HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/05/2007 Work Session
City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2007
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225
Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 6:02 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow, and
Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Interim Assistant City Manager
Mike Harman, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Application Review of a Springfield Representative to the Metropolitan Wastewater
Management Commission.
Environmental Services Manager Susie Smith presented the staff report on this item. The term
of Springfield's current lay representative, Doug Keeler, to the MWMC expired February 1,
2007. The City Council needs to appoint a representative to serve the next term, which extends
through February 1, 2010. Two applications for the position were submitted and are being
forwarded to the City Council for consideration.
The MWMC is composed of seven members. Springfield is represented by one City Councilor,
Anne Ballew, and one citizen. Doug Keeler, who works for Weyerhaeuser, has represented
Springfield on the Commission since 1997, and currently serves as the President of the
Commission.
The vacancy was advertised in the Register Guard and applications were accepted from
November 14,.2006, through January 19,2007. Two applications were submitted by Springfield
residents. The two completed applications provide background information and the stated
interest of the applicants. .
The Springfield appointment is scheduled for discussion and action at the City Council's work
session and regular meeting on February 5,2007.
Councilor Ballew said she had worked with Doug Keeler on this commission for some time. He
attended the meetings, brought a lot of engineering background to the commission and was a
valuable asset as a member. She strongly recommended re-appointing Mr. Keeler.
Councilor Wylie spoke regarding Ms. Stole, who works for her. She said she was very interested
in getting involved with the community and was an excellent person. -
Mayor Leiken said he, too, knew Doug Keeler and thought he was an asset to the commission.
Council consensus was to appoint Doug Keeler during the Regular Meeting.
2. Arts Commission Applicant Review.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
February 5, 2007
Page 2
Library Manager Barbara Thompson and Librarian Carrie Schindele-Cupples presented the staff
report on this item. The Arts Commission will have three vacancies on its board due to a term
expiration of member Janelle McMahan, and two resignations by Kris Redmond and Rosalee
Baker. Ms. McMahan has served one full term and is eligible to re-apply.
In response to the news releases of October 20,2006 and November 29,2006, the Arts
Commission received six applications to fill three vacancies. The Arts Commission reviewed all
applications and met with five applicants during its regular December 11 th meeting. One
applicant, James Chastain, did not attend the mandatory Arts Commission meeting and was
unavailable for contact. His application was withdrawn.
The Arts Commission recommends that Janelle McMahan be re-appointed and that Carol Plaia
and Scott Wylie be appointed to the commission, with terms to expire December 31,2010. Ms.
McMahan is eligible to serve another term. The Arts Commission has found her to be a valuable
member. Ms. Plaia is a performance artist new to Springfield and has extensive experience with
fundraising and art acquisition. Mr. Wylie has served on the Arts Commission before and is
eligible to serve again; he is a landscape architect and provided valuable contributions during his
prior service on the commission.
Ms. Reade has extensive experience with the arts and most recently served as president of the
Emerald Art Association. The commission will encourage her to re-apply for a future vacancy.
Ms. Atkinson has a performing arts background along with marketing experience. The
commission hopes to engage her help on some projects but will also point her in the direction of
the Wildish Theatre where her talents could be well-used.
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 the Regular Session
tonight, February 5.
Ms. Barbara Thompson introduced Carrie Schindele-Cupples who will be the new staff liaison
for the Arts Commission.
Councilor Pishioneri said he knew D'ann Atkinson. She had very high energy and was a goal
oriented person. He would like to have Council consider her application.
Councilor Wylie said her husband really enjoyed being a part of the commission.
Mayor Leiken asked about Shirley Reade, who was an excellent candidate.
Ms.Schindele-Cupples explained why the three applicants were being recommended for
appointment and their different qualifications.
Council was comfortable with the three applicants recommended by the commission.
Ms. Thompson said they felt Ms. Atkinson might be well suited for work with the Wildish
Theatre because of her performing arts background.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
February 5,2007
Page 3
Councilor Ballew was pleased with the number and quality of applicants. She said she supported
the Arts Commission recommendations.
Discussion was held regarding the other applicants getting involved in fund raising for the
Library and other events.
3. Code Enforcement Procedures.
Code Enforcement Officer Jackie Murdoch presented the staff report on this item. Ms. Murdoch
introduced Cindie Mott, another code enforcement officer with the City, and Dave Puent,
Community Services Manager.
Councilor Pishioneri commended the Code Enforcement staff for positive interaction with the
citizens.
The Code Enforcement program is responsible for enforcement of land use, nuisance, building
code, business licensing, sign code and a portion of the Springfield Municipal Code. In a
minority of cases, civil infraction citations are issued for violations and cases are heard in
Springfield Municipal Court. With great cooperation from our Municipal Court Judges, the
majority of those cases are resolved and compliance is achieved. In a few instances, however,
compliance is not achieved even after issuance of citations. Code Enforcement staff would like
to implement a process to resolve those cases. This information is being brought forward to
provide awareness of the process prior to requesting.City Council action on individual cases.
Code Enforcement staff always attempts to achieve voluntary compliance and is more than
willing to work with folks and extend time lines as neede~. There are those cases, however,
which require an extra amount of time and effort and still may not achieve compliance. Because
civil enforcement citations are civil, only monetary fines can be assessed. Staff is encountering
cases in which the defendant owns the property, does not appear in Court in response to the
citation, is found guilty by default, does not pay the fine and does not correct the violations. The
City Code already provides for a process to lien properties for money owed because of the
defendant's failure to appear, although the City has seldom utilized this process. While
imposition of a lien might not result in immediate correction of a violation, it could eventually
result in foreclosure. Some cases may be more quickly resolved by being referred to the Office
of the City Attorney, whereby the City can obtain a Court order to do the cleanup if the
defendant fails to abate the nuisance. It is estimated that it will cost $3,000 to $4,000 per case to
obtain a Court order. The cost of the actual clean-up plus an administrative fee can be placed as
a lien on the property, and costs can be recovered. Our department has a small allocation of
resources including $26,000 in a litigation expense fund and $7,000 in a repair and demolition
account in our current department budget which we are proposing to use. Dollars received from
the lien process could be reallocated to support these accounts. Code Enforcement staff desires
to implement a more pro-active approach in order to resolve ongoing violations.
Photographs of some of the violations around the City were distributed to the Mayor and Council
for their review.
Ms. Murdoch explained the process for responding to code enforcement violations and the,
options available. She said that Mr. Grimaldi was shown some of the locations with code
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
February 5,2007
Page 4
enforcement violations when he went on a ride-along with Ms. Mott. Ms. Murdoch said some of
these cases could come to Council if liens were involved. Council would determine if it was
appropriate to place a lien on the property.
Councilor Ballew asked if the lien would be on the property until the lien was paid or the
property was sold.
Ms. Murdoch said either that or it could put the property into foreclosure, which was a long
process.
City Attorney Joe Leahy said on the small violations, his recommendation would be to let the
lien sit until the City received word the property was being sold and the City would receive the
funds at that time. The City would not commence any foreclosure without checking with the
Council first.
Councilor Ballew asked if there was an ongoing interest rate on the liens. Yes.
Ms. Murdoch said there was also an administrative fee.
Councilor Woodrow asked if the process was the same for renters.
Ms. Murdoch said in those cases, code enforcement worked with the owner and those were often
resolved. The landlords would normally evict the renter or have them clean it up. Code
enforcement had developed a good relationship over the years with several property managers
and companies in town. If the owner or property manager evicted the responsible tenant, code
enforcement would wait until that process was complete.
Councilor Woodrow asked about a particular situation.
Ms. Murdoch referred to the code and how it related to that situation.
Mr. Leahy said in the past, the City tried to deal directly with the renters, but it hadn't been very
productive. Current practice was to work with the owner of the property.
Ms. Murdoch said the property owners were notified and kept informed.
Councilor Pishioneri said he was in favor of adding tools to assist with this problem. He said
staff needed to track any additional time required when taking these additional steps and make
sure the cost for that time was recovered as much as possible.
Ms. Murdoch said the new fines had increased to help cover costs.
Councilor Ballew asked ifthere were any Measure 37 implications related to this. No.
-
Councilor Lundberg said Council needed to be prepared when these issues came to Council.
Councilor Pishioneri asked Mr. Leahy if there was an attractive nuisance ordinance.
City of Springfield
'Council Work Session Minutes
February 5, 2007
Page 5
Mr. Leahy said some violations could be attractive nuisances, but the ordinance was in place for
health and safety.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if there was any integration between an attractive nuisance clause
that could be used to expedite a clean-up.
Mr. Leahy said if the City felt there was an immediate threat to health and safety, the City could
go to court for an immediate injunction. This wasn't usually done because policy of the Council
was to give citizens notice and the ability to clean up. If it was an absolute emergency, the City
would go to court and get it resolved.
Councilor Pishioneri explained an attractive nuisance for the rest of the Council's clarification.
Councilor Ralston pointed out issues when a landlord was not able to evict a renter for an
extended period of time. He asked what the process was in those situations when the property
owner was doing all they could, but couldn't get the occupant evicted for some time.
Ms. Murdoch said she would take that into consideration. Sometimes the judge would order the
property owner to remove the garbage and deal with the eviction separately.
Councilor Wylie discussed the concern of mosquito born illnesses and asked if stored tires were
being monitored.
Ms. Murdoch said tires were considered used materials which were required to be stored inside a
building. There was a section in the nuisance ordinance that referred to stagnant water.
Mayor Leiken commended staff for their good work.
4. Council Communication Options.
Information Technology Director Rod Lathrop presented the staff report on this item. The City
engages in primarily paper-based communications with the Mayor and City Council. There is no
mechanism for the City to send electronic mail, electronic meeting notifications, online agenda
packets or electronic documents to elected officials. This hampers the ability ofthe City to
communicate with elected leadership during the conduct of regular business, and could be a
constraint during an emergency.
Staff communication with elected officials was raised as an issue during the December 4, 2006
City Council Emergency Management work session. Concerns were raised by Council that the
City has no avenue other than privately furnished telephone service for communicating with
elected leadership in times of emergencies. Discussion occurred about the possibility of the City
providing technology enhancements in the form of a Blackberry device (generically identified as
a Smartphone) or perhaps a laptop computer with Internet and e-mail capacity to create
additional communication channels. One-time costs for hardware range from $200 up to $3,000,
for each interested elected officials. Ongoing monthly costs for digital service range from $30 up
to $90 for each device. Implementing this capability would create additional communication
options during an emergency, and would create higWy efficient options for regular staff
communications with elected leadership.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
February 5, 2007
Page 6
Mr. Lathrop referred to the four options listed on the issue paper. He explained a policy put into
place for managers in the City regarding a cell phone allowance that could be an option for
Council as well. A smart phone, such as the Blackberry, was another option. He explained that
a smart phone worked as a cell phone and could also track meetings and retrieve and send
emails. He referred to the option of a laptop computer for each Councilor and the Mayor. He
explained how electronic agendas would be accessed on laptops with a monthly internet service
allowance and features to allow making notes on the agenda. He discussed the financial impacts
for each option. The costs incIudedannual charges as well as the costs involved for the
equipment. He explained some of the legal ethics restrictions when the City furnished
equipment and some of the options. He noted those actions which were allowed and which
actions were prohibited on City owned equipment. The Council needed to be careful that they
didn't conduct a public meeting using electronic devices by speaking on a chat room or
something similar which would constitute a quorum.
Mr. Leahy said when Council members were on devices noted in option 3 or 4 that would be a
public record. He referred to an incident several years ago where Council emails were requested
by a local newspaper.
Councilor Woodrow discussed the smart phone. He asked if they would be standard cell service
or satellite, and if they would be accessible if cell phone frequencies went down.
Mr. Lathrop said they were like standard cell phones requiring towers, not satellite.
Councilor Woodrow noted that with standard cell phone service out, the smart phone would not
provide added benefit.
Councilor Pishioneri thanked Mr. Lathrop for his work. He said it made sense that councilors
could go into this where comfortable. He said he liked the ability for each councilor to purchase
their own personal digital assistant (pda) and get refunded from the City for air time for City
business. He said the laptop was a great idea. He explained. He said he was in favor of the
options and having each councilor sit down with the staff from Information Technology (IT) to
see what would fit each one the best.
Mr. Leahy said if Council were communicating on the pda for public use, those messages would
be subject to public disclosure. If there was an issue regarding what messages were public and
which were not, it would need to be turned over to a judge to determine if the private messages
were indeed exempt from public disclosure.
Councilor Ballew confirmed it could be an individual choice. She said she didn't intend to go
electronic.
Councilor Ralston said he wasn't excited about any of the options. He said he didn't own a cell
phone personally. He didn't want anything that would cost him anything extra. He wanted his
agenda packets on paper only. People knew how to contact him either at work or at home and
they could leave messages.
Councilor Wylie said she worked full time and was on a lot of statewide committees, traveling to
Portland and Salem frequently. The smart phone intrigued her. She said she was ready for it and
felt it could be beneficial.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
February 5,2007
Page 7
Councilor Lundberg said she was intrigued with the smart phone. She said it was evident that
each Councilor was interested in a different level of service. She asked if each councilor should
contact IT to discuss preferences and additional information.
Mr. Lathrop said he would be comfortable to meet individually with councilors or could bring
back more detailed information to another work session. He said he would instruct the Executive
Team (ET) to put funding for this in the FY08 budget for possible use. That would allow the
councilors that were interested to try different options.
Councilor Woodrow asked Mr. Lathrop to find out the costs for satellite phones and service. He
said it would be worthwhile for emergency purposes.
Council asked to have staff schedule 2 on 2 meetings with councilors that were like minded on
this subject to discuss their preferences.
Councilor Ralston asked to have the overall cost when it was done.
5. Public Records Request Policy.
City Recorder Amy Sowa presented the staff report on this item. Under the Oregon Public
Records Law (ORS 192.420), every person has a right to inspect nonexempt public records of a
public body in Oregon. Under this same law, it is noted that the custodian (City) ofthe records
may adopt reasonable rules necessary for the protection of the records and to prevent
interference with the regular discharge of duties of the custodian. The Public Records Law also
authorizes a public body to establish fees "reasonably calculated to reimburse the public body for
the public body's actual cost of making public records available".
Actual cost may include a charge for the time spent by the public body's staff in locating the
requested records, reviewing the records in order to delete exempt material, supervising a
person's inspection of original documents in order to protect the records, copying records,
certifying documents as true copies, or sending records by special methods such as express mail.
Actual cost also may include the cost of time spent by the public body's attorney reviewing,
redacting and segregating records at the public body's request. See Attorney General's Public
Records and Meetings Manual.
The City does not currently have a city-wide public records request policy in place, although a
system has been used that allows access to public records by the public with some cost recovery
to the City. It is in the City's best interest to have a set policy for such requests. The attached
resolution puts in place a policy that reflects current practices. A Public Records Request Form
is also attached.
Councilor Pishioneri said it was a great idea. He would like to see the City get as close to one
hundred percent cost recovery as possible. He asked where it showed proof of the inability to
pay.
City Attorney Joe Leahy said the requestor would submit an application letter to the City
Manager.
City of Springfield
Council Work Session Minutes
February 5,2007
Page 8
Ms. Sowa said she only recalled one incident when someone requested a reduction of fees.
There was no set criteria for determining inability to pay.
Mr. Leahy said he liked the resolution because it put together a series of policies that had been in
place in the past and made it uniform across the departments. They were a collection of how the
City had done things in the past.
Councilor Ballew said it was a good idea to have a policy in place. She asked about the one-half
hour of free time.
Ms. Sowa said it had been standard practice.
Councilor Ballew said it was a difficult line, because the public had the right to be informed, but
it sometimes moved over the line to become personal use. She felt a half an hour seemed rather
generous. She said where she used to work, the policy was that the charge for the first page was
higher than the others since the first copy included time getting to the copier and setting it up.
Ms. Sowa said the City did not charge for the first five pages and the charge for pages beyond
that was .10 per page.
Mr. Leahy said staff was trying to be consistent and provide minimal copies for those citizens
that just come in for one or two copies on occasion. The charges came when the citizen wanted
more service and wanted more things done that would take the employee away from their job for
a longer duration. It could be argued that part of the job was to provide documents to the public.
Ms. Sowa said this would be going to Council during tonight's regular hearing as a public
hearing. They would be voting on the attached resolution.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 pm.
Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa
Attest:
Am~
City Recorder