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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/02/2003 Work Session . . . :; City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JUNE 2, 2003. The city of Springfield council met in work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, June 2, 2003 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Councilors Ballew, Fitch, Woodrow, Burge, Ralston and Malloy. Also present were City Manager Mike Kelly, Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Acting City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Reallocation of County Highway Trust Fund Receipt Technical Services Manager Len Goodwin was present for the staff report. Mr. Goodwin said in light of information to the effect that a petition containing sufficient valid signatures has been presented to place an initiative on the ballot to repeal Ordinance No. 6036, Council has directed staff to provide information on what possibilities might exist to cause a reallocation of County l Highway Trust Fund revenues to increase the amount of these funds available to the City. Council has been advised that a petition containing an adequate number of valid signatures has been filed seeking to repeal Ordinance No. 6036, which imposes a Transportation System Maintenance Fee. That fee was anticipated to produce approximately $1 million in annual revenue to help close a structural gap between revenues and expenditures in the City's Street Fund. Council has been advised that it must, no later than the meeting scheduled for June 16, either repeal the ordinance or refer the item to the voters. In the past, there have been suggestions that it might be possible to consider some action to reallocate Highway Trust fund money presently received by the County on a basis that is more equitable, and that such action would result in increased revenue to the City. Because the County is dependent upon federal revenues from the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act of 2000, and that statute expires at the end of federal fiscal year 2006, any negotiated solution would be in place only until a decision is made by the Congress on reauthorization. The Council has requested that staff provide information on what actions might be taken to effect such a redistribution and estimates of the revenue impact that might be anticipated, so that this information can be incorporated into their deliberations with respect to the status of Ordinance No. 6036. Mr. Goodwin said that in addition to the materials in the agenda packet, he has given council a chart showing County road fund payments to cities FY 2001-02. He has compiled this chart from a variety of sources. The chart shows comparables of state receipts, % of State funds shared, % of population in city limits, and state funds shared per capita. Mr. Goodwin said he was available for questions. Mayor Leiken asked for updated information regarding OTIA 3 Transportation bill. Mr. Goodwin said the three bills have been combined into two. One bill is the weight/mile bill (HB2367) and everything else is in a separate bill (HB204l). The estimate from League of . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes, June 2,2003 Page 2 Oregon Cities (LOC) is that both bills, if they pass, would provide $2.5 M to local governments (counties and cities) to fund debt service or bonds to repair bridges, and about $19M for general purposes such as street funds. LOC estimates that would result in an increase in the per capita of $8, which would be an increase of about $425,000 for Springfield. However, due to an expected decline in per capita, the actual amount would be closer to $350,000. There is no organized opposition to these bills at this time. The bills are expected to clear the House this week and go onto Senate. Mayor Leiken asked City Manager Mike Kelly to give an update from the Springfield/Eugene/ Lane County (SEL) meeting. Mr. Kelly said at the last SEL meeting he was informed that Lane County had decided to enjoin with the LUBA appeal regarding PeaceHealth issues. Following that announcement, County Administrator Bill VanVactor said if there was new money from the State to the County, the County could pass it right through with some criteria to cities for a couple of years. These funds could ease the cities' burden and show that Lane County cares about the cities. He said the Mayors and City Managers have met with the County to see if Lane County could better share tpe existing road fund. The County is concerned about keeping their road fund healthy. He said at this time they do not have enough data to give to the Chief Elected Officials to have them start negotiating what might be the more fair way. He said at their last meeting they said they do not need all of this detailed information. They main thing is to get some general information and criteria as a starting point to bring to the Chief Elected Officials so they could move forward from there. They are working at making it simple and bringing something forward in June. He noted that last week they thought the deadline was June 16, but it is in fact July 2 to certify an election or repeal the ordinance. . Mayor Leiken said at that SEL meeting, he heard for the first time "equitable distribution" from the Lane County Commissioners. He feels it is a step towards good faith. From his perspective, we tried to come up with a solution and then we had a County Commissioner spearhead a petition against it. If the County does not step up, then what is their solution? The City is not interfering in County business. At this time, the County seems to be willing to look into this, and the ball is in their court. He said with the July 2 date, it gives us some time. Mr. Goodwin said tomorrow morning the City of Eugene Public Works Director, his staff and Mr. Goodwin will be meeting with Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to finalize the IGA on the local fuel tax. It could be collectable as early as July or August. Councilor Burge said he appreciates the presentation and the facts Mr. Goodwin has given. Mr. Dwyer's signature gathering was in order to circumvent our Ordinance 6036. We could repeal our ordinance in order to find a solution, such as equitable distribution. Ifwe did not fmd an equitable solution to the matter, he assumes the Council still has the authority to go back and enact another ordinance. City Attorney Joe Leahy confirmed that the signatures gathered for this appeal are only applied to this ordinance. Councilor Burge said if we were to collect signatures to amend the County Charter, we would need 10,000 signatures. To be sure we had enough, it is recommended to get about 11,000 signatures to insure the minimal number of them are valid. . . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes, June 2, 2003 Page 3 Discussion was held regarding number of signatures collected and number that are valid and the reasons why. They also discussed the joint effort between cities to gather those 10,000 signatures. Councilor Burge does believe working with the County is the best solution. Councilor Ralston feels that if we put it on the ballot at this time, it would probably fail. He feels the County is willing to help and we should show support and repeal our ordinance. If the County drops the ball, he feels citizens would then be more willing to pass something if we needed to go back with another solution. Councilor Burge agrees, but is not sure the voters would vote it down. Councilor Ballew said the problem is we have nothing to negotiate. She is inclined to say that the voters need the opportunity to vote. She feels the County did not come through over the past two years, and they may not come through now. Lane County does have lot of rural roads to maintain, but they need to also maintain in the City because it is still part of the County. She does not feel we should repeal the ordinance. Councilor Burge still hopes a solution can be found with the County. If not, we still have options. . Councilor Woodrow discussed the timeline for us to collect the fees and the money we are looking at paying for the collection. He feels that by taking the County Commissioners at their word, we put it back on them to come up with a solution. We can always come back later with an initiative to put out for election. He doesn't feel the County Commissioners want citizens to hear the County doesn't care about their road problems. Councilor Burge said we could repeal our ordinance then come back and review this in November. We can continue negotiations and see if the County comes through. Ifno resolution is found, we could put it back on our agenda to proceed. Councilor Fitch said when we initially passed Ordinance 6036 it was with the idea that citizens are both City and County residents and it was with the understanding that if another solution came forward, we would repeal the ordinance. She said Council could meet June 30th (5th Monday) to refer the initiative. City Attorney Joe Leahy confirmed that they have until July 2 to refer the initiative and until July 17 to repeal the ordinance. Councilor Fitch believes that through educating the public on where their money is going, they could contact their County Commissioners to let them know they do not want this fee, and they want the County to step up with the funding. She suggests that we continue with the good faith discussions and we continue to move forward. She said we would like to repeal the ordinance, but we don't want to close the options. We need a long term solution beyond the two years the County is offering. If Council chooses to repeal they have until July 17. Mr. Leahy said he will continue to look at the mechanism for a County Charter amendment to reapportion those funds in an equitable manner. Discussion was held regarding going forward with an amendment to the County Charter and if it is necessary. . Councilor Fitch asked if Council should schedule a meeting for June 30. . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes, June 2, 2003 Page 4 Councilor Malloy said he would like to keep our options open. Mr. Kelly noted that we could have a special regular meeting on June 23rd if needed. June 30th is the Council preference. Mayor Leiken said that there may be interest from the Eugene Chamber of Commerce to assist in gathering countywide signatures to put a charter amendment on County Charter. The other issue is that the County needs the City for United Front issues and legislative issues. Councilor Fitch said staffwill continue to go forth in good faith until the June 30 meeting. Mayor Leiken asked Councilor Malloy ifhe would be interested in serving on the Financial and Judiciary Committee and the Museum Committee. Councilor Malloy said he would serve on those committees. Mayor Leiken also asked Councilor Woodrow ifhe would serve on the Lane County Boundary Commission. Councilor Woodrow agreed and also said he would be serving again on the Public Safety Coordinating Committee (PSCC) when they reconvene. Mr. Kelly asked Council about the TEAM Springfield and the all-elected board meeting dates. The tentative date at this time is July 16, time to be announced, but it is usually in late afternoon and early evening with a barbeque dinner included. He encouraged them to bring forth their agenda items. The meeting will be agenda driven. . Councilor Burge said that he attended a D.A.R.E. graduation and was very impressed. He continues to believe this is a very worthwhile and important program and would like to put D.A.R.E. funding on the TEAM Springfield agenda. He would like to find a way to get it back to two officers. It was noted that the school may be putting in $45,000 for the next year. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:47pm. \, Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa \. Attest: Am~ Acting City Recorder .