HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/26/2011 Work SessionCity of Springfield
Work Session Meeting
MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2011
The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth
Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, September 26, 2011 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg
presiding.
ATTENDANCE
Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri, VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston, and
Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery,
Assistant City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City Recorder Amy Sowa and
members of the staff.
1. Historic Commission Interviews.
City Planner and Historic Commission staff liaison Molly Markarian presented the staff report on this
item. There were two vacancies on the seven-member Historic Commission. The recruitment for this
vacancy opened on August. 12, 2011 and closed on September 9, 2011. Two candidates applied: Kuri
Gilt and Dannie Helm.
Municipal Code Section 2.502 stated that the qualifications for membership on the Historic
Commission included being appointees of Willamalane Park & Recreation District or Springfield
School District # 19; or specialists with expertise in the fields of architecture, history, architectural
history, planning, or archeology who lived within the Metropolitan Area General Plan boundaries; or
residents, electors; or property owners within Springfield. The School District and Willamalane
declined to appoint representatives to fill this vacancy.
State and Federal funding of the City's historic preservation activities stipulated that a majority of the
Commissioners have professional qualifications in a field related to historic preservation. Four
existing members possessed these qualifications. Ms. Gill and Ms. Helm also met the qualifications
and standards set forth by the National Park Service regarding commissions.
The vacancies on the Commission were the result of an unfilled vacancy and the expiration of a
Commissioner's term. Springfield City Council Operating Procedures Section IX, Subsection 3.7,
stated that vacancies on commissions shall be filled as needed throughout the year as vacancies occur.
Springfield Municipal Code Section 2.504 stated that appointed members shall hold office for four
years with the terms staggered to provide overlapping and continuity. Appointed candidates would
serve four-year terms beginning on the date of appointment by City Council, currently scheduled for
October 3, 2011.
The. Mayor and councilors chose which questions they would ask of each of the candidates. Because
one applicant was a returning member and the other was a new person, they used slightly different
questions for each candidate.
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The Mayor and Council introduced themselves to the candidates. They interviewed Kuri Gill with the
following questions:
Councilor Wylie: What vision do you have for the future of the Commission?
Councilor Woodrow: Why are you interested in continuing to serve on the Commission?
Councilor Moore: What do you think the role of the Commission is?
Councilor Pishioneri: What are some examples of Historic Commission success that have
occurred during your tenure as a Commissioner?
Councilor Ralston: What contributions have you made to the Commission during your tenure?
Councilor VanGordon_ : What specialty or skill do you possess that has especially benef tted the
Commission?
Mayor Lundberg: Do you have questions of the Council?
Ms. Gill asked how the Council could see the history of the City fitting into the Downtown Plan and
other redevelopment projects, and how the Historic Commission could help support that vision.
Mayor Lundberg said there was a well defined plan for the downtown area. She would like to know
• what the Historic Commission's perspective was of that plan and how the City could enhance the
historic features of downtown as we redeveloped.
Councilor Ralston said he was proud of the downtown and the historic buildings. He would like to see
the Historic Commission preserving and restoring some of those sites.
Councilor Wylie said she had attended a conference that had trolley cars, and she would love to see a
trolley car route that went from downtown, to the bus stops and around the Historic District.
Councilor Moore said she would like to see historical events downtown, especially during the
holidays. She would like to see lighting in the storefronts along Main Street; strolling choirs in vintage
clothing, and anything else that would draw people into the downtown. She noted the success of the
Art Walk and Farmers' Market that occurred in the summer.
Councilor VanGordon said he would like to see the Commission continue to be an advocate for
downtown and highlight the historical value of certain areas.
Mayor Lundberg suggested the Commission work with the A3 School staff and students to identify
historic buildings.
Mayor Lundberg thanked Ms. Gill for re-applying and being willing to serve another term on the
Historic Commission.
The Mayor and Council interviewed Dannie Helm with the following questions:
• Councilor VanGordon: Describe your familiarity with the City's historic resources.
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Councilor Ralston: What initiatives are you interested in working on if you are appointed as a
Commissioner?
Councilor Pishioneri: Describe your professional and personal experience as it relates to your
desire to become a Historic Commissioner?
Councilor Moore: What is it about Springfield's history that interests you most?
Councilor Woodrow: Why are you interested in serving on the Historic Commission?
Councilor Wylie: Have you attended a Historic Commission meeting? If so, what were your
impressions?
Mayor Lundberg: Do you have questions of the Council?
Ms. Helm asked what the Council was looking for in their vision of the Commission.
Councilor Wylie said it was difficult for some homeowners of historic homes to restore or maintain
their homes to period styles. She would like to see the Historic Commission provide resources for
those homeowners, such as volunteers to help paint their house.
Councilor Moore said she would like more visibility of the Commission in the community.
• Mayor Lundberg said it was important to her that the Commission was seen as a resource for those
living in historic homes, rather than a regulatory agency.
Councilor Pishioneri said he liked how the Historic Commission was getting involved in the
downtown. Making constant contact with the store owners downtown was very important and how it
connected with the historic residential area adjacent.
Mayor Lundberg thanked Ms. Helm for applying.
The Council talked about the qualifications of both applicants, and the high quality of members on this
Commission. Consensus was to ratify the appointment of both candidates during the next regular
meeting.
2. Glenwood Refinement Plan Phase I Refinement Plan Amendment TYP411-00005, Metro Plan
Amendment TYP4 1 1-00006, Development Code Amendment TYP411-00007, and Zoning Map
Amendment TYP31 1 -0000 1.
City Planner Molly Markarian presented the staff report on this item. This work session was the third
of three sessions intended to provide the Council,with a detailed summary of the Glenwood
Refinement Plan (GRP) Update Project, a comprehensive planning process the City, citizens, and
partner agencies had been engaged in since 2008. This session would outline the proposed
amendments to Springfield Development Code Section 3.47200 that would enable implementation of
the Phase I GRP.
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The final work products of this project would be an updated Glenwood Refinement Plan for the Phase
1 area and an updated Glenwood Plan District section in the Springfield Development Code to guide
the redevelopment of Glenwood.
At the July 5 and September 12, 2011 work sessions, Staff provided-the Council with a detailed
overview of the project and the GRP policy recommendations developed to date. Staff engaged the
Glenwood Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) in a detailed review of the Development Code
amendments as they were developed, along with private sector designers and developers. Staff also
asked the CAC to indicate their level of support for forwarding these amendments to the Planning
Commission for their review. Attachment 2 of the agenda packet summarized the comments received
from the CAC, along with the staff response to those comments.
A joint Springfield and Lane County Planning Commission work session and public hearing on the
Plan and Code amendments was scheduled for October 18, 2011. A joint City Council and Board of
Commissioners work session on the Plan and Code amendments would take place on November 7,
2011 with a joint public hearing scheduled for November 21, 2011.
Ms. Markarian said tonight's discussion would be on the Plan District, which was the Development
Code language for implementation of the Glenwood Refinement Plan. The Development Code section
would assist developers through the process of developing in this area, and what standards applied to
their property. This was a big component because from the beginning o this process, the Citizen
Advisory Committee (CAC) stressed unique identity and character of Glenwood as a gateway to
Springfield, and future development should further a sense of place of distinctiveness. The CAC also
• stressed paying attention to building design given the proposed inter-mixing of uses.
Ms. Markarian said they brought in a number of teams of people for the review process of the Plan
District, including architects and landscape architects both on the CAC and in the private sector, to
look at. this Code language. Staff was still meeting with several developers in the private sector and
making some adjustments that would be brought to the Planning Commission during their first public
hearing.
Ms. Markarian said.staff went through the existing Development Code around mixed-use development
already in Springfield, the existing Plan District, and other community codes. The standards discussed
this evening only applied to the riverfront. One of the sections looked at the land use designation,
zoning descriptions and overlay districts. There was a section that. described the process for .
development review. There was a section on non-conforming uses. If and when the Plan was adopted,
there were a number of uses that would be pre-existing, non-conforming uses, especially the industrial
uses along the riverfront on Franklin Boulevard. There was a section that described the future of those
properties. There were sections in the Code that provided information on how those pre-existing uses
could continue, expand or modify. There was a section about conflicts. Often times when new Code
language was created, other sections of the Code conflicted with that new language. This section
outlined what language would overrule. There was a section that described how a developer could
make modifications based on the standards; one was a minor process and the other a major process.
She provided an example. There was a section on phased development as'this would likely occur in
most areas. There was a schedule of use categories and a list of prohibited uses. This area was
envisioned as a pedestrian and transit oriented area, a node under State regulations; therefore, auto-
oriented uses were prohibited, such as car washes, tire sales; etc.
• Councilor Ralston said motels were on the list of prohibited uses. He asked about a convention center.
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Ms. Markarian said the definition of motels was a temporary hospitality use where the tenant's vehicle
was parked right outside the room door. Hotels were a different category.
Councilor Pishioneri asked how this would affect a drive-up such as Dutch'Brothers.
Ms. Markarian said the drive-up aspect would be prohibited, but they could have a building. The
drive-up was a State mandated prohibition for a node.
Councilor Wylie asked for criteria for prohibited uses. She felt that some made sense, but some didn't.
Some of the things such as a car wash, drive-through, or transit park-n-ride were good business sense.
Ms. Markarian said much of this list was from some of the existing lists the City had adopted for nodal
development. She said these prohibited uses would only be in the riverfront area.
Councilor Pishioneri said the riverfront area extended quite a distance.
Ms. Markarian said when Franklin Boulevard was upgraded to -the hybrid multi-way boulevard, there
wouldn't be much developable property on the south side.
Councilor Pishioneri said he would like to talk about that later.
Mr. Grimaldi said the Planning Commission would be reviewing this material, and then it would come
to the City Council. He asked if that was when Councilor Pishioneri wanted to look at that further.
Mayor Lundberg said last time this was discussed there were issues of parking and mobility of people.
The City was locked into this area remaining a node as it was in the TransPlan. She also had questions
about drive-throughs. Maps would be helpful to see what was allowed in each area. The riverfront area
was quite large.
Mr. Grimaldi said they could look at this in another work session, or see what came from the public
during the joint Planning Commission meeting.
Councilor Wylie said it would be a good idea to hear the feedback from the Planning Commission
meetings. She would like to have another look at it after the Planning Commission and before the
Council made any final decisions.
Councilor Ralston asked how they would deal with existing non-conforming businesses.
Ms. Markarian said they could stay as a pre-existing non-conforming use until they chose to rezone or
sell their property to someone that chose to redevelop. Everything would happen slowly over time.
Councilor Wylie said there were a couple of major eyesores in Glenwood. She asked if there was a
way to get them to come into compliance at some point.
Ms. Markarian said if the business was abandoned for a certain amount of time, anew business
couldn't come in that was the same type of business.
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Mr. Grimaldi reminded Council that the City would have urban renewal funds available as property
values increased.
Councilor Moore said she would like to see more photos of existing buildings with businesses on the
ground floor and residents above to help visualize what this might look like.
Mayor Lundberg said looking at the Code was more definitive and brought out more discussion. The
subareas made it difficult to sort out what fit where. It sounded like the Council wanted to hear what
came out of the Planning Commission meeting. Then it could come to the City Council for a complete
look.
Ms. Markarian said there was a work session scheduled prior to the public hearing. She noted that
there was a section on how uses were interpreted. There was a lengthy section on private and public
development standards, which were pretty similar to Chapter Four in, the Development Code. There
wasn't anything new in this chapter that wasn't already in the Plan. There was new language under the
private property landscaping standards. More flexibility and guidance was wanted in Glenwood in that
area. Staff received feedback over the years from developers and landscape architects about how our
generic City-wide standards could be improved. This offered an opportunity to make some of those
changes.
Mayor Lundberg said one of the terms for landscaping was `denser'. She noted that `denser' didn't
work on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway as everything overgrew in that area. She wanted that
described more clearly.
• Ms. Markarian said those standards were for private property and would not be along the streets. It
would be more for parking lots or stormwater management
Mayor Lundberg said the Coburg Road Mall was landscaped very nicely.
Ms. Markarian said they looked at Eugene's landscaping standards as a model.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if this allowed for a change of standards at a later date. He gave an
example of putting banners or something on light posts.
Ms. Markarian-said the lighting standards only had to do with the fixture itself and the light cast. The
next area was the parking. They were trying to make sure there was adequate parking, but also support
the policies in the Plan to keep it a pedestrian friendly and transit oriented place. Since staff last met
with the Council, the Transportation staff had looked back at the parking standards and revised those.
They were still proposing parking maximums, but the maximum was higher. She gave an example of
restaurants. Last time they talked, the maximum was one space per 66 square feet of seating area, but
that had been revised to one space per 30 square feet. Staff looked at other communities and how to
provide more flexibility.
Mayor Lundberg expressed concern about the parking for those living in the housing units and noted
the parking situation for students at the University of Oregon. How they approached the parking would
be very important.
Ms. Markarian said there was a dormitory parking standard they used.
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Councilor asked about the standard for trees in parking lots. He felt one large tree per four
Pishioneri parking spaces would not fit.
Ms. Markarian said the standard was for the interior of the parking lot. A minimum of 10% of the
parking lot landscaped was being proposed. The developer could choose how to come up with that
10%. The example with the trees was a suggestion. Staff would be creating diagrams to show some of
the options.
Discussion was held regarding whether the trees were required or an option. They were an option.
Councilor Ralston said he was still concerned about the number of parking spots per seating area for a
restaurant.
Mr. Barnett said much of the area that was counted included walkways and food stations. He felt it
was a reasonable number.
Ms. Markarian said signs were not regulated by the Springfield Development Code, but by Municipal
Code so that had not been changed. There were a number of light manufacturing operational
performance standards which were very similar to those in the campus industrial area. The only Code
language regarding Historic and Cultural Resources related to documentation required prior to
demolition of a structure that was potentially eligible for the National Register.
Mayor Lundberg asked if the City would' identify those before they bought a property.
Ms. Markarian said they were listed in the plan description. There were about five or six of those
properties. There was a section on Building Design standards. One topic was a design team, which
were already required in the Glenwood plan area for master plans. This insured there was professional
help coming in with the developers. There were regulations regarding the fagade to eliminate blank
walls and make the fagade more interesting. A height minimum of two stories or 20 feet for a one
story building was being proposed. The proposed maximum height was three stories within the
Willamette Greenway. Elsewhere the only thing constraining the height would be the developer
choosing to use wood frame construction, which would limit the building to five stories. Some
regulations were being proposed that would require buildings to be `stepped back' if they were over
three stories, to allow for light. There were some regulations regarding the amount of transparency
given by windows and doors on both ground floors and upper stories. This would allow a more
pedestrian friendly environment so people could see into the structures and out from the buildings.
There was a section on orienting buildings on the corners, making them more enhanced and unique.
There were some regulations about building setbacks. Those regulations were to try to create a
consistent street edge where the buildings were close to the streets providing a friendly pedestrian
environment. Residential buildings may want stoops and commercial buildings may want outdoor
seating, so there were provisions for those types of uses. There was a section about screening
mechanical equipment, predominantly at street level. There were standards for parking structures so
they would take on a similar look to the rest of the buildings. The last section was the Willamette
Greenway Development Standards. Those were necessary because they were proposing that the
Willamette Greenway setback and the riparian setback be the same in Glenwood. They also wanted to
provide more clarity about what related and water dependent uses were.
Councilor Ralston said one of the main features in Glenwood was the river. He asked if it would be
possible for a restaurant to put a balcony over the river. He asked if that could be private property.
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Ms. Markarian said it could be private. A boardwalk could be built in the setback, but not a restaurant.
Those were federal clean water regulations.
Councilor Ralston asked who they would receive approval'.from to build a dock or boardwalk in the
setback area.
City Planner Gary Karp said to make it easy for this type of building to occur, riparian and greenway
water related uses could be used, such as a dock. To get approval for development within the
Willamette Greenway was. a specific process. That would go through site review which would go to
the Planning Commission.
Planning Manager Greg Mott said to drive pilings in the river for docks, the developer would need to
go through State and Federal agencies. It was possible.
Ms. Markarian reviewed the CAC comments about the Plan District. Staff had met with CAC
members with concerns and made changes to address some of those concerns.
Councilor Pishioneri asked about bicycle parking standards per rentable rooms. People generally
didn't ride their bike to a motel.
Ms. Markarian said if the motel had a restaurant or spa associated with it, they needed bike racks for
local visitors. Some were also for the employee base. Many of these standards were from Eugene and
had been tested against other communities.
Mr. Barnett said he had reviewed the biking standards.
Councilor Pishioneri said the number of bicycle racks seemed to be too high for certain uses such as
warehouses. He asked how difficult it would be to change the standards at a later date if needed. He
wanted to be able to make changes.
Ms. Markarian said there were ways to make changes to this Plan. The City currently required bike
racks at other industrial sites.
Mr. Barnett said he would look at that further.
Mr. Karp said there would be a review process every five years of the Refinement Plan. Staff could
work through issues with people to try to accommodate.
Councilor Pishioneri said he would like to make sure developers felt welcomed.
Mayor Lundberg asked about the Type 3 review process that included a peer review. She asked about
the choices a developer had in who was on that peer review.
Mr. Karp said peer review was a way to get another professional to evaluate a proposal. The City was
looking for a way to make that work before going to the Planning Commission. The concept was that
it would be a benefit to the developer to have another peer review the proposal. When considering
whether or not staff or the developer should choose who was on that peer review, they determined to
have staff choose. That could be revisited.
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Mayor Lundberg said she would like to see some options for the developer if they didn't want the
review by certain people. She wanted to have some type of recourse if there was a disagreement.
Councilor Ralston asked if they could apply for exemptions from the design standards.
Ms. Markarian said yes, there was a process.
Councilor Moore asked about permeable and non permeable surfaces for parking. She did not see that
addressed in the Plan.
City Engineer Ken Vogeney said permeable was preferred. There were provisions under the
stormwater management for parking lots and sidewalks to use pervious surfaces to reduce runoff.
Ms. Markarian said it would be part of the Engineering Standards.
Mayor Lundberg said this Plan would go to the Planning Commission, then back to the City Council
in a work session.
Mr. Grimaldi encouraged Council to let staff know if they had further questions. One on one meetings
could be set up with staff if needed to address those questions.
Mayor Lundberg thanked Ms. Markarin for her work.
3. Fire Department Overtime & Staffing Analysis
Fire Chief Randy Groves presented the staff report on this item. Council requested information and .
discussion on Fire Department overtime and potential options for overtime reductions in the future.
During the FY12 budget preparation process, a number of questions were raised regarding fire
department line staffing, overtime expenses, and minimum staffing requirements. Fire had done an
analysis of this complex issue, and would discuss that information during tonight's meeting.
Fire Department overtime was driven by a number of factors,_ including staffing level, IAFF
contractual leave requirements, number and severity of injuries/illnesses, and other leave types
(military leave, FMLA, union leave, bereavement leave, etc). The information was provided to aid in
the understanding of the history, considerations, and options regarding line staffing and overtime.
Chief Groves said there were a number of staff here that could answer questions, as well as members
of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). He presented a power point presentation,
which was also Attachment 2 of the Council agenda packet.
Chief Groves said the mission of the Fire Department was "Preserving Life, Property, and the
Environment". He referred to a slide showing a chart of how the Fire and Life Safety (F&LS) budget
was divided between the General Fund, Ambulance Fund, Fire Levy, Special Revenue (grants), and
Vehicle and Equipment. The second slide showed a chart of how F&LS spent their money between
personal services, materials and services, and capital. Eighty-one percent of the budget was spent on
personal services. The third slide showed a chart of where fire personnel were. located. The areas
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included fire operations, Fire Marshal, and administration and support. A city map was displayed
showing the locations of the five fire stations in Springfield, along with staffing levels at each.
Councilor Ralston asked why two stations had five staff and some had six staff.
Chief Groves said those with six had a supervisor assigned to that station. He discussed fire operations
staffing, which operated on a 24/48 schedule. That schedule included three rotating shifts; A, B, and C,
with staff on duty for 24 hours and off duty for 48 hours. This was the most common shift schedule
found in the industry. There was one battalion chief on duty that supervised the shift. He further
described the staffing for fire operations and noted how those personnel could be used for our ISO
(insurance services office) rating. There were three medic units and five fire engines. He noted a
recent study on response times based on number of employees. The City had a labor agreement with
the IAFF that provided for vacation accrual rates, sick leave, station assignments and moves, and other
guidelines for work environment. There were also training requirements that increased some of the
overtime, as well as injuries and illness. He discussed some considerations which included: acceptable
service levels; local option levy funding; OSHA standards; National standards; ISO ratings; call
volume mix; and future development.
Councilor Moore asked for clarification of the ISO rating.
Chief Groves explained how they rated fire departments. The rating affected insurance costs for
homeowners and business owners.
Chief Groves reviewed the response packages for different types of events. He explained how the
three battalion system worked and the benefit of this system in terms of response. He further explained
the ISO ratings, what they were based on and the affect on citizens. Both Eugene and Springfield had
lost points during the last grading period in all areas except water supply. He noted that they relied on
firefighters on the EMS for fire assistance, and also paramedics on fire trucks for medical
emergencies. The next ISO rating would be in the next year or so, and the combined services to date
could be a benefit regarding our rating. Staff would keep. Council informed when that was getting
closer.
Chief Groves spoke regarding emergency medical services and explained the services provided. Many
of the patients they saw were at acute stages of disease who had not received preventative healthcare.
He noted the revenue sources for the EMS. Both cities were operating in the black this last year due to
implementation of many different things. The Ambulance Transport Committee Task Force of the
joint elected officials would be reconvening in the near future to look at this further.
Councilor Woodrow asked if they were getting an increase in the number of calls from people that
were not transported.
Chief Groves said they had both calls that required transport and calls that did not. They transported a
higher percentage than not. He said.F&LS ran an all advanced life support system. Paramedic
firefighters were on every vehicle that went out on calls. There were multi-role, multi-skilled
personnel which allowed flexibility of where they were assigned. The cities had a good partnership
with Lane Rural for non-emergency services. There was now a fee for service in place. FireMed was
also still in place. All program activities were designed to support field delivery of care. He spoke
regarding budget balancing strategies which included: increasing rates; adding the fire engine motor
vehicle accident (MVA) first response fees, adding the licensed facility inspection fee; reducing
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staffing, consolidating or merging the two fire departments; and reducing minimum staffing. Reducing
minimum staffing would mean reduced services and decreased firefighting safety.
Chief Groves reviewed operations staffing and the different levels over the last three years. Staffing
levels were constantly changing as people left through retirement, etc. The cities of Eugene and
Springfield were in the process of preparing a hiring process. The costs would be shared between the
two cities which reduced overhead and staffing of the process. He reviewed the overtime costs by fund
over the last three years. He discussed reasons for overtime including vacation, sickness, training, and
other. Those with longer tenure in the organization had more vacation which increased that figure.
Sick leave had gone down some this year, but there were many injuries in Springfield. Personnel were
exposed to dangerous situations.
Mayor Lundberg asked about the category labeled "other".
F&LS Management Analyst Jana Sorenson said that included repairs, conflagrations, military leave,
FLSA, and others.
Chief Groves said some of the training exercises were paid for with grant funds. Conflagrations were
also covered.
Councilor Ralston said 24/48 schedule was a 56 hour work week. He asked if that was at straight pay.
Chief Groves said that was correct.
Councilor Ralston asked about a situation where firefighters were fighting ' a fire and a shift change;
occurred. He asked if they would switch out personnel.
Chief Groves said sometimes they did, but they tried to minimize that. That was one of the advantages
of the 24 hour shift. They did try to relieve the last shift as quickly as possible.
Councilor Pishioneri asked how much of the overtime was reimbursed by other sources.
Chief Groves said it was a very small amount.
Councilor VanGordon asked if the training was during the normal shift week or on overtime.
Chief Groves said it depended on the type of training. Generally, the routine in-service training was
done on duty, but there were some types of training that required staff to go out and some training that
brought outside people in to our organization. They tried to hold trainings through FEMA or other
grants locally.
Chief Groves spoke further regarding ways to reduce overtime. Firefighting and emergency services
were very labor and equipment intensive. Options related to decreasing staffing could reduce- overtime,
but would have a negative effect on the service system and safety. There were some small things they
could do to maximize on-shift time for some of the maintenance and project work. They had also
worked to minimize discretionary overtime. Consolidation of some of the logistic functions was also
being considered.
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Councilor Ralston asked how many personnel would be needed fora 40 hour work week. He wou1d.
like to see a cost analysis of a 40 hour week, including what it would cost in straight time plus
overtime.
Chief Groves said page 9 of Exhibit 1 of the agenda packet provided some different staffing models.
They would need to add a fourth platoon, which would be about 75 personnel. There was a 10/14
schedule that would not increase the number of firefighters needed, but there were no financial
benefits to that schedule and it could be difficult. Eugene tried it shortly in 1980.
Councilor Moore asked what the 24 hour shift looked like.
Chief Groves said firefighters on the medics units sometimes did not sleep. When a firefighter came
on duty, he checked over his equipment, there were other routine activities, as well as service calls.
When nothing else was required of them between calls, they were allowed to sleep. Some units in the
combined system rarely got sleep time. Some units were busier than others, but he felt they received
good value from their personnel. Mandatory training requirements for certifications needed continuing
education. Firefighting and life saving skills needed to be practiced.
Councilor Moore referred to the average response time. She assumed that would change through the
day depending on traffic flow. She asked how that was measured.
Chief Groves said they used the 80-90 percentiles. He explained. It was an average,
Councilor Wylie said the overtime costs were going down for FY 12 about 7 to 8%.. She asked how
that compared to other fire departments. Given the nature of the shift structure, it seemed they were
stuck with overtime.
Chief Groves said he had done significant reviews of this and the City of Springfield looked like many
other cities, although not all departments had ambulances which was a factor. There were injuries that
firefighters could not come into work with because their work was very physically demanding. Eugene
and Springfield had very similar overtime rates. They had different days off, but came out about the
same. He explained. If the two departments merged, everything would need to be re-analyzed.
Councilor Wylie asked Chief Groves to provide a percentage of total budget and overtime costs for
Eugene versus Springfield.
Chief Groves said they could do that. They were very similar when adjusted for size. The contracts
were very similar between cities, but had different incentives. He noted some of the other differences.
Councilor Moore said police provided protection 24/7 as well and she asked how it was different than
firefighters. She noted that police needed to be alert through their full shift, while fire fighters had an
opportunity to take breaks. Emergency room workers also had similar issues.
Chief Groves said there were different staffing levels during different times of the day in the-Eugene
Police Department. He explained. Emergency room staff had different levels as well. Firefighters had
static deployment based on what it took to fight a fire and standards of deployment for response to
emergencies. Things could happen during any time of the day and night. With fires, it took a certain
number of personnel and equipment.
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Council Work Session Minutes.
September 26, 2011
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Mr. Grimaldi said it would be difficult to put Police on 24/48 schedule. He noted that Councilor
Moore was asking if firefighters could go on the same schedule as police. The Chief outlined what
those patterns would look like in Attachment 1 of the agenda packet.
Councilor Woodrow asked if there were standards for on-call pay.
Springfield Fire Marshal Al Gerard said the Fire Marshal's office also responded to emergencies.
When it occurred after hours, the on-call deputies received 1/10 of their base pay per hour while on
call. When they were called out, they received overtime.
Councilor Woodrow asked if there would be a minimum standard if they did have people on-call. Yes.
Mr. Gerard said their response time was 45 minutes from the Fire Marshal's office.
Chief Groves said things that needed considered if adjustments to the schedules or overtime were
made included: acceptable service levels; local option levy; union contracts; OSHA standards;
National standards, ISO rating; call volume mix; and future development. Options for the future could
include moving forward to a fully merged 3-battalion workforce, reducing overtime by operating
"swing" crews, and rolling brown-outs. Overtime dollars could be reduced, but not without some
effect on service, response time and safety implications. The Fire Option levy was renewed in 2010 for
five years. That levy funded one fire station, equipment and training. Consolidation and merger of the
two fire departments was still under study and the City was talking with the labor units. A work
session on the merger was scheduled for discussion with the Council on October 10.
Councilor Pishioneri said the average firefighter's vacation was about 343 paid hours. In terms of an 8
hour shift, that would equate to about 43 work days, and for a 12 hour shift about 30 shift days. He
agreed that it was costly to replace someone who was on vacation. There would be less overtime costs
if the shifts were shorter. He didn't see that analysis in this report.
Chief Groves said his report showed what shift configurations could look like.
Councilor Pishioneri said he would like to know how the figure of 25 additional staff needed for a
shorter shift was determined, along with actual cost savings. He would like to see the total net work
hours per person. He discussed wasted hours on the 24/48 shift and said he would like to see the
average amount of money saved going to shorter shifts.
Chief Groves said that would need to be bargained. If the firefighters were working less than a 56 hour
work week, the rate per hour may increase. When preparing the staffing models; he was only looking
at what it would take to have a reasonable work week and cover each day. It would still be a 24/7
operation and if they kept static base-line level deployment, it would take a certain number of people.
He was not opposed to looking at another schedule. This was the most common schedule in the United
State and had been looked at by many people over the years. They could look at other options. At the
time it was.developed, the 24/48 shift was the most cost effective.
Councilor Pishioneri said he would like to see the overall costs with the other schedules. He spoke
regarding firefighters and paramedics and noted that some cities kept those separate. He would like to
look at whether or not those two positions needed to be merged, and if they could have different pay
scheduled. That could be a cost savings. Deployment could also be looked at if they split fire and
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Council Work Session Minutes
September 26, 2011
Page 14
ambulance services. He also wanted to know if there could be a cost savings if they went to privatizing
ambulance services.
Chief Groves said money could be saved by privatizing ambulance services or separating the
firefighter and paramedic personnel. If the firefighter/paramedics on the ambulance were no longer
firefighters, it affected their ISO ratings. If they lost paramedics on the engine companies, we lost our
advanced life support emergency response. Those were things that could be done to save money, but
there were consequences.
Councilor Pishioneri asked if the ISO rating cost the City money.
Chief Groves said it saved the community money. It didn't affect the City's costs. The fire department
was part of the insurance system.
Councilor Ralston asked what the average benefits cost for firefighter.
Ms. Sorenson said it averaged about $40,000.
Councilor Ralston said if benefits cost $35,000-$40,000 per firefighter, and 25 positions were added
with a 42 hour work week, that was an additional $755,000. The potential savings of going to a shorter
work week was minimal. If the hours were reduced to a 42 hour work week, the firefighters would
likely ask for higher wages.
Human Resources Director Greta Utecht said if they added staff, there was increased risk, exposure to
injury and sick leave.
Councilor VanGordon said the trend seemed to be increasing. The challenge was that he didn't want to
put the firefighters, property or citizens at risk. We needed to work on efficiencies in that context and
work on not having the overtime figures grow. He agreed $1.2M was a lot of money, but the savings
needed to be driven by maintaining service levels. The overtime could be looked at as an investment.
In the long term, discussions needed to be held with the labor unions about the cost issues. If that cost
continued to grow, the City wouldn't be able to afford to pay for everything. The Fire Department had
put itself in a strong position, but this issue needed to be part of the discussions.
Chief Groves said the biggest thing the department needed to work on was reducing the number of
injuries.
Mr. Grimaldi said injuries was a key area and had been worked on with the labor unions. Council
could assist by continuing to support some of the. expenditures it took for the. Wellness Programs and
keeping our staff fit. Another area that we could control through labor negotiations was vacation
accrual.
Councilor Moore asked if during a 56 hour week, 3 hours were guaranteed overtime pay.
Chief Groves said 56 was the average in the 21-28 day FLSA cycle.
Finance Director Bob Duey said the overtime was based on the 28 day cycle.
Councilor Moore asked if firefighters were assured a certain amount of overtime.
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Council Work Session Minutes
September 26, 2011
Page 15
Mr. Duey said 'in a 28 day cycle, they would work 6 hours overtime, which was time and a half. The
differential was half time.
Mayor Lundberg said this was a very complex issue. The bottom line was that the City needed to do
something to look at our costs.'Overtime was just one piece. This subject would be brought back to
Council during the budget process or at a later date. She asked if there were other questions Council
would like addressed when this came back to them.
Councilor Ralston asked if the average salary was $33/hour. Yes.
Councilor Pishioneri would like to see ideas that were not traditional and how those could be done,
opposed to the negative consequences. He would like to look at maximum efficiencies for the citizens.
Some possible options could be shift schedules, privatization of the ambulance service, and volunteer
firefighters. He understood there were disadvantages, but didn't. see why they couldn't work.
Chief Groves said brownouts and swing crews could reduce the costs.
Councilor VanGordon said he would like to look at logistics and whether or not we could move to a
system where all logistics were moved to one person, and the impact of doing that.
Chief Groves said if Council wanted to meet one on one with staff to go over other questions or ideas,
the door was always open.
The Mayor and Council thanked staff for their work on this item.
4. Council Ward Redistricting.
Bill Clingman from LCOG presented this item. On July 11, 2011, the Council met in a work session to
review information presented regarding 2010 Census data and Council ward boundaries. At the
conclusion of that work session, Council asked that Mr. Clingman, bring back several scenarios for
Council consideration.
Mr. Clingman presented five scenarios, including the existing wards, for Council review. After review
of the scenarios, Council would have the opportunity to remove one or more of the scenarios, ask for
another scenario, or keep those presented as starting scenarios.
The starting scenarios chosen by Council would be brought back to a work session on November 14.
During that work session, Mr. Clingman would have the ability to adjust the boundaries "live" based
on Council direction, using interactive software, to see the affects of any changes.
Mr. Clingman reviewed the scenarios and discussed some of the changes in each.
Councilor Van Gordon asked about cleaning up some of the boundaries that didn't follow a natural
divide. He would like to see some options with those natural divides.
Mr. Clingman said doing that often meant that the boundary would need to be changed -on the other
side of the ward to balance the population. During the future session, they could make those changes
with the software as it showed population in those pockets and neighborhoods.
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Council Work Session Minutes
September 26, 2011
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Councilor VanGordon said he would prefer to look for the cul-de-sac boundary lines and smooth those
out.
Councilor Ralston said there were a lot of people that lived off Hayden Bridge Road that were not in
the City limits. It would be nice if the wards went out to the UGB.
Councilor Pishioneri said he liked the least change scenario and the growth scenario for Wards 4, 5
and 6. Putting Ward 3 into one area was a good idea.
Councilor Ralston said the reason Ward 3 would be totally misaligned, was because of the location of
his residence in Ward 4.
Mayor Lundberg said this- was a more dramatic change from last time.
It was noted that there were several councilors that lived near the boundary of their ward.
Mr. Grimaldi said it sounded like Council would like to have a closer look at the map, avoid the cul-
de-sac issue, and look at scenarios that followed more of the geographic boundaries. Those options
could be brought back for the interactive session.
Mayor Lundberg asked if there was other information that could affect any of the scenarios, such as
growth, it would be helpful to provide that at the next meeting.
Mr. Clingman said they were making an educated guess of what would happen in one part of town and
trying to accommodate that probability. He said they could also think about the area outside the
boundary to project where the wards would go once annexed.
Mr. Grimaldi cautioned against drawing lines on a map that showed people coming into the City. It
could be useful for identifying undeveloped land.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m.
Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa
Christine L. Lundberg
Mayor
Attest:
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Amy S a
City Recorder