HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2002-12-03 AM „LPG(°sw�
`'� CITY COUNCIL MORNING MEETING MINUTES
December 3, 2002
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Mayor Judie Hammerstad called the special City Council meeting to order at 7:35 a.m. on
December 3, 2002, in the City Council Chambers, 380 A Avenue.
Present: Mayor Hammerstad, Councilors Schoen, Turchi, Graham, Hoffman, Rohde and
Councilor-elect Peterson. Councilor McPeak was excused.
Staff Present: Doug Schmitz, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Robyn Christie, City
Recorder; Kim Gilmer, Parks & Recreation Director; Tom Tushner, Principal
Engineer; Janice Deardorff, Assistant City Manager
3. REVIEW EVENING AGENDA
Doug Schmitz, City Manager, indicated to Councilor Graham that the Infill hearing scheduled
for December 4 at the Planning Commission was open to the public.
Mayor Hammerstad noted that Councilor Schoen would review the goals tonight and Councilor
Hoffman the consent agenda.
Item 4.2.1 Metro Greenspaces Map
Kim Gilmer, Parks & Recreation Director, explained that the map referenced in the Council
packet was an update of the 1992 Metro Greenspaces Map. She indicated that Metro
implemented much of what the master plan proposed. She mentioned the Metro Council
adoption of the updated trails system map last year. She said that updating the regional concept
map (greenspaces map) was the next step.
Ms. Gilmer reported that, at a joint meeting, PRAB and NRAB heard a Metro representative
present the map. She said that both groups felt that it was reasonable, and recommended that the
Council send a letter of endorsement to Metro. She asked if the Council wanted to do that.
Ms. Gilmer explained to Councilor Hoffman that the light green on the map represented public
and private lands, including proposed areas that Metro would like to protect in the future. She
indicated that NRAB and PRAB did not see anything that would create problems in the future.
She confirmed to Councilor Schoen that the green included undeveloped lands.
Councilor Hoffman asked if there were any lands that the City should add to the map. Ms.
Gilmer noted that the map showed Stafford Basin as another natural area. She spoke of three
trails staff included on the regional trails system map, which the Council had recommended last
year: Surf to Turf, Willamette River, and Hillsdale-Lake Oswego. She confirmed to Councilor
Hoffman that the map included the George Rogers-Tryon Creek Trail.
Mayor Hammerstad observed that the ridge, which was not totally protected, was prominent.
Ms. Gilmer mentioned that Metro included more lands, which were not on the first map, in the
hopes that eventually it could protect them, either through public acquisition or by working with
private landowners.
Ms. Gilmer indicated to Councilor Hoffman that she thought it probable that this map would
serve as the basis for a bond in 2004 or 2006.
Councilor Graham asked how accurate was the population figure. Ms. Gilmer said that she
could not comment on the accuracy, as that was Metro's bailiwick to put the numbers together.
Mayor Hammerstad noted that the Council had no objections to forwarding the letter to Metro.
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December 3, 2002
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Mayor Hammerstad mentioned that Ms. Christie reminded her that the Council directed the
Youth Council to review the consent agenda, and that Councilor Rohde volunteered to meet with
the Youth Councilors before the meeting tonight. Robyn Christie, City Recorder, indicated
that Mallory Boutin would be first.
Councilor Rohde asked why they were continuing the Diamond Head issue. David Powell,
City Attorney, explained that Mr. Cox and Mr. Sebastian, both representing the applicant, had a
schedule conflict on that date: they have had a trip to Belize scheduled for two months. He
commented that this was a situation where the applicant had an economic interest. He said that
the applicant waived the 120-day rule. He held that it was not out of line for the Council to allow
the continuance.
Mayor Hammerstad noted that they were starting to appoint Youth Councilors to the Advisory
Boards: Ian Green wanted to be on the Transportation Advisory Board but Mallory did not want
to be on PRAB, so that resolution was pulled. She mentioned the addition of Resolution 02-87,
appointing Betsy Walls to the Library Advisory Board. She placed the declaration of the vote of
the general election under Council Business.
Mr. Schmitz commented that staff has heard two concerns expressed regarding the
neighborhood enhancement grants. He explained to Mayor Hammerstad that Springbrook
requested signs for both construction and installation but the neighborhood bylaws only called
for installation signs; right now, this was against City policy.
Mayor Hammerstad expressed her surprise at the requests from the homeowner associations, as
they had some ability to raise money on their own. She mentioned that she has received letters
from neighborhood associations supporting those requests but she had thought that this program
was more for neighborhood associations. Mr. Schmitz indicated that the program included both
neighborhood associations and homeowner associations.
4. REVIEW FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Councilor Hoffman suggested having a Council morning briefing on the floodplain standards
before the January 21 public hearing, as that would be a contentious issue. He mentioned that he
attended the Planning Commission hearing at which the experts testified, and found it very
interesting in terms of the legal aspects and the dynamics involving the Lake Corporation. Mr.
Schmitz indicated that he would work with Mr. Egner to find a study session time.
Mayor Hammerstad said that she and Mr. Schmitz were meeting with Mr. Hertzberg regarding
retreat agenda items. She asked Councilor-elect Peterson to think about what things she would
like to be doing during the next year. She asked the rest of the Councilors to think about what
they would like to do that they have not yet been able to do.
Mayor Hammerstad observed that they had several leftovers, given the ambitious goals they set
last year. She mentioned hearing a comment from LONAC about how this Council has taken
more action on items than the previous six Councils put together.
Councilor Hoffman indicated that he has been attending the LONAC meetings, and found it
more positive and upbeat with the change in Board members. Councilor-elect Peterson
mentioned that a retreat item she requested was finding things to give LONAC something to
focus on, instead of holding a three hour complaining session.
Mayor Hammerstad reported on their meeting with Superintendent Korach and School Board
Chair Elliott regarding the agenda for the joint meeting next Tuesday. She said that the District
wanted to talk about their strategic financial plan and their situation. She indicated that much of
the discussion would focus on asking staff to bring back information on particular things.
Mayor Hammerstad mentioned that they did want to try to get the District to take over the
maintenance of the artificial fields. She said that the District wanted to talk about the possible
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December 3, 2002
locations for the new artificial fields. She noted that the City decided not to ask the District for
an update on their construction plan because they did not have time to do so.
Mayor Hammerstad indicated that the District was interested in a quick PowerPoint overview
of the City's Foothills Plan. She commented that it was a good dry run for a program that she
and Mr. Knippel had planned for the Rotary. She noted that all they would cover under the Joint
Use Library item was that the next committee would not be appointed for a year, given the Task
Force recommendation and the School's construction schedule.
Mayor Hammerstad indicated to Councilor Rohde that the District's interest in the Foothills
Plan was simply to see what was going on in the City. She indicated to Councilor Hoffman that
the District's strategic plan for dealing with its financial problems did not relate to bonds. She
commented that the District would probably not go out for bonds but they might go out for their
local option levy.
Mr. Schmitz mentioned that the District would probably go out for a bond in six years to replace
the artificial fields, as they were not setting aside money to replace those fields. Councilor
Hoffman spoke to discussing whose bonds went out when, given that it was the same 15,000
households involved. Mayor Hammerstad concurred that at some point the City needed to
know what the District's plans were. Mr. Schmitz said that he would ask Mr. Korach.
Mayor Hammerstad explained that the reason why a discussion about the boundary changes
within Stafford was not included was because the City has not discussed that matter with its
partners yet. She commented that they needed to bring the West Linn School Board into the
discussion before the issue hit the newspaper. She said that Mr. Korach would talk to both the
West Linn and Lake Oswego School Boards while she would talk to David Dodds and the West
Linn City Council to see if they wanted to have the PSU Institute be the neutral convener of that
discussion.
Mayor Hammerstad indicated to Councilor Hoffman that Mr. Korach's reaction had been
positive. She reported that Mr. Korach told her that, in a casual conversation with Roger Wall at
the OASB meeting, he found Mr. Wall's reaction tentatively positive. She observed that if both
Districts agreed, then the process was simple. She held that it would be good to get that piece of
the governance done, regardless of whether Stafford came in or not.
Mayor Hammerstad indicated to Councilor Schoen that the City wanted to know whether the
District was interested in having the City do more legal research on transferring ownership of the
Lake Grove Swim Park to the City. Mr. Schmitz observed that there were obstacles to
overcome. Mayor Hammerstad commented that the Lake Corporation was on board.
Mayor Hammerstad suggested that Councilor Rohde bring up his concerns about the social
studies curriculum and the education of future voters one-on-one during the social time at 4:45
p.m.
Mayor Hammerstad mentioned that she invited Richard Devlin and Greg MacPherson to have
dinner with the Council at 5 p.m. on December 17. She said that Mr. Powell would send them
the Council's tentative legislative agenda. She spoke of this as an opportunity to get some buy-in
from them before the legislature started. She commented that it was also good if the legislators
could recognize the Councilors when they came down to Salem.
Mr. Powell mentioned that he would run the legislative agenda by Councilor Rohde before
sending it out.
Mayor Hammerstad noted that they had the oath of office for the new and newly elected
Councilors on January 7. She recounted an anecdote from her campaign for State Representative
regarding the School Board removing"so help me God" from the School Board oath of office.
5. OTHER BUSINESS
5.1 Status of Field Fee Discussion
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December 3, 2002
Mayor Hammerstad noted that they postponed this discussion to the December 17 morning
meeting.
5.2 Community Survey Update
Mr. Schmitz indicated that he had wanted to bring this to the Council before finalizing the
document. He noted the lack of meat on the questions. He indicated to Councilor Turchi that
the survey cost $20,000, and that they have spent $3,000 to $4,000 on it so far.
Councilor Turchi spoke against doing the survey. Councilors Schoen and Graham concurred.
Councilors Hoffman and Rohde disagreed.
Councilor Hoffman referenced his review of previous surveys while trying to figure out why the
Council has conducted this survey six times. He argued that there was a value to doing the
survey, in that people knew that the Council asked for community input, and that the Review did
an article on it each time. He held that there was value to asking citizens what they thought
about the community and what direction they thought that the community should go in.
Councilor Hoffman acknowledged that it cost $20,000 but argued that by not asking people
their opinion, the Council sent an implicit message that it did not care what the people thought,
especially if it suddenly stopped doing a survey that it has conducted for years.
Mayor Hammerstad said that she saw a value to asking when the Council needed the
information. She argued that when the Council asked for information that it could do nothing
about, it led people to unrealistic expectations. She observed that the Council has been working
on this survey for a while, and yet it could not get it in a form that felt right.
Mayor Hammerstad commented that the point was that there were not many issues out there to
which the Council was trying to find answers. She held that if the Council needed answers to
these issues, then it would ask the questions. She indicated that she had supported doing the
survey until the Council started looking at it and failed to find meaningful questions to ask.
Mayor Hammerstad disagreed that people would interpret the Council not conducting the
survey as sending the message that it did not care what people thought, considering the numerous
opportunities that the Council did give for people to tell it what they thought. She commented
that people mainly wanted to interact with the Council on the important things going on in their
lives, and the Council gave them that opportunity.
Mayor Hammerstad commented that she did not think that the topics on the survey were very
important. She recalled that she has only heard from one person regarding the aquatics center.
Councilor Graham indicated that she heard from a few about the recreation center but did not
see a groundswell about that either.
Councilor Schoen concurred that the survey lacked substance. He observed that they have
conducted basically the same survey three times in a row. He spoke to finding a better allocation
for those funds. He indicated that if the survey were more meaningful, he would support it.
Councilor Rohde commented that he has never found much value in the survey questions on
policy/goal issues but he did see great value in the community attitudes questions. He spoke to
tracking the community's satisfaction with services over time as the most important part of the
survey, because it allowed the Council to identify whether there was a trend happening in any
particular service. He recalled that the survey showing dissatisfaction with the Planning
Department allowed the Council to recognize a need to focus a management effort in providing
better customer service in that area.
Councilor Rohde described the first few questions in the survey as the `meaty' questions. He
held that previous Councils, lacking the backbone to do what it thought is should do, tried to use
the survey to provide the backbone. He observed that the current Council was fully committed to
a variety of goals, and perhaps did not need to ask those questions. He reiterated that it was vital
City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 13
December 3, 2002
to the organization to track the satisfaction of services over time in order to recognize areas that
did or did not perform well.
Councilor Rohde indicated to Councilor Schoen that he did not think tracking satisfaction with
services through Hello LO or online would return adequate results because the majority of the
public did not read the newsletter or visit the City website. He commented that those who did
were the same people whose opinions the Council already heard through other avenues. He
argued that to obtain a real poll of the community, they had to reach the people who did not voice
their opinions already.
Councilor Graham held that the passage of the bond measure in these economic times
represented a positive vote of confidence in the City and the City Council. She commented that,
given that they were talking about pinching pennies, the public might question their spending
$20,000 on a survey when they could be spending it on something that the City really needed.
She suggested revisiting the survey in a year.
Councilor Rohde pointed out that they have already delayed the survey by a year, and would
begin to affect the ability to track the trends over time. He disagreed that people thought
spending money on a survey was wasted money. He cited LONAC's support of it, especially as
it applied to quality of life indicators, which did require survey work.
Mayor Hammerstad held that the survey would not serve the Council well right now,unless
they used it to assess the quality of life indicators in some meaningful way, which would change
the direction of the survey. She disagreed that they lost much in the tracking element by not
doing the survey every year because over the last four surveys, the numbers have not differed
greatly.
Mayor Hammerstad held that with the City's level of community participation and the passage
of the bond, the Council had several indicators about how the community was feeling in general.
She concluded that, in general, the community was healthy.
Mayor Hammerstad confirmed to Councilor Graham that the Planning Commission was
working on the quality of life indicators in a public process.
Councilor-elect Peterson mentioned how useful Tri-Met's annual survey of its rider ship was in
finding out what their concerns were. She spoke of the ability to use the percentage of a high
favorable rating when talking about the state of the community as a whole, and in identifying
specific areas that Tri-Met needed to address.
Mayor Hammerstad pointed out that the public might think that the City maintained the streets
well enough but the Council knew that if it did not continue to invest money in that maintenance,
they would not be able to maintain the streets. She observed that what the community thought
and what was real were not the same thing. Councilor-elect Peterson indicated that point lay
behind her concerns about some of the questions.
Councilor Turchi concurred that there was value in tracking community attitudes about the City
over time. He indicated that he did not find the questions asking for specific policy direction as
having value because he could not see how the Council could really use that information or how
it might drive their decision-making.
Councilor Turchi commented that the big questions related to what to do about the Stafford
basin or what to do as the School District's difficulties increased. He mentioned annexation and
people ripping the City off by not annexing. He pointed out that they were not asking those kinds
of questions. He concurred that the quality of life indicators were a good thing to measure but
held that they did not need to do it every year.
Councilor Rohde pointed out that it has been three years since the City did the survey,which it
used to conduct every two years. He reiterated that they did lose tracking information over time.
He suggested dropping out the `meatier questions' but still asking the tracking and trend
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December 3, 2002
-1 questions. He spoke of not asking questions on which the Council felt that it still needed to
shape the public's opinion.
Councilor Rohde recalled that the survey saved the City$22 million by informing the Council
that the public continued to rate the library as one of the most satisfactory experiences in the
City. He pointed out that if 85% of the public was happy with the quality of the library and the
services provided, then the community did not need to build a new library. Councilor Hoffman
commented that it helped him in talking about the library to know that the people were split over
building a branch library or a new, bigger library.
Mayor Hammerstad asked if the Council had any comparable issue for which it needed an
answer. She indicated to Councilor Schoen that they would learn at the public hearing on the
street maintenance fee what the public thought of it. Councilor Hoffman commented that if the
City knew that 85% of the people thought that a street utility fee was fine, then staff did not have
to do public outreach.
Councilor Hoffman argued that the survey included useful information, such as how citizens
obtained their information or the importance of neighborhood associations. He commented that
one of the dangers with this particular Council was that likeminded people were talking to each
other. He held that one of the values of a survey was talking to un-likeminded people.
Councilor Hoffman mentioned asking about a gas tax or bonds or whether the Council should
buy more land. Mayor Hammerstad noted that they asked that question, and the people said
yes. Councilor Hoffman questioned whether they were saying yes to the artificial fields. He
reiterated that there were many issues that they could ask about, such as Wizer's and the
streetcar, and that there was value to asking the community how the City was doing.
Mayor Hammerstad observed that at least one of the four voicing opposition to doing the
survey needed to be persuaded before they went ahead with it. She asked if anyone felt
persuaded. Councilor-elect Peterson spoke in support of asking the tracking and trend
questions, but wondered if the policy questions were off the table.
Mayor Hammerstad commented that not even Councilor Rohde wanted the policy questions,
although apparently Councilor Hoffman did. Councilor Hoffman confirmed that he did, as they
have had them in the past, and the Council has found the additional comments useful. Councilor
Graham indicated that she would be more receptive to doing the survey if they waited until after
the Council set its 2003 goals.
Mayor Hammerstad commented that the fact that the Council kept putting this off indicated
that it did not feel an urgency about it. Councilor Rohde said that he did feel an urgency about
it, as the longer they delayed in asking the questions tracking the trends in the community, the
more likely they would be off track. He indicated that the bond vote did not tell him much more
than people wanted fields and more land in Stafford.
Mayor Hammerstad argued that if the people felt dissatisfied, then they would vote down any
measure, regardless of what it was. She cited Clackamas County's inability to pass anything,
even for things that the County really needed, because the people did not have a good feeling
about what was going on.
Councilor Rohde commented that Lake Oswego passed everything. Mayor Hammerstad
contended that there was a reason for that. Councilor Turchi recalled an earlier time when Lake
Oswego did not pass everything, and it took four or five elections to get a school budget. He
concluded that this community was not averse to voting things down. Councilor Hoffman
concurred.
Mayor Hammerstad commented that the Charter had some strange provisions in it, due to
dissatisfaction. She recalled that dissatisfaction fomented the turndown of a major water bond
several years ago. Councilor Hoffman asked what happened to change that.
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December 3, 2002
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Councilor Turchi commented that it was hard to argue against the survey, as they were in a
good position, so why not ask. He indicated that he did not feel an urgency to conduct the
survey. He concurred with Councilor Hoffman that the Council was not generally reflective
totally of community values. He wondered whether it would be better to conduct focus groups to
get a more in-depth sense of what people were thinking. He pointed out that $20,000 was half a
fireman.
Councilor Schoen indicated that what he thought happened to change the community's voting
pattern was that this Council was functional and responsive, as well as representative of the
community. He said that he did not hear complaints from people about the Council's actions or
City services. He commented that some of the past Councils have had strange ways of doing
things.
Mayor Hammerstad asked what those who just ran for election heard from the citizens to whom
they talked. Councilor Graham said that she heard only one negative comment. Councilor
Hoffman said that he heard about the aquatics center as something that people wanted to do. He
indicated that the people liked the downtown and the chip plant. Councilor-elect Peterson said
that she heard that everyone on the Council thought the same, that they were spending too much
money, and that Lake Grove did not receive sufficient attention.
Councilor Hoffman spoke to looking at the survey as a means of finding out whether the
Council was 20 years ahead of the crowd in what it wanted to do or if the people were right
behind it. He mentioned the issue of eminent domain in various areas of the city.
Mayor Hammerstad summarized the discussion as there was interest in doing the survey. She
indicated that they might revisit it after the Council goal setting and find a focus. She
commented that the Council would not do the survey until it felt that it had a reason to do it, and
then it would proceed. She noted that both Councilors Rohde and Hoffman felt passionately
about it but there was not much enthusiasm from the Council as a whole to move forward at this
time.
Councilor Hoffman noted for the record that the City conducted surveys in 1991, 1994, 1996,
1998 and 2000. Janice Deardorff, Human Resources Director, indicated that she would talk
to the consultant.
5.3 Stafford/Rosemont Road Interchange
Tom Tushner, Principal Engineer,referenced the memo he wrote as a follow-up to a meeting
he had last Tuesday with County staff in order to provide the Council with the background of the
issue and a summary of the meeting. He commented that staff would need direction fairly soon
in terms of public involvement and project funding.
Mr. Tushner recalled that, in July 2000, the suggestion to put in an all way stop at the
intersection went by the wayside after the Council directed the County to postpone the project
until funding could be found for the larger intersection project of signals and lane improvements
($1.5 million in the County CIP). He said that Clackamas County informed him in August 2001
that it had received Hazard Elimination Program(HEP) funding of$500,000.
Mr. Tushner mentioned that the County had flagged the intersection for the Street of Dreams
project. He reported that, at an ITS meeting last October, County staff informed him that they
were looking at doing a roundabout at the intersection. He referenced the attachment to his
memo of the comments he made about the County's feasibility study on a roundabout. He said
that a week ago last Friday, County staff told him that they have decided to move forward with
the roundabout and asked him to attend the engineering project management staff meeting.
Mr. Tushner discussed the issues that came up at the staff meeting. He mentioned that County
staff has not done much follow up work. He indicated that the driving force for the County, in
terms of the schedule, was the need to obligate the HEP funds by October 2003, which meant
that they had to start surveying in the next couple of weeks.
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December 3, 2002
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Mr. Tushner mentioned the discussion of the public involvement process, funding and right-of-
way issues. He noted that the City currently controlled two properties over which the County
needed right-of-way for this project. He spoke of the County staff's questions about whether the
City might donate the right-of-way, what would the City require in a public involvement process,
and what might be the City's level of funding participation.
Mayor Hammerstad recalled that when the County developed the Tanner Basin master plan,
with its land zoned future urbanizable, it gave West Linn the planning authority and had an
agreement that some portion of the SDCs, which West Linn received from the development of
the Tanner Basin, would go to this intersection project.
Mr. Tushner pointed out that the funding section identified $90,000 coming out of the Tanner
Basin agreement. He noted that the cost estimate for the roundabout was $750,000; the $500,000
in HEP funds left a $250,000 shortfall. He mentioned that he had brought up the Tanner Basin
agreement, as the County staff had not known about it.
Mr. Tushner indicated that, although he had requested that a West Linn representative attend the
meeting, there was no one from West Linn present, and therefore, he did not know West Linn's
position was on the $90,000. He observed that the barebones project had a $160,000 shortfall.
He commented that if the City wanted to install decorative luminaries or more landscaping than
bare grass, then it would have to pay for it.
Mayor Hammerstad commented that the three-way intersection at Overlook and Stafford
worked well. She noted that the Stafford/Rosemont intersection functioned essentially as a three-
way intersection, given the little traffic from Atherton Heights. She asked what was wrong with
doing an intersection similar to the Overlook/Stafford intersection.
Mr. Tushner indicated that he asked County staff to do an alternatives analysis from a
capacity/safety standpoint. He commented that he thought that there were many things that they
needed to examine before deciding that a roundabout was better than a signal at this intersection.
He said that County staff felt that a roundabout was safer than a signal, since the accidents
occurring at roundabouts were typically the slower speed type of accidents.
Mr. Tushner indicated that County staff also felt that the roundabout was more efficient and
cheaper to operate from a long-term maintenance and energy consumption standpoint. He
concurred that it was more efficient during off-peak hours because essentially traffic did not have
to stop. He commented that these were the same types of issues that the City staff looked at for
the Carman/Meadows intersection. He mentioned that roundabouts were becoming more
common in traffic management.
Mr. Tushner indicated that he did not know whether the County staff has gone through a
process to make that decision. He said that part of what he asked them for was a comparison of
the different alternatives, and the development of an analytical process by which to make that
determination. He concurred that the initial project, a signalized intersection, seemed to work
fine. He commented that he was not certain how the County staff got to a single lane
roundabout, which eventually they would need to expand to a dual lane roundabout.
Mayor Hammerstad observed that that intersection would be overwhelmed if Stafford came in.
Mr. Tushner said that, as he understood it, the County staff did not take into account the
Stafford basin. He indicated that the County felt that a dual lane roundabout would handle the
2020 projections for the area. He commented that a dual lane roundabout did have the capacity
of a signal with multi-lanes.
Mr. Tushner commented that that was an issue that was an ongoing rub. He indicated that the
Lake Oswego Transportation System Plan showed Stafford as a three-lane facility while the
County's TSP showed it as a five-lane facility. He questioned whether that would be resolved.
Councilor Graham asked if the money included purchasing right-of-way. Mr. Tushner said
that the County did not have the information as to whether the estimates included the purchase.
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December 3, 2002
He commented that he thought they were hopeful that the City would dedicate the additional
right-of-way needed on its two properties. He mentioned that it was difficult to know where the
right-of-way would be because the different possibilities for that intersection each had a different
footprint.
Mr. Tushner indicated to Councilor Schoen that the County was looking at a single lane
roundabout, which would ultimately become a dual lane roundabout. He discussed the various
ways of engineering that changeover. He commented that, under any scenario, the area would
likely need a dual lane roundabout at that intersection.
Councilor Rohde commented that there appeared to be a roundabout fad going on in the
transportation community based on the argument that roundabouts were more efficient and less
expensive over the long term. He pointed out that arguing for the replacement of all signalized
intersections in the Portland metro area with roundabouts was ridiculous.
Councilor Rohde commented that he did not know why this fad has overtaken the engineering
community but he did not think that roundabouts were the best way to operate intersections. He
spoke to installing a signalized intersection over a roundabout until they obtained the money to
build Stafford to five lanes, which was what a fully urbanized Stafford basin would require.
Councilor-elect Peterson spoke to roundabouts as a good way to go, given that both signals and
roundabouts served around the same capacity. She pointed out that roundabouts were more
aesthetically pleasing than signals, especially since a five-lane Stafford and a three-lane
Rosemont would create a gigantic intersection.
Councilor-elect Peterson argued that it would be easier to develop in the area if they could get
people used to slowing down. She described a roundabout as `highway calming,' especially for
straight roads, like Sunnyside, which people treated as a speedway during the off peak hours
when they could hit all the green lights. She disagreed that signals made roads safer for
everybody.
Councilor-elect Peterson referenced the access issues foreseeable on Stafford in the future. She
spoke to using some form of median control and a traffic circle in the intersection to calm traffic.
She commented that she did not think that there was sufficient money to replace every signalized
intersection in the metro area but she did think that many signalized intersections could be traffic
circles.
Councilor Schoen recalled that the roundabouts in England worked very well at 45 mph, and
they were more attractive. He commented that they were a little `spookier' with two lanes. He
indicated that he did not oppose a roundabout.
Councilor Hoffman asked if County staff opposed following the City's public hearings process.
Mr. Tushner commented that he did not know that the County staff had a good handle on what
they wanted to do. He speculated that, had he not raised the public involvement issue,the
County staff might have simply proceeded with the HEP funding and done the construction
without a public process.
Mr. Tushner mentioned that they asked him what did the City have to do for public involvement
on the project. He said that his response was that he did not have to do anything because it was a
County process. He indicated that he spoke to them about getting the public involved in the
process and the decision.
Mr. Tushner commented that he was not certain what the City could require, as this was an
intersection outside the city boundaries. He noted that if the City intended to dedicate right-of-
way for the project, then the County would have to involve the City in the process in order to
determine how much right-of-way to give up, and what the impacts were on the City's property.
Mr. Tushner reported that, at the meeting, County staff were starting to formulate a plan for
open houses and a newsletter. He said that he described Lake Oswego's normal public
involvement process to them.
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December 3, 2002
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Councilor Rohde commented that, since he has been involved with transportation issues at the
City level, he has heard nothing but derision from all sections of the community about the
roundabout at the Hunt Club. He indicated that he heard more questioning of the Meadows Road
roundabout after the newspaper article came out. He suggested including a question on
roundabouts in the survey.
Councilor Rohde observed that elderly drivers had a difficult time with roundabouts, and tended
to wait to enter one until there was no one else in the roundabout. He questioned whether the
public bought into roundabouts as a transportation solution.
Councilor Turchi held that the public did accept roundabouts as a transportation solution. He
argued that if they asked the public now about the Iron Mountain Blvd roundabout, as opposed to
when it first went in, they would get a different answer because people have gotten used to it. He
commented that the roundabout on the Terwilliger extension worked very well, and better than a
signalized intersection would.
Councilor Turchi conceded that the Council might be a bit out in front of the people on
roundabouts but reiterated that, once they were installed, they worked well and efficiently. He
commented that they were also good for the environment.
Mayor Hammerstad indicated to Mr. Schmitz that he could send Mr. Tushner back to the
County with the message that they did not have enough information. Mr. Schmitz mentioned
wanting to see the analysis and the public process, as well as finding out how much right-of-way
was involved. He commented that this would give Mr. Powell time to do some legal research on
whether the City could donate right-of-way from properties that it purchased with open space
money.
Mr. Schmitz indicated that once they received the information from the County, and a formal
request of what the County wanted from the City, then staff could address the rest of the
questions. Mayor Hammerstad said that she wanted to find out about the IGA regarding
Tanner Basin, as she thought that there should be more money than $90,000. She explained that
the County knew at the time that it was one of the only two ways out of Tanner Basin, and it
arranged for West Linn to allocate SDCs to this intersection.
Mayor Hammerstad referenced Councilor Hoffman's observation that the Council did not
represent the community, and that it was likeminded. She cited the last two discussions and the
fact that the Council has never had a unanimous vote on important issues (frequently splitting
with a 4-3 vote) in arguing that the Council did represent different points of view. She
commented that she found that interesting, as they were a homogeneous group yet they had
different ways of looking at things.
Mr. Schmitz asked the Council's permission to proceed with the RFP for architectural services
for the chip plant. He mentioned the four basic elements: the connection of the Roehr Park
pathway, grass, restrooms, and parking. Mayor Hammerstad directed Mr. Schmitz to bring it
up under City Manager on the agenda this evening.
5.4 Charter Officer Evaluation Forms
Mr. Schmitz and Mr. Powell left the room.
Mayor Hammerstad noted that the evaluation form for the City Manager were the same form
that the Council has used in the past. She asked that the City Manager and the City Attorney
both fill out a self-evaluation form. She indicated some changes (page 29) on the Council's
form,which would allow the Council to do a more formal evaluation of the judge and the city
attorney.
Ms. Deardorff indicated to Councilor Schoen that she would list the goals from last year on the
City Manager's performance evaluation form.
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December 3, 2002
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Councilor Graham asked for clarification on the concurrence section on the last page. Mayor
Hammerstad explained that all the Councilor would be agreeing with was that the evaluation
has been reviewed and discussed. She indicated that the Councilor's remarks would be in the
personnel file.
Ms. Deardorff indicated that the Councilors should return their filled out forms to the Mayor.
Mayor Hammerstad asked that the charter officers fill out their self-evaluation forms within the
next week, so that Council had those forms ahead of time, which made it easier for the
Councilors to fill out the evaluation form.
Ms. Deardorff indicated to Mayor Hammerstad that the evaluation time did not include time
for the Council to discuss the evaluation before meeting with the officers. The Council
discussed whether it needed to meet in advance of the performance evaluation. Councilor
Turchi commented that, as long as no one had a major concern, then there was no need to meet,
but he would want a discussion in advance if someone had a real problem.
The Council discussed whether to e-mail the evaluation forms to the Mayor. Ms. Christie
explained that e-mail was public record but e-mail relating to a charter officer evaluation would
probably be non-disclosable. Mayor Hammerstad indicated that she would discuss the issue
with the City Attorney.
Ms. Deardorff suggested adjusting the meeting time to start half an hour earlier in order to allow
the Council to meet in advance of the evaluations. Mayor Hammerstad suggested starting at 4
p.m. Ms. Christie explained to Ms. Deardorff that the judge had a time conflict on December
16, and therefore she scheduled his evaluation last.
Ms. Deardorff asked if the Council wanted her to include on the self-evaluation form the
question of whether there was anything that the Council could do better to assist the officer in the
performance of his job. The Council indicated yes.
Mayor Hammerstad indicated that they would include a deadline return date for the evaluation
forms when they sent them out.
Mayor Hammerstad asked if any member of the public wanted to comment on the evaluation
process. There was none. She indicated to Councilor Graham that staff properly noticed the
process discussion.
Ms. Deardorff asked if the Council wanted her to do the same compensation review she did last
year, using the top 10 cities in the state for comparison. Councilor Turchi said no. He
suggested discussing this at the retreat. He referenced the anticipated increase in City revenue
projected over the next five years, and the historical salary increases. He spoke to bringing those
into alignment before they established a precedent for negotiations in the future.
Councilor Turchi emphasized that the Council needed to think about this. He indicated that the
compensation review would be good information but he did not think that it should drive the
Council's decisions. Mayor Hammerstad observed that this was only one piece of information.
Councilor Schoen concurred with Councilor Turchi, citing a comment he heard from the public
about big increases. He spoke to having a reality check, and looking in the short term at 1.5%
(the cost of living increase for Social Security). He argued that until they could resolve the PERS
and medical benefits issues, they did not have much leeway for salary adjustments.
Councilor Schoen held that the City fairly compensated its employees but it had to be careful
not to drive salaries (along with the benefits)up so high that it had to lay off employees in order
to maintain the salary schedule. He questioned whether using the 10 biggest cities was the best
route.
Ms. Deardorff mentioned staffs research into following the private sector's lead in finding
different ways to compensate people, other than through direct dollars. She suggested talking to
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December 3, 2002
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the charter officers to find out what it was that they wanted, as they might prefer different
compensation.
Ms. Deardorff discussed an alternative to retirement called the 401A plan, which was in lieu of
a salary increase, and of benefit to the employee. She mentioned that Wilsonville added this plan
as part of their executive compensation package a few years ago. She suggested discussing
future options to PERS. She spoke to expanding the discussion on compensation now, as they
would be forced to do so at some point.
Councilor Schoen commented that he did not think that the much larger cities of Hillsboro and
Beaverton were comparable to Lake Oswego. Ms. Deardorff explained how staff balanced
those cities with smaller cities in the top ten. Councilor Schoen argued that even those smaller
cities were substantially larger than Lake Oswego. He reiterated his caution that they not go so
far to the outside that they drove up the salaries.
Ms. Deardorff recalled the discussion at a recent meeting of the local human resources people to
talk about what to do to address costs of employee benefits in the upcoming labor negotiations
facing all of them. She said that the theme she heard was that the larger cities were going
through the same process and had the same concerns about their executive officers and general
management compensation. She commented that the average would be driven in part by the fact
that the other cities were also dealing with the PERS problem.
Councilor Schoen expressed his concern that the executive's pay and the employees base pay
could get out of sync.
Ms. Deardorff said that she heard the Council directing her to collect the data, and then to have
further discussion. Mayor Hammerstad indicated that the Council wanted to do the
compensation package while Councilor Schoen was still on the Council.
6. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mayor Hammerstad recessed the meeting at 9:02 a.m. to Executive Session pursuant to ORS
192.660(1)(e), to conduct deliberations with persons authorized to negotiate real property
transactions on behalf of the City. The City Attorney reviewed the Executive Session
parameters. Mayor Hammerstad invited Councilor-elect Peterson to stay.
7. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION
Mayor Hammerstad reconvened the morning meeting at 9:07 a.m.
Councilor Rohde advised the Council that the City might be brought into an upcoming conflict
between the County and the Oak Creek Neighborhood Association over the County approval of a
cell phone tower in the Southwood Neighborhood, which was outside the city limits. Mayor
Hammerstad indicated that Tom McGinnis was heading up the opposition effort.
Mayor Hammerstad mentioned that Tom McGinnis was willing to head up a community-wide
ballot measure for annexation when the cell tower issue was over. She described him as a
powerful ally.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Hammerstad adjourned the meeting at 9:10 am.
City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 12 of 13
December 3, 2002
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Respectfully submitted,
Robyn C stie
City Recorder
APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL:
ON March 4, 2003
Je Hammerstad, Mayor
City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 13 of 13
December 3, 2002