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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/15/2002 Work Session . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JULY 15,2002 The city of Springfield council met in work session in the Jesse Maine Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, July 15,2002, at 6:00 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken, Councilors Ballew, Fitch, Lundberg (6: 14 p.m.), Ralston and { Simmons. Also present were City Manager Michael Kelly, Assistant City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Tim Harold, Administrative Coordinator Julie Wilson and members of the staff. Councilor Hatfield was absent (excused). 1. Bicycle Plan Amendment (City of Springfield). . City Planner Colin Stephens presented the staff report on this issue. In response to City Council Direction, the Public Works department has initiated an amendment to the Springfield Bicycle Plan to add a 0.75 mile long multi-use path along the west side of 42nd Street from Olympic Street to the railroad tracks adjacent to the Weyerhaeuser entrance. The City Council reviewed three alignment options in the spring of200l and selected this alternative as the preferred choice. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on July 2, 2002 and voted to forward an affirmative recommendation to the Council. The proposed multi-use path will provide a connection between the existing Olympic Street on-street bike lane and the existing 42nd Street on-street bike lane that terminates at the Weyerhaeuser entrance. Currently, cyclists traveling on 42nd Street along this corridor must use the 42nd Street vehicle lanes which present conflicts between cars and cyclists. The City is in the design stage for construction of a multi-use path on the east side of 42nd Street across the street from the multi-use path under consideration. This east side path will provide bicycle connectivity for northbound trips. Southbound cyclists, however, will have to cross 42nd Street twice, at Olympic Street and at the Weyerhaeuser entrance. This situation results in out-of-direction travel and discourages bicycle ridership. The proposed path will remedy this circumstance and create an integrated bicycle circulation system in this area. The new path will cross portions of two properties. The larger property, the old mill pond site on the west side of 42nd Street, north of the railroad tracks, has recently received subdivision approval. A public easement for the bike path and other public uses along the 42nd Street frontage will be dedicated to the City by the property owner in exchange for vacated City right-of-way located elsewhere on the site. The smaller property, located just south of Olympic Street is vacant. The path can be built in the existing 42nd Street right-of- way along this section of frontage. . City Planner Colin Stephens answered questions from council. City Engineer Al Peroutka also answered questions from council. r Work Session Meeting Minutes July 15, 2002 Page 2 . 2. November 2002 Ballot Opportunity. City Manager Mike Kelly introduced this item. Fire Chief Dennis Murphy and Police Chief Jerry Smith were also present to discuss this issue and answer questions from council. Note: Police Chief Jerry Smith previously provided the Mayor and Council with a copy of a letter from Patrick Lucanio, 1097 Janus Street, Springfield, Chair of the Police Planning Task Force (PPFT). Mr. Lucanio's correspondence indicates that the PPFT supports option one being presented this evening. It was noted that option one would support and thereby implement the [police] long-range plan in its entirety as modified by the task force for police services in Springfield. Staff is seeking direction from council regarding the placement of a police staffing measure and/or a fire station staffing Measure on the November ballot. The City routinely uses public information surveys, task forces and special committees to provide feedback regarding the priority of city services and satisfaction with city services. In all of these venues, Public Safety has consistently ranked at the top of valued services and the one most citizens would like to see improved. . Because of State Law provisions, the November ballot offers a unique opportunity to seek service improvements for our citizens. Staff would therefore recommend that the Mayor and City Council direct staff to prepare two detailed ballot measures for consideration by the Mayor and Council at the July 22nd meeting. Council would then accept or modify staffs proposals and direct that a Public hearing be held on July 29th, to receive comments from our citizens on the detailed Ballot Measure Proposals. The 28th & Centennial fire station #3 has been without a fire engine crew since October 1997. 'City wide emergency response compliance for arrival in four minutes is now 65%, which is 15% below the 80% standard established by city ordinance. This means that the survival probability on average is 20% less and property loss twice as great when the delay is two minutes or more. Four-minute response in the area served by the 28th and Centennial station (from Mohawk Blvd. to 38th Street) has reached 52.1 % and is lagging 15-20% behind all other parts of the city in response times. This problem may be corrected by full-time staffing of the fire engine (12.0 FTE firefighter/paramedics). This would improve city wide four- minute emergency response times for firefighter/paramedics by 15-20% and in the area served by the Centennial fire station by 25-30%. Annual staffing costs for the improvements are approximately $975,000 or $40 per year for the owner of a $100,000 home. . The Police Department has identified staffing needs through discussions with the Council and community. The original Long-Range Plan for Police Services, adopted in 1996, provided for significant growth in the department over the past 6 years which has not occurred due to budget restraints caused by Statewide Ballot Measures 47 and 50. The Department has prepared two possible levy options for the November Ballot. Option 1 would implement the Long Range Plan with additional funding for the City Prosecutor, Court Clerk and Municipal Judge positions. This option has an estimated cost of $1.5M annually. Option 2 would reduce the additional officers from 8 to 6, eliminate the Community Service Officer positions, and reduce the level of support for the City Prosecutor and Municipal Court. Option 2 is estimated to cost $IM annually. These service improvements would cost the owner of a r Work Session Meeting Minutes July 15,2002 Page 3 . $100,000 home approximately $60 a year for Option 1 or $40 a year for Option 2. Additionally, the Council may wish to add a "sanctions" component to a levy request. Mr. Kelly said staff could bring back additional information for council review on July 22, 2002, and then hold a public hearing on July 29, 2002. Mayor Leiken referenced the levy proposed to voters in 2000. He said if we consider moving forward, we need to limit what is being brought forward to the voters. The levy should be a proposal for specific Police/Fire services and not include other funding requests. Chief of Police Jerry Smith shared information about bringing forward a single Police/Fire proposal, versus two separate measures. He shared information regarding the Advanced Marketing Research Survey, dated June 2002. He said he would recommend separate proposals, not one levy proposal. Fire Chief Dennis Murphy agreed with comments made by Chief Smith. He also said he supported the needs of the Police Department. Councilor Simmons discussed the Police long range plan, as well as information regarding grant funding. He said asking for the actual amount of money we need is an honest and upfront approach. Chief Smith answered questions regarding grant funding and said there are unknowns related to the grant funding issue. . Councilor Ralston expressed support for a lower cost levy proposal, versus a higher cost proposal. He also discussed the potential success rate of a lower cost proposal. Chief Murphy answered questions regarding fire protection contracts. Mr. Kelly clarified that any components of the proposed levy as well as the proposed allocation, would be a council decision. He briefly discussed information regarding filing deadlines with Lane County Elections. He also discussed a possible schedule/timeframe needed to develop a public education campaign regarding this issue. Mr. Kelly further discussed COPS grant funding that might be received to offset costs. He again reaffirmed that council would be the group that would "size" the levy proposal. Councilor Ralston suggested we get the information out to the community as soon as possible. Councilor Ballew said it is too early to downsize the levy. She said we are not clear on how much money we might receive from the COPS grant. She discussed placing sanctions as appropriate. . Councilor Fitch said it does make sense to have two separate levy proposals. She said Lane County will have five issues being placed on the ballot. She was supportive of both Police and Fire service needs. She said we are not cutting/reducing services, it is time to add long overdue and needed additional police and fires services. She said it is not acceptable to have , Work Session Meeting Minutes July 15, 2002 Page 4 . a fire station and not be able to fully staff it as needed for the community. She said there are a few sanctions, should COPS grant money be received, as well as other sanctions noted. Senior Management Analyst Mike Harman said COPS grant funds are used to off-set the cost of police officers. The amount awarded would be $25,000 per year, per officer. We would not know status of the award until September or thereabouts. The grant is for three years. The city would be required to have a continuance plan (e.g., retain officer(s) for additional time, following the three year grant period). Councilor Lundberg apologized for being late this evening. She said she was at the public meeting with Guy Lee neighbors this evening. Councilor Lundberg said following the levy vote, the city would know if they could "accept" the COPS grant (afford it with passage of levy or not). She preferred two separate measures versus one combined measure. Councilor Simmons supported proposing individual ballot measures. He said it is clear that citizens want better fire protection as well as improved police protection. He said we have not completed the NIC study and the alternative sanction is premature at this time. He said the citizens want law enforcement responding when they need them. Citizens are willing to pay a fair share for this service. He said we should not feel badly about going out for and supporting a levy. He discussed suggestions, should we be awarded the COPS grant. . Councilor Lundberg supported option number 1. She said everyone needs to support the proposal. Councilor Ballew said we can ask for citizen support, although, there are many folks that can't afford the levy or are not willing to pay for the levy. Councilor Lundberg said she thought citizens would support the levy. Councilor Fitch said she has not heard council opposition to the levy and has heard council express support for the proposal. She said even if we have two separate measures, the Political Action Committees (PAC) should work together. She asked if the education campaign could be conducted jointly. This would double efforts and display strong support. Mr. Kelly confirmed that council is comfortable with the proposals. He said council will also need to allocate and approve specific funding for the public education campaign. Mr. Kelly said staff could bring back information regarding the structure of a potential joint PAC. Mayor Leiken discussed the financial situation of our economy at this time. Councilor Fitch said if we receive the COPS grant, it could reduce the proposal amount. . Councilor Lundberg referenced the home-owner assessed value being used as we calculate the cost of the levy to homeowners. She also requested an expert opinion regarding proposing one versus two separate levy proposals. . Work Session Meeting Minutes July 15,2002 Page 5 . ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Julie Wilson ~'l\ t1 d Kim Krebs ~ City Recorder . . -