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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/27/2008 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MImrrES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD TUESDAY, MAY 27,2008 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Tuesday, May 27,2008 at 5:32 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow, and Pishioneri. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members ofthe staff. 1. Report of Street Preservation Task Force. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. The Mayor appointed the task force to consider whether the streets of the City were adequately maintained and if additional resources are required to maintain the appropriate level of maintenance. Subsequently, the Council referred to the Task Force the question of alternative preservation techniques for unimproved streets. . The Task Force was created in March 2008 by the Mayor to consider the following charge: Council seeks the advice of this panel of citizens on the current condition of the City's transportation system and whether or not transportation activities are adequately funded. Subsequently, the Council directed the Task Force to consider possible alternative preservation treatments to be provided to unimproved City streets where residents have not made the capital investment to bring the street to City standards. The Task Force met on April 16 and April 30, 2008. At the April 30 meeting, the Task Force developed recommendations on both questions. With respect to unimproved streets, the Task Force recommends that the City provide labor and equipment to perform thin overlays on appropriate streets if the residents agree to cover the cost of materials. With respect to preservation of City streets, the Task Force concludes thatthe current condition of the City's streets is acceptable and should be maintained at that level. They further conclude that additional revenue of $500,000 to $l million a year is required to assure that can happen. Although not specifically directed to suggest alternatives, the Task Force did study alternative revenue mechanisms and concluded that the most appropriate would be a Street Preservation Fee imposed on residents and businesses. . As reflected in the Task Force Report, staff have compiled the following options for the Council to consider: Option I: Direct staff to proceed with all recommendations in accordance with the Task Force Report. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27,2008 Page 2 Option 2: Direct staff to proceed with the Task Force recommendation to focus on unimproved streets only utilizing the thin-lift overlay and cost-sharing (by residents / property owners) approach. Option 3: Direct staff to proceed with the Task Force recommendation to maintain current levels of improved streets by increasing revenues through a Street Preservation Fee. Option 4: Direct staff to look into other funding sources to provide funds to adequately maintain city streets. Option 5: Do nothing - the impact to the condition of the street system of this option is displayed in attachment "D" of this memo. Mr. Goodwin discussed current Council policy related to improved and unimproved streets. He introduced Jason Nowlin, who was the spokesperson for the task force. He also introduced task force members Ron Herbert, Neal Zoumboukos, and Ronna Frank who were in the audience. Mr. Nowlin thanked the Mayor and Council for the opportunity to serve on this committee. He was proud to live in Springfield and appreciated the opportunity to have a say on this issue. He also thanked the task force who had put'in many hours and provided the report before Council. He discussed the process the task force went through to put together this report. He noted that the task force went beyond the charge of the task force and offered some suggestions on how to address the street fund issue. He asked the other task force members if they wanted to speak. Mr. Zoumboukos said he was a more recent citizen in Springfield, but took a great deal of pride living in this community. He had lived in other communities in Oregon where people hadn't taken pride. He was raised to believe that an ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure and this applied to this situation. If this issue was not addressed now, we would be facing that issue down the line in a more severe way. One of the things that'sold him on the recommendation was the analysis of the effect of not doing it on each and every citizen in terms of the cost to your own vehicles in tire wear, maintenance, etc. This recommendation was significantly less that the citizen would make ifthey had to make repairs on those items. He said they knew it was hard times for everyone, but the ounce of prevention would be far outweighed by the pound of cure individuals would have to pay for their own cars and as a community. He hoped the Council considered it in that vein. Ms. Frank said she called three "different tire companies to find out what happened to tires with a 50,000 mile guarantee on regular good roads compared to unimproved or gravel roads. She noted that she lived on an unimproved road that was repaired last year using a process that included our gas tax. She and her neighbors voted for an increase in gas tax specifically because they saw the direct positive results of it being used to repair an unimproved road. They also noted a direct positive effect on the wear of their tires. The first company she checked with was Goodyear, and although they offered no percentage difference in wear, they acknowledged that sharp rocks and rough roads could increase tire wear. Schmucks said they thought that driving on gravel or unimproved roads could increase tire wear by twenty-five percent. Les Schwab said for the trucks used by Weyerhaeuser, when they drove on unimproved roads, they got about Y2 the mileage out of their tires as they did when driving on good roads. She noted her personal City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27,2008 Page 3 experience with her tires. She would rather spend the $24 a year than $50 to $100 a year on car maintenance. She knew others would also prefer to have roads in good condition. Mr. Goodwin said James Hanks, a member of the task force, submitted a letter in support of the recommendations. The letter was handed out to the Mayor and Council. Mayor Leiken said Mr. Hanks was a highly respected transportation engineer with JRH. Councilor Pishioneri thanked the citizens for working on this task force. Their recommendation made sense and he liked option 3. Councilor Ballew said she liked option 2, the thin lift overlay for unimproved streets and asking the citizens to pay for materials. She would like staff to test the process to see if it could be completed that fast. She would like more information on the actual cost ofthin overlay, slurry seal, the two-inch seal and how our costs compared to those from the League of Oregon Cities (LOC). She would like staffto keep track to estimate how much it cost per linear foot, and how much it saved to do the thin overlay. It should pay for itself. She wanted more information on the street preservation fee, such as charts showing the revenue source totals and expenses in major categories (maintenance, new streets, sewers, etc) for the period from 2000-2008. She wanted to know what the tax would actually yield in terms of funds. Councilor Woodrow echoed Councilor Pishioneri's appreciation to the task force. He enjoyed being the liaison and working with the group. The input from the task force was very diligent and the staff also put in a lot of work. He said he was in support of option 1. It was a low cost for citizens to maintain streets and was brought forth by the task force. He mainly listened as he sat in on the meetings. He asked that someone from public works answer some of Councilor Ballew's questions. Public Works Director Dan Brown and Maintenance Manager Brian Conlon answered Councilor Ballew's questions: 1) What did it cost the City of Springfield to put on a thin overlay? That cost was represented as materials cost only and would be between $8 and $10 per linear foot per side of the street. It was approximately $20 per linear foot for approximately a 20-22 foot wide street for materials and equipment. 2) Was the cost for slurry seal at $8 a linear foot for materials only? Slurry seal was contracted and the $8 per linear foot included the entire cost for the contractor. 3) Was the cost for the two-inch seal at $44, also contracted? Yes. Mr. Brown said they could expect all costs to increase. Mr. Conlon said the cost recovery ofthin lift overlay was about 50 percent. He explained the difference in doing thin overlay compared with repairing pot holes. Councilor Ballew said she thought staff was underestimating the cost savings. She would like that documented as they went along. Mr. Conlon said they had done some streets with thin lift overlay already. He noted those locations. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27, 2008 Page 4 Councilor Ballew said if the residents had been willing to pay for the materials cost, that put them on more of an equal footing with the rest of the City. She asked what percentage of the costs was charged to residents when a full improvement was made. Mr. Brown said everything except intersections was charged, making it about 80 percent. Councilor Ballew noted the additional benefits of sidewalks, lighting, etc. that residents receive when their street was fully improved. Mr. Brown referred to attachment B, page 1, second to the last bullet, which discussed the efficiency ofthe thin-lift overlay program. Councilor Ballew said the City could actually have an overall savings with the overlay program and she supported that. She would like to have the residents pay for the materials. . Mr. Brown said that was the recommendation of the task force. Councilor Ballew said at one time, Council proposed a transportation utility fee and received strong opposition. She would like to see more data on the street preservation fee. Councilor Ralston said he drove on one of the streets that had thin-lift overlay, but only on some sections. He felt the whole street should be done. It did look like it would wear longer. He asked how much the $1.75 street preservation fee would raise. Mr. Goodwin said $1.75 on residents would raise about $100,000, but it would be coupled with the fee that was applied to businesses. The commercial fee would raise considerably more. One member ofthe task force recommended a fee on off-street parking spaces or on trips. If Council directed, staff could go back and research to determine exactly how much would be generated by fees of those kinds. In 2003, it was a different fee that would have raised about $750,000 a year. Councilor Ralston said there was nothing in the recommendation about who would collect such a fee, so that would need to be determined. It was a great idea for the residents to pay for the materials, but he asked what would happen if not everyone wanted to or had the money to do it. He did not like fees or taxes. He knew something had to be done about the streets, but was not sure he was ready to go with the full recommendation. He was leaning towards option 2 or 3. Councilor Wylie said she would like to see more numbers to see what this would cost. Councilor Lundberg said she appreciated the task force. The unimproved streets were costly and it would be great if that could be addressed in option 2, but she would like to move cautiously. She had never been a proponent of a specific fee, because it was difficult to be equitable when some homes had only one car and some had many. She also had concerns about the mechanism for collecting the fee. She didn't like transportation fees on something like a utility bill and she hadn't seen another mechanism. She felt the City could make great progress with the unimproved streets, and she was fine with residents paying for the materials portion. She would like staff to look at option 2. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27, 2008 Page 5 Councilor Ballew suggested having a two or three year test period on the thin overlay process on unimproved streets with residents paying for the materials. Councilor Wylie said short unimproved streets degraded without any improvements. The City didn't want to lose ground on those types of streets. Mr. Goodwin asked if Council wanted the two issues back as two separate things. First, staff would bring something back on unimproved streets, then with answers to questions about a street preservation fee. Councilor Pishioneri said Councilor Ralston brought up a good point regarding an entire street agreeing to pay for the materials. There was often a mix of rentals and homeowner homes on the unimproved street. He asked if a thin-lift overlay project could be stopped if not all of the neighbors were willing to payor ifthere was a system to make sure it got done. Councilor Lundberg asked if the same process could be used that was used for improving streets. Mr. Goodwin said the approach for improved streets worked because it involved assessments on the property and this would be voluntary. He explained how it could be set up as an account and once enough funds were in the account, the project could be done. It wouldn't matter who contributed to the fund, although it could be that renters would also be interested in putting some money towards the improvement if they were planning to live there for four or five years. The program was flexible in how it collected funds. Councilor Ballew said she liked that approach. Mr. Brown referred to attachment B. He noted that maintenance staff tried to facilitate the neighbors, but it was the responsibility of the neighbors to get the total funds. Mayor Leiken again thanked the task force. It was good when a citizen group looked at different options. Cities were limited in what they could or couldn't do. The Governor had some task forces moving forward on transportation issues which should be wrapping up in September. The revenue piece had broken out into a separate subcommittee of the original subcommittee because it was such a large issue. From the City's perspective, we could implement either a gas tax or something similar to what was being recommended. The gas tax would be tied in with the high cost of fuel, and this may not be the right time with the high cost of gas. He was interested in pursuing the option the task force recommended. He agreed with Councilor Ballew that the options were on the table with the information. He thanked staff for having the information to respond to Council's questions this evening Although these were our 'streets' it was also a quarter billion dollar asset in our community and would only increase. Streets coincided with the quality of life and solid infrastructure was the key. We needed to protect our asset and have a good plan in place. He appreciated the recommendation. Mr. Brown said the last sheet in attachment D showed what would happen if nothing was done. Staff had re-estimated the value of the City's streets and it was now closer to $400M, which was nearly one-half billion dollars. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27, 2008 Page 6 Councilor Ballew said it would be good for Mr. Laudati or someone to put together a brochure to explain things to the public about thin overlay. Mr. Brown said they could include information on where to go to look at pilot projects. Mayor Leiken agreed. He noted that the signs the City currently displayed saying projects w~re being done with gas tax funds was beneficial. Councilor Woodrow said a number of members of the task force were willing to work with the public works staff to educate the public. Mr. Goodwin said the task force was interested in pursuing these options and would like to stay involved if the Mayor approved. Mayor Leiken said that was fine. Mr. Herbert said the task force felt the street preservation fee was the only equitable way to figure this out. He noted he was on a fixed income and couldn't afford mo're fees, but would support this $24 a year because the primary function was to maintain the roads. The task force didn't want to see Springfield's streets deteriorate to the level of those in Eugene. This fee was an equitable way to share the cost. City buses or Ridesource didn't pay to use the streets. Bicyclists and walkers also needed good streets. This was to address the entire street system in our City because we traveled all over town. He thanked the City staff for their time and knowledge. It was an honor to be associated with this process. 2. Fire & Life Safety Standards of Cover (SOC) Adoption. Fire Chief Dennis Murphy presented the staff report on this item. On May 14,2007 a Standards of Cover report prepared by a consultant was presented to Council. It was recommended as a tool for: · Assessing the community for fire and non-fire risk factors · Defining minimum emergency response performance standards · Determining appropriate vehicle and staffing patterns · Evaluating workload capacity and determining unit utilization · Measuring current and ongoing service delivery performance · Planning future fire station locations · Assisting in strategic planning and policy development relative to resource procurement and allocation Since the report was 150 pages and included many charts and graphs, Councilors agreed that adequate time should be allowed for them to study details of the document. Councilors requested that staff bring the issue back to the Council when prepared to address timelines and triggers for various actions such as property acquisition for new fIre stations and changes in staffing. Typical indicators that signal threshold has been reached to trigger changes include: City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27,2008 Page 7 . Percentage of emergency response times met reaches minimum . Problem areas in the city where response is chronically slow . Time for on duty training, vehicle preparation, rest and meals between calls is inadequate to be supported with a 24 hour shift operation. . Major new developments include buildings and other facilities that require intensive fire service maintenance and resource allocation · Annexations and/or urban growth boundary expansion . At this point in the city's planning, no triggers points have been met but several are projected to be met in the near future (Attachment B in the agenda packet). The most pressing is future fIre station relocation. Staff recommends that Council direct action be taken to locate suitable land for future fire stations and bring back options for purchase and related timelines. Chief Murphy referred to the previous topic and noted that Fire and Life Safety (F&LS) depended on good streets. Chief Murphy reviewed the national standards. Eugene had adopted a SOC and was a Commission on Fire Accreditation International, Inc. (CFAI) organization. The focus tonight would be on today's needs. Following the discussion, Chief Murphy said he would be looking for Council direction on a staff recommendation. With that direction, no money would be spent, but rather staff would bring back more information and options. He discussed the purchase of property in Gateway for that station back in 1994. The City was actively working to improve property values in downtown and Glenwood through urban renewal. The fIrst major project in one of those areas would put us past our trigger point. Downtown property costs would go up, so the better option for downtown'may be a one acre lot with a two-story building. Chief Murphy said the SOC was to assess the risk as noted on the AIS in the agenda packet. He discussed each of the items listed. The SOC helped determine planning for future stations. He discussed the indicators for determining trigger changes in location or stations and response times. Property costs would be going up in the future so now could be the time to purchase property in this area. He discussed the Jasper Natron area and the triggers that would increase property values in that area. Staff was getting much better at determining where future growth would occur in our City. Mayor Leiken confirmed that a fire truck at City Hall could make the response time to west Glenwood. Chief Murphy said that was correct. The consultant felt somewhere downtown would be the appropriate place for a fire station for that reason. He noted several locations downtown that could be appropriate. They needed to look at costs and values of those properties and where the funds would come from to purchase them. Staff would bring those options back to Council. He ,was interested in planning ahead and getting property before the costs went up too much. There . were six districts in Springfield covered by five stations. Two of the stations would need to be relocated. He referred to the maps distributed to the Council and discussed the areas where the stations would need to be relocated. Councilor Wylie asked about the timeline for relocation of the fire stations. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27, 2008 Page 8 Chief Murphy said one of the two could be done by 2010 or 2015. Catalysts would get them built and moved, such as annexation or development. Discussion was held regarding property acquisition only at this time. Councilor Wylie asked about the stations to be relocated. Chief Murphy said Station #4 (28th and Centennial) would move to downtown, and Station #14 (formerly #2) would move into the south hills. There was property available near the intersection of Linda Lane and Mt. Vernon that was affordable. The City had a good reputation of acquiring properties, leasing them and maintaining them until the right time to use the property. He discussed several options for locations downtown. The City needed to be strategic. Councilor Ralston said he wanted to be proactive, stay ahead and promote growth. He supported finding the property now because the triggers would be coming up soon. Mayor Leiken asked if the staffhad checked the property out in Jasper Natron for the relocation of Station #2. The time was now to start having those conversations. City Attorney Joe Leahy said there was another property downtown that Springfield Utility Board (SUB) had been considering across the street from their current location. SUB received an appraisal on that property, which was owned by Don Major, but decided not to buy it. That could be an option for the downtown relocation. Chief Murphy said staff would bring back options that were affordable and with options of funding. They would also bring information on timelines and triggers. Mayor Leiken said it was not a problem to look around and get ideas of costs. Staff could then bring back options and costs for Council to consider. The property costs would only increase. Councilor Ballew said now was the time. She would like staff to bring back options, prices and financing. She asked if staff had looked at using people that were not paramedics and a more standard vehicle for transporting patients to the hospitals. That would relieve the regular paramedics for other calls. Chief Murphy said staff would bring information on that back to Council. Springfield's role in that was yet to be determined, but the City of Eugene was energized at a high level about that issue. It involved separating the non-emergency work and creating inexpensive and effective alternatives for firefighters/paramedics to do non-paramedic work. Councilor Ballew said those people could be parallel to the Police Community Service Officers (CSO). Chief Murphy agreed. Councilor Lundberg said she agreed there was a need to purchase property, especially downtown with the redevelopment of Glenwood. She was in favor of being foresighted in purchasing property. This was the time for the City to be proactive in downtown to acquire those properties for a Fire Station and for parking. The City might need to look at condemnation and putting together a number of properties for a public purpose as soon as possible. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 27,2008 Page 9 Chief Murphy said the City had often looked at downtown properties, but not for a fire station. Mayor Leiken said our city was being watched and developers would take note of where we located fire stations. He appreciated the fact staff was looking ahead. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:50 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: ~~ Amy So City Rec rder