01/11/1982 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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IV. PUBLIC HEARING ON CITY OF EUGENE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM--FISCAL YEAR 1982-83 (memo and information distributed) ~ Jim Farah, Planning, said that in the fall of 1980, City Council directed staff to develop a Capital Improvement Program. He reviewed the history of the past ten years of the program. He told how the staff developed the 1982-83 recommendations which focus on economic diversification and land acquisition. He referred to Attachment D which is a list of recommendations by departments and geographic locations of the projects. He said that Attachment B was a worst-case outline of expected revenue in 1982-83. Attachment C included the responsible department and potential funding source for each project. Page 14 of Attachment C of the distributed material provided a summary of the staff recommendation. The Planning Commission, after study, forwarded two recommen- dations. The West Eugene Trunk Line sanitary sewer should be the City's highest priority for 1982-83. Airport improvements projects paid for by Federal funds were the second recommendation. There were three omissions in the staff recommendations: general traffic signal improvements ($140,000 from the General Fund), specific signal upgrading ($22,200 from the General Fund), and bicycle improvements ($10,000 from the General Fund) . - Public hearing was opened. Ruby Brenne, 1080 Patterson, representing Friends of the Library, called the library the "unwanted stepchild" of the Capital Improvement Program. At the time of the library dedication in 1959, there were 23 full-time employees. Today, there are 41-1/2. In 1959, Eugenels population was under 50,000 with 16,700 cardholders. Today, the population is 105,000 with 34,000 cardholders. In 1959, items circulated totalled 216,700. In 1980-81, the items circulated were 1,670,000. In 1959, there were 57,000 volumes; today there are 100,000. The library has not increased in size. In 1978, a study was made for library expansion. Employees are crowded. There is no ventilation in the basement. The situation can only get worse. Laura Johnson, 1810 Fairmount, questioned whether these capital improvements would be made with an increase in property taxes. She stressed the demand the City makes now on property taxes. She explained the dilemma of the rental owners who are experiencing a tremendous vacancy rate. She concluded by saying that the Capital Improvement Program looked very expensive and it should be whittled down. Dave Williams, 2183 Essex Lane, Chairman of the Planning and Land Use Subcom- mittee of the Chamber of Commerce, said that the subcommittee was asked to review the capital improvement projects related to economic development. They worked with Planners McKinley and Farah. It is very important for economic development that the West Eugene Trunk Line be installed. Bill Uhlhorn, 2625 Hilyard, stressed that it was important to provide emergency housing in Eugene. The transient, the mentally ill, and the unemployed will not go away. Mr. Uhlhorn advised the council to speak to the police, the courts, e MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 11, 1982 Page 7