Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Councilor Bettman clarified that the cost was comprised of a $70,000 one-time expenditure and $60,000 annually for one administrative aide. Mayor Piercy said she had thought a long time on this issue. She felt supportive of having more staff help though she felt less comfortable with regard to creating office space. From the discussion she surmised that perhaps space was only needed for four councilors. Roll call vote; the vote on the amendment was a tie, 4:4; councilors Poling, Solo- mon, Papé, and Pryor voting in favor; councilors Bettman, Taylor, Ortiz, and Kelly voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy voted against the amendment and it failed on a final vote of 5:4. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to amend the FY07 General Fund budget by adding $100,000 ongoing and $20,000 one-time to provide an addi- tional Planning Division FTE in the Planning and Development Department to work on infill standards. The source of funds is a $120,000 reduction to the Reserve for Revenue Shortfall. Councilor Kelly thought the Planning Commission’s work on opportunity siting and infill was one of the best chances the City had to figure out how it would grow and whether the City could grow in a compact form that also preserved the quality of life for current residents. Councilor Bettman asked why this allocation was not in the City Manager’s proposed budget. City Manager Taylor replied that it had not been included in the Planning Director’s recommendation for the budget of the Planning and Development Department (PDD). Susan Muir, Director of PDD, stated that the original City Manager’s budget recommendation was the PDD proposal made in the past based on a motion that was made by a unanimous vote on July 20, 2005, which did include language about livability and infill. She said at the time the department drafted the budget package, it included all of those components. Councilor Bettman asked for Ms. Muir’s interpretation of the content of the position that was proposed to be funded. She asked Ms. Muir to define infill standards or how they were characterized in relation to the position. Ms. Muir directed Councilor Bettman to Attachment 1 to the letter from the Planning Commis- sion, as it described the menu of approaches. She explained that the commission had broken into three groupings related to opportunity siting and compatibility standards for infill and approaches included identifying and prioritizing the most at-risk neighborhoods and identifying protection measures that were general for broad citywide neighborhood by neighborhood approaches. Councilor Bettman asked how long the process to come up with a recommendation for strategies, policies, and code changes was anticipated to take. Ms. Muir responded that the attachment included timelines for the options, ranging from six months to three years. Councilor Bettman offered a friendly amendment to make the allocation $120,000 for three years. Councilor Kelly asked if a three-year allocation of funds would make the position difficult to hire for and fill. City Manager Taylor replied that the City did on occasion hire someone with the expectation that they would serve as long as there was a task to do. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 12, 2006 Page 12 Regular Meeting