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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-0917 REG MINMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL September 17, 1985 ROLL CALL GREETINGS FROM ENGLISH LORD MAYORS ET AL BY COUNCILORS SMITH & REID APPROVAL OF MINUTES RIDGE ROAD PUBLIC HEARING The regular meeting of the City Council was called to order at 7:30 P~M~ on the above date by Mayor Medaris wh~ led the Pledge of Allegi- ance. Present were Elerath, Reid, Bennett, Acklin, Laws and Smith~ Councilors Smith and Reid presented the City of Ashland with a Nuclear Free Zone plaque from Manchester, England, to be hung in the Adminis- trative offices of City Hall or Civic Center and other gifts from cities visited in Europe where the Councilors were invited by Peace and Nuclear Free groups° Bennett moved to approve minutes of the adjourned meeting of August 29, 1985 and regular meeting of September 3, 1985 and Smith seconded the motion. Elerath asked that the minutes be corrected on page two relative to Street Funding to reflect that he asked in expressing con- cern for property taxes how costs could be cut and to show that the report referred to by Acklin was several years old~ Bennett and Smith agreed with corrections and on voice vote the motion passed without opposition~ The City Administrator read a memo from Director of Public Works Alsing dated September 11 outlining positive and negative views of the proposal. Almquist noted that costs to the property owner can be Bancrofted and that assessments can be paid in full within 30 days or 9~% interest over a period of ten years° The public hearing was opened and those in favor asked to speak first. Vaughan Bornet, 365 Ridge Road spoke in favor of the proposal saying that Ridge Road has been ignored by the City and maintained by the property owners but has the worst potholes of any street in the City. Archie Fries, 170 Ridge Road, said the City has been indifferent to City streets and the property owners are willing to pay for the 18 ft. asphalt street and asked that the City accept their petition. Harry Skerry, 270 Ridge Road, spoke in favor as owner of 270 Ridge and part owner of tax lot 2200° Lee Howard, 90 Ridge Road, said he is not concerned about the drainage and is pleased that no one will be speaking against the proposal. Howard said there is some run off at the lower end of Ridge and the street will be sloped to drain the water down to the culvert. Alsing said there is enough ditch to carry the water but on the other end Alsing said that the curb and gutter will do a better job. Mike Jewett, 353 Ridge Road said he is for the proposal to pave but against the staff proposal of curb and gutter being included in the plan~ Jim Akerill spoke in favor of the proposal and said he hoped Council woud go along with the petition. There was no negative input and the Mayor closed the public hearing and turned the discussion over to Council. Reid noted that Judy Clark had been in touch with her saying that she had not been contacted relative to the proposal. It was noted that when Clark signed off the rear of the property, she signed in favor of paving., 9/17/85 P. 1 egular ,~lect ing Ashland City Council 9/!7/85 P~ 2 RIDGE ROAD PUBLIC HEARING continued FORDYCE ANNEXATION PUBLIC HEARING Alsing explained that when a street is oiled that half of the property owners may want the road graded and the other half against ito Reid urged Council to consider allowing for a rural type road as is being considered for Ridge to be a second type road standard. Reid said she would like the alternative for other citizens. The Mayor said that a Local Improvement District has been formed for this particular street and to include other proposals° Reid said Ridge will be a substandard road and that other roads could be considered for substandard streets on one request at a time basis. Laws said it is the worst road in the City and we should take the chance that it will hold up and moved to approve petition and asked staff to bring back documents; Bennett seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. The City Administrator read a minority report from Planning Commiss- ioners Stout, Slattery & Thompson urging consideration of 7500 sq. ft. lots for the proposed annexation and a memo from the Planning DiVision dated August 15, 1985 reporting action by CPAC recommending 5,000 sq. ft. minimum lot size for all but SOSC property which should be zoned SO. Almquist asked that the Staff Report dated August 14, 1985, petition from Fordyce Sewer Improvement & Annexation Committee, a letter from property owners with signatures requesting R-5 zoning, minutes of Planning Commission dated August 14, 1985 and letter from Jackson County with recommendations and comments relative to the properties in the County zoned for Exclusive Farm Use be made part of the record. Planning Director Fregonese showed the area on the screen and outlined total annexation proposal with future street plans and noted that the Armory site (SOSC property) should be annexed as soon as possible. Fregonese reviewed the Triple Majority criteria for density along with Comprehensive Plan goals~ The Mayor opened the public hearing and Virginia Jackson, owner of tax lots 2500 & 2600, wanted to be certain that the criteria of five lots per acre is the maximum and not the minimum and that she would not lose a lot in following the criteria. Fregonese said the divis- ion could be worked out. Jim Johnston, 574 Fordyce, said the options have been considered by the property owners and that for all practical purposes, the 5,000 sq. ft~ lots would give best use of property and that the creeks could be culverted and worked around. Larry Medinger noted that Ashland needs sites for lower cost housing and the flat property in the proposed annexation would be ideal for that purpose and also financially within reach since the cheapest lot available at this time in Ashland costs around $18,000. Kent Cutting spoke in favor of the proposal. On question of plans for the construction of the National Guard Armory, Physical Plant Director Steverio noted a groundbreaking date has been set but that no plans have been started by Architect Patterson. Stevens said the college has architectural review authority for the National Guard Armory. Acklin moved to adopt annexation proposal w'th zoning of R 1.5P and adopt findings ~ac~ . orH and direct staff to bring / lnances; Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. 9/17/85 Po 2 Sul,~r ~lecting Ashland City Coun,:il 9/17/85 Real Froperty Froposal LIQUOR LICENSE APP. Gayla's Pancake & Seafood Stevenson Union BUDGET COMEMITTEE ~OWNTOWN PARKING FACILITY IPORT Acklin moved to place disposition of real property proposal on the agenda as discussed in Executive Session; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. The City Administrator reviewed the offer by Cybertext Corporationts of $175,000 for the A Street property with the sale contingent upon review of companyts architects and engineers to be secured within 60 days. Almquist noted that the property had been on the market for over a year and that no firm offers had been received in that time~ Smith moved to accept offer and instruct staff to prepare earnest money agreement for signature by Mayor and City Recorder; Bennett seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Application for new ownership of existing liquor license was received from Gayla Bright dba Gayla's Pancake, Steak and Seafood at 1823 Siskiyou Blvdu, and Smith moved to approve; Elerath second- ed the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Reid moved to put application for liquor license from SOSC Steven- son Union on the agenda; Smith seconded and the motion passed with- out opposition on voice vote. Acklin moved to approve; Reid seconded the motion. Laws noted he is a member of the Faculty at SOSCo On voice vote the motion passed unanimously. Reid nominated Jeff Golden to fill the vacancy on the Budget Com- mittee and hoped that Bud Wilkersen would wait for another vacancy because of his qualifications° Smith moved to close nominations. Laws nominated Art Phillips and Acklin moved nominations be closed. Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Laws commented that all three individuals would be able to handle the position well and said he didn't think the person standing in line the longest should necessarily get the position~ Laws con- tinued by saying he is a neighbor of Phillips and feels he would be compatible in giving the Budget Committee a good balance. Smith said she knows Mr. Phillips and not Mro Wilkerson but emphasized that Mr. Golden made his interest known as soon as the vacancy was publicized and was put off when Phil Arnold was appointed. Smith urged that Golden have the opening° Elerath said he asked Wilkerson to submit his application and would support him but would also sup- port Phillipso Smith criticized the procedure. Bennett felt that ample applicants should be allowed. Medaris said any opening has to be advertised and two Councilors were out of the country so it was put off. Laws said he chaired the meeting when it was decided to wait and readvertise to get more applicants because people don't always see the notices and on nomination of Art Phillips, Elerath, Bennett and Laws voted in favor. Reid, Acklin and Smith voted in opposition. Motion tied and the Mayor broke the tie by voting YES~ The City Administrator noted that a letter was received from Bar- bara Allen recommending that 2 hr. parking be changed to 4 hr. on C Street between First and Second Street - along both sides of street. Almquist commended Chair Laws on his efforts and report and said public input would be available at a public hearing° 9/17/85 P. 3 Ash/and C,Ly Council 9Zj7/85 P. DOUNTOWN PARKING REPORT PUBLIC FORUM Councilor Laws reviewed his report citing the need for about 125 parking spaces and to relocate downtown employees to off-street parking facilities to serve the local community, businesses and visitors in the downtown area. Laws said that parking times would need to be changed in various parts of the core area, that severe penalties would be imposed on employees whose vehicle is found in parking spaces reserved for the users mentioned above~ Laws said that the Water Street parking area would be expanded and upgraded by use of landscaping and lighting to encourage full use and that park- ing fines would be increased by $1~00 and a surcharge would be added to business license fees to help generate the necessary revenue. The cost of the improvements would be Bancrofted for the Water St. improvements, Laws said° Laws added that in his proposal the Elk's Club has been approached relative to a lease on their parking lot and are expected to consider the proposal at a Board meeting soon. Laws said eventually a parking structure may have to be built. In discussing the proposed ordinance, Reid said it is discriminating as regards downtown employees and intimates that other shop owners aren't considered valued customers. After some discussion by Council, Acklin moved to accept the report as proposed and that a public hear- ing be set for first reading of the ordinance; Bennett seconded the motion and said information should be made public in advance of the hearing and suggested the package being printed in the Tidings° Aim- quist said it would be difficult without the large volume of back- ground for someone to understand~ Elerath said he wants the ordin- ance to be considered on a point by point basis° Laws said there is no hurry in consideration of ordinance because the proposed plan will not be implemented until June 1, 1986. On roll call vote, Bennett, Acklin, Laws and Smith voted in favor of the report; Elerath and Reid opposed and the motion carried° The City Adminis- trator was instructed by Laws to bring back all documents to imple- ment the plan along with letters received and relative statistics. A1 Willstatter, 123 Central Street, urged that there be a site review and public hearing on proposed building of Armory because it is a public building and belongs to all of us. (Fordyce Annex.) WATERSHED ROAD CLOSURE CITY ADMINISTRATOR EMPLOY- MENT AGREEmeNT OR. STATE HIGHWAY CONTRACT Fire Chief King noted that with recent rains the fire danger has lessened in the Watershed and proposed to reopen the area~ Laws moved to place on agenda; Elerath seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote and Elerath moved to reopen; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote° At this point the Public Forum was closed~ The City Administrator read an addendum extending his Agreement of Employment for a period of three years to September 1, 1988 and Council discussed criteria of his contract regarding grounds for dismissal and severance pay. Almquist was asked to read his con- tract with the City in full which he did and Reid asked about his recent evaluation. The Mayor said the evaluation composite would be mailed~ Reid moved to approve extension; Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote° A memo was read and contract submitted for Left-turn Refuge on Siskiyou Blvdo, at Garffeld Sto was considered and Acklin moved for authorization of signatures of Mayor & City Recorder; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote° 9/17/85 P. 4 ~%~u~iBr Meeting Ashlaud City Council 9/17/8li P. 5 OTHER BUSINESS Central St~ Improvements Governor's "Bag-it-Day" Councilor Reid said she would like to continue her goal of having curb, gutter and paving on Central Street and thatshe has talked to the Street and Engineering Departments about circulating petitions for improvements. Reid wondered if such improvements would be valu- able enough to the City for it to share in the costs~ Bennett noted that the Governor had declared September 21 as "Bag-it- Day" and noted that the clean-up program is not necessary in Ashland. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:13 P~M. with a reminder that a study session will be held on September 24 to consider the Public Safety Plan at 7:30 P~Mo, & Supplemental Budget Hearing will be held on September 26 at 7:30 PoM. Karen Huckins Acting City Recorder L. Gordon Medaris Mayor ih