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Minutes - 12/10/2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING 0001 DATE. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, CITY OF WOODBURN, COUNTY OF MARION, STATE OF OREGON, DECEMBER 10, 2007. CONVENED. The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. with Mayor Figley presiding. 0010 ROLL CALL. Mayor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Figley Bjelland Cox Lonergan McCallum Nichols Sifuentez Present Present Present Present Present Present Present Staff Present: City Administrator Brown, City Attorney Shields, Police Chief Russell, Acting Public Works Director Rohman, Community Development Director Allen, Finance Director Gillespie, Building Official Krieg, City Recorder Tennant 0028 ANNOUNCEMENTS. A) Holiday Closures: During the Christmas Holiday, City offices and the Library will close at noon on Monday, December 24th and will reopen for regular business hours on Wednesday, December 26th. The Aquatic Center will be closed on December 24th and 25th. During the New Year's Holiday, City offices and the Library will be closed on January 1, 2008. The Aquatic Center will be closed on December 31, 2007 and January 1,2008. B) Community Services Department is updating the City's Parks and Recreation Master Plan. A public meeting will be held on December 13,2007, 7:00 p.m., in the Library multi-purpose room to review results of the Focus Group sessions being held on December 11 and 12,2007 with key stakeholders. All interested community members are encouraged to attend the December 13th public meeting to provide comments on the plan update. C) Carleton Hart Architecture will present its report on the feasibility of expanding the aquatic center, and for constructing a stand-alone cultural arts and community center at the January 14,2008 City Council meeting. All interested community members are encouraged to attend the meeting or to watch for the report on Woodburn Community Access Television (WCAT). 0085 APPOINTMENTS AND REAPPOINTMENTS. A) Library Board: Mayor Figley appointed J.D. Mitchoff (Position 1) with a term expiration date of December 31,2010, and reappointed Neal Hawes (Position IV) with a term expiration date of December 31, 2011. Page 1 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING B) Planning Commission: Mayor Figley reappointed Brad Hutchison (Position 2), David Vancil (Position 3), and Larry GrosJ acques (Position 5) with terms expiring December 31, 2011. C) Recreation and Parks Board: Mayor Figley appointed Eric Morris (Position 1) with a term expiration date of December 31,2010, and Charlene Williams (Position VII) with a term expiration date of December 31,2008. NICHOLS/MCCALLUM... approve the appointments to the Library Board, Planning Commission, and Recreation and Parks Board as listed in the Mayor's memo. The motion passed unanimously. Mayor Figley stated that she still needs to appoint 2 members to the Budget Committee and requested interested members of the public to contact her at City Hall. The Councilors were also encouraged to submit names to her of individuals who might be interested in serving on the Committee. 0158 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT. Don Judson, Interim Executive Director, stated that the Chamber is conducting an office decorating contest with businesses paying $25 to participate and proceeds from this event will go to the Love Santa program. Upcoming events include: 1) Greeter's Program will be held at West Coast Bank East Branch community room on Friday, December 14th; and 2) Chamber Forum will be held on Wednesday, December 19th, with Miss Oregon Kari Virding as guest speaker on the Make a Wish Foundation. He also stated that the maps will be arriving soon and they will be distributed to the public soon after they are received. 0202 WOODBURN SCHOOL DISTRICT REPORT. Walt Blomberg, School Superintendent, provided the Council with a list of school activities and highlighted the following items from the list: 1) Academy ofInternational Studies inducted 40 new students into the National Honor Society; 2) Two high school students will receive an all-expense paid 4-year scholarship to George Fox University; 3) The School District is holding a Literacy Summit on December 19th to establish strategies on establishing short to long term goals to increase literacy in all students grades 6-12; 4) School District continues to partner with Love Santa, Inc. for their annual food and toy drive; and 5) High School Drama class will be performing the Wizard ofOz on December 13 and 14, 2007, and the public is encouraged to attend. Page 2 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING Councilor Nichols mentioned that the Woodburn Lions Club will be providing a vision screening program for students and questioned how students are selected to be screened. Mr. Blomberg stated that all elementary students starting in kindergarten will be screened in addition to any student being referred or identified by their teacher of having a potential vision problem. 0320 CONSENT AGENDA. A) approve the Council Meeting minutes of November 26, 2007; B) approve the Council Special Meeting / Workshop minutes of November 15,2007; C) approve the Recreation and Park Board draft minutes of November 13, 2007; D) receive the Police Department Statistics report for November 2007; E) receive the Code Enforcement Statistics for November 2007; F) receive the Building Activity report for November 2007; G) receive the Planning Project Tracking Sheet dated December 5,2007; and H) receive the report on the Woodburn Downtown Development Plan Update - Transportation and Growth Management Program Grant Update: Contract Termination. Councilor Bjelland stated that on the Council minutes of November 26th, Councilor Lonergan had arrived at the meeting at 8:00 p.m. rather than himself. MCCALLUM/COX... adopt the Consent Agenda with the correction in the minutes as mentioned by Councilor Bjelland. The motion passed unanimously. 0377 COUNCIL BILL NO. 2692 - ORDINANCE ADOPTING A SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007-08. Councilor Sifuentez introduced Council Bill No. 2692. Recorder Tennant read the two readings of the bill by title only since there were no objections from the Council. On roll call vote for final passage, the bill passed unanimously. Mayor Figley declared Council Bill No. 2692 duly passed with the emergency clause. 0410 COUNCIL BILL NO. 2693 - RESOLUTION GRANTING THE APPLICATION IN DR 2006-17 (DESIGN REVIEW) AND V AR 2007-01 (VARIANCE). REMOVING SPECIFIC CONDITIONS PREVIOUSLY IMPOSED BY THE WOODBURN PLANNING COMMISSION. ADOPTING ALTERNATIVE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS. AND IMPOSING ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS. Council Bill No. 2693 was introduced by Councilor Sifuentez. The bill was read by title only since there were no objections from the Council. Councilor McCallum stated that he had originally voted in opposition following the hearing but since it had passed by a majority of the Council, he would be voting in favor of the Resolution. He stated that he still has concerns regarding this property along with the action taken for the future development of that property. On roll call vote for final passage, the bill passed unanimously. Mayor Figley declared Council Bill No. 2693 duly passed. Page 3 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING 0459 COUNCIL BILL NO. 2694 - RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING THE COMPENSATION SCHEDULE FOR CERTAIN PART-TIME HOURLY AND SEASONAL EMPLOYEES. Council Bill No. 2694 was introduced by Councilor Sifuentez. The bill was read by title only since there were no objections from the Council. On roll call vote for final passage, the bill passed unanimously. Mayor Figley declared Council Bill No. 2694 duly passed. 0483 POSITION UPGRADE: MUNICIPAL COURT CLERK. BJELLAND/MCCALLUM... authorize the upgrade of a Municipal Court Clerk from .5 FTE to .75 FTE. The motion passed unanimously. 0503 WASTEWATER FACILITY PLAN CONSULTANT AGREEMENT AND WASTEWATER FACILITY PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE. NICHOLS/COX... authorize the City Administrator to sign the agreement for professional services with CH2M Hill Inc. to prepare an updated facilities plan for the City's wastewater treatment facilities and the Mayor to appoint a Wastewater Facility Plan Advisory Committee. Councilor Bjelland stated that he was disheartened in reviewing the hourly rates for the participants from CH2M Hill with the administrative support hourly rate being $91 and most charges being $130-$150 per hour the with maximum at $210 per hour. Acting Public Works Director Rohman stated that the City had received 3 proposals and CH2M Hill's hourly rates were on the lower end of the proposals received from the engineering consultants. On roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously. 0591 APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATOR PRO TEM. NICHOLS/MCCALLUM... appoint Police Chief Scott Russell as Administrator Pro Tern for the period of December 14, 2007 through January 1,2008. The motion passed unanimously. 0607 CANCELLATION OF DECEMBER 24.2007 MEETING. MCCALLUM/SIFUENTEZ... cancel the December 24,2007 City Council meeting. The motion passed unanimously. 0624 PLANNING COMMISSION OR ADMINISTRATIVE LAND USE ACTIONS. A) Community Development Director's approval of Planning Case DR 2007-11 on the property located at 985 Lawson Avenue (property containing the existing Taco Bell restaurant): Approval was given for a 260 square foot drive-through espresso stand located on the same lot as Taco Bell restaurant subject to conditions of approval. Councilor McCallum questioned the location of the proposed stand within the parking lot and if there are any traffic circulation concerns. Page 4 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING Community Development Director Allen stated that traffic circulation was addressed and changes required as part of the condition of approval. The stand will be located in the northwest corner of the parking lot with the Taco Bell building located in the southeast corner of the lot. No action was taken to bring this land use action up for review. 0696 CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT. A) Administrator Brown stated that he has made a Conditional Offer of Employment to a candidate for Assistant City Administrator which has been accepted. The next step is completing the criminal background check and pre-employment physical. If everything goes well, the employment start date will be January 2,2008. B) Interviews were conducted for Public Works Director on Friday, December 1h, and one more interview is scheduled for tomorrow. By the end of this week, he will be down to a short list of candidates to be considered for the position. C) Administrator Brown provided the Councilor's with a spreadsheet on the laptop computer configurations. During the budget process, a proposal was presented to the Budget Committee for the purchase of 10 laptops since several Councilors had expressed an interest in going paperless. Staff is now ready to move forward with the purchase of the equipment and flash drives will be provided to the Council instead of the paper agenda. Councilor Bjelland questioned if the laptops will contain ordinances and code books for Council to refer to as the need arises. Administrator Brown stated that staff has been discussing what can be done initially and they will work on trying to get as many documents on the system as possible. He stated that training and support will be given to anyone who so desires to ensure a smooth transition. Mayor Figley expressed her desire to move forward with the laptop computers rather than distributing paper copies of the agenda materials. 0867 MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS. A) Mayor Figley stated that she had included a draft letter in the Council packet that she had originally planned on sending to Senator Courtney and Representative Komp but inquired as to whether or not the Council would like to join her and express the letter as the position of the Mayor and Council. She stated that Councilor Bjelland mentioned to her that, despite the City's unsatisfactory experience with the Fregonese firm, this firm has been very supportive of bringing in consultants from out-of-state. If the Council would like her to send a letter expressing an official position, she proposed deletion of the paragraph referring to the planning consultants and substitute "we" for "I" within the letter. Councilor McCallum requested background information on the Big Look project. Councilor Bjelland stated that the legislature had authorized a group to examine the Page 5 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING planning programs and history of land use planning in Oregon to address some of the problems that have surfaced over the last number of years. The Big Look Committee had traveled around the state holding a number of public forums to obtain input from communities and funding was provided for a group of consultants, both in-state and out- of-state consultants, to assist the Big Look Committee in reviewing Oregon's land use planning efforts. The legislature cut the funding for this project since ballot measure 49 would be before the voters and the outcome of the vote would determine how the Big Look Committee should proceed. With the passage of the measure, there is strong support to re-authorize the Big Look Committee. In his opinion, the Committee should continue their work because of the problems that the state has been dealing with in various land use situations both from the administrative and legal standpoint. In his opinion, the consultants have done a very good job of looking at what is being done in other states and attempting to make recommendations as to how to move into the future. 1065 Councilor Cox stated that he is in total agreement with the letter with the deletion of the paragraph regarding the consultants. The issue of how to proceed into the future in terms of land use planning in Oregon is not a resolved issue as a result of the vote on Measure 49. Hopefully the Big Look Committee will develop some reasonable options then it will be up to the legislature to move forward in reviewing the recommendations of the Committee and hopefully making some changes. Mayor Figley stated that the Big Look Committee preliminary report is on the DLCD's web site and, after reviewing the report, she felt a stronger urge to let State officials know that the Committee's work needs to continue. She stated that she would delete the paragraph as noted, change the word "I" to "we", and send the revised letter out on Mayor's letterhead on Wednesday. 1129 Mayor Figley also apologized to the public for cancelling the December 2nd Christmas Tree Lighting due to the stormy weather. She also wished the public the enjoyment of the Christmas season. 1161 Councilor Nichols questioned the need for a pedestrian caution light at the Park and Hardcastle Avenue intersection which sees a large influx of pedestrians only twice a year whereas the City is unable to get a pedestrian caution light on Highway 214 and Park A venue. Acting Public Works Director Rohman stated that the installation of the pedestrian caution light on Park / Hardcastle Avenue was a City street project and was included on the last Capital Improvement Plan. The Council awarded the contract for the installation of this light and the Boones Ferry Road pedestrian caution light about 4 months ago. In regards to the Highway 214 / Park Avenue intersection, the State of Oregon has jurisdiction over what is installed along Highway 214 and, to date, the State has determined that the signal is not warranted at that intersection. Another look will be taken at that intersection when an environmental assessment is conducted within the next Page 6 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING few months on the widening of the roadway between Park Avenue and Broughton Way which is not covered as part of the 1-5 interchange project. Councilor McCallum was pleased to see the Boones Ferry Road light installed since this provides a safer intersection crossing for children walking to school. Police Chief Russell stated that children on the north side of Hardcastle Avenue now need to cross Hardcastle at Park Avenue in order to get to Washington School located on Lincoln Street since the back entrance previously used by the students near the Queen City Blvd intersection was closed by the School District. Middle-school students on the south side of Hardcastle Ave have to walk to Legion Park in order to get bus transportation to French Prairie or Valor. In the morning hours on school days, there is a lot of foot traffic crossing Hardcastle Avenue which was the primary reason for installing the pedestrian caution light. 1325 Councilor McCallum questioned when traffic signals throughout the City will be standardized. Acting Public Works Director Rohman stated that ODOT did conduct a traffic signal study and, as a result of the study, the yellow flashing arrow left turn signal became an approved type of device and it will be installed as traffic turn lights are replaced, therefore, it will take several years for lights to be standardized. 1415 Councilor Bjelland stated that at the last MW ACT meeting, members were told that the money available for the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) cycle will be cut further and MW ACT will be lucky in 2012-13 to receive about $1.5 - $2M a year for transportation projects. They also heard that Governor Kulongoski is putting transportation as one of the major emphases at the next legislative session and the Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA) bill will hopefully provide some significant amounts of money to address some of the transportation needs facing the State of Oregon. MW ACT, along with the other Area Commissions on Transportation, have been given a couple of tasks to look at how they would spend an infusion of money that could be fairly substantial if the legislature were to approve a significant OTIA in 2009. He stated that it is very important that the legislators be educated, informed, and lobbied to make sure that an OTIA IV is approved because of the lack of transportation dollars that currently go through the STIP process. The 3 major Woodburn / North Marion County projects that involve state transportation funding are the 1-5 interchange, widening of Highway 214, and Highway 99E improvements. He also stated that he would be addressing the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) on December 12th to give the annual update on MW ACT's activities and charter changes of which the most significant is that MW ACT is making a language change that would allow them to be more aggressive in informing people about the transportation needs of the State of Oregon and about the fact that there is not an adequate funding mechanism to address transportation needs since the amount of money to fund the STIP process is only about 1/10th of what it was a number of years ago. He will also be lobbying the OTC to be proactive in encouraging the legislature to examine different Page 7 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 10, 2007 TAPE READING funding mechanisms since the existing funding mechanism of the gas tax has not kept up with inflation in addition to less dollars being collected due to more efficient gas vehicles on the roadways. Lastly, construction infrastructure costs have increased by approximately 20% whereas previous year cost increases were only about 3%. He reiterated that his intent is to promote more awareness at the legislative level and to any interested party to make sure they understand the dire needs the Oregon transportation system is already in and will continue to be in unless significant changes are made in the way transportation projects are financed in the future. 1592 Councilor Cox stated that it is very frustrating in that there is something wrong with the system when the City cannot put in a signal at the Highway 214 I Park A venue intersection even if the City elected to fund the total project. He encouraged the Council and staffto figure out what needs to done at the State level to get the pedestrian caution light installed at that intersection. In his opinion, this is a project that needs to move forward before a pedestrian accident occurs. Each of the Councilors extended their Season Greetings to members of the Woodburn community. 1680 ADJOURNMENT. MCCALLUM/LONERGAN... regular meeting be adjourned and Council reconvene into the workshop on the Housing Code. The motion passed unanimously. The regular Council meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m.. ATTEST~~ I~ Mary Tenn nt, Recorder City of Woodburn, Oregon Page 8 - Council Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2007