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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/21/2011 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2011 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 6:18 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 Bill VanVactor, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. 1. Arts Commission Applicant Review. Library Director Rob Everett presented the staff report on this item on behalf of Carrie Schindele- Cupples, liaison to the Arts Commission. The Arts Commission had two vacancies on its board. Two position openings were advertised. One vacancy was unfilled during the prior appointment process, and one was a term expiration of Commissioner Riley Smith, who was eligible to-reapply. In response to news releases in October 2011, the Arts Commission received two applications for two vacancies. The Arts Commission reviewed and met with all applicants during its November 14, 2011 meeting. The Arts Commission recommended that Riley Smith be re- appointed and that Roka Walsh be appointed to the commission. Riley and Roka would both complete terms that would expire December 31, 2015. Riley Smith was a business owner and artist. He volunteered withA3 School and was interested in event organizing and fundraising for the Arts Commission. He had been an active member of the Arts Commission in his previous service. Roka Walsh was a student studying psychology and art and had been a working artist most of her adult life. She was currently involved with the Eugene Storefront Art Project, The Collective Muse, Emerald Art Gallery, Springfield City Club, and a project mentor and judge for the Act -So NAACP Competition. The Arts Commission believed the candidates were eligible and qualified to serve on the commission. The Council was requested to review the Arts Commissions' recommendations at the Work Session. Councilor Moore said she was very impressed with the quality of applicants. Council agreed with the Arts Commission recommendations. 2. Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) Application Review: City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21, 2011 Page 2 Housing Manager Kevin Ko presented the staff report on this item. Three positions on the CDAC were scheduled to expire on December 31, 2011.. All three were at large positions. Council was being requested to review the six applications received to fill the three positions being vacated, and to recommend three applicants for appointment to the committee. The recommended applicants would be formally appointed at the December 5, 2011 Council meeting. The CDAC consisted of six at -large positions from the community, one representative from the City Council and one representative from the Planning Commission. The CDAC advised the City Council on all matters related to the City's housing, and community development activities which were funded annually by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds received from HUD. Applications were encouraged from lower - ,income citizens and residents of lower income neighborhoods, racial and ethnic minorities, senior citizens, disabled individuals and female heads of households. All applicants must live within the city limits or the urban growth boundary of Springfield. The positions available were the result of upcoming term expirations of Judy Harold, Robyn Sattler and Scott Spiker (resigned). The notice of available positions was posted on September 27, 2011 and applications were being accepted through October 28, 2011. Six applications were received. Incumbents Judy Harold and Robyn Sattler were seeking reappointment to the CDAC. Staff was requesting that Council recommend three applicants to fill the vacated positions on the CDAC. Council recommendations would be presented for appointment at a regular Council meeting on December 5, 2011. Councilor Pishioneri said he had been in contact over the years with Ms. Hageman. She was very engaged and passionate about whatever she was involved with. He appreciated the work of Robyn Sattler and Judy Harold and would like to re- appoint both of them. Councilors Wylie said Ms. Hageman had put a lot of energy in downtown. and was familiar with the issues that, could come up on the CDAC. She would also like to re- appoint the two incumbents. Councilor Woodrow agreed. Mayor Lundberg said it was nice to have continuity on this committee. It was a difficult committee because there was not always enough money for the projects requested. Ms. Hageman had been an asset to the downtown and understood the ups and downs of business ownership. Councilor Moore confirmed that left three applicants that would not be appointed. She asked if there were other opportunities for them to become involved. Mr. Ko said he would be sending all applicants a letter once the formal appointments had been made. He would notify those that were not selected that he would keep their names on file for future opportunities. 3. NEDCO Downtown Projects Update. Planning Supervisor Linda Pauly introduced Clair Carpenter - Seguin from the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO). Ms.. Carpenter- Seguin was present to provide an update on the work NEDCO had done since coming over to Springfield as part of the downtown City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21, 2011 Page 3 efforts. Ms. Pauly noted that Main Street committees were started about 18 months ago and there had been a lot of activity since that time. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin said there were a lot of projects to share, many from the Main Street Program, but some through SPROUT, the food hub project. She referred to Attachment 3 in the Council packet which listed all of the projects being done by NEDCO in Springfield. One reason they went with the Main Street Program was because nationally the program had been around for about 30 years and statistics proved it was a positive approach for community revitalization. She noted some of the statistics regarding dollars invested compared to dollars spent. Communities using the strategies of the Main Street Program had done much better during economic downturns than other communities that were not using those strategies. She noted some of the successes in Oregon cities that had gone with this program. These successes reminded them how important it was to continue to invest in this program, recruit for the four committees, and move forward. This wasn't just the work of business owners, or the City, or residents, but from all stakeholders from all of those groups. There were incredible resources through the members of the committees. She noted that those that were not - selected to be appointed to the CDAC could be part of one of the Main Street committees. They were currently looking for people to help on the Organizational Committee. The committees were working committees and currently the Organizational Committee was the most important. Without a solid organizational foundation, they couldn't keep improving in all of the ways needed. She explained the work done by the Organizational Committee. Many communities had associations or other groups that didn't have dedicated plans or staff to make sure meeting notices went out, work plans were checked on, and agendas created to keep the work plan moving forward. She introduced Neal who was now a permanent full -time staff person at NEDCO as the Community Economic Development (CED) Coordinator. Neal would be taking the lead on many of the committees and working with the chairmen to make sure all was moving forward. Ms. Carpenter - Seguin asked if there were questions or if they would like to hear other reports. Councilor Ralston said he noticed that part of the Organizational Committee's job was to raise money. He asked how much money they were trying to raise. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin said their goal this year was $50,000. That number was based on the amount NEDCO was able to raise last year which helped fund a staff position. The committee needed to figure out strategies to continue to raise the funds to maintain the position now held by Neal. Inmost Main Street Programs, it was essential that the municipality also provided some funding at some point. It would be a great investment if the Council could find a way to provide some funding. It was difficult to raise money without a firm commitment from the City. NEDCO had staff that also did some grant writing. Councilor Ralston asked if NEDCO was anon- profit 501 c3. Yes. Councilor Moore asked about the Foreclosure Recovery Program. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin said the housing work provided by NEDCO wasn't part of the Main Street model. Much of their work was under the regional housing center. They were currently working on the Mortgage Payment. Assistance (MPA) Program very heavily. They also did workshops and classes on foreclosure intervention and pre- purchase programs for first time homebuyers, as well as other housing programs. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes ' November 21, 2011 Page 4 Councilor Moore said she thought it would be great to purchase homes, rehabilitate them, and then resell them. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin said NEDCO had a grant from the City to do that type of program. They were currently building relationships with banks so they could access those homes soon. She explained further. Councilor Moore said she was interested in the results of the Main Street Storefront Program. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin asked Ted Corbin could address that topic. Mr. Corbin said he served on the Board for NEDCO, and'previously worked on the Springfield Historic Commission. He spoke regarding the charrette and said it was a good success. There were about 60 people in attendance, including a large number of design professionals, business owners and students. They ran five tables and looked at 8 blocks of downtown to evaluate and make suggestions. A lot of input was received. Prior to the charrette, a lot of research had been done up front. The organizers of the charrette took all of the input and would be putting it in a final report. He would encourage the organizers to present that report to the Council during a work session sometime in January. Mr. Corbin said the charrette came up with some issues similar to what the Design Committee had found. Both the City and business owners were motivated in terms of getting involved and talking with each other about how to support each other. The charrette brought, out some things about what could be done by either the City or the businesses in downtown. Both the City and businesses had limited resources, but had some common ideas. Mr. Corbin said the following things had been identified by the Design Committee: 1) Building maintenance — The City could perhaps put an ordinance into place that required a level of maintenance of buildings on Main Street; 2) Signage — This was often a difficult issue. The Sign Code needed more coordination with other efforts in downtown; 3) Business Registry — A registry could be maintained for monitoring the mix of businesses downtown; 4) Fagade Improvements — Looking for incentives or funding to help improve the facades in downtown; 5) Main Street Manager — That could be a coordinating position that could facilitate between the business owners and the City and direct the business person to the correct person in the City. The Design Committee would come back in January with a report. Councilor Moore asked if the Design Committee was talking just about Main Street. Mr. Corbin said the charrette focused only on Main Street. The urban renewal efforts that the Citizen Advisory Committee and Design Committee were working on were broader than just Main Street and included all of downtown. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin spoke regarding some of the things NEDCO had done along Main Street. They started the Art Walk, which had been growing. They had a lot of activity through their social media for Farmers' Market and downtown Springfield. They did the storefront improvement assessments to help businesses spruce up their storefront to make more sales. That program was very successful. They had a new downtown database full of valuable information. That database managed vacant properties and generated reports that could be provided for realtors, brokers, tenants, and new businesses. The Hatch Incubator was still working and was expected to expand. It was hard to start a new business and get City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21, 2011 Page 5 the right technical assistance. This program was trying to get that to downtown businesses. They were getting requests for special technical information and there was a lot of opportunity for growth. Councilor VanGordon asked when businesses went out on their own after joining the Hatch Incubator. Ms. Carpenter- Seguin said normally a couple of years. Councilor VanGordon asked if the plan with that program was to see data on how well they did once they moved on. J Ms. Carpenter- Seguin said that was correct. One of the agreements was that the business tracked their sales, hirings, etc. as progress indicators. Suraya spoke regarding SPROUT. They had been running the Farmer's Market since 2008 as one of their first efforts to bring revitalization to downtown. The support from the City had been amazing. They were now doing the food hub (SPROUT). This would allow small businesses in the food industry to come and utilize a facility for production in a commissary kitchen, and for an indoor Farmer's Market. Springfield would be the home to the first year -round Fanner.'s Market south of Portland within Oregon. The Hatch Incubator tied in with the Food Hub Program for businesses in the food industry. The local food industry had grown consistently in the last 10 years and there was a lot of opportunity in this field. Councilor Wylie asked where the food hub was located. Suraya said it was located at 4 h and A Street, which was now the First Christian Church. It was a central location and allowed them to expand the work being done downtown. Through this program, they would be able to measure a tangible economic impact immediately. The Farmer's Market had about 22 vendors a week, 1100 people attending each week, with an economic impact of $1.15M for the season. The indoor Farmer's Market would have more vendors and businesses, so should have a larger economic impact. An analysis done in 2010 by the University of Oregon and others suggested that if local food consumption could be increased by I%, we could keep almost $12M circulating in Lane County. They hoped to achieve that goal within three years of launching. Mr. Ko reminded the Mayor and Council that there was a significant CDBG investment of $153,000 for this project. Staff was very supportive. Suraya explained the photograph she distributed of the church and how the Farmer's Market would be set up. Councilor Woodrow said she had been involved in the Organizational Committee for several months and appreciated the positive energy of this effort. The effects they were having on downtown could already be seen. It was very exciting and she was very impressed. Mayor Lundberg said downtown had been worked on for many years. Best intentions didn't always work, but NEDCO had intentions and people power with the expertise to make it happen. The food hub was an exemplary program that said Springfield was making a lot of statements about positive ways to make things happen locally. She was very proud. All of the programs done by NEDCO were wonderful to help people get established. She felt fortunate to have NEDCO in -downtown Springfield. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes November 21, 2011 Page 6 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:57 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa A Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: LG Amy Sowa City Recorder