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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-0701 Council Mtg MINMINUTES FOR THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL July 1, 1997 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL Councilor Laws, Reid, Hagen, Wheeldon and DeBoer were present. absent. Councilor Hauck was APPOINTMENTS. meeting once every year. Members, Mary Jane Tillson and Dan Jackson. meeting. Nickelson and Dr. Dan Jackson. Reported that the Board completed its strategic plan and are busy at this time preparing for the joint commission survey. Reported on a recent and Board Member for two years. Reported on addition of 35 personnel and 18 new physicians to medical staff. Finished 10 years. two new surgery units, with expected completion in September. Reported that the purchase of the Gordon Brown property, adjacent to the hospital, was completed. This property was Assisted Living, as well as a number of other community projects. Their focus is on adding Surgery, EMT and Urology. increased by $3million and cash improved $1million. Reported that gross revenues Explained that some of the challenges fund. spreading out the length of the medicare fund. Even though costs may be going up, they are City Council Meeting 7-01-97 remaining four years, of 1% or more, for low inflation. be even more efficient without impacting quality. This plan will press the hospital to concern. rates. how to do things, the initial connection with Cascadia has not happened. APPROVAL OF MINUTES to agree on and the 4th of July parade." vegetated food waste .... ". ; paragraph 2, last sentence should read "for pre-consumer SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & AWARDS 1. Mayor's Proclamation of July 5, 1997 as "Chad Cota Day" in Ashland. Mayor Golden read proclamation for "Chad Cota Day". CONSENT AGENDA le e e Minutes of boards, commissions and committees. Monthly Departmental Reports- June, 1997. building inspection services. Confirmation of Mayor's appointments to the SDC Committee. the Tree Commission. Confirmation of Mayor's appointment of Elaine Wray to the Housing Commission. vote: all AYES. Motion passed. Voice PUBLIC FORUM exists with relation to the general public and the Ashland Shooting Range. a danger that Raised concern lease a 3.08 acre site. Department to The location is on the Rogue River National Forest for the purposes City Council Meeting 7-01-97 2 Ashland. The range has been used since the early 1960's and expires on 12-31-2014. of the permit. and was asked to leave, as he was "trespassing and on private property". Shared information to the city. The permit stated that the agreement is a non-exclusive use. Commented on the concern for public safety. noncompliance. Some of these noted by Goan were, "holder shall maintain the permit area officer..." landfills "' "holder shall have in force public liability insurance covering .... "; "holder has a continuing responsibility to identify and abate hazardous conditions on the permit area..."; and "holder attached to this permit. ". or suspension of the special use permit. public interest. and His reason for this action, is that it would be in the Mayor Golden requested that a letter be sent to the Forest Service asking that an update given on how a permit is issued for this type of use. be the permit. Explained that there is no alternative as yet for a shooting range, but plan on contacting the Ashland Gun Club to see if there is a source there. "closed to the general public" area. It is part of the US National Forest, but is a municipal water shed which is closed by joint order of the Forest Service and the City of Ashland. Almquist public. That is very important due to fire danger and the integrity of the city water source. below the watershed, along with the creek adjacent to the city park which goes up the street. who City Council Meeting 7-01-97 3 are not trespassing or entering into the Ashland Watershed. Reid would like to direct staff to look at possible alternative sites for the shooting range. Reported on concerns from property hole, that this concern should be seriously looked into. apprised of the law and familiar with the permit process. NEW & MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS 1. Annual report on status of implementation of "Valdez Principles" by Conservation Manager Dick Wanderscheid. "Valdez Principles". 1st of July each year. The ad-hoc committee will plan on giving an update of progress on the Submitted report to council that outlines a list of initiatives under each which are related to the principles. of the principles for the use of city employees in their daily activities. It would also be helpful to integrate these in job descriptions. Suggested using existing safety meetings to educate city employees regarding environmental principles. Discussed ways to educate Ashland citizens. Council commented on several ideas through a possible "green store". Mayor Golden as this would be taking business away from businesses. Felt it may be acceptable to "jump start the market", but only if the private sector was not providing the product. Explained products. Wanderschied reported to council that the "wet pick-up worked on with the assistance of Ashland Sanitary. "for restaurants is currently being as a city and to educate citizen's to do the right thing. By doing this, it would be hopeful that The ad- hoc committee's focus at this time, is with the city. Reported that a memo was recently sent out to all Department Heads outlining the Valdez Principals. 0 Sustainable Communities Project. City Administrator, Brian Almquist presented to council the request on behalf of the Rogue City Council Meeting 7-01-97 4 (HSCP) to the City of Ashland. The Civic League is seeking $1500 from the City of Vision Plan for Jackson and Josephine counties. This funding would support the Community Open impact on the city. They ask that the city become a partner in hosting the "Community Open House". Table discussions and receive input on the draft plan. The have received $5000 from the City of Medford and are making a request to each of the 16 communities. Councilors Laws/Reid m/s to approve request for funding. Motion passed. Voice vote: all AYES. e Skateboard Park on Water Street. Skateboard Park built this summer. Commented on the hard work that the kids involved have spent on this project. Presented designs of construction for council review. comer of Hersey Street and Water Street. $2,500 towards the project. Stated that the kids involved have raised about to complete the project. Reported that the City Parks Department had offered to handle and control all funds raised. Stated that the Skateboard Park would be owned and operated by the City of Ashland through the Ashland Parks Department. regarding their needs and given respect for their actions. then working it through the system. be heard He would like the kids to feel project and The reason she questioned, was that the land requested for the SkateBoard Park, is dedicated park land. park land and funded the development of the land. Mayor explained that the Parks Department Golden Councilor Laws stated that it is important to be reminded that the Parks Commission and the City Council is all a part of the City Government of Ashland. Felt that the request had City Council Meeting 7-01-97 5 That the request for help on this project had been approved. Laws felt that by approaching the City Council with the same request, it was a duplication of what had already been requested to the Parks Commission. Felt there is a lot of benefit for a group to go through the hard work in order to make a project come into existence. Laws agreed with Golden, that the city may be already been given through the Parks Commission for this project. based on their new budget. Sandler explained to council that they were on a deadline of January 1998 which was set by the Parks & Recreation Department. Councilor Wheeldon be a leverage in gathering support for funding. The group associated with the SkateBoard Park, could be a liability problem for the city. . Sandler these boundaries. Sandler would need to work with the City Administrator and through the Parks & Recreation Department to coordinate these efforts. before taking on any new projects. provided by the city. This would be with the understanding that it would not interfere with achievement of any existing priority projects. DISCUSSION- Almquist reported to council that he could support this type of project. Voice vote: All AYES. Motion passed. e Area, south of Crowson Road. City Administrator, Brian Almquist read memo on request by ODOT for water service and gave statistics of use by this information center. Staff reported by memo that if the rest area was relocated to North of the Highway 66 exit, it is believed that this would create a major economic loss for our community. Crowson Road. The city is currently providing sewer service and that they would need to remainder of the line to the South. City Council Meeting 7-01-97 6 sanitation. There is a non-potable well on the site for irrigation only. be equivalent to a single family residence in terms of peak flow. service line. Water Superintendent, water to the boundary. His concern is that they are the fire buffer in this area and that this may be jeopardized with proposed changes in this area. Commented on how the council could not water connection. Concerned with "piece meal" connections for sewer and water. during the Land Use Hearing that ODOT will need to participate in. many neighbors who will be impacted by this proposed building site. not be accessible by way of Crowson Road or any other public roadway. that it would Hearing process It was clarified for council that the sewer line serving the old rest area Roll Call vote: Laws, Reid, Hagen, Wheeldon and DeBoer, YES. Motion passed. e Request by Nancy Richardson to address the City Council regarding a from EPA. Nancy Richardson presented to council a request of pannership for a Student's Sustainable The project will teach students how to build a straw-bale classroom on Ashland High School property. The Affordable Housing Program would be based on both the Student's Sustainable Building Project and the Self-Help Housing Project. The curriculum that the city would be asked to City Council Meeting 7-01-97 7 participate in, would be for the public educational seminar. Stated that the State Building Official Association has agreed to be a partner with this program. Submitted to council a list of others that have agreed to participate in this program. , which seminar. Commission. education efforts. City Administrator Almquist reported that there is funding, from the sale of property on Garfield Avenue, earmarked for use by the Housing Commission for future projects. Laws suggested approving the project by authorizing Housing Commission to provide up to $3,000 of in-kind services, along with the requested $2,000 funding. Mayor Golden Conservation Commission is more active than the Housing Commission. DeBoer pointed out that this project is not housing, but a classroom. Richardson explained that EPA normally doesn't fund buildings, but is making an exception in this case because the building will serve as a model for what it has to offer for affordable housing. the Housing Commission. and what form it would be in regards to cash donation or in-kind services. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS 1. Reading by title only of "a Resolution Electing to Receive State Revenue Sharing." Councilors Reid/DeBoer m/s to approve Resolution//97-30. Roll Call vote: Laws, Reid, Hagen, Wheeldon and DeBoer, YES. Motion passed. OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS Councilor DeBoer requested information on future subjects for study sessions. thought that the topic scheduled was on the Hydraulic Model from OTAK. It was Councilor Wheeldon clarified that the meeting scheduled on LID's may have been misunderstood as a public meeting. That this would be a work session for some of the City Council Meeting 7-01-97 8 councilors and staff to talk about where we are with LID's. Wheeldon was hoping to get on in approaching LID's. Councilor Reid objected to a meeting being held without the public being invited. She felt something, and exclude the public. Did not feel comfortable with allowing councilors to learn or share history and not allow that education to be learned or shared with the public. Does not believe that a closed meeting should take place. meeting is, that they be told this information. That this meeting not be considered a public meeting and not go through the official public notification. It was clarified that this meeting would not be a quorum of the council. staff for information. Hagen explained that the nature of the work done by the committee, was more fact finding rather than problem solving. breaching the public meeting laws when a quorum is present. Wheeldon suggested that this meeting take place at a council study session. There was discussion if there would be enough time to do two items of discussion at the next study session. Wheeldon felt that if be in attendance. Homeowners Association regarding Roca Creek lower channel improvements. City council. Committee. Clements reported that the committee's discussion focused on safety and enforcement concerns. Each member of the committee was provided copies of existing skateboarding ordinances. Stated that the primary goal of the next meeting would be to complete a draft for a modified ordinance. The committee is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, July 2nd. had first been discussed. She clarified that there had never been any discussion on opening up the downtown area for skateboarding, the intent is to increase the downtown corridor and enlarge the area of restriction for skateboarding. City Council Meeting 7-01-97 9 and over the last year. Golden would like council members to support looking into a cost of service study with the hope of lowering electric rates. Believes that a worst case scenario would be around 3 % and best case scenario would be 8 % reduction. Requested that staff look into this and see about bringing our electric rates down. Golden suggested this, because for the city, and would like to pass these savings to the citizens. toward additional conservation efforts. Councilor Reid commented on her interest of the fiber-optic ring and the potential of our utility to become full-service. Would like to take into the various options to our customers. stable rates. more important to the customer than rates that go up and down. about Felt that if there is a large customers. Would like staff to include this kind of information when doing the cost of service study. competitive with utilities outside of the city. The difference between what the actual cost to mn the utility and that comparable rate has been used to fund city services. Believes that we should stick with this as close as possible. We have used the utility as a way to provide benefit of all citizens. rates, of Ashland. Laws would not to like to look at this as only a possibility to reducing ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. Barbara Christensen, City Recorder Catherine M. Golden, Mayor City Council Meeting 7-01-97 10