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Agenda Item - 2001-08-07 - Number 4.4.5 - 4.4.5 08/07/01 MINUTES OF JULY 17, 2001 SPECIAL MORNING MEETING 9 ) LAKE °sj, CITY COUNCIL MORNING MEETING MINUTES July 17,2001 �«r Mayor Judie Hammerstad called the special City Council meeting to order at 7:33 a.m. on July 17, 2001, in the City Council Chambers. Present: Mayor Hammerstad, Councilors Hoffman, McPeak, Rohde, Graham and Turchi. Councilor Schoen was excused. Staff Present: Doug Schmitz, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Jane McGarvin, Deputy City Recorder; Janice Deardorff, Human Resources Director; Chris Jordan, Assistant City Manager 3. REVIEW EVENING AGENDA Mayor Hammerstad noted that Item 3.2.3, the City would be acting as grant administrator for the Asset Builders Coalition grant. The item also included requests from the Coalition regarding a national speaker scheduled for October 20 and a spring Youth Forum organized by the Youth Council. She indicated to Councilors Turchi and Hoffman that the Coalition would contact them in January and want those items. David Powell, City Attorney, observed that the City served as a pass-through agency with respect to the grant funds for Item 3.2.2. He commented that, even though it represented a low risk liability to the City, the terminology bothered him because the City signed the contract with the County while the Asset Builders Coalition carried out the function. Jane McGarvin, Deputy City Recorder, mentioned that some people might come to speak to Item 3.1.1, the Foothills Ad-Hoc Development Plan Committee. Councilor Hoffman suggested pulling that item from the consent agenda and having Mayor Hammerstad explain what the City intended with the Task Force. Mayor Hammerstad indicated that she was willing to pull the item if someone came to talk about it but, otherwise, she preferred leaving it on the consent agenda. Mayor Hammerstad referenced stamped page 72, June 12, 2001, minutes, stating that a sentence in the second paragraph from the bottom should read: "the Board telling the Council that there was no city . . . told her that they found something positive. . ." (not"they found something similar"). Mayor Hammerstad noted that Item 6.1 would be been rescheduled to August 7. She noted the ex parte e-mail that all the Councilors received. She said that Mr. Powell has advised people contacting the Council via e-mail not to do so. She asked anyone receiving additional e-mail to forward it to Mr. Powell. Councilor Graham said that she received three letters, opened and read one, and gave all three to Mr. Powell. Councilor Rohde said that he received three letters and read all three. Mr. Powell indicated that they would make those letters part of the record for the next hearing, provided that they contained no new evidence. He commented that he thought they were all simply argument based on the record. Mr. Powell indicated to Mayor Hammerstad that the quasi-judicial public hearing on the urban services boundary was a formality; he did not expect any controversy. Councilor Rohde mentioned that he had a JPACT report on the MTIP decision. Mayor Hammerstad commented that she expected that a number of people would be testifying on the legislative hearing on height measurement in First Addition and Lake Grove. City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 9 July 17, 2001 Mr. Powell explained to Councilor Graham that the Deputy City Attorney's comments with respect to Measure 56 referred to the suggestion by some people that the City make the changes applicable citywide, which, under Measure 56, would require mailing notices to everyone in the city. Councilor Rohde indicated to Mayor Hammerstad that he preferred to give his Livable Oregon conference report during a study session. Doug Schmitz, City Manager, suggested scheduling it for the August 7 morning meeting. Councilor Graham said that she would announce the Adult Community Center's annual picnic. She volunteered to announce that positions were still open on the Budget Committee and the Historic Resources Advisory Committee. Mr. Schmitz advised the Council that, at the discussion tonight,the Natural Resources Advisory Board (NRAB) would like to know if there were specific sections of the ordinance that the Council would like the Board to address when it reviewed the code. Councilor McPeak noted that the considerable feedback she has received on the tree ordinance focused on the right of the property owner to cut down any trees on his/her property. She asked if there was a reasonable way to relax the tree ordinance requirements. Mr. Powell mentioned another issue with respect to the definition of landscaping given by the previous Council, which was put off for future consideration per the NRAB recommendation. Mr. Schmitz said that NRAB requested a closed session because they wanted an update on where the City was in negotiations for property. Mayor Hammerstad indicated to Councilor Graham that she would report on the meeting she had with the School District representatives with respect to the Task Force. 4. REVIEW FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Councilor Rohde announced a sustainability conference at the Portland Hilton from September 6 to 8, which was sponsored by all the major players in the sustainability movement. He held that this conference would be a good training opportunity for the Council as a whole on sustainability. The rest of the Council indicated they were interested in attending. 5. OTHER BUSINESS Councilor McPeak reported that she heard at the last LONAC meeting that the newspaper announcement of City meetings was getting spotty. Mr. Schmitz indicated that staff submitted the announcements as always; he would check to see what was happening on the newspaper end. Councilor Graham informed the Council that Martin Jacobs has gone public on the library issue; he called the newspaper editor who subsequently called her. She indicated that they had a nice chat and that the Council could expect to see something in the Thursday paper. Mayor Hammerstad commented that the response she has heard indicated that people saw this situation as a case of a small group with a particular issue. She held that it was fine to air the situation. Mr. Schmitz asked that those who did not plan on attending the National League of Cities conference in Washington, D.C. to let him know in the next week because of hotel reservations. The Council discussed lodging options and room prices. Councilors Hoffman indicated to Councilor Rohde that he did see the redistricting map, which put Lake Oswego in with Stafford. 5.1 Classification Update Mr. Schmitz indicated that this was a follow-up to the June discussion regarding the City's recruitment of a Community Development Director. He said that Ms. Deardorff and Mr. Jordan have gathered comparables since that discussion,proving their earlier perception that Lake City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 9 July 17, 2001 98 Oswego salaries were behind the market place. He noted that their salaries ranged from 7%to 20%behind the market for the positions they looked at. Mr. Schmitz asked if the Council found the cities that staff used for comparables acceptable. He mentioned that, after they did the simulation for comparables for the calculation, they dropped out the city with the highest salary position and the one with the lowest salary position. Councilor Rohde stated his concern about the cities used, such as Coronado and Monterey in California and Mercer Island, Washington. He asked to see those salaries adjusted for cost of living in those regions. Janice Deardorff,Human Resources Director, confirmed that staff did not adjust the salaries for cost of living. She explained that their compensation consultant suggested not doing that because when candidates looked at a wage, they considered the cost of living in part but the true draw remained the wage. Chris Jordan,Assistant City Manager, recounted his work in breaking down the average for all the cities (which was not reflected in the numbers in the report); he found that the cost of living average was only 2%to 3% different from Lake Oswego's cost of living. He commented that the end result might not be too far off. Councilor Hoffman asked why staff did not include the cities of West Linn or Eugene. Ms. Deardorff explained that they had looked at cities with similar populations; Eugene's population was too high, and West Linn's population was 23,000 nor did they have as many matches for West Linn (i.e., no fire department or systems manager). She pointed out that Lake Oswego was more likely to recruit from further out than West Linn, Wilsonville or Tualatin. She observed that in this situation, West Linn would be an interesting example because they had a Community Development Director candidate from West Linn. Councilor Hoffman asked if staff considered other cities in Washington state that were closer than Redland, Mercer Island, or Kirkland. Ms. Deardorff explained that they had focused on cities that reflected how Lake Oswego looked in the market place, and therefore did not include suburban cities. She indicated that they could look at those. Councilor Hoffman asked if staff looked at other urban regions in the country similar to the Portland metro area. He noted that he did not know where the City's candidates came from. Ms. Deardorff said that, although they advertised on the West Coast, they were pulling candidates from the local area. She indicated that the recruiters have focused on the Seattle and Portland areas, looking for someone in a large department interested in taking a higher-level position in a smaller city. Councilor Rohde reiterated his concern about the cost of living issue. He mentioned a friend taking a job with Nike who would have been paid twice as much in Chicago and three times as much in New York City because of the cost of living in those areas. He stated that he was not satisfied with Ms. Deardorff's comment that they should ignore the cost of living issue. Councilor Hoffman said that he heard staff saying that the comparables were close. Mr. Jordan said that he ran the numbers and found some individual, large disparities; Monterey was 20%to 25%higher than Lake Oswego while Hillsboro and Gresham were 15%to 20% lower than Lake Oswego. Ms. Deardorff mentioned that they dropped off Carmel because its cost of living was extreme and unique. Mayor Hammerstad noted that the housing prices in the Seattle area were greatly inflated over the prices in the Portland area, which she thought staff took into consideration. She mentioned that the salaries at the medical school were lower. She indicated that she would be more comfortable with comparables in the local area. Councilor Rohde asked where Lake Oswego stood in comparison to the Portland metro area and other Oregon cities, leaving out the Washington and California cities. He commented that he did not mind being at the top of the market for Oregon but he did not know if he wanted to get into competition with Washington or California. Mr. Jordan said that staff did not run the numbers City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 9 July 17, 2001 9 �1 comparing Lake Oswego to only the five Oregon cities on the list: Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Corvallis and Bend. Ms. Deardorff indicated that, in looking at the highs and lows for the Metro area, Lake Oswego came in at 10% less than the average for the Assistant City Manager position. She concurred with Mayor Hammerstad that, due to Beaverton's full-time paid Mayor, the Beaverton Assistant City Manager performed some City Manager functions. She indicated that their review of the job description found that the Assistant City Manager in Beaverton did have similar functions to Lake Oswego's Assistant City Manager. Mr. Schmitz indicated to Mayor Hammerstad that the difference between the Lake Oswego Assistant City Manager salary and the average of the other Oregon cities (dropping out Beaverton) was 18%. Ms. Deardorff spoke to the broad context of the City's intention with its salary compensation. She explained that in the next year,the intent was to move towards a more streamlined management compensation structure with fewer ranges. She said that this was more similar to a private sector model with broader ranges and movement within the range dependent upon merit. She mentioned that this was similar to a system that the City used several years ago, except it did not put the merit piece in place. Ms. Deardorff explained that, at this time, they were adjusting the wage scale for the cost of living with the intention of moving away from using the cost of living factor that they used with their bargaining units. She pointed out that every time Lake Oswego adjusted for cost of living, they used market data that other cities have already adjusted for cost of living; consequently, they constantly adjusted against their own adjustment. She described their goal to move away from using the cost of living adjustment figure and towards looking strictly at the market for range adjustments with determination of people's place within those ranges based on their performance. Ms. Deardorff said that if someone were satisfactory in his/her performance, he/she would stay in the middle of the range. She indicated their intent to reduce the current 21 classifications down to 15 and then down to 9 classifications. She pointed out that this proposal allowed the Council to tell the taxpayers that the City's compensation plan was performance-based and market-driven. She observed that a critical piece of the proposal was determining what the market would be but once they knew what the market was, they could adjust based on a larger perspective than the annual cost of living adjustment. Councilor McPeak commented that an important aspect of the decision on what the right market comparison was the non-monetary value of a job in Lake Oswego, which was hard to include accurately. She asked if using more Oregon and fewer out-of-state comparables gave them a greater likelihood of including that factor. She described the non-monetary factor as including quality of life and the challenge of the job with respect to Oregon's system. Councilor Turchi asked if Councilor McPeak was saying that the Council should be judging how much less the City could pay people because Lake Oswego was a really nice place to live. Councilor McPeak clarified that they were judging what they needed to pay to get good people. She held that the question was how to achieve the objective of finding comparable salaries to attract people. Councilor Turchi asked how the City got so far behind. Ms. Deardorff said that she did not know all the history of how that happened. She mentioned that some of the things done in the mid-1990s were never implemented. She discussed how remaining in the middle of the local market contributed to Lake Oswego falling behind, especially when they had to recruit from a broader market. She noted that Hillsboro recently completed a classification compensation study and consequently adjusted their wages, partly due to growth and partly due to the need to recruit people. Mr. Jordan observed that another factor was that Lake Oswego has not had to recruit a department head for some time, and therefore has not been looking hard at the comparables or City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 9 July 17, 2001 1 0 0 where it sat in the market. He said that when they started their recruitment process, they quickly found that they were not paying enough to recruit at the department head level. Mr. Jordan discussed his analysis of the increase in the cost of living in Lake Oswego over the past 10 years and whether that affected the City's ability to recruit. He said that, since 1990, the department director salaries increased by 40 to 45%while the housing prices have gone up by 90%. He pointed out that a recruit looking at the market would understand that he/she could not afford to buy a house in Lake Oswego. He held that that might affect a candidate's decision on whether or not to apply for a position at Lake Oswego. Councilor Rohde recalled that he has argued in the past that Lake Oswego should be at the top of the market. He clarified that he meant that in the context of the local metro market; expanding the market to out-of-state skewed their situation. Councilor Rohde argued that, for a city within a broader metro area, he did not agree with looking at only the housing within the city as the available housing market. He pointed out that Jeff Condit, former City Attorney, deliberately purchased a house outside of Lake Oswego in order to avoid citizens knocking on his door every time they had a legal problem. He spoke to the regional market as the available housing market, and not simply Lake Oswego. Mr. Schmitz indicated that the figures using only the Oregon cities put Lake Oswego's community development director salary 14% behind, the police chief 16.5% behind,the fire chief 18.7% behind and the library director 15%behind. He emphasized that whether or not the figures included out-of-state cities, Lake Oswego was still behind the market in management salaries. He said that the question was how did the Council want to address the conditions at the City. Mayor Hammerstad suggested discussing philosophically where the Council wanted to be in the market. Councilor Rohde reiterated that he wanted to be at the top of the market using Oregon comparables. Councilor Hoffman asked what the result would be in four years if Lake Oswego sat at the top of the market. He commented that likely they could recruit a community development director more easily, which would solve the immediate problem. He questioned what impact a top of the market position would have in terms of the costs of management, as other management position salaries would also increase. Ms. Deardorff confirmed that the City would make salary adjustments for other management positions based on the market because it had scattered problems within the classifications staff was currently reviewing. She mentioned that the utility supervisor salaries were 7% to 8% off the market. Councilor Hoffman commented that, theoretically, the City would raise people's salaries but not see an improvement in performance. Ms. Deardorff pointed out that people were not necessarily motivated by salary; other reasons of motivation included recognition, appreciation, and professional pride in accomplishment. She noted that low salaries did result in a `grumble' factor, which did affect how people did their work and could contribute to people looking elsewhere for a job. Ms. Deardorff commented that a certain amount of turnover was healthy for an organization. She indicated that Lake Oswego would achieve some turnover in the next few years through attrition, as top level people left and the City filled those positions by either pulling people from the City or recruiting from the outside. She argued that a Lake Oswego salary that was comparable to the top three cities in the metro area(Beaverton, Gresham and Hillsboro)would play into how people viewed their work. She indicated that she was not certain that people would move on, even if Lake Oswego did not move out of the average. Councilor Hoffman asked what the City gained by increasing the organizational salaries. Mr. Jordan explained that increased salaries gave the City the opportunity to recruit from a broader market. He cited an example of the police chief position. If Lake Oswego were recruiting for a police chief and the person in the number 2 position at Hillsboro were interested, Lake Oswego's City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 9 July 17, 2001 . _ 101 chances of recruiting that individual were slim because Lake Oswego's police chief position paid less than Hillsboro's number two police position. Mr. Jordan contended that most people were not willing to take a significant pay cut to take on more responsibility in a different city. He explained that the salary bump proposed did not mean that the City would draw people from the top range; it gave the City the option of looking further away for recruits as opposed to always promoting from within. Ms. Deardorff commented that part of the process was the City's ability to sell itself as a premier employer in terms of its ability to attract top of the line people and its compensation package. She concurred that the salary increase did strengthen the City's position for recruits looking into a mid-management level job (in particular) at Lake Oswego because it said that Lake Oswego put a premium on high quality people and its ability to attract and retain those people. Councilor Hoffman asked which was the critical group of employees in this kind of an organization. Ms. Deardorff observed that the City would still function without managers, as it had excellent employees at the lower levels of the organization, yet the City needed the guidance at the top to provide the long-range vision needed to accomplish what the Council wanted done. She held that it took a combination of different levels to operate the organization. Ms. Deardorff mentioned that some people thought that Lake Oswego was top heavy. She discussed cutting down the number of manager positions over time,just as those positions had grown over time. She pointed out that with Lake Oswego's aging work force, the City had the opportunity to reassign some management positions to the line or to mid-level management as people moved out of the organization. Councilor Graham recalled hearing a comment several months ago that Lake Oswego served as a training ground for fire department personnel; good people left after getting their training because the City did not pay enough. She spoke to retaining those good people, regardless of their management level, because good people made a good department. Ms. Deardorff indicated to Mayor Hammerstad that Lake Oswego was comparable in benefits. She mentioned that they were better in some respects because they still had low deductibles and no employee contribution for managers. She said that Lake Oswego had a healthy, strong benefit plan that the market considered equal to the other cities. Ms. Deardorff confirmed to Mayor Hammerstad that the City did offer deferred compensation, although the City did not have a deferred compensation match. She explained that the employees had the option to participate in that program. She mentioned the possibility for the future that management employees might prefer a deferred compensation match by the City in lieu of salary adjustments. Ms. Deardorff indicated to Councilor Graham that deferred compensation was an excellent way for people to supplement their retirement. She explained that they could set aside a certain dollar amount tax-free, which they could draw on during their retirement and while in a lower tax-bracket. She noted that they were starting to see deferred compensation matches at other cities. Ms. Deardorff mentioned that another benefit people wanted were more time off. She discussed the difficulties in providing that, due to the job demands. She indicated that as the work force aged, they wanted more flexibility in their schedules, including the option of taking a sabbatical for study or travel (a benefit tied to longevity). She said that they were seeing movement towards these programs in the private sector but not yet in the public sector. Councilor Turchi asked if there were cheaper ways to give salary increases, such as a deferred compensation and avoiding the PERS contribution. Ms. Deardorff indicated that with deferred compensation, the City did not pay the FICA match and other taxes. Ms. Deardorff explained that staff, in developing this proposal, realized that the cost of living adjustment promised the employees in January plus the market adjustments created too big a City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 9 July 17, 2001 0 2 r� jump for most positions. She said that they merged the cost of living adjustment and the market adjustment, which produced savings to the City. Ms. Deardorff discussed how, as they revised their classification system over time, they would reclassify some people at the first step of a new range, as opposed to shifting them from the top step of the old range to the top step of the new range, because of the leap that some of the positions would make. She indicated that this allowed the people to earn the wage over time as opposed to being given the wage. She observed that this strategy has resulted in considerable cost savings as well. Mr. Jordan mentioned that it also put the `carrot' of a higher ranking in place for staff to work towards. Ms. Deardorff said that they were trying to get back into the practice of giving feedback and setting expectations for the department directors in order to allow the managers to focus on what the City needed them to be doing and to continue to perform their jobs at an excellent level. Mayor Hammerstad referenced the proposed increase of$58,000. She mentioned the Council's interest in seeing the comparables with Oregon cities only and including more Oregon cities. She noted Councilor Rohde's opinion that Lake Oswego should be at the top of the market of Oregon cities. She asked for other opinions. Councilor Hoffman concurred with Councilor Rohde that Lake Oswego should be at the top of the market. He mentioned within 2%. Councilor Graham concurred, citing the need for top people to accomplish the Council's goals and to do it well. Mayor Hammerstad asked if staff would implement this proposal all at once or over time as attrition and retirement occurred. Ms. Deardorff said that the cost included increases for everyone from 3% to 8%. Mayor Hammerstad commented that an incremental increase was more palatable. Ms. Deardorff explained that by re-assigning someone currently near or at the top step of a rank to the first step of a new rank effectively increased the salaries incrementally. Mr. Jordan explained the rule that staff used: if someone's range was moving, he/she received a 3% increase and placement at the nearest step to the 3% increase. He indicated that some might get more, depending on the jump, but in his and Ms. Deardorff's cases, they were going back to Step 1 because anything more would be too big a pay raise right now. He confirmed to Mayor Hammerstad that these increases were included in the $58,000. Councilor Turchi questioned whether they would fall behind in the proposed system. Ms. Deardorff explained that she would work with the compensation consultant over the next six months to plan how to make the shift from the current pay structure to a more streamlined structure. She said that their current pay ranges were roughly 20%to 22% from the first to the top step; the proposed system would lengthen that range to 50%. She indicated that that meant that most people would fall at the lower end of the scale, thus allowing movement upward based on merit only. Councilor Rohde asked what the City was doing to address the situation with the charter officers. Ms. Deardorff said that, once the Council determined the market, she expected that the Council would ask her to come back for the January charter officers' evaluations with market data for those positions. She asked if that was what the Council wanted her to do. Councilor Rohde asked what the City was doing with respect to 'the top heavy management' concern mentioned by Ms. Deardorff. Mr. Schmitz discussed the situation at the fire department, in which they had three management positions: Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief and Emergency Operations (unfunded but authorized) and the new Chiefs interest in consolidating the assistant chief(now vacant) and the emergency operations position. Mr. Schmitz noted that attrition would reduce the three management positions at the police department to two, and retirement would reduce the two management positions in maintenance to one. He indicated that they did not have the same top-heavy management situation in engineering and planning. Ms. Deardorff mentioned that when Bob Kincaid retired (targeted in two years),the City would not likely fill another city manager job. She commented that the recent reorganization had been City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 9 July 17, 2001 103 a good thing in terms of restructuring the overall management of the City. She said that, although it left some overlap, they could ride through those areas until retirements occurred; at that point, they would not fill the extra management positions. Councilor McPeak asked if Ms. Deardorff could include a review of the entire health care cost aspect or personnel costs in her work with the consultant and start putting in place whatever the City needed to do in order to change its approach to that issue. Ms. Deardorff indicated that one reason it was important to look at wages now was that, in the fall,they would work with the benefits committee and a benefits consultant to look at that very issue. Ms. Deardorff explained that by linking the compensation and the benefits, it became clear that the City needed to shift the costs into the employee's pocket. She noted that one option was changing the plan, although people liked the Lake Oswego benefit structure. She mentioned that a few years ago the City switched provider companies in order to keep the benefits whole. Ms. Deardorff held that one of the ways to sell the shift to employees was to be able to say that the City made market adjustments to wages in order to compensate people at the top of the market; this offset the City's request that the employees start paying some of the benefits costs out of their own pocket. She indicated that the change was inevitable, and that the employees recognized that a change was coming. Councilor McPeak observed that the comparables were still valid as all the other cities were doing the same thing. Ms. Deardorff concurred. She mentioned hearing that Tualatin, in addition to giving a cost of living increase, was requiring employees in all positions to contribute towards their health insurance, which was the first time Tualatin has had to do that. She held that Lake Oswego was headed in the same direction in the future. Councilor Graham mentioned that she knew from her husband, who was a union member that a major issue in contract talks, were health benefits. She indicated that everyone recognized that health care costs were not simply increasing; they were escalating to the point where employees were talking about lower salary compensation in exchange for the employers covering medical costs. She observed that cost of a hospital visit could quickly outpace increased compensation. Mayor Hammerstad mentioned another factor of the tax implications; an employer paying medical benefits and lower salaries created a better tax package. She indicated to Councilor McPeak that she thought that they could combine the strategies but they had to do so in a way that benefited the employee in terms of what he/she took home in his/her pocket. She supported looking at other methods of compensation, such as other benefits. She questioned whether these other benefits were meaningful to employees at all, and if so, were they meaningful to only those employees in the upper brackets and not to those in the lower brackets. Ms. Deardorff indicated that they did encourage deferred compensation participation, as sometimes that did have a minimal effect on an employee's take home pay. She reiterated that their work with the benefits committee would provide necessary information for the January discussion with respect to potential plan changes. She described the flexible spending account program offered by the City, which was similar to deferred compensation. She observed that they could use that program to help employees pay their premiums. Councilor Turchi mentioned that the School District has cut back on employee health care benefits. He observed that the Council could be ridiculed if it asked to reduce employees' health care benefits or employees to share the higher cost while maintaining the employees in a sick building. Ms. Deardorff concurred that that was a hot issue for City employees at this time. Councilor Hoffman indicated that he supported paying City management personnel at this higher level as a reasonable action, and that he generally supported the rates. He asked to see a more detailed explanation of the comparables in the proposal, as the data drove the conclusion. He asked for reasons why staff used certain cities and did not use other cities. Councilor Graham referenced the paragraph discussing costs implications and people gaining money because of attrition. She asked how long would the City use this `Band-Aid' approach. She conceded that they saved $93,000 in the short term but argued that this approach did not City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 9 July 17, 2001 1 0 4 address the long-term problem of how the City continued to pay for good employees on a regular basis with stable funding. The Council agreed on including West Linn in the comparables but not Oregon City. Ms. Deardorff indicated to Councilor Rohde that Keizer was a good comparable for Lake Oswego and one that they used for the police department. Councilor Graham commented that Eugene had a similar ambience and amenities to Lake Oswego, even if it was a larger population. Ms. Deardorff indicated that Corvallis was a population match for Lake Oswego. Ms. Deardorff indicated to Councilor Rohde that she was still working on the employee home loan. Mr. Schmitz indicated to Mayor Hammerstad that staff would come back on August 7 with their selection for a community development director. 6. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Hammerstad recessed the meeting at 8:47 a.m. to Executive Session pursuant to ORS 192.660(l)(h)to consult with counsel with regard to current litigation or litigation likely to be filed, and (e) to conduct deliberations with persons designated to negotiate real property transactions. Mr. Powell reviewed the Executive Session parameters. 7. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION Mayor Hammerstad reconvened the special meeting at 8:50 a.m. Mr. Schmitz mentioned a PowerPoint presentation that Ms. Deardorff put together on the philosophy of compensation, which they would present at another time. 8. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hammerstad adjourned the meeting at 8:58 a.m. Respectfully submitted,/✓� e McGarvin eputy City Recorder APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: ON Judie Hammerstad, Mayor City Council Morning Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 9 July 17, 2001 10J 4.4.6 08/07/01 MINUTES OF JULY 17, 2001 JOINT MEETING WITH THE NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD 10`i s°° a``co CITY COUNCIL/NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD JOINT MEETING MINUTES July 17, 2001 �a( � Mayor Judie Hammerstad called the City Council joint meeting with the Natural Resources Advisory Board to order at 5:10 p.m. on July 17, 2001, in the Municipal Courtroom. Present: Mayor Hammerstad, Councilors Rohde, Turchi, Graham, McPeak, and Hoffman. Councilor Schoen was excused. Staff Present: Doug Schmitz, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Jane McGarvin, Deputy City Recorder; Jane Heisler, Community Planning Manager; Lisa Hamerlynck,Natural Resources Coordinator; Sandra Ingalls, Code Enforcement Specialist NRAB Present: Jonathan Snell, Chair; Kelly Riordan, Sarah Asby, Christine Roth, Deborah Shimkus 3. JOINT MEETING WITH THE NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD Jonathan Snell, NRAB Chair, observed that the general objective with respect to trees was to have trees for the livability of all who lived, worked and played in Lake Oswego. He indicated that the factor of trees contributing to livability was part of an urban forestry program, which should include a mechanism in the tree code to regulate tree removals. He reviewed the issues involved with an urban forestry program, including planning, planting, maintenance, and responsibility issues. Mr. Snell referenced the April 26 memo listing the other areas of interest to the Board, including priority goal setting and capital improvements program elements. Councilor Rohde suggested that staff forward to the Board the letters received by the Council regarding the tree code, as the questions related to policy. He explained that he saw the Community Forestry Commission's purview as the implementation of the existing ordinances, while the Board was more of a policy recommendation body. The Board indicated that it received one of the letters. Christine Roth, NRAB, discussed the issue of garbage trees mentioned by Councilor Rohde. She reported that the League of Women Voters, which recently completed its restudy on the issue of trees, had several members who were adamant that there needed to be a definition of junk trees and of trees that were worth saving. She pointed out that doing so was very difficult, as what was a junk tree to one person was not necessarily a junk tree to another. Ms. Roth spoke to an ordinance that was as fair and equitable as possible while protecting as many trees as possible. Mr. Snell recalled that the Council reduced the Board's original recommendation for differentiating between Type 1 and Type 2 trees from 18 inches to 10 inches. He observed that the change was significant as it placed more people into the more stringent permitting process. He mentioned Board discussions about differentiating trees based on type of tree. Councilor Rohde commented that he heard from many people questioning why the City made them save what they considered to be a nuisance tree. He recalled that he became involved in working for a stronger tree ordinance when a neighbor of his paid$14 to the City for two permits to cut down eight 80-plus year old Douglas firs plus an additional three. He indicated that it City Council Joint Meeting with NRAB Minutes Page 1 of 5 July 17, 2001 109 dramatically changed the entire neighborhood. He stated that his desire was to preserve that kind of significant tree, commenting that he has taken out nuisance hawthorns on his property. Ms. Roth observed that people were better off cutting down a tree in their yard when it was small because doing so avoided the permit issues. Councilor McPeak mentioned that she owned a home with 10 Douglas firs at the back. She pointed out that, as she and her husband grew older, and the trees continued to grow,they would have an increasingly difficult time managing the tree maintenance, both physically and financially. She commented that they had obtained a permit to cut down the trees but changed their minds. She spoke to finding a way to reach a more moderate position whereby they retained the quality trees but did not tell people that they could never cut down the Douglas firs on their property. Ms. Roth agreed that there had to be a way to manage trees that still allowed people the use of their property. She mentioned that she owned a 10,000 square foot lot with 18 Douglas firs; she should take a couple of them out in order to maintain the health of the remainder of the grove. She said that that was the kind of thing that people needed to be able to do. She indicated that she could not believe that the Planning Department under the current ordinance would not let someone do that. Councilor Rohde pointed out that Councilor McPeak's situation was entirely different; she wanted to remove the trees when they became too much trouble to maintain. Councilor McPeak observed that the problem was that things changed as time passed; eventually one realized that the tree he/she planted upon moving into the house was in a stupid location. She held that it was fair to allow people to fix their mistakes. Ms. Roth said that people could do that under the current ordinance. She agreed that the ordinance forbade clear-cutting a site but argued that they could cut down a tree for landscaping purposes, although they might have to pay a larger dollar amount. Councilor McPeak asked how the Board defined `landscaping purposes.' Ms. Roth said that the Board deliberately did not define it. Councilor McPeak asked how staff was interpreting `landscaping purposes.' David Powell, City Attorney, recalled discussion on this question by the previous Council. He said that staff initially interpreted `landscaping' as meaning something fairly extensive involving grading, etc. He noted that during a public hearing, someone pointed out that the ordinance did not actually say that, which left `landscaping' in the eye of the beholder. Mr. Powell mentioned that one of the issues that the previous Council sent back to the Board was the landscaping definition because it was too loose; landscaping could mean `I would rather not have the tree in that location.' He pointed out that there were other criteria, such as no negative impact on erosion or the character of the neighborhood. He said that the interpretation of`landscaping' for Code enforcement was a forgiving standard. Sandra Ingalls, Code Enforcement Specialist, indicated that staff looked at all four criteria. She concurred that the `landscaping' criterion was in the applicant's discretion to define but noted that staff did ask what the applicant's landscaping purposes were. Mr. Powell observed that the more difficult criteria were the negative impacts on erosion or the character of the neighborhood. He commented that what many people resented were having to pay $100 to take down a tree that they planted. He concurred that the criteria were not as strict as people thought it was. Ms. Ingalls indicated to Councilor McPeak that if someone asked for a permit to remove 10 Douglas firs for landscaping purposes, such as putting in cherry trees and rhododendron bushes, staff would ask for a landscaping plan showing the location of the proposed changes and require them to go through the criteria listed on pages 6 and 7 of the tree code. City Council Joint Meeting with NRAB Minutes Page 2 of 5 July 17, 2001 11U Councilor Rohde stated that it was that exact destruction of the community's historical environment that the tree ordinance was intended to prevent. He said that he had not known that the City was allowing that sort of thing to go on. Mr. Powell reiterated that there were several criteria for tree removal, including landscaping purposes and no negative impact on the character, aesthetics and property value of the neighborhood. He emphasized that people's impression that they could not cut down a single tree simply because it was a tree was untrue. Lisa Hamerlynck, Natural Resources Coordinator,noted that the community forestry program involved an educational component, which was usually handled by an urban forester with a professional-level knowledge of trees. She mentioned the City of Portland's Tree Liaison program, in which staff trained interested neighborhood people in an eight-week course to be `Certified Tree Liaisons;' these people started the educational process in their neighborhood from the ground level. She indicated that the Board was interested in having a more visible presence in the community and in doing an educational piece. Mayor Hammerstad described that as an excellent idea, as people needed to know that they did have an avenue. She mentioned that, during her campaign door-to-door, she saw many overgrown lots whose owners felt that they could not remove the larger trees, which blocked the sunlight into their yard. She mentioned the article in Hello LO, which addressed the question of when could someone take down trees. Mayor Hammerstad agreed that there was a balance somewhere in this issue, which she had the impression that the City had not achieved. She commented that Councilor Schoen would say that they needed more flexibility in the ordinance. She observed that perhaps it was not a lack of flexibility in the ordinance as much as it was people not knowing that there was flexibility in the ordinance. Ms. Roth said that, in the last round of revisions, the Board tried to find a way to provide both the protection and the flexibility described by the Council. She pointed out that, as infill occurred in Lake Oswego, some of the big trees in the canopy would come down, and not be replaced with Douglas firs because there would not be enough room for them. She held that over time the look of the city would change in any case; what they needed to do was to manage that change carefully. She spoke to the tree ordinance as providing guidance and a gentle nudge towards maintaining the canopy. Mayor Hammerstad commented that perhaps they have lost the vision of this one component as part of the larger urban forestry program. Mr. Snell observed that if this were easy, they would have already done it. He noted the competing interests alongside the commonly held values; people liked a buffer of trees in the city but a property owner cutting down a tree grove affected other people. He stated that the goal of the ordinance was to try to have the community represented in the decisions that occurred on private property. Mr. Snell recommended establishing an ad hoc task force to review the existing ordinances and policies in order to develop a way to utilize the existing ordinance through education, communication and possible adjustment to policy implementation of the ordinance. He indicated that it needed to be a diverse group, including an arborist, City Councilors,NRAB members, a Community Forestry Commission representative and staffing. He commented that the City had not used an integrated multi-discipline approach to work on the tree ordinance. Mr. Snell referenced a comment made by a former staff person, Morgan Tracy, who said that Lake Oswego was good at preserving trees but it was not good at managing them. He indicated that he had not understood what Mr. Tracy meant at the time but he recognized it as a weighty comment. He asked the Council to try to understand the significant difference between preserving trees and managing trees. City Council Joint Meeting with NRAB Minutes Page 3 of 5 July 17, 2001 11 .E Mr. Snell referenced the one complaint letter that the Board did receive from the citizen claiming that the City would not let him cut down a tree that was jeopardizing his foundation. He said that he would be stunned if he reviewed the facts and found that description to be accurate. Mr. Snell observed that people were trying to do the right thing; the enemy was the fact that it took a very complex mechanism to represent the community interests on private property. He contended that they needed to find that mechanism or Lake Oswego would look like other places. Councilor McPeak mentioned hearing from a former City Councilor who had looked into purchasing an older home and remodeling it; the remodel depended on removing some trees. She said that the former Councilor indicated that staff required an expensive architect-level detail of the remodel before they would say whether the former Councilor would get approval for the removal of the trees. Mr. Snell contended that the role of government was not to take away risk from people who wanted to engage in property transactions. Councilor McPeak concurred but asked how professional a proposal did this former Councilor have to pay for in order to find out if he could do a remodel and remove trees. She held that that spoke to landscaping. Mr. Snell argued that the City frequently dealt with the hypothetical; it could not say, based on a general description, whether someone would be allowed to do something. Ms. Hamerlynck discussed the Board's efforts to find money to implement the community forestry plan, following their realization that the City had no money to do so. She indicated that Board member Kelly Riordan volunteered to research grants with a view to funding a staff person to focus on an urban forestry plan. She mentioned a possible grant from the State Forestry Board, which gave grants to start community forestry programs. Ms. Riordan confirmed to Councilor Rohde that the State grant was for starting up the program; the City had to figure out how to continue the funding. Mr. Snell held that if they redirected the maintenance efforts of the utility companies with respect to trees, they could pay for the program. Mr. Schmitz confirmed to Mr. Snell that the Board did need to bring their grant proposal to the Council for approval before submitting it. He indicated that any time after September 1 would be fine. Councilor Turchi observed that one of the two reasons that the Lake Forest neighborhood wanted to be in the city was to be under the City's tree ordinance. He speculated that the majority of people thought that the tree ordinance was a good thing, even if they misinterpreted its application. Mayor Hammerstad suggested that they discuss how to get the Board involved early enough in the budget process to allow the Council the opportunity to consider their funding requests with respect to the CIP program. She mentioned the Board putting its work program on a timeline for Council's information. Mayor Hammerstad discussed the burgeoning interest by volunteer groups who wanted to do tangible projects. She spoke to developing projects for the community civic groups, including components of the master plans. Mr. Snell agreed that there was a lot of opportunity available but noted that volunteers needed a lot of management and direction. Mr. Snell mentioned that he was a volunteer advocate, citing his numerous volunteer activities. He pointed out that, with Ms. Hamerlynck's experience in working with volunteer groups,the City had many of the pieces in place for volunteer projects. He held that with the Open Space Master Plan, the City knew where it wanted to go but it still lacked the logistical `itinerary' for the various individual projects needed to implement the master plan. City Council Joint Meeting with NRAB Minutes Page 4 of 5 July 17, 2001 112 Mr. Snell agreed that they had a wonderful opportunity to leverage City funds and involve volunteers, who then tended to take ownership for maintaining the land. Mr. Snell commented that the Board had a better appreciation for the CIP program and the funding process, following a meeting with staff on the subject. Mayor Hammerstad suggested that the Board send the Council a proposal for the ad hoc committee, including the charge statement. She said that the Council would be interested in hearing thoughts from the community about the implementation of the tree ordinance. 4. EXECUTIVE SESSION Mayor Hammerstad recessed the meeting at 5:49 p.m. to Executive Session pursuant to ORS 192.660(1) (e) to conduct deliberations with persons designated to negotiate real property transactions. 5. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION Mayor Hammerstad reconvened the meeting at 5:53 p.m. Mayor Hammerstad spoke of the other priorities that the Board had in addition to the tree ordinance. Mr. Snell indicated that the goals that the Board shared with the Council at the first of the year remained their goals. Ms. Roth spoke of beginning to master plan Woodmont and the Iron Mountain Natural area. She mentioned their conversations about the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and NRAB doing some joint planning on areas that had both open space and active recreation components, such as George Rogers and Woodmont. She indicated that the Board wanted to see things get started at Cook's Butte. Mr. Snell observed that the Board emphasized planning. He mentioned finding trial sites on which they could learn while implementing the plans in small steps. He indicated that Iron Mountain Park and the Iron Mountain Natural Area would make good candidates. Mr. Snell indicated that the Board was looking for the best mechanism to evaluate funding options and to make recommendations to the Council on the implementation of small-scale projects. He described developing a plan that would detail what the volunteer groups could do, what staff would be responsible for and what the City might contract out. He mentioned their intent to have a better approach to the distinction and the appropriate management approach of natural areas versus active park use areas. 4. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hammerstad adjourned the meeting at 5:57 p.m. Respectfully submitted, e V4196.46/1 ALI_ CcGarvin Deputy City Recorder APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: ON Judie Hammerstad, Mayor City Council Joint Meeting with NRAB Minutes Page 5 of 5 July 17, 2001 113