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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2009-01-16 SpecialILA C o'wt CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES January 16, 2009 a« Mayor Jack Hoffman called the special City Council meeting to order at 12:20 p.m. on January 16, 2009, at the West End Building, 4101 SW Kruse Way, Santiam Room. Present: Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Jordan, Hennagin, Johnson, Olson, Moncrieff, and Tierney. Staff Present: Alex McIntyre, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Robyn Christie, City Recorder; David Donaldson, Assistant City Manager; Elizabeth Papadopoulos, Maintenance Services Director; Jerry Knippel, Special Projects Director; Jane Heisler, LOIS Project Communications Director; Bob Galante, Redevelopment Agency Director; Joel Komarek, LOIS Project Director; Sarah Seldon, Neighborhood Planner; Jonna Papaefthimiou, Environmental Planner; Guy Graham, Public Works Director; Bill Baars, Library Director; Ed Wilson, Fire Chief; Dan Duncan, Police Chief; Kim Gilmer, Parks & Recreation Director; Stephan Lashbrook, Community Development Director; Jennifer Grigsby, Building and Planning; Brant Williams, Director of Capital Projects; Chip Larouche, Information Technology Director; Joe Hertzberg, Facilitator 3. GOAL SETTING At Mayor Hoffman's request, all those present introduced themselves. Mayor Hoffman commented that he saw today as an opportunity for the Council and staff to discuss moving the City forward. He introduced Mr. Hertzberg, the facilitator. Mr. Hertzberg explained that the purpose of this meeting was to provide an opportunity for the Council members to discuss procedures, mutual expectations, and working relationships. He asked the Council members and Charter Officers to discuss why he/she chose public service or working in the public sector, and what issues were of greatest importance to him/her this year. Councilor Johnson commented that she grew up with the concept that public service was the normal thing to do. She mentioned her interest in politics. She said that infrastructure and economic development were her two primary issues this year. Councilor Moncrieff mentioned her enjoyment of and interest in the problem solving/decision making process of public service. She indicated that infrastructure and economic development were also her two primary issues this year. Councilor Tierney commented that he wanted to take an active part in the community of which he was a member. He mentioned a long interest in governmental processes. He indicated that he did not have specific issues in mind but he was interested in process and fundamentals. Mr. Powell indicated that he found his work as a City Attorney more satisfying than his work had been in private practice. He mentioned several characteristics of the work, including the breadth of issues and practicing preventative law. He commented that he was looking forward to the upcoming legal updates and revisions this year. Councilor Hennagin spoke of the importance of community involvement and the obligation of citizens to participate. He spoke of his interest in government stemming from his education as a lawyer. He mentioned the disposition of the West End Building, obtainable housing for young families with children, and the tree ordinance as issues of importance this year. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 20 January 16, 2009 Mayor Hoffman explained that he thought he could lead the Council to make a difference in the community. He mentioned following up on projects done when he was a City Councilor (1998- 2006). He spoke of the obligation of citizens to give back to the community and to participate in civic engagement. He pointed out that one could not take things for granted, such as the uniqueness of Lake Oswego, but that one must work hard to maintain Lake Oswego's socio- economic demographics. He indicated that his top priority was the Council working together as a team and interacting with the community as a team. He said that his second priority was establishing and strengthening the public's trust in the local Lake Oswego government. Mr. McIntyre indicated that he found more satisfaction in working for the public sector than the private sector. He mentioned that Lake Oswego had offered him interesting challenges and the opportunity to solve a number of problems. He commented that the people in Lake Oswego also drew him to the City: the staff, the mayor and the council, and the community as a whole. He spoke of the importance of clarity of Council direction to staff in accomplishing Council goals. Councilor Jordan spoke of the importance of civic service and volunteering in helping others in the community. She mentioned being part of the democratic process, helping other voices be heard, and helping solve problems. She noted the importance of the infrastructure and economic development issues, especially the City positioning itself to attract businesses whenever the economic recovery occurred. She held that the biggest opportunity for the Council was improving its communications with the public. Councilor Olson indicated that she ran for Council because she thought that there were many voices in the community that were not being heard, and because she was not pleased with some of the priorities and directions that the Council has been taking. Given the critical issues facing the City, and having a strong volunteer ethic, she felt that she could contribute. She commented that the combination of a stressed economy and a new Council provided the City with an opportunity to evaluate the value and effectiveness of what the City provided to its citizens, and to give staff clarity of direction with regard to priorities. Ms. Christie mentioned gaining first hand experience working at the City, in combination with her studies in Public Administration. She spoke of doing what was necessary to help the Council make tough decisions. • Procedural Matters Mr. Hertzberg revisited the procedural agreements reached by the Council at its meeting last week in order to verify the decisions, per the outline provided. The Council discussed the items on which they had questions or clarifications. The Council agreed to hold City Council regular business meetings on the first and third Tuesday evenings, and evening study sessions as needed (including on the fourth Tuesday of the month with Thursday evenings as an alternate). The Council discussed how to handle communications with staff. Mr. McIntyre confirmed to Councilor Jordan that Council members could contact department heads with specific questions, and copy him for notification that the contact occurred. Mr. McIntyre clarified to Councilor Hennagin that while he preferred that the Council members contact him proactively with questions, if he heard nothing by Monday, he would touch base with each Councilor to verify that everything was okay. C uncilor Olson recalled that at the Saturday Round Table, a citizen mentioned that the citizen comment time used to be five minutes, but was changed to three minutes in 2001. Mayor Hoffman did not recall why that was done. The Council discussed the pros and cons of five minutes versus three minutes. The Council decided to change the time limit to five minutes and to retain the Mayor's discretion to extend it if necessary. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 20 January 16, 2009 Councilor Jordan raised the point of citizen expectations regarding Council action on items brought up during Citizen Comment. Councilor Olson commented that she wanted people to know that the Council heard them, but she did not think it prudent to make decisions on the spot without background information. Councilor Jordan agreed that it was not appropriate to deal with such issues at that time. She mentioned her expectation that the Mayor would continue the past practice of directing the citizen to Mr. McIntyre and the staff. She suggested printing a statement on the agenda explaining the limitations of the Council response. Mr. McIntyre suggested also including such a statement on the screen displaying the agenda. Mayor Hoffman said that he would inform citizens that he would stick around after the meeting if they wanted to talk to him. Mr. Powell reviewed the changes requiring amendment of the current Council Rules of Procedure. These were changing the meeting starting time to 6:30 p.m., and the Mayor voting first in a roll call vote. He noted that the January 20 meeting would still start at 6:00 p.m. under the old rules. Mr. Hertzberg raised the question of how Council members should communicate with staff. Mr. McIntyre reviewed the six opportunities he saw as staff's communication tools with the Council members: one-on-one conversations, by telephone, by e-mail, The Digest, the agenda and its attachments, and the City Council meetings. He explained that The Digest was his method for getting background information to the Council members all at the same time, and highlighting the issues that he wanted to make sure they looked at. He spoke of the staff commitment to provide the best quality staff reports possible. He indicated that he would always have appropriate staff present at Council meetings to answer the technical questions. He explained that he had no problem with Council members communicating directly with department heads and staff, but the caveat was that staff would inform him of the conversation and the topic. He clarified to Mayor Hoffman that he preferred that the Council members communicate directly with department heads, rather than with individual staff members. He pointed out that department heads had a more global perspective than staff members working on a specific issue. Department heads could also refer Council members to individual staff members when that was appropriate. He reiterated that he wanted to be informed when staff conversations occurred. He indicated to Councilor Hennagin that he would get the new staff organizational chart to him next week. Councilor Hennagin asked about the different calendars in the packet. Mr. McIntyre explained that the calendars this year would be the rolling agenda and "the obligations that you might want to be made aware of calendar with recommended and discretionary attendance columns. Councilor Tierney restated the expectation in regards to staff communication as "Council members will go no lower in the organization than the department head, unless the department head opened it up to something else." He requested formatting the Digest to reduce the amount of paper used. He asked that the calendar include things like the Budget Committee interviews. Councilor Jordan asked to include the meeting dates for the City advisory boards and commissions, as well as for the regional organizations. She suggested including in The Digest (possibly on a quarterly basis) a bullet list of things happening in town with regard to new businesses, construction, and businesses going out of business. Mr. Hertzberg indicated to Councilor Olson that they would discuss calendaring neighborhood meetings under communications with the public. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Johnson that staff would provide an electronic version of The Digest as well. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 20 January 16, 2009 Councilor Jordan commented that she thought that the Council needed more clarification about what kinds of questions they could ask directly of staff. She mentioned personnel rules and other issues that the Council did not get involved in. Mr. McIntyre indicated that his preference was for Council members to contact him directly, but he recognized that over time, they would realize that he was not the best person to answer an in- depth technical question on a given issue. At that point, he had no problem with them going directly to the department head with the needed expertise and knowledge. Mr. McIntyre noted that there would be controversial issues in which emotions ran high. He clarified to the Council members that they could 'attack him' but not his staff. He commented that if a department head suggested that a Council member talk to the City Manager about something, then the Council member should take the hint, end the conversation, and call him. Mr. Hertzberg noted the Lake Oswego 2028 Vision and the Mission and Goals Statement included in the packet. If the Council wanted to discuss these, he suggested using the vision as a touchstone for creating its own vision, and the mission and goals statement as a reference to work from in developing this Council's missions and goals. Mr. Hertzberg recessed the meeting for a break at 1:35 p.m. He reconvened the meeting at 1:45 p.m. The Council agreed that it should discuss the Council vision statement later during the retreat. Councilor Hennagin expressed concern with the downtown as the center of the city, as opposed to an equalization between Lake Grove and the East End. Public Communication and Outreach Mr. Hertzberg indicated that the topic was public communication and outreach. He described it as a practice, as opposed to a specific issue. He raised two questions: what were the tools the Council and the City used to communicate with the public in a proactive way, and what were the Council guidelines in interacting with the public at public forums? The Council noted several existing communication tools: Hello LO, Lake Oswego Review, the list serve, the City website, and the Southwest Community section of the Oregonian. Mayor Hoffman spoke to compiling a list of 5,000 to 8,000 e-mail addresses (from a variety of individual and organization sources) to use in informing the public about what was going on with the City, possibly through an electronic newsletter. Ms. Christie explained to Councilor Jordan that individuals signed up by topic on the City's current list serve. The number of subscribers on any given topic ranged from 50 to 300. The Council discussed the Mayor's suggestion. Councilor Moncrieff spoke to making sure that the e-mail format was easy to read. Councilor Jordan commented that a key element was making sure that a responsible person at a key organization read the e-mail and shared it with his/her group. Councilor Jordan wondered why Lake Oswego did not seem to have a link to the news media to provide emergency information through the TV station newsfeeds. Ms. Heisler said that the City used Flash News, which went out to all the media. She recalled seeing Lake Oswego information show up during the closures on the TV station she watched during the storm. She mentioned including more information on the website. Councilor Jordan pointed out that more information on the website did little good for those, like herself, who lost their Internet service during the storm. She suggested a phone message line with a recorded message that staff changed daily. Ms. Heisler recalled Mr. McIntyre's suggestion to have two phone message lines during emergencies, one for the public and one for the staff. She mentioned e-mail services, such as My Emma or Constant Contact, as a way to manage sending information via e-mail. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 20 January 16, 2009 Mayor Hoffman suggested that staff do a literature search on the Web to see what other comparable cities did in terms of reaching out to the community. He spoke to using an electronic newsletter to give the community a heads up on activities and upcoming issues, similarly to the heads up Mr. McIntyre gave the Council through the Digest. Mr. Hertzberg directed the discussion to how Councilors reached out in communicating. Councilor Olson mentioned her personal interest in attending neighborhood association meetings. She asked for a schedule of neighborhood meetings. She suggested setting up 'Council Office Hours' at City Hall. Citizens and staff would know that they could come at the same time every week to talk with the Council. She noted Mayor Hoffman's round tables, which she described as an effective form of the kind of back and forth communication the Council needed to have with citizens. Councilor Johnson observed that each Council member had his/her own different strengths and style. She suggested developing a cafeteria list of opportunities from which each Council member could select those opportunities that best fit that person's style and time availability. Councilor Jordan spoke to maintaining the balance of all Council members sharing in the work of Council beyond the Tuesday night meetings. She commented that she thought that the Farmers' Market contacts had been good, while the coffees had uneven success. She suggested using a town hall format at the round tables to discuss a specific topic for a specified time; the attendees could then decide whether to continue with the topic at the end of that time or to throw the meeting open to any topic of concern. Councilor Tierney clarified that for him, communication meant the City talking to the citizens. He supported staff putting together a list of opportunities, which the Council members would share. He pointed out that the formal communication of a public hearing was different from public engagement. Mayor Hoffman listed three groups that needed to communicate with the citizenry: the City itself, the City Council as a whole, and individual Council members. He explained that his vision and intent, with respect to City Council communication, was to take the Council to meet with around six key organizations (such as the School Board, the Chamber, LONAC), and discuss issues around a table. He described the four steps to public participation: inform the public, listen to the public, engage with the public, and do problem solving. He noted that the problem solving step might not be appropriate on all issues, since the Council was the ultimate decision making body. He commented that the round table (or, Samoan circle) was designed to allow those with the differing viewpoints on a particular controversial topic to discuss the issue, and to allow those not interested in speaking to listen to the give and take around the table. He observed that the challenge on the round tables would be to get the word out and to get people to come. Councilor Jordan mentioned the summer concert series as a non -threatening environment where people felt more comfortable coming up to the Councilor who announced the music group and talking with him/her about issues than they did in a formally arranged meeting. She observed that the concerts were a good way to hand out information. She recalled seeing City staff at a booth at one of the concerts handing out City literature. Ms. Gilmer indicated that staff would be happy to work with the Council to take advantage of the excellent opportunities at the 28 concerts scheduled for this year to provide information on the City. Councilor Jordan agreed with the developing the list of opportunities, as suggested by Councilors Tierney and Johnson. She commented that she has always heard 'teamwork' as a central element in the public process. She pointed out, however, that while she was serving as an elected official, she was still an individual with her own opinions. She spoke to finding the balance between teamwork and individuality. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 20 January 16, 2009 She noted the need to be careful in conversations to avoid ex parte contacts that could jeopardize hearing procedures. Mr. Hertzberg concurred that there were legal boundaries to respect. He noted another element of what behavior Councilors expected of one another, especially when speaking on behalf of the Council. Councilor Johnson agreed that there was a careful balancing act in speaking for the Council versus speaking for oneself as a Councilor. She pointed out that when speaking of past Council decisions, whether he/she had agreed with the decision or not, a Councilor should uphold the Council decision and explain why the Council made it. She said that when dealing with upcoming decisions, the Council members should respect each other in acknowledging that there are different opinions on various issues. She contended that as long as a Councilor was clear that he/she was speaking for him/herself, or that he/she was speaking for the Council, then there should not be a problem. Councilor Hennagin concurred that Councilors should uphold a Council decision from the Council as a whole viewpoint when talking about a Council decision in a public forum. He suggested that Councilors, when discussing a future item, clarify that they were giving their personal viewpoint, which was subject to change based on receiving more information. Councilor Olson explained that she wanted to do things like attend neighborhood meetings or hold regular office hours so that people could tell her what their concerns and issues were. She emphasized that those were not opportunities to expound a point of view but rather to gather more input from the citizens. Mayor Hoffman discussed what the literature he has read revealed: there was a fundamental disconnect between local elected officials and the citizenry. He argued that the old way of doing things was no longer the answer, such as Farmers' Market, neighborhood meetings, or round tables. He said that he did not know what the answer was, but he perceived that those who studied these things at the university or professional level were sending elected officials and government staffs the message that there had to be a different way of doing things. He spoke to working together to develop a City Council public participation program that included everything mentioned and more. He emphasized that the Council as a group had to buy into such a program in order for it to work. He pointed out that Council members tended to gravitate towards the groups with which they were most comfortable. He argued for Council members getting out of their comfort zones and silos and interacting with groups they usually did not meet with. Councilor Tierney concurred with the Mayor. He recalled that the City Council question on the citizen survey dropped some points the last time around. He indicated that the Mayor's idea was a good way to approach reversing that drop. Mr. Hertzberg pointed out that the Mayor's challenge to move Council members out of their comfort zones seemed to contradict Councilor Johnson's suggestion that people do what they felt comfortable doing. Councilor Johnson said that she did not think that they were necessarily opposite. She commented that selecting items that fit one's style did not necessarily mean that one was comfortable doing those items, such as speaking to a different group of people. She commented that the Mayor brought up good points in urging the Council to do something new, yet they needed to maintain their base as well. She held that they needed a combination of the new and the old in order for the program to work. Councilor Tierney asked staff to provide a list of tools within a month from which the Council members could choose what to do, both individually and collectively. Councilor Hennagin referenced an article he had read in the Times that posed the theory that the polarization in the country was somewhat the product of the fact that there was more information available, and that people tended to gravitate towards the information with which they were comfortable. He agreed with the Mayor that they needed to meet with groups that took the Council members out of their comfort and agreement zones. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 20 January 16, 2009 Councilor Jordan concurred, but pointed out that there was no magic bullet for accomplishing public communication, no matter how many new techniques one tried. She mentioned eating lunch at the Adult Community Center one day, which was not a place she went to normally, and hearing very interesting responses to her questions. She indicated that the issue affecting the citizen survey, which Councilor Tierney mentioned, was the West End Building. She commented that the issue had more to do with the decision making process that the Council had used than with the purchase itself or doing something with the building. She pointed out that no matter what decision the Council made, one group or another of citizens would be unhappy. Councilor Tierney commented that he saw the polarization of the community over the West End Building purchase coming from a lack of engagement. He argued that the people expected the Council to make an intelligent decision, using a process that accomplished the goals. Councilor Olson agreed that the issue had been how the decision was made and communicated, and how those who disagreed with the decision were treated. She emphasized the importance of the process and communication in reaching a good decision. Mr. Hertzberg noted the general agreement on the Council to do a proactive program of outreach in which all Council members participated. Mayor Hoffman suggested that staff return with a proposal by March 1. Councilor Olson commented that even with that program, she still needed to listen to the citizenry in a variety of ways so that she could do her job better. Mr. Hertzberg summarized the guidelines he heard during the Council discussion. The Council attended citizen meetings primarily to listen. When speaking about past decisions, a Council member explained it from the Council's viewpoint. A Council member could make it clear that he/she had disagreed with the decision but he/she did not undermine the Council's decision. When discussing upcoming issues, a Council member should give many disclaimers and be careful about not characterizing what the Council might do. He emphasized the overriding mantra of 'No surprises.' Council members should make sure to inform other Council members about anything they said or did before someone read about it in the paper. Mayor Hoffman clarified to Councilor Olson that the public participation program proposal from staff would include City, City Council, and Councilor outreach tools, including things like attending neighborhood meetings. This program would provide organization to the outreach efforts, which would help identify any gaps. He indicated that they could evaluate it at the end of the year to see if it had been effective. Mr. McIntyre indicated that while staff could commit to getting the proposal back to Council as soon as possible, he could not commit to the March 1 date until he knew what else the Council wanted staff to do in terms of the Council goals. He said that he expected the Council to look at the proposal and add its own ideas. The Council discussed media communications. Councilor Olson referenced her recent newspaper interview. She indicated that the reporter caught her off guard when she said that she was not going to talk to any other Councilors besides Councilor Olson. She said that she had made it clear that she was stating her own opinion. She also e-mailed the other Council members that the interview had occurred. The Council agreed that when interviewed, a Council member should make it clear that he/she was stating her own opinion, and not speaking for anyone else. He/she should also notify the other Council members of the conversation so that there would be no surprises. Mr. McIntyre described the staff practice of using Council member quotes in press releases without necessarily contacting the Council member, especially if it was a generic statement endorsing the subject of the press release, such welcoming the new Finance Director. He explained that the news media liked to find quotes embedded in press releases, and, to the extent City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 20 January 16, 2009 that staff had time, they would provide those. He mentioned the very short turn around time in getting press releases out. Councilor Jordan cautioned that since a reporter was probably recording the entire interview and would use single sentences out of context, one could be surprised to read a quote that one had no memory of saying during a lengthy interview, and which did not reflect one's position. She noted that a Council member could ask to speak off the record and reporters would acknowledge that but not for the whole interview. She mentioned that the League of Oregon Cities had workshops on how to deal with the media. Mr. McIntyre said that the rule of thumb in his world was "You are never, ever off the record." He cautioned Council members to be very careful in assuming that he/she was speaking off the record unless he/she knew the reporter very well. Councilor Hennagin commented that he had thought that part of the Review's article on the potential condemnation of the house next to the dam had come out of Executive Session, rather than open session. Mr. Powell indicated that there had been some hallway conversation after the meeting, which was fair game to a reporter. He said that if a Council member thought that an article violated the Executive Session rules, then he/she should go to the newspaper editor. Councilor Tierney mentioned that he has attended several media training workshops, which he had found informative. He thought that those could be made available for individual Council members to attend. Mr. Hertzberg summarized the Council discussion. When called by the media, a Council member should emphasize that he/she was expressing his/her own personal opinion and not speaking for the Council. If the reporter wanted something more official, then the Council member should encourage him/her to talk with the Mayor or the City Manager. As soon as the interview is over, let the other Councilors know they have talked to the press. Mr. Hertzberg referenced a comment made by Councilor Moncrieff during his interview with her that the Council ought to think about communication with regard to every issue, and consider communication strategies for any given issue. Mr. Hertzberg recessed the meeting for a break at 2:50 p.m. Mr. Hertzberg reconvened the meeting at 3:05 p.m. Mr. Hertzberg used an iceberg as a metaphor for City business: the things that the Council focused on was only a small portion of the City business conducted by staff. Ninety percent of what the City staff did was to deliver basic services day in and day out. The Council needed to be mindful of that in setting its goals. He spoke of keeping the two themes of communication and sustainability in mind during the discussion. e Sustainability Mr. Lashbrook mentioned the prior Council's work on sustainability in adopting a Sustainability Plan for the City and in creating a Sustainability Advisory Board. He concurred with Councilor Olson's earlier comment that sustainability did not refer only to environmental sustainability, but also to things like shopping locally. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that staff was discussing how to implement the Sustainability Plan recommendation that the City purchase locally, but the actual percentage premium they would use was a policy decision by the Council. Councilor Moncrieff recalled that Councilor Olson had described sustainability as a three-legged stool with environmental, economic, and social components. She said that she saw sustainability as a long-term solution. Councilor Olson concurred. She pointed out that shopping locally illustrated the interaction of the three legs: it helped the long-term economic sustainability of the local businesses, it reduced miles driven and the auto impact on the environm nt, and it increased th social interaction within the local community. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 20 January 16, 2009 • Current Projects Underway Mr. Hertzberg referenced the list of topics he developed during his interviews with individual Councilors. He mentioned those that rose to the top of the list: LOIS, water supply, WEB, and facilities. Mr. McIntyre expressed his appreciation for Mr. Hertzberg's metaphor of an iceberg because one of his goals was to prevent the issues that he and staff should be managing below the surface from rising above the surface and garnering Council's attention. He discussed the Matrix Study on Community Development, which was well received by the Council at its presentation last December. He noted the question of how did they adjust the City organization to respond to the down economy while also implementing some of the initiatives and recommendations found in the Matrix report. He mentioned the appointment of Denise Frisbee as the new Planning & Building Director as an example of low hanging fruit that he has already implemented. Councilor Tierney raised the question of what the Council's boundaries were relative to the question of adjusting the City organization. Mr. McIntyre mentioned that he would keep the Council updated on what he was doing, and notify the members of any upcoming policy issues requiring a Council decision. He observed that whatever he did would have budget implications. The Council could indicate its approval or disapproval of his actions by funding or not funding something. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that he thought it was appropriate for the Council to ask him for staff's opinion on various issues of concern to the Council. Councilor Moncrieff spoke to the need for the Council to communicate very clearly its vision, goals, and priorities. Mr. McIntyre mentioned the current staff work to change the budget from a two-year cycle to a one-year cycle. He explained that given the changing economy, staff could not accurately project where the economy in Lake Oswego would be in 30 months. He spoke to engaging the Council more in the budget process in order to educate the members and to increase their comfort level with the budget. Councilor Jordan expressed her appreciation for greater Council involvement in the budget. She compared her experience on the Multnomah ESD Board, where the Board received monthly budget reports at the Board meeting, to her experience on the Portland School Board, where they never saw the budget again after passing it. The Council discussed how often staff should provide budget report updates. The members agreed to Councilor Olson's suggestion of quarterly reports at the Council meeting, and monthly reports in the Digest. Mr. McIntyre mentioned the upcoming Finance 101 study session requested by the Mayor to educate the Council members on the City's financial structure and processes. Mr. McIntyre mentioned the upcoming labor negotiations with all three of the City's employee unions: Police, Fire, and the Lake Oswego Municipal Employees Association (LOMEA). He spoke of the need for the Council to understand the philosophy and process of labor negotiations because the labor contracts bound the City in what it could and could not do. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that he had all the necessary major cost information with respect to employees; staff would adjust the work done by Mr. Seals last year. Mr. Donaldson distributed a handout discussing labor relations law in Oregon. He expressed his hope that the contracts would come to Council by June at the latest. Mr. Donaldson explained that the Council's role was to make it clear to the City management staff what issues were important to the Council members, such as health insurance or salaries, so that staff could bring back a contract approvable by the Council. He indicated that he would help City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 20 January 16, 2009 Council understand the marketplace, especially for police and fire, as those groups could go to binding arbitration in the event of a dispute. Mayor Hoffman commented that in the past, the Council and staff would meet in Executive Session to discuss what was on the table and in what direction the Council wanted to go. He agreed with Mr. McIntyre on the need for a Labor Relations 101 study session for the Council. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Tierney that he and Mr. Donaldson would make recommendations to the Council on a course of action, and provide the rationale behind the recommendations. Mr. Donaldson commented that right now the City's labor environment was good with good relationships and communication between management and employees. Mr. McIntyre discussed 'organizational settling,' in which he was shaping the City organization into the form that he was most comfortable managing. He indicated that he would update the Council in the Digest. He mentioned breaking up Community Development and creating a Public Works Department and a Planning and Building Department. He spoke to the City taking an asset management approach to its infrastructure and City facilities maintenance as a means of setting a course for spending money on the appropriate investment at the appropriate time, and thus extending the life of the infrastructure. He cited the LOIS project as an example of something that the City could have taken appropriate steps on its own to fix without the State having to strong arm the City into doing something. He mentioned creating infrastructure master plans, which, while not cheap, were important. He discussed the library district formed in the last election. He said that staff was developing various scenarios for using the money coming to the City. He indicated that staff also wanted to hear ideas from the Council, the Library Advisory Board, the Friends of the Library, and library patrons. He spoke of thinking carefully about how to best invest that money. Maj r Issues Discussion • LOIS project Mr. McIntyre noted the briefing paper given to Council on the LOIS project. Mr. Komarek confirmed that the Kelok Road extension project should start next week and the lake full work bidding this month. Mr. McIntyre mentioned the bond sale process that would run parallel to the lake full process in order to pay for it. Mr. Hertzberg mentioned four questions to ask about all issues. What was the Council's role? What were the milestones staff expected to achieve by December 31, 2009? What was the community outreach and communication plan? What was the sustainability dimension? Mr. Komarek agreed with Ms. Heisler that a necessary milestone was selling the bonds. He mentioned getting access to the lake so that the project could proceed on schedule as another milestone. Councilor Tierney asked where LOIS should be relative to the master plan on December 31, 2009, and what impediments staff saw to getting there. Mr. Komarek indicated that they will have completed the Kelok/Bryant project. The lake full work would be underway. He mentioned property acquisition issues and getting through the City's development review process for the Bryant Road pump station. He spoke of maintaining compliance with the MAO. He mentioned that underground work was fraught with unknowns, but staffs goal was to manage the City's money and to execute the projects efficiently and economically. He reiterated the importance of getting access to the lake because of the budgetary and schedule impacts. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that staff has already purchased all the materials that the City would purchase in advance of the general contractor; the contractor would purchase everything else. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 20 January 16, 2009 Ms. Heisler added that staff would continue to work throughout the process to educate the public and to consider their concerns and issues, using a variety of methods. She mentioned Councilor Johnson's interest and active participation in public outreach. Mr. McIntyre mentioned the dedication of staff resources to the project through the creation of the LOIS team last July. He acknowledged the efforts of Mr. Komarek and Ms. Heisler in communicating with the community regarding the project, especially since they have not yet broken ground. He commented that he thought this would have been a more explosive situation without the LOIS team in place. Councilor Johnson concurred that the LOIS team was doing a great job. Councilor Hennagin recalled that initially he had questioned the formation of the LOIS team. He acknowledged that Mr. McIntyre's foresight has proven correct. He suggested that staff contact the owner of the third house from the dam, who has expressed her concerns to him, and her desire that the City plant a hedge between her property and the staging site. Mr. Komarek confirmed to Councilor Hennagin that the construction chart would indicate whether the project was on schedule. He explained how the Kelok Road bypass, in combination with the interceptor project, would relieve some of the overflows occurring at the low point at Cardinal and Bryant. Mr. McIntyre summarized the LOIS issues as the access to the lake, issuing the bonds, and awarding contracts for the lake full work. He noted that the Council would have a policy decision also on how much to issue the bonds for: piecemeal or the whole amount? He mentioned the bi- weekly LOIS project update at the regular Council meetings. Councilor Tierney asked staff to provide a graphic every month comparing the planned tasks and budget with the actual task and budget. Mr. Komarek discussed the sustainability element of LOIS. He mentioned the relatively maintenance -free design of the system. Ms. Heisler discussed the public outreach element. She confirmed to Mayor Hoffman that they met with directly affected neighborhood groups, as well as utilizing a number of other City venues and communication opportunities. Councilor Johnson commented that the Council needed to take responsibility for its policy decisions and to stand staunchly behind staff, as staff took the brunt of many of the complaints. • Water Supply Mr. Komarek indicated that the Council needed to appoint two Council members to an Oversight Committee as part of the agreement. He reviewed the tasks of the Oversight Committee, including helping the staff Technical Committee agree on project budget, schedule, cash flow, CIP, and what was the best management and delivery method for completing the project. He said that the goal was to complete the project by July 1, 2016, which was not much time to do this complex of a project. He pointed out that while Tigard was paying for the project, Lake Oswego was the managing agency. He described the budget process leading to the two City Councils adopting the project budget by June 30. He mentioned that he was working with legal staff in seeking an extension of time to complete development of the City's permits on the Clackamas River. He indicated that a very optimistic view was the State issuing the final orders by December 31. Mr. Powell explained that the State granted the extension of permits, but the extension was challenged and was now in court. Mr. Komarek mentioned the need to update the City's water management and conservation plan to reflect how the Tigard agreement would accelerate the timing of the City's need to access the undeveloped water available through its water rights permits. He confirmed to Councilor Jordan that through the Oversight Committee, Tigard still had a say in the project management. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 11 of 20 January 16, 2009 He indicated that the community outreach for this project would be larger than the LOIS project outreach because this project involved multiple public and private stakeholders and regulatory agencies. He said that they would include the outreach component in the scope of work for the project. Mr. McIntyre emphasized that the LOIS team could not absorb this project. He speculated that it would require a separate Water team. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that the funding came from water revenues. Mr. Komarek explained that the prior Council started increasing the water rates last year specifically for this project, so that the City would have the needed funds in four years when they actually constructed the project. Councilor Johnson requested study sessions on the tiered water rate structure, the water management plan, and the Tigard water agreement project. Mr. Komarek indicated that staff would aim for a sustainable system design and materials that minimized maintenance costs in the long term. He described this partnership as a way to better manage Lake Oswego's water resources and to give the City a greater voice in regional water issues, both for efficient optimization of the resource and for access reliability in the event of an emergency. Councilor Johnson indicated that Mr. Komarek's remark exactly described the goals of the Regional Water Providers Consortium. e West End Building (WEB)/City Facilities Mr. Williams reviewed the Council direction last year for staff to research the WEB as it related to deficiencies in other City facilities. He reported that staff has gathered a great deal of information regarding the WEB and other City facilities, and was refining the cost figures for the various alternatives. He recommended a goal for the Council: by December, the Council will have decided on the future use and financial funding for the WEB with community support. He said that staff evaluated nine City facilities, and identified City Hall, the Maintenance Services Building, and the South Shore Fire station as the key facilities needing the most attention. He mentioned that the library building structure was in relatively good shape but it did have serious space issues. He mentioned that the City could take action on one or more of the facilities with significant problems, such as City Hall. He concurred with Mr. McIntyre that the City needed to manage its facilities better. He spoke of developing asset management plans for City facilities, similar to other public infrastructure plans. He indicated that the question before the Council was, did it want to look at facilities as part of the WEB discussion, or separately in conjunction with developing facilities asset management plans. Councilor Hennagin spoke to looking at the Library, City Hall, the WEB, and the Adult Community Center (ACC) as a package, and the Maintenance Services Building, the South Shore Fire Station, and LOCOM individually. Councilor Jordan commented that she did not think that any sitting Council member thought that the WEB purchase and use discussion processes were done the way they should have been done. She held that the most important element in moving forward was the communication plan and strategy for informing the public. She emphasized that the City had to handle the facilities issue as well as it could, even if not everyone agreed that whatever decision the Council made was the right decision. Mr. Williams indicated to Councilor Tierney that staff would be ready very soon to hold work sessions on the facilities. He mentioned that he and Mr. McIntyre would work together on how to best frame the discussion for the Council, given the copious amounts of information staff has gathered and the complexity of the issue. He spoke to the Council feeling comfortable with the information and making the best decision possible. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 12 of 20 January 16, 2009 Councilor Jordan commented that another part of the library facility discussion was what to do with the $1 million coming to Lake Oswego as part of the library district formation: did the community want to invest it in the current facility or in a different facility? Councilor Moncrieff mentioned hearing from the community that staff needed to present the information, including the financial component for every option, to the public in a more user-friendly manner. She noted that currently the information was overwhelming. Councilor Hennagin concurred with the importance of getting the financial information out to the public early so that the Council could receive community input early. Councilor Johnson suggested that the Council discuss how many options to present to the public, given the many different possible combinations in this facilities issue. Councilor Jordan commented that they needed a base case if they put the building on the market, which was knowing what the cost to the City was over time, given the decreased sale value of the building. She used an analogy of choosing a flight; one could either pay extra for a non-stop flight or accept many stops and save money. The Council needed to consider bonding the $20 million and paying for the building versus its current status of the price of paying only the interest and none of the principal versus selling the property at a rock bottom market price. Mr. Hertzberg observed that the first challenge was how to put together an inclusive public process. Councilor Jordan commented that once the Council and the public were looking at the same financial information, they could start a conversation. She noted that the decision remained a Council's decision. Mr. Williams indicated to Councilor Moncrieff that staff would need one to two study sessions to review with the Council all the information they had, and find out if the Council wanted more information. Once the Council had sufficient information, staff could start figuring out a decision process for narrowing down the alternatives to reach a clear decision on moving forward with the public process. Councilor Tierney indicated that he looked for staff to present the Council quickly with a process and a plan that dealt with the data and information in parallel with a civic engagement process. Mayor Hoffman commented that it was important to have the basic information about the different facilities. He indicated that he did not think that staff should provide more than five to seven options, as that was the most anyone could comfortably analyze. He agreed that the Council needed an in-depth study session on these interrelated facilities matters. He mentioned his efforts to work with various people to develop a public participation process that would work, and with which the Council would feel comfortable. He said that he would do literature research on what other cities have done in finding a way to communicate a knotty problem to the community. He referenced the James Layton book, which discussed one process in particular. He indicated that a study session needed to include discussion on whether the Council should do a public participation process and make the decision itself or go out for a vote. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that he was volunteering to work with staff to come up with options on a public communications process for the Council, but he was not volunteering to develop the process by himself. Councilor Hennagin suggested providing four or five citizens with the same information given to the Council and involving them in the discussion. Councilor Olson suggested scheduling the in-depth study sessions with Mr. Williams before staff developed the process. Mr. Hertzberg mentioned that he was hearing the Council say that this as an 'ASAP' issue. Councilor Olson agreed but pointed out that this was too important an issue to rush it. If the Council needed to take a little more time to get it right, then it should do so. Mr. Hertzberg recessed the meeting for a break at 4:45 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 4:50 p. M. • Youth Council City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 13 of 20 January 16, 2009 The Youth Councilors present introduced themselves: Ben Silbert (Lakeridge), Marshall Kosloff (Lake Oswego), and Weston Cooper (Lakeridge). Councilor Johnson indicated that she wanted to discuss the Youth Councilors' role and their relationship with the Council. She mentioned also discussing the Youth Council's goals, both what they wanted to accomplish this year and which Council goals they wanted to be involved in. Youth Councilor Cooper indicated to Councilor Johnson that they were interested in voting on different issues before the City Council. Youth Councilor Silbert indicated to Councilor Johnson that while he found the experience of being on the Youth Council beneficial, so far the Youth Councilors have not been really involved with the City Council on any issues. He commented that they would have to have a full knowledge of an issue before they could vote on it, which they currently they did not have. He spoke of the Youth Council taking a more active role in participating with the Council. Youth Councilor Kosloff indicated that they did most of their learning at their 5 p.m. meeting with Councilor Johnson just before the regular Council meeting, at which they talked about the upcoming meeting. He suggested using that time to get a more in-depth knowledge of agenda items. Councilor Olson observed that with the Council's switch to evening meetings only, the Youth Councilors might be able to attend study sessions to get up to speed on issues facing the City Council. Councilor Jordan noted that those study sessions were also taped and rebroadcast. Councilor Jordan commented that if the Youth Councilors received the agendas in advance, as Councilor Johnson had suggested, then they could identify one or two issues of interest on which they would like more information and discuss it at the 5 p.m. meeting. The Youth Council could then present its position to the Council at the regular meeting. Youth Councilor Cooper agreed that Tuesday night study sessions would be easier for the Youth Councilors to attend. Youth Councilor Kosloff spoke in support of Councilor Jordan's suggestion. Councilor Jordan suggested letting the Mayor know in advance which topics the Youth Council would like to comment on. Councilor Johnson suggested also sending the rolling agenda to the Youth Councilors so they could see what issues were coming up and what other meetings attended by City Councilors might be of interest to them. She pointed out that the Youth Councilors were a great resource to the City Council because, not only did they have a different perspective on issues, but they also knew a different section of the population. Councilor Jordan indicated to Councilor Johnson that an issue she would like to hear from the Youth Council on was the City facilities and West End Building. Councilor Tierney mentioned hearing from the Youth Council on the City Council goals. Councilor Johnson commented that she thought it would be important for the Youth Council to be involved in public outreach. Councilor Jordan suggested inviting a City Councilor or the Mayor to speak to a school class or club. Youth Councilor Cooper commented that he thought high school students would find a topic that affected the youth of Lake Oswego interesting. Councilor Tierney suggested that the Youth Council develop a toolbox of more current communication methods for the City to use in public outreach. The Youth Councilors mentioned Twitter and Facebook as interactive communication tools used by high school students. Councilor Johnson asked if the City Councilors were interested in the Youth Councilors shadowing individual City Councilors. She indicated to Youth Councilor Silbert that a Youth Councilor and a City Councilor would meet on an individual basis and coordinate what 'the shadowing' would involve. Councilor Jordan suggested that the Youth Councilors attend the January 29 Clackamas County Cities' dinner. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 14 of 20 January 16, 2009 Mayor Hoffman noted that the City Council was comfortable with the Youth Council giving their input on certain decisions. He described the shadowing as mentoring with the City Councilor having the responsibility to coordinate and meet with the student on a regular basis. Councilor Jordan recalled that the one of the Portland School Board members would meet with two to three of the Youth Councilors to discuss issues. Councilor Olson commented that if a Youth Councilor wanted the one-on-one mentoring, then he/she could ask for it and be matched up with a City Councilor. She mentioned that another way to accomplish the same thing was to inform the Youth Councilors of everything that the Council did and let the Youth Councilors pick what they wanted to go to. Councilor Johnson concurred. Councilor Johnson indicated that if a City Councilor had something that he/she wanted to do with the Youth Council, then the City Councilor could send out an e-mail to the Youth Councilors to see if anyone was interested. Councilor Johnson asked if there were any issues that the Youth Councilors wanted to make sure that the Council got on its goals list. Youth Councilor Cooper mentioned sustainability. He commented that having a list from which to choose meetings of interest, getting the agenda beforehand, and having the opportunity to attend or watch study sessions would help the Youth Council be more of an asset to the City than it currently was. Mr. Hertzberg pointed out that most of the staff present today would not be present tomorrow. The Council discussed which issues to ask for staff input on today. • Visioning Ms. Frisbee mentioned the white paper on visioning provided to the Council. She explained that the crucial topic for discussion was the scope of the visioning project. She indicated that the Planning Department would undertake visioning in connection with periodic review and Comprehensive Plan update. She said that the Planning Commission has recommended tailoring the visioning process to planning and periodic review type issues. She noted the other view that the City should engage in a larger visioning process for the whole community. She observed that however broad and deep the visioning project was that the Council chooses to do, it would have significant time frame, budget, and staffing implications. Councilor Hennagin asked what the difference was between the Comprehensive Plan update and a visioning process, as he has always seen the Comprehensive Plan as the community's vision for the future. Mr. Lashbrook explained that the question to ask before starting a long-range planning project was where one wanted to end up. He pointed out that the existing plans and policies were the default position. If there were no visioning process, then staff would continue in the direction established years ago, as expressed in the adopted documents. Ms. Frisbee noted that the last major update of the Comprehensive Plan was in 1994, which meant that much of its vision timeframe has come and gone. She said that the Planning Commission has suggested that the City cull its plans to distill the visions in the existing plans and then decide where else it needed to go with visioning. She pointed out that visioning used a broader timeframe of 30 to 40 years in the future, looking at where the community wanted Lake Oswego to be, and charting a course to get there. Mr. Lashbrook indicated to Councilor Hennagin that the State pushed a 20 -year planning horizon for comprehensive plans. Councilor Jordan mentioned that Metro was looking at a 30- to 50 -year timeline with respect to the urban/rural reserves, and a parallel 20 -year timeframe for the urban growth boundary. She pointed out that part of the Comprehensive Plan's purpose was to identify how Lake Oswego would absorb its part of the anticipated growth in population and employment coming to the region. Mr. Lashbrook observed that the existing vision of Lake Oswego was a City Council document that evolved annually at goal setting time. Councilor Jordan asked if a vision of Lake Oswego 30 years from now meant most people being able to shop within a 10 -minute radius of where they City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 15 of 20 January 16, 2009 lived, and work within a 20 -minute radius. She mentioned including the new alternative vehicle technology in the vision, such as electric plug -ins for cars. Mayor Hoffman said that they needed to decide first whether this Council wanted to do the visioning, which the 2008 Council deferred to it, either as a comprehensive vision or one focused on the Comprehensive Plan/periodic review process. He suggested inviting Steven Ames, an Oregon expert on visioning, to discuss the benefits of visioning and how it differed from a Comprehensive Plan. Councilor Olson commented that she got the sense from the Board, Commissions, and community groups that the Council should tighten down the scope and focus on a smaller effort dealing with neighborhood issues, planning, and code rewrites. She questioned whether this was a good time to do a huge visioning process in light of the current economy. Councilor Tierney concurred with Mayor Hoffman that hearing from someone who was involved in a variety of visioning projects in Oregon communities would be educational. He commented that as he listened to the Boards and Commissions, he got the sense that the work plan below the iceberg was huge in the Planning Department. He asked what staff could get done well by December 31. He asked whether the Planning Commission and others set policy to bring to the Council for discussion, or did the Council give those groups direction. He commented that if the Council gave direction, then he needed help in terms of what that meant, how it happened, and what has been done. Councilor Olson referenced her last meeting as a Planning Commissioner. She reported that the Planning Commission was begging for direction from the Council because it did not feel that it has received clear direction from the Council in the past. Ms. Frisbee indicated to Councilor Tierney that the Planning Department had a work plan that called for extensive community engagement in connection with the periodic review/Comprehensive Plan update, which would begin next fall. She noted that the issues within the purview of that update included housing, transportation, economic analysis, public facilities, and other issues. She said that a visioning process that was larger in scope, involving identifying shared values and common goals and providing a framework for future, would be beyond the capability of the Planning Department at this time. Mr. Lashbrook mentioned two questions: how much progress could the City make in 2009, and what was best done in-house or by outside consultants? He pointed out that the kind of visioning process undertaken would drive what staff did. He indicated to Councilor Tierney that Mayor Hoffman's suggestion to bring in Mr. Ames was a fair suggestion. He recalled an admonition he made to the prior Council at goal setting time. If the Council embarked on a big community visioning undertaking, then it needed to be prepared to stick with it through a lengthy implementation phase and to keep referring to it as the rationale behind actions taken. He observed that visioning efforts have failed in other communities because the implementation phase failed. Mr. Hertzberg pointed out that the commitment involved both City money and Council time. Councilor Hennagin asked how they got buy in on a visioning process from future City Councils, who were not involved in the process. He said that his main concern was the workload that a visioning process would bring to both staff and the Council. He commented that the only reason he saw for proceeding with a visioning process immediately, as opposed to delaying it again, was if the community told the Council through that process what it wanted done with City Hall, the library, and the WEB. Otherwise, he preferred to deal with facilities and the WEB, and then move on to visioning. Councilor Jordan commented that she would like to know what the different existing plans (and their visioning statements) were that would affect the Comprehensive Plan review. She held that City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 16 of 20 January 16, 2009 the best part of the Hillsboro visioning process was the total community buy -in and the continuing efforts to reach the goals and to involve people. Mayor Hoffman noted that there were four parts to visioning: Where are we now? Where are we going? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? He observed that the Comprehensive Plan did not necessarily follow that procedure. He indicated that a visioning process looked at the inter -relationships between various community elements, such as 50+ issues and affordable housing, or the library and the WEB, City Hall, and First Addition. He argued that a visioning process allowed a community to come together and discuss issues that normally were of interest only to the stakeholders in those issues. He commented that theoretically, that community discussion meant community buy -in of the vision, which would continue the vision from Council to Council. He reiterated his suggestion to invite Mr. Ames, an expert on visioning, to talk about the benefits other cities gained by doing a visioning process. He stated that the Comprehensive Plan update/Periodic Review was not the same as visioning. Councilor Jordan commented that she did not think anyone was saying that those two were the same thing. She held that the issue as whether the community was ready to take on a visioning process at this time. Library Mr. Baars pointed out the library operations were sustainable: they had a quarter million items that they encouraged people to use over and over again. He discussed the library district. He said that the library would receive about $955,000 from Clackamas County this year, which was 30% of the library budget. With the passage of the measure taxing citizens at 39 cents per $1,000, the library would receive approximately $1.8 million starting next July 1. He said that he and Mr. McIntyre have been working on the budget. He reported that while many communities were using the funds to increase library hours, staff, and materials purchases, Lake Oswego was not. He noted the additional $1 million the library would receive over the course of the next five years for use in making capital improvements. He mentioned the $1.2 million in the Library Fund received from the Minter family, which they have not touched and intended to keep intact. He commented that as a fourth generation Lake Oswegan, he knew that the library facility has been an issue since the Library was built in 1982. He pointed out that Lake Oswego had a great library that ranked as the #1 library in Oregon for its size. He noted that the City has done countless reports over the years identifying what needs of the community the library was not meeting. He pointed out that the library was not a "NIMBY" but rather a "YIMBY" (Yes, in my backyard). Everyone wanted the library in his/her neighborhood. He described the library facility as a big issue that the Council and the community would have to deal with. He reiterated that financially, the library was in great shape, but the questions were what to do now and what was the long-term best use of the library district money. Mr. Baars indicated to Councilor Hennagin that while there were many things on the list of the needs that the library was not fulfilling, one of the main issues was lack of space for the 250,000 piece collection; if they bought something new, then they had to get rid of something else. He commented that the collection was relatively small for a community this size. They would like to expand it and stop having to get rid of occasionally circulated items to make room for new items. He said that they would like to do more programs and take advantage of their role as a de facto community center. He mentioned that 800 people packed the library Tuesday night for the Lake Oswego Reads program. He commented that the lack of space made it difficult to balance holding program events while simultaneously conducting other library business. He pointed out that the collection has changed significantly since 1982, with the addition of CDs, DVDs, and videotapes. He spoke of the library being ready and flexible to accommodate the emerging technologies. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 17 of 20 January 16, 2009 He indicated to Councilor Hennagin that the current suggestion for library size 10 years out was 65,000 square feet; an earlier suggestion had been 42,000 square feet. He indicated to Mr. McIntyre that the library's current size was 27,000 square feet. He mentioned that Lake Oswego was the eighth library in the nation for circulation and the smallest of the top nine. He said that they had 33 items per capita, while the national average for any city was seven items. Councilor Johnson commented that they could potentially address the size and capacity issues by either moving the library to a new site or expanding it on the existing site. She mentioned another possibility of having two libraries that did not duplicate services, such as a children's library and a technical center. She noted that they could also have a branch library housing half the collection with the other half at the main library. Mr. Baars indicated that two parallel libraries met families' needs better than separating services between facilities. He acknowledged that the questions then became why the duplication of services, and was it not better to have one central library. He said that he thought it made the most sense financially to have one central library, although there was a call for a library presence on the west side also. He observed that the FAN residents liked having the library in their neighborhood, unless they lived in the blocks right around the library building. He speculated that those FAN residents and many others would like a library in the downtown center, as part of a civic center development, which he thought made the best sense. • Oswego Iron Furnace Mr. Knippel gave an update on the Oswego Iron furnace project. He indicated that the project would be 100% complete by December 31. He said what the Council has done was necessary in terms of getting the financing package in place and awarding the project contract. He mentioned the Furnace Task Force as the project's primary public outreach component. Mr. McIntyre spoke of tying the furnace to the Centennial efforts. Mr. Knippel noted that in terms of sustainability, they would reuse all the existing bricks. He indicated to Councilor Hennagin that his vision for what followed the furnace rehabilitation was creating an interpretative area and the Bill Gerber Memorial Garden. He said that the funding was yet to be determined. He confirmed to Councilor Jordan that there was still fundraising going on. • Infrastructure Mr. Hertzberg noted that the infrastructure issues that the Council has not yet discussed were Clean Streams, street maintenance, and transportation. Fees and charges were yet another issue. Mr. McIntyre commented that based on the meeting with the Boards and Commissions, the Council might want to send Clean Streams back through the Natural Resources Advisory Board and the Sustainability Advisory Board. He noted that the previous Council's compromise on the street maintenance fee had been to plug in the inflator (in order to maintain the spending capability of the money over time) and not do a complete revision of the fee (which could potentially result in doubling the fee). He mentioned previous Council concerns of needing more public outreach and education on the rationale behind increasing the fee. He spoke of updating the Transportation Plan in order to provide the necessary framework for targeting spending and resources appropriately. He mentioned parks as another area needing a master plan update in addition to transportation, water, sewer, and storm water. He asked the Council to commit resources to updating those master plans so that the City could have solid infrastructure and make good investment decisions moving forward. Mr. Graham indicated to Councilor Jordan that Lake Oswego would get its share of any increased state revenues. Mr. McIntyre pointed out that all the plans, except for parks, had their own funding source respective to the utility. Parks had no independent funding stream and came City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 18 of 20 January 16, 2009 out of the general fund. Mr. Graham indicated to Mayor Hoffman that gas tax revenues paid for the Transportation System Plan. Ms. Papadopoulos indicated to Councilor Tierney that while there was a requirement for the City to do a Clean Streams Plan, the requiring agency did not set a deadline date. Councilor Tierney mentioned attending Dan Vizzini's presentation on Portland's storm water plan, and his characterization of Portland's plan as short on current science and investing in putting pipes in the ground again. He questioned whether the Clean Streams Plan was close to being finished, citing Mr. Snell's comments. Mr. McIntyre commented that the Boards reviewing the plan might choose to recognize the need for additional ways of looking at the plan, whether it focused on the sciences or on the processes. Councilor Jordan recalled a Lake Corporation suggestion: if the City had to concentrate on one thing, it should concentrate on Springbrook Creek. She asked for information about focusing on one particular watershed for the next couple of years, as opposed to a broad based plan. Ms. Papadopoulos explained that staff did not design the Clean Streams program as a basin plan, but they could add that layer on to it. Mr. Hertzberg asked what the role of the Council was this year. Mr. Graham spoke of bringing the capital improvements plan to Council for adoption by the second meeting in June. He discussed sustainable asset management as an approach that would help the City provide services to the community at the level and cost of service expected. He indicated that asset management used a business -based model, which would work well for the City utilities. Mr. Komarek said that the Council needed to decide which plan it wanted staff to do first because all the plans would involve the Council and staff in significant public outreach efforts. He indicated that the transportation plan needed to reflect the community vision, such as multi -modal versus auto -oriented. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Hennagin that the capital improvement program would ask the Council where the City should spend $5 million on capital needs next year. He explained that one problem was making decisions based upon the old data in the plans and staff observations of the infrastructure on the ground today. He commented that an asset management plan would be more responsive and proactive. Mr. Graham said that once staff completed the strategic asset condition assessments, the Council could then make better decisions on where to best invest the money in order to achieve the lowest life cycle cost. • Redevelopment Councilor Jordan mentioned hearing from the Lake Grove people that they wanted a redevelopment district on the west side of town. Mr. Galante indicated that identifying a district would entail a significant public process and a plan complying with ORS Chapter 457. He explained that the public process, combined with identifying the various options, was a lengthy process, especially in light of the controversy regarding redevelopment districts in Lake Oswego. He described the typical elements in an urban renewal plan as including identifying the blighted district and developing a vision statement, a redevelopment plan, and a project list. Councilor Jordan commented that if the RFP came back in June or July with a transportation recommendation on what was possible on the street, then the City could conceivably start the process next fall. Mr. Galante cautioned the Council that in the current economy, depending on the urban renewal district as a funding mechanism for the street was problematic. The frozen tax base of the defined district would grow very slowly, and probably would not have sufficient money for at least seven years. Mr. Galante indicated to Councilor Hennagin that he did not do a comparison between an urban renewal district and a non -urban renewal district with respect to doing and funding the projects. His comparison only illustrated the difference between an urban renewal district and strict City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 19 of 20 January 16, 2009 economic development, which dealt more with business retention and development, as opposed to infrastructure projects. 4. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hoffman adjourned the meeting at 6:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Robyn C ristie City Recorder APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: ON Aoril 21. 2009 Jack D City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 20 of 20 January 16, 2009