07/14/1986 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Answering a question from Ms. Wooten, Ms. Smernoff said her discussions with PNB officials today indicate they do not agree with statements in the e agreement concerning the definition of gross revenues. In addition, they do not support the six-percent fee and they do not want to pay permit fees. Mr. Holmer said he does not object to users being charged the franchise fee but he wondered if six percent covers the City's costs for allowing the use of the right-of-way. Ms. Smernoff responded that the present three-percent franchise fee covers only direct maintenance costs. The proposed six-percent fee will cover long-term direct and indirect costs as well as the "lease costll of the right-of-way. Mayor Obie opened the public hearing. Hollis Lasley, 1735 Rio Vista Way South, Salem, said he is PNB Community Affairs Manager for Salem. He said he represented Bruce Hall of PNB. He said PNB welcomed the opportunity to renegotiate the franchise agreement with Eugene. He said PNB paid the City a franchise fee of $577,000 in 1985. He said PNB is charged for the repair when a street is cut. Mr. Lasley said PNB representatives stated during the negotiations that the final agreement would have to be approved by a PNB vice president. He said PNB officials saw the the ordinance in its final form only thi s morning and would like to negotiate some changes. He said PNB does not want to say it wants to change something but its business is changing. He said statements concerning competitive services are important to PNB's survival. He said PNB would like to continue negotiations. e There being no additional requests to testify, Mayor Obie closed the public hearing. Ms. Ehrman said she woul d prefer to postpone the fi rst readi ng of the proposed ordinance because the public hearing was held on an ordinance that might be changed. Responding to a comment from Mr. Rutan, Ms. Smernoff said the PNB and City staffs worked from the same draft and changes to the draft were shared. Bruce Hall agreed to them in writing. Verbal agreements were reached with representatives in Seattle and the language agreed on appears in the proposal before the council. Replying to questions from Ms. Wooten, Ms. Smernoff said repairs made when streets are cut are adequate for a short time. However, in a year or two, seepage gets into the cut and that section buckles or sinks. After numerous cuts have been made, the City has a major repair job to do on the street. She said Portland charges PNB a five-percent privilege tax fee. Numerous phone calls were received in one month from the public when the Portland fee was increased. Answering questions from Mr. Hansen, Ms. Smernoff said the only change in gross revenues is the subtraction of competitive services recognized by e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 14, 1986 Page 5