12/04/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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their gated admissions. Ms. Ehrman noted that the Maude Kerns Art Center was e a nonprofit organization and that the Filbert Festival still operated a defi- cit budget. Councilors agreed to forward a letter to the Eugene Celebration Committee to express appreciation for its work and to ask the committee to explore other alternatives besides mandated gated admissions to make the Eugene Celebration self-supporting as much as possible. E. Downtown Parking Program Mr. Robinette said that at last week's Council Committee on Eugene Decisions meeting, Planning and Development Director Abe Farkas reported concerns ex- pressed by some of the downtown businesses about the new parking program. He said that councilors present at that meeting supported a revised fee structure that would divide hours into 20-minute segments. He said that concern was expressed about this information not being forwarded to the coun- cil via the Downtown Commission. Downtown Commission Chair Sue Prichard reported that the commission discussed concerns about the new downtown parking program at its December 3 work ses- sion. She said the commission generally agreed that an immediate solution needed to be implemented to resolve some of the concerns of downtown busi- nesses. She said there was unanimous support for dividing the hours into 20-minute segments, and that a majority supported effecting this change imme- diately. e Lew Bowers, Planning and Development, said staff anticipates some revenue loss under the recommended revised fee structure, but said this may be offset by those more willing to use the validated parking. He said the council has asked for a one-year report on the new parking program but staff would report any problems if identified earlier. Councilors unanimously supported the Downtown Commission's recommendation. Responding to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Ms. Prichard said the commission and Downtown Eugene, Inc. (DEI) were aware of businesses requiring a minimum purchase to issue validation coupons. She said this would be addressed after the holiday season. F. Metropolitan Policy Commission Ms. Bascom announced that U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield will attend the next Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) meeting to discuss the Surface Transpor- tation Act. She welcomed suggestions from councilors of discussion items. Mr. Boles said he would like to see Federal funding go toward mass transit as part of the Ferry Street Bridge Study. Ms. Bascom noted that staff from Lane Transit District (LTD) will attend the meeting and will be able to vote on transportation issues the committee reviews in the future. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 4, 1991 Page 3