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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. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 2 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. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 3 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. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 4 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. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 5 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 City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 6 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 City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 7 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 City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 22,2017 Page 8 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