BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
DECEMBER 12, 2005

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 Chamber, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, December 12, 2005, at 6:35 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Catherine Arnold, Betty Bode, Dennis Doyle, Fred Ruby and Cathy Stanton. Also present were Assistant City Attorney Bill Scheiderich, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Operations/Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Deputy Police Chief Chris Gibson and City Recorder Sue Nelson.

PRESENTATIONS:

05223 - Stream Enhancement Project Update

Operations Manager Terry Priest introduced Operations Technician John Mitchell, the Fats, Oil & Grease Program Manager for the Operations Department. Priest and Mitchell presented a PowerPoint presentation about the stream enhancement project.

Priest said the purpose of the stream enhancement project was to eliminate non-native invasive vegetation that choke out native vegetation and take over stream areas. He showed the damaged areas due to invasive vegetation which included stream erosion. He referred to slides of how the stream banks were cleared, repaired and replanted. He said the first year maintenance was frequent to remove invasive plants that were trying to re-establish themselves and for watering during dry periods; by the second year maintenance was done quarterly to remove unwanted vegetation.

Priest said Beaverton Creek was identified in a contamination study by Clean Water Services (CWS) as a creek that needed work. He said the Creek was surrounded by old development and had water quality issues. He said CWS performed enhancement work on Beaverton Creek west of Hocken Avenue, in conjunction with a sewer project that was completed a few years ago. He said improvements to the Creek from Hocken Avenue to The Round were in the City's Capital Improvement Plan. The City started the creek enhancement projects on the section of Beaverton Creek from The Round east to Griffith Park. He said the City then targeted areas upstream from Beaverton Creek and areas around Capital Improvement Projects including portions of Erickson Creek, the Fanno Tributary and Camille Park and 30 of the City's 120 public ponds were prepped for enhancement projects this year.

Priest said many of the creeks that needed work were not owned by the City. The City worked in cooperation with other property owners to do the necessary enhancement projects. He said the City partnered with CWS, Tri-Met, Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, apartment complex owners, business owners, the Boy Scouts and SOLV on these projects. He said future events were planned in cooperation with the Friends of Trees and the Tualatin River Keepers. He reviewed some of the projects that were completed in 2005.

Mayor Drake said this year the City planted almost 7,000 trees along or near waterways in the City; exceeding the minimum number requested by CWS.

Coun. Stanton said she always enjoys this presentation because it indicated staff's diligence in promoting healthy streams in Beaverton. She thanked staff for their work and for the presentation.

Coun. Doyle asked if the Beaverton Creek work would continue.

Priest said next year Camille Park would be a large project and work would be done on Beaverton Creek, south of Griffith Park. He said they try to be flexible in case problems are encountered that necessitate a change in the work plans.

Coun. Doyle said he was glad they were flexible because it would allow quick reaction when needed.

Coun. Arnold asked what was needed to keep invasive species out of an area; she referred to blackberries.

Priest said the key was to get the native plants established and growing, so the blackberries would not receive sun and cannot grow. He said the key to canary grass was to keep it mowed down as the other plants grow; spot spraying was done as necessary. He said during the first year each site is checked monthly to keep on top of the situation.

Mitchell distributed material on the City's Fats, Oil and Grease (FOG) Program. He said the number one cause of sewer contaminants in the streams was grease buildup in the sewer system. He reviewed how grease traps/interceptors operate, and how grease buildup in manholes and sewer pipes creates problems. He said the FOG Program becomes involved at the planning stage to ensure grease traps are installed where needed. He said staff works to ensure that the source of contamination in problem areas is identified, the problem resolved and inspections were done to prevent future problems. He said the City also monitors the haulers that pickup the grease and inspect the lines after the haulers have removed the grease to ensure they do a thorough job of removing grease from the lines. He said the City developed a handout to educate the public about the proper way to dispose of FOG. He said he works with the businesses in the City to ensure compliance with the requirements for grease traps; businesses have 90 days to reach compliance. He said he has also worked with apartment complexes that were having problems.

Coun. Arnold asked how much the grease traps/interceptors cost.

Mitchell said the cost runs from $1200 to $4200 for the small interior traps. He said outside interceptors can run in excess of $10,000. He reviewed the Save the Drain brochure stating he had distributed the handout to over 2900 apartments. He said this year they kept over 4.14 tons of grease out of the sewer system.

Mayor Drake asked staff to explain why this program was required by the Clean Water Act.

Priest said the Clean Water Act requires that cities have no overflows. He said if a city did not reach the zero overflow requirement, it has to work actively to achieve it. He said Beaverton used to average two to three backups due to grease even though they were cleaning 200,000 feet of sewer lines each year. He said with the FOG Program the City did not have any backups this last year and reduced the cleaning of the lines to 135,000 feet a year. He said the savings in staff time alone from the reduced cleaning would pay for the program. He said this program would result in cost savings through reduced cleaning and grease treatment costs.

Mayor Drake said citizens were interested in clean water in creeks, streams and rivers for pollution in the water could kill the fish.

Coun. Bode said it was an interesting presentation. She asked if this information could be sent to citizens in the water bills.

Mitchell said he had discussed sending it out in the water bills for apartment complexes; however, only a single water bill to the property manager was generated for apartment complexes. He said the information could also be sent to single-family residential homes. He said the restaurants and business owners have been very cooperative.

Coun. Doyle suggested this information be distributed to the apartment residents with the recycling information the City is distributing. He said he had heard a lot of compliments about the FOG Program.

Coun. Stanton said she thought grease must be the biggest cause of blockage problems in sewer lines, which could be very expensive. She thanked staff for their work. She referred to the Grease Inspection Form and asked if businesses were given a timeframe for cleaning out their traps.

Mitchell said if there is a problem he lets them know their cleaning service needs to be increased to a monthly service. He said he often contacts their cleaner service for them and that has worked well for this was a highly competitive business. He said some people preferred to clean their own traps adding that has not been successful.

Coun. Stanton asked what percentage of businesses did their own cleaning as opposed to using a service.

Mitchell said about 50 percent; most of the Asian restaurant owners preferred to do their own cleaning.

Mayor Drake thanked staff for the presentation.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Doyle said that tomorrow night, December 13, 2005, would be the City's Holiday Open House from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at City Hall. He said there would be refreshments and Santa Claus would be there for the children. He invited everyone to attend.

Coun. Arnold said she attended the National League of Cities Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina with Coun. Doyle and Mayor Drake. She said it was helpful to see what other cities were doing and the training was excellent. She said she was grateful for this opportunity to learn.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

Henry Kane, Beaverton, said he submitted a letter dated December 12, 2005 (revision to his letter of December 5, 2005), regarding the Highway 217 toll road option. He read from the letter his suggestion that the City Council hold a public hearing on several issues regarding the proposed toll lanes on Highway 217 (in the record). He said the Highway 217 Advisory Committee was not able to obtain accurate information regarding toll roads. He said after two years of studying this issue, it was still not known if it was viable. He said the only way this could be built was by subsidizing the project at one-third of a billion dollars. He said he was going to ask the Oregon Transportation Commission to obtain the Attorney General's opinion on whether or not gas taxes can be used to subsidize a toll road. He said toll road projects were not viable unless the entire road becomes a toll road. He said holding a public hearing would provide informed input from the public and Metro staff.

STAFF ITEMS:

Chief of Staff Linda Adlard said the City closed the real estate transaction on the Westgate Theater property today. She said the next steps would be to determine the demolition schedule for the building and to start the process for finding a developer to develop that land.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Mayor Drake said Agenda Bill 05227 was pulled for separate consideration at the request of Coun. Stanton.

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

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 5, 2005.

05224 - Reclassification of Position and Transfer Resolution (Resolution No. 3843)

05225 - Boards and Commissions Appointments

05226 - Transfer of Road Jurisdiction from Washington County to the City of Beaverton (Resolution No. 3844)

05227 - Pulled for Separate Consideration - Authorization to Enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Metro to Develop the Westgate Property - Tax Lots 1S116AA06800 and 1S109DD00400

Contract Review Board:

05228 - Purchase of Software License Renewals and New Licenses From the State of Oregon Price Agreement

05229 - A Resolution Amending the Beaverton Purchasing Code (Resolution No. 3845)

Coun. Stanton said she had some corrections to the minutes. She asked if the sentence "He said the grant program was trying to cover sites that were not in the Healthy Streams Plan." was correct (page 6, third paragraph). She said she thought the word "not" should not be there.

Planning Services Manager Hal Bergsma said the sentence was correct as written; it should say not. He said for stream corridors, Surface Water Management (SWM) fees would pay for restoration projects. He said for areas not subject to SWM fees, the grant could pay for improvements or restoration projects.

Question called on the motion. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Doyle, Ruby and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0) Coun. Arnold abstained from the December 5, 2005 Minutes as she was not at that meeting.

05227 - Authorization to Enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Metro to Develop the Westgate Property - Tax Lots 1S116AA06800 and 1S109DD00400

Coun. Stanton said she asked for this to be pulled for separate consideration because Metro was putting up money for the City to purchase the Westgate property to expand The Round. She said this was a rare opportunity and she was looking forward to this process. She said for the record that whatever the City ends up with through the expansion of the project she wanted it to look like it belongs in Beaverton.

Mayor Drake said the goal was to have the projects integrate as much as possible. He said the design would also go through the City's design review process.

Coun. Stanton said it will be interesting to see what projects are submitted through the Request for Proposal.

Coun. Stanton MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Bode, that Council approve Agenda Bill 05227, Authorization to Enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Metro to Develop the Westgate Property - Tax Lots 1S116AA06800 and 1S109DD00400.

Coun. Arnold said because she was gone last week, she would abstain from voting on this issue as she had not had time to get the answers to her questions.

Question called on the motion. Couns. Bode, Doyle, Ruby and Stanton voting AYE, Coun. Arnold abstaining, the MOTION CARRIED. (4:0:1)

WORK SESSION:

05222 - Design Review Text Implementation Update (Rescheduled from December 5, 2005 meeting)

Development Services Manager Steve Sparks introduced Senior Planner Colin Cooper and said they were going to update Council on the effect the new Design Code has had on processing development applications. He said they experienced new challenges with the design review. He said the greatest challenge has been educating the staff and the public in terms of what the new s tandards mean. He said the biggest change has been the new Design Review One process, also known as the Design Review Compliance Letter. He said they do not see many applications they can do over the counter. He said they do receive small projects that can be reviewed in a few days. He said what may look like a minor change needs to be checked to ensure everything is done correctly, since much of the information they receive on an application is not always correct. He said the City has improved its turn-around time on these projects and clients were pleased with that. He said there has been a reduction in the Type Three applications (public hearing). He said under the old Code, any new structure required a public hearing. He said there are now size thresholds; if a project is less than 50,000 square feet in a commercial zone, not close to a residential area, it can be done as a Type Two application. He said the project next to City Hall (formerly Saylor's Restaurant) was an example of a Type Two application. He said he thought the City Council would be satisfied with this new project being built next to City Hall.

Sparks said they have been working through the pre-application process. He said previously if someone met the design standards they were a Type Two application; if they could not meet the standards they were a Type Three application. He said the plans in a pre-application process are very general, so staff has to give a very general review without specific suggestions. He said under the new Code, staff offers a free follow-up pre-application review when the design is put together. He said staff can then meet with the planner and designer and tell them specifically what standards are being met and which are not. He said they discovered that everyone applied for Type Two and the vast majority of the applications really needed Type Three approval because they did not meet all the standards. He said the pre-application process has been changed to say all applications are Type Three unless the applicant can demonstrate they have met all design standards, in which case they will be a Type Two. He said this eliminates the surprises applicants were encountering.

Mayor Drake said this year the Board of Design Review had nine meetings; he said this was less than half of the meetings the Board has had in previous years.

Sparks said that was correct; the Board has been meeting less. He said he thought this was attributable to the new Code and a lack of applicable development proposals. He added there had been no appeals of the Board's decisions this year either.

Coun. Arnold asked if this primarily affected the Board of Design Review or the Planning Commission meetings.

Sparks said he thought it was equal. He said the Planning Commission had not met a lot this year and the number of design review applications that go to the Planning Commission also decreased.

Coun. Arnold asked Sparks to send her the development statistics on the applications received for the last two years.

Senior Planner Colin Cooper said along with the reduction in Type Three Applications, there was also a corresponding shift going from Type Two Applications to Design Review Compliance Letters, which was the intent behind the streamlining of the Code.

Cooper said staff was working with the Economic Development staff on a proposed text amendment that would streamline development within the Regional Center/Old Town. He said the text amendment was focused on design review standards, so that areas of historic character and smaller parcels might be able to make small additions without running into difficulties encountered in the past.

Sparks said one of the lessons they learned was that many applicants see Type Two as their right, without fully appreciating the changes that have occurred; that they have an opportunity for a Type Two but they still need to perform to a certain expectation. He said the applicants see that by not meeting standards, going through a Type Three is a major obstacle for them. He said it has been a bit difficult to explain to applicants that they were not a Type Two, though it was achievable with a few changes. He said it was hard for applicants to learn that staff did not have the discretion to approve their Type Three project and that much more was required from them, which would extend the timeline on their project. He said the staff continued to work with people cooperatively to get them to the Type Two level; however, that was not always possible.

Coun. Arnold asked if the design standards were not sufficiently clear to the applicants.

Sparks said he thought it was wishful thinking to a large degree. He said the applicants often think they are Type Two because they meet one or two criteria. He said they were not paying attention to the details in the standards, i.e., glazing, parking, lighting, etc. He said they were not paying attention to the details that also have to be evaluated. He said they have also heard from people that the pre-application was very process oriented. He said this was because staff wants to be sure applicants understand what is expected and what will happen regarding their projects.

Coun. Stanton referred to Sparks comment that if the staff was given more discretion, the process would be easier for applicants.

Sparks said that was the customers' perception.

Coun. Stanton said she would be comfortable with having staff keep a log on the types of incoming applications and what they could have been with a few additions. She said that information could then be presented to Council in a few months for discussion.

Sparks said they were already tracking that information.

Coun. Doyle referred to the comment on page three that the Design Review text requires more staff resources to clearly communicate expectations and processes, and to review applications, as there were clearly defined design expectations to consider. He said he thought that was good as this meant better and faster customer service.

Sparks said that was the optimistic view. He said the pessimistic view was that staff was delving into details; spending too much time worrying about the little things. He said he felt it was an investment in time from which everyone would benefit. He said as more projects go through the process, the benefits will be seen.

Coun. Doyle referred to the "Shops at Griffith Park" development and said because of the changes to the Code, the City saved the developer fives weeks in the process. He said the public needs to know that one of the reasons for the changes to the Code was to improve and speed up the development review process.

Sparks said the majority of the applicants they work with understand that and work hard to stay within the "safe harbor" approach of the design standards. He said as a result of that, the applicants find a way to make their architectural design statements and stay within the design standards.

Coun. Doyle said he was glad to read that in the staff report and felt this message should be heard by the community.

Mayor Drake said the Design Review text revisions went through a heavy citizen/ industry filter. He said with the new Code it is easier for an applicant to go through the process and they do not have to pay a consultant to hand walk an application through the process when City staff is more than capable of processing the application.

Sparks said when staff returns with a matrix of needs that are not being met, he thought the majority of the examples would be where an applicant could not meet the full standard, but they could get part of way there; such as an applicant saying they could not meet the ten foot sidewalk width but could do eight. He said he was not sure what that would eventually lead to in terms of staff discretion allowed by Council.

Mayor Drake said this came from a contact through his office where someone was partially improving an old building on an old site. He said staff was frustrated because the Code did not allow a transition process to a medium point in the s tandards where a site could be improved in appearance but not reach the full design s tandard. He said the transition, especially in the Old Town, would allow more discretion in property improvements and makes it possible for people to invest in redeveloping the downtown. He said staff deserved compliments for listening to the comments on operational concerns when developing the next stage.

Coun. Stanton said she was glad staff was working toward achieving those objectives. She said it appeared the four objectives were not ranked in any type of hierarchy and asked if that was correct.

Sparks confirmed that was correct.

Coun. Stanton said regarding sidewalks, she could unders tand if someone wanted to go from ten to eight foot widths. She said if the rest of the area had ten foot sidewalks she hoped there would be mechanisms to not allow a decreased width on the basis of safety.

Sparks said those were the type of issues they considered all the time in design review to make the improvements safe, efficient and still attractive.

Coun. Bode asked how this impacted the Planning Commission.

Sparks said the impact to the Planning Commission was minimal since the Commission does not handle design review. He said the Commission only looks at design review if it is attached to an application, such as conditional use or variance. He said any reduction the Commission has experienced was from a slow down in certain application types.

Coun. Bode asked if the Planning Commission still met every Wednesday night.

Sparks said the Commission was scheduled to meet every Wednesday but the meetings are cancelled fairly often.

Coun. Arnold referred to the Design Review Compliance Letter Process (in the record) and asked if the Over-the-Counter review was a Type One process.

Sparks said that was correct. He said Type One applications were limited in scope and did not involve site development or transportation.

Coun. Stanton asked if Type One applications went to Facilities Review.

Sparks said only Type Two and Type Three applications went to Facilities Review.

Mayor Drake said Type Two would be the same as Type Three, other than the fact that someone can request a public hearing from a Type Two, but they actually have to appeal the staff decision.

Sparks said there was notification with the Type Two and Type Three applications, but not with Type One.

Mayor Drake said that was a great improvement to the Type One process; previously notification was required for very small changes, such as changing door locations. He thanked staff for the update and said it appeared the changes were successful so far.

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 12th day of December, 2005.

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Rob Drake, Mayor