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In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Ms. Wilson stated that it would be good to have the document <br />revised by early fall at the very latest so we can start having conversations with our legislative delegation. <br />She thought she could make a first stab at putting together the policy issues and legislative concepts that <br />need to be looked at and discussed in the next six weeks. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor wants to discuss the urban renewal issue. Ms. Ortiz also wanted to include a railroad quiet zone <br />on the list. They discussed the conversation between Congressman DeFazio and Mr. Obie regarding federal <br />funding. Ms. Wilson responded that she had been discussing this issue with several parties regarding this <br />funding issue. She has discovered at present there was no federal funding available. She has determined <br />that the 50 percent closing requirement is not in state law and is looking into the offer that ODOT has sent <br />to us regarding the Section 130 funding. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy declared that the City should get its “ducks in a row” for the United Front lobbying effort. <br />She felt that sometimes things were taken forward on the trip that had not been vetted within the community. <br />She noted that the Lane Transit District (LTD) had been “so successful” it was in trouble as it could not <br />move the amount of people who needed to be moved around the City. She related that LTD had been told by <br />Congress to go to the State. She averred that the City needed to understand that supporting LTD in this was <br />in agreement with the City’s goals. She felt that major issues having to do with city goals that aligned with <br />the City’s major partners’ interests needed to be identified. <br /> <br />Ms. Wilson concurred. She said she was meeting with the local partners to check in with them and know <br />what they were doing. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy wanted to keep the bus pass program as fully as possible and she also wanted to work with <br />Congress and the State to ratchet up the full roll out of the EmX. <br /> <br />Ms. Wilson said she would bring a legislative policy outline and a list of legislative concepts in draft form to <br />the CCIGR before staff discusses the items. She stated that right now they are separate items, and although <br />they may eventually be combined, these issues needed to be vetted out since the legislative concepts are <br />proactive and the policy outline is more reactive. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy noted that if our council decides that the issue she just talked about is a Priority 2 and the <br />LOC transportation committee and we know what they are thinking about, then we need to have a <br />conversation on how all of that comes together and how to take the best advantage on how to get people into <br />public transportation. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor indicated an interest in off-road bike paths, like in the Crest Drive area. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz requested easier access to the IGR Operating Agreements and the Resolution. She suggested that <br />those be placed in the Legislative Policies Document. The group discussed this and decided that the grant <br />application discussion could be set out in a memo so that the process was clear. <br /> <br />5. Items from Committee and Staff/United Front Trip <br /> <br />Ms. Wilson stated that Kurt Bailey from Smith Dawson Andrews would come in the next week for a <br />discussion of the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization. Eugene and its legislative partners would be participating <br />in the discussion. She said the United Front partners were discussing possible legislative concepts on policy <br />changes to SAFETEA-LU to make it easier to obtain federal funding. She noted that there had been <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations April 23, 2008 Page 6 <br /> <br /> <br />