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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/15/2010 Regular City of Springfield Regular Meeting MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF . THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MARCH 15,2010 The City of Springfield Council met in regular session in the Council Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, March 15,2010 at 7:05 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ralston, Lundberg, Wylie (by conference phone), Leezer, Simmons and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Clerk III Jim Larson, and members of the staff. Mayor Leiken welcomed the students from Springfield High School who were shadowing the Council and were seated next to the Council places. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Leiken. SPRINGFIELD UPBEAT 1. Employee Recognition: Dave Puent, 30 Years of Service. City Manager Gino, Grimaldi introduced Mr. Puent. He presented him with a gift from Mr. ' Puent's staff commemorating the last 30 years. Mr. Grimaldi said the City of Springfield had many exceptional employees, and tonight they were honoring one of the best. He noted some of the many notable projects Mr. Puent had been involved with in Springfield over the last 30 years. The small projects were just as important to Mr. Puent as the large projects. His dedication was exceptional. He noted Mr. Puent's calm demeanor when faced with issues. He presented Mr. Puent with a plaque recognizing him for his 30 years of service. Mr. Puent thanked the Mayor and Council and their predecessors. Mayor Leiken recalled that several years ago when his State of the City address was scheduled to take place at the Royal Caribbean site, the occupancy wasn't quite ready. Mr. Puent burned the midnight candle to make sure the site was ready for the State of the City Address. He thanked Mr. Puent for his hard work. CONSENT CALENDAR IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR RALSTON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. 1. Claims City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March l5~ 2010 Page 2 2. Minutes a. February 22,2010 - Work Session b. March 1,2010 - Work Session c. March 1, 2010 - Regular Meeting d. March 8, 2010 - Work Session 3. Resolutions a. RESOLUTION NO. 10-10 - A RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT PERMIT PROJECT P30496: JASPER MEADOWS PUMP STATION. b. RESOLUTION NO.1 0-11 - A RESOLUTIN TO ACCEPT PERMIT PROJECT P30519: LEGACY ESTATES 4. Ordinances 5. Other Routine Matters a. Approval of an Additional $52,268.03 as a Change Order for Two Additional Pay Items for Project P21007, 68th and D Street Drainage. ITEMS REMOVED PUBLIC HEARINGS -Please limit comments to 3 minutes. Request to speak cards are available at both entrances. Please present cards to City Recorder. Speakers may not yield their time to others. 1. Adjustment of Systems Development Charges (SDC) Rates as they Mfect One and Two Family Residential Construction. RESOLUTION NO.3 - A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD TO AMEND RESOLUTION 09-41 AND RESOLUTION 09-42 EXTENDING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE RESOLUTIONS THROUGH MARCH 31. 2010. ADJUSTING TRANSPORTATION SDC RATES AND LOCAL WASTEWATER SDC RATES AS THEY AFFECT ONE AND TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVE APRIL 1. 2010. AND FURTHER ADJUSTING TRANSPORTATION SDC RATES AND LOCAL WASTEWATER RATES AS THEY AFFECT ONE AND TWO F AMIL Y RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVE JULY 1. 2010. AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. At the February 22,2010 work session, Council directed staff to present for consideration at a public hearing a proposal to increase Transportation and Local wastewater SDCs, as they affected one and two family residential development, by an amount equal to one half of the difference between the current rate and the rate recommended by staff and a citizen advisory committee. Council further directed that a second increase, occur on July 1, 2010 to fully implement the rates recommended by staff and the citizen advisory committee. The draft Resolution, included as Attachment 1 of the agenda packet, would set the new charges consistent with the Council direction provided at the February 22nd work session. Attached were the materials presented at City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 3 that work session for inclusion in the record of the public hearing. Staffwould be available to answer questions and respond to public testimony, as needed. Mr. Goodwin provided some background on the discussions and past actions regarding this issue. He noted that deferral of the increases had resulted in the City significantly foregoing revenue, approximately $196,000 in transportation SDCs and $500,000 in local wastewater SDCs, based on studies from March 2009 through January 2010. More recently, there had been an increase in development activity. At this rate, the City could leave on the table about $500,000 of local wastewater SDCs. The SDCs were the principle source of revenue for funding expansion and opportunities for growth. Because that revenue had not be available, particularly for local wastewater, Council authorized the sale of $22.8M in revenue bonds last year Those bonds were supported by the rates paid by the current users of the system. The foregone revenues could not be recovered. Council would be hearing testimony from those that would ask Council to continue to defer the increases, and their positions were understandable. He noted that if those revenues were not collected, and the projects needed for growth were not built, development (such as residential) would not happen. The choice was Council's whether or not to put the increases in affect now or at a later date. Mayor Leiken asked council to hold their questions until after the public testimony. Mayor Leiken opened the public hearing. 1. Ed McMahon. 2053 Laura Street. Springfield. OR. Mr. McMahon served as the Executive Vice-President of the HomeBuilders' Association (HBA) of Lane County. He distributed a letter to the Mayor and Council and read from the letter. He thanked the Council for listening to the concerns of the HBA over the past year, and for staff and their professional cooperation. He asked that the Council consider holding off on any increases until May 1, after the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit expired. He outlined a proposal for gradual increases as follows: . 25% increase on May 1 . Another 25% increase on August 1 · Another 25% increase on October 1 · The remaining 25% increase on January 1,2011 The HBA would closely monitor the local housing activity as the increases were activated, and would come before Council after the year to report on how they had impacted the local economy. He thanked the Mayor and Council for their cooperation and service to the City of Springfield. 2. Laura Potter. 2053 Laura Street. Springfield. OR. Ms. Potter was here on behalf of the HBA. She reiterated Mr. McMahon's thanks for all of the work done by the Council on this issue and their willingness to work with the HBA on this issue. All were aware of the hurt the building industry had suffered. Builders had been forced to layoff staff, and local businesses throughout Springfield and Lane County had suffered negatively from the lack of construction, and many businesses had been forced to close their doors. This was the worst time to consider SDC increases that more than doubled current fees. They understood the situation the Council was in with EP A regulations, increased construction costs, existing bonds, and a growing concern for ratepayers in our community. Although the HBA did not support the increases and urged the Council and staff to look for alternative measures for City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 4 funding, they did understand that some increase could be necessary at this time. If Council chose to go forward with a fee increase, they requested an alternative timeline. She referred to staffs recommended timeline and the timeline outlined by Mr. McMahon. She thanked the Council for their consideration and support on this issue. 3. Rawlin Westover. Westover Realtv. 4034 Main Street. Springfield. OR. Mr. Rawlin said he had the experience of building 1500 homes over the last 43 years, and at this time, the front end load to housing was far more than he had seen in those 43 years. As a realtor, he had 73 repossessed houses, an indication of what was happening in the housing industry. Those houses were in different price ranges, but primarily under the price of a new home. Builders were having a hard enough time to build an affordable house for the first time homebuyer. He referred to a letter he sent to the Council via email. He understood there needed to be a gradual increase in the fees, but believed it needed to be extended. Even if the program that had been proposed by the HBA was enacted, they would be back because by the end of this year the industry would not be revitalized enough to sustain those costs. He encouraged Council to extend the fee increases as far as possible. He thanked them for the opportunity to speak. 4. Mike Butler. Future B Homes. 826 McKenzie Crest. Springfield. OR. Mr. Butler said he and his family had been building homes in this area for the last 30 years. They met with the HBA this week and were concerned about the large numbers proposed by the increased fees. He noted that there were Willamalane increases that occurred at the same time. It was about a $7500 increase on fees they considered already very high. He distributed a document to the Mayor and Council that included national numbers with the breakdown of cost. The average house nationwide was about 2700 square feet. Permit costs, or impact fees, on average were $10,000. The 2700 square foot house would sell for $377,000 on a nationwide average. In , Springfield, the fees for a 1300 square foot house would be about $22,000. Those fees would be detrimental to builders. He would recommend following the gradual increase as proposed by Mr. McMahon so they could have a chance to see the impact of the increases. Our area did not have houses on average of the size in the national average and it would hit much harder. 5. Brian McBeth. 33938 Martin Road. Creswell. OR. Mr. McBeth thanked the Mayor and Council for all they had done for the homebuilders and everyone in our community. He appreciated what they had done. The economy had not come back as they had hoped, and they needed to ask the Council to make another tough decision. As a local builder trying to build a $200,000 home for a working class family barely making ends meet, they were now looking at permit and SDC charges that were well over 10% of the house. The SDCs hurt the most on entry level homes and was not feasible. They would not be able to sell to working class families with the higher fees. He thanked the Council for what they had done already and hoped they could all do what they could to get the housing market back. 6. Karen Hageman. 326 Main Street. Springfield. OR. Ms. Hageman said she was a former homebuilder, building homes for about 15 years. They did appreciate all the Council had done for them over the years. She was here to support the HBA, but also as a new cafe owner in downtown Springfield. The Washbume Cafe should be open in about a month. She referred to the commercial SDCs. The bulk of the SDCs she had to pay to open her cafe had been for transportation. The old Springfield Armory Building had been in Springfield longer than anyone here. She also sat on the downtown urban renewal advisory committee (DURAC) formed after the voters approved the urban renewal district. She had met with staff from Public Works prior to signing the lease on the building for her cafe because she did City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 5 understand the importance of some of the SDCs. She noted, however, that there was a 50% discount on SDCs for any downtown businesses coming in, yet she was charged with over $7700 in SDCs. She had to buy parking spaces from the privately owned Diamond Parking Lot because there was not enough parking. Her impact on transportation wouldn't be much because most of her customers would be foot traffic. She wanted to let the Council know that after sitting on the DURAC for about 2 years and the subcommittee on parking, she was an advocate for downtown. It was very difficult, however, when there were no funds to help small businesses, especially in that block between Pioneer Parkway and 4th Streets. She had talked with many city staff who had been very gracious. 7. Jim Welsh. 90050 Killian Lane. Elmira. OR. Mr. Welsh said he represented the Springfield Board of Realtors as the government affairs director. They enjoyed a good relationship with the HBA and supported their efforts in this. He thanked the Mayor, Council and staff for all of their hard work around this issue. They understood what they were up against with Federal mandates. That did not improve the predicament of the economy, particularly in homebuilding. We would not dig ourselves out of this economy for another year. They would appreciate an incremental adjustment on the SDC increases, or they would see a drastic reduction in housing starts. He asked Council to continue to be gracious through this next year. They would prefer that the increases didn't occur until 2011. Mayor Leiken closed the public hearing. Councilor Lundberg said she understood the issue, but she worked in a field that saw the impact of the housing decline. It was very difficult. The HBA had worked hard to come up with an option for Council to consider, and she asked Council to consider the four 25% increments. Mr. Goodwin said Council could modify the resolution to that affect. Councilor Lundberg said she would like that discussion among the Council. Mr. Goodwin said he had prepared a resolution with that option in the event that was what the Council would like to do. Councilor Ralston asked Mr. Goodwin what the 'impact would be if they went forward with the four 25% increments. Mr. Goodwin said there were two impacts: (1) the City would continue to forego a certain amount of revenue, less than the projected amount, about $484,000; and (2) there was a risk of more mistakes on the part of staff trying to keep up with the changing SDC rates. The City had reduced the number of staff working on the SDCs, and the incremental increases would make it more complex, especially when giving estimates. Councilor Ralston said an advisory committee had come up with the suggested increases and he didn't want to disregard their hard work. He was not interested in raising user fees to catch up to where we should have been. The Council had deferred the increase for one year in good faith hoping it would be a positive for the homebuilders. In many ways, the Council had no choice due to Federal mandates and future development we needed to be prepared for. He was compromising when he agreed to staffs previous recommendations to delay, and could be willing to compromise with staff s current recommendation. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 6 Councilor Leezer asked what would happen if the Council approved the four increments starting May 1, and the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit program was extended past April 30. Mr. Goodwin said the Council had the discretion to adjust the rates as long as they did not exceed the maximum permissible. If they chose to change them again, they could give direction to staff. Councilor Pishioneri said he understood the City needed to recover costs and pay for things, but the economy was still suffering. The homebuilders were driving our economy in many different ways. He was in favor of postponing the increase in fees until next year, then raising them in 25% increments. Mayor Leiken asked Councilor Wylie if she wanted to comment on the proposal. Councilor Wylie said she would like to support the HBA' s proposal. It was a way to start the increases and get some of the funds in that were needed and by January at the full amount. This would also give the City an opportunity to see how the fees impacted the market. Councilor Simmons said the HBA made a prevailing argument regarding the housing market. The longer we forestalled the change in the SDC' s, the further we went down the unfmanced road. The choice was to take the money out of the homebuilders' funds or the ratepayers funds. The alternate resolution seemed to be favorable in the short term, but in the long term we would be in trouble. He felt the City needed to move forward with collecting the funds. Stepping it as outlined in the alternate resolution was not a wise choice. Even with the amount collecting in the original resolution in the packet, the City was still falling short of meeting our fmancial obligation. He recognized that his position was unpopular, but was real. He felt the City needed to move forward. They had already put it off to help the homebuilders. He referred to the deferral of fees until occupancy and noted that a very few builders had requested that deferral. He favored going forward with the resolution in the agenda packet as the fiscally responsible thing to do for the citizens and ratepayers of the community. Councilor Lundberg said the reality was that there was no work. She said SDC rates should have been addressed long ago, so either decision tonight would be a challenge. She didn't want to impose something during this year because our economy was not recovering. Imposing more fees would be the wrong thing to do. There were a lot of people that worked in the industry. In the long run, the economy would turn around and we would get out of this situation. She was in favor of the alternate resolution with the increments presented by the HBA. Mayor Leiken said he picked up his taxes today, and since the passage of Measures 66 and 67, there was quite an increase. That was another factor the builders had to deal with. Councilor Simmons asked a parliamentary question regarding a motion on the alternate resolution and suggested he be allowed to do so in order to move forward. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR PISHIONERI TO ACCEPT THE RESOLUTION AS PROPOSED BY STAFF WITH THE 25 PERCENT INCREMENTS (SEE RESTATED MOTION BELOW). Mr. Goodwin said the resolution he distributed to the Mayor and Council should have the following effective dates: May 1,2010, July 1,2010, October 1,2010, and January 1,2011. The following additional language should be added: and fuither adjusting Transportation SDC rates City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 7 and local wastewater rates as they affect one and two residential development effective October 1,2010, and further adjusting Transportation SDC rates and Local Wastewater rates as they affect one and two family residential development effective January I, 2011. Mayor Leiken asked him to read the full title into the record. Councilor Lundberg clarified that the July date should be August 1, 2010. Mr. Goodwin read the new resolution into the record: A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD TO AMEND RESOLUTION 09-41 AND RESOLUTION 09-42 EXTENDING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE RESOLUTIONS THROUGH MARCH 31,2010, ADJUSTING TRANSPORATION SDC RATES AND LOCAL WASTEWATER RATES AS THEY AFFECT ONE AND TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVE MAY 1, 2010; AND FURTHER ADJUSTING TRANSPORATION SDC RATES AND LOCAL WASTEWATER RATES AS THEY AFFECT ONE AND TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1,2010; AND FURTHER ADJUSTING TRANSPORATION SDC RATES AND LOCAL WASTEWATER RATES AS THEY AFFECT ONE AND TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2010; AND FURTHER ADJUSTING TRANSPORATION SDC RATES AND LOCAL WASTEWATER RATES AS THEY AFFECT ONE AND TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2011 AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR PISHIONERI WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO ADOPT THE ABOVE STATED RESOLUTION, RESOLUTION NO. 10- 12. THE MOTION PASSED WITH.A VOTE OF 4 FOR AND 2 AGAINST (SIMMONS AND RALSTON). Mayor Leiken thanked Mr. Goodwin, staff, the City Attorney and those that testified. 2. Deferral of the Collection of Certain Fees and Charges Including Systems Development Charge Increases and Time of Payment. RESOLUTION NO. 10-13 - A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD TO AMEND RESOLUTION 09-02. RESOLUTION 09-40. AND RESOLUTION 09-41 EXTENDING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE RESOLUTIONS THROUGH SEPTEMBER L 2010. AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE Community Services Manager Dave Puent presented the staff report on this item. Council had deferred the time of payment for certain fees and charges including System Development Charges. Council directed staff to return in March so that Council could consider whether or not to continue fees and charges deferrals beyond March 19,2010. In response to deteriorating conditions for new housing starts in 2009, Council took a number of actions to allow deferring the impact of certain fees and charges (including SDC's) for new One and Two Family residential structures. The fee deferral program began on January 20,2009 and would (1) sunset on October 15,2009 unless extended by Council after an evaluation of its effectiveness, (2) limit the number of deferrals to a maximum of six for any single developer during this period, and (3) require payment of fees and charges prior to request for fmal City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 8 occupancy. In October of2009, the fee deferral program was extended to March 1,2010 and subsequently extended to March 19,2010. Allowing homebuilders/owners to defer payment of front-end permitting costs until the request for issuance of fmal occupancy approval could ease the financial burden associated with new residential construction and may stimulate the economy. Anyone wishing to defer fees and charges under the deferral program would be required to file a municipal lien to secure fmancial payment, although collection could prove challenging because (1) the City lien would be in "junior" position to other liens above it such as financing liens, mechanics liens, etc., (2) there might not be enough value at the time of foreclosure to cover the City's deferred fees/charges and (3) the structure could become occupied without City approval and the City could be faced with required eviction or re-negotiating fee payment. Although the Council's action was commendable for attempting to stimulate the housing market, the few number of people who had utilized the program questioned the usefulness or the intended results of the program. Staff recommended extending the residential deferral program through the summer construction season and sun-setting on September 1,2010. Mayor Leiken opened the public hearing. 1. Ed McMahon. Executive Vice President of the HomeBuilders' Association. 2053 Laura Street. Springfield. OR. Mr. McMahon said this deferral program showed that Springfield was open for business. He noted the potential for exposure for the City in collecting these fees, and said they were willing to work with staff to address that. The SDCs that were charged up front when a home was being constructed were normally not put into service until / someone moved into the home, so it made sense for the fees implemented when the services were being used. Springfield was one of the frrst communities to put the deferral into place, but other cities had followed suit and kept the program permanent. He believed it was a way to say that Springfield was open for business. We would be the only city in Lane County with a deferral program such as this. With the decrease in the cost of housing and the increase in other costs, the profit margin was very small. If a builder had to pay those charges up front, it cut into that margin even more. He spoke regarding the number of times the deferral had been used. The majority of permits in Springfield had been issued to two builders that fmanced their own projects who were not interested in deferrals. The smaller builders were very appreciative of the deferral program and several homes in Springfield were being built because of the program. Mayor Leiken closed the public hearing. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR RALSTON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 10-13. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BUSINESS FROM THE AUDIENCE 1. Larry Reed. 4705 Village Plaza Loop #20 I. Eugene. OR. Mr. Reed said he was a principal with a company called JRH, a transportation and engineering land use planning company. He City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 9 was here tonight representing Village Square Shopping Center, located at the southwest quadrant of Main Street and Highway 126. He wanted to address two issues: the frrst to provide information on the Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT) Highway 126 Expressway Management Plan; and the second to talk about the need for street connectivity south of the Village Square Shopping Center. Currently the Village Square Shopping Center took its vehicular access from ~1ain Street and 54th Street, with the principle access from Main Street. As part of the interchange design, all of ODOT' s options appeared to eliminate Village Square Shopping Center access directly to and from Main Street, forcing all the shopping center's employees, truck deliveries and customers to access the shopping center from 54th Street. He noted that 54th Street did not have enough north/south distance to provide access and ample queuing to handle this increased traffic. In addition, JRH believed forcing all the access onto 54th Street would be unsafe with both customer and delivery truck access. This ODOT action would also result in placing more vehicular traffic in direct conflict with pedestrians and customers entering and leaving the shopping center. Furthermore, JRH believed such a future ODOT action eliminating both driveways on Main Street was not necessary. By continuing to provide a right in and right out, including a west bound protected left in, the access could continue to be safe. He brought this to Council because when JRH met with ODOT on March 4, an ODOT technical staff member told them the upper headquarters at ODOT had advised them not to work with the property owners to look at the driveways until after the interchange had been designed, but that could be too late. Designing the proper interchange and driveway access was intricately tied together. He asked Council to encourage ODOT to change their opinion on that and work with the property owners. Mr. Reed spoke regarding street connectivity and looking at connecting South 54th Street south to Daisy Street. The right-of-way was there, but the street had never been built. If that connection wasn't made, more traffic would be forced to the south onto Main Street. 2. Rick Lebrun. 788 McKenzie Crest Drive. Springfield. OR. Mr. Lebrun said he was with Commercial Investment Properties, a property management company based in Eugene. Mr. Lebrun was a resident of Springfield. Commercial Investment Properties had represented the owners of the (Village Square) shopping center for about 15 years. He was here trying to save an existing shopping center. Village Square Shopping Center consisted of Safeway, Blockbuster, SELCO Credit Union, Roundtable Pizza, Thurston Book Exchange, H & R Block Tax Services, and Curves. Recently Safeway reinvested over $IM in their store with upgrades. SELCO Credit Union invested several hundred thousand dollars when they moved in about five years ago. The owner invested over $50,000 to improve Round Table Pizza. The problems discussed by Mr. Reed would cause customers to go elsewhere. If that happened, rents would go down, vacancies would increase and the store and business owners would not be able to reinvest. He wanted to bring this to the Council's attention and asked that they encourage ODOT to work with the business and property owners. COUNCIL RESPONSE Councilor Ralston said he and Councilor Pishioneri both served on the Hwy 126 Expressway Management Committee. He said this issue was brought up at their last meeting and he assured Mr. Reed and Mr. Lebrun that he and Councilor Pishioneri would not let this go through without further discussion. There were alternatives that left at least one of the Main Street access points open and those options were discussed in their meetings. He would continue to keep that in the forefront. Their concern was that our businesses were considered. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 10 Councilor Pishioneri said he had a special meeting prior to the last Hwy 126 Expressway since he wasn't able to attend the meeting. He was very interested and those businesses were very important to him and Councilor Ralston. This was his ward. He wanted to make sure that the last thing Mr. Reed said about the 54th Street access was memorialized in a document so he could ask ODOT about that and other options. This was of concern. He felt ODOT had been amiable to Councilor Ralston and Pishioneri's ideas and suggestions. He appreciated Mr. Reed's work on this. Mr. Reed said they had felt they were heard until the last meeting when they were advised by ODOT staff that they were not to talk anymore about driveway access until the design phase was complete. Councilor Pishioneri said he and Councilor Ralston would talk with ODOT about this. Councilor Simmons said the impact of this tentative design on all the surrounding shopping centers was very suppressive of the local flow of customers at those locations. We needed to keep pressure on ODOT about this issue. He appreciated them for bringing this to Council. The two Council representatives would continue to speak to ODOT about that. Councilor Pishioneri said that area had grown to the point that transportation modifications were needed, or there would be very serious accidents. Thurston High School was in the same area which caused additional traffic issues. There was a lot of work to be done and they were trying to find the best resolution. Mayor Leiken asked Mr. Goodwin if he or Mr. Boyatt could provide Council with staffs thoughts on this issue. Mr. Goodwin said Councilors Ralston and Pishioneri were correct in that this was not an issue that staff intended to let go unchecked. Mayor Leiken reminded Councilors Ralston and Pishioneri that local ODOT staff would work well with the City, but they would be getting orders from Salem to cut off the discussion. That was the challenge and one of the biggest issues facing all cities in Oregon. He thanked Mr. Reed and Mr. Lebrun for bringing this forward for discussion. Councilor Ralston said a big part of this was the Transportation Management Plan that ODOT was trying to enforce. ODOT would try to manage development and the impacts created. The interconnectivity to the south did need to be addressed. Mayor Leiken asked Mr. Reed and Mr. Lebrun if they had written a letter to Representative Beyer. Mr. Reed said he talked with her at the last meeting. Mayor Leiken suggest~d they submit a written letter as well. CORRESPONDENCE AND PETITIONS 1. Correspondence from Paul Lang, Springfield, Oregon Regarding the Needs of Mobile Home Park Residents. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 11 2. Correspondence from Carol Boggs, Eugene, Oregon Regarding the Absence of Churches Mentioned in the Register Guard's Springfield 125th Anniversary Edition. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCaOR RALSTON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCaOR PISHIONERI TO ACCEPT THE CORRESPONDENCE FOR FaING. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 6 FOR AND 0 AGAINST. BIDS ORDINANCES BUSINESS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL 1. Committee Appointments 2. Business from Council a. Committee Reports L Councilor Lundberg said the United Front trip to Washington DC was a great trip. It was her first time, but she had heard from others that had attended in the past that it was productive. Highway 126 was one of the premiere projects discussed. It was meaningful to her personally, and she felt they had a receptive audience with the legislature. She thanked the Council for the opportunity to attend. 2. Mayor Leiken thanked Councilor Pishioneri for his work with Travel Lane County (CV ALCO). He attended the ribbon cutting of the new visitors' center. He also acknowledged Community Development Manager John Tamulonis for his work with Travel Lane County. Their new building was great and he encouraged everyone to check it out. Mayor Leiken said he participated in a press conference regarding the 2010 Census. The forms should be arriving in homes soon. There were about 10 questions and it was pretty simple. Springfield was one of the more challenging cities to get counted, which meant we were missing out on critical Federal funding. As elected officials, they should get the word out and remind people to fill out the forms. Mayor Leiken reported on the Battle of the Books. He said it was an incredible event and now involved students from three counties. The students were amazing, from elementary into high school, and the amount of knowledge they had regarding books was incredible. It was very competitive and taken very seriously by the students. This was the third year of the event. The students were our future and there were some dynamic students in our school system. BUSINESS FROM THE CITY MANAGER 1. February 2010, Disbursements for Approval. Finance Director Bob Duey presented the staff report on this item. Checks totaling $4,867,267.17 were issued in February 2010. Documentation supporting these payments had been reviewed. City of Springfield Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 15,2010 Page 12 Councilor Leezer recused herself from this item due to a conflict of interest as a payment was included payable to her business, AdPro. IT WAS MOVED BY COUNCILOR RALSTON WITH A SECOND BY COUNCILOR LUNDBERG TO APPROVE THE FEBRUARY 2010 DISBURSEMENTS FOR APPROVAL. THE MOTION PASSED WITH A VOTE OF 5 FOR AND 0 AGAINST (1 ABSTENTION - LEEZER). BUSINESS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY Mr. Leahy spoke regarding the Mayor's comment about Royal Caribbean not having their occupancy permit and Mr. Puent working long hours to make sure they go it in time for their opening. He said that happened more than once. During those situations, Mr. Puent worked quietly, professionally, and overtime to protect the public safety to get the doors open. Mr. Leahy congratulated the Springfield High School Millers who were in attendance at the Council meeting. He said he had three boys that went through Springfield High School and said the high school prepared them for the next level of life's endeavors. He thanked them for coming. It was a good program and a good school. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:21 p.m. Minutes Recorder Amy Sowa Attest: CitY~~