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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-0803 REG MINROLL C~LL APPROVAL OF MINUTES MINUTES OF COMMISSIONS, COMMITTEES & BOARDS S~ATE REVENUE SHARING LOADING ZONE REQUEST ASHLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS PUBLIC'FORUM PUBLIC HEARING - Nistler MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLiND CITY COL~qCIL August 3, 1976 Mayor Prickerr led the Pledge of Allegiance and called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. on the above date in the Council Chambers. Council- members Hoffarth, Ragland, McCannon, Laws and McDowell were present. Councilman Allen was absent. McDowell moved to approve and place on file minutes of the regular meetin~ of July 20, 1976; second by McCannon and passed unanimously on voice vote McDowell moved to accept minutes of all commissions, boards and con~nittee~ and Laws seconded the motion. On voice vote, all YES. A letter was considered outlining a program for state revenue sharing as submitted by the League of Oregon Cities and urging the City's participa- tion in supportive resolution for a program. Laws moved that City Admin- istrator advise the League President that we are not in favor of state revenue sharing and that reasons be given; second by Hoffarth and on roll call, all YES. Request from the manager of the Mark Antony Hotel for reinstatement of a loading zone for customers was considered. Hoffarth moved that matter be referred to the Traffic Safety Committee; Ragland seconded and on roll call, motion passed unanimously. A letter from Stan Jobe, Superintendent of the Ashland Public Schools was read in which a request was made thst consideration be givsn insta!iaticn of a raised median on ~ighway 66 for protection of children crossing the 70-foot highway and asking that the school administration be included in meetings with the State Highway Oivsfon and the City on development plap~ of the Park Street section of the highway, It was the- consensus of the Council that staff meet with the State to bring out the different recom~ mendat.'ons based on traffic safety needs. There ,.ere no comments from the audience. Mayor Prickerr opened the public hearing. City Administrator Almquist submitted the following to be made part of the record: Appeal letter from James C. Nistler dated July 13, 1976; Sta~ Report dated July 7,197f Planning Commission regular meeting minutes of July 12, 1976; Memo from Planning Commission dated July 30, 1976, letter to Nistler from Newdall dated May 21, 1976; and a letter from Bill Retter and others dated July 8, 1976. Dale Himes showed slide photos of the house under construction and plot plan showing the 8 foot sideyard setback where 15 foot setback is require~ and pointed out ~ere a future extension of Tudor Street would lie in relationship to the house and visual clearance as a result.of its locatio~ on the lot. Himes said that staff would like to suggest that if the appeal is approved that the property owner be made financially responsib~ for extension of Tudor Street should it go through. Almquist added that if Council decides to approve the appeal the matter of a retaining wall would have to be recorded. On Laws question as to whether the City erncts retaining walls, Director of Public Works Alsing said the City does not usually go on private property and can usually get enough right of way LIQUOR LICENSE REQUEST for the necessary slope or secures slope easement. On McCannon's questio ~s tow hen the street will be extended, Alsing said it would be hard to guess, Appellant Nfstler said he felt it was an innocent error on the part of everyone involved. He said he paid $300 for a plan check . Nis- tler said that Planning Commissioner who owns adjoining property did not abstain in voting on variance. Nistler said that there would be no pro- 'blem and that making a retaining wall requirement would be unreasonable. Re said he had paid the City for water and sewer hook-ups and assumed that the problem could be resolved. On Mayor's question as to what Would happen if the street would be kept to 28 ft. wide, Alsing said that it would simply cut down on parking on either or both sides of the street. McDowell asked Nistler if previous to construction he had looked at a plot plan or map of the lots he purchased ~nd he said he had not. McDow- all asked the appellant if this is the first house he has built in Ash- land and he said it was his seventh. McDowell said that the Zoning Ord- inance sets forth certain requirements on corner lots and Nistler said that his office man had submitted the plans and they were approved. Hoffarth said that it appears to be an error on the part of someone in the City and wondered why the job hadn't been red-tagged. Building Insp- ector Chamberlain said that he uses red-tagging as a last resort and that Nistler had been cooperative in the past. Bill Retter of 375 Tudor Street who lives across the street from the construction site said that he has been in construction work and that it is always necessary to submit a plot plan and if the future inter- section wasn't noticed on the map that it certainly should have been noticed physically by the curbing angles. He added that it would seem that the builder felt that it would be easier to get the necessary vari- ance as construction progressed and therefore didn't stop to change the plans to meet requirements. Retter went on to say that the building department might well issue a permit from the plot plan without going out to the construction site. Retter said his main concern is the vision clearance which he claims is cut by 60 or 70% because you can't see around the garage. Ragland said that if we charged for plan check, we erred in grant'.ng the building permit and are liable. On Laws~ question as to the purpose of a certain set-back, Himes said it was to provide adequate air, light and vision along the street. Retter said that he is not satisfied with the vision factor because he couldn't see a pedestrain or automobile and worries about youngsters. He added that the 1967 Comprehensive Plan shows a Jr. High to be built in the area and that Tudor would be the main route to town and the area ~s wide open for development. Mayor Prickett suggested that perhaps a stop sign could be installed on Cambridge if an when a problem resulted at the intersection and Council agreed with his suggestion. Mayor closed the public hearing. Laws moved to grant appeal and adopt findings of fact; Hoffarth seconded and on roll call motion passed unanimously. (Laws pointed out that a retaining wall is not being included in the motion). On the liquor license application submitted by Ronald W. Cherry for the 711 Store, City Administrator Almquist said that it has the approval of the Police Department as long as fingerprints are fonnd to be favoraS!e. Laws moved for approval subject to satisfactory. fingerprint report; Hoffarth seconded and motion passed unanimously on roll call vote. 8/3/76 Page 2 ;e~ular. M_e~ting Ashland City Council 8/3/,7,6~.a~e 3 Administrative Structure GRADE CROSSING SIGNING GREENSPRINGS LANDSCAP, MAYOR'S APPOINTMENTS FINANCIAL CO~ENTARY ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS Taxi Franchise The final report was submitted by the Administrative Reorganization Committee and Almquist recommended that the position of General Services Supervisor be filled as soon as possible and noted that the position of storekeeper has been left vacant since June. Hoffarth asked if the employees and staff involved had had the opportunity to discuss the pro- gram. Nelson said he had discussed the matter with those concerned and had not met with opposition. Hoffarth asked if the reorganization migh solve in-fighting problems of long standing at the warehouse and shops and Nelson said that most of the problems had previously been settled with the staggering of starting and quitting times, Nelson added that he had not polled everyone for their approval. Almquist said that any new concept could cause problems when implemented but anticipates nothi~ unsolvable. He added that there could be some problem among those who have been there a long time in implementing. McDowell suggested that employees be given an opportunity to study the report and go to Council with comments. Mayor Prickett suggested that Nelson, Almquist and all supervisors get together with the employee and then see if they wish to discuss anything with Council. Laws recommended that matter be put on next agenda and that staff make the report available to each employee and that they be told they can come to the next meeting to speak, ~fayor called for a public hearing to be held at next meeting. Director of Public Works Alsing reported that Ashlandis grade crossings have been to State standards and will Just need redoing, Alsing pointed out that many cities have not conformed and this will bring all cities into line with State's standards. Contract with State later on ageride. Merritt Swing was appointed to Senior Citizens Executive Committee by the Mayor, and Francis Jacquemin was appointed to Ashland Water Advisory Comittee. McCannon moved appointments be accepted; second by McDowell and passed unanimously on roll call vote. Counctl accepted Financial Couunentary for year ending June 30, 1976 with no cc I~nent. Financial Commentary of Parks & Recreation for year ending June 30, 1976 was accepted and Mayor Prickett commented on their financial recovery and reminded the Finance Director to keep ~ecOrd-of time expended in 'P~rks accounting, , Ragland said he had received a lotof complaints on the service and that he had voted "NO" on the reduction in service proposal and that a french ise is a different matter than free enterprise - that it is a monopoly and would like to see a public hearing called to reexamine the franchise and so moved; Noffarth seconded. McCannon said the taxi company is faced with losing money during the early morning hours and that the rates will have to be raised to stay open 24 hours or to simply go out of business. He pointed out that a traffic controller has to be on the job and also a cab driver. Laws said he had complaints about the service. Dennis Perkins, owner, said that in order to give better service he would need more revenue to work with and that he feels he can do a better Job in this town than anyone else but can budge~ only two men to wait on calls and if several calls come in at once, there will be a short wait. Perkins said a normal waiting period is about 11 minutes but it Just seems longer to a customer ready to go. Many times when a driver responds he finds no one there. Noffarth wondered if Voris (previous owner) was losing money and Perkins said he was. Perkins said he is looking to triple rates for insurance if he is ~ebu!a:' ~ee=~ng asnlan~ City Council 8/3/76 Page Taxi Ordinance Parking violations ord. Plumbing Fee Ordinance Resolution - parking State Hwy/Ashland con- tract - RR crossings Taxi Public Hearing LIAISON REPORTS Hoffarth said it seems Council gets requests for changes in franchise almost monthly. On Hoffarth's question as to how many trips he had at night, Perkins said that he didn't have that information with him but had reviewed figures with committee. On Hoffarth's suggestion to impose a surcharge, Perkins said that a surcharge of 50¢ would only generate $40.00 per month which wouldn't be enough. Mike Mendiburu spoke from the audience saying he felt a public hearing is in order. McDowell suggested that franchise be amended to permit a carrier from Medford to cover the hours in question. Laws recommended that Medford cab companies be called first to see if they would be interested. Perkins added that cab companies work with a "gentlemen's agreement" and respect one another's territory and thinks the appointment idea would work. Ragland said if Agate can't give the service someone else will have to because Council is responsible to the citizens to provide service. Perkins said if Council agrees to higher rates he can give people 24-hr. service. McCannon could see no reason in holding the matter up any longer. Mayor Prickerr said we agreed to raise fees for golf course and essumes this request is Just as reasonable. On roll call Hoffarth, Ragland, Laws and McDowell voted YES. McCannon voted NO. Mayor set public hear- ing date for next regular meeting. Laws moved not to have first reading of the taxi ordinance and to pursue other service; Ragland seconded and on roll call motion passed unanimously. McDowell moved to table ordinance until after public hearing. _ Ragland seconded and on roll call, all YES with the exception of McCanBon, Motio~ darrled. _ 'Second reading by titia only was given an ordinance amending the A.M.C. sections 11.28.110 which pertained to parking violations fines, so as to provide for both fines and the issuance of w~arrants for arrest. McDowell moved for adoption; Ragland seconded and on roll call, all YES. An ordinance amending Ordinance No 1887 and Section 15.16.240 of A.M.C, w'as given second reading by title ~nly adopting a reduced minimum plumb- ing fee schedule for inspections. McDowell moved to adopt; second by Laws and on roll call, all YES. A resolution establishing parking limitations on North Clay Street between Siskiyou Blvd., and the Ashland Student Housing parking lot was read. Hoffarth moved for adoption; McDowell seconded and the motion passed unanimously on roll call vote. McDowell moved to authorize the Mayor and City Recorder to sign the contract with Oregon State Highway Division relative to installation of advance warning signs at railroad crossings under Highway Safety Act of 1973. McCannon seconded and on voice vote, all YES. Mayor and Council agreed to move the public hearing on the Taxi franchis~ to Monday, August 9, 1976 at 7:30. McDowell reported that Cable TV committee has been working on a ques- tionnaire for a telephone survey to be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and said she would bring a copy of same to the Monday meeting. McDowell said the committee will wind up its study and submit report to Council after the telephone survey is completed. BAND COMMITTEE ADJOURN~NT McCannon reported that Dave Wight had asked to be relieved~of hcading t3%e Baud C~-~4ttee and the committee is working up criteria for replac- ing him. Meeting adjourned to Monday, August 9, 1976 at 7:30 p.m. i ett