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Home My WebLink About11/05/02 Council - Reg Minutes MINUTES FOR THE REGULAR MEETING ASHLAND CITY COUNCIL November 5, 2002, 7:00 p.m. Civic Center Council Chambers, 1175 E. Main Street CALL TO ORDER Mayor DeBoer called the meeting to order in the Civic Center Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Councilor Laws, Reid, Jackson, Morrison, and Hearn were present. Councilor Hartzell arrived at 7:04 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of October 15, 2002 were approved as presented. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS & AWARDS Mayor's Proclamation of National Recycling Awareness Week was read aloud. CONSENT AGENDA 1. Minutes of Boards, Commissions, and Committees. 2. Confirmation of Mayor's appointment of Launa Huffines to the Ashland Fiber Network Programming Committee for a term to expire April 30, 2005. 3. Liquor License Application from E. "Beasy" McMillan dba HongKongBar at 23 North Main Street. 4. Quarterly Financial Report: July - September, 2002. 5. Adoption of Findings for Planning Action #2002-052, Request for Site Review Approval for a 13-unit Cottage Style Condominium Development for the Property located at 2275 Siskiyou Boulevard. The Application includes a variance to Rear Yard Setback Standards and for Distance Between Buildings. Councilors Jackson/Reid m/s to approve Consent Agenda. Voice Vote: all AYES. Motion passed. PUBLIC HEARINGS (None) PUBLIC FORUM (None) UNFINISHED BUSINESS (None) NEW AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS 1. Approval of Amendment No. 1, Highway 66 Access Management Project between the City of Ashland and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Public Works Director Paula Brown briefly explained that this amendment provides an additional $100,000 in direct grant monies to the City for the Access Management Grant for the remainder of the Ashland Street Project. The total grant to the City comes to $550,000. She updated the Council on the progress of the project noting that paving will be completed tomorrow. Councilors Morrison/Hartzell m/s to approve the Amendment No. 1, Highway 66 Mangement Project between the City of Ashland and ODOT. Voice Vote: all AYES. Motion passed. 2. City and Parks Cooperative Effort to Consolidate Accounting Functions. Finance Director Lee Tuneberg gave a brief update on the actions being taken by the City and Parks staff to consolidate accounting functions, as recommended by Council and the Budget Committee. He explained that both departments perform similar tasks, including: payroll, accounts payable, financial reporting and budgeting. Savings are anticipated through the reduction of various systems costs and the coordination of efforts. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS AND CONTRACTS 1. First reading by title only of "An Ordinance Adding Chapter 2.17, Public Arts Commission, to the Ashland Municipal Code." Council discussed the issue, suggesting the following changes to the wording of the ordinance: Ashland City Council Meeting Page 1 of 3 November 5, 2002 · Page 1, Section 2.17.005 Purpose - Modify the fourth sentence to read, "Several organizations which exist in Ashland are active in the arts and provide leadership to the community on arts related matters." Modify the fifth sentence to read, "The creation of a Public Arts Commission for the City of Ashland will assist those organizations, and other organizations and individuals, to make public art a more important part of the City's life." · Page 1, Section 2.17.020 Members; Terms - Modify the second sentence to read, "The commission shall contain five members from a broad spectrum of citizens including artists and those with a background in the arts, arts organizations, education, structural and landscape architecture, and two citizens at large." · Page 1, Section 2.17.020 Members; Terms - Modify the third sentence to read, "The mayor shall also designate a non-voting council member as liaison to the commission." · Page 3, Section 2.17.090 Policies - Eliminate the present "subsection A.," and re-number remaining sub- sections. · Page 3, Section 2.17.080 Policies - Subsection C: Modify to read, "The Public Arts Commission shall not endorse any commercial product or enterprise. The commission may also serve as a resource for artistic components of land-use developments." · Page 2, Section 2.17.070 subsection A sub-subsection 4. Powers and Duties - Modify to read, "The commission shall advise the planning commission, the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission, other city commissions and committees and city departments regarding artistic components of all municipal government projects under consideration by the city." Kip Todd/1630 Greenmeadows Way/Spoke in support of the ordinance and the proposed changes to the wording. Richard Benson/351 Morton Street/Spoke in favor of the ordinance and offered points for consideration, including, 1.) direct and indirect costs to the City; 2.) present inventory of art objects currently stored, and; 3.) what is meant by "art," and that guidelines on this be left up to the commission. It was noted that an email was received from Colin Swales urging that the ordinance be moved forward. It was suggested that the commission be allowed to work with various organizations in promoting the arts. It was clarified that the language of the ordinance may cause a problem with this in the future but that if it does, the issue could be dealt with at that time. Councilors Hartzell/Reid m/s to approve first reading and move to second reading with modifications suggested by the Council tonight. Roll Call Vote: Laws, Reid, Hartzell, Jackson, Morrison and Hearn, YES. Motion passed. 2. First reading by title only of "An Ordinance Modifying Chapter 15.04 of the Ashland Municipal Code Regarding Building Demolition and Relocation, Requiring Demolition Debris Diversion Plans in accord with Adopted Standards." Community Development Director John McLaughlin explained that this ordinance would regulate the disposal/recycling of demolition debris in order to divert 50% of those materials from the waste stream and that this would be figured as a percentage of total waste from each project. It was noted that the schedule thresholds are a reference and represent the minimums that can be taken to the various agencies. Staff recommended that the Council approve first reading of the proposed ordinance modifying the building demolition ordinance regarding debris diversion. Councilors Hartzell/Reid m/s to approve first reading and move to second reading of ordinance. Roll Call Vote: Morrison, Reid, Hearn, Laws, Hartzell and Jackson, YES. Motion Passed. 3. Reading by title only of "A Resolution Authorizing a Financing Loan from the Special Public Works Fund by Entering into a Loan Contract with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department for the Community Development/Public Works Administration Building." Finance Director Lee Tuneberg explained that this resolution is a final step for the OECCD financing. Ashland City Council Meeting Page 2 of 3 November 5, 2002 Councilors Jackson/Reid m/s to approve Resolution # 2002-30. Roll Call Vote: Hartzeil, Jackson, Laws, Hearn, Morrison and Reid, YES. Motion passed. 4. Reading by title only of "A Resolution Adopting a New Fee Schedule for the City of Ashland Building Division Electrical Inspection Program." Community Development Director John McLaughlin explained that this would place Ashland's fee schedule in line with other jurisdictions in the region, and that the attached fee table is one issued by the State of Oregon. Councilors Hartzell/Hearn m/s to approve Resolution #2002-31. Roll Call Vote: Reid, Morrison, Jackson, Laws, Hartzell and Hearn, YES. Motion passed. OTHER BUSINESS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS Council raised concerns regarding recent fires in town and discussed the City's weed abatement policy. Question was raised regarding how abatement problems might be dealt with in the future. Councilors Reid/Hartzell m/s to place discussion regarding weed abatement on agenda. Voice Vote: all AYES. Motion passed. Staff explained that the current City code does not allow for fire suppression costs and that these could not be charged to landowners who fail to abate weed hazards. It was noted that the City has also been neglectful in abatement and that caution should be used in addressing this issue. Suggestion was made that in the future the City be more aggressive in dealing with various potential fire hazards. Present policies were clarified, including that Staff sends out several hundred notices each year. Most are readily complied with, but a few are not. McLaughlin noted the difficulties with the Southern Pacific property due to the large amount of debris and hazardous materials on the ground. The expense associated with clean-up for these properties would exceed the weed abatement program' s entire budget for the year. He suggested investigating ways to become more aggressive in contacts with non- compliant property owners. DeBoer commented that he would personally call the railroad and have the area cleaned up and mowed next year. It was suggested that the Mayor bring back a report on this within a few months. Mayor reminded all of the study session scheduled for Wednesday, November 06, 2002. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Jan Brunelle, Assistant to the City Recorder /" John }t/Iorr~o~-,, eoun[il Chair Ashland City Council Meeting Page 3 of 3 November 5, 2002