06/24/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e Mr. Miller said he felt that the commission was meeting with the council prematurely and that the options needed further refinement. He said the council expected the commission to present a definite option. Mr. Bartel noted that poor survey returns and diverse comments at forums, make it clear that the public does not know how downtown parking is financed. Mr. Boles agreed that the survey was excellent, but commented that Options B, C, and D misrepresented ideas presented at the commission's forum and that he was surprised that the commission created the options. Mr. Rutan said he was pleased with the commission's work, that the DDD Task Force had considered the issues thoroughly, that both groups had worked with the public, and that it was time to make a decision. It would be impossible to resolve every issue. He said he believed that it was time to privatize DDD services and was glad that the council was being forced to make a deci- sion, as had many other cities. He supported Option A. Mr. Nicholson felt that the City infrastructure favored businesses located on the city's periphery and that these businesses should be taxed to pay for the extra cost of having to stretch services to reach them. Ms. Ehrman responded that that idea has been considered but that doing so without short-term al- ternatives would not rescue the DDD in time. Mr. Miller raised the idea of the "urban village" concept. e Mr. MacDonald supported Mr. Nicholson's idea, but felt that the "periphery" issue should remain separate from the ODD issue. He said he believed it was appropriate to have attendants at the Parcade. Mr. Boles agreed that a peripheral business tax could not be implemented quickly enough to help the ODD. He supported implementing Option A to en- sure the ODD's immediate survival and then addressing the inequities raised by Mr. Nicholson as soon as possible. Mr. Rutan supported the idea of not combining the two issues. Mr. Nicholson said he was concerned about providing continuity, stating that the system should not be modified for a year and then modified again. Mr. MacDonald agreed, adding that free parking should not be entirely eliminated. Mr. Bartel commented that parking garages are "way of the future" and that there should be incentives to use them. Ms. Ehrman noted that the parking program needs to be simple and consistent throughout the city. Mr. Green said he favored a validation program, provided that there not be requirements on how businesses distribute the validation tickets. In response to a question from Mr. Brown, Larry Summers (of Diamond Parking) said the cost of a validation program ranges from $8.58 to $13.15 per parking e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 24, 1991 Page 2