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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/03/2017 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY APRIL 3, 2017 The City of Springfield.Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon, on Monday April 3,2017 at 6:00 p.m.,with Councilor Woodrow presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Wylie,Moore, Stoehr,Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith,Administrative Specialist Amy 7o Ripka and members of the staff. Mayor Lundberg did not attend or participate in the first item on the agenda because one of the applicants is her son. Councilor VanGordon was absent(excused) Councilor Woodrow presided over the first item on the agenda. 1. Budget Committee Interview/Applicant Review. Bob Duey,Finance Director,presented the staff report on this item. The Council is asked to interview Shannon Mudge and review the applications of Luke Lundberg, Robert Rivas and Kristin Kintigh. Applicants are being sought to represent Wards 1,2, 3 where former committee members' termed expired. The appointee for both Ward I and Ward 2 will serve a three year term that will expire on December 31,2019 and Ward 3 will serve a one year term expiring on December 31, 2017. Three vacancies have occurred on the City's Budget Committee due to the term expirations of members from the Ward 1,Ward 2 and Ward 3 positions. After interviews of Luke Lundberg,Robert Rivas,and Kristin Kintigh on February 21 st, Council members directed staff to reopen the recruitment to expand the pool. The second recruitment was opened on February 22°a and closed on March 20'h. The Council is requested to interview one applicant for Ward 3. The City's charge for the Budget Committee states as a qualifier 6 members from the Council and 6 citizens by Ward(Citizen members may not be officers, agents or employees of the City,per ORS 294.336(4). Mr. Duey said there were still two Springfield Economic Development Agency(SERA)positions that needed to be billed. Council chose the questions they would ask of the candidate. They introduced themselves to Mr. Mudge and asked him the following questions: 1. Why are you interested in serving on/continuing to serve on the Budget Committee? (Councilor Woodrow) 2. If you were on the Budget Committee and were looking at one of the City's services to decide how much should be funded through general taxes and how much through specific City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 3,2017 Page 2 fees on customers,what questions would you want to have answered in order to make your decision?(Councilor Moore) 3. While all of Springfield services seem to have strong support from different areas of the community, it is often necessary to prioritize services for budgetary reasons. How would you go about the task of establishing priorities among services?(Councilor Pishioneri) 4. Describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your desire to become a committee member.(Councilor Stoehr) S. Describe your familiarity with the City's budget. (Councilor Wylie) Council discussed all four applicants and that they were all very well qualified. Council consensus was to appoint Luke Lundberg,Robert Rivas, and Kristin Kintigh to the City Budget Committee,and appoint Shannon Mudge to the SEDA Budget Committee. Discussion was held regarding the process for applying for and interviewing for the SEDA position. Councilor Pishioneri said he would like an updated application noting interest in the SEDA position. Mayor Lundberg joined the meeting at 6:18 p.m.and presided over the rest of the meeting. 2. 2018-2022 Capital Improvement Program,A Community Reinvestment Program(CIP). .Teff Paschall, City Engineer,presented the staff report on this item. The City of Springfield's 2018-2022 CIP—A Community Reinvestment Plan has been drafted by staff,reviewed by the Planning Commission(February 22,2017 and March 7,2017), and is now being forwarded to the City Council for their review and comments prior to a Public Hearing at the April 17, 2017 regular session. The Draft City of Springfield 2018-2022 CIP,A Community Reinvestment Plan,was reviewed at the Planning Commission's February 22,2017 work session meeting. The Commission held a public hearing and voted to recommend Council approval of the plan at the March 7, 2017 Commission regular meeting. The CUP attempts to balance the use of scarce capital construction funds with the long list of infrastructure needs for our community. The CIP serves as a guide for programming funds and. planning the annual workload of Development and Public Works staff. It is not a document with budget authority. The City's capital projects are budgeted in the annual Capital Budget, which goes through the City's normal budget process. The City has completed several projects from previous capital plans,and staff is making significant headway on several of the projects from the previous CII'. Mr.Paschall said regarding stormwater,the City was focusing;on completing the over/under channel. Construction began in the fall of 2016 and will continue into the summer.Other channel improvements around the City will follow.Regarding wastewater projects,the focus has been on the Capacity Management Operations and Maintenance(CMOM)program which is a replacement for the wet weather abatement program.The City is working with the City of Eugene to work on modeling of our system and updating our wastewater master plan. Work will also be doing on replacing about 8000 linear feet of sewer lines this summer. City of Springfield Council Worse Session Minutes April 3,2017 Page 3 Mr. Paschall spoke regarding streets and transportation.The City is continuing to use local funds to leverage state and federal dollars for projects such as Franklin-Daisy Bike Path, Franklin Boulevard, and the upcoming Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality(CMAQ)projects. Seismic work is continuing for the City Hall facility. Some of the changes are in the transportation section which is smaller due to some being completed and some being moved to the operations side of the budget. Councilor Stoehr asked about the concern of groundwater seeping into the wastewater and if that could cause an overflow in the system. He asked about the consequences of the wastewater seeping out into the groundwater. Mr. Paschall said it can be a concern depending on the damage of the pipe. With the pressure of the groundwater, it is generally infiltration. When they check the pipes,they do see some damage with blockages or broken pipes, but generally it is water seeping into the pipes. One of the concerns of the groundwater seeping into the wastewater is capacity and sending otherwise clean water through the filtration system. Rather than spending millions of dollars to upgrade the plant to add capacity,it is less expensive in the long run to tighten our pipe system. Councilor Stoehr asked if treating the stormwater takes less filtration than the sewage. Mr. Paschall said there is a separation system at the bypass when it gets over our capacity per day. Typically, it all gets the full treatment even though it is cleaner water. The goal is to stay at capacity to prevent the stormwater from entering the system and having a system overflow at the plant. Councilor Pishioneri said they are also working on potential projects to help landowners repair lateral lines from homes to the street.The plant has and will continue to be increased,but it all has to be treated like sewage which is a huge cost to ratepayers. Discussion was held regarding the type of piping used. Councilor Moore asked about the goals of the refinement plans. She asked if we were going back to revisit some of the older refinement plans,such as the one for her neighborhood off Q Street. Mr. Paschall said staff has a work plan identifying that they need to update the refinement pians. He noted that Q Street wasn't a top priority for updating.The overall need is to update to more modern goals and focus. Community Development Manager for Transportation Tom Boyatt responded. He said it was on the list of things to do.There are 8 refinement plans throughout the City; most of them date to the 19$0'x. Currently,the focus is on the Comprehensive Plan and the refinement plans will come next. It may be that Council wants to look at how those plans are geographically arranged. Councilor Moore said mitigating the dust, noise andtraffic along Q Street is expensive,but is very much needed. Mayor Lundberg said each year we look at our CIP and all of the projects which are extensive.At some point we are going to have to look at the projects and the fees charged to pay for the projects. She asked if they could get the CEP in categories with priorities and options in terms of fees and what is needed. She noted the Jasper Natron project that was removed in the past. Mr. Paschall said when they discuss fees,they could have a discussion about which projects are going into the budget.The CIP had to be balanced in the past so there couldn't be any projects in the CIP City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 3,2017 Page 4 that were unfunded. Projects that are unfunded were added because there are a lot of grant opportunities for projects that require the project is adopted into some sort of plan.When funding isn't found or identified,they keep pushing the projects out.During their next discussion,they could look at the capital component of the rate or fee, or the priorities for the funds set aside. Councilor Moore asked if they could also tie it into the benefit of the project. Councilor Pishioneri said the administration fee being charged by Springfield Utility Board (SUB)is rising annually for water,sewer, stormwater and electricity. Adding increases on the actual use fees compounds that increase. Mayor Lundberg agreed. The use fee is becoming the smaller part of the bill. Discussion was held regarding the administrative fee and what that includes. Ratepayers aren't notified when the administrative fees increase. Mr. Grimaldi said staff can bring back the administrative fee for further discussion at the work session about rates. Mr.Paschall said he would bring the CTP back on April 17 for a public hearing and adoption. 3. Walking and Biking Safety Improvements. Emma Newman,Senior Transportation Planner, presented the staff report on this item. The Walking and Biking Safety Improvements Project helps implement the policies and projects adopted by City Council in the Springfield 2035 Transportation System Plan,which prioritizes safety for all modes of transportation. The City of Springfield applied for and received federal MPO discretionary transportation PY 18 funds totaling$840,000($650,000 federal,$190,000 local match)for Walking and Biking Safety Improvements through the Surface Transportation Planning Urban program. City staff,the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee{BPAQ, Safe Routes to School Program, and others invested in biking and walking safety in our community weighed into this process. Staff has developed a prioritized list of projects to construct.The STP-U Walking and Biking Safety Improvements Prioritized List shows the projects that are expected to be fully funded and completed as well as a list of extra projects that will be pursued if funding permits or funded projects need to be substituted. The grant will be converted from federal dollars to state dollars through the fund-exchange process with ODOT in order to use the money most cost effectively. Staff plans to develop and implement a communications and public involvement plan and start project development in order to be able to construct the projects in 2018. Councilor Woodrow said she liked the crosswalk that is being proposed for Agnes Stewart Middle School. She noted that there is no warning as drivers come around the curve on Jasper Road to the south of Agnes Stewart Middle School indicating there is a school zone on the other side of the curve. She suggested a sign be placed to warn.drivers. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes April 3,2017 Mage 5 Ms.Newman said in 2013 Agnes Stewart Middle School did Safe Routes to School planning. One of the items identified in the action plan was to increase visibility of that flasher by shifting it around the corner and installing the crosswalk as shown in the project list. Councilor Woodrow asked that they include the additional sign warning drivers before the flasher. She liked the rest of the project list. Councilor Moore asked how the RRFB (rectangular rapid flashing beacon) lights worked. Ms.Newman said the current and proposed crossings are pedestrian activated by pushing a button. The flashing ball is a steady flash. Councilor Pishioneri asked if they looked at where people actually cross when they look at relocating crosswalks. Ms.Newman said that was considered. She described several of the crossings being proposed and how those were monitored first to make sure they are located where people cross. The new locations will reduce the conflicts as well of poor visibility.The crossing at Agnes Stewart would align it with a more direct route to the neighborhood. Councilor Pishioneri noted a location on 42"Street where a barrier was placed to guide people to the cross. Councilor Moore said she was happy to see the West D Street Path highly prioritized on the project list. Mayor Lundberg said she liked the RRFB because of its effectiveness.They are becoming common enough so people now understand what they need to do. Ms. Newman said they were also considering replacing the standard ball with the RRFB at the crossing on South 42"d and Holly Street, ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:51 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Christine L.Lundberg Mayor Attest: p X1 Amy Sowa City Recorder