CC Minutes - 05/08/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council City Council Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall May 8, 2006 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, David Kelly, Gary Papé, George Poling, Chris Pryor, Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. She noted that 24 people had signed up to speak and requested a motion. The council concurred that it would stay to hear all those who had signed up to speak, and no motion was offered. Jim Hale , 1715 Linnea Avenue, requested that the council pull Consent Calendar Item G and vote against it. He wanted to force the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) to provide answers to the following questions, before taking its ballot measure to the voters: ? Why was EWEB in such a hurry to move when there was no pressure from McKenzie-Willamette Hospital demanding action? ? Why did EWEB want the City to approve the item at the present meeting “to save $50,000 on an election” when it had “no qualms about spending several times that amount in bonding expense?” ? Why was EWEB “anxious” to borrow $1.2 million for unknown contingency costs, $100,000 to plan the future use of the operations yard, $700,000 to do a wetland fix on the Roosevelt Boule- vard location, and $300,000 in ordinary EWEB staff costs associated with the move, when it could “seemingly” pay most of these expenses from ordinary funds instead of borrowed money? ? Why was EWEB “in a big hurry” to spend $4 million on design and site improvements for the Roosevelt site, which he felt was far from the power and water sources in the Willamette Valley? ? Why did EWEB intend to remodel the existing building? Mr. Hale questioned the need for what he asserted were two city governments and two city managers. He noted that City Manager Dennis Taylor supervised 1,482 employees and was paid $133,000 annually while EWEB General Manager Randy Berggren supervised 472 employees and was paid $192,500 annually. He asserted that EWEB paid its five division managers substantially more than the City paid its manager. He believed that the administrative infrastructures of the City and of EWEB represented a duplication of services and consolidation would bring about greater efficiency. Tom Snyder , 1143 Monroe Street, proposed that the council host a public dialogue regarding what vision the community would support in the development of the EWEB riverfront property. He read a futuristic MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 8, 2006 Page 1 Regular Meeting