01/11/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. B. Downtown Development District Review Mr. Holmer said the Downtown Development District Review Group (DDDRG) would like preliminary feedback from the council on its recommendations for changes to the structure of the parking program. He said these changes include metering 350 of the spaces currently in the free parking program and limiting the remaining spaces to three hours. Another portion of the recommendation is to use revenues generated from the newly metered spaces to offset the Downtown Development District's (DDD) parking rental costs. Ms. Ehrman noted that this would be a shift in policy for the City, as revenues from metered spaces in the City typically go to the General Fund. Mayor Miller felt the council should hold a work session on this recommendation. He feared that if the DDDRG were to make a final recommendation before the council has fully considered all of the policy implications, the council would feel inhibited in rejecting the suggested shift in policy. Mr. Gleason felt the council has already made a policy decision to meter more spaces, but felt it was appropriate for the council to re-affirm this commitment. He felt the council needed to give more careful consideration to the decision to transfer meter revenues from the General Fund to the parking fund, however. Mr. Gleason said such an action will have a dramatic impact on the structure of the budget. He recommended that this change be considered in conjunction with a more general discussion of the General Fund. e In response to a question from Mr. Bennett, Mr. Gleason said the General Fund has never recovered all of its expenses for the activities in the parking program. Mr. Rutan was supportive of the proposal made by the DDDRG. He felt it is time to begin thinking about parking turnover in the downtown area. Mr. Bennett said he too is in favor of the recommendation. He did not feel transferring revenue for newly metered spaces out of the General Fund was as major a decision as Mr. Gleason believes. Mr. Bennett said if the council no longer agrees with its policy to give special support to the downtown parking program, it needs to let the DDDRG know now, because the review work should not, and could not, continue under these circumstances. Ms. Bascom moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, that the council is in favor of the recommendation to impose some limit on free parking but would like more time to consider where the added revenue would go. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. C. National League of Cities' Annual Trip to Washington, D.C. Ms. Schue felt that if the council plans to institute new limitations on traveling and training expenses, it should do so before the annual trip to Washington, D.C. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 11, 1989 Page 2