BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
SEPTEMBER 19, 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, September 19, 2005, at 6:35 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Catherine Arnold, Betty Bode, Dennis Doyle and Fred Ruby. Coun. Cathy Stanton 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 and City Recorder Sue Nelson.

PROCLAMATIONS:

Mayor Drake proclaimed September 17 – 23, 2005 as Constitution Week.

PRESENTATIONS:

05169 Washington County Historical Society and Museum Presentation

Mark Granlund, Executive Director, Washington County Historical Society and Museum (WCHS), said he had been with the WCHS for four years. He updated the Council on the programs, projects and activities of the WCHS. He said the Washington County Museum was located on the Rock Creek Campus of Portland Community College and was open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. He said admission for the Museum was $3.00 for adults and $2.00 for seniors and children 17 and under; Mondays were free to everyone. He said the Museum had a new exhibit about the logging and timber industry in Washington County; this $40,000 exhibit was sponsored by the logging and timber companies in the area. He said the exhibit includes the Washington County log jail, one of the oldest buildings in Oregon. He said they have an extensive archive library, with over 20,000 photographic images. He said over 400 researchers come to Museum annually to research records from the 1800’s to the present.

Mayor Drake asked if that site was an official archive for Washington County.

Granlund said the WCHS was the official historian for Washington County and they were stewards over the public records. He said the Museum was a non-profit organization funded from public funds, private donations, fund raising and grants. He said their mission was to preserve and interpret the history of Washington County, and to educate citizens and students on the history of the County through a menu of classes available through several outreach programs. He said last year they gave over 330 presentations to over 10,000 students in Washington County. He reviewed several outreach programs provided by the Museum, including a Boy and Girl Scout Saturday program and a monthly lecture series called Cross Roads Lectures. He said the most popular event was the Draft Horse Plowing Exhibition, an annual event for forty years; it attracts several thousand people each year. He said information was available on their Web site at www.washingtoncounty.org. He said the City of Beaverton sponsored their Web page and he thanked the Council and the City for the sponsorship.

He said future plans include the expansion of the Museum; they had raised $1.2 dollars (toward a two million dollar goal) for that expansion. He said the expansion would increase the building's floor space from 5,000 to 12,000 square feet. He reviewed the expansion plan layout which would provide space for traveling exhibits, would double the collection space, would provide needed work space, and would allow for the addition of a genealogical society. He said they were working on increasing their private, public and corporate memberships to sustain the WCHS.

Coun. Bode asked what was the long term arrangement for the property and who owned the building.

Granlund said they moved to the Rock Creek Campus 22 years ago. He said they had a 50-year lease on one and one-quarter acre, at a rate of one dollar per year. He said Portland Community College was going to give them an additional acre and a quarter, so they would have two and one-half acres. He said the building was paid for and owned by the WCHS, though it was not capitalized.

Coun. Doyle asked how long the capital campaign for the expansion had been going on.

Granlund replied they had been working on it for four years. He said four years ago they started by developing the plan for the remodel and expansion, and they have been working since then to raise the funds. He said they still needed to raise about $800,000 for they hoped to start construction next spring.

Coun. Doyle asked if they had received any gifts from substantial corporations.

Granlund said Reisers Foods had given them a six-figure gift.

Coun. Doyle asked how they determined what they would accept for the collection.

Granlund said the Museum had a collection policy which they re-evaluate and update regularly.

Coun. Arnold said how many staff and volunteers worked at the museum.

Granlund said they had 3.8 FTE; two full-time staff, a part-time education coordinator, a part-time membership coordinator, and a staff research assistant. He said they also had educators and a grant writer on contract, and hundreds of volunteers.

Coun. Doyle said Granlund's enthusiasm would make this project happen.

Coun. Ruby asked if they had ties to students at the Community College and if college students ever used the Museum's resources to do their research.

Granlund said the college students do use the facilities at the Museum and they also have writing class projects at the Museum. He said the new Interim President of the College and the Deans were working to increase the utilization of the Museum by the College. He stressed the Museum was an educational institution and they felt the Museum fit well into the higher-education venue. He said the programs at the K-12 level were extremely strong. He said they want to maximize their relationship with the college and also with the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District.

05170 Building Division Business Process Report

Mayor Drake said several years ago a management audit was performed on the Community Development Department. He said one of the areas audited was the Building Services Division. He said this presentation was an update on the Building Division's process improvements from 2003 to the present.

Building Official Brad Roast described the process review conducted over the past two years. He said staff recognized that as times changed customers' needs also changed and improvements were needed to meet those changing needs. He said building codes have existed since the 17th Century to protect people from environmental hazards and poor building practices and he reviewed how current codes evolved in Oregon.

Roast reviewed the Building Services Division Progress Report on Process Improvement 2003-Present (in the record). He said when the process improvement project started, staff surveyed citizens and customers to obtain feedback on the City's building services. He said from this feedback staff determined improvements were needed in the areas of: Access to staff and timely response; Consistent Code interpretation; Access to information, including posting more information on the City's Web site; Streamlining processes to shorten the time it takes to go through plan review or inspections; Infill revisions; Empowering staff to make decisions in the field; and Developing a cooperative atmosphere to work together.

Roast reviewed the changes made to the Building Division's procedures, as presented in the Progress Report (in the record). Improvements he noted were: Inspectors were empowered to make decisions in the field; Code interpretation was applied consistently throughout all the cities and counties in the region; Improved staff availability; and Building information/services on the City's Web site have increased. He said through a Tri-County Group of building officials, all the cities and counties in the region established consistency in procedures, forms and information, so that all the cities and counties interpret the Codes the same way and use the same formats and procedures.

Roast reviewed the Building Division's services available on the City's Web site. He said in the future staff would continue to monitor feedback and review procedures to ensure the Building Division was meeting customers' needs.

Coun. Bode noted the Report stated customers wanted more Web-based services. She asked if they wanted a particular program to allow submitting forms by computer or over the phone.

Roast replied the citizens wanted more Building information on the City's Web site. He said the Web now had information on plan review, fees, design criteria and City Codes. He said it was more efficient for this information to be available on the Web.

Coun. Bode asked if the City could send out PDF Files of blueprints for buildings.

Roast said the City was not able to do that yet, but within the next five years that would be available.

Coun. Doyle referred to page 2 of the Progress Report which noted problems with inconsistent Code interpretation between inspectors. He said the Report stated organizational changes since the surveys had removed most of these problems. He asked if there was a factual basis for that statement; or was it based on observations from customers.

Roast said it was based on customer observations. He said the groups they interviewed initially were also interviewed in follow-up to ensure consistency. He said that was done to be sure they were addressing customers' concerns.

Mayor Drake said the customers were coldly honest on what they liked and disliked about the Department. He said in the audit the clients and surveys were anonymous and the responses were frank and honest.

Coun. Doyle referred to a comment in the Report on page 2, section 2 that "Employees agree that the work culture of Beaverton has been characterized by a high degree of risk avoidance. Managers and staff have grown accustomed to referring issues up the ladder." He asked if the recommendations acknowledged the problem and worked to eliminate it in a positive way.

Roast replied they implemented those changes. He said the recommendations included providing direct customer access to technical staff through the telephone and Web site; also, staff has been empowered to make decisions when possible and communication between staff has been improved.

Coun. Doyle said approaching this on a Tri-County basis, to ensure all counties were consistent, was essential and he was glad it was being done this way. He referred to section 2, page 9, which referred to using computers to track assignments and projects. He asked who was leading the search for these new software programs.

Roast said the City's Information System Department was working on this and would be bringing a new program to the Council in the future.

Coun. Doyle referred to section 2, pages 10 and 11 of the Report, which said staff was looking into multiple inspection certifications for its inspectors. He confirmed the Human Resources Department was studying this and said he felt it would serve the City well.

Roast said when an issue arises with Code interpretation or procedures he takes the issue to the Tri-County Group for a consensus decision with the group. He said he then takes that decision back to the customer; this ensures region-wide consistency in interpretations, forms and procedures. He said the customers were happy with that approach.

Roast said Beaverton was one of six cities that volunteered to participate in a pilot project for electronic permits. He said this system allows contractors to apply for, pay for and obtain certain permits on the Web. He said this has been on line and working since May, 2005. He demonstrated to Council how the electronic permit system works. He said this has been very helpful to contractors. He said other cities have expressed an interest in the program and this will eventually go State-wide.

Mayor Drake asked Roast to explain how the Minor Label electrical permit was issued.

Roast said minor electrical projects were processed through the Minor Label program. He said Minor Labels could only be purchased by electrical contractors; each Minor Label had a corresponding number on the Minor Label form. Contractors could purchase ten labels at one time and when they had used the ten labels they send the corresponding form to the Tri-County Service Center in Portland. He said one out of ten labels was inspected and if the work was done correctly it passed. He said the other nine labels were then considered to be correct and were approved without an inspection. He said the cities were notified of the permits and approvals, so they could include them in the City's Building records. He said the Minor Labels program was an excellent service to the industry.

Coun. Doyle said he appreciated the serious efforts put in by staff to make the City permit business friendly.

RECESS:

Mayor Drake called for a brief recess at 7:40 p.m.

RECONVENED:

Mayor Drake reconvened the meeting at 7:56 p.m.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

Henry Kane, Beaverton, said on September 21, 2005, the Highway 217 Advisory Committee would make a preliminary recommendation for improving Highway 217. He said the recommendation would be to either add two general purpose lanes or two toll road lanes to Highway 217. He spoke at length on funding to improve Highway 217. He said the toll road figures were inaccurate and toll lanes would require considerable reconstruction of ramps on Highway 217. He said he hoped the Committee would find the toll lane option was unworkable.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Bode thanked all the volunteers who worked on the Beaverton Parade held on September 17, 2005. She said they started on time and the high school bands were a welcomed addition. She said the parade route was a great way to show the cultural and economic diversity in Beaverton. She said it was a great event and she heard many positive comments. She thanked the community for their participation.

Mayor Drake said the parade started a few minutes late because of a missing Boy Scout; the Scout was found and the parade began.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

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

Minutes for the Regular Meeting of September 12, 2005

05171 A Resolution of Intent to Condemn Property Located at 12750 SW Farmington Road, Beaverton, Washington County, Oregon for Public Use (Resolution No. 3831)

05172 Intergovernmental Agreement Between TriMet and the City of Portland for Transit Policing

Contract Review Board:

05173 Revised Bid Award - Bel Aire Storm Drain and Sanitary Sewer Improvements, Project No. 8049

Mayor Drake said over the years the City had very sparingly used its condemnation authority granted by State law. He said in this case it was a willing seller and this was a friendly condemnation because it gave the seller tax advantages that they would not get otherwise.

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

ORDINANCES:

Second Reading:

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

05164 TA 2005-0001 (2005 Omnibus) (Ordinance No. 4365)

05165 An Ordinance Relating to the Emergency Management Code, Amending Beaverton Code Section 2.01.020 (Ordinance No. 4366)

05166 An Ordinance Annexing One Parcel Located at 11915 Walker Road to the City of Beaverton: Annexation 2005-0007 (Ordinance No. 4367)

05167 An Ordinance Amending Beaverton City Code Chapter 5 by Adding Provisions Memorializing the City of Beaverton Police Department and Establishing the Department within the City Code (Ordinance No.4368)

Coun. Ruby MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Doyle that the ordinances embodied in

Agenda Bills 05164, 05165, 05166 and 05167, now pass. Roll call vote. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Doyle and Ruby voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (4:0)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 10th day of October, 2005.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor