HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/22/2017 Work Session City of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY MAY 22,2017
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth
Street, Springfield,Oregon, on Monday May 22,2017 at 5:31 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon,Wylie,Moore, Stoehr,Woodrow and
Pishioneri.Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith,City
Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff.
1. Arts Commission Applicant Interview.
Librarian Thea Hart presented this item. In response to a press release in October 2016 for an initial
deadline of October 25, 2016,the Arts Commission received one application for three vacancies. After
extending the deadline to November 25,2016,the Arts Commission received a total of two
applications for the three vacancies. The Arts Commission interviewed two applicants during its
December 13,2016 meeting and the City Council interviewed and appointed these applicants in
January 2017. In response to a press release in April 2017 for a deadline of May 1,2017,the Arts
Commission received one application for one vacancy. The Arts Commission interviewed the
applicant during its May 9,2017 meeting.
Ms. Hart introduced Danielle Knapp.
The Mayor and Council introduced themselves to the applicant. They asked the following questions
of Ms.Knapp:
1. Why are you interested in serving on the Arts Commission?(Mayor Lundberg)
2. Describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your desire to become an
Arts Commissioner. (Councilor Moore)
3. Which initiatives are you interested in working on if you are appointed as a Commissioner?
What would you bring to the Heritage Arts Grant program,which received additional funding
for this fiscal year?(Councilor Woodrow)
4. Have you attended an Arts Commission meeting? If so,what were your impressions?
(Councilor VanGordon)
5. Please name one way you would help inform our community about the Springfield Arts
Commission and/or the Arts Commission's projects. (Councilor Pishioneri)
6. Outside of the monthly Arts Commission meetings,what amount of volunteer time do you
have to offer for work involving the Arts Commission? (Councilor Stoehr)
7. Can you give us an example of your experience working with a committee?(Councilor Wylie)
Council discussed the applicant and her qualifications. Council consensus was to appoint Ms.Knapp
during the June 5,2017 Council meeting.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 22,2017
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2. Police Special Levy.
Police Chief Rick Lewis and Finance Director Bob Duey presented this item. The current special
operating levy for police services expires as of June 30,2018. To place this issue on the November
2017 election for renewal,a ballot measure needs to be fully prepared and authorized by Council. To
allow an adequate amount of time for the filing of the election and to conduct an information
campaign by the City, staff is asking that Council approve the final ballot measure packet and an
authorizing resolution for the election prior to Council going on summer recess.
Chief Lewis provided an overview of the current levy and the positions it currently funds. The reason
for the initial levy was to address budget cuts due to property tax limitations.In 2006,the jail was
added to the levy to include jail staff. From his perspective,the levy and jail have had the largest
impact on the safety of our community than anything else they have done. He provided some statistics
that showed a considerable positive impact on crime since the time the jail was built. He reviewed the
history of the levy, including the rates and the percentage of votes. One of the questions for the
Council to consider is the term of the levy.
Mr.Duey said levies have always existed for cities,but since the property tax limitations,the way they
are used has changed. There is now no permanent way to raise the permanent rate.Levies are
temporary and must go to the voters for every renewal. There are two ways to do a levy: one is a fixed
dollar amount; and the other is a rate per thousand,which is what we have done.The rate is chosen
and assessed by property taxes. The amount may change from year to year,but the hope is that it
averages out over time. The reason the rate may change is in order to maintain the level of service.As
time goes by,the growth in cost of services exceeds the growth of the Assessed Value(AV). In
looking at the dollar amounts from 2012 to current, staff has done a good job holding the levy at a
reasonable amount, increasing only by about 3%annually. The jail was only on part of the 2006 levy,
and all of the 2010 levy. The increase for jail services has been slightly higher than the other police
services over the past five years. The Court has the largest increase in percentage,but is a relatively
small department. If they just took the FY19 projected budget, it would take about$1.34 per$1000 to
maintain current services. If we wanted to pay the full cost of services, it could take about$1.44 per
$1000.If we stayed at the current rate of$1.28 per$1000, funding would need to come from the
General Fund to make up the difference. The City is conducting a survey right now for the rate that
could be acceptable to the voters. If they leave the levy at the current rate, it would be a renewal and
the ballot title would state such. If they increase the rate to something more than$1.28 per$1000, it
would be considered a new levy and would need the additional language in the ballot title that"this
measure may cause property taxes to increase more than three percent".
Councilor Pishioneri asked about the decrease in property crimes and which specific categories that
included. He would like to know statistics of what decreased due to jail(not just arrests).
Chief Lewis said he could get that information.
Councilor Pishioneri asked about female inmate housing and if they will staff only with female
officers, or look at another model.
Chief Lewis said they will use other model, and will not increase staffing at the jail.
Councilor Pishioneri asked for a comparison in costs in hiring all female officers or using another
model.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 22,2017
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Chief Lewis said they could bring that information back for the June 5 work session.
Mr.Duey said every penny of the levy equals just under$50,000.
Councilor Pishioneri said he is supportive of looking at the levy at a number that will anticipate an
increase to $1.44 per$1000 to keep the status quo.
Councilor Moore asked if the bond for the jail was paid off yet.
Mr. Duey said it has not been paid off,but the City did refund it last year to save money. The levy
goes until 2026.
Councilor Moore asked if there are any other levies or bonds that will be paid off during the time
period.
Mr.Duey said there were none. The current levy for General Obligation bonds was reduced about
$0.10 this year.
Councilor Moore said she is concerned about increasing the rate.The Police Department is doing a
magnificent job,but she doesn't want to push it too far so the citizens don't vote yes.
Councilor Stoehr said if they stayed at$1.28 per$1000,positions could be cut or some kind of cost
sharing would need to happen with the General Fund.He asked how much would come out of
personnel and how much would come out of materials and services.
Mr.Duey said they will likely need to cut 6 or 7 positions throughout the City in FY19, and then look
at how the levy fits into the budget.
Councilor Stoehr asked where female inmates are currently housed.
Chief Lewis said the City has an agreement with Lane County in which they exchange five female
inmates for five male inmates. That is going away the end of June. Once the City starts to house
female inmates, it should reduce the failure to appear(FTA).He explained further.
Mr. Duey said they would probably see an immediate increase of FTA as they clean up the backlog. It
will then equal out.
Councilor VanGordon said he is supportive of the levy. Our citizens have put a lot of faith in the City
and with their funds to make sure this is a safe community to live and raise a family. Sharing the
reduction in crimes is an important story and he wants them to continue to share it with the
community.He asked if we were seeing compressions.
Mr. Duey said as we went into the recession, compression became more of an issue. There were years
the police levy lost about$300,000 to compression.As the assessed valued(AV)has increased,the
market value has recovered some, and compression has almost gone away. If the levy was set at$1.44
per$1000,we would likely see compression which would affect the City and other agencies.
Councilor VanGordon said he would like to see what the citizen responses are for the levy. $1.44 per
$1000 seems like a lot,but it's doing a lot for the community.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 22,2017
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Councilor Woodrow said she is interested in the public feedback. The increase from$1.28 per$1000
to$1.44 per$1000 is$0.16/$1000 which is only$16.00 per year for a$100,000 home. They need to
get that word out to the community,regardless of which figure is selected.
Mr.Duey said often people think of their real market value, instead of their assessed value,when
calculating the tax.
Councilor Wylie said she was surprised at the increases in the proposed budget,especially for indigent
representatives,interpretive fees,and employee development. Some of those things weren't on the
FY17 budget.
Mr.Duey said the indigent cases have gone from about 2200 cases per year to over 3000 cases per
year. The Jail has seen increases in medical expenses due to the renewed contract.
Councilor Wylie asked about program expense,employee development and travel and meeting. She
didn't recall seeing those before.
Mr. Duey said they were in there,but the Police Department tried to hold expenses lower in 2016-
2017.They could look at that again and decide some of those things need to be removed. Those things
were in the original levy.
Councilor Wylie said she is concerned about raising the amount due to the narrow margin in which
they won the election last time. She is also concerned that this puts further dependence on the levy.
She is hoping they can have the Police Department supported by the General Fund budget. She is
totally supportive of the Police Department and the Jail,but is worried about passing the levy. She
wants to make sure we are being prudent.
Mr.Duey said it is very important for the levy to pass. It is most important that we put something out
there that is passable to pass.
Councilor Wylie said when they looked at the Fire levy,they looked at keeping it the same and absorb
it back into the General Fund so we are less dependent on the levy.
Mr.Duey said Council has talked about this for both the Police and Fire levy. It is not always a good
idea to remain on temporary levies forever. The Council made the decision that is was better to hold
the rate the same for the Fire levy. Since that time, staff has developed a plan to get us off the Fire levy
after one more election. They can have the same conversation about the Police levy,but is not doable
at this time. The decision about whether or not to increase the amount is similar to the discussion
regarding fire. In both FY16 and FY17,they moved one position off the Fire levy to the General Fund.
In FY20 and FY21,they will again move one position off the levy per year. That gets us down to half
the levy for the next election.Doing so did put a strain on the General Fund, so an additional 6.5 FTE
were cut. If this moves to the General Fund,we would need to discuss what would be cut from the
General Fund to accommodate. That is a long term conversation.
Councilor Wylie asked if they could stagger the position cuts over the life of the levy.
Mr.Duey said they may not need to lose all 6 or 7 positions in one year,but they do need to know
they will have enough revenue to sustain through the five years. There is a lot of speculating at this
time.
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 22,2017
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Chief Lewis said he recognizes they are asking a great deal from the citizens,and they have been very
generous. $1.44 per$1000 would be nice,but they need to be cautious.
Councilor Stoehr asked if the results from past surveys about the police levy have been accurate.
Chief Lewis said the last one showed higher support at the higher dollar amount.
Mr. Grimaldi said they have to look at the wording of the survey questions to fully understand.
Councilor Stoehr said the survey for the fuel tax showed favorable,yet it failed.He wants to make
sure this levy passes.
Mayor Lundberg said they need to decide a dollar amount and what could pass.
Mr. Grimaldi said the survey would be straight forward testing the tolerance. They will have
information from the survey at the next meeting.
Councilor Pishioneri said he supports$1.44 per$1000 personally,but is more supportive of what the
public wants. Surveys can be unpredictable. If people knew the full picture,they would get more
support.
Mr.Duey said he would bring the options for dollar amounts to the Council on June 5.
3. Update on Women Veterans Memorial Art Project.
Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Niel Laudati presented this item. Mr.Laudati introduced
Elizabeth Estabrook,the Oregon Women Veteran's Coordinator who has assisted throughout this
process.He also introduced Shelley Corteville, a member of the Women's Veterans Committee who
has also been an asset through this process.
Springfield is fortunate to have the support of the Council and City Manager to do art projects
throughout the City that benefit the City for tourism. The list of art projects throughout Springfield
that was presented to the Council included one for the US Military in mid-Springfield.After doing
some research,they found that women veterans have very little to no representation in terms of
memorials or acknowledgements. That led them to look at doing something special in Springfield for
women veterans.
Mr. Laudati reviewed some of the art projects done through the City Manager's office over the last 10
years. He noted that the only thing we had in Springfield to acknowledge our veterans was the
howitzer on the corner of Mohawk and I Street,with a small Vietnam Veterans plaque with some
missing names, and there was no ADA accessibility. The City worked with our partners at
Willamalane and designed a Veteran's Plaza, including a new Vietnam Veteran's wall to replace the
plaque.He displayed a photo of the dedication of the photo. This brought home what the City has done
for our veterans by providing a place for veterans to gather and reflect. He also displayed a photo of
the Rosie the Riveters gathering at the site.Having this plaza allows them to hold an event that
respects what they have done.
Mr. Laudati said the committee for the women's memorial first met in March 2016 to discuss the idea.
At the first meeting,people were not seeing eye-to-eye on what this memorial should include. The
committee was formed and the staff worked with them to come up with something that the women
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 22,2017
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veterans could appreciate. A number of meetings were held and a request for proposals(RFP)was
sent out for the design, fabrication and installation of this memorial. Campus Sculptures was chosen to
complete this project.
Ms. Estabrook thanked the Council for their interest in having a memorial for women veterans. The
committee knew what they didn't want:things that stereotyped women veterans. They wanted to
visualize something more than just a woman in camo,but something that spoke to the women
veterans' experience,which is very different from the male veteran experience. It was important that
the memorial represent all branches of the military with equal respect. They knew they wanted people
to feel the integrity, strength and pride when visiting the memorial. They also wanted to make sure the
sculpture didn't leave out women of color and women from different cultures. The artist brought
forward a design that would bring honor to women veterans.
Mr. Laudati showed a picture of the women on the committee. One of the things they requested was to
keep the sculpture a surprise for the community when unveiled on Veteran's Day.
Ms.Estabrook said the reason for that is so people wouldn't be debating about what could be better or
different. When people see it,they want them to feel the power of the memorial.
Mr. Laudati said they appreciate Council's interest and support.He thanked Mayor Lundberg for her
service in the Navy. There is some information they can pass on to the Council.
Mayor Lundberg said it is a few months away. She appreciates the work that went into this and that
there will be recognition of women in the military.
Councilor Pishioneri said much of the funding is from the State,which is wonderful. It shows the State
supports this project.
Ms.Estabrook said she has spread the word when she travels around the state. Women veterans all
over Oregon are very excited and very honored. She provided a gift for women veterans in the
meeting, including Mayor Lundberg.
4. Main Street Safety Project Update.
Community Development Manager for Transportation, Tom Boyatt presented this item,along with
Senior Planner Molly Markarian. Mr.Boyatt said this is a check-in on this project. These are big
decisions that will affect the community over the long term. They had heard from the Council and
Governance Team that they need to integrate the process as much as possible,engage the effected
business and property owners,and move forward quickly. In this process, safety is a priority. There is
a need within the planning process for the safety project to catch up with the transit project which has
had a good amount of public involvement. That will take some time,but once they get through those
conversations about how to balance the public interest of safety with the private interest of keeping the
businesses viable,they hope to bring back a concept to Council with the two blended into a project
development and delivery format. Staff has been in discussions with the Oregon Department of
Transportation(ODOT)about the scope of work and intergovernmental agreements needed.
Councilor Pishioneri said he still has reservations about this project. He is supportive of the businesses
and is opposed to anything that will adversely affect them. He has also seen the need for safety.
Medians were prevalent where he just traveled and businesses were thriving,but they did allow U-
turns in order to allow people to get back to the businesses. That does require additional space.He
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Council Work Session Minutes
May 22,2017
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wants to make sure if they consider medians,they remain mindful of how to get the motorists to the
businesses.
Mr. Boyatt said being able to make U-turns would be critical,and would be as high value in the
project. That becomes the design question of how to resolve that issue. The first part of this process is
to get all of that on the table and then bring back ideas to Council.
Councilor Moore said she appreciates Option 1 to coordinate the safety plan with the transit plan.
Eugene wants to move forward with their transit plans, so this could set Springfield back in terms of
our transit plan. She feels,however,that it is wise to use the grant funds in conjunction with the transit
plan. She is concerned about business and hopes this invigorates Main Street and makes it more
vibrant and business friendly. She looks forward to staff working with the businesses to find creative
solutions.
Councilor VanGordon said he agrees about the businesses. It is early in the process and those concerns
need to be heard. The two projects need to be seamless and move together in order to get the corridor
everyone wants. Coordination is key and the projects must be presented to the businesses as one
project. Regarding the LTD project,he is not concerned that we have been moved back,rather that our
place is being held.
Councilor Woodrow said the City has spent a lot of time to make sure businesses are involved, from
the safety crossings to now.The biggest priority is to make sure businesses are involved in every step
of this process.They need to feel comfortable to ask questions and not feel like the decision is already
made. If they don't get the answers they are looking for,they need to understand why. The businesses
are the life of Main Street. She compared it to the Virginia Daisy Bike Route process and how they
were able to work through the details. They have made major progress with the seven pedestrian
crossings. Incorporating the next step in safety is all part of the process.
Councilor Stoehr asked about safety statistics along Main Street since the speed limit reduced. He
would be interested in knowing.
Mr. Grimaldi said they could get that information to him.
Councilor Stoehr asked about the effectiveness of roundabouts for commercial trucks that would still
be going up and down Main Street.He talks to a lot of truck drivers and they would be happy to be
taken off of Main Street.
Mr.Boyatt said part of this phase is to look at the level of property impact of a roundabout as a U-turn
would have compared to a full U-turn that could accept a turning truck. Our roundabout designers will
always take freight into consideration. Because of the mills and other businesses along this route,
there is a high density of trucks. They need to be able to turn a truck effectively.
Councilor Stoehr asked if it is possible to track the number of through-trucks compared to those going
to a specific destination.
Mr. Boyatt said there are ways to track that information.
Councilor Pishioneri said traveling down 6th and 7th Streets in Eugene,he has noticed there are several
businesses that got affected in a bad way and the traffic is not any better. He doesn't want it to be
replicated in Springfield. He wants to make sure the business comments are taken into consideration
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seriously. Many of the businesses have been here for years and there needs to be a happy medium. We
need to make sure we get their ideas and input of what can be done. He doesn't want to hear from
people who are losing their business.
Councilor VanGordon said the important thing is to realize it is going to be an iterative process. We
need to be sure to ask businesses to continue to show up and remain involved.This is early on,but we
need to continue to listen.
Councilor Woodrow complimented those that show up from the community. We need their help and
input,and she hopes to have that process continue.
Councilor Moore said 6th and 7th Streets in Eugene were bad before the construction. They have done
some great things.
Councilor Wylie said she has seen an ability to work with businesses to get what we need to happen.
She does not want us to skip that phase and just go down the middle of Main Street doing the same
thing the full length,but to work with the different businesses to see what could work and where.
They can't take a short cut when working with the businesses to come up with a finalized plan. She is
in favor of Option 1,but they need to be sensitive.
Mr. Boyatt said from his experience in working for both Springfield and ODOT,ODOT doesn't want
to do things in our community that Springfield doesn't want.
Mayor Lundberg said we have good track record of getting things done. She was concerned when she
heard the transit project would be bumped back. The main thing is to figure out how to coordinate.
This needs to look seamless to those affected when they work with the businesses. We take engineers
out to talk to the businesses. She is not sure she is fan of roundabouts and noted that the double
roundabout in Gateway is scary as a walker. She wants to take into consideration whether or not a
roundabout is needed. We have done this type of process often;this will be the third EmX corridor in
Springfield. She wants to make sure we make it work smoothly. Springfield does it better than other
communities.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa
•
Christine L. Lundberg
Mayor
Attest:
Amy Sowe
City Recorder