BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 10, 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 City Council Chamber, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, October 10, 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 City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Engineering Director Tom Ramisch, Operations/Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Deputy Police Chief Chris Gibson and City Recorder Sue Nelson.

PROCLAMATIONS:

Mayor Drake proclaimed October 2005 Breast Cancer Awareness Month and National Arts and Humanities Month.

PRESENTATIONS:

05175 Recognizing June Bass for Receiving the Northwest Oregon Volunteer Administrators Association's 2005 Lucke Award

Library Director Ed House introduced the Library Volunteer Coordinator June Bass and Nancy Gaston, President, Association of Volunteer Administrators (AVA).

Ms. Gaston said she was honored to present this award to June Bass. She said the award honored a volunteer administrator who has worked in the tradition of Elma Lucke, a pioneer in volunteer management in the greater Portland area. She said when Bass started four years ago there were 60 volunteers; there were currently 300 volunteers who provided services that enhanced the impact of the Library's service by one million dollars over the last four years. She said it was important for cities to have good volunteer management because it allowed citizen involvement and enhanced service. She said every citizen that has a good experience volunteering for the City becomes a good advocate for the City. She said it was her pleasure to give this 2005 Lucke Award to Bass for vision and leadership in the field of volunteerism. She presented the award to Bass.

Bass said she was pleased to accept the award as it was given to her by her peers. She thanked the City for allowing her to improve the program; she worked with a wonderful staff and she thanked everyone for the award.

Mayor Drake said Bass had put in extra effort to enhance the program. He said the volunteers had logged 14,000 hours per year. He said this was a huge army of volunteers and noted that Coun. Stanton volunteered because they loved and supported the Library. He thanked Bass for all her work.

Coun. Stanton said she has volunteered at the Library for many years. She said Bass brought a new dimension to the volunteer coordinator position beyond what the City had previously. She said Bass coordinates the orientation and training to ensure volunteers find their niche and do work that is valuable to them and the City. She said Bass takes the time to recognize the volunteers and their work. She said Bass does excellent work and she thanked the AVA for recognizing her for her leadership and organization.

05176 Bicycle Friendly Community Award Renewal by the League of American Bicyclists

Leo Baldwin, Chair, Beaverton Bicycle Advisory Committee, said in the 1800's the first modern bicycle replaced the horse and mule, providing transportation for everyone. He said most of the roads were dirt at that time which made bicycling difficult. He said the League of American Wheelman petitioned the US Congress to create the Road Department in 1893; this was ten years before the American Automobile Association was formed. He said the first paved roads were created for bicycles. He said the League of American Wheelman was now the League of American Bicyclists. He said in 2003 the League started the Bicycle Friendly Community Program to officially recognize communities that promote bicycling. He said the League recognized 27 cities in its first year, including Beaverton. He said the award was given every two years. He reviewed the cities that have received the award and said this year Beaverton was receiving the Bronze Award. He thanked Mayor Drake, the Council and the Engineering Department staff, especially Traffic Engineer Randy Wooley and Planner Margaret Middleton, for continuing to work towards making Beaverton a bicycle friendly community. He presented the award to Mayor Drake.

Mayor Drake said the Council and community deserved the credit. He said staff has worked with the resources available and listened to citizens; this community has heard the cry and the people want to ride their bikes and walk. He said this award would be displayed proudly.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

There were none.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Stanton said she was honored to represent Mayor Drake at the City of Cheonan, Beaverton's Korean Sister City, at the dedication of their new City Hall. She distributed pictures of the event and gave the Council information packets about the City of Cheonan. She presented a gift to Mayor Drake from the Mayor of Cheonan. She said they had a wonderful time in Korea noting that Cheonan had a larger population than Beaverton but was dealing with some of the same issues concerning water, sewer and youth. She added Cheonan had 27 male city councilors; but not one female councilor. She thanked Mayor Drake for the opportunity to represent him.

Mayor Drake thanked her for representing him on the trip.

Mayor Drake said this weekend the City, Washington County, the Vision Action Network and the City's Human Rights Advisory Commission, were jointly sponsoring a Walk for Unity to promote tolerance and understanding in the community. He said the walk would start at 2:30 p.m., on Sunday, October 13, 2005 at the Library and would go through Central Beaverton. He invited everyone to participate in the walk.

Coun. Bode said she represented the City at a fund raising concert for the victims of Katrina last Saturday. She said a young man new to this area (a music major in New Orleans) played at the fund raiser. She said he was contacted by Portland State who offered him free tuition to study at Portland State until he is able to return to his college in New Orleans. She commented he was a wonderful piano player. She said she was happy to represent the City at this event.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

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

05177 Liquor Licenses: New Outlet - Assaggio Restaurant

05178 Traffic Commission Issue No. TC 580

05179 Approval of a Transit Oriented Development Agreement between Metro, DPP Beaverton Commercial Investments LLC and the City to Provide Metro Funds for Improvements to the Transit Plaza, Entrance Plaza and Associated Pedestrian Improvements

Contract Review Board:

05180 PULLED for Separate Consideration: Bid Award - Janitorial Services for City Buildings

Coun. Arnold had a revision to the September 19, 2005 minutes which she gave to the Recorder.

Coun. Stanton said she would not vote on the minutes as she was not at either Council meeting.

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

Mayor Drake said Coun. Arnold wished to discuss a Traffic Commission issue that was separate but related to Traffic Commission Issue 580. He said a memorandum was provided to Council on this issue. He read from the Traffic Commission Minutes of September 1, 2005 "The Commission passed a self-generated motion after some discussion which recommends to the City Council that the City investigate providing legal local parking for large trucks belonging to the City of Beaverton residents."

Coun. Arnold said she thought this issue and Traffic Commission Issue 580 were related. She referred to the Traffic Commission Minutes in the Council packet concerning the trucks parked on Cascade Plaza; she said she understood the ruling and she agreed this was not the best use of public space. She said not allowing the trucks to park there had economic effects for the truckers but allowing the truck parking had economic effects on the businesses. She said changing the rules affected everyone. She said when she read the second motion by the Traffic Commission, it seemed they had some uneasiness; they talked about past decisions and it seemed they wanted to do something to ensure this was being addressed. She said they talked about Beaverton citizens that would be affected financially and the City's responsibility to look after the needs of the citizens. She said she was not sure how big a problem this was; the best guess she received was that one to five Beaverton citizens use roads to park their trucks. She said she was not sure this was enough information for the Council to feel it was proceeding as best as possible. She said she would be more comfortable if there was a transition period. She said she did not want the City to be in the truck parking business. She suggested the City might work through the Chamber to find parking locations. She said her concern was about the transition period and not severely impacting small businesses.

Mayor Drake said he discussed this with Coun. Arnold. He said he thought the Traffic Commission wrestled with this issue. He said the community does not provide right of way for commercial businesses to store vehicles. He said regarding a transition time, if Council directed them to place the signage up no sooner than 30 days, that would be a natural transition period. He said there were options, such as industrial zones, where parking space could be rented. He said the difficulty was that with a public right of way, the public was providing long-term free space for an individual business. He said the City did not normally provide storage space for private individuals and it would lead to the question of the City providing storage space for recreational vehicles. He said people needed to find alternative modes of parking. He said this came to the City's attention because the retailers along the roadway were concerned about overall appearance and their lack of visibility from Highway 217.

Coun. Doyle suggested the code enforcement staff place notices on the vehicles that within a certain time parking would not be allowed on the roadway. He said that would help in the transitioning. He added this was a business opportunity for someone to facilitate this change and provide parking for the trucks. He said this decision needed to be made and noticing would help make the transition.

Coun. Bode said she concurred regarding leaving it up to the Traffic and Engineering Departments to take reasonable steps to inform the truckers and help the merchants.

Coun. Ruby said he appreciated Coun. Arnold’s sensitivity to the issue. He said before local truckers started using Cascade Avenue, they were parking elsewhere. He said he believed there was available space elsewhere perhaps contracting for parking. He said the comments made about implementing the policy were sensible.

Coun. Stanton said she agreed with the Council, but from the Commissioners' point of view they were trying to balance the needs of the truckers and the Cascade Plaza business owners. She suggested sending the Council's comments from this meeting back to the Traffic Commission asking them to write a letter to the Valley Times; an open letter to the truckers stating the City was not in the parking business and did not want to be. She said the Traffic Commission should do a letter to make the same points and to challenge someone in the community to come up with a solution. She said the Council should send this back to the Traffic Commission to say the Council cannot agree to create a new department within the City to become a defacto parking structure.

Mayor Drake said the suggestion of placing notices on the trucks, as opposed to tickets, for 30 days was a good suggestion. He said the Traffic Commission could be invited to address the issue if it wished to; staff could take this back to the Traffic Commission.

Coun. Stanton said that was fine. She suggested that the Council's comments be forwarded to the Traffic Commission, to let them know the Council did not think the Commission was wrong, but the City did not want to get into providing business services at this level, i.e. finding property and setting up a permit system within the City's government structure.

Coun. Bode agreed it would be a good idea to forward the Council minutes to the Traffic Commission. She said it was a slippery slope to allow trucks to park there; soon recreational vehicles will start parking there. She said that road was built to get traffic in and out of a commercial area safely.

Mayor Drake said he heard that Council shared the same concerns as the Traffic Commission, but it was beyond the normal scope of the City to engage in providing parking. He said Council preferred delaying the signage and placing information notices on the trucks; in lieu of tickets. He said in 30 days the signage would go up. He said the Traffic Engineer would ask the Traffic Commission if it was interested in taking this out for public comment to encourage private industry to find a workable solution.

There was Council consensus to forward their comments back to the Traffic Commission and Engineering staff.

05180 Bid Award - Janitorial Services for City Buildings

Coun. Doyle MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Ruby that Council approve Agenda Bill 05180, Bid Award - Janitorial Services for City Buildings.

Coun. Stanton said she had this agenda bill pulled for separate consideration because while this was a bid award, the subject title did not describe what the City had to do because of State statute.

Coun. Stanton said in 1999 the Legislature passed the Products of Disabled Individuals Act. She said that Act requires local jurisdictions to accept services, regardless of the cost. She stressed the City cannot look at the price of the service. She said she felt this was an unfunded mandate. She said in this case it means a twenty percent increase in cost of services for the next year and the service level was decreasing as the two companies cannot meet the service and schedule of the City's current provider. She said this Act requires the City to pay more and get less service and there was nothing the City could do about it. She outlined the services that would decrease and said she could not believe it would be sufficient to vacuum floors once a month. She said she would vote no on this issue as she felt it was wrong that the City was not allowed to makes its selection based on cost, quality and history. She said this came from the 1999 State Legislature and it was not free market.

Mayor Drake said the competitive bidding process assures citizens of the lowest price and highest quality of service. He said what Coun. Stanton was saying that the work level was being reduced and it was costing more. He said her point was not about the companies, it was that the process does not allow the City to get the lowest bid for the same amount of work currently being performed.

Coun. Stanton said the current company had performed well for the City and they were not able to submit a quote because the City had to take the bids from the companies that fell under the Products of Disabled Individuals category. She said that did not allow the Council to judiciously provide service at an economic level.

Coun. Doyle said in reviewing the agenda bill, staff negotiated with the two vendors and the reason the level of service was dropping was to try to get the quote closer to the budgeted line item.

Finance Director Patrick OClaire said that was correct; staff negotiated to get this more in line with the budget for this fiscal year. He said both vendors' quotes were significantly over budget when based on the current service level. He said staff had to negotiate service levels to stay close to the budget amount.

Coun. Doyle asked if with the one year contract, the City could then evaluate the service and increase the budget if service levels were not sufficient. He said he knew there had been issues in the past when cleaning service levels were decreased; it created problems in all the City facilities.

O’Claire said the service levels were being reduced in the less public areas; all the public areas will be vacuumed daily; the less public areas would be vacuumed once a week. He said the contract was for one year with a review in six months. He said the issue would be brought back to Council to either continue with the firm or seek an alternate source.

Coun. Bodereferred to a book Urban Development and Public Health Issues by Dr. Howard Frumkin. She also referred to the Avian Flu that is air-transmitted. She said in keeping a clean environment, in this package the return air grills and diffusers would only be cleaned every other month. She said the Council Chamber never has outside clean air and it is a public area. She asked for clarification.

Maintenance Director Gary Brentano said outside air was brought into the Chamber through the heating and ventilating system at the rate of forty percent. He said there are hepa filters in the system. He said what is done today in terms of filtration compensates for a regular need to remove dust and other contaminants from the fixtures and the heating and ventilation system. He said he thought stability would be close to what currently exists and the cost of those small items are modest, so if it is found there are special needs, the City would do that.

Coun. Bode asked if there was standard on changing filters in public buildings.

Brentano replied there was not; it depended on the type of system, volume of air exchange and design of the system. He said since the systems were custom designed, the specifications were customized and usage experience helps them understand what is happening in the various areas of the building.

Coun. Stanton said the area where one works needs to be clean and those areas would not get the same level of service they currently received. She said she was concerned with the health and safety issue for the staff.

Coun. Doyle said he expected after six months staff would let them know what was happening.

Mayor Drake said that would happen and he wanted to approach this with a positive attitude. He said he asked for the six-month review. He said the City has a stringent cleaning schedule because City Hall needs to be clean and look nice for everyone. He said if something was amiss, the City will be able to correct it or make a change. He said his hope was that everything would be fine, but it will be reviewed in six months.

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

RECESS:

Mayor Drake called for a brief recess at 7:30 p.m.

RECONVENED:

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

WORK SESSION:

05181 An Ordinance Amending Provisions of Chapter Five of the Beaverton City Code Relating to Abatement Procedures and Liens (Ordinance No. 4369)

Code Services Manager George Fetzer presented a PowerPoint slide presentation on the proposed Code amendment relating to nuisance abatement procedures and liens (in the record). He reviewed the sections of the Code being amended relating to notification, property owner responsibilities, assessment of abatements cost and placement of liens (in the record). He showed pictures of abatement issues and explained the abatement process.

Coun. Bode asked how many times they had to put a lien on a property.

Fetzer said since July 2003 the City had performed eleven abatements. He said the only lien he was sure of was at 4925 SW Angel; it was over $9,000 for that abatement.

Coun. Arnold asked when the lien came into the process if the City has to clean the property.

Fetzer said the process is to provide the notice and give the owners ten days to clean the property. If they do not clean it the City will, and then send them a notice that they owe the abatement cost. If it is not paid within 30 days it will become a lien on the property.

Coun. Arnold asked why they were waiting 30 days before putting the lien on the property.

Fetzer said the existing Code had the 30 day timeline. He said the Code revision being requested would authorize the Finance Director to put a temporary lien entry on the lien docket, in case someone tried to sell the property anyone purchasing the property would see there was a pending lien.

Coun. Arnold asked if the pending lien would be entered at the time the City did the abatement.

Fetzer confirmed that was correct.

Coun. Arnold referred to the appeal to the Council and said she wanted to be sure people were notified of their right of appeal.

Mayor Drake asked how people would be notified of their right of appeal when the lien notice was sent.

Fetzer said the Code provides that the lien notice states that they have the right to appeal. He said it also provides a timeline for filing the appeal; the appeal has to be filed within ten days of the notice.

Mayor Drake asked if the notice were sent by certified mail.

Fetzer said the problem with certified mail was many people would not pick them up. He said they do not have that problem with first class mail.

Mayor Drake said their goal was compliance; if someone needed extra time, City staff worked with them and gave them extensions. He said Fetzer was patient and professional.

Coun. Doyle asked if the City Attorney was happy with the changes.

City Attorney Alan Rappleyea indicated he was in agreement with the changes.

Coun. Stanton said this was an excellent packet and she appreciated all the information put into the report. She said everything in the ordinance made sense and she felt the timelines were sensible and timely.

Coun. Ruby said about a year ago the City passed the ordinance that strengthened the Code to allow removal of such things as abandoned appliances and furniture. He asked if the situation had improved since the stronger regulations were enacted.

Fetzer said he had seen an improvement. He said there was one problem area that had not been resolved; this was an area on 158th Avenue, between Jenkins Road and Baseline Road. He said the City was almost ready to abate the property.

Mayor Drake said a community had to have certain standards and Fetzer and his staff were reasonable in their dealings with citizens.

Coun. Stanton said the City has to provide a healthy and safe environment for its citizens and businesses. She said streamlining the process and making it clear to residents, gives the Council the clearness of vision to maintain the health and safety standards. She thanked Fetzer for his work and said she looked forward to implementation.

ORDINANCES:

Coun. Stanton MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Ruby that the rules be suspended, and that the ordinances embodied in Agenda Bills 05182 and 05183, be read for the first time by title only at this meeting, and for the second time by title only at the next regular meeting of the Council. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Doyle, Ruby and Stanton voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (5:0)

First Reading:

Rappleyea read the following ordinances for the first time by title only:

05182 An Ordinance Amending Provisions of Chapter Five of the Beaverton City Code Relating to Abatement Procedures and Liens (Ordinance No. 4369)

05183 An Ordinance Annexing Two Parcels, and Associated Right-of-Way, Located at 10845 SW Walker Road to the City of Beaverton: Expedited Annexation 2005-0008 (Ordinance No. 4370)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 24th day of October, 2005.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor