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City Council Minutes - 01/05/2010 Agenda Item No.-- V, I Meeting of %Z1 j G,?0/p .tee, City of Tigard Tigard S ecial Business Mcctin — Minutes g p g TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE/TIME: January 5, 2010/6:30 p.m. Special Business Meeting MEETING LOCATION: City of Tigard—Town Hall, 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 1. SPECIAL BUSINESS MEETING 1.1 Mayor Dirksen called the meeting to order at 6:32:04 PM 1.2 Roll Call Name Present Absent Mayor Dirksen ✓ Councilor President Wilson ✓ Councilor Buehner ✓ Councilor Henderson ✓ Councilor Webb ✓ 1.3 Pledge of Allegiance 6:32:41 PM 1.4 Council Communications&Liaison Reports Mayor Dirksen said would like to give briefing on recent decisions at JPACT at end of meeting. 1.5 Call to Council and Staff for Non-Agenda Items City Manager Prosser noted a change on the agenda for which we posted notice. The discussion regarding a parks bond, Agenda Item No. 3, was rescheduled for the meeting of January 12, 2010. Tonight we will be discussing an update on the Urban and Rural Reserves Process 6:33:39 PM 2. LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC HEARING—REVISED STREET MAINTENANCE FEE The City of Tigard invited public comment on the proposed modification of its Street Maintenance Fee,replacing Ordinance No. 09-14 adopted by the City Council on December 8, 2009 at this public hearing. Interested persons were given an opportunity to comment on the proposed amendment to the Street Maintenance Fee to be phased in over the next 3 years beginning July 1,2010. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard �� 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 1 of 14 a. 6:33:54 PM Mayor Dirksen opened the public hearing. b. City Attorney Ramis reviewed the hearing procedures. He advised City Council should disclose any potential conflicts of interest. C. Declarations or Challenges: None. d. Staff Report 6:34:32 PM Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance presented the staff report. He introduced Senior Project Engineer McCarthy. The proposal before the City Council is a revision of the matter before the Council previously and adopted on December 8, 2009. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance pointed out the City Council has two revised documents within its Council packet for tonight. Since publishing the Agenda Item Summary, there was a piece of information that changed. On the residential fee calculation, initially it was shown that the ultimate fee to be paid by residents every month would be $4.96; however, that calculation omitted the right-of-way portion of the overall program. He explained the right-of-way portion does not take effect until the second of three phases, it does not affect any of the ordinances or resolutions before the City Council for this evening's consideration (the first phase of the implementation). Once fully implemented in the third phase, the residential fee per month will be$5.25. 6:36:39 PM Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance described the process for reevaluation of the Street Maintenance Fee over the last four weeks. On December 8, 2009, the Street Maintenance Fee was adopted and the City Council heard many comments from residents and business interests within the City of Tigard with some themes identified. One theme was that this increase was too much at the wrong time based on today's economy, even with the three-part phase-in of the fee. Other areas of concerns were: • Right-of-way maintenance was important, • Smaller businesses indicated that raising the cap for larger businesses from 200 to 250 parking spaces seemed more equitable, • The adopted index permitting increases up to 10 percent,was too high, • The appeals process was too narrow. 6:38:01 PM Since December 8, 2009, individual City Council members, Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance and Senior Project Engineer McCarthy have met with several people who testified at the previous public hearing. A new proposal was developed to address the above concerns. 6:38:34 PM Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance reviewed the proposed changes: TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 2 of14 • All customer types will pay a lower fee. The residential fee will be reduced to $5.25 per month once fully implemented instead of$6.01 per month. • The non-residential (business and industrial customers) will be paying, once fully implemented, $1.19 instead of$2.42 per required parking space per month. The City of Tigard uses the required parking spaces number as a proxy for how many trips these businesses are generating on Tigard's roads. • The program, because of the lower fees, will be curtailed. The program approved on December 8 would have would have gradually increased the City's average pavement condition. The measurement index for pavement improvement is evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100. The City of Tigard's goal is to achieve a score in the range of 70-75. Tonight's proposal, although slightly curtailed, will mean that the City will still be able to hold the line. We will be able to keep the City's pavement condition at an average of 67, once all the phases have been implemented. • The 250 parking spaces have been retained as was adopted on December 8. • Costs have been slightly redistributed within the program. In the previously adopted version, arterial roads were being funded 100 percent through the non- residential fee. During the discussions since December 8, it was pointed out that arterial roads such as Durham and McDonald have a primary purpose to serve residential areas. In the proposal before the City Council tonight, 3/8 of the arterial maintenance costs will be paid by the residential fee. • Right-of-way maintenance is in the current proposal. On December 8, the City Council adopted a fee that would have funded $300,000 for right-of-way maintenance. Currently, the City of Tigard does right-of-way maintenance at the "bare bones basics"; i.e., cutting tall grass for sight distance. The proposal before the City Council retains improved right-of-way maintenance, but at a lower level -- $100,000. This will allow us to get to some of the plantings on the sides of the roads and medians to create a more attractive Tigard for citizens and businesses. • A three-part phase-in was maintained. There was slight change insofar as instead of being annual phases, they are 9-month phases starting July 1, 2010 and completed January 1,2012. • The index was modified. A two-year rolling index will be used smoothing out the peaks and valleys. This should protect the City's fees and its ability to maintain the cost of the Street Maintenance Fee program with inflation. • The appeals process was changed. Businesses will be able to use a land use decision (with a lowered parking requirement) to get a lower rate charged to them. 6:44:25 PM Councilor Webb asked if a Memorandum of Understanding had been drawn up pertaining to a review of the parking space requirements throughout the City? Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance said the staff is in the process of reviewing the parking spaces. The required parking information was prepared five years ago. We have begun a review of the business uses for properties within the City of Tigard and that review is to be completed prior to the implementation date of July 1, 2010, for the first phase of this fee. Results of this review TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 3 of14 will be sent to the property owners for evaluation. Councilor Webb said the MOU could be a simple document stating what is being done and then signed off by the City of Tigard and the downtown businesses. City Manager Prosser suggested this could be done a couple of ways. We could prepare a letter for the Mayor's or the City Manager's signature to the downtown business association, explaining the process and the timeline. Councilor Webb said that it should be the businesses'responsibility to "double check" the information and to assist staff in "finding out about different buildings." Mayor Dirksen agreed that each property owner should review the memorandum and either confirm the data or advise the City if an adjustment is needed. Councilor Webb said the purpose of the memorandum (or letter) is to keep the lines of communication open. Councilor Webb noted the City had agreed to do this during the discussions with the businesses and Mike Stevenson indicated he would be the one to sign the letter. The letter can be signed by either the Mayor or the City Manager. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance indicated that staff would prepare the letter. 6:47:31 PM Councilor Henderson asked about the two-year index. Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance explained that is a similar index to what Washington County uses in the Transportation Development Tax. It is a combination of the Construction Cost Index and the Bureau of Labor Statistics Index for construction labor costs. We use 65 percent of the Construction Cost Index and 35 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Index, using a two- year number, for an average.The rate is applied to the fee and program it funds. This index will be used for calculations for the second phase of the Street Maintenance Fee implementation (April 1, 2011). Councilor Webb noted there had been discussion of relating the fees to the cost of asphalt; but it was decided it would be better to tie the rate to several different components since the price of asphalt might go up,while the price of labor might be down. 6:49:34 PM e. Public Testimony • Amanda Dalton, representing the NW Grocery Association, thanked the City Council for listening to the testimony delivered on behalf of businesses and residences and going "back to the table." She thanked the City Council for including the Grocery Association in the conversations. She acknowledged staff members Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance and Senior Project Engineer McCarthy as going"above and beyond"in their representation of the City of Tigard. The result is a fair,reasonable fee for both businesses and residences. • J. C. Hult testified and signed in as being neutral on this matter. He advised he retired two years ago from an engineering consulting firm based in California and moved to the City of Tigard. He has participated in this type of discussion throughout the years. He referred to his activity,years ago,in a California citizen's initiative called "Prop 13." This was adopted in California during a time of tremendously increasing property values and the County Assessors were non- responsive to requests to reevaluate rates of assessments. The initiative was adopted by voters because "hundreds of thousands of senior citizens in the State of California had to sell their homes because of the actions of the County Assessors throughout the state. We stopped that." He said that he could see similarities of what occurred in California starting to occur in Oregon. He referred to a letter that TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 4 of14 appeared in the Oregonian on October 31ST from Dennis Brown of SE Portland writing that he was "...80 years old and I probably have to work until I die...", citing taxes and insurance increases; i.e., homeowners insurance, car insurance, car licensing fees, water/sewer tax, storm runoff tax, and health insurance. Mr. Hult read from the letter that Mr. Brown's assessment had been raised so high that he will not have enough money to pay for it. Mr. Hult said that when City Council imposes even a small tax,it is not the only tax. He said it is amazing how much his tax bill has gone up, when the economy has gone down. The assessed value of homes purchased in the last four- to five- years has fallen. He said any time the City Council raises a fee,it needs to take into account people like Dennis Brown. Mayor Dirksen commented that similar measures to Prop 13 were approved by voters about 20 years ago,i.e.,Measures 5 and 50. Regardless of what the appraised value/market value of property,the appraised value for tax purposes can only go up three percent per year. While values are going down now the market value is above the assessed value. Councilor Buchner added that a bill was also passed allowing people over 65 to defer their taxes until the property is sold. Mayor Dirksen addressed Mr. Hult and said he "grasps your larger message" regarding the aggregate affects of all tax increases. He said the Council is well aware of this and took it into consideration. Council President Wilson said the Street Maintenance Fee is a tax in the sense that it is money taken for government purposes; but, when a fee like this is levied, it does not go into the General Fund. The money raised through the fee is used for the purpose designated. It is not much different from raises in electric or cable television fees. The City of Tigard has 150 miles of road to maintain. "When you are sitting in the chair that we are sitting in,we need to keep those things in good repair." If the voters would prefer we live with deteriorating roads,then"that's what we would do." Mr. Hutt indicated he, too, has served as an elected official. He referred to a California cities that have filed for bankruptcy. Mayor Dirksen referred to a recent article where smaller cities on the east coast that are letting their roads go back to gravel because they cannot afford to maintain the streets. f. Staff Recommendation: 7:01:00 PM Finance and Information Services Director LaFrance reviewed the three proposed actions before the City Council. Staff recommended the approval of 1. A resolution repealing Resolution No. 09-76 that established a long-term pavement condition index goal for Tigard city streets. The new resolution maintains the long-term goal of having a PCI between 70-75, but also recognizes that with the funding levels before the City Council,we will not be able to achieve those goals and we will maintain our pavement condition at 67. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 9 of14 2. An ordinance repealing Ordinance No. 09-14 and amending Chapter 15.20, which is the Street Maintenance Fee ordinance. Most of the changes discussed earlier are contained within this proposed ordinance. 3. A resolution repealing Resolution No. 09-77 and amending a portion of the Master Fees and Charges Schedule pertaining to the Street Maintenance Fee, which is illustrated in Exhibit A to the Resolution. This would implement the new Phase of the Street Maintenance Fee effective July 1, 2010. g. Council Questions: None. h. 7:03:04 PM Mayor Dirksen closed the public hearing. i. Council Consideration: Motion by Councilor Webb, seconded by Council President Wilson, to adopt Resolution No. 10-01. RESOLUTION NO. 10-01 — A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL ESTABLISHING A LONG-TERM AVERAGE PAVEMENT CONDITION INDEX (PCI) GOAL FOR CITY STREETS The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of Council present. Mayor Dirksen Yes Council President Wilson Yes Councilor Buchner Yes Councilor Henderson Yes Councilor Webb Yes Motion by Councilor Webb, seconded by Council President Wilson, to adopt Ordinance No. 10-01. ORDINANCE NO. 10-01 — AN ORDINANCE REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 09-14 AND AMENDING CHAPTER 15.20 OF THE TIGARD MUNICIPAL CODE—STREET MAINTENANCE FEE Mayor Dirksen thanked staff, the citizen groups, and Councilor Webb and Council President Wilson for their work on this compromise. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of Council present. Mayor Dirksen Yes Council President Wilson Yes Councilor Buchner Yes Councilor Henderson Yes Councilor Webb Yes TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 6 of14 The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of Council present. Motion by Councilor Webb, seconded by Councilor Buchner, to adopt Resolution No. 10-02. RESOLUTION NO. 10-02 — A RESOLUTION REPEALING RESOLUTION NO. 09-77 AND AMENDING A PORTION OF RESOLUTION NO. 09-44 — THE MASTER FEES AND CHARGES SCHEDULE, PERTAINING TO STREET MAINTENANCE FEE Councilor Buchner said she understands the difficulty of the current economic situation, so she is voting in favor of the two ordinances; however, she is concerned about the policy change so the relative relationship of the fee from the 55/45 ratio (residents/businesses) is now approximately two-thirds being paid by residents and one-third by businesses. She said she did not think was a good long-term policy. Councilor Buchner said she would accept it under this particular set of economic conditions; however, if the economy improves she would work towards reinstatement of a fairer percentage of the burden as residents are paying too much. Mayor Dirksen agreed that this proposal is not completely satisfactory for everyone. He said this does not achieve our goal of having streets being maintained at 70-75 on the pavement condition index. In the short term, the best we will be able to do is to maintain at 67 on the index. When appropriate,this needs to be revisited. Councilor Webb noted that the people who worked on this compromise indicated they were willing to reopen this matter in three- to five-years, once the economy has turned around. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of Council present. Mayor Dirksen Yes Council President Wilson Yes Councilor Buchner Yes Councilor Henderson Yes Councilor Webb Yes 7:09:51 PM Councilor Webb thanked the city staff who worked before and during the holidays on this complicated issue. 7:10:10 PM 3. UPDATE ON URBAN AND RURAL RESERVES PROCESS Councilor Buchner noted the area of change to the map,which includes property of a client of hers and she was making this announcement so the public is aware of this. Mayor Dirksen noted that Councilor Buehner is a land use attorney, so it is not unusual that these types of issues arise from time to time. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 7 of14 7:10:52 PM Associate Planner Floyd presented the staff report. He reviewed a list of changes proposed for the City Council to give feedback. • On December 16, the Core Four came to a preliminary agreement on a draft urban and rural reserves map. This map was released on December 17 for public review and comment prior to final review. • Associate Planner Floyd referred to a memorandum distributed to the City Council describing the sequence of future events for the urban and rural reserves map prior to consideration of adoption. A copy of this memorandum is on file in the City Recorder's office. • The draft map is the result of months of negotiations by the Core Four members, which has been described as a regional best-effort proposal. Approximately 24,000 acres of land have been identified as potentially being placed into the urban reserves and about 224,000 acres into rural reserves for the next 40-50 years. • The Core Four proposal includes a significantly reduced amount of urban reserves than was originally proposed by the three counties. Washington County, alone, proposed approximately 34,000 acres for urban reserves. • The extent of the urban reserve acreage is consistent with population/employment forecasts contained in the urban growth report recently accepted by the Metro Council and reflects a growing regional consensus for a tighter urban footprint and long-term certainty to the agricultural and forestry industries that exist in the three counties. • Despite an overall consensus by the Core Four, there are areas within the region that are unresolved and remain in play. It has been decided to leave these areas "on the table" until additional public comment is received during the coming month. Many of these areas are adjacent to Tigard. • The public comment period on the present map will end on January 25, 2010. As part of this public comment period, there will be six regional open houses and three Metro Council hearings to solicit feedback. Washington County staff has made it known to Tigard staff they have a strong interest in having elected officials attend the upcoming open houses to receive and deliver feedback. • None of the open houses will be in Tigard;however,there are a few nearby. Associate Planner Floyd reviewed the affect upon the City of Tigard: • Of the almost 900 acres proposed for Tigard's urban reserve area, the Core Four removed approximately 350 acres from the northwest corner and placed it in the rural reserves status. This change represents a 40 percent reduction of potential urban land for the City of Tigard. The remaining footprint still acknowledges logical planning boundaries and allows for double-loaded development along both sides of major transportation facilities,including Roy Rogers Road and Beef Bend Road. • Associate Planner Floyd then referred to the map and further explained the proposal for areas adjacent to the City of Tigard. • Associate Planner Floyd reviewed the memorandum distributed to the City Council (referred to above),the staff report and attachments. • A series of options were listed for the City Councilors to consider. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 8 of14 7:21:14 PM Councilor Webb asked about property removed from the previous proposal and how the people living in the area felt about this. Associate Planner Floyd said there are quite a few different properties (large and small parcels), so he could not speak for all the people living in this area. At least one property owner wants to urbanize and has submitted a letter indicating interest in annexation to the City. 7:22:03 PM Councilor Buchner said she has talked to three of the property owners who are upset about the current proposal. She said some approached the County and asked if this property was appropriate for rural reserve designation and they were told"'no,it doesn't qualify"'because the soil quality was bad and for a variety of other reasons. These property owners have been operating on that basis. Now,if Metro tells these property owners their lands are rural reserves, they will be in a "no man's land" situation. They will not be able to sell their property as farmland or develop the property. She added that the parcels "below old 63" were pulled out and part of the area removed was originally part of Area 64. There had been some discussions with Metro indicating this would be remedied "the next time" and she said she was caught off guard when these areas were removed when"they had absolutely assured us would be in." 7:24:03 PM Mayor Dirksen said the Cour Four is having a difficult time reaching a compromise,particularly between Metro and Washington County coming up with a number of acres for urban and rural reserves acceptable to both sides. In searching for the compromise and trying to meet the goals of aspiration of some of the western County cities, the properties identified above that are in or near Areas 63 and 64 could be taken off the table so others could remain in urban reserves. 7:25:05 PM In response to a comment by Councilor Webb, Council President Wilson said that because others are strongly advocating for acreage near their borders and we have not been as strong, these parcels can be sacrificed. Mayor Dirksen agreed with Council President Wilson's statement. 7:25:23 PM Councilor Buchner suggested we could take the third option, describing the boundaries using a creek that could be used as a natural boundary. 7:26:50 PM Council President Wilson raised a technical concern. He said he did not have a preference as he did not think it was necessarily in the interests of the citizens of Tigard to have as much land as possible next to our borders as there is enough in the region. Essentially, Roy Rogers is the Westside Bypass and it should be protected from multiple access points that would reduce its ability to serve in that capacity. The 1300-foot strip on the west side of Roy Rogers is not deep enough to support a collector that would enable it to develop in such a way that would benefit Roy Rogers Road. Council President Wilson identified the transportation roadway from Roshak that extends from Bull Mountain Road to Barrows Road,which could serve as a minor collector for that side. On the west side,it would be impossible to develop it that way. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 9 of14 7:28:28 PM Councilor Buchner said the original discussion was that 175`' was to come down the hill and was directly across from an existing, private road that continues south to where it almost meets the extension of Bull Mountain Road. The discussion was that this would have made a nice neighborhood intra-access, not utilizing Roy Rogers Road. She said she agreed with Council President Wilson's comments above pertaining to the 1300 foot strip. She said the land along Schools Ferry Road is much more important to examine. 7:29:31 PM Mayor Dirksen said he had a suggestion insofar as the previous discussion was speculative regarding reasons for the changes to the urban/rural reserves. His suggestion was to immediately forward a request for clarification regarding why the changes were made. Then we could make a compromise proposal,which might include some of the Council's ideas expressed tonight. There is still time to address the Core Four with a formal proposal followed up with some testimony at the upcoming opportunities. 7:31:01 PM Councilor Webb agreed with the Mayor's suggestion. She said one of the reasons why she has not commented much about Areas 63 and 64 is because when the Tigard City Council talks about this area some people assume Tigard is wanting to go after annexation. 7:31:31 PM Mayor Dirksen suggested that when talking to people making the decisions, to avoid anything other than just pointing out the issues and to let them take our opinions into consideration. Regardless, they need to hear our opinion. 7:31:55 PM Councilor Buchner said it does not make sense to urbanize one side of Scholls Ferry Road and not the other. Mayor Dirksen noted that in the effort to reach compromise, he doubted that the thinking"went to that level." 7:32:12 PM Associate Planner Floyd said that a lot of what is driving this at the regional level are growth assumptions about population and employment. At the regional level, they are thinking about the aggregate acreages view and not just specific areas. Every city is losing some acreages. 7:32:35 PM Council President Wilson said that they ought to withdraw the area next to King City that is likely undevelopable because it is so close to the river. 7:32:46 PM Councilor Buehner said that we might be able to come up with some ideas that would not increase the net acreage, but make it more logical. Mayor Dirksen said it might make more sense to reduce the urbanized acreage in the southern area next to the National Wildlife Refuge rather than area near Scholls Ferry Road. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 10 of14 7:33:32 PM Councilor Webb noted her biggest concern is that if something becomes designated rural reserve,then it cannot be changed. 7:33:55 PM Mayor Dirksen reminded everyone that the decision makers are looking for places where compromises can be made. Another area for consideration are those lands that remain undesignated and adjustment must be made. 7:34:14 PM Mayor Dirksen summarized that the first thing we need to do is ask for clarification and then follow it up quickly with a recommendation for adjustment. It doesn't need to be acre-for-acre, but we should keep it as close as we can. 7:34:29 PM Associate Planner Floyd said we have asked Washington County staff for clarification as to how the change occurred and we have not received a full answer yet. 7:34:41 PM Councilor Buchner asked that if we came up with a proposal of about the same number of acres, would this be acceptable to the County. Associate Planner Floyd said he was not involved in the direct negotiations but agreed he could ask for discussion to find out if this would be acceptable. 7:35:18 PM In response to a question from Councilor Henderson, Associate Planner Floyd said all the upcoming meetings were equally important. 7:36:17 PM Associate Planner Floyd said the process is fluid and things can happen quickly. All discussion might come to an end next month assuming everyone can come to agreement. He reviewed the schedule. 7:37:25 PM 4. REVIEW DRAFT GOALS, FIVE-YEAR GOALS, LONG-TERM GOALS AND COUNCIL TASKS Mayor Dirksen distributed updated language on the proposed goals drafted by the City Council on December 22, 2009. Council members offered wording changes. The final goal list will be before the City Council for adoption on January 12,2010. 7:50:49 PM 5. NON-AGENDA ITEMS JPACT Update: Mayor Dirksen shared information regarding recent JPACT decisions pertaining to the review, drafting, and passage of the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which is similar to Tigard's TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 11 of14 transportation plan but is for the entire Portland-Metropolitan region. Mayor Dirksen shared background. Discussions have occurred for the last year or more regarding how the RTP should be updated based on the previous RTP. JPACT and MPAC offered input and staff prepared a draft that had been reviewed several times, modifications were recommended and made. In December, the final draft was under consideration that would be forwarded to the Metro Council. In reviewing the draft, Washington County representatives discovered issues that were of concern. Those issues were discussed at the Washington County Coordinating Committee meeting on December 7. In particular,there were two issues noted: 1. A request for an amendment by Clackamas County that the wording regarding the 99W/I-5 Connector, (Alternative 7) including several modifications to existing surface streets and also an eventual southern bypass (aka expressway). Clackamas County requested that language be included stating that"no work could be done on that south collector until such time as all of the conditions have been met as set forth in the I-5 South Corridor Study and other studies of transportation in the area before any action could be taken." This raised the question, what do "actions" and "all the conditions" mean? One of the conditions of the proposed I-5 South Corridor Study would be to explore the feasibility of passenger rail, which would be an extension of the west side commuter rail through the Willamette Valley. Mayor Dirksen asked if that mean that no work at all could be done on the South Bypass until there was such rail or until the review of that had been exhausted. The other concern would be the definition of "action." Does that mean that if a general right of way is identified that cities such as Wilsonville, Tualatin, or Sherwood would be unable to require developers developing property along that right of way to dedicate right of way for preservation; would that constitute an action? Mayor Dirksen said the Washington County representatives thought the wording of that amendment and the restrictions were unacceptable. 2. In the draft RTP, it leaves Highway 217's final configuration at the four lanes as it is currently. The previous RTP had identified that it needed to be upgraded to six lanes. Commissioner Rogers and Mayor Dirksen, as representatives of Washington County and Washington County cities, were tasked by the Coordinating Committee to go to JPACT and request the removal of the amendment (above) and to bring Highway 217 back to the eventual six lanes in the RTP. At the JPACT monthly meeting Commissioner Rogers made a motion to remove the language that placed the severe restrictions on the south corridor component of the connector plan; that motion failed. He also made the motion to reinstate Highway 217 to six lanes in the RTP,without identifying a funding source. If this is not on the RTP, then it is off the table and there is no opportunity to even look for a funding source. This motion also failed. Neither of the items that Washington County felt needed to be made in the draft were accomplished. When the RTP came up for a vote, both Commissioner Rogers and Mayor Dirksen voted no. Portland Mayor Adams was the only other no vote (for a separate reason). Mayor Adams had asked for an amendment to the RTP recommending that there be a requirement that all RTP projects be individually evaluated for greenhouse gas emission potential and then be ranked in priority based on that. This motion also failed. Mayor Dirksen said the draft RTP passed. The RTP will go forward in its current form to Metro for approval. He said his concern with having the RTP in that form is that there is no broad consensus as it goes forward and when we go to the Federal government seeking TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 12 of14 funding, without a consensus on our transportation, this will make it much more difficult to receive appropriations on the portions of the plan. Councilor Buehner asked if there were any options left. Mayor Dirksen said this is the RTP that will be going to the Metro Council with the recommendation of JPACT. Theoretically, there would still be an opportunity for individuals to go to the Metro hearing to request changes. If people feel strongly, then he recommended they testify. However,it is unlikely that any major modifications will be made. Mayor Dirksen said his recommendation to the Tigard City Council would be for us to formulate our own transportation plans on the assumption that the south bypass is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Council President Wilson added that neither would there be any improvements to Highway 217. The two things that affect Tigard the most are off the table,which are our citizens primary concerns with respect to government. 7:59:12 PM Mayor Dirksen reported on recommendations by Metro staff regarding to federal funding opportunities for earmarking in the next appropriation and also for the fiscal year 2011 federal appropriations priorities. Historically,Metro has not done well in getting federal appropriations for transportation funding outside of transit. Mayor Dirksen said the analysis indicates this is because the requests are not based on federal jurisdictions. For example, cities, counties or Metro make requests, but those jurisdictions are divided among the federal delegation. The recommendation (for earmarks and for appropriations) is that we prioritize recommended projects based on our Congressional delegation, with a limit of two projects requested from each Congressman based on Congressional districts. Over the next couple of months, all of the jurisdictions will be meeting to discuss and agree on the two projects that to be forwarded to Congressman Wu to advocate. In federal earmarks for the City of Tigard, the project that seems to have the best chance of making the cut would be the improvements to the intersection at Highway 99W and McDonald Street,which was on the State federal earmark list last year. Washington County and Metro are promoting this project. We have a good chance of making the short list again this year. 8:01:36 PM As far as appropriations for 2011, Mayor Dirksen said Fanno Creek Trail improvements have strong support across the region. 8:02:16 PM Mayor Dirksen noted a problem he has with the system,which needs more discussion. He read the following: "Consistent with past practice, the 2011 appropriations candidate project list distributed at the JPACT meeting needs to get narrowed down to two per jurisdiction or grouping of jurisdictions for the following. Portland, Multnomah County and cities among Multnomah County, Clackamas County and cities of Clackamas County, Washington County and cities of Washington County, TriMet, Metro, and ODOT. This is the same list for earmarks and appropriations. In both cases the City of Portland gets to double dip and possibly triple dip because they get to make a request, Multnomah County gets to make a request, and also Metro. Mayor Dirksen said he thinks there needs to be discussion about what might be a more equitable division. He said he still needs to talk to Washington County representatives at the next WCCC meeting. TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 1 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 13 of14 8:03:34 PM Council President Wilson asked "given that the connector is dead, the money and all of the momentum that was headed into that project now goes to existing surface streets, what is the potential to divert some of that to 99?" Mayor Dirksen said that over the last year,while these discussions were taking place, both Chair Brian and Commissioner Rogers indicated that,if the south connector was off the table then they would promote the existing appropriation money ($10 million) be diverted to 99W and 124th Avenue in Tualatin. 8:05:19 PM With the south connector being off the table,Mayor Dirksen advised this reinstates 99W as the primary mobility corridor out of Portland to the south and west. The elevated priority of the 99W corridor makes it more likely this corridor could garner more state and federal funds. Council Meeting Information 8:06:16 PM Councilor Buehner announced the next City Council meeting is January 11. It will be a joint meeting with the Lake Oswego City Council to discuss water plant issues. Mayor Dirksen said Lake Oswego is hosting the meeting and before the discussion, there will be a talk by G.B. Arrington, an acknowledged expert in the areas of high-capacity transit and transit-oriented development planning. The City Center Advisory Commission and Intergovernmental Water Board are invited. 8:08:19 PM 6. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilor Webb, seconded by Councilor Buehner to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved by a unanimous vote of City Council present. Mayor Dirksen Yes Council President Wilson Yes Councilor Buehner Yes Councilor Henderson Yes Councilor Webb Yes Catherine Wheatley, City Recorder Attest: Mayor, Cliiy of Tigard Date: . �-3- �0 IAADM\CATT3Y\CCM\2010\100105 final draft.doc _ TIGARD CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —January 5, 2010 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 503-639-4171 1 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 14 of 14