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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/20/2004 Work Session . . . " City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004. The City of Springfield council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, February 2,2004 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ballew, Woodrow, Lundberg, Fitch, Ralston, and Malloy. Also present were Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Attorney Meg Kieran, Clerk III Trudy Borrevik and members of the staff. 1. Presentation and Discussion of HB 2011 and Executive Order No. 03-02 Regarding Industrial Lands and Economic Development Efforts. Economic Development Manager John Tamulonis presented the staff report on this item. Mr. Tamulonis introduced Robin Roberts, Regional Coordinator of the Governor's Economic Revitalization Team, and Bob Warren, Regional Development Officer. Ms. Roberts and Mr. Warren gave a presentation on the statewide efforts to increase the readiness of industrial lands and how that could enhance Springfield's economic development efforts. Both HB 2011 and Executive Order No. 03-02 could augment Springfield's efforts for industrial development because their intent is stimulating economic and job growth on industrial sites and in buildings, like the recently closed Sony facility, by certifying they are development ready. HB 2011 (Attachment I, included in the agenda packet) gives the highest priority to growth in industrial or other traded sector uses and directs the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department to establish a site certification process for land available for industrial development, including industrial buildings. Executive Order No. 03-02 (Attachment II, included in the agenda packet) established the Industrial Lands Task Force to examine statewide issues regarding the development of industrial lands and assigned the Community Solutions Team to work on ways to ensure Oregon had 'shovel ready' industrial sites and buildings. Ms. Roberts discussed the reorganization of the Governor's Economic Revitalization Team, the decrease in staffing and how that affects their organization. Erik Andersson has recently been added to the team. Mr. Andersson will begin February 17,2004 and will cover seven counties. Ms. Roberts will cover the other seven counties. Mr. Andersson will be based in the Willamette Valley and Ms. Roberts will be based in Portland. She will bring Mr. Andersson to cities to introduce him after he begins in February. Ms. Roberts said the Economic Revitalization Team works in transportation, land use, housing, economic development and environmental issues. They also have the Division of State Lands (DSL) because of wetlands issues, as well as agriculture. Ms. Roberts said tonight they would be discussing the first two executive orders Governor Kulongoski issued a year ago. Executive Order 03-01 was on regulatory streamlining and . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 2 Executive Order 03-02 was on Industrial Lands. Both were viewed as part of the Governor's economic development agenda. Ms. Roberts referred to Executive Order 03-02, included in the agenda packet which asks Economic Development Departments to create a certified site program. This allows a company or a site selector to locate the certified site on the state web page. These sites offer certainty to the company or site selector as they are as close to building permit ready as possible. This saves the company time and money. She said that Mr. Warren's agency over the last year has been a design-built process. The program has been created as sites have been located and identified. Ms. Roberts said that the Sony site in north Springfield is one of two sites in Oregon that is being considered for this program. She noted three other sites in Springfield that over time could have potential. These three sites include the Springfield Pierce property, the Natron site and the Springfield Wildish Riverfront. All have issues, but they also have opportunities because they are large sites and have easy access to and from Interstate Five (1-5). Those sites that receive certification would be aggressively marketed and would appear first on the state's website. Ms. Roberts said that Mr. Warren's agency has two people assigned as the national business development officers who will take these sites as they meet with site selectors around the United States. She referred to other items in Executive Order 03-02 for council comments or questions. . Ms. Roberts discussed House Bill (HB) 2011, which was included in the agenda packet. It includes a lot of economic development reorganization. There is now someone at the Division of State Lands whose sole responsibility is to work statewide on economic and industrial development issues. There are also three or four new positions at the Department of Land Conservation and Development. There is $2.5 Billion with the Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA) III, which includes set-asides for jobs, industrial development and freight mobility. She referred to the section in HB 2011 called the opportunity sites that specifically relates to industrial development. When the Governor created the certified site program for large acreage, ready-to-go industrial sites the Legislature wanted 25 sites around the state identified that have the best opportunity to create lots of jobs and are highly marketable. They created an industrial advisory committee primarily made up of the private sector to locate those sites and report back to the State. About half of the 25 sites could be ready to certify at this time. Some of the other 25 could be ready within six to twelve months. Long-term key factors need to be examined for future development. Ms. Roberts said they have worked closely with Jack Roberts and Kathy Baker from Lane Metro Partnership who have provided materials and worked with owners of property. The Springfield list is not inclusive; there will be other sites. This is an ongoing program. Councilor Fitch said if a site does not qualify for certification, does the state notify the city why it does not qualify and what could be done to bring it to qualification standards. Ms. Roberts said the application for certification is located on the Oregon Economic and Community Development (OECD) web site. The application outlines the qualifications. Once the state receives the completed application, a third party verifier confirms the information. If there was anything missing or incomplete, the state could identify that and relate that to the city or jurisdiction. . Mr. Warren said the application is the size of a notebook. It is not simply filling out an application, but also providing documentation to support the application. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 3 . Councilor Fitch asked how long the certification process takes. Mr. Warren said that is a difficult question to answer. At this time, the criteria are complete. When this project began, it evolved as they looked at possible sites and criteria were determined. The time frame will depend grea!ly on what has already been done on a property. . Ms. Roberts discussed a property in Portland that has already completed most of the requirements, which reduces the time line. She said the application process could take three months to a year, depending on how aggressively the owner wants to pursue it and how many things need to be done to the property. Mr. Warren distributed an Industrial Development Profile Matrix document to council members. Councilor Fitch asked how long certified property would stay on the list. Ms. Roberts said it would stay on the list for two years. The property owner must commit to those items that qualified them in the beginning to fulfill the certification process for two years. If after two years, they would like to remain on the list, there is a short certification process with a check list confirming they still qualify. Councilor Ballew asked about workforce development and if that comes later. If there is expansion, an incentive would be to create more jobs. There doesn't seem to be anyone in place to give advice on the workforce labor pool to supply the jobs. . Ms. Roberts said the certification process focuses on having the land ready for business. With the website and materials that will be marketed, OECDD and other state workforce development incentive programs would be part of that package. There is separate legislation that deals with workforce. Mr. Warren and his team are very active in that part of the process. . Mr. Warren said the Governor has very aggressive workforce goals. Mr. Tamulonis asked how many sites have been certified at this time. Ms. Roberts said they started with 160 potential sites in Oregon, narrowed it down to 55 and they are hoping their third party verifiers can look at the first batch in March. She said they are hoping to announce the first 15 certified sites sometime in March. Many sites needed wetland delineation which can only be conducted in the winter. Discussion was held regarding the importance of the certified lands. Developers found no benefit in the certified communities, but were very supportive of the certified industrial lands. Mr. Warren agreed that having certified lands is a huge issue and'the state needs to have these lands available and ready for development. Mayor Leiken discussed quality of life. Ms. Roberts said all communities have quality oflife. There needs to be something else to draw the developers to our state. Certified sites can help accomplish this. . Councilor Fitch asked what steps were necessary and what kind of waiting period there was for sites that did not qualify for the list the first time around. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 4 . Ms. Roberts said that Mr. Warren is the local contact for the city related to industrial development. She suggested working with Mr. Warren to move that process forward. Mr. Warren said they could fund Level One, wetland delineations, and other required processes. Designated staff maintains a notebook for each property through their community development team. Information is added and verified by those regional coordinators to those notebooks. Locally, the database for all industrial property in the Springfield area is maintained by the Lane Metro Partnership, who has worked hard on coordinating a large portion of the work on these projects. Work is occurring on all of these properties every day. Ms. Roberts discussed Corvallis and property near the airport that has wetlands involved. The portion of the property with the wetlands has been set back to second tier to allow the appropriate steps to be taken for certification at a later date. They are actively working with the city to determine mitigation strategies and mitigation banking. The city chose to do things this way. Discussion was held regarding what website site selectors would visit to fmd certified sites. Councilor Ballew asked if there were targeted industries for these sites. . Ms. Roberts said when looking at the applications for certification, a choice of one or more industry clusters must be made from a list of seven. Transportation cannot do an analysis unless they know which type of industry is planned for the site. Some of these sites have zoning regulations which determine which type of industry can go on the site. Mr. Warren's agency has done an analysis nationally on each of those industry clusters. The analysis can be found on the same web site the application forms are located. Mr. Warren said there is also a local targeted process going on now in Lane County. Ms. Roberts said this is an important partnership. Mayor Leiken talked of the importance of the Governor leading and supporting this program. He is pleased that several sites in the Springfield area have been identified and although they may not make the first cut, they are on their way to certification. Mr. Warren said the Eugene/Springfield area is the second largest metropolitan area in the state and it is important for job creation goals. This is a prime job creation location. Ms. Roberts discussed the Governor's involvement in this program and his willingness, with only a day's notice, to contact Chief Elected Officials (CEO) of a company. The Governor is genuinely committed to this program. Mr. Tamulonis referred to the matrix handed out to councilors at the beginning of the work session and two columns he highlighted regarding the Sony property. He discussed coordination throughout the state organizations and how to get that aligned to promote these sites. He would like to ask the Governor to work with the state organizations as well as the private companies, in gaining cooperation. . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 5 . Ms. Roberts said the two organizations Mr. Tamulonis refers to are aware of this and there are changes in leadership. Part of the purpose in forming the Governor's Economic Revitalization Team was to promote communication with field staff. Mr. Kelly asked about the price of the land and whether or not a higher price would keep the property off the certified list. Ms. Roberts said the application form asks that the owner of the property puts their asking price on their letterhead. The application also asks that the owner, as well as the local jurisdiction, identify any incentives available on that property. This has not been an issue for those who have submitted the application. Mayor Leiken commended Ms. Roberts and Mr. Warren for being accessible on the local side. They are much appreciated and he thanked them for taking the time to attend the council meeting. 2. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway Design. Transportation Manager Nick Amis and City Engineer Al Peroutka presented the staff report on this item. Mr. Amis introduced Brian Ray from Kittelson and Associates who has assisted city staff with the design including the roundabout. He said tonight's work session was for the council to review and provide direction to staff concerning the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway design elements and implementing resolution. . The City Council and Lane County Board of Commissioners must approve conceptual design elements in order to move forward with the final design process for the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway project. The Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway project is a $9.3 million arterial road project that is scheduled for construction beginning in 2005. The project is fully funded and is the largest road project the city has undertaken in the last decade. Through an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Lane County, the county is acting as the project consultant for the city and is responsible for the final design process, acquiring right-of-way, bidding the project, and implementing the construction. The IGA requires the city and county to also approve the ten project design elements listed below: 1) Alignment ofthe parkway 2) Bike and pedestrian routes along the southern segment of the parkway corridor. 3) Road elevation in the floodplain 4) Cross sections and right-of-way 5) Intersection layouts 6) Intersection form for the Harlow/Hayden intersection and Hayden Bridge Road parking 7) Septic drainfields along southern segment 8) Soundwalls in the southern segment and Beltline Road 9) Springfield Utility Board transmission lines in the southern segment 10) Bus Rapid Transit in the southern segment . Once council approves the design by resolution, the action goes to the Lane County Board of Commissioners for their approval, as stated in the intergovernmental agreement the City of Springfield has with the Lane County Board of Commissioners. To begin the project in 2005, as stated in the annexation agreement with PeaceHealth, the design elements should be approved by the city and county in April. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 6 . Mr. Amis said the design elements are very close, but if it is determined they need to acquire a significant amount of property for right-of-way at a higher cost than has been budgeted, staff would bring this back to the City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners with those changes. City Council and the Lane County Board of Commissioners would then choose whether or not to approve those changes. Mr. Amis discussed the extensive public process that has occurred regarding this project over the last ten years. Over the last couple of years the city initiated what was then the North Link with a steering committee which included Councilor Lundberg and citizen representatives. This committee came to a unanimous decision after three months of intense meetings and deliberations. Their recommendation was brought to council at that time. Public testimony that may arise when this item is brought to the regular session in March would most likely be from the Wayside neighbors regarding the intersection form the city is proposing, which includes a roundabout, and citizens from the Hayden Bridge Road regarding loss of bike lanes or parking. Staff has proposed consolidating driveways and putting in curb cuts to resolve this issue. Mr. Amis referred to a map on the wall showing the neighborhoods he was discussing. Testimony may also come from citizens on Colonial regarding a soundwall which maybe built on Belt1ine. The city is not proposing to build any soundwalls as part of this project in this section. It is quite expensive. Councilor Fitch asked if the Wayside Loop neighbors did not want the sewer connector or the sewer folks did not want the traffic coming through their neighborhood. \ . Mr. Amis said it was citizens who did not want the traffic in certain areas, but it was also citizens who did not want the sewer connector. Mr. Amis said council may also hear testimony from PeaceHealth. The city and PeaceHealth are still working through some issues relating to the intersection size and the cost obligation in the annexation agreement. Staff hopes to have those issues resolved prior to the public hearing. Staffis also working with Lane Transit District (LID) regarding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Councilor Fitch met with members of the LTD Board last week regarding some of these issues. Councilor Fitch said it was a good meeting. There was interest in getting more information from the property owners along that route. They also discussed the possibility of undergrounding the utilities to allow use of the median as a route for the BRT. She said there was discussion of the roundabout and the bus lanes. Mr. Amis said they would like to have the public hearing on March 1. City of Springfield staff met with Lane County staff last week to look over the resolution and revise it to address the North Link issue. He discussed a different type of soundwall Councilor Ralston had asked staff to consider. Staff has looked into that option, but it is quite expensive and manufactured in Australia. Mr. Peroutka said staff has looked at some good materials to be used for sound absorption that may work better than the original materials they were considering. Discussion was held regarding soundwalls and where they' should be placed. . City of Springfield Council Wark Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 7 . Mr. Amis discussed roundabouts and how they work with pedestrians. He also discussed the soundwalls and how their locations are determined. This topic will be discussed at the public hearing on March 15,2004. Councilor Ballew asked about the businesses along Beltline and the visibility of those businesses if soundwalls are in place. Mr. Amis addressed her concern. Councilor Fitch asked about timelines and coordination with Lane Transit District (LTD) on some of these issues. She asked if the city would need an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) in place and if so when it would need to be in place. Mr. Peroutka discussed the financial impact of taking more right-of-ways. There should be a commitment from the L TD Board. Mr. Amis said this does need to be worked through with LTD. LTD has been given authorization by the Federal Transit Authorityto purchase right-of-way, which is very positive. Their Board would make the decision to obligate that money to this project. City Traffic Engineer Brian Barnett showed a portion of a video which was designed as a training tool for driving through roundabouts. Mr. Barnett highlighted the sections in the video showing pedestrian and bicycle traffic near the roundabouts. . Mr. Amis discussed the speed limit of roundabouts remaining around twenty miles per hour. Councilor Woodrow said he does not care for roundabouts. He doesn't understand how condensing multiple lanes traveling thirty-five miles per hour down to one lane traveling twenty miles per year can be beneficial and not cause problems. He said this location would be one of the busiest traffic signal locations in Springfield, especially once the hospital is complete and functional. He is adamantly against a roundabout at this location and feels a five-way intersection would be a better solution. Councilor Lundberg asked to see where the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would fit into the roundabout. Mr. Amis said they were proposing a median in that location. Mr. Ray said that it would be in the median set back from the proposed roundabout one hundred feet and bus riders would get on and off the bus in that median. Councilor Lundberg said she is concerned that a lot of the traffic that would normally go through this intersection would re-route itself which could impact surrounding neighborhoods. There is a lot of traffic at that location. Councilor Fitch said this intersection is going to be a challenge. There will be a natural flow of traffic to the east choosing to go through neighborhoods to Fifth Street. Another concern is the BRT, the median and pedestrian crossing. She would like to see a modeling with 5:00pm traffic going through the roundabout. She understands that it models out better than stop lights, but that needs to be shown. . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 8 . Mr. Barnett referred to a map on the wall which showed the queue distances based on the roundabout or based on a traffic signal. In all cases, the queues for the roundabout were shorter. He said staff could also do the model. Councilor Fitch said a large amount of public relations with the surrounding neighbors regarding this roundabout would be very beneficial. Councilor Malloy said he likes roundabouts. He explained roundabouts he experienced in Europe where four lanes of traffic came into a roundabout. He said the time in a roundabout is generally less than that waiting at a stop light. He prefers the roundabouts. Mayor Leiken said he would need to see this with rush-hour traffic in reality. The models are beneficial, but viewing a real intersection would be even better. Mr. Amis said staff has been working on getting a video from a city in Florida with a very heavily trafficked roundabout. Councilor Lundberg said the number of children, pedestrians and bicycle traffic in this area also needs to be taken into consideration. Councilor Fitch agreed with Councilor Lundberg. . Mr. Amis said staff would go back to get modeling and videos. Roundabouts do have a lower incident of traffic accidents than signalized intersections. Cost would be reduced, and the intersection would be a safer. Councilor Fitch asked if staff could put the results of meetings with L TD and citizens into the council packet prior to the public hearing. Mr. Amis said they would be able to provide council with that information. Councilor Ballew asked about closing the Game Farm South intersection. Mr. Amis said all neighbors were notified and there were no objections. He explained how traffic would be able to travel. 3. United Front Agenda. Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas introduced Bob Keefer, the reporter who would now be covering the Springfield City Beat in the Register Guard. Ms. Pappas said this work session was an opportunity for council to review the proposed projects included in the 2004 United Front Agenda. Annually, the city participates in the United Front trip to Washington D.C. to lobby for federal funding for Springfield projects. This lobbying effort has been successful to date in obtaining federal funding for transportation, downtown redevelopment, natural resource, education, economic development, juvenile justice and community policing related projects. . The cost of making the annual United Front trip is approximately $4,000. Additionally, we have an annual contract with Smith Dawson, a lobbying firm. In 2003, the city leveraged $10.7 million in federal funding, of which $8.2 million was for projects benefiting the Springfield community. . . .. i . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 2, 2004 Page 9 Some ofthe projects we've been successful in funding include the Mill Race ($2.5 million), 42nd Street Path ($600,000), I-5/Beltline Interchange ($3 million so far), Booth-Kelly Center ($1.5 million), Richard E. Wildish Community Theater ($100,000), Springfield Station ($6 million) and Springfield school projects ($900,000). Ms. Pappas referred to the proposed United Front Agenda, which was included in the agenda packet. She highlighted the I-5/Glenwood Interchange Study. She said Mayor Leiken, Mayor Torrey, a representative from the University of Oregon (UofO) and Representative Beyer met with Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and had an excellent meeting regarding this topic. The United Front group wanted ODOT's support in putting this on the list and they would need to write a formal letter to include it on the agenda. ODOT is willing to write that letter. Mayor Leiken said he spoke with Randy Pape, the commissioner of Oregon Transportation Commission for this area. Mr. Pape reiterated that Jeff Scheik from ODOT agreed it was a very good meeting and ODOT is prepared to move forward with the letter. Mayor Leiken felt the 1- 5/Beltline Interchange process was a good process and went well. He hoped to continue that relationship through this project and is pleased that ODOT supports this project. Councilor Malloy said $5 Million for the I-5/Glenwood Interchange Study seemed like a large amount of money for a study. Ms. Pappas said the study would cover a large section, looking at existing interchange in Glenwood, and how off-ramps going both north and south would impact the new bridge currently being built. She compared it to the study for the I-5/Beltline Interchange which was $3 Million. Councilor Fitch said the hope is that following the study, there will be enough information to begin the bridge. Mayor Leiken said we are in a good position on the congressional side with Representative Peter Defazio and the senate side with Senator Wyden, both of who are on the Transportation Committee. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 pm. (' Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: ~~ Amy So City Recorder