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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCM102617 CITY OF CENTRAL POINT City Council Meeting Minutes October 26, 2017 REGULAR MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Mayor Williams called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. ROLL CALL: Mayor: Hank Williams Council Members: Bruce Dingier, Brandon Thueson, Taneea Browning, and Mike Quilty were present. Rob Hemandez and Allen Broderick were excused. City Manager Chris Clayton; City Attorney Sydnee Dreyer; Police Chief Kris Allison; Community Planner II Stephanie Holtey; Parks and Public Works Director Matt Samitore; Account Clerk Tammy Ball; and City Recorder Deanna Casey were also present. IV. PUBLIC APPEARANCES Larry Martin, Taylor Road Resident and CAC Member Mr. Martin wanted to clarify information provided in a Mail Tribune article about Marijuana Grows inside the Central Point Urban Reserve areas. He did not speak with the reporter in order for her to quote anything that was printed. The well on his property is not being drained by grows in the area. He would like to see a solution for grows in the Urban Reserve, but some of the facts in the article were very disappointing. He does support City staff looking into what can be done to help the residents in regards to marijuana grows. Colin Grant, Grant Road resident Mr. Grant expressed his concern about a large marijuana grow across the street from his home. He and his family do not feel safe with this operation so close. It is a constant operation with fans, lights and activity day and night. They have guard dogs that are aggressive and no one feels safe. He has had conflicts with the neighbors and when he complains to the authorities the situation gets worse. The citizens in the Urban Reserve Area want their elected officials to take care of these situations. It is not right that out of state people come to Southern Oregon to grow a crop that gets illegally shipped out of state. He is concerned about the chemicals from the marijuana. He has tried to contact the OLCC and has had no luck getting enforcement to come to this grow. Gene Johnson, Linden Lane resident Mr. Johnson wanted to thank the Council and Staff for the efforts they are putting forth regarding the Marijuana grows in the Urban Reserve. He realizes this is an issue that the state should be resolving. He would like to encourage the Council and Staff to continue working with the County and State on a solution for Urban Reserve areas. City of Central Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 2 Katy Mallams, Heritage Road resident Mrs. Mallams sympathizes with Mr. Grant. She feels the city should look into what can be done in the urban reserve areas. The urban reserve is a 50 year plan and the city and county should be able to work these types of things out. We also need to be considering larger agricultural buffers between the subdivisions and agricultural community. Urban Reserve boundaries should not be brought into the city limits until these issues have been solved. Frank Grant, Hillside Drive resident Mr. Grant stated that he is the father of Colin Grant. He stated the concern is about growing marijuana, not using the product. Their concerns are about the people that come to Southern Oregon to make a profit because of the change in laws. The people growing the marijuana don't abide by the rules and they don't care how it changes the lives of their neighbors. He is thankful the City and Council are concerned for the residents outside their city boundary. He is concerned about his family living next to people who only care about profit. He feels Governor Brown has caused this issue because she is sitting back asking people to give the opportunities to growers; she is more concerned with the tax revenue for the state than Oregon citizens. City Manager Chris Clayton stated that the Council and staff will be working with the County and State regarding this issue. We agree the way to address this is to get the state and county to make larger agricultural buffers. We hope for a peaceful solution but we do not have jurisdiction outside of the city limits. His door is open to discuss this issue with the residents in our urban reserve areas. V. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of October 12, 2017 City Council Minutes Mike Quilty moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Taneea Browning seconded. Roll call: Hank Williams, yes; Bruce Dingier, yes; Taneea Browning, yes; Brandon Thueson, yes; and Mike Quilty, yes. Motion approved. VI. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA - None VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS, ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS A. Second Reading — Ordinance No. 2040 Amending the Central Point Zoning Map on Tax Lots 8300 & 8400 of 37S 2W 11C (3.64 Acres) from TOD-Corridor, Medium Mix Residential (TOD-MMR) to TOD- Corridor, Low Mix Residential (TOD-LMR). Community Planner II Stephanie Holtey stated that this is the second reading of an Ordinance to change the zoning on two tax lots that have recently been annexed into the city. There were no recommended changes at the first reading and public hearing on October 12, 2017. City of Central Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 3 Mike Quilty moved to approve Ordinance No. 2040 Amending the Central Point Zoning Map on Tax Lots 8300 & 8400 of 37S 2W 11C (3.64 Acres)from TOD-Corridor, Medium Mix Residential (TOD-MMR) to TOD-Corridor, Low Mix Residential (TOD-LMR). Brandon Thueson seconded. Roll call: Hank Williams, yes; Bruce Dingier, yes; Taneea Browning, yes; Brandon Thueson, yes; and Mike Quilty, yes. Motion approved. VIII. BUSINESS A. Battle of the Bones Debrief Parks and Public Works Director Matt Samitore presented the 2017 end of year report for the Battle of the Bones (BOB) event. He has been told that it was the best BOB to date. Staff stated that it went very smooth and the BBQ teams were happy with the event. There will be a few recommended changes for next year, they plan to have ribs on Friday, and customer favorite on Sunday instead of chili. We felt that 15 BBQ teams was a good amount for the area at the Expo. One change for the future will be to hold BBQ team deposits until the weekend is over. There were a couple of teams that did not stay and participate on Sunday. There will be a few changes regarding the Expo selling the BOB tickets in the future. There was some confusion regarding how many tickets were sold because of a computer issue. This caused the teams to run out of tastings before the evening was over. We plan to sponsor the children's area next year. We need to make sure our sponsorship is not being used for alcohol. B. Downtown Business Signage Mr. Samitore stated that the Central Point Chamber of Commerce has asked the City to install a series of signs aimed at directing visitors to Downtown Central Point and our area businesses. The proposed signs would be located in six different locations along the East Pine/Biddle Road corridor and will direct visitors to "Central Point Downtown Artisan Corridor". We have similar signs in the downtown area; the new signs would encourage visitors to come to the downtown who may not realize there are other businesses not located around the Interstate. There was discussion regarding why the Central Point logo was not included on these signs. If we are encouraging them to visit out downtown area we should use our city logo. There was concern that we are getting too many signs in the downtown and it may look cluttered. Council Member Taneea Browning stated that these signs will not be located in the downtown corridor, but rather on the outskirts of town. She doesn't see a City of Central Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 4 problem adding the Central Point logo to the signs, the sample in the packet was just staying consistent with other way finding signs she had researched. It was suggested that distance be added to the signs. Mr. Quilty stated that on a recent trip it was very helpful to have walking distance on some of the wayfinding signs. Brandon Thueson moved to approve the installation of the Way Finding signs. Mike Quilty seconded. Roll call: Hank Williams, yes; Bruce Dingier, yes; Taneea Browning, abstain; Brandon Thueson, yes; and Mike Quilty, yes. Motion approved. C. Upton Road Property Mr. Samitore explained that the city purchased property in the 1970 for a sewer treatment facility. After purchasing the property the city was never able to obtain the necessary environmental permits and eventually decided to outsource to Rogue Valley Sewer Services. The city has been leasing the property at 5795 Upton Road to Mr. Weidum, an adjoining property owner. Mr. Weidum is in his 80s and doesn't plan on farming the property much longer and has told the city he will not be interested in continuing the lease. Various neighbors in that area would like the city to install new storm drainage improvements because of lack of infrastructure in and around the property. The Public Works Department has been actively looking for property for a new Public Works Operations yard. Mr. Samitore stated that the city could sell the property on Upton Road and use those funds to purchase property that would be better suited for an operations yard. The Upton property is zoned exclusive farm use through the County. Mr. Clayton stated that if the Council agrees to sell the property the funds would be put away until property is located for a Public Works Operations Yard. We would like to put restrictions on the property so it could not be used to grow marijuana. Council is in favor of selling the land with the restriction that it could not be used to grow Marijuana and designating the funds for a new operation yard. D. Park Fee Waiver Request Mr. Samitore explained that Nicole King is requesting that the park reservation fees of $200 be waived for an event to honor her late 2.5 year old son. She would like to hold a Trunk-or-Treat event open to the public. Mr. and Mrs. King are trying to find an event that their son would have enjoyed to keep his memory alive. The city has never waived a fee for a private citizen holding a public event. Mrs. King has stated in her letter that no one will benefit financially by this event. There was discussion regarding waiving the fee for any type of event. We do not want to get into a situation where this is asked of the Council for other types of events. If we waive the fee we need to consider if the event would benefit all of City ofCenhal Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 5 Central Point Citizens or just a select few. Council Member Bruce Dingier suggested that the fee come from the Council Budget. He would rather see the Council pay the fee for this event and have staff return with guidelines that could be used if this is asked in the future. Bruce Dingier made a motion to pay the fee out of the City Budget and have staff return with guidelines to use for waiving fees incase this happens in the future. Mike Quilty seconded. Roll call: Hank Williams, yes; Bruce Dingier, yes; Taneea Browning, yes; Brandon Thueson, yes; and Mike Quilty, yes. Motion approved. E. Country Crossing Debrief Police Chief Kris Allison reported on the 2017 Country Crossing debrief. The City of Central Point did not feel the impact we were expecting from the event. The Penninger/Pine Intersection will need more attention for 2018. The County had issues inside the event with traffic, food service, water and policing the area. Central Point will be submitting an invoice to the organizers for Police Overtime. Jackson County had stated that they would monitor the signal at Penninger and Pine. They were not able to cover and direct traffic for the end of the day events. Our officers were stationed at Penninger/Pine intersection to make sure pedestrians were able to cross the street and the rickshaw bike drivers obeyed the traffic laws. We anticipate additional lights along Pine/Biddle and Bear Creek to help with pedestrian traffic. We recommend they work on getting a temporary pedestrian bridge over Bear Creek into the camping areas along Gebhard Road. All of these issues will be addressed before the 2018 CX Fest. We are anticipating better communication with the event organizers for next year. They want this to be an event that will promote the entire area not just the Expo. We anticipated some of the event goers visiting businesses in Central Point but because the general parking was in White City most attendees did not stick around town to shop or eat. There will always be concerns with heat during the event if they continue with the dates in June/July. They need to have more emergency services and water stations inside the Expo. Mr. Clayton stated that we didn't get calls on noise like we had expected. We hope this is because we were able to get the word out in advance about the concerts and the sound level and times. All in all the event was a success for Central Point. IX. MAYOR'S REPORT Mayor Williams reported that: • He attended the Medford Chamber Forum. • He attended the Central Point Greeters and Ribbon Cutting ceremony at the Rogue Federal Credit Union. • He attended the Fairboard meeting. They are under the impression that Central Point was not happy with the CXFest or the Brewfest. City of Central Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 6 • The Mayor's United Event for ACCESS was last weekend. He had a table and the City purchased a table. X. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT City Manager Chris Clayton reported: • That the County sent the Urban Renewal Tax projections this week. They are predicting 1.2 Million for Central Point. We would love to see this amount come in but after doing some research we found several mistakes that the Accessor's office has made. Staff will be working with the County to correct these numbers. • The City Attorney will report on 75 Bush Street and the progress being made for that property. • The Finance Director will be looking into the Medford policy recently adopted for Uber and Lyft. • There was a letter to the editor regarding a drone that was shot down in Central Point. This incident was not inside the City Limits. • That he and Parks and Public Works Director Matt Samitore were interviewed regarding how the city plans to accommodate Costco traffic once it opens. XI. COUNCIL REPORTS Council Member Mike Quilty reported that: • He was in Savanna last week at the AMPO Conference. He paid attention to their wayfinding signs and did notice that they help get people to destinations. He stated that it was very nice for pedestrians to know how long it would take to walk to a destination. • Next week he will be meeting with the Airport director and will be reviewing the ACT Projects to send to the department of Aviation. • Council members have been invited to take a tour of the Holly Theatre before they begin the reconstruction phase. The City Recorder will be working on a tour date if you would like to attend. Council Member Brandon Thueson reported that: • He attended the Study Session. • He wasn't able to attend the Rogue Credit Union ribbon cutting, but did check out the facility later that day. It is a beautiful facility. • He has been fielding calls regarding 75 Bush Street. He is telling people that we are close to getting it cleaned up. Council Member Bruce Dingier reported that he attended a Doctor's appointment and attended the Study Session. Council Member Taneea Browning reported that: • She attended the Crater Hall of Fame Dinner. • She attended the Medford Chamber Forum Luncheon, it was a fantastic economist who spoke. City of Central Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 7 • She attended the Study Session on October 16"'. • She attended the Fire District Board meeting. • She attended the Mayor's United Dinner in Jacksonville. • The RVCOG meeting yesterday was packed full of information. They are working on drone certification so they may offer that service to their members. The Rogue Valley Brownfield Coalition Community Review will kick off mid-December. They are looking for advisory committee participants to help with inventory of properties within the designated area of the coalition. • She attended a learning summit at Central Point Elementary today. XII. DEPARTMENT REPORTS Parks and Public Works Director Matt Samitore reported construction on Pine Street is on hold this week while the construction crews go hunting. A secondary group is working on the storm drain behind Pfaff Park. They will be working on the waterline at Pine and Front Street next week. Police Chief Kris Allison reported that: • Police Department Explorers are doing a food drive for ACCESS this weekend. Call the department if you have items to pick up. • Next month is No Shave November a web-based, non-profit organization devoted to cancer awareness and raising funds to support cancer prevention, research and education. They will be setting a department fundraising goal and encourage the Police Department to participate and help raise funds for Cancer Prevention. • The first week of November the executive level command staff will be attending a training at the academy on a variety of topics. • November 11th is Dancing with the Rogue Valley Stars fundraiser for Sparrow Club. Detective Josh Abbot will be one of the Rogue Valley Starts. We will be partnering with Fire District 3 and getting our own sparrow at some point in the future. • November 15th is our Volunteer Recognition Lunch all the Council Members are invited to attend. • Council Members are also invited to attend a Retirement Party for Police Support Specialist Donna Beyer on November 17`h in the Council Chambers. Community Planner Stephanie Holtey reported that: • We have been busy with an influx of requests for commercial developments along East Pine Street. • There is a potential mixed commercial building going in next to the Veterinarian Clinic. • A developer has acquired the property on Freeman Road that use to belong to Mayor McGrath. He has also acquired several other properties in that area and a professional office is planned. We hope to see the pre- application soon. City of Central Point City Council Minutes October 26,2017 Page 8 • They have talked with developers regarding a variety of residential property developments. • We welcomed a new Community Planner II to our team named Justin Gindlesperger. He comes to us from the Jackson County. He is working on a site plan and architectural review. • Planning Manager Don Burt has started working on the Land Use Element. Finance Director Steve Weber reported that: • The lodging tax increased significantly in June and July for the County Crossing and Jackson County Fair events. • The city will be hosting the RV Finance Group on November 1St. He will be talking with the Medford Finance Director about the ordinance for Uber and Lyft. Central Point will want to have something similar in place so that our citizens can use these services. City Attorney Sydnee Dreyer introduced Jackie Bunick and reported that the marijuana issue is a tragic situation, unfortunately annexing and changing the zoning for these properties are not an option. We do plan to continue working on a solution within our Urban Reserve. She encourages these property owners to work as a group to get a solution from the state and county. Jackie Bunick reported 75 Bush Street and the eviction process. We had a general judgement of eviction signed by the Judge this afternoon and promptly filed the notice of restitution. She explained the next steps and the ability for the occupants to object and the time lines associated with potential objections. We will be working with the Sheriff's Office so that we can get the occupants out as soon as the time line allows. XIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None XIV. ADJOURNMENT Brandon Thueson moved to adjourn, Taneea Browning seconded, all said "aye" and the Council Meeting was adjourned 8:45 at p.m. The foregoing minutes of the October 26, 2017, Council meeting were approved by the City Council at its meeting of November 9, 2017. Dated: u/q jn Mayor Hank Williams ATTES ity Recorder