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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-0802 Documents Submitted at Mtg We the undersigned residents and neighbors of the unimproved section of Walnut street would like to be included, and feel strongly we should be included, in the conversation concerning designated street maintenance and reconstruction should funds from the meals tax become available. Our reasons for this request are as follows: 1. Because our street is unimproved, we have spent thousands of dollars in the last 11 years treating the road for dust control in the summer months. Unfortunately, due to drought conditions and climate change, the road now remains dusty most months of the year, something which cannot reasonably be remedied with further superficial treatment of the road. 2. Grandview, another road within Ashland city limits, was chip sealed 17 years ago and appears to have held up very well. 3. An Ashland street maintenance worker has told us that Walnut street is an excellent candidate for chip sealing, a much less expensive process to achieve road improvement. Mike Faught, Ashland's Public Works director, has also spoken favorably to one of us about the benefit on only chip sealing Walnut street. 4. We believe there has been a steady increase in traffic on Walnut street due to population growth and, possibly, the recent implementation of the "road diet" on north Main street. The end result: more dust. 5. We are residents of Ashland and pay the meals tax when applicable, thereby feeling we also have a right to benefit from a shift in usage of these funds. 6. Most importantly, we feel the air quality of our neighborhood is significantly impacted by the dust clouds generated by people driving on Walnut street. Generally, the dust starts flying if someone goes faster than 10 (ten) miles per hour. Furthermore, this can be a health hazard to more than just the residents of Walnut street, as studies have shown that dust can travel approximately 300 feet (ironically, we are roughly one block from Ashland Community Hospital) from its source. In conclusion, we understand the need for road repairs on various streets in Ashland, i.e. Heiman, Maple, etc. It does not appear, however, that road issues on these streets also involve health hazards due to compromised air quality. Name Address Phone or email I c,ru- M Wvu ch 5G 3 Qa I n u-f 'St 5L+1 4~a S~ ~"J Lo'i:e~wf 4 ~j 551 GJJtx.wt t 5v 6 P I Petition of Walnut Street residents and neighbors Name Address Phone or email f~G( c-x-f vNQK ~c~ ~l ~l a V ~ c d sy. (~~ss .~<l6 67tea,/ca 8 G~ Ss Cpl 7 5 5U UJO, i VI LA+ e ~ tq k0c, corn 7 SM-d 9 Kern 10 S~ c,~a ~fi O-Y 3e c V00 ( cam \rv Co \ w v. v S ck\,s x G~ 0/~-- c, G c c&Qx\ t 12 e ~1 a P vl Q-4 13 14 n 4-6,4 (14 O S4. ~ t `fib - X13 ~ 15 ~y i Zod (03~ 16 -7 4cf 7 17-Ij L ) --~'C11 Ul ~ 18 SAP -79?~Z~4 19 241-7 P 20 V Petition Of Walnut Street residents and neighbors Name Address Phone or email 21 (N LdZwt 22 23 24 9-**/~/ - I 25 L- aL-Q-- re v-, ce_~J ~ Sy 1 ~~q ~1y-~ 1 CiWl, 26 Cin~tvd~ bye'-ma~~c~Sev~t~ 27 28 29 30 coi4 j.r.~- 2J ~~hP ~ta~P CotSl hn ~e 31 r7f4~ 32 33 34 ' 3 ..I LV C 6~ c., `r IMF 5ti-J6m ; ~ . \01 34-01-(f -3 Food and Beverage Tax 2016 The Ashland City Council seeks voter approval of a change to the way the Food and Beverage (F&B) Tax revenue is allocated in order to increase the amount dedicated to City parks and to provide finding for a major street maintenance and rehabilitation program. This change would not affect the current tax rate of 5% or change the tax's sunset date of December 31, 2030. This measure will be on the November 8, 2016 ballot. Background The F&B tax was approved by voters in 1993. Voters in 2009 approved an extension of the tax's' sunset date to December 31, 2030. A 5% tax is charged on all prepared foods and non-alcoholic beverages sold in Ashland by restaurants, grocery store delis, caterers, coffee shops, etc. The businesses keep 5% of the amount collected to cover accounting expenses associated with collecting the tax. The remainder is used for debt payment for the wastewater treatment plant (80%) and for the acquisition, planning, development and rehabilitation of open space and City park lands (20%). Partly due to a refinancing at favorable bond rates, for the past few years, the F&B tax revenue collected has been greater than the amount needed for the debt payments. The chart below illustrates the surplus, which is estimated at $1.5 million in total through June 30, 2016. cg [mss x 1 t . i d{(~ may, fiord & beverage: SWEIMOM tax revenue compared to annualcleft payment Annufll Tax Pmeeds . . 1411 31, .11,MMM, 11 N IN nw . NO, 1, -11s. . What is proposed? Passage of the November ballot measure would modify the current F&B tax allocation in two ways: 1) it would increase the allocation to Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission from 20% to 25%; and 2) it would allocate the tax revenue not required for the wastewater treatment plant to a street repair and rehabilitation program. It would not increase the current 5% tax and would not change the sunset date of December 31, 2030. Why Street Maintenance? The City uses two sources of revenue to maintain city streets: 1) the gas tax collected by the State and shared with Oregon communities, including Ashland; and 2) the street utility fee, which is paid monthly by Ashland utility customers. These two sources of revenue provide funding for routine maintenance such as crack sealing, striping, slurry seals, pothole repair, etc., but they have not generated enough money for major repair and reconstruction. The cost to bring Ashland's arterial and collector streets up to "excellent" pavement condition is estimated at $10.5 million, after which the costs of maintenance per mile can be programmed and kept down. It costs about $285,000 to maintain one mile of road with an overlay, but it costs $1.4 million to reconstruct that same mile of road. Regular maintenance can extend the life of a street for more than 30 years. Streets without regular maintenance deteriorate quickly after 15 years as asphalt cracks, water seeps in and gradually the street fails and must be reconstructed. r- f SCE t r a y ? l H S regular maintenance. overl;a s cost .-ibo>A s2m,Oca W.r~i asphalt- age ,,0 :15 years i30 years i45 years 60 years cos! Y~5iG06; ~S?H8~90O. E285;430Q i58S$,fl(%7-. i -1• G O`lECla'Y ) i- (?`lttl,34 3 f- UV21'~cj + C 7 51.1 mi"16 TOTAL f- ul~rrra nt2n.r:cx mves tarpa r-rs. cenwderahty carer fire; and the rzads;are nker:c drive:. _ neC0nstrUCb0n - Recm,structian:cnsts about$1.,4 rniilian.per mile asphalt ago 0 30 year, i60 years w $1.4 mUHan 151.4 mil. i reconstruction ©tfl:00 52:6mdliom TOTAL Ponds.. deteriorawexponentiaHy whhout maintemme after 15 years, eventually necassi>atmgrreconstrnction;ana muChhighercpsi. To learn more about the condition of Ashland streets please watch a four minute video at www-ashfand.or.L s/'streetvideo Why increase the allocation for parks? Since 1993, the Parks and Recreation Commission has added 367 acres of new park land in Ashland. Some of the land has been developed such as the new Ashland Creek Park, some areas of parks have been rehabilitated such as the Atkinson Bridge in Lithia Park, and the Daniel Meyer pool and building. These projects and many others were paid for with F&B tax revenue. However, as the park inventory increases and park features and facilities age and need repair the costs to accomplish those projects increase. A 5% increase in the allocation to Parks would help offset these growing expenses. Why not use the excess tax to lower wastewater rates? The F&B tax is restricted to wastewater debt service. It can't be used to offset operating costs. If left as is, the excess money would remain, unused, in the waste water fiend until new debt is incurred sometime in the future. At that point, the excess fluids could be used to offset the cost of paying the new debt. Why not lower the F&B tax rate? It would be possible to lower the rate to 4% and still cover the cost of existing wastewater debt service while continuing to provide Ashland Parks and Recreation with the same amount of revenue it currently receives. Doing so does not address the need to adequately fund street maintenance. The City would have to find an alternative source of revenue; one that is more likely to impact residents and businesses, as opposed to the F&B tax which creates a means by which visitors share in the cost of maintaining the roads they use. Would the F&B tax pay for maintaining and repairing all Ashland streets? No. The tax revenue would fund a program whose aim is to bring all arterial and collector streets up to "excellent" pavement condition. Arterial and collector streets are the more heavily traveled streets in the City, such as Hersey, Oak, North Mountain, Walker and Tolman Creek. What happens after the current waste water debt is retired? The current waste water debt will be retired at the end of fiscal year 2022. Taxes collected after that time could be used only for parks, street maintenance or new waste water debt unless other purposes are approved by the voters. CenturyLink Webmail: Compose http://webmaiI.q.cotn/zimbra/public/iaunchNewWindow.isp?sk... tom' ^I i Send Cancel Save Draft Add Attachment Spell Check Options t To: The City of Ashland Cc: Show BCC Subject: Walnut Street Priority: Tip: drag and drop files from your desktop to add attachments to this message. Times New Roman 4 (14pt) § r F_ Please submit my letter as a public comment to be included as part of the record on August 2, 2016 To: The City of Ashland, the Mayor, and City Council members Subject: Funding for street repairs and Walnut Street From: Craig Smith, homeowner on the corner of Wiley and Walnut since 1998 With respect to asking the voters on November 8th to allow the City of Ashland to divert excess funds generated by the meals and beverage taxes for the purpose of paying for much needed street repairs, if the voters agree, I have no problem with the funds being used in constructive ways. With respect to which streets and roads would benefit from this additional funding, I would ask that Walnut Street be included on the list of priorities. The relatively short stretch of about 0.3 of a mile, from Luna Vista to the south and Tucker Street to the north, is unpaved and creates huge problems with dust most of the year. Many of us who live along Walnut St. contribute money (the Werich family generously coordinates the coating) once a year for a simple dust control coating which has a very short life span for being useful. Most of the year homeowners and pedestrians, including pets and children, have to deal with extreme dust being kicked up by passing vehicles, or at times even strong winds. I've had to keep my home's windows closed, quit trying to grow garden vegetables in my raised beds near Walnut St., my vehicle is almost always covered with dust, my regular walks in the neighborhood are usually accompanied by clouds of dust each time a vehicle passes by. The dust is not only an extreme annoyance, but likely a health hazard as well, especially for those with respiratory issues. It's been brought to my attention over the years, that chip-sealing Walnut Street would be an excellent and long lasting solution to this particular problem. I am strongly encouraging, and asking the City of Ashland to help those of us who live in this neighborhood, to set aside the relatively small amount of funding it would take to chip-seal Walnut Street., and then agree to make it happen fairly soon. We're all very tired of the constant dust and all the many problems it causes. Do what's right and fair. Please chip-seal Walnut Street. Thank you. Sincerely, Craig G. Smith 401 Wiley Street Ashland 541-488-7944 1 of 1 8/2/16 3:57 PM