HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/24/2009 Team Springfield
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Minutes of the I
Joint Elected Officials' Meeting I
January 24, 2009, 8:30 a.m. - Noon
National Guard .Armory i
3106 Pierce Parkway I
Springfield, Oregon 97477 I
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The TEAM Springfield Joint Elected Officials met on Saturday, January 24l2009, at 8:30 a.m., at
Springfield's new National Guard Armory, 3106 Pierce Parkway, Room 14~, Springfield, Oregon.
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City of Springfield: Mayor Sid Leiken; Councilors Christine Lundberg, Dave Ralston, John Woodrow and
Hillary Wylie. City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Jeff Towery, John Tamulonis, Bob Duey, Jerry Smith and
Dennis Murphy. I
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ATTENDANCE:
Springfield School District: Board Members Laurie Adams, Nancy Bigley, ?\I King and Garry Weber.
Superintendent Nancy Golden. I
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Springfield Utility Board: Board Members Bobbie Adams, Virginia lauritse:n and Joe Mathieu. General
Manager Bob Linahan, Judy Berra. i
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Willamalane Park and Recreation District: Board Members lee Beyer, Gr~g James, Danelle Ralston, Gary
Ross and Helen Wagner. Superintendent Bob Keefer, Jason Genck, Joel ,Miller and Pam Caples.
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Others: State Representative Terry Beyer; Sara Blackwell, Teacher with Springfield Public Schools; Craig
Murphy, Springfield Times; Owen Griffith and Matt Singledecker, University of Oregon Student Reporters;
Oregon Military Department: General Caldwell, Jim Williford; U.S. Forest ~ervice: Dallas Emch, Douglas
MacDonald (retired); BlM: Ginnie Grilley; and Major Chris Reese, 162nd Infantry.
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Mayor Sid Leiken called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to ~EAM Springfield's Joint Elected
Officials' Meeting and invited everyone in attendance to introduce themselves.
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INTRODUCTIONS AND WELCOME
REPORT FROM EACH AGENCY
CITY OF SPRINGFIELD: Mayor leiken reviewed highlights of the City's activities over the past year,
including Phase One of the Justice Center; issuance of 4,400 construction Ipermits; the timely opening of
RiverBend Hospital; and Springfield's first Farmer's Market. The members of TEAM Springfield will continue
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 2
to work together as we plan for the future needs of our community, he said. A copy of the City's
accomplishments is attached (Exhibit A). I
WILLAMALANE PARK & RECREATION DISTRICT: Danelle Ralston, Bo~rd President, reviewed highlights
of Willamalane's activities over the past year, including the completion of ~ new master plan for Dorris
Ranch; the opening of two new parks, one in MountainGate and one in Ja~per Meadows; Oregon State
Parks and Recreation will be giving Willamalane a grant that will help with the development of Lively Park in
Thurston; and several special events were held in 2008, including a concert attended by ever 2500 people.
A copy of Willamalane's accomplishments is attached (Exhibit B).
SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Nancy Bigley, Board Chair, reviewedl highlights of Springfield Public
Schools' activities over the past year, including an information campaign or the School District's vision and
goal, "Every Student a Graduate Prepared for a Bright and Successful Fut~re"; a new program called
Response to Instruction (RTI); literacy projects for the community-Literacy Partners Initiative, Battle of the
Books, and the Gift of Literacy program; implementation of the Talented and Gifted (TAG) policy; and two
important arts programs, Arts Matter and Arts in Motion. She also noted tHat the School District broke
ground on its A3 expansion,which will hold its first graduation ceremony in the spring of 2009; and two new
schools will open in the fall of 2009, Maple and Thurston elementary. A cdpy of the School District's
activities is attached (Exhibit C). !
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SPRINGFIELD UTILITY BOARD (SUB): Virginia Lauritsen, Board Chair, reported that SUB had another
good year and, due to expected and unexpected revenues, does not anticipate an increase in electricity
rates before 2012. SUB's residential customers currently pay 5.65 cents p~r kilowatt hour (kWh), while
Oregon's average rate is 8.59 cents per kWh, and the national average is 12.09 cents per kWh. She noted
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that SUB has executed a long-term power sales contract with Bonneville Power Administration that will
provide power to SUB until September 30, 2028. Due to infrastructure im~rovements and government
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requirements for water treatment, SUB adopted a water rate increase this ~onth of 9.6 percent, which
amounts to an increase of about $2 per residential customer. A copy of Sl!JB's activities is attached
(Exhibit D). .. I
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Mayor Leiken thanked the public officials for their reports. He then congratulated retired City Council
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member Anne Ballew, SUB Board Chair Virginia Ballew Lauritsen, and Willamalane Board Member Helen
Ballew Wagner for being honored as Outstanding Officials of the Year at tHe recent Lane Council of
Governments dinner. He also congratulated Springfield Public Schools Suiperintendent Nancy Golden who
was honored with the 2008 Women of Achievement Award from the Orego'n Commission for Women, and
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Springfield Police Chief Jerry Smith who was honored as the 2008 First Citizen at the Springfield Chamber's
Annual Awards Banquet.
SPRINGFIELD TOMORROW REPORT
Before giving his report on the Springfield Tomorrow project, City Manager Gino Grimaldi noted that an
extreme amount of cooperation made it possible for TEAM Springfield to hold this meeting at Springfield's
new National Guard Armory. This cooperation.came not only from the fed~ral agencies that are being
housed here, but also from the City of Springfield. The City's John Tamuldnis and Bob Duey started
conversations many years ago with these folks about this building and durirg the process they learned that
the BLM could not own a building. To deal with this roadblock, the City of Springfield stepped in to be a
financing mechanism so this project could happen, at no cost to the taxpayers. Mr. Grimaldi thanked Mr.
Tamulonis and Mr. Duey for their dedicated efforts on this project, noting tllat this new National Guard
Armory is a great asset to our community. I
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Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 3
Springfield Tomorrow is a project that was started back in 1991, said Mr. Grimaldi, and John Tamulonis was
heavily involved. It was all about creating a vision and making plans to implement that vision. This project
was updated in 1999 and the last time TEAM Springfield looked at it was i+ 2005 when we developed a
refined vision, an action plan and community projects that we wanted to implement over the next ten years.
Today's meeting offered a great opportunity to give the Joint Elected Officials a quick update on this project,
he said. Referring to his list of projects relating to the 2015 Community Vi~ion (Exhibit E),
Mr. Grimaldi gave an overview of the activities so everfone would have a ~ense of the significant progress
being made. i
The projects were grouped into two categories: 1) Top Priority Projects, m1ade up of projects that had
received enough consensus that they were important enough to move fo~ard; and 2) High Priority Projects,
made up of projects that had less support, but enough to still move forward on. The High Priority Projects
were second tier projects and the CEOs had indicated we should take adv~ntage of opportunities to
implement those projects, but not make them the number one priority, he Said.
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Mr. Grimaldi explained that the items highlighted in yellow on the list of Community Projects were projects
where either significant progress has been made, or that were actually corilpleted. There are a number of
items on this list where significant work has been done. For example, two iagencies did a lot of work to put
the After School Program on the ballot. It wasn't successful, but the journ~y is not over.
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The reports from the agencies indicate that some of these projects have b~en completed, for example, the
Farmers Market, he said. And in the first few years of the 10-year Springfi~ld Tomorrow Plan, many things
have been done. I
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Mr. Grimaldi asked for feedback from the CEOs on whether they felt the Cf'Os were on the right track and
did they want to have anything adjusted on the list.
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Dave Ralston recommended that the Jasper-Natron project be moved up on the list so they could continue
to partner with other organizations in the community. I
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Gary Ross suggested at the next TEAM Springfield Joint Elected Officials' Imeeting they examine the two
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lists and consider which projects on the High Priority List can be moved to the Top Priority List to replace
projects that have been completed. He also recommended they discuss Idng-range planning and
development and where Springfield is going as a community, keeping in fr~nt of them long-range projects
like Jasper-Natron, Outreach to Community Members, Downtown Issues, etc.
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AI King suggested that wetland areas could potentially be great wetland mi~igation sites and could become
revenue-generating. He said he was also in support of an 1-5 Glenwood off-ramp. And he thought that
Springfield might want to have some additional community visioning event~ so our voice is better heard in
that regard. I
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Mayor Leiken said that although the potential cost is very high for a new off-ramp for the current Glenwood
interchange, he believed there was quite a bit of interest in looking at that ~nd redeveloping it into a full-
service interchange. He also noted that it would be critical to have ODOT i~nvolved as the design moves
forward to look at potentially retrofitting the bridge for the addition of future ramps. A Springfield
representative serving in Washington, DC, has expressed support of that abd also recommends working
closely with ODOT. The University of Oregon is another supporter due to the new basketball arena. The
City of Eugene may want to take a closer look at that in the near future as ~ell.
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Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 4
Oregon Representative Terry Beyer said that she supported a new on/off ~amp at the Glenwood interchange
and was glad to hear that the City is continuing to work with ODOT on that.
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Lee Beyer noted that the Planning Commission is looking at designing in the potential to have changes
made through the interchange. I
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Joe Mathieu raised some concerns about graffiti and trash being thrown inl the alley north of
G Street between 5th and tho i
Police Chief Jerry Smith said the Police Department has assigned an officer to the high school and they will
continue to pay attention to the problem and do what they can to give the ~rea more police presence.
Springfield School District Superintendent Nancy Golden said that she willlhave her director of secondary
education work with the principal of the high school to see what can be done to deter kids from going there.
She thanked Mr. Mathieu for his comments. I
Mayor Leiken recommended that at the next CAOs' meeting they start putting things together based on
today's discussion and suggestions. Then when the CEOs meet, they will !review the results and take that
information back to their respective Boards. :
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Garry Weber noted that the JEOs seemed to be in agreement on Dave Ra,lston's suggestions for Jasper-
Natron. I
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Bob Keefer said if there was anything of a high priority nature that the CEGs don't see on the list, either
today or in the future, to let the CAOs know so they can review that with their staff and determine where it
fits and then bring it back to the CEOs, noting that he was asking permissi~m not to be limited to these lists if
there is a serious concern within any organization or TEAM Springfield that we need to take care of.
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Lee Beyer had a suggestion for a new item to consider. ODOT had recently given a presentation regarding
the new bridge over the Willamette River and there was some mention of r~cycling the temporary bridge.
Perhaps there is a way to determine whether there was any potential to us~ the recycled structure and
materials for a bridge they've been thinking about to go over the Willamette at Mount Pisgah.
Laurie Adams said the Springfield School District has been asked to reconbider its fiscal boundaries and
they have a meeting coming up to discuss this with Eugene. She wondered if TEAM Springfield might want
to weigh-in on this and if it seemed important to them that we move forward, perhaps it could be added to
the priority list. I
Garry Weber said he feels that the issue of the School District's fiscal boundaries is about more than
convenience and alignment, and goes beyond financial ramifications. To him, this is an issue of community
and he's in favor of pursuing it. I
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Mayor Leiken recommended the CAOs look into the details of the School Gistrict's fiscal boundaries issue
and prepare an executive summary to bring back to the CEOs, perhaps at ithe Joint Elected Officials'
summer meeting. Then with more information for everyone to consider on 'this issue, perhaps we can all
reach an agreement and then have a letter go out'from TEAM Springfield ~upporting the School District in
this endeavor.
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 5
All King made reference to another aspect of this issue to be considered, how the current assessed
valuation of land in the RiverBend area is affected by all the new developn1ent and how that impacts the
amount of money acquired through bonds. !
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Christine Lundberg said that was her first thought too, because the bound~ry issue is driven financially as
much as anything else. But the other thing is, as we're looking at it, we should consider all of our
boundaries-Willamalane's boundaries include Glenwood, downtown and quite a ways to the east, and the
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School District's boundary goes all the way to Walterville-so we should cpnsider taking a look at all of our
boundaries, just so we have a sense of who's got what, and where our division points are.
Garry Weber said he thought the CEOslCAOs looked at that last spring, o~ last summer. That information
should be readily available. So I think we could get that in a packet form fbr you.
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Ms. Lundberg said she thought that would help when we're having a discussion about all of the boundary
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issues. I
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Gary Ross said he agreed with Garry Weber that it's not a money issue, it'~ a community issue, and we
should look at where we want to be as a community. He remembered years ago out where Mohawk
Elementary is located, one side of the street went to Marcola School Distri~t, and the other side of the street
went to Springfield School District. That kind of situation doesn't promote ~ommunity.
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Nancy Bigley said that when the community members came to speak to th~ School Board, the essence of
their request was that they wanted to build community. Those kids are in our neighborhood, they're in our
city, and they are our neighborhood schools. I
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Laurie Adams felt that the sense of community that exists here in Springfield will be helpful to us in dealing
with Eugene over the boundary issue. I . .
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION I
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Mayor Leiken said to prepare everyone for the economic development disqussion, Nancy Golden will review
the process for the breakout sessions and then Jeff Towery will give some Ibackground on economic
development. Following Mr. Towery's report, we will take a short break before dividing into groups for the
breakout sessions. I
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REVIEW PROCESS:
We all know how important economic development is to our organizations, Nancy Golden said, and in this
exercise the CAOs are looking for input from the Joint Elected Officials to help us think in terms of how
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TEAM Springfield needs to move on the issue of economic development. To accomplish this, we have
determined the following four questions relating to economic development that we would like to receive input
on and she asked everyone to be thinking about them during the break: i
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1) What should we work on collectively in terms of economic deJelopment?
2) Please give us input on the current economic development prbjects.
3) Of our current economic development projects, what are we most proud of?
4) Regionally, what projects should we support?
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 6
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In the breakout sessions we will be using a process called World Cafe to generate that input. She then
explained how the board members from each agency needed to divide theh,selves up among four
discussion groups; and that the ,participating staff members should do the ~ame. The four discussion
groups would be located in the adjoining two rooms, with two groups per rc?om. Each CAO will be assigned
one of the four questions and they will facilitate one group at a time and will record all input received. Every
12 minutes the groups will rotate to a different CAO until at the end of the ~our, all four groups have rotated
through the four facilitators and given input for each of the four questions. IJeff Towery will be the
timekeeper and will let the groups know when to move. At the end of the ~our, the facilitators will bring back
to this room their list of comments from the groups and post them on the wall. Then each CAO will give a
brief synopsis of the big ideas from each group. I
Nancy said that she and the other CAOs all feel very fortunate to have awlsome Boards to work with and
that they are only as strong as the Board's that collaborate and guide theni. This is a big part of what
makes TEAM Springfield successful.
BACKGROUND ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
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Jeff Towery briefly identified the drivers of economic development and sOrDe of the tools in their economic
development tool kit.
Some economic development challenges are:
. National Recession
. Sub-prime lending
. Income disparity
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Regarding income disparity, for example, our Eugene-Springfield incomes :are 17 percent lower than
average in the state of Oregon, so we've got some local work to do. Those things really drive the kinds of
goals that we find in all of our organizations related to job retention, job cr~ation and income growth. That's
what we think of as economic development. Everybody has their own idea of what economic development
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is and there's probably not a lot of disagreement. Here are some ideas to phallenge you to broaden your
perspective of what that might mean. I
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· Available land, and that issue really drives the residential land study, commercial-industrial buildable
lands inventory and the Urban Growth Boundary study that we've b1een involved in as well as all of
youragendes I
· Available labor, the education and training that comes from School District 19, Lane Community
College (LCC) and the University of Oregon (UO). I
· Transportation involves a part of infrastructure; it's big enough that we mention it separately and
that's comprehensive, it's street, rail, air and transit. I
· And then the rest of our utilities and infrastructure, and we think those really make up the base that
allow for successful economic development effort.
Key resources that go into successful economic development:
Traditional tools and approaches that we've used here locally:
· Cooperation and collaboration of our local and regional partners is critical-TEAM Springfield, LCC,
UO, Chamber of Commerce, Lane Workforce Partnership, State of Oregon, Lane Metro
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Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 7
Some newer issues include:
Partnership-we're all actively engaged in many partnerships with all those jurisdictions and it is that
kind of partnership that helps make us successful. . I
. In Springfield we feel we have quick, reliable decision-making, both at the staff and at the policy level
. We are flexible and creative; John Tamulonis has come up with "nq wrong door" concept, which
means that although businesses and developers don't always make the choices that we'd like them
to make, but there is a way to get to success no matter what those !choices are, so whatever door
someone chooses to come through, we think we can create a path jto success
. Enterprise zones have been in place for a long time I
. Urban renewal, while relatively new for Springfield is an ancient tool by municipal standards
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. Cluster Development: I
o The opportunity that RiverBend presents for a medical research and educational cluster is
significant !
o We have a growing arts and culture cluster downtown anch~red by the Library, the Wildish
Theater, the Museum, Emerald Art Center, A3 :
o We have opportunities for mixed use and residential clusters in Glenwood
· Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)-you may not think of this as an ieconomic development tool, but
the EITC is a program: j
o Available to working individuals and families of low and moqerate income
o It's run by the MRP Tax-Aide in conjunction with our local ~nited Way
o In 2007 EITC generated $4.7 million in Lane County and in 2008 it generated $6 million
· Stimulus is sort of a new buzz term, but it's not too different than w~at we've been doing here locally
o At the National level we call it United Front, and we've beeni doing that for nearly 20 years,
but we're really going to focus the United Front effort on the: federal level stimulus issues
o At the State level, there is interest in stimulus and all of us have adopted facilities master
plans and that's going to set us up at the State level i
o And locally we've already taken action at the City Councille~el; there's been other discussion
about deferring payment of some fees and charges for residential development to try to
create that window of opportunity to spur things along i
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Glenwood and Downtown I
o The voters have established Urban Renewal Districts in both of those areas and we are in
our first year of our Urban Renewal District downtown I
o In Glenwood we've got a Riverfront Development Plan that'~ already been established for the
48 acres closest to the Glenwood Bridge along the banks o~ the Willamette River
o We are in the early refinement stages for Glenwood as a whole
o The Franklin Boulevard Corridor Study is well along the wa~
o And we've got some on-going property acquisition and som~ specific development proposals
in Glenwood that can really start things moving I
o Weare going to be doing some challenging planning for sorhe catalytic projects downtown,
we are going to look at design standards, way-finding and p~rking
o We helped the Farmers Market get started in 2008 I
o We've got an Open Banner program downtown that we are supporting
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In terms of specific efforts:
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 8
o We helped initiate a Springfield Graffiti Removal program al:1>out a year and a half ago, and
it's not just a downtown program, although we really focused on downtown and we think that
has made a difference I
Mr. Towery said the message he would like everyone to take with them today was that TEAM Springfield's
CEOs are committed, talented, visionary community leaders and it is their leadership that makes Springfield
a preferred city in which to live and work. I
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BREAK: :
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At 9:55 a.m., Mayor Leiken announced a 10-minute break and following th~ break everyone was instructed
to go to one of the two rooms next door and break into their groups for the Ibreakout sessions.
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BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
Everyone spent the next 60 minutes in breakout sessions, providing feedback on the four questions that
Nancy Golden presented before the break. I
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SUMMATION:
Following the completion of the breakout sessions, everyone returned to tHe main meeting room for a
summation.
NANCY GOLDEN:
Of our current economic development projects, what are we most proud of?
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Our group came up with several big themes. The first theme was our ecorlomic backbone, as demonstrated
by:
· . Our City, how people will feel safe here I
· The schools, and that they had good reputations, were doing achievement and were having co-
curricular success I .
· Our parks and recreation, like MountainGate that we really worked to get a beautiful park there
· SUB and how we're really proud of the affordable electric and water rates
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The next big theme relates to how well we work together and each organiz~tion's visions that have led to:
· Urban Renewals
. A3
· Wild ish Theater
Some other themes:
· We clearly distinguish who we are and what we care about through,the TEAM Springfield umbrella
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Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 9
. We are able to work together and yet each have our individual things, but we do these things in a
collective, cooperatively way which really leads to the power I
. We do things quietly but powerfully
. We don't toot our horn about sustainability, but in reality we have lots of sustainability, lots of LEED
buildings I
. We open our arms to all different cultures and do it, for example, by making sure there are Spanish
books in the library and there are translators in the School District; but it's all part of that bigger
community I
. The creativity in this community . I
. At the federal level, people are amazed and impressed when they learn about TEAM Springfield
. United Front, and how much gain we've gotten from it I
BOB KEEFER:
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I wanted the members of the group to think about what they were aware o~ already, in addition to the things
Jeff Towery discussed. And it was amazing all the different projects and tHe breadth of activities. For
example, we're just starting this foundational planning for the buildable lan~ study and urban growth
expansion and that plays into economic development and all the community projects relating to
infrastructure that all of us are doing. So when I asked them what was mo~t important, these were some of
the responses: I
· Continue to work on our urban renewal districts, specifically proba~ly with a higher priority toward the
Glenwood biggest bang for our buck; if we could find ways to work within the Glenwood Urban
Renewal District to make some headway there, it would make a big difference in our economic
development. i
· What's going on in the University with the new arena, the Hayward 1field and all the things that go
along on the University and how can we tie those to our downtown and to the transit facility
downtown along with the EMX project. i .
· How can we take advantage of having a terminus in Springfield and build upon that, what do we do
with Booth Kelly, what do we do with surrounding businesses and projects in downtown.
· Take advantage of what's going on out at RiverBend and can we c{eate and further develop a
healthcare cluster there that will create a whole new energy and vision for Springfield and where we
are at. I
· In Willamalane specifically, how do we take some of these great projects that are on the periphery of
our community-the Middle Fork Path, Dorris Ranchy, and Lively-!how can we create those to bea
little piece of our tourism industry. I
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What regional projects should we support in the area of economic de~e/opment?
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We had themes around the medical service industry. Since we have both the major hospitals in the
Springfield area, there are a lot of things that we can tie to economic develppment:
Input on the current economic development projects:
BOB L1NAHAN:
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 10
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. Concept of cluster developments I
. New development of small businesses that provide support service:s to the medical industry
. Medical curriculum programs at the U of 0 and LCC, i.e., CNAs, RNs, etc.
. Redevelopment and Urban Renewal for the Mohawk Corridor, DovJntown Springfield and Glenwood
. A good transportation system: EMX, efficient Eugene Airport, presbrve and improve our highways,
i.e., 1-105, Delta @Beltline, the 1-5 Corridor and 1-5 bridge over thei Willamette River
. The U of 0 and their building programs that are in close proximity to Gienwood--indoor track
pavilion, new Mac Court
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GINO GRIMALDI: I
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What should we work on collectively in terms of economic deve/opm~nt?
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Our group considered the kinds of things that TEAM Springfield can activelY do to improve economic
development, which quickly turned into a discussion about what our asset~ and tools are in the community.
We've already heard about clusters and healthcare, our group looked at thpse things and also:
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. Relating to clusters and healthcare, we looked at the training aspect relating for example to
healthcare and School District 19 was brought up in terms of a program it used to offer that trained
CNAs and whether that should be promoted I
· Improving Downtown: Library; public property-are we leveraging bur ownership of property
appropriately-all our agencies' have property downtown and are w,e making the most of that
property in terms of improving downtown .1
. Improving Glenwood
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· Improving Mohawk: perhaps an expansion of McKenzie-Willamette; potential for development at the
former Ware mart facility; Willamalane Park serves as a wonderful ~nchor for whatever happens in
the Mohawk area I
. Vacant land next to International Paper I
· Aligning the boundaries in conjunction with the expansion of the UGB
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NEXT STEPS:
Nancy Golden said that all the comments from all the groups will be transcribed and produced in final form
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for all the respective Boards. The CAOs will review all the comments and ~n terms of the TEAM Springfield
partnership we will discuss which ones we can start working on now as well as which items from the 2015
Community Visio,n list of projects we can focus on in response to the CEO~ recommendations. From the
information presented today, we will be able to come back with areas we see as the key ones that the
partnership will work on. I
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Mayor Leiken thanked the CAOs for facilitating the breakout sessions and keeping everyone on target and
for their summation of the group discussions on economic development. i
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 11
INTRODUCTION TO TOUR OF NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY
Bob Linahan introduced Jim Williford, Chief of Construction of the Oregon Military Department, to say a few
words prior to beginning the tour of the National Guard Armory.
Mr. Williford introduced General Caldwell, so speak to the group.
General Caldwell thanked the members of TEAM Springfield for being at the Armory and expressed his
appreciation for how well the Oregon Military Department has been received in Springfield since they
started. The project to construct the new Armory has been nothing short of outstanding, in every aspect, he
said. We are very pleased that we made the decision to leave Eugene and come to Springfield. We believe
this building will be here quite a while and will add a lot to the community. And we are delighted to include
.in our unique partnership not only the Naval and Marine reserves, but also the Forest Service and the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We have set the bar for other states and other governmental entities
to really examine where they can do this kind of partnering because ultimately it saves money and effort for
our taxpayers. We are going to hold this up as a good example nationwide and we've had a lot of interest
from other parts of the country asking how we accomplished this partnership. He applauded TEAM
Springfield for all its efforts and noted that from his experience, Springfield is one of the best cities in the
nation.
Mr. Williford said this is the first time the Military Department has done a partnership between a state
agency and federal entities outside the Department of Defense (DOD). The success of this partnership is
due in large part to the efforts of staff from the City of Springfield. He gave special recognition to John
Tamulonis. Without Mr. Tamulonis this would be only a military or DOD-only facility. He brought the Forest
Service to us and through the Forest Service, we made acquaintance with the BLM. Mr. Williford introduced
a few agency representatives-Dallas Emch, the Willamette Forest Supervisor, Ginnie Grilley, Director of
the Eugene BLM, and Douglas MacDonald, who is retired from the Forest Service. He expressed his deep
appreciation and thanks to Mr. MacDonald for working closely with the Oregon Military Department for the
past five years and helping this project come to fruition.
Mr. Williford introduced Major Chris Reese, the Administrative Officer for the 162nd Infantry of the National
Guard here in this facility, who will be deploying to Iraq in May. The formal dedication of this facility will not
happen until approximately July 2010, when this National Guard unit returns from Iraq, he said.
Mr. Williford also announced that parts of this facility will be available for rent for meetings and trainings, and
for community use, and said he provide a list of the rental fees for reference (Exhibit F).
TOUR OF NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY/ADJOURNMENT
Before adjourning the meeting, Mayor Leiken said this was another great meeting with excellent discussion
overall. Even though we are experiencing challenging times, there continues to be a lot of optimism from all
the TEAM Springfield agencies. He congratulated everyone for a job well done.
He then adjourned the meeting at 11 :45 a.m. so that everyone could take the tour of the National Guard
Armory .
Minutes Recorder:
Team Springfield Minutes
January 24, 2009
Page 12
Judy Berra, Executive Assistant
Springfield Utility Board
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~ae&~~~~enDavid Ralston
~fty~ Council President
Attest: