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Minutes - 10/14/2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING 0001 DATE. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, CITY OF WOODBURN, COUNTY OF MARION, STATE OF OREGON, OCTOBER 14, 2002. CONVENED. The meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. with Mayor Jennings presiding. 0010 ROLL CALL. Mayor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Councilor Jennings Bjelland Chadwick Figley McCallum Nichols Sifuentez Present Present Present Present Present Absent Present Staff Present: City Administrator Brown, City Attorney Shields, Public Works Director Tiwari, Public Works Manager Rohman, Community Development Director Mulder, Police Chief Russell, Park & Recreation Director Westrick, Finance Director Gillespie, Recreation Supervisor Sjothun, Management Analyst Smith, City Recorder Tennant Mayor Jennings stated that Councilor Nichols had left a message that he would not be in attendance at this meeting. 0063 ANNOUNCEMENTS. A) Continuation of Public Hearing: The public hearing relating to Woodburn Crest Subdivision is scheduled for Monday, October 2S, 2002, 7:00 p.m., in the City Hall Council Chambers. B) Statewide General Election: Ballots will be mailed to registered voters on October ISth and City Hall is a designated ballot drop site. APPOINTMENTS. Mayor Jennings appointed Evan Thomas to the student position on the Recreation and Parks Board with a term expiration date of September 30, 2004. FIGLEYIMCCALLUM... approve the appointment of Evan Thomas to the student position on the Park and Recreation Board. The motion passed unanimously. 0141 PROCLAMATION: PUBLIC WORKS WEEK. OCTOBER 21 - 25. 2002. Mayor Jennings declared the week of October 21 through 25, 2002 as Public Works Week in Woodburn. A list of scheduled activities was included in the agenda packet. Page I - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14, 2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING 0237 WOODBURN DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION REPORT. Bruce Thomas, representing WDA, provided a brief report on the status of the lighting project along North Front Street. He stated that the ditches have all been dug and the conduit laid with the next step being installation of the wiring. 0274 WOODBURN TOGETHER REPORT. Councilor McCallum reported that Woodburn Together had received a $87,577 grant from the US Department of Justice Drug Free Communities Program. Woodburn Together was one of 70 new communities funded out of over 440 nationwide for this particular grant. Individuals who worked on this grant application included Jodi Fischer, Woodburn School District, Randy Westrick, Jennifer Robbin (Marion County Health Dept), Brian Sjothun, and himself. He stated that Woodburn Together is partnering with the City's Recreation and Parks, School District, and other local agencies. Director Westrick stated that the After-school program was moved a couple of years ago to the campuses at Lincoln and Washington elementary schools. This has been a very beneficial program for our community, however, only grade school children can attend this program now that it is located at the elementary schools and the middle school students are not served by this program. This new grant program will fill the gap and provide teens with a place they can go to after school in addition to other teen programs that will be implemented. He reiterated that the project team members worked diligently on this grant application and he expressed his appreciation to team leader Brian Sjothun who wrote the grant and to Jennifer Robbin for keeping the team on track. Brian Sjothun stated that $87,000 is the grant award for the first year, however, this is a 5-year project with total funding close to $500,000. In approximately one month, the group will be recommending that the Mayor appoint members to the Woodburn Youth Council consisting of high school and middle school students that will drive this program. It will give the students leadership opportunities and high school students will be used as mentors in the After school program. The grant will provide for a full-time staff member and additional part-time staff members. The goal is to have this program in operation by the first part of January 2003. Councilor McCallum stated that, as part ofthe grant, Director Westrick and Recreation Supervisor Sjothun will be going to Washington DC for training on this grant program. Even though this is a 5-year grant, goals need to be met each year in order to receive the grant funds for the following year. 0679 COMMUNICATIONS. Mayor Jennings stated that he had received a thank-you letter from Kay Vestal who recently retired from City service. Page 2 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14,2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING 0728 CONSENT AGENDA. A) approve the Council regular and executive session minutes of September 23, 2002; B) accept the Planning Commission minutes of August 8, 2002; C) receive the Building Activity report for September 2002; D) receive the Planning Project Tracking sheet dated September 16, 2002; E) receive the status report on the Mill Creek Pump Station dated October 8, 2002; F) receive the Library monthly report for September 2002; G) approve the claims for the months of August and September 2002; H) receive the Police Department Activities report for July 2002; and I) receive the street closure report for Montgomery Street between First and Second Streets. FIGLEY /SIFUENTEZ... adopt the consent agenda as presented. Councilor Sifuentez referred to the Council minutes of September 23, 2002 and requested that they be corrected to show that she was in attendance at that meeting. The motion to adopt the consent agenda passed unanimously. 0794 CITY ADMINISTRATOR EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT. FIGLEYIBJELLAND... approve and authorize the Mayor to execute the addendum to John C. Brown's employment agreement. The motion passed unanimously. 0814 COUNCIL BILL 2417 - RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING NON-UNION EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1.2002. Council Bill 2417 was introduced by Councilor Chadwick. The bill was read by title only since there were no objections from the Council. Administrator Brown stated that the compensation adjustments are the same as what was approved by the Council in the AFSCME union package. On roll call vote for final passage, the bill passed unanimously. Mayor Jennings declared Council Bill 2417 duly passed. 0888 COUNCIL BILL 2418 - RESOLUTION ENTERING INTO A STF-I08 MARION COUNTY RURAL AGREEMENT WITH SALEM AREA TRANSIT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2002-03. Councilor Chadwick introduced Council Bill 2418. Recorder Tennant read 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 Jennings declared Council Bill 2418 duly passed. Page 3 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14, 2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING 0948 COUNCIL BILL 2419 - RESOLUTION DIRECTING CITY ENGINEER TO PREPARE ENGINEERING REPORT FOR WEST LINCOLN STREET IMPROVEMENTS BETWEEN KOTKA STREET AND CASCADE DRIVE. Council Bill 2419 was introduced by Councilor Chadwick. 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 Jennings declared Council Bill 2419 duly passed. 1016 DRAFT TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE. City Administrator Brown stated that tree preservation was a topic of discussion in July 2002 since several large trees had been removed by property owners and the Council had been asked by concerned citizens to take some action to preserve the larger size trees. The Council had expressed a variety of viewpoints and these views were incorporated into a draft ordinance. He stated that he did not feel that there had been Council consensus on this issue and staff is back before the Council requesting some additional direction. For the purpose of discussion, staff has developed a draft ordinance which is a very stringent document whereby the Council would regulate the cutting of almost any tree, and in many cases, prohibit the cutting of certain trees. The purpose of the ordinance is to fill in gaps that the City has between the street tree ordinance and the new Woodburn Development Ordinance. It was noted that the Development Ordinance calls for the planting of trees but does not address the retention of the trees originally planted as required within the development approval. The draft ordinance does require a permitting process which would be filed with the Planning office. The definition of a in the ordinance is any tree over 5 inches in diameter at breast height (about 4 foot above ground level). The exception would be in a residentially zoned area RI or R1S lot in which case the tree would need to be 24" in diameter or greater. The ordinance would designate these larger trees as landmark trees, however, the Council could designate other species of trees smaller than 24" as landmark trees which would then fall under the ordinance provisions. Another provision in the ordinance would require the replacement of trees either on the property owner's property, on City right-of-way, on public property, or by virtue of paying into a mitigation fund. The diameter of replacement trees would need to be equal to or greater than the diameter of trees removed and the new tree(s) would need to be at least 2.25 inches or 2.5 inches in diameter. The draft ordinance still needs to address issues relating to property owner violation of the rules and the permit application. Staff had decided to wait until the Council had discussed the draft document and decisions made on this issue before finalizing the document. He stated that Asst. City Attorney Won had drafted the document and is available to answer Council questions. 1551 Councilor Figley stated that she would like to give some protection to the true brand of street trees that are a part of our community but she has some misgivings on the extreme Page 4 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14, 2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING form of ordinance that has been drafted for discussion. She is sympathetic to the impulse to identify, preserve, and protect some of the largest and oldest street specimens. She expressed her support of an ordinance that would protect landmark trees but would have some misgivings when it involves a property owner's yard. She cited as an example the number oftrees on her own property of which only 1 tree is a healthy landmark tree, another tree is an unhealthy landmark tree and the remaining 20 trees are of a species that have no particular significance other than to the family that originally planted the trees. Throughout the City, there are many large trees that may not be significant and she is concerned about taking away property owner rights when it involves private property rather than public right-of-way. She also expressed concern about taking the ordinance any further than identification and definition, and would probably limit the trees to the setback area from the street in which they are located. She also had some issues with the permit process since it could be very time consuming for the Community Development Director to administer the ordinance. Lastly, a potential danger is unlicensed individuals doing work on trees that may create a hazard and some regulation for this type of activity should be considered. Mayor Jennings expressed his opinion that there should be some ordinance provision in place that would protect landscaping from being removed once it has been approved by the City as part of the development site plan within commercial and industrial areas. 2110 Councilor McCallum stated that there have been a number of large trees recently cut down within the City and he is concerned about the loss of older trees within the community. He also agreed with comments made regarding private property and the ability of property owners to make their own landscape decisions, however, he believes in stewardship of property by property owners. He also appreciated the list of trees in the draft ordinance and agreed that individuals removing trees have a license. Also important are the permit procedures and the emergency procedures dealing with tree removals. Mayor Jennings agreed with the preservation of heritage/landmark trees but felt that it was not as important to preserve trees that do not fall into that type of category. He agreed that property owners have rights but he also feels that trees along the streets make the area more aesthetically pleasing. Current City ordinance already protects trees in the public right-of-way but he does have concerns about placing too many restrictions on private property. Councilor McCallum requested clarification of the replacement tree provision. Administrator Brown stated that the tree(s) replaced equal the diameter of the tree(s) removed in addition to the tree replacement size be greater than 2" in diameter. Asst. City Attorney Won stated that a property owner could pay into an mitigation fund which could be used for a tree program. 2886 Councilor Bjelland felt that there are several tiers of situations that are being addressed and it is necessary to clarify what should be done for each of the tiers. He stated that the tiers include (I) the public right-of-way which is already covered under City ordinance; Page 5 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14, 2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14,2002 TAPE READING (2) a second tier being the treescape issue which involves setback from the roadway; (3) a third tier relates to sideyard and backyard issues; and (4) the fourth tier relates to commercial, industrial, and public lands which are developed with certain landscape requirements. He reiterated that the draft ordinance does provide language as to what could be done and it is taken to a fairly extensive level of restriction and, in his opinion, the Council should back off in some of these areas to a degree yet to be determined. He suggested that a Council workshop involving the Park Board and citizens be called to define the tiers and how each tier should be addressed. Councilor Sifuentez felt that the public needs to know what trees would be identified as heritage/landmark trees. She stated that it was difficult for her to infringe on property owner's rights and agreed with Councilor Bjelland that more discussion with the public should be considered before any action is taken. Mayor Jennings felt that the draft ordinance did address the removal of sick or unsafe trees but professionals need to be the ones who would determine the health of a tree. Councilor Chadwick that she had previously removed a tree from her property that had a diseased and they had replaced the tree with another one that would eventually grow taller. 3666 Councilor McCallum stated that health and safety of citizens has always been a priority to him, however, he would like to see built into the document that everyone has rights but they also have responsibilities which need to be kept in balance. Administrator Brown summarized the following comments made by the Council: I) there is a strong need to protect trees that are in place as a condition of approval or have been saved because of a development approval; 2) in a residential area, a heritage tree needs to be saved but there is a need to further define a heritage tree; and 3) there is some consensus that either streetscape or setback is more important than other portions of the yard. He also suggested that a larger diameter of a tree, such as 36", be used as a starting point and then allow for some process in nominating a tree. Staff has had some difficulty in defining species that would be considered as a heritage tree. Additionally, staff has spent a lot oftime on this issue and he is concerned about the amount of future staff time that could be involved if additional hearings and meetings are involved. He recommended that provisions be kept that address pre-development removal of trees. Staffwill also be recommending to the Council that grading permits be required before any pre- development work is done by a property owner. He felt that the language in Section 4 relating to the protection of trees does most of what has been talked about by the Council with some minor revisions. In regards to a replacement tree, another option is a I-I replacement thereby allowing a smaller diameter of a tree to be planted rather than replacing a tree with multiple trees totaling an equal diameter. He also felt that the mitigation fund was an important provision since a tree education program is very Page 6 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14, 2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING important and staff would like to be able to retain an arborist to assist staff in making some of the decisions rather than placing the decision on the landowner. Additionally, the City would like to invest more funds in our own street tree program and perhaps reclaim the designation of Tree City USA. He also suggested that the nuisance tree list be expanded and requested assistance from the Council in providing names oftrees that could be added to the list. Councilor Figley suggested that ornamental trees that bear fruit be added to the list in addition to walnut and chestnut trees since they also create quite a mess. Administrator Brown stated that he would try to bring back a revised draft ordinance that would address the streetscape and setback area. In areas which are zoned commercial or industrial, the property owner would be required to get a tree removal permit if trees greater than 5" in diameter would be removed. In regards to diseased trees or trees that present an eminent danger, the tree can be removed without a replacement value being attached. Discussion was held regarding the placement of stricter requirements on commercial and industrial property over residential property and it was suggested that staff contact an arborist to get an opinion on this issue. 5831 INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT - TRAFFIC SAFETY GRANT AWARD. For fiscal year 2002-03, the City was awarded traffic safety grants in the amount of $4,000 for safety belt enforcement and $3,000 for DUll enforcement. FIGLEYIMCCALLUM... approve reciept and allocation of grant awards for traffic enforcement and approve the intergovernmental agreement between ODOT, through the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Woodburn Police Department. The motion passed unanimously. 5891 RESCHEDULING THE NOVEMBER 11. 2002 CITY COUNCIL MEETING. Since the November 11,2002 regular meeting is on Veteran's Day which is a recognized holiday, staff recommended that the meeting date be rescheduled for Tuesday, November 12th. FIGLEYIBJELLAND... reschedule the November 11th meeting to November 12th due to the holiday. The motion passed unanimously. 5940 APPOINTMENT OF VOTING DELEGATE: LEAGUE OF OREGON CITIES BUSINESS MEETING. Councilor Sifuentez stated that she would be in attendance at the business meeting and would be willing to serve as the City's voting delegate. It was the consensus of the Council to appoint Councilor Sifuentez as the voting delegate. Page 7 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14,2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING 6032 PLANNING COMMISSION ACTIONS: A) Design Review 02-07 to expand existing medical clinic: The Community Development Director approved the design review request for the expansion of the Legacy Clinic located at 1002 N. Boones Ferry Road. No action was taken by the Council on this application. 6057 MAYOR AND COUNCIL REPORTS. Councilor Figley stated that she, along with many volunteers, participated in the Clean-up event last Saturday and, as a result, the City looks much cleaner. She thanked the organizers for their work in coordinating this semi-annual event. She also stated that the North Front Street park looks great and she thanked the Public Works Director and Parks & Recreation Director Westrick in getting this park groomed. Councilor McCallum thanked the volunteers for participating in this year's fall clean-up event which turned out to be very successful. Councilor Bjelland stated that at the last MW ACT (Mid- Willamette Valley Area Commission on Transportation) meeting, it was reported that the Woodburn 1-5 project was designated as a set-aside project for Region II. There were 5 projects in Region II that were recommended to ODOT as projects to be funded through federal funds which are given to the State for expenditure on transportation improvement projects. Of the federal funds received, 5% of those funds are designated as set aside monies which are stipulated for specific projects within the State. Region II has acknowledged that the Woodburn interchange should be nominated as a set aside project to get potential federal funds. There is no guarantee that federal funds will be allocated, however, it does help if ODOT has given its approval as a set aside project. Ifit is designated by ODOT, it would then be appropriate for the City to approach Representative Darlene Hooley to work towards obtaining the federal funds to proceed with the project. Councilor Sifuentez stated that MacLaren has adopted Hwy. 99E and, under the Adopt a Highway program, they are required to clean-up the designated area four times a year. She thanked the MacLaren staff for their willingness to participate in this program. Tape 2 Mayor Jennings stated that he had recently traveled to Central Oregon and found that Redmond also has a lot of traffic problems in their City since Highway 97 goes right through their downtown area. He also stated that he had received a letter from the Council of Governments reminding him that Councilor Bjelland's term on MW ACT will soon end and, as Mayor, he will be nominating Councilor Bjelland to another term on the Commission. Page 8 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14,2002 COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 14, 2002 TAPE READING 0063 ADJOURNMENT. FIGLEy/SIFUENTEZ.... meeting be adjourned. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.. APPROVED ~ O. .~. _ ____ --J ~CHARDJE INGSYMAYOR ATTEST fl1~ J~ Mary T e t, Recorder City of Woodburn, Oregon Page 9 - Council Meeting Minutes, October 14, 2002