Item B1: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Solomon observed that there seemed to be some assumptions at the table that the developers could “care less” about the report. She understood that the developers had attended every meeting and asked Mr. McLauchlan to speak to this. Mr. McLauchlan confirmed that the developers involved were supportive of the process and wanted to know what the City thought with regard to their proposals. He noted that representatives and principals of the two developers had attended many of the WBAC meetings and had spoken to the committee, indicating that they were impressed with the recommendations and perceived it as Eugene’s challenge to them to do the very best development they were capable of. He felt the committee gained an appreciation for the development side as much as the developers had gained an appreciation for the public input side. Ms. Solomon said this was consistent with her understanding of the process. She felt optimistic about the process. She felt the developers wanted to be in Eugene and wanted to make a difference in the community. She trusted they would work within a budget. Mr. Zelenka believed that good ideas had come out of the WBAC, such as a smaller grocery store and smaller movie theater. In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Klein stated that ultimately, financing would be the council’s call. He said if the spending limit passed, the council would decide how much of it to spend on the downtown project, and the council had the option to spend it on other projects. He stressed that no one’s taxes would be raised simply because of this project; in order to raise taxes the council would be required to place a measure on the ballot, such as a levy. He added that money could be used from the General Fund but it would not increase taxes. Mr. Zelenka declared his intention to “stick to that amount of money.” He felt that no downtown projects would go forward without subsidies. He remarked that there was “no magic dust to sprinkle on downtown to have redevelopment happen within the city without City investment.” He said redevelopment had not happened on its own in 20 years and he was mystified by people who thought it would. Ms. Taylor did not agree that the developer would pay for the project through property taxes. She opined that the council did not know whether the development would succeed. She thought services might have to be reduced or property taxes would have to be increased. She averred that if money was diverted from other places it may indirectly raise taxes. She added that no one had discussed compression, which she believed to be a possibility. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Ortiz, moved to extend the discussion by two minutes. The vote was a tie, 4:4; Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Bettman, Ms. Ortiz, and Ms. Taylor voting in favor and Mr. Pryor, Ms. Solomon, Mr. Poling, and Ms. Clark voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy voted for the motion and the motion passed. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman, Senior Development Analyst Denny Braud stated that any information on whether property taxes would increase would have to come from Finance Division staff. Ms. Bettman thought the council had received a memorandum that indicated that raising the urban renewal debt limit could in some cases raise taxes. Mr. Klein stated that the council had received a number of memoranda from Financial Analysis Manager, Sue Cutsogeorge, and he was uncertain which one contained the information Ms. Bettman was seeking. He MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 19, 2007 Page 4 Work Session