08/11/1986 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council Bon-Sai Restaurant 44 West Seventh Avenue, Eugene August 11, 1986 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Richard Hansen, Freeman Holmer, Jeff Miller, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue, Cynthia Wooten The dinner/work session of the City Council of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by Council President Richard Hansen, in the absence of His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. Bill Sloat, of the Business Assistance Team, updated the group on the question of electrical service to the Willow Creek area. He highlighted a letter submitted from Larry Campbell, Vice President of Pitchford's Inc., on behalf of the owners and developers of Willow Creek Park which had been sent to the councilors. He said that the developers wanted Willow Creek to have reliable power sources and thought that the cost of power in Willow Creek should be competitive with other light industrial sites in Eugene. Sloat also said that the letter referenced the Tampa exercise, and discussed the need for low electrical rates at Willow Creek in order to attract new businesses. He cited e the recent Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan Partnership Quarterly Report about two businesses that were lost to the state of Washington because of lower ut il i ty rates. Mr~ Sloat said that he did not know if Willow Creek was the only local site that the firms considered. Ms. Wooten asked what the rate difference was and how Lane Electric Cooperative's rates compare to other parts of the state, or other places where the companies may have relocated. Mr. Sloat acknowledged that even the Eugene Water and Electric Board's rates were not as low as Washington1s utility rates. He said that there is at least a 30 percent rate difference between EWEB and LEC for industrial uses. He said that staff compared EWEB and LEC rates for a 20,000 square-foot electronics type of development and the study indicated that LEC would cost $1,000 more per month than EWEB. Mr. Sloat stated that the Metro Plan looks at efficient and orderly extension of urban services. A recent amendment to the Metro Plan states that EWES and the Springfield Utility Board will be the eventual service providers inside the urban growth boundary. He said that there are technical and duplication of service issues whi ch need to be addressed. Bill Sloat described the map which detailed the Willow Creek area, showed the urban growth boundary, and pointed out the area served be Lane Electric Co-Op inside the city limits and the urban growth boundary. He read a letter from Ed Aster, president of Aster Publishing Corporation, who agreed that electrical service should be transferred to EWES. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Dinner Session August 11, 1986 Page 1