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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/14/2008 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting (APPROVED AS CORRECTED 10/06/2008) MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JULY 14, 2008 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, July 14,2008 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Ballew, Ralston, and Woodrow. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Attorney Matt Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Pishioneri was absent. 1. Retirement Plan Amendment. Human Resources Manager Ardis Belknap presented the staff report on this item. The Retirement Plan includes, among others, the disability accounts of four former participants in the City's terminated Money Purchase Pension Plan (MPPP) and of one non-sworn former member of the Springfield Police Association (SPA). These disability accounts are credited monthly (until the participant attains age 60, dies, or in no longer disabled) with a percentage of the participant's monthly earnings when disabled (7% for the former MPPP participants and 10% for the former SPA member). These disability accounts are also credited with annual interest (7% for the former MPPP participant and 9% for the former SPA member). These disability accounts will be paid when the participant attains age 65 or dies before age 65 . To allow these participants to receive their disability accounts now, the amendment would allow the City Manager to amend the Retirement Plan to permit early payment (during January through June of 2009 and only with the participant's consent) of these disability accounts. Two of these five participants (both former MPPP participants) are no longer eligible for additional credits of7% of monthly earnings. They would receive the current amount of their disability accounts and forfeit the right to future credits of 7% annual interest. The remaining three participants would receive the current amount of their disability accounts, plus an additional amount determined by the City Manager, and forfeit the right to future credits as a percentage of monthly earnings and annual interest. For the former SPA member, this additional amount would include the present value of2% annual interest on the disability account (because this participant would forego 9% annual interest, compared with the 7% annual interest foregone by the former MPPP participants). The City would contribute to the Retirement Plan, in addition to the City's regular monthly contribution, an additional amount equal to the additional amount the City Manager determines to pay to the participants. The financial impact will include: · The additional amount that the City would need to contribute to pay the distributions (estimated to be approximately $20,000) City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 2 . The savings the City would make by discounting future contributions (about $5,000) . The savings the City would make by not paying 7% interest on current accounts and future contributions until the disabled retiree reaches age 65 (not calculated) . And a minimal reduction in the City's obligation to pay future contributions and future interest credits on any account balances that are withdrawn. Ms. Belknap gave an overview of the different retirement plans through the City. She explained the amendments being requested. Calculations and payout should be completed by January 2009. Councilor Ballew asked if these were retired people. Ms. Belknap said yes, they were on disability retirement. Councilor Ballew asked for clarification. Ms. Belknap explained the City Retirement Plan regarding retirement accounts and disability accounts. Councilor Ballew asked if the City would save money overall by doing this. Ms. Belknap said it was likely the City would make money in the long run. She explained. Councilor Ballew asked if those on disability retirement received any payments at this time. Ms. Belknap said they would not receive payments until they reached age 65. They had rolled their retirement accounts over to other accounts. She explained how it was measured to be 'equal to or better than' PERS. Councilor Ballew asked if in the existing system, the same could be collected by someone that was retired but not disabled. Ms. Belknap said this was only the retirement part of the disability plan. There was also long- term disability, which was an insurance plan. They would receive this until they were 65 years old unless they did the cash out as suggested. Councilor Ballew said the City should see some savings by doing this. She asked about future employees that could become disabled. .1 Ms. Belknap noted that this was just for the seven people in this discussion. The offer was provided to those seven. Mayor Leiken said it made sense for those dealing with a disability. Council agreed to go forward. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 3 2. Municipal Court Operations. Finance Director Bob Duey, Court Administrator Kathy Cunningham and Municipal Judge James Strickland presented the staff report on this item. On June 2, 2008, the Council conducted their annual appraisal of the City's three Municipal Judges in executive session. During the time spent with Presiding Judge Jim Strickland several topics were identified that the Council indicated a desire to have further discussion on outside of the more limiting executive session. This work session has been scheduled to allow further discussion on general topics involving the operations of Springfield's Municipal Court. Presiding Municipal Court Judge Strickland corresponds annually with the Council at the time of his annual performance review to update the Council on his view from the bench on the current and future operations of the Springfield Municipal Court and the trends that he sees occurring in local, regional, and state judicial proceedings. With the Municipal Court soon having two courtrooms and the opening of the City's municipal jail happening next fiscal year, the Council asked that the discussion of court and judicial operations be moved to an open work session to allow a more complete discussion to occur around topics addressed in Judge Strickland's correspondence with the Judicial Committee. Judge Strickland said the Justice Center would open in less than 60 days. This would be the first time Springfield would have the ability to have two courtrooms running at the same time. It could reduce the time from arraignment to the time of trial. Defendants, victims and citizens cared about that issue. The major problem preparing for two courts was clerical staffing and judiciary staffing. Without adequate staff, it was nearly impossible to run a court. He explained. It was currently taking more and more time because of volume to get arraignments done. He discussed the number of active warrants that hadn't been executed because they were not able to process in an appropriate time frame. Once the jail was open, they would be able to process those more effectively. Judge Strickland said that in order to run a second courtroom, they needed to hire an additional judge and needed the right fit. That decision rested with the Council. Springfield had one of the best reputations for their Municipal Courts in Oregon. They needed to find someone with the mindset of treating people fairly and with respect, a good work ethic, respected others opinions and could be a team player. It was up to Council to hire a new judge, but he would like to be able to provide input because he would be overseeing that position. Judge Strickland talked about becoming a Court of Record. He explained the purpose of being a Court of Record. It would cut down on denovo trials which would be appealed to the Circuit Court. If we were a Court of Record, it would go directly to the Court of Appeals. Issues of fact could not be appealed. He discussed the advantages and disadvantages of becoming a Court of Record. Funding would be needed for staff to make the record. He explained how the record was made. The clerk monitored what went on during court. He would like to put this on the back burner until we could see how the new courthouse ran with the current staffing. The court would then work with Finance Director Bob Duey regarding the costs for any additional personnel. Judge Strickland talked about indigent representation. The Supreme Court of the United States gave the defendant the right to be represented any time during the proceeding of a criminal case. The judge needed to make a finding of fact before he could accept someone acting as their own & City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 4 attorney. Springfield had not raised the rate of pay for court appointed attorneys for over 30 years, making it difficult to get experienced and qualified attorneys for court appointed. He was able to get very new attorneys, but once they established their own practice, they could make more money on their own. He noted the high cost of private practice attorneys, often ranging from $200-$300 per hour. The current rate of pay for court appointed was $75 for a case resulting in a guilty plea or dismissal. This meant the attorney was involved in the investigation, had to meet with the City Prosecutor to work out a plea negotiation, sell it to the client, and then go into court for the sentencing. The attorney fee for Failure to Appear was $50, $l50 if it went to trial. The Public Defender's office of Lane County received $350 per incident on misdemeanors, Juvenile paid $45/hour and Lane County paid $45/hour. He wasn't sure of the fee for Eugene, who had their own public defender's office. Mayor Leiken asked where the money to pay the attorneys came from. Judge Strickland said it came from the City General Funds. Mayor Leiken asked if any amount of the money collected from the different fees, especially once the jail was built, could be used to offset an increase in attorney's fees. Judge Strickland said those funds already went into the General Fund. On any judgment, costs were charged, including attorney fees. Many people that committed crimes, didn't pay their judgments and it was difficult to get them to pay. He would request the City Manager's Office and Mr. Duey find out what it would cost the City to have a public defender's office against what the City was paying now and determine whichwas the best way to go. Some courts tried to make a deal on the first arraignment. He didn't feel that was always a good way to make that type of decision. Springfield was fortunate having Dave Logan as the City Prosecutor. Mr. Logan offered the same negotiated plea on a DUll based op the facts, whether it was a young, new attorney or an experienced, well known prosecutor. Judge Strickland said he also watched carefully from the bench to make sure things were going fairly. The City needed to start planning for this. Once the second courtroom was opened, more defense attorneys would be needed. Judge Strickland said Council may question the advantage of a second courtroom. It allowed for overflow in order to keep things going. Judge Strickland talked about an amnesty program. He said Springfield had an informal amnesty program going on now, especially with old cases. He did not use amnesty on DUll treatment failures or restitution. He didn't give breaks for people that failed to do their work crew or community service, unless there were health issues involved. He discussed those with multiple traffic tickets. The legislature allowed courts to push those large amounts out twenty years for collection. If those people could put down a good amount of the money, he would sometimes write off the rest of the fine. It allowed them to get legal again as far as reinstating their license. Judge Strickland asked Ms. Cunningham to talk about courtroom technology. Ms. Cunningham said the emphasis for the two courtrooms was based on technology. The AIRS computer development was still in process. That program was being developed to provide records management and to accommodate the LaserFiche document imaging process. All violations were now in electronic imaging to the point of conviction. From that point on, City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 5 everything was handled through electronic report, and transmitted electronically to the credit agency. The next piece of the project would be to convert all criminal cases to electronic processes. That required work flow. Last week the City of Eugene had consultants from the National Center for State Courts in to study the capabilities and opportunities in the market, as they were not happy with the LaserFiche workflow. There could be some opportunities to partner with Eugene on that process. That technology gave Springfield the ability to continue handling cases for the twenty year period. Without that capability, there was little in the way of staffing to manage that volume. There were plans for electronic video arraignments and presentations of evidence. Everything electronic would help enhance the ability to run two courtrooms. Judge Strickland said everyone was used to paper, but there was no storage room for many of the paper document. He discussed the electronic information and how efficient it made his job. He felt it saved a lot of time in the traffic area, in part because there were no more lost tickets. Councilor Woodrow asked about the video arraignments and ifthey would be saved on a CD. Ms. Cunningham said they would be live. They would not be required to be recorded unless we became a Court of Record. These would be for arraignments for our jail only. It was questionable whether or not we had the capability to do video arraignments to Lane County Jail. Councilor Wylie asked if the costs for the extra judge, public defenders, etc. had been determined. Mr. Duey said they had an idea. Regarding the public defender's office, the City currently paid between $75,000 and $100,000 on court appointed attorneys. If the City did nothing other than to increase the pay for the attorneys, it would cost half again as much. That would address the pay, but not the quality or availability of the position. If a public defenders office was added, that cost would probably double up to $200,000. The cost for the public defender's office was based on the cost from the City of Eugene adjusted for our number of cases. Councilor Wylie said she liked the idea of having someone with skills in the public defenders office. She asked about the cost of a new judge. Mr. Duey said it would be in the $30,000-$40,000 range for a part time judge. Judge Strickland said at first he would want an on-call judge. He explained. He was not looking for someone for a full day or full time, just to try a case when things got backed up. It would be a judge in training. Mr. Duey said if Springfield became a Court of Record, they would need a dedicated staff for the function of maintaining the Court of Record. The cost would be about $30,000, $45,000, including benefits. At this point, our technology looked pretty good, but it was unknown what would be needed if we went to the next phase. Staff was waiting to hear from the City of Eugene regarding that phase. The LaserFiche project in Court was funded and it was not an issue to continue that project. Staff would come to Council during the next budget cycle with more accurate figures. They did hope to hire a new judge this year using the methodology set forth by Council. There was money in this year's budget for additional judge time. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 6 Councilor Wylie asked if we would make more money with an additional judge. Judge Strickland said probably not. The other judge would be trying cases and could be spending a full seven hours on one person. He noted the amount of fmes for most offenses. A traffic judge could make more. Mr. Duey said they anticipated that Court revenues would increase by seeing cases faster, with more success, and increased jail activity. Councilor Wylie said she respected that this was something we needed to do. Councilor Ralston discussed the amnesty issue. He noted a situation with a friend of his that had traffic tickets from the past that he hadn't been able to pay and was unable to drive. He wanted to have people on the road legally. Judge Strickland said if that person came to him, and could come up with about one-third of the funds, he would release their driver's license. They would need to pay a reasonable amount per month. As long as that was being paid, he would allow him to keep his license. If it had gone to collection, the best the Judge could do was to let the collection agent know of a payment arrangement. Councilor Ralston said he wanted to get people legal to drive again. Many people made mistakes made years ago when they were very young. Judge Strickland said the issue of people driving while suspended would be coming in front of the legislature this year. He explained how he made the decision for amnesty on each case. Councilor Ralston talked about indigent representation. He asked about the proposal to raise fees. Judge Strickland said he wanted Mr. Duey to take a look at that issue. His preference would be to have a public defender's office, but if that was too expensive, they would need to look at raising the rates in order to keep some attorneys. Councilor Ralston discussed the number of cases per year performed by court appointed attorneys. He said a public defender's office sounded like a public employee. He would not be supportive of taking on benefits. Mr. Duey said they would not be City employees, but would be on contract with the City. Councilor Ballew said she didn't feel the AIRS project would be able to come online this next year. Ms. Cunningham said it had been a long exercise, looking ahead to make sure the LaserFiche imaging was accommodated in the new AIRS system. They had started to see some user acceptance and functionality. There had been progress in this project. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 7 Councilor Ballew said one of the reasons the jail was approved by voters was because we would save money by putting repeat offenders behind bars. She would assume there would be some savings that would offset these proposals. She would like to see an estimate on those savings. She noted that the other two judges had done a great job, but they may want to retire at some point. She would like to see a proposal from Mr. Duey regarding a hiring process for judges. She felt the Request for Proposal (RFP) process should be used. Mr. Duey said he would like to advertise for a judge while Council was on recess. Shortly after Council returned, he would like to meet with the Judicial Committee to narrow down the pool to bring back to the full Council for their recommendation. All councilors agreed. Councilor Lundberg said she agreed with everything being said. She agreed that they needed all the financial information regarding cost. Determining the recovery funds would be more difficult. She said it would be worthwhile to look at the jail financing numbers based on fines, and other sources. Those dollars were to be set aside to fund the jail, so they couldn't go to both places. She wanted to see a comparison as they related to jail funding. Mr. Duey said the year staff was planning for now in the budget process would include the jail. They needed to connect the two to come up with the right answer for both court and jail staffmg. Councilor Lundberg asked to look at it from the entire funding package for the Justice Center and Jail. Mayor Leiken said they needed to remember that smaller jurisdictions would want to contract with our jail. Some showed interest already. Mr. Duey said that was a big part of the jail funding that was anticipated. Judge Strickland said he felt they needed to look at the needs for the jail beds for the first year before leasing any out to other jurisdictions. 3. Community Imaging Update. Community Relations Coordinator Niel Laudati presented the staff report on this item. In preparation for the city's l25th Anniversary (Feb. 25, 2010), the City initiated a Community Imaging Project to better understand who we are and who we want to be. We are now moving forward on elements of the council approved marketing plan. The upcoming schedule includes: . Fourth quarter 2008: o Develop anniversary mark and prepare graphics package and usage guidelines for distribution for community involvement o Begin community and employee presentations on the Community Imaging Project and survey results City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 8 . First quarter 2009: o Commission production of monument signs and street pole banners for installation by Jan. 2010 and no later than official anniversary of Feb. 25, 2010 o Roll out internal communications and "train" staff on key messages o Roll out external invitations to participate in planning 1 25th Anniversary events and activities in first quarter of 2009, immediately after completing internal roll- out The logo will appear on city fleets, street pole banners, advertisements, letterhead, etc. Mr. Laudati discussed the Community Imaging project and the positive feedback through media and bloggers that the tag line 'Proud History, Bright Future' had received. He presented a power point presentation showing the proposed logo for the anniversary. He described how this logo could fit with the current City logo and other logos in the community. He showed the logo in both color and black and white and discussed uses for each. Mr. Laudati spoke of signage in Springfield. Signage that could bring all areas of Springfield together was needed. The City had been speaking with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) about using a piece of land in front of the White Horse for the first nice sign. They wanted to make people part of this process. He discussed the schedule for this project. Councilor Ballew said another possibility would be to arch the words 'Proud History' over the . logo. Councilor Lundberg thanked Mr. Laudati for working hard on this. She felt this project was to identify who we were in Springfield, and match it with our history and anniversary. She was very happy with this. Councilor Wylie said this could also be made into a nice lapel pin. Mr. Laudati said part of the reason to keep it simple would be to allow it to be made into a pin. Councilor Wylie said a pin could also be square with both logos. Mr. Laudati noted that now when people wrote articles about Springfield, they started using our tag line. That was our goal and if citizens loved it, they would continue with it. The feedback had been positive. Mayor Leiken thanked Mr. Laudati for a job well done. It was great to know the Council and City organization communicated with citizens well. He appreciated the work done and felt it was a great tag line. Mr. Leahy and Mr. Cox left the meeting at 6:38pm. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 9 4. Joint Work Session with Willamalane Park and Recreation Board to Update Status of Mill Race Project. Those present from the Willamalane Board were Chair Danelle Ralston and members Gary Ross, Greg James, Lee Beyer, and Virginia LauritscnHelen Wagner. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. After a long period of inaction, the Mill Race project is moving again, rapi9ly. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has confIrmed that they have available $1.204 million in federal FY 2008 funds to devote to completing design and beginning construction. At present their timetable calls for awarding a designlbuild contract for the new inlet by September 30,2008, with construction to begin in the Spring of2009. City, Willamalane staff and the Corps are now finalizing those design elements so that a proposal for a new boat ramp and rearranged parking at Clearwater Park may be accommodated. As the design comes nearer to completion, staff will plan on a public process to give the citizens an opportunity to comment on the design. We expect that process to begin in early August, so that all comments may be considered before design is fmalized. We are also continuing to meet with Swanson Wood Products to finalize the design of a fIre pond to support their facility. Staff from the City, Willamalane, the Corps, and Corps consultants, will be available to provide additional details and answer questions. Mr. Goodwin introduced Merri Martz, TetraTech; Eric Bluhm and Gail Lovell from the Army Corps of Engineers; and Greg Ferschweiller, City of Springfield Maintenance. Mr. Ferschweiller said the City had been working on the Mill Race for the last ten years, dredging the inlet to get water to the Mill Race. Over the last five years, they had installed a pump to get water into the Mill Race. He explained. Over the 4th of July, there was lots of water, but then the rivers dropped about 1700 cubic feet per second (CFS). There had been a general reduction from the dams, but that would be boosted up for now. They were anticipating having to pump by the end of next week. He said they needed to do some survey work, some dredging, build a small dam, and pump over the dam. The reservoirs were full, so he was not sure what the Corps was planning to do, but he had an email into the Corps to try to find out. There should be more water in the river now. Councilor Ballew said there was supposedly a large snow pack this winter. She asked if that would impact how soon they would release more water. Mr. Ferschweiller said the reservoirs were 98% full, so there should be lots of water. He discussed a situation of water at Detroit going to Salem. Mayor Leiken asked Mr. Bluhm ifhe could provide information on this issue. Mr. Bluhm said he could look into it for them and get them an answer as soon as possible. He was not on the operations side of the dams. Public Works Director Susie Smith said the City participated in an interagency coordination group regarding the operation of reservoirs, and were invited to participate weekly. The City bringing the issues about water levels had been well received and responded to. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 10 Mr. Ross asked what was normal for the amount of flow. Mr. Ferschweiller said it was dependent on the time of year, but 30 CFS was standard. Mr. Martz said they would be able to get water to fairly low levels before there were water quality issues. There were occasions when pumping was necessary. Mr. Goodwin said the original report indicated that they could maintain between 10 and 30 CFS ninety percent of the time. Mr. Goodwin discussed what was happening now. They were reaching a design stage where details could be determined. That was important to Willamalanebecause they were working on the inlet and integrating that with what the State Marine Board was doing in respect to the Clearwater boat ramp. It looked like those two design efforts could come together nicely. Ms. Martz had been leading the design team. A memorandum and drawings from Ms. Martz were included in the agenda packet. Mr. Bluhm said after a long period of not receiving federal funding, the Corps received $175,000 last fiscal year. Out of that, they contracted with TetraTech and had been progressing the design since then. This year, the Corps received $1.203M, and had been trying to progress the project and position themselves for funding in FY09 and FYlO. This was part of the Corps continuing authorities program. They competed nationwide for a budget of $25M. Once they broke ground on the project, they received a higher priority. With the money received in April, the project would get to 90 percent design by late September. Concurrently, they would award a contract for the inlet in late September. With the remaining funding, they wanted to work out a schedule of what could be done that would be operational for a short period oftime, depending on what they received in FY09. He noted other projects that were under construction that no longer received any funding. The Corps would continue working with the City. Ms. Martz spoke regarding the design. The funds received were about one-third of the total funds needed for the entire project. Phase I would be work at Clearwater Park to construct a new inlet that would be about one-half mile upstream of the existing inlet, in a location with a deep pool in the river. That would give better assurance of better flow into the Mill Race. Once the project progressed, there would be less need for pumping, even during low flows. The new inlet would go from Clearwater Park through the old channel of the Middle Forkandjoin the Mill Race where the existing inlet was located. She referred to the maps on the wall showing the location of these sections. By creating that inlet, it presented issues for continued access to the boat ramp. Willamalane had been working with the Oregon Marine Board to come up with a new design for a new boat ramp in that area. She showed a map with a new proposed boat ramp. Some bank protection would be needed as the river had eroded part of that area. That protection would keep the river from meandering in that area. Board Member James asked if that would create erosion on the other side ofthe river. Ms. Martz said they would be looking at that as they created the design. She further explained. Councilor Wylie asked about the picnic area at that park. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 11 Mr. Martz said she didn't know where that would be relocated at this time. Everything would get moved to the north. Board Member Lauritscn Wagner said they hadn't gotten that far in the design. Ms. Martz said this was being identified as a 45 percent design, which was not a normal milestone. They had originally been scoped from the Corps to go from a 30 percent design to a 60 percent design, but there wasn't a 30 percent design, so this was the first time the entire project had been laid out. It was the starting point to talk to Willamalane and others about the features. The next step would be to move from this set to a 90 percent design. The 90 percent design would be suitable for the Corps to sign a contract with a contractor. That should occur the end of September. The Corps would carry over their money. The $l.2M should be sufficient to construct the new inlet, which would not affect anything else downstream other than to provide more secure flow through the Mill Race. The phase 2 design work would occur after that to look at removing the dam downstream at the Mill Pond and reconjuring that into a wetland and stream channel habitat for fish passage. There would be other features associated with that part of the project. Once the dam was lowered, it would reduce the back water, so additional work would need to be done at 28th Street to lower the culverts and provide some screening, as well as perform riparian restoration along the Mill Race. Councilor Ballew said the Corps would be involved through the whole process. Board Member Lauritsen Wagner asked if the realignment would affect Springfield Utility Board's water supply. Mr. Martz said it would not. She explained. Councilor Lundberg said she started with this process in 1994 and it felt like it had taken forever. This was one ofthe hidden treasures along our community edges. Few people were able to enjoy it at this point. She asked if people could walk along that new park along paths once the inlet was completed. It was such a beautiful place to walk. Mr. Bluhm said that would be possible as soon as the FY09 funding was known. The Corps had an approved aquatic ecosystem restoration report that went through headquarters in 2004, and a $lM earmark that was not honored. The way Congress worked made it difficult to know the future. It was now a higher priority. Councilor Lundberg asked if it could be money the City could push through. Board Member Beyer said some progress had been made, along the Middle Fork. He discussed access and a current roadway that went along the river at that location. Councilor Lundberg said there was a way for some people to get down there and walk along that roadway. She asked if there was some way to make that available for all ofthe public and more accessible. Greg Hyde from Willamalane said there would be other funds to help the public's ability to enjoy that area. Willamalane could give Council an update on the Middle Fork project, which City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 12 was a separate project, but shared some of the same space as this project. He referred to the map that showed where that project fit with the project being discussed. The Middle Fork Pass project would run along the new Mill Race to the north side, allowing people to walk and ride their bikes. The first phase of that project was scheduled to go all the way to Quarry Creek. They were working closely with SUB and were in the planning and design phases. The two projects were coming along parallel, and the two design teams were working together. Ground breaking for that project was scheduled for next spring. Mr. Goodwin noted that a large portion of that path occupied the road Councilor Lundberg spoke of. Mr. Hyde said the improvement of the boat ramp would also improve the public's ability to access that area. Board Member James said the Oregon State Marine Board was also interested in the boat landing and could provide some funding. He was concerned about the phasing and timing of the two projects. If work began on the inlet, people wouldn't have access to the boat ramp for a period of time. He asked how this phase fit into that. Ms. Martz said the Corps funding should be sufficient to complete the inlet. The question would be whether or not funds from the Oregon Marine Board would be available at the same time. As they went through tonight's design, they would determine which part of the inlet to excavate first, leaving road access and the boat ramp in place for awhile. She discussed the work window and work that could be done before that time. That would move the timing to late summer of next year. As they worked through the design, they would need to find out from the Marine Board when their funding could be available. The Corps would try to accommodate the funding. Board Member James asked when they might have a master schedule ready. Ms. Martz said they could provide a draft in September of 2008, with a final copy several months later. Board Member Ross said Willamalane needed to be realistic about the staging and assume they would lose access for a period of time. The question was how best to minimize that impact and communicate that to the public. The ramp was difficult to get into at this point, and this would improve that access. Ms. Martz said it would be helpful to know the busiest time at that site. Mr. Hyde said it looked like the new boat ramp would not go in until after the Mill Race was started or even completed. They could keep the old ramp functional, but for fewer uses, while the new ramp was being constructed. The Corps would still provide a crossing for maintenance vehicles and pedestrians, and the area could still be accessed. Board Member Ross said it would be difficult to construct and open this type of project until the work was done at the other end. Mr. Hyde agreed. He said they would need to let people know about the changes. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 13 Mayor Leiken asked ifthe State Marine Board was aware of this project. Ms. Martz said yes, the Oregon Marine Board had drawn up the design. Board Member Beyer said it would be helpful to have some kind of signage that explained the project and the schedule. ' Mr. Goodwin said beginning in August the public process would begin to inform the public in general about the project and any issues involved. Staff was focused on making sure, as the design progressed, that the public was informed. That would not solve all concerns, but would give the public an opportunity to voice their concerns. Councilor Ballew asked if this was part of 1996 public option bond. Yes. Mr. Goodwin referred to Ms. Martz comments that this would not guarantee flow at all times. He reminded Council that there was a project in the City's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and capital budget to install permanent pumping in the vicinity of the new inlet for that ten percent of the time the project would not meet adequate flows. They were also continuing discussions with other partners involved, including Swanson Lumber, in regards to protecting their economic interests so they had fire suppression. He noted the need to continue efforts to pursue federal funding through the United Front effort for this project. Councilor Ballew suggested taking a lot of he fore and after photographs of the project to show during that trip. Mr. Goodwin said they would do that. He said they would also be exploring other funding sources to complete this project if needed. They would not let this project die. Mayor Leiken said Juine Chada, from Senator Wyden's office, liked this project. He was glad Mr. Goodwin mentioned the discussions they were having with Swanson Lumber, who purchased the property from McKenzie Forest Products. He hoped they were building a good relationship. Mr. Goodwin said they were both adapting to the new relationship and would continue discussions. The joint meeting adjourned at 7:20pm. 5. Reimbursement Districts. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. Staffhave identified a fairly significant set of circumstances where the concept of a reimbursement district may not produce the results desired. Staff have identified alternatives which address the situation. Some of these create some risk to the concept, while others would result in increased up front costs for the City. Staff seeks direction from Council as to whether any of the options are preferred by Council. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 14 Mr. Goodwin said the example in the packet was a situation where reimbursement districts didn't work well at all. He reviewed the options outlined in the agenda packet. Mayor Leiken said on this example, the best way would be to be up front with the developer and let them know the situation. Reimbursement districts would not be for everyone and every situation. The best situation would be in green fields with no other development. He hoped that staff would be up front and say the reimbursement process would not be helpful in these situations. Councilor Ballew said it was a question of equity. If the developer paid for the street improvement, the people that paid nothing received the benefit. It was different with the sewers. That bothered her. Councilor Wylie said she assumed each family that owned the parcels would pay about $14,000. She asked what those property owners would get. Mr. Goodwin said they would get an increase in their property values because they would now be on an improved street with curbs, sidewalks and drainage. Also, improved streets were maintained by the City and were in good condition. It may not make sense to improve one side of the street. The problem with not improving the entire street was that it complicated the amount of money spent each year on maintenance. He explained. Councilor Ralston referred to the recommended option, option 3. He wasn't sure ifhe liked advertising that the City would pay for the excess. This was not for everyone, but was a great tool. He asked how the City would recoup their funds. Mr. Goodwin said the City would impose a charge on each of those properties as they annexed. Councilor Ballew asked if a lien could be put on the properties, payable at the date of annexation. Mr. Goodwin said if a lien was put on the property before it was annexed, there could be a question of whether or not they were creating an assessment district without providing an opportunity to remonstrate. The City could offer to put a lien for the value on the property when they annexed, rather than paying in cash. That continued to leave the City in the position of putting the funds out first. Councilor Lundberg said it was a philosophical choice for Council. They wanted streets improved; it was just a matter of how they wanted to go about that. She didn't want to eliminate any tools that could assist with that. If another big development was going in, they needed to improve the entire street. She would like to be able to use as many tools as possible: She wanted to look at what it would take to make it an improved street. Councilor Woodrow asked who would own the road if a development annexed, yet a single residence on a street remained in the County. Mr. Goodwin said it would remain a County road, or a local access road. Normally, in a situation such as being discussed tonight, the street would be fully improved and annexed into the City. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 14,2008 Page 15 With property developed on both sides, it made sense to make the street part of the City as well. By City policy, the City did not annex the street unless it was completely improved. According to policy, Council would not recommend an annexation with a partially improved street. The County would not issue a permit unless the City took jurisdiction of the road. Councilor Ballew asked what we do regarding a lien on a property that was inherited. Mr. Goodwin said it would not be due at the time of inheritance, but at the time of sale. Mayor Leiken reiterated that reimbursement districts would not be for everyone. He asked if Council agreed with staff s recommendation. Mr. Goodwin explained how they could offer this option. Mayor Leiken said staff needed to convey the facts to the developer. Councilor Ralston said he wanted to have Reimbursement Districts as an option, but was concerned about the City paying for any of the excess. Mayor Leiken agreed. Mr. Goodwin said Council could determine their participation in their capital budget process. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:38 pm. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: ~