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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-1018 REG MINMINUTES OF TItE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL October 18, 1983 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE .~ND ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINLrfES SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC tlEARING Mayor Medaris called the meeting to order after leading the Pied:i of Allegiance at 7:30 P.M. on the above date in Civic Center Council Chambers. Piesent were Reid, Smith, Laws, Dale and Howard. Acklin was absent~ Dale moved to approve minutes of the regular meeting of October 4 1983; Smith seconded and the motion passed unanimously on voice vote. The City Administrator reviewed the Supplemental Budget saying that a Capital Improvements Fund is being established for Hydroelectric Bond Sale. Almquist noted that the bids had come in higher than the Engineer's estimate and will review bids and come back with a recommendation for the November 1 meeting on how the differential can be made up. Almquist reviewed the HydroeleCtric Bond Sinking Fund portion of the Supplemental Bud- get as well as Capital improvements as they relate to the Com- munity Development Block Grant recently received for the rehab- ilitation loans and related costs for housing stock. Mayor Medaris opened the public hearing and in the absence of comments closed the public hearing and asked Almquist to read the Resolu- tion. Almquist read the Resolution and Laws moved to adopt; Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. City Administrator Almquist reviewed the background of the pro- posal combine the police and fire departments under one Director saying that a study session had been held by Council and that at their meeting early in the year Council had earmarked the pro- posal of one of its strategic plans to reorganize and streamline administration of the City. Atmquist said that meetings have been held with Police and Fire Department management over a period of months which has lead to the proposal before Council. Almquist noted that two-thirds of the budget (General Fund) is earmarked for Public Safety and said that ten years ago the bud- get has increased from $594,000 to $1,862,000 which adds up to a 213% hike in ten years. Almquist stressed the need not only to contain costs but to reduce where possible without the loss of the life-saving services of the departments. Almquist said the goal of the City Council is to look at all Administrative Services and not just Public Safety. Almquist said he has eight department heads that report to him and ideally a manager should have no more than three or four saying it is spreading him too thin. Almquist said costs should be looked at now while we are not in a financial bind rather than looking for answers under duress. A!mquist said the Resolution creating the department of public safety carries a transfer of appropriations to deal with salary schedule amendments. Almquist said the Department of Public Safety would have the present Police Chief as its Director, the present Lieutenant would be made Police Chief and Deputy Director, the Fire Chief would be Depnty Director and the Administrative Sergeant would be directly under the Police Chief. 10/18/83 P. 1 R.j_gular Meeting Ashlal~d City Council 10/18/~33 F. 2 PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC HRG. continued Almquist said the proposal is for a period of 24 months at ~ich time a reevaluation will take place and recommendation on find- ings to City Council on over-all plan with cost reductions on or before November 1, 1985. Almquist said that should the plan call for salary implementation beyond those noted that we would go into collective bargaining before the adoption of the plan and noted details on Exhibit "A". Laws asked that cost savings be reiterated for clarification and Police Chief Lively said that overtime will be looked into, duplication of services and other interdepartmental cost savings will be further investigated immediately and developed further as the plan gets rolling. The Mayor opened the public hearing. Elliott Reinert representing the Chamber of Commerce said the Board of Directors had met several times looking into the pro- posal and had met with the Police Chief in an effort to have public input into the development of the plan should it become effective by resolution. Reineft stressed the need for input by citizens because of the visibility of the Police and Fire Depart- ment activities ~aying there has been quite a lot oc comment on these departments in recent years and recommended that five citizen members be included in the Task Force. Reinerr said the Board had met with Lively who said the task force would be an administrative arm to develop the plan and sboutd be handled as any other administrative implementation. Re]nert agreed with the Chief's rationale on that issue and asked that a Public Safety Commission be established as an alternative to meet with Thief Lively once a month beginning early in the plan. Mayor Medaris assured the public that he wants them informed and has no objection to anyone meeting with Chief Lively or the task force. The Mayor continued to say that the realignment of admin-- istrative services is the responsibility of the Mayor and City Council as outlined in the Charter. Medaris said information from the public will be welcomed but that he can see no need for a Public Safety Commission but said the Chamber Board should be encouraged to meet with Chief Lively from time to time. Howard suggested that the public be given the opportunity to speak and upon completion of their input that the plan and objections/ support can be discussed. Tom Reid said he sat on the Chamber Board and said there has been a lot of concern about the process being proposed and agrees there should be continuous input or at the end of two years the inertia would be tremendous and by that time itwould be out of control. Reid said this is why the community is concerned that the plan will not be subject to the open meetings law and urged Council to establish criteria. Reid said the community should have input where tax dollars are concerned and interest would dwindle but there should be a group to oversee the task force implementations. Emile Cloutier, 904 Beswick, said there would be adequate checks and balances with the Task Force reporting to Council in open meetings and said it should not be hindered during its exploration of ideas. .......... continued 10/18/83 P. 2 ~Rejl_u]ar- Meetin_g Ash ~and Citv Council PUBLIC SAFETY PUBLIC HRG. continued SALE OF CORPORATION YARDS PUBLIC HEARING Don Rist, 310 Bridge Street, disagreed with Cloutier saying that he sat on the Citizens Revenue Committee and that public input into government is important. Rist supported the idea of a commitee to work witb Administration. Reid agreed saying that people want free-flowing ideas with the public scrutiny of the press. Allan Sandler agreed with the appointment of a conmission and asked what would be wrong with getting citizens involved. Mayer said he has no problem with input but a committee is not needed. A gentleman in the audience asked wbere money would be saved and Almquist said the Director would be 6½% increase for additional responsibilities and will be looking in many areas for cost savings besides those mentioned earlier. Mayor Medaris closed the public hearing and turned the discussit back to Council. Council discussed the need for public input and Lively said he would welcome it and meet with anyone wantint to discuss the matter and would be reporting back from time to time to keep Council aware of developments. Almquist said that in the early stages time Would be spent bathering information and than regular reporting could take place. Laws suggested that the term Task Force be stricken and that professional man- agement be used. Howard agreed there should be progress report~ and Smith said this would assure the public that information · would be available. Almquist made corrections in the Resolutio~ as suggested by Council and read the resolution. Smith moved to adopt as amended; Howard seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. Almquist reviewed City Attorney Salter's memorandum outlining proposed guidelines for the proposed sale of the Water Stree~ and "A" Street properties. Almquist added that the public hea~ ing was advertised in the newspaper and that both properties are zoned E-1 which allows for a variety of uses. Almquist reviewed the terms of sale which resulted from meetings with Salter and said that Lawrence Brown, Appraiser for the proper- ties is in the audience and would respond to questions. Salter said if an'offer comes in it would be held for 30 days to see if there are other offers with better terms possibly. Reid asked if the 30 days was called for by State law and Salter sai! it was just to give people a chance to get offers in. Reid said she would be in favor of a longer period of time. Howard questioned the rationale of precluding subordination saying thn most people wouldn't be able to purchase the building outright before construction if they planned another use besides the existing building. Salter explained that is unconstitutional to let private industry use it's credit and added he would like to research that point. Salter said his reason for the sub- ordination clause was if someone built on the property a struct. ure of no use to the City it would not only cost but be a detri- ment as well. Dale reviewed ideas on offers of total price and discount for cash offer etc, 10/18/83 P. 3 R~ar Meeting Ashlane: City Council CORPORATION YARDS SALE CABLE TV PAY STATION PROPOSAL Brown recommended that the City not subordinate because in his experience he has seen problems when buyer defaults. Allan Sandler said he is interested in the "A" Street location and would negotiate with the Cit~ with a park-like studio development in the Historic District which would enhance the District and be something the City would be proud of. Sandler agreed with the subordination stance mentioned by Salter and Appraiser Brown. Dale suggested that a time to sell be set and then ~ist with local Realtors should their service be needed. Jim Smay said he may be interested in one of the parcels also and suggested the properties be on open listing. Mayor Medar~s closed the public hearing and Howard moved that Mayor form committee to work with Staff and bring back recom- mendations at November 1 meeting including terms of sale; Smith seconded the motion. ~yor appointed Dale, Howard and Acklin to tbe committee. On voice vote the motion passed with- Out oppoSitiOn on vbiC~ vote. A petition from 550 Ashland residents requesting establishment of a local pay station for Cable TV patrons was reviewed by the City Administrator who explained the issue was held over due to prior commitment of McCaw Cablevision representatives at the last meeting. Cal Cannon representing McCaw said there are a number of reasons they don't have a pay station in Ashland and noted the expense of the Accounts Receivable office would be a duplication and that the system is not adequate to support a sattelite office. Cannon said that the billing system being modified will be ready in 1985, and if the subscriber wants a pay station and is willing to pay the expense of operating it, it can be done. Tiny Jones said his operation of the pay station for P~rB and CP National has facilitated the payment of bills by local resi dents and has been successful for the utilities involved. Jones said the petition was started in August and since it has been turned in a great number of people have since responsed to sign the petition. Jones said the cost would be only $200 or so per month and the utility would get the money daily by receipt of the bank deposit and the customers are listed by alphabetical or account numbers and that anyone can see who is delinquent etc. Dale recommended that time be given McCaw to get its system to a point where a paystation would be poss- ible. Howard moved to allow two yearm before further recommend ation is made on matter; Laws seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. 10/18/83 P, 4 _~ular ,'!col i~lL Ashlau~d C:in~_* Coui~cj ]. 10,11~'L/83 LIQUOR LICENSE APPLICATIONS BUDGET COMMISSIONER BINNEWIES RESIGNATION 9-1-1 FUNDING FOR DISPATCH CTR TRAFFIC SAFETY RECOMMENDATION VOTING DELEGATE FOR L.O.C. CONVENTION AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS PUBLIC FOR~,I ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS & CONTRACTS Comp Plan Amendments Land-Use Amendments Howard moved to approve liquor license applications for Poor Richards Productions and Jazmin's; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Laws moved to approve liquor license application from Under- ground Gourmet Deli; Smith seconded the motion which passed without opposition on voice vote. A letter of resignation was received from Budget Commissioner Binnewies and Medaris noted the position would be advertised' and appointment made on November 1, 1983. Laws moved to approve request as outlined in Fire Chief King's letter relative to using funds from telephone tax for upgrad- ing dispatch center; Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. Almqulst read a memo with recommendation from the Traffic Safety Commission regarding parking prohibitions on Union Street at Siskiyou Blvd.~ and Laws moved to adopt; Reid seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote, Councilwoman Karen Smith volunteered to act as voting delegate alternate for League Convention with Medaris being voting delegate. A letter requesting permission to submit a grant application to F.A.A. for runway safety improvements was read and Airport Commissioner Ken Jones reviewed the offer made by F.A.A. to make funds available for the safety modifications. Laws moved to approve application and to come up with matching funds; Howard seconded the motion which passed unanimously on voice vote. No response from audience. First reading was given an ordinance adopting amendments Eo the Comprehensive Plan and Laws moved to second reading; Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. First reading was given an ordinance amending Title 18 of AMC relative to land-use regulations and Smith moved to adopt; Howard seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote, 10/18/83 P. 5 ~e~tar Meetin~ Ashland Ci_ty Council 10./24/83 ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS continued Transfer of Appropriations Airport RezoDing OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUN- CIL MEMBERS PRESS CONFERENCE ADJOURNMENT Nan E. Franklin City Recorder A resolution transferring appropriations within a fund was read and Smith moved to adopt; Laws seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote. A resolution of intention to rezone Ashland Municipal Airport to E-1 (Employment) District was read and Laws moved to adopt; Howard seconded the motion which passed unanimously on roll call vote, LeBounty (MMT) asked Chief Lively what would be happening in the Public Safety Department between now and November 1 and Lively said the there will be intense planning meetings and his office will be relocated to Judge Drescher's office because of the Judge infrequent use of same. Scholl (DT) '~asked why the name of tlre Task Force was changed and Almquist said the group would be comprised of Management only and Task Force would be inappropriate in this instance. The meeting adjourned to 10:00 P.M. L. ~ordon Medaris Mayor 10/18/83 P. 6