BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS'
December 17, 2002
9:00 a.m.
Commissioners' Conference Room
Commissioner Bill Dwyer presided with Commissioners Bobby Green, Sr.,
Anna Morrison, Peter Sorenson and Cindy Weeldreyer present. Acting County Administrator Dave Garnick,
County Counsel Teresa Wilson and Recording Secretary Melissa Zimmer were also
present.
1. ADJUSTMENTS
TO THE AGENDA
None.
2. PUBLIC
COMMENTS
Dawn Helwig,
Cascade Foothills Library, stated they were interested in the broadband
connection going from Lane County to Oakridge.
She supported the first connection to Oakridge. She thought it was most economical and made
the most sense in terms of lighting more rural communities. She said when the broadband comes to Lowell,
they would be able to get a radio signal from Lowell and start up their
workforce partnership. She asked the
Board to consider this.
David Hinkley,
Jefferson Westside Neighborhood, reported they met with representatives of St.
Vincent de Paul to discuss their proposal regarding the properties on Jefferson
Street. He said that after reviewing
it, the neighborhood executive board endorsed the proposal for St. Vincent de
Paul to acquire the two houses and land so they could renovate them and return
them to private ownership for the low-income program. He said while the relationship between the neighborhood and the
fairgrounds is the best it has been, one of the strained points was what would
the footprint of the fairgrounds be like. He stated the Fair Board said they
didn’t want to expand the fairgrounds and this was the first proposal that
would go well with the neighborhood. He
noted there was another proposal that his board wasn’t supportive of, where they
acquire a long-term lease so they could rehab the houses and rent them out
through the program. He said the
neighborhood group wanted to see the houses and two vacant lots returned to
private ownership.
3. COMMISSIONERS'
REMONSTRANCE
Dwyer commented that the action regarding the transportation
user fee was in response to citizen inquiries. He visited with the Chamber of
Commerce and Legislative Affairs with Springfield. His concern was the lack of the ability to refer it to the
people.
Sorenson stated he learned that the City of Eugene did
not put an emergency clause on their ordinance.
Weeldreyer noted there was an op-ed piece in the
newspaper that she and Mayor Torrey put in the newspaper as members of the
Region 2050 Advisory Board. She stated
it discussed the importance of the project and the opportunity for ordinary
citizens (that don’t ordinarily come to public meetings) to have a way of
letting their voices be heard in the work they are doing to plan for the
estimated increase in population by the year 2050 that would exceed the current
population of Eugene and Springfield.
She commented that planning for that growth was a smart thing to
do. The said the project is to see what
different scenarios would look like if they did nothing or making changes to
protect the livability. She wanted
input from rural communities.
4. RESOLUTIONS
None.
5. EXECUTIVE
SESSION as per ORS 192.660
None.
6. COMMITTEE
REPORTS
None.
7. COUNTY
ADMINISTRATION
a. Announcements
Van Vactor reported he had been working on PERS issues.
8. COMMISSIONERS'
BUSINESS
a. ORDER 02-12-17-1/In
the Matter of Approving the Lane
County Juvenile Crime Prevention Plan 2001-03 Budget Update.
Green explained the Prevention and Juvenile Justice
Committee is a committee of the Public Safety Coordinating Council. He said they were under instructions as a
result of the special session to reduce their juvenile crime prevention budget
by 2.8 percent. He noted the PSCC had approved this item and advanced it to the
Board. He stated the total amount out
of a $3.1 million budget is $89,502. He
noted the Prevention and Juvenile Justice Committee reviewed the information
and sent requests to the providers that would tell what their agencies could
absorb and the impact to the agency by the reduction. He commented this was the first cut. He noted these reductions
were taken out of prevention services, not basic services. He wanted Board
approval.
MOTION: to approve ORDER 02-12-17-1.
Green MOVED, Morrison SECONDED.
Sorenson asked if the Board had to do this.
Susan Sowards, LCOG, responded they had to do this
because this passed in the special session.
She noted this was already in effect and would not be impacted by the
January measure.
VOTE: 5-0.
9. PUBLIC
WORKS
a. ORDER 02-12-17-2/In
the Matter of Electing to Continue Lane County Authorization of Wildlife
Habitat Conservation and Management Plans in Farm and Forest Zones. (OAR
635-430-000-635-430-100)
Bill Sage, Land Management, reported that since 1988, Lane County had been involved in a voluntary program where private property owners could link up with representatives from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and craft a habitat management conservation plan. He noted in September 2002, the Board adopted a habitat conversation plan as a permitted use in the farm zone and in the F2 zone. He added there was an amendment and a statute in the last legislative assembly that gave the counties an option to opt out of this program by January 1, 2003. He noted this had a different consequence to it. He said if they don’t opt out (which they are not recommending the Board does) prior to January 1, 2003, then they do not have that choice thereafter. He said staff recommended the Board adopt this resolution saying they are electing to stay in the program.
MOTION: to
approve ORDER 02-12-17-2.
Morrison MOVED, Weeldreyer SECONDED.
VOTE: 5-0.
b. ORDER 02-12-17-3/In
the Matter of Awarding a Contract for Grant Management Services for the
Purposes of the Provision of Grant Driven Projects to Improve the Natural
Features of Howard Buford Recreation Area to the Friends of Buford Park and Mt.
Pisgah with Any Payment for Services from Grant Awards.
Rich Fay, Parks, explained this came about when they
put out an RFP to contract with one or more businesses for the provision of the
grant management services in October.
He said the purpose is to provide for raising funds, administering
grants and complying with the requirements of a third party funding
source. He said the projects include
riparian enhancement, western pond turtle habitat, native plant nursery, exotic
weed control, prescribed burns, trail planning and construction and maintenance
and research for projects in the park.
Fay noted they received one application from the
Friends of Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah.
He said they did scoring on their criteria and they are recommending
that Friends of Buford Park are selected to enter into a contract that would
allow them to apply, administer and receive payment from the grants, but not
from any County funds.
Morrison was in support of this. She wanted a report back on an annual basis
noting what grants were awarded and what type of projects were produced.
MOTION: to
approve ORDER 02-12-17-3.
Morrison MOVED, Green SECONDED.
VOTE: 5-0.
10. INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
a. ORDER 02-12-17-4/In
the Matter of Amending the Contract to PeopleSoft for Maintenance on the
PeopleSoft Financials and Human Resources Software for the Amount of $1,171,587
and Authorizing the County Administrator to Sign the Appropriate Documents.
Tony Black, Information Services, explained when they
purchased PeopleSoft, they originally signed a five-year maintenance agreement
that expired in September 2002. He
added in August 2002 they received an invoice from PeopleSoft for the next year
and it had doubled the contract. He
noted in 1998 they paid the first annual maintenance for PeopleSoft at $85,000
and it was initially established at an 8% cap over the course of the five
years. He said when they received the
invoice in August, the maintenance fee doubled to $204,000. He added when the contract comes up again,
they would be negotiating it for $357,000.
Black discussed the different scenarios (Copy in
file).
MOTION: to
approve ORDER 02-12-17-4.
Morrison MOVED, Weeldreyer SECONDED.
Green asked for Dave Garnick, Senior Management
Analyst’s, opinion.
Garnick responded he thought this was a good deal and
they worked hard to bring the costs down.
He said they would be avoiding about $800,000 in costs and by partnering
with Springfield, it keeps the costs down for both jurisdictions.
VOTE: 5-0.
11. MANAGEMENT
SERVICES
a. REPORT
BACK/Renovation by Affordable Housing Developers of County Properties Adjacent
to the Fairgrounds.
Jeff Turk, Management Services, reported that in
August he and Warren Wong, Fairgrounds, brought to the Board a matter involving
properties that the fairground manages along Jefferson. He noted at that time the Fair Board had
given a recommendation to sell two of the properties (one is a vacant lot and
one is a property with a house at the corner of 14th and Jefferson),
and to move a house at the corner of 13th and Jefferson. He stated at that time the Board expressed
reservations and an interest in keeping the property and asked him to contact
affordable housing providers. He said
he went to the Housing Policy Board in October and discussed the County’s
desire to hear any proposals in using the houses either on or off site. He asked that they respond to him within 30
days to see if there was any interest.
He noted initially there was no interest expressed by anyone. He added recently he spoke with Anne
Williams, St. Vincent de Paul, who expressed an interest in using the
properties. She submitted a proposal to
the Board for a possible use of the properties. He said the first proposal was using the housing where St.
Vincent de Paul would renovate the properties and use them as rental properties
for affordable housing. He said it
would require that St. Vincent de Paul have use of the land for 15 years to
make it worth their while for the investment.
He added the other proposal that was made would go toward their home
ownership program that would require ownership of the properties.
Green thought Lane County should retain ownership and
give staff direction to entertain a proposal by St. Vincent de Paul. He didn’t want to give up ownership of the
property at this point in time.
MOTION: to
approve Option 4.
Green MOVED, Weeldreyer SECONDED.
Green noted the Fair Board managers have tried to work
with the neighbors but things change about keeping the facility viable and
sometimes it is hard to provide a facility that is conducive to the area. He
thought the Board would be pleased with the end result.
Sorenson asked if the Fair Board was comfortable with
this option.
Wong responded the Fair Board would be fine with the
motion. He said their interest is to
see the properties either removed or put back into the housing market and this meets
that goal. He added it also preserves
for the County and the Fair Board the option to use the property later on. He stated that this current Fair Board was
not interested in moving eastward toward Jefferson Street and there are no
plans to do that.
Williams said the option she preferred was for the
Fair Board to release land and have them become home ownership. She said the issue is to preserve the
character and affordability of the neighborhood.
VOTE: 5-0.
12. EMERGENCY
BUSINESS
None.
There being no further business, Commissioner Dwyer
adjourned the meeting at 11:25 a.m.
Melissa Zimmer
Recording Secretary