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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/14/18 Work Session dig . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY MAY 14, 2018 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday May 14, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie(by phone), Moore, Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder AJ Ripka, and members of the staff. Councilor Stoehr and Councilor Pishioneri were absent(excused). 1. Street Assets Unfunded Liability. Tom Boyatt, Department of Public Works Director, presented the staff report on this item. The decline in the condition of the City's street infrastructure continues to accelerate since 2007, when the City effectively discontinued its preservation program. Between 2013 and 2016,the unfunded backlog of preservation and reconstruction grew from $22 million to $30 million. Staff is currently completing an asset conditions inventory for 2018,which must be reported to the State prior to February 2019, and anticipates the unfunded liability is now$35 million,and could be as high as $40 million. Staff seeks Council's direction on how to approach this problem of growing concern. The City's constrained ability to keep up with the preservation needs of the community's street system in the past 10 years is a growing problem that will become overwhelming if not addressed. The voters declined to support local option gas tax increases in 2009 (2 cents/gallon)and 2016 (3 cents/gallon). In 2015, Lane County's vehicle registration fee ballot measure also failed. In 2017,the State Legislature passed House Bill 2017, which provides for an estimated $5.3 billion in new transportation revenues statewide over the next 10 years. Springfield anticipates receiving about$700,000 new dollars per year between mid-2018 and mid-2022. That revenue should increase again by about $350,000 for 2023 and 2024, and then again by the same amount in 2026. Unfortunately, these increases will barely keep pace with increased costs to operate and maintain the system, driven primarily by personnel and materials costs,and the addition of new facilities as the city continues to grow. Options to fund preservation and rehabilitation of Springfield's approximately $450 million dollar streets asset, on which the community's vitality depends,continue to be fairly limited and include local option gas tax increases, a general obligation bond to restore some portion of the system, and a street utility fee approach which could be used to secure a revenue bond to restore some portion of the system. Staff is seeking Council guidance on next steps. Should Council desire to bring a funding measure before the voters at the November general election,all materials will be due to the State no later than September 6, 2018. Mr. Boyatt provided a brief summary of the materials submitted to the council to allow more time for the Council to discuss the options staff presented and ask any questions they may have, Councilor VanGordon inquired how much revenue would need to be brought in to fully fund a street program and keep the preservation program funded. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 14,2018 Page 2 Mr. Boyatt responded that, if the scenario of the"back log"was taken out of the equation,the estimate would be approximately$5 million dollars per year to maintain the roads in their current condition. Councilor VanGordon expressed that he would like to have a survey of the community done before a final decision is made by the Council. His preference, if the Council chooses to pursue a General Obligation(GO) Bond, is that the term of the bond stays within five years. He is supportive of a bond measure on the November ballot if there is sufficient support from the voters. Councilor Moore said she has concern with survey results because a survey was done in the past showing that voters supported a gas tax. But, when the tax was voted on that year, it did not pass. Councilor Moore said that she would like a list of projects or priorities that would be funded by a GO Bond and she expressed support for pursuing a general obligation bond for$15 million dollars. Mayor Lundberg expressed that she didn't like any of the options. She opined that this revenue problem was caused by a loss of timber receipts, which is why we have begun to pursue advanced wood products. Mayor Lundberg said she would be willing to support a general obligation bond. Councilor Wylie said that she felt it unfair to tax only the property owners, since there are a number of people(renters and people passing through) who use the same streets,but will not be paying to help fix the streets. She ultimately expressed support for a general obligation bond for$15 million dollars. Mayor Lundberg asked if there is time to perform a survey prior to making a final decision. Mr. Grimaldi said that a survey could be pulled together fairly quickly, depending on the availability of a survey company, and brought back to the council for review in June. Councilor Wylie said she was willing to support a survey with the condition that a question addressing a gas tax vs. a bond be included on the survey. After further discussion, Mayor Lundberg summarized Council's support for staff, and/or their designees, to perform a survey that would test a gas tax and a general bond,compile the results,and have it brought back to the Council for review by June. 2. Sanipac Rates. Neil Obringer, Department of Development and Public Works,presented the staff report on this item. Mr. Obringer began by introducing representatives from Sanipac who were in the audience. He said that this item is the annual review of rates as provided in the current franchise agreement with Sanipac. Sanipac,the City's franchise hauler for solid waste, has requested an increase in rates effective July 1, 2018, based on the CPI increase and other operating cost increases. Under section 16.1 of the City's Franchise Ordinance, Sanipac can request rate adjustments prior to June 30th of each year. This section states that the January Portland CPI-U may be considered for CPI adjustments along with pass- through costs from Lane County, and the costs related to new government regulations. There is no monthly Portland-CPI figure—it is only reported by the first half-year increase, second half-year increase, and the annual average. Additionally, starting January 2018,the Portland CPI-U was discontinued. In the next franchise update, staff will seek Council approval to correct this reference and update the CPI index to the most appropriate available, likely the Western Region—Size Class B/C. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 14,2018 Page 3 The most recent available Portland CPI-U is the 2017 annual average which was 4.2%. Sanipac is requesting a 1.1% increase for additional costs associated with the continued world recycling market crisis,a 4.2%CPI adjustment,and a pass-through disposal increase of 2.6% from Lane County for the landfill. The 1.1%recycling increase is applied to the full rate,the 4.2% CPI increase is applied to hauling costs only,and the 2.6% landfill increase is applied to user fee(disposal) costs only. The end result of these changes would be a 5% increase across all lines of service. Councilor Wylie asked how this item is different from the item brought before the Council regarding the increases caused by the world recycling market issue earlier this year. Mr. Obringer summarized that when Sanipac representatives came to Council in December,the revenue information they used was based on a partial year.The 5.9% increase that they requested at that time was for the expenses and lost revenue associated with that portion of the year. The 1.1 % increase being requested now would accommodate an entire year's worth of data associated with lost revenue and additional costs incurred by Sanipac. Councilor Wylie asked to clarify that the 1.1%being requested now would be in addition to the 5.9% increase that was approved in January. Mr. Obringer confirmed that was correct. Councilor VanGordon clarified that the total amount being requested would be a 5% increase in additional to the increase the Council approved in January. Councilor VanGordon asked for the amount of the adjustment requested by Sanipac in 2017. Mr. Obringer said an adjustment of 2.1% CPI and .8% related to the County Landfill disposal costs in May of 2017.The average increase to consumers in 2017 was 2.4%or equal to .40 cents for what would be considered the most common service type. Councilor VanGordon said that one of the biggest concerns he hears from the community is the amount of recyclable materials that are being put into the landfill. He said it is difficult to approve a rate increase when citizens are being told that they cannot recycle as much and that more items are being put into the landfill, Councilor Wylie said she has also ran into a lot of anger in the community about the amount of items that cannot be recycled and opined that those same people will be even angrier about additional rate increases. Councilor Moore said she had major concerns for the low income and fixed income households in the community receiving additional rate increases. She provided an example: if she had to choose between being able to pay her light bill and pay her garbage bill, she would choose to pay her light bill. She asked if there are any programs to assist citizens in the community who cannot afford to pay for garbage pickup. Councilor Woodrow noted that this is the third increase to Sanipac rates in less than a year. She asked Sanipac representatives if they would consider a mailing to Springfield customers offering positive information about what they are trying to accomplish in terms of cleaning up the recycling stream. Councilors VanGordon, Moore, and Wylie concurred. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 14,2018 Page 4 Mayor Lundberg asked if there are domestic recycling programs and if there is research into compostable containers. A Sanipac representative indicated there would likely be a plastics recycling facility developed in Portland in the future. Councilor Wylie asked if Legislative and Public Affairs Manager Niel Laudati would look into the legislature for any more current information. Mr. Laudati confirmed he would. Mr. Obringer confirmed that Ile would work with Sanipac to draft a memo to Sanipac customers explaining the increase in more detail. 3. Solid Waste Code Change—Construction and Demolition Debris Neil Obringer, Department of Development and Public Works, presented the staff report on this item. In order to comply with new DEQ requirements for recycling and waste prevention, staff have worked with the City Attorney's Office to develop proposed changes to the Springfield Municipal Code. These changes direct certain self-haulers of mixed construction and demolition debris to either source separate or take the debris to a material recovery facility for separation and recycling. Lane County already adopted similar language regarding solid waste hauling and mixed construction and demolition debris and will be enforcing it at the Glenwood Transfer Station. Sanipac has agreed help the City with outreach and education materials that will go out with general construction permits at the City's permit counter. Mayor Lundberg inquired about the size of 6 cubic yards,to which Mr. Obringer described it as two full-size pickup beds piled to the top of their sides, or a filled 6' x 10' x 2.5'to 3'trailer. She also asked how Lane County will handle a private citizen at the Glenwood Transfer Station who had not received the education materials. Mr. Obringer replied that private citizens will be either given the education materials and their loads accepted one time or they will be directed across the street to EcoSort where they can sort out their recyclable materials. Through the course of this update, staff and the City Attorney's Office identified a number of additional potential code changes to the Solid Waste section of the Springfield Municipal Code. These potential changes will be summarized for Council's review and feedback. If Council so chooses, staff will provide additional information and schedule time to discuss at a future work session. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Minutes Recorder—AJ Ripka Christine L. Lundberg / Mayor Attest: AJ R ka • City Recorder