CC Minutes - 08/13/07 Work Session

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Mayor Piercy invited Laura Niles of the Hult Center to discuss a recent grant opportunity that had been presented to the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR). Ms. Niles explained that Cultural Services, on behalf of the Public Art Committee, had followed through on preparing a grant application for the National Endowment for the Arts in the amount of $75,000. She said the grant would support providing online access and coordination of all the City's public art materials, which was part of the work plan of the Public Art Committee. She said if selected, the grant funds would be awarded in June 2008 and work would be completed by June 2009. Mayor Piercy said staff had only recently been informed of the opportunity and applications had to be mailed by 8 p.m. on August 13, 2007. She related that staff had contacted the CCIGR via email regarding the grant application and two committee members were in support and one was not, requiring that the issue come before the full council. Ms. Bettman said that grants came to the CCIGR in a precipitous manner so often it was the exception if the committee was able to make a considered decision. She complained that committee feedback was dismissed because there was no time to consider it and that was a practice she had voiced objections to for years. She said in this particular situation, the grant proposal was a lower priority on the list of activities recommended by the Cultural Policy Review (CPR) Task Force, which had recently been adopted by the council. She did not consent to the proposed project because it was not a high priority and a Priority 1 project could be completed for the same amount of money. She said it was necessary to say "no" or such behavior never changed. In response to a question from Mayor Piercy, Ms. Niles explained that the project was Priority 3 in the CPR recommendations; however, the grant funds could only be used to achieve five outcomes identified by the NEA and the only one the City could pursue related to preservation of artistic works and cultural traditions. She said the other outcomes related to programming activities that were not CPR recommendations. She apologized if information about the application deadline and limited scope of the funds was not provided to the CCIGR. She noted that during the council's discussion of the CPR recommendations and prioritization, it was recognized that higher and lower priority activities might be pursued simultaneously if the opportuni- ties arose. Ms. Solomon asked if match funds were required. Ms. Niles said that it would be a one-time award, no local match was required and there would be no ongoing costs to the City. Ms. Solomon said she would support the motion, particularly as the City did not have to provide a match. Mr. Pryor saw no reason not to apply for the grant funds, even if the money could not be spent on higher priorities. He thought it was a reasonable request, the City could definitely use the funds and he would support the grant application request. Ms. Ortiz asked how much staff time was involved in preparing the grant application. Ms. Niles said that some of the work was done by an intern and estimated that her staff had spent between 20 and 30 hours on the application. Ms. Ortiz said it was worth a week of staff time to apply for the funds, even if the project was not one of the highest CPR recommendations. She thanked staff for bringing the opportunity to the council. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 13, 2007 Page 3 Work Session