BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL

REGULAR MEETING

SEPTEMBER 22, 2003

CALL TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Beaverton City Council was called to order by Mayor Rob Drake in the Forrest C. Soth Council Chambers, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, September 22, 2003, at 6:35 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Betty Bode, Dennis Doyle, Fred Ruby, Forrest Soth and Cathy Stanton. Also present were Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Community Development Director Joe Grillo, Engineering Director Tom Ramisch, Operations/Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Police Captain Wes Ervin and City Recorder Sue Nelson.

PROCLAMATION:

Mayor Drake proclaimed Race Equality Week beginning September 29, 2003.

PRESENTATION:

03212 - Presentation from the 2003-2004 Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board

Mayor Drake explained the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board (MYAB) was formed three years ago to engage youth in City activities. He said there were two members from the original Board and two co-chairs present this evening.

Rosa Po, Southridge High School and Ann Do, Beaverton High School, Co-Chairs of the MYAB introduced themselves. MYAB members introduced themselves to the Council: Jacob Brennan, Southridge; Stephanie Herr, Southridge; Megan MacPherson, Beaverton High School; Neha George, Westview High School (original member); Bree’ann Winchell, Jesuit High School; Bi Bui, Southridge; John Gammons, School of Science & Technology, Merlo Station High School; Lisa Qi, Southridge High School; Brianna Mulrooney, Sunset High School; Jackie Ward, Sunset High School; Chad Alberts, Beaverton High School.

Po reviewed the missions and goals of the MYAB.

Po reviewed the Board’s projects for last year, that included: 1) Annual Youth Summit; 2) Creation of the “101 Things to Do in Beaverton” brochure 3) The Adopt-a-Family program in the holiday season and the Good Neighbor Center project, where each month someone from a different school came to the Good Neighbor Center and prepared a meal for the families who lived there.

Po explained the Board was pleased with what it accomplished. She said they had a vision to involve the voice of youth in the community. She said the Board’s goal was to represent the voices of all youth within the Beaverton School District and bring that voice into the foreground of City government. She stressed the Board was working to promote a positive impact on the community and abolish the stereotype of the apathetic youth.

Po reviewed projects planned for the upcoming year: 1) Creating focus groups within each of the high schools to help understand youth concerns; 2) Planning activities to reach out to seniors in the community; 3) Conducting a book drive, encouraging literacy among young children and visiting children’s hospitals.

Po said the Board was looking at ways to raise funds for projects. She said the Board also wanted to get to know the State senators and representatives to provide youth a voice to State government. She thanked Council for forming the MYAB, for providing the means to voice their opinions, and for the financial support.

Coun. Soth stated they were doing a great job and noted the MYAB were the people who would take the place of the Council and other government and community leaders in the future. He congratulated them for their work.

Coun. Stanton said she enjoyed the “101 Things to Do in Beaverton” brochure.

Coun. Doyle, Council liaison to the MYAB, said their energy was unbelievable and he could hardly wait to see what happened the rest of the year. He said the MYAB was easy to support and he was glad to see the support from the families.

Coun. Bode stated her background was in education. She noted in 1947 the Undersecretary stated there were two purposes for high school education; first that students learn, and second that they learn to be good citizens. She noted all the students present were doing both and they were good role models. She saluted all of them stating they would contribute to a better future.

Mayor Drake noted the Board members had matured nicely, had vision and were doing all youth a service by the work they did. He said they would soon be the leaders in this country and he looked forward to a great fourth year.

03213 - Presentation of Solid Waste and Recycling Program

Scott Keller, Auxiliary Services Program Manager, explained Auxiliary Services included the City’s solid waste and recycling program. He explained the agenda for this meeting included an intergovernmental agreement with Metro regarding annual grant funding for the solid waste and recycling program. He said he wanted to report on the goals, plans and progress of the program.

Keller explained the goals of the Solid Waste Program were to: 1) Reduce the amount of solid waste generated in the community; 2) Achieve a recovery rate goal of 62% by the year 2005; 3) Ensure safe and sanitary collection; 4) Provide Beaverton businesses and residences the opportunity to recycle more materials; 5) Establish uniform, cost-effective and high quality service to all customers; 6) Establish rates which are fair to the public, the franchisee and the City; and 7) Promote community awareness in order to achieve the highest participation possible. He explained this program was conducted in the context of a regional (Portland area) and State-wide system.

Keller noted the regional goals set by the Legislature were to reach a recovery rate of 62% by the Year 2005 and 64% by 2009. He added in 2001 the Portland area had a recovery rate of 55%, which was one of the highest in the country. He noted the region was now focusing on commercial recovery in the business sector, construction and demolition (C&D) recovery, and organics recovery (commercial food waste) to reach the goal of 62% by 2005. He explained these three areas indicated the best opportunity for progress.

Keller explained the City worked with the haulers to improve recycling. He noted in 2001 61,000 tons of solid waste was collected in Beaverton from residential solid waste and residential yard debris, commercial drop boxes (construction debris), and commercial and multi-family solid waste. He said these results were used to evaluate the three initiatives for the coming year. He explained the first initiative was to monitor and maintain the residential program, as it was the core of the City’s program. Second, he said, was to continue education and outreach to Beaverton businesses, and third was to improve the multi-family education and outreach.

Keller reviewed two major programs. First, was the “Think Inside the Box” campaign. He informed the Council about this program that included recycling information and tools to businesses, and desk-side recycling boxes. He noted in the past ten months the staff had visited 812 businesses and distributed 2,785 boxes. He explained one out of two businesses took the boxes and information; he said of the other half, some had recycling programs and some were not interested. He said the secondary goals were to develop an ongoing relationship and provide additional resources as requested. He explained this program tied in with a regional emphasis on increased paper recycling. He noted 29 tons of paper was thrown away every half hour of the business day in the Portland Metro area; this could be recycled if the tools were provided to the businesses.

Keller explained the City also developed an outreach program for Multi-Family Recycling. He noted this was important as almost 50% of Beaverton residents lived in apartments or condominiums. He said the goal was to provide customized education materials to the multi-family complexes in the City. He said they started with the 39 largest complexes; those with over 101 units (64% of the apartments in Beaverton). He gave Council folders of the information provided to the property managers. He said staff worked with the managers and haulers to develop or improve recycling programs. He noted to this date they visited 28 complexes and handed out 3,093 tenant education packets. He added they were testing four pilot projects: 1) Vinyl recycling carrier bags for the residents to carry their material down to the recycling dumpster; 2) Improved signage; 3) Special dumpster lids to distinguish garbage from recycling; and 4) Friends of Recycling Program, where a volunteer at the complex would be the advocate for recycling and would distribute information to tenants.

Keller outlined other projects in progress. He said they were planning an electronics or computer recycling event, if a vendor could be found. Second, he noted, they were evaluating the feasibility of measuring Beaverton’s recycling rate (separate from the region’s rate). He explained this was a complex task as the independent recyclers did not have a reporting system that tracked the collections locations. He said indications were Beaverton’s recycling rates were the same as the region rates, but there wasn’t any evidence that reflected the rates. Third, he said staff produced a business newsletter on recycling and waste prevention twice a year. In addition, he noted they were in the final stages of a review of the hauler franchise territory boundary map and they were producing a series of How-To-Video Programs about recycling in Beaverton, for public access television.

Keller concluded the staff’s plans for the future were to maintain a high level of customer service, strive for cost-effective service, increase the City’s recycling rate to comply with State law, increase focus on the commercial sector and add new recyclable items to the commingled collection when markets allowed.

Coun. Soth commented it took a good packrat to be a good recycler. He asked if the statistics included the Denny Road recycling station.

Keller replied they did; they were in the regional total.

Coun. Soth asked if it also included the deposit for the bottle bill.

Keller confirmed it did and added that the 55% recycling rate also included the 6% credits DEQ gave to this region for maintaining an effective home composting program and similar programs.

Coun. Soth asked how active the Beaverton Chamber had been in helping in the business recycling program.

Keller explained they had some contacts with the Chamber. He said the Chamber offered to put flyers and information in its newsletters. He reported the most effective way to reach the businesses was the direct contact by staff.

Coun. Soth noted several years ago they tried to start a recycling program at an apartment complex north of Allen Boulevard. He said the main problem was trying to get the manager’s support. He noted the manager was not willing to provide a place for the container.

Keller agreed the property manager was the key. He said the recent move to commingle products made it easier for apartments to recycle; but if the manager was not willing, it was difficult to get a program established. He noted one way to get their participation was by noting if they provided recycling, the amount of garbage decreased, and they could go to a smaller dumpster and save money.

Coun. Soth noted Denton in NE Portland would accept plastics by full truckloads only.

Stanton asked regarding the “Think Inside the Box” campaign, if when a box was full did the employee dump it into a larger box or did they do something else with the paper.

Keller explained the process was individualized to the business. When a business started recycling, City staff worked with them to ensure there was a place to collect the paper; it could be emptied by employees into a designated location or it could be done by the maintenance staff. He said the businesses decided how to handle the process.

Coun. Stanton asked if the 45 property managers that were contacted represented the 39 large apartment complexes.

Keller explained they contacted managers from complexes of various sizes. He said staff went to approximately 15 of each of the smaller, middle and large-sized complexes. He said they did this to develop a program that appealed to all sizes and demographics in the area.

Mayor Drake confirmed with Keller that the 29 tons of paper that was discarded from businesses every half hour, and shown on the slide of the recycling truck, were baled. He noted businesses that don’t recycle must send their paper to the garbage dumpsters. He noted the businesses were putting money into the garbage bins rather than saving by using recycling bins and using smaller garbage bins.

Keller agreed that was correct.

Mayor Drake asked how many tons of paper that could be recycled ended up in the landfill instead.

Keller noted the regional goal between now and 2005 was to capture an additional 97,000 tons. He said he would find the statistics on paper recycling and provide it to Council.

Coun. Stanton said once a year she participated in the June cleanup day and she takes the construction material to the recycling center on San Rafael and 122nd Street. She asked if there was any place on this side of the river that recycled construction material.

Keller said Hillsboro Landfill accepted construction material for recycling.

Coun. Soth said Lakeside on Scholls Ferry Road also took construction material.

Keller thanked the Council for its support.

CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS:

Reverend Ja West voiced her concerns about problems in society which she attributed to a variety of causes.

Francine Kaufman, Portland, asked if the meeting was being televised.

Mayor Drake explained it was televised through public access (TVTV) and indicated the cameras that were recently installed in the Council Chambers.

Kaufman said she wished to follow-up on a question she had concerning Human Resources policies. She said she met with the Interim Human Resources Manager once and he could not answer her questions. She asked if there was someone else she could speak with concerning her questions.

Mayor Drake explained Mr. Hough was the person she should speak with about her concerns. He suggested she put her request in writing, or leave her phone number, so staff could respond. He noted Mr. Hough would be back on Thursday and he could contact her again.

Kaufman stated she was not willing to leave her phone number and requested that Mr. Hough not call her as he was an interim manager.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Soth reported he attended the meeting of the Steering Committee for the Finance, Administration, and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, for the National League of Cities. He said they discussed a number of topics that affected Beaverton and other cities throughout the country. He noted on the Telecommunications Bill (Senate Bill 150 and House Resolution 49) the Committee found the effect would be to preclude most cities from collecting franchise fees and other similar fees. He noted a good share of cities in the country depended on franchise fees as the second largest revenue source for the general fund and this was of concern to the Committee.

Coun. Soth explained the Committee discussed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He quoted a provision in the agreement which established a NAFTA tribunal and explained the tribunal was a private court for foreign investors that enabled the investors to bypass domestic courts that rejected similar claims in the past. He said the tribunal would not require public access or public documents, nor was public comment allowed unless both parties agreed. He said as an example, if someone should take exception to the City’s land use laws, they could sue the City through the tribunal; the tribunal could render a judgment against the City but the Federal government would have to pay the compensation. He stressed the provisions within NAFTA were complicated and of concern to all cities. He added the Committee also discussed fiscal issues and additional quarterly reporting the cities might be required to perform and publish. He explained currently cities could do advanced refunding of tax exempt funds only once. He said the Committee supported Senate Bill 271 which permitted municipalities an additional opportunity for advanced refunding of tax exempt bonds.

Coun. Stanton announced a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new foot bridge and trail at the Fanno Creek Greenway Trail, would be held this Saturday (September 27th ) at 10:00 a.m. and she invited everyone to attend.

Coun. Stanton referred to Coun. Soth’s report and said NAFTA only applied to Canada, Mexico, and parts of Central and South America. She said the World Trade Organization (WTO) had powers identical to NAFTA’s already and they operated on a world-wide basis. She said when Canada sued California, the Federal government defended the case.

She said if Beaverton was sued by a foreign national and it went to the WTO or NAFTA, it was unlikely the Federal government would put its resources toward a local land use or water resources issue. She said she was not sure the City could even defend itself; the whole matter could be moot and the City could lose by default. She agreed it was very complicated.

Coun. Stanton reported two seniors at Sunset High School had achieved Eagle Scout status. She said Nick Chamber’s Eagle Service Project benefited the Jenkins Estate; Nick and his team removed a large area of non-native intrusive plants and garbage, and replaced them with native plants. She also recognized David Tetrick, whose Eagle Service Project benefited the “Helping Hands” Ministry of the Sunset Presbyterian Church, that provided clothing and personal items to the metropolitan area’s homeless. She said David organized a collective drive that restocked the shelves with personal and sanitation items. She noted there were many ways to get involved in the community and she commended Nick and David, and the members of the MYAB.

Mayor Drake said he would send a letter of congratulations to the scouts from the City.

Coun. Doyle announced the Typhoon! Restaurant (at The Round) would be hosting a Beaverton Arts Commission (BAC) Premier Presentation of Thai Cuisine dinner and entertainment on October 25, 2003, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. He said all food and beverages would be included in the price of a ticket. He said tickets were available from BAC Director Jayne Scott.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Soth, that the Consent Agenda be approved as follows:

03214 - A Resolution Adopting an Intergovernmental Agreement with Metro Regional Government for Implementation of the Annual Waste Reduction Plan (Resolution No. 3731)

03215 - Regional Economic Development Policy Resolution – Regional Economic Development Partners (Resolution No. 3732)

03216 - Liquor License Application: Change of Ownership – Round Table Pizza

03217 - Bid Award – Traffic Calming Project Fiscal Year 2003-2004

Question called on the motion. Couns. Bode, Doyle, Soth, Ruby and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0)

ORDINANCES:

Suspend Rules:

Coun. Soth MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Stanton, that the rules be suspended, and that the ordinance embodied in Agenda Bill 03218 be read for the first time in full at this meeting, and for the second time by title only at this same meeting of the Council. Couns. Bode, Doyle, Soth, Ruby and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0)

First and Second Reading and Passage:

City Attorney Alan Rappleyea read the ordinance embodied in Agenda Bill 03218 (Ordinance No. 4269) in full for its first reading.

Rappleyea read the ordinance embodied in Agenda Bill 03218 (Ordinance 4269) by title only for its second reading.

03218 - An Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. 2050, the Zoning Map, From Office Commercial (OC) to General Commercial (GC); ZMA 2003-0015. (Ordinance No. 4269)

Coun. Soth MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Bode, that the ordinance embodied in Agenda Bill 03218 now pass. Roll call vote. Couns. Bode, Doyle, Ruby, Soth and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0)

SOLV 20TH ANNIVERSARY BEACH CLEANUP

Coun. Stanton announced Saturday, October 11, 2003, would be SOLV’s (Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism) 20th Anniversary Beach Cleanup on the Oregon Coast. She said information was available by contacting www.solv.org and encouraged everyone to participate.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m..

APPROVAL:

Approved this 13th day of October, 2003.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor