City Council Minutes - 11/22/2011 City of Tigard
Tigard Business Meeting - Minutes
TIGARD CITY COUNCIL, LOCAL CONTRACT REVIEW BOARD AND
CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
MEETING DATE AND November 22, 2011 — 6:30 p.m.
TIME:
MEETING LOCATION: City of Tigard - Town Hall - 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,
Tigard, OR 97223
• STUDY SESSION
Track 1
Mayor Dirksen called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Name Present Absent
Mayor Dirksen ✓
Council President Buehner ✓
Councilor Henderson ✓
Councilor Wilson ✓
Councilor Woodard ✓
Staff present: Interim City Manager Newton,City Recorder Wheatley,Assistant to the City
Manager Mills,Assistant Finance and IT Director Smith-Wagar,Redevelopment Project
Manager Farrelly, Senior Management Analyst Wyatt, Community Development Director
Bunch, Finance and Information Services Department Director LaFrance, City Attorney Ramis
• STUDY SESSION
A. Discussion of Banking Services Contract
Assistant Finance and IT Director Smith-Wagar presented the staff report:
• The city now banks with US Bank. The city is limited by state law as to the
selection of the primary bank account. It has to be a full-service bank approved
by,the state.
• The state changed the manner in which cities' deposits are collateralized,which
affected the list of approved banks.
• The city has been banking with US Bank for a long time. This bank provides all
of our primary services: general checking,credit card processing, and our lock
box where a majority of the utility bill payments are mailed.
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• The city is at the end of its five-year contract with US Bank. This means we
would either have to issue an Request for Proposal (RFP) and go through this
process, or we can tag on to Lane County's RFP as provided by ORS 279A.215.
After going through the RFP process,Lane County selected US Bank.
• Staff is recommending that the city remain with US Bank.
• There was brief discussion after Council President Buehner recalled the time
about three years ago when the city requested a line of credit. The US Bank
agreed to issue the line of credit but would charge the city interest on the entire
amount even if the city only utilized a small portion. This event occurred at the
time the banking industry was in distress and the banks were all being
conservative in how they were conducting business.
• In response to a question from Councilor Henderson,Assistant Finance and IT
Director Smith-Wagar said that the city does much of its business with the local
US Bank branch. However services are also received from US Bank locations in
Portland and in Minneapolis.
• In response to a question from Councilor Woodard,Assistant Finance and IT
Director Smith-Wagar confirmed that US Bank is the only bank with the lock
box service in Oregon. This service processes the utility billing payments.
• In response to a question from Councilor Henderson,there is a procedure
safeguarding the city if the bank should fail. Assistant Finance and IT Director
Smith-Wagar explained the manner the bank provides collateral with pledges in
federal bonds.
• After discussion,the consensus of the City Council was for staff to move
forward with the banking contract using Lane County's contract and the
permissive cooperative procurement method. This matter will be scheduled on
the December 20, 2011 City Council meeting agenda.
Track 2
B. Identify Preliminary Legislative Priorities for the 2012 Oregon Legislative Session
Senior Management Analyst Wyatt presented the information for this agenda item:
• The 2012 Legislative Session will begin on February 1,2012.
• The Metro Parks District Bill has come up again. It sounds as if there might
not be a great deal of support. There is an early December meeting that the
Mayor will be attending on this subject. Mayor Dirksen explained that this is
the attempt by Metro to have a restriction removed so Metro could create
special districts. Specifically,it is Metro's desire to create a special district
(the size of the Metro area) to become a taxing authority to collect tax money
for parks maintenance and parkland restoration. In response to a question
from Councilor Henderson,if the restriction is removed from state law, that
would open the door to create any special district they choose if approved by
a vote of the people.
• Oregon Investment Act—The plan is to propose a framework in the 2012
Session to create jobs and open up funding for small businesses. The State
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Treasurer and Governor are co-sponsoring the proposal;however, details at
this point are vague.
• Revenues have not come in as well as the state had hoped and there is a
$100+ million deficit. Senior Management Analyst Wyatt referenced the
potential of a temporary or permanent action that would affect state-shared
revenues. There might be some pressure this session to institute reforms
that would affect the budget process.
• House Bill 2712,passed in the 2011 session, altered the distribution system
for municipal court fines. The League of Oregon Cities has requested the
examination of some of the language approved; that is, the language that was
approved is not necessarily the intent of the legislation. A ruling has just
come down from the Department of Justice about local ordinances and how
under the new system,parking tickets and several other items would be
exempt from the fines affected by the law.
• Senator Burdick and Representative Doherty will be holding a meeting in
Tigard Town Hall to preview the 2012 Legislative Session.
• Staff will update the City Council on Session activities in 2012.
• Former City Manager Prosser was appointed to serve on the TriMet Board
of Directors.
• Discussion followed about the economy in Washington County,which has
the lowest unemployment rate in the state and is one of the counties in better
financial condition in the entire country. There was discussion on the fact
that foreclosures were up in number in Washington County and there was
speculation that this might be because there was a moratorium holding banks
back on foreclosures for a period of time.
(Administrative Items were reviewed after the Executive Session.)
C. Administrative Items
A joint meeting with the Tigard-Tualatin School Board is scheduled for Monday,
January 30,2012. A light dinner will be available at 6:30 p.m.with the meeting
beginning at 7 p.m. City Council consensus was that no television coverage should
be arranged for this meeting. Mayor Dirksen suggested"Field Coordination" as one
of the topics for the agenda.
Council Calendar:
• Thursday and Friday,November 24 and 25 -Thanksgiving Holiday, City Hall closed.
• Tuesday,December 6, 2011,Council goal-setting meeting,noon-5 p.m. at Fanno Creek
House.
• Tuesday,December 13, 2011, Regular business meeting; 6:30 p.m. study session and 7:30
p.m. business meeting.
• Tuesday,December 20,2011,Business meeting; 6:30 p.m. study session and 7:30 p.m.
business meeting. (I'his business meeting will take the place of the regularly scheduled
Workshop meeting.)
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• Tuesday,December 27,2011,Regular business meeting canceled.
• EXECUTIVE SESSION:At 7:01 p.m. the Tigard City Center Development Agency went
into Executive Session to discuss real property transaction negotiations and the Tigard City
Council went into Executive Session to discuss pending litigation with legal counsel under
ORS 192.660(2) (e) and (h).
Executive Session concluded at 7:30 p.m.
7:30 PM
1. BUSINESS MEETING - NOVEMBER 22,2011
A. Mayor Dirksen called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. le
B. Roll Call
Name Present Absent
Mayor Dirksen ✓
Councilor President Buehner ✓
Councilor Henderson ✓
Councilor Wilson ✓
Councilor Woodard ✓
C. Pledge of Allegiance
D. Council Communications &Liaison Reports 0
See Agenda Item No. 9 for City Council members' reports.
E. Call to Council and Staff for Non-Agenda Items: None.
2. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION
A. Follow-up to Previous Citizen Communication: None.
B. Citizen Communication—Sign Up Sheet ® None.
I@
3. PROCLAMATION - PROCLAIM DECEMBER 4-10 AS HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK
Mayor Dirksen issued the proclamation.
IR
Tigard Police Captain Jim deSully spoke as a representative of the Washington County
Human Rights Council. He thanked the Mayor and City Council for helping commemorate
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Human Rights Week and Human Rights Day,December 10, 2011. Most of the Washington
County jurisdictions have issued similar proclamations,including Banks,Beaverton,
Cornelius,Forest Grove, Hillsboro,King City,North Plains, Sherwood,Tualatin and the
Washington County Board of Commissioners. The county Human Rights Council was
launched in 2006 to promote respect and dignity of all people by supporting a community
where every person is valued and equal rights and diversity are embraced.
10 Mayor Dirksen reviewed the Consent Agenda:
4. CONSENT AGENDA: (Tigard City Council and Local Contract Review Board)
A. Approve Council Meeting Minutes:
August 23,2011
September 13, 2011
Geteber 14, 204-1- The October 11, 2011 minutes were set over to October 25,
2011, for City Council consideration.
B. Local Contract Review Board:
1. Contract Award-Hydro-geological Services Related to Aquifer Storage and
Recovery Program
Motion by Council President Buehner, seconded by Councilor Wilson, to approve the
Consent Agenda with the exception of the October 11, 2011, City Council minutes,which will
be placed on the October 25, 2011, City Council Consent Agenda for consideration.
The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of City Council present.
Mayor Dirksen Yes
Council President Buehner Yes
Councilor Henderson Yes
Councilor Wilson Yes
Councilor Woodard Yes
El
5. UPDATE FROM THE PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD (PRAB)
REGARDING A CITY RECREATION PROGRAM
Park and Recreation Advisory Board (DRAB) Chair Troy Mears and Vice Chair Holly Polivka
presented the update to the City Council. Other PRAB members present: Margaret (Peggy)
Faber and Marshall Henry.
Mr. Mears and Ms. Polivka spoke about the upcoming city budget and City Council goals
consideration. They referred to the Tigard Parks Master Plan and the results of the citizen
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survey as the basis of support for consideration for advancing community recreation activity
services provided by the City of Tigard. After their presentation, Chair Mears and Vice Chair
Polivka summarized the request from the PRAB:
10 The PRAB would like the City Council to include a community and recreation activities
program for the 2012-13 budget. Vice Chair Polivka added that the PRAB proposes that the
city have someone or multiple persons facilitate recreational activities in the city.
® City Council discussed PRAB's request with the Chair and Vice Chair:
• Council President Buehner commented that the Summerfield area already provides a
recreation outlet for its residents and this should be taken into consideration when
proposing a program to be supported by city tax dollars. She also referred to the Senior
Center and activities currently provided.
• Chair Mears and Vice Chair Polivka concurred with Council President Buehner's
observations and proposed the initial city recreation program might consist of city
coordination of the activities currently available so residents can take advantage of them.
This coordination could be a starting point to grow a city recreation program. The plan
would not be to offer redundant services provided by other groups.
• ® Councilor Henderson noted the citizen survey results were only recently released and he
has not had an opportunity to thoroughly review the information. It appears that a major
segment of the residents support a city-run recreation program. Mayor Dirksen noted
presentation of the survey results is scheduled later on tonight's agenda. This topic was
moved up on the agenda and PRAB members were encouraged to stay during the
presentation and discussion.
• Councilor Woodard,as the City Council Liaison to the PRAB,thanked the board members
for all the work they have done this year identifying property acquisitions utilizing the
proceeds of the parks bond. He said the one of the Board's priorities is to contemplate a
city recreation program. He thanked the board for listening to the citizens and bringing this
forward to the City Council. He spoke of different concepts of a city recreation program
and opportunities to find ways to work together. He referred to the work by the City Center
Advisory Commission and the efforts needed to identify a location for a downtown park
plaza. He also offered that recreation programming could also benefit the local economy.
• Mayor Dirksen said he believes that the only reason the city does not have a recreation
program is due to lack of funding. He referred to an upcoming meeting of the Tigard City
Council with the Tigard-Tualatin School Board and one of the agenda items will be a
discussion of coordination of community recreation facilities through a single office;i.e.,
potential for joint funding.
• Councilor Henderson said he previously served as the City Council Liaison to the PRAB and
thanked them for their work.
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> The agenda was rearranged; Item No. 8 was discussed at this time:
11
8. RECEIVE AND DISCUSS FINDINGS FROM THE 2011 COMMUNITY ATTITUDES
SURVEY
Senior Management Analyst Wyatt introduced this agenda item. Consultant Bob Beaulauier
from Research 13 presented a PowerPoint slideshow highlighting how the survey was
conducted, an Executive Summary,and survey results. The presentation slideshow,Results of
2011 Community Attitudes Survey,is filed with the council meeting materials.
City Council discussion and questions:
• Councilor Wilson referred to the demographic information citing the median age of
respondents was age 57 and 88 percent were homeowners. He asked how this
compared with the census data. He also asked how the researchers deal with the
situation where there are diminishing amount of households that have landline telephone
service. Councilor Wilson said he suspects that researchers are connecting with an older
population to answer the survey. He asked for an explanation of how researchers "true
up" their results to assure it is a representative sampling. Mr. Beaulauier said Councilor
Wilson's observations are often brought up when this type of survey is conducted. He
reviewed how they approached the survey,which was to identify"population
proportionate by areas." He explained they did not choose to compile the survey results
by selecting quotas for a certain type of responder because the sampling method used
often for a voter issue and issues around citizenship does mean the responders represent
an older group. Unlisted telephone numbers and cell-phone only households were
included in the survey sampling.
• In response to an observation from Council President Buehner,Mr. Beaulauier agreed
that if the survey would have been targeted to a frequent-voter group,that this would
have resulted in an older population with a greater percentage of homeownership. He
added that the survey was conducted similarly as to the method used for the 2009 citizen
survey so results could be tracked longitudinally.
• Mr. Beaulauier concurred with Councilor Wilson's understanding that the method used
would result in a representative sampling of a person who is a voter. Mr. Beaulauier said
if the target was based on census data, then they would not have been able to compare
the results to the 2009 survey.
• Mayor Dirksen asked if Mr. Beaulauier would recommend adjusting the methodology in
the future by targeting it more towards census data. Mr. Beaulauier said this would not
necessarily mean the results would be "more representative" of overall citizen opinions,
but would be a "different representation." He suggested asking different questions and
targeting a "complementary sample" of responders. He pointed out that they"bumped
up" the sample this time by also conducting an Internet survey. In the future, they could
include a frequent-voter component as well. Mayor Dirksen commented that the City
Council wants to know what everyone in Tigard thinks—voters and non-voters.
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Council President Buehner offered a differing viewpoint and said she thought that
looking at samplings from voters was important.
• 19 Senior Management Analyst Wyatt said staff will be doing more work compiling the
survey results including preparing information for the City Council's upcoming goal-
setting meeting.
• Mr. Beaulauier offered to prepare information isolating different groups based on census
categories.
• 10 Interim City Manager Newton asked Mr. Beaulauier to give the City Council access
to the "cross tabs" to review responses across different demographics.
• 10 Councilor Wilson commented on the question regarding population density. He said
tying the existing and future neighborhoods into the same question made a negative
response more likely. He said the responses, from the way the question was worded,
were predictable. Mr. Beaulauier said this was a question that had been asked in the
previous survey and was being tracked for any change in response results. Councilor
Wilson noted the city is trying to increase the density in certain sectors in town. Mayor
Dirksen added that this is being done so we do not have to increase the density in other
areas. Councilor Wilson said that,given the amount of time and effort being devoted to
this density allocation and given that the city is not hearing opposition to it so far,he was
uncertain whether this question was useful. Mayor Dirksen said it is a difficult question
to ask in order to receive a candid answer. Mr. Beaulauier commented that complete
surveys have been done on this topic alone;i.e., the Portland Development Commission.
Sometimes you learn what you already know—people do not want things built in their
own backyard.
• ® Councilor Henderson commented that a telephone survey is likely to be more costly
than an online survey. He asked if it made sense to conduct a website survey every year
along with the telephone survey every other year. Senior Management Analyst Wyatt
replied that the intent of the city was to test the online survey for the first time and it
was available for anyone to reply. In the future,they could possibly make the online
survey available to a more targeted population to build up a database.
• Mayor Dirksen said that many people believe that an online survey is not representative
because people self-select to participate and tend to have strong opinions on some
issues. But, since the city conducted the online survey at the same time with the same
questions,he would like to see a breakdown of every question comparing the telephone
survey to the Internet survey. From this comparison,it might be possible to determine
if the perception is correct that an online survey does not result in a representative
sampling. Mr. Beaulauier commented that the results from the two surveys were fairly
comparable,including the support for the city's role in recreation programming. Some
of the problems with Internet surveys and self-selection have to do with false-positive
results. People who tend to volunteer to complete a web survey are going to be more
likely to give support on issues and you can get"burnt"going forward using these
results. Internet surveys are useful for understanding some of the qualitative reasons
why people might support or are against an issue.
• Councilor Woodard commented that the telephone survey was an older demographic
than the online survey so it appears that two demographic sectors were sampled. He
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asked how accurate Mr. Beaulauier thought the survey results were. Mr. Beaulauier said
the survey was accurate according to the selected methodology. The same screeners
were used in 2009 and 2011;the results are comparable and representative.
• Councilor Woodard said he was surprised to see that the Neighborhood Network
resource was rated so low as a city-activity information resource for citizens. He thought
this program was robust. Comments were made that this was still a relatively new city
program. Councilor Henderson pointed out that the website is also a communication
tool for the Neighborhood Network Program and responders might not have connected
the two when responding to the survey questions.
• Councilor Wilson said after having seen a number of surveys over the years,he has
noted there is a remarkable consistency in responses. Major issues relate to traffic
congestion among all demographics. In places where there has been a change,it could
be attributed to the economic conditions, not anything the city has done or not done.
Even the insecurity with regard to safety seems to be coming from a general negativity,
since there has been no jump in the crime rate. The light rail question was asked for the
first time this year and he said he was surprised to see it"so high"-- that was
encouraging.
• Councilor Wilson referred to the responses on recreation and that one way to look at the
survey results is that 80 percent support a recreation program. This appears to be
consistent with what has been offered before in that there is a segment of the population
that does not want any recreation programs and another that want a "full blown"
program,but most everyone wants something along the lines of what we have been
trying to accomplish. He pointed out the city had to pull back making city facility
meeting rooms available because of the recession—at the very least the city ought to
restore this service. He spoke to reserving playing fields and offering a coordination role
for recreation. Councilor Wilson fully supports the coordination efforts by the city.
• Council President Buehner asked Mr. Beaulauier about the concerns expressed regarding
safe streets and whether he thought the media's 24/7 "hyping"any criminal activity that
has occurred has influenced the results given the fact that the crime rates are reduced.
Mr. Beaulauier said those types of things can be measured;however,it was not measured
here. It varies a lot by area with regard to how people are impacted by the media. To
answer this question for Tigard,he would need to conduct a community-policing type of
survey. The Portland Police Bureau does an extensive survey every year and their results
might be comparable by studying the data from communities neighboring Tigard.
• Mayor Dirksen commented that people might be responding that they feel less safe not
only because of crime but because of the concerns with traffic congestion or lack of
adequate pedestrian facilities. When the response was that he or she feels less safe,he
said he wished there had been a follow-up question asking"why."
• ® Councilor Woodard said he sees a big connection between the online and the
telephone survey concerning jobs and economic development. He said the consultants
have been proposing activation efforts to get people interested in specific areas and build
excitement. Active areas will stimulate job growth. He said he can see how recreation
and economic development act as catalysts to one another—"they feed upon each
other." Senior Management Analyst Wyatt advised he will be preparing information for
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City Council similar to what Councilor Woodard was referring to—the cross pollination
of some of the issues.
• Councilor Henderson referred to the PRAB recommendation for the City Council goal
setting and the city's budget prepared for 2012-13. Mayor Dirksen responded that this is
noted and will be taken into consideration during the goal-setting session scheduled for
City Council on December 6,2011. From the results of the goal setting,it might be that
there will be a request for a "white paper" examining the question for costs and a
potential funding source for an identified recreation program. Interim City Manager
Newton said the PRAB is recommending the Council consider including their
recommendation as one of the City Council goals.
6. CONSIDER ADDITION OF FULLY FUNDED 1.0 FTE TRANSIT OFFICER TO
POLICE DEPARTMENT AND A RELATED BUDGET AMENDMENT
Finance and Information Services Department Director LaFrance presented the staff report:
• The item before the City Council is a proposed resolution amendment to the FY 2012
budget for$74,673. All of this amount will be fully reimbursed through an
Intergovernmental Agreement the city has with TriMet and the City of Portland and will
have no impact on the General Fund's ending fund balance. The purpose would be to
expand the Police Department's presence on the TriMet Task Force that is used to help
patrol and keep the riders safe in TriMet stations and facilities.
• In response to a question from Councilor Henderson, Finance and Information Services
Department Director LaFrance said this program would continue next fiscal year and into
the future as long as we are participating at the same level in the Task Force. Should TriMet
have budget cutbacks and they decrease the funding, then we would need to cut back on our
staff as well.
• Councilor Wilson noted officers for TriMet are supplied by a number of jurisdictions. He
asked if these officers are paid on a TriMet pay scale. Police Chief Orr said each
jurisdictions'pay scale is applied so different rates occur depending on the home jurisdiction
of the officer. The amount reimbursed to the city is 105 percent,which includes
administration through the city's finance department. All of the cities tend to pay their
officers about the same. The City of Tigard, except for the City of Portland,provides more
officers to TriMet than any other jurisdiction. Police Chief Orr explained that the officers
serve a three-year rotation and return better trained having seen and experienced a different
range of activity.
• Council President Buehner inquired about the number of police officers from Tigard now
working for TriMet. Police Chief Orr said we have one sergeant and three officers;with the
addition of this FTE,it would mean that there are four officers from Tigard.
• In response to a question from Mayor Dirksen,Police Chief Orr said TriMet has never
terminated any positions in its history. It appears that the service will expand in the
foreseeable future.
• In response to a question from Councilor Henderson about how TriMet funds these
positions,Police Chief Orr advised there are various funding sources such as federal funds
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and the transit tax. Finance and Information Services Department Director LaFrance said
he will contact TriMet to find out the funding sources for this program. Councilor
Henderson said he would like to share this information with Tigard businesses so they
would know where their tax dollars are being spent.
• Mayor Dirksen referred to concerns expressed by citizens about safety on public
transportation. He is pleased TriMet is increasing security and ensuring that riders are
paying for the service to support the system—this benefits everyone. Police Chief Orr
noted that TriMet responds to situations that come up in Tigard by providing security upon
request;i.e., the Trick-or-Treat on Main Street event.
Motion by Councilor Wilson, seconded by Council President Buehner, to approve Resolution
No. 11-38.
RESOLUTION NO. 11-38 -A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE ADDITION OF 1.0
FTE POLICE OFFICER AND RELATED COSTS AND SUPPORTING REVENUES TO
THE FY 2012 ADOPTED BUDGET IN POLICE IN THE AMOUNT OF $74,673
The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of City Council present.
Mayor Dirksen Yes
Council President Buehner Yes
Councilor Henderson Yes
Councilor Wilson Yes
Councilor Woodard Yes
im
7. DISCUSS AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 1.16 OF THE TIGARD MUNICIPAL CODE
Assistant Community Development Director Hartnett introduced this agenda item. She also
introduced the project team: Program Development Coordinator Shields,Temporary Code
Compliance Program Specialist LaBarre, and Attorney Hall.
• Assistant Community Development Director Hartnett reviewed previous City Council
discussions,gave background information on this section of the code,and referred to work
recently completed with regard to the proposed amendments.
• ® Council President Buehner advised she had some word-change suggestions,which she
will forward to staff.
• I@ Councilor Woodard said he was concerned about penalties for out-of-area property
owners and whether there are some guidelines about notification when there are code
compliance issues.
• IR Councilor Wilson said he generally agreed with the proposed amendments. He said he
was concerned about the expansion of the code provisions and asked if the old language was
reviewed to determine if there were sections that could be eliminated. He referred to some
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of the legal language and whether these types of code offenses require all of this specificity.
His preference would be for simpler language. Councilor Henderson agreed with Councilor
Wilson's comments and said the goal is to allow for easier use by the public—to be more
readable.
• 19 Mayor Dirksen also noted his concern about readability of the new provisions.
Conversely,he said he understands some of the legal wording is "boilerplate" and gives the
CItV a legal basis for requiring compliance and for taking the action the city deems necessary.
• In response to a comment from Mayor Dirksen, City Attorney Ramis advised the
"warrant section" has been substantially expanded. The more structure outlined in the code
language to justify a warrant for an administrative search, the better the opportunity will be
for staff to make it workable. The attorney's office purposefully used language employed in
other jurisdictions.
• 10 Mayor Dirksen said the City Council needs more time to review the staff's
recommendations. He proposed that this item be pushed back until a later date. He also
ur ed that City Council members contact staff individually with specific questions.
ii
• City Attorney Ramis commented that it is critical to use the correct implementing tools
to make the system work;i.e.,letters used to provide notice,the process used to provide
notice,and the system set up to encourage compliance. The code provides the structure to
give staff and the city the authority.
• H In response to a question from Councilor Woodard,Assistant Community
Development Director Hartnett noted there are some frequent violators of the nuisance
regulations who depend on the city's notification to remind them of their obligation to do
such things as mow their grass. Costs added to the fine amount could consist of direct
costs;i.e., costs associated with abating the violation and staff's time spent in addressing the
violation. Costs are defined in the proposed code language.
• Councilor Woodard liked the provisions in the proposed language regarding using the
services of a collection agency. He was also glad to see the provisions for hardship cases.
For the most part,he liked the staff's proposed documents.
• Assistant Community Development Director Hartnett reviewed that before a fee is charged
to a property owner, there is a formal notification process. She said she will review the
proposal to address Councilor Woodard's concerns about notification to non-resident
property owners. At this time,the city's biggest challenge is with banks and other financial
institutions that hold properties. The definitions refer to responsible party to help the city
hold the correct person(s) accountable. Council President Buehner suggested,when dealing
with a foreclosure situation, city officials should be contact the trustee empowered to
implement the foreclosure. Assistant Community Development Director Hartnett said she
thought language was included as suggested by Council President Buehner,but that she
would recheck.
• Councilor Wilson asked about"confidential" complaints and whether a person gets to "face
his accuser." Program Development Coordinator Shields said that according to regulations
governing public records,any complaint filed is public information with an exception that if
the complainant indicates to staff they are afraid of retribution, staff can solicit an opinion
from the city attorney whether they can keep the complainant's information confidential
against anything other than a court order. Aside from that exception,a respondent can
TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES -NOVEMBER 22, 2011
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contact the records division to obtain the name of the person who filed a complaint. Few
make the effort to find out who complained. Councilor Wilson noted that many nuisance
complaints are neighbor disputes. Discussion followed whether there was any way to
address the situation where someone in the neighborhood complains frequently. Assistant
Community Development Director Hartnett said that moving to the online system has,in
some ways,made making a complaint a little more difficult. Formerly, complaints were
taken by phone calls, drop-in, email, etc. The proposal attempts to funnel complaints to two
primary methods; 1) online system or 2) fill out a specific form. By asking the community to
actively participate with the city to manage the nuisance cases, there has been a shift with
sharing the responsibility.
• Council members discussed the pros and cons of the public record aspect of making a
complaint.
• Assistant Community Development Director Hartnett clarified how staff is administering
the system now. Staff will make a site visit before the situation reaches the point of a
possible fine;however, staff does not make a site visit with an initial complaint. Staff uses a
"livability approach" at first and requests compliance. The response rate to this approach is
very good and takes care of 75-80 percent of the complaints.
• In response to a question from Councilor Henderson, there is a provision in the "sign"
section for an alternative approach to take care of signs placed illegally in the right of way.
This has not been implemented because there are some administrative rule processes that
need to be put in place. This continues to be a problem throughout the city.
• Program Development Coordinator Shields advised a second installment of related code
revisions will be distributed to the City Council next week.
9. COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS
® Councilor Woodard reported on recent Metropolitan Area Communications Commission
(MACC) activity. TVCTV staff has been relocated to the Cornell area (a former Intel facility).
MACC,because of this move,was able to recoup $240,000 from its original investment,which
can be applied to the new facility. He said MACC expects to add Happy Valley and West Linn
as members; additional members will benefit the current membership for cost sharing and
increased influence through additional cable subscribers. The Westside Economic Alliance will
have some programming aired on community television channels during December. He spoke
of services offered by Comcast,including low-income Internet service.
® Council President Buehner reported on the Lake Oswego Tigard Water Partnership
Oversight Committee. There are a series of meetings occurring in the next couple of months
with area legislators regarding the Lake Oswego project to fully inform affected residents on the
scope of the project and how it is proceeding. Partnership representatives will be meeting with
the Clackamas County Commission on November 28 to discuss the project in general with
specific discussion on the route going through unincorporated Clackamas County.
10. NON AGENDA ITEMS: None.
TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES - NOVEMBER 22, 2011
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i
11. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Not held.
12. ADJOURNMENT (10:04 p.m.)
IRMotion by Councilor Woodard, seconded by Councilor Wilson, to adjourn the meeting.
The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of City Council present.
Mayor Dirksen Yes
Council President Buehner Yes
Councilor Henderson Yes
Councilor Wilson Yes
Councilor Woodard Yes
Catherine Wheatley, City Recorder
Attest:
Nfi�or, City o / igard, /
Date: ! `� 0)/ 02
I:\adm\cathy\ccm\2011\final minutes\ll november\111122 final.docs
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