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City Council Minutes - 05/05/2020 ,, Cites of Tigard Tigard City Council Meeting Minutes May 5, 2020 The meeting was conducted virtually with Council and staff participated remotely. IT Manager Nolop and City Recorder Krager were present in Town Hall for meeting operations. l 1. BUSINESS/WORKSHOP MEETING A. At 6:30 p.m. Mayor Snider called the City Council meeting to order. B. City Recorder Krager called the roll: Present Absent Mayor Snider ✓ Youth Councilor Turley ✓ Council President Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton ✓ Councilor Lueb ✓ Councilor Anderson ✓ C. Mayor Snider asked everyone to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance.A flag was projected on the screen. D. Call to Council and Staff for Non-Agenda Items—City Manager Wine said she had a Non- Agenda Item for the end of the meeting regarding COVID-19 economic assistance. Mayor Snider noted that it was Public Service Recognition Week and he expressed appreciation to City staff for their service to the public. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT A. Follow-up to Previous Public Comment—None B. Public Comment submitted to Council—None TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of 8 3. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES The following meeting minutes were submitted for Council approval: October 1, 2019 December 10, 2019 November 5, 2019 December 17,2019 November 12, 2019 January 7, 2020 November 26, 2019 January 14, 2020 December 3, 2019 January 21, 2020 Councilor Newton noted that there was an extra word in the October 1 minutes on page 3 and moved to approve the Consent Agenda with that correction to the minutes. Councilor Lueb seconded the motion and a roll call vote was taken. Yes No Mayor Snider ✓ Council President Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton ✓ Councilor Lueb ✓ Councilor Anderson ✓ 4. APPEAL OF THE ART RUTKIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT Mayor Snider announced that this agenda item was a placeholder to address rebuttal testimony if necessary. Council received rebuttal from the applicant,the appellant,and the City. All of the documents are being entered into the record and no further Council action is required tonight. City Attorney Rihala said this will be discussed at the May 12, 2020 Council meeting. 5. CONSIDER RESOLUTION ACKNOWLEDGING SW CORRIDOR MINIMUM OPERABLE SEGMENT (MOS) DETERMINATION Community Development Director Asher presented this item for a resolution ratifying the decision made by the SW Corridor Steering Committee to locate the minimum operable segment (MOS) terminus at Upper Boones Ferry Road.The resolution also clarifies Tigard's role in any future decisions related to the MOS. He noted that planning for the SW Corridor project has been years in the making,with the involvement of several staff and Council members over that TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES—May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 of 8 time span. Compromises get made and sometimes get forgotten but it is important to staff that one decision and grand compromise relating to the alignment and the location of stations not be forgotten. Mr. Asher said there is a loophole that staff tried to close with a memorandum of understanding with TriMet in November 2018. The issue is that when the jurisdictional partners got together in the early years of the project,difficult decisions had to be made about the project scope. It was decided and confirmed again and again that the most important thing was for the line to reach Tualatin or at least, Bridgeport Village. This became more important than any traffic impacts along the way, any transit-oriented development or anything a singular jurisdiction was concerned about. A consequence of this focus was an alignment that only skirts Tigard's downtown area and does not quite make it to the downtown. This is the Hall Boulevard station and several Council members spoke to concerns about the alignment and the Hall Boulevard station location a few weeks ago at a Council meeting TriMet attended to discuss the Conceptual Design Report (CDR). Community Development Director Asher said when the possibility arose that the SW Corridor line would not reach all the way to Bridgeport Village, the MOS came up. It is a requirement of large transit projects under the national Environmental Protection Act to state what the alignment would be if a project had to be shortened. The concern is that that when the final analysis was in, the region did not have enough money to get there. If the project was being built from Portland to Tigard it would have been designed differently than one designed to go to Bridgeport. If money is not found for Portland to Bridgeport and the project is shortened,Tigard needs to care about where the final station would be and how it would be designed. He said TriMet is aware of this and it was built into the MOU that when the time comes to define the MOS,Tigard City Council and TriMet will figure it out together. It did not happen this way. TriMet staff recommended that the MOS terminus be located at Upper Boones Ferry Road. This is what the Steering Committee acted on in December without really soliciting the City of Tigard's recommendation. As it turns out, it didn't change anything about where Tigard's stations were designed so the action was taken. This resolution ensures that if the Upper Boones Ferry terminus cannot be reached,then what should have happened in the MOU would happen—the real and credible involvement of the Tigard City Council when it comes to figuring out what the shorter project will be. The resolution mimics the MOU language to say if the MOS is revisited,TriMet would confer with the Tigard City Council and the Council would have standing,under its own policy, to make a recommendation to the Steering Committee about station locations. Community Development Director Asher added that it is not unusual for a jurisdiction to attach conditions that it deems important to a light rail project. The City of Portland had a condition that an environmental impact study be done on the Ross Island Bridge head through the SW Corridor project. Washington County said that the Bridgeport terminus was more important to them than anything else and made their money contingent on that. He said this is not a new issue and if we must break the grand bargain and not only are we not going to Bridgeport,but not Upper Boones Ferry either, then the Tigard City Council should have real standing in the decision about what would be built. This is what the resolution being considered tonight ensures. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES— May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 www.dgard-or.gov I Page 3 of 8 Council Comments: Councilor Anderson asked about the timing for this item and Community Development Director Asher said it is not time sensitive. He acknowledged that there are difficult project budget decisions yet to be made and he would not be surprised if the MOS discussion comes up again as early as this summer. He said he would like this policy in place on Council's behalf but the project itself would not be harmed by waiting. Councilor Newton expressed concern with the Hall Street Station design. Mr. Asher said the reasons for the issues she is referring to are because this line continues south of Tigard. We may end up in a situation where the line ends on Hall,because it is the logical place to stop the line due to an operations and maintenance facility, a third track, and a tiransit facility, all the things they need for a last terminal station. But those are legacy issues from a different set of decisions and Tigard should not have to contend with them because the station was placed in that location for separate reasons. He noted that the action requested tonight is related to the MOS and not station design issues. Council President Goodhouse thanked Community Development Director Asher for staying on top of this project and looking out for Tigard's best interests. Councilor Lueb agreed with Council President Goodhouse's comments and said she is in support of the resolution. Councilor Lueb moved to approve Resolution No. 20-22. Council President Goodhouse seconded the motion. City Recorder Krager read the number and title of the resolution and conducted a roll call vote. Mayor Snider announced that the motion was approved unanimously. Resolution No. 20-22—A RESOLUTION RATIFYING THE DECEMBER 2019 SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR STEERING COMMITTEE DECISION TO LOCATE THE MINIMUM OPERABLE SEGMENT (MOS) TERMINUS AT UPPER BOONES FERRY ROAD AND REAFFIRMING THE CITY OF TIGARD'S ROLE IN FUTURE DECISIONS RELATED TO THE MOS OPTION Yes No Mayor Snider ✓ Council President Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton ✓ Councilor Lueb ✓ Councilor Anderson ✓ 6. NON-AGENDA ITEMS City Manager Wine said that staff has been working on responses to Council's April 21 discussion on ways the City could offer economic relief during the pandemic. She said they have been working on utility payment assistance,business outreach,a campaign to show support to businesses, a digital access plan and ensuring that staff report to the Council on communications. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES —May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 4 of 8 She has been hearing questions from Council and wanted a discussion to get consensus about the assistance programs staff should bring forward for consideration. At the May 12 meeting staff will bring forth initiatives to delay utility rate increases to January 2021 for all customers,waive the water base charge to unemployed utility customers, other rate relief and a communications plan related to backflow testing. She asked if Council had other ideas they want staff to explore. Council President Goodhouse asked if anything was offered for businesses that have had to close, such as waiving base water charges, delaying alarm permit and business license payments and waiving late fees.Mayor Snider said, "late fees in general"was a broad statement and asked for clarification. Council President Goodhouse said he advised waiving late fees for utility bills,alarm permits and business licenses, and waiving base water fees,especially for small businesses. He did not recommend waiving fees for development. In response to a question from Mayor Snider about what defined a small business, Council President Goodhouse defined it as one with under 50 employees but thought staff may have better criteria. City Manager Wine noted that business licenses renew in January,but alarm permit renewals roll out over the year. She asked Councilor President Goodhouse what time period he was suggesting for late fee waivers, and he suggested 3-6 months after the emergency declaration is lifted. Councilor Lueb said she appreciates the work staff has done on this and she was supportive of utility bill relief for businesses, suspending late fees for business licenses and alarm permits,but was not sure about delaying the payment for business licenses. City Manager Wine clarified that police staff have received one request for an alarm permit waiver and staff received one request for a business license refund. She said the City would not necessarily know when a business closes. Councilor Newton supported waiving the base water charge for small businesses and didn't have an issue with waiving late fees for business licenses. She said staff could look at ways to refund business license fees if a business closes. She was concerned about waiving alarm fees because the City would still have to respond to the alarm calls and there is a cost to that. Council President Goodhouse clarified that he did not want to waive alarm permit fees,just collect them after the emergency ends. Councilor Anderson clarified with City Manager Wine that alarm permits are generally$25 or$50 and said most people will pay it. He said it is not a big amount unless the business has closed. He suggested considering waivers on a case by case basis. Mayor Snider asked if they apply the waiver for not paying at all or not having to pay a late fee. Councilor Anderson said he meant a 90-day suspension of payment. City Manager Wine said she would can that a grace period and staff can explore this. Youth Councilor Turley expressed support for utility bill and alarm permit relief. Mayor Snider said since the business license fees are not due until January, they are not top of mind now. He said the City only charges a fee for an alarm permit because it costs money to manage the program. He questioned whether late fees should be charged in this environment. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 5 of 8 He said the City could indicate to the alarm owner that they will still owe but there is a grace period of 90-days after the emergency period is lifted, and if they are paid by then, there should not be a late fee. He felt it sends the wrong message to charge late fees during this health emergency and it was like the City's position of not shutting off water for non-payment at this time. City Manager Wine said she will explore with Police Chief McAlpine an application for waiver or discuss not charging a late fee. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance described the proposal staff is planning to bring forward at the next Council meeting. He said every single utility bill customer will receive relief in the form of a delay in utility rate increases from July 1 to January 1.A typical household would save $9 a month for six months. Commercial customers with 1-inch meters will see significant savings of about $70 a month. The City is expanding its existing program for low-income customers who previously could apply to St. Vincent dePaul for up to $200 to pay their utility bills,up to 3 times a year. This will be extended to the end of the year and there will be no dollar limit for people who qualify. Those supplying proof of being directly affected by unemployment due to COVID receive a utility billing credit of$40 on the $42 base fee. There is a budget of$750,000 for these economic relief programs which is available through December or until the money is used. Mayor Snider asked if non-Tigard residents who pay utility bills but reside outside of the city limits are treated the same way and Mr. LaFrance confirmed that all customers will receive the same assistance. Mayor Snider advised this be communicated to them if we go ahead with this program. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance said additionally,waivers for utility bill late fees have been in place since the original emergency declaration.Residential customers fill out a form and provide evidence from the State of Oregon that they are eligible for unemployment. He said in terms of businesses,it is difficult because if we saylel businesses,we will go through the $750,000 very soon. He asked Council for criteria.Would it be businesses whose doors have closed or those hit hard by unemployment, such as hospitality or the medical field, for example? Council President Goodhouse said the criteria would be those business such as bars,restaurants, salons, etc. that had to close or those that have experienced drastically limited business. They would need to apply and show proof that they have been shut down or had drastic reductions. Mayor Snider asked if collection for business fees could just be delayed for 90 days so the city does not have to bear the entire cost. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance asked if Council recommends waiving utility fees,would it be for anything on the bill, or just specific utilities? If customers are given longer to pay,how long do we give them? Mayor Snider suggested six months. Council President Goodhouse suggested six months after the business reopens. Councilor Lueb said her concern with the proposed business relief is that Council was looking at utility relief for residents who are struggling, and she wants to ensure that whatever is offered to businesses is also offered to residents. She supported continuing the original plan of looking at water base charges. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES— May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 6 of 8 Councilor Newton echoed Councilor Lueb's concern about making sure the City is looking at utility relief for residents who are struggling during this time and that what is offered to businesses is also extended to residents. She asked about residents who live in Tigard but are served by other water districts. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance replied that those residents are billed for Tigard's sewer and stormwater,parks and street maintenance fees and will benefit from relief from rate increases and if unemployed,are eligible for additional relief. Councilor Anderson said base water charges are sometimes included in business leases. It would be possible for a landlord to pocket the savings instead of passing it along to the leasee. City Manager Wine summarized that two members of Council said the relief to businesses should be the same as what is offered to residents. She heard consensus for waiver of the base charge. She asked if there was consensus to explore additional support for businesses. Council President Goodhouse said businesses were forced to shut down and he supported waiving the base charge to help them. The businesses will repay it when they reopen so it is just a repayment program on the business side. Mayor Snider asked if there were at least three members that supported this. Councilor Anderson said he preferred to see what staff brings to the discussion next week and any other relief should be handled within the budget process. Councilor Lueb echoed Councilor Anderson in support of waiving water base charges and looking at other relief through the budget process. Because of uncertainty about effects in the next several months,the City may need to put some money aside so it can immediately respond if something else arises. Mayor Snider said there was not a majority in favor of extending the relief given to residents to businesses. He asked staff if they had enough information to bring back a proposal and City Manager Wine and Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance confirmed they did. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT- None 8. EXECUTIVE SESSION -None 9. ADJOURNMENT At 7:22 p.m. Councilor Lueb moved for adjournment. Council President Goodhouse seconded the motion and City Recorder Krager conducted a roll call vote. Mayor Snider announced that the motion passed. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES —May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 7 of 8 Yes No Mayor Snider ✓ Council President Goodhouse ✓ Councilor Newton ✓ Councilor Lueb ✓ Councilor Anderson ✓ .C� Carol A. Krager,City Rec rder Attest: ^�ov. Jason B. Snider,Mayor Date: 09'e0pw TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES —May 5, 2020 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 8 of 8