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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2009-12-07 Specialu�■E o,wfCo CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES December 7, 2009 q[GON Mayor Jack Hoffman called the special City Council meeting to order at 4:08 p.m. on December 7, 2009, in West End Building, Santiam Room, 4101 Kruse Way Present: Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Jordan, Hennagin (4:10), Moncrieff, and Olson. Councilors Tierney and Johnson were excused. Staff Present: Alex McIntyre, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Robyn Christie, City Recorder; Denny Egner, Assistant Planning Director; Ann Adrian, ACC Manager; Kim Gilmer, Parks & Rec Director 3. JOINT MEETING WITH ADVISORY BOARDS 3.1 Planning Commission Members present: Philip Stewart, Chair; Julia Glisson, Vice Chair; Adrienne Brockman; Russell Jones; Jon Gustafson; and Lynne Paretchan. Chair Stewart directed the Council to the Planning Commission 2010 goals sheet in the Council packet. He noted the Periodic Review coming up next year. He commented that many of the Commission discussions during 2009 related to the needed Community Development Code (CDC) update. Ms. Glisson explained the difference between the CDC update and the CDC audit/rewrite. The update involved the Commission working through problem areas identified by staff over the last several years. She commented that the update would take a significant amount of time. She spoke of prioritizing the problem areas and dealing with the ones that were most critical in terms of impact on the community. She indicated that the Code rewrite did not change the content of the Code but rather reformatted and simplified the Code to make it more accessible and easier for everyone to understand. She explained that the Code rewrite was necessary whether the Commission updated the problem areas or not. Chair Stewart indicated to Councilor Olson that he thought that the Commission would find it helpful to know what the scope of the audit would be and how it would relate to a Code update. Ms. Brockman confirmed to Councilor Hennagin that new zoning aspects were usually incorporated into the Code as the Commission passed them on to the Council and the Council adopted them. She explained that the update was an ongoing process that the Commission should work on every year. However, due to needing to address other big projects, the Commission now faced a buildup of three to four years of updates, which made it a cumbersome project. She indicated to Councilor Hennagin that staff would bring technological developments in the construction industry as a special proposal for inclusion in the Code. Chair Stewart indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the CDC rewrite and update were the Commission's top priority, following completion of infill. He mentioned the uncertainty surrounding when Periodic Review would start up. Ms. Brockman commented that all the goals were a priority, which the Commission needed to schedule and integrate into a work program. She pointed out that none of them were new goals. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 10 December 7, 2009 Mayor Hoffman asked what could be removed, if necessary, given limited staff time and resources. Chair Stewart indicated that the distinction between current projects and other projects gave the priority. He noted that some of the current projects were tied to timing and might not reach the Commission until later in the year. He explained that the 'other projects' listed topics on which the Commission would like Council to tell the Commissioners how they could assist the Council Councilor Jordan mentioned the possibility that the Council might decide to marshal resources more tightly in order to make sure that one or two things were actually accomplished in each area in a year, as opposed to stringing out over several years. She noted that the CDC update would be an intensive process. She asked if the Commission intended to have something about updating the CDC on each 2010 meeting agenda. Ms. Glisson indicated that it depended on how staff structured the update. Chair Stewart speculated that the audit would provide feedback on the condition of the Code. Councilor Jordan clarified that she meant cleaning up the Code language, as opposed to reformatting the Code. Ms. Glisson recalled that the Commission did discuss prioritizing the Code updates in order to handle the most onerous updates with the highest impact first, with the lesser updates following later. She commented that whenever staff brought things to the Commission as a high priority, the Commission fit them into their schedule. Ms. Glisson held that, given all the Commission work on the neighborhood planning issue, it would be a shame for the Commission to put it aside now. Therefore, she saw that as a high priority, although it needed very little additional work and was basically ready to come to the Council. Ms. Glisson indicated to Mayor Hoffman that she did not think that there was a danger that neighborhood planning might be inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan and community vision. She explained that their neighborhood planning work provided a basic framework for neighborhoods to start moving their plans along. She mentioned that the Commission needed to finish up pieces of both the neighborhood planning effort and the Lake Grove Village Center Plan in order to keep those projects moving forward. Ms. Paretchan recalled that several months ago the Commission put together a work plan for all its current projects, going out six months. Thus, the Commission knew what things it had to work on. She clarified that items under 'other projects' were items that the Council was working on and might want Commission input on. She described the 'transportation and community aesthetics' bullets as opportunities for the Commission to bring something creative to their usual step-by-step methodology. Councilor Olson mentioned that the Transportation Advisory Board was taking on a new Transportation System Plan this coming year. She acknowledged that this was not a Planning Commission item, and that TAB would take the lead on it, but she thought that it would be good if the two boards could work jointly on the plan. Mr. Jones concurred with Councilor Jordan's point about actually accomplishing something in a short period of time. He remarked that he thought that there were parts of the CDC that they could update quickly. Councilor Hennagin asked why the Planning Commission had a goal to continue implementation work for the neighborhood plans after the Council adopted the plan. He commented that he thought that the neighborhoods implemented their own plans. Ms. Paretchan explained that implementation involved Code amendments. She commented that the new neighborhood plans process had an excellent handbook prepared by staff that detailed a different approach that brought neighborhood plans and their implementation together. She noted that the City still had several neighborhood plans not implemented. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 10 December 7, 2009 Mayor Hoffman mentioned the Stafford Basin issue, on which the Council was working. He commented that the community vision was more related to the Comprehensive Plan. He asked if there were any other Planning Commission projects for the next year. Ms. Glisson mentioned a Commission discussion about looking at the Natural Step framework and seeing how the members could apply it. She commented that periodic review and visioning seemed like a good opportunity to do so. She indicated that, while she saw it as a priority, the Commission was not certain what kind of a priority it was. Councilor Moncrieff wondered whether it would be helpful if a SAB member was available to answer Planning Commission questions while the Commissioners worked on periodic review or the Code update. Ms. Paretchan indicated that she did not know whether the Commission would learn about sustainability from the SAB, staff, or through their own research, but she saw a need for the community and the City to move sustainability into the Planning Commission realm. Mr. Jones observed that, given that the Code was black and white and sustainability was nebulous, there might be times when the two conflicted. He mentioned the custom of allowing a Code exemption to test whether a sustainable idea actually worked, which allowed the Commission to modify the Code realistically. Councilor Jordan recalled an earlier Council discussion of using green building techniques. She commented that staff was already trying to find ways to encourage green development and to identify the roadblocks. She encouraged the Commission to identify the roadblocks as part of the CDC update. Chair Stewart mentioned as an example the issue of whether the Code allowed a building to exceed the height limit if the developer installed solar panels on the roof. Chair Stewart indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the Commission anticipated the infill code amendments to reach Council in mid-January. Mr. Egner indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the periodic review timeline depended on when the City received its final work program approval from DLCD. He mentioned the staff's intention to conduct a large public event around the Comprehensive Plan update and visioning this fall. He explained that the City would do the background and visioning part of the project in 2010, the policy option piece in 2011, and the refinement and adoption in 2012. He indicated that last week staff discussed with the Planning Commission the public involvement process, how to integrate sustainability into the process, and what kind of advisory committee to use Ms. Glisson indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the Commission has not had a good discussion regarding the Comprehensive Plan/periodic review/visioning process. 3.2 50 + Advisory Board Members present: Janine Dunphy, Chair, Terry Harty, Nanci Cummings, Robert Eidson Chair Dunphy reviewed the Board's 2009 accomplishments (December 7 memo in packet). She clarified to Mayor Hoffman that the Board started the Neighbors Helping Neighbors project and brought Dawn D'Haeze in because she had coincidentally been doing similar things in her neighborhood (p.1). She commented that the Board was now seeing citizens come to it with ideas. As a result of a citizen suggestion, the Board did a pilot project for an educational panel program that was well- received (p.2). She said that the Board would like to set up additional panels in 2010. She mentioned dropping the crosswalk safety project due to lack of neighborhood interest (p.2). She noted the Board's continuing support of the Oakridge Project (p.2) and removing barriers to secondary dwelling units (p.2). Ms. Glisson indicated that the Planning Commission would look forward to hearing the Board's comments on secondary dwelling units. Chair Dunphy referenced City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 10 December 7, 2009 the article she attached to the Council packet regarding a secondary dwelling unit program developed in Santa Cruz, CA. She mentioned that the Board heard many speakers at their 2009 meetings who helped educate the Board on matters that were not their areas of expertise. She asked if the Council had anything in particular that it would like the Board to address in 2010. Mr. Jones commented that he would appreciate hearing the Board's testimony at the upcoming Planning Commission hearings regarding its support of the Infill Task Force and revised building codes. Chair Dunphy indicated that the Board was willing to testify at the December 14 hearing but she would want to talk with a Commissioner about what they could testify about. Chair Dunphy mentioned that she was not giving up on secondary dwelling units (SDUs). She indicated that she has complied much information on how other towns have dealt with SDUs, which she could make available to anyone interested in it. Ms. Glisson commented that the Commission would likely have a study session on SDUs, as the issue would come to it as part of the Code update. She said that they would let the 50+ Board know when that was. Councilor Hennagin mentioned the staff interpretation of the current Code that the 800 square foot maximum for SDUs had to include the garage underneath if the SDU were built on top of a garage. He suggested looking at that provision, as that interpretation did not make sense to him. Mr. Gustafson explained that none of the Code provisions addressing SDUs were designed to encourage or allow SDUs. He commented that, given the many different pieces of Code addressing SDUs, they needed a holistic approach with an endgame in mind in order to make SDUs happen. Mr. Gustafson indicated to Mayor Hoffman that in order to change the Code on SDUs, the Commission needed to identify the current roadblocks that prevented SDUs, of which there were several, and to identify how many of those Code provisions the City was willing to change, in light of the compatibility issues that would inevitably arise. Councilor Jordan pointed out that this would also affect the neighborhood plans. Mr. Gustafson spoke of the importance of clearly articulating that goal. Mr. Gustafson argued that they needed to have a common consensus that SDUs was something that the community wanted to pursue, not only for housing seniors, but for sustainability and other aspects as well. He spoke of balancing the different aspects that the Commission needed to take into consideration. Councilor Olson observed that balancing the different interests was the key to everything they did. She noted that, in this situation, the balance was between privacy, the neighborhoods' desires, and the good of the community. Ms. Glisson commented that this might be a good time for the Commission to think about it since it was working on many related pieces in its infill work. She spoke of working on SDUs after the first of the year. Mr. Gustafson agreed that it should not be difficult to do. Councilor Hennagin commented that he has always wondered why infill and SDUs were not combined. Chair Dunphy noted that the Board also saw the two issues as closely aligned. She mentioned the work done on SDUs in Santa Cruz in developing seven prototypes using an architects' competition. She expressed the Board's delight at seeing other people now interested in this issue. Chair Dunphy commented that the most logical way to ensure that those looking at transportation issues considered the 50+ community was to partner with TAB or anybody else dealing with transportation issues. Councilor Jordan commented that it would be interesting to know how many individual trips TriMet made to pick seniors or disabled persons in Lake Oswego. Councilor Hennagin recalled that the Council had Ms. Gilmer do a study on a shuttle program. Ms. Cummings indicated to Chair Dunphy that it was the Council that decided to hold off on the pilot shuttle program because of the financial implications. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 10 December 7, 2009 Councilor Hennagin concurred that, at the time, the Council did not think it would work out financially, but he wondered whether the Board could explore other alternatives to address the issue creatively. Ms. Cummings mentioned the other options that the Board explored as part of the pilot shuttle program, and the conclusion that the least expensive way to provide the service would be through the City. Chair Dunphy indicated to Councilor Hennagin that she did not think that the idea was dead; perhaps it could fit in as part of Comprehensive Plan Goal 12. Chair Dunphy discussed community outreach. She spoke of holding informal dialogs in the neighborhoods to update the information obtained from the original dialogs, as the Board has not done that since its inception. She reported that Marylhurst wanted to be more involved in Lake Oswego, as they considered themselves the living room of Lake Oswego. She mentioned that she and Mr. Harty met with the Marylhurst Dept of Human Services Chair about pursuing joint programs and partnerships with the City, provided that there was Council interest in doing so. Chair Dunphy indicated to Mayor Hoffman that she had thought of seminars on brain health, while Mr. Harty had a larger vision of weekend retreats or Elderhostels on topics of interest to people in the community. Mr. Harty said that he did not have any specific topics but he did know that the Elderhostel program was active in the country. He described it as an opportunity to attract people in the community and to provide services not currently available to the 50+ population. Councilor Hennagin recalled seeing Elderhostels hosted at Marylhurst in the early 1990s. Councilor Jordan mentioned the possibility of creating more economic development programs to take place in downtown Lake Oswego for Elderhostel attendees. Chair Dunphy indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the next steps in working with Marylhurst were the Human Services Chair meeting with her boss to obtain permission to proceed with a preliminary plan, and the Board representatives then meeting again with the Chair to develop a recommendation to bring to the Council. Mayor Hoffman indicated that it would be helpful to the Council to know more about these potential programs before its goal setting meeting in January. He commented that he saw much potential in expanding the City's relationship with Marylhurst. Councilor Moncrieff suggested including Ms. Gilmer in those communications, as she was also working on ongoing senior education. Mayor Hoffman indicated that if Chair Dunphy would e-mail him with more details, he would coordinate with Ms. Gilmer and other Council members. Chair Dunphy observed that, given that boards had no control over funding, the Board would need to coordinate its desire to do more educational panels on various topics of interest to the 50+ community. She commented that she did not think that they have begun to tap the market in Lake Oswego for this type of programming. She stated that it was time to do so. Councilor Jordan suggested that the Board work with the Library Advisory Board to develop 50+ educational programs at the library. Councilor Hennagin suggested finding out whether the various senior congregate housing facilities in Lake Oswego would save money by joining forces with each other and the City to consolidate their separate shuttles into one shuttle that served the whole community. Ms. Cummings recalled that there had been insurance issues with a consolidated service. She suggested that each facility take one day a week to do a route. Chair Dunphy indicated to Mayor Hoffman that, with respect to their Goal #4, incentivizing the remodeling and maintenance of existing homes, the Board did not know much about the topic, which was why she invited Mr. Tehran to address the Board next Thursday. She mentioned her understanding that infill had the potential to make it more appealing for people to remodel rather than tear down, which might help keep seniors in their homes. She indicated to Mayor Hoffman that they would like to see aging in place as seniors being able to stay not only in their community, but also in their homes. Ms. Cummings mentioned the Board's discussion of the lack of appropriate homes in the community for seniors to move in to if they had to sell their homes. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 10 December 7, 2009 Mr. Eidson cited his experience in moving his mother into a residential care facility in observing that this issue went beyond the seniors living in the house. He pointed out that the house stayed the same size while the person's needs steadily decreased. He mentioned that a senior becoming dependent also affected the senior's children. He spoke of not focusing on only one thing, but also looking at the ramifications beyond the individual. Chair Dunphy indicated to Mayor Hoffman that she had Paul Lyon's demographic studies, which she had no reason to believe were not accurate in terms of a demographic analysis of Lake Oswego. Mayor Hoffman suggested answering the questions of whether the population was aging and whether seniors would stay in place by asking seniors 65 years old or so where they would be in 10 to 15 years. 3.3 Natural Resources Advisory Board (NRAB) Members present: Morgan Holen; Chair, Bill Gaar, Vice Chair; Nancy Gronowski Chair Holen reviewed NRAB's 2009 accomplishments in relation to their goals, as listed in the chart (NRAB November 30 memo in the Council packet). She noted that the funding for Phase 2 of the Cook's Butte Plan was secured and the work ongoing. She recalled that two years ago they put the development of their vision statement on hold because the timing was not right. She indicated to Mayor Hoffman that, following the Board's review of the Portland plan to eradicate invasive plant species citywide, the Board would send the Council a memo with recommendations. Mayor Hoffman suggested sending the Council members the link to the Portland website, once the report came out, in order to speed up the process. Chair Holen reported that their first event at the Farmers Market, in which they hosted a booth and teamed up with a native nursery to promote and sell native plants as substitutes for non-native, non -desirable plants, was a great success. She mentioned raising $60, which the Board used to purchase an outdoor vinyl banner for use at all their events. She indicated that their second and third events at the market only involved promoting gardening with native plants. She said that those who stopped to talk with them were genuinely interested in gardening with native plants. She indicated to Councilor Moncrieff that they did notice vendors at the Farmers Market selling invasive species. Councilor Jordan suggested coordinating with the Farmers Market to request vendors not to sell those invasive species. Chair Holen indicated that she and Stephanie Wagner led the two Urban Community Forestry workshops. She reported that the two new Heritage Trees designated were the Ponderosa Pine and the Giant Sequoia near Luscher Farm. She mentioned the excellent work done by the AmeriCorps staff member on the State of the Forest report, including a statistically valid sample of City street trees documenting that the benefits of street trees far outweighed their cost. She said that the baseline data and other information gathered would help the City make informed choices in future forest management. She mentioned that Tigard was looking to Lake Oswego as an example, as it just adopted its first urban forest management program. Councilor Hennagin asked what the bad effect was of having too many of one species. Chair Holen explained that an epidemic could wipe out most of the canopy if it contained mostly trees affected by that disease. A diversity of species in the canopy would protect the forest in that catastrophic scenario. She mentioned that the State of the Forest report used the U.S. Forest Service guidelines for appropriate percentages of tree species in a canopy. Mr. Gaar reviewed the remainder of the Board's 2009 accomplishments. He described the Board's perception of the Clean Streams Plan as baby steps; the Board would like to see a more holistic approach to clean streams. He spoke of the Plan becoming more like a comprehensive plan that dealt with surface water runoff than remaining a project -oriented plan. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 10 Dec mber 7, 2009 Mayor Hoffman asked how the City could work towards a more holistic approach. Mr. Gaar indicated that the Board could take the lead on developing a direction for the City to consider in taking a more holistic approach to surface water runoff. He said that they did not yet know what the next steps would be, but the Board would keep working on it. Councilor Moncrieff asked about the Lake Oswego Watershed Council. Mr. Gaar indicated that Ms. Wagner was working on establishing the Watershed Council. He anticipated the Watershed Council making suggestions about how to handle surface water runoff. Mr. Gaar mentioned the Board's consideration of educating the community as a priority in helping the community to make good policy decisions and choices regarding the natural resources in Lake Oswego. He reviewed the Board's 2010 goals as listed in the NRAB memo in the Council packet. He mentioned that NRAB's perspective of looking at what the Board could do as a citizens' council lay behind the first goal. Mayor Hoffman commented that he thought the Board's review and comments on the Second Look Task Force's recommendations would be its first priority. Mr. Gaar explained that an NRAB member, Nancy Gronowski, sat on that Task Force. While she kept the Board informed, the Board has decided that, as a biased stakeholder with a particular focus, it could not do much beyond listening and making comments on the Task Force's work at the appropriate time. Mayor Hoffman commented that he did not see the Board as a stakeholder but rather as an advisory board to the Council on the area of the Board members' expertise, natural resources. He indicated that he looked to NRAB for advice on its area of expertise the same as he did to the other Council advisory boards on their areas of expertise. He pointed out that the most important thing facing the Council in the next 90 days was natural resources on private property. Mr. Gaar explained that he said 'stakeholder' because their mission statement defined their task specifically in terms of advising the Council on natural resources. He observed that a person's perceptions and biases informed their comments and actions. He held that, regardless of one's beliefs, one had an obligation to do certain things. He indicated that he had looked at the sustainability piece early on in order to inform the Board, but now they were letting the Task Force do its work before getting involved again in providing information to the Council. Councilor Moncrieff observed that the Board had the natural resources lens on all the time in giving general comments on City plans and polices regarding natural resources. She suggested that a member on each advisory board keep an eye on the Council calendar to identify opportunities for Board members to provide advice on items coming before the Council. Mr. Gaar indicated, in reference to their second goal, that the Board decided to assign areas to specific Board members as a means of obtaining both accountability and productivity. He commented that if someone worked on an issue that was his/her passion, that individual often got more done. He gave an example of himself as the watchperson for water conservation -related matters who would ask the Council if it needed input on such issues when they came up on the Council calendar. Chair Holen indicated that another method that the Board intended to use in order to increase its awareness of the natural resources in Lake Oswego and the potential threats to them was to focus 20 minutes of each meeting on a particular natural resource. She continued the review of the 2010 goals. She noted that Denise Dailey would take the lead on organizing a Northwest Earth Institute discussion course. She stated that they would advocate for money for Phase 3 of the Cook's Butte plan ($25,000 for invasive plant removal and eradication and $50,000 for trail construction) as well as the other items listed on the goals page. She explained that the $10,000 to implement the Springbrook Park management plan would pay for invasive plant removal and a trail repair project, as well as support a Centennial event, Spring in Springbrook Park. She spoke of the Board's strong appreciation of City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 10 December 7, 2009 the Friends of Springbrook Park leading by example and developing a management plan for the park. Mr. Gaar mentioned that Goal 4 was another example of the Board wanting to take a holistic approach by integrating the individual pieces into a comprehensive plan. He mentioned the Board's concern that the City was not taking care of these phenomenal properties, which were City assets. Chair Holen indicated to Councilor Hennagin that the way for the City to address natural resource issues on private property was to lead by example and to manage the City -owned natural areas proactively as a demonstration of what private property owners could do on their own land. Chair Holen continued the goals review. She described the homeowner mentoring program mentioned in Goal 5 as an opportunity for private property owners to have a private consultant evaluate the natural resources on their property free of charge and make recommendations. Ms. Gronowski explained to Councilor Olson that the Planning Department had a partnership with the Friends of Tryon Creek State Park to provide this service, as so much of Lake Oswego was in that watershed. Chair Holen indicated that she served as a consultant on tree evaluations. Chair Holen reviewed the objectives of Goal 6, the urban and community forestry program. She noted that the $15,000 to continue program implementation including $10,000 for the AmeriCorps staff person and $5,000 for other projects. She mentioned developing a partnership with Friends of Trees for help in planting street trees and doing Farmers Market events. She mentioned Goals 7 and 9 and reviewed the objectives of Goal 8. 3.4 Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) Members present: John McComish, Chair; Sandy Intraversato, Vice Chair Chair McComish reviewed PRAB's 2009 accomplishments with respect to its goals. He mentioned the Board's encouragement of the Council to continue to provide adequate program space for Parks & Rec while determining the disposition of the West End Building. He reviewed the extensive range of programs held currently at the WEB from arts to sports to police training. He pointed out that if they could not hold these programs at the WEB, they would have to find space elsewhere in the community. He noted that their second goal of initiating a new Parks & Rec Comprehensive Plan was not funded last year. He reported that they did obtain DRC approval for future construction of Phase 5 of the George Rogers Park Master Plan. He mentioned obtaining funding in the FY 2009/2010 budget for trail planning. He reviewed the Board's 2010 goals as listed on their Work Plan in the Council packet. He discussed the objectives of their first goal of initiating a new Parks & Rec Master Plan. He explained that PRAB felt that it was in a reactionary mode to issues as they came up, but it would prefer to have a proactive strategy for addressing issues in the most cost effective way. He noted that Luscher Farm also needed a master plan for the same reasons. He spoke of studying how to best allocate SDCs and how to find grant money. He observed that the City actually had several parks and recreation, open space, and trails plans done in the past 10 years or so. He argued that they needed to understand what the community's priorities were today in order to draw on these past plans and studies appropriately and not have to re -do them. He commented that the Parks & Rec master plan needed to be more detailed and comprehensive with respect to parks and recreation than the City's Comprehensive Plan. He described it as supporting the Comprehensive Plan but standing on its own with its own detailed strategies. He noted the many benefits having such a plan would provide, including community outreach and a customized needs assessment. He discussed the second goal of completing the park projects selected for 2006 to 2009. He argued that the time was right to finish the final segment of the Rosemont pathway. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 10 December 7, 2009 Ms. Gilmer indicated to Councilor Olson that the money that the Council recently approved for this project paid for the environmental impact statement, and not the design work. She confirmed that $450,000 was the cost of Lake Oswego's segment of the trail, which was in the CIP. Ms. Gilmer indicated to Councilor Olson that she could explain to her at another time the complications involved with the disposition of the $350,000 in proceeds of the future sale of the Maple Street property Chair McComish continued to review the listed projects. He pointed out that a portion of the cost for constructing Phase 5 of the George Rogers would come from the storm water and street funds. Ms. Gilmer indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the Department might have some SDC money now. Chair McComish noted that the Council would hear the recommendations for the golf course and tennis center on December 15 (Goal 3). He reiterated the Board's strong advocacy of the West End Building, which housed many Parks & Rec programs (Goal 4). He acknowledged that this was a difficult year with respect to capital investments. He recalled that he chose to live in Lake Oswego because of its open spaces and its community. He argued that there were costs associated with continuing what was great about the Lake Oswego community. He mentioned the Friends of Lake Oswego group that recently formed around the community's direction and strategies. He held that having a plan going forward was a key point in maintaining the beauty of the community, a feature that did attract people. He said that he would like to think that they would not keep putting off such a plan into the future. Chair McComish indicated to Councilor Olson that he thought they needed a detailed plan for Luscher Farm, given the large number of competing interests for that property. A master plan would inform the Council decisions on Luscher Farm and allow it to make good policy decisions in light of the competing interests. Councilor Jordan commented that having a firm answer on whether Stafford or any part of that area would become urban reserves would help inform the Council about the future of that area. She suggested waiting on a Luscher Farm plan until they had a firm commitment from Metro on what would happen with Stafford. Chair McComish indicated to Councilor Jordan that the Board saw public input as a key point in the master planning process, as that would provide the City with the direction that it needed. He mentioned that the Board was pleased to have the support of the Friends of Lake Oswego in reassessing the community's needs through surveys and web -based research. He emphasized that the Board wanted community feedback to validate projects proposed now or in the past. He commented that the Board was having a difficult time right now prioritizing things. Ms. Intraversato concurred that it was difficult for the Board to prioritize and to react to things without a master plan describing the big picture and where the specific issues fit into the puzzle. She argued that getting a new blueprint was a huge priority. Councilor Jordan suggested increasing the funding request from $10,000 to $15,000 in order to include the City's other park properties and natural areas close to unincorporated areas. She commented that what happened next door had a real effect on what the City would do on its properties in the future. She encouraged looking beyond the city boundaries in discussing these issues. Ms. Intraversato remarked that the interviews with stakeholders during the first phase would be a good time to ask the consultants to incorporate that into their analysis. 4. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hoffman adjourned the meeting at 6:07 p.m. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 10 December 7, 2009 Respectfully submitted, w 4tnstfle Jane Mc Garvin r Deputy City Recorder PPROVED BY THE C N March 2, 2010 ack D. H City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 10 December 7, 2009