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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-0306 REG MINMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL March 6, 1984 ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES PUBLIC HEARINGS: Helm~n St. Paving Mistletoe Road Paving NOISE PERMIT FOR ,~.iPLIFIED M~JSIC ~yor Medaris led the Pledge of Allegiance and called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. on the above date in the Civic Center Council Cham- bers. Present were Howard, Reid, Acklin, Laws, Smith and Dale. Smith moved to approve minutes of the regular meeting of February 21, 1984; Acklin seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. The City Administrator read a memorandtnn from Asst. City Engineer Olson giving the response to the petition for paving of Helman Street of 91.74% in favor and gave the cost to the property o~ers as $20.00 ft. with the City picking up the difference of $11,151.42. Mayor Medaris opened the public hearing and asked for comments from proponents. John Engelhardt said he has been in favor of proposal all along. Jean Knight said they have gone througb this for several months and are in favor. Russ Cooley spoke in opposition saying that the load limit criteria should be researched because of the trucks now going up Helman Street endangering children attending Helman School. CooIey went on to say that Oak Street has a load limit and that the residemcs of Helman were not given that option. Director of Public Works Alsing said that Oak Street was given the load limit because it was not constructed to standard at that time and it Should be looked at when Oak Street is resurfaced and agreed that it should be brought up to standard. Medaris closed the public hearing. Acklin moved that ordinance be brought back showing residents to pay $20.00 per front foot with the City picking up the balance; Laws seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Almquist reviewed the proposed pavement project for Mistletoe Road and method of payment of assessments by tbe City, Croman Bros. School Dist., and residential property owners. A letter from Hazel Cessler was read which opposed the frontage costs of paving her property where the road curves and also that the property owners of the flag lot in the rear are not being assessed for the 20' driveway frontage they use as access. Almquist said the same contention is being ralsed by Partridge where his property includes a curve in the road. Almquist illustrated the course of the road as it lies at the two locations. The Mayor opened th~ public hearing and Bernis Partridge of 2695 Siskiyou B1vd., said he has been in support of the proposal since the beginning and added that he would like the record to show that he is in favor of the present paving propOsal, but should the City decide to do more paving he not pay future costs. Laws moved that Staff bring back ordinance to proceed with paving of Mistletoe Road as outlined; Smith seconded the motion wbich passed unanimously on ~oice vote° The City Administrator read a letter submitted by John Connolly to clarify his original request of the last regular meeting stating that he plans only to play if and when a dance is approved on the deck ~t Greensprings dorms and added that he has a relatively small p~lic address system and it would not be too loud. Laws moved to grant per- miss when SOSC has approved; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. 3/6/84 P. 1 Ashland City Council 3/6/8t; P.2 RULES FOR VOTING P~P~ING PROHIBITION ON GRA~NITE STREET LEFT TURN LANE AT MAPLE & NORTtt MAIN Meeting Grants Pass E~IERGENCY EXCAVATION City Attorney Salter responded in a memo to the question of whether City Boards and Cen~issions fail to vote for a variety of reasons at meetings and noted that the Ashland Municipal Code 2.04.050 requires Council Members to vote unless excuaed by Council but that there are no guidelines for other bodies in City government. Salter said an ordinance could be drawn up citing guidelines if it is the pleasure of the Mayor and Council. Council agreed that unless abstention from voting becomes frequent, the matter should stand as written in AMC. A memo from Director of P.W. Alsing was read saying that even with prohibition of parking along the east side of Granite Street 900 feet northerly from the southerly end of the pavement that is has become apparent that even with this restriction on one side of the street it is still dangerous to allow safe passage of vehicles because of the width of the street in places. Alsing in his memo also noted that the Traffic Safety Commission had received a request from U.S. Forest Service to restrict parking because Of its concern for passage of emer- gency vehicles and another request was received from the Fire Dept. for the same reason. Acklin moved that Resolution be brought back to prohibit parking on the west side of Granite as noted in memo; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. A memo from Secretary to the Traffic Safety Commission Alsing was read citing the need for a left turn lane at the intersection of Maple & N. Main Streets based on accident history at that location. Alsing's memo stated that implementation of a left tnrn lane project might be funded by Title II funds of at least $60,000 or more when final design and calculations are completed according to the State Highway Division, Alsing also noted that part of the project m~ghc be funded by FAILS but that at this point those funds are committed to the Hersoy Street pro- ject started some time ago. Council agreed on the concept and need and decided to consider at a future time. Also noted in the memowas a recommendation from the Traffic Co~m~ission to reduce the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph between Grant Street and Coolidge Streets and that a request would need to go to the High- way Division for research to justify the proposal. Acklin moved to request that State do speed study on N. Main; Reid seconded the motion. Fred Wilken, 93 California St. supported the reduced speed and also noted that there are no rights for pedestrians in the City and that this be considered along with a change in the speed limit on E. ~v~qin Street from the Fire Station east to 35 mph as it is on Siskiyou Blvd. rather than the existing limit of 25 mph. On motion to request study passed unanimously on voice vote. The City Administrator reviewed a letter and schedule of area meetings by the League of Oregon Cities noting that one will be held in Grants Pass on April 18 and asked for response from Council. on intentio~ to attend. A memo from the Director of P.W. noting an emergency ezcavation was ~ecessary on a street under the moratorium (Beswick Way) becaus~ of an electrical problem was read. No action necessary. Ashland City Council 3/6/84 P. 3 PUBLIC FOR~ City Administrator Almquist noted he had received a letter from Sandler Films requesting closures of Thornton at Wimer Street and the alley behind the Elks Club for shooting film between 8 P.M. and 12 Mid- night on April 9 and from 10 P.M. until 2:00 A.M. on April 11. Laws moved to place on agenda; Smith seconded the motion which passed unani- mously on voice vote. Re~d asked if there would be input from area residents. Laws moved to approve and have specific dates checked ~ut; Howard seconded the motion. Corliss called attention to the fact that the Elks have functions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday which could cause problems in the use of the alley. Smith asked iY there is insur- ance to cover the segmen~ of the vehicle flipping over on Wimer and Reid asked the City Attorney if the City is taking responsibility by giving approval. Salter said that it is conceivable the City could be sued in case of a sroblem and recommended that additional insurance coverage be requested for the film shooting as requested. Dale said these items are addressed in the motion picture industry ordinance which is not complete at this time. Law~ withdrew his motion and Howard wdthdrew second. Howard moved pp oval/° a r lk's alley filming provided the Elks okay and that the Wimer filming request be postponed for details as brought up. Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Staff was directed to clarify details. ORDLY~A~YCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS Annexation Fees First reading was given an ordinance amending Chapter 4.16 regarding Annexation fees and charges and Smith moved to second reading; Reid seconded the motion which passed without opposition on roll call vote. Findings for Annexations First reading was given an ordinance amending the Land-use Ordinance relative to required findings for annexations. It was noted that item D appeared twice in the ordinance (typographical). Dale questioned the section which says the Staff Advisor may include other parcels of prop- erty and Almquist explained that other parcels can be added only if there is a change in the property. Laws moved to pass to second reading; Acklin seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. Airport Rezoning Ord. Second reading by title only was given an ordinance rezoning the Ashland Municipal Airport to E-1 (Employment) District and Laws moved to adopt; Smith seconded the motion which passed with Laws, Smith, Howard, Dale and Acklin voting YES; Reid voted against. RESOLUTION/CHARTER ,~ZNDMENTS Councilman Laws asked that the ballot titles be discussed before the Resolution was read. Public input was invited and Karen Darling asked that Council consider the fact that ~here is a water moratorium in effect within the City limits and should be corrected before going out- side the City to make water available. Darling said they have been told it will be 1990 before they get water. Laws explained that it isn't a question of water supply as we have enough for the City and needs within the Urban Growth Boundary. Acklin noted the City has been working with R.W.Beck, Engineers, to get a computer run covering density, zoning etc. and the problem is the size of pipe serving the area, a need for pumping stations etc. and. that hopefully the problem can be solved. continued 3/6/84 P. 3 ,ci-,~u!ar ~x~eet~ng Ashland City Council 3/6/84 CF.\RIER A.~fENDMENT BALLOT 'rirLES RESOLUTION cont. Jack Nicholson, 1575 Greeumeadows Way, noted that the mandatory stream flow in Bear Creek may affect our water availability in the future and the possibility of a shortage resulting from the mandate should be taken into consideration at this time. Alsing shared the concern saying a bill is now in the Senate for a decision and although it won't have an effect on the water situation now, it could have an impact in the future. Reid asked Alsing if there would be enough water to serve the U.G.B. Alsing said the current system is sufficient until a population of 21,000 includ- ing the U.G.B. Smith reconmended that a study session be held and iS the County approved we could get Water Quality Coordinator Eric Dittmer of RVCOG to be present. Laws asked Alsing if the regulation would apply to water presently in our reservoirs and Alsing said it could deal with future storage rights. Smith said a study session on the subject is needed but it is not a related problem. Almquist agreed with Smith say- ing it wouldn't effect the decision on service within U.G.B. Don Rist agreed that the stream flow subject should be studied and added that a study session should be held on the three ballot titles and postpone until the November election. Rist said the language in #51 makes it sound like we have to provide water to implement the Comprehensive Plan. Acklin said that we had Contract Annexation and took it to the County and at the meeting adopted it but since that time Growth Management meetings have been held with input of City committees and there was also an article in the newspaper so the public has been represented in the effort. Acklin said the citizens will have an opportunity for input at the Prim- ary election. Laws said that Council opens up all resolutions and ordin- ances to the public. A1 Willstatter, 128 Central, said the Charter is the City's Constitution and feels that insufficient thought and input has been given the subject to be placing it on the ballot. Chris Hald spoke in opposition to making water available to people within the U.G.B. because they haven't been paying City taxes and problems in the City should be dealt with first. Acklin explained that when a piece of raw land comes into the City it is treated as raw land as far as the tax base is concerned and when the property o~ner consents to annexation it comes in as developed land and as a result the tax base is increased to the benefit of all residents of Ashland. Hald said when any property is developed it will be reassessed anyway and Laws explained that assessed valuation and tax base are two different things. Almquist explained that everyone in the U.G.B. is not going to be offered water but when there is a request from the property owner or developer they must agree to annexation. Reid asked the City Attorney how 10ng the City has to correct a problem in the case of a moratorium and Salter said that we are using R. W. Beck as a resource and they are using the computer to help us answer questions. Salter said the plan is probably in error and we are going back to tbe drawing boards to review the plan. Alsing said that the installation of increased s~ze of pipe on Terrace should help Strawberry Lane. Reid said the people will not understand the ballot measure presented while a moratorium is in effect. Laws agreed that the people might not understand but added that unless we get the contract annexation proposal started we will not have any increase in tax base and it is going to have to be in the Charter. Re~d said if we solve the Strawberry Lane problem in the summer, the Charter amendment would have a better chance of passing in November. ......... continued 3/6/84 P. 4 Ashland City Council 3/6/84 P. 5 CHARTER AMENDMENTS cont. (~'751) ~52 Public Contracting Interest in City Contracts Acklin again said the matters are unrelated and that developed property coming into the City will increase the local tax base. Arlene Mills urged Council to study further and get more citizen input and then put on November election and in the interim give it more publicity. Smith said we do want the item to pass and its a m~tter of how much educating we can do before May. Smith said there have been people waiting for some definite word on what is going to happen to their property and they have been told we are working on a policy and then tell them we are hold- ing it over till November would make it difficult for them. Almquist said that each annexation application must come to Council and if you can't put contract annexation on, you will be putting U.G.B. on hold. Salter said that he has contacted Jim Maddox of the League for language on contract annexation and was told it is technically correct. Smith asked that "further" in the second to last sentence of the explanation be stricken and "on an individual basis where the City Council finds it to be in the best interests of the City". Smith suggested that 9ohncil- members make themselves available to speak to the public on what has been involved in arriving at the proposal. Laws moved to postpone pro- posal until the November election; Reid seconded the motion. Laws, Smith and Reid voted in favor. Howard, Dale and Acklin voted against the motion and the Mayor broke the tie by voting NO. Almquist reread the resoldtion with corrections and added "by contract annexation" in the title. Almquist reviewed the criteria now nsed for public contracting and said the City has been following State law for decades. Reid criticized the wording "originally adopted in 1898" and said it had been revised in 1970 so it loads the question when we use "1898". Reid said we are making the ~arter appear antiquated and the measure is too vague. Reid said we are sot telling the people what we are deleting and this is the reason we need public hearings to explain the proposal. Reid said she cannot support the amendment as written and asked-why a public hearing had not been set so people could attend. Reid said she is opposed to changing the City Charter. Other members asked why she hadn't spoken to them about it during the several weeks of working on it and Reid said she would rather speak in public. Reid said she wished the meet- ing had been advertised as a public hearing. Laws said that people don't come to meetings because its a public hearing but because they are interested. Laws suggested that question be changed to "contracting conform with State law" and Smith suggested that reference to adoption in 1898 be stricken. Almquist read the amended reading and noted we could continue as we have and remain under State law on the subject. The City Administrator reviewed the ballot title calling for a repeal of Charter provisions as they relate to conflicts of interest and relying on State Law. City Attorney'Salter explained that Sec. 244.020 calls for an elected official to declare a conflict of interest before taking action and if there would be benefits to member Or family and then then they would abstain. salter went on to say that if there is no finsncial benefit you can vote. Laws noted that this change in the Charter would allow Councilman Lee Howard to work seasonally for the Parks Department and abstain on any Parks & Recreation issue on Council. Reid said she talked to Gary Butler at the League relative to her own = . ........ continued 3/6/84 P. 5 _r!c_~u__l?r ~i_e~t_j_ng__ Ashland City Council 3/6/84 CHARTER A~NDMENTS continued AUDIT CO~4ITTEE RES. I & M AIR QUALI%~f RES. SWIMT~,!ING POOL FACILITY SERIAL LEVY Transfer of Approp. bus~ness and asked if she could bid on City jobs and was told that if we rely on State law she could do it but it could be challenged by a citizen and processed through the judicial system. Smith asked how this criteria would affect the Budget Conmittee add Salter said it applies only to elected officials.' Ed Chapman spoke in opposition to the proposed change saying that the Charter provision is clear and is a fine provision to have. Laws noted that as a Councilmember, Howard could vote on 99% of the questions before Council and that others could serve the community if we were governed by State law in this instance. Don Rist said no doubt Howard is able to run the swimming pool facility but he will have to make his own decision on that and ~he Charter should remain as it is on the subject. Almquist read the ballot title as amended by Council and read the Resolution as amended. Laws expressed concern that since there are problems with each of the proposed Charter Amendments that they probably should be separated and suggested that the Conflict of Interest ballot title be prepared for the May primary election and delay the others for the November election. Acklin agreed saying that she wouldn't want to jeopardize any of the important amendments. Reid disagreed saying that she opposes putting any of the amendments on the ballot and is against changing the Charter f~r the benefit of one member on the Council. The Mayor noted that the first ballot measure considered is necessary to increase the City's tax base for the benefit of all the people. The }~yor changed his vote on #51 (Water) to YES which would delay until November election. Smith moved that #52 be moved to November election; Howard seconded and the motion passed unanimously on roll call vote. Laws moved to adopt Resolution for measure #53; Smith seconded the motion which passed with Dale, Acklin, Laws and Smith voting YES. Reid voted in opposition to the motion and Howard abstained. A resolution formalizing the establishment, objective and responsibili- ties of the Municipal Audit Committee was presented and Almquist noted the City is covered by insurance for the members. The resolution was read and Howard moved for adoption; Reid seconded and on roll call vote the motion passed unanimously. A resolution endorsing Air Quality ballot measure on March 27 County election relative to vehicle Inspection/maintenance was read snd Howard moved for adoption; Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. A resolution approving ballot title.for proposed Swim Po61/Recreation Facility maintenance serial levy for May 1984 primary election was read and Smith moved to adopt; Laws seconded the motion which passed unanimously. A resolution transferring appropriations within a Fund was read and Laws moved to adopt; Acklin seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. 3/6/84 P. 6 R~7_'J~xlar ~_Ieetj_n.g Ashland City Council 3/6/84 P. 7 OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL~iEMBERS PRESS CONFERENCE ADJOU~qMENT Smith reported that she will bring back more information on SB225 at the next meeting and she doesn't know what the deadline is for conanent but a study session with 208 Water Quality would be worth- while as the mandatory stream flow criteria could possibly even effect our Sewer Treatment Plant operation. Michelle LsBouhty asked what brought up the conflict of interest issue and Laws said the reason he voted for it is because he would like to see Howard continue on the Council and added that when he was running against someone in the 1975, the other candidate was forced to with- draw because he was a pharmacist who had a contract with the Ashland Community Hospital. Laws said the law as it stands is too restrictive~ and the League doesn't have it in their Charter for that reason, Michael Scholl asked which Councilmember brought the matter to the City Administratorls attention and Howard said he did after talking with others in town about the restrictive nature of the conflicts section and that it also applies to him, Scbo 1 asked Howard if he plans on being an employee of the City and Howard said he would await the results of the election before making a decision. Howard added that the amendment would give others an opportunity to serve the City, The meeting adjourned at 10:48 P,M, Nan E. Franklin City Recorder Mayor 3/6/84 P. 7