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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/21/2008 Regular City of Springfield Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008 The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 7:00 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, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Leiken. SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT 1. K9 Retirement - Perry (Officer Tony Del Castillo). Officer Rich Charboneau introduced K-9 Perry and his partner, Officer Tony Del Castillo. K-9 Perry was born in Canada on March 18th 1998 in Canada. Sgt. Alan Carlson (retired) purchased Perry as a puppy and trained him to be a police dog for the city. In August of 200 1 Perry began working with Officer Rick Smith. Perry worked with Officer Smith until he left the team in 2004. Officer Del Castillo was then selected to be Perry's handler. They worked together until Perry's recent retirement. During his years of service with the department, Perry was credited with capturing 126 suspects and recovering $44,587.00 in property. Perry was a very well rounded police dog who excelled in all aspects of his job. Perry had a great demeanor which allowed him to go from fighting a 220 pound suspect who didn't want to go to jail, to going straight to a grade school where he would roll over onto his back and gladly accept any petting that the young children had to offer. Perry took top dog honors at the Bend Police K-9 competition in 2003. He also took top dog honors at our own Springfield Police K-9 competition in 2005. One of Perry's most memorable captures happened in 2006. Perry and Officer Del Castillo had just completed a K-9 demonstration at Thurston High School when the Lane County Sheriffs Office requested their assistance. The Sheriffs office was investigating a home invasion robbery where shots had been fired in the Elmira area. It took more than 30 minutes for Officer Del Castillo to arrive at the location. Upon arrival Officer Del Castillo was advised two of the three suspects had been located. Officer Del Castillo was further advised that the outstanding suspect had been armed with a shotgun when he fled from the residence. Officer Del Castillo allowed Perry to search the wooded area around the residence off line and successfully located the suspect. in about two minutes. After a short' struggle the suspect was taken into custody without further incident. Officer Del Castillo and K-9 Perry escorted deputies and the suspect who was fully dressed in camouflage out of the wooded area. As they neared the patrol car the suspect who was City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 2 still sobbing from his altercation with Perry looked over to Officer Del Castillo and said "you have a really good dog." K-9 Perry spent most of his time in the patrol car lying down and sleeping. Other officers often joked with Officer Del Castillo about Perry's lack of attention while in the car. Officer Del Castillo explained that though Perry did not bark at everyone who walked by the patrol car he was still very alert. This point was proven in the early morning hours of a December night in 2007. Officer Del Castillo was patrolling the new housing development in Mountain Gate when he came upon a subject walking down the driveway of an unoccupied newly constructed residence. When the subject saw the Officer he dropped the large flat screen television he was carrying and fled into the wooded area behind the residence. Officer Del Castillo exited his patrol car and ordered the suspect to stop. Perry remained lying down in the back of the patrol car until Officer Del Castillo popped open the back door. Before the door was completely opened Perry was standing there and was already locked onto the suspect who was running into the trees. Perry was then ordered to apprehend the suspect who ignored a second command to stop. Perry took off after the suspect. The suspect sprayed Perry with pepper spray in an effort to stop his advance. The spray had no effect on Perry who took hold of the suspect and held him until Officer Del Castillo caught up and took the suspect into custody. Perry now lives inside the Del Castillo residence where he chases their two cats relentlessly around the house. Officer Charboneau presented Officer Del Castillo with a plaque signed by Police Chief Smith, the City Council and Police Department commemorating Perry's years of service. 2. Earth Day Poster Contest Awards. Public Information and Education Specialist Rachel Chilton presented a brief explanation of the awards to be presented. The 2nd Annual City of Springfield 5th Grade Earth Day Poster contest was a great success. In honor of Earth Day 2008 5th graders in the Springfield School District were challenged to draw "The Environment of the Future." In order to stimulate their thought process they were asked a few questions. What will earth look like in 50 years? What would they like earth to look like in 50 years? What are some things they could do to help protect the environment for future generations? Over 250 entries were received, making it very difficult to choose the winners. The first through fifth place winners are as follows: . 1st Place: Jordan Gorman . 2nd Place: Abigail Dolby . 3rd Place: Desi O-Donnell . 4th Place: Mariana Nun.ez . 5th Place: Dante Jones Ms. Chilton presented each award winner a framed award and Mayor Leiken congratulated them and shook their hands. In addition to receiving their award, the winning entries will be on display in the lobby of City Hall through the month of May. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 3 3. Groundwater Guardians Presentation. Planning Supervisor Linda Pauly presented this item. Ms. Pauly noted that for the II th year, the City of Springfield had received the designation as a Groundwater Guardian community. She introduced Amy Chinitz, Water Quality Coordinator from the Springfield Utility Board (SUB). Ms. Chinitz thanked the Mayor and Council for their support of the activities of the Groundwater Guardians for the last 11 years. She presented a plaque which represented national recognition of the accomplishments in 2007. The Groundwater Guardians was a group of agency staff, businesses, non-profit organizations, educators and private citizens working in partnership to protect our drinking water supply. Springfield drew approximately 90 percent of its drinking water from groundwater which, due to several factors, was very vulnerable to contaminants that spilled or leaked onto the ground surface. The Groundwater Guardians strived to educate our community about the how and why of protecting this precious resource. The Springfield Groundwater Guardian team accomplished five projects in 2007. The Agricultural Chemical Collection Program continued from the previous year resulting in a total of 87,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides and other chemicals properly being disposed of in Lane County. The Guardians partnered with Lane County Waste Management and other agencies to sponsor a one-day Household Hazardous Waste Roundup in the Middle Fork Willamette watershed. During this event 61 participants disposed of almost 5000 pounds of hazardous waste. Budding chemists from the Thurston High School Community Water Quality Testing Lab tested private well water samples from 375 households. Teams of students continued to conduct weekly water quality monitoring on local streams. As a new project, the Guardians brought together 16 public water systems throughout the County to develop plans for joint County-wide drinking water protection efforts. On behalf of the Groundwater Guardians, Ms. Chinitz thanked the Mayor and Council for helping to keep Springfield a Groundwater Guardian Community. 4. Fire and Life Safety Competency Recognition Certificate, Gilbert Gordon. Fire Chief Dennis Murphy presented this item. He noted that hazardous materials control was one of the many things the Fire Marshal's office had responsibility for. This evening was a chance to honor one of the staff from Springfield's Fire Marshal's Office. He noted that the State Fire Marshal had traveled down from Salem along with an official from the Oregon Fire Marshal's Association (OFMA). Chief Murphy said that Gilbert Gordon was a former school teacher and Fire Chief from Joseph, Oregon. Mr. Gordon had acquired most of the certificates possible for his position. Chief Murphy introduced State Fire Marshal, Nancy Orr. Ms. Orr thanked the Mayor and Council for taking the time on their agenda to acknowledge this accomplishment. She said the state began an initiative five years ago to raise the level of competence and consistency in administrating the Fire Code across the state of Oregon. This was the second recognition for someone from the Springfield Fire Department, which was one of nine leadership fire departments in Oregon. The program was administered by the office of State Fire Marshal in partnership with the Oregon Fire Marshal's Association (OFMA). She introduced Mark Wilson from the OFMA. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 4 Mr. Wilson said he was an executive member of OFMA. He gave a brief background of the association and noted that there were 300+ members. In conjunction with the State Fire Marshal's office, the OFMA helped put together the recognition standards. They were proud of this recognition process and felt it was long overdue. It was good to see participation from Springfield Fire and Life Safety staff. Ms. Orr called Mr. Gordon forward. She said Mr. Gordon was being recognized for Oregon Fire Marshal Level with Plan Examiner Endorsement, the highest level of recognition in this series. She congratulated Mr. Gordon and thanked him for participating in this program. She said they also appreciated the support from Chief Murphy and the City Council. . 5. Springfield High School Cheerleaders Recognition. Mayor Leiken said he wanted to acknowledge and congratulate the Springfield High School Cheerleaders for their many accomplishments during this school year. He read off just a couple' of the awards that Springfield Cheerleaders had accomplished this year. Not only had they won many awards, but they also gave back to our community in service. Coach Janet Fryback and Coach Jamie Fryback came forward with members ofthe cheerleading squad. Coach Jamie Fryback said the students worked hard all year long, starting in the summer working not only on their competitive ability, but supporting the other sport teams at the high school. The students were also very active in our community. Coach Janet Fryback noted that Coach.Jamie Frybackwas up for Coach of the Year. She said the students volunteered throughout the community and she asked that people let them know if they were needed. Mayor Leiken asked how many championships they had won. Coach Janet Fryback said fifteen. CONSENT CALENDAR IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCn.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCn.,OR WOODROW TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. 1. Claims a. Approval of the March 2008, Disbursements for Approval. 2. Minutes a. February 2,2008 - TEAM Springfield Joint Elected Officials Meeting b. April 7, 2008 - Council Work Session c. April 7, 2008 - Council Regular Meeting d. April 14, 2008 - Council Work Session City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 5 3. Resolutions a. RESOLUTION NO. 08-12 - A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT PROJECT P20516: 14TH AVENUE MULTI-USE PATH. GLENWOOD FROM WILDISH SAND AND GRAVEL IN THE AMOUNT OF $90.767.56. b. RESOLUTION NO. 08-13 - A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT PROJECT P20390. 32ND STREET IMPROVEMENTS FROM WILDISH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY. IN THE AMOUNT OF $488.798.97. c. RESOLUTION NO. 08-14-A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT PERMIT PROJECT P30447: JASPER MEADOWS 3RD AND 4TH ADDITIONS. 4. Ordinances 5. Other Routine Matters a. Approval of Liquor License Endorsement for Julia's Flowers and Wine, Located at 5892 Main Street, #7, Springfield, Oregon. b. Approval of the Upgrade ofthe Fencing Material for the Justice Center Facility Secure Parking Area Using Funds Available through the Deletion of the Automated Inmate Clothing Storage Equipment. ITEMS REMOVED PUBLIC HEARINGS - Please limit comments to 3 minutes. Request to speak cards are available at both entrances. Please present cards to City Recorder. Speakers may not yield their time to others. I. Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program Recommended Funding Allocations. Housing Manager Kevin Ko presented the staff report on this item. The Springfield Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) has reviewed nine proposals and prepared CDBG and HOME funding recommendations for the FY2008-2009 program year. The recommendations are being forwarded to the City Council for consideration and approval. The CDAC's funding recommendations are consistent with Springfield's local funding priorities and identified community development needs as documented in the Eugene-Springfield Consolidated Plan. Also being recommended for approval is an allocation of $2,500 of CDBG funds to assist with the 2009 Project Homeless Connect for Lane County event. The City of Springfield will receive FY2008-09 HUD grants of $605,0 18 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and $421,298 in HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds to develop viable urban communities. Approximately $195,866 of program income and reprogrammed funds from previous years and $8,160 American Dream Downpayment Incentive (ADDI) will also be made available. Selected proj~cts and services will provide decent, safe and affordable housing for persons of low income; create or sustain a suitable living environment, and will provide economic opportunities for persons of low and moderate income. At a public hearing on January 24, 2008, the CDACrecommended set-asides totaling $476,961 for CDBG and $66,492 for HOME for the following activities: City City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 6 administered housing programs, grant administration and planning, downtown redevelopment projects, social service programs administered by the Intergovernmental Human Services Commission and operating assistance for area Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDO). Please see Attachment I for set-aside details. Requests for Proposals were issued on January 28,2008. The deadline for completed proposals was March 14,2008. The City received nine requests for funding totaling $844,407. The Springfield CDAC held a Public Hearing on April 3, 2008 to hear testimony, review proposals and develop funding recommendations. The CDAC recommends funding ofthe nine proposals at the levels set forth in Attachment I. The CDAC also recommends that Council approve continuation to the annual CDBG set-aside for downtown redevelopment projects, to support the current momentum of positive change that is happening downtown. The downtown set-aside is 24% of the CDBG allocation. Staff recommends that Springfield contribute $2,500 of CDBG to support the 2009 Project Homeless Connect for Lane County (PHC) event. PHC would be funded as a social service activity. PHC is a one-day event that provides a broad array of services to homeless and at-risk persons. The 2008 event recruited 800 volunteers and served over 1200 gUests. The City contributed $2,500 to PHC in 2007 and again in 2008. The City also contributes staff support for the event. Please see the 2008 Project Homeless Connect Final Report (Attachment 3). Mr. Ko noted the attachment included in the agenda packet. Councilor Ballew said there were various projects to build things. She asked about appropriate permits required for those projects. Mr. Ko said if funds were allocated for a building project, the applicant would need to then get all the appropriate permits. Staff, following past direction from the Council, did a preliminary review of the applicants prior to their application being considered. Any issues would be reported in the summary. Councilor Ballew said Public Works only received half of the amount requested. Mr. Ko said that was a decision of the CDAC. Councilor Lundberg said the committee was trying to focus on downtown set-aside to do something impactful, such as buy properties downtown. The request included curb cutouts and it was determined they could do fewer of those or in stages, leaving more for the downtown set- aside. Mayor Leiken opened the public hearing. I. Don Griffin. Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity in Springfield/Eugene. ll75 G Street. Springfield. Mr. Griffm asked Councilto support the recommendations of the CDAC. In Habitat's case, this would result in $100,000 to help them start house number four through' eight in Elmira Estates, at 49th and A Streets in Springfield. These were houses that were designated for low-income homeowners whose income was between thirty and sixty percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size. Habitat was very excited about this project. All of the documentation was in the planning department ready to move forward. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 . Page 7 There had been a high interest level from volunteers in the community to help build these homes. Habitat used volunteer labor for all the construction other than things that required specific licensing, such as electrical and plumbing. Habitat has been in this community since 1990 and had built 39 houses for families from our community that were working and supporting the City through their property taxes. This had been a trans formative experience for these people to become homeowners after many years of being renters. Habitat was committed to helping our community improve the quality of life for its residents, ending poverty housing, and partnering to gain funding mechanisms to increase the capacity of the home. He said he was delighted to be here tonight to request Council's support. Councilor Ballew said $100,000 didn't go far for five houses. She asked if they relied on other contributions. Mr. Griffm said there were other avenues for funding for Habitat. A portion of the mortgage payments that the previous homeowners made went back into building. They also received donations. The primary source of funding came from churches, businesses and other organizations that sponsored the homes. Mr. Griffin said sponsorship for a home was ~bout $60,000 for materials and supplies. Additional fun.ds were raised for land and infrastructure and all that was completed for these homes. 2. Roddy Toyota. Construction Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity in Springfield/Eugene. 972 Sunset. Springfield. Mr. Toyota said Habitat's program was very frugal and they were able to construct a 3-4 bedroom house for about $60,000. He explained the benefits of this program to the community. Involvement for partner families was about one year, sometimes more. The homeownership gave people grounding in the community and made them good citizens. Habitat had a good reputation in doing that. 3. Dale Seese. 239 West K Street. Springfield. Mr. Seese asked Council to fund the CDBG and HOME projects as recommended by CDAC. Mr. Seese was from the Springfield Church of the Brethren, site of Brethren Housing in Springfield. They had asked Council to approve $215,000 to construct an apartment building on that site that would expand the services provided and make the project more cost effective. He said he was available to answer any questions. 4. Rick Medlen. President of the Board for the Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity. 57 Sandalwood Loop. Creswell. Mr. Medlen said Habitat not only built homes, but in the end, transformed lives and communities. The board would be meeting on Thursday for a retreat to structure their future in the community. They had looked at the Meyers Estate development that was just starting and said Habitat would like to duplicate that development throughout the community. By developing these cluster homes, they could create communities and neighborhoods that could transform everything around them. The money from these funds was the springboard to go to partners to raise funds to develop this neighborhood. He thanked the Council for the past support and for their consideration of their proposal. Mayor Leiken suggested to Mr. Medlen that when the development was more than a concept, they meet with staff to discuss opportunities for affordable housing. 5. Hanalei Rozen. 1551 B Street. Springfield. Ms. Rozen reminded everyone to celebrate Earth Day on Tuesday and to Reduce, Reuse, Rethink and Reprogram. It was very insightful to hear City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 8 the discussions by the CDAC, but she wished the audience could interact with the committee. This was not an easy task, and she thanked the committee. Council had funded, in the past, through CDBG funds, a large sum of money to help develop Brattain's Growing Ground as a neighborhood park. She felt it had made an incredible difference. People were moving to the neighborhood with a lot of kids. There were 250 children in school, about 75 children in the after school programs, then 20-25 children at the park on their own. Families also visited the park as it was built for families and as an accessible facility. They were currently requesting a small amount of funding to address infrastructure needs on the trail. The money would be utilized for engineering. Whatever was left would be used to finish other projects at the park. She invited Council to come to the park and see what had been done. 6. Irene Alltucker. ReliefNurserv. 1810 M Street. Springfield. Ms. Alltucker said she was not here to ask for anything, but instead wanted to give an update on the Relief Nursery project which Council funded through CDBG funds last year. She felt this was an appropriate time as April was Child Abuse Prevention Month. One year ago Springfield partnered with the Relief Nursery to build a full Relief Nursery to serve the community. Since then, the Relief Nursery had done some required studies such as environmental and surveying. They had worked to leverage those dollars with donations of supplies and services. They still had a vision of creating a full site in Springfield. Services had been offered to Springfield through multiple sites, but they were not yet meeting the full need. Mayor Leiken asked about their upcoming event. Ms. Alltucker said the event would be held at the Regional Sports Center in Springfield on Saturday, April 26. Six hundred people would be in attendance. This would be the third year they had held this event. Mayor Leiken said it had been a wonderful event and he thanked the Sports Center for opening their doors to the Relief Nursery for the event. Ms. Alltucker said it had been a pleasure to be in Springfield. City staff, the Council and everyone had been a pleasure to work with. Councilor Ballew asked if Pearl Buck had also asked Eugene for funding. Mr. Ko said Pearl Buck asked Eugene for funding for a different purpose. In the past, Council had given CDBG funds to agencies that were outside of Springfield. He gave examples. Councilor Lundberg thanked the CDAC and everyone that applied for the funds. She was proud of what the committee and the City did, as acknowledged by the report from the Relief Nursery. She noted the number of projects on this year's list that were in the downtown and Glenwood areas. There were also projects outside the urban renewal areas to improve and maintain facilities. The CDAC discussed the downtown dollars. They would like to see something big, such as building purchases that would advance an improvement downtown. The set-aside could be used for that purpose. They could look at the set-aside next year and determine how they could use the funds to make an impact in a significant way to improve downtown. She discussed funds that went to Eugene agencies. She said she would bring up to the CDAC next year how to prioritize and develop criteria for agencies outside of Springfield. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 9 Mayor Leiken thanked Councilor Lundberg, CDAC and Kevin Ko. He also thanked those that testified and showed appreciation for the cOJpmittee. The CDAC did a lot of work and it was good work. . IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCn.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCn.,OR WOODROW TO ADOPT THE FY2008-2009 FUNDING ALLOCATIONS. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCn.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCn.,OR WOODROW TO APPROVE ONE-YEAR EXTENSION OF CDBG DOWNTOWN SET- ASIDE. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCn.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCn.,OR WOODROW TO APPROVE $2500 CDBG ALLOCATION FOR 2009 PROJECT HOMELESS CONNECT EVENT. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE 1. Joe Bando. Emerald Isle Mobile Home Park. 2586 Grand Vista Drive. Springfield. Mr. Bando said one of the best moves he made was to move to Springfield in 1963. It had been a great City to live in and he was proud to live here. It was a great pleasure in all those years to have City Councilors, Mayors, Planning Commissioners and City Managers who had lead this City to what it was today and what it would be in the future. It looked like we were in for painful times in the future for affordable housing. He said he had been in the mobile home business for many years and was concerned about the future of mobile home parks. The mobile home park he owned was built thirty years ago. He had attempted to maintain their park at a very admirable position in the marketplace and had received a beautification award at one time. Two years ago they invested a large amount of money into the park. When an older home came up, he generally bought'them and replaced them with new ones. His park was clean, largely due to the residents. This was affordable housing. Homes in his park today sold for between $38,000-$40,000, newer units were about $48,000-$50,000. It would be in his financial interest if Patrician Mobile Home Park closed, but he didn't want it to be closed down and put anyone out on the street. That would eliminate 81 affordable homes from our community. He said he had found that the property at Patrician was currently zoned low density residential. He hoped Council would examine that closely before making any changes. When mobile home parks started to close, he and his wife vowed that they would never sell his park to an outside developer that would endanger their customers. The property was appraised at about $6M, but he would not sell it for $IM or even $2M more than that value. He had a moral obligation to his tenants. His family had also pledged not to sell. 2. Betty Snowden. P.O. Box 5166. Eugene. Or. Ms. Snowden said she was here as a concerned citizen. She was concerned about the folks at the Patrician Mobile Home Park. She said we were living in economical hard times currently. She thinks about where the families would go if the mobile home park closed. As a realtor she knew it was very hard to find affordable housing and most people in the mobile home park were on a limited income. If this park was closed, they wouldn't get adequate funds to buy anything else and would have no place to go. She asked if we, as a loving community, could do that to those folks. Many people had put their retirement into these homes and had loans on these homes. She referred to Council Goal City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 10 #2, "Utilize resources efficiently and effectively to meet citizen needs for core services. She was very concerned about the people. 3. Ken Ravmen. 2150 Laura Street. Space #25. Springfield. Mr. Raymen noted a correction in the high school cheerleading award and suggested inviting Thurston High School's (THS) cheerleading squad to Council to acknowledge their accomplishments. Mayor Leiken said the THS cheerleading squad was scheduled to attend a Council meeting for recognition of their accomplishments on May 5. Mr. Raymen said from the south there was no pedestrian access to the new RiverBend Hospital. There was no sidewalk on MLK Parkway, or on Game Farm Road. A few years ago, he came to the Council and to Lane County about Laura Street. Through the cooperative efforts of the two jurisdictions, a walking and bicycle strip was put along Laura Street which had been very beneficial to those neighbors. He would like to see the same thing put in on Game Farm Road so people had a place to walk and bicycle safety. He also noted the difficulty for pedestrians to navigate the southern crosswalk on the roundabout. Drivers were focused on looking for cars approaching and by the time they got to the walkway, they had little time to spot the pedestrian. He felt the crossing should be moved further south. Mayor Leiken asked staff to follow-up with Mr. Raymen. 4. Hanalei Rozen. 1551 B Street. Springfield. Ms. Rozen asked Council to take a bird's eye view of the City when considering where a conference center should be located. She didn't feel there had been enough public discussion on alternative locations. The search and detailed look was driven by forces that were not public, but it was a combined effort and was on behalf of all the citizens and would be part of the City. The impact was great, not only to the people that lived on the site that was being considered. She would like more information on the impact if the Conference Center was placed downtown because she felt there were places downtown that were right for a Conference Center. Conference Centers with hotels that had been placed in other downtowns had been successful. She was concerned about putting all these types of establishments in the Gateway area. She urged Council to do whatever they could as members of committees and other avenues to step back and take a different look. Allow citizens to come and talk to them soon. COUNCIL RESPONSE CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS I. Correspondence from Marsha Morrill, Manager Brownsville Mobile Home Park, 500 Loucks Way #1, Brownsville, Oregon Regarding the new ownership of the Patrician Mobile Home Park. 2. Correspondence from Springfield Retired Educators, Supporting the Springfield Public Library. 3. Correspondence from G. Dennis Shine, 2923 GameFarm Road, Springfield, Oregon Regarding His Support for the Springfield Public Library. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCll.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCll.,OR WOODROW TO APPROVE THE CORRESPONDENCE FOR Fll.,ING. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 11 BIDS ORDINANCES BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL I. Committee Appointments 2. Business from Council a. Committee Reports I. Councilor Woodrow reported on the Mayor's Street Preservation meeting. He said he attended a meeting last week and felt that staff gave a well put together presentation. He thanked those that attended as part of the committee. There were people there that knew a lot about the community, costing and the street preservation problems. They also discussed improving unimproved roads. It was the ftrst meeting and there was still a lot more to do. 2. Councilor Ballew reported on the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) Finance and Taxation Committee. She said at the last meeting the committee was trying to put together a proposal for a lobbying effort in the next legislative session. Some of the things they would discuss included an effort to work on something that would improve Measure 47 and 50 impacts, transient occupancy, and City special districts. 3. Mayor Leiken said he attended two State committees last week. The first, the Transportation Policy Group, included the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) Chair, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) director, Vice Chair from the Oregon Metropolitan Planning Organization Consortium (OMPOC), the Mayor's counterparts, Metro and the counties. The first issue was County payment funds and a possible formula of how the State transportation was allocated. ODOT was willing to look at changing the formula where ODOT would receive less and the cities more. There was a lot of discussion on the Columbia River Bridge, a $4B project. Because that amount of funding was not coming to Oregon, they focused on priorities and making sure Springfield was in line for some funding. They also discussed the recent draft ofODOT's earmark policy. They had made some minor change, but he felt they needed to do more. There would be an OTC meeting on May 13, which the Mayor would attend and testify. The second meeting he attended was the LOC Transportation Committee meeting. During the meeting, the committee tried to determine where the cities would be regarding lobbying for transportation funding. The number one issue was pre- emption. There was a possible bill that could put fourteen cents onto the State gas tax, and prevent cities from enacting a local gas tax. Representative Terry Beyer would have the ftrst look at this, so he suggested contacting her office with any transportation ideas. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 12 4. Councilor Ballew said during a presentation on the Columbia River Bridge was a proposal to run the rapid transit through the center of the bridge. BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER I. PULLED. Declaration of Real Property as Surplus. This item was pulled by staff. 2. Contract Award for Audit Services. Accounting and Audit Manager Mike Crocker presented the staff report on this item. The Council is requested to accept the recommendation of the Council's Finance & Judiciary Committee and approve the selection of Grove, Mueller & Swank, P.C. as auditors for the City, MWMC, SEDA and Regional Fiber Consortium and authorize the City Manager to sign a three year audit services contract in the amounts of $42,000, $43,000 and $44,000. In February of 2008, the Finance Department began the process of selecting new auditors. An RFP was issued and responses were screened. The auditor selection committee interviewed the two finalist fIrms, Merino & Company, and Grove, Mueller & Swank, P.c. Staff has completed reference checking and grading for both firms. The first year cost bid by these firms was $50,000, and $42,000 respectively. The Finance and Judiciary Committee approved the interview committee's recommendation. Mr. Crocker thanked the Finance and Judiciary committee for their time in this process. Councilor Woodrow said staff had done a great job. He, Councilor Wylie and Councilor Ballew were on the Finance and Judiciary Committee. Three proposals were received. The agreement with the current auditors, Grove, Mueller and Swank, was not only the most reasonable in temi's of cost, but also had continuity as they had worked with the City over the last few years. Councilor Woodrow had questioned having the same auditor for more than four or five years, but had been assured by staff that it was fairly common practice for many cities to engage the same auditor for up to ten years. The committee agreed with the recommendation to continue to use Grove, Mueller and Swank. Councilor Ballew said not changing auditors this year was a good thing due to major changes in accounting. She mentioned that the idea of an Audit Committee had been discussed and may be a consideration. Mr. Crocker said that came up in interviews. There were some strong reasons to have an Audit Committee. Councilor Ballew asked if Mr. Crocker could pull some information together for Council with the pros and cons of adding an Audit Committee. Mr. Crocker said the biggest pro he could see was that an Audit Committee could give the staff someone to answer to that would be looking out and asking the right questions. It could reduce City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 13 the risk to the auditor and the staff. As a manager, he would be very much in favor of an Audit Committee. Councilor Ballew asked Mr. Grimaldi to get back to Council following input from Mr. Crocker on this subject. Mr. Grimaldi said he would do that. Mr. Leahy said it was a great idea. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCll.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCll.,OR WOODROW TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE COUNCll.,'S FINANCE AND JUDICIARY COMMITTEE AND APPROVE THE SELECTION OF GROVE, MUELLER AND SWANK, P.C. AS AUDITORS FOR THE CITY, MWMC, SEDA AND REGIONAL FmER CONSORTIUM AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO SIGN A THREE YEAR AUDIT SERVICES CONTRACT IN THE AMOUNTS OF $42,000, $43,000 AND $44,000. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. 3. Council Initiation ofa Type II, Site Specific Amendment of the Metropolitan Area General Plan (Metro Plan). Planning Manager Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item. The city contracted with CH2MHill to update the city's 30-year old sanitary sewer master plan; plans of this type supplement, but do not substitute for the PFSP and therefore do not need to be incorporated into the PFSP. However, some recommendations prepared by CH2MHill for this study, including pipe . size and pump stations and completed projects, do require amendment of the PFSP because they are considered significant by Oregon Administrative Rule (660-011-0045). The new wastewater master plan for the City of Springfield updates and improves the existing 30- year old master plan. The master plan supplements the PFSP by implementing Policy G.3 of the Metro Plan: "Use local facility master plans, refinements plans, and ordinances as the guide for detailed planning and project implementation." The master plan's list of projects includes nine that are or need to be included on the PFSP project list. In addition, three projects on the list have been completed and one project eliminated; therefore these projects should be deleted from the list and map. Springfield and Lane County only will conduct public hearings (May 6, 2008 Planning Commissions; Elected Officials TBD). Councilor Ballew asked if it made a difference that many of the amendments were upgrades rather than new facilities. Mr. Mott said the requirements of the rule spoke to significant change to an existing project. Councilor Ballew asked if this amendment would put the Metro Plan in sync with the City's Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Mr. Mott said it could in cases where the capital projects were the same as the projects in the Metro Plan. Often CIP projects were not in the PFSP. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 14 Mayor Leiken asked if anything was proposed out in Jasper Natron. He noted an announcement by Arlie and Co. in the paper about a development in that area. Mayor Leiken wanted to know if that area would be ready to accommodate such a development if it came along. City Engineer Ken Vogeney responded to the Mayor's question. He said the map in the agenda packet on Attachment 2-1 included the Jasper Road trunk sewer extension. That project was on the current PFSP list. That would extend wastewater service from South 42nd to Brand S Road. That particular project was in the CIP, but was not yet funded. Staff was continuing to work on funding for that project, including looking for assistance from a developer. Councilor Ballew said the cost of that project had almost tripled. She asked why. Mr. V ogeney said cost to construct large diameter and deep sewer lines had greatly increased much more than the cost of living. There were a number of possible factors that contributed to that increase, but they had no clear answer from contractors on the increase. Councilor Ballew asked if they would need a pump station at that location. Mr. V ogeney said they would not. Once this line was constructed, as well as a few other lines, a couple of pump stations could actually be decommissioned. Councilor Ballew asked if the 19th Street Pump Station was done. Mr. Vogeney said it was completed and staff was preparing it for acceptance in the next month. Councilor Ballew asked if the Harlow Pump Station was still in the works. Mr. V ogeney said that project should be done shortly. Councilor Lundberg said she was very happy that the Harlow Pump Station was nearly done. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCll.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCll.,OR WOODROW TO APPROVE A MOTION TO INITIATE THE PROCESS OF PUBLIC FACll.,ITIES AND SERVICES PLAN (PFSP) MAP AND TABLE AMENDMENT AND CONCURRENT METRO PLAN AMENDMENT, AS PROVIDED IN CHAPTER VI AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN OF THE PFSP, CHAPTER IV METRO PLAN REVIEW, AMENDMENTS AND REFINEMENTS, AND SECTION 5.14-120 OF THE SPRINGFIELD DEVELOPMENT CODE, TO ADD, MODIFY OR REMOVE 13 PROJECTS INCLUDING PIPES AND PUMP STATIONS WITHIN SPRINGFIELD'S URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY CONSISTENT WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS CONTAINED IN THE RECENTLY COMPLETED WASTEWATER MASTER PLAN OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD 2008. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. 4. Council Initiation of an Amendment to the Metropolitan Area General Plan Diagram - Low Density Residential (LDR) Plan Designation to Medium Density Residential (MDR) Plan Designation. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 15 City Planner David Reesor presented the staff report on this item. The current Metro Plan Diagram designates properties in the subject area as LDR, while the existing zoning and much of the development of the area is primarily MDR. This Plan/Zone conflict is the result of the adoption of the present Metro Plan diagram (c. 2004) which designates these properties LDR even though all previous actions by the City Council established MDR as the appropriate designation for this area. This Plan/Zone conflict was brought before the Planning Commission during a work session on April I S\ 2008. This issue came to the City's attention when a property owner in the subject area inquired about future development potential of his property. The Planning Commission and staff discussed the planning history of this area including previous actions that resulted in upzoning property from LDR to MDR and the subsequent MDR development that followed. Staff mentioned that these earlier zone changes were based on Plan diagram interpretations that this area was designated MDR albeit with a Plan diagram that was replaced in 2004. The designation of this area became an issue because the new Plan diagram is decidedly more precise in appearance and projects more locational certainty than previous Plan diagrams. In particular, it would be difficult to conclude that Rainbow Drive is not the east-west dividing line between MDR and LDR designations even though past land use actions, including MDR development west of Rainbow, contradict such a conclusion. The former Plan diagram was vague about the relationship between Rainbow and an MDRlLDR dividing line, but the Council at that time was persuaded that the diagram, the text and the circumstances present in that area supported an MDR determination west of Rainbow Drive. There is no reason to believe that the new Plan diagram was created with the purpose of delineating MDRlLDR along Rainbow; past land use decisions and development do not support such an action; there have been no requests by property owners to down-zone this area; there are no service or structural limitations that support LDR in favor ofMDR. The most likely explanation, and one for which we accept responsibility, is that the graphic artists at LCOG wanted to create more definitive Plan map shapes because the Plan is evolving into a more site- specific document. We did not catch the inlplications inherent in such a shift and are now attempting to reconcile this situation including a recommendation that the Council, rather than the property owner initiate the amendment. We cannot promise that other similar discrepancies do not exist; however, as we update our land use data records during the HB 3337 inventory work we will provide the Council with a number of options for reconciling any plan/zone conflicts that may exist regardless of location or plan category. .Given the history of past development and zone change approvals in the area, Staff requests that Council initiate an Amendment to the Plan Diagram from LDR to MDR for the subject area. Councilor Ballew asked for more distinction in the future between LDR and MDR on attached maps. She asked if following initiation, Council would act as the decision maker on the change. Mr. Reesor said Council would initiate this plan amendment, as was allowed in the Springfield Development Code. Once initiation occurred, staff would go through the process as if an applicant had applied. The forty-five day Department of Land Conservation Development (DLCD) notice would be submitted and staff would hold neighborhood meetings with the City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2008 Page 16 affected property owners. Staff would come back to Council with findings of fact. Council would then be the final approver. Councilor Ballew asked if the Comprehensive Plan would need to be amended. Mr. Reesor said they would be doing a plan agreement which would amend the plan. Councilor Ballew confIrmed that because this was within City boundaries, it was a City only decision. Yes. Mayor Leiken said he appreciated the note in the last paragraph of the report that as we updated our land use data records during the HB3337 inventory work staff would provide the Council with options for reconciling other properties. It would be interesting to see if there were other. discrepancies throughout Springfield. Mr. Reesor said current practice by staff was to try to batch these together when one property owner brought this to staff s attention. He did note that one of the property owners was frustrated because this added another process to his project. The land inventory work being done now would help address these up front. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCll.,OR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCll.,OR WOODROW TO APPROVE A MOTION TO INITIATE AN AMENDMENT TO THE METROPOLITAN AREA GENERAL PLAN DIAGRAM ON SUBJECT PROPERTIES. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:18 p.m. Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa Attest: ~~ City Rec ' er