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process that was expensive and wanted some certainty regarding availability of the enterprise zone given the <br />overall cost of the project. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if all the businesses in the sustainable business park would qualify for tax exemptions. <br />Mr. Braud said they would qualify only if they met State and local enterprise zone criteria. He noted that <br />any qualifying investments would come onto the tax rolls after three years. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor stated she was opposed to enterprise zones as there were other ways to help local businesses <br />regardless of where they were located. She said this enterprise zone expansion could pave the way for future <br />expansions and she would not support the request. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if GloryBee was likely to go elsewhere if the request was not approved. Mr. Braud said <br />he could not speculate on that, but the opportunity presented by the enterprise zone would help the company <br />move the project forward and would raise the marketability of the subdivision. He said the tax exemption <br />would also help maintain the sustainable components, which added cost to the project. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if there were ways other than the enterprise zone that could be used to assist the company <br />if it was to the City's advantage. Mr. Braud replied that there was a small business lending program, but the <br />scope of the project was large enough that it was unlikely the program could meet all of the company's <br />needs. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked why the parcel was removed from the original enterprise zone. Mr. Braud said it was <br />removed because of a desire to focus the boundary on redevelopment, infill development and brownfield <br />development. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if the Industrial Corridor Community Organization area in which the property was <br />located would exist forever. City Attorney Jerome Lidz said annexation had to occur within ten years of <br />sewer connection or by 2010, whichever was earlier. He said all of the property that had been developed <br />would come into the City on January 1, 2010. He said the corridor was governed by a complicated set of <br />agreements dating back several years. Mr. Braud added that annexation on January 1, 2010, was not <br />automatic and the City would need to take action. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka commended GloryBee as exactly the type of business the City wished to attract. He asked if <br />the amount of the tax exemption was known. Mr. Braud replied that the estimated amount of exemption <br />was $450,000 over the three-year period, of which 40 percent would be City taxes if the property were <br />annexed. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if there was any mechanism that required jobs to be retained throughout the exemption <br />period. Mr. Braud said a business was disqualified if jobs were not maintained and would be required to <br />repay the exemption. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka said it was unclear to him that the project would not move forward without the property tax <br />exemption. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to approve Resolution No. 4925 au- <br />thorizing the City Manager to make application to the State of Oregon to amend the <br />boundaries of the West Eugene Enterprise Zone. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 28, 2008 Page 3 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />