CC Minutes - 06/15/11 Work Session

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MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon June 15, 2011 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the June 15, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Status Report on Local Gas Tax Public Works Director Kurt Corey reviewed the recent history of City Council strategies to fund road improvements, which included adoption of a local gas tax in 2002 and a street preservation bond approved by the voters in 2008. He also noted enacted State legislation, House Bill 2001, which provided additional local transportation funding but precluded new gas taxes until 2014 and then only by voter referral. The legislature's preemption of new local gas taxes led the City Council to repeal the sunset provision included in the 2005 ordinance adopting a two -cent increase in the gas tax, set to expire in 2011, out of concern the increase would be considered a new gas tax. Mr. Corey estimated the City's average annual investment in preservation at about $10 million, which was slightly more than half the amount he believed the community should be investing. He called attention to the 2011 Pavement Management Report included in the meeting packet, which identified a street preservation backlog of $139 million. Attachment A of the Agenda Item Summary, History of Pavement Preservation Program Projects as of May 2011, listed the projects funded by the gas tax and bond since the Pavement Preservation Program's inception in 2002. Speaking to support for operations and maintenance (O &M), Mr. Corey briefly noted the funding sources available to the City and indicated Fund 131 was balanced through the forecast period, including about $200,000 for the Enhanced Pothole Program. He said the increased funding from House Bill 2001 could be diverted to capital preservation but it would reduce the funding available for operations and maintenance. Mr. Corey concluded by saying progress had been made but there was much to be done. The local gas tax was a key factor to the success of the City's capital preservation efforts. The City needed to continue to focus on a comprehensive set of solutions to eliminate the preservation backlog entirely. Mayor Piercy said those with roads still to be repaired continued to contact the council with complaints but she believed progress on the maintenance backlog had been made, which felt good for both the council and community. She thanked the public for its support of the street preservation bond. She called on councilors for comments and questions. MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 15, 2011 Page 1 Work Session