Springfield City Council — January 21, 2025

0:05 I'm going to call the regular session of the spring of the work session of the Springfield City Council to order with roll call. Mayor Van Gordon. Here. Councilor Weber. Here. Councilor Mow. Here. Councilor Roddy. Here. Councilor Blackwell. Here. Councilor Doyle. Here. And Councilor Stout. Uh Councilor Stout is excused for the evening. We have one item tonight and it's with Meg. It's the annual audit review. Good evening. Um I'm Meg Elaqua. I'm the the accounting manager for the city. And we're here tonight to talk about our audited financial statements. Our auditor might have gotten stuck in traffic or something. I'm not sure. He's usually here right before that. But what he would talk about is the letter that

0:51 he puts in the front of the um audit that basically says they've gone through all the all the standards for auditing standards to say that we have internal good internal controls. And that they've audited um a number of transactions, a large sampling to make sure that they're comfortable with what we have the numbers that we have in here. And their report is on page 33 and it basically says that we had a clean audit. They didn't have any comments that they wanted us to change of anything that was anything material. And they didn't have any issues with the the the numbers themselves. And there's also a governance letter that's written

1:36 by the auditors to the council talking about the audit and what they found in that. So um that is basically what he usually talks about when he's here. Um we didn't have anything significant that was unexpected or unusual to the extent that um we would be concerned about it this year. It's hard to make an audit exciting because you really don't want it to be cuz that means something came out of it. Um but it it's usually a pretty dry topic, especially when there's nothing wrong. Um and we also they also audited CEDA as well and they didn't have any findings on that either.

2:22 And they these have all been filed with Secretary of State as of the end of December. So everything was filed on time. And on the '23 audit we received the Government Finance Officers Association award for like the 45th year. Um that you have to do a little bit extra and put in more schedules and more information in general in order to get that um more than the state requires. Um so our intention is to continue to get that every year and now we're getting it for the budget as well when we've been submitting that one. So those are the standards that we generally go by with um doing this. The management discussion and analysis is in here starts on page 39 through

3:09 like 40 53 and that kind of tells the whole a general story of what went up, what went down, why, what was happening in the governmental funds versus the proprietary business funds. And and it gives highlights throughout there but several pages but it's a lot quicker than reading all the schedules and statements in the back but there's statistical state schedules in the back that talk about population and our percentages of debt and all of that kind of thing. So um most of our all our liabilities went down a little bit this year. So we're paying off old debt and haven't incurred a lot of new debt. So um in general, even though we had a um

4:00 the short story is that the net position of the city increased again this year, just like it did last year, although most of that increase is tied up in either capital assets or restricted assets, and a little bit in unrestricted, but we've pretty much stayed kind of level with where we've been in previous years. There were some increases in some expenses and some increases in some revenues. And there's uh operating grant revenue in here that's been the ARPA money that we've been spending on projects, and as those projects get completed, the revenue gets recognized. So, that we didn't get more this year, but it's showing up as we go and as we um as we spend the money, but as of December 31st, that final report

4:46 to the um federal government was filed on all the ARPA money. So, we shouldn't we should be able to tie that one up soon. So, I don't know if you have if you have any other questions for it, but those were kind of the highlights from it. The There's a transmittal letter also on page 11 through 23 that's more talking about less numbers and more city story that talks about the projects in general and what kind of things the city's been doing. Thank you. Well, you just answered one of my questions cuz I was going to ask about the ARPA funding and whether or not we were on track to have spent that all down and all of that good stuff. So, thank you for that. Um, and then this is kind of a I don't know who can answer

5:32 this question, but one of the things that popped out to me was the property taxes increasing by 1.3 million. And I don't know that I've paid attention um, and if I have, I've forgotten, as to whether or not that's typical um, in that we see those increased by 3% or whatever every year or if we even have any way of anticipating that. Um, and it said it's partially due to like an increase in property tax receipts, um, but I'm also wondering if it has to do with, you know, more housing coming online. It has to do with both. Um, it has to do Well, not so much more housing, but appreciation of real estate in general and also that we're limited to 3% increases through Measure 50.

6:18 Um, so it we generally don't see a lot higher than 3% unless some exemptions have come off or some new properties have come on to it. So outside of the outside of regular the the same ones, the growth we normally would see. If we see more than 3%, we got to have new things coming on the tax rolls, basically. Any other questions? All right. Um, the I've got a couple of comments here. Um, you're right, it is not a lively document, but I'm always glad when I see it and, you know, it's got really nothing to report, right? That's the That's the best kind of audit you could get. And I know, um, as as elected

7:05 officials that all it makes us all feel better, right? I know it's required, but understanding that, you know, our financial accounting's in a in a in a good place because there are cities out there that have gone through the other end of the these types of audit and it is not good for your community and it's not good for anybody. So I really appreciate the work there. I do want to note the transmittal letter. It does have a lot of good backstory of what is happening in Springfield. If you wanted a snap in time and just to read, you know, what's going on, that 10 pages is very worthwhile. And then I always enjoy the fact you guys put the org chart up there and in in a material like this that had reminds us all, right? That we all report to the citizens of Springfield and it's a good context for, you know,

7:51 why and how we do this type of work. So, thank you for bringing it forward. I think that was it. Uh yeah, we it's on the consent calendar to accept it at the 7:00 meeting and I know it's not realistic for other people to get to expect others to get as excited about this as we do, but we're not in the news and so that's that's all that we care. Everything's good. And that is great news. All right, thank you. We are adjourned till 7:00. Van Gordon Here. Mayor Van Gordon Still here. Council Weber Here. Council Mow Here. Council Roddy Here. Council Blackwell Here. Council Doyle Here. And Council Stout Uh Council Stout's excused. Please join

8:37 me for the Pledge of Allegiance. Uh two times designated for public testimony this evening under public hearings and business from the audience. If you're attending in person, please complete the request to speak card located at the front of the council chambers and turn them into the city recorder. If you're joining us online with a tablet, smartphone, or computer and wish

9:22 to speak to either of those items, please use the raise hand feature in Zoom. The order of public testimony is as follows: anyone in person in the council chambers and then anyone who has raised their virtual hand. First item, up, First item is a Springfield up the Springfield's representative to the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission or MWMC. Doug Keeler is here. And this is your item, Mayor. Okay, Doug. Come Come on up. Matt, come up, too. You can take a seat cuz we're going to How many terms is this, Doug?

10:12 All right. So, turn the microphone off cuz he on. So, in what year did you become Springfield's representative to the MWMC? That was back in 1997. So, it's comfortably in last century. Last millennium. Well, what's been the thing you've liked the most about it? Really enjoyed the folks I've worked with, the relationships. So, you know, a lot of my colleagues as fellow commissioners, just great people, both the elected officials and the volunteer citizens from all three jurisdictions. It's That's been a real opportunity. And I will say the success we've had, and I'll attribute a lot of that to the staff through the years. There's been change, of course, over that much time,

10:57 but um MWMC staff has been you know, very professional, competent, hard working, and they've really helped we on the commission who guide it to achieve our goals. So, those two things, it's all about people. Well, I'm always excited when I see you in community events because you're so passionate about this topic. And before, you know, I let Matt, you know, jump in and add anything, you know, you do it You've done this since before I graduated high school. And it's not It's not to make it sound sound like it It's It's been a minute, right? But I think the important thing about it is when we talk about civic engagement,

11:43 right? You've quietly done it and in a way that has really contributed to this community. And in a way that it frankly would be hard to find um, you know, a citizen who wants to, you know, do as much work as you're doing and um, be engaged in as technical of work as you're doing and just quietly do quietly do it out of just a passion of the topic. Um, so the what the wastewater system is one of the important things cities provide, right? And we do it we do it regionally here and I just can't thank you enough for the fact that you've done it 10 terms. Well, it I'll thank you for the 10th term when we're done voting. You want to add anything, Matt? Um, sure. Matt Stauter, Environmental Services Director and and LVM C

12:28 Executive Officer. Um, I've thoroughly enjoyed working with Commissioner Keeler over the last 12 years that I've been in this position. Um, he was a fixture on the commission well before my time. He is I think uh, by your my count after hearing you say you hadn't graduated, I think he I hadn't graduated for a year um, when he had start when he had started. Um, yeah, he's been on since 1997. I wrote a couple notes just I wanted to say I think he's basically a steady leader in our intergovernmental partnership. He's respected and trusted by his colleagues on the commission and he's a staunch advocate for Springfield in our partnership and I think that's key in this uh, he represents Springfield's interest. Uh, he knows the community and he really takes uh, Springfield into consideration when he's making decisions

13:13 on our board. Oh. You're You're going to have to hang out for a second. I've got a mug I'm going to bring down to you, but I have read this actual item, so we actually have to take take a vote on something here. So I'm going to look over and see if you can make the motion. Hold, please. Can I share something while you find a Sure. You tell a story. We're going to get organized here. Like we've done this before. So back when I first applied for the commission, Bill Morrisette was mayor and I remember it was during a work session over in the Jesse Main Room and he asked me if I knew how much this

13:58 position paid. And I wasn't really expecting that question and before I could get an answer put together, he said "You'll get exactly what the rest of us get." referring to the council, "Absolutely nothing." So but my uh end of that is I've received much more than nothing. So Mayor Bill was incorrect. This has been a very rewarding experience. Aw. Thank you for being flexible while we got ourselves a little bit organized here. Michelle. Yes, thank you Mayor for helping me with uh organizing my first motion. I move to appoint Doug Keeler to the MWMC for the term ending January 31st,

14:43 2028. Second. I know could you call the vote, please? Yes, Council Weber. Yes. Councilor Moe. Yes. Councilor Rodli. Yes. Councilor Blackwell. Yes. Councilor Doyle. I. And Councilor Stout. Motion passes five yeses, zero nos, a vote absent. Um congratulations on your 10th term. Hopefully we'll see you for number 11. Thank you so much. I've got a mug for you so I'll bring it bring you right down to you just to say thank you from all of us.

15:52 Thank you so much, Doug. We really appreciate your service to this community. Next item, please. The next item is the consent calendar. I move to approve the consent calendar. Second. Roll call vote, please. Yes, Council Weber. Yes. Councilor Now. Yes. Councilor Rodley. Yes. Councilor Blackwell. Yes. Councilor Doyle. Aye. And Councilor Stout. Motion passes, five yeses, zero noes, one absent. Next item, please. Next item is business from the audience. I have one card this evening. It was from Jeff Nelson.

16:38 Good evening, Mayor and Council. Jeff Nelson, general manager, Springfield Utility Board. I wanted to follow up on concern that a resident had at the last regular Council meeting. And that was regarding a downed wire. So, my understanding is the resident was concerned it was a power line. It wasn't not a power line. We did go out and check on the that line. It was a communication line, a third-party communication line, not subs. But, we did remove the line. So, that is removed. But, third-party communication lines, it's not uncommon for sub to get calls about downed lines, and for those lines to be communication lines of third parties. Um but we appreciate the

17:24 the residents and businesses calling us about a downline. Safety is a priority. We want to make sure that everyone's safe. So, if you see a downline, please call SUB. We'll We'll take a look and find out if it's a power line. Thank you. Uh thank you. If If it's not a communication line, it's a power line, you you There are dangerous issues. I'm glad they do that. That's okay. All right, I don't have any other cards. Uh Neil, do we have anybody online? No hands for this item. All right. So, anybody want to have additional council response? Thanks for taking care of it, Jeff. Um the two things I really appreciated about it was that you guys actually took care of it, so the problem was going away. And just to reiterate for the

18:09 community, especially when you see downlines, let somebody like SUB decide whether or not it's dangerous or not. Assume that it's a power line. So, thank you. Next item, please. Uh next item is resolutions, resolution number one, Cornerstone low-income rental housing property tax exemption or the LUPTY application. This is resolution number one, a resolution approving or denying a low-income rental housing property tax exemption for the Alma Apartments located at 1875 16th Street, Assessor's Map 17-03-25-24,

18:54 tax lots 01800, 01900, and 02000. Applicant is the Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation DBA Cornerstone Community Housing on behalf of the owner, Springfield Affordable Apartments LLC. Katie Carroll is here for this item. All right. Thank you. Sorry, long title. Um Katie Carroll, housing analyst for the city. Um, this item before you is an application for the Low Income Rental Housing Property Tax Exemption or LIRHTI from Cornerstone Community Housing for the Alma Apartments. Um, the LIRHTI is a state authorized property tax exemption program that cities can choose to implement to encourage development of um, income qualified rental housing that will serve households with low incomes. Springfield's had this program in place since 1993. And then after some changes

19:41 were made at the state level, um, the council adopted amendments in 2018. It's a 20-year property tax exemption that covers both land and improvements for qualifying applications. And there are a number of different criteria that need to be met in order for an application to be granted. Um, including that units need to be reserved for households at or below 60% of the area median income. And the projects need to create at least four new units at that level to qualify. Council has received and granted one application for this property tax exemption since those changes in 2018. And that was for the Myrtlewood Apartments on approximately Main and 10th-ish. Um, and that was St. Vincent de Paul's project. That was back in

20:27 2019. Um, process-wise once the city receives an application for the LIRHTI, council has 60 days to make a decision. Uh, the city received this application on November 26th. So that 60 days is up January 25th. So staff is seeking action from council in this meeting. Uh, per the program requirements, council either needs to adopt a resolution approving the tax exemption or a resolution denying it. So both of those options are in your packet tonight. Um, a little bit about the Alma Apartments that Cornerstone's requested this exemption for. It's going to be a 39-unit apartment building and it's currently under construction off of Q Street on 16th. All of the units are going to serve households with incomes at or below 60% of the area median

21:12 income. And if you're curious what those income levels look like, that's in attachment one in your packet for various household sizes. Um there'll be a mix of unit sizes from studio to two bedroom, and 10 of the units are going to be reserved for clients of Hope and Safety Alliance. The city's already supported this project with a little over 2.6 million dollars. Um around 2 million of that was federal home funding that came through the home governing board, and then the council additionally awarded Cornerstone another 578,000 in state general funds that we received as one-time COVID dollars um to help cover some financing gaps that they were having. And in its application, Cornerstone explained that the tax exemption will

21:57 help keep the property financially solvent over time, and the tax savings will help supplement rent affordability and property maintenance and improvements. Staff has reviewed Cornerstone's application against all of the applicable eligibility criteria and find that it meets the city's requirements for granting a LERPTA, and so we're recommending approval, which would be adoption of attachment two, the resolution attachment two. Um there are requirements that both are in the municipal code and in a set of standards and guidelines that are adopted. Those standard and guidelines are attachment four in your packet if you're curious. And then um staff's analysis of how the application conforms with the requirements is exhibit A in your packet. And that's all I have. Are there any questions?

22:43 Uh Corey. Okay, I don't have questions, but I have comments. I'm going to kick them off. Um All right. To no one's surprise. Um so in my first of all, everybody knows I'm a big fan. I've been like this has been a train I've been trying to push as we've been working on this project. Um and in my mind, this is exactly why we have the low-income rental housing property tax exemption. This is the kind of project, and I really appreciate the due diligence around it. And I think one of the the key things that is um that I find to be so great about this program is that it helps to keep the housing affordable for a long time. Um and that's one of the things that's going to be a real challenge in a changing market is you you somehow manage to build affordable

23:28 housing, and then there's turnover, and things change, and it's hard to keep it affordable. So, I support this, um and I appreciate all the details, and there's a reason that this may only be the second one we've done cuz everybody I mean, they have to jump through a lot of hoops to to get to this. So, um I support this. I'm really excited about this project, and that's what I have to say about that. All right. I just have a question, and I I think this is great as well. I think this is exactly what this program is is for, and I appreciate the work that's been done behind it. If they go to sell it, does it transfer is it a transferable program? I'm just curious. 20 years is just a long I believe so. I'm looking at Mary Bridget to confirm, but I think it runs with the property, not the ownership.

24:13 That's my understanding. It runs with the property. And this is the program where if they wanted to opt out of it, they could do so at any time. Correct. Yeah. Did you have anything else? All right. Um before Michelle makes the motion, this is a great project. I'm happy that we've supported it as much as we have. Um I can't wait till I get until it's finished. And I hope that we find a path for phase two of this. Um the city owns some land to the south of there, and the utility board owns some land that's unused to the south of there, too. There's a really great opportunity at some point to hopefully find phase two of this between working to between the two governments.

24:59 Michelle. I move to approve a resolution approving a low-income rental housing property tax exemption for the Alma Apartments located at 1875 16th Street Assessor's map 17-03-25-24 and 02000 applicant Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation DBA Cornerstone Community Housing on behalf of the owner Springfield Affordable Apartments LLC. And I will second that. And will could you call the vote? Yes, Councillor Weber. Yes. Councillor Mano. Yes. Councillor Roddy. Yes. Councillor Blackwell. Yes. Councillor Doyle. I. And Councillor Stout. Motion passes five yeses, zero no's, one

25:45 absent. Next item, please. Next item is any business from the City Council. Boring. I have two things, so thank you and I gave the mayor heads-up. I say I have two things. First, um it has been very cold and we are in the middle of a long activation for Egan Warming Centers and as you know, they are using a building here in Springfield for that. Um and I know that they are in need of volunteers and which is can be very challenging when we have these long stretches of cold nights and if you go to St. Vinnie's, I think on their Facebook page and their website, they're doing a couple of volunteer trainings, I think in the coming week for people to be you have to be trained in order to be a volunteer. Um but I also just wanted to just do a shout-out of appreciation for the folks

26:30 who are volunteering on these very cold nights and often they're doing multiple shifts because we've we have multiple days. So, I wanted to call out to for that. Um and I think it's expected to be cold into the next week at least and then I also wanted to share um because I was the counselor who was able to attend and who attended yesterday was the Martin Luther King Jr. March um here in Springfield and we do the kickoff right over across from the Justice Center and I felt very very honored to be able to help kick that off and I've been to that event for many years. It's sponsored by Springfield Alliance for Equity and Respect and they work with the school district and then folks march over to Springfield High where there's this

27:15 wonderful art and this program that the students do. And the mayor was able to join after I think that he was over in the Eugene NAACP event. So it was a fantastic way to spend the day. And to to interact with the families and see the art and hear the spoken word by the teens and see the music. So I just was really it felt like such a privilege to be there. I know Neil and Allison were there too and Allison was there with her kiddos marching. So it's a great event. If you get a chance next year come on out cuz it's it's a lovely event. Thank you. Um we're going to Victoria. Um the MLK event was really really great. Um and the other two things I really want

28:01 to point out is how old that event is, right? Springfield has been doing this for a very long time and it's it's like the story that of our community. We do things very quietly sometimes but very well. And that that event is really bookended really nicely between having the school event on one side of it and then meeting in front of the PD on the other side of it. So understanding that both those bookends really make make the event work and or for this community. Victoria. Thanks. Um So Jeff stole some of my thunder cuz I was going to talk about that. I actually attended the Springfield Utility Board meeting couple weeks ago. And um wanted to just report back since it's

28:46 the first time we've had someone there. There was some pretty exciting presentations that were done and I think it's interesting that we did them at a time when we are just coming on the tail end of what would be the one-year anniversary of our ice storm. They're doing some pretty neat work to try to prepare for the future and both their electrical and their water department gave presentations on programs that they're using and utilizing to to both track and keep in contact with folks in the event that things happen. And I don't I hope I don't get it wrong here, but on the um the app um that they're that for electric they're really close to having that pushed out

29:31 to the public. Um it isn't dependent on calls, but it's rather it's internally controlled. Um and so it's not automatic. So it's something that they can that they can constantly be changed and stuff like that. And let's see uh it's kind of like the PIO gets a call and then um the supervisor officer on duty is able to get that information out onto the website so that they can keep people updated on what's happening on that. Um do do do do And then with the water division and um this one I thought was really cool. I loved hearing this one and it also looks like they might be able The first one I think is called Is it SCADA? SCADA? Is that right? Okay. And then the second one is Ezri system. And

30:16 it looks like they're going to be able to like potentially connect with the city and with our system that we're doing. Um and then the other thing that's really cool about it is that they have a way it's actually able to be translated into Spanish. So that if someone is non English speaking, they're able to actually have it translated so that they can read it and be able to understand what's happening in their community. And and what's cool about the water one too is they're able to to plug that in and it goes directly to the iPads or to the tablet that the person on call has cuz I guess I guess there's times when like they they they they locate something but you can't necessarily see it because there's like lots of overgrowth and stuff and so when they're able to find that then they can get that plugged in into the system.

31:02 Hope I'm explaining this right and then they'll know where to look so they'll know where to dig and find the water mains and what have you. So anyway, that was really cool and there's lots of other stuff going on cuz it was such a long meeting but I I enjoyed being there. Um and the second thing is that I attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Joyce A. Langliers Family Center which is going to be opening out in Thurston right right by Thurston High School and the Budget Blinds. Uh it's a really neat project that's been being worked on for several years now. Um former council person Mary was really involved in getting that off the ground and it was really neat to see so many people come out in the freezing cold. They were serving cocoa and coffee

31:48 but I think most of us couldn't even get our hands out to like pour a cup. Uh but to see that that is moving forward and that we may be finally having something in a a place where the youth can go and find things to do and potentially get counseling and things that they need. So I'm really excited to have that in our community out in Thurston. And that's it. Sorry if I butchered that. Um no, they were over there all nodding saying that you got it right. I think you earned your utility board merit badge for the day. But I I appreciate you bringing the report back. Anybody else? Steve. In December I happened to note notice the Register Guard was having an open house over 5th

32:35 Street offices. And so I went over there. I sort of curious what was going on. They They wouldn't let me in cuz I didn't have an invitation, but one of the reporters recognized me, so they let me in. So, I got to meet whoever they are, whatever they are. They come from all over, and friendly group, but I'm trying to promote Springfield within them, let them recognize us a little bit more than they do. So, that was my my attempt to uh do that as much as I could. All right. The last item that I have is uh State of the City next Thursday, I've heard, is coming up. I feel like I just did State of the City. Uh the one ask that I have for council is there will be

33:22 a group picture that is uh that we do traditionally ahead of time. Elise is going to send out some of the information about the time, where to report, you know, all that kind of thing, but please plan some additional time so we can get that uh get the picture taken. All right. I think we're ready for the next item. Next item is item number one under business from the city manager, which is the enterprise zone school support fee. This is actually resolution number two, a resolution approving the rate of school support fee of 15% within the Springfield community enterprise zone. Ali Camp is here for this item. Good evening, Council. In your packet today, you have a resolution for your decision for a 15% school support fee for our local enterprise zone. The

34:08 school support fee is a new requirement uh for the enterprise zone program, which is implemented by the state, and then we handle applications locally. Um the school support fee is required if we would like to continue to offer a four and a five-year exemption. Standard Standard exemptions are three years. Um so, the extended exemptions for four and five years have this additional requirement attached to them. This is a fee that goes from the business applicant to the school districts for those years 4 and 5 to make up for some of the property tax revenue they would not receive otherwise. Um, the school districts took a shared approach in setting the rate together uh because we have both Eugene 4J and

34:54 Springfield School Districts within the Springfield Community Enterprise Zone. So, all the school boards have suggested or recommended a 15% fee moving forward. Um, in your packet you have a map that shows the shared boundaries between the two communities and three school districts. Um, and also in your packet there is a board briefing memorandum with a little bit of background on the Enterprise Zone program. Since it's establishment, we have issued four of these extended exemptions. Um, and they're high value. They are businesses that employ a lot of folks in our community. They add a lot of value both property tax wise and community wise. Um, and moving forward this fee would apply to new extended exemption

35:39 applicants for the Enterprise Zone. Uh, I'm available for questions. Thank you for this and I'm supportive of this. I just my question is who's going to do the administration of it? Is are we doing the administration of it or how is it how's that going to happen? Uh, the way the admin rule is written, the school district is required to administer administer the fee and collect it from the business. Okay, cuz I was going to say is there do we have to do yeah. So, that's good. So, it's not going to take any staff time or resources or anything from us. Thank you. I'm I'm curious how it works. How does the business know are you notified by who or what and who do they pay?

36:28 Um, this is a new rule. So, all of the kinks haven't been worked out yet. Um, those same questions have been asked by the school district who will be responsible for administering these fees. Um, it's unknown uh how or we will have a sense of what the investment will be for years four and five. That fee will be applied after the investment's been made and school district will have to collect it uh the year after it would have applied to the tax rolls. So, it would be unknown until that investment is made um and that not that might not be right away um since some of these big projects take a couple years to administer. What else is Um, I might have missed this. It's 15% of what?

37:18 It's 15% of the taxes exempt in year four and year five. Uh the second question that I had is is a school district required to um I don't know explain to where where where the fees are going or is it just simply hey, there's an understanding that this is a significant impact to the school district and that and sort of in lieu of having those property taxes, we're going to we're going to do this support fee. The school district will be required to report this to the state and for the school district, this is not new revenue. They will just receive less in their funding calculation from the state by way of receiving this from another avenue. Okay. And it sounds like there's a ton of questions out there um and I would be

38:04 interested when some of this gets ironed out if we just get some more information about how this is going to work. Uh then a prezoning is a great program. I'm glad we have it, but there are some impacts and especially in those four and five years. All right, Michelle. I move to adopt resolution number two. Second. Okay, call the vote. Yes, Councillor Webber. Yes. Councillor Moe. Yes. Councillor Rodley. Yes. Councillor Blackwell. Yes. Councillor Doyle. I. Councillor Stout. Motion passes five yeses, zero no's, one absent. Next item, please. Next item is a city and sub lighting intergovernmental agreement and our IGA.

38:51 Scott Miller is here for this item and Brian Barnett is also here. Good evening, counselors. Um, this item is an IGA or intergovernmental agreement between uh SUB, Springfield Utility Board, and the City of Springfield. Uh, this IGA is for the maintenance and operation of our street lighting system. I presented back in June at a work session presenting this topic. Uh, it's been a few months. Um, some of you were here at that meeting and some of you are new faces. So, I'm going to go over a quick couple little highlights, uh, but overall, I think most of you are at least familiar with the structure that we have with SUB with

39:37 our street lighting system, but I'll just hit a couple high points. Um, the the street lighting system is owned by the City of Springfield. However, being connected directly to the utility system, much of that needs to be maintained by uh Springfield Utility Board or another line worker type of company. Uh, we have an IGA with SUB that dates back to 2003 and uh that IGA is long overdue for being updated. Uh, we've done a number of things in the last few years including technology upgrades. Uh, the big project we did last year was replacing all of our street lights with LED lighting. And then another part of that project was installing control nodes on top of each light. And those nodes allow us to connect to

40:22 each light directly and measure energy consumption. So, we now can measure the actual energy consumption of every single light throughout our city. That wasn't possible with uh the previous system that we had. So, one of the one one of the major reasons we want to update this IGA is to take advantage of that information rather than having a flat rate that's set for every single light and whether the light's working or not, if it's if we were to be able to dim it, turn it down, it wouldn't have mattered. We pay the same rate regardless. The new IGA allows us to pay off the actual energy consumption for each light. Um In addition, you know, as you know, the LED upgrade is allowing us to save quite

41:08 a bit of energy and money on our energy bill and better, you know, better for the environment and all those things. Um So, this IGA is energy consumption rate structure. We also are clearing up some uh essentially making clear definitions of maintenance boundaries, ownership boundaries, uh the the sub the sub power distribution system uh serves power to homes and businesses and a lot of the street lights are connected right to that system. And so, this new IGA will make a very clear definition of where the Springfield uh the city ownership begins and where the

41:54 sub ownership ends. Um The other feature of this new IGA is a standard operating procedure where at leadership levels within the city, we can adjust business rules such as who orders which parts and who who stocks what, who responds when during an outage, uh if a light gets hit in the middle of the night, who does police call, who actually goes out there. All those things have been updated through this IGA and then the standard operating procedure allows us the leaders within the city and sub to make some changes to some of those things that don't necessarily require council type approval. We're going to order a different part. Okay, we should we're going to be able to do that on our own

42:39 under the new structure. Um So that's kind of the overall summary of the new IGA. Uh the agenda item is to approve the IGA and it'll be approved by sub as well and everyone has on both sides up to this point is on board with the current uh structure of the new IGA. So with that I'll ask if there's any questions or comments. I In the big picture, I'm curious. We were using X number of power before and now we have the LEDs in. How much less within the the city are we using now approximately? I'm estimating approximately

43:25 uh 50 to 60% less power. Which means what? It means essentially 50 to 60% less on our energy bill for the street lighting system. Uh I sure like I'd see something monetarily related. Oh, I see. I'm sorry. Um Let's see. A normal bill for us would have been I think we were paying around um This is not an exact number, but uh around I think our current bill is around $15,000 a month for energy and in the past before we started converting everything over to LEDs, it was in the $25,000 range. So that's not that's more than half, but we've also had inflation

44:11 going up over time and the rates have gone up for everyone, right? So. The people need to know what we're doing there. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Um I don't have a question. I just wanted to just um express my appreciation. So, I know that working out all of these details takes time and trust and relationship building. And as somebody who loves a good like process map and strategic plan, it's so helpful because it knows that the the pieces are in place as we move forward and can be administered by anybody. So, I just wanted to thank anybody who was in those conversations. Um I appreciate it cuz I think it just makes our working relationship even stronger around this. So, thank you. Joy. So, one thing I'm not seeing in here,

44:57 maybe I'm just missing it, is um when there's going to be a review of the process. So, I do see a note in here that says under the billing that every 5 years they're going to do they're going to review the agreement, but what about with just in overall so that we don't have 25 years go by with a contract? Are we looking at maybe every couple of years checking in and looking at how things are going and maybe renegotiating or whatever? Right. I would say that that conversation really can be entered at any time. There is a provision where if either sub or the city is unhappy with the terms of the agreement, they can essentially give 180 days notice to either renegotiate or vacate the agreement. Um so, there I

45:43 mean that can be entered at any point in time. The 5-year thing that you're mentioning is more around the structure of the maintenance reimbursements. We pay sub for the the labor that they have working on that system. So, um nice thing about this IGA is it's an actual reimbursement of their real costs. Um and it's not speculative, it's reimbursing them for the actual time that they spend working on the system. Great, I appreciate that. Thank you. It's a good It looks good. You guys did a lot of work and we really like I um uh Counselor Roddy said, I appreciate all the hard work you guys have done on this. So, thanks.

46:33 I move to authorize the city manager to execute an IGA with Springfield Utility Board sub in a in substantially this form for the maintenance and operation of the city-owned street lighting system. Second. Counselor Roddy. Yes, Counselor Weber. Yes. Counselor Mowen. Yes. Counselor Roddy. Yes. Counselor Blackwell. Yes. Counselor Doyle. Aye. And Counselor Stout. Motion passes, five yeses, zero noes, one absent. Next item, please. Next item is one additional update from the city manager's office. Just given the overnight lows, we wanted to give you a quick update on the weather we're seeing and the preparations we're making. So, uh working with Brian Conlin's staff in operations and emergency management, the overnight lows are forecast to continue below freezing through this coming weekend. There's

47:19 currently about a 30% chance of rain-snow mixture uh this Friday morning. Uh no snow is planned to be accumulated in the uh update, but we keep an eye on that stuff anyways. Uh the operations staff maintenance has been out treating those priority roadways with the mag chloride. Those are the arterials, collectors, the roundabouts in front of the hospitals, and the bridges. Um we currently have four sanders ready to go. Um and the mag chloride trucks, as you know, can also be snow plows now. So, So, we have a pretty good group of uh equipment ready and we've already been out in the street and we're going to keep folks updated. If anything changes, we'll let the council know.

48:05 Kind of following up on Council Roddy's comment, the CEDA provided building for Egan, the Memorial Building, has seen about 60 plus people each night. Last night, there was 85 guests. And a lot of those folks are then coming over to City Hall lobby in the morning along with A3 students and other folks that just need a place to get out of the cold. So, just a quick update on the operational plans that we're currently moving forward. Any business from the city attorney? No business this evening. Thank you. All right, that is it and a wrap for this evening. We are adjourned. Thank you very much. Have a good night.