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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2001-01-16 AM r 0LAU os k"f C/ CITY COUNCIL MORNING MEETING MINUTES January 16 2001 G O Mayor Judie Hammerstad called the regular City Council meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. on January 16, 2001, in the City Council Chambers. Present: Mayor Hammerstad, Councilors Rohde, Schoen, Turchi, Graham, McPeak and Hoffman Staff Present: Doug Schmitz, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Bob Kincaid, Assistant City Manager; Robyn Christie, Deputy City Recorder 3. REVIEW EVENING AGENDA Councilor Rohde commented that the January 2, 2001, minutes did not reflect his announcement that he was running for President. Mayor Hammerstad explained that they would pull the December minutes from the consent agenda in order to allow the four Councilors who attended those meetings to vote on them separately. Doug Schmitz, City Manager, advised the Council that staff received a fax from the Lake Grove Neighborhood Association requesting the appointment of Matt Finnigan to the Boones Ferry Road Corridor Study Policy Advisory Committee, with Ed Buckman serving as the alternate. The Council had no objection. Councilor Hoffman asked that someone at the regular meeting state publicly these changes to that committee. He asked if staff had excluded anyone who might come forward later asking to be included on the committee. Mr. Schmitz indicated that staff was inclusive in compiling the list and unaware of anyone not represented. He said that the neighborhood associations in the area that were members of LONAC did have representation on the committee. Councilor McPeak asked if the nominations to the committee were closed or open. Mr. Schmitz recalled an instance during the Gap study in which an individual requested appointment; the Planning Commission considered the request and turned it down; the Council upheld the Planning Commission's decision. Councilor Hoffman asked that staff advise the Council every Tuesday with respect to cancelled meeting dates. Mayor Hammerstad asked if the Council wished to continue the practice of reading the consent agenda for the audience. The Council agreed by consensus to do so. Councilor Rhode suggested that the first person in the voting order for that meeting read the consent agenda. Mr. Schmitz asked for Council approval for staff to send a letter to the County Board with respect to the ambulance service issues in time for its January 23 meeting. Mayor Hammerstad asked to get information on decisions a week in advance of the decision. David Powell, City Attorney, explained to the new Councilors that, due to the change in annexation procedures resulting from the demise of the Boundary Commission, the Council was the first hearings body in the city to hear annexation requests. He observed that typically the owner-initiated annexations were merely a formality. He indicated to Councilor Rohde that he would check to see if the City received the Measure 7 waivers yet; if not, he would recommend postponement of the annexation. City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 8 January 16, 2001 Mr. Powell mentioned a technical consideration: the mics were open at the beginning of the meeting before the official call to order. Robyn Christie, Deputy City Recorder, reported that that problem had been fixed; she could now turn the mics on and off. Mr. Schmitz indicated to the Mayor that the buttons for her should be there today. Councilor Hoffman asked Mr. Powell to report on the LUBA decision discussing the imposition of historic designation. He mentioned that, according to a news article he read in the Metro section, LUBA decided that if a property owner voluntarily designated his/her house as historic, he/she could not change his/her mind and request removal of that designation. Mayor Hammerstad indicated that she would mention the MPAC decision on affordable housing and report on the Council goal setting session at the evening meeting. • Review of Joint City/School District Agenda Mr. Schmitz referenced the packet of materials he prepared for Council with respect to the issues likely to be discussed at the joint meeting between the City and the School District. He recommended putting the current project underway at Lake Oswego Junior High in abeyance until staff could analyze whether they could get a synthetic field on to that site. Mr. Schmitz reviewed the policy questions associated with the various issues. He mentioned the question of the size of the research library, the City's willingness to fund some of the library's capital costs, and the source of funds for the maintenance and operation of a dual facility. He suggested two options: the balance in the tax base or shifting funds allocated to the current library to the new facility. He commented that he did not think that the second option would provide sufficient funds. Mayor Hammerstad noted a possible third option of a local option levy. Councilor McPeak asked in what sense would the Council address those large questions. Mr. Schmitz spoke to the Council discussing whether it was willing to fund a difference in capital if they needed a larger library building, and directing City staff to work with District staff to do the research on the size and cost of the building. He confirmed that the City did not obligate itself to any action; the discussion would be conceptual in nature. Councilor Schoen questioned if there was a danger in discussing capital construction before they knew the costs. Mayor Hammerstad spoke to putting that discussion in abeyance until they knew more. She emphasized that they were in an exploratory situation. Councilor Hoffman asked if the statement that a joint facility would be available to students exclusively during school days was non-negotiable. Mr. Schmitz commented that he thought that the memo from Bill Korach, School Superintendent, put that on the table. Mr. Schmitz referenced questions with respect to financing the maintenance and operational costs. He spoke to emphasizing that the City wanted to keep its second choice status in the joint use agreement, compared to the District's first choice status. Councilor Rohde asked about the District's current funding procedures. Mr. Schmitz noted that the District had talked to the City in the past about sharing the costs of City events held at District facilities. He indicated that the District currently paid the majority of the costs, receiving only some revenue from the City. Councilor Hoffman mentioned that some youth groups paid for the use of the indoor facilities. Mr. Schmitz observed that the District's costs would increase with the addition of four gyms, which meant that the District would want increased revenue from the City to offset those costs. Councilor Rohde commented that the increased revenues it received from the additional fees it charged in an increased system should also offset the District's expenses. Mayor Hammerstad suggested a discussion between Mr. Schmitz and Mr. Korach on whether the District passed its local option levy in anticipation of these system expansions. City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 8 January 16, 2001 Mr. Schmitz noted the reference in Mr. Korach's memo to a possible conversion of the Little Theater into additional meeting space. He suggested leaving that decision to the District. He mentioned the question of whether they should roll the question about meeting rooms into the joint use agreement. Councilor Rohde suggested exploring joint use of the computer labs also. Mr. Schmitz asked if the Council wanted to roll auditorium use into the joint use agreement, noting that the City had rarely used the District auditoriums in the past. Mr. Schmitz reviewed the pool issue. He asked if the Council wanted to pursue a joint facility conceptually, and if so, did it want the City and District staffs to gather information for presentation at a future joint meeting. He indicated to Councilor Hoffman that, although the City's Parks & Recreation Master Plan referenced the fact that the City did not have a pool, he did not recall it saying that the community should have a pool for a city this size. Mayor Hammerstad commented that the District was getting pressure about the pool. She mentioned an issue possibly coming up tonight: would the City like to take over the pool and the money budgeted for the related expenses? She noted that the Lake Grove swim park had almost insurmountable legal difficulties, according to Mr. Powell's research. Mr. Powell reviewed the history of the Lake Grove Swim Park. The old Oregon Iron & Steel Company conveyed it to the old Lake Grove School District for use by the members of the school district only. He explained how the Lake Oswego District acquired the swim park under the same restrictions when the Lake Grove District merged with the Lake Oswego District. He said that the Lake Oswego District had to get state legislation allowing them a tax differential to tax only those people within the old Lake Grove School District (both in and out of the City) for the use of the swim park. Mr. Powell explained that, although the District could deed the swim park to the City, doing so presented the City with the same taxing problems faced by the District. He mentioned an additional consideration of the City using public money for a private purpose that was not citywide. He said that the successor in interest to the Oregon Iron & Steel Company was most likely the Lake Corporation. Mr. Powell indicated that they could use the same device used by the school districts to transfer the deed, only this time the Lake Corporation should clarify that all city residents could use the swim park. He mentioned other options of looking into the probability of a successful legal challenge if only part of the city residents could use the pool or tossing it back to the District to solve these legal problems before transferring the swim park to the City. Mayor Hammerstad mentioned possibly using an intergovernmental agreement in this situation. Mr. Powell pointed out that the City still had to address the tax differential issue and using City funds to run something for only part of the city and people outside the city limits. He observed that the problems were almost insurmountable but not entirely. Mayor Hammerstad observed that she did not know if the Council was interested in the swim park but she did think that it would come up during the meeting. Councilor Hoffman suggested exploring the possibility of linking the Lake Grove swim park with increased storm water management. Councilor Rohde reported that a year and a half ago the Lake Corporation discussions reflected a willingness to change the deed restrictions to allow the public to use the swim park. He suggested asking the Lake Corporation if it would be willing to do so before getting into complicated negotiations involving storm water and water quality issues. Councilor Hoffman discussed his interest in the continuing exploration of a community recreation facility with a pool. He referenced the 10 years of demand in the community. He mentioned investigating the potential for installing artificial turf at Lake Oswego Junior High as part of finding a potential site for a pool, and looking at the Armory. City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 8 January 16, 2001 Councilor McPeak mentioned the prior discussion that the money budgeted for a pool and expenses might be a waste if the pool was not a facility that the City wanted to keep. Mayor Hammerstad spoke to keeping all their options open, including the Mountain Park pool. She explained that, as the Mountain Park population aged, the pool had been underutilized with people questioning paying for something that they did not use. She said that Mountain Park was having financial problems with respect to the operation of the pool. Councilor McPeak commented that she thought that the District was not interested in investing more money in the high school pool. She asked if the City wanted them to do so, and if so, how could the City help the District in making that decision. Councilor Turchi explained that originally the District built the pool as its facility for teaching swimming, bussing in all children in the district to the facility as part of that educational program. He said that the swimming education program ceased about 15 years ago, resulting in the use of the pool as a community pool without any real mission in terms of the educational objectives of the District. He observed that it was expensive and something that the District looked at cutting back during hard budget times but found it hard to eliminate because it was the only pool in the community. Councilor Turchi confirmed to Councilor Graham that the District did hold district swimming team practices and competitions at the high school pool. Councilor Rohde pointed out that the after school use of the pool by a district team was similar to the use of the fields by the district football and baseball teams. Mayor Hammerstad noted that, although outside users did pay a fee, the District still lost a lot of money on the pool. She mentioned her hope that one outcome from the joint meeting would be the establishment of subcommittees with City representation to look at these various issues. Mr. Schmitz noted the consensus on the Council to explore a synthetic field at Lake Oswego Junior High. Mr. Schmitz discussed the possible trade off between the District retrofitting its older facilities with fire sprinklers and the City not having to build one of two planned reservoirs. He said that the cost estimate of the retrofit was $2 to $3 million. He noted that the District did not include retrofitting its facilities with fire sprinklers in its $85 million bond measure, and was likely to ask the City if it was willing to pay the cost of the retrofit in lieu of building a reservoir. Mr. Schmitz indicated to Councilor Schoen that the fee structure would probably not pay for the retrofit because of the additional $1.7 to $2 million needed to install the transmission lines from the main pipe to the building, raising the total cost of the retrofit to $4 million. He noted that the estimated cost of the new reservoir as $4.5 million. Mr. Schmitz confirmed to Councilor Schoen that the water master plan required two additional reservoirs for water storage in the long term; they could reduce that to one. Mayor Hammerstad asked if they were required to put in sprinklers during the building renovations. Mr. Powell reported that his research into that question was in progress. He indicated his preliminary understanding that the Building Code did not strictly require sprinklers installed during renovations but the Fire Code did mention it. He said that he was meeting with the Fire Marshall this week to clarify the matter. Mayor Hammerstad asked whether the Council was interested in participating in the retrofit. Councilor Hoffman asked if the City still had to install the new piping (required for the retrofit) if it did the reservoir instead of the retrofit. Mr. Schmitz said no. Councilor Hoffman observed that the high end cost estimates of$4.5 million for the reservoir and $5 million for the retrofit were almost a wash. Mr. Schmitz observed that a reason to do the retrofit over building the new reservoir was a retrofit made it safer for the schools. Mayor Hammerstad asked if the reservoir provided more City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 8 January 16, 2001 capacity for the rest of the community. Mr. Schmitz indicated that it increased both the domestic and fire flow storage. Councilor Schoen spoke to sharing the costs in this situation as opposed to the City doing it alone. Councilor Hoffman asked to hear more about the benefits of an additional reservoir beyond the fire fighting benefits. He concurred that it was a shared responsibility between the City and the District. Councilor Rohde observed that the retrofit was for the protection of the facility, as the children would be evacuated. Mr. Schmitz commented that in a perfect world that would be true; however there was a stack an inch thick of fire code deficiencies at the schools, including evacuation corridors. Mayor Hammerstad observed that the Council had some more thinking to do on this issue. Councilor Rohde said that he was leaning towards paying for it. Mr. Schmitz confirmed to Councilor Graham that the City had the land for the reservoir already. Councilor McPeak mentioned sharing the costs. Mayor Hammerstad agreed that the City would probably have to share the costs of a larger library. She agreed that this situation also appeared to be a shared cost. Councilor Rhode asked about the third and fourth questions under the fields issue. Mr. Schmitz noted that the City discussed these issues with the Board a year and a half ago. He explained that the central issue revolved around the fact that the life expectancy of the fields paid for by the bond was 10 years while the life of the bond was 20 years. He said that staff did not think that policy bodies would want to ask citizens for more money to build new fields when they were still paying for the existing fields. Mr. Schmitz said that staff proposed that the City and the District each set aside $67,000 a year in a replacement fund, so that in 10 years they would have enough money to replace the fields. He reported that the District had not been favorable towards doing that; the City went ahead and set aside its $67,000 annually. He commented that 18 months ago the District had not been favorably inclined to charge for the use of the fields either. Mr. Schmitz concurred with Councilor Schoen that Mr. Korach did mention something about facility fees during their discussion. Mr. Schmitz confirmed to Councilor McPeak that the District did not charge fees on the fields. He mentioned the staff proposal in the master fee schedule for a synthetic field usage fee to offset the cost of community groups using the fields. He confirmed that the parent-run organization for team sports paid $14,000 a year towards the grass fields. Councilor Hoffman spoke to sending any discussion of charges for the use of the fields through the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and the Team Sports Advisory Committee. He commented that they would be up in arms if the City imposed fees without their participation. • Ambulance Service Bob Kincaid, Assistant City Manager, reviewed the history of ambulance service in Lake Oswego. He explained that ambulance franchising used to be unregulated in the state; Lake Oswego bid a franchise for coverage for ambulance service to a private company. He said that in 1987 the state legislature transferred the responsibility for the provision of ambulance services from the local jurisdictions and fire districts to the counties as a means of insuring statewide coverage. Mr. Kincaid explained that Clackamas County established one large district with both urban and rural standards and two smaller districts (Canby and Molalla). He said that, although initially excepted from this districting in order to maintain its franchise with Metro West, Lake Oswego was eventually rolled into the County's arrangement with its provider, American Medical Response (AMR). City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 8 January 16, 2001 Mr. Kincaid indicated that the ambulance service agreement had also gone through some evolution to reach the current format, which required a reporting mechanism. He reported that Lake Oswego closely monitored AMR's reports and knew that AMR had failed to meet the standards in Lake Oswego and in the Milwaukie area. He explained that AMR's recently released information reporting that it did not meet the standards in the first quarter of last year was a major breach of contract. He said that the question coming before the County was what to do when the ambulance franchise provider did not meet the standards outlined in the contract. Mr. Kincaid mentioned the possibility of the City of Lake Oswego providing ambulance service in the future, and an intergovernmental agreement between Lake Oswego, West Linn, Wilsonville and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue to explore a westside ambulance service. Mayor Hammerstad spoke to the difficulties of handling this situation, given the management problems that arose if the County did not have one provider for the entire county. She said that the County would most likely hold a hearing on the issue. Mr. Kincaid reported on his conversation with Steve Rhodes, Clackamas County Administrator, who felt that staff would recommend that the Board bid the franchise but without the opportunity for redistricting. He indicated that the question of redistricting was still up in the air, if the Council was interested in splitting off into a westside service. Mr. Kincaid indicated to Councilor Graham that AMR was not the only ambulance service available. Mayor Hammerstad commented that they were the largest, having taken over Buck. She said that Metro West continued as an independent serving Washington County. Councilor Rhode asked what the state's motivation had been in changing the rules. Mr. Kincaid said that rural areas were not getting ambulance service; districting was one way to force the private sector to provide service to areas that were not profitable. Mayor Hammerstad explained that Ed Lundquist grew up in the families that owned Buck Ambulance; Buck wanted greater representation throughout Clackamas County; the legislation was crafted as Mr. Kincaid described. Mr. Kincaid indicated to Councilor Rohde that he did not think there was a legislative way to fix Lake Oswego's dilemma. Mr. Powell explained that the overall legislative scheme set up with respect to the provision of ambulance service was such that tearing it up and sending it back to each jurisdiction would be very difficult. He commented that Eastern Oregon had issues about serving hard-to-serve outlying areas also. Mayor Hammerstad explained that the County had to adopt an ambulance plan as part of this legislative scheme. She commented that that plan would likely stay in place; it contained many safeguards, standards, and monitoring requirements. She observed that most ambulance services were grossly undercapitalized and consequently submitted lowball bids, which did not provide good service. Mr. Powell said that the County did have flexibility in the franchising details under the broad scheme of the ambulance service. He held that the County could split off the westside without necessarily amending the plan. He clarified to Councilor Graham that the cities would provide service in addition to AMR; it was not an exclusive agreement. Mayor Hammerstad noted that Clackamas Fire Service District's recent purchase of ambulances put another wrinkle in the situation, as it wanted to both respond and provide transport. She commented that Lake Oswego was not in a similar situation. Councilor Rohde mentioned prior discussions of Lake Oswego providing ambulance service. Mr. Schmitz said that the decision had been to wait and see what happened during the extension that the County granted to AMR. Councilor Schoen observed that this was troubling because they had this same conversation about a service issue last year. He suggested re-bidding the franchise. The Council agreed by consensus to support the County in its recommendation to re-bid the franchise. City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 8 January 16, 2001 Mr. Powell referenced Mr. Kincaid's point that the contract requirements allowed AMR to average its urban and rural response times. He mentioned another section discussing the provision of a quality of service on a community type basis but not clearly stating what happened if AMR did not provide that quality, except to require the development and use of a systems status plan. Mr. Powell suggested that the Council's letter to the County include a statement suggesting that AMR had not only not met the urban/rural standards but it also needed to provide a systems status plan requiring quality of community service. He suggested that the City go on record saying that it did not think that the County was enforcing the contract the way it was supposed to, and asking the County to enforce the contract. Councilor McPeak asked if the contract contained any financial incentives to help AMR pay attention. Mr. Powell said that the contract included options from fines to contract termination. He indicated that the County fined AMR in a previous year with a small fine but the real stick was termination of service. He observed that if the County was serious, it could impose monthly fines. He concurred with Mr. Kincaid that AMR could rotate its resources around so as not to create the issue of the imbalance in rural versus urban response times. He reiterated his recommendation that the City ask the County to enforce the contract as a matter of public safety. He commented that doing so would force the County to address the issue. The Council agreed by consensus to include Mr. Powell's suggestions in the letter. 4. REVIEW FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 5. EXECUTIVE SESSION Councilor Hoffman declared an actual conflict of interest because his law firm represented Bones Construction Company. He would not participate in the discussion in Executive Session relating to Field Turf. Mayor Hammerstad recessed the meeting to Executive Session at 8:30 a.m. pursuant to ORS 192.660(1)(h) for consultation with counsel concerning legal rights and duties regarding current litigation or litigation likely to be filed. Mr. Powell reviewed the Executive Session parameters. 6. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION Mayor Hammerstad reconvened the open session at 8:50 a.m. Councilor Rohde moved adoption of Resolution 01-03, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Lake Oswego declaring the public necessity to acquire a further temporary easement for the location and construction of the Fairway Road sanitary sewer extension project and acquire immediate possession. Councilor Schoen seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken and the motion passed with Mayor Hammerstad, Councilors Rohde, Schoen, Turchi, Graham, McPeak and Hoffman voting in favor. [7-01 Mayor Hammerstad recessed the meeting to Executive Session at 8:57 a.m. pursuant to ORS 192.660(1)(h) for consultation with counsel concerning legal rights and duties regarding current litigation or litigation likely to be filed. Councilor Hoffman left the room. Mayor Hammerstad reconvened the meeting at 9:07 a.m. Councilor Graham commented that she did not see the change from `Business from the Council' to `Information from the Council' in the rewrite of the Council procedures (page 87). Mr. Powell explained that he deleted the reference in that section because `Information from the Council' was intended as a non-action item. Mayor Hammerstad noted that the change was recorded on page 85. City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 8 January 16, 2001 Councilor Rohde asked Mr. Powell to provide his annual litigation update of everything for which the City was being sued. 7. OTHER BUSINESS 8. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hammerstad adjourned the meeting at 9:10 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Robyn Chri•lie Deputy City Recorder APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: February 6, 2001 J ie Hammerstad, Mayor City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 8 January 16, 2001