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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-08-10 Work Session Minutes Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 1 of 8 Pages Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org MINUTES OF WORK SESSION DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011 ___________________________ Present were Commissioners Tammy Baney, Alan Unger and Anthony DeBone. Also present were Dave Kanner, County Administrator; Erik Kropp, Deputy County Administrator; David Givans, Internal Auditor; and, for a portion of the meeting, George Kolb, Road Department; Kevin Harrison, Community Development; Laurie Craghead, County Counsel; Rob Poirier, 911 County Service District; and six other citizens including media representative Hillary Borrud of The Bulletin. Chair Baney opened the meeting at 1:30 p.m. . 1. Three Sisters Scenic Bikeway Proposal. Doug LaPlaca, President of Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau (“Visit Bend”), presented the management plan for the Three Sisters Scenic Bikeway as submitted to the State Park & Recreation Department. He gave an overview of the project, which started out with seven routes that connected all the communities of Central Oregon. The State approved four (three out of Sisters and the Twin Bridges Loop). He spoke about the Twin Bridges Loop at this time. The others receive their designation this fall. He emphasized that this is a collection of premier cycling routes that will be marketed as such. This will enhance economic development; encourage healthy living and connecting local communities. Municipalities continually have to deal with what roads to maintain or pave. Identifying the cycling routes may help with this, allowing clarity. Twin Bridges Loop and the Archie Briggs Course are part of major cycling events. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 2 of 8 Pages Chair Baney explained that a committee will be looking at the road situation in the area, and this can be considered in their decision-making process. They will make recommendations to the Board at some point. Mr. LaPlaca said that cycling is a major opportunity for tourism and economic development, and is being aggressively marketed. Commissioner Unger stated that a new draw for more visitors to Central Oregon is a great thing. Mr. Kolb explained that the lanes are not really official bike lanes, which generally are wider and have wider striping. Commissioner Unger wants to have the discussion on recreation but still use the roads in multiple ways, and decide which ones need the most attention. Chair Baney said they want to make sure that the other roads that need to be maintained are prioritized for work. What is being done here is miles ahead from what other communities are doing. Mr. Kolb stated that Tweed Road is a major part of the Twin Bridges tract. Tweed is in bad shape and needs to be brought up to a better condition. Mr. LaPlaca explained that this program specifically deals with roads and not trails. He has lost track of the recreational assets in Central Oregon. Chair Baney met with individuals who are involved in this kind of issue, who talked to her about recreational assets. Linkages and prioritizing roads is very important to the region, but they have to use a thoughtful process to address the challenges. Mr. LaPlaca believes they will get the State designation in November on this one trail. The State will provide the signage and locations for placement, and the County would install them through an agreement. Kevin Tanski of the Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee noted that George Kolb and other representatives of the Road Department team come to most of the meetings to discuss a range of issues and provide input from a County perspective. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 3 of 8 Pages 2. Discussion of Application for a Forgivable Loan Presented by Economic Development for Central Oregon. Roger Lee and Jon Stark of EDCO and Joe Santini of REDI (Redmond Economic Development, Inc.) said the applicant is MEDISISS (Surgical Instruments Services & Savings, Inc.). This company deals with medical device reprocessing of single-use devices, now endorsed by the manufacturers of those devices. These devices are now approved by the FDA for reprocessing up to four or five times. The company has an opportunity to grow, but needs a better communications system. They are asking for $48,000 based on their wages being over the County average. They plan to expand within the next 18 months. The financials and applications have been reviewed and are satisfactory, and the company is valuable to the region. Chair Baney stated she was very impressed with the tour she took of the facility, and the level this kind of program would help to contain health costs. Commissioner Unger said that he is the County representative on the REDI Board. He wants to see family wage jobs promoted, especially those that are green. These positions meet that and more. He really wants to support this kind of business in the area. Dave Kanner asked about the nature of the jobs. Mr. Stark said they are production jobs, plus delivery and operations. Chair Baney added that they treat their employees well and are known to be a quality company. UNGER: Move support of $48,000 from the business development forgivable loan fund to MEDISISS. DEBONE: Second. VOTE: UNGER: Yes. DEBONE: Yes. BANEY: Chair votes yes. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 4 of 8 Pages 3. Review of Amendment to Improvement Agreement with Tetherow Destination Resort regarding Overnight Lodging. Kevin Harrison explained that this amendment would extend the improvement agreement for the lodges. Overnight accommodations are a required improvement prior to signing the first plat in the destination resort. The investor financially secured the funding for this. The original agreement was executed in 2007, and the improvement agreement was good for two year with two extensions. The expiration date is September 24, 2012. Today’s work session is to bring the Board up to speed prior to the meeting on August 22 to consider approving this request. Under the terms of the agreement, the Board has thirty days to respond to the request. August 24 is the deadline for this. The decision point for the Board is whether this is in the public interest. Laurie Craghead added that they have the right to ask for an extension, but it does not happen automatically. Chair Baney asked about the ILOC (irrevocable letter of credit), and the funding that secures the improvements. Ms. Craghead said the signed documents were received yesterday. Mr. Harrison said there are documents from Wells Fargo Bank to be executed as well. Commissioner Unger noted that Virtual Realty Enterprises and the Westons could not seem to come to agreement on how things should operate. He feels that they are waiting for the market to improve. Ms. Craghead said they are in communication, but just have not come up with a plan for success. Chair Baney would like to hear from the parties on the August 22 so they can provide some clarity. Chair Baney said there seem to be many interests, and they should all know about the meeting and be encouraged to attend if they want to share comments and ideas. She said the County is bound by State law so is limited on what can be done. She met with representatives of VRE to try to clarify who owns what at the resort. More information will come on August 22. Commissioner DeBone stated that he toured the resort , and feels it is a wonderful opportunity for the future. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 5 of 8 Pages CONVENED AT THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE 911 COUNTY SERVICE DISTRICT 4. Review of 911 Funding Options (convene as the Governing Body of the 911 County Service District). Rob Poirier wished to discuss the end of the levy in June 2013, and the options for funding at that point. These options were reviewed at this time (see attached memo for reference). The Board does not have to allow two groups (the seven -member executive board and the advisory board consisting of representatives of most agencies). There seem to be differences of opinion on how to present a ballot item when there is a district already with the same boundaries and the same services. Mr. Kanner stated that he originally thought you could not even refer the question unless you dissolve the existing district first. Laurie Craghead feels a second district can be created and all of the territory in the existing district would be drawn into the new district. This would happen simultaneously. To get this on the ballot in a timely manner, it has to be developed by November 2011. They cannot create a new taxing district like those developed for the Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Poirier said that you could expand the services, but he feels option 1 is the best way to go. He wants to set the rate and leave it that way, since it is time-consuming and difficult to go through this process again. He hopes that no dramatic changes would have to be addressed in five years. Mr. Kanner noted that there is always a risk that the levy would fail. The district has had a tax base since 1988. Under the old taxing system, it could be increased by 6% a year. However, Measure 5 capped the aggregate tax rate for taxing districts based on property value, and Measure 50 then based taxes on taxable assessed value, which is not allowed to grow more than 3% a year. User fees are not an option since agencies could not afford this and most do not collect a user fee now. They could continue the way they are operating, but there are many negatives to this. These options were presented to the E-board, which is interested in going for a new district. Mr. Kanner added that there was a suggestion of appointing a panel to go through the options and the process, and make a recommendati on. Mr. Poirier asked the users to send suggestions on this issue, but got little response. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 6 of 8 Pages Chair Baney said that this was never meant to be a Deschutes County operation. There is a delicate balance to consider. Mr. Kanner said the primary issue is timing. Chair Baney wants to be in alignment with the E-board. She s sensitive to the world of 911 and appreciates they trying to get to work on this quickly to keep it alive. Mr. Poirier wants to recharge this whole consolidation process. He initially thought about adding a few positions and hoped that they would not have to purchase major items. Mr. Unger feels a blue ribbon panel is the way to go. They would need to start the educational process soon. User fees will be difficult because some of the users will not want to participate. This would negatively impact continuity. Chair Baney also feels that a panel is a necessity. Commissioner Unger said that a continuation of the current process is an option that would keep things going. If a new district is not successful, the old one would continue but it would only be at the 16 cents. This would require going to the voters for a renewal of the rate as well. Chair Baney feels that the cities, Chambers of Commerce and agencies need to provide someone for the panel, and former Commissioner Dennis Luke may be a good representative as a layperson, providing a historical perspective. Seven to nine members should be adequate. Mr. Kanner feels that three or four meetings should be adequate, but they need to wrap things up by mid-October. The dates need to be set and if someone cannot make those meeting dates, he or she should not apply. Mr. Poirier will meet with Anna Johnson (Communications) to select the dates and times, and begin the process of finding appropriate committee members. If this were to fail, the current levy would be in place until June 2013, but would have to be renewed at that time.. Commissioner Unger feels that user fees are not viable. He would like the group to review the possibility of a tri-county system. Mr. Poirier said he has spoken with the other two counties, and they want to keep parts of their systems in place. Their voters could negatively impact the outcome of the measure in Deschutes County. There is a lot to consider. Mr. Kanner added that this kind of undertaking is huge and needs to be considered separately. Minutes of Board of Commissioners’ Work Session Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Page 7 of 8 Pages The panel is to discuss and recommend a rate, and vet it through the E-board. The Board of Commissioners is ultimate authority. Someone from the E-board may want to sit through the meetings to be able to explain to the E -board how the group got to where it did when recommendations are finalized. 5. Before the Board was Consideration of Approval of Weekly Accounts Payable Vouchers for the 9-1-1 County Service District in the Amount of $28,020.74. DEBONE: Move approval, subject to review. UNGER: Second. VOTE: UNGER: Yes. DEBONE: Yes. BANEY: Chair votes yes. CONVENED AS THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE EXTENSION AND 4-H COUNTY SERVICE DISTRICT 6. Before the Board was Consideration of Approval of Weekly Accounts Payable Vouchers for the Extension/4-H County Service District in the Amount of $1,744.49. DEBONE: Move approval, subject to review. UNGER: Second. VOTE: UNGER: Yes. DEBONE: Yes. BANEY: Chair votes yes. RECONVENED AS THE DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 7. Before the Board was Consideration of Approval of Weekly Accounts Payable Vouchers for Deschutes County in the Amount of $2,393,769.09. DEBONE: Move approval, subject to review. UNGER: Second. Tammy Baney, Chair VOTE: UNGER: Yes. DEBONE: Yes. BANEY: Chair votes yes. 8. Update of Commissioners' Meetings and Schedules. None were discussed. 9. Other Items. The Board decided to send a certificate to Maestro Lawrence Layton Smith, who oversaw the Sunriver Festival of Music for twenty-four years. The Board went into Executive Session under ORS J92.660(d), labor negotiations, at 3:20 p.m. Being no forther discussion or action taken after the executive sessions, the meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m. DATED this 2011 for the d'rl Day of Anthony DeBone, Vice Chair ATTEST: ~~ Recording Secretary Alan Unger, CommIssioner Minutes of Board of Commissioners' Work Session Wednesday, August 10,2011 Page 8 of 8 Pages Deschutes County Board of Commissioners 1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 -Fax (541) 385-3202 -www.deschutes.org WORK SESSION AGENDA DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 1:30 P.M., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10,2011 1. Three Sisters Scenic Bikeway Proposal-Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau Representatives 2. Discussion of Application for Forgivable Loan from Redmond Economic Development, Inc. -Jon Stark 3. Review of Amendment to Improvement Agreement with Tetherow Destination Resort regarding Overnight Lodging -Kevin Harrison 4. Review of 911 Funding Options (convene as the Governing Body of the 911 County Service District) -Rob Poirier 5. Update of Commissioners' Meetings and Schedules 6. Other Items Executive Session, under ORS 192.660( d), Labor Negotiations PLEASE NOTE: At any time during this meeting, an executive session could be called to address issues relating to ORS 192.660(2) (e), mil property negotiations; ORS 192.660(2) (h). litigation; ORS 192.660(2)( d), labor negotiations; or ORS 192.660(2) (b), personnel issues. Meeting dates, times and discussion items are subject to change. All meetings are conducted in the Board a/Commissioners' meeting rooms at J300 NW Wall St., Bend, unless otherwise indicated. Ifyou have questions regarding a meeting. please call 388-6571. Deschutes County meeting locations are wheelchair accessible. Deschutes County provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. For deaf, hearing impaired or speech disabled, dial 7-1-1 to access the state transfer relay service for TrY. Please call (541) 388-6571 reganfing altemati ve formats or for further infonnation. ' ., ~t ~: I I~ I ~ 0 '"C'\l '" ~ QJ ~ t0 "­~ ~ "'0 .... "'0 ~ ~ V\ CO::::l l)() -\jr­1::::l co« E ~~ I ~ "0 QJ ~ ~Q) ~ ~ \ ,-::b ''­\..!.. ~ "'\ ,~ ~ ~ ~ QJ ~ ~ .c \j0 ~ ~.c ~ 0.. ~ \ ~ -... rf) ~ ~ ~.~I ~ ~ N ~ \J.. (( ~ ~ t J~ 1 l '" "­t'"QJ VI t-'"­"'0 ¥ lV) :1"'0 -« on J. ..... ~ ~ ~ & I .., -ri co I ~ ~ b-<> ~ ~ ~ ~ (9 ~ -:l ~ V ~p ~ . ~ ~ ..J -« $"l >­f- V> ~ ' v c-v co 0..C ~ ~ J0.­.l:: '~jIon ~ -:..3 IIon cS: QJ OJ E 4­V'I ~ co 'l f I In 0 ~ ~ z"­l\a. ~I0 ~ ~ '" " ::J ( ~ M ~[~ ~ C'O 0.. DESCHUTES COUNTY Business Development Forgivable Loan Fund Number of Employees: 91 Company Request: $48,000 EDCO Recommendation: $48,000 Proposed Job Creation by end of Q12012: 24 Average Pay for New Employees (all positions, excluding commissions): $43,296 Capital Investment: $500,000 through Q12012 Industry: Medical Device Reprocessing Website: www.medisiss.com -APPLICATION ­ The Business Development Forgivable Loan Fund disburses Deschutes County moneys for the purpose of increasing employment and capital investment in the county. The Fund has been established to offset the costs of business relocation to and within Deschutes County, including moving of equipment, purchase or construction of facilities, and site improvements such as the extension of public services and utilities. EDCO has been designated by Deschutes County as the administrator of this fund. The magnitude of funding is dependent on job creation (typically $500­ $1000 per job). Key Requirements Are: • Grantees must create at least 5 new primary, permanent family wage jobs and shall have retained those jobs for at least one year. • Optional: Grantees must document the investment of at least $5 of new, taxable investments for each $1 allocated from the Business Development Forgivable Loan Fund. Section I -General Information Company Name: Surgical Instruments Service & Savings, Inc. dba MEDISISS Location (City/County): Redmond/Deschutes Business Type: Manufacturing Industry Type: Medical Device No. of Employees: 91 HQAddress: 2747 SW 6 th St., Redmond, OR 97756 State & Federal Taxpayer ID: 93-1229254 Company Contact: Jason Wandersee Title: CEO Phone: 541-923-3310 Email: jwandersee@medisiss.com Parent Company: na Website: www.medisiss.com Section II -Company Profile 1. Please provide a brief overview of your business. MEDISISS reprocesses single-use devices for surgery centers and hospitals around the country. Reprocessing includes cleaning, disinfecting, refurbishing, testing, packaging and sterilizing of these devices under strict FDA over-site -all at 50% of original acquisition cost. This saves hospitals and surgery centers anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000 per year and significantly reduces healthcare landfill waste. Section III -Project Activities 1. Please outline the proposed activities for these funds. How will access to the Business Development Forgivable Loan Fund support your strategic objectives, while increasing your employment and investment in the Central Oregon region? MEDISISS is in a rapid growth phase -to meet the demand of the marketplace. However, the growth has to be managed by internally generated cash flow. As such, we pace hires, and investments in technology and new products/processes on cash flow targets. Tapping into the Loan Fund will enable us to accelerate some of these hires and help with the funding of infrastructure upgrades to support the growth -and create more certainty around both. For example, the company has outgrown its Microsoft Small Business server and MS Mail services due to the number of people on the platform. We would like to upgrade to the MS Exchange Server and relevant licenses to facilitate the next stage of growth -project cost $35k. Further, these funds would also be used to support the technology investment of these pending new hires -averaging $1k per new hire. We are requesting $48,000 to aid in the creation of these jobs and the technology to support these new jobs -namely MS Exchange Server/licenses and computers/phones, etc. for the new hires. Section IV -Grant Terms and Conditions 1. Total Em,ployment Grantees must create at least 5 new primary, family wage jobs (at $35,090 per year) and shall have retained those jobs for at least one year. Please provide a quarterly projection of expected job creation, including titles and/or descriptions. Also indicate expected wages. Quarter Q2 Q3 Q4 Ql Total Positions 6 5 7 6 24 Average Wage per new position $43,296 # of new positions over next 12 months 24 2. Capital Investment -Optional Although not required, capital investment plans are a helpful indicator of future plans. Grantees must document the investment of at least $5 of new, taxable investments for each $1 allocated from the Business Development Forgivable Loan Fund. Please provide a quarterly capital investment projection. [1-·----·-····----·-----------··---·-------·--·-·T .. I .. - CapitallDlleSmeM E!miel:th:m I .QZ 03 Q! , Q1, I ! I i IEquipment f 1$200,000 $100,000 $100,000 i $100,000 $ Iml 500,000 I I I ---._------_.._--_._--'"..--~------""--- 3. Primat:y Employer Test Grantees must be private flmls in manufacturing, high-technology, or technology-based businesses which have more than 75% of customers outside Deschutes County. What percentage of your customer base exists outside Deschutes County? 98.3% of revenues are generated outside of Deschutes County 96.5% of revenues are generated outside of Oregon 90.4% of revenues are generated outside of Oregon and Washington Deschutes County 9-1-1 Service District 20355 Poe Sholes Dr., Ste. 300· Bem, Oregoo· 97701 Robert J. Poirier, Director TO: Deschutes County Board of Commissioners FROM: Robert 1. Poirier, Director SUBJ: Future Funding Options for 9-1-1 Service District DATE: August 4,2011 As you are all aware the Deschutes County 9-1-1 Service District is funded primarily through property tax receipts. These tax collections come from two separate sources. A permanent tax rate of $.161811 ,000 was established when the District was created. For many years the District has had to also depend on a local option levy to supplement its budget, currently we are operating under a $.2311 ,000 levy. The current local option levy is due to expire June 30,2013. Having to renew this levy is very expensive and extremely time consuming. It is also very difficult to plan when future funding is never certain. Because of this the District has been exploring options to try and create a permanent funding source sufficient to operate the District without the need to go out for levies every few years. Please find attached a document I shared with the District's Executive Board. The document explains some different options for future funding of the District. It has also been suggested by the Executive Board that the District assemble a citizen panel to provide recommendations to the Board of Commissioners and the District as to the future funding needs ofthe District and how to best pursue those needs. I look forward to presenting this matter before the Board of Commissioners and seeking input as to how the Commissioners would like the District to proceed. Robert J. Poirier, Director Emergency Dial 9-1-1 Deschutes County 9-1-1 Service District Funding Options Discussion After a considerable amount of budget analysis and projections it has been determined that with the added costs of the new facility (debt service, interfund transfer to Property & Facilities, utility bills), the need for additional staffing (via PSAP comparison and NENA staffing tool and the APCO Project RETAINS tool)), added expenses for new systems, and the need to build and maintain a substantial equipment reserve fund, the District needs an estimated $3.3~3.5M in addition to revenues received through our permanent tax rate, user fees, 9-1-1 tax and other miscellaneous revenue sources. What this means is that the District will have to continue to raise this additional revenue in order to maintain adequate service levels. There are a variety of options to accomplish this goal and each are outlined below. OPTION 1: Dissolution & creation of a new District with adequate permanent rate While ultimately this would be the best option for the District this would be very difficult to accomplish as there would have to be two separate ballot items; one to dissolve the current District and one to approve the new one. The problem is what happens if one measure passes and the other does not? This attempt could prove disastrous and may leave the District completely unfunded. OPTION 2: Create a second taxing District This too would be great for the Center however our research has determined that to simply create a twin District for the sole purpose of raising additional taxes is illegal. We have tried to be creative in this endeavor. The bottom line is that the new District would need to have substantially different duties/functions or have a substantially different geographical boundary. There are a few options where this could happen but might be considered too radical (Le. forming an emergency communications District and operating the radio system or consolidation with Crook and Jefferson County and forming a Special District). OPTION 3: User Fees As one of only two 9~1-1 agencies who operate without user fees in the State of Oregon, DC9-1-1 provides 9-1-1 and dispatch service with very little impact on the budgets of our user agencies (mostly compression). A third option would be to generate the additional funds through user fees. The problem with this option is that most user agencies are already faced with extremely tight budgets and the shifting of this cost (i.e. the elimination of $3.5M to the whole of public safety) would have a substantial impact on the effective delivery of public safety services. Using a very simple cost sharing model based on calls for service this is what user fees would look like on a per agency basis. Again this is a very simplistic model. OCSO $ 1,150,667.99 Bend PO $ 1,349,211.38 Redmond PO $ 636,946.23 Sunriver PO $ 75,530.02 Black Butte PO $15,184.41 Bend Fire $ 151,180.67 Redmond Fire $ 64,416.90 SisterS/Camp Sherman Fire $12,259.12 Crooked River Ranch Fire* $ 45,966.86 LaPine Fire $ 32,148.13 Cloverdale Fire $ 2,895.14 *Crooked River Ranch already pays for services through user fees so this amount is not included as part of the $3.5 Million. OPTION 4: Continue to utilize an operating levy. The final option would be to continue to seek voter approval of 5 year operating levies. While this is a costly and very time consuming matter, it has in the past proved successful. I further feel as though there is the potential to reduce the current rate of 23 cents/$1,OOO which would hopefully make the taxpayer feel more supportive of this tax. My hesitation in recommending this action however resides in two areas; first, my fear that the current TAV has not yet fully bottomed out and second, recent actions taken by the Oregon Legislature once again threatening the stability or 9-1-1 tax revenues. If the decision to pursue another levy is reached, it has been suggested that we look to November 2011 to take our first attempt.