HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/23/2012 Work Session'k City of Springfi e]d
Work Session Mooting
MLNUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF
THE SPRSNGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD
MONDAY, JULY 23_ 2072
The Ciiy of Springfield Council trot in a work session in the Jesse Maine Mooring Room, 225 Fifth
Street. Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, July 23, 2012 at 5 c3 p_m._ with Mayor Lundberg pre
siding_
ATTENDANCE
Present ware Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pish ioneri, Van Gordon, Wylie, Moore, Ralston and
Woodrow. Also present were City Manager Gino Grim a]di, Assistaart City Manager Jeff Towory, City
Attorney Mare Bridget Smith, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff-
1 _ Appointment of Development Advisory Committee Mom hors, Creation of a Mission Statement
and Approval of a Tim ¢lino for Initial Discussion of Development Issues Affecting the City of
Springfield by the Committee, Planning Commission and the Cit}� Council.
Planning Supervisor Jim Donovan and Civil 13n gineor Matt Stouder presented the staff report on this
item. Staff solicited for, and received, nine applications for a Devalopmont Advisory Committee. The
applicants self identifed in all of the core categories endorsed by Council on May 14, 2012_ The
Council Briefing Mom orandum included in the agenda packet provided copies of the applications and
details on the logistics of launching the committee and returning to Planning Commission and Council
in October with a set of issues for consideration and next steps. Resources for the initial creation -f-
the committee were limited to staff time convrtitrttents and meeting trcaterials.
Mr. Stouder said tonight staff would line Council to review and approve or approve as amended the
attacbed applications_ provide staff and the committee with direction to approve a drag mission
statement, and review and -approve a general timeline and workplan for the new committee. Last week,
the Council mat with the Planning Commission_ Tha Planning Commission, acting as the Committee
for Citizen involvement reviewed the categories for the IUAC and had some additional conce —s
regarding their role in the process.
Mr. Donovan referred to the spreadsheet in the agenda packet_ page 2 of AttadZment 1 . "There wore
nine applicants and oath had self- identified themselves with an "s in the category they felt they
qualified for. Some applicants were only identified in ono area and staff had plugged then, into those
categories in which they fit. Staff then took those that werc identified in multiple categories and tried
to place them into the category they best fit. The only category they didn't have an appli —t to fill was
in affordable housing. This was noted in the Council packet Of the nine applicants, six were from the
original Joint Work Team (_IW'T).
Mr. Donovan noted that the Planning Commission wanted distribution and balance. Council could
choose to appoint the nine that had applied for this committee or consider re- advertising for limited
categories_ This could be done formally_. or Council could direct staff or the Planning Commission to
do that informally through personal contacts_ They wotild then bring any suggestions back to Council
for consideration and formal appointment_ phis would al low the six original members to get started
and move forward_ with the additional three appointed at a later date_ Those were the alteratives for
the Council's consideration_ Mr. Donovan said regarding recruitment staffhad used press releases and
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 23, 2012
Page 2
contacted several people directly. If directed by Council, staff could go above and beyond that with
more contacts and different modes of advertising.
Councilor Ralston said he liked the slate of nine applicants and didn't see a need to go out to advertise
for specific categories.
Councilor Woodrow agreed. If they wanted to get more, bringing the Planning Commission into it
more might help ease their concerns.
Councilor Moore said she was impressed by the quality of applicants received. She agreed that the
category of affordable housing was very specific and people may need to be contacted informally to
see if there was interest. She thought the nine who had already applied were great.
Councilor Wylie suggested that if someone dropped out or left at some point, they could look to see if
there was a deficiency in a category and recruit specifically for that position.
Mayor Lundberg said they would also have a Planning Commission and City Council liaison in
addition to the citizen members.
Mr. Donovan said staff was still recommending liaisons from both groups and would like to have a
Council representative at each meeting, as well as a representative from the Planning Commission.
Councilor Pishioneri asked about the number of members who were currently on this committee.
Mr. Donovan said the nine being considered included six previous JWT members and 3 citizens at
large that fit in the other various categories. He suggested that they could use everyone. There were
several people that self - identified themselves in more than one category. When voting, however, those
committee members should confine their responses to the area of expertise they were being asked to
represent. He felt it was more of an advantage to have committee members who fit in multiple
categories.
Councilor Pishioneri said it appeared that two of the candidates fit into all areas. He was concerned
that some people might check a category they did not necessarily fit.
Mr. Donovan said all of the applicants had been involved in development in different capacities.
Normally, the term developer meant venture capitalists who spent their funds developing and building
teams of developers, but that definition was fairly narrow for the purposes of this committee. For the
purposes of this committee, a developer could include small firms that managed the development
team, managed the budget and took on the other functions of a developer. He spoke regarding an
applicant who had checked all categories and was also a Springfield resident. Mr. Donovan said he felt
the applicant was best suited to represent a neighborhoods interest. The applicant felt they had
expertise in the areas checked and Mr. Donovan had tried to find the best match.
Mayor Lundberg said nine was a nice size for this committee and also included one Planning
Commissioner and one Councilor. That number could typically discuss issues and work out solutions
and be statistically_ accurate. She was comfortable with the nine in the group and how they had been
selected.
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Council Work Session Minutes
July 23, 2012
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Councilor Wylie asked if anyone had talked to Terry McDonald of St. Vincent DePaul to see if he
might want to serve as the affordable housing representative.
Mr. Donovan said they had sent notice to a number of non - profit agencies, but tried to maintain
integrity in the process by not hand selecting. Outreach had been done.
Mr. Stouder said a former member of the JWT who worked with non - profits had been contacted; but
wasn't interested in continuing on the committee.
Mr. Donovan asked if Council was comfortable going with the nine on the list. If someone left the
committee. they could review the categories before recruiting. Yes.
Mr. Donovan said there was discussion regarding a draft mission statement when Council met with the
Planning Commission last week. Staff agreed guidance was important. The mission and scope needed
to be narrowed down and staff had a proposed mission statement included in the agenda packet.
Council could narrow it further if Council wanted to direct the committee to initially look at the
primary development chapters in the Development Code, Chapters 3 and 5. Council could choose the
language proposed or make it more specific, then have the committee review the language. He read the
mission as drafted by staff.
The Development Advis07y Committee shall: 1. review the process and requirements of land
use and development in the City of Springfield; 2. provide the Planning Commission and City
Council with recommendations on improving this process and outcome consistent with the
Council Goal of promoting and enhancing our hometown feel while focusing on livability and
environmental quality; 3. provide a robust forum and venue for citizen participation in this
process.
Mr. Donovan said when staff sat down with the committee and looped back with the Planning
Commission as the CCI. thev could refine the mission statement. If the Council didn't want the
language to be more specific, the committee might have ideas. Council would have input at several
junctures throughout the process.
Councilor Ralston said it was important that the committee to provide the Planning Commission and
City Council with recommendations on improving the process and outcomes. He also thought #1 of
the mission statement was important. He wasn't sure. however, about #3. He was not sure it was the
job of this group to provide robust forums for citizen participation. If something needed to be changed
and it came to City Council, that would be the place for that. The committee's role should be to
provide enhancements or improvements to the development process.
Councilor Pishioneri said he felt the forum was the committee and was not intended to create a
separate forum.
Councilor Ralston said if that was the case. he was not sure #3 was necessary.
Councilor Pishioneri said the City Council was providing this robust forum through the fonnation of
the DAC. It was more a Council goal than that of the DAC.
Mr. Donovan said given the conversation with the Planning Commission about Goal 1, staff was
trying to acknowledge that as they moved forward, depending on which portions of the code were
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reviewed, staff resources would be assessed. There might be discussion, depending on the issue, of a
further public involvement plan with open houses, etc. It was to address how the DAC could solicit
additional input if necessary. That was as a placeholder to remind everyone about Goal 1.
Councilor Pishioneri said that made sense. He liked section 42 of the mission statement about
providing both the Planning Commission and City Council with recommendations. He had mixed
thoughts about the last work session and wanted to make sure it was clear that any committee was part
of the Council and should be able to communicate with the City Council when they wanted.
Mr. Donovan said that was a direct facet of Goal 1.
Councilor VanGordon thought under section #1 or 42 something should be added about economic
development or efficiency in the land use process or some language that represented that the goal was
to work with the business community to stay more competitive. He would like to let the DAC know
that the Council was trying to balance the goals of economic development and our hometown feel.
Mr. Donovan suggested adding the word "economic" at the end of the first sentence of # 1. In the
course of the committee work. they would need to look back on the statement as a reminder of the
mission. It helped to have those terms in there for everyone's use.
Councilor Wylie felt the description was a little bureaucratic and she understood why the Planning
Commission was concerned. She didn't see any language about addressing ongoing customer service
issues, which was why they had formulated the committee in the first place, or addressing issues that
developers may have in achieving their projects. The reason this committee was originally put together
was to work with builders and developers to try to make it simpler for them to build their projects and
meet their needs as a City while addressing our own needs. The things they were most concerned
about when starting this committee included working well together and achieving our development
goals.
Discussion was held regarding how addressing customer service could be stated in the mission.
Mr. Donovan suggested adding "customer service" in the first sentence of #l.
Councilor Moore said thev also needed to be competitive with surrounding areas, with better processes
and prices. and facilitating the process.
Councilor Pishioneri suggested wording that included "attract economic growth ".
Mr. Donovan said that was all part of customer service. At one point, staff reviewed the development
principles department -wide in the development review section. Some of this was indelibly printed
from supervisors to staff with regards to customer service. He had often told staff they were a "one
stop shop" meaning that when someone came in with an idea during the development issues meeting
they should have an advocate in the department all the way through the process. When they said
customer service, they meant from the beginning to the end of the process.
Councilor Moore said we also needed to be competitive regarding cost factors.
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Additional language could be added to make 41 read" I. review the customer service process and
requirements of land use and economic development in the City of Springfield to be competitive in
attracting development.
Mr. Donovan said the last thing staff was asking for Council direction on was the review and approval
of a general work plan. He had modified the conceptual work plan to insert the Planning Commission
in the process as a filter as requested. The DAC would form and propose a preliminary list of potential
code revisions to the Planning Commission for draft review. This first list would be unfiltered and
would include everything from the committee. Staff would then bring that to the Planning
Commission for review and refinements. After the Planning Commission review, staff would move to
the next level of analysis and attach some meaning to each of the ideas and look at resources. Staff
would then come back to Council with the refined list for consideration and approval of a final list
with timelines, public input needed and staff time required. The DAC would then work on the Council
approved list and bring it back to the City Council one more time. Mr. Donovan noted the timelines
for those steps. The DAC and staff would likely need to meet a couple of times each month between
now and the fall in order to get back to Council with the first step.
Councilor Pishioneri referred to step 2 of the work plan, "Initial level of analysis with DAC will
include filtering for statutory mandates and estimates of time and resources; the draft analysis will be
presented back to PC for first prioritization ". In that outline, the Planning Commission would be the
first initial contact which was correct. He wanted to make it clear that the Planning Commission's job
was to use an objective filtering process, not subjective or based on setting policy, but based on
mandates, laws, requirements and land use laws.
Mr. Donovan said they would start with Goal 1, but the Planning Commission's responsibilities were
statutory. Policy decisions were made by the Council.
Councilor Pishioneri said that needed to be made clear to the Planning Commission.
Mr. Donovan said if they went with this process, it was clear the Planning Commission had their
expertise and statutory role and that would be clarified. He could also remove the word `filter'.
Councilor VanGordon said he was fine with the timeline. Following step 1, it could be very easy to get
a list of issues they wanted to work on, but he wanted to see more of a direction of where they wanted
to go and how they would get there. They could lose time if they had too many issues. He also wanted
to make it clear in step 1 that one of the goals in the mission was being competitive and improving
customer service and part of that was making it simple. Simplification would help make the City more
competitive rather than adding layers of complexity to the Code. The process looked good to him.
Mr. Donovan said his experience was that the committee members weren't afraid to express their
feelings. not only in the issue but also in any proposed solution.
Councilor Pishioneri said simplicity was going to be relevant and would add back to the value of the
DAC. Those on the committee probably wanted to make their world simpler. Operational changes
didn't need to be brought to the City Council, only policy issues. Operational changes could be made
administratively.
Mr. Donovan said the JWT had implemented some things in that way over the last year, such as paper
reduction and streamlining the process.
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Councilor Pishioneri said that was why the committee was formed in the first place.
Mayor Lundberg said they were taking a huge step in the right direction. This committee was unique,
but similar enough to other committees that had been in place in the past. They needed to make sure
they treated all committees the same regarding their roles.
Mr. Donovan said they had clear direction on all three items.
2. Planning Commission Interviews.
Planning Manager Greg Mott presented the staff report on this item. The City received three
applications for one vacancy during a four week recruitment process.
Mr. Steve Moe resides at 3698 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene (Glenwood Resident); and is self
employed as an Engineer, Intercity, Inc.
Ms. Diana Y. Alldredge resides at 822 N. 57"' St., Springfield, 97478: and is an Office Clerk with
Lane County.
Mr. Michael G. Koivula resides at 723 Crest Lane, Springfield, 97477; and is a Land Surveyor with
the City of Eugene.
The Springfield Planning Commission was a seven member volunteer Commission appointed by the
City Council. The members served four-year terms that were staggered to avoid more than two
positions expiring at the same time. Of the seven members, two appointments may live outside the
City, limits and two appointments may be involved in the Real estate profession. Positions were "at-
large''. and did not represent specific geographic areas.
Currently the Planning Commission had one member, Commissioner Moe, who lived outside the City
limits; none of the current members worked in the Real Estate profession.
It was requested that ratification occur after the interviews to avoid waiting until the Council return
from recess on September 10`h
The Mavor and Council chose which questions they would ask of each candidate.
1. Mayor Lundberg: Why do you want to serve on the Planning Commission?
2. Councilor Wylie: How familiar are you with planning laws and policies and the purpose they
serve in Springfield's land use decision making process? If your experience with these laws is
limited, what actions would you take to become familiar so that you can function fully as a
Planning Commission?
3. Councilor Woodrow: Many of the land use laws applied by the Planning Commission are state
or federally mandated. During a Planning Commission hearing, how would you reconcile your
own personal opinions with the applicant's interests when those interests do not comply with
the land use laws?
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4. Councilor Moore: What role do you think the Planning Commission should have with the
revitalization of downtown?
5. Councilor Pishioneri: How would you recommend balancing the community's need for
attractive commercial and industrial development with the rights of property owners?
6. Councilor Ralston: What is your general understanding of the relationship between the
Planning Commission and City Staff. the Planning Commission and the City Council?
7. Councilor VanGordon: Springfield and Eugene have or will adopt individual, city -wide
refinement plans of the Metro Plan, including separate urban growth boundaries. Do you
believe this move towards individual plans and away from regional planning is in the best
interests of Springfield? Are there any land use issues that should continue to rely on regional,
joint decision- making among Springfield, Eugene and Lane County elected officials?
Mr. Mott said Commissioner Brew would be resigning his position within 4 or 5 months of this action.
He noted that they could either recruit again at that time, or they could choose an additional candidate
tonight that could fill that position at that time.
Council would like to recruit for Mr. Brew's position at the time of his resignation.
The following candidates were interviewed:
• Steve Moe
• Diana Alldredge
Mike Koivula
The applicants had the following questions /comments:
Ms. Alldredge asked what the goals were for the future in Springfield.
Councilor Pishioneri said economic development and recovery. He explained.
Mr. Koivula said he had also applied for the Development Advisory Committee that Council reviewed
earlier in the evening. Both sounded very interesting to him, but if he needed to choose between the
two, he would choose the Planning Commission. He would be very happy to serve on the DAC as
well.
Councilor Ralston said they did get good candidates. He had known Mr. Moe for many years and he
couldn't see how they could make any other decision.
Councilor Pishioneri said Steve Moe was clearly more qualified with his experience with the City, and
he still had a desire to serve. The other two were fine people and great applicants.
Councilor VanGordon said when they had someone like Steve Moe and he still had the passion, he
would choose him.
Councilor Wylie said she didn't want to lose the knowledge and experience of Mr. Moe. Mr. Koivula
had applied for the DAC and would be asked to serve on that as well. Ms. Alldredge was also very
bright and was willing to serve. She felt both of them should be told about the upcoming vacancy on
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July 23, 2012
Page 8
the Planning Commission when Bob Brew resigned. They were all very good candidates, but she
would vote for Mr. Moe.
Councilor Woodrow said she agreed Mr. Moe was the right choice. He still had a passion for
Springfield and as long as he wanted to serve. she wanted him to continue. She agreed that the other
two should be told about the upcoming vacancy.
Councilor Moore said it wasn't that long ago when she served on the Planning Commission. There had
been a lot of turnover on that commission and she felt stability was important. She agreed with
reappointing Mr. Moe.
Mayor Lundberg said Mr. Moe's history with the Metro Plan was beneficial and she agreed he should
be reappointed.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 p.m.
Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa
Christine L. Lundberg
Mayor
Attest:
Gam.
Amy So
City Rec der