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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-1104 Council Mtg MINMINUTES FOR THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL November 4, 1997 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Golden called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., Civic Center Council Chambers. ROLL CALL Councilors Laws, Reid, Hauck, Wheeldon and DeBoer were present. Councilor Hagen was absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the Regular meeting of October 21, 1997 were approved as presented. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & AWARDS 1. Presentation of NWPPA Honors Award for First Place, In-House Video 1997 Excellence Competition to Pete Belcastro and the City of Ashland Electric Department. The City of Ashland's video "Powering Up - A History of Ashland's Electric Utility" recently won first place in the NW Public Power Association's annual Public Utility Communication Awards for 1997 in the category "Videos for Utilities with between 5,000 and 9,999 Electric Customers". Mayor Golden noted the unique partnership between RVTV and the City of Ashland and the effectiveness of television in educating citizens about important issues. Pete Belcastro of RVTV spoke about the team effort involved and the history of Ashland and the role of the Electric Utility in that history. Joe Brett, also of RVTV, thanked the mayor, council and Brian Almquist for their support. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Minutes of boards, commissions and committees. 2. Monthly Departmental Reports - October, 1997. 3. City Administrator's Monthly Report - October, 1997. 4. Confirmation of Mayor's appointment of Eric Schehen to the Forest Lands Commission. 5. Call public hearing for November 18, 1997 to review flood bond expenditures. Councilors Wheeldon/Hauck m/s to approve Consent Agenda. Voice vote: all AYES. Motion passed. PUBLIC FORUM Jack Blackburn/805 Oak St./Spoke on behalf of Citizens for Fair LID's. Requested a six month moratorium, for the second time, on city-imposed LID's while the LID issue is being looked into. A petition with about 250 names was presented supporting this request. Blackburn noted the proposals made previously by Councilors Laws and DeBoer, and suggested speeding up a cooperative solution between council and citizens. Blackburn also spoke concerning comments made by Kelly Madding at the October 21st council meeting with regard to LID's. He took issue with her comments because he believes her systems development charges were deferred as part of the Affordable Housing program. Austin Brayfield/400 Monte Vista/Requested that the LID issue be included in next SDC study session to be held in January. Donna Wonder/1348 Prospect/Expressed her concern with the wording of a sign at the construction on Indiana St. which says "University Properly - No Through Traffic". Worried that this indicated SOU was trying to gain eminent domain. Interim City Administrator Greg Scoles assured her that this closure was only for the duration of the construction. Explained that completion of the project and reopening of street are expected sometime next week. Councilor Laws also clarified that as public right-of-way, the access wouldn't have changed without council action. City Council Meeting 11-04-97 1 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Authorization for Mayor and City Recorder to sign Quitclaim Deed for 20 foot easement on Ashland Street. Councilor Reid questioned structures built on the Guthrie Street-side of the right-of-way and noted that she would like a pedestrian easement. Interim City Administrator Scoles explained that there would be pedestrian access. Councilor Reid also suggested looking at the deeding of other properties to ensure other access was properly obtained. City Attorney Nolte stated that Engineering was checking on the deeding. Councilor Reid expressed concern with moving too quickly, would prefer to look at whole picture. Discussion concerning how other property in right-of-way was obtained, and discussion of access. Councilor Wheeldon suggested placing signage to clearly identify open space area access. Further discussion about need for open space in this area as a neighborhood park. Councilor DeBoer questioned if the property's closing was waiting for council action and whether the easement from Herbert St. would need modification because of this. City Attorney Nolte clarified that the transaction relating to this property had closed, and that the city's Herbert St. easement has been modified and re-recorded with changes. Councilors Hauck/DeBoer m/s to authorize Mayor and City Recorder to sign quitclaim deed for 20 foot easement on Ashland Street. Roll call vote: Laws, Reid, Hauck, Wheeldon and DeBoer: YES. Motion passed. NEW AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS 1. Request by Rueben Davis to present petition recommending changes to the Skateboarding Ordinance. Rueben Davis, owner of a local skateboard shop, feels that the ordinance is preposterous; where it intended to treat skaters fairly it has backfired and created a hostile environment. Noted that other forms of transportation are not ticketed for riding without helmets, while skateboarders routinely receive such tickets. Questioned selective enforcement, confiscation of skateboards and fines. Presented a petition with signatures from 180-200 community members asking that the skateboard ordinance be rewritten and enforced with an eye for equality with other modes of transportation. Noted head injuries are uncommon in skateboarding and requiring helmets at all times goes too far. Also discussed skating in the downtown areas, questioning the extreme penalty for skating downtown. Read portion of a letter from a mother who'd taken her son to Juvenile Justice Department in Medford due to skateboarding citations where she noted that the Juvenile Justice Department had commented to her that they'd never been made aware of the ordinance and were unprepared to deal with the increase in cases. Police Captain Mel Clements and Police Chief Scott Fleuters presented background on the ordinance since its taking effect on September 5. Noted that 19 citations had been issued and that 16 of those were for helmet violations. In addition, there have been 31 warnings given. Clements noted that he had met with Juvenile Department in Medford, to work out a process for handling these citations prior to the ordinance's passage. Explained that the cases were handled by the APD Youth Diversion Officer until the fourth offense, or when other crimes are involved. Clements also informed the public that approximately 30 bicycle helmets are available through APD and the 911 program. The helmets are for those who cannot afford to purchase helmets elsewhere, and are $7 each. Explained reasoning behind helmet requirement for all ages, stating that skaters typically don't carry identification which makes enforcement of a helmet requirement for those "16 and under" very difficult. Discussion of the state helmet law for bicyclists which pre-empts requiring all bicyclist to wear helmets. Clarification that there were few repeat offenses within the 19 citations issued, and that compliance has been generally very good. City Council Meeting 11-04-97 2 Councilor Hauck questioned whether enforcement of helmet requirements for bicyclists is different, and Clements explained that statistics haven't been kept for bicycle helmet citations. Also noted that downtown statistics aren't tracked. Clarification that bicyclists are allowed downtown, but not on sidewalks, and that the ordinance doesn't apply to skateboarding on private property. Noted that enforcement is primarily complaint driven. Councilor DeBoer noted that he hadn't seen as many complaints as he expected, but stated that he'd like the council to look at the penalties again. Donna Wonder/1348 Prospect/Noted that she'd seen the ordinance explained in the City Source newspaper and was upset by the penalties. She believes that if skateboarding is a form of transportation, they should be allowed downtown along with the other modes of transportation. Discussion of the ordinance in terms of allowing street skating, requiring helmets, and providing enhanced penalties downtown. Kathleen Borovac/131 Helman St./Opposes the ordinance. Disturbed when she received information in City Source, and felt the committee process leading to the revised ordinance wasn't made public enough. She believes that the ordinance goes overboard and that it shouldn't make skateboarding into a criminal offense. Dave LeFors/6810 Hwy 66/Questioned helmet law when there is none at state level. Why are skaters being singled out in Ashland? Acknowledges safety concerns, but feels that helmets should be a personal decision and that kids skating feel they are being mistreated. Mayor Golden clarified the purpose of the ordinance to provide more freedom for skateboarders in allowing them to use the streets. Joanna Pecoraro/494 Holly St./Was a parent on original committee, but feels that perception in the community is that the current situation is worse than before. Concerned about discrimination, and notes that she'd been told there were no bicycle citations during August, September and October, which upsets her. Concerned that the committee she served on didn't help the situation. Also noted that imposing jail time in the ordinance as a penalty, when she understands there is no way to require jail time in actual enforcement, isn't right. Councilor Laws noted role of ordinance in calling attention to the law, and supported the need to look at the enhanced penalty section of the ordinance. Emphasized that the helmet requirement was due to concerns for safety when street skating, and that helmets need to be worn because of the potential for collisions with cars. Councilor DeBoer asked that Mel Clements and Jan Janssen look into revising the wording of this section and bring their proposed revisions to the next council meeting. Councilor Laws suggests dialogue between skaters and Police Chief. Councilor Wheeldon noted that helmets are a signal that skaters are doing their part to establish themselves as responsible users of the street. Mayor Golden noted that calls to her office were 6 to 1 against opening the streets to skateboards, but that in passing this ordinance the City wanted to confirm its view of skateboarding as a viable mode of transportation. Dave LeFors/6810 Hwy 66/Again questioned passage of the helmet requirement when the state has no such requirement. Councilor Hauck and Mayor Golden explained the council's role in making laws. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS 1. Reading by title only of "A Resolution Granting Irrevocable Limited Power of Attorney for the Local Government Investment Pool." Councilors Laws/Reid m/s to approve Resolution #97-37. Roll Call vote: Deboer, Wheeldon, Hauck, Reid and Laws, YES. Motion passed. OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS Councilor Reid mentioned the letter given to councilors by Anna Hassell concerning Westwood Subdivision and Darlyn Adams. Stated that she hopes it will be able to move forward. Councilor Wheeldon gave information on the Alternatives to Growth Conference she and Councilor Hagen attended. First conference of its type, looked at challenges facing cities with regard to carrying capacities. Discussed real costs of growth, SDC's and the contrast between mature cities versus developing cities and questioned which category Ashland fits into. City Council Meeting 11-04-97 3 Councilor Hauck spoke about information from Brent Thompson regarding "in fill award" idea for developing land within the city. Councilor DeBoer noted that there was a second vacancy opening on the Budget Committee and requested that the advertising be changed to announce two openings. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Golden adjourned the meeting at 8:12 pm. Barbara Christensen, City Recorder Catherine M. Golden, Mayor City Council Meeting 11-04-97 4