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MINUTES <br />Eugene City Council <br />McNutt Room — Eugene City Hall <br />777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon <br />September 15, 2010 <br />Noon <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, George <br />Poling, Alan Zelenka, Chris Pryor, George Brown. <br />CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AND MEETING OF THE EUGENE URBAN RENEWAL <br />AGENCY <br />Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the September 15, 2010, work session of the Eugene City Council to <br />order. <br />M lk <br />Recovery Zone Bonds and Downtown Site <br />City Manager Ruiz introduced the item, terming the proposal before the council a next step in revitalizing <br />Eugene's downtown. Urban Services Manager Denny Braud of the Planning and Development Depart- <br />ment (PDD) and Finance Director Sue Cutsogeorge of the Central Services Department were lead staff for <br />the item. Mr. Braud introduced Rob Bennett Sr., Sara Bennett, and Rob Bennett, Jr. of Bennett Manage- <br />ment Company, Gene Swann of Wells Fargo Bank, Kevin Sauser and Esther Anunciado of Ankrom <br />Moisan Associated Architects. Interim PDD Director Scott Luell and Mike Sullivan and Nan Laurence of <br />the Planning and Development Department were also present. <br />Mr. Braud provided a PowerPoint presentation on the project details and the requested City Council and <br />Urban Renewal Agency (URA) actions. <br />Mayor Piercy termed the vision an exciting one for moving downtown forward and stressed the impor- <br />tance of downtown partnerships to revitalization and job creation. <br />Mayor Piercy solicited council comments and questions. <br />Mr. Clark thanked staff for its work on the proposal. He suggested the purpose of a recovery zone bond <br />was to improve a blighted area. Mr. Braud indicated the community had latitude in how it defined <br />economic hardship as the bond was an economic stimulus tool. The findings accompanying the resolution <br />made reference to high unemployment and increased foreclosures. He confirmed, in response to a follow - <br />up question from Mr. Clark, that the boundaries of the recovery zone were acceptable to the federal <br />government and provided additional flexibility to the City. He added that most jurisdictions took a similar <br />approach; he cited Lane County as an example, saying it designated a recovery zone that encompassed the <br />entire county. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council September 15, 2010 Page 1 <br />Work Session <br />