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<br />e M I NUT E S <br /> Eugene City Council <br /> Dinner/Work Session <br /> B.J.'s Restaurant <br /> June 12, 1989 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> COUNCILORS PRESENT: Ruth Bascom, Rob Bennett, Shawn Boles, Debra Ehrman, <br /> Bobby Green, Freeman Holmer, Emily Schue. <br /> COUNCILORS ABSENT: Roger Rutan. <br /> Mayor Jeff Miller called to order the regular meeting of the Eugene City <br /> Council. <br /> I. SOCIAL GOALS COMMITTEE REPORT ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING <br /> Richie Weinman, Planning and Development Department, gave the staff report. <br /> He said the council selected hOUSing as its social goal for two years <br /> beginning in July 1988 and ending in July 1990. Mr. Weinman said the first <br /> task of the Social Goals Committee was ,to identify what local housing <br />e problems exist. He outlined several of these problems. Approximately 5,000 <br /> households in the metropolitan area are at great risk of becoming homeless. <br /> The Family Shelter House is in serious disrepair; it could take up to $1 <br /> million in rehabilitation to bring the shelter up to a reasonable standard. <br /> The current Eugene rental housing vacancy rate is approximately one to two <br /> percent. The community is experiencing rising rents and increased <br /> competition for existing units. <br /> Mr. Weinman said the committee also explored the causes of the local housing <br /> prob 1 ems. The biggest problem is that the Federal commitment to housing has <br /> been reduced by over 80 percent over the past eight years. Mr. Weinman said <br /> strong incentive programs that existed in the 1970s, such as HUD 236 <br /> mortgages and the Section 8 construction program, have been eliminated. He <br /> said another cause of th~ local housing problem has been the lack of <br /> construction of new, market-rate apartments over the past decade. The only <br /> multi-unit apartments that have been built in the community during that time, <br /> have been those that received some type of subsidy. Mr. Weinman said the <br /> changing demographics of the community, population increases, and an all-time <br /> high enrollment at the University of Oregon all serve to compound local <br /> housing problems. <br /> Mr. Weinman said the Social Goals Committee established two major projects <br /> for itself. The first was the rehabilitation of the Family Shelter House; <br /> this is a major focus of the Lane County Homeless and Affordable Housing Task <br /> Force, so the committee has not focused heavily on this goal. The <br />e MINUTES--Eugene City Council-- June 12, 1989 Page 1 <br /> Dinner/Work Session <br />