BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
JUNE 28, 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, June 28, 2004 , at 6:32 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 , Assistant City Attorney Bill Scheiderich , 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 Captain Stan Newland, Project Engineers Jim Brink, Joel Howie and Mark Boguslawski, Transportation Engineer Randy Wooley and Deputy City Recorder Catherine L. Jansen.

PROCLAMATION:

Vietnamese-American Heritage & Freedom Flag

Jean Bui expressed appreciation to the Mayor, Council and staff for recognition of the Vietnamese-American Heritage & Freedom Flag. She displayed the flag (yellow with three red stripes) and explained the red stripes represented North, Central and South Vietnam , as united in the national community. She explained how they left everything behind in Vietnam and risked their lives to come to America . She said the flag was the symbol of their hopes and dreams for freedom. She expressed appreciation for the opportunity to establish their homes and communities in America .

Ken Bui thanked the Mayor and Council on behalf of the Vietnamese community. He explained the flag was adopted as the Vietnamese-American Community Flag; they were happy to make Beaverton their home.

Jean Bui presented the Vietnamese Freedom Heritage Flag to the Mayor as a gift to the City. She noted there were over forty representatives from the Vietnamese community that participated in the presentation.

Mayor Drake read the proclamation recognizing and honoring the Vietnamese-American Heritage & Freedom Flag and presented the framed proclamation to Jean Bui.

PRESENTATIONS:

04128 - Presentation by U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Tom Cusack, Field Officer , U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), explained June 2004 was National Homeownership Month and the 70 th Anniversary of the Federal Housing Administration. His presentation compared homeownership financial data in Beaverton with state and national data (in the record). He explained the information was available on the Oregon HUD Web site and could be downloaded for public use.

Cusack presented three key points regarding home ownership:

1) Renters cannot share in the increase in home values.

2) Homeownership rates vary by race and ethnicity throughout the United States . The Oregon homeownership rate in 2000 was less than it was in 1950; Oregon did not keep pace with the increase in homeownership rates in the U.S. during 1990 to 2000.

3) Programs that helped accelerate first-time homeownership accomplished many objectives, one of which was the opportunity to share in the wealth that comes from homeownership.

Cusack explained in the 1990's in Beaverton the return on a median value home (including reduction in loan principal) was $83,000; the rest of the country increased $26,000. He said this increase was reflected as a 714% rate of return in Beaverton compared to 195% in the rest of the United States .

Coun. Soth asked if there was any relation to the UGB laws in Oregon and the increase in home value.

Cusack said rather than the UGB, he thought the most significant factor was that Oregon started from a tremendously low base in 1990; home prices in 1990 were quite low compared to the rest of the country. He said that was one of the reasons fo r b ringing outside investments into Oregon . He reviewed financial charts that indicated in the 1990's Oregon was behind the rest of the country in homeownership rates (in the record).

He reviewed new resources currently available to assist in homeownership. Those included: 1) the Oregon Housing State Bond (cash advantage option to assist in closing loans); 2) the 2005 FHA Zero Down Loan Program (if enacted); 3) the HUD Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse (data base resource on what other jurisdictions were doing); and 4) the HUD American Dream Down Payment for first time homebuyers with income below 80% of median. He explained the focus on down payment assistance was the result of studies that indicated providing down payment assistance had the largest impact in increasing homeownership rates, especially for minority families.

Coun. Soth asked if the governing factor was the down payment, did it follow that the rent payments and mortgage payments were substantially the same.

Cusack replied he was not sure that was true. He said in most cases people paid more when they purchased a home as opposed to the current rent payment. He said one of the reasons was because people did not have the cash to purchase a home.

Cusack explained this year HUD established affordable housing and home purchasing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to increase the number of home purchases they processed. He said nationally, the number of loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac related to first-time home buyers was much less than their overall market share. He reviewed the history of the FHA and showed pictures of the home purchased through the first FHA home loan in Astoria in 1935.

Coun. Ruby asked how consumers accessed these first-time buyer loans.

Cusack replied all the programs were delivered by the private sector (mortgage bankers and brokers).

Mayor Drake asked if HUD then bought the loan or paid the interest.

Cusack explained the primary innovation of the FHA loan product was the lower down payment and the concept of a government guarantee. He said the idea was the American public could be trusted to make monthly payments on time and to encourage banks to make more ambitious loans. He said the owner never failed to make the payment and the buyer paid a mortgage insurance premium to HUD, so the program was self-supporting. He said HUD only made payments when foreclosures occurred.

He said in the Portland Metro area FHA's maximum mortgage limit was $208,000. He reviewed HUD's FHA loan activity in Beaverton in 2003 (in the record). He said the majority of loans were for detached homes and estimated less than 20% of the loans were for common-wall homes.

Mayor Drake asked what was being done to encourage minority-home ownership.

Cusack explained for the past several years HUD conducted a series of public homeownership fairs; these fairs had a minority-focused component to provide information to minority citizens. He said HUD increased its marketing efforts to advise citizens of the many products now available to help them purchase homes.

Coun. Doyle asked if Beaverton had a lower rate of first time buyers because there were fewer properties available at the maximum mortgage limit of $208,000.

Cusack said he had not reviewed that in detail but he suspected in Washington County there were fewer properties that fell within that range. He noted there were other areas of Washington County where HUD loans were approved, Forest Grove and Aloha were examples. He said in Lake Oswego , twenty percent of the sales were within the FHA limit and he would be surprised if fifty to sixty percent of the sales in Beaverton were not within that price range.

Cusack explained FHA loans were delivered by the private sector and were totally self-supporting. He said FHA loans reduced the Federal Deficit by more than $2 billion in 2004.

Mayor Drake asked if the GI Bill had a lot to do with the strong homeownership rates in the 1950's.

Cusack said that could be true but the other side was that there was a more homogenous population in Oregon in the 1950's. There were not many newcomers to Oregon then and there wasn't the diversity in rental housing that exists today. He said one of the very positive things that happened in Portland during the 1990's, compared to the United States , was that residential segregation decreased because communities did an excellent job developing rental housing as well as single-family homeownership units. This improved the opportunities for people to live throughout the metropolitan area; either in rental or purchased units.

Coun. Soth said he started building his house in 1950. He said that was the first year when people who came back from WWII finished their education and were beginning to enter the homeownership mode.

Cusack concluded by stating the FHA Loan Program, along with the GI Bill, were programs that withstood the test of time and made wonderful contributions.

Mayor Drake thanked Cusack for the presentation.

CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS:

There were none.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Stanton thanked the Mayor's Office and staff for the excellent Picnic in Park last week.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

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

Minutes for the Regular Meetings of June 14 and June 21, 2004

04129 - Liquor Licenses: Change of Ownership - Izzy's Pizza Bar Classic Buffet

04130 - Annual Resolution to Update Development Services Fees for Applications, Appeals, and Other Services (Resolution No. 3760)

04131 - Compensation Changes

04132 - Authorize Mayor to Enter into Intergovernmental Agreement with Washington County for HOME Funding and Select HOME Program Option

04133 - Approve Application and Adopt Resolution of Support for Metro Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program Project Proposal (Resolution No. 3761)

Pulled for Separate Consideration

04134 - Transfer of Road Jurisdiction from Washington County to the City of Beaverton ( SW 110 th Avenue ) (Resolution No. 3762)

04135 - A Resolution of Intent to Condemn Real Property Located Generally Along S.W. Barrows Road in Beaverton , Washington County, Oregon for Use for Public Right of Way (Resolution No. 3763)

04136 - Authorize Mayor to Sign Participation Agreement and Trust Agreement for Police Employees VEBA Benefit Plan

Contract Review Board:

04137 - Contract Award - Accessibility Rehabilitation Pilot Program

04138 - Bid Award - Curb and Gutter Installation Project Fiscal Year 2004-05

04139 - Bid Award - Street Profiling Project for In-House Overlays, Fiscal Year 2004-05

04140 - Consultant Contract Award - Sterling Park Pond Reconstruction Project

Mayor Drake said Agenda Bill 04133 was pulled for separate consideration at the request of Coun. Stanton .

Coun. Doyle stated he was glad to see that the City was continuing with the Selection HOME Program Option in Agenda Bill 04132.

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

04133 - Approve Application and Adopt Resolution of Support for Metro Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program Project Proposal (Resolution No. 3761)

Mayor Drake said that Rose Biggi Avenue (from Crescent Street to Hall Boulevard ) was the project proposed for MTIP funding under this agenda bill.

Coun. Stanton said she would vote no on this project, because the 125 th Avenue Extension had been on the books for a longer period of time, was in more need of being done, and had regional significance because it was between a regional and a town center.

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Soth, to approve Agenda Bill 04133, to Approve Application and Adopt Resolution of Support for Metro Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program Project Proposal.

Coun. Soth stated while he sympathized with Coun. Stanton on the 125 th Extension, he had no reason to doubt that all the criteria were considered and those involved in the selection process were objective in their consideration, so he would support this.

Mayor Drake said he talked with Metro's Planning Transportation Director Andy Cotugno and staff worked internally with Metro. He said the MTIP criteria was tightly focused and very little of the 125 th Extension Project met the MTIP criteria.

Coun. Stanton asked if next time staff would show her how the 125 th Project had not met the criteria. She said with this information she could approach Metro and ask for a shift in the criteria.

Question called on the motion. Couns. Doyle, Ruby and Soth voting AYE, Couns. Stanton and Bode voting NAY, the MOTION CARRIED. (3:2)

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

04141 - Capital Improvements Plan for Fiscal Years 2004/05 through 2007/08 for Transportation, Water, Sewer and Storm Drain Projects

Engineering Director Tom Ramisch introduced Project Engineer/CIP Coordinator Jim Brink . Ramisch noted several Project Engineers were in attendance to answer questions on specific projects if needed.

 Ramisch briefly summarized the sections of the new Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). He explained the Sanitary Sewer System Master Plan was virtually completed, and the Storm System Master Plan effort was on a basin-by-basin approach and was listed in storm section of the CIP. He explained in the years ahead, the water system had huge financial challenges due to increased capacity projects for the Joint Water Commission projects. He said these were million-dollar projects and they were also looking at the possibility of wholesale contracts with City of Portland .

Ramisch said in the next few months staff would embark on a careful re-estimate and re-evaluation of the data to date for Phase 3 of the 125 th Extension Project. He said before they proceeded further he wanted to review what was done, what the PAC recommended, and the costs in today's dollars. He said staff would update Council on this at a future meeting.

Mayor Drake said he agreed with Ramisch's recommendation to get a tighter scope on what needs to be done and the actual costs for the 125 th Extension. He agreed this project needed to get done and it was a critical element for the Transportation Plan. He said he thought there was more hope for this project than one would think.

Coun. Ruby said he was glad to see the straightening out of Lombard Avenue in the CIP. He spoke on the difficulty of navigating Lombard and how that made it difficult to use the Beaverton Transit Center .

Mayor Drake explained Lombard was approved in 1995 as part of the MSTIP and since the County wanted to phase in the projects, it took a while to get to this project.

Coun. Stanton confirmed with staff that the City was moving to Phase 2 of the 125 th Extension Project and it was scheduled to be completed in 2006. She noted Phase 3 was scheduled for 2006-07 at a cost of $500,000. She questioned what was included in Phases 2 and 3.

Brink confirmed Phase 2 would take two years and that $715,000 was budgeted primarily for right-of-way acquisition.

Project Engineer Joel Howie explained the right-of-way funding was for the Phase 2 components that included wetland mitigation and storm drain improvements in the basin (assuming the 125 th Extension was built). He said the right-of-way acquisition for the main road was already accomplished. For Phase 2, the wetland mitigation areas, with the Blankeney Pond Study, had funding for design only for the storm drainage portion downstream of the Phase 2 project.

Mayor Drake asked if he was talking about off-site mitigation.

Howie said it was on-site mitigation but additional area was needed which was identified in conjunction with the Blankeney Pond Study. He said the funding and the acquisition was only for the 125 th Extension. He confirmed for Coun. Stanton there would not be any additional impact to the 125 th Extension because of the Blankeney Project.

Project Engineer Mark Boguslawski explained there were existing flooding problems recorded in the Blankeney area and along BelAire Drive . He said the staff was working both programs together to the mutual benefit of each project. He said one of the things they would be doing in the low area, next to the Verizon switching station, was to increase the floodplain storage (detention) area to alleviate the downstream flooding constraints, and they would be doing floodplain enhancement with that detention.

Mayor Drake explained staff was taking a holistic viewpoint to mitigate two issues at one time; only breaking ground once and going through the permitting process once.

Coun. Stanton said she was not convinced that the BelAire Creek Storm Drainage/Blankeney Trunk Sanitary Sewer Improvement project was not increasing the mitigation that would have to take place in Phase 2 of 125 th Extension.

Boguslawski replied it was not.

Coun. Stanton asked if Phase 3 was the storm and sewer work on that corridor. She questioned what was involved in the funds for Phase 3 and Phase 2.

Ramisch explained Phase 3 in Fiscal 2006-07 was $500,000 for the design phase for the street.

Howie said the $600,000 for Phase 2 was for the dirt moving for the wetland mitigation and the detention facilities.

Mayor Drake stated the staff was moving at a good pace on this project and there had been several changes along the way.

Coun. Stanton complimented staff for the setup on the storm, sewer and water portions of the CIP.

Coun. Doyle asked if the storm water detention would benefit the City in some other way if the road was not built.

Boguslawski said it would benefit the ultimate condition by relieving all residential flooding in that area for up to a 100-year storm event.

Mayor Drake noted several years ago the Council authorized a $1.00/month charge for storm drain improvements. He said that raised $1.2 million per year for retrofitting storm capacity and staff was aggressively working to improve storm capacity.

Mayor Drake opened the public hearing.

No one wished to testify.

Mayor Drake closed the public hearing.

Coun. Soth MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Doyle to approve Agenda Bill 04141, the Capital Improvements Plan for Fiscal Year 2004/05 through 2007/08 for Transportation, Water, Sewer and Storm Drain Projects.

Coun. Stanton said though she voted no last year because of one transportation project, this year she would support this motion because she realized the water, sewer, storm and some transportation projects were very important.

Coun. Soth spoke on the importance of the water projects within the CIP. He said it was apparent that the region as a whole was going to be short of potable water in the next ten years unless something was done now. He said the projects the Joint Water Commission was interested in would alleviate some of that shortage. He noted time, cooperation and good will among all the agencies involved was needed to bring these projects to completion.

Coun. Bode said the CIP covered a variety of needs in the community and she would support the CIP. She reiterated the 125 th Extension Project had been in the CIP for 30 years and she thought this project needed to be given a higher priority next year.

Coun. Doyle said he would support the motion. He said it was important to note the CIP was anticipating the needs for infrastructure replacement to meet the needs of the community and keep the City modern. He complimented staff for doing an excellent job in keeping track of these needs. He stated the CIP was a proactive document and he commended staff for the CIP.

Mayor Drake complimented Engineering staff for doing an excellent job.

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

RECESS:

Mayor Drake called for a brief recess at 8:06 p.m.

RECONVENE:

Mayor Drake reconvened the meeting at 8:13 p.m.

04142 - A Resolution Adopting a Budget for Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2004

Finance Director Patrick O'Claire stated this was the public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2004-05 Budget, including the use of State Revenue Sharing Funds. He said included with the agenda bill was the resolution that approved the budget. He explained this was the same resolution adopted by the Budget Committee on June 8, 2004 , with two amendments that were approved by the Budget Committee. He confirmed the two amendments were incorporated into the budget and there were no other changes to the document.

Mayor Drake thanked the City Councilors for the time they spend to read, review and understand the budget. He said it was good to have a Council that understood the budget and supported it.

Mayor Drake opened public hearing.

There was no one present who wished to testify.

Mayor Drake closed the public hearing.

Coun. Soth MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Bode that Council approve Agenda Bill 04142, A Resolution Adopting a Budget for Fiscal Year Commencing July 1, 2004.

Coun. Soth stated since this was his last general budget, he wished to express his appreciation to all the staff, department heads and the Mayor for the budgets they had put together. He stated the City had done an excellent job in acceding to the wishes of the citizens of Beaverton , and the citizens had expressed their appreciation and support for everything the City had done by approving two financial ballot measures over the last ten years that included a tax base measure.

Coun. Stanton said she would support the motion even though the budget did not have enough money for the library and the 125 th Extension Project.

Mayor Drake thanked Coun. Soth for his comments and stated the City had excellent department heads and staff. He said everyone carried their weight and this was a good organization to manage.

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

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:19 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 12th day of July, 2004.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor