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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/24/2009 Team Springfield I I 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 i 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. i i I I I . '. -:. I . I 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 ! ~ T'E A M (!} ATTENDANCE: Springfield School District: Board Members Laurie Adams, Nancy Bigley, ?\I King and Garry Weber. Superintendent Nancy Golden. I I Springfield Utility Board: Board Members Bobbie Adams, Virginia lauritse:n and Joe Mathieu. General Manager Bob Linahan, Judy Berra. i I i 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. I I 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. i I I I 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. I . I 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). ! I 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 I 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 . I 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 I I Mayor Leiken thanked the public officials for their reports. He then congratulated retired City Council . I 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 I 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 i I I I I I i 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. I I 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. i 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 I 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. I 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 I . I Gary Ross suggested at the next TEAM Springfield Joint Elected Officials' Imeeting they examine the two I 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. I 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 I 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. ! 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. i Lee Beyer noted that the Planning Commission is looking at designing in the potential to have changes made through the interchange. I I i I , . 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. : i I Garry Weber noted that the JEOs seemed to be in agreement on Dave Ra,lston's suggestions for Jasper- Natron. I I I 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. I I 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 I I 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. ! I ! 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 I 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. I Ms. Lundberg said she thought that would help when we're having a discussion about all of the boundary I issues. I I I 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. ! I I 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 . I I 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 . . i I ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION I I 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 I I 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 I 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 I I 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 i 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: i 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 , . 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 I 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 I I I I I · 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 I 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 I I I I . 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 . i i i 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 I , 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 i I BREAK: : i 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. I 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 I 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? I i 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 - . I i 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 i I 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: I i I I 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 i I I , What regional projects should we support in the area of economic de~e/opment? I I , 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 i I . 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 I i I GINO GRIMALDI: I i What should we work on collectively in terms of economic deve/opm~nt? , , 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: . I . 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 I · 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 . I NEXT STEPS: Nancy Golden said that all the comments from all the groups will be transcribed and produced in final form , 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 I I 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 oJ) ~ ~ae&~~~~enDavid Ralston ~fty~ Council President Attest: