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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-1006 REG MINMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL October 6, 1987 ROLL CALL Boy Scout Troop No. 113 presented the colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:30 P.M. on the above date in the Council Chambers. Mayor Gordon Medaris then called the meeting to order. Elerath, Reid, Williams, Acklin, Laws and Arnold were present. SPECIAL PRESENTATION Recycling Aware- ness Week Mayor Medaris read a proclamation which designated the week of October 3-10, 1987 as "State Recycling Aware- ness Week" in Ashland. He then presented a certifi- cate of appreciation to Robert & Lois Wenker and Gary Rigotti, owners of Ashland Sanitary Co., Inc. for their recycling efforts in Ashland. Golden Spike Nan Hannon, Curator of the Chappell-Swedenburg Museum, was introduced by Mayor Medaris who presented the Museum and the Southern Oregon Historical Society with the Golden Spike which had been used in the Golden Spike Celebration on September 17, 1987 at the railroad depot in Ashland. Councilor Elerath was welcomed back from his trip abroad. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Acklin moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of September 15, 1987; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. PUBLIC HEARING: Zone Change Clay St./Hwy. 66 Planning Director John Fregonese explained that the subject property was almost completely surrounded by Landura Corporation's property which was zoned single- family residential in 1978. The Planning Commission and C.P.A.C. had both recommended the Landura and Rarity properties be rezoned to R-2. The Public Hearing was opened. Richard Stevens, 107 E. Main St.,~_~Me.~,.grd, spoke as a representative for theT"~'~~o~t~n, and said the rezone would be beneficial to that Corporation. Will Hershman, 884 Clay Street, expressed concern with traffic and parking problems on Clay St. and asked that these problems be addressed in light of further develop- ment in that area. John Fregonese said parking is taken care of by ordinance, but agreed that Clay Street, which is unimproved, has a parking problem. Laws moved to approve the request with Planning Commission conditions; Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Elerath said Clay St. should be seriously looked at for paving, and Reid said it should be included in discussions during future goal-setting sessions. 10/06/87 P. 1 Rr- Jar Meeting Ashland City Council 10/06/87 P, ~ COMMUNICATIONS, PETITIONS & REMONSTRANCES: Pavement Cut Public Works Director A1 Alsing said there are no Request - Fairview temporary options to the street cut in this case, and Near Iowa the property owner had been notified prior to paving of Fairview Street, but had no plans for selling the property at that time. The street will be under pave- ment cut moratorium until August of 1989. Karl Krauskopf, 264 Hargadine ~iA, said he was not notified of the moratorium until after the sale was in escrow. After a brief discussion on how people are notified of the street cut moratorium, Laws moved to approve the request and Reid seconded the motion. Arnold felt the policy for pavement cuts should be upheld unless the City was at fault in not notifying the owner of plans for paving. Elerath agreed with Arnold and felt Mr. Krauskopf's quarrel should be with the seller and/or realtor. The motion passed on roll call vote as follows: Elerath and Arnold, NO; Reid, Williams, Acklin and Laws, YES. Christmas Decorations Emile Cloutier told of plans for new Christmas decorations which included putting them on Highway 66 from the freeway to the railroad overpass, and on C Street from the Fire Station to the bridge over Lithia Creek. New lanterns are being made by Western Oil & Burner, paint donated by Harrison Auto Parts and Lee Lemacks offered to paint them on his own time. Banners would be put up on C Street and lanterns on Highway 66. The Decoration Committee has $4,000 on hand and another $2,500 was donated by Mac McCarley. Cloutier explained that the Council has to authorize the expenditure of these funds and Electric Department time to put them up. Mayor Medaris requested staff to write letters of appreciation to the people who have helped on this project. Laws moved to approve the request and Elerath seconded the motion, which passed unanimously on voice vote. Halloween Police Chief Vic Lively explained that he will have all officers downtown in uniform this Halloween and the Oregon State Police and Jackson Co. Sheriff's Department will handle the rest of the City. Councilor Arnold said he attended meetings on this subject and it was felt that food booths did not encourage problems encountered last year, the down- town merchants do not object, and service clubs can raise money for their projects. Arnold further stated that a lottery-type selection method should be used to fairly choose the six non-profit organizations to have booths in the available spaces, and a fee charged for electricity and administrative costs. Elerath felt the Council should not get involved, and Reid and Williams agreed food booths were a good idea but Council should not get involved. Emile Cloutier said 10/06/87 P. 2 ~ ~ar Meeting Ashland City Council 10/06/87 P. ~ COMMUNICATIONS, PETITIONS & REMONSTRANCES: (Continued) Halloween the Kiwanis Club made $2,000 last year which was put back into the community, and the groups which had booths last year should get right of first refusal this year. Arnold moved to authorize six booth locations with electricity, that October 16th at 5:00 P.M. be the deadline for applications from non-profit groups, and the lottery selection be held at 3:00 P.M. on October 19th, and the City charge for the actual costs involved in providing services. Reid seconded the motion. Mark Anderson, 1084 Ashland St. and Perry Atkinson, 2120 Greenmeadows, spoke in opposition to the food booths. The motion passed on voice vote as follows: Elerath and Acklin, NO; Reid, Williams, Laws and Arnold, YES. Liquor License Mark Antony Hotel City Administrator Almquist explained that the owner had agreed to make payments on the taxes which were two years delinquent, and the Police Department had recommended approval. Arnold moved to approve the application on the condition the taxes were paid current; Laws seconded the motion. City Attorney Ron Salter said policy should be the same for everyone. Robert Brodeur, 1801 Siskiyou Blvd., said he leased the Mark Antony for three months during the summer and if sale goes through, the City would get the taxes and delinquent hotel/motel tax. The motion passed on roll call vote with Elerath, Williams, and Acklin voting NO; Reid, Laws and Arnold voting YES, and Mayor Medaris breaking the tie with a YES vote. Laws asked that the liquor license of The Bushes be discussed because Gerald Allen is the owner who hasn't paid taxes and Scott Bushnell is leasing the building. He recommend their liquor license be approved. Williams would like to see some sort of policy on this, and Laws asked that someone write up a policy to place on the agenda. There was no further discussion. NEW & MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS: Historic Structure A memo from the Historic Commission was read proposing Demolition Ord. an amendment to Ordinance No. 2163 concerning the demolition of historic structures. The amendment to Section 15.04.210(D)(5) would require property owners to file a request with the City Council, along with supporting documentation, to have their property taken off or added to the landmarks list. Hal Cloer, member of the Historic Commission, spoke in favor of the amendment. Laws felt owners should be encouraged to 10/06/87 P. 3 Meeting Ashland City Council 10/06/87 P. 4 NEW & MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS: (Continued) Historic Struct. protect historic structures instead of coerced. Acklin moved to instruct staff to bring ordinance back to next meeting to make the proposed amendment. Reid seconded the motion which passed on voice vote as follows: Elerath, Reid, Williams, Acklin, and Arnold, YES; Laws, NO. Budget Mtg. Request Councilor Reid asked that an early Budget Committee meeting be held before the budget document is prepared to answer questions or iron out issues. Laws was in favor but questioned the legality under State Law. City Attorney Salter will check into it. Arnold felt the Council had enough meetings to attend, Elerath agreed and said most questions are political rather than budgetary. Laws moved to schedule a joint study session with the Budget Committee after the new members are appointed. Sabra Hoffman, member of the Budget Committee, said she finds the budget process somewhat confusing. The motion passed on voice vote with Elerath and Arnold voting NO; Reid, Williams, Acklin and Laws, YES. Weatherization Program Amendments Heat Pump Retrofit Program Proposal Energy Conservation Coordinator Dick Wanderscheid gave a brief overview of possible amendments to the Residential Weatherization Program and recommended leaving Ashland's program as is with 85% incentive payback. Acklin felt less people would weatherize if they had to pay 50% instead of 15%. Laws said we would weatherize more houses with the 50% option, and to try it for a year and if requests for weatheriza- tion drop off, go back to 85%. Laws moved to take the 50% incentive option; Elerath seconded the motion which passed on voice vote. Elerath, Reid, Williams, Laws and Arnold, YES; Acklin, NO. Dick Wanderscheid will prepare a Resolution for the next meeting. Dick Wanderscheid, Energy Conservation Coordinator, told of a trend of fuel switching from electricity to natural gas in Ashland. He requested approval to work with the State Department of Energy in acquiring funding to implement a Residential Heat Pump Retrofit Program. Elerath stated that it is cheaper to heat with natural gas than electricity, and Planning Dir. Fregonese said studies show that heat pumps are more cost effective. On a question from Laws concerning heat pumps for homes using other than electric heat, Wanderscheid said State subsidized funding cannot be used in those cases, but alternative funding could be set up with an outside financial institution. Arnold moved to approve acquisition of funding for the program and setting up alternative funding for customers with other than electric heat, Acklin seconded the motion which passed as follows on voice vote: Elerath, NO; Reid, Williams, Acklin, Laws and Arnold, YES. 10/06/87 P. 4 ~gular Meeting Ashland City Council 10/06/87 P. ~ NEW & MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS: (Continued) Sign Code Amend- A public hearing was set for October 20, 1987 at 7:30 ments - Set P.H. P.M. concerning proposed revisions to the Sign Code, Chapter 18.96 of the Land Use Ordinance. No further action necessary. Traffic Safety Comm. A memo from Public Works Director A1 Alsing was read Rec. - Homes Ave./ outlining recommendations from the Traffic Safety Blaine St. Commission. The first being that the speed limit on Homes Avenue, between Normal Ave. and Walker Ave., be changed from 25 m.p.h. to 15 m.p.h. because of congestion and proximity to the Senior Center. Reid moved to approve this action, Arnold second the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. The second was a recommendation to install "Yield" signs on Blaine Street where it intersects Alida Street because of several accidents and a high volume of traffic. Laws moved to approve installation of the signs, Williams seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. A resolution will be brought back to the next meeting. Monthly Financial Commentary Arnold moved to accept the monthly financial commentary for the period ending August 31, 1987 and place it on file; Laws seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Arbitration With Teamsters Union City Administrator Almquist distributed a memo concerning arbitration with Teamsters Local 223 (Police employees). He suggested the Council members review it and ask any questions they may have at the next Council meeting. No action necessary. Property Purchase "B" St. A memo was read requesting authorization for staff to offer $16,000 from the Street Fund to purchase a triangular piece of property on "B" Street, West of Mountain Ave., to square off property obtained from County in exchange for maintenance of former County roads inside the City limits. Councilor Arnold expressed concern with using Street Fund monies. Almquist told of a small piece of property on East Main which could be sold and revenue used for the purchase. The offer would include $4,000 down and balance paid in four years. Reid moved to grant permission to proceed with the offer to purchase the land; Laws seconded the motion, which passed unanimously on voice vote. PUBLIC FORUM: Special Olympics Tournament Emile Cloutier, member of the Kiwanis Club of the Rogue Valley, told of the state-wide Special Olympics Basketball and Aquatic Sports Tournament to be held in Ashland on November 21 and 22, 1987. He asked that the Mayor make a welcome speech and issue a proclama- tion for the event and Mayor Medaris said he would be glad to. The Kiwanis Club is the primary sponsor of the tournament. There being no further business from the audience, the public forum was closed. 10/06/87 P. 5 Meeting Ashland City Council 10/06/87 P ~ ORDINANCES, RESOLLFEIONS & CON~fRACTS: CBM Annexation Second reading by title only was held of an ordinance calling a public hearing on a proposed annexation, withdrawal from Jackson County Fire Dist. No. 5 and Zone Change (CBM Annexation). Acklin moved to adopt the ordinance, Arnold seconded the motion which passed on roll call vote as follows: Elerath, NO; Reid, Williams, Acklin, Laws and Arnold, YES. (Ref. Ord. #2426) Canvass of Vote Water Impr. Bonds A Resolution was read and Mayor's Proclamation noted declaring the canvass of the vote at the special election held September 15, 1987 concerning Water Improvement Bonds. Laws moved to adopt the Resolution and Arnold seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. (Ref. Reso. ~87-41) Transfer of Appro- priations A Resolution was read transferring appropriations within funds. Councilor Arnold declared that his wife had received a salary increase from the transfer listed under item 3. Laws moved to adopt the Resolution, Acklin seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. (Ref. Reso. ~87-42) OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: SCHOOLS Project Councilor Reid asked that a proclamation be issued in support of the SCHOOLS Project which involves a series of town meetings for public input about school funding. The Mayor will issue the proclamation. Report on Trip to Munich Councilor Elerath told of his 40th Class Reunion and a classmate in the Munich State Opera who said his collegues in the Opera knew of Ashland because O.S.F.A. actors come from all over and aren't required to be local residents. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned to Executive Session at 10:30 P.M. and reconvened at 11:05 P.M. There being no further business, the regular Council meeting adjourned at 11:05 P.M. Nan E. Franklin City Recorder L. Gordon Medaris Mayor 10/06/87 P. 6