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thought the ordinance was not a solution and would only set up a perpetual vicious cycle of ever-increasing tax needs. Terry Connolly, 1401 Willamette Street, conveyed the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce's conditional support of the ordinance. He agreed the City needed to address its backlog of maintenance projects. However, he acknowledged that finding consensus on how to pay for the $94 million backlog had presented a challenge. He stated that the chamber, faced with a choice of standing aside and doing nothing or supporting an increase in the local motor vehicle fuel tax, would offer its tepid support for the ordinance. The chamber felt it imperative that the City ordinance have an 80-percent refund for diesel users consistent with that of the City of Springfield; that the revenue from the tax be restricted to street maintenance and preservation between the curbs and nothing else; and third, street maintenance must be contracted out to the private sector to insure the best use of the money. Additionally, he said the chamber's support was conditioned on City leaders demonstrating their commitment to addressing the backlog problem by redirecting resources from lower priority services and lobbying Congress for the reauthorization of Lane County's federal forest payments. Zachary Vishanoff, Patterson Street, did not think the tax was needed. He pointed out that the gas tax would be incorporated into the cost of food, as people would use motorized vehicles to transport it. He predicted poor families would be forced to spend more on gasoline for their cars and less on food. Mr. Vishanoff expressed concern that the University of Oregon's proposed arena project would greatly increase wear on local streets. He also suggested that Lane Transit District (LTD) buses damaged roads and should spend more money to preserve them. Mr. Vishanoff reiterated his concerns regarding smart growth and suggested that local roads would be governed by a %uper surveillance system." E. W. Walton, 2427 Adams Street, said the last increase in fuel costs forced his wife and him to plan their travel and also to purchase an electric scooter. He testified that should this tax be enacted he would shop in the city of Springfield to save money. He predicted the tax would place the approximately 30 service stations of Eugene in jeopardy. He suggested the City use some of the $28 million earmarked for a new police station for road maintenance. In closing, he provided a list of current fuel prices for the cities of Eugene and Springfield. David G. Hinkley, 1350 Lawrence Street, Apartment 1, opposed the ordinance. He said Eugene service stations would no longer be competitive with the outlying communities. He agreed that transportation maintenance was a problem and recommended the council revisit the transportation system maintenance fee. He reminded the council that it had adopted such a fee but repealed it prior to collecting any of the revenue because of opposition from the business community. He felt the fee should be established at approximately $1 per trip for both businesses and residents. Rick Mikesell, 3015 Salem Avenue Southeast, Albany, a regional distributor of petroleum products, registered his opposition to the ordinance as it would place Eugene service stations at a competitive disadvantage compared to the other communities in the area. He predicted the City would drive such small businesses outside of the city limits. He pointed out that the ordinance also asked service stations to be a tax collector and said taxes, when paid with a credit card, would cost the service stations to collect. He MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 6, 2004 Page 11 Regular Session