BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
AUGUST 23, 2004

CALL TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Beaverton City Council was called to order by Mayor Rob Drake in the Forrest C. Soth City Council Chamber, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, August 23, 2004, at 6:35 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Dennis Doyle, Fred Ruby, Forrest Soth and Cathy Stanton. Coun. Betty Bode was excused. Also present were City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Community Development Director Joe Grillo, Engineering Director Tom Ramisch, Operations/ Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Police Chief David Bishop, Building Official Brad Roast, Information Systems Manager David Hughes and City Recorder Sue Nelson .

PRESENTATION:

04172 - Presentation of City's Records Management Program

City Recorder Sue Nelson presented an overview of the City of Beaverton's Records Management Program. She explained the program was formally implemented in 1992 and was administered in compliance with the State of Oregon's City Records Retention Schedule. She said the Records Management Policy was to maintain, protect, and retain or dispose of City records in accordance with government regulations, legal requirements, and historical significance. She said the City maintained different medias of records that included paper, maps, ledgers, newspapers, microfilm, video tape, compact disks, audio tapes, and historical books and pictures. She explained the City maintained two records storage facilities, with a current total of 2,093 boxes of paper records.

Nelson said the City implemented a records scanning system that City staff and citizens use for retrieving information. She said 80,000 records were currently available on the document imaging system; the records could be viewed, printed and e-mailed from the imaging system. She explained the Records Management Team worked closely with the Information Systems Manager David Hughes and the Information Systems Department in implementing and maintaining the scanning system.

Nelson explained the City recycled and shredded records twice yearly; 227 boxes had been recycled in 2004. She said the bi-annual destruction process saved the City $1,170,600 in the past ten years.

Nelson noted the Public Records Request Form was accessible to citizens and staff from the City's Web site. She said records available to the public included resolutions, ordinances, City Council agendas and minutes, agreements/contracts, land use records, maps/plans and historical records. She said the City Council packets were available on the City's Web site prior to each meeting, which resulted in an annual savings of $10,115 in printing and postage costs. She said 9,000 people visited the City Council Web page since March of this year.

Nelson reviewed the Historical Photo Archives Project available on the City's Web site. She said this project was a “work in progress” and she showed several historical photographs and explained their significance. She concluded by noting the Records Management had developed from storing boxes of paper records, to microfilming records, to scanning and importing electronic records that are available for viewing the very same day. She said as the City moves forward the goal of providing accurate and timely information to citizens was the commitment of the Records Management Team. She thanked Record's Team Members Debbie Baidenmann and Kyle Higgens for their input for the presentation.

Coun. Soth stated a great deal of credit and thanks was due to Nelson, who was recognized throughout the State as one of the leading authorities on archive retention. He expressed his appreciation for everything Nelson and her staff accomplished over the years. He said it was good to see how far the City had come and to know that many of the City's records were safe and available for citizens to use.

Nelson said she had to return the compliment to Coun. Soth for assisting the records staff by recycling city records when they exceeded their retention period.

Coun. Stanton thanked Nelson for copying materials on compact disks that were related to public hearing appeals. She said on past appeals, it was nice to be able to find what she wanted on the compact disk rather than filing through two boxes of paper. She said she was grateful the City had Nelson and that the Department was adequately funded to ensure they had access to all records when needed. She said she appreciated the work Nelson had done.

Nelson explained she worked closely with the Information Services Department staff and they were vital in implementing the scanning system.

Mayor Drake thanked Nelson for the presentation.

CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS:

Robert Youngman, Boy Scout Troop 297, Lincoln High School, introduced himself. He explained the scouts in his troop went to Lincoln High School, Five Oaks Middle School, Mountain View Middle School, West View High School, Aloha High School and Agape Christian School . He said the scouts were attending the meeting to work on their Citizenship and Communications Badges.

Pavel Goberman, Beaverton, said on May 11 he spoke to Council about Washington County Sheriff's Department having denied him a concealed weapons permit. He said the City made him guilty by providing inaccurate information to Washington County . He stated he was now a contractor to the federal, state and local governments as a health fitness provider.

Goberman announced his nomination for State Representative for District 28, running against Jeff Barker. He said he was a write-in candidate for his name would not be on the ballot. He said if elected, he would work on health care, foreign policy and traffic. He suggested the Beaverton Police Department buy a helicopter to help with traffic and crime.

Henry Kane, Beaverton, said he distributed a letter to Council asking the City to make public the status report on The Round and the amount spent to date. He said he listed ten questions which he would like answered. He suggested the City was not hard nosed enough with the first developer. He said he hoped the liens were removed by now and the lender would provide financing to construct the remainder of the project. He said there was a problem regarding the condominiums in The Round; the site was in a Federally-identified flood plain and in 1996 the site flooded and Beaverton Creek was within six inches of the crossing for Tri-Met. He said he trusted the City would do everything reasonable to expedite the project and to ensure past problems with the first developer were not repeated.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Soth said he hoped the Councilor's who planned to attend the National League of Cities Conference in Indianapolis in December were registered. He added the League of Oregon Cities Annual Conference in November was in Portland this year and the registration information would be sent in the next couple of weeks.

Coun. Soth announced the Picnic in the Park was scheduled for Thursday, August 26, 2004, and everyone was invited.

Coun. Stanton added the Picnic in the Park would be held at Autumn Ridge Park and it was for the Five Oaks, Triple Creek and West Beaverton Neighborhood Associations. She added the Council would tour the Barney Reservoir on Friday, August 27, 2004 .

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

WORK SESSION:

Heard after Consent Agenda

CONSENT AGENDA:

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

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of August 9, 2004

04174 - Liquor License Application: New Outlet - Plaid Pantry #214 ( SW Canyon Road )

04175 - Liquor License: New Outlet - King's Restaurant ( SW Canyon Road )

04176 - Approve Application for ODOT Transportation Enhancement Program and Adopt Resolution of Support (Resolution No. 3773)

04177 - Final Order for Traffic Commission Issue No. TC 556 Regarding Parking Restrictions on SW 158 th Place South of Rigert Road

04178 - Authorizing Preparation of Request for Proposal for a Permit Tracking System to Replace the CRW Associates Permit System (Pulled for separate consideration)

04179 - A Resolution of Intent to Condemn Real Property Located at 12750 SW Farmington Road for a Public Purpose (Resolution No. 3774)

Contract Review Board:

04180 - Personal Services Contract with Bunton, Clifford & Associates

Coun. Stanton thanked staff for answering her questions.

Question called on the motion. Couns. Doyle, Ruby, Soth and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (4:0)

WORK SESSION:

04173 - Replacement of CRW Associates Permit Tracking System
and
04178 - Authorizing Preparation of Request for Proposal for a Permit Tracking System to Replace the CRW Associates Permit System

Community Development Director Joe Grillo thanked the City Recorder for assisting his department with scanning the Community Development Department's records.

Grillo introduced Building Official Brad Roast and explained the purpose of this session was to present an overview of the City's CRW Permit Tracking System. He noted Finance Director Patrick O'Claire and Information Systems (IS) Manager David Hughes were present to answer technical questions about the system.

Roast explained the City had used the CRW Permit Tracking System since 1999 and had experienced continuing problems since that time. He said the problems with the System were high-lighted in Agenda Bill 04173 (in the record). He said CRW Associates was not able to produce a reliable product over the last five years, which resulted in staff seeking authorization to replace the CRW System.

Mayor Drake asked Roast to summarize what the City needed in a new permit system.

Roast explained the City was looking for a new software company with a proven track record for reliability. He said the new software system had to have flexibility and the ability to link with other software, such as GIS and document scanning. He said on-line permit application and payment capabilities were now being used throughout the country. He said in the future, inspectors would have hand-held notepads where they could be on-site and enter their inspection notes into the permit system. He noted there were other items which were high-lighted in Agenda Bill 04173 (in the record). He stressed the most important need was a system that would work for everyone; site-development services, land-use, planning, zoning, and the building division.

Mayor Drake explained the Council authorized a management audit several years ago and one of the final major recommendations from the Citigate Company was that the City evaluate its permit tracking system and replace it. He said the City tried to utilize the CRW System for a reasonable period of time and it was time for a change.

Grillo responded that was correct. He said they went through a thoughtful, methodical approach to determine if there was a way to improve the system, working with the software company to get it to the point where it would work as intended. He said the more they worked on this, the more obvious it became that CRW did not have the long-term capability to fix the problems and move forward. He said they were in a confined environment with this System and the City spending a limited amount of money every year on a maintenance contract, since no new repairs or improvements were coming forward.

Coun. Doyle asked if the basic needs were not in the current software.

Roast replied that reliability was the problem. He said the electronic field equipment would be an add-on and he did not feel it was prudent to recommend adding it to the current system since it was uncertain it would work.

Coun. Doyle asked if staff talked to other municipalities similar to Beaverton in terms of size and need, to determine if software capable of meeting these needs was available.

Grillo responded Washington County had a system that accommodated these needs and he knew the software was available and reliable. He said the linkage to GIS and document scanning might not be available yet, but the rest of the needs were met.

Roast said he had viewed other systems that worked well.

Coun. Doyle said he hoped there was a way to encourage companies with the solution to these problems to respond to the request for proposal.

Grillo said if the Council authorized the request for proposal (RFP), the leading companies would be sent the RFP. He said they would also seek assistance from the League of Oregon Cities to ensure the RFP was sent to all companies. He said the field of expertise in this area was merging, so he did not anticipate receiving dozens of responses.

Coun. Doyle said he felt it was extremely important to ensure that the process included funding for site visits to the jurisdictions where these systems were used. He stressed it was important to be able to speak with the clients without the vendors present.

Coun. Stanton said she needed to know that the top three needs (reliability, expandability and system links) were part of the standard package the City purchased, rather than add-ons. She said she was concerned that most of the “needs” be built into the system the City purchased, and not be guaranteed as add-ons for a future date. She asked if Grillo could give her a level of assurance that the items on the needs list were part of standard packages available now.

Grillo said for the most part the needs could be met with current software. He added he needed to speak with the IS Department to be sure that what the City asked for in the basic package, along with the add-ons, was doable. He agreed it was prudent to ensure the basic needs were doable, and he wanted to be sure that there were options to bring back to Council in terms of total expenditures. He said because of that, he was not sure he wanted to put everything on the needs list in the basic package, because cost options were needed for Council to consider.

Coun. Stanton noted the last item on the needs list was the ability to be flexible in adding or customizing data fields. She said access was an advantage to everyone because it allowed the user to create the data fields, rather than having to bring in a programmer to do the work. She asked if that was a correct assumption.

Grillo said that was an important item to staff. He noted the access code allowed data fields to be customized and that would be in the RFP, since different companies have different philosophies on sharing their access code. He said the IS Manager had strong opinions about having access to the code.

Coun. Doyle said the ability to add customer data fields was prevalent in almost all software because of the data bases they employed. He said if a vendor was not able to provide that capability, that should be a red flag.

Coun. Soth said he was concerned about the reliability of the system to work appropriately within the required time frames. He said it was clear the present system was not reliable. He said this subject came up when he served on the Governor's Building Division on Permitting. He said one of the things they heard from building inspectors and officials was the frustration they felt when they could not, from a field site, get back to the central information point to answer a question about the project. He asked if the new system enabled staff in the field to communicate back and get answers to questions that arise on site, or would this be an add-on provision.

Roast replied the RFP would include questions to the vendor about the system capabilities, and this would be one of the questions. He said the last RFP had over 100 questions and there will probably be more questions this time.

Mayor Drake explained the current system was functioning at a low level of performance and it was time to move to a system that functioned more efficiently and reliably.

Coun. Doyle said wireless bandwidth capability for small laptops was outstanding and that might be an option.

Roast said those systems were available but they were not yet performing at the high level the City desired. He said it should improve as the technology progressed.

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Soth, that Council authorize staff to prepare a Request for Proposal and prepare an implementation plan for a permit tracking system to replace the current CRW Permit Tracking System as discussed in Agenda Bill 04178. All Councilors voting AYE, the motion carried unanimously. (4:0)

ORDINANCES:

Second Reading :

City Attorney Alan Rappleyea read the following ordinance for the second time by title only:

04171 - An Ordinance Annexing Property Generally Known as a Portion of SW Barrows Road to the City of Beaverton : Expedited Annexation 2004-0006 (Ordinance No. 4320)

Coun. Soth MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Ruby, that the ordinance embodied in Agenda Bill 04171 now pass. Roll call vote. Couns. Doyle, Ruby, Soth and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (4:0)

RECESS:

Mayor Drake called for a brief recess at 7:35 p.m.

RECONVENED:

Mayor Drake reconvened the meeting at 7:40 p.m.

OTHER BUSINESS:

Draft Resolution Opposing Ballot Measure 34 (Tillamook 50/50 Plan)

Mayor Drake said the Chair of the Tillamook County Commissioners asked the Council to consider a draft resolution opposing Ballot Measure 34. He said this measure dealt with the management of the Tillamook Forest and it seriously impacted four northwest counties (Tillamook, Clatsop, Washington and Columbia ). He asked Coun. Soth to explain the history of the forests.

Coun. Soth explained that from 1933 through 1945, over 400,000 acres of forest land was consumed by fires known as the Tillamook Burns. He explained that following the fires a great deal of the forest land was in private ownership and no longer valuable for timber cutting and revenue, so it was given back to the counties for tax purposes. He said the counties then decided to manage the forests as a combined forest under the auspices of the State Forestry Department. He said part of that original agreement was that the forests were seen as a timber-producing/revenue-producing operation for the four counties involved. He explained the burned forests were replanted and were now merchantable timber that was being harvested.

Coun. Soth explained Ballot Measure 34 would adversely affect all the counties and forestry programs throughout the State. He said the measure violated the Forestry Plan that was adopted for the State, as part of the original negotiations that took place between private companies, the counties, the State and the Federal government. He said the four northwest counties alone would lose in excess of one million dollars per year in unrealized revenue from the timber operations. He said this measure did not allow sufficient flexibility in how the State Board of Forestry could operate under its guidelines. He said he felt this needed to be left to the people who know how to manage these systems rather than trying to legislate something that needed a lot of intensive technical information and operation. He said he helped replant a good portion of the forest in the 1950's.

Coun. Doyle said the people who brought the ballot measure forward chose to ignore years of cooperative effort on the part of many people. He said what concerned him was the measure ignored the economic needs of the region and the counties. He said it was estimated that 15 million dollars in annual revenue would have to be diverted to support this plan change. He said going back to the way business was done in the past, was not the way to go. He noted past management practices led only to controversy and BM 34 would return to that controversy. He said the current State Forestry Management Plan went beyond the controversy and lead to stable management. He said he supported the resolution opposing BM 34.

Coun. Soth MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Ruby, that the City Council approve the draft resolution opposing Ballot Measure 34, the Tillamook Forest Plan, in the November 2004 election. All Councilors voting AYE, the motion carried unanimously. (3:0) Coun. Stanton was not in the Chamber for the discussion and vote. (Resolution No. 3775)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 13 day of September, 2004

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor