Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Councilor Taylor said there had been other cases when properties had to pay. Mr. Schoening said there were no instances that involved transportation improvements. City Attorney Glenn Klein said the code differentiated among alley, street and other types of assessments; the code was specific that for alley assessments the property had to abut the alley in order to be assessed and the subject property did not. He said in his legal opinion the council lacked the authority within the existing code to assess that one property for alley improvements. In response to Councilor Taylor’s request for further clarification, Mr. Klein said the council could adopt the resolution, including Councilor Bettman’s amendment, but could not expand the local improvement district to include the one property that did not abut the alley. Councilor Zelenka asked for a description of the planned improvements. Mr. Schoening said the improvements would include paving a graveled alley and reconstructing the sanitary wastewater line. He said the exempt property likely had access to the wastewater line through an easement on an adjacent property. Councilor Zelenka felt the code should be changed to provide for a more equitable assessment policy. He asked what the affect of the resolution amendment would be. Mr. Schoening said the affect was to reduce the City’s share of costs and increase the assessment to other properties by that amount, which was approximately 13 percent. Councilor Ortiz asked if passing the motion to amend would place a greater burden on the properties included in the improvement district. Mr. Schoening said it would. Councilor Bettman noted that the costs only related to the stormwater improvement and reiterated her concern that properties benefitting from an improvement should be assessed all of the costs and no costs should be shifted to City ratepayers. Councilor Clark said he was looking forward to a larger conversation about assessments. He said that would highlight the impact of greater density in the City’s core on aging infrastructure, the need to make improvements to accommodate that density and who should pay the costs of those improvements. The motion to amend the resolution failed, 4:3; Councilor Bettman, Council Taylor and Councilor Zelenka voting in favor. The Minutes, Findings and Recommendations from the Hearings Official were ap- proved and Resolution 4941 for Concrete Alley Paving, and Constructing Wastewater th and Stormwater Systems on 6 Alley between Taylor Street and Polk Street (Job #4527) was adopted, 5:2; Councilor Bettman and Council Taylor voting in opposition. The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 12, 2008 Page 3 Public Hearing