BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 23, 2006

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, January 23, at 6:30 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Catherine Arnold, Betty Bode, Dennis Doyle and Fred Ruby. Coun. Stanton was excused. Also present were City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Community Development Director Joe Grillo, Engineering Director Tom Ramisch, Library Director Ed House, Operations/Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Police Chief David Bishop and City Recorder Sue Nelson.

PRESENTATIONS:

06010 - Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District Comprehensive Plan Update Presentation

Doug Menke, Assistant General Manager for Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District (THPRD) introduced himself and Jim McElhinny, the Director of Park and Recreational Services. He thanked Council for the opportunity to present the Comprehensive Plan Update. He said THPRD had always considered the City of Beaverton to be a great partner and the park district was the service provider for the City as well as unincorporated areas of Washington County.

He explained the Project Overview (in the record) included some key objectives that the park district would be attempting to reach through the Comprehensive Plan Update. He said those key objectives involved vision and mission statements, critical inventory for the parks as well as facilities, identifying future needs and priorities, goals, policies, standards, and action plans. He said a critical component was to involve district residents in planning for the future and ensure THPRD was listening to the needs of the residents.

He noted that in the project schedule they were well in their kickoff stage, which included identifying future needs. He said reaching out to all respective agencies that were involved with the park district as well as the public was part of that determination. He said they were moving well into the third phase as far as development of the Comprehensive Plan and aiming for adoption of the Plan in September 2006.

Menke said the THPRD project team was made up of a variety of different committees including the THPRD Board, THPRD Staff with Sarah Cleek as Project Manager, an in-house Staff Advisory Committee and a Project Management Team. He noted there was a consulting firm covering a variety of different topics, a Project Technical Advisory Committee and a Project Public Advisory Committee. He said that Alan Whitworth from the City of Beaverton Planning Department was involved with the Technical Advisory Committee and Councilor Dennis Doyle was involved with Public Advisory Committee. He explained that the Advisory Committee served as an opportunity to reach out to residents and individuals that have a particular interest in the district. He said the Technical Committee reached out to the School District, the Cities of Beaverton, Tigard and Hillsboro, respective other special districts within the area and some key planning groups. He noted that they would reach out to the public with surveys and different areas of commitment that would help the district better unders tand what the public wanted.

Menke said they had several general community meetings and the advisory committee groups had started to meet. He noted that they had recently completed their telephone survey which they had provided as a handout (in the record) to Council. He said the survey was interesting and it was intriguing to find that the residents were active, engaged and had an opinion.

He said the THPRD Project Website was another tool they used for interaction with the public. He explained that there were opportunities to fill out surveys on the website and that the park district would provide surveys in an effort to collect input from a broad base of individuals.

Jim McElhinny addressed Council and said the consultant team they had put together for the Comprehensive Plan Update was an interesting group. He said they were led by the Cogan-Owens Cogan Group from Portland, Oregon. He noted they were a great firm that had done a wonderful job of guiding the direction of the Comprehensive Plan. He said they had put together a team which consisted of Alta Planning and Design which assisted the park district with an update of the Trails Master plan. He said another member of the team was Ballard*King, a consulting firm based out of Denver, Colorado. He said they provided an outside set of eyes that looked at how the park district operated on a day-to-day basis. He said that included everything from programming, maintenance operations and the financial structure of THPRD. He said they were made up of individuals who had worked for park and recreation departments across the country; they had an interesting outlook concerning how other agencies operated. He said this outside look had been very beneficial for the park district.

McElhinny said Davis, Hibbitts, and Midgehall was the firm that helped with public outreach, and surveying. He explained that they developed the questionnaire Council would be receiving. He said that Opsis Architects was analyzing THPRD buildings and facilities to help evaluate those buildings and facilities and how they currently served the park district as well as their life span.

McElhinny referred to project elements included in the Plan as current and future facility and program needs. He said they wanted to look at how the facilities were serving the community currently and what facilities and buildings the park district would need in the future. He said another element was maintenance and operation s tandards and practices. He said they were looking to see if all neighborhood or community parks would be maintained the same way or if there should be different levels of maintenance. He explained the financing mechanisms and revenue sources element would evaluate future needs. He said THPRD had just completed a long term financial plan along with the Twenty Year Plan update that would give them a good direction. He said the Trails Plan Element was for trails that were off-street as well as in the district, multi-use in nature and designed to connect neighborhoods to schools to commercial areas to mass transit. He said the Action Plan included Goals, Policies and Actions and was an explanation of how they would get to where they wanted to be after they analyzed all the feedback they were seeking. He said the supporting maps would also help guide the district.

McElhinny said there were core questions they hoped to answer from the Comprehensive Plan update. He said these questions were reflected in the questionnaire he distributed to Council (in the record). He said THPRD wanted to know what the most important needs were for the future park district facilities, programs and services. He said they wanted to look at the types of buildings and programs to be offered in the future.

McElhinny said THPRD was currently doing well, but they were interested in finding out what the significant gaps were in the program and facility areas and what they would need to focus on in the future. He said they would look at specific geographic areas within the park district to see if some had greater needs than others.

McElhinny noted that Councilor Bode had been a great help and supporter of a new program called the Recmobile. He said the RecMobile was an ambulance van that had been donated to THPRD by Metro West Ambulance and would be filled with recreational equipment. He said THPRD staff would take the RecMobile to neighborhoods within the district for residents that typically could not get to the recreation facilities for a number of different reasons. He said those reasons might include kids that could not get to a park facility because the parents were working. He said they were looking at that sort of vehicle for getting THPRD’s message out to the community.

McElhinny noted that recreational needs in the park district were changing. He described how the 1997 Twenty-year Master Plan had recommended the development of skate parks. He noted that a skate park had been built at the district complex on 158th and Walker Road and it was very popular. He said they were seeking to find out what kinds of change would need to take place for future demands on facilities and parks and what should the district do to respond to those changes.

McElhinny said the park district would involve others through an active public outreach as explained earlier in the presentation. He said information about upcoming public meetings or other opportunities to be involved in the study could be found on THPRD’s Website, the Speaker's Bureau, and through the planned open houses. He noted the next open house would be in July 2006. He said they would like the opportunity to go out and speak to other interested groups in the community.

McElhinny thanked Council for the opportunity to speak that evening. He said for more information the contact person for this project was Sarah Cleek at (503) 629-6305, ext. 2931.

Coun. Doyle referred to members of the Consultant Team Ballard*King and asked what kind of a product would be realized from their work. He asked if it would be a substantial document to help with day-to-day operations as well as recommendations for maintenance and s tandards.

McElhinny said that was what they were anticipating and that would be folded into the rest of the Comprehensive Plan.

Menke said they were hoping for some interesting outcome information. He said that as McElhinny indicated, THPRD believed they were very good at what they did. He noted that they wanted to find out if the surveys said they were as good as they thought they were.

Coun. Doyle said the questions THPRD raised in the presentation were critical to the costs that drove the district in terms of maintenance and follow up. He said the presentation asked excellent questions that needed answers. He said he thought it was excellent that they were using a company removed from the day-to-day operations; it was a great way to get a good perspective.

Coun. Arnold commended THPRD for their outreach to the community, especially with the Citizens with Disabilities community. She referred to current and future facilities and program needs of residents and asked if they were looking at areas outside their current boundaries.

McElhinny said they were looking in all areas of the park district and also the alternate service area as set by the Senate Bill 122 process. He said a good example of the park district in a partnership with Portland Community College (PCC) was to use 33 acres on the Rock Creek Campus. He said the park district was going to construct a recreation facility to be used by the college and the citizens in that fast growing area. He said THPRD would not have to acquire 33 acres of land at the current prices. He said they were seeking out those sorts of opportunities as well.

Coun. Arnold asked if THPRD was planning for the Bull Mountain area and other areas that may or may not concede to coming into the park district boundaries.

Menke said presently Bull Mountain was outside their service area and would not be included in the Comprehensive Update.

Coun. Arnold asked how they were looking at Regional Plans for areas not currently in the service area, but could be included in the area someday.

Menke said that Bull Mountain specifically would be part of Tigard's planning area. He said there was a good deal of unincorporated areas at the north end of the park district (the Bethany area) that were currently not in the park district area, but within the planning area.

Coun. Arnold asked how they were looking at regional plans for connective trails.

Menke said THPRD was very involved in regional planning. He said they made the same presentation to the Metro Council earlier as well as having on going discussions regarding the west-side trails, including the Beaverton Powerline Trail. He said whenever possible the trails were linked and working with other agencies was a critical tool in that process since the park district was not a permitting agency.

Coun. Arnold noted that she had seen a device for park districts that was a trash can that was 10-12 feet tall that was installed below ground level.

Menke said the park district currently had some of those trash cans. He explained that one could only see the portion of the trash can that was above the ground. He said this type of trash can enabled compaction and reduced maintenance costs. He said the Center Street Park had several of these trash cans.

Coun. Ruby said he was part of the group that toured the Mt. Williams Property. He said he enjoyed walking up to the high point of the property and viewing the natural connection of the trail from Chehalem Elementary School to an existing trail park. He noted that would be a splendid project in the future.

Menke thanked Mayor Drake and said he was a critical component in the leadership meetings.

Coun. Bode said THPRD’s presentation was excellent. She asked if the Harmon Center was the only therapeutic pool in the district. She said the sector of the population that thought they would be retiring and moving away was now retiring and staying in the area and would be looking for more pool facilities like the Harmon Center.

Menke said the Harmon Pool was primarily used as a heated and dedicated therapeutic and adaptive programming pool. He said part of the Comprehensive Plan update was to find out if more facilities like the Harmon Pool would be needed to accommodate senior programming.

Coun. Bode explained that the park district had taken an old vehicle, the RecMobile, and loaded it with outdoor sports equipment and planned to take it to apartment complexes for use by the apartment residences. She said the Virginia Garcia Clinic had noted a large influx of African refugees that required training in things as simple as basic street skills. She said the introduction of team sports through use of the RecMobile would be a great cultural and beneficial help for them and others. She said she was looking forward to seeing the RecMobile out and about.

Coun. Bode asked if Menke wanted the Council to complete the survey he had distributed and turn it in by February 7, 2006.

Menke said they would appreciate the Council’s participation in the survey.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

Reverend Ja West, Beaverton, addressed Council about various personal and religious concerns.

Doris Lang, Beaverton, said she was concerned about parking; she showed the Council a map and pictures of a building on the corner of Farmington Road and Watson Ave. She said the area of concern was right next door to where the proposed First Street and Angel development would be built. She said she had owned a building in that area since 1975; in the 1980's there had been an Urban Renewal Bureau and the City had promised at that time that if they could take the Lang's parking in front of their building that parking would be available on Farmington and Angel Street. She said the current problem was a new business had gone into that area and the owners were towing cars that parked there. She said she had discussions with the City regarding possible parking on the street, which had been denied.

Mayor Drake said Council had not been previously apprised (with the exception of Coun. Ruby) of the correspondence between Mrs. Lang and the City. He said that prior to the untimely death of Mrs. Lang's husband he had met with the Lang's regarding the parking. He noted that Mrs. Lang had recently retained the services of Attorney Bill Cox, and that in addition Beaverton's City Attorney staff had talked to Mr. Cox.

Mayor Drake explained there wasn’t any evidence that substantiated a discussion the Lang's may have had with the City in either the City’s Archives or Land Use Action records. He noted that Mrs. Lang had not been able to provide any records to corroborate some kind of formal action. He said they were at a dead end.

Lang said that at the time they did not get the parking issue in writing, but she wanted Council to know about the current parking problems.

Mayor Drake said he understood Lang's comments but noted that without any formal action or anything that City Council or the Planning Commission would have passed; there was nothing in the files and consequently no evidence that staff found that would corroborate Lang's comments. He explained that the City could not deed or will over property without formal action or evidence that the Lang's paid for the property. He said that after talking to Mr. Lang over a year ago, he had instructed City staff to try and find something to corroborate the story. He said staff had found nothing. He said that put the City in a position of having no evidence supporting that information.

Lang said that she had not been compensated for the parking being taken away from the front of the building. She said they had been trying to cooperate with the City at that time.

Mayor Drake said there was no one present that had been part of that decision. He said that it made it extremely difficult for the City to go back and resurrect a history where there was no evidence that a commitment had been made. He said he had instructed staff to take time to look at City records to see if there was any evidence of a formal, legal commitment on the City's part. He said that without that the City could not be bound to a commitment. He asked if the City Attorney could provide any further information.

Alan Rappleyea , City Attorney, said the City had done research, reviewed the Beaverton Urban Renewal Minutes and retained the services of a Title Company to look at deed records. He said the City had removed on-street parking or public parking, but had not removed any private parking and had widened Farmington Road. He noted that there may have been discussions regarding parking on a lot, but the City currently needed the lot for a health clinic. He noted that the health clinic would be a very valuable service for the Citizens of Beaverton. He said there were permits for day time parking and there was also overnight on street parking in other parts of the downtown area. He noted that the City Traffic Engineer, Randy Wooley had an agenda at the Traffic Commission where there had been amendments in the Parking Requirements to aid in this situation. He said there were parking permits available at very minimal costs for downtown parking.

Mayor Drake said the City Attorney explained that the City was in the process of trying to help the situation as much as they legally could. He said the City could not provide free parking for Lang's tenants and that research had proven a written provision did not exist. He said parking was not a provision that was included with the building.

Lang replied that in the past she had understood the City to say that if she cooperated with the City, she would be given that parking.

Mayor Drake said he understood and that Mr. Lang had explained the same issue. He said that the City had looked in earnest to see if any formal action had been taken by the City. He noted that with the absence of formal action, the City could not be obligated to something that did not show as a formal existing record. He said he could not speak to what happened 31 years ago, because he wasn't there.

Lang said she recalled that it had all been done verbally.

Mayor Drake said the reason for formal actions was to memorialize decisions so these kinds of situations will not happen thirty-one years later.

Coun. Doyle said if staff was working on plans for the area there may be a resolution that had not been discovered yet.

Lang said the parking situation was critical right now.

Coun. Doyle said that City staff had certainly heard Lang's message and that they were a good resource to review the situation.

Henry Kane, Beaverton, said he had very good news for the people of Beaverton who did not want their access to and from Highway 217 at Allen and Denney to be blocked. He said the Highway 217 recommendations of last November 2005, had run into several roadblocks, which included the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) Alternatives Committee adoption of a complicated resolution and in the process pointed out that the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) refused to make Highway 217 a Project of Statewide Significance. He said that would enable ODOT to rebuild it without a toll road in less than eighty years. He said Highway 217 should be made into a Project of Statewide Significance.

Mayor Drake said he was at the JPACT meeting and the interim Region One Director for ODOT preferred that it not be designated a Project of Statewide Significance at this time. He said that she suggested it would be better solved by being a public/private partnership, meaning a toll road. He said part of the issue was that ODOT did not want to open up the idea of Projects of Statewide Significancebecause if Highway 217 became one, it would mean that other parts of the state would also ask to open Statewide Significance Projects. He said he was just putting a different spin on Mr. Kane's information.

David James, Beaverton, asked if any of the Councilors had walked Walker Road in regard to his request from a few weeks ago.

Coun. Doyle said he had walked part of it and commented that Walker Road was missing sidewalks and other safety issues.

James asked if Coun. Doyle would still consider Walker Road a lower priority than construction on Cornell Road.

Coun. Doyle said there were many streets within the City that needed improvement.

James said he agreed that many streets needed improvement, but Cornell was not one of them. He said Cornell had sidewalks.

Mayor Drake said he was out by Walker Road and agreed that the road needed improvements. He said what made it so difficult in comparing Walker Road to Cornell was that Cornell had 20 to 25% more cars traveling on it per day. He said Washington County was looking at doing some interim steps along the roadway. He commented that he would like to think that the City's interest and Mr. James interest had been a good combination. He said the County was part of the study between Canyon and 185th and they were better convinced today than when the Coordinating Committee first started talking about it, that the emphasis should be somewhere west of 158th and not east of there, where they were originally focused. He said the County was talking about putting a signal and lighting along the roadway.

James said a pedestrian bridge over Willow Creek was needed. He said that would allow people to walk along Walker Road.

Mayor Drake said he agreed.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

There were none.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

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

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 9, 2006

06011 - Liquor License - Change of Ownership - Mandarin Palace Restaurant and Lounge

06012 - Liquor License - New Outlet - Juan Colorado Mexican Restaurant

06013 - Authorize the City Attorney to Enter into a Professional Services Contract with Outside Counsel to Provide Legal Review and Consultation

06014 - Boards and Commissions Appointments – Nancy Scott and Jason Ridge to Board of Design Review

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

ORDINANCES:
Second Reading:

Rappleyea said there were slight revisions to the two ordinances that had been read by title only at the Council Meeting of January 9, 2006. He said that pursuant to the Charter those provisions had to be read out loud as part of the title reading. He said the issue the City became aware of was that there was a State Statute that did not allow annexation to become effective to within ninety-days prior to a primary election. He said the annexations in question would have overlapped by two or three days for the ninety-day window. He said new language was added that said the annexations would be effective pursuant to the Statute.

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

06007 - An Ordinance Annexing One Parcel Located at 16930 SW Spellman Drive to the City of Beaverton. ANX 2005-0012 (Ordinance No.4378)

06008 - An Ordinance Annexing Three Parcels and Associated Right of Way Located at 16655 SW Scholls Ferry Road in the City of Beaverton and Adding Property to the Neighbors Southwest Neighborhood Association Committee. ANX 2005-0009 (Ordinance No. 4379)

Coun. Ruby MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Bode, that the amended ordinances embodied in Agenda Bills 06007 and 06008 and as read by the City Attorney, now pass. Roll call vote. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Doyle and Ruby voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (4:0)

Other Business:

Coun. Doyle commented that it would be a good idea if the Library mobile unit could tag along with the THPRD Recmobile.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 6th day of February, 2006.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor