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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/20/2007 Team Springfield . . . ~TEAM <!J Minutes of the Joint Elected Officials' Meeting January 20, 2007, 8:30 - 11 :30 a.m. Willamalane Community Recreation Center 250 South 32nd Street Springfield, Oregon 97478 The TEAM Springfield Jojnt Elected Officials met on Saturday, January 20,2007, at 8:30 a.m., in the Ken Long Room at the Willamalane Community Recreation Center, 250 South 32nd Street, Springfield, Oregon. ATTENDANCE City of Springfield: Mayor Sid Leiken; Councilors John Woodrow, Anne Ballew, Joe Pishioneri, Dave Ralston, and Hillary Wylie. City Manager Gino Grimaldi; Bill Grile; Mark Metzger; Bob Duey; Mike Harman; Niel Laudati. Springfield School District: Board Members Laurie Adams, AI King, and Garry Weber. Superintendent Nancy Golden; Deputy Superintendent Steve Barrett. Springfield Utility Board: Board Members Bobbie Adams, Ken Boyst, Virginia Lauritsen, and Joe Mathieu. General Manager Bob Linahan, Executive Assistant Judy Berra. Willamalane Park and Recreation District: Board Members Lee Beyer, Greg James, Gary Ross, Danelle Ralston, and Helen Wagner. Superintendent Bob Keefer; Chris Pryor; Jason Genck; Greg Hyde; Joel Miller; and Pam Caples. Others: State Representative Elizabeth Beyer; Jack Moran, The Register-Guard; Matthew Smith, Springfield Beacon. INTRODUCTIONS AND WELCOME Mayor Sid Leiken called the. meeting to order and welcomed everyone to TEAM Springfield's Joint Elected Officials' Meeting and invited everyone in attendance to introduce themselves. ~ Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 2 . GROWTH/EXPANSION OF URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY (UGB) Mayor Leiken noted that the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) has been prominently discussed within the Springfield City Council and they felt it was important to bring this matter to the TEAM Springfield meeting for discussion. He introduced Bill Grile, the City's Development Services Director, to present information regarding the growth and expansion of Springfield's UGB. The supply of buildable land in Springfield is a growing concern, said Mr. Grile. About 48 percent of the residential land that is available for development is located on slopes that are very steep. On the industrial side, the Mayor and City Manager recently met with a company that would like to bring a number of quality jobs to this community and they would like a reasonably sized piece of land to build on. Unfortunately, Springfield cannot easily accommodate them. About a year ago, while setting goals, the City Council directed staff to address the residential buildable land supply. Staff was asked to inventory the amount of land that was left and to then come up with an assessment of the demand and supply. Staff expects to have that information available for the City Council in the near future. The results of the assessment are expected to indicate that Springfield has a shortfall, which would lead to questioning what options are available. The options are to either increase densities and build up, or to look at expanding the UGB. . ' . On the commercial/industrial side, the Lane Metro Partnership commissioned a study called the CIBL (Commercial Industrial Buildable Lands), Mr. Grile said. This study inventoried what land was available, but did not address what the need was for the additional land in order to be able to do a gap analysis. As a result, the City Council directed staff to prepare an issue paper for consideration during Springfield's budget process to look at some options to address that need. Springfield is a topographically constrained community that is hemmed in by two rivers and there are also hills that make development more challenging and more expensive than in other places, he explained. In the recent past, Metro Portland did an expansion and added about 15,000 acres to their UGB, said Mr. Grile. However, adding land to the UGB is kind of a paper exercise if you can't provide the infrastructure and facilities that are needed to allow development to occur. These are among the things that Springfield should be thinking about as it considers expanding the UGB, if the results of the land inventory study indicates that Springfield has a shortfall. As we look at alternatives to a land shortfall, City staff will be communicating closely with TEAM Springfield staff, Mr. Grile said. Today's meeting is a wonderful opportunity for staff to hear Springfield's elected officials discuss those things that attracted their attention to this . issue. He then turned the discussion back over to the elected officials. . Dave Ralston commented that the City of Eugene recently made a decision that they were not going to do.a land study until they were forced to do so by the State of Oregon. Since Springfield and Eugene are both part of the Lane Metro Plan, Springfield can't really do anything without their permission. He believed the real issue is how Springfield is going to proceed and are they going to be doing it on their own. Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 3 . Mayor Leiken asked Mr. Grile to clarify why Springfield is tied to Eugene under the Metro Plan and to explain how the Plan works. With the exception of Metro Portland where they have an elected metropolitan government, in virtually every other municipal setting in Oregon the decisions about expanding a city's UGB is a shared decision between the city and the county, Mr. Grile said. In the 1970s decisions were made in this metropolitan area to put together a planning partnership that came to be known as the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan, also ,known as the Metro Plan. Under the Metro Plan, planning is centralized into one UGB, one land-use inventory for residential lands, one land-use inventory for commercial and industrial lands, etc. The compliance requirements that the State enacted in 1973 in Senate Bill 1 00 that created the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) were addressed through the planning partnership of the Metro Plan, and the State approved that Plan in 1983. The Metro Plan has a provision for amendments to the UGB that requires the concurrence of not only Springfield and Lane County, but also Eugene's concurrence. ( . Cities all over Oregon have amended their UGB probably several hundred times; it's not an uncommon thing, he said. Planning is done at a point in time. We can't guarantee with any certainty what this area will look like in 20 years. Planners will tell you that planning is not set in concrete, but unfortunately in many regards the Metro Plan has become set in concrete. Since 1983 on the Springfield side of the freeway, the Metro Plan's UGB has been amended . only three times. In the early 1980s there was a large Metro Plan amendment for a UGB expansion on the west side of the freeway for the industrial triangle area by the airport. Aside from that, Eugene has not addressed UGB expansions as frequently as many, if not most, other communities in Oregon have done. As we look at the land supply issue on Springfield's side of the freeway, there is one question that seems to cause a certain amount of anxiety. If we prove statistically that we have a shortage of land through the analysis of how many acres we have and how many acres we need, and the Springfield City Council attempts then to amend the UGB, will that proposal receive the concurrence and support of our other two Metro Plan partners? Dave Ralston said that he believes the studies will show that Springfield is short on real estate and he feels that Springfield needs to find an area where it can expand and then propose that expansion and see what happens. He also felt that Eugene should be encouraged to do their own study because they are going to be in short supply also. . Laurie Adams asked if Springfield would have any recourse if Lane County and Eugene were to say no to a Springfield proposal to amend the UGB. . Bill Grile responded that Springfield does have recourse in that it is legally entitled to have its own comprehensive plan, just like every other city. If the land shortfall is established, then Springfield has three options. The first would be to seek a plan amendmenf to expand the UGB and if Lane County and Eugene support that, then that would solve the problem. If Lane County and Eugene disagree with the proposal, then the second option is that the Springfield City Council can throw up its hands and declare that it's just a victim of the Metro Plan, end of discussion. The third option would be for Springfield to "unyoke" from the Metro Plan and Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 4 . proceed to prepare its comprehensive plan for the city of Springfield. The comprehensive plan would require Lane County's support. If Lane County did not concur, that is not the end of it. Oregon land use law stipulates that these kind of decisions cannot be arbitrary and capricious, they have to be based on findings of fact and conclusion of law supported by substantial evidence. AI King said the other option the City Council had for expansion was to go west. A number of people there have been advocating that Springfield take them over completely rather than piecemeal. Since there are so few large pieces of industrial property available, he asked for some comment on expansion into the Jasper-Natron and Mohawk Valley areas. . Lee Beyer said that residential land would need to be separated from commercial-industrial land. He believed they have a shortage of residential land because they are not letting reasonable economics play. Anytime bare residential lots are costing up to $150,000 apiece, that's too much, he said. The land is constrained. If you are concerned about young people being able to buy houses, you completely put them out of the marketplace with that kind of cost. That study currently underway, he said, and the issue is whether they can get that piece through. He suspected they would have less opposition on the residential side than on the commercial-industrial side. In 2001, there were no big commercial-industrial lots. The land studies showed there was a lot of industrial land, but it was all in small chunks. When we worked on the Metro Plan in the late 1970s, we created what we called the Special Light Industrial sites, which we now call Campus Industrial, and they let us go outside the numbers because we said that there was a special need, and we received agreement on that. Unfortunately, most of those sites now are pretty well developed and a number of them are wetlands. The remaining site is coming up for discussion on whether to convert it to housing and commercial uses. He thought the City Council would be dealing with that soon. The options that we looked at in the late 1970s were the Mohawk Valley and to some degree across the river into the Seavey Loop area. In looking to the future for our community, there aren't a lot of choices. As for the future on the industrial side, the traditional industrial users want to be close to the freeway. Bill Grile said that when Portland expanded their UGB, they added all that land and years went by before any density occurred there because they did not have the money to do the infrastructure. We have to figure out how to make this happen in a way that's fair to everyone-property owners, developers, the community, and the taxpayers. We need to create a win.,win solution. As an elected official, Gary Ross said he always felt that his position was to ensure we have the ability to make it possible for our citizens to live and work here. He thought it was good business sense to look at what Springfield has for industrial land, what its needs are and project out for the next 10-20 years. He thought the Springfield City Council needed to move forward, regardless of what they think their neighbors will or will not do, and fight those battles when they get there. First they need to do their inventory and determine what they need. They should look at the currently developed and undeveloped areas and make some . decisions about what's best for this community. ' . . . Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 5 Garry Weber agreed with Gary Ross and said he would also like the City Council to comment on one of Bill Grile's options, to run it as it is set up to run through the Metro Plan. He asked if they have done any trial balloons there. Mayor Leiken said that he has a monthly breakfast with Eugene's Mayor Piercy and the Board Chair of the Lane County Commissioners, Faye Stewart. One of the things that they have discussed is the Metro Plan. It really is outdated, he said. Not much has been done with it for over 25 years, and yet the community has changed. For example, under our state land use laws forest land was being protected because it was being harvested, but we're not harvesting as much now. Some folks have taken the issue of forest land protection into a whole different arena than the one it was actually intended for in the first place. Mayor Leiken said the State has agreed to our request that they look at Senate Bill 100 regarding Oregon's land use laws. These laws haven't changed in nearly 35 years, yet from an economic viewpoint the state has changed dramatically. So they are looking at these laws to see what changes may need to be made. We've come back with the idea of looking at the Metro Plan. Both Mayor Piercy and Commissioner Stewart have agreed that it's probably a good time to look at it. It's been passed up to the administrators, where City Managers Gino Grimaldi and Dennis Taylor and Lane County Administrator Bill Van Vactor have met and agreed that it's time to move forward. The Planning Directors have been talking about this for the last several months. Mayor Leiken thinks the best way to go would be to keep the Metro Plan in place and yet create stronger autonomy for each of the cities so that if Springfield wants to do a UGB expansion, it can do that without having to have concurrence from Eugene. If we can continue to sell ourselves as the Eugene-Springfield Metro Area, the second largest metropolitan area in the state along the 1-5 corridor, in the long run it will continue to make us stronger. Based on the latest statistics from Portland State University on growth, from a percentage point Springfield grew quite a bit more than Eugene, the Mayor said. So people are looking at this area not only for new business opportunities, but also to live here. Another option, which should probably be the last option, would be to see if something could be done at the Legislature. If we can somehow get this settled within our jurisdictions, that would make the most sense. AI King said he thought the Metro Plan had been unanimously agreed to by all the parties, whereas Eugene's 20-50 Plan is not a consensus product. One large aspect is that Eugene has its own river-crossing issue to deal with potentially, whereas we had said that maybe Mohawk would be a river-crossing issue at some point. So the aspect of Eugene needing to go across the river becomes part of the dynamic of how they work with Springfield. Not necessarily today, but 20 years from now, when Springfield has hopefully made some progress, that's going to put a lot of pressure on them that someday we will be their constraint as well. Mayor Leiken said that AI King made a good point that Eugene has its own challenges and focus and it probably makes sense that they don't want Springfield to interact at this time. He thought there were a lot of positives to be gained about moving forward and having this overall Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 6 . . discussion. As we look at the Metro Plan, if we can somehow keep the strength in numbers and yet allow each city to clearly have more autonomy, he felt that would be the best way to go. Lee Beyer said that while he was on the Council, the Metro Plan was amended to allow the cities to amend their UGBs on their own, with concurrence primarily with the County because the County has to be involved. However, we left each city the opportunity to opt in if they determined that an amendment was of metro impact. The reality is that we did do the Blue Water Boat expansion and Eugene stayed in the discussion but chose to stay out in the end. We also did the Royal Caribbean amendment and Eugene stayed out. When they were doing the iron triangle on the west side, some members of our Council at that time thought we should get involved, so that street goes both ways. It sounds like Springfield does have some agreement with Mayor Piercy to allow a look. The Metro Plan can work if they allow us to look at that. There are constraints out there, he said. One of the issues on residential land is that the County is the one empowered under state law to determine what the population forecast would be, and they delegated that to the Lane Council of Governments. That in itself is a constraining factor. He agreed with Mayor Leiken that if people are talking together, that's the best way to go, if you can develop the idea that each city has. a right to its aspirations and its policies in allowing that to happen. . Virginia Lauritsen asked how soon Springfield was thinking of moving on the issue to expand the UGB. Mayor Leiken responded that first they need to have the analysis back from the studies to be able to show to the local jurisdictions and the Land Conservation and Development Commission / Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (LCDC/DLCD) that Springfield has a case, and then we can move forward prudently.. We have to have the facts first, he said. Once this residential land supply study comes into play, we are going to clearly have an idea of where we are and how to proceed. It looks like we're moving forward on the commercial and industrial land demand study as well. As long as we have the facts to back us up, we should be able to proceed. There is no doubt that the Springfield City Council has been aggressive, and once we have a case, we will look at it and then look to see where our next steps are. Bill Grile said they will have the demand analysis on the housing side to compare with the supply piece in a couple of months, and then with direction from the City Council, the question will turn to where and how to expand. And if the direction is that we can't just build vertically, that we need to build horizontally and expand the UGB, then there will be an option, an identification of areas, and that will have to be evaluated. This is not something that's going to happen within a matter of weeks or months, it's going to take some time. Virginia Lauritsen asked the Mayor how long it would take. . Mayor Leiken said he did not know at this time. When they receive the information back from the study and review it, then they should be able to determine some kind of a timeline and he would try to personally send her a response. Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 7 . Bill Grile said it would take about 18 months to do the analysis and to know what the gap analysis is on the commercial-industrial piece. But how do you resolve it, where do you look for solutions? There is very little you can predict with certainty under Oregon land use law, but one thing is sure, there is going to be an appeal, from one side or the other, and nobody can tell you how long an appeal will last. In looking ahead, AI King said he anticipates a problem in the Jasper-Natron area in the future. As that area builds up and more jobs are created, there needs to be more housing for the people who will be working there. If there is not enough land for housing development, then there would probably be large numbers of people commuting back and forth between Eugene and Springfield on a daily basis on 1-105. Laurie Adams said she has some memory of the Metro Plan development at the time her husband was on the Planning Commission. She remembers some long struggles with that and it was expensive and fractious. She supports the Mayor's approach and his sense of community and working together. She thinks that is the way to go. . Referring to Lee Beyer's comment about young families not being able to afford the cost of new homes, Laurie Adams wondered if it was possible to look at areas in the vicinity of downtown Springfield that could be redeveloped or remodeled. Downtown Springfield has come a long way toward being a family-centered area because of its affordability, and she felt sure that young families could afford those homes. So, as the City looks for buildable land, she wondered if they could also consider areas that just need some improvement. She didn't know if they would be able to 'include that in their study, but she'd like to see them try. Bill Grile said that they are actually required to do that evaluation. Joe Mathieu said that as an elected official he would like to be kept informed on the City's progress with the growth/expansion of the UGB. Anne Ballew asked if there was anyone from the agencies who felt strongly against the City seeking expansion of the UGB or was everyone okay with the City moving forward. Bobbie Adams said she supported the City looking into expanding the UGB. Garry Weber said he felt it was important that Springfield's young people should be able to own a home in Springfield rather than commute back and forth between Springfield and Eugene or other areas. He didn't think it was in Springfield's best interest to bring in wonderful businesses while young people who may work in those businesses can't live and afford their own home close to where they work. He said he was in support of looking at that and if it meant they needed to move forward on something, he was in support of moving forward. . Greg James said that WillamaJane has been very fortunate to workwith the City on several projects and that he is very much in favor of the City moving forward on the UGB expansion . . . Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 8 issue. He also felt it was fortunate that the TEAM Springfield group was created and that its members would continue to be a part of these conversations concerning our community. Lee Beyer said that he supported Laurie Adams' suggestion about redeveloping and/or remodeling areas of downtown Springfield to make those properties more affordable for our young members of the community. There are some great houses in there that are just out of style or are in need of improvements. Some of the larger cities, like Portland, are doing that kind of redevelopment. It doesn't really fit into the context of the Plan very well, and it seems to just be human nature to keep going out to the next greener pasture. He thinks Springfield has to do both, but it's really hard to get people to do the rehab, and there's not many tools to do it. Mayor Leiken concluded by saying that this has been a very good discussion and that he and Gino Grimaldi will make sure that all of the TEAM Springfield partners are kept informed and involved in this issue. Everyone thanked the Mayor and City Council. Mayor Leiken introduced Bob Keefer to review logistics. Bob Keefer welcomed everyone to the new Willamalane Community Recreation Center (CRC). He explained where to find the restrooms and invited everyone during their break to feel free to walk through the new building. To pay for this new facility, he explained that Willamalane sold their office. and storage facility on the Mill Race, plus they had a $1.8 million loan and about $500,000 in operating funds that Willamalane had saved over the last several years to help offset the cost. Willamalane will pay back the $1.8 million loan over the next fifteen years. Willamalane appreciates the partnership it has with the City, SUB, and the Spring~eld School District. All these agencies had a vision of the sports center facility, and it could not have been done it without that, he said. The School District is now leasing the Memorial Building for their alternative education programs and that is assisting Willamalane in paying their debt for the CRC. SUB assisted Willamalane a lot with getting fiber optics to the facility. They now have not only fiber optics, but also a voice-over IP telephone system. He thanked everyone involved for their support of the building. Mr. Keefer said that following the break Chris Pryor would facilitate the next portion of the meeting. BREAK Everyone took a 15 minute break. . . . Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 9 CREATING OUR SIGNATURE IN SPRINGFIELD (Breakout Sessions) INTRO AND REVIEW OF ASSIGNMENT Following the break, Mayor Leiken introduced Chris Pryor to facilitate the breakout sessions for Creating our Signature in Springfield. Chris Pryor explained that Willamalane had set up four separate areas in or near the main meeting room for the breakout sessions and he explained where they were located and that there would be a flip chart in each location for noting each group's comments. The CEOs will be divided up into four groups in order to have small-group discussions about TEAM Springfield's signature projects/needs. Each of the four CAOs will present the signature project relating to their agency and the question or questions they have for the group. As comments/suggestions/strategies are generated from the group, they will be noted on the flip chart pad. Every 15 minutes or so the CAOs will rotate to a different group until each CAO has met with each group. The CEOs were divided into four groups by counting off one through four around the room and each of the groups went to their designated areas to meet with each of the CAOs over the next hour. Following the breakout sessions, Mayor Leiken spoke for Group NO.2. He felt they had good discussions on all the issues. On the City's issue of branding, "Strengthening Springfield's Sense of Place and Community," the group talked about not necessarily sticking to a brand but instead focusing on what has made Springfield work and move in that direction. On Springfield School District's issue of "Revitalization of Downtown through A3," another excellent discussion, he said, AI King brought up some different scenarios, especially incorporating this with the Urban Renewal District, but also the positive impacts that the School District is already making. More desirables will run the undesirables out of the downtown core, he said. Our group thought that, overall, this would have a positive impact not only for the downtown, but for the children, too, as they look at different alternatives in the School District for different learning styles. On SUB's issue of the "Oregon Renewable Portfolio Standard Update," the Mayor said they received a lot of technical, helpful information from Bob Linahan. We have been very fortunate to have one of the lowest electricity and water rates here in Springfield and he felt that has helped to keep Springfield very competitive. The reality is that alternatives are going to have to be part of the mix, but it was important that SUB have plenty of time to transition to the Renewable Portfolio Standard and not be forced into a situation where it would have no control. On Willamalane's issue of the "Future Funding for Park, Recreation, and Natural Area Acquisition and Development," the Mayor said this was another great proposal. Our group recommended Willamalane go out with a bond to make sure that the title is simple so folks understand what they are voting on and that they are voting yes and no. As far as making sure a campaign is involved, it was highly recommended that Willamalane include many folks on TEAM Springfield to help move this along. The Mayor believed they would have positive results. Speaking for Group No-. 1, Laurie Adams said regarding SUB's issue that she couldn't speak to it because she doesn't know enough about it, but they support SUB's efforts toward getting reasonable renewable energy standards and they appreciate that SUB works hard to keep consumers' costs down and that would be their reason for wanting it to go forward to getting Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 10 . those renewable energy standards. Regarding Willamalane's issue, she said this was generally supported by the group, with just a concern about the consideration of the financial impact on the community and citizens. Regarding Springfield School District's issue to increase the opportunity for students to interact with the community in downtown Springfield, perhaps a group could be formed to give the kids a voice and to give the community an opportunity to hear their voice, and increase student visibility in some ways, have them do a production on the sidewalk, keep them visible. Regarding the City's issue, our group talked about the work that needs to be done on the downtown area. We want to see renewed energy in downtown and they appreciate the City's can-do approach and their attitude. The first person speaking for Group No.3, Garry Weber, said he would speak to the City's issue. Our group loved the branding idea and even generated some possible slogans and catch phrases. They thought the City was on the right track with the understanding that the slogan as they underlined it is more than a catchy slogan, it really matches the true identity that the community has, in addition to the intention of where they want to go. We all thought it was a great idea to move forward on, he said. Dave Ralston added that the group also thought the image of Springfield was important. There was a lot of discussion around making it attractive, he said. When people enter Springfield, no matter which entry they take, there should be a nice, attractive sign that shows we have pride in our city, he said. . Danelle Ralston next responded for Group NO.3 regarding the School District's issue. Springfield needs to have more supportive businesses downtown, she said. The School District could use the kids to do public service and clean up downtown, do some volunteering, get kids into the businesses so the businesses are interacting with them. Have the kids do plays outside of the buildings so downtown people will see them. Have more police exposure. Enhance the visualness of the buildings, maybe using the school kids. John Woodrow next responded for Group NO.3 regarding SUB's issue. The group supported and complimented SUB on what they're doing now, how they're doing it, and the way that they've been doing it, he said. SUB should continue to keep that up, he said. SUB should go forward with the plans that they're working on, and look at the four percent cap process. They also should start raising rates slowly now to help build up a reserve so that when they get to 2011 and need conservation programs, they have that money set aside, and also to help reduce the rate impact that might come along at that time. Dave Ralston gave the final response for Group No.3 regarding Willamalane's issue. The group agreed that as Springfield expands, there would be a need for more parks and recreation facilities. The number one key to that is to educate the public. Willamalane needs to make it very clear what the projects are, what the costs are going to be, and impress upon the citizens that the selling point is going to be that the other bond measures are going to be paid off in two years. That shows responsibility and they can roll some of that money into these other projects. Willamalane needs to educate the public and show them that it is spending their money responsibly. . .' . Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 11 . Speaking for Group No.4, Anne Ballew said regarding the City's issue, her group didn't want to go into branding so much as they wanted to focus on how Springfield is a city in transition. Springfield has been a working class town, but it's not just a working class town anymore. We're changing for the best, she said. There may still be some negative attitudes, but we would like to have people understand how many opportunities there are in Springfield. We get things done here, we're innovative, and Springfield has great recreation facilities. We are interested in branding, but we want to be in tune with our residents. We should take this slowly and come up with a consensus that we all agree on, she said. Regarding Willamalane's issue, our group was very supportive, but felt that Willamalane should keep its issue very simple. One concern is who else in the community will be going out for bonding at the same time because we need to be mindful of each other's needs. Wi llama lane should reassure voters that it is maintaining what it already has before it starts adding to it. Regarding SUB's issue, we want to be supportive of renewables, but we would also like to limit our liability for the ratepayers to support someone else's idea with our money. Regarding the . School District's issue, partnership was a big topic with the schools being in partnership with the museum, the downtown library, and businesses, so lots of opportunities for the students to be involved in all those areas. Also the students could maybe do outdoor productions, like music or dance, etc., so the kids are outside where they can be seen. It was suggested that they merge with the Springfield Greeters for the downtown area, and the kids could all be young ambassadors of goodwill. It was also suggested that the kids .be polled on what they think needs to be done downtown, let them take ownership. . REMARKS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS Anne Ballew thought this was one of TEAM Springfield's better meetings. She liked the breakout sessions, the meeting organization, and she felt there was good participation. Everyone thanked Willamalane for providing the meeting facilities in their new building. Danelle Ralston said she and the other elected officials don't usually see minutes from all the TEAM Springfield meetings. She thought Board members sometimes feel disconnected because the CAOs make decisions or talk about issues that the elected officials aren't always aware of; they like to be kept informed on what is going on so they can give their feedback. She suggested that minutes of all the TEAM Springfield meetings be sent to the elected officials. Joe Pishioneri added that it doesn't cost anything to send the minutes electronically and he thought that was a good way to keep everybody connected. Communication is imperative for TEAM Springfield to function as a viable, healthy group in order to get the will of the citizens done, he said. The more we're informed of each others' activities and the more we can provide information to each other, the more effective we can be as a group and we can be better ambassadors for one another in the community. . . . . ..' \. Team Springfield Minutes January 20, 2007 Page 12 Laurie Adams said the elected officials all need to be conscious about developihg female leadership in this community, helping women develop their skills as leaders and play an important role in the community. Danelle Ralston agreed with Laurie Adams and also recommended that perhaps they could start doing seminars for high school girls now to let them know they are empowered, they can have a voice, and there are places out here for them. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Leiken said he appreciated being a part of this community and a member of TEAM Springfield and looked forward to everyone working together for the betterment of Springfield. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11 :30 a.m. Minutes Recorder: Judy Berra, Executive Assistant Springfield Utility Board '" Attest: City~}o-uJL