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MINUTES <br />Eugene City Council <br />Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br />February 24, 2020 <br />5: 30 p.m. <br />Councilors Present: Betty Taylor, Emily Semple, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Greg <br />Evans, Chris Pryor <br />Councilors Absent: Claire Syrett <br />Mayor Vinis opened the February 24, 2020, work session of the Eugene City Council. <br />1. Work Session: Town Square Project Funding Strategies <br />City Manager Pro Tern Sarah Medary, Finance Director Twylla Miller, and Urban Development <br />Manager Will Dowdy spoke about the concept design, schematic design, design development, <br />construction drawings, bidding, and construction steps of the Town Square project. Additionally, <br />they discussed the potential scope/phasing and funding options for the project. Planning and <br />Development Director Denny Brand spoke about possible parking solutions. <br />Council Discussion <br />• Councilor Clark- inquired about additional assets the City owns, the zoning of the land above <br />Laurelwood Golf Course and its value as an asset, talked about the urban downtown renewal <br />project and how much more money is still needed for the park blocks portion of the project, <br />said the use of funds for city hall would not be well received by the community and asked about <br />downtown parking considerations and solutions. <br />• Councilor Evans - asked about the number of surplus asset properties and related exceptions of <br />what could be sold; inquired about the possibility of altering the park blocks and the location of <br />the farmer's market. <br />• Councilor Pryor - asked about the current facility reserve fund and additional assets; spoke about <br />the combination of different funding options; expressed a desire to scale and phase the project. <br />• Councilor Zelenka - stated that he was not interested in selling park land; asked about the swap <br />fund and amount; inquired about the farmer's market funding agreement with Lane County; <br />talked about the complication of finances and pulling together funding options; expressed <br />support for scaling and using a combination of funding options for the project. <br />• Councilor Taylor - asked about transferring funds for park blocks improvements to the city hall <br />plan; supported addressing one project at a time and looking at transferring funds from the <br />quiet zone, raising the transient room tax, and other private donation options; supported <br />addressing the city hall project before the park blocks portion of the plan; spoke about the <br />history of the butterfly lot as the former site of the farmer's market; reported that people were <br />expressing negative views of the drawing of the market published in the newspaper; asked if <br />the funds from the quiet zone could be transferred to the city hall project <br />• Councilor Yeh - supported being mindful of other important projects going on at the same time as <br />the town square project; stated that parks and the quiet zone are very important; desired a <br />phasing of the project; asked about the projected cost of the farmer's market structure; asked <br />about Lane County's role in discussion of the funds; asked for an email highlighting the numbers. <br />MINUTES - Eugene City Council February 24, 2020 Page 1 <br />Work Session <br />