YACHATS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION January 9, 2017 Minutes Council President Greg Scott called the January 9, 2017 regular meeting of the Yachats City Council to order at 9:30am in Room 1 of the Yachats Commons. Members present: Mayor Gerald Stanley, Greg Scott, Barbara Frye, Jim Tooke, and Max Glenn. Staff present: City Administrator Joan Davies, Water Department Lead Rick McClung, Wastewater Department Lead David Buckwald, and Facilities Administrator Leon Sterner. Audience: 15 I. Oath of Office for Mayor Stanley and Councilors Glenn and Tooke President Scott turned meeting over to Administrator Davies, who then administered the Oath of Office to newly-elected Mayor Stanley, Councilor Glenn and Councilor Tooke. Scott then turned over the meeting to Mayor Stanley. Mayor Stanley commented on transitioning to his new role. He noted recent events that show the energy and character of Yachats: the Creighton Horton talk sponsored by the Yachats Arts and Sciences committee and a gathering of over 100 people to discuss Standing Rock issues where at least 10 local musicians performed. Mayor Stanley reviewed the purpose of City Council Work Session: A. Preparation for Council meeting B. Public input: Mayor Stanley asked that speakers state their name and address when making comments C. Opportunity for councilors to discuss amongst themselves ideas and options, noting decisions are not made during work sessions D. Time for staff and the public to provide general input to the Council, different from the regular meeting where input is limited to agenda items Regarding Oregon Public Meeting law: A. Mayor Stanley noted Councilors cannot conduct discussions via email. B. Mayor Stanley added State laws also stipulate that a quorum of councilors (three) may not discuss city business as a group outside of the work session or regular meeting. C. Glenn reminded Councilors they cannot represent the “voice” of the Council or City outside of meetings. Other Announcements: Lincoln County Transit System is holding a meeting at 5:30pm Wednesday night to discuss changes to the bus system. II. Discuss: Council President – nomination and discussion Mayor Stanley asked for clarification on nomination process of the council president. Administrator Davies stated nominations and voting are done at the regular meeting. Scott suggested they have a discussion about responsibilities of council president and stated his role as past council president was mostly to conduct meetings in the Mayor’s absence. Scott would like to see a president with previous government experience and would like for the Mayor and council president to communicate in more detail the status of ongoing affairs. In discussion, councilors identified that the Council President: A. Represents the city in the Mayor’s absence and at the request of the Mayor B. Has authorization to sign for the Mayor C. Reviews the monthly accounts payable D. Has specific duties in emergencies as defined by Emergency Planning Commission Frye noted the recent change in city structure from the Mayor acting as city administrator to the creation of the City Administrator position and noted that change presented formidable shifts of responsibility. She asked for clarification on how those changes would affect the role of council president. Scott replied that he has maintained a high level of interaction with Administrator Davies, in part due to his volunteer role as Information Technology Manager for the City. Scott cited his development of a business license system and a tax reporting system as examples of his interactions with city staff. Frye wanted additional clarification on changes specific to the role of the Council President. Administrator Davies noted her increased interaction with Scott is helpful for her job, as she can get input from one Council representative rather than having to contact all five members. Frye stated she saw Scott’s interactions with staff to be driven more from his multiple roles and skill set than from his being president. Mayor Stanley presented his vision of a council president who has a larger role than other councilors beyond any special skills they possess. Mayor Stanley asked if any councilors would be willing to serve as president. Scott stated he would be willing. Glenn stated his intent to nominate Scott at the next regular meeting. Frye would like to see a rule on how communications between councilors, the Mayor, and the City Administrator are to be made, citing past frustrations in trying to reach other council members outside of meetings. She suggested councilors and the Mayor: A. Notify Administrator Davies when they are going out of town B. All have cell phones, so staff can reach them either by calling or texting C. Require people reply within a specific time period to requests for assistance Administrator Davies requested that councilors keep her informed of times when they will be out of town or unavailable. III. Discuss: Resolution 2017-01-01 Setting Recreational Marijuana Tax Rate, Discuss: Resolution 2017-01-02 DOR IGA for Collecting Rec Marijuana Taxes, and Discuss: Ordinance 346 Amending Marijuana Tax Ordinance 345 (following election) Administrator Davies reported there are two resolutions and an ordinance that establish the procedure for the Oregon Department of Revenue to collect the marijuana tax from retailers and disburse the proper amount to the City. Responding to a query from Glenn, Davies reported no one has applied for a marijuana retail or dispensary license in Yachats, at this time. IV. Discuss: Council work sessions and regular meetings days and times Administrator Davies reported her statewide survey on council meetings resulted in 35 responses. She noted the difficulties for the staff to get the required work done in the span between the Monday work session and the Thursday regular meeting and the issue of collapsing billing activities into one week. Davies proposed to: A. Make work session and regular meeting two weeks apart, citing 17 of 35 cities having work sessions only as needed and only 7 of 35 having scheduled work sessions each month. Davies noted Councilors can still fully discuss topics at regular meeting. B. Have one of two meetings after 5:00pm to accommodate working constituents, citing 16 cities have meetings at 7:00pm and 10 have meetings at 6pm. Mayor Stanley asked each Councilor make a short statement about the suggestions before there is general discussion. A. Glenn reported he saw value in two meetings per month, preferring one in the morning and one in the evening, but noted it restrains councilors who want to travel longer than two weeks. B. Tooke respected Davies’s concerns and favored having meetings a week apart. C. Scott noted meetings two weeks apart guaranteed he will miss meetings two or three times each year. He argued residents do not like going out at night and business people only go when the agenda has issues relevant to their business. He suggested the first monthly meeting be a combination of work session and regular meeting, to broaden the Council’s ability to make timely decisions. D. Frye fully supported the need to resolve workload issues and reported frustration in getting materials at the last minute, in the past. She values the protective time in work sessions to discuss issues without public interruption. She believes the council is obligated to make meetings accessible, and supports evening meetings. In general discussion, Scott suggested at least one meeting should take constituent concerns at the beginning so speakers don’t have to sit through the entire meeting, if they don’t want to. Glenn favored a combination meeting. Davies noted basic items could be legislated in a timelier manner with two formal meetings. Scott posed an argument against evening meetings because he believes local residents don’t like to go out at night, but when there is a controversial topic on the agenda, the council could have special evening meetings, as they have in the past. To accommodate travel, Tooke suggested having meetings one week apart. Frye stipulated that the new meeting schedule should continue for a year so residents have time to learn the new structure. Scott suggested the council conduct a survey of area residents to assess interest in an evening meeting. Glenn asked if there were a survey to ask a question not only about preferences for evening meeting but their likelihood of attending such meeting. Mayor Stanley summarized that the consensus is have the two meetings separated by a week, and preferred the second and third Thursday of each month. Mayor Stanley asked about providing coffee at meetings. Frye strongly supported that idea. Scott believed it a poor use of staff resources and he could see cups getting kicked over. He suggested people could bring their own. Tooke said he did not think it was necessary. V. Discuss: Posting on City property of diversity sign; sanctuary type actions Mayor Stanley stated these two issues should be discussed separately. Posting of diversity sign. Administrator Davies reported two different people had asked about posting a sign that reads, ”We welcome all races, all religions, all countries of origin, all sexual orientations, all genders. We stand with you. You are safe here.” A Spanish translation is also given. The sign was created by the Diversity Coalition of Lincoln County. Glenn stated this is a group with Yachats representation. Frye and Glenn were all in favor of posting and could see no harm in it. Scott did not agree with the Spanish portion, because it is limiting, and is not comfortable with the lines, “We stand with you. You are safe here.”, because it implies or infers that the City can do something to provide them with some sort of safety. Tooke believed diversity is covered in the City vision statement. Mayor Stanley was not in favor of it, due to the limitations of the sign in covering all groups who fear discrimination, specifically pointing out the mentally ill, physically disabled, and homeless poor. Administrator Davies clarified that the bulletin boards in the Commons are not “official,” and she has eliminated the rule that postings need approval from City staff. Tooke asked if any councilors had an issue with any individual posting this sign on one of the community boards in the Commons. One audience member believed this sign contributed to the “split” that is happening in the country. Administrator Davies noted that Yachats does not have a police department or jail, and does not have any relationship with ICE, nor would ICE reasonably ask for anything from the City. The City has no resources to offer sanctuary to anyone, other than what might already being done. Scott added that the sign implies the city can take action when it cannot. Davies cited a state law that already says no law enforcement within Oregon will cooperate with ICE if the individual’s only offense is being here illegally, and another law prohibits City staff from giving out information from the City water database. Frye explained she now agrees with those who are not in favor of this sign. While she remains strongly in favor of the sign as a show of solidarity, that type of demonstration is not appropriate for city government. Mayor Stanley added that most counties in Oregon but only five cities have declared themselves to be a sanctuary area. He recommended that the City send a letter of affirmation to Lincoln County that Yachats supports the County’s sanctuary status. Scott remained concerned about setting expectations that cannot be met and could create legal liability. Glenn expressed concern that a large mailing list had received an email that said the Mayor and Councilor Tooke “wanted to talk about” the sanctuary subject. He did not want them saying the Council had refused to do so. Mayor Stanley said he had never seen such an email, and Councilor Tooke said while he was a member of the group that received it, he had never said “yes, no or maybe”, but only that they would consider it. Scott believed the sanctuary issue did not fall under the purview of city government and was thus a “distraction.” Mayor Stanley strongly disagreed with this comment, stating this issue is a major concern in cities across America. Davies will find out whether Lincoln County did that. VI. Discuss: Housing development promotion and incentives Davies noted Glenn is point person on housing plans. Glenn believes the existing goals in the comprehensive plan and the policies in place are sufficient to proceed with action. One is to accept property for affordable housing and another is to provide information to builders and developers. He identified the following guiding principles, that a housing program: A. Should not take a lot of staff time B. Should have no adverse impact on current city finances C. Should address broad needs without targeting specific groups Glenn recommended the following actions: A. Investigate possibility to be part of Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) pilot program on expanding affordable housing in urban growth boundaries. Glenn invited councilors to partake in a webinar Thursday at noon. B. Request ways that Lincoln Community Land Trust could assist in affordable housing development such as down payment assistance to homebuyers through trusts or other fund pools. Proposals are underway in Lincoln City and Newport. C. Establish affordable housing trust fund. D. Refine our zoning code to allow for different densities to enable new methods of creating affordable housing such as “tiny houses”. Scott noted the state requirement for cities to have an urban growth boundary, and that Yachats is unique in that its urban growth boundary is the same as its city limits. Changing urban growth boundary would require an election. Frye asked Glenn how his recommendation would be implemented. Glenn said he and Mayor Stanley would continue to gather information. Frye noted that housing in Yachats is greatly impacted by vacation rentals and the Council should revisit that issue. She also asked that the council address dealing with abandoned houses. Due to the time, Davies recommended the council address the Shepherding Goals before the Rules Handbook item. VII. Discuss: Council Shepherding Goals – changes in assignments; reports Mayor Stanley asked councilors to indicate their interest in the goals. Tooke chose “Wastewater bio-solids: work with other governments on more effective uses” and “City management of State Park facilities: Yachats State Park, Smelt Sands, Yachats Ocean Road, 804 Trail.” Mayor Stanley chose “Appropriate uses for Visitor Amenities Funds (public arts/facilities/marketing).” Tooke agreed to take “Diversify revenue opportunities: grant writing, utility fees, franchise fees, street fees” Scott suggested removing “Develop/implement satisfaction survey” from the list because the project is in the implementation process. Frye and Glenn believed the item should remain. Mayor Stanley chose “Marketing committee leadership.” Scott suggested he talk to former councilor Sandy Dunn who had effectively worked in this area. Tooke chose, “South Reservoir project - construction oversight” and “Work with County to complete upgrade and repairs to Ocean View Drive and 804 Trail South.” McClung agreed to help on both tasks. Frye chose, “South Gate creation and placement (city limits).” Mayor Stanley wanted to work with Frye on “Transportation options to south to Florence.” Frye suggested, “Vacation Rentals” should be shepherded by the entire council. Councilors agreed. Tooke chose “Raw water storage long-term development.” Frye reviewed expectations for the shepherding role: keep issue active, attend meetings, and consulting with relevant parties. VIII. Approve agenda for January 12, 2017 City Council meeting Frye brought up the subject of State of City town hall. Scott believed the main presentation would be made by the City Administrator. Mayor Stanley, Frye, and Glenn concurred the presenter decision had not yet been made. Scott emphasized there is a distinction between operations and politics, and thus the City Administrator is a more appropriate person to review the previous year. The council decided to revisit this topic at next work session. Mayor Stanley reviewed agenda items for January 12, 2017, noting who is responsible for reports on each topic. IX. Discuss: Council Rules Handbook and Matrix – review changes needed Discussion moved to future meeting. Administrator Davies reviewed what is included in this document. Scott asked which roles/functions are still applicable, given change in city management structure. Scott understood the goals of the structural change were to: A. Eliminate Public Works Director B. Focus the administrative role at the top of the organization C. Delegate to operational administrators. Administrator Davies reported this reassignment of duties has had a bigger impact on her workload than was originally expected. Scott wanted to have Administrator Davies explain the impact at the next meeting. Frye asked Administrator Davies to discuss issues regarding her position title. Administrator Davies reported the city attorney said he did not previously advise to use “administrator” instead of “manager”, and there is no requirement in the charter to use Administrator rather than Manager. Councilors discussed a previous impression that there was a legal matter that prohibited the use of “manager”. All councilors except Scott believed manager was a more appropriate title, given standard business practice and public perception. Scott wanted to discuss the issue with former Mayor Brean before making changes. The other councilors were in favor of moving forward with the change from administrator to manager, at the next meeting. Frye asked when the council was going to discuss the Columbus Day holiday. Scott believed that matter was settled with the decision to make January 1 “National Indigenous Peoples Day”. Mayor Stanley and Frye agreed the Columbus Day issue was just tabled to a future date. Glenn asked if there was a plan to merge the Public Works & Streets Commission with the Finance Committee. Administrator Davies reported she had suggested a merger between Public Works and Emergency Planning as the commissions had the same members except for one person, but the commissioners did not like that idea. Then Administrator Davies suggested that some of members of the PW&S Commission could serve well on Finance, as most of the Public Works Commission work focused on financial matters. Frye stated that was a decision for the previous commissions/committee task force, not the City Administrator. Frye raised the issue of how to review the City Administrator position, citing previous failure to adequately assess the City Recorder position. The Council decided to address this issue at a future work session. Frye asked for assurance that updates of and corrections to the audit report and city books be remedied. Tom Lauritzen presented an update on what has transpired with the auditor, recordkeeping, and his work to make corrections to past financial documentation. Meeting adjourned at 12:24pm. _____________________________________ ________________ Gerald F. Stanley, Mayor Date Attest: _____________________________________ Joan Davies, City Administrator Minutes prepared by H.H. Anderson.