HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/03/2005 Regular
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City of Springfield
Regular Meeting
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY OCTOBER 3, 2005
The City of Springfield council met in regular session in the Council Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 3,2005, at 7:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Woodrow, Ballew, Fitch, and Lundberg. Also
present were City Manager Mike Kelly, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and
members of the staff.
Councilors Ralston and Pishioneri were absent (excused).
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Leiken.
SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT
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1. Presentation to Springfield Fire and Life Safety.
Chief Murphy discussed the importance of controlling and stopping a fire before there is great
loss of property. He said that along with loss of property often goes loss of jobs. He referred to
the fire in Sutherlin that closed down the entire mill. He discussed fire prevention efforts and fire
suppression. He discussed the ambulance workers who become firefighters when needed. He
discussed the efforts to control the fire at Bi-Mart and that it was able to reopen after just fifty-
one days; Fire Chief Dennis Murphy introduced Don Leber from the Mohawk Bi-Mart.
Mr. Leber thanked the council for their time and attention. He said service organizations were
often taken for granted. He said when Bi-Mart reopened their store in September following the
restoration after the fire, they acknowledged the firefighters who helped to save their store. He
said it was critical to keep their stores going and open. He said with their quick reaction time,
Springfield firefighters suppressed the fire enough to prevent a lot of fire damage. There was
only smoke damage. Employees were able to get the store cleaned and restocked in fifty-one
days. None of the employees lost their jobs because they were able to get their store reopened so
quickly and he commended the firefighters for their actions. He read from a plaque that he
presented to Springfield's Fire and Life Safety: "Bi-Mart would like to recognize Springfield Fire
and Life Safety Department for their quick response and professional manner in suppressing the
fire and saving the Bi-Mart store on July 18, 2005. Our deepest gratitude for your outstanding
efforts."
Councilor Ballew thanked Bi-Mart for working so quickly to get their store opened. She said she
loved the store.
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City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2005
Page 2
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Mr. Leber said this event proved to them how important they were to the community, as they had
always considered the community important to the store. He said they were fortunate to be able
to reopen their pharmacy within a couple of days.
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 4 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (2 ABSENT - RALSTON AND
PISmONERI).
a. Claims
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b. Minutes
a. September 12,2005 - Work Session
b. September 19, 2005 - Work Session
c. September 19, 2005 - Regular Meeting
d. September 26, 2005 - Work Session
e. September 26, 2005 - Special Regular Meeting
c. Resolutions
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d. Ordinances
e. Other Routine Matters
PUBLIC HEARINGS
BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE
COUNCIL RESPONSE
CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS
1. Correspondence from David Calderwood, 28104 Spencer Creek Road, Eugene, OR
Regarding the Lane County Ordinance 19-04 for Work Session September 26 (Note: This
item is actually scheduled for Council's October 10,2005 Work Session.)
2. Correspondence from David Calderwood, 28104 Spencer Creek Road, Eugene, OR .
Regarding Mandatory Rabies Reporting.
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 4 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (2 ABSENT - RALSTON AND
PISmONERI).
BIDS
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ORDINANCES
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2005
Page 3
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BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL
1. Committee Appointments
a. Springfield Justice Center - Confirm Appointments for the Citizen Advisory Committee
(CAe).
Project Assistant Susanna Julber presented the staff report on this item. The City Council
conducted interviews with the applicants for the Justice Center CAC on September 26, and
chose five citizens to serve on the committee.
As part of the planning for the Springfield Justice Center, the CAC will provide input
throughout the design process in regard to the outward design of the facility and its
relationship to downtown Springfield. The city received thirteen applications for the Justice
Center CAC, and the council interviewed ten people. Two applicants dropped out of the
process, and one applicant did not come to the interviews. There are five vacancies on the
CAC.
Following the interviews with CAC applicants on September 26, the council conducted
deliberations and tentatively chose five applicants. However, council directed staff to wait to
notify CAC applicants until a project architect was chosen. A project architect is expected to
be chosen on October 3, pending reference checks.
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Discussion was held regarding why the names of the five were not listed in the agenda
packet. There had been a question about one of the applicants pending the selection ofthe
architect.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY
COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO APPOINT JIM ECKMAN, ELDON SmELDS,
MAREN TOMBLIN, JOHN TUTTLE, AND SCOTT OLSON TO THE JUSTICE
CENTER CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A
VOTE OF 4 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (2 ABSENT - RALSTON AND PISmONERI)
2. Business from Council
a. Committee Reports
1 ~ Councilor Woodrow reported on the City/County Public Safety Task Force. He said
Commissioner Stewart brought forward a proposal for a sales tax dedicated to public
safety and removing the funding for public safety out of the County General Fund
and into this dedicated fund. The tax would exclude medicine, groceries and motel
tax. If it included funding for the Springfield Jail, Councilor Woodrow would
strongly recommend council put forth a resolution in support. If it did not, council
should discuss it further.
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Councilor Lundberg said the proposal currently included the recommendation for the
$2M for the Springfield Jail. Eugene did not vote in support of the proposed measure
and wanted more information regarding the operations. The proposed measure
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2005
Page 4
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included a commitment to fifty beds for county use and fifty beds exclusively for
Springfield. Many details still needed to be worked out. She said Springfield Police
Chief Smith, Eugene Police Chief Lehner and Lane County Sheriff Burger would be
working out the details regarding operations. It was still unknown whether or not the
County Commissioners would enact this on their own or if it would be referred
directly to the voters.
Councilor Ballew said a sales tax was a good idea, but Springfield didn't even know
who was in business in Springfield. Exercising a sales tax may be difficult.
Councilor Fitch said she agreed. Payroll taxes were mentioned and that was
currently in place and in use. A sales tax had been voted down by voters in Oregon
over and over. Payroll taxes were already in place. She said weighing public safety
and the Justice Center against a few cents of a payroll tax would be better.
Councilor Lundberg said there was a survey and one of the taxes that was palatable
was the sales tax. Part of the proposal included a reduction in property taxes by $1
per $1000 in lieu of changing to the sales tax. There could be the potential for
savings for some people. She agreed the mechanism may not be there. The other tax
that had support was a gross receipts tax, which had similar issues as a sales tax. The
proposal was to the commissioners as a recommendation. She referred to Ron
Chastain who had expertise in this area.
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Councilor Woodrow said the proposal included a one percent sales tax for three
years. After three years, it would go back to the voters as a permanent tax. It could
not be increased above one percent without a vote. He agreed that it was difficult to
implement without a business registry. Other committee members suggested
Springfield implement a business registry. Ifthe County Commissioners go forward
with the proposal, more information would be given to the council.
Mr. Kelly said the task force of Chief Smith, Chief Lehner and Sheriff Burger would
need to bring back the detailed information regarding jail operations to the County
Commissioners so they could consider it for a first reading by October 18th or 19th.
This would allow time for an initiative petition to be filed in time to put it on the May
2006 ballot. There was not a lot of time. He discussed the split of how many jail
beds Springfield would allow other cities to use. and how many would be solely
reserved for Springfield. The task force would look at what would work out
financially and equitably and consider sentencing guidelines and the types of
prisoners it may house. Mr. Kelly said he instructed the task force to do the best they
could do and give it serious attention.
Councilor Woodrow said the suggestion to the commissioners was to enact this
without taking it to a vote. The timeframe Mr. Kelly discussed would allow time for
the measure to be referred to the voters and still be on the May ballot.
Councilor Ballew asked for clarification of what they would vote on in May.
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Councilor Woodrow said the proposal for a one percent sales tax dedicated to public safety would be the issue on the May 2006 ballot.
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2005
Page 5
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Councilor Ballew said there had not been a lot of support for the county in past
elections.
Councilor Lundberg said if the county measure failed on the May ballot, the city
could still draft something specifically for the November ballot. Springfield and
Eugene will both have other measures on the November ballot and did not want the
county measure to be a competing measure at that time.
Mr. Kelly said unless the county measure passed in May, Springfield would need to
put something on the November ballot. Mr. Kelly said his view on this measure was
that citizens could be concerned that the tax would be increased if presented as a
temporary tax. If the county referred the measure, he felt they should make it a
Charter amendment so it was firm.
Councilor Lundberg said the committee was made up of twelve members from
around the county. She said for the most part, everyone got along and came up with
a solution that most agreed upon. She said it was not a bad exercise in many ways.
There was a lot of compromise.
Mayor Leiken acknowledged County Commissioner Faye Stewart for his efforts.
Councilor Fitch thanked both Springfield councilors who served.
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Mayor Leiken said as different proposals for the jail were drafted, it would be
important to remember that the citizens voted for a one hundred bed jail. He
suggested holding town hall meetings to hear from the citizens on whether or not
they approved of the proposal. He thanked Councilors Lundberg and Woodrow for
their service on this committee.
2. Councilor Fitch reported on the Pacific Program she would be attending on October
6, 7 and 8. It would be an alumni program on Collaborative Leadership. She said
Commissioner Stewart would be attending the week long program, so she hoped to
have an opportunity to see him at the dinner on Thursday night. She said she would
report on this conference at the next council meeting.
3. Mayor Leiken said he was Bobby Green's fill-in for the all area's transportation
meeting. Commissioner Stewart also attended. He discussed the projects that were
helpful to Springfield, such as the I-5/Beltline interchange and the I-5/Franklin
proposed interchanges.
b. Other Business
1. Japanese American Art Memorial.
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Mayor Leiken discussed this item. The City Recorder noted that the Mayor had been
asked to give a quote or letter in support of this project. Mayor Leiken said it was still
unclear to him what exactly they wanted and why. The project was being done in
Eugene. He said he wanted perspective from the council.
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2005
Page 6
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Council discussed this issue. It was an important memorial, but it was unclear what they
were wanting.
Council directed the City Recorder to get more information regarding the organization
asking for the support. The Mayor suggested contacting Nancy Smith from Smith Family
Bookstore for that information.
2. League of Oregon Cities Conference - Voting Delegate Designation.
The League of Oregon Cities (LOC) Annual Conference will be held on November 10-
12, 2005 in Eugene. Council needs to appoint a delegate and an alternate who are
mandated to attend. Other councilors are welcome to attend as well.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY
COUNCILOR BALLEW TO APPOINT THE MAYOR AS THE VOTING
DELEGATE. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 4 FOR AND 0
AGAINST (2 ABSENT - RALSTON AND PISHIONERI)
BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER
1. Springfield Justice Center - Recommended Architect.
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The city received seven proposals in response to the Request for Proposals for the Springfield
Justice Center. The selection committee, comprised of two City Councilors (non-voting
members), one Planning Commissioner, two Police Department representatives, one City
Prosecutor representative, one Courts representative, two representatives from the Citizens
Advisory Committee (who are already appointed to the CAC because of their involvement on the
Police Planning Task Force), the Assistant City Manager, the Project Manager, the Assistant
Project Manager, and the City's Justice Programming Consultant reviewed the proposals on
September 14, and decided to interview five firms.
The selection committee conducted interviews with the five architectural firms on September 27.
There was consensus from the group as to the top-ranked firms. Staff is conducting reference
checks and will provide council with a recommendation at the October 3 meeting.
Ms. Knapel said she was here for council direction on negotiation of a contract with an
architectural firm to design the Justice Center project. She explained the RFP process and how
the selection committee came to make a recommendation. The selection committee unanimously
selected the firm of Robinson and Sherwood to recommend to the council for negotiation of the
contract.
IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR WOODROW WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR
LUNDBERG TO ACCEPT NEGOTIATION OF CONTRACT TO ROBINSON AND
SHERWOOD ARCHITECTURAL FIRM. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 4 FOR
AND 0 AGAINST (2 ABSENT -RALSTON AND PISHIONERI).
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BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY
City of Springfield
Council Regular Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2005
Page 7
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ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:34 p.m.
Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa
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Mayor
Attest:
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