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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/21/2010 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JUNE 21,2010 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, June 21, 2010 at 6:05 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present we1;"e Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Wylie, Leezer, Simmons, and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa, and members of the staff. Councilors Ralston was absent (excused). 1. Veteran's at Risk - Presentation by Lane County Mental Health Advisory Committee. City Manager Gino Grimaldi introduced Peg Jennette, Program Services Coordinator from Lane County Health and Human Services. Ms. Jennette said she was here representing the Mental Health Advisory Committee, who last August appointed a Veteran's subcommittee. The Veteran's subcommittee had been learning a lot about vets and their families, and that everyone had a role in the re-integration when service members returned home. Tonight they would share what they had learned about the needs of vets, the resources available, and what the City could do to help with re-integration. She introduced the others that would be presenting with her: · Shelley Corteville, a member of the subcommittee, a vet, President of the Oregon Women's Veterans, regional contact for Soldier's Heart, and the liaison for women vets. She served in Korea, and although she was not involved in the combat, she had experienced returning home and struggling with re-integration issues. She would be speaking about the needs of the veteran and the part the community must play in re-integration. · Joby Reiley, Supervisor of the Lane County Veterans Services Office (VSO). He would talk about what the VSO provided to returning service people. The Lane County VSO had a remarkable record for obtaining benefits for the veterans they served. · Darcy Woodke, Family Assistance Specialist and contract employee who worked with military families and their service members throughout Lane, Douglas, and Coos County. Her office was at the infantry regiment readiness center in Springfield. She was instrumental in bringing the Circle of Support program to Lane County. This was one of three model programs in the nation. She was the spouse of a combat veteran who suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). She would speak about what her office provided as well as the needs of the families in Lane County. Ms. Jennette said Lane County had the largest number of registered veterans in the region between Sacramento and Portland. An equal number of veterans in Oregon had died from suicide as had been killed in Iraq and Mghanistan, or had sustained injury in battle. About 2 in 5 Iraq or Afghanistan veterans suffered from war trauma, abused alcohol or had other serious problems such as homelessness. Soldiers returning home from Iraq may be susceptible to different triggers for PTSD because the war trauma in Iraq often occurred in an urban setting as opposed to a jungle. For active City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 21, 2010 Page 2 duty military, the risk of being diagnosed with PTSD increased four times after the invasion of Iraq, while for a National Guard and Reserve service member, the risk increased seven times. Thirty to forty percent of veterans would experience PTSD or TBI. National Guard service members and Reservists suffer regardless of the combat they saw because of the destruction and disparity between their lives at home and their experiences in the war zone. Four hundred of the twenty-seven hundred Oregon National Guard service members who returned to Oregon and Washington came home to Lane County in April. Some of them were on their 2nd, 3rd or 4th rotation. While the fighting hadn't been as dramatic as previous deployments, soldiers were still at risk for war trauma. Multiple deployments had caused excessive stress on many veterans and their families, increasing the risk of family conflict, violence, sexual assault, abuse, suicide and many other negative consequences for veterans and their families. Upon their return, these veterans sometimes found themselves in marital crisis, employment crisis, financial crisis, dealing with PTSD, TBI and/or military sexual trauma. They often tried to self medicate with alcohol and drugs. Unlike soldiers in the other branches of the military, National Guard service members did not have an active duty military base; therefore, local municipalities and counties were called upon to support the needs of the returning service members. The good news was that despite all the barriers and challenges the soldiers faced, eighty percent of those returning home did successfully re-integrate. They hoped to make that a higher percentage with the services they provided: Ms. Corteville said the quicker they were able to treat a soldier with PTSP, the better chance they had of not having it as a life-long problem. People did not know what to do for the soldiers from the Vietnam and Korean War when they returned home, so many of those soldiers were just now getting treatment. Many of the older veterans were stepping up to do peer counseling and mentorship programs. It was the responsibility of the community to help the veterans readjust so they could be solid community members. No matter what people thought of the wars, the people in the National Guard were members of the community first and foremost. Many people were touched by wars and military service. When they put out a public service announcement on the statistics, people were concerned that people wouldn't hire veterans or allow them to rent. Part of the process was to get people jobs. That was very important to provide normalcy and stability. Military service created individuals that did really well in jobs. They knew how to show up on time, to dress appropriately, , worked hard and followed directions. The community needed to take advantage of that and help those people find jobs. Many veterans came home and became homeless. She was alarmed to hear that landlords might be afraid to rent to our veterans. Some of the soldiers would have problems with PTSD and TBI, but there were ways to cope with PTSD and TBI and be productive members of the community. She discussed some of the symptoms of both diseases. There were many options for treatment for PTSD. TBI often was difficult and people needed coping skills. Ms. Jennette said it was important for people to get diagnosed and get the right resources and assistance. Ms. Corteville said there were also veterans that came back with military sexual trauma issues, some of them men and some women. She noted the difficulties and symptoms those with sexual trauma faced when returning home. This issue needed to be addressed. Ms. Corteville said they had the Returning Veterans Project that our community had been working hard to get this going in Lane County. This project offered a wide variety of services to people for free. It offered counseling, chiropractic services, naturopathic services, and other things not covered through the Veteran's Administration (V A) system. They were asking providers to go on the website and sign up. It involved taking one client pro bono. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 21, 2010 Page 3 Joseph Reiley from Lane County Veteran's Services thanked Springfield for their support of the Human Services Commission (HSC). His office resided in that division and they received direct funding from the City of Springfield. Mr. Reiley distributed a handout with a brief explanation of some of the VA benefits. People often asked why a Lane County Veteran's Service Office was needed. He would explain by showing the very large booklet provided by the VA regarding benefits, and another large booklet from National Veterans Legal Services Providers regarding legal issues. Lane County VSO was the link between what the VA put out and what people needed to access benefits. He referred to the second page of the handout which showed the results of the work done by the Lane County VSO. The chart showed the monthly awards they had helped veterans obtain, the lump sum benefits they had helped veterans obtain, and the education benefits their clients, had obtailJ.ed in the last fiscal year. In Springfield alone in FYI0, VSO helped veterans obtain over $200,000 in continuing VA benefits. He explained the benefits, including helping older veterans and surviving spouses obtain assistance for the long term care they may need, and helping veterans obtain service connected compensation which was a direct monetary benefit for current conditions directly attributable to military service. Often the one time lump sum benefits were paid retroactively to the date the ciaim was initially filed. Darcy Woodke, Military Family Specialist contracting through the National Guard Bureau to the Department of Defense to work with all branches of service, service members and their families, spoke regarding the assistance she provided. She covered Lane, Coos and Douglas counties and was one of seven throughout the state. This was a nationwide program. In Oregon, they were here because there was no base for National Guard. Their job was to provide a conduit between all of the services and resources available to the family members in a way they could understand. They provided six essential services initially, but they would help with anything. Having the Navy, Marines, and National Guard in the same building was very beneficial. The City of Springfield had been one of their greatest allies. The soldiers knew the Mayor and Springfield cared and she heard that a lot. Ms. Woodke spoke regarding the Oregon Community Circles of Support. Although this was not funded by the National Guard or provided by the Guard, it was a wonderful example of how a community could pull its resources together to provide support to help families specifically. About six years ago, she received a call from someone from the National Center of Family Homelessness out of Boston who was speaking on behalf of the WalMart FoundatiOIl. She was told they had a lot of funding and would like to help military families in need. The person who made that connection was Cindy Lemming from 81. Vincent DePaul. Lucy Zamarelli, from Willamette Family, offered to facilitate everything with this project with her licensing and facility and knowledge in working with grants. It was a place for families to go. There were many services for the veterans, but the spouses and familIes also needed support and had questions. There were three aspects to this program: a couples group; group peer support; and one-on-one counseling. She spoke about the advantages of each of these services in helping families cope with deployment and re-integration. The therapists were veterans or those with degrees in counseling. There were many people that got involved to get this proj ect started. Ms. Woodke said it was important for people not to be afraid of the word PTSD. Her husband served in Bravo Company 2162 where he lost five close friends, was hit by lAD's multiple times and was in the thick of the battle. He had never turned on the family and she asked that people realize that not everyone with PTSD was violent. PTSD did not affect everyone in the same way. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 21, 2010 Page 4 Ms. Jennette said Lane County had done several things. The Lane County Board of Commissioners issued a welcoming proclamation. She had a copy of the proclamation if Springfield was interested in doing something similar. '\\rllen the proclamation went out on the website, they got calls from a couple of people that were concerned that service members would be labeled and not be able to get employed or get into housing. PTSD was a great dramatic theme with the few that made national news. The people offering services to the vets wanted to decrease the fear around that. Ms. Woodke said there were good things about PTSD. Her husband was very cautious and observant. They worked closely with the re-integration team and spent a lot of time with them one on one. Mayor Leiken thanked them for sharing. Senator Wyden would be hosting a jobs fair for military families in August at the Regional Sports Center. The Armory had done an' excellent job in getting the 'word out for the different services. City Hall wanted to be available. He noted that CoUncilor Lundberg had served in the Navy and Chief Smith served in the Marines. He noted a personal experience with a foreman that worked for his father that was a veteran from Vietnam. He was a great worker who did sometimes experience symptoms, but was a valued employee. It was important to recognize the disorder and be patient and understanding. Councilor Simmons said one of the most affective aid seeking commercials he had seen was the Medal of Honor Series in which the Medal of Honor recipients encouraged veteran's to seek aid if needed. It was a very effective tool soliciting people to participate. The work that Lane County and the VA was very important to identify. TBI needed to be identified and treated early. The Department of Defense was doing preliminary screening which was helpful. There were a lot of people in the community that were in need, including the families. There was a team from the VA that was looking at providing additional services for sexual assault and the people presenting tonight were an important part of that. ' Secretary Gates was devoted to this movement. Councilor Simmons said he spent five months at the V A hospital for several surgeries, so he knew the experiences were there. Dealing with the VA was sometimes difficult, and Lane County provided a great asset. The volume of people in need was so high that it was difficult to keep up. The role the presenters and committees played was very important to motivate political entities to take action that was beneficial. He appreciated their work. Councilor Lundberg thanked them for coming and helping to make the Council more informed. She would like to take any other information they could provide. It was nice to see recognition of veterans because that was not always the case. It was also important to recognize and provide assistance to the families of those that were in the service. She thought of two to three people that were getting ready to retire that she would like to provide information to that might want to volunteer with one of the groups represented. She and the City were willing to get the word out. Appreciation of veterans was very important because of what they did for their country and community. Councilor Wylie thanked them and for the family program particularly. She was military wife for a long time while married to her first husband. She discussed some of the issues with cancer he faced related to his exposure to Agent Orange. Her son was now dating a woman vet who was getting a counseling degree to work at the Veteran's center. Everyone was part of the equation. She thanked them for the good work they were doing. Ms. Jennette referred to the list of resources in Lane County that was included in the agenda packet, specifically the Training Resources and Speakers. She noted that Dean Ehly from the Veteran's Administration had a PTSD sensitivity training that he had presented to the Eugene Police Department City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 21, 2010 Page 5 and the Lane County District Attorney's Office. He would be happy to give the training to any municipality. It might be a beneficial training for Springfield public safety staff. Councilor Simmons asked if Ms. Jennette had an opinion on the project that involved putting "PTSD" on d.r!-ver's licenses to encourage law enforcement to do more referral than arrest and incarceration. It was a very touchy issue. Mayor Leiken said she could submit her opinion on this via email if she preferred. Ms. Jennette said there were many people that were not veterans that had PTSD that were not discriminated against regarding employment and housing. I 2. Proposed Adjustment to Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan/UGB Public Review and Adoption Schedule. Planning Manager Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item,. The Development Service Director requested Council's consideration of an adjusted plan adoption schedule that provided additional time to: 1. Address significant issues raised in recent and pending legal decisions regarding UGB expansions and application of Transportation Planning Rule requirements; 2. Prepare a thorough response to issues raised during the Joint Planning Commission public hearing; 3. Ensure efficient coordination with concurrent City and Metro partner comprehensive planning activities. The Springfield and Lane County Planning Commissions had conducted and completed a public review process in consideration of the Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan and Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) Alternatives Analysis. At their May 4,2010 joint meeting, the Planning Commissions concluded their proceedings and forwarded recommendations to the City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners regarding adoption of the Springfield 2030 Refinement Plan - including establishing a separate UGB for the City of Springfield. Many important issues were raised by the Department of Land Conservation and Development staff, the Planning Commissions and members of the public during this initial review process. Staff requested allocation of sufficient time to prepare a thorough and comprehensive response to these issues and to prepare the second draft of plan documents for the next public hearing. Staff, in consultation with the City legal team, also recommended that the City pay close attention to pending Court of Appeals decisions and other legal rulings that would affect the State's review of Springfield Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) proposal. The Board of County Commissioners and City Council were currently scheduled to conduct a public hearing on the draft 2030 Plan on July 26,2010. A revised schedule would have this matter extend the timing for this hearing until early 2011. Because time was limited for this presentation, they chose not to give the power point presentation on this item. Staff would email that to the Mayor and Council. Mr. Mott said they started out this process'strictly in observation ofHB3337 and its inclusion in the statute by analyzing residential housing needs to determine if they were adequate for a 20 year period. That information would be used to create a new UGB for Springfield. The timeline to make that determination was January 2010, but there was no timeline on when to adopt the new UGB. One thing City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 21, 2010 Page 6 that was decided during the process was to analyze Springfield's Commercial and Industrial Buildable Lands (CffiL) inventory as well. That project was undertaken in about 2008 and involved stakeholders. From that inventory, they came to a conclusion that to be consistent with the City's Economic Opportunities Analysis and Development Strategies, Springfield needed to consider expanding the UGB. Where that would occur and how much it would be was up to Council, but needed to be in observance of the law. The Planning Commission started developing the record for this process with several work session and public hearings from early February through early May. They received quite a bit of testimony during those meetings. At the conclusion of the May 4 meeting, the Planning Commission submitted their recommendation to the City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners (LCBC). Mr. Mott said as staff was preparing for the fIrst joint public hearing with the LCBC on July 26, they discussed some of the issues that were emerging statewide and concluded they needed to incorporate to this process. The last expansion proposed in Oregon was appealed. There were a number of issues in that decision that Springfield staff thought they blew how to address, but the Department of Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) was addressing them differently. One of them had to do with the Transportation Planning Rule for UGB expansion; another had to do with the applicability of infrastructure extension. There was a Court of Appeals case in Woodburn that applied to the State Goal 9 (Economic), and how that Goal applied to the community with respect to the analysis of the inventory and availability of sites, the application of what the community's vision and objectives were regarding growing their economy, and their relationship to the other goals. Staff felt they understood those goals, but miscalculated based on ~hat the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) appeal generated to the Court of Appeals. That decision would be issued within this calendar year. Whatever the decision was, Springfield would need to respond. He spoke of other concerns regarding the Metro Plan on the day-to-day work and on the outcome of the 2030 Refinement Plan. Staff was trying to fast track those, but it would be difficult to enact those actions independent of our 2030 Refinement Plan and UGB. The development of our Transportation System Plan and the Regional Transportation Plan needed to support the land use elements to the 2030 Refinement Plan. Transportation Manager Tom Boyatt and Planner David Reesor were working on those as quickly as possible, as were the City of Eugene and Lane Council of Govemments (LCOG). Those were elements and features that were still unfinished and could attract further attention of parties to this hearing, particularly the State. The State would likely feel the other activities needed to be coordinated. Staff thought a new timeline resulting in submittal to LCDC in the Summer of 20 11 ' rather than in the Spring would be preferred. They needed Council approval to adjust that timeline. Mayor Leiken asked when the Council would have information in hand regarding where the new UGB would be established and'would remain. He felt they couldn't look at expanding if they didn't know where the boundary was. Mr. Mott said the Planning Commission had forwarded their recommendation on where that should be to the City Council. Mayor Leiken said he was looking at the political ramifications. He wanted to make sure that if Springfield did their due diligence and needed to slow things down until after the frrst of the year, that it could be beneficial due to the possible actions of the co-adopting agencies. It would be interesting to see how the appeals went with Bend and Woodburn. Councilor Lundberg asked what the timeline was for Springfield to establish our UGB based on HB333 7. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes June 21, 2010 Page 7 Mr. Mott said there was no timeline on establishing the UGB. There was a timeline on determining whether or not our existing UGB, which the City and State agreed was everything east of 1-5, based on population projection through 2030, was adequate. If there was not enough residential land, they needed to determine what measures were needed to accommodate that growth without expansion of the UGB. If that couldn't happen, the City needed to determine where the UGB would be expanded, which was specified by Statute for Goal 10 and Goal 14. Springfield did that for CIBL and followed the rules. Some of the issues raised weren't whether or not Springfield met those rules, but rather our choices that got us to that conclusion. Councilor Lundberg said the City was planning to move forward on this with a defensible plan and now we were looking at examples of other communities that didn't have defensible plans. Before we even got to the appeal process, we needed to get past the County before moving forward. She asked if this was what we were trying to do with this extension. Mr. Mott said that was correct. In Oregon it was virtually impossible to expand the UGB without an appeal. What Springfield was doing was modest compared to other communities regarding expansion, so it was surprising the passion it had generated. Staff was working closely with the department to make sure we were not surprised the way Bend was. There had been numerous decisions by the department and the LCDC regarding the very same rules and how they were applied that Bend believed would sustain their decision, but it turned out otherwise. It was difficult to predict what could happen. Springfield was doing a number of things correctly compared to the other cities in Oregon, but was still being attacked. Councilor Wylie said a lot of people had assumptions about what we were doing. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned 7:02 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: