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City Council Minutes - 11/05/2013 City of Tigard CCDA Tigard City Center Development Agency Meeting Minutes — November 5 , 2013 TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD MEETING DATE AND TIME: November 5,2013 -6:30 p.m. MEETING LOCATION: City of Tigard-Town Hall 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 a 1. CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD MEETING A. At 6:31 pm Chair Cook called the CCDA meeting to order. B. Deputy City Recorder Krager called the roll. Present Absent CCDA Director Buehner ✓ CCDA Director Henderson ✓ CCDA Director Snider ✓ CCDA Director Woodard ✓ CCDA Chair Cook ✓ C. Chair Cook led everyone in the pledge of allegiance. D. Call to Council and Staff for Non Agenda Items 2. NON AGENDA ITEMS -Chair Cook called for non agenda items. Director Woodard and Director Henderson said they have non agenda items. Due to timing the Non Agenda Items may be continued at the erfd of the meeting. Director Henderson handed out copies of materials from the Main Street Conference he attended in Astoria.A copy has been added to the packet for this meeting. He said the Oregon Main Street Program is part of a national program. He said Oregon City has a great Main Street Program and noted that Tigard Economic Development Manager Purdy was honored last year by this group for his work in Oregon City. He said Astoria has reached the point where there they have funding for TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 Cin•of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 www.tig;ird-or.gov I Page 1 of 10 their Main Street Program and have hired their first director. He encouraged members of the Tigard Downtown Alliance and the City Center Development Agency to attend next year's conference. I@ Director Woodard shared that he read a book on branding cities and is concerned about whether Tigard has done a good job with this. He said colors and symbolism in a city's logo represent the vision, mission statement and values and can tell people a lot about a city. He looked into pricing consulting fees for a two-day seminar to pull this together and it appears to be around $15,000 to $20,000. He suggested that hiring a consultant is a small price to pay for the impact it would have on the revitalization of the downtown area and the city of Tigard as a whole. I-Ie said he feels there is a disconnect between the city's brand and what we are trying to do. 10 Executive Director Wine said she is excited to hear this discussion because some evolving ideas in the draft Strategic Plan relate to the branding of the city. She said these and many concepts will apse dunng the next council discussion the Strategic Plan and also as council continues to engage through the TDA. 3. APPROVE CCDA MINUTES FOR— September 3, 2013 October 1, 2013 Director Snider moved for approval of the minutes and Director Buehner seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Yes No CCDA Director Buehner ✓ CCDA Director Henderson ✓ CCDA Director Snider ✓ CCDA Director Woodard ✓ CCDA Chair Cook ✓ 4. RECEIVE PRESENTATION ON BUS RAPID TRANSIT IRSenior Transportation Planner Gray introduced Tun Bevan, P.E., from the Seattle CI-12M Hill office. Mr. Bevan said he has designed light rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems and while there is a place for both, his presentation tonight would be on a wide variety of BRT examples in constrained urban environments. He said definitions of BRT vary in the United States and cited one from the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute: "A system that uses buses or specialized vehicles on roadways or dedicated lanes to quickly and efficiently transport passengers to their destinations, while offering TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd,Tigard,OR 97223 xv%"v ngard-or.gov I Page 2 of 10 flexibility to meet a variety of local conditions. BRT system elements can easily be customized to community needs and incorporate state-of-the-art,low-cost technologies that attract more passengers and ultimately help reduce overall traffic congestion." He mentioned the need for 50- percent dedicated right of way to attract federal funding grant opportunities but noted that there is some flexibility. He said the idea for BRT evolved from a rail system but offers more flexibility. Mr. Bevan presented a slide showing where BRT fits in a continuum of transportation services in the United States. He said BRT can handle up to 15,000 persons per peak hour,per direction. More exclusive rights of way,grade separation and reduced at-grade intersection crossings help increase speed and ridership. BRT has the flexibility to fit within the context and the built environment of a community. 4lJ Mr. Bevan showed a slide listing the seven elements of BRT: 1) Running Ways, 2) Stations and Stops, 3) Vehicles, 4) Fare Collection, 5) ITS Technologies, 6) Service and Operating Plan and 7) Branding and Image. The next slide showed each element within the Bus Rapid Transit Spectrum of Choices, illustrating the wide range of options available. He advised thinking of what Tigard wants and can afford and comparing it to the continuum. He presented case examples of BRT applications in constrained urban environments. o Shoreline,Washington wanted to improve the Aurora Corridor and evaluated four transit design options. They wanted to improve aesthetics, create redevelopment opportuiuties in the corridor, improve traffic safety and improve transit. They created continuous outside transit lanes with business access and right-turn lanes which added some traffic capacity and safety but allowed buses to use the lanes. Raised medians and outside lanes unproved safety and capacity. Transit speed increased with 6-minute headways. RapidRide can use the same infrastructure later to connect to Seattle. o King County,Washington electors voted for a Rapidlide D-Line system which is 8- miles in length. They wanted to keep all 23 local bus stops, which slowed down the system. That is a big issue now and is being reevaluated. It is in an urban context where it was difficult to have exclusive lanes. Bus queue lanes, transit signal priority, bus bulbs and allowing buses to use parking lanes during peak tunes were features used. Stations are low cost and of varied size,reflecting the budget. Low demand stations did not get shelters. Passengers have the option of validating a card and entering through all doors or paying by coin at the front door. Stations are branded and there is Wi-Fi available on the buses. Director Woodard asked about station bus calls. Mr. Bevan said it is a button at a bus stop that a passenger can push to signal the driver to stop at night. If no one is waitung, the driver does not need to pull out of traffic and stop. o San Jose, California's Valley Transportation Authority already had three light rail lines and was considering a fourth that would operate from downtown San Jose out to the east and down the Capital Expressway. They couldn't make another light rail lune fit because the highly urbanized area had many mid-rise buildings and light rail would TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 www.tigard-or gov I Page 3 of 10 have displaced most traffic lanes. The decided to go with BRT. In the downtown area there are bus bulbs and buses operate in mixed traffic with transit signal priority. In the middle section they had more right of way and they had high-level median runs. In the south area there were HOV lanes and in-line station stops. CH2M Hill developed high-level branded stations that are changeable by size to fit into different contexts. The architect worked with community and stakeholders to develop a station style. The VTA experienced safety challenges with their light rail system. There were intrusions into the light rail line where drivers at intersections wouldn't notice they were turning left onto tracks instead of the street. Many of the safety features VTA developed for light rail were incorporated into the BRT system including reflective markers, curb separators and "Bus Coming, Do Not Enter" flashing signals. He said there are several median-running BRT lines in die United States and all have had intrusions into the bus lane where these million-dollar buses are getting hit by vehicles. This line has enhanced, branded stations, 60-foot, low floor hybrid vehicles, and smart cards that validate on-board. It has a 10-minute headway so people don't have to guess when a bus is coming; they can count on one arriving every 10 minutes. o Swift BRT runs from Everett, Washington to the border of King County and is a 17- mile long line with 14 stations. There was the advantage of a previous infrastructure project which added transit and right-turn lanes and sidewalks. The Swift Bus project focused on operating in these lanes. The signage and striping is only at the intersections but they are considering extending this because of lane violation;car drivers don't realize they are in a bus lane. 10 Director Buehner asked if local buses can get into the BRT lanes under this scenario. Mr. Bevan said in all of these cases they can, but the question is whether or not they use the same stops and this varies. BRT can have three-door boarding which speeds up the loading time and you do not want to be blocked by a local bus. In the Swift BRT line they put the BRT stations closest to the intersection and the local bus stops 100-feet down the road. Chair Cook noted that the stops in Eugene have different platform heights and are shared but the two types of buses are timed not to be there at the same time. Mr. Bevan led a discussion on the pros and cons of locating BRT and local bus shared stops. In response to a question from Director Snider about what a Far Side Station is,Mr. Bevan explained that there is a slight advantage to having a BRT stop on the far side of the intersection when operating within transit system signal priority. Mr. Bevan said the Swift transit amenities included raised platforms,wind screens, ticket vending machines, and smart card readers. All fare collection is off-board. On the BRT continuum they opted for high quality stations,bike racks, outside bus lanes, and 12-minute headways, and higher-level branding and image-making. Director Snider asked if it qualified for federal funding. Mr. Bevan said he did not know but TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 vvw�v agard-or.gov I Page 4 of 10 could obtain that information. He noted that federal funding rules are tightening. Chair Cook added that bus bulbs qualify for federal funding as dedicated lanes. He said they give a wider station area taken from the road so less right of way is required. o Los Angeles SR 710 North Study In this study the alternatives ranged from highways to light rail or BRT. There was no exclusive right of way in the built environment. Objectives included mmumuzed travel time, improved connectivity,reduced freeway and local street congestion and increased transit ridership. An elevated route would have visual impacts and high costs. A tunnel route would have high costs and would require electric or hybrid buses. He said they are half-way through the alternatives analysis and FIS. The BRT Alternative included peak-period dedicated bus lanes over most of the route,intersection improvements and transit queue bypass. Amenities include improved shelters, lighting, on-board validation and "next bus" displays. There are separate BRT stations at high volume stops, mostly located at far side of intersections. A local bus line operates as an overlay;BRT is more of an express bus system. Director Snider noted that a BRT tunnel would reduce the time from 53 minutes waiting for a bus to 45 minutes and commented that there is not much difference for the increased cost. Mr. Bevan said you can work on other variables such as frequency of service, comfort or convenience if you don't have all the desired right of way available for a dedicated lune. Director Snider asked if the estimate of$1 billion a mile a good estimate for a light rail tunnel. Mr. Bevan said in this case the light rail tunnel was ten miles and the cost was estimated at$2 billion. In response to a question from Director Woodard on the cost of elevated lines for BRT,Mr. Bevan discussed the I-110 BRT line in Los Angeles where they attempted to fit a two-lane bus way in each direction but said he did not have recent numbers. Director Woodard asked for a cost comparison between elevated lines and tunnels and Mr. Bevan said he would get back to him with that information. �lJ Director Henderson asked what would be an ideal RBT application. Mr. Bevan said the best is either a freeway or something like the Orange Line in the San Fernando Valley which uses a 14.5- mile abandoned railroad line to connect to the Metro Red Lune. It has at-grade intersections but carries 20,000 boardings a day and is at near capacity after eight years. He confirmed that the challenge of BRT is finding available right of way. II Director Buehner commented that the SW Corridor has tremendous elevation changes and asked which of the examples Mr. Bevan presented had those topographical issues. He replied that he was not sure the examples had those problems, but light rail maximum grades are six percent and the 60-foot articulated basses require flatter grades. Director Buehner said she heard years ago that a tunnel was an option for SW Corridor. Director Snider commented that someone should develop a better powered articulated bus that can travel up hills. TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd,Tigard,OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 5 of 10 Chair Cook thanked Mr. Bevan for his informative presentation. Director Snider asked if he was familiar with SW Corridor and asked if it would be possible to get a high level idea of what is possible. He said with the measure on the ballot, the city might need the answers to some questions before the corridor planning efforts are complete. We need to know in order to talk to our constituents. A lot of effort went into gathering signatures to place this on the ballot. Director Buehner said accurate information is needed to give citizens the facts. IJ Senior Transportation Planner Gray said these questions will be identified and addressed in the SW Corridor DEIS. She said Triplet is leading this project and there will be regular updates given to the Steering Committee. Director Sluder said due to the measure on the spring ballot, council may need this information before then to educate the community. Senior Transportation Planner Gray said she will work with the City Manager and Community Development Director Asher to follow up on ways to provide this information. Executive Director Wine said the information is being developed now. �J Director Henderson said some council members travelled to Eugene to see recent BRT improvements. System operators confirmed that there are many challenges and are sharing information with other cities. He spoke with riders and expressed concern about the 20-second stop time used by Eugene's BRT and said it seems too short for slow-moving or elderly passengers. 5. DISCUSS COMPOSITION Or THE CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD AND THE CITY CENTER ADVISORY COMMISSION 1J Executive Director Wine said a question was raised about whether the CCDA or CCAC should be composed of city council members or appointed members from another source. She said the city attorney said the composition is set by ordinance and can be changed by an ordinance. She said the board considered this question in 2009 and information was provided to the CCDA on the background of that consideration. The city is a member of the Association of Oregon Urban Redevelopment Agencies,which has looked at pros and cons of both directions when preparing their best practices manual. The majority of urban renewal boards have the city council serving as the board. She said there are two: Portland and Medford that have an appointed board. Staff is seeking a clear consensus from the CCDA Board as to who should sit as the urban renewal agency board. 1J In response to a question from Director Sluder about who requested this discussion and what the rationale was, Director Henderson said he did. He said the CCDA and CCAC boards were new in 2009 and still considering what they wanted to do. His impression was that the CCDA Board lacked the expertise to make decisions so was leaving it up to staff and consultants to make those decisions. He cominented, "We don't always follow what consultants tell us to do. If it is going to be staff and consultant driven and we are not going to follow that guidance, then we need to find people in this community that can do this and are willing to do this." He said the city is moving in TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd,Tigard,OR 97223 www tigard-or.gov I Page 6 of 10 the right direction now but he wants to look at this. He said he understands that the bad economy affected Tigard, but felt in the long run, "there was more that we could have done." .0 Director Snider asked if Director Henderson was envisioning a larger group and he replied, "No. Each one of us could replace ourselves with someone with a skill." 0 Director Woodard said he read the urban renewal best practices manual and realized that there are times when it is appropriate to create a hybrid board of experts and 2-3 councilors. He said to keep in mind the consistency and focus of a non-elected board. He said even if the CCDA becomes a hybrid then the council still is the adopting authority. Director Snider expressed concerns about the board operating independently and said council would not have authority. Executive Director Wine said on two hybrid boards,Beaverton and Oregon City, the majority of their members are council members. Director Snider said if the board followed the suggestion of Director Henderson, council might have authority to remove someone from the board but would lose authority to direct the decision-making business of the agency. Executive Director Wine said her question for the city attorney is what would happen if an appointed board makes a decision that council disagrees with. Community Development Director Asher talked about council authority under the existing plan and council-approved amendments say that council is the authority on material changes to the goals and objectives of the plan, spending over$500,000 and extending the duration of the plan. Director Buehner asked if the CCDA had to go to the voters to extend the timeframe of the urban renewal plan. Community Development Director Asher said a duration change can be done by the city council. Chair Cook said he understands the point made about elected officials that come and go, and agrees that the CCDA has not followed through on consultant suggestions. He said he was concerned however, that an appointed board may decide to do something that council would not have agreed to do, for example,building the increment financing by placing a Wal-Mart in the urban renewal area. Council would not be able to say no because they gave away their authority. Director Snider said if the issue is that we don't have all of the right people on the council, we could expand the council with two to four people with that expertise and the elected council would still hold the majority. Chair Cook asked, "Isn't this the role of the CCAC already?" Director Buehner said the CCAC's original composition was designed to be made up of property and downtown business owners;it was not designated to have the professional expertise we need now. She said it could even be a separate board. Director Woodard supported that idea because the expertise would be available for the entire city, not just the urban renewal district. Director Buehner said in Portland there was a perception that the Portland Development Commission (PDC) was on the wrong side of council, caused a major uproar and hurt development. She said she also shared concerns expressed about council giving away authority. She commented that Portland and Medford have huge urban renewal districts. In comparison,Tigard's is very small, TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd,Tigard,OR 97223 xvww.ngard-or gov I Page 7 of 10 dollar-wise and adding some expertise as advisors would be more appropriate than uicreasuig the bureaucracy. 0 Director Snider asked for staffs opinion. Community Development Director Asher said staff sees expertise as a positive thing and would be thrilled if the issue holding the city back was lack of decision-making expertise. He said from lus perspective that is not the problem today. He commented that he is very comfortable working with the CCDA Board. He said he worries about the administration of an appointed board and the talent pool. He questioned whether those with the skills have time and commitment to sit on a board. He said he didn't want to diminish the idea, and if there are people in the community willing to advise, he wants to hear from them. Director Woodard noted that Economic Development Director Purdy is out in the community making connections and perhaps some of those contacts may be interested in participating. Community Development Director Asher offered staffs help in putting together a roster or consortium. Executive Director Wine added that in creating the CCAC, the Tigard Municipal Code gives the CCDA 12 members to advise or solicit expertise for guidance. She said, "Tlus is all within your control." She asked if the board wanted to look at how to solicit this expertise for the CCAC. Chair Cook asked whether the charter specifies that the CCAC is necessary and if it was only created to advise in urban renewal matters. Executive Director Wine said the Tigard Municipal Code created the CCAC and specifies its purpose is to assist in the implementation of the city center plan, make recommendations to the agency and inform citizens of the plan content and activity. In response to a question from Chair Cook, Executive Director Wine said the scope could be changed by ordinance. Director Snider said he is not hearing support for the major policy decision of taking council out of the majority position. He said he understood Director Henderson's concerns and would consider adding more members to the CCDA. 4L'J Community Development Director Asher suggested it may be more useful to identify what council wants —better advice and information or better decisions. He asked what they are trying to fix—the information or getting council out of the decision-making realm. He asked Director Henderson wluch of the two was his concern. Director Henderson said he is not sure what the questions to be asked are as we go forward. He said there are people m this commuiuty who want to be involved and have expertise. He said he understands that staff is educated and experienced but wants to include the expertise of community members. In response to a question from Chair Cook, Community Development Director Asher said there must be a development agency. It can be made up or council or others, but the city is required to have one. Community Development Director Asher asked about the model of adding to and beefing up the knowledge base of the CCAC. Director Henderson said if that was going to happen,it would have happened already. TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 unvw.tigard-or.gov I Page 8 of 10 Community Development Director Asher used the Planning Commission as an example of an advisory board to council that has required expertise in all major categories. There is a comfort level because they understand land use and have weighed all of the options before a matter comes to council. That model could be applied to the CCAC. Director Buchner said at the time the CCAC was formed the concern was buy-in from the public and downtown businesses so the composition was regular citizens and downtown business owners,which provided comfort that city council and development agency were not runnuig amok. She said this is not an issue now and it may be time to require certain seat holders on the CCAC to have financial or development expertise. Director Woodard discussed the high level of recent board applicants recently. Chair Cook said TTAC or CCAC membership terms are expiring so it is a good time to make changes. Redevelopment Project Manager rarrelly said there are three voting positions and two alternates open on the CCAC. Executive Director Wine asked about where expertise is needed —what disciplines? Director Henderson said financing,real estate, and development. He said he would like to have a discussion with Community Development Director Asher about what might be needed. CCDA Chair Cook said it appears that the majority prefers taking a look at a proposal for expanding the CCDA and asked if information on a process and tunelunes could be discussed at the next CCDA meeting. He noted that rules on terms and appointments will need to be written. Director Buchner suggested using the Planning Commission as a model. Community Development Director Asher will bring tlus to a future CCDA meeting. Cato Recorder's 1Niote.Election re cants were given (paatial returns). Yes 77%and No 23%for tl)e Cito of Tigard Cbarter Amendment EIZECUTIVE SESSION: at 8:51 pm Chair Cook announced that the CCDA will enter into an executive session in the Red Rock Creek Conference Room to discuss real property negotiations, under ORS 192.660 (2) (e). The Executive Session ended at 9:10 pm. CITY COUNCIL MEETING 6. NON AGENDA ITEMS Councilor Snider�1%rished to discuss consequences for councilors breaking established ground rules. He provided background on an issue he and Mayor Cook had with Councilor Buchner's interactions with the public, city partners and staff. They agreed that there should be consequences for further situations. Two possible consequences outlined un July were removal from board and commission assignments or from representing the city, or official censure. Mayor Cook added, "We can all hold each other accountable," but he noted there was not much he could do as mayor except removal from board assignments or censure,which is extreme. City Manager Wine said censure is a public motion of disapproval. TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW ball Blvd,Tigard,OR 97223 1 1 xvww.thgard-or.gov I Page 9 of 10 Councilor Snider said there is a need to establish consequences for breaking groundrules. He said anyone could reach a point where their behavior could go "over the top"but a councilor cannot go over the line,especially when interacting with the public,staff or elected officials from other jurisdictions. He acknowledged that Councilor Buchner had apologized to the mayor of Lake Oswego. Councilor Snider mentioned an interaction Director Buchner had with members of the public at the Town Hall on October 29 that was concerning to him. He said the interaction was not polite to the constituents. Director Buchner acknowledged that she was not feeling well after a medical procedure,and perhaps should not have attended the meeting. She said everyone has different styles. A discussion was held on each councilor's communication style. The suggestion was made that if any councilor was unwell they should not attend the meeting. Councilor Henderson offered that council should not let visitors bait them into a reaction. Council agreed to help each other become aware if any one of them was nearing a reaction that would violate their groundrules. Councilor Woodard said,"We all need to get better at gauging where the cut-off point is." 7. ADJOURNMENT At 9:58 pm Councilor Buchner moved for adjournment and Councilor Woodard seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Yes No Councilor Buchner ✓ Council President Henderson ✓ Councilor Snider ✓ Councilor Woodard ✓ Mayor Cook ✓ Deputy City Recorder,Car A. Krager Attest: CCD hair,John C Cook Marc Dee— 3 v;? d / 3 TIGARD CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT AGENCY/CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES — November 5, 2013 City of Tigard 1 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard,OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov I Page 10 of 10