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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/17/2011 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2011 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, October 17, 2011 at 6:15 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, City Attorney Joe Leahy, City', Attorney Matthew Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Wastewater Service for Anderson Lane. City Engineer Ken Vogeney presented the staff report on this item. He used the screen to display a map of 'the area from the City's GIS system online. In late June, William Poole, owner of 672 Anderson Lane, contacted staff for information concerning the process for connecting to the City's wastewater system as his septic system was failing. Mr. Poole's property is located outside of city limits at the southerly end of Anderson Lane and abuts the East Gate Woodlands Park owned by Willamalane. The nearest City wastewater line that could serve this property was located 288 feet south of Mr. Poole's property within an easement in the Park near the westerly end of Walnut Place. According to Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR 340-071-0160), a permit to repair a septic` system could not be issued if the property was within 300 feet of a sewerage system that was both physically and legally available. Further, the Springfield Municipal Code (Chapter 3.350) required that a property connect, at the owner's expense, to the City sewer if it was within city limits and within 300 feet of a public sewer. As discussed in Attachment A' of the agenda packet, staff identified three options for Council's consideration and direction concerning providing wastewater service to Mr. Poole and potentially to other properties .along Anderson Lane. In keeping with City policy and past practice, staff recommended proceeding under Option 1. Option 1: Mr. Poole construct the public wastewater line extension to his property, and across.his full frontage, at his full cost, using the City's Public Improvement Project (PIP) permit process. Option 2: Council initiates a Local Improvement District (LID) to construct the wastewater line and assesses the cost to the benefitting properties. Option 3: Council directs staff to evaluate how to fund and deliver a city-funded capital improvement project to construct the wastewater line, and charge- Sewer In-Lieu of Assessment fees to each property when they make their service connection. Ken Vogeney said staff had provided Mr. Poole with the information regarding sewer connection. Once a line was extended it was physically available.,To be legally available, there either needed to be a moratorium from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) or the servicing agency or district City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17, 2011 Page 2 needed to be willing to provide the property service. For Springfield, to receive service, the property would need to be annexed to the City. He noted three cul-de-sacs that were part of the Devonshire Park subdivision which were still not annexed. There were sewer lines in each of those cul-de-sacs that were not connected to anything. All eighteen lots in that subdivision were owned by the same trust. Each was a duplex and on individual septic systems. Mr. Vogeney reviewed the options presented. He noted that there was a sanitary sewer on Kellogg Road, but it was very shallow and could only serve a short distance without a pump station. One of the factors that needed to be considered if they looked at a Local Improvement District (LID) was that Lane County had jurisdiction and would need to initiate the LID. Also, when staff spoke with the property owners along Anderson Lane in 2005, none of the other property owners were interested in participating in an LID, and eighteen of the twenty-three benefited lots were owned by one entity. If the Council initiated an LID through the County, a two-thirds majority could overturn the LID by a vote and one entity owned over two-thirds of the properties. Mr. Vogeney noted that there was an error in the packet regarding the cost for the property owner to extend the public portion of the sewer line. It should be $62,100 rather than $52,100. That didn't include the cost to annex and other connection costs. Councilor Pishioneri thanked them for the research. He asked staff to confirm that the lines to the-east of the property went uphill. Mr. Vogeney said that was correct. He noted the reasons why the proposed connection was being considered. He would confirm if a 'pump would be required if it was connected to the east. Councilor Pishioneri said Option 3 seemed to be the best option and made sense. It provided a better positive impact for all of the neighbors, and would spread out the costs more evenly. Councilor Wylie said this was not in the City. She asked City Attorney Joe Leahy if the owner had the opportunity to litigate against the developer to recover the cost of the sewer since the lines were put in, but not connected. Mr. Leahy said because this property was not in that subdivision, Mr. Poole could not litigate against that property owner. To litigate against the person Mr. Poole bought the property from, they would need to look at the paperwork and disclosure. Councilor Wylie said she was not in favor of the City stepping in to pay. If it was the City's responsibility it would be something to consider. Councilor Ralston said he was not interested in the City spending money on it either. The City was already short on funds. It was in the best interest of all the property owners to connect eventually. He would like to work towards a way to cooperate with the other eighteen units to get it all hooked up and spread out the cost. They would need to annex at that point. Councilor Moore said six years had gone by since they last contacted the owner of the other eighteen properties. It could be worthwhile to contact them again. Mr. Vogeney said they did receive a call from a property owner on Anderson Lane asking when the sewer service would be available. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17, 2011 Page 3 Councilor Moore asked if the dry connections could still be usable. Mr. Vogeney said once the project proceeded, the City would TV inspect the lines to determine their condition and. usability. If they were not usable, they would need to be replaced. The developer paid to put those lines in when the subdivision was built. Councilor Moore asked if the City would be liable if we had to replace those lines Councilor Ralston said it was a Lane County project when it was built. Mr. Grimaldi reminded Council that every expense related to the Sewer Fund went back into rates. The total cost of the project would be about $138,000, which would be about a 3% variance in rates. Councilor VanGordon asked if any of the properties would be annexed under Option 3. Mr. Vogeney said under Option 3, Mr. Poole's property would need to be annexed to connect to the sewer. One other property across the street from Mr. Poole was annexed, but not yet connected. They would be required to connect and they were interested. Councilor VanGordon said if this was just dealt with one person at a time, there would be no even distribution under Option 3. Mr. Vogeney said under Option 3, all of the property owners would eventually need to connect when their septic systems failed. At that time, they would need to annex and connect. They could also connect once the line was in the ground. Councilor VanGordon said he would like to hear from the property owner of the eighteen homes. He wanted this to be as fair as possible and the LID or Option 3 seemed to be the most fair. He noted that Coburg was using a hybrid system between septic and their sewer plant. He asked if that was a more affordable option. Mr. Vogeney said he was not aware of that system, but could check into it. There was technology available to retain the septic tanks with private pumps going to a public pressure line.- Staff could look at the cost benefit of that type of system. The traditional systems were by gravity, which was very cost effective to maintain. Councilor VanGordon said a different type of system would also need to meet Oregon Administrative Rule. Councilor Wylie asked if the State ever granted a waiver Mr. Vogeney said he wasn't sure. The State administered septic system 'permitting through the Lane County Sanitarian's Office, so he would need to contact them regarding a possible hardship waiver. Councilor Wylie said Option 1 was the only one feasible for the City. Someone needed to look to the future on this development. The City Council was in a difficult position since the property was not in the City. An orderly plan was needed to transfer the rest. of the properties to sewer. More options needed to be brought forward that were thoughtful to the outcome of this issue. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17, 2011 Page 4 Councilor VanGordon asked if we could get a sense of how many of these potential issues we had. in our area. Mr. Grimaldi indicated there were many areas. Councilor VanGordon said the discussion should be directed towards how to move forward on the other unincorporated portions of the County in a way that was equitable and consistent. Councilor Pishioneri said if the City laid the trunk line,in, we would recover our costs by way of a fee in lieu of assessment at the time of connection. It would be money recovered, although they did not know when it would be recovered. He didn't feel the property owner of the eighteen properties would be interested in an LID. He asked about the properties on the map on Attachment 2. He asked if the properties north off of Rowan Lane that bordered Kellogg to the south, were hooked up to sewer. Mr. Vogeney said they were not hooked up. There were sanitary sewers in the streets with stubs to each property, but there were only a few that were annexed. Those properties would be outside the boundary of the LID. Councilor Pishioneri agreed that more information would be helpful, including reaching out to more of the neighbors. Discussion was held regarding the fact that there was one owner of the eighteen lots in the Devonshire neighborhood, and that one owner would get eighteen votes (one vote per property). Mayor Lundberg said Council needed more information. They would like staff to have a conversation with the County and also with the neighbors. She felt the City needed to make it possible for people to annex-without it costing the property owners so much. The City didn't force annexation, but needed to address these types of island developments that would be coming before Council. She asked if staff had enough information for their follow-up. Mr. Vogeney said they would look for another work session soon to bring back that information and keep this moving. 1. Thin Lift Overlay Projects on Unimproved Streets. Maintenance Manager Brian Conlon presented the staff report on this item. The inventory of the City's unimproved asphalt mat streets was approximately 22 miles (13% of the City's street network). Most of these 40 to 50 year old streets were steadily deteriorating and generally in poor condition. Public Works Maintenance Division was faced with the challenge of maintaining these streets to the satisfaction of the residents living on them and minimizing driving hazards. Long standing Council policy anticipated resident funding of these streets to bring them to urban standards. The City Council approved a policy in 2008, following a recommendation from a Preservation Task Force, that provided an alternative to property owners and residents that lived on some unimproved streets - a minimal resurfacing with the provision they pay for the full cost of materials, while the City covered labor and other incidental costs. The service life and the street functionatity were substantially improved with this lower cost alternative. Whether citizens were just notwilling to pay the full cost of materials or the timing of the economic downturn, staff had not received any project requests under this program. There had, however, been two recent thin-lift overlay projects this summer on Bluebelle City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17, 2011 Page 5 Way between S. 46th and S. 47th Streets, and S. 71St Street where urgent circumstances warranted City work to repair the roadway surface. Because City needs were the moving force behind these projects, staff included a 50% City cost share for materials. Thirty out of thirty-one property owners elected to contribute their 50% share for the cost of materials for the two projects. These projects garnered a good deal of cooperation and positive feedback from the participating citizens. Staff felt that the positive response to the 50% City cost share may present an opportunity to explore the prospect of City cost sharing on future similar projects in the context of dealing with long term funding.issues for the street system. This approach could be part of a discussion which included creating alternative street standards to reduce the cost of full improvement. It could also include potentially recognizing that the remaining unimproved streets represented an irreducible minimum for which it was not reasonable to expect citizen participation, and considering if the general benefits to the public may justify an approach which focused on developing funding sources to complete the improvement of all City streets. Brian Conlon displayed photos of Bluebelle Way showing the street before and after the thin lift overlay. (Get power point from Brian or Rhonda). He explained the process for the project and how the residents paid. Following the project on Bluebelle, residents contacted task force member Ronna Frank who lived on South 71St Street. There were drainage issues and bank stabilization issues on South 71St so staff worked with property owners along that street as well. The citizens on both streets were very happy, and the road conditions were much better for a low cost share. This was an opportunity that would also be coming up on South 70th. Last summer, Springfield Utility Board was doing a major line replacement on the upper part, of South 70th Street. Mr. Conlon met with their director who noted the high cost of hiring a contractor, to repair the street after the replacement. Mr. Conlon suggested the City do some of the work at a lower cost than the contractor. That would enable the City to do something next summer. The City did that work for SUB for about $5000, which left funding available from SUB to use toward an overlay of South 70th. The City could overlay thin lift on South 70th from Main Street to Jessica Drive for about $30,000. A resident on South 70th was willing to coordinate and work with the 77 adjacent property owners to contribute to a project early next summer. This policy change kept the City from reverting some of these streets back to gravel which was a benefit. He asked Council if they wanted to direct staff to explore other alternatives, such as what other cities were doing. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin said there may not be success in trying to persuade people to form an LID to build a standard street segment. In part of the Glenwood Refinement.Plan work, staff was looking at alternative street standards. It could be appropriate for Council to ask staff to expand that further as they updated streets throughout the City. The south hills didn't lend themselves to the type of street we traditionally had in the flat areas of Springfield, so they could look at, different standards such as narrower streets with swales rather than underground drainage, minimum sidewalks, etc. Council may also want to consider bringing the unimproved streets up to a new suburban standard. Mr. Conlon said the streets discussed this evening were residential streets. Half of the remaining unimproved streets were collector and arterials, such as North 42nd Street. Councilor Pishioneri thanked staff for their work. It was great to have the collaboration with SUB for the improvement on South 70th Street. He felt that stormwater fees-should be considered for these projects because stormwater was running directly down these streets, with only ditches along the sides City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes October 17, 2011 Page 6 of the road. He liked having different suburban standards. He had spent a lot of time in different communities with smaller streets and swales that collected the stormwater runoff. That was a great plan. If this came to a vote, he would need to recuse himself as he was directly affected as a homeowner on South 70`h Street. Mr. Conlon said he would like to have the City share the cost of materials, but the City was not in a position to do that right now. Looking at alternatives would be important Councilor Pishioneri said he felt it was appropriate to bring the City streets up to standards. Doing that benefited all citizens. Councilor Moore asked if the right-of-way on those streets was the same amount as other streets. Mr. Conlon said there was no average. Typically, there was enough property to have a decent two lane road with a stormwater feature. Councilor Moore said it would be nice if there was room to have bike paths on the other side of the swales. Mr. Goodwin said in those areas there was not enough right-of-way for a standard street, and it wouldn't make sense to acquire property. Councilor Moore said she was interested in looking at alternatives. Mayor Lundberg agreed that they needed to look at alternatives. Narrow streets also helped with traffic calming. She didn't want to see people parking across the ditch used for a bioswale. There' were many variations, and it would be good to look at those alternatives. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: . aat?4nvA-- Amy So City Recorder