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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/14/2003 Work Session . MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, APRIL 14,2003. The city of Springfield council met in work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, April 14, 2003 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken, Councilors Ballew, Fitch, Woodrow, Burge, and Ralston. Also present were City Manager Michael Kelly, Interim Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Clerk III Amy Sowa and members of the staff. CV ALCO Board Members and Springfield Chamber of Commerce Board Members were also present. 1. Conceptual Development Plan for the Northwest Center at Springfield. Economic Development Manager John Tamulonis was present for the staff report. He distributed updated Concept Reports from Hunter Interests Incorporated to the Mayor and Council. Mr. Tamulonis introduced Ernest Bleinberger, Senior Vice President, COO, from Hunter Interests Incorporated. The City of Springfield, the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County (CV ALCO) together issued a Request for Proposals last year to study the feasibility of a civic/conference/convention facility in Springfield. Hunter Interests Incorporated of Annapolis, Maryland was selected to complete the initial study (what, where, how big) for approximately $38,000. The City of Springfield has committed to $10,000 to date. . Hunter Interests has now completed Phase 1. Phase II, if commissioned by interested parties, would develop a business plan as well as all the necess~ry agreement amongst the parties who will construct and/or manage the Northwest Center in Springfield. Phase II is expected to cost $50,000-$60,000. Mr. Bleinberger gave a brief introduction of his company. He is the Project Manager on this assignment and had a chance to visit the Springfield and Eugene area over the last four months to research the project. Mr. Bleinberger gave a power point presentation outlining the different components ofthe project. He discussed the site analysis and how they chose the Island Park site as the most feasible site for this project. He discussed the positive issues of this project (located near river, bike paths, and unique location) and also the weaknesses (not a solid infrastructure of . restaurants, theatres, and cultural venues near the site). One of the key themes he and his colleagues heard repeatedly from the citizens of Springfield is that they want a civic facility with a mix of uses that are attractive to both locals and visitors alike. He discussed the components and the partnering opportunities for each component that the civic center (referred to at this point as The Northwest Center at Springfield) could encompass: . · Science Wing . Arts Wing . Native American Wing . Northwest Wing · Conference and Event areas - Ballroom, conference rooms, board rooms · Lodging Component - Important to have a lodging component next to conference area Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - April 14, 2003 Page 2 . . Mixed use area - interspersed throughout development Mr. Bleinberger discussed the options of how the different components could be arranged on the site. He also discussed the possibility of other facilities that could be built nearby such as the Emerald's Baseball Stadium and the benefits to both facilities. He discussed high performance building, using energy efficient ideas, which could result in federal incentives making the project even more economical. He also discussed the number of visitors such a center could bring to the area. He discussed the next steps if they were to proceed with Phase II and Phase III. Mr. Bleinberger asked for questions. Mayor Leiken thanked Mr: Bleinberger for his presentation and opened questions to council first. Councilor Ballew asked how many acres they were talking about for center. Mr. Bleinberger said the whole scheme in its entirety is about 10-11 acres. The project could be done in phases, however, and not all at once. Councilor Ralston asked about public/private partnership. How much of the project would be funded by public money? Mr. Bleinberger said it could range from mostly private and little public to totally public. . Councilor Burge said this has been brought to Council 3 times in the last 12 years. He feels it is the same concept, just the name and wording has changed. He feels it lacks specificity. In his opinion, the community has greater needs right now and this project could eat up lots of public funds that could be spent elsewhere. He will not support anything that will cost public money and he does not believe the general public will support it either. Mr. Bleinberger said this is not a convention center, but is a mixed use project. He feels that there is a significant amount of private investments that will be going into this project. There could be a public component in this, but perhaps not. This center could bring in a large amount of private money coming into community. He feels it could be funded nearly entirely through private money. Councilor Woodrow asked about the residential area they are proposing. What type of residential? Mr. Bleinberger said they had not made that determination yet in Phase I. During Phase II they would get into more specifics, but it would be multi-family housing of some sort. Councilor Fitch asked if the other agencies (CV ALCO and Springfield Chamber) had seen this already and what kind of commitment they have to this project. John Erickson from CV ALCO said this is the first they have seen of Phase I. When they made the commitment to Phase I, it was with the assumption that they would proceed with Phase II. They haven't determined to what extent they could commit financially. Councilor Fitch asked if it still desirable to those in the Gateway area, especially those with hotels, having the chosen site in the Island Park area. . Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - April 14, 2003 Page 3 . Mr. Erickson said that because this is the first time they have seen this, he cannot say how all of the members may feel. Councilor Fitch asked the Springfield Chamber their thoughts on proceeding to Phase II. Chamber President Mike Kelly said that the Chamber has not discussed in detail the amount of money they can contribute to Phase II. Discussion was held regarding the time line and cost of Phase II and Phase III. Phase II would take approximately 4-6 months at a cost of $60,000.00. Phase III would take approximately 4 months and would cost between $30,000.00 - $40,000.00. The total cost from Phase I to Phase III would be approximately $150,000.00. Discussion was held regarding the hotel market indicator, ADR (Average Daily Rate) and how this project might affect that number. Mayor Leiken discussed the information on regional markets. He pointed out the Portland Convention Center and some of the things that have made it a huge success, such as the Rose Quarter. He asked Mr. Bleinberger if he has had extensive conversations with the UofO and if so what affect having a large sports center such as Mac Court nearby would have on this center. Mr. Bleinberger said he has talked with Mr. Williams from the UofO about how the UofO could be part of the center. There is a consulting firm that is doing a feasibility study for Mac Court, and Mr. Bleinberger has spoken with them as well. He said that the more facilities like this you can bring into one area, the better. . Mayor Leiken said he was surprised that Gateway was not the first choice for the site of the center. Hotel anchors are an important piece to such a project. He feels the hotel rooms are more of a selling point. He asked Mr. Bleinberger for more information on why Island Park was chosen over Gateway. Mr. Bleinberger said that the hotel cluster is not a unique site. It has nothing to distinguish it from any other area with a cluster of hotels. The Island Park site has access to walking trails and to recreational facilities. He did point out that the recommendation for the Island Park site is not etched in stone. Discussion was held regarding the property in Island Park and dialogue with the owners of those properties. Phase II should include a firm commitment from any property owners affected. Discussion was held regarding this location and it's proximity to 1-5. Accessibility from 1-5 is very important. Discussion was held regarding the size of meeting space and that it would probably be included not only in the main center, but in the wings as well. The space in the core might be in the 40,000 square foot range, with a good portion in the ballroom. Mike Drennen from CV ALCO asked about national developers. Is this project of such a scope that no local developers could or would be considered to build it? . Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - Apn114, 2003 Page 4 . Mr. Bleinberger said when he speaks of national developers, he is including local developers. This type of project is usually taken on by teams, using local contractors, architects and development partners. Discussion was held regarding parking and the funding for the parking garages. Discussion was also held regarding the number of properties involved in Glenwood. Chamber Member, Dave Jewett asked what the key factors would be that might cause the consultants to not recommend proceeding to Phase III. He also asked how projects their firm had worked on and decided during Phase II not to proceed to Phase III. Mr. Bleinberger said a factor that could cause them to recommend not moving on to Phase III would be if the partnering discussions associated with the four interpretative wings fell flat and they could got no commitment or interest. Another instance could be ifthe site chosen was off the table completely. He said it would not necessarily stop the project, but they would have to go back to the drawing board. If no public investment could be made, they would have to alter the project slightly. . Regarding Mr. Jewett's question as to how many they have stopped after Phase II, Mr. Bleinberger said several times a year, but that is usually because the group had one idea of what they wanted to do instead of a mixed use project. They may ask for a convention center alone, or an office tower alone. Mr. Bleinberger said his firm finds that there needs to be a mix for a project to be successfu1. He said that about 8-10 projects a year go through from Phase II to Phase III. . Councilor Fitch asked council their thoughts on this issue. Councilor Ballew would like to hear from CV ALCO and the Chamber before committing. Councilor Ralston said it looks attractive, but getting to the site is a problem due to traffic constraints. He feels it should be funded outside of public money. Councilor Woodrow agrees with Councilor Ballew. Councilor Burge would also like to see how CV ALCO and the Chamber proceed. He believes, however, that CV ALCO and the Chamber are not going to be funding operating deficits in the future and the city may be responsible for these costs. He does not support moving to Phase II. Councilor Fitch would like to hear from CV ALCO and the Chamber. She would also like to see some level of commitment from the owners of the sites. She would prefer putting out a $1000 option rather than $60,000.00 for Phase II. It's better to find out if you have a no go now rather than after 6 months and $60,000.00 and have to start over again. She feels it has to be private sector driven. She appreciates what Councilor Burge is saying and that if a partnership is to be formed, the City cannot be expected to take the lion's share of this. Mayor Leiken said he would like to see more information and will bring this back to a work session after we have heard from CV ALCO and the Chamber. . Mr. Bleinberger asked that when Council continues deliberations, that they refer to the new updated version of Phase I. Springfield City Council Work Session Minutes - April 14, 2003 Page 5 . 2. Interview three candidates for the vacant Ward 6 Council position. City Manager Mike Kelly was present for the staff report on this issue. He said that the purpose ofthis work session was to interview three candidates for the position of Ward 6 Councilor which is vacant due to the death of Councilor Lyle Hatfield on January 31, 2003. The person who is appointed would fill the remainder of Councilor Hatfield's term, which expires December 31,2004. The chosen applicant for the Ward 6 position will be ratified at the City Council regular meeting on April 21, 2003. The Council discussed the interview questions and identified the following questions they would ask of each candidate: Why are you interested in applying for Ward 6? . What is your vision for Springfield? What have you done to further that vision? What would you do as a city councilor to further that vision? How would you prioritize city services? As city councilor would you be more focused on looking at cost containment or revenue enhancement? Since there are 6 councilor positions, what do you believe are the advantages and disadvantages of collective decision-making and shared leadership? Some decisions made be council are not universally accepted or loved. How would you react to angry citizens? What are two or three of the most difficult issues facing the city in the next two to five years? . The Council interviewed the three applicants, Kenneth D. Nickel, Timothy H. Malloy, and Mark D. Jaehnig. The council discussed the merits of each of the candidates. They chose Timothy Malloy to fill the position for Ward 6 Councilor with a vote of 3 to 2. Mayor Leiken notified the applicants immediately following the decision. ADJOURNMENT ( The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa ~:e WLC.~ City Recorder .