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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/23/2009 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, March 23,2009 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Leezer, Ralston, Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilors Wylie was absent (excused). 1. Budget Committee Interviews. Budget Officer Bob Brew presented the staff report on this item. The Budget Committee has a vacancy in Ward 4 due to the expiration of the term of Ellen Manzer on December 31,2008. Ms. Manzer served one term on the Committee and was eligible to reapply; however she did not do so. The person appointed to the Ward 4 position will serve a three year term that will expire on December 31, 20 II. One application was received for this position. In response to the news release dated November 4, 2008, an article in the Springfield Extra section of the Register-Guard on December 11, 2008 and an additional press release on December 22,2008, one application was received for the Budget Committee position representing Ward 4. The Council is requested to interview one applicant for Ward 4 (Garold Ropp). Budget Committee appointments are scheduled to be ratified at the Regular Session Meeting on April 6, 2009. Council chose the questions they would ask of the candidate. Mayor Leiken explained the process. The Council determined which questions they would ask of the candidate: · Councilor Woodrow: What do you feel are the most crucial service priorities for the City of Springfield? · Councilor Lundberg: Sometimes the members of the Budget Committee have different opinions on how the citizens' money should be spent. Your opinions may differ from other members of the Committee. How would you make sure your opinion was heard? If your opinion was not the majority, how would you go about "mending fences" with those you disagree with, in order to deliver the best budget possible? · Mayor Leiken: Why are you interested in serving on the Budget Committee? · Councilor Ralston: Describe some personal goals that you wish to achieve by serving on the Springfield Budget Committee? City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 2 . Councilor Leezer: The Budget Committee meets on Tuesdays in April and May, generally for a total offour or five meetings. The meetings start at 5:30 or 6:00pm and usually last three hours. There is occasionally a mid-year meeting in December or January. Will you be able to meet the time requirements of the Committee? · Councilor Pishioneri: You said you were a team player. Today's economic picture had an impact on the City. Would you be in a position to challenge and think outside the box regarding a budget that was offered? Would you say it wasn't good enough, or that it was fine? Would you delve into the process and not make decisions too quickly? Council interviewed Mr. Ropp. At the end of the interview, Mayor Leiken asked Mr. Ropp if he had any questions ofthe Council. Mr. Ropp said he had no questions. He said he was excited for the opportunity to become part of the team and the City of Springfield. He said he didn't know a lot about major budgets, like the City's and would need training. He asked if there would be training. Mr. Brew said he met with the other member and would meet with Mr. Ropp to go over the budget and budget process. Mayor Leiken said that was typical. Staff did a great job of answering questions and providing training. That was the professionalism of Springfield. Mr. Leahy said there was a good article in the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) monthly publication regarding City budget 101. Mr. Brew said formal action would take place on the appointment on April 6. The Mayor and Council came to consensus to appoint Mr. Ropp during the April 6 meeting. 2. Increase the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission's (MWMC's) Borrowing Authority for Issuing Future Bonds to Support Completion of the Capital Proiects Identified in 2004 Facilities Plan. Mr. Towery introduced Mr. Ron Bittler, the new Environmental Services Manager for the City of Springfield. Mr. Bittler presented the staff report on this item. MWMC is in the process of constructing the regional wastewater capital improvement projects called for in the 2004 Facilities Plan. MWMC has nearly completed construction of all facilities funded through the issuance of the first $100 million in revenue bonds and loans that were authorized by the City Councils in 2005. MWMC is now prepared to move forward, on schedule, with the next phase of projects, which requires that additional borrowing authority of up to $100 million be granted by the two Cities. In 2004, the MWMC and the three governing bodies adopted a regional wastewater Facilities Plan, which included capital projects that had an estimated cost of$144 million (in 2004 dollars), necessary to meet the wastewater treatment needs ofthe Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area through the year 2025. The 2004 Facilities Plan outlines a schedule for construction ofthe capital improvements necessary to maintain compliance with the Commission's wastewater discharge City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 3 permit and other environmental and land use rcquirements, af; well as satisfy anticipated demands for treatment capacity. In 2006, CH2MHill recosted the projects in the Facilities Plan to reflect substantial increases in steel, concrete and other factors driving costs beyond standard inflationary factors. The total cost of the projects is about $196 million in 2006 dollars. The construction improvements encompass 38 individual projects that span 20 years of implementation. The CIP is on schedule to meet legal and regulatory obligations. Many of the critical components ofthe Facilities Plan are front-loaded in the 20 year period to comply with a requirement that, by the end of 2009, wastewater facilities be able to transport and treat the peak flow generated by a 5-year, 24-hour storm event. This deadline is established by an adopted state water quality standard, and MWMC and the two Cities are under an Environmental Protection Agency Compliance Order to comply. In November of 2006, the MWMC issued its first revenue bond in the amount of $47,270,000. In November of 2008, the MWMC completed its second bond sale of $50,730,000. In addition during 2008, the MWMC borrowed $2,000,000 in the form of state revolving fund (SRF) loan. The projects under way are being completed within specified budgets, time lines, and environmental performance parameters. The success of the program to date is a good indicator that future projects will continue to meet cost and performance objectives. It is anticipated that an additional $31 million in borrowing will be needed in the near-term to complete the remaining CIP projects necessary to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The Commission is requesting authorization to borrow up to a total of $100 million to complete the second phase of construction of projects in the 2004 Facilities Plan. The Plan and projects remain consistent with what the Councils, the Board of County Commissioners, and the Department of Environmental Quality adopted in 2005. A power point presentation was presented and a hard copy distributed to the members of the Council. This presentation highlighted the status ofFY08-09 Capital Program, ongoing/new capital projects, proposed FY09-14 five year CIP, five year cash flow, and current/future financing. Mr. Bittler said a number of projects were carried over into FY09-10. He reviewed those projects and noted that many were requirements by the State and Federal government. Discussion was held regarding the source 'of water that went into the basins and if our system was adequate. Public Works Director Susie Smith explained the source and steps being taken to address capacity. Mr. Bittler continued with the power point presentation and described some of the additional projects. He discussed the new projects for FY09-1O. He gave an overview of the FY09-14 Capital Improvement Program Budget Summary. He explained the current CIP funding and future financing. Councilor Leezer asked how this would work with the growth of both cities and how many years the facility would remain adequate. Mr. Bittler said the plan was developed to go out through 2025, which included growth and regulatory compliance. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 4 Councilor Pishioneri said the fmancing plan showed $1 OOM indebtedness, but the projects only came to about $93.1M. Mr. Bittler said when CH2M Hill recosted projects in 2006, they estimated the price to be about $196M (for the total project). A lot of it was for the convenience of going out with the larger bond amount, which was most economical. Ms. Smith said the $196M was in 2006 dollars. By the time they got to the project, the figures would most likely increase, so could be more than $ 100M (for the remainder ofthe funding). Councilor Woodrow asked what would happen to the extra funds if the cost came in lower than $100M. Ms. Smith said the amount was only the bonding authority. They wouldn't issue bond indebtedness for anYthing we didn't need to borrow. Councilor Lundberg asked if there was interest due on stimulus funds. Mr. Bittler said right now, they were looking at 50% forgiveness with an interest rate of between 0-2%. Mayor Leiken said a lot of these improvements had to do with making sure we were in compliance. With the stimulus money, the interest rate would be very low. Mr. Bittler said staff recommended that they bring a resolution to the April 6 Council meeting for their approval. Council agreed. Councilor Woodrow thanked Mr. Bittler for a nice presentation. 3. 2010-2014 Capital Improvement Program. A Community Reinvestment Plan. City Engineer Ken Vogeney and Civil Engineer Jeff Paschall presented the staff report on this item. The City of Springfield's 2010-2014 Capital Improvement Program - A Community Reinvestment Plan has been drafted by staff, reviewed by the Planning Commission (March 3, 2009), and is now being forwarded to the City Council for their review and comments prior to a Public Hearing at the April 6, 2009 regular session. The draft City of Springfield 2010-2014 Capital Improvement Program, A Community Reinvestment Plan, was reviewed at the Planning Commission's March 3,2009 meeting. The Commission recommended Council approval of the plan. The CIP attempts to balance the use of scarce capital construction funds with the long list of infrastructure needs for our community. It serves as a guide for prioritizing projects, programming funds and planning the annual workload of Public Works staff. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 5 There are a few new projects being proposed in the next five years of programmed funding, and the City is making progress toward completing the backlog of projects from previous years' capital plans in some areas, such as wastewater. Other projects included in the existing CIP, such as street preservation projects, have been deferred due to lack of funding, and will continue to be deferred until additional revenue is identified. These items are detailed in the attached Council Briefing Memorandum. Mr. Vogeney said this version of the CIP was a complete rewrite from versions in the past. Staff realized the previous version wasn't user friendly and didn't include all the capital projects that staff was aware of, so it was not the full picture. This version included all projects identified in the new wastewater master plan, the new storm water facility master plan, and all projects in transportation and refmement plans. The project sheets and descriptions identified whether or not funding was sec1;1fed for each ofthe projects. The CIP also included projects in the capital budget. Mr. V ogeney discussed funding needed for the Jasper Road trunk sewer. The Bob Straub Parkway was open and in use and the City was receiving inquiries about when sewer would be available in that area. The funds for the Jasper Road trunk sewer were included in the wastewater revenue bond sale. The cost estimate for that project was $11.2M. Mr. V ogeney referred to questions regarding sewers that were leaking. The sanitary sewer rehabilitation program was moving forward. About half ofthe funding coming from the bond money was for repairing leaking pipes that were identified in the wet weather flow management plan. Currently, the City had open bids on three contracts, each of which came in substantially lower than the engineer's estimates. Staff would bring recommendations to award those contracts to the Council on April 6. Mr. Vogeney said the Gateway/Beltline intersection project was ready to move forward at a cost of about $lOM. They recently learned that it appeared the federal government would have all their funding in place for the Mill Race Restoration Project, both phase I and 2. That funding could be available in the next few weeks or months. The challenge for the City was that they had a cap on their funding of$5M, and the cost had escalated over time to $8.975M. Staff was working with them to reduce the City's share somewhat, including credit of $2M for the land. Staff was looking at grants and other opportunities to fund the remainder Mr. Vogeney said there were several other small drainage projects in the CIP. There were not many new projects, but rather a continuation of existing capital projects. Staff had submitted applications to various state agencies for federal stimulus money, with just over $71M in requests. It seemed that the City would receive $1.4M for Pioneer Parkway. They would continue to seek those dollars. Mr. V ogeney said the current five year outlook for the transportation system was limited in terms of funds available for capital projects. The street fund program was very minimal in the CIP this year due to loss of funds. The wastewater funds were also quite limited outside of the revenue bond funds, as were the stormwater fund. Staff was recommending no capital transfers from the operating funds in the stormwater funds for projects. He said staff would be asking Council for direction on deferring some of the projects in the budget to help stabilize the stormwater rates. Mr. Paschall said all of the plans that impacted our projects were now in the CIP. All the projects were listed out in summaries; some that had no funding were included to show the need. Staff City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 6 tried to program the projects in the order of priority and by funding, keeping wastewater and stormwater funded with user fees. Within the street fund, there were very limited preservation projects over the next 5 years. Similarly, they would be deferring many stormwater projects. Mr. Paschall presented a power point on the Stormwater Capital Budget. A hard copy of the presentation was distributed. He reviewed the Stormwater Capital Budget including the projects scheduled in the current fiscal year (FY08/09) and in the FY09110 proposed budget. He also referred to obligated projects. He explained why certain projects were being considered for deferral, allowing the funds for those projects to be carried over to fund ongoing projects in FYIO. In doing so, we wouldn't need to transfer funds from the operating fund to the capital fund in FYlO. Staff was looking at a capital transfer of $250,000. The user rates could be increased by only 5% by using that transfer. Councilor Pishioneri asked about the Gray J acqua agreement and if it would be a conflict if we deferred it because of the agreement. Mr. V ogeney said the agreement had obligations for the City to fund certain improvements for transportation, wastewater and stormwater. The agreement had a provision that our funding was contingent upon the City Council's decisions for budget. At this point, the developer was reconsidering how to develop the property and they were not sure how that could amend the agreement. At some point in the future, the City may need to restore those funds. The City had been building up those funds over the last few years. Staffs recommendation was that there was a higher need for those funds today. Development Services Director Bill Gfile said that project was stopped at this point. Most likely, when the developer brought it back it would be significantly different and mayor may not be acceptable to the City. Mr. Paschall said the proposal was not to move the project from the CIP, but to show it was unsecured or unidentified so the need was still shown. With Council's approval, this would give staff time to finalize funding for specific projects and keep the user rate as low as possible, recognizing the need for $4.1M for the Mill Race. Mayor Leiken asked if the City had a 'futures' list and if this project could be moved to that type of list off of the CIP. Mr. Paschall said they were still capturing that in the CIP list, but without dollars assigned to the project. If citizens or staff wanted to see what the project entailed, they could see that in the CIP, but with no dollars assigned. Councilor Pishioneri said the City had put in substantial funds to purchase the house at Gray Jacqua. He asked where that money went. Mr. Grile said the City acquired the property, which was an historical structure and the oldest house in the City of Springfield. Mr. Leahy said the Council determined that even if the project was not to go forward, the City and Willamalane would have preserved that historic structure and could make it available to the public. Willamalane was continuing to work with the developer to see what could be done with City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 7 that property in conjunctien with the house. Willamalane had done substantial renovation of that property to make it available to the public and had it under security. Mayor Leiken asked if that provided the City with future access at that site. Mr. Leahy said that was a potential if development occurred up above. Willamalane was working to preserve the property on top, and the area below would provide access. Councilor Woodrow asked ifthe developer had bought the property. Mr. Leahy said the developer had a contract to buy the property, but chose not to go forward after reviewing density issues. That occurred about the same time as the economic downturn. Mr. Grile explained further. The family still owned the rest of property. Mr. Leahy said after the market readjustment reoccurred, the family (Connie Jacqua and Mr. Gray) had been supporters of the City of Springfield. That property could become available to the City at some point. It was no fault of the family's. Mr. Paschall said this was staffs attempt to ease the economic issues with rates and trying to balance capital needs with the increase in revenue needs. Councilor Woodrow referred to page 7 in the CIP, and asked about the DLR buildings condition report. Mr. Vogeney said DLR was the consulting firm that prepared the City's building facilities report. Councilor Woodrow referred to page 11 in the CIP and the refinement plan. He asked if that tied in to modifying the offramp of I -105 and Q Street near Pioneer Parkway. Ms. Smith said that was a land use refmement plan, and was not developed well with transportation when created. It did not have the level of sophistication to address that. Councilor Woodrow asked if ODOT was going to redesign the offramp. Councilor Pishioneri said he thought it was in an agreement when Lane Transit District (LID) was doing a project with PeaceHealth. He asked for an update. Traffic Engineer Brian Barnett said staff was still working with LID on the westbound off, but the northbound slip lane ran into some difficulties and had been taken off. Councilor Woodrow asked if the maps were up to date because it didn't show the Bob Straub Parkway. Mr. Paschall said he would make sure that was updated before it came back for [mal approval. Councilor Ralston referred to the Gateway/Beltline intersection and asked how much was the City's cost and how much was ODOT's. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 8 Mr. Paschall said part of funding was from PeaceHealth, over $2M was in Federal STIP-U funding, some City match funding, and an extra $IM from PeaceHealth if needed. The total was about $9.7M. It was funded. Ms. Smith discussed the projects recommended for deferral. When staff did the fIrst rate model for all projects, it showed a 21 % user rate increase. Staff had prepared a cut operations budget with reduced staffmg, operations and maintenance. In scaling back staffing, it scaled back the ability to deliver services. She referred to the McKenzie Oxbow study and noted that it was a pretty high priority on the Council's list following the approval of the McKenzie Oxbow master plan. The City was close to dedicating a piece of that land over to the McKenzie River Trust. The thing that was holding up the Council's desire to hand over most ofthat land to Willamalane was performing a stormwater study area. With the limited funds in the CIP and limited staff, delivering this in the next year would be difficult. Our partners were still very interested in moving this forward, so staff did take that seriously. She knew Willamalane would like to look at plans. for improving that property. She also referred to the Woodstave Removal and explained that it was an old wooden construction pipe that followed the downtown and industrial basin. We had to decommission part of that due to creosote contamination. The rest of it needed to be taken care of and there was some risk in waiting to get it done. She wanted to make sure Council was aware of these situations. Everything was connected to the CIP, operating budget and user rates. Councilor Lundberg asked if the McKenzie Oxbow study included bike paths. Ms. Smith said it included public access, trails, and recreation. It was waiting for the City to fmish the study. The tail end of the drainage of a huge part of Springfield needed to be planned for prior to funding by Willamalane to construct paths, in case things needed to be dug up. Councilor Lundberg asked if any value engineering could be done on the washracks. She noted the high cost. Ms. Smith said the washracks had been going in for less than $30,000. The total lump sum was for all the washracks at the fire stations. They included a valve to send the hot sudsy water to the sewer system rather than the storm drain. Councilor Lundberg said the list didn't identify that the $112,464 was not just one. Ms. Smith said the project sheets should have the explanation, but if not, they could take care of that prior to adoption. Mr. V ogeney explained which figures were for the current year and which were for the next year. Councilor Pishioneri asked if there was a filtration system on the shop vehicle washracks at the maintenance facility. Mr. Conlon said it didn't have the oiVwater separator, but rather went into a bioswale. Councilor Pishioneri said the new fire station facility had an automatic valve from storm water to sewer. Mr. Conlon said they had the same ability at the new washrack facility. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 9 Councilor Pishioneri asked if employees were using those washracks. Mr. Conlon said not to his knowledge, but he would remind employees it was not allowed. Ms. Smith said they should not be. The City partnered with Springfield Utility Board on the washracks and they used it as well. Councilor Pishioneri said he had seen personal vehicles on those racks. Ms. Smith said there was no reason for employees to wash their personal vehicles. Mayor Leiken said he noticed more dollars going through departments in Washington DC. The federal government was so used to cutting staffthat they didn't have staff to handle all the funding requests. He discussed the McKenzie Oxbow project and that there could be some federal funds available for the study on that project. He suggested staff check in with Smith Dawson about that possibility. Ms. Smith said Public Works had generated $71M of stimulus requests and were working hard to fmd funds and get applications in on time. On the stormwater pieces, they were hitting hard on the projects that were affiliated with the Mill Race Proj ect because of the amount of City obligation with that project. Staff would be putting out a Communication Packet memo with the list of items submitted. Mayor Leiken said even beyond the stimulus funds, he noticed that more grant funds were becoming available. He thought there may be some potential options for projects such as OxBow, in part because of its proximity to the McKenzie River. He said he had asked Community Relations Manager Niel Laudati to follow-up with Kirk Bailey from Smith Dawson for funds for the NEP A study for Highway 126 and Main Street. There was potentially another source of funds that could be received even more quickly than stimulus funds. These opportunities may not last long. He appreciated the work staff had done in getting the lists put together for the stimulus funds. Councilor Pishioneri said the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) had received a large amount of funds and were working directly with the Watershed districts to allocate. Mr. Goodwin said staff was working on one OWEB grant for the Mill Race. BRING Recycling in Glenwood was also looking into that type of grant. Discussion was held regarding the funding for the Mill Race from the Corps of Engineers and the cap on those funds. Mayor Leiken said this was a good presentation. Mr. V ogeney asked if Council was comfortable moving forward with the CIP with deferral ofthe three projects noted. If so, staff would prepare the CIP for a public hearing on April 6, as well as discussion on stormwater user rates. Councilor was fine with moving forward. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes March 23, 2009 Page 10 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned 6:47 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa DMfl, W ~6ft~~~~eft Dave Ralston ~ay~ Council President Attest: Am~~ City Recorder