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said that was different than Option 2, which was to appropriate the money from the General Fund rather than borrow it. Mayor Piercy recognized Ms. Bettman for the third round of comments. Ms. Bettman said the key to success would be the design process. Given the cost of the project, it was important to %tart on the right foot" and create a process that worked for both the area in question and for the city as a whole as the council would be setting a precedent. She recommended that the City consider someone like Dan Burden of Walkable Communities, Inc., to facilitate the process. Mayor Piercy said it appeared councilors had many concerns and questions that needed to be addressed. She emphasized the need for the City to be conscious about communicating with the neighborhood in question on a regular basis so that residents felt they got information in a timely way and understood what was happening. C. WORK SESSION: FY2005-2007 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Project List The item was a continuation of a previous discussion that occurred at the council's December 8, 2004, work session. The motions below were considered at that time until the item was tabled for later discussion: Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Poling, moved to approve the Eugene's project list in the drafi fiscal year (FY) 2005-2007 Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program. Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to drop the Chad Drive project from the Met- ropolitan Transportation Improvement Program. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to substitute a motion that the City of Eugene resubmit all of the City's projects that were competing for Surface Transportation Program-Urban (STP-U) money under a category of maintenance and preservation so that the City could still compete for this money but it would be allocated to maintenance and preservation projects. Mr. Schoening reviewed the process used by the local metropolitan planning organization (MPO) to allocate State and federal transportation funding. He said that prior to 2002, the MPO received federal STP funds that were allocated on the basis of population. At that time, Eugene would exchange its funding allocation with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) in return for State funding, which gave Eugene greater flexibility as to the use of the dollars. For example, such funds had underwritten the cost of the Polk Street neighborhood traffic calming project. However, Mr. Schoening said, after the 2000 census the metropolitan population exceeded 200,000 and the area was designated a transportation management area (TMA), which brought in more funds but changed the allocation process. Federal regulations required the MPO to develop an allocation process on a competitive project-by-project basis. The MPO received $2.5 million annually, and the projects were programmed in a three-year cycle through the Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program (MTIP). Continuing, Mr. Schoening said the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC), acting through the MPO, had MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 24, 2005 Page 8 Work Session