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2006-924-Minutes for Meeting April 06,2006 Recorded 9/18/2006COUNTY NANCYUBLANKENSHIP,F000NTY CLERKOS PJ 1VV6.914 COMMISSIONERS' JOURNAL III oil 09/18/2006 03;27;58 PM 2006-824 Do not remove this page from original document. Deschutes County Clerk Certificate Page If this instrument is being re-recorded, please complete the following statement, in accordance with ORS 205.244: Re-recorded to correct [give reason] previously recorded in Book or as Fee Number and Page QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: STAFF PRESENT: M. David Elliott Mayor Eileen Stein, City Manager Judy Trego Council President Brian Rankin Planning Director Sharlene Weed Councilor Gary Frazee PW Director Brad Boyd Councilor Emma Sivers Finance Officer ABSENT: DESCHUTES COU NTY COMMISSIONERS: Lon Kellstrom Councilor Dennis Luke Commissioner Mike Daly Commissioner Bev Clarno Commissioner Mike Maier County Administrator Steve Jorgenson Transportation Planner Tom Blust Road Dept. Manager Len Knott Home Rule Committee 1. QUARTERLY MEETING WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS a. Home Rule Charter Committee Status Len Knott, Home Rule Committee member, explained the committee's process regarding the Home Rule Charter proposal. • Nine of Oregon's 36 counties have charters. • Charters are adopted by county voters only at the primary or general elections in even numbered years. • Deschutes County voters have rejected proposed home rule charters three times. • The Charter Committee will prepare a recommendation whether Deschutes County should have a charter (or not) and in order to submit it to the voters in November 2006 they must complete their recommendation by the first week in August. This meets the 90-day requirement and there cannot be any modifications after submitted. • The Charter Committee has nine members and a majority of five members would constitute a quorum. The committee meets weekly every Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. at the Deschutes County legal conference room and is limited to an hour and a half. The meeting is open to the public and open to input near the end of the meeting for a limited amount of time. • There will be two public hearings; the first for informational and input purposes and the second after draft is complete. • Committee issues to-date: Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 1 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 1. Procedures - using Roberts Rules of Order, simple majority 2. Information gathering - invites Council to give input to Mr. Knott. 3. Create an organizational chart. 4. Compare Deschutes County's General Law governance to other Home Rule governance counties. a. History of other charter counties' stability without amendments or change. Find out why a county may have many changes. b. Committee needs to be convinced a charter is desirable and if not identify whether a problem exists in the current form and fix it. A discussion followed regarding commissioner responsibilities under Home Rule governance. Mayor Elliott stated that his concern is the pool of individuals drawn to volunteer for commissioner positions because of the time involved in this form of governance. He added that he thinks Home Rule may be a good idea. Commissioner Clarno said that the committee will inform the county about job requirements, kind of representation and the number of commissioners it will take to get the job done. The committee will decide at what level, if they recommend the charter, do job descriptions need to be made a part of the charter. The charter should not be cluttered with detail that takes away the flexibility of the county government. Commissioner Daly stated that he thinks that threshold is the issue relative to the degree the governing body is involved in strictly policy making (much like city councils) versus day to day administration tasks. The threshold relationship will be the deciding factor whether to have paid or part-time commissioners. This is the first crucial issue that has to be decided and the City's input along these lines is welcome. Commissioner Luke believes that a lot of time is spent in meetings with part- time commissioners bringing them up-to-date because it is not their profession and they do not have expertise in governance areas. He believes there is a gap between policy making and the day to day operations which is a whole area of this growing county's issues that have to be faced continually by the Commissioners. Councilor Trego asked if the committee will be taking the comments of the current Commissioners into consideration. She thinks that it is important to note what the Commissioners are saying. Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 2 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 Commissioner Daly pointed out that if the Charter is formed with one County Administrator controlling the county and part-time voluntary commissioners, the administrator will be isolated from the voters. He said that voters do not have an opportunity to remove the administrator if he/she is not doing a good job. He added that currently the voters may only have to change one commissioner to change the whole face of the board. He said that if there are 5 to 7 commissioners the voters are pretty much disenfranchised and changes are hard to make. Commissioner Clarno disagreed on one point, the administrator is responsible to the voters and they can call commissioners which hire and fire the administrator. Administrator Maier stated that the challenge the Home Rule Committee has is to find a better form of government to look at that is actually doing better. He suggested that the committee look at actual performance measures of other counties, evaluate whether there is a better value to taxpayers, recommending something for the benefit of the county and not change for the sake of change. b. Transportation System Planning: Couplet Status and Alternate Route Manager Stein asked the Commissioners where the County is with their long term Transportation System Plan (TSP). Manager Stein briefed the Commissioners on the City Council's recent workshop with ODOT. The Council had requested that ODOT simulate phased in recommended couplet improvements such as extending Main Avenue from Pine Street to Highway 20 through the Forest Service property (ODOT maps were distributed). She stated that the most expensive portion of the improvements is the channelization and signalization of Cascade Avenue and Highway 20 by the Elementary School; a very problematic intersection which is at failure already. (See the attached updated analysis.) Commissioner Luke stated that the traffic in Sisters fails at certain times of the day, which makes it difficult to decide how much to spend to not have it fail. Manager Stein continued her report about the Council's recent workshop. She stated that the ODOT report prompted the Council to look at the need, sometime in the future, to have an alternate route or some type of major traffic facility that allows traffic to move around Sisters. She said the Council also discussed the time involved in planning a major traffic facility without knowing what the County's TSP is outside Sisters' jurisdiction. She said the Council also discussed building the improvements in the short-term and have some impact on capacity but what should the City do in the medium- term. Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 3 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 She suggested to the Council in workshop to do a traditional couplet using Cascade and Main Avenue which may involve community input because of the recent news coverage. Commissioner Luke stated that Deschutes County has worked closely with the cities of Bend, Redmond and the community of La Pine regarding transportation issues and is willing to work with Sisters. County Transportation Planner Steve Jorgenson reported that the County is currently preparing a work program to update their TSP. He said that his goal is to have the update completed by 2008 with a ten year plan. In addressing the couplet issue, he told the Council they should look at options to move outside the city limits in county owned lands they should note issues with goal exception requirements. He said that transportation improvements on rural land is addressed in ORS 660-12 which is a guide for what can and cannot be done on farm or forest lands. He stated that he agrees with the City Manager that couplet planning is critical for showing justification and reasons why a couplet does not work. He added that he is under the impression that once ODOT starts to wrap up the planning work on Highway 97, the Highway 20 refinement planning process should begin. He said that Deschutes County will look to ODOT and Sisters about why a bypass should happen. He added that the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) will ask why an urban problem should be solved with a rural solution. He reiterated that Sisters will have to have very strong justification for the bypass. He said that the County will be working on its TSP countywide and whatever Sisters is doing can be folded into the County's process. Commissioner Luke stated that the seven potential candidates for the County Planning Commission stated that their big issues are transportation. He said that the Sisters plan would go before this commission. Councilor Boyd interjected that Sisters traffic problem is not urban; it is from travelers from the valley to Bend. Commissioner Luke said that he thinks Sisters would be surprised how much is local traffic, Sisters is a destination. Commissioner Clarno suggested a permanent toll road which would pay for the bypass and fund other improvements. She also noted the 2001 Partnership Legislation with ODOT with enabling statutes introduced. She said a partnership may be too complicated but it is a thought. Manager Stein stated that there is already a foundation for a bypass utilizing some of the Brooks-Scanlon logging road therefore minimizing impact on the forest. County Road Manager Tom Blust said that it is vitally important that Sisters looks at all options within the urban area, it is not a wasted effort, in fact it is required before a bypass is considered. Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 4 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 Manager Stein reported to the Commissioners that Sisters' staff work plan includes an update of the City's TSP in the next fiscal year (2006-2007). She said Sisters will be looking at where the City is now, the couplet is prioritized and whether there are other transportation improvements to be envisioned for the future that allows additional links and grid to take care of local circulation traffic. Manager Blust added that this might dovetail with the County's timeline. He stated that there have been many huge changes since 1998; Measure 37 impacts, Metropolitan Planning Organization and 20 different processes that ODOT is going through now. He added that there is planning money but no construction money. Manager Stein highlighted that governments are learning in the beginning of the next round of the State Transportation Improvement Program (5- year STIP) that projects all the state highway projects that there may be no modernization projects in 2008-10. Commission Luke added that the state took one-half of the modernization allocation to help pay back the bridge bonds. He said that ODOT Region 4 will receive about $2.5 million and of that $2.5 million about $2 million will be paid for the Sunriver interchange. Commissioner Daly said that if the County Payments Bill does not pass $3.1 million would be cut from the County's transportation budget. Commissioner Luke reported that the Central Oregon Area Commission on Transportation (COACT) is looking at the 15 to 20 year plan regarding how Central Oregon can keep the cities connected not just using state highways. He said they are looking at alternatives to keep commerce and citizens moving back and forth. c. Avian Flu Preparedness Administrator Maier stated that the State is taking the lead in avian flu preparedness and there was a major conference with the governor a week ago. Dan Peddycord with the Deschutes County Health Department is coordinating with the State. A discussion followed regarding seeing infected birds in this area as early as this fall according to the migratory patterns, having to be self-reliant for quite sometime if a pandemic hits this area, quarantine and isolation measures, and the funding of some type of vaccine from the federal government. d. Tri County Overhead Incident Management Planning Effort Manager Stein reported that this involved a meeting, instigated by Sheriff Stiles, with elected officials and high level officials across the tri-county area. She stated that it was emphasized that local governments need to be self-sufficient, prepared and have an incident command structure in place rather than relying on a National Incident Management team. She reported that the tri-county officials will be trained and organized to function as an overhead incident management team. Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 5 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 Commission Luke reported that Judge Cooper from Crook County has started a conversation about the tri-county's constructing a building, perhaps, on the Deschutes County Fairgrounds to stockpile cots, water and emergency supplies. This would allow for a central stockpile that would be replenished by the emergency end user. He also reported that Central Oregon is the largest trauma center outside the metro area if something major happened in the Willamette Valley. e. Other Business The Central Electric Coop (CEC) situation was discussed and questions were answered regarding moratoriums, rolling blackouts and the Cyrus Measure 37 claim. County Counselor Mark Pilliod stated that the County approved the CEC Measure 37 claim which enables them to by-pass the land use rules and put in the alternate power line. He was told that CEC has begun the construction effort acquiring the necessary materials to begin the project. Two separate parties challenged the County decision; a trail crossing trust, which is kind of a holding company for the Thornberg Developers, and the Cyrus family. The judge ruled on a briefing schedule which would enable him to arrive at a decision by the middle of July. Counsel Pilliod stated he believes that whichever way the decision goes it will be appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals. He said he heard that CEC also filed a measure 37 claim with the State; he does not know the reason because the County is not a party to that filing. He added that Measure 37 defines ownership interest in the broadest of terms and it will be up to the court to decide whether an easement falls within that definition. CEC does have condemnation rights but they would have to pay the landowner. The quarterly meeting was adjourned at 9:15 a. m. The Council workshop continued. 2. PREVIEW 4/13/06 REGULAR MEETING AGENDA • Manager Stein reported that she is in the process of preparing two grant applications to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Local Government Grant Program for the improvement of Clemens Park and purchase of the Forest Service East Portal triangle property. Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) staff are writing this grant for $200,000 and $300,000 respectively. A resolution is required for this application. • Director Rankin explained that the Village Meadows Subdivision is adjacent to the Hayden Project and the Council may know it as the Pines Phase II. • Director Frazee explained that the Relco Station easement would allow completion of their six-lot subdivision. Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 6 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 • Manager Stein stated that the COCO bylaws say that all the participating cities must approve the legislative agenda. Councilor Trego asked if COCO's budget has to be approved with the agenda. Manager Stein said that she would check on that. The City's portion of the budget was discussed. Director Rankin asked the Council directly how elaborate the upcoming Forest Service workshops process should be. He said that the Forest Service would like a vision by the end of May because they are working with their appraisers to place a value on the land now. He said that the process could be formal or informal, he recommends, because of the time frame, to keep it simple with a list of preferred development objectives, set goals, some hot-button issues (things the Council definitely does not want) and possibly listing general uses. He said the Council could create a general outline to present to the public and receive feedback from the public to begin the process. He said the Forest Service is planning to start selling by September 2006 and developers will start asking questions by this summer. This process would be a courtesy to the Forest Service and ultimate developers. He said this would not be the last or only input from the Council. Councilor Trego stated that it should begin informally with a list of ideas and then have a more in-depth public process. She mentioned an outside committee that is working on citizen input. A discussion followed regarding some type of broad outreach to citizens, waiting to hear more from the Forest Service, owning or rezoning the property, high level guidance, purchasing land for affordable housing in conjunction with the Central Oregon Regional Housing Authority (CORHA) and Habitat for Humanity, public/private partnerships for the purchase of the land, declaring a Townsite Act, Deschutes County assisting with the purchase, expanding the boundaries of the urban renewal district, the ODOT shop location and environmental clean-up. Director Rankin summarized what questions the Council: • What is the Townsite Act and how does it work? • The Forest Service will be asking the Council if they are willing to rezone the property. That is the question they want answered. • Are there partnership opportunities where the City could participate in purchasing some or all of the land? Is the Urban Renewal Agency a possibility for funding assistance? • What is the Forest Service's timeline, expectations, and what amount of money they hope to realize from the land sale. 3. CITY MANAGER UPDATE a. Asked for suggestions for the new City Hall groundbreaking ceremony. Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 7 of 8 QUARTERLY WITH DESCHUTES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WORKSHOP SISTERS CITY COUNCIL 150 N. FIR STREET 6:00 P.M. APRIL 6, 2006 b. Reminded Council about the LOC Elected Officials workshop. c. Clarified request for identifying goals for the upcoming year to complete her recent annual evaluation. d. Councilor Weed asked about the parks system development charge (SDC) update. Manager Stein answered that the City is in the process of updating the water, sewer and transportation SDCs. She said that Debbie Galardi's contract could be amended to add the park SDC update. A discussion followed regarding the cost/benefit ratio of the update, adding recreational facilities under the jurisdiction of the Sisters Organization for Activities and Recreation (SOAR) and examining the current Parks Master Plan. Manager Stein suggested waiting until FY 2007-2008 and looking at a process to update park SDCs and create stormwater SDCs. Director Rankin indicated that Tree City USA might have some impact on the parks, which could be rolled into the Parks Master Plan also. Councilor Weed stated that she is hoping to see a parks project list with estimated costs. Councilor Boyd said that he would like the current SDC updates to be completed in a timely manner. Director Rankin offered to look at the current Park Master Plan and get back to the Council about the cost basis involved. Councilor Weed stated the City should do a consumer price index (CPI) adjustment each year for all the SDCs. e. Councilor Weed asked about another couplet committee in July reported in the Bulletin. Manager Stein stated that the article was erroneous; there will not be another committee. 4. Adjourned - the meeting was adjourned at 10:20 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Emma Sivers /5V Recording Secretary M. David Elliott, Mayor Deschutes_,C.gunty Board of Commissioners i R. Luke, Cdr f Bev Cl o, Vice Chair M c ael M. Daly, Co missioner Workshop Meeting Minutes 04/06//06 Page 8 of 8