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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2010-12-14 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES December 14, 2010 Mayor Jack Hoffman called the regular City Council meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. on December 14, 2010, in the City Council Chambers, 380 A Avenue. Present: Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini. Staff Present: Alex McIntyre, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Robyn Christi , City Recorder; Ursula Euler, Finance Director; Brant Williams, Director of Capital and Economic Projects; David Donaldson, Asst City Manager; Bonnie Hirschberger, Citizen Information Coordinator; Larry Goff, Asst Fire Chief 3. PRESENTATIONS 3.1 Recognition of Councilors Hennagin and Vizzini Mayor Hoffman reviewed Councilor Vizzini's extensive service to the City and the community as a Youth Sports Coach and on the Planning Commission and Quality of Life Indicators and Affordable Housing Task Forces. He mentioned that, during his five months on the City Council, Councilor Vizzini chaired the Unsung Heroes Committee and participated in many major decisions as an able colleague. He commented that Councilor Vizzini exemplified the concept that citizen was not a spectator sport. He presented Councilor Vizzini with a Distinguished Service Award and thanked him for his service. He also presented him with a token of appreciation, the Photo Contest winning photos. Councilor Vizzini thanked the Council members for appointing him in August to fill in for Councilor Johnson. He commented that he took it as a great honor to have five months experience on this side of the table and to gain an understanding of the difference between governance and advocacy. Mayor Hoffman reviewed Councilor Hennagin's service to the City and the community as an advocate for affordable housing, as the Council's representative on the Willamette Shoreline Consortium in the late 1980s, and as a member of the Rotary Club. He mentioned that during his four years on the City Council, Councilor Hennagin served as Council President, as the Council liaison to the Historic Review Advisory Board and the Transportation Advisory Board, and on the LOIS Council subcommittee. He noted the many decisions in which Councilor Hennagin participated that improved the community's quality of life. He commented that Councilor Hennagin reflected the Athenian City State Oath in desiring to leave the City better than he found it. He presented Councilor Hennagin with a Distinguished Service Award and thanked him for his service. He also recognized Lynn Hennagin. He presented them with the Photo Contest winning photos. Councilor Hennagin thanked his fellow Council members. He commented that it has been his honor and privilege to serve as a City Councilor in this community where he has lived for 40 years. He spoke of the able help and professionalism of the City staff in educating the Council on the many different issues involved in governance. He commented that having the information necessary to make an informed decision and vote in the best interests of the citizens was the basis of a representative democracy. He described the City staff as high quality and well-educated with City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 10 December 14, 2010 the ability to articulate matters clearly in informing the Council on the issues. He thanked staff for the help they have given him over the past four years and for the support of the citizens. 3.2 Employee Excellence Awards Mayor Hoffman mentioned that Mr. McIntyre presented the Employee Excellence Awards at the employee luncheon today at the West End Building. He indicated that the Employee Excellent Awards program began in 2008 as a means of recognizing outstanding performance in the five categories of Customer Service, Sustainability, Safety &Wellness, Heroism, and Special Accomplishment. He recognized the winners and thanked them on behalf of the City Council and the people of Lake Oswego. He described the exceptional Customer Service that Russ Chevrette (Engineering) has provided to both City employees and citizens for the past 26 years. He noted that Mr. Chevrette was retiring this year. He indicated that Janice Burton's (Copy Center Technician) commitment to Sustainability has reduced the City's printing costs by nearly $40,000 over the last three years. He told the story of Kaitlyn Hoppman's (Tennis Center) Heroism with her calm and deft handling of an emergency at the Center during her first week on the job when a tennis player collapsed on the court with a massive heart attack. He described the Special Accomplishment of Firefighters Andrew Owens, Ryan Rudge, and Toby Hays in volunteering for two weeks to provide education and training for rescue workers in Transnistria, a break away territory between Moldavia and the Ukraine. He recognized the Parks Maintenance Department team (17 permanent employees) who developed a series of short training videos on a wide-ranging variety of topics in order to educate temporary workers efficiently and effectively in Safety &Wellness on the job. Mr. McIntyre mentioned that the employees nominated their fellow employees for these awards. • 30 Year Service Pin Mayor Hoffman reviewed Barb Parr's career at the City, which began as a secretary in the Maintenance Services Department, moved on to the Lake Oswego Redevelopment Agency, and then to the City Attorney's Office as a legal secretary for the past 19 years. He noted the many projects in which she has been involved, including assembling the properties that became Millennium Park, computerizing the City Code, handling the legal documentation for many acquisitions, and providing support for criminal prosecutions. He mentioned that she received the 2010 Award of Excellence for the Portland Chapter of the National Association of Legal Secretaries. He quoted City Attorney Dave Powell's remarks that Ms. Parr has been the heart and soul of the City Attorney's Office and would be greatly missed as a highly valued member of the City staff. He and Mr. Powell presented Ms. Parr with her 30-year service pin and a bouquet of flowers. 3.3 Audit Committee Report Councilor Olson indicated that Councilors Olson, Tierney, and Jordan served on this committee. She reported that the City received an unqualified opinion with no material weaknesses and no significant deficiencies from the outside auditor, Rob Moody from Talbot Corvolla &Warwick, CPAs. She mentioned that Mr. Moody said it was a clean audit and 180 degrees from last year as far as the quality and responsiveness of the staff. She thanked Ms. Euler, Mr. Cross, and their staff for their excellent work. 4. CONSENT AGENDA Councilor Hennagin moved the Consent Agenda. Councilor Jordan seconded the motion. A voic vot was taken, and th motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilor Hennagin, Olson, Moncri if, Ti rney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting 'ay '. [7-0] City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 10 December 14, 2010 Mr. McIntyre indicated to Mayor Hoffman that next year there would be a naming ceremony for Sundeleaf Park. 4.1 RESOLUTIONS 4.1.1 Resolution 10-71, naming the former U.S. Bank property at 120 State Street, Lake Oswego as "Sundeleaf Plaza" Action: Adopt Resolution 10-71. 4.1.2 Resolution 10-76, authorizing an intergovernmental agreement to participate in State E-Permitting Program Action: Adopt Resolution 10-76. 4.1.3 Resolution 10-78, Amending Compensation for Charter Officers Action: Adopt Resolution 10-78. END CONSENT AGENDA 5. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA 6. CITIZEN COMMENT • R.A. Fontes, 310 Second Avenue Mr. Fontes thanked the Council for its probing streetcar questions and answers at the November 15 special meeting. He commented that there was one question that has never been answered: why was Metro's forecasting model projecting huge increases in transit ridership and such an incredible lengthening of bus trip times? He pointed out that Lake Oswego was not growing very fast, it was aging and closing schools, and the traffic on Highway 43 was dropping. He argued that, given the streetcar's long-term negatives, service degradation, octupled trail costs, and transit induced congestion, the community needed the answer to this question before committing to the project. He mentioned his surprise that the City responded in the Lake Oswego Review to his OpEd piece written a week earlier because his piece did not refer to the City but rather to Metro and its projections. He remarked that what the City wrote he could have incorporated in his original piece and it would not have changed the meeting. He commented that, while it was an honor to be selected for a response, it was also perplexing because there had been nothing erroneous in his piece. He indicated that the City wrongly equated current bus with no build. He explained that no build was not current bus. It was a projection for what bus service would be like as restricted by TriMet's budget. In this case, the projection called for high frequency service, approximate doubling of the number of buses, and doubling the expenses. He wondered how the average reader could catch the error if the City's fact checker did not. He emphasized that by falsely equating current bus with no build, the City ended up misrepresenting what he said. He indicated that he was reporting this now in an effort to make sure that it did not happen again. 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS 7.1 Resolution 10-69, revising fees and charges and updating the Master Fees and Charges Booklet of the City of Lake Oswego STAFF REPORT City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 10 December 14, 2010 Ms. Euler noted that most of the fees and charges in the schedule took effect on January 1, 2011, with a few exceptions as noted in the booklet. She presented answers to the questions raised by the Council at the Wednesday study session last week. She indicated that staff would keep the $18 fee for certain services at the Tennis Center and not qualify it for particular uses. She said that staff was confident that it could implement the new water rates with March 1 as the starting date. She commented that the new rates represented an average fee increase for all customers of 25.5%. She mentioned the one-time change correcting the fixed portion of the non-residential wastewater fees, effective March 1. Mayor Hoffman noted that Ms. Euler covered this change on p. 2 of her December 8, 2010, report. Councilor Hennagin apologized for not responding to Ms. Euler's e-mail regarding his question about the new fixed charge for the 3-inch wastewater pipe. He pointed out that there was a steady increasing progression on the chart for all sizes except the 3-inch. Ms. Euler indicated that she verified that the consultants did recommend this rate, which she assumed they considered appropriate for recuperating the cost that this type of pipe represented to the City. At Mayor Hoffman's request, Ms. Euler discussed the issue raised about the Street Maintenance Fee. She noted that the Street Maintenance fee would increase by 35% (with an index on top of that) in an attempt to double the fee over three years. She said that staff recommended proceeding with those increases and rolling the funds over to the next year, if the City did not spend all of them next year, to fund future and planned projects. She referenced Guy Graham's December 10, 2010, memo on the five-year capital projects outlook in the Council Digest. Ms. Euler indicated to Councilor Tierney that the index increased the fee another 3.8%. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Olson that the reason that the Street Maintenance Fee, surface water, and sewer utility fees preceded water in terms of applying an insufficient payment to the bill was because the City controlled the water and could stop the flow of water if that portion of the bill was not paid. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Olson that staff brought back a recommendation to follow the FCS Group recommendation of a March 1 implementation date for the water rate increases with an average increase of 25.25%, and the division of the rate structure between fixed and variable. He indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the missing dates on page 7 should read March 1, 2011. Ms. Euler confirmed to Councilor Vizzini that the numbers were correct. Mayor Hoffman reviewed the water rate increases listed on page 7 of the Master Fees & Charges Schedule. Ms. Euler mentioned that over time the City was raising everyone's rates sufficient to meet the 25.5% increase in revenue requirement. She explained that the consultants designed the rate structure to increase appropriately in the fixed and variable portions, while still maintaining the incentive for conservation. Ms. Euler confirmed to Councilor Vizzini that the 25.5% referred to the projected net increase in revenue and the rate structure reflected how to get there. She commented that the 25.5% increase applied to the average user; those who used less had a lower increase while those who used more had a higher increase. PUBLIC TESTIMONY Mayor Hoffman reviewed the hearing procedures and testimony time limits. He opened the hearing to public testimony. Seeing none, he closed the public hearing. COUNCIL DISCUSSION Councilor Moncrieff moved to adopt Resolution 10-69, amended to fill in the highlighted dates on pages 5 and 7 to show March 1, 2011. Councilor Vizzini seconded the motion. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 10 December 14, 2010 Councilor Tierney moved to amend the Street Maintenance Fee section in Resolution 10-69 (p.12) so that all increases reflected a 10% increase from July 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011. Councilor Olson seconded the motion. Councilor Tierney confirmed to Mayor Hoffman that he was proposing that the Street Maintenance Fee increase from $5.10 to $5.61 (10%), instead of to $6.75 (38%). He clarified to Ms. Euler that this 10% increase included the 3.8% index. Councilor Tierney recalled his support of aligning the revenue collected from citizens to the expenditures that the City had the capacity to do. He argued that this change brought the revenues more in line with the expenditures, and sent a good message to the taxpayers. He pointed out that the Street Maintenance Fee comprised 25% of the Street Fund, which meant that the City still had considerable resources to allocate to street repair and maintenance. He clarified to Councilor Hennagin that his motion reduced one revenue component out of several going to the Street Fund, such as State money and General Fund appropriations. He confirmed to Councilor Hennagin that he believed that the City did not have the capacity to do the work to expend those funds. He cited the attached memo discussing carrying an amount over for major projects, instead of spending it. He pointed out that he was not calling for a complete removal of the fee, but rather a tempering of the steep 35% increase. He reiterated his intent to correlate the revenues to the capacity of the organization. He recalled Public Works staff informing the Council at an earlier meeting that staff would underspend the Street Fund revenues this fiscal year and recommending that the City bank the money. He commented that he was recommending not collecting it until the City was closer to being able to use it. Councilor Hennagin mentioned that he would like to see potholes in streets repaired, as he heard many complaints about potholes. Councilor Tierney commented that the City, while repairing a significant number of potholes, would not repair all of them this year. He argued that collecting the money this year would not get more potholes repaired. Councilor Vizzini indicated that he would oppose the amendment because he thought that the reduction was too large, although a reduction by half or a third he could support. He mentioned the possibility that next year the State would give less of the State-shared revenues to the cities, including the gas tax. He spoke of hedging their bets rather than facing a reduction in a major revenue source for the Street Fund and a reduction in the user fee. He pointed out that the Street Fund was a dedicated fund; the City could not use its reserves for anything else. He expressed his hope that Councilor Tierney's comments regarding performance resulted in an increase in staff performance in getting these jobs done. Mr. Powell indicated to Councilor Tierney that the ordinance allowed the Council to adjust the fee by resolution during the fiscal year. Councilor Moncrieff concurred with Councilor Vizzini regarding cutting the increase in half. Mayor Hoffman discussed his concerns with the reduction. He mentioned the amount of money needed for the proposed projects on major arterials in the City, which did not include the monies also needed for neighborhood streets. He indicated that he was more comfortable with small steady increases, as opposed to stepping backwards and then making a big jump in future years. He acknowledged that the increase was 38% but pointed out that that translated to an additional $1.60 per month. He described this fee as the most pure investment in the community's infrastructure and a wise investment. Councilor Tierney disagreed that they were moving backward in moving from 0 to 10%. He indicated that he was willing to go with a lower reduction in order to garner votes. He reiterated that 35% was a significant increase, and mentioned the intent to reach a 100% increase over three years. He said that his comments were not critical of staff but rather reflective of the reality that they were not spending the money. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 10 December 14, 2010 He stated his firm belief that a reduction would not have a material negative impact on the City, and that it would better align revenues with expenditures. He emphasized that it was important to collect from their citizens what the City had the capacity to spend in a reasonable time frame. Councilor Tierney indicated that he would accept a friendly amendment of a 17.5% increase. Councilor Olson indicated that she would accept it also. Mayor Hoffman indicated that he could support that percentage increase. Councilor Olson concurred with Councilor Tierney that this was not criticism of staff but rather it was about the capacity of the City to do that much work. She pointed out that the staff report noted a carryover of$650,000 this year. If the City continued at that rate, then it would be able to fund the arterial and major collector streets in a few years. Councilor Jordan commented that the City still had $9 million plus of work to do. She pointed out that part of the issue with transportation repairs was the small work window in Oregon of warmer temperatures and little rain, often not seen until July and August. She indicated that she could support a 17.5% increase, especially since it included the important element of cost indexing. She observed that it would be challenging to keep transportation improvements moving forward, including street maintenance and multi-modal pathways, when the City could not keep up with the potholes in the street because of the uncertainty in the past of how the City has collected street repair money. Mayor Hoffman noted that all the numbers in blue would change to 17.5% with an effective date of July 1, 2011. A voice vote was taken on the motion to amend Resolution 10-69 to increase the Street Maintenance Fee by 17.5% from July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2012, including the engineering index fee, and the motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting 'aye'. [7-0] Councilor Olson moved to amend the Master Fees and Charges Schedule to implement th water fee increases on July 1, 2011, rather than March 1, 2011. Councilor Tierney seconded the motion. Mr. McIntyre indicated to Councilor Olson that staff originally anticipated implementing the 25.5% in July. However, due to the changes that FCS Group presented to Council last week, the recommendation now was either to keep the 25.5% with a new implementation date of March 1, 2011, or change it to 27.2% with an implementation date of July 1. Ms. Euler indicated that the City has seen a decline in revenue so far this year. She explained that the difference in the 27.25% and the 25.5%, combined with the shift to an earlier date, responded to the question of whether this decline was a long-term trend or a short-term trend and recoverable by the City by the end of the year. Councilor Moncrieff indicated that she would not support the amendment because implementing the new rates in March gave the ratepayers time to get used to the higher rate before the high water use season in the summer. She mentioned that she was also risk-adverse when going out for bonds. Councilor Vizzini framed the question as whether to put off a rate increase until the Council received more information. He indicated that he was going to suggest that he would support the amendment, conditioned on the Council committing to revisiting the rate increase in May or June after staff confirmed consumption numbers. He commented that he did not like departing from the advice of the City's financial consultants, as serious financing was in play. He pointed out that guessing wrong meant painful adjustments. He acknowledged Councilor Olson's point of view. He described the problem as uncertainty. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 10 December 14, 2010 Councilor Olson suggested obtaining the updated numbers in April as part of the budget process and deciding then whether to change the rate for July 1. She agreed with the need to review the numbers in order to make sure that they covered the City bond issues. Councilor Jordan argued that it was important to have the money up front in the bank in dealing with this size and scope of a project and one that included a partner. She indicated that she preferred that they watch the situation, as the rate increases were projected out for the next several years. If the numbers showed that the City could cover its obligations, then the Council could reduce the increase in a future year. She emphasized the need to show the bond agents that the City was prepared to cover its debt. She said that she did not support this amendment at this time but she was interested in making sure, going forward, that the City was not overcharging. Councilor Hennagin commented that he too was risk-adverse with respect to purchasing bonds in these amounts. He concurred with Councilor Moncrieff that it would be easier on the public to step up the increase in March, which would mean a more gradual increase for the city residents. Councilor Vizzini recommended notifying ratepayers as early as possible of the rate increases so they could plan for it, which might possibly reduce the complaint phone calls to staff. Councilor Tierney mentioned that he too was risk-adverse but he did not think this amendment was very risky. Councilor Olson concurred. She pointed out that they were talking about 27% versus 25%, which was a huge increase either way. She reiterated that she did not like to see so many fee increases in one cycle, citing the increases scheduled for January, February, July, and now March. She commented that the City would not be going out for the bonds on this project for quite a while, and the schedule showed the original planned increase date in July, which the bonding agencies could see. Councilor Hoffman discussed his concern about spending a lot of money for highly paid consultants with many years of experience, consulting with the City's Bond Advisor, and then not accepting their recommendation. He indicated that if Mr. McIntyre said that the Finance Department could handle the earlier date, then that was good enough for him. Mr. McIntyre assured the Council that staff could meet the schedule. He recalled that one message that the bonding agencies made clear when they visited Lake Oswego this year was the importance of the Council's confidence in the information that it was receiving, its affirmation of good information, and moving forward. He expressed his concern about the message of doubt sent to the bonding agencies if the Council started second-guessing its professionals (FCS Group and the Water Team). He recalled that Mr. Komarek mentioned doing another study next year to affirm this information, at which time they could adjust the rates. He cautioned the Council about the unintended consequences of second-guessing its professionals. Councilor Tierney argued that if the Council did not consider the information provided by the professionals and the staff, then there was no reason for the Council to be here. He agreed that the professionals and staff provided information, but noted that the Council asked questions during the discussion about the risks and variables associated with the numbers so that the members could exercise some prudence. He emphasized that this amendment represented simply a tweak on the total. He contended that the bonding agencies could look at Lake Oswego's schedule of increases to pay for bonding a significant sewer project and see that Lake Oswego was 'walking the talk.' He commented that this $200,000 revenue item now became something that the City had to make up for in a shorter period of time than he and Councilor Olson were advocating for. Councilor Olson reiterated that they would revisit the proposed 25% increase for July 1 in the spring, once they received the updated numbers. The Council could change it to 27% at that time, if necessary. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 10 December 14, 2010 Councilor Vizzini concurred with Mr. McIntyre that the Council did not want to send a message of doubt to the bonding agencies. He recommended that the new Council affirm a commitment to increase rates to attain the debt coverage level needed to secure the bonding. He noted that if the bond rating agencies had a question, then the Council that would be sitting for the next three rate increases could affirm a commitment to meet the debt reserve goal, which would hopefully be a sufficiently positive signal. He also recommended a work session leading to the reaffirmation of that commitment. He commented that if the new Council wavered on that reaffirmation, then that could hurt the City's bond rating. A roll call vote was taken on the motion to amend the main motion on p. 5 to change the dat from March 1, 2011, to July 1, 2011, and the motion failed with Councilors Olson, Tierney, and Vizzini voting `aye.' Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Moncrieff, and Jordan voted 'no.' [3-4] Mayor Hoffman restated the main motion: to adopt the Master Fees and Charges schedule with water fee increase beginning on March 1, 2011, (p. 5 and 7) and an increase in th Street Maintenance Fee of 17.5%. Councilor Jordan mentioned that, while they have not discussed parks & rec fees, the work on the West End Building clearly found that the City supported parks & rec programs with a 13% subsidy. She noted that they were not having any major fee increases this year. She suggested that the Council needed to get a better handle on what it cost the City to run its parks & rec programs. A voice vote was taken on the main motion and the motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting `aye'. [7-0] 7.2 Ordinance 2558, an ordinance of the Lake Oswego City Council amending Chapter 50 of the Lake Oswego Community Development Code to add new Article 50.08C Lake Grove R - 7.5/R - 10 Overlay District, and adopting findings LU 10 - 0040. Councilor Olson moved to continue the hearing on Ordinance 2558 to January 18, 2011. Councilor Jordan seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken, and the motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting `aye'. [7-0] 7.3 Ordinance 2563, an ordinance of the City of Lake Oswego relating to extension of completion deadlines for approved land use permits and adopting findings LU 10 - 0048 Councilor Jordan moved to continue the hearing on Ordinance 2563 to January 18, 2011. Councilor Olson seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken, and the motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting `aye'. [7-0] 8. RESOLUTION 8.1 Resolution 10-77, adopting the Emergency Operations Plan Mr. Donaldson indicated that the senior management team that focused on emergency management included himself, Bonnie Hirschberger (Citizen Information Coordinator) and Larry Goff(Asst Fire Chief). He reported that they have finalized and filled in all the blanks of the plan since the November 9 City Council study session. He explained that this plan helped the City to both prepare for and respond to emergencies. He mentioned their goal of an annual exercise to familiarize staff in their roles and to activate the Emergency Operations Center. He commented that the City was fortunate to have experienced fire and police departments. He asked the Council to adopt the plan. City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 10 December 14, 2010 Councilor Moncrieff thanked staff for their time and dedication in developing this emergency operations plan. She noted that the State of Oregon Office of Emergency Management covered all the costs for developing this plan. She expressed her confidence that the citizens were in good hands with a well-trained staff. Mr. Donaldson indicated to Councilor Hennagin that the plan did cover tornados. He mentioned that Fire Chief Wilson told him that Oregon had about two tornados every year, which did not stay on the ground long or cause much damage. Councilor Jordan thanked staff for its hard work on the plan. She mentioned that one of the items on the wish list for Council goals from the Forest Hills/FAN neighborhood dealt with emergency management. She asked if staff would take this plan out to the neighborhoods. Mr. Donaldson indicated that they intended to connect even more with the community than the City already did. He mentioned that Asst Chief Goff regularly made emergency management presentations to neighborhoods. He spoke of the CERT program (Certified Emergency Responder Training), noting that Ms. Hirschberger was improving the public information available on the program. Ms. Hirschberger commented that this was a reminder for people to prepare themselves for an emergency in case the City could not respond as quickly as they would hope. Councilor Vizzini moved to adopt Resolution 10-77. Councilor Jordan seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken, and the motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting `aye'. [7-0] 9. ORDINANCES 9.1 Ordinance 2565, an ordinance of the City of Lake Oswego granting a non-exclusive gas utility franchise to Northwest Natural Gas Company Mr. Powell indicated that this updated renewal of the Northwest Natural Gas franchise would continue the existing 3% franchise fee. He mentioned that the City could charge up to a 5% fee. However, the Public Utility Commission regulations considered franchise fees 3% or under to be operating expenses (which were not included on the customer bill), while fees over 3% were a separate charge passed on to the customer. He said that the Council had a 30-day opportunity under the ordinance to increase the fee. Mayor Hoffman confirmed the intent to hold a Council study session on franchise fees early next year. Mr. Powell mentioned the Public Utility Commission's recent decision to exclude public purpose charges from the gross revenues on which the franchise fee was based (p.50). He noted the expansion in the indemnification obligations of Northwest Natural Gas (p.50). He indicated that Northwest Natural Gas staff were present to answer questions. He thanked Councilor Tierney for his helpful comments on the draft ordinance. Councilor Moncrieff moved to enact Ordinance 2565. Councilor Tierney seconded the motion. Mr. Powell indicated to Mayor Hoffman that the liability for a big explosion, such as occurred in California, would depend on the cause of the explosion. A voice vote was taken, and the motion passed with Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Olson, Moncrieff, Tierney, Jordan, and Vizzini voting `aye'. [7-0] 10. INFORMATION FROM THE COUNCIL 10.1 Councilor Information 10.2 R port of Council Committ e , Organizational Committ s, and Int rgov rnm ntal Committ s City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 10 December 14, 2010 11. REPORTS OF OFFICERS 11.1 City Manag r 11.1.1 Review of Council Schedule Mayor Hoffman reviewed the upcoming Council schedule. He mentioned that the Boards & Commission chairs wanted to meet with the full Council and present their programs before goal setting, instead of at goal setting. He reported that he told them at the Saturday meeting that there were issues in terms of priorities and limited resources. He indicated that Ms. Christie would be sending out information shortly regarding goal setting, probably at Marylhurst. Councilor Vizzini suggested the Heritage Center at Marylhurst as a meeting place if the school was not available. Councilor Hennagin congratulated staff on accomplishing the Council goals set at the beginning of the year. Mayor Hoffman publicly acknowledged Councilor Hennagin for signing the declaration of the vote of the November 2, 2010 general election, even though he ran and lost. He spoke of Councilor Hennagin's commitment to and respect for the system and his fellow elected officials. 11.1.2 Review of Council Digest Mr. McIntyre mentioned that he included a summary of the Council goals for the year in the Digest. He pointed out that staff did close out the goals. 11.2 City Attorney 12. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hoffman adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, CtOrJarOlen' Robyn Christie City Recorder APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: ON Februa 15 2011 J c D. Hoffman, Mayor City Council Regular Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 10 December 14, 2010