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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/05/2007 Council Minutes for Approval , AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: Meeting Type: Department: Staff Contact: Estimated Time: February 26, 2007 SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL Regular Meeting City Manager's Office Amy Sowa, 726-3700 ~ Consent Calendar ITEM TITLE: COUNCIL MINUTES ACTION REQUESTED: By motion, approval of the attached minutes. ISSUE STATEMENT: The attached minutes are submitted for Council approval. ATTACHMENTS: Minutes: a) February 12,2007 - Work Session b) February 20,2007 - Work Session c) February 20, 2007 - Regular Meeting DISCUSSION/ None FINANCIAL IMPACT: Sowalagendalminutes AIS City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12,2007 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, February 12,2007 at 5:32 p.m., with Council President Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Woodrow, and Pishioneri (5:35pm). 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. Mayor Leiken and Councilor Ralston were absent (excused). 1. Historical Commission Applicant Interview. City Planner Kitti Gale presented the staff report on this item. The Historical Commission has two openings on its seven-member commission. The recruitment for these openings began January 1,2007, and closed January 19,2007. One candidate applied, Roxie Metzler. Metzler is applying for re-appointment to her second term on the Commission. Section IX, 3.8 of the Springfield City Council Operating Policies and Procedures, states that the ". .. Mayor and Council will holdformal interviews of applicants for positions on the Budget Committee, Historical Commission, and Planning Commission and a recommendation from these bodies is not necessary although they may have a representative present to participate in the interview process. . ." Springfield Code 1-10-1, Historical Commission Charge, requires that the 7-member Commission shall be residents; electors; property owners within Springfield; appointees of other Springfield public agencies such as Willamalane Park & Recreation and School District #19; or, specialists with expertise in such fields as architecture, history, architectural history, planning, or archaeology who live within the Metro-Area General Plan boundaries. For state certified funding it is recommended that a majority of the Commission have professional qualifications. The first vacancy on the Commission is that of Roxie Metzler, a retired school teacher, who just completed her first 4-year term, and is volunteering to serve another term. The Commission and the Springfield School District highly recommend Ms. Metzler's re-appointment. The second vacancy is that of James McNett who had served on the Commission since February of 2005; he moved to the ~tate of Washington recently to accept new employment in historic preservation. There were no candidate applications for this second opening on the Commission; therefore, the Commission will conduct another recruitment in March 2007. Ms. Gale said because the only applicant is currently serving on the commission, Council could choose to only ask one question each. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 12,2007 Page 3 Council President Lundberg thanked Ms. Metzler for reapplying. Council consensus was to reappoint Ms. Metzler to the Arts Commission. Councilor Wylie asked Ms. Gale if she could get a copy of the guidelines put into her box. Ms. Gale said she would provide that for her. 2. Olympic Street Safety Enhancements. Traffic Engineer Brian Barnett presented the staff report on this item. On November 11, 2006 at about 6:30pm, a fatal motor vehicle versus pedestrian crash occurred at the mid-block crosswalk on Olympic Street between 18th and 21 sl Streets. Although City staff could not identify the specific causes of the crash City staff immediately evaluated the site. That evaluation resulted in the following actions and recommendations. City staff directed the Springfield Utility Board to replace the existing 180 Watt Low Pressure Sodium (LPS) yellow light with a 250 Watt High Pressure Sodium Light. City staff also trimmed any trees that may block the new light. Following the crash, City staff completed a pedestrian study between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. A large number (120) of pedestrians crossed Olympic Street; two thirds (2/3) used the mid-block crosswalk. Many of the crosswalk crossings were to and from the bus stops. Winco employees, walking to Burrito Boy west of the crosswalk, accounted for many of the third (1/3) not crossing in the crosswalk. The bus stop on the north side of the street, located east of the crosswalk, blocks the westbound driver's view of pedestrians who are in the crosswalk. In addition, the mid-block crosswalk does not have accessibility ramps. Pedestrians with wheelchairs, strollers, etc. have to travel in the vehicle lane to the next available driv~way to access the sidewalk. Regardless of which safety plan is chosen, staff intends to implement the following safety enhancements: · Install higher reflective material for the crosswalk and change from a standard pavement crossing to a continental style crossing. · Install a flashing pedestrian beacon at the mid-block crosswalk location (a spare is located at our maintenance shop). · Install additional street lighting and/or replace the remaining LPS lights. · Move the bus stops to a location to provide clear driver to pedestrian sight lines. · Install accessible curb ramps for the crosswalk. To improve the safety of all modes of transportation for pedestrians, buses, cars, and cyclists, staff has developed safety plans A and B. Safety Plan A changes the existing crosswalk to a Z style crosswalk with a center refuge island (see Attachment A). The center refuge island allows the pedestrian to only cross two (2) lanes of traffic at a time versus five (5) lanes and makes gap selection much easier. The Z shaped crossing forces the pedestrian to look in the direction of approaching vehicles before crossing the remaining two lanes of traffic. The staff recommended Safety Plan B is to improve the existing crosswalk with a Z style crosswalk with a center refuge as shown in Safety Plan A, and reduce the number of travel lanes City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 12, 2007 Page 5 Police Chief Smith sai~ he was concerned about 18th Street going to one lane. He also noted that a protective area in the middle may not have prevented the accident. Mid-block crosswalks were not safe. Ms. Krueger said they did look at that side ofthings. The pedestrian count showed such a large number of users that something needed to be done to make the street safer. She agreed, the center median alone might not help, but they would also be putting in flashers at the crosswalk area and more street level lighting in the area, so cars and pedestrians had better visibility. Chief Smith agreed the enhancements would improve the site, but he was still concerned about mid-block crosswalks. Ms. Krueger said reducing the lanes combined with the other enhancements would help. Chief Smith expressed concern about the bottleneck between Mohawk and 18th and drivers trying to determine which lane to go into to proceed eastbound. Mr. Barnett said the change was not on the approach, but was now centered in the roadway and there was a reduction in lanes going westbound. Chief Murphy said he had a lot of good things to say about traffic in Springfield and how staff worked with his department on different traffic issues. He discussed issues with things like speed bumps which caused emergency vehicles to slow down, creating a time issue. It was important to balance what we were getting in. safety and what we were giving up in safety. Springfield had a good relationship with the traffic division. He said the proposed improvements would have a minimal impact on fire apparatus. Councilor Woodrow asked if there was any anticipation of increased traffic coming out of Walmart. Mr. Barnett said the reduction in lanes would have some influence on drivers. The goal of staff was for lower speeds, but maintaining adequate capacity. Getting on to the freeway could be slightly better than before because of the reduction of lanes. Councilor Pishioneri discussed the signal at 18th, eastbound on Olympic approaching 18th for a north turn. He asked if that was a dedicated turn. Mr. Barnett said it was a non-protected turn lane. Ms. Krueger said if it did become an issue, staff could reevaluate the signal. Councilor Ballew said there would probably be more left turns. Mr. Barnett said it would actually be safer since there would only be one lane oftraffic for those turning left to cross. City of Springfield' Council Work Session Minutes February 12, 2007 Page 7 Councilor Woodrow said if a policy was in place, it would need to be followed. The two choices that were suggested for the naming opportunities were good choices. There had been discussions about naming rooms rather than the entire building and he felt that was worth considering. He liked the idea of honorary or philanthropic naming. He felt a procedure was needed to do it properly. He would like to see the two names that had been suggested considered. Councilor Wylie said the policies included in the agenda packet could be used as guidelines, but many things would need to be removed and reworked. Councilor Lundberg said a subcommittee would be formed and Councilor Pishioneri would be the Council representative. She noted that a committee had been assigned the task of naming the Regional Sports Center, but the parties could not come to an agreement over the name so it remained the Regional Sports Center. She said it could become very political so having a policy in place was a good thing. . ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Sidney W. Leiken Mayor Attest: Amy Sowa City Recorder City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2007 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 6: 15 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, 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. Councilor Wylie was absent (excused). 1. 2006 Annual Financial Report. Finance Director Bob Duey presented the staff report on this item. In accordance with Oregon statutes and the City's Charter, the City is required to complete an annual audit and fmancial statement. The report will be presented to the City Council at the February 20,2007, work session and is scheduled for formal acceptance by the consent calendar during the regular meeting. Grove, Mueller & Swank, PC, the city's independent auditors, have completed their audit of the city's 2005/2006 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and have issued their opinion thereon. As a preliminary summary for the Council's information, you may note that the auditors found no material weaknesses in the City's internal financial controls and they issued a "clean opinion" on the City's annual financial report. This means we are properly accounting forthe City's fmancial resources and that we are using adequate fmancial controls to help prevent any improper use of those resources. Mr. Duey introduced Chuck Swank and Ignacio Palacios from Grove, Mueller and Swank. This was the third year this organization had conducted the audit. It was the last year of the contract, but Council had approved two one-year renewals when the contract was first awarded. Staff would bring the proposed renewal to Council soon. Mr. Duey gave a brief summary of the process. Mr. Duey introduced Nathan Bell, the newest accountant for the City. Mr. Bell recently passed his CPA and would be pursuing an audit requirement to receive certification, with assistance from the Finance Department. Mr. Swank said Council could ask questions as he went along. He referred to the financial statements and the other documents included in the agenda packet. He explained the documents. He discussed the requirements from the Federal Government and the State and what the auditors looked at to understand how the City's accounting system worked. Preparing the financial statements took a lot of work by City staff and were reviewed from cover to cover by himself City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 20, 2007 Page 3 Police Chief Jerry Smith and Interim Assistant City Manager Mike Harman presented the staff report on this item. In Fiscal Year 05106 the Police Department began working on a regional radio system project funded in part by a COPS grant awarded to the City of Eugene. When completed, the shared radio system will provide wider, more reliable coverage and greater interoperability for the Police Department than is currently available. The current radio system will be transferred to the Public Works Department. The Springfield Police, Fire and Public Works Departments currently operate on incompatible radio frequencies (UHF for Police and VHF for Fire and Public Works). The police system meets current FCC regulations but is not expandable because of a lack of available frequencies, and does not allow field units to communicate directly with Fire or Public Works units. In June of2006, the Council supported Option 2 of the attached Council Briefing Memorandum to use unexpended General Fund dollars from FY06 to spread the City's cost of participation over multiple fiscal years. The radio system coming out of this project will meet all of the current state and federal goals for interoperability on a trunked UHF system. Also, the system will be designed for future expansion. Overall costs to the City are as follows: · $160,000 from FY06 General Fund carryover toward the purchase of portable and mobile radios compatible with the new radio system and with the current system. · $40,000 (estimated) for upgrades to the Quarry Hill repeater site. · $95,000 in matching funds required by the grant. $75,000 of this is budgeted in the current year's Public Works budget, and the other $20,000 will come from Police resources. · $120,000 for costs outside the grant budget. $70,000 of this will come from the Police Department's Fund 713 replacement fund, the rest from existing resources in the FY07 budget. In return, the City will receive approximately $800,000 in new portable and mobile radios, upgrades to three existing dispatch consoles (estimated value of $120,000) and ownership rights in a shared, trunked radio system with substantial capacity for future growth. In addition, the existing Police radio system will be transferred to the Public Works Department, resulting in better radio communications between Police and Public Works. Mr. Harman said this program complied with State interoperability goals. He discussed interoperability and why it was important. He explained the difference between high and low frequency signals and why the police and fire frequency needs were different. One of the goals of the project was to be able to communicate between departments when needed. Mr. Harman said the hand held radios and the radios in the police cars would be replaced with new radios, and the current radios used by the police would be given to the Public Works department. Public Works was providing the match funding for the grant. This upgrade would give Police and the Public Works Department the ability to speak together. Councilor Ballew asked how many police radios there were. Mr. Harman said there were about 95 hand held radios. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 20, 2007 Page 5 installed on the hilltops this summer and the radios would go live in January or February of 2008. Councilor Pishioneri asked if they were analog or digital. Mr. Harman said they were digital, operating at about 465 mhz range. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:57 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Sidney W. Leiken Mayor Attest: Amy Sowa City Recorder City of Springfield Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20,2007 The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Tuesday, February 20,2007 at 7:03 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Interim Assistant City ManagerMike Harman, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members ofthe staff. Councilor Wylie was absent (excused). PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Leiken. SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT 1. Proclamation for Lane County Family Caregiving Day. Mayor Leiken read from the Proclamation. He said February 28 was Lane County Family Caregiving Day, a day to encourage the support and recognition of volunteer family caregivers. CONSENT CALENDAR IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 ABSENT - Wylie). 1. Claims a. Approval ofthe January 2007, Disbursements for Approva1. 2. Minutes a. January 29,2007 - Council Goal Setting Session b. February 5,2007 - Work Session c. February 5, 2007 - Regular Meeting 3. Resolutions 4. Ordinances 5. Other Routine Matters City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 20,2007 Page 3 CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS BIDS ORDINANCES BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL 1. Committee Appointments a. Historic Commission Confirmation. City Planner Kitti Gale presented the staff report on this item. On February 12, 2007, the Council interviewed and re-appointed Roxie Metzler to her second term on the Springfield Historic Commission. Ms. Metzler is a retired teacher recommended to the Commission by Springfield School District # 19. She is a resident property owner living on Deerhorn Road near Walterville. Metzler is an Oral Historian with a Master Degree from the University of Oregon in Special Education. She is also a Springfield Museum Board member as well as a volunteer with Sand Mountain Society and Friends of Huckleberry Mountain. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO RE-APPOINT ROXIE METZLER TO THE SPRINGFIELD HISTORIC COMMISSION, WITH A TERM EXPIRATION DATE OF DECEMBER 31,2010. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND o AGAINST (1 ABSENT - Wylie) 2. Business from Council a. Committee Reports 1. Councilor Lundberg said an Open House was held for the Gateway/Beltline Intersection at the PeaceHealth annex. Because it involved mostly businesses, it was not real well attended, but once the stakeholder working group became active again, there would be more attendance and interest. She said the Open House was very nicely done and she thanked staff for their hard work in planning the event. 2. Councilor Pishioneri said the McKenzie Watershed Council Coordinator, Megan Finnessy, submitted her resignation. The Council was now looking for a new , coordinator. 3. Mayor Leiken said the Springfield Chamber sponsored the Town Hall meeting with Senators Wyden and Smith, which was broadcast on KEZI and in Medford and Bend. The Secure Rural Schools was in major jeopardy of not being reauthorized. The hope was that there could be a one year extension on those funds and a change to the formula. Oregon received a lot of funding from that source, especially Lane and Douglas Counties. Lane County was running two budgets, one with the Secure Rural School funds and the other without. He suggested Council contact County City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes February 20, 2007 Page 5 authorization to finance preconstruction expenses. The construction phase of the project is scheduled to begin in March of 2007 and it will be necessary to sell all or part of the remaining $24.65M in March to meet our obligations. It is possible to sell all of the remaining bonding authority in a single sale or to structure the financing over two sales. Factors in making the determination to conduct one or multiple sales are most commonly the increase of issuance costs for multiple sales and length of time that the proceeds from the sale will be held during the time of construction. In this case both of these factors indicate that a single sale would be to the City's advantage. The current construction schedule calls for the completion of the project by spring of 20 1 0, which would put the length of time between the sale of the proceeds and the fmal payments an appropriate length of3 years. Mr. Duey said the resolution before Council was prepared by the City's bond counsel, Preston, Gates, in Portland. He said the preliminary statement was nearly complete and he could email a copy to anyone interested. The final draft would be finished closer to March 1. He described the normal process in moving toward sale of bonds, including applying for a higher rating. He said staff did not feel it was the time to up the City's rating as it was already very good. The sale was scheduled for March 21 and he noted it was a good market at this time and the City could sell the bonds for a premium. He explained. Staff decided to do one sale rather than two to generate additional interest earnings. Councilor Ballew asked about the limitation on how much could be borrowed based on debt ratio. Mr. Duey said the City was very far under that rate. We could issue about 4 times the debt the City currently had under the limitations. He explained. Councilor Pishioneri thanked staff. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR WOODROW TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 07-09. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 ABSENT - Wylie) BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:25 p.m. Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa Sidney W. Leiken Mayor Attest: City Recorder