BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS'
REGULAR MEETING
January 14, 2009
9:00 a.m.
Harris Hall Main
Floor
APPROVED
1/28/2009
Commissioner Peter
Sorenson presided with Commissioners Bill Dwyer, Bill Fleenor, Rob Handy and
Faye Stewart present. County
Administrator Jeff Spartz, County Counsel Liane Richardson and Recording
Secretary Melissa Zimmer were also present.
1. ADJUSTMENTS
TO THE AGENDA
Sorenson reported that item 7 a. has been pulled.
He noted item 10 a). is a discussion item.
Item 5 D. 3) will be moved to 17. a).
Fleenor asked for 5 D. 2) to be pulled for discussion to item 17 b).
Stewart received correspondence from Pearl Wolfe, Human Services,
requesting funding for Project Homeless Connect. He wanted to add it on the agenda under 17 c).
Handy requested clarification of yesterday’s Metro Plan meeting, under
17 d).
2.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Jim
Gillette, Eugene, thought if
the commissioners gave a quick answer responding to public comment, people
wouldn’t have to keep coming back. He
said his case is at an impasse. He
wanted to have a hearing on his first case.
He wanted to turn his land into a park. He said he wanted to change his
land into marginal land. He asked
Land Management to make him copies. He stated the County’s policy is 25 cents
per copy. He said there were over 2,000 copies and his bill was
$585.50. He thought it was another
way of getting ripped off by the County.
Marshall
Peter, Eugene, Directions,
read his letter into the record. (Copy
in file).
Patty
McConnell, Eugene, was
present on behalf of the Relief Nursery. She
commented that the most common call for help at the Relief Nursery is coming
from people who lost their jobs and are now choosing between feeding their child
or heating their home which may lose. She
said the need for help is dramatically increasing while funding from public and
private sources continues to decline. She
said it is incumbent on them to help the less fortunate people struggling in
Lane County. She stated if they
turn their backs on people needing help at this critical time, the whole
community will be negatively impacted. She
commented that children are quiet victims without a voice and they need to be
the children’s voice and support the inclusion of emergency response for
children and the recommendation for the Human Services Commission.
Sandy
Karsten, Eugene, stated she
represented Senior and Disabled Services. She
said they are a member of the Lane County Human Services Providers Network.
She asked the Board to allocate as much as they can from the Secure Rural
Schools fund to the Human Services Commission so they can all continue to
provide the essential safety net services
needed for their residents. She
said they are seeing more need for the social safety net.
She commented that everyone is going through difficult times and
everything needs to be reduced. She reported that in Lane County about 335 poor
and elderly disabled people will lose their Medicaid in home care services.
She added they will lose their payment for home delivered meals and their
transportation to medical appointments. She
indicated the impact on the workforce in Lane County could be a loss of 83 FTE
and many of them carry health care benefits.
She asked for the Board’s support in the future.
Brett
Harper, Cottage Grove,
represented Community Sharing. He
said he got hurt and his wife lost her job.
He stated that Community Sharing helped him pay his rent and helped with
food and utilities. He asked the
Board to help support Community Sharing.
Warren
Weisman, Eugene, asked if the
Board had received the Lane Renewal Energy Complex proposal.
Steve
Dodrill, OSU Extension
Service, requested a continuation of rent forgiveness for FY 2009/2010. He stated that the temporary loss of timber revenues this
past year cost the OSU Extension Service about $482,000 in local funding support
from the County general fund. He
said it represented one-third of their operating budget and immediately put
their federal and state matching funds in jeopardy.
He indicated that in order to survive the current fiscal year, the
Extension Service laid off 25 percent of its staff, suspended two educational
programs and began depleting their reserve funds. He recalled over the past six months their faculty, staff,
volunteers, community partners and other supporters put forth extraordinary
efforts to bring the Extension Service program back and to help them continue to
operate during the 2009/2010 fiscal year. He
hoped that they will be able to keep their doors open in the coming year.
He stated that it would be impossible without rent forgiveness.
He added that without rent forgiveness, they will need to move from the
building and find office space elsewhere.
Jim
Wilcox, Eugene, Bike Lane Coalition, read his letter into the record. (Copy in
file).
Zachary
Vishinoff, Eugene, wanted the
Board to slow down about a resolution telling people how to live.
He thought Oregon’s bridges should be a top priority.
He thought ITS should go to a public hearing to ask someone from the
Governor’s staff to explain how GPS in every car will save the planet.
He indicated a student at the U of O who had appealed the U of O arena to
LUBA has taken it to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
George
Goldstein, Florence, said
that Florence is in the process of finishing up the Veteran’s Memorial Park. He indicated that they were looking for grant money.
3. EMERGENCY
BUSINESS
None.
4. COMMISSIONERS' RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS AND/OR OTHER ISSUES AND REMONSTRANCE
Fleenor reported that yesterday’s outreach session was intense. He said there was a dialogue with all who attended. He indicated that it was part one of an ongoing series. He asked the viewing audience if they want to come before the Board, that they were open for suggestions. He wanted an entrepreneurial workshop where they bring entrepreneurs together to help educate them so they could compete against other entrepreneurs.
Handy said they passed a good governance board order and they are committed to getting out into the community to broaden their outreach. He wanted to know the interface between what the County and the people in the public are doing.
Sorenson appreciated people coming in for Public Comment. He said they will be working on the Extension Services’ rent forgiveness. He sent a note regarding the obesity issue to their Public Works Director to get a briefing with Health and Human Services and transportation people. He stated there is a crisis going on in Human Service. He said there are people asking the Board for assistance in their particular programs. He said they had to reprogram $1 million two months ago regarding the collapse in building permit revenues and they had to lay off 20 people in Land Management.
5. CONSENT
CALENDAR
BEGINNING OF
CONSENT CALENDAR * * * *
A. Approval of
Minutes
B. County
Administration
1) ORDER 09-1-14-1/In
the Matter of Transferring $500 from the General Fund Operational Contingency to Materials and Services Within
General Expense to Support the 2009 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.
C. Health and Human
Services
1) ORDER 09-1-14-2/In
the Matter of Applying for a Department of Health Resources and Services
Administration Grant for Dental Outreach Prevention Services Via the FQHC in the
Amount of $273,056 Per Administrator to Execute Grant Documents.
D. Public Works
1) ORDER 09-1-14-3/In
the Matter of Accepting a Dedication of Land to be Used as a Public Road
Easement for County Road No. 1827 (Laurel Avenue) (18-02-06).
2) ORDER 09-1-14-4/In
the Matter of Entering Into a Bulk Services Agreement with Comcast of Oregon II,
Inc. for Cable Television Services for the Armitage Park Recreational Vehicle
Campground. (PULLED)
3) ORDER 09-1-7-9/In
the Matter of Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement With the State of Oregon
and the City of Eugene to Facilitate Replacement of the Interstate-5 Bridge Over
the Willamette River. (PULLED)
END OF CONSENT
CALENDAR * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MOTION:
to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar.
Dwyer MOVED,
Fleenor SECONDED.
VOTE:
5-0.
6.
EMERGENCY BUSINESS
None.
7.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Legislative
Committee – Senate Bill 994 (2007). (PULLED)
8.
COUNTY ADMINISTRATION
a. Announcements
None.
9.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
a.
PRESENTATION/Lane County Animal Services Work Session with Representatives from
Animal and Bylaw Services, City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Bill Bruce,
Director of Animals and Bylaw Services, City of Calgary gave a presentation on
how his Animal and Bylaw Services worked. (Copy in file).
b. DISCUSSION with
Presenters.
The Board and Bill Bruce had a discussion on how Bruce runs his department
in Calgary, Canada.
10.
PUBLIC WORKS
a. DISCUSSION/In
the Matter of Providing a Letter of Support for a Beltline-Delta Highway
Intelligent Transportation System Federal Earmark.
Celia Barry, Public
Works, reported that this item has been without controversy.
She indicated that ODOT is requesting a letter of support for an earmark
request as part of its annual appropriations.
She stated that it is for an intelligent transportation system in the
Delta Beltline corridor. She recalled the County obtained funding as part of the STIP.
(Page 2, copy in file). She said
the intelligent transportation system includes traffic sensors, closed
captioning T.V. variable message signs, system detectors and signal timing
coordination. She indicated that it
reduces crash rates, improves safety and smoothes the flow of traffic.
She added that it improves congestion without adding travel lanes.
She asked the Board for a letter of support.
MOTION:
to approve sending the letter.
Fleenor MOVED,
Stewart SECONDED.
VOTE:
5-0.
11.
EXECUTIVE SESSION as per ORS 192.660
Per
ORS 192.660 (2)(e) for the purpose of deliberations with property negotiators.
12.
OTHER BUSINESS
None.
There being no
further business, Commissioner Sorenson recessed the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
Melissa Zimmer
Recording Secretary