BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS’
REGULAR MEETING
May 4, 2011
following Board of Health
Harris Hall Main Floor
APPROVED 7/12/2011
Commissioner Faye Stewart presided with Commissioner Jay Bozievich, Rob Handy, Sid Leiken and Pete Sorenson present. County Administrator Liane Richardson, County Counsel Stephen Vorhes and Recording Secretary Melissa Zimmer were also present.
1. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AGENDA
There will be an Emergency Business Item, regarding HB 2081A, relating to greenhouse gas emissions for trucking. W8b is a support letter on the covered bridges bikeway. Under Commissioners Business, Item C, Discussion and Possible Staff Direction on Tipping Fees.
Handy asked to pull item 5A under Consent Calendar.
2. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Lisa Arkin, Eugene, supported the staff recommendation for HB 2081, the truck idling bill. She said the bill contains a section that would preempt all local governments from taking any action regarding local ordinances, policies, and resolutions on truck idling. She said there is the issue of the County being able to enact its own policies without being preempted. She added the bill was okay, it was just Section 6 that contains the preemption clause that needs to go away. She asked that Section 6 be removed from HB 2081.
Jim Gillette, Eugene, said he is not about to quit until the Board shows him some evidence that he is guilty of anything. He said Handy has spoken against him and has not shown him any evidence. He stated that the County has extorted money when people can’t prove they didn’t extort money from him. He said there has to be some evidence in a public forum. He thought the Board was doing something behind the scenes to not think he deserves a hearing. He stated there is corruption in Lane County and he is going to still fight this until it gets corrected or they prove him wrong.
3. COMMISSIONERS' RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENTS AND/OR OTHER ISSUES AND REMONSTRANCE
With regard to Jim Gillette, Stewart said they have been over this. He indicated that there are multiple cases. He stated in the first case, there are minutes from the Board of Commissioners that have been approved by the Board at the time when the issue took place that showed he had people who had come in and stated they were living on Gillette’s property in RV’s because they had nowhere else to go and after the date Gillette swore they were gone. Stewart said Gillette got fined for paintball tournaments that Gillette claimed he was unjustly fined for because the County fined for two tournaments that didn’t take place. Stewart stated the person who was hosting the paintball tournaments on Gillette’s property admitted he held two commercial events on Gillette’s property and paid the fine for Gillette. Stewart said in 1996 when Gillette went to get his park approval, he wanted to have a paint ball park. He noted that it was approved, then remanded to LUBA and then rescinded and changed. He said at that time Gillette knew that paintball tournaments on his property if commercial would need to have the proper permitting. Stewart said there were paintball tournaments taking place on Gillette’s property in 2003 but Gillette claimed he didn’t know they were taking place. Stewart noted there was another compliance issue with a person living on his property that came in and stated they were living on Gillette’s property. Stewart said that was when he helped Gillette come into compliance. He added at that time the County felt that Gillette had some modular homes located on his property without permits. Stewart stated Gillette had a hardship home that was out of compliance because it didn’t have a permit. He added there were other infractions and additions on his house without permits. Stewart worked diligently with Gillette to get all of those things cleaned up and it took two years to do that. He indicated there was one item that Gillette refused to work on, a structure on his property and Gillette said he would do nothing about it. Stewart stated the County started the compliance action on this matter.
Stewart stated that he had given Gillette three incidents which Stewart believes are incidents when Gillette was in non-compliance. Stewart commented that Gillette is currently in compliance to the best of his knowledge to date. Stewart said he would like to work with Gillette and go through the process to see his dream come true.
Sorenson reported last night that Budget Committee kick off was well done. He asked whether the Budget Committee would be stuck with the revenue assumptions in the Budget. He noted the Budget Committee has recommendation power to recommend to the Board that they adjust fees coming in based on the policy the Board adopts. He said there is a need for a work session by the Board of Commissioners on what kind of revenue assumptions they are going to have in this budget. He wanted to get the Health and Human Services staff and others and have a work session on the revenue picture. He said if they are going to avoid the kinds of cuts they have heard about for the Buckley Detox Center or the Egan Warming Center or HSC funding then they need to move forward on this.
Handy reported on the memorial service for Officer Kilcullen.
4. EMERGENCY BUSINESS
HB 2081A Letter
Ben Nussbaum, Legislative Committee, explained that there is a letter before the Board drafted by Alex Cuyler, Intergovernmental Relations Manager, related to the bill. He recalled that the Board took an oppose position on the bill and it has now been amended. He said they didn’t bring it back to the Legislative Committee or to the Board in a bill package because the staff recommendation didn’t change on the amended version. He reported that in Legislative Committee early on, it was determined that the general policy would be to not bring bills back through the process unless it was gut and stuffed or unless the recommendation had changed after analyzing the amendments. He noted Section 6 is of concern because it contains the local preemption. He said the preemption would prevent the County from passing either more or less stringent truck idling laws. He added after checking with County Counsel, it doesn’t seem to apply to internal policies. He indicated that Senator Beyer has been leading an effort to amend the bill and eliminate the preemption. He added that they heard there were other amendments in the works, a modification, but none have been made public.
Nussbaum said the letter is important because there doesn’t seem to be a need to change the position on the bill at this point, it is thought it was important to support the effort to amend it and address the local preemption.
MOTION: to approve the letter and the concept behind it for Cuyler to work with the legislators.
Handy MOVED, Leiken SECONDED.
Bozievich said he originally took the position of oppose on this bill because of the preemption and they are regulating something that is just good business practice. He said it is another regulation on state business that is unnecessary. He didn’t believe this was a necessary regulation. He didn’t believe that there was a company that isn’t trying to enforce a non-idling policy. He didn’t know why they needed a regulation and a fine. He thought it was a bad bill from the start and he will be voting against it, unless it is to just oppose.
Leiken stated that the preemption is unacceptable.
Stewart was in support of the letter, but he shared the same concerns as Bozievich.
VOTE: 4-1 (Bozievich dissenting).
5. CONSENT CALENDAR
A. Approval of Minutes:
April 11, 2011, Special Meeting, 2:00 p.m. (PULLED)
B. Assessment and Taxation
1) ORDER 11-5-4-1/In the Matter of a Refund to ALCO Holdings LLC, in the Amount of $55,785.88.
C. Public Works
1) ORDER 11-5-4-2/In the Matter of Awarding Requirement Contracts to Various Contractors to Establish Unit Prices for Rock Materials Needs During the Period of 7/1/11 to 6/30/12, Prospective Contract No. 11/12-M&S-51.
2) ORDER 11-5-4-3/In the Matter of Awarding Requirements Contracts to Various Contractors for the Rental of Heavy Equipment to Supplement County Resourses for Ongoing Operations and During Emergencies Caused by Floods, Windstorms and Other Disasters During the Period of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012, Contract No. RM 11/12-01.
MOTION: to approve the balance of the Consent Calendar.
Bozievich MOVED, Leiken SECONDED.
VOTE: 5-0.
5 A.
Handy wanted this to be brought back. He said when he looked on the website, a reference is to ORDER 11-4-11-1. He didn’t see it on the website. He asked what was being approved and to bring them back with the corrected minutes to reference the board order and the board order.
Richardson said they can do that. She asked on issues that the Board knows ahead of time to let them know something is going to be pulled. She stated they could have had this fixed and ready for Board approval. She said they will get this back to the Board as soon as possible.
Vorhes indicated the actual order that was approved was ORDER 11-4-8-1 because it was initally presented to the Board on April 8 at the speical meeting and the Board elected to continue that matter to April 11 and adopted the order on April 11 but the order number reflects the initially introduced order.
6. RESOLUTIONS
a. ORDER 11-5-4-4/In the Matter of Recognizing Ernie Unger’s Outstanding Service to the Citizens of Lane County.
Stewart read the resolution into the record.
MOTION: to approve ORDER 11-5-4-4.
Leiken MOVED, Bozievich SECONDED.
VOTE: 5-0.
7. COMMISSIONERS’ BUSINESS
a. PRESENTATION/Funding Request to the Commission for Advancement of Human Rights (CAHR) for DisOrient Asian American and Pacific Islander Film Festival.
Anselmo Villanueva, CAHR, discussed the DisOrient Asian American and Pacific Islander Film Festival. He reported there are 25 full time volunteers to plan the festival. He added they have 40 volunteers who come together during the festival to make it happen. He indicated that they are the only film festival in the Northwest using film to convey social justice issues in this community. He said it is bring notoriety to Lane County. He said they want to expand the festival but they are limited due to funding. He said with funding from Lane County, they hope they can expand the festival. He said the festival provides staff opportunities at schools. He first approached the Lane County Human Rights Committee and they didn’t designate an amount. He said it was his understanding that the committee (operating without a quorum) supported the amount of $1,000. He was told that any amount over $250 has to come before the Board of Commissioners for approval. He said they are looking for any amount the Board could give them He added they are fundraising throughout the year and they are looking for sponsorships
Stewart thought they had money in the Community Advancement for Human Rights Commission funding.
Richardson reported that there is $5,000 left in the account for the rest of the fiscal year.
MOTION: to approve $1,000 for the DisOrient Film Festival.
Sorenson MOVED, Handy SECONDED.
Bozievich stated that he has difficulty spending money on this festival when they are talking about cutting services for sex offenders and treatment and homeless emergency shelter for homeless families. He said the $5,000 would be one sixth of the way of funding the Egan Warming Center. He will be a no on this motion.
VOTE: 4-1 (Bozievich dissenting).
Stewart stated that as the Board deals with budget recommendations, there will not be funding for this type of allocation in the future.
b. PRESENTATION/Working for You Video, “Lane Events Center – A Lot More Than You Thought”.
c. DISCUSSION/Revenue Enhancements
Stewart recalled that the previous Board went through a list of revenue enhancements that was created over the past couple of years. He asked how much Richardson reviewed them for revenue enhancements.
Richardson said the tipping fee topic was discussed before she became Acting County Administrator. She stated that they discussed it several times. She said the reason it wasn’t forwarded on for any consideration is that at some point the haulers will start to haul out of the County. She indicated they currently charge $67 per ton and Coffin Butte charges $42 per ton. She said if they start to increase the fees much more, it would be more cost effective for them to go to Coffin Butte instead of Lane County and then they will lose more money instead of gaining money that could be used for other services. She said they started conducting a fee review. She indicated there are some fees they charge that are lower than other entities that won’t increase revenues and most are not in the general fund. She said they could do more analysis to the tipping fees or other analysis.
Stewart recalled that last year staff could only address a few. With regard to the tipping fee increase, he explained that it is an enterprise zone fund and because it is and it is enacted to operate the Waste Management Division, legally there needs to be a nexus to the fee that is being collected and the services provided. He added that to raise $1 million it would equate to a $5 increase per ton fee, and it would be a $2.50 increase per customer. He said the dump fee would increase to $11.50. He said because they have seen a reduction in waste, they have seen revenues go down by $1 million this last year. He stated that it is a complex issue. He said if they raise their fee, the process to raise fees in other jurisdictions has to go to other jurisdictions for approval to increase their fees so their franchise haulers don’t lose money or operations.
Sorenson didn’t think they should start off with any fee or tax for raising money for the County. He said there was a reference by Rob Rockstroh that Steve Manela has been working on this for months. He said they should get a briefing from him, not focused on any concept like a business license tax or a tipping fee. He asked what they could do to avoid the kinds of cuts they have now been informed of. He wanted to know where they are below market for fees.
Stewart said he is not opposed to schedule a time to review the list. He said he has been on this Board for six years and they worked through this list a couple of years ago. He added that he was on the Board where they went to the citizens a couple of times for property tax measures to improve the situation and both times defeated. He said they are being looked upon by other organizations to make up money the state and federal governments are cutting and his citizens are saying they have no more money to give. He didn’t want to look at fees to offset other people’s cuts. He asked if there was a majority of the Board who wants to direct staff to spend time on this.
Bozievich commented that it is a waste of staff time to work on this issue. He said the reason they are in trouble is because they have lower revenues, due to the economy and due to higher costs. He said raising fees and taxes doesn’t help the revenue. He commented that it might be a short term fix but it is not a good way to fix things. He thought it could do harm to the economy. He indicated they have such demand for their services now due to the poor economy. He was not in favor of trying to take more money from the private sector economy. He stated that they have to live within their means and they have to look at where they can get a bang for the buck. He said they should ask employees to take on a similar health care system like the employees at EWEB or the city of Springfield. He said by doing that, they could save $10 million next year and they could fund everything they are talking about cutting now. He thought they should ask for a sacrifice from employees temporarily until the economy comes back and do what they can to grow their economy. He stated that was the long term answer to the problem. He didn’t want staff to spend a lot of time on something that he didn’t think was going anywhere. He said if Handy and Sorenson think the community will truly support additional revenue, to form a PAC, get a petition out and get an operating levy on the ballot and see if the community will support it. He didn’t want to tax grandma’s garbage to pay for something else. He didn’t think at this late date they could get a significant revenue increase before July 1.
Handy said a waste is where they have lots have staff time generated. He added that some policy makers don’t want to hear what has been developed by staff. He said at the Human Services Commission work has been done to generate policy options and choices. He noted the cities of Eugene and Springfield want to partner with the County to mitigate the hurt for any one organization. He said they have an emergency in the community now and government is here to protect the general welfare. He said they could learn the information out there in a work session. He stated what is being asked is to gather the information already gathered and to bring it together and to address the emergency in the community. He said he will make a motion to schedule a special emergency session either on the Wednesday agenda without new staff time and get a report on Tuesday.
Stewart said the Agenda Team discussed next Wednesday’s Board Meeting. He noted under a special request by Richardson they didn’t schedule next Wednesday because she asked the department heads and key staff to attend a function she believes is important.
Richardson said it is an all day training on how to manage effectively and how to deal with labor and personnel issues. She said they brought in outside trainers. She indicated the people necessary for the work session will be attending the meeting. She asked the Board not to schedule anything on Wednesday.
Stewart recalled that after the last Election, they invited Bozievich and Leiken to be involved with making recommendations on those items and they have been engaged since last November. He said to state to the public that they don’t want to be involved in the process is not correct. He said that Bozievich and Leiken have been involved since November and they are aware of what staff put together for revenue enhancements.
Leiken understood the information is out. He recalled receiving the information at a meeting in November. He understood last night’s testimony in trying to find money for the Egan Warming Center. He understands that it is dire straits and it is challenging when they are not receiving the revenue. He said it is the under employment issue that is devastating to the state of Oregon. He indicated that large family wage jobs are not coming to the area. He asked if there was additional information about revenues from the past November meeting.
Richardson explained that every item that was on the list was analyzed to see if it could be done to see if we could get any savings. She noted that they have implemented some of the ideas including banning space heaters in the building. She said they achieved some cost savings. Richardson indicated that Shari Higgins has been working on the list of fees. She added that Higgins has been busy working on the budget. She noted that everything they could implement and achieve cost savings they have done. She noted what is out there now are things at the Board level like option levies.
Sorenson thinks they should have the discussion and it should be a work session. He said staff should be presenting it and they should have an opportunity to ask some questions and decide whether they do or do not want to move forward. He said getting the information is in the public interest. He said they should focus on what is new.
Stewart said the analysis being done on the fees countywide is not complete yet. He said there is nothing yet to bring to the Board. He added once the analysis is done, the Agenda Team will schedule it for the Board. He said scheduling a work session to analyze fees is premature. He said their staff is working hard and this is just another conversation they are repeating again. He does not see any value doing this until they have information they can analyze.
Handy said there is new information generated. He said they heard from the community that there is pain and suffering. He said they need a briefing next week under Emergency Business to learn what he has learned at the Human Services Commission. He said their partners at the cities of Eugene and Springfield are looking for interest or reception of information to consider the partnerships they are looking at and to have with them to address the crisis in the community.
MOTION: to add under Emergency Business next week a briefing from the Human Services Commission on revenue generating options for them to look at in conjunction with the discussion and briefing.
Handy MOVED, Sorenson SECONDED.
Richardson indicated that conversation is going to be happening in front of the Budget Committee. She added they could give Rob Rockstroh more time to present that information.
Stewart said that Manela has been looking at options over the years like income taxes and levies. He wanted to have support by the majority that wants to have this conversation. He heard they could add additional time to the Budget presentation.
VOTE: 2-3 (Bozievich, Leiken, Stewart dissenting). MOTION FAILS.
Bozievich requested that Policies and Procedures Committee review Board conduct. He has been forwarded several e-mails that have been time stamped either during Public Comment or when other people are addressing the Board from commissioners. He believed they needed to set a policy on how they conduct themselves when someone is addressing the Board and giving those people their undivided attention. He wanted a set of conduct for Board meetings.
Leiken recommended sending an e-mail to Richardson that could be taken to Policy and Procedures.
Stewart was in agreement.
8. COUNTY ADMINISTRATION
a. Announcements.
Richardson discussed options for remaining funds in the CAHR account. She indicated there is about $4,000. She noted an option is they could post something on their website letting groups know they have the funds available and the parameters. She said they could also send a press release to the media that the funds are available. She indicated the money could be left there and could roll into the general fund to help for next year. She thought there was a possibility the Board could put that $4,000 towards the Egan request for the warming center or the United Way 211 system. She said they are also looking at doing short videos that are employee generated showing what is happening with the County.
b. Letter in Support by the Board of Commissioners for the Covered Bridges Bikeway
Richardson said they were asked to bring this forward to see if the Board was interested in having Stewart sign the letter. She indicated it would be the Lane County Board of Commissioners supporting covered bridges bikeway and the proposed route that would go through parts of rural Lane County. She added if the Board is willing to have the chair sign it they could mail it off today.
MOTION: to approve sending a letter.
Sorenson MOVED, Bozievich SECONDED.
VOTE: 5-0.
9. COUNTY COUNSEL
a. Announcements.
None.
10. EXECUTIVE SESSION as per ORS 192.660
(Commissioners' Conference Room)
Per ORS 192.660 (2)(h) for the purpose of discussing pending litigation.
11. OTHER BUSINESS
None.
There being no further business, Commissioner Stewart recessed the meeting at 11:55 a.m.
Melissa Zimmer
Recording Secretary