BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 23, 2007

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, April 23, 2007 at 6:36 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Betty Bode, Bruce S. Dalrymple, Dennis Doyle and Cathy Stanton.  Coun. Catherine Arnold was excused.  Also present were Assistant City Attorney Bill Scheiderich, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Interim Community Development Director Steven Sparks, Public Works Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Police Captain Stan Newland, City Engineer David Winship, Traffic Engineer Jabra Khasho, Senior Transportation Planner Margaret Middleton and Deputy City Recorder Catherine Jansen.

PROCLAMATIONS:

Mayor Drake said he was proud to proclaim April 29 - May 5, 2007, as Municipal Clerk’s Week for the City was fortunate to have a City Recorder and Deputy City Recorder who were the best in the State of Oregon.  He said the City Recorder was the front gatekeeper for citizens and staff who have questions regarding the City.  He said the City was well served by its City Recorder and her staff. He said that in their work they have covered all aspects of City business and they were the keepers of the public record.  He added that the City Recorder, Sue Nelson and the Deputy City Recorder, Cathy Jansen were accredited City Municipal Clerks and had met the professional standards for city recorders.

Coun. Stanton added that City Recorder Sue Nelson had been recognized by the National Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA) for excellence in her profession.  She said Nelson served on the Board of Directors for the Oregon Association of Municipal Recorders (OAMR); and was instrumental in developing the State of Oregon City Records Retention Schedule that governs record retention for cities.  She said the Deputy City Recorder Cathy Jansen was currently serving on the Education Committee for OAMR.   She said that Nelson and Jansen received their accreditation as Certified Municipal Clerks from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks an organization that sets the professional education standards for city recorders world wide.  She thanked Nelson and Jansen for their good work on behalf of the City.

PRESENTATIONS:

07077  Investigation of Potential Title Transfer of Scoggins Reservoir from Federal to Local Ownership

Public Works Director Gary Brentano said that when the Council met with the Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD) Board there was a discussion on water supply options and a presentation on the Scoggins Dam raise and Hagg Lake expansion.  He said as a tandem effort to that, there were discussions at the County and regional levels regarding the potential of a title transfer for all of the facilities that exist in that basin (dam, reservoir and pumping stations).  He said the transfer of ownership would be from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to each Joint Water Commission (JWC) partner (TVWD, Hillsboro, Forest Grove and Beaverton).  He said the benefits of the transfer were local control and if a decision was made to pursue the dam raise there would be significant time and cost savings for process, preparation and project construction.  He said the time savings could be from one-and-one-half to two years. 

Brentano said that after studying the potential of the title transfer, it was determined that this was possible because of the $11 million economic value associated with the transfer.  He said the basis of the valuation was the net present value of the revenue to be received by the Federal government for the life of the Tualatin Project.  He said the next step would be for Washington County Commission Chair Brian to lead a delegation to Washington, D.C. in May, to advise Federal representatives that the local JWC partners wish to transfer the ownership of these facilities.  He said the JWC partners adopted resolutions supporting the transfer that the delegation would present to the representatives.  He said the final approval would be through Congressional action and the transfer could occur within the next two years.   

City Engineer David Winship presented a PowerPoint presentation on the Tualatin Project Title Transfer (in the record).  He reviewed the importance of the Scoggins Reservoir as the source of the City's summertime water supply.  He reviewed the components of the JWC system and Beaverton's raw water storage ownership.  He said the JWC Policy Steering Committee had recommended moving forward with title transfer investigation.  He reviewed the history and details of the title transfer (in the record).  He said the advantages to the transfer were: 1) Cost savings of 20-40% on the water supply project for it would not be necessary to follow the Federal process for design, procurement and Federal prevailing wages; 2) Local ownership and control would simplify the decision-making process and flexibility would be improved; and 3) Improved control of the project schedule for the water supply project. 

Mayor Drake said another benefit was that the City would be an owner, not a customer, and would have some say over the cost of the raw water.

Winship said the reimbursement cost to the Federal government was not for facilities or land for most of those capital costs were paid off.  He said the reimbursement was for the net present value of the future revenue that the Federal government would normally receive if it did not transfer the project.  He said initial cost estimates were between $6 and $11 million.    

Winship reviewed the process which included a new memorandum of agreement (MOA), an environmental review as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and an assessment of the condition of the facilities.  He said much of this would be covered in the environmental impact statement (EIS).  He said the resolution to proceed with the investigation was on the agenda for this meeting; funding of these projects would be considered at the May 14 City Council meeting.  He said an agreement would be developed to setup the governance structure defining the ownership and operation of the facilities if the transfer is approved. 

Winship said the key steps required for the transfer title were: 1) Resolutions supporting the transfer to be approved by the JWC partners; 2) MOA with Bureau of Reclamation to establish the commitment to proceed; 3) Completion of the cost valuation and Reclamation checklist; 4) Complete NEPA compliance and Endangered Species Act consultation; 5) Finalize the transfer agreement; and 6) Authorization by Congress.  He reviewed the contractual agreements needed to accomplish these steps.  He said the Water Supply Project and the Title Transfer Project would be handled simultaneously.  He said it was important to proceed with the title transfer because Tualatin Valley Water District's contract with the City of Portland would run out in 2016 and they requested that water be available by 2016.  He said it would be difficult to meet that deadline if the project had to go through the Federal process.  He reviewed the schedule for the title transfer for the Bureau of Reclamation and the transferee partners (in the record). 

Winship reviewed the next steps in the process.  He said the third amendment to the Joint Funding Agreement would be considered by Council on May 14.  Public involvement would continue through the Policy Steering Committee.  He said there would be on-going contact and coordination with the Bureau of Reclamation and Congress.  He said the JWC would prepare a Request for Qualification for facilitation services to hire a consultant who would facilitate the regular meetings of the transferee partners as they developed the governance structure.

Coun. Doyle asked if the land that was needed for the dam raise would be included in the title transfer.    

Winship said it was not included; the transfer covers existing facilities only.  He said not much acreage was needed for the dam raise.  He said the new water level would not infringe on properties; only buffer area needed to be acquired.  He said the buffer area could be smaller if this was done as a local project. 

Coun. Stanton asked if this would still fall under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) until Congressional authorization occurs in November 2008. 

Winship confirmed that was correct.  He said the EIS for the Water Supply Project would go out under NEPA rules in June 2007.    

Coun. Stanton said County Commission Chair Brian continued the conversation regarding access to Federal funds in his June 23 memorandum to the Tualatin Basin Water Supply Project partners.  She asked how Federal funds could be accessed once the partners take ownership. 

Winship said that once the transfer occurred Federal funds would not be available; prior to the transfer, funds may be available as part of the title transfer process. 

Coun. Stanton asked if the Bureau of Reclamation was trying to off-load dams and lakes across the nation. 

Winship said the Bureau was not trying to off-load the dams though in the last few years it had transferred ownership of some smaller dams and the Scoggins was a small dam.  He said the Bureau owned 600 dams, including the Hoover and Cooley Dams.  He added the Cooley Dam has nine million acre feet of water; Scoggins has 4,000 acre feet.  He said it made sense to the Federal representatives to transfer the smaller dams because they could be transferred and operated efficiently at the local level. 

Brentano said that if it was found that extensive improvements or upgrades would be needed to the facilities as an enticement for the transfer.   Federal funds could be used to make those improvements in advance of the title transfer. 

Winship concurred with Brentano and said it was his understanding that if there were problems, the Bureau would mostly likely be responsible for the repairs.  He said the City would pay 5.9% of those costs as a contract holder; however, the Bureau would pay the majority share of those repairs. 

Coun. Stanton asked if TVID (Tualatin Valley Irrigation District) would stay in existence and would continue to look out for the needs of the agricultural users. 

Winship said TVID would stay in business.  He said the Bureau of Reclamation was formed partly to build the agricultural basin solution, so it would look out for the TVID through the negotiation of the governance structure.   

Coun. Bode said over the past four years the Council had discussed in depth the City's current and future water needs and toured the water facilities.  She said it was good planning to look long-term to meet future needs.  She thanked Winship for his presentation and for the field trips covering the water facilities as that provided much information and clarified many issues. 

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

Christina Lent, Beaverton, representing the Jenny Diaz Reunite My Family Foundation, said the Foundation was supporting the Diaz Family, which was separated when the mother and two older children were deported to Guatemala last October.  She said the father and younger American born children were allowed to remain in the United States while the father's political asylum case was on appeal.  She said on Sunday, April 29, 2007, there would be a National Day of the Children march in downtown Portland, from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. starting at SW Fourth and Salmon.  She said the Foundation and other agencies were sponsoring this event to support the movement for just and inclusive immigration reform and family reunification.  She distributed fliers on the event and said additional information was available on the Web at www.greenlightjenny.com.

Mayor Drake said he assumed that the Foundation was working with the Congressional delegation on this matter.  He asked if Congressman Wu was still involved in this effort.

Lent said that effort was still continuing and the Foundation was working with other groups for comprehensive immigration reform.  She said they held rallies in Salem and were continuing with other efforts to encourage State and Federal representatives to work for fair and just reform. 

David Kamin, Beaverton, Recorder Five Oaks/Triple Creek Neighborhood Association Committee (NAC), said a group of NAC members went to the Beaverton School District's Bus Service and Maintenance Center at NW 167th Avenue, to observe morning operations and startup.  He said they prepared written affidavits on their observations and submitted them to the City during the comment period for the District's current application.  He asked if the Council had seen the affidavits.

Mayor Drake said he assumed the Assistant City Attorney had seen the affidavits as part of the application before the Board of Design Review. 

Assistant City Attorney Bill Scheiderich said this matter was on appeal to the Board of Design Review (BDR); the BDR would hear the appeal not the Council.   He said that the affidavits were submitted into the record for the appeal hearing.   

Kamin said they observed excessive idling of the buses (45 minutes) before they were moved and there was an obnoxious odor permeating the area outside of the facility boundary.  He asked if there was anything the City could do about this nuisance. 

Scheiderich said enforcement against pollution would depend on whether or not Code Enforcement had the resources to measure particulate matter.  He said if the City could not do the tests perhaps the State could be asked for assistance. 

Chief of Staff Linda Adlard indicated that the City did not have the resources to test for pollution. 

Mayor Drake asked Kamin if he had talked to the School District. 

Kamin replied that the School District had refused to talk to the NAC.

Mayor Drake asked if they had attended a School Board meeting to discuss this matter with their elected officials who set policy for the District.

David James, NAC Chair, said the BSD had changed its original proposal and the NAC disagreed with many of the changes.  He said they wrote to the BSD to tell them they would support the original proposal with a few modifications.  He said one of the modifications was that they wanted the buses on the site to have a soot filter.  He said one NAC member offered to assist in finding funds to purchase the filters.  He said they also asked that the District go back to the original proposal for 140 buses and that it address any traffic issues on 167th Place that occur because of the facility.  He said they did not receive a response from the District. 

Mayor Drake asked if Kamin or James had spoken to the School Board in a public forum about these issues.  He added that both gentlemen had come to the Council about the bus facility several times but the City was not placing the buses in that location.

James replied they had not approached the School Board regarding this application.

Coun. Stanton asked if they had sent copies of the affidavits to the School District Board or staff to ensure it was on the record.

Kamin said affidavits were sent to the School Board, the superintendent, DEQ and various politicians. 

Mayor Drake said if a City vehicle was left idling too long he would expect someone to contact the City requesting a shorter idling period.  He said the School Board members were very responsible and he suggested they discuss this with the Board. 

Coun. Dalrymple suggested they talk to the School Board as soon as possible.  He said it would be good to enhance their communication with the District and Board; that they list their points clearly and give the Board an opportunity to respond. 

Coun. Doyle asked if they had received any response regarding the soot filters and what the cost was for the filters.

Kamin said they had not received a response from the District.  He said the cost was about $3,000 each and they would need about 300 to retrofit the entire fleet. 

COUNCIL ITEMS:

Coun. Bode reviewed statistics from the various City programs for March 2007.  She reported that Code Services handled 73 complaints regarding abandoned vehicles; 56 different code infraction notices were sent out to more than 18,000 on-line mail recipients; City staff made presentations on the SAFE Program to 82 citizens at the Beaverton Lodge, at the Hearthstone Assisted Living Center, and at the SW Bible Church; 75 people applied to fill 20 open volunteer positions; and the Community Center had 237 meetings last month representing over 680 hours.  She said the Economic Development Division was working with the County to implement another local project for Habitat for Humanity and the Emergency Management Division began another CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) class.  She said these were positive actions the City was taking to strengthen the community and improve livability.

Coun. Stanton said last Saturday over 100 citizens participated in the Living Greener Neighborhood Summit.  She said it was well attended and the program was excellent.  She said people should contact the Neighborhood Office at 503-526-2243 to get information about the exhibitors and topics covered at the Summit.  She said this Thursday, at the Library Auditorium at 7:00 p.m., State Senators Ryan Deckert and Brad Avakian, and other legislators from East Washington County would be speaking on what their individual committees were doing at the State Capitol.   She said most of the delegation from east Washington County would be at the meeting.

STAFF ITEMS: 

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

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

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of April 9, 2007

07078  Resolution Authorizing City’s Consent to Investigate Potential Title Transfer of Scoggins Reservoir from Federal to Local Ownership (Resolution No. 3896)

07079  Traffic Commission Issue No.: TC 615 Parking Restrictions on the South Side of SW Harvest Court

07080  Classification and Compensation Changes

Contract Review Board:

07081  Contract Change Order – Street Profiling Provided by Kodiak Benge Construction

07082  Contract Award - Software Programming Services for the Community Development Department Application and Permits System

Coun. Stanton said she had a few minor revisions to the minutes which she gave to the City Recorder.  She noted that Agenda Bill 07081, for the contract change order for street profiling, stated that the City's Public Works Department has profiled and resurfaced several streets.  She asked if the City was doing the profiling.

Brentano said City crews do a portion of the overlays but they rely on contractors who have specialized equipment to do the actual grinding or profiling.  He said the profiling was part of the street overlay but it was done by outside contractors, not the City. 

Coun, Doyle asked if there was a target date for the permit software system in Agenda Bill 07082. 

Finance Director Patrick O’Claire said the goal was to have the system by December 2007.

Question called on the motion.  Couns.  Bode, Dalrymple, Doyle and Stanton
voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.  (4:0)  Couns. Bode and Dalrymple abstained from voting on the April 9, 2007, minutes as they were not at that meeting.

RECESS:

Mayor Drake called for a brief recess at 7:48 p.m. 

RECONVENED:
Mayor Drake reconvened the meeting at 7:59 p.m.

WORK SESSION:
                                   
07083  Small Transportation Project List Prioritization

Mayor Drake said this was the second Council discussion on small transportation improvement projects.  He said over time as the need for transportation improvements has grown in the community, the transportation funding at the Federal, State, regional and local levels has not kept pace with the growth.  He said each year the City approves its Capital Improvement Program which allocates funds for various projects, including Traffic Impact Fee monies.  He said the Council held a work session in February to discuss potential funding sources and to review potential small transportation improvements projects.  He said this work session would cover potential projects, 

Brentano said that following the February work session staff was asked to prioritize the small transportation projects that were recommended to develop a schedule for construction of the projects and to begin discussing specific funding options to complete these projects.  He said staff found that until there was an estimate of what the annual financial commitment might be for these projects, it was hard to put much value on what the annual contribution would be from the individual funding sources that Council would be asked to consider.  He said staff was asking that Council provide guidance concerning the priority list presented in the staff report.  He said staff would also present additional information about how the fees and funding options might be setup.  He said using this information staff would return to the Council for a detailed discussion of funding options by late summer or early fall; by late fall or early winter Council will determine how to proceed on the projects.    

Transportation Engineer Jabra Khasho said Council previously reviewed a list of safety and capacity projects, and staff was asked to prioritize the projects.  He said staff developed the following criteria to prioritize the projects:  1) Improvements need to be spread throughout the city, especially safety projects;  2) Sidewalks will have first priority on safety projects; 3) Priority for capacity improvement projects will be based on the projects that give the greatest relief from delay; 4) The Farmington Road project has to proceed to avoid having to refund Federal design monies.  He reviewed the priority and construction schedules for the projects (in the record). 

Senior Transportation Planner Margaret Middleton reviewed the funding resources.  She said Council previously discussed a Traffic Impact Fee (system development charge) over-and-above the County's fee, a street maintenance utility fee, and local improvement districts (LID) for localized projects in specific areas.   She said the revenue available for transportation improvements had decreased over the years and construction costs have increased greatly.  She said it was important to understand what revenue could be obtained from each of these sources.  She said the City may be able to gain between one and three million dollars annually from these sources; the City would need three million dollars each year to do the projects listed on the staff report. 

Middleton summarized the steps for establishing a system development charge (in the record).  She reviewed the city utility fee for maintenance, noting that several Oregon cities have street maintenance fees (Ashland, Brookings, Eugene, Medford, Tigard and others).   She said utility fees are imposed on the occupants of developed residential and non-residential property.  She said utility maintenance fees can be used for maintenance and capital projects though there were some criteria governing how these fees were used for capital projects.  She said utility fee programs incorporated several categories of building units and rates. 

Mayor Drake distributed copies of an article titled Cities' Roads Require Substantial State Investment, from the Local Focus, a League of Oregon Cities publication.  He said the article explained what has happened to street funding revenues over the last 13 years.  He said the article states that if roads were maintained the useful life of the road increased greatly; if roads were not maintained and repaired, they would fail and require reconstruction at a cost that is six to ten times greater than regular maintenance.  He said the City has always had a street maintenance program that has lengthened the life of its roads. 

Mayor Drake asked if there was any information on Tigard's and Tualatin's street utility fees.

Middleton said Tigard's street utility fee was $2.18/month per dwelling unit, and $0.78/month for non-residential uses based on parking spaces and trip generation.  She said Tualatin's fee was $1.42/month per single-family dwelling unit, $0.68/month per multi-family dwelling unit, and non-residential fees were based on building area square footage ($0.75/1000 sq. ft. for industrial; $1.66/1000 sq. ft. institutional; $4.39/1000 square ft. office; $11.08/1000 sq. ft. shopping centers/post office/government buildings; $29.51/1000 sq. ft for restaurants; $72.73/1000 sq. ft for drive-in restaurants, gas stations).    

Mayor Drake said the logic behind the fees was that commercial uses generate more traffic so the user would be paying for the wear and tear on the roads.

Coun. Bode asked if the other cities' fees were permanent or temporary to fund specific projects. 

Brentano explained that neither Tigard nor Tualatin have sunset clauses on their fees; Tualatin's fees have been in place since 1994.  He said it would be up to the Council to decide if the fees were permanent.  He advised that while these projects represent staff's best guess of what would be needed for the next five years, he was confident that by next year there would be additional projects that need attention.  He said he believed maintenance needs would continue and future needs could be as important or more important than the projects currently identified. 

Coun. Dalrymple asked if Tualatin's rates were primarily for maintenance versus new construction. 

Middleton replied Tualatin's fees were for maintenance only.    

Coun. Dalrymple said when he first brought up this issue he was thinking of capacity versus safety.  He said he was looking at what could be done to help vehicles move faster on the streets and at the intersections rather than stacking up.  He asked if the projects listed in Table 1, which mainly dealt with sidewalks, could be put in a separate bucket that would be more appropriate for implementation through LIDs.      

Middleton said sidewalk projects could be funded through LIDs, depending on the zone of benefit.  She said legal procedures had to be followed and a vote would be required.  She said the Council would have to decide if it wanted to go through the LID process or if it preferred to fund sidewalks through the maintenance fee process. 

Brentano added that the Council would have the opportunity to consider whatever blend it wished to develop.  He said if the local community expressed an interest in an improvement, Council could offer a local match or whatever support it wished to provide. 

Coun. Stanton said the City had many letters of remonstrance, especially on 155th Avenue that would allow the City to do an LID without a vote because the owners have already agreed to pay their share of the work to be done under the LID.    

Coun. Dalrymple asked what direction staff was seeking from Council. 

Brentano said that if the Council agreed that the projects were categorized and scheduled correctly, and that the funding approach was fair, then staff would prepare  cost estimates from the funding alternative that the Council selected. 

Coun. Dalrymple said he would like to see the safety projects funded by an LID and the capacity improvement projects funded through another means.  He said he would then like to see how the options would be evaluated in terms of raising funds for these projects. 

Coun. Bode said there were always competing forces as a city moves to higher density living with less dependency on the automobile.  She said she saw safety as the first priority.  She said installing the sidewalks to keep pedestrians off the roads was important.  She said it made sense to stress safety for citizens as the cost for gasoline rises and the City encourages people to walk and ride.  She noted there were several accidents and a fatality over the past few years involving citizens trying to cross roads where there were no crosswalks or walking on roads where there were no sidewalks.  She said sidewalks lead to safety so she felt they have to be included in the projects.    

Mayor Drake said staff was trying to narrow the funnel a bit each time this is brought to the Council, to get to the point where there is something specific on which citizens can comment.  He suggested that before committing to capacity projects, Council consider all the comments from this session.  He said staff would return with firmer project recommendations and with a more definitive idea for funding options that could be presented for citizen comment.   

Coun. Dalrymple said he did not want people to think that safety projects were not important.  He said he was trying to differentiate between funding sources.  He said  LIDs might be used to fund safety projects but that would be different from trying to secure alternate funding sources for capacity projects.  He said in the long run he would like to be able to find a methodology to fund the 125th Avenue Extension. 

Mayor Drake said that the City has had some waivers of remonstrance for a long time because projects have taken too long to complete.  He said he was not sure he would support waivers of remonstrance in the future; it would be better to obtain the funds from the developer at the time of the development.  He said that many times people were unaware that a waiver of remonstrance was placed on their property by the developer who was now gone.  He said that was why he no longer favored the waivers; going from the waiver on a title report to organizing a neighborhood for an LID was very difficult. 

Brentano said that staff could do an analysis of Tualatin's sidewalk fee and that could be included as a funding source in the information submitted to Council. 

Coun. Stanton asked why the Greenway/Hall Project was not included in the projects list. 

Brentano said that was not included because $2 million was identified as the maximum for small transportation projects.  He said the Greenway/Hall Project would take much more than $2 million. 

Coun. Stanton referred to Table 4 in the report, under Total Average Delay Seconds During PM Peak Hours, and asked why the numbers were higher in the After column than in the Before Column. 

Scheiderich explained the figures in the columns should be reversed; the figures in the After column should be in the Before column and vice versa.

Coun. Stanton referred to the many people who commute through Greenway/Hall to reach their jobs in other areas.  She asked what comprised the non-residential users in the utility fee category and would that include these commuters. 

Middleton said non-residential applied to industrial and commercial land uses. 

Coun. Stanton said she would like to see the numbers for the Greenway/Hall Project under Table 4 just to see what would happen over time.  She said she just wanted to see the numbers for the project, she did not mean to have it included in Table 4 for these small projects.

Khasho explained that non-residential users were the actual businesses.  He said the trip generation would include employees, delivery trucks and customers. 

Coun. Dalrymple asked if constructing the 125th Avenue Extension would have a dramatic impact on traffic at Greenway/Hall.  He asked if staff could determine if it would be relevant to consider a complex modification at that location if the City was able to include 125th Avenue in the program.   

Coun. Doyle said he was glad to see bullet points for the street utility fee and that the fee could be used for maintenance and capital projects.  He said he would like to see what the Tualatin model would do for Beaverton.  He said that model seemed to be very palatable to homeowners.  He said he would rather have someone drip burning oil on him rather than go through the LID and waiver of remonstrance issues.  He said he preferred an easier methodology than the LID.  He said he thought people would react positively when they saw how this would help the community. 

Coun. Bode said Beaverton was almost built out.  She said she did not think the City would receive outside funding on the 125th Avenue Extension and the City needs to look at constructing this project.  She spoke on the importance of maintaining the older neighborhoods. 

Coun. Dalrymple said the City was ripe for redevelopment in many areas.  He said  redevelopment and the Light Rail and Commuter Rail would bring greater densities and there may be a combination of transportation issues that will impact the roads.  He said this would be part of the equation in the visioning process for the future.  He referred to the $1.5 million needed over five years for the signal system upgrade and asked if there was any other source that could be used to offset having to raise that money from fees.

Middleton said that she was not aware of any funding source for signal system upgrades. 

Khasho confirmed there were no special fund sources and no grants for signal upgrades at this time.  He said Metro was working to fund an ITS (Intelligent Transportation System) but no policy has been set to determine how the cities would receive funding. 

Coun. Doyle said the LOC information showed that construction costs have risen 70% over the past 13 years.  He said this would be a tough battle and the sooner the City could get the program going, the more it could accomplish with the funds raised.

Coun. Stanton added that in that same period of time there has been no increase in gas tax which is the only funding available for all maintenance.

Coun. Bode thanked staff for the information.  She said she assumed these were not  solid cost figures. 

Brentano said the figures were planning level estimates that assume large contingencies and a generous allowance for inflation.  He said the numbers were intended to overstate the project.  He said staff would develop numbers based upon the Tualatin methodology for Council review. 

Mayor Drake thanked everyone and said this would be brought back to Council.

ADJOURNMENT: 

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 8:43 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 14th day of May, 2007.

__________________________________
Rob Drake, Mayor