06/13/1983 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Responding to a question from Councilor Wooten, Eugene Development Department Director John Porter said that the Central Industrial Area (CIA) is still in the planning stages, but that the proposed capital improvements have been planned e for several years. He said it was estimated that over 100 acres of vacant property could be served if the CIA were developed and that this would create as many as 1,400 jobs over the next 10 to 20 years. Mr. Porter said that staff had revi ewed the enti re capi tal proj ects 1 i st to determi ne which as-yet-un funded projects were in areas meeting HUD guidelines for serving low-to-moderate income or blighted areas and had found that the Roosevelt Project was the only one meeting the guidelines. He noted that the Joint Committee on Economic Develop- ment had made a commitment to explore usi ng industri al renewal funds in thi s industrial redevelopment area. Councilor Lindberg noted that the CDC had forwarded the funding proposal presented by Mr. Byrne with an affirmative recommendation on the shelter facility funding but with ambivalent feelings on the Roosevelt Boulevard project. He said that the committee had been reluctant to approve the Roosevelt Boulevard project since it would not create jobs soon. He noted that staff had done its best to come up wi th a proposal in the 1 imi ted time all oted and that, to a 1 arge extent, any problems with the proposal resulted from the structure of the bill passed by Congress. Mr. Byrne apologized for not transmitting the CDC recommendation clearly. He discussed the ambivalence of the HUD regulations, which said that in order for a jurisdiction to claim a job as having been created with COBG funds, the job must be a permanent, full-time job that lasts at least two years. He noted that there were also a number of short-term jOb creation criteria in the Jobs Bill entitlement. e Public hearing was opened. Those speaki ng in favor of the staff recommendati on: Marshall Landman, 199 Kinney Loop, represented the board of directors of Switch- board. He said he understood the CDBG regulations and the reasons for the staff recommendation, but wished to present a draft proposal for use of Jobs Bill funds by Switchboard. He noted that Switchboard had been serving the community with referral services for 14 years and was the only comprehensive referral service in the county. He said Switchboard is funded through revenue-sharing, grants, and the work of numerous volunteers. He said that the majority of the people served are from Eugene and are of low-to-moderate income. He said that Switchboard's proposal was to use Jobs Bill funds to establish a full-time position to oversee development of a coordinated delivery of crisis relief through a central intake and referral point, usi ng computer technology for coordination. He said the need for this had been identified by the Joint Social Services Committee and the Vagrancy Task Force. Mr. Landman said that this proposal met the intent of the Jobs Bill and that he believed it would meet HUD requirements. Bill Uhlhorn, 2625 Hilyard Street, said he was director of Eugene Emergency Housing. He supported use of Jobs Bill funds for shelter support. He noted that the CDC, the Joint Housing Committee, the Vagrancy Task Force, and City staff had all voiced similar support for this proposed use of Jobs Bill funds. He said that the Lane County Housing Authority had offered to be the recipient e of the funds. Mr. Uhlhorn said that in the past five months Eugene Emergency Housing has had to turn away over 600 men, women, and children. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 13, 1983 Page 3