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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2010-03-23 PMCITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES March 23, 2010 Mayor Jack Hoffman called the regular City Council meeting to order at 6:38 p.m. on March 23, 2010, in the City Council Chambers, 380 A Avenue. Present: Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Johnson, Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff (7:47 by phone), Tierney, and Jordan Staff Present: Alex McIntyre, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Robyn Christie, City Recorder; Brant Williams, Director of Economic and Capital Development; Denise Frisbee, Planning and Building Director; Christine Kirk, Public Affairs Manager; Brad Stein, Management Analyst 3. PRESENTATIONS 3.1 WaterAfrica Proclamation Linda Favero, 5831 Ridgetop Court, and Bill Savage, 4804 Heritage Lane, were present. Ms. Favero indicated that WaterAfrica was a small non-profit that started last fall. She expressed their appreciation for the Council's support of the Walk for Water as a community effort. She explained that the people of Zambia considered this sort of formal procedure as a great honor. She described their trip to Zambia in October 2008, mentioning in particular a woman walking six to eight hours a day to obtain contaminated water that she knew would only make her children worse (they were already ill from water -borne illnesses), but she had no alternative. She reported that the one well (purchased by WaterAfrica and serving 800 people in a village) has cut the mortality rate in half. In addition, children were back in school and the villagers could grow crops for consumption and sale. She mentioned that a number of Lake Oswego businesses were sponsoring this third year of the Walk for Water, through which they hoped to raise $24,000 to fund two more wells and sanitation education in Zambia. She described the simulation walk that would begin in Foothills Park this year, walk to collect water from the lake, and return. She said that visitors from Zambia would be present, as well as a water specialist from World Vision. She invited the Council to send someone to make comments at the event. She closed with a quote from President Obama's inaugural speech regarding working with other nations. She indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the walk began at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 17. Mayor Hoffman indicated that someone from the City Council would read the proclamation at the event. Mayor Hoffman proclaimed Saturday, April 17, 2010, as WaterAfrica Day in Lake Oswego. Councilor Hennagin applauded their work. He mentioned that he had been in Tanzania in October 2008 on behalf of Africa Bridge, which also tried to bring water to villages. He suggested that WaterAfrica, Africa Bridge, and Pennies for Kenya (since all three were headquartered in Lake Oswego or West Linn) get together under one administrative office for greater effectiveness. Mr. Savage commented that Councilor Hennagin's point was well taken. 3.2 Streetcar Update Mr. Williams introduced Kar n Withrow, M tro Public Involv m nt Manag r, who was a key individual working on the Lake Oswego to Portland transit project. He commented that the project City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 11 March 23, 2010 team members and consultants have accomplished a great deal this past year in coming together to work on the different alternatives. He gave a PowerPoint presentation. He presented a list of the various agencies involved in this project to improve the transit capacity on Hwy 43 between Lake Oswego and Portland. He noted that they were in the middle of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and looking at the three proposed alternatives: no build, enhanced bus service, and streetcar. He explained that the streetcar alternative was an extension of the Portland Streetcar south from downtown Portland. He reviewed its current route loop from northwest Portland, through the Pearl District, downtown Portland, PSU, and River place, ending at the South Waterfront. He commented that the intent was to provide a seamless extension of this first modern (and very successful) streetcar system in the U.S. from the South Waterfront to Lake Oswego. He stated that the Portland to Lake Oswego segment was not a separate line from the Portland Streetcar. He reviewed the three alternatives. He described the benefits of the enhanced bus service, including improved travel times with a reduced number of stops, more frequent bus service, and park and rides. He indicated that the benefits of the streetcar were its greater reliability (it operated on its own alignment — the Willamette Shoreline) and the development potential it offered in Foothills, downtown Lake Oswego, and Portland. He described a third benefit of the streetcar related to project funding. The Consortium could use the much increased value of the Willamette Shoreline right-of-way (from $2 million at the time of purchase) to offset the local match. He explained that the no build alternative maintained the existing transit services and facilities, and looked at the modest improvements that would occur over time without enhanced bus or streetcar. He explained that the NEEPA Act required a no build alternative, which the project team used as a baseline of comparison for the other two alternatives. He mentioned the issues considered in the DEIS, including all the human and natural environmental impacts of each of the alternatives, the benefits, the costs, and the funding sources. He explained that the DEIS would not be ready for public review until after the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved it. He indicated that they had different design alternatives for the streetcar alternative, as it was more complex than the other two alternatives. He mentioned that Ms. Withrow has met with LONAC and neighborhood associations to present this information. Ms. Withrow presented a graphic showing the routes through the six -mile corridor for the enhanced bus and streetcar alternatives. She noted that the enhanced bus would keep the current Lake Oswego downtown loop with stops at Safeway and ending at Albertson's. She presented the five streetcar design options. She mentioned that design options A, C, and E were associated with other projects going on in the area, while options B and D showed alignments close to residences. She indicated what the streetcar alignment would look like if the City of Portland extended the Moody and Bond couplet in the South Waterfront, and if it did not (Option A). She described the three alignment alternatives in the John's Landing area (Option B). She commented that staff was also looking at the impact on the streetcar of the west interchange phase of the Sellwood Bridge project, both if that phase went through and if it did not (Option C). She noted the alignment of the streetcar line in the Riverdale area on Riverwood Road, as suggested by the neighbors (Option D). She presented the two possible alignments in the Foothills District (Option E), with one running adjacent to the freight rail line and one running through a new right-of-way, and both ending at the Albertson's 300 -space park and ride. . She explained that the DEIS was the FTA's document, and they could not present it for public review until the FTA gave permission to do so. She anticipated the 45 -day public review period beginning in mid-August. She indicated that staff would summarize the public comment received City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 11 March 23, 2010 during that outreach (including at the public hearing) into a report for the Steering Committee. She described the decision-making process on the locally preferred alternative (LPA), beginning with separate recommendations to the Steering Committee by the project management group and the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC), the Steering Committee recommendation, the local jurisdictions' approval, and final approval by the Metro Council. She reviewed the schedule, noting that the decision-making on the LPA would occur in the fall. She anticipated preliminary engineering and the final environmental impact statement in 2011, followed by a full funding grant agreement, final engineering, and construction. She noted the target operation date of 2016. Mr. Williams discussed the issues recently raised regarding the streetcar. He reported that the project was on budget for the first cost component of the current staff work and the loan to TriMet. He explained that the DEIS evaluated the other two cost components of construction costs and operating costs. He indicated that the $350 million estimate represented the value of the project more than it did the actual cost. In addition to including the construction, design, and vehicle purchase costs, it included the value of the right-of-way. He noted that the most recent appraisal of the Willamette Shoreline right-of-way returned a value in the $80 million to $100 million range. He mentioned staff's hope to have more accurate numbers on the capital side this summer, developed as part of the DEIS. He noted the assumption that TriMet would take care of the operating costs of both the enhanced bus service and the streetcar. Staff was working on those numbers for inclusion in the DEIS. He referenced the concern about how Lake Oswego would pay for its share of funding the project. He reiterated that the Willamette Shoreline right-of-way would make up most of the local match; staff was working on how to allocate the remainder of the local match appropriately to the participating jurisdictions. He mentioned their working assumption that the development in the Foothills area and continued redevelopment in the Downtown would cover almost the entire cost assigned to the City of Lake Oswego. He said that he was developing alternatives for Council on the numbers. He discussed the transfers question. He pointed out that transfers depended on where one was coming from and where one was going to. He indicated that the project was taking a look at how transfers would occur with the two different alternatives in comparison with the existing service from the #35 bus. He reported that staff's initial look at the issue found that the two alternatives covered most of the Portland downtown entertainment and employment areas. He noted that the benefit of the streetcar was its extension into the Pearl District and NW Portland. Ms. Withrow described the proposed extension of the streetcar across the Willamette River over the Broadway Bridge and down to OMSI. She mentioned that Metro was still looking for funding to complete the piece from OMSI across the proposed Milwaukie Bridge and into the South Waterfront. Mr. Williams reported that staff met with the affected neighborhood associations (Lakewood, Old Town, and Evergreen). The neighborhoods' concerns focused on the park and ride, its structure, and its impact on traffic and parking in the neighborhoods. He indicated that the City had the means to minimize any impacts. He said that staff would check with the neighborhoods to see that the park and ride structure design worked well for them and minimized, if not eliminated, neighborhood impacts. He reviewed the membership of the nine -member volunteer Citizen Action Committee, chaired by Ellie McPeak with representatives from the neighborhoods and business community. He mentioned the upcoming Council tour of the streetcar alignment in May. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 11 March 23, 2010 COUNCIL QUESTIONS Ms. Withrow confirmed to Councilor Hennagin that Union Pacific retained ownership of the railroad freight line right-of-way and leased it to Western Pacific. Councilor Olson referenced the articles in the press lately reporting that the WES rider ship was less than expected, and that the federal government has been skeptical of TriMet's rider ship projections in the past. She asked if staff has revisited its rider ship projections for the streetcar. Mr. Williams reported that he checked with the Metro staff that did these projections, and obtained a list of the projected and actual rider ship figures for opening day on several regional projects. He indicated that they did not know why the WES projections were off, but the projections for other projects in the region have been impressively almost right on. He explained that, in the aggregate, the projections were 3% low, although that did not include the Portland streetcar, which saw higher opening day rider ship than projected. He stated that, given this data, he felt comfortable that Metro's forecasting was some of the best in the country. Councilor Jordan asked whether the comparison costs of the alternatives in the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) included the differences between the streetcar running on electricity and the enhanced bus service running on gas (or an alternate non -electric fuel) and causing wear and tear on the asphalt. Ms. Withrow indicated that she was not certain how detailed the greenhouse gases analysis in the DEIS Energy section was, or whether it calculated the cost difference between the alternatives. She commented that the process was still catching up with respect to greenhouse gas scenarios, but there were plans to figure more detail on that factor into the analyses for future high capacity transit corridors. Ms. Withrow concurred with Councilor Jordan that they decided the alignment to Portland and the mode before they did the design and engineering. They also did not yet know how it would connect to Lake Oswego's downtown and Foothills. She explained that at this point they used a 5% design to evaluate the alternatives and alignments; that percentage would increase as they moved forward. Ms. Withrow clarified to Councilor Tierney that, once the jurisdictions submitted the locally preferred alternative (LPA), they began a separate funding approval process, in which they typically asked for 60% of the estimated costs. She indicated that this was a competitive process for federal discretionary money allocated for transit. She said that the federal funds were not guaranteed, although Portland has consistently received money (60% minimum) in the past for all its projects. Councilor Tierney commented that, given his education on development issues since being on the Council, he was trying to rationalize a 300 -stall public parking garage in a transit -oriented development (TOD) as a way to improve the community and generate higher property values. Mr. Williams indicated that staff was aware of the concerns of providing up to 400 parking stalls in the area, and intended to spend more time looking at the issue. He noted the other concerns that not providing parking at the streetcar terminus would impact the neighborhoods. He mentioned that the Council would likely have some policy choices to consider, given the desire to minimize the number of stalls in the corridor. Mr. Williams explained that the federal funding criteria has changed since they began this project; it now included development, development potential, and livability issues, instead of relying solely on rider ship projections. He emphasized the need to do more work in minimizing the impacts to the City's street system and its neighborhoods. Mayor Hoffman suggested scheduling another study session to answer additional questions. 3.3 C ntennial Mom nt Due to time constraints, Mayor Hoffman set this item aside. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 11 March 23, 2010 4. CONSENT AGENDA Councilor Hennagin moved the Consent Agenda. Councilor Johnson seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken, and the motionap ssed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Johnson, Hennagin, Olson, Tierney, and Jordan voting "aye." [6-0] 4.1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4.1.1 October 20, 2009, regular meeting 4.1.2 November 17, 2009, regular meeting Action: Approve minutes as written END CONSENT AGENDA 5. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA 6. CITIZEN COMMENT Kirk Smith He explained that he was bringing this parking problem in his neighborhood to the Council because he was having problems with the Planning Department regarding enforcing the condition of approval on LU 08-0028. He explained that the condition required the contractor submit a construction management traffic plan to the Engineering Division for review and approval, which specially addressed parking for construction workers on Springbrook Court and adjacent streets. He indicated that the contractor did not submit this plan, as he has informed Ms. Frisbee, the City Attorney, the Mayor, and a Councilor. He mentioned the e-mail he received from Ms. Frisbee, telling him that one of the conditions of approval required the applicants to inform the Engineering Services Division on how they would manage traffic during construction. He stated that that was not what the order or the condition of approval said. He indicated that he was coming to his elected representatives because he has been rebuffed by the Planning Department. He explained that there were two issues: there was no construction traffic management plan in place, and the contractor took down the City's No Parking signs, which he understood was an illegal act. He alleged that the contractor took down the signs preventing parking next to the job site because his workers were lazy. He recounted his efforts to talk to the contractor, which have not been successful. He mentioned calling the police, who would cite any vehicle parked too close to the intersection as being in a life safety lane. He reiterated that the contractor's workers claimed that they could park next to the job site because nothing said that they could not park there. However, that was because the contractor pulled the signs down. He explained that he got upset at the workers' blocking the life safety corridor because a neighbor was a quadriplegic and needed access to paramedics and ambulances. If a truck blocked the life safety area, then the paramedics could not get into the neighborhood. Mayor Hoffman directed Mr. Smith to talk to Denise Frisbee, Planning and Building Director, and David Powell, City Attorney. Councilor Olson asked staff to inform the Council of the resolution of this situation, especially the taking down of City signs. Mr. Powell indicated that he did not know much about the facts in this case, but it was true that removing City signs was not legal. Ms. Frisbee reported on her investigation into Mr. Smith's concerns. She explained that, according to the City Attorney, the requirement for a traffic construction management plan was triggered when the contractor intended to use part of the City right-of-way to park trucks, etc. Since the contractor indicated in this case that he did not intend to do so, staff required no formal City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 11 March 23, 2010 plan. She mentioned that the City Attorney's Office has confirmed that the documentation submitted by the contractor did satisfy the requirement for a construction management plan. She held that the problem was not with Planning, but rather it was an issue of enforcement. She indicated that Nancy Flye in Traffic Services was working with Lt. Scott Thran to resolve this issue. • R.A. Fontes, 310 Second Street He read from his prepared testimony. He addressed the issue of streetcar travel times. He argued that the projected streetcar travel times in combination with the proposed alignment would add half an hour to round trips. He described Metro's numbers as pessimistic and not supported by hard data. He spoke to setting as a minimum threshold that a project not make transit worse. He stated his belief that the streetcar had 'juggernaut' status. He supported keeping the current bus as it was or as an express. • Charles Ormsby, 170 SW Birdshill Road, Clackamas County He described the streetcar as a series of shell games generating many concerns. He asked what the Council defined as 'downtown Portland.' He referenced Metro's Streetcar Report (July 12, 2007) that used PSU as the target in Table 5.1. He commented that his target was Pioneer Courthouse Square, the intersection of the four light rail lines. He indicated that the target of the streetcar riders from Lake Oswego was the Multnomah County Central Library, five blocks away from Pioneer Courthouse Square. He encouraged the Council to try to get from the PSU Urban Center to the Portland City Hall in a wheelchair, which route had roughly a 6% grade. He asked the Council to define by resolution what constituted 'downtown Portland' and what the target area was. He indicated that he would keep asking his questions, including those sent by e-mail, until he got some answers. Mayor Hoffman recessed the meeting at 7:45 p.m. to coordinate the phone hook-up with Councilor Moncrieff. He reconvened the meeting at 7:47 p.m. Councilor Moncrieff joined the meeting at this time. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS 7.1 Street Maintenance Fee Discussion Resolution 10-19, a resolution of the Lake Oswego City Council adjusting Street Maintenance Fee rates Resolution 10-20, a resolution of the Lake Oswego City Council establishing annual indexing of Street Maintenance Fee rates STAFF REPORT Ms. Kirk recalled that previously staff presented to Council the funding methodology for the street maintenance fee, the public engagement process, and the need to increase revenues in order to keep the streets in good shape. She mentioned the request, based on feedback and Council action, to phase the fee in over three years (25%, 35%, and 40%). She noted that this represented increasing the investment in the roads by $1.2 million over the three years. She indicated that the first resolution related to phasing in the increase, and the second related to indexing the street maintenance fee. PUBLIC TESTIMONY Mayor Hoffman opened the public hearing. He reviewed the testimony time limits and order. • Jerry Whe ler, 13594 Blazer Trail, Lak Oswego Chamber of Commerc Chi f Executiv Offic r City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 11 March 23, 2010 He read from his prepared testimony. He reported that the Board of Directors' vote to approve a resolution in support of the proposed street maintenance fee increases was far from unanimous (13 -7-1 with three members out of town). He read the resolution. He mentioned the discussion of indexing the fee for inflation. He indicated that the Chamber supported maintaining the streets. He spoke of the Chamber's concern that doubling the fee was not acceptable in the current economic situation, noting the City's acceptance of their request to phase the fee in. He mentioned the Board's continuing concern regarding not using reserves to reduce the fee increase. Mayor Hoffman closed the public hearing. QUESTIONS OF STAFF Ms. Kirk confirmed to Councilor Olson that Chart 3 (p.49) indicated that, if the City had indexed the fee last year, the indexing beginning in July would have decreased the fee. Mr. Mclntyr pointed out that the indices went up and down, and the Engineering News -Record index happened to go down. Councilor Jordan pointed out that not keeping up with City street maintenance would ultimately lead to higher costs impacting the residents for street maintenance. She spoke in support of indexing the fee in order to make sure that the City did the projects needing doing every year, and that they did not fall behind again on street maintenance. She commented that once the City got the PCI (Pavement Condition Index) back up to a 70 average, then maintaining the streets to that level would be less expensive. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Tierney that the Council could 'collar' the index to prevent it from going too high or too low, similar to the 'collar' on labor contracts. Ms. Kirk mentioned that the City of Tigard collared its index at 2% and 7% to prevent both a large decrease and a large increase, which she said was a reasonable range. Mr. Powell indicated to Councilor Tierney that he could easily add language to the resolution to collar the rate, should the Council decide to amend the resolution. COUNCIL DISCUSSION Councilor Hennagin observed that there was no doubt that the City's current revenues from gas taxes or franchise fees were insufficient to maintain the streets. He cited Hemlock Street from Cornell to Freepons Park as an example of the many streets in the city that needed reconstruction. He mentioned his concern about asphalt costs rising astronomically again. He said that he was impressed that two out of three members of the Chamber's Government Affairs Committee supported a phased in increase to the fee. He commented that, while he hated to keep raising fees, the City's number one job was to maintain the infrastructure, and they needed to pay for it. He said that he was still constitutionally opposed to indexing. He expressed his preference to wait on the indexing until after completing the three year phase in. Therefore, he would vote against the indexing. Mayor Hoffman indicated to Councilor Hennagin that Cornelius got under the wire for raising its gas tax to fund street maintenance. Councilor Jordan mentioned that the State legislature shut out that option last year. Mayor Hoffman referenced an article sent by Craig Stevens discussing considerations for a street maintenance fee. Councilor Olson mentioned that she would like to hear the City Engineer's response to that article. She seconded Councilor Hennagin's reluctance to index the fee. She commented that she saw value in discussing the fee yearly or biannually in case the Council decided to change funding sources or the PCI target. Councilor Johnson moved Resolution 10-19, a resolution of the Lake Oswego City Council adjusting Str et Maint nanc F rates. Councilor Jordan econd d th motion. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 11 March 23, 2010 Councilor Moncrieff concurred with Councilor Jordan's comments. She indicated that, in light of the current economic strains on the City's business and residential customers, she supported phasing in the increasing over three years. Councilor Johnson commented that if they were going to have a street maintenance fee in the city, then they needed to do it right, which meant passing this resolution. She spoke to getting the City back on track and adjusting the fee to achieve the Council goals. She suggested that looking at how to alleviate the fee in the future, possibly using general fund monies, should be another goal. Councilor Tierney recalled that he has supported a number of fee increases for a variety of City infrastructure and services, as they did need infrastructure. He commented that he would challenge the City Manager's budget presentation and look at infrastructure over other possible expenditures. He held that today was not the time to increase this fee by this magnitude. He stated that he would not support the resolution. Councilor Jordan commented that, while she understood the difficulties that increasing this fee would have on Lake Oswego residents and businesses, she thought that the citizens would not respond well to the question of what they would take away from other services in order to have good roads. She observed that the residents moved here for all the services, and it was difficult to separate one out from the other as more important. She remarked that she did not believe passing this increase now prevented the Council from revisiting it in the future. She cited the interest in pathways and bike paths that this fee did not cover currently. She argued that not to pass this fee increase at this point would get the City so far behind on street maintenance that people would start to complain about the quality of the City streets. She held that the residents were willing to pay for something that they knew they needed. Mayor Hoffman stated that he would support the motion. He commented that he did not like raising fees either in these economic times, yet it was necessary in order to take care of the City's road system, as John Pullen has consistently advocated. He argued that a strong infrastructure made for a strong community, maintained property values, and helped with economic development. A roll call vote was taken, and the motionap ssed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Johnson, Hennagin, Moncrieff, and Jordan voting "aye." Councilors Olson and Tierney voted "no." [5-2] Councilor Johnson moved Resolution 10-20, a resolution of the Lake Oswego City Council establishing annual indexing of Street Maintenance Fee rates. Councilor Moncrieff seconded the motion. Councilor Johnson commented that one of the reasons the Council was having this discussion was because the previous Councils did not index the fee in the first place. She argued that if they had a fee, then they should index it. She spoke to getting the base right, which then allowed future Councils consider creative ways to help people in these tough economic times. Councilor Tierney asked staff why they selected the Engineering News -Record 20 city average construction cost index. Mr. McIntyre explained that staff recommended using this index originally because engineers used it to index a variety of other services. He described it as a reasonable and comfortable index to use, similar to using the CPI for labor market adjustments. He indicated that he was not qualified to answer the question of why this index went down this year when everything else was going up. Councilor Tierney moved to amend the resolution to establish a `collar,' that "in no event, shall the annual index adjustment be less than a 2% increase or more than a 7% increase." Councilor Jordan seconded the motion. Councilor Johnson indicated that she would take th motion as a friendly am ndm nt to h r motion. Councilor Moncri ff concurred. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 11 March 23, 2010 A roll call vote was taken, and the motionap ssed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Johnson, Moncrieff, Ti rney, and Jordan voting "aye." Councilors Hennagin and Olson voted "no." [5-2] Councilor Moncrieff left the meeting via the phone connection. Mayor Hoffman recessed the meeting for a break at 8:14 p.m. He reconvened the meeting at 8:15 p.m. 8. REPORTS 8.1 Resolution 10-21, adopting the Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan (NHMP) Addendum Mr. McIntyre introduced Brad Stein, Management Analyst, who joined the City staff to head up the emergency management and risk management work. Mr. Stein explained that the federal government required jurisdictions to revise and update their Natural Hazards Mitigation Plans (NHMP) for submittal to FEMA and pre -approval prior to the Councils adopting it. He indicated that this addendum summarized and captured all the potential natural hazards that could adversely impact the City, its residents, and the property within. He said that its adoption qualified the City to request pre -disaster mitigation funds for projects to counter natural hazards, and to seek federal reimbursement after a natural hazard event occurred. He mentioned funding for flood assistance mitigation programs and projects also. He noted that the addendum included updated census information for Lake Oswego and updated local hazard maps. He recommended adoption of the addendum. Councilor Olson thanked Mr. Stein for a good report that she found helpful and informative. Councilor Jordan moved Resolution 10-21, a resolution of the Lake Oswego City Council adopting the City of Lake Oswego addendum to the Clackamas County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan. Councilor Olson seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken, and the motionap ssed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Johnson, Hennagin, Olson, Tierney, and Jordan voting "aye." [6-0] 9. INFORMATION FROM THE COUNCIL 9.1 Councilor Information 9.1.1 Councilor Jordan Councilor Jordan reported that the voluntary watershed walk sponsored by the Friends of Tryon Creek, which she took with a group of school children from Palisades Elementary School last week, had been a great learning experience. She encouraged the Council members to participate in one. She suggested that, at a future meeting, the Council consider reducing the number of members on the 50 plus Advisory Board from nine to seven, which was the normal number for Advisory Boards. She indicated to Councilor Olson that the effort to combine the former Adult Community Center Advisory Board with this new Board, following the 50 plus dialogs, probably contributed to the larger number of members. 9.1.2 Announcements -- Mayor Hoffman • Council tour of housing types in the greater Metro region — Sunday, May 2 • Neighbors Helping Neighbors -- May 1 • Proposed Streetcar tour — May 6 • Clackamas Cities Dinner — this Thursday night • Stafford discussion — March 30 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 11 March 23, 2010 Mayor Hoffman indicated that the discussion would focus on whether Lake Oswego should join West Linn and assist with their pre -litigation evaluation and examination of Metro's decision with respect to Stafford. Mayor Hoffman reported on his meeting with 25 to 35 citizens at Chuck's Coffee Shop on Saturday for one and a half hours. He said that he listened to their concerns and tried to address questions. He mentioned that Councilor Olson was also there. He reported that the Historic Resources Advisory Board, Councilor Olson, Mr. McIntyre, and he looked at the Stone Bridge on Poplar Lane, an historic bridge built in the 1880s. He mentioned that Carolyne Jones had more information about it. He noted that the Council would begin its review of the Comprehensive Plan next week because of its relevance to the budget, the sensitive lands issue, and Stafford. 9.1.3 State Statute impacting the Joint Water Project Mayor Hoffman informed the Council that an issue has come up that affected the Joint Water Project. Mr. Powell explained that the Department of State Lands (DSL) used to allow developers of linear-type utilities to apply for a wetlands mitigation evaluation permit before going on a property just to see if they could get the permit. He said that a recent Attorney General's opinion interpreted the statute very literally in requiring the permit applicant either to own the property or to have the property owner's consent before making application. Mr. Powell noted the concern of municipalities that they would have to expend taxpayer resources on a property before they even knew if they needed the property for a project. Mayor Hoffman described how this affected the Joint Water Project, in that they were still deciding on the exact land route; having to do wetlands mitigation on a given property could direct the route to another property not requiring that mitigation. They did not want to have to buy a property before they knew whether they needed it or not. Mr. Powell mentioned that Mr. Komarek did a white paper on this issue from the municipal perspective at the request of the League of Oregon Cities. He noted that this issue also tied into the liquid natural gas efforts, which politicized the issue and made it controversial. He indicated that the City's proposal in the white paper was to fix the problem for municipalities in order to avoid expending taxpayer money acquiring interest in properties just to file an application unnecessarily. The Council indicated by consensus that it had no objection to staff moving forward on getting this issue cleared up for municipalities. 9.2 Reports of Council Committees, Organizational Committees, and Intergovernmental Committees 9.2.1 National League of Cities Conference Councilor Tierney mentioned that an article he read on variables important to housing in the future cited Gaithersburg, MD, as an example. Consequently, he, Mr. McIntyre, and Ms. Kirk toured Gaithersburg while at the conference under the guidance of Trudy Schwartz, the Gaithersburg Planning Director. He indicated that Gaithersburg had a number of projects from the late 1980s into the 1990s centered around New Urbanism, such as Kentlands and Lakelands. He referenced the booklet that he had distributed recounting the development of Gaithersburg in the New Urbanism model but without transit -oriented development, as it was the last stop on the Red Line in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. He read the characteristics of a New Urban community, as exemplified by the various projects in Gaithersburg. He mentioned that both he and Ms. Kirk had concluded that this was a comfortable, if not inexpensive, place to live. He presented several photos that Ms. Kirk took during the tour illustrating the housing types, alley ways, parks, and streets in Kentlands and Lakelands. He noted City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 11 March 23, 2010 that Ms. Schwartz confirmed that everything, including businesses, was within one-quarter mile of housing. Ms. Kirk mentioned that the walkaway for her was the neighborhood feel that the project achieved. She described how the retail shops with housing above in the photo had a Whole Foods parking lot on their backside, which was a creative way to put commerce opportunities within the living areas yet mask the big box store and parking lot from the community. Councilor Tierney presented a map showing the form zoning. He described the complementary relationship of the walkable Main Street with its little retail shops and restaurants to the big box shopping centers. He indicated to Mayor Hoffman that light rail was 10 miles away. Ms. Kirk mentioned the City's plans to put in a commuter rail through the area. Councilor Tierney showed examples of parks, historic facilities, white picket fences, alleys, and garages. He mentioned that a number of the garages required maneuvering the car in order to get into them. He reported that they and Chris, the Capital Edge staffer, visited the Oregon Senators' offices and Congressman Schrader's office on Monday to meet with staff and to discuss Lake Oswego's investment in its water and sewer systems and the need for federal funding for the streetcar. Mr. McIntyre indicated that he and Ms. Kirk met with Senators Wyden and Merkley on Tuesday after the Oregon delegation returned from Oregon. Mayor Hoffman said that he met with Senator Merkley and Congressman Schrader. He commented that the staff was very important, which was why he wanted to invite the local staff of the Oregon delegation to go on the streetcar tour. It provided another opportunity to talk about the sewer and Foothills. Councilor Tierney noted that the staffers all knew about Lake Oswego and its projects, which was a testimony to the legwork done by the Mayor and others, including Capital Edge. Councilor Tierney reported that the First Tier Suburbs Committee meeting was excellent with many discussions from both a practical and an academic perspective on what was going on in the suburbs. He indicated that this year's agenda would look at housing that appealed to people as the demographics and needs changed. He mentioned the interest in more traditional First Tier suburbs. He spoke of attending the Garland, TX, meeting, if possible. Mayor Hoffman mentioned that he would take an acquaintance of Councilor Moncrieff's, a planner/architect who would be part of the Public Library Association Conference, on a tour of Lake Oswego this Saturday. He invited the Councilors to join them. 10. REPORTS OF OFFICERS 10.1 City Manager 10.1.1 Review of Council Schedule 10.2 City Attorney 11. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hoffman adjourned the meeting at 8:52 p.m. APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL ON Noven.,Lber 3, 2 1 Ja Hoffman, Ma or City Council Regular Meeting Minutes March 23, 2010 Respectfully submitted, Robyn Jhristie City Recorder Page 11 of 11