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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/16/2011 Work SessionCity of Springfield . Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Library Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, May 16, 2011 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri, VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston, and Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, Assistant City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Attorney Bill VanVactor, Planning Secretary Brenda Jones, and members of the staff. Those present from the Library Board were Board Chair Jocelyn Harley and Board Members Jody Anderson, Carol Philips, Robyn Sattler, and Laura Madsen. 1. Joint Meeting with Library Advisory Board. Library Director Rob Everett presented the staff report on this item. Mr. Everett introduced Ms. Harley who had been on the Library Board since 2008. He complimented Ms. Harley on her leadership on this board. Ms. Harley thanked the Library staff for helping the Board prepare for this presentation. She introduced the rest of the Library Board members. Ms'. Mathers showed the video presentation created by the Board that highlighted the programs and events of the Library. Ms. Philips spoke regarding the Council's first goal, "Financially Responsible and Stable Government Services" and where the Library fit into that goal. As a citizen, she understood that the Council and the. City must succeed in that area, but it was difficult to do when there were more users or residents every year, and less resources to meet their needs. The Council, City staff and Library were all in this together. The Board felt the Library was stepping up to address these needs, but also sliding down. Ms. Philips said they were sliding down in that they were not open enough hours and were laying off good staff members. As a result of those losses, the public lost service time. Between 1970 and 2011, we lost 27% of the service time, and the population grew and changed tremendously. The Library, in order to accommodate loss of staff and hours, was maximizing technology, but the Library needed many more computers and technology in order to be effective in that goal. Ms. Philips said the Library was doing its best to serve a major increase in Library users. Libraries and reading itself were agents of personal and community change. The Library helped citizens more in tough times and these were tough times. She provided an example. Reading was an essential skill for life, and our Library supported reading learning, which happened before, during, and after K-12 education. The Library was already an excellent fiscal partner and had proven that it knew how to do the most with the resources available - protecting core services while decreasing spending. The Library was a winning team which citizens of Springfield and the City Council could point to with City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 16, 2011 Page 2 pride. When the risk to core services became too great, the Library team gathered its forces to make more resources available. Some examples of those included the Friends of the Library Book Sale, the Friends of the Library Fun Run, the Friends of the Library Holiday Wrap-n-Rap at Borders', the Library Foundation Annual Fund Drive, and the Library Foundation Dinner and Auction. Ms. Philips said as Springfield growth continued, Springfield would need a new Library. Libraries could help drive economic and community development. They needed to begin planning for that Library now. The Board wanted the Council to remember that the Library couldn't continue to do more with less forever, and when the Council was looking for a Springfield success story, they should look to the Library. The reputation of today's Springfield Library was not based on a glamorous facility, but on its service, its smarts, its simplicity, and the high quality of everything it did. The Library Advisory Board was proud to represent this winning team. Ms. Anderson said her part the presentation was to track two of the population groups and the changes that had, occurred over the last decade by mapping demographic information of age and the Hispanic population. The Advisory Board would like to recognize and continue to serve more efficiently our well-established populations, and also identify the new and growing Hispanic community. She referred to the maps distributed to the Mayor and Council showing the demographics of Springfield. She discussed the information on the maps, including ethnic and age data. She noted the many activities and programs the Library provided for the different age groups. Participation was growing in all areas. With the information on the maps, the Library was able to provide programs for the population of Springfield. The Library was serving citizens in tough times, and this type of information helped the Library serve them better. It could'also help with discussions regarding outreach centers and location of a new Library. -As the new census information became available, the students at Lane Community College would be helping put that information together for the Library. Ms. Sattler said the City of Springfield hired a consultant to design a downtown urban renewal plan and it was an excellent plan. Parts of the plan were already being set in motion. She explained. The Library Board offered a vision of a new Library on the proposed downtown plaza sometime in the future when the economy turned and our citizens agreed there was a need. It would be a benefit to our community, economic development and downtown revitalization. A public agency that drew thousands of visitors each week could serve as a support and complement to downtown commercial activity. A new Library would be a new community gathering place, as well as a use for the private sector for weddings, business events, and fund raisers. She provided examples of other cities that had recently put up new libraries. There were at least six cities in Oregon that had built new libraries. Ms. Harley spoke regarding the use of technology in the Library. The Board was very excited about the possibilities for more great programs in the future. Beyond the physical space of the Library, the Library has forged new paths into the twenty-first century. One of the areas the staff had been tracking was WiFi access and. use. There had been a significant increase of this use that was provided through the Library. The Library also provided its cardholders with a service called "Libraries To Go" that included a log-in to download ebooks and other digital resources from their home computers. Nearly 4000 resources were downloaded in the "Libraries To Go" program. In addition, more than 300 people were registering for the first time, a 91 % increase from last year. With this type of growth, the Library would need to make sure they could support that use. Ms. Harley said the Library outreach now extended to FaceBook, a social networking site. This was another place to find out about things happening at the Library, post comments, and add pictures. This allowed immediate and free advertising for programs and events. The Library also had a webpage - City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 16, 2011 Page 3 whereminds ow.org. This was the site that came up when logging into WiFi, had the link to' "Libraries To Go", and had access to the Library catalog. The Library webpage received almost 40,000 hits during the last year. It was well maintained and was easy to access. Ms. Harley spoke regarding future opportunities including "Books in a Box" or as they called it "The Red Box of Library Services". This would allow the Library to expand beyond the walls of the Library with actual books. Another thing the Library was spearheading was a reciprocal lending agreement with Lane County residents. This was in the early stages, but could make the Springfield Library a leader in terms of partnerships within the larger community of Lane County, and a leader in Oregon in terms of what Library services' could look like. She hoped the Council was excited about the Library. If they would like to acknowledge that, she asked them to "friend" the Library. She discussed some upcoming events. She said it had been a joy to represent such a positive organization within the City, and she hoped the Council felt part of the success the Library had made. Mayor Lundberg said the Board was well spoken, organized and fun. Councilor Wylie said she had always been a supporter of libraries. Building a new one on the plaza sounded wonderful, but through tonight's conversation she began to wonder if a Library was a bricks and mortar issue because of technology. We were bordering on a new future of how we handled our reading materials. She thanked them for the presentation. Councilor Ralston said he would like to know how the other cities built their .libraries. Ms. Harley said she could research that and let them know. Mr. Everett said some were districts, but some were cities like Springfield. Usually it was a combination of City resources and a major capital campaign. Councilor Ralston said he didn't see the City being able to contribute to that, but he was in favor of the district idea. He referred to the Library download and the "Library in a Box". He asked if anyone could download and if there was a fee. Ms. Harley said they needed to have a Library card. The card was free for Springfield residents Councilor Ralston said they needed to generate revenue for all of the services provided in order to support the Library. Councilor Woodrow asked if the "Library To Go" was part of the State system. Mr. Everett said it was part of the Oregon system. Councilor Moore said a new Library was a fantastic idea, and could be something the voters would approve. Councilor Woodrow said she was on the Library website nearly every day. She noted the many benefits of going online. Ms. Harley said one of her interests was the digital aspect of the Library. The emerging technology didn't undermine the need to have a location and a place where people came to meet.. She lived very City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 16, 2011 Page 4 close to the Library and it had been a meeting place for her and her family. The physical space was just as important as the technological aspect. The library had done a great job in creating what had become a second home for many citizens and children. Ms. Mathers said when people brought their children to the library it surrounded them with a print world. Digital was another medium to deliver that print, as was audio. That was so important for children. Technology would never replace the physical library, but only enhance it. Councilor VanGordon said he appreciated the work of the Board. The strength of the Springfield Library was the vision of the staff and Board in using technology and integrating programs to get kids closer to books. He appreciated that it took a service that was challenging in hard economic times go further. He'thanked them for their hard work and encouraged them to remain visionary. Mayor Lundberg said her children had grown up in the Springfield Library, and her fondest memories were in the physical space of the Library. She was most appreciative of the Library and what it meant to the community. She thanked the Board for working hard on behalf of the Library. Councilor Pishioneri also thanked the Board for their hard work. He would like to know if it might be better to split the library into two or three locations in Springfield in order to better serve all citizens. He agreed with Councilor Wylie that libraries were in a precarious position because of technology. He wanted to know the national -trend of libraries, and if they were growing at a pace greater than populations. Ms. Mather said libraries provided access to some of that technology, such as computers. 2. Springfield Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. Transportation Planner David Reesor presented the staff report on this item. Council recently expressed interest in creating a Springfield Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. Based on this interest, Staff conducted research on forming a Committee, including examining bylaws from Springfield's previous Bicycle Advisory Committee and bylaws from the Cities of Eugene and Portland. The City's adopted Citizen Involvement Program provided guidance on forming committees. Based on the adopted Program and taking scheduling issues into consideration, Staff recommended the following steps to form a Springfield Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee: • May 16"', 2011 - Council Work Session - Council direct staff to request that the Planning Commission, acting as the Committee for Citizen Involvement form a Committee; provide input on the general purpose of the Committee; and, provide input on Committee membership. • May 23rd -June I Od' - Recruit / advertise for Committee members; Staff create draft Committee bylaws. • July 6d', 2011 - Planning Commission Work Session (acting as the Committee for Citizen Involvement) - Review and appoint individual Committee members (conduct interviews if necessary); Review and adopt draft bylaws. As illustrated in the example bylaws, some committees were advisory to city staff, while others were advisory to the Council. For Springfield's purposes, staff recommended that the new Springfield City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 16, 2011 Page 5 Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee be advisory to the Springfield Planning Commission, similar to other stakeholder advisory committees currently being used in Springfield. Mr. Reesor said he would most likely serve as lead staff to the Committee, and would solicit input from Willamalane Staff as needed. This Committee would enhance other city projects and programs by providing more citizen input, while also assisting staff with programs such as the City's "Wheels by the Willamette" bike event. No additional financial resources were expected to create and maintain the Committee. A draft Committee Purpose and Membership Statement were attached. Councilor Moore said in applying for grants, having a Bicycle Committee at the City was a positive thing to include in those applications. Councilor Ralston said he didn't believe they needed a Bicycle Committee. The City already took bicycle and pedestrian access into account in everything that they did, and the Council felt it was important. He didn't know what a committee would do that's not already being done. Mr. Reesor said the general purpose for the committee could be a sounding board to help staff as they looked at projects and grants, and provide a users' perspective. The City didn't currently have that type of group. In the future if they wanted to do a specific bike and pedestrian path update, the committee could assist with that type of project. Councilor Moore said they also talked about sponsoring some bike events or pedestrian walk events in the City to bring people into the City. Those types of activities would go through the Bicycle Committee. Councilor VanGordon said it would also help the City stay ahead of the curve when planning Glenwood and Downtown. Councilor Pishioneri said if this just added another process and another layer, he wasn't supportive. The City didn't have the funds to pay for staff to do the things we had been doing, so it seemed strange to add something. He respected Mr. Reesor for being willing to use his time for this committee, but he wasn't sure it was the best use of staff time and resources. If Council was going to look at this, he wanted to be able to dismantle it if it was not an efficient use of time. Mr. Reesor asked how the Council would feel about establishing this as a pilot committee that met for about a year and then was re-evaluated. Councilor Pishioneri said that would make sense. Councilor Ralston said he agreed with Councilor Pishioneri. He was on the Planning Commission when they disbanded the original committee. He recalled why it was disbanded. The pilot program would be fine, but he didn't want to start a committee that was not efficient. Councilor Wylie said if it helped with transportation planning, that would be beneficial. She asked if the City could coordinate with Willamalane. Mr. Reesor said the City would be the lead, but would coordinate directly with Willamalane City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes May 16, 2011 Page 6 Councilor Wylie said if there was an interest, it might be good to look into it. Sharing with Willamalane on the whole bike path system would be interesting. She supported a pilot program. Councilor Woodrow said she started out with mixed feelings because of redundancy. Her concern was whether or not they needed another level, but she liked the connection with Willamalane. She supported a pilot program. Councilor Pishioneri said he was not opposed and felt it was a good idea. He would like to make sure that Willamalane was fine working with the City on this. Mayor Lundberg said she.looked over the by-laws. She felt mountain bikers should be included as the recreational part. She like Portland's by-laws that stated, "people with interest and inter-personal skills". Regional connectivity also needed to be included. People that used the paths had a good perspective of the needs, and that was useful. She supported staff creating,a pilot program. Mr. Reesor asked if they wanted a Council liaison for the pilot program. Yes, Councilor Moore. Councilor Woodrow asked if they could get a quarterly report in the Communication Packet. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:02 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: a*xl?? Amy Sow City Reco der