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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/19/2003 Work Session , t . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, MAY 19,2003. The city of Springfield council met in work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, May 19,2003 at 6:33 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken, Councilors Ballew, Fitch, Woodrow, Burge, Ralston and Malloy. Also present were Acting City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Kim Krebs, Clerk III Amy Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Library Board Application Review Library Director Bob Russell was present for the staff report. Mr. Russell said the purpose of this work session item is to give the Council a chance to review the applications for the Library Board to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Jason Davies. Mr. Russell gave a brief description of the function of the Library Board. Two applications were received for the Library Board vacancy, one from Ruth Haberman and one from Arline Link. . The Library Board scheduled interviews of applicants at its May 8, 2003 meeting. Prior to the scheduled interviews, Ms. Link called to say that she would be unable to be at the meeting and with her current schedule would be unlikely to attend Library Board meetings. The Board voted unanimously to recommend the appointment of Ruth Haberman to a term which will expire December 31, 2003. The Board also asked the Library Director to suggest to Ms. Link that she apply for future vacancies on the Board. Mr. Russell described some ofthe activities Ms. Haberman has been involved in including Library volunteer. He explained that Mr. Davies was leaving to return to college at Western Oregon University. 2. Review of OMC. L.L.C. Annexation Agreement Planner Susanna Julber was present for the staff report on this issue. She said the City Council has been presented with the final Annexation Agreement between the City and OMC, L.L.C. for annexation of approximately 9.7 acres of property in South 47th Street! Rocky road area. Upon Council approval, the Agreement will be forwarded to the Boundary Commission with an affirmative recommendation for approval of the annexation. Ms. Julber said that on April 21, the Springfield City Council held a public hearing on the annexation of approximately 9.7 acres of property owned by OMC in the South 47th Street! Rocky road area. The Council gave approval of the annexation, contingent on the signing of the Annexation Agreement. . At the April 21 hearing, the Council received testimony from staff regarding the need for a performance bond to cover the improvements to the unimproved rights of way included in the annexation area. At the close of the hearing the Council voted in favor ofthe resolution initiating annexation with the understanding that the final Annexation Agreement would be " . brought back to the Council at a work session for approval prior to the June 5th Boundary Commission public hearing. The attached Annexation Agreement contains language that satisfies the need and commitment to the performance bond, and is agreed to, in its entirety, by both staff and OMC, L.L.C. She has copies of the signed agreement. If they approve the agreement, they will forward it to the City Manager for signature. Councilor Ralston asked about the straddling area. Is some of it annexed? Ms. Julber explained which areas are currently annexed. Most of the property surrounding this property is not annexed. Other nearby properties may wish to eventually be annexed. By Council consensus it will go to Acting City Manager Cynthia Pappas for signature and be forwarded to the Boundary Commission on May 20, 2003 3. Springfield Natural Resource Inventory Planner Mark Metzger was present for the staff report on this issue. Mr. Metzger said that at this point, the Planning Commission has not come to a consensus on a recommendation concerning the Natural Resource Inventory and is scheduled to meet again on the matter on July 15. At issue is whether to open and then continue tonight's planned public hearing. . Mr. Metzger said that in September 2002, the Council approved a staff proposal to move ahead to complete the Springfield portion of the Natural Resource Inventory using "significance criteria" approved by the Council for placing sites on the Inventory and using the "standard process" for completing the Goal 5 planning process. At their meetings on April 15 and May 6, the Planning Commission received testimony and deliberated on the Inventory and the proposal to move ahead using the "standard process." The commissioners could not reach consensus among themselves on a recommendation for Council. Staff was asked to analyze the impact of a proposal made by one Commissioner and to return to the Commission at its July 15 meeting with a proposal that would best integrate the commissioner's views and concerns. Staff is removing the scheduled work session presentation for the Natural Resource Inventory in light of the Planning Commission's continued deliberation of the matter. Only a brief status report is being provided. Mr. Metzger said several thousand notices were sent to the public and affected property owners at a cost of about $6,000. The cost for this one mailing is being reimbursed by DLCD. A second mailing will not be reimbursed. For this reason, staff recommends that Council open and then immediately continue the Natural Resource hearing until its September 15th meeting, without receiving testimony. This would allow the City to avoid the need to mail a second notice and would provide interested parties who come to the meeting tonight a chance to be quickly updated on the issue and the proposed date when the item would be considered. Staff will work through the local media to publicize the September date for the continued hearing. Discussion was held regarding the September 15th date. Councilor Woodrow asked if he and Councilor Burge could get updated information on this item because they were not on the Council when it was originally discussed. . Councilor Fitch suggested a one on one meeting. . Mr. Metzger said they have had a number of contacts regarding this issue, including phone calls and letters. He explained some of the content of the correspondence. Discussion was held regarding whether or not the land identified by this study could still be developed and if this violates the land owner's rights. Each property would be looked at individually to determine if it could be developed without standards, with certain standards or not at all. Determination would be made by a committee made up of residents, people from the development community, people from the environmental community, and some planning commissioners. Final decisions would be made by the City Council. Councilor Burge is concerned about this committee making decisions about property without the property owner's input or consideration. Acting City Manager Cynthia Pappas explained how the property owner could be involved in the decision. Discussion was held regarding Dolan and taking issues. Ms. Pappas said this is part of Goal 5 regarding protection of resources. Mr. Metzger explained the details of Goal 5. Councilor Burge asked for a copy of Goal 5. Councilor Malloy noted that these are state goals. If we don't make these decisions, the State will come in and make the decisions for us. It is better to maintain local control. . Councilor Fitch passed around a notice sent to Eugene residents regarding a meeting on May 21. This notice stated that the properties identified as Natural Resource Inventory in Eugene could face severe limitations on how they could develop. She believes that Springfield needs to take a closer look at this. Mr. Metzger felt that our hearings were very well attended with lots of good feedback. Councilor Burge remarked on approving applications with conditions. What if we coded our conditions so folks would know ifit is because of Federal, State or County regulations? Some of these are ambiguous and subject to interpretation. He feels it would be beneficial to let them know how to reference those regulations and make that document available. Ms. Pappas said a similar suggestion was made at the discussion held today with developers. It is something they will take into consideration. Councilor Fitch asked if our code is available online and if citizens could access state and federal codes as well. The answer was yes to both. She suggested giving websites for references. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa . , i . Attest: ~AO/~ City Recorder . .