HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/28/2003 Work Session
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MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION
OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL
HELD ON MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2003
The Springfield City Council met in work session at Springfield City Hall, Jesse Maine Room,
225 Fifth Street, Springfield, on Monday, April 28, 2003 at 6:02 p.m., with Mayor Leiken
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ballew, Burge, Fitch, Ralston, and Woodrow. Also
present were City Manager Mike Kelly, Interim Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas, and
members of staff. Mayor Leiken asked Councilor Elect Tim Malloy to join the discussion at the
table.
Mayor Leiken said the City Attorney Evaluation would be the first item tonight because the
Historic Commission applicant was not yet present.
1. City Attorney Evaluation.
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Human Resources Director Bill Spiry was present for the staff report. He said the purpose of
tonight's meeting was to have Council review the annual evaluation results with the City
Attorney firm of Harold, Leahy and Kieran. He said the firm of Harold, Leahy, and Kieran
received high marks recently during the annual review of its performance of the city attorney
duties. All of the responses were returned with satisfactory, good and excellent evaluation marks.
Consequently, staff is negotiating a one-year contract renewal, to be effective on' July, 2003.
Councilor Ballew said the council review is a small part. She would like to see some way to
demonstrate better. She would suggest some things that we use in the program budget.
City Attorney Joe Leahy said we could come up with better questions, questions that would delve
into things a little better. He also said circulation among the council as well as feedback from a
level of staff they have a lot of interaction with would be beneficial. If the city attorney's office
had some input into the process in the beginning, they might have a tool that is better.
Acting Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas said approximately 6 months ago, Meg Kieran
and Joe Leahy spoke at a work session regarding litigation. Would Council like that interaction
more often?
Councilor Burge asked what was budgeted this year. The budget this year is $248,000 which is
based on 240 hours retainer. That averages about $121 per hour.
Councilor Burge said that hasn't changed much over the last few years.
Councilor Fitch said it would be a good idea to go through the same process as she and Councilor
Hatfield did when they revamped the City Manager's Evaluation. It was a collaborative effort.
She said it would be helpful to sit down with City Attorney's office, to determine what would be
more usable and more workable. Discussion of what services the city attorney's office provides
to the City.
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Mr. Leahy agreed.
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Councilor Ralston said some ofthe feedback could be from those that work more closely with the
attorneys, such as judges, etc. Mr. Leahy said it would be beneficial to have feedback from other
staffthey work closely with.
Mayor Leiken asked the City Attorney's to comment on the workload over the last year and a
half, especially in regards to PeaceHealth.
Mr. Leahy said the PeaceHealth project has definitely been a factor in the time spent over the last
year and a half as it has been in Development Services. He said we have had some situations
where DSD staff and PW staff have had to work on these large projects and put other items on
hold. He said we do not want to be in a position to be in litigation, so we need to work hard to
avoid litigation. There needs to be discussion Not only to provide better service but to avoid
extra costs.
Council expressed appreciation to the city attorneys.
City Attorney Meg Kieran said projects this year have been a challenge and have taken a lot of
their staff time. She said, however, it has been an exciting challenge and they are happy to be a
part of it.
City Attorney Tim Harold said he has concerns about the satisfactory marks. They discussed
rating on the evaluation. They discussed the interpretation of satisfactory.
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Acting Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas confIrmed that Council would like the City
Attorney, Human Resources, Cynthia Pappas, and the Judiciary Committee to meet to discuss
changes in the evaluation for the future. They will then bring back their proposal to council.
2. Proposed Resolution of the City of Springfield Common Council Amending the
Methodology for the Regional Sewerage Facility System Development Charge (SDC).
Environmental Services Supervisor Gary Colwell was present for the staff report. Mr. Colwell
said the staff is asking council to review and provide direction regarding amended MWMC SDC
methodology.
Mr. Colwell said on September 19,2002 the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission
(MWMC) approved an amended methodology for determining the Regional Sewerage Facility
System Development Charge (SDC). Upon approval, MWMC requested that Eugene and
Springfield adopt the new methodology consistent with the MWMC intergovernmental
agreement. A resolution amending the MWMC Regional Sewerage Facility SDC is schedule for
Council adoption on May 5,2003.
Mr. Colwell said that next week council would see a resolution and public hearing on this item.
He said it is the same amendment which was adopted by Eugene on January 27th, 2003. Their
implementation has been postponed pending approval by Springfield. Mr. Colwell said the
Eugene Council had two opposed.
3. Historic Commission Interviews.
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Planner Kitti Gale was present for the staff report. She introduced the applicant, John Tuttle.
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Mayor Leiken asked why Mr. Tuttle was interested in continuing to serve on the Historic
Committee.
Mr. Tuttle responded.
Councilor Burge and Mr. Tuttle discussed the issue of the state mandating buildings as Historic.
4. Peace Health Building Permit Fee Proposal.
City Manager Mike Kelly was present for the staff report on this issue. He said tonight's
discussion is for the purpose of reviewing and for council to provided guidance on a building
permit fee proposal for Peace Health and other large scale projects.
Peace Health has requested that they utilize the same system of paying incurred costs for permits
associated with the building phase of their project as they have done for the planning phase of
their project. The permit value for the building phase is estimated at $1,866,000 over a four-year
period. Both Senate Bill 587 and ORS 455.210 require that all building fees be utilized for the
cost of providing building services.
Peace Health proposes to pay the normal building permit fees upon issuance of building plans.
The City-hired project manager will then track incurred costs against the payments made. The
Council would then apply 'pubic benefit factors' to the difference, if any, in the cost for providing
these building permit services.
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Included with the Agenda Item Summary (AIS) is a proposed ordinance which details the value
ofthe "public benefit factors". He said Peace Health folks were notified that this information
would be brought forward to the council for consideration.
Mayor Leiken ascertained that Peace Health is a non-profit/not for profit organization.
Our proposal tonight deals with taxable value.
Councilor Ralston said he isn't inclined to offer them any breaks. He believes this isn't worth
discussing.
Councilor Burge said he wouldn't support their request for a minute. He said that is their cost for
doing business. It would set precedence for conducting business in the future. He said this is
what our permit schedule is and they should pay it. When do you stop negotiating with these
companies? He doesn't believe we need to make concessions.
Councilor Ballew said the fees by definition should recover costs. If we are over recovering
costs, then she is not sure how to handle this or get around it. She doesn't want to overcharge
anybody, regardless of who they are. If costs add up to $2.2 Million, you need to demonstrate
that is what the costs are.
Councilor Burge asked if we have changed our fee methodology.
Mr. Kelly said no, the methodology hasn't been changed.
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Councilor Burge said as long as the methodology is the same, they should be treated the same and
charged the same as everyone else. Maybe our methodology is being understated.
Mr. Kelly said from the time they applied, we have not changed our fee schedule. They are just
now becoming aware and feel that it appears to be a profit to the city. Now they want to continue
on with the incurred costs. Staff does understand their argument, and thinks maybe something
could be developed in a way that shares based on their economic impact. This was developed,
admittedly arbitrarily, and it is the council's choice.
Councilor Woodrow said he is on the other side of this, he doesn't see a problem as long as we
recover the costs that we are expending, and doesn't see a problem in giving them a refund on
over spending. They need to pay there fair share.
Mr. Kelly said that staff will keep track of all incurred costs, and at the end ofthe project if there
is a gap, then we would split that gap at the very end based on these parameters.
Councilor Ballew said she would like to see staff keep very close track of the costs. She does not
want to close the door, but it may be too soon in the project to make this agreement.
City Attorney Joe Leahy said anything we do in this area, we have to give 45 days notice to the
state before we change the rules on the methodology. There is then an appeal process. He is
saying this because the council may not be able to retroactively do this.
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Community Services Manager Dave Puent responded to questions of the council related to
building fees.
Councilor Fitch said it has never been the intent of past council to over charge any citizen. She
does believe that we should account for everybody; including those sitting in a meeting, using the
city attorney, using the finance department, etc. She said all of those things should be accounted
for.
Councilor Burge feels that if we set this precedence, we will be facing lawsuits in the future. He
feels it will be impossible to actually know what our costs will be in the end.
Councilor Ralston asked if they ~e asking for expedited process and if so if that is part of the
cost.
Mr. Kelly said yes, but the expedited portion would not be recoverable. He said this is a work in
process. Staff can bring it back at another time.
Mr. Leahy noted that there are no promises from the council at this time.
Councilor Fitch said that fees are collected up front. Ifthere was a negotiation ofthis, would
there be a factor in going the other direction in collecting additional funds ifthe costs were higher
than the projected amount.
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Mr. Leahy said at that point the City Manager makes the call, no third party. There would be a
method for collecting.
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Councilor Burge feels that we should not change our policies for any company or business
commg m.
Councilor Fitch asked what positions we would consider cutting if we found we had under-
collected.
Councilor Burge said he is confident that our cost accounting is good, and we should leave it as it
is. He asked if staff felt they were at risk regarding the amount to be collected being enough.
Mr. Kelly said it has been difficult to project. He said what they are looking for tonight is
direction from Council whether or not to move forward and bring this to a public hearing.
Councilor Woodrow feels that we could lose money if we project too low.
Councilor Ballew said the key to this is ifthere is going to be a project manager that would
evaluate and manage city resources to get the job done within the budget.
Councilor Fitch says we should leave things the way they are because we do not have an
agreement.
Council majority has spoken in the work session.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
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Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa
Attest:
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Amy SoW
Acting City Recorder