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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/12/2007 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, March 12,2007 at 5:32 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie (via conference phone), Ballew, Ralston, Woodrow, and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Interim Assistant City Manager Mike Harman, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Police Planning Task Force (PPTF) Application Review. Police Chief Jerry Smith presented the staffreport on this item. There is one existing citizen-at- large vacancy on the Police Planning Task Force, (PPTF). Applications were received from Ronald Snow, Jeff Overstreet and Patricia Mahoney. It was determined that Ronald Snow did not live within the city limits and was not eligible to apply as a citizen-at-large representative. The remaining two candidates were interviewed by the PPTF on March 1,2007. Following the interviews of the' two candidates, the task force recommended that Patricia Mahoney be appointed as a citizen-at-large member. Councilor Ralston asked about Ms. Mahoney's qualifications, because Mr. Overstreet was a retired highway patrolman. Chief Smith said Ms. Mahoney graduated from Lane County Corrections' Citizen's Academy. He said the PPTF was' not necessarily looking for a skill set, but rather citizens that could give input as a layperson. Many of the tasks of the committee didn't require in depth knowledge of police work. Councilor Pishioneri asked if this was the same Mahoney that was a caretaker at the Rifle Range at McGowan Creek. ' Chief Smith said he did not know. Councilor Woodrow, Council liaison to this committee, said he knew Mr. Overstreet, but had no problem with the PPTF's selection. 2. 2008-2012 Capital Improvement Program - A Community Reinvestment Plan. City Engineer Ken Vogeney and Civil Engineer Jeff Paschall presented the staff report on this item. The City of Springfield 2008-2012 Capital Improvement Program - A Community Reinvestment Plan has been drafted by staff, reviewed by the Planning Commission (2/21/07), and is now being forwarded to the City Council for their review and comments prior toa Public City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 12,2007 Page 2 Hearing at the March 19, 2007, regular meeting: The Commission recommended Council approval of the plan. The CIP attempts to balance the use of scarce capital construction funds with the long list of infrastructure needs for our community. It is not a document with budget authority, but it serves as a guide for programming funds and planning the annual workload of Public Works staff. There are a few completely new projects being proposed in the next five years of programmed 'funding, and we are making significant progress toward completing the backlog of projects from previous year's capital plans. These items are detailed in the attached Council Briefing Memorandum. Mr. V ogeney gave a brief overview of the CIP and noted that a public hearing regarding the CIP would be held next Monday, March 19, with staff recommendation for adoption. He referred to Table 1, shown on page 1 of the CIP, which outlined the criteria used to evaluate and rank projects. He referred to page iv (Attachment ft.., page 6 of 58), the Summary of Proposed Expenditures by Category. The categories listed, other than the Justice Center Facility, were standard categories that gave a general description of the primary purpose of a project. He noted the drop in the 2008-2009 proposed expenditures from the 2007-2008 expenditures. He explained the difference. Mr. V ogeney discussed the three new projects listed for the new CIP: Pioneer Parkway lighting project; street sealant overlay of 5th Street from B Street to Centennial; and the Bob Straub Parkway intergovernmental agreement (IGA). He said there was a project sheet to add funds for the City's share of that IGA. He said the fourth project included projects that weren't mapable. They covered general areas around the City, such as sidewalk preservation and specific needs. He explained. Mayor Leiken asked if the sidewalk construction project would be funded by an improvement district or some other means. Mr. V ogeney said it would not be funded with an improvement district. This would be for small in-fill type of projects and some frontages. It would not include a long stretch of sidewalks. Mr. Brown said staff would bring the sidewalk construction back to Council. Councilor Pishioneri,asked how far along the street light project was to replace the low pressure sodium with the high pressure sodium. Mr. Vogeney said the project was ongoing. Transportation Manager Tom Boyatt said that project was moving along and the lights were being replaced along with other projects. Mr. Grimaldi said staff could provide a status report in a Communication Packet. Mr. Vogeney referred to page 41 in Attachment A included in the agenda packet. He noted that $50,000 was set aside for that lighting program for FY2007/08 and $25,000 for the next two years. It was a continuing program. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 12,2007 Page 3 Councilor Ballew said $80,000 for mitior City facilities seemed inadequate. Mr. V ogeney said that was correct. Mr. Brown referred to a work session several weeks ago when he and Maintenance Manager Ed Black had discussed this issue with Council. The City could easily do $300,000 worth of building maintenance and preservation over the next five years, so $80,000 did fall short of that amount. He explained where the $80,000 came from during Goal Setting in 2005. Consistent with what was discussed during Goal Setting in 2007, staff would be looking for a new revenue source, and would be working with Council on any such options over the next few months. Councilor Ballew noted that the cost for Maintenance Shop Vehicle Wash Rack and the Fire Station Washing was over $400,000. Mr. V ogeney said those were for washing cars and also large pieces of equipment. Having a place to wash their vehicles on site helped the fire stations with staging and response times. The maintenance wash rack was to replace the existing system. Councilor Ballew said she thought that system was already replaced. Mr. V ogeney said it was started, and the funds included in the CIP were to finish the project. Councilor Ballew said the price seemed very excessive. Chief Murphy addressed the need for the Fire Stations to have washing facilities on site, but also understood Councilor Ballew's point. Councilor Ralston asked if the City normally assessed property owners for installation of sidewalks. Mr. Brown said that was the normal process. Staff would bring those projects to Council to determine if certain situations warranted the City giving sidewalks rather than assessing. Councilor Ballew asked if that would be a legitimate CDBG expenditure. Mr. Vogeney said it could be depending on the individual property owner. Mr. Brown said staff might come to Council this year with a strategy on how to improve the remaining streets that currently didn't meet City standards, including sidewalks. Councilor Lundberg said there were a lot of requests for CDBG funds and it was hard sell to the committee to get a City project approved. She discussed the need for preservation funds to fix sidewalks that were pushed up by the roots of street trees for safety purposes. Mr. Brown said there was $30,000 in the budget for replacing sidewalks damaged by street trees. He asked Council to let staff know if they noticed dangerous sidewalks. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 12,2007 Page 4 Councilor Ballew said as the City's finances got tighter and tighter, the City may need to take new tactics regarding CDBG funds or any other funds that could possibly help with these needs. Councilor Lundberg said in the past Room Tax Funds were used for similar projects. She said it was worth looking into those options. Mr. V ogeney said staff advertised to the public requesting input on projects. Six responses were received, and although none of the responses resulted in a project, they were being reviewed by staff to be addressed in other ways. Councilor Wylie asked about a comment regarding funds that the City would no longer receive. Mr. Vogeney said he was referring to the $500,000 fromthe Secure Rural Schools payment from Lane County for the Street Fund. Staff was projecting that the City would not receive those funds. Mayor Leiken said the City would need to look at additional revenue streams. He noted that over the last few years, the City has taken funds from the Bob Straub Parkway and Jasper Natron projects to fund other opportunities. With the new development going in near that area, he felt confident that the City could work with the State regarding State grants to help offset costs for the infrastructure. The partnerships that used to be in place with the Federal Government and the State were disappearing. He hoped that staff could come up with a comprehensive plan on how the City could accomplish these projects. It was up to the Mayor and Council to continue to discuss these issues openly and honestly with the citizens of Springfield, and let them know that the City would not receive assistance from the State or County and would need to accomplish this on our own. He discussed the Street Fund budget and noted that in a few years, that fund would be lacking. He said he didn't have an expectation that the City would be receiving any funds from the County. Councilor Ballew asked for an update on the I-5lBelt1ine intersection project. Mr. Boyatt said the I-5lBeltline project throug4 ODOT was scheduled for completion at the end of 2008, although it may be a little later. ODOT was working with the City to figure out what elements they could build ifthere were funds leftover. ODOT wanted, to know what GatewaylBeltline project the City was going to build before the finances could be resolved. By the end of 2008, there should be agreement on the GatewaylBeltline project and the City would try to build it in 2009. 3. Council Operating Procedures for Initiating Citizen-Based Land Use Requests. Planning Manager Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item. The Council is frequently asked to "fix" land use issues brought to them by citizens seeking a change in circumstances or relief from rules or fees for a specific land use action. When this request is made in person during business from the audience it can sometimes create an awkward dialogue between the citizen, the Council and the staff. An official operating procedure would bring a consistent city response to these requests and likely mitigate their occurrence. The Development Services Department receives several dozen inquiries each year from citizens and property owners who would like some change to the status of their zoning or plan City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 12,2007 Page 5 designation, or want relief from a rule or standard of the Code. In all but the rarest occasions, there is a process available to these folks to obtain the changes they seek. However, a substantial number of these folks would prefer not to undertake the process or pay the fee but instead want the Council to effect these changes without charge. The attached briefing memorandum provides more detail on this subject and lists the land use actions and the unofficial procedure for Council participation in these requests. The briefing memorandum also asks the Council to either endorse these procedures in an official capacity for widespread publication or continue to consider these requests on a case-by-case basis. Councilor Woodrow said it looked like good work from staff. He referred to Attachment 1, page 2. The last sentence under the background section states "Granting a dispensation to one property owner and not another for something any property owner may freely seek through the application process may invite challenges . . . " He asked how special circumstances would be handled. Mr. Mott said these were guidelines, but Council could take into consideration anything they chose. The statement of the possibility of preferential treatment by the Council was not based on special circumstances, but rather on someone who didn't want to pay but was able to pay. Councilor Woodrow asked if staff would still consider each case individually and bring those with extenuating circumstances to Council. Mr. Mott said staff would act appropriately. He gave an example. Staff couldn't prevent citizens from coming before Council, but would make it clear to the citizen that there were procedures in place. Councilor Woodrow said most of the problems could be resolved by following the procedures. Mr. Mott said that was correct. Councilor Ballew said she supported this policy. Council was at a disadvantage when a citizen came to them and there was no information on the situation. This would not preclude citizens from coming to Council, but would give Council additional information. Mr. Mott said the last resort of staff would be to deflect the public to come to Council. Many citizens still came to Council anyway. Councilor Ballew said she understood and that was what the Council was there for, but this gave more certainty about a policy. Councilor Pishioneri said this was a very good idea. He said it would make things easier for the citi~ens as well. He would like to make it clear that these decisions were made objectively. Councilor Ralston referred to Attachment 1, page 2, section 7.a. "two Councilors to request the matter be placed on an agenda of Council consideration. He asked if it would only take two Councilors that wanted to increase the urban growth boundary (UGB) to propose that. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 12, 2007 Page 6 Mr. Mott said if a private property owner wanted their property considered, two Councilors would need to direct the City Manager or Development Services Director to place it on the agenda for discussion. Councilor Ralston said that would assume a citizen would approach a Councilor before the fact to try to convince them to bring it to the full Council. Yes. He asked if that was ex parte contact. Mr. Mott said it was not. Initiating something did not pre-suppose that a Councilor was supportive. Only elected officials could initiate that. Councilor Ralston said it did open it up to have Council approached by anybody that wanted to bring something like this forward. Councilor Pishioneri said citizens could do that now, so there was no change. Mr. Mott said this came out of existing language in the Code. Mayor Leiken said this was a good policy. There were specifics, yet it allowed flexibility. Mayor Leiken also noted how much he appreciated staff and the great job they did in joining the Mayor in meetings with citizens. He said staffhad a lot of knowledge that was beneficial in those meetings and he appreciated them. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:12 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa ~ Attest: Am~~ City Recorder