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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/17/2003 Work Session . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17,2003. The City of Springfield council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, November 17,2003 at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Ballew, Woodrow, Fitch, Ralston, and Malloy. Also present were Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Museum Board of Directors Application Review. Museum Director Kathy Jensen presented the staff report on this item. Ms. Jensen said Kathie K. Hardy has applied for a second term on the board. Ms. Hardy has many community contacts and her roots in Springfield go back to her pioneer ancestors. She is dedicated to preserving Springfield history. Her term of service would extend to November 17, 2007. . Ms. Jensen said Dione E. Young has applied for Jack Gischel's vacant position. Ms, Young is manager of the Gateway branch of Liberty Bank. She has met with the board's executive committee and has been attending board meetings since August, 2003. Ms. Young's term of service would extend to November 17,2007. The Springfield Museum Board of Directors recommends that council approve both candidates for membership and appoint them at the November 17, 2003 regular meeting. This would bring board membership to eight directors. According to Article I, Section 2 of the by-laws of the Springfield Museum Board of Directors, "There shall be eleven members of the Springfield Museum Board of Directors who shall be nominated by the Springfield Museum Board of Directors and appointed by the City Council." Also, according to Article I, Section 3 of the by- laws, "Directors shall be residents or property owners within Springfield, or associated with Springfield Businesses or specialists with the expertise required for board leadership and shall live within the Metro-Area General Plan boundaries," Councilor Ballew noted the financial difficulties the Museum is facing and asked Ms. Jensen if the new board members are aware of the situation. Ms. Jensen confirmed the applicants were aware of the financial situation. Councilor Woodrow said he knows Dione Young and he gave her high praise. Councilor Fitch commended the Museum Board of Directors for choosing excellent candidates to serve on their board. 2. Intergovernmental Agreement Between City of Springfield and Willakenzie Fire District. . Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas presented the report on this item. In order to negotiate an effective intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the city and the Willakenzie Fire District, direction is needed on several policy issues. These questions are included in City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 17, 2003 Page 2 . Attachment A in the agenda packet. This work session allows council time to discuss these questions. Ms. Pappas said that Councilor Fitch and City Attorney Joe Leahy are negotiating on behalf of the city with Steve Cornacchia, the attorney representing Willakenzie Fire District. Mr. Cornacchia was present in the audience. City Attorney Joe Leahy said that an executive session would follow this work session allowing council to provide direction to Councilor Fitch and Mr. Leahy as they go forward with negotiations with Willakenzie. These discussions are collaborative in nature because ultimately the taxpayers of the city would be the taxpayers of the district. Mr. Leahy wants it to be clear that in the executive session, there is no discussion regarding facts or policies. Questions about policy or financial issues need to be addressed during the work session. Mr. Leahy deferred to Assistant City Manager Cynthia Pappas for the next portion of the work session. Ms. Pappas discussed the first question included in the packet which relates to the overall philosophy the city would take regarding the tax structure. · Option 1.A. Tax Neutral Philosophy - Both parties are working to achieve a balance of service level and expenses by avoiding duplication between agencies, maintaining current service levels with no tax increase. · Option 1.B. Tax Increase - Expense is shifted to one party without a corresponding reduction by the other party. Councilor Ralston asked if FireMed currently makes a profit for the city. He asked who would run the Fire Med Program if we annexed with Willakenzie. . Fire Chief Dennis Murphy said Fire Med does make money, but it doesn't go into the General Fund, it goes into an Enterprise Fund. The revenue from Fire Med goes exclusively to pay for emergency medical services. The whole of emergency services and fire and life safety would be conducted through Willakenzie if we were to annex into a district. Ms. Pappas introduced Jack Snook, consultant from Emergency Services Consulting, Inc. (ESCI). Mr. Snook has been the consultant for the city regarding the fire district and is available for questions from the council. Councilor Ralston said for this to be beneficial it should have a positive impact, not just remain neutral or cause a tax increase. He asked why a tax decrease is not an option. Ms. Pappas said that they are looking at this in a three phase process. The first phase would be annexation of fire and life safety services to Willakenzie. That transition would be cost neutral with perhaps a minor savings for the taxpayer. The mid-term phase following annexation would include other districts such as Glenwood, Rainbow, and others merging with Willakenzie. During this phase, more of a savings would be realized. The third phase ultimately would include the two metro area providers, Willakenzie and the City of Eugene. This third phase would show much larger savings of potentially $1.5M. Councilor Ralston asked what Willakenzie is expecting to get from this annexation. He said it seems they will get better service. . Ms. Pappas said it would give Willakenzie certainty for their future. Their board would have the ability to manager their own budget and have a single area of focus. At this time, the cities Willakenzie contracts with can raise their contract amount without Willakenzie's input. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 17, 2003 Page 3 . Councilor Ralston said it does not appear Springfield is gaining anything from this annexation, but Willakenzie would be improving their services. Philosophically, the savings should go to the citizens of Springfield, not Willakenzie. Discussion was held regarding the police and fire levies and the instability of that funding if the levies are not approved by the citizens again at the end of the four years. Other services of the city were discussed and whether or not this annexation was a way to subsidize those services. Councilor Ralston said this is tax neutral and we are giving up our own fire department and the investment in that department. That is important to consider. He noted the Planning Commission's views on this at a recent council meeting. Councilor Ballew asked about the City of Eugene's Fire Med Program. Fire Chief Dennis Murphy said both the City of Springfield and the City of Eugene have their own Fire Med Program which stands on their own. The City of Springfield has made some cuts because of the loss of the contract with the City of Eugene, but remains viable. Councilor Ballew asked how Fire Med interacts with the ambulance service district area. Chief Murphy said everyone in the nearly 2000 square mile ambulance service area can sign up for Fire Med and receive the same benefit. It patterns the service area. Springfield Fire Med is not sold outside of that ambulance service area. . Councilor Woodrow said the benefit annexation has for the citizens of Springfield may not be apparent for five or ten years. One of the benefits is that we will not have to raise city taxes to keep the fire stations open or to build new frre stations, because that will be the responsibility of the fire district. The city will not have to go back and ask citizens for future levy money to pay for these services. We can try to keep our taxes down to situate the city so they do not have to create large tax increases. Councilor Ralston said the cost will still be there, whether it comes from the city or the frre district. Councilor Woodrow agreed, but noted the increased costs the city would have to ask for when the levies expire because of the higher cost for the city. Councilor Fitch asked Jack Snook about future potential savings other districts have experienced. Mr. Snook responded to Councilor Ralston's concerns regarding the tax increases to citizens. He said the difference is that in Springfield there is no frre district already in place. He said Springfield is in the very early stages of creating this regional district and is in the leadership role. In this initial stage the city is buying planning for the future. Discussion was held regarding capital development. This will afford the city to combine, plan for and develop fire stations and equipment. The next phase will be easier when the other districts join. Mr. Snook does think the third phase will give a better depth of service and efficiency five to seven years in the future. He noted San Bernadino County and their circumstances with the recent fires in that area. Formation of a fire district helps with regional training and service. It would be a good step. . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 17,2003 Page 4 . Councilor Malloy said he can only support this if it is tax neutral, with the idea of looking to the future to save some money. He asked what options the city has if we see a negative impact or no benefit to Springfield. The fire department is now a positive part of the city. Ms. Pappas said in the preliminary draft of the IGA, the transition would occur in a three year period of time. There would be checkpoints along the way to determine whether or not this district was working. Mr. Leahy said if approved, the annexation would occur and the IGA would structure the relationship after the annexation. The City could have an opportunity to make some changes in the IGA to respond to concerns expressed tonight. If there was a big issue once the city was annexed to Willakenzie and it was determined the annexation was a bad idea, we would have to detach from the annexation. If it is something that can be resolved, it could be worked out in the IGA. Councilor Malloy asked if the city could detach from the annexation without a large financial impact. Councilor Woodrow asked to include the financial piece in the IGA. Mayor Leiken confirmed with Mr, Leahy and Ms. Pappas that a short executive session would be sufficient following this work session. Questions should be addressed during this work session. . Councilor Woodrow asked about Attachment A, Item Two - Support Services and Administrative Facilities. He asked if under option a, Willakenzie would pay for the support. Finance Director Bob Duey said services are charged to the different departments for internal services, such as City Manager's Office, Information Technology, Finance and Human Resources, by totaling the costs and dividing them according to the number of staff in each department and services provided, That mayor may not be directly proportioned to what each department actually provided. Services provided for Willakenzie may be formula based for each service or itemized for each service provided. If the city undercharges Willakenzie, the taxpayers would be making up the difference. We need to be careful that our methodology is fair. Councilor Woodrow asked if the allocated portion comes from a separate account. Mr. Duey said it comes out of the EMS Fund. Councilor Woodrow asked if that portion would be paid by Willakenzie if we annexed with them. Mr. Duey said that would be correct if we chose option A. Councilor Ralston asked if the citizens would vote on whether or not to annex. Ms. Pappas said that decision would be made by council on December 8 based on public testimony. . Mr. Leahy said that if they choose to go forward with the process at the December 8 meeting, that decision would be subject to a contract that is satisfactory to council prior to the Boundary Commission meeting. It is counsel's recommendation that the public hearing be held on the contract when it has been negotiated sometime in January prior to the Boundary Commission meeting to allow citizens to see in detail what annexation would entail. The council would then make a decision to either go forward or not with that contract in terms of the Boundary City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 17, 2003 Page 5 . Commission. The election is either up to councilor if a remonstrance is made from citizens following the Boundary Commission's decision. Ms. Pappas explained the other two options outlined in the section two of Attachment A. Councilor Fitch clarified that at this time EMS is the only one charged for support services. The Fire Department is not because it is part of the general services. If council directs her to choose Option A, there would be some support given by the city. Councilor Ralston said he prefers Option B because the city will still be supporting the Fire Department in areas such as Human Resources and Information Technology. Mayor Leiken said anytime you have a transfer you have clauses in place that suggest that the company with certain expertise could be retained in a consulting capacity. That is what Option A outlines. From a short-term aspect it may not look to be a benefit, but in the long-term it could be very beneficial. Ms. Pappas said yes, this allows them to build that expertise in-house during the transaction. Mr. Murphy said there would be immediate layoffs in Fire and Life Safety equal to the EMS Fund, which is nearly $400,000, if annexation were to occur. It also changes the economy of scale. This is not all beneficial to the district, but is keeping intact every service we have in the city by sharing. This is designed to prevent duplication of administration and services. This is the right mix of cooperation versus separateness and is listed in Option A, which is tax neutral. . Councilor Woodrow asked ifthe IGA could be structured so it would be a phased in cost determination. Mr. Duey said under Option A, it would be phased in with each fiscal year outlining the costs, etc. He said they are currently working on a four-year budget which will show the results in FY08. Councilor Ballew said during the transaction period remaining tax neutral would be acceptable from a taxpayer's viewpoint. She discussed the taxing authority of the district and the city. Discussion was held on Attachment A, item 3, Reserve Fund Balance Transfers, included in the agenda packet. Councilor Ballew would like to see an inventory of what is at issue. Is it land or equipment? When did we acquire it? There may be something there that should stay with the city or maybe we could lease some of the equipment. Chief Murphy said the inventory information was distributed to the council in a notebook from the Blue Ribbon Panel. Councilor Ralston said he agrees that there is some property that the city needs to retain. . Councilor Malloy said if council moves forward on this, they need to commit without getting too technical. Either way the city needs to be protected in the annexation agreement. He does not want to buy back equipment later that the city gives away in this agreement. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 17, 2003 Page 6 '. Councilor Fitch said she would like direction for negotiations regarding lease options ifthey decommission the district. Mr. Leahy asked Mr. Snook about the real estate issue and his experience with how other cities that have annexed to a fire district have handled this issue. Mr. Snook said in most cases the land remains the property of the municipality, but is leased to the district. The facilities can be leased on a short-term basis or a long-term lease. Apparatus and equipment are usually a transfer over a one to three-year period. When the merger is solid, the equipment changes title to the district. The land and facilities would continue to be leased. Ms. Pappas said the fifth item to discuss is the governing board. The way the new board would be constructed is governed by state law. Four of the five Willakenzie Board members would be willing to step down, so the new board would be elected from the greater Springfield city limits. She asked council how many board positions would be acceptable to represent the city. Councilor Ralston said it should be proportional to the population of each area. It is not unreasonable for Springfield to retain four of the positions. Discussion was held regarding the wards in Springfield and the number of members on the board. Councilor Fitch said it is established by state law that a fire district has five board members. . Mr. Snook said the law is clear regarding the number of board members. He said four current members stepping down would be reasonable. Initially, four new board members would be appointed and from that point on they would be elected, generally for a two-year term. Councilor Ballew asked who would be the appointing authority. Mr. Snook said that needs to be resolved between the city and Willakenzie and clear from the beginning. Then it is the board's decision for appointment. Mr. Leahy said the agreement regarding the appointments needs to be made between their board and our city council. Councilor Woodrow asked if Rainbow and Glenwood would be entitled to have a member on the board if they also annexed with Willakenzie. Councilor Ballew asked if the current board is elected by districts or at large. Mr. Cornacchia said the board positions are currently at large positions. Councilor Fitch said the agreement cannot always assure Springfield would have four positions on the board. Councilor Malloy said the only time the City of Springfield has any control over board members residing in Springfield is when they are appointed initially. From that point on the positions will be filled by election at large, . . " . .. . . . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 17,2003 Page 7 Mayor Leiken said the Eugene City Council would be holding a work session to discuss this topic on December 3. Councilor Fitch and the Mayor are invited to attend this work session. A fire district is not something that only the City of Springfield is considering. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:52 p.m. \ Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa ( Attest: 04J)::t~la-- Amy Sow City Recorder