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City Council Minutes - 05/18/2010 City ofTigard ■ Tigard Workshop Meeting - Minutes TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE/TIME: May 18, 2010—6:30 p.m. —Workshop Meeting MEETING LOCATION: City of Tigard—Town Hall, 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 1. WORKSHOP MEETING 1.1 At 6:30:34 PM Mayor Dirksen called the meeting to order. 1.2 Deputy City Recorder Krager called the roll. Present Absent Mayor Dirksen x Councilor Henderson x Councilor Webb x Council President Wilson x Councilor Buehner x 1.3 Pledge of Allegiance 1.4 Council Communications&Liaison Reports -none 1.5 Call to Council and Staff for Non-Agenda Items - City Manager Prosser announced that an Executive Session would be held after the regular meeting agenda items. 2. TIGARD MUNICIPAL COURT ANNUAL REPORT&MEETING WITH MUNICIPAL JUDGE Administrative Services Manager Nadine Robinson and Municipal Judge Michael O'Brien presented the annual report on Tigard's Municipal Court. A copy of their PowerPoint is available in the City Recorder's office. Judge O'Brien reported that the court's caseload increased by 47% in 2009. There were increases in the number of traffic citations including a 93%increase in seatbelt violations and a 61%increase in speeding tickets. He said the public information program was expanded because the goal of Tigard's court is to change the way people drive. This public information includes a regular column in the Cityscape written by judge O'Brien. Recent topics include, "Driving While Distracted," "Targeted Enforcement in Tigard," "Dangerous Driving's Top 10 List,"and"Texting and Phoning Behind the Wheel." TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -MAY 18, 2010 City of Tigard J 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 www.tigard-or.gov Page l of8 Another notable event was that as the caseload rose, so did the fines. The state legislature imposed a $45 offense surcharge on all traffic violations and this is allocated to city and county treasuries. The caseload for traffic violations accounts for the vast majority of the increase in fine revenue as well as an increased workload. The court imposed fines, penalties and assessments totaling $1,265,871, which is an increase of 31% over the previous year. From collected funds, Tigard distributed $316,465 in statutory costs and assessments to Washington County and the State of Oregon. Judge O'Brien noted an increase in vehicle impoundments over the last year. Most were due to lack of insurance or a suspended driver's license. People are not able to retrieve their vehicle from impound-ment until they can show compliance. This is a considerable additional expense beyond the$295 fine for having no insurance. 6:40:22 PM Judge O'Brien said fines are reduced inmost cases;primarily due to good driving records. He said that because of the current economy the court is seeing more financial hardship evidenced by defendant paperwork. Some courts,such as Beaverton,offer community service but Tigard does not have this program. It would require a lot of staff involvement to follow up and make sure the service was completed and the City doesn't have the staff resources at this time. He said however, the City typically works out payment arrangements with those who cannot afford to pay the entire fine on their court date. Judge O'Brien mentioned the small Youth Court caseload. He said the small number of cases gives the Court the luxury of spending 30-40 minutes with the juvenile and their family. Current activities include getting electronic citations on-line. Officers will be able to enter an Oregon driver's license and the information will be downloaded,populating the forms which are then transmitted to the court office electronically. This technology allows officers to write tickets more quickly.Another innovation is accepting on-line payments by credit card which facilitates fine collection. Judge O'Brien noted that the new Oregon law against cell phone calling and texting while driving became effective January 1,2010 and is bringing in many offenders. 6:50:50 PM Mayor Dirksen asked if Council had any questions. He thanked Judge O'Brien and the court staff for providing a great service to the community by allowing citizens to deal with smaller infractions locally,rather than going to the County court in Hillsboro. He inquired about the reason for the increase in citations in the past year. City Manager Prosser offered that a reason for this increase may be that one of Tigard's police motorcycles was damaged the year before but is back in service now.Judge O'Brien said the police are up to regular staffing levels. Council President Wilson asked what percent of offenders are Tigard residents vs. those from outside the city. Judge O'Brien said he did not know but it could be tracked and the statistics presented at the next annual report. 3. JOINT MEETING WITH THE LIBRARY BOARD 6:58:03 PM Library Director Barnes said her annual report would be presented by members of the Library Board. Board Member Heath spoke on behalf of Library Chair Burke who was unable to attend. He introduced other Board Members in attendance: Linda Mohahan, Grace Amos, ,John Storhm, Jennifer Vacicek and TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -MAY 18, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 oF8 Cecelia Nguyen. Board Member Heath gave a macro-view of a library's function in society today. He said, `Public libraries have always been community gathering places, settings intentionally equipped for societal ad personal transformation. They're especially essential in the lives of the socially excluded, because they are charged with the mission of providing free access to information and connections to resources and to other people." Board Member Vacicek said the library's non-traditional progranuning is well-rounded, offering something for every audience. She pointed to two posters advertising the Civil War (Oregon State vs. University of Oregon) and Superbowl broadcasts. She said the library partnered with Oregon Symphony in featuring different instruments in four events. Board Member Stohrm described the Oral Histories Project, which was offered during the Tigard Reads program. Participants were asked to read certain books about the Great Depression and Tigard adults read, "The Grapes of Wrath." In partnership with the Tigard Historical Society,Library staff members recorded oral histories from eleven people who live in Tigard now but were scattered around the United States during the Great Depression. These recordings are available in the Library and through the Tigard Historical Society. Library Director Barnes introduced a video clip of an oral history interview with H. Oliver Keerins. Library Board Members Heath and Monahan demonstrated bowling with a Wii,saying this was available to use at the Library. Tigard Public Library received a $5,525 Library Services and Technology Act Gaming Grant which was used to purchase not only traditional board games such as Scrabble and Monopoly, but also electronic family game systems like Xbox,PlayStation and Wii. Council President Wilson asked if these were shown a big screen. Library Director Barnes said there are two large screens in the Community Room,where most of the gaming events for young people,baby boomers and seniors take place. Councilor Henderson asked about the noise level. Library Director Barnes explained that the Community Room is separate from the main library and so far,no complaints have been received about noise. 7:15:22 PM In response to a question from Councilor Webb about how the coffee shop is doing, Library Director Barnes said it is doing well. Board Member Monahan summarized,saying the Library offers much more than a place to check out books. Many patrons use the computers for homework and video conferences with family members,including those in military service,all over the world. Computers are also used for job searching. She asked Council for their support to continue the WCCLS (Washington County Cooperative Library Services) levy which will be on the ballot this fall. Mayor Dirksen said this levy helps fund Tigard Library operations and he hopes that people consider the valuable asset their library is when they see this on their ballot in November. library Board members distributed an informational piece entitled,"How libraries Stack up:2010,"a copy of which is available in the City Recorder's office. 4. RECEIVE UPDATE ON HIGHWAY 217 INTERCHANGE MANAGEMENT STUDY PROGRESS 7:20:15 PM Engineer Duenas recapped the study which began in July, 2009. The initial phase included brainstorming on what can be done to improve traffic on 217,with the knowledge that the $1.0 billion estimated cost for the long-term plan of widening the freeway to six lanes is currently not feasible. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -MAY 18, 2010 Cityof Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 www.dgard-or.gov I Page 3 of8 7:22:42 PM Engineer Duenas said ODOT is conducting the study with Washington County and is being guided by a Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) consisting of staff from the County,Tigard, Beaverton, ODOT and Metro. He said he and Senior Transportation Planner Gray represent"Tigard on the Committee. Phase 1 of the project was to identify a list of projects that can be done for$10-20 million, but that could be scaled down if this amount is not available. He presented a PowerPoint showing the study area and discussed filters used to narrow the project list. The guiding criteria were low cost,reliability and safety. Key problems were discussed, including the suggestion that this is the one freeway in the entire Metro area that is "unreliable," that is,you don't know if your trip will take ten minutes or one hour. Phase 2 further examined those projects and reduced the list of 40-50 projects down to four or five. The recommendations include: o Systems Management Strategies: • Targeted shoulder widening • Travel Time Information Signs • Variable Speed Limits o Ramp Management Projects with Associated Street Improvements • Denny Road Interchange Closure • Wilshire Interchange Closure • Wilshire and Walker Interchange Closures • Wilshire, Walker and Denney Interchange Closures Engineer Duenas said targeted shoulder widening can have a great effect, restoring lost capacity and allowing incidents to be managed from the side of the highway. He said 65% of this freeway's capacity is lost whenever there is an accident. This strategy is scalable, that is,it can be done as money becomes available. Six potential locations for shoulder widening were identified. Travel time information si rgris can be used on arterials and the freeway. Signs on arterials guide travelers to make the decision whether to get on the freeway or not,before they are committed to an interchange. A savings of$32 million would be realized over a twenty-year period if this was implemented at full scale. Variable Speed System: Engineer Duenas said drivers can actually get though more quickly if travel speed is slower on Highway 217. Signs would vary the speed limit,which would reduce rear-end collisions. He said 70%of all incidents on Oregon 217 are rear-end accidents. Advantages are that this project is scalable and can be done on both sides of the Highway. Public savings of$26 million are estimated if this was put into effect. Engineer Duenas said closing ramps would improve safety and reliability but this is also the most controversial solution. He compared the 7.5 mile stretch of 217,which has twelve interchanges,yet I-205 has only three interchanges. He said Highway 217 has too many interchanges,too close together. He said closing ramps affects nearby neighborhoods. Closing the Denny Road interchange, for example, affects some industrial land in Beaverton. Engineer Duenas said closing all three would make 217 into a real freeway with benefits of less lost time and freight delivery delays. . Councilor Henderson asked "What is the "benefit?" Engineer Duenas said it is the predictability of being able to plan your trip and have it be safer due to fewer weaving sections. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -MAY 18, 2010 Cityof Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 4 oF8 Mayor Dirksen said there is another way to quantify a benefit and that is less loss of people's business hours and production due to being stuck in traffic on 217, as well as wear on fuel mileage to cars caught in congestion. Engineer Duenas said public outreach will begin in June and will include Tigard Chamber,Westside Economic Alliance,Lincoln Center and Washington Square. City Manager Prosser said ODOT recently sent an e-mail regarding stakeholders that didn't have CPO 4M or CPO 4B. He suggested those be added as well as the neighborhood networks along the freeway. Engineer Duenas said he will follow up on that. Councilor Buehner suggested adding CPO 3 to the stakeholder list as it runs along the freeway in in the Garden Home area. Councilor Buehner said that when leaving Highway 26 from downtown to get onto Highway 217 —there is a blind comer and if there is an accident,you can't see it until you are too close to the cars. She suggested a sign that blinks when there is a traffic back-up. Engineer Duenas said he will follow up on that. Council President Wilson questioned if models were done of all of the side streets and if they were adequate. He cautioned that if it is anything like the Barrows Road closure, it could be a disaster. He said what is really needed on 217 is more capacity. Engineer Duenas said the long-term plan of widening is too expensive so they are looking at what can be done sooner. Ramp closure impacts are not insignificant but workable. Side street mitigation is an auxiliary benefit as projects on both Beaverton and Tigard's Transportation System Plans would be completed as part of this project. Councilor Buchner said she understood how closing Wilshire made sense as it is a low-use ramp, but said the complex between Canyon/Beaverton-Hillsdale/Denny and Allen barely functions now. She said she did not see how closing ramps will be effective. Mayor Dirksen said that while signage and other less expensive items were recommended to move forward with right away, there is more research to be done on ramp closures before they are seriously considered. Engineer Duenas said stakeholder interviews will begin as part of the public involvement process soon. He will keep Council informed of the progress. 5. REVIEW SANITARY SEWER REIMBURSEMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM REGARDING DEFERRALS Public Works Director Koellermeier said City engineering staff had, at Council's request, done a considerable amount of research on sewer reimbursement district deferrals. He said the City is in the middle of adopting the Hoodview Sanitary Sewer Reimbursement District and some questions had come up as part of this. He said City Engineer Kyle Staff did research on sewer reimbursement deferrals and would present answers to Council's questions. 7:49:08 PM City Engineer Kyle read and responded to each question. • Have you required people to pay a reimbursement fee in excess of$15,000? TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -MAY 18, 2010 Citc of Tigard 1 13125 Syr'Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 w .tigard-or.gov I Psge 5of8 He said that since 2003 the City has not required anyone to pay in excess of that amount. There have been three people who chose not to accept the deferment and paid it off, for a total received of about $6,000. • Regarding the Ann Street Reimbursement District,does anyone in that District have an assessment fee in excess of$15,000? There were eleven property owners, six have connected and each paid only $6,000. The remaining property owners can connect to sewer between now and a date in July for $6,000. After that they will have to pay the entire fee. • What properties have taken advantage of the incentive program within the past three years? He said staff looked back and found that 21 of a possible 32 have connected and taken advantage of the program. Of that,there are signed deferral agreements in the amount of$190,000. They each paid $6,000 each for their share of the reimbursement fee, for a total of$126,000. • if we offer the deferral to all properties that qualify, including the Hoodview properties, how much money would then be deferred? The total remaining that could be picked up (including Hoodview) would equal $250,000. There is $139,000 left in possible deferrals that are within the three-year window. There are two more districts coming that could have deferrals estimated to be as high as $300,000. Potential total deferrals add up to$775,000,or roughly 7%of the sewer fund. Councilor Webb said she misunderstood the sewer reimbursement process from the beginning.Public Works Director Koellermeier said he could see where the misunderstanding is and the question appears to be what is it that triggers paying the amount above$15,000. He said the answer is a land use action,which lends itself to Councilor Webb's remembrance of a lot division. Councilor Webb asked,"So basically,if your lot cannot be subdivided,you will only pay a maximum of$6,000?" Public Works Director Koellermeier said that is the case. Mayor Dirksen said it makes sense that everyone involved in the system has to pay $6,000 for one house and one sewer line. He said,"My neighbor having a sewer is of benefit to me just because it raises property values and is for the public good." He said one reason C1eanWater Services wants everyone to be on sewers is that, with the density inside the urban growth boundary, septic tanks are polluting the ground water. He said he was concerned that some properties, due to their topography,would be very expense to hook up, but it is not the property owner's fault that they live on a hill that is harder to hook-up. Council President Wilson agreed and said that it is not always the case that people with large lots have more expensive homes. He said many people with large lots are older and may not be able to subdivide because the rest of their lot is steep or difficult to serve for some other reason. He said the way the City has been doing the sewer deferrals is the, "best deal we can get for reducing the subsidy and I agree that some subsidy is warranted." TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -MAY 18, 2010 Cityof Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Pzge 6 of8 Mayor Dirksen said his concern had been that going forward with the ordinances as they are written and have been enacted would bankrupt the City to finish the sewer system. But he said he heard that the answer to this question was no,this is not overburdening the sewer fund. 7:59:11 PM Mayor Dirksen said Council needed to decide whether we want to move forward or if change is necessary.He said in any case,we can't change the ordinance out from under the Hoodview District. 7:59:42 PM Public Works Director Koellermeier agreed and said the Hoodview district was brought into the program under a certain set of assumptions,and their concern is beating the July 1 increase date. He said staff has found an administrative process to allow the homeowners to pay the fees now and get locked in at today's rate,even if Council needs more time to deliberate ordinance changes. Mayor Dirksen questioned whether a change in the ordinance at this point would be worth the effort,with so few districts left to do. He said this way everyone is treated the same way. President Wilson asked if this was for a minor land use development. Engineer Kyle said,"The resolution couples two things together,`land-use pemtie and`development'That means a major change to the use of the land,such as partitioning the property or doing something major." Councilor Webb said she agreed,as long as it is what the City has been doing. She said the issue had been presented in a way that was confusing and she thought the City was going in a different direction. Public Works Director Koellermeier said staff will be bringing two more districts to Council for approval this summer and asked if Council wanted them brought forward under the current conditions. Council said they don't want to change mid-stream. Councilor Buchner asked about land use application provisions for auxiliary buildings (such as mobile homes), put on a property for the care of an elderly family member, for example. She asked if a temporary auxiliary building would trigger the deferral. She said temporary dwellings for this use were covered by a State Statute which requires their removal when the use is no longer warranted. Community Development Director Bunch said that accessory dwelling units are covered with a land-use action. He said he didn't know about temporary care dwelling units. Councilor Buchner asked for staff to look into this because it could be an issue as the baby boomer generation ages. 8:08:45 PM City Manager Prosser asked Councilor Buehner if she was referring to the sewer reimbursement district code or the development code. He said in terms of the sewer reimbursement code,the issue the City would have to address is,if we did something in the sewer reimbursement code related to that,how would it affect all of the previous reimbursement districts—and would we be changing those agreements retroactively, which is a more complicated issue. 6. NON-AGENDA ITEMS—Councilor Henderson thanked everyone for the opportunity to attend a speech at the University of Oregon regarding transit and urban and suburban development and what Tigard have to work with in the future. Council President Wilson mentioned that he attended a light Rail Facilities Design Class at Portland State University with Mayor Dirksen,Senior Transportation Planner Gray, and Streets and Transportation Projects Engineer McCarthy. People attended from all over the world. He found it fairly technical but very informative and plans to give a briefing at a future Council meeting. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES-MAY 18, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Psge 7ofg City Manager Prosser announced that the polls were closed and City Recorder Wheatley brought in information on the measure to form a Tigard-Tualatin Aquatic District. Election results as of 8:00 p.m. are Yes -5,124 votes and No-2,431 votes. 7. 8:14:26 PM Mayor Dirksen announced the Tigard City Council would enter into an Executive Session to discuss potential litigation ORS 192.660(2)(h). 8. 8:15:05 PM ADJOURNMENT Councilor Webb moved for adjournment of the Council Workshop Meeting; Councilor Buehner seconded the motion, and all voted in favor. Council entered into an Executive Session. Executive Session ended at 8:33 p.m. Carol A. Krager,Deputy City Rec der Attest: Mayor, ity o Tigard Date: Jct. / a aoio 1:\ADM\CATHY\CCM\2010\100518.draft.dm TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES - MAY 18, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 1 www.6gard-or.gov I Page 8 of 8