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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/08/2008 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Ballew, Woodrow, and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Matthew Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilors Wylie and Ralston were absent (excused). 1. SDC Update - Citizen Advisory Committee Application Review. Senior Management Analyst Lou Allocco presented the staff report on this item. On July 18, 2008, staff presented a status update for the 2008 update of the SDC methodology and ordinance (Springfield Municipal Code sections 3.400 through 3.420). Since it appears that the methodology for Transportation SDCs complies with current requirements, the methodology review will be limited to storm water and local wastewater charges. The work plan includes a public involvement process including a Citizen Advisory Committee to consider policy issues on which the Council may wish to seek citizen input during the update process. The Council authorized the creation of this ad-hoc Citizen Advisory Committee. A media advisory requesting applications was released on July 14,2008. This announcement ran invarious media outlets for 3 weeks with applications accepted through August 1, 2008. A total of 10 applications were received. Community affiliations of applicants include: Home Builders Association, Development/Engineering Community, Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Springfield Planning Commission and Property Owners. Most City wards have some representation. Council may also wish to select a member to serve as the City Council Liaison. This advisory committee is expected to meet six to eight times from September 2008 through January 2009. Staff anticipates bringing a revised SDC ordinance and methodology to the Council in January 2009 for the Local Wastewater SDCs and in February 2009 for the Stormwater SDCs. Councilor Woodrow asked how many were to be appointed. Mr. Allocco said the total number for this committee would be eleven, ten community members and one Council liaison. That was the number that staff had originally planned. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 8, 2008 Page 2 Councilor Lundberg said that whenever a Chamber of Commerce representative was appointed, it was Dan Egan, Executive Director. She would prefer, in the future, that someone else, such as a board member, serve as the Chamber representative to offer a chance for some diversity in representation. Mayor Leiken asked when staff anticipated the CAC would be finished with their work. Mr. Allocco said with their proposed schedule, they anticipated finishing up with the CAC by January of2009. Mayor Leiken said a Council liaison was needed. Councilor Ballew said she was willing to serve as the liaison, but thought it would be good to have another member as a back-up. Councilor Pishioneri suggested Council-elect Leezer. Councilor Woodrow agreed. Mayor Leiken said he would prefer an experienced Councilor for this particular committee. He asked for further Council input. Councilor Lundberg said she would be happy to serve as the alternate because of some past experience with SDC methodology. Mayor Leiken said this process would be very critical with some challenging issues. He felt it was important to have an experiences Councilor as the liaison and alternate liaison and that Councilors Ballew and Lundberg would serve well. All councilors agreed. Mr. Allocco said he would make sure Councilor Lundberg received updates and meeting information. Mayor Leiken thanked Councilor Ballew for stepping up to be the liaison. He noted her experience regarding this issue. 2. Fireworks Sales Lot/Christmas Tree Sales Lot Ordinance. Assistant Community Services Manager Jackie Murdoch and Fire Marshal Al Gerard presented the staff report on this item. The proposed ordinance is brought to the Council for discussion and review after staff had received direction from Council leadership on the issue of fireworks sales lots and Christmas tree sales lots and specifically in regards to enforcement issues surrounding signs, business licenses, and site review of these seasonal businesses. The ordinance's purpose is to provide clearer language to staff and the general public in regards to fireworks sales lots and Christmas tree sales lots. Previously, fireworks sales lots have not City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 8, 2008 Page 3 been regulated under the same business license and site review requirements of the SMC as Christmas tree sales lots have. This has created issues for staff with enforcement of code provisions towards fireworks sales lots. DSD Code Enforcement and Springfield Fire personnel seek to require a business license and site review component for both Christmas tree sales lots and Fireworks sales lots. Currently fireworks sales lots receive only a license through Fire Life & Safety. That requirement will continue if the proposed ordinance is approved by Council. Staff also will be adjusting the fee schedule for both Christmas tree sales lots and Fireworks sales lots to reflect the cost of processing the licenses and/or sign permits. The ordinance's inclusion of proposed site review requirements should clear up sign issues which have occurred . in the past. There should be no fmancial impact on the City. Staff believes that this ordinance will save City staff time enforcing the SMC and State law regarding Christmas tree sales lots and fireworks sales lots. Ms. Murdoch said many ofthe same people ran both Christmas tree lots and Fireworks lots. With the proposed ordinance, the review would happen prior to the opening of the sales lots. Councilor Ballew said she thought it was a good idea. She asked if there was a time limit on when these sales could operate. Mr. Gerard said fireworks could be sold between June 23 and July 6. Those dates were set by Oregon Administrative Rule. Ms. Murdoch said Christmas tree sales had not been an issue. They normally started opening on Thanksgiving weekend. Councilor Ballew said many non-profits did these types of sales and were charged. She asked about other groups that held sales, such as the Girl Scouts. She asked if there was a difference since they were held on private property. Mr. Murdoch said those types of sales had not been an issue. She also noted that the 2008 sales year for fireworks was the best as far as enforcement. She attributed that to the word getting out about past issues. Councilor Woodrow asked about Section 4(7) in the ordinance regarding adequate room and paved parking for all vehicles to park. He asked if that had held true for Christmas tree lots in the past. Ms. Murdoch said she had not had a problem with that with Christmas tree lots. It had been more of an issue with fireworks sales lots. She said the Christmas trees could be displayed in an area that was not paved, as long as there was adequate parking for cars on the pavement. Councilor Woodrow asked about sales in Albertson's parking lot. Ms. Murdoch said it had not been an issue and she assumed they were using their allocated parking spaces. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 8, 2008 Page 4 Councilor Pishioneri referred to Section 4(7) which stated" . . required of the adjacent established business" and asked that it be changed to plural "businesses". Ms. Murdoch said that change would be made. Councilor Pishioneri said he had brought this forward last April and asked that it be looked into, so he appreciated the work done to address this issue. He asked about the number of complaints received this last season. Ms. Murdoch said they didn't receive very many complaints. About one-third of the lots did everything right and the rest just needed reminders. With the new ordinance, citizens would be sent over to Development Services when they went to Fire and Life Safety for an application. Councilor Pishioneri asked if the issues had come from complaints or observations. Ms. Murdoch said mostly from observations. She and the Fire Marshal had gone around checking on the sites. There were less citizen complaints. Mr. Gerard said fire code violations were about the same level as the year before. Most people that applied for fireworks sales permits were very aware of the requirements, as were the distributors. They had seemed more well-informed than in the past. Councilor Pishioneri referred to a sign issue during this fireworks season. City Manager Gino Grimaldi said that had been resolved with the person running the sales lot. That type of issue would be self-solving with the new ordinance. Councilor Pishioneri discussed the issue of fireworks being set off long before and after the holidays. He noted an incident where someone he knew had a dog that was frightened by fireworks going off three weeks prior to the Fourth of July, which jumped their 6-foot fence and was struck by a car. He noted how fireworks going off for extended periods of time affected many pets, pet owners, elderly citizens and others. He felt the Council should address that issue at some point. Councilor Lundberg thanked staff for a fine job. Ms. Murdoch acknowledged City Attorney Matthew Cox who had drafted the ordinance language. Mr. Cox said he would change "business" to "businesses" in the ordinance and bring it back during the next regular meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting wasadjourned at 5:48 pm. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes September 8, 2008 Page 5 Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: Am~Iw,,~7- City Recorder