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e Mayor Miller thanked Mr. Arkell for the briefing and stated that the council's public hearing on this matter would be on November 5, 1990. Mayor Miller adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council and convened the meeting of the Urban Renewal Agency. V. WORK SESSION: USE OF URBAN RENEWAL CASH RESERVES Bob Hibschman, Planning and Development Department, reported on this issue. At the council's September 10 meeting, staff presented a review of the downtown projects that could use the limited financial resources of the renewal district. He noted that there is currently about $5 million in unallocated cash reserves that could be used for projects authorized by the Urban Renewal Plan. Mr. Hibschman indicated that staff was directed to return to the council with a proposed recommendation on how the reserve money could be allocated to the projects. He explained that there are at least three primary gUidelines for resource allocation, including: conformance to and furtherance of adopted policy, the availability of other funding resources, and the extent of public funds to leverage private investment. Staff recommended that $1 million be set aside for the library project while the remaining amount of $4 million be used for other projects. Mr. Hibschman briefly summarized the proposed projects. He warned that if e Ballot Measure 5 passes, the impact could reduce the amount of Urban Renewal Cash Reserves available to the projects to $3 million. He emphasized that all of the projects being considered for the remaining reserves address the goals and objectives of the voter-approved Urban Renewal Plan update. Noting that the Lane Transit District (LTD) transfer station is currently located within the downtown urban renewal boundary, Ms. Ehrman asked whether some of the cash reserves could be used to help with the transfer station relocation. Mr. Hibschman said that he did not think that this would be legal, but that he would check with the City Attorney's Office. Mr. Boles said that a portion of the Retail Task Force's design recommenda- tions for the downtown mall consider the possible uses of the Equitable building which is owned by the Resolution Trust Corporation. Because this property is currently vacant, he suggested that the City attempt to acquire it for future use in the central plaza redesign. Ms. Bascom asked about the potential cost of property acquisition. Mr. Gleason said that it is difficult to predict how much this would cost; depending on the nature of the asbestos problem, he estimated a cost of $.5 million. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to direct the City Manager to take the necessary actions to acquire the property e MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 17, 1990 Page 8