodrow suggested having the Justice Center Task Force and the PPTF join to discuss these. Ms. Knapel said if that was council's direction, staff would arrange a joint meeting. Councilor Lundberg said the issues were very technical. The PPTF included many citizens who would not have the expertise the Justice Center Task Force members had in these areas. She would prefer the Justice Center Task Force work it all out and could then run it by the PPTF. Councilor Fitch suggested keeping the committee small enough to move forward. . Councilor Pishioneri said he agreed that it should be a small group with the expertise. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 28, 2005 Page 9 . Ms. Knapel asked if a councilor would like to be appointed as a council liaison to this task force. Councilor Pishioneri agreed to serve. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:41 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: ~~ Amy So City Reco aer . .