12/14/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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-------~ e Mayor Obie said two issues would be before the council December 19: the first would be financing and commitment to construction, and the second would be the utility tax as a means of financing operations and maintenance. Architectural, servicing, parking, and accessibility issues deserve a forum and were appropriate issues at the public information sessions December 10 and 13. Ms. Schue anticipated questions from the public asking how the council could make a decision on construction before it knows how the operations and maintenance will be funded. Mayor Obie said that was the question the council would have to decide Monday night. Ms. Wooten agreed that operation and maintenance issues need to be addressed and she felt the council needs an additional work session on the utility tax before it can make a decision. She indicated that she was leaning toward conditional support of that tax but needs to discuss it with her colleagues. Referring to the suggested question and answer sheet, Ms. Wooten said it needs to address the reasons that expansion at the present site is not being considered. She mentioned asbestos, parking, and engineering and construction costs as the reasons she had been given and said those reasons should be explained to the public. Ms. Wooten asked for clarification of an earlier statement that the City would be given first position on the construction or somewhere else. Specifically, she asked what other collateral might be. Mr. Farkas replied that first position on the construction may involve more risk than other forms of collateral such as a performance bond, a guaranteed letter of e credit, a surety bond, or other property. Ms. Wooten returned to the issue of the utility tax and the time available. She said the real key to gaining the confidence and trust of the public is the education process. Calling the project "complicated stuff," she questioned the necessity of reaching a decision on either construction or operation and maintenance funding by the end of the year and asked why the process could not be elongated. While he said he did not know at what point the project would be jeopardized by delay, Mr. Gleason said insecurity is what kills projects. He explained that Pankow1s original proposal was to consider the City's suggestion of an 8th and Willamette mixed-use development if the City's participation was decided by September 1988. Pankow accepted a delay until October and finally agreed to wait until January. Mr. Gleason again pointed out the impossibility of Pankow negotiating leases without knowing whether the library will occupy space in the building. He said it is important to inform Pankow, on the capital side, whether these deal points are things the City wants to proceed with and whether the City wants to be in the deal. As the council has discussed, Mr. Gleason said that agreement would not put the City in a position from which it could not retreat. While Ms. Bascom and Ms. Wooten felt a decision on construction must be reached by the end of January, Mayor Obie indicated that he hoped the council would reach a decision December 19. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 14, 1988 Page 12