07/17/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e C. First Hour Free . Mr. Boles explained the concept of ~he one-hour free program. He said that providing the first hour of parking in parking garages Monday through Satur- day would provide an incentive for citizens to use the parking garages. If the council accepts that proposal, the City would be underwriting the hour of free parking from the parking reserve costs. Mr. Bowers summarized the costs of the proposal. All lots: $225,000 Garages Only: $92,000 Mr. Boles proposed that the first hour of parking be free on weekdays in all garages. The proposal failed 4:5, with coun- cilors MacDonald, Boles, Robinette, and Bascom voting in fa- vor, and Nicholson, Rutan, Green, Ehrman, and Mayor Miller (to break the tie) voting against. Responding to a question from Ms.. Ehrman, Mr. Bowers said that the Hult Cen- ter garage, which. houses. monthly parking, is not part of the program. Ms. Bascom recommended that the council include the Hult 'Center garage in th~ proposal as free Saturday parking in order to accommodate the needs of Satur- day Market vendors. Ms. Ehrman proposed that parking be free on Saturdays in all e garages, including the Hult Center garage. The proposal car- ried 5:3; with councilors Green, Nicholson, and Robinette voting opposed. D. One-Time Matching Grant to DEI to Facil~tate the Transition Mr. Bowers said that this grant was intended to facilitate the transition to a privatized parking program. This would include $.30 of matching City funds for every $1 that DEI raises, up to a maximum of $70,000. The money could be used for marketing purposes. Mr. Bowers said that presently DEI has signed eight property owners and 41 retailer contracts for a total of approximately $25,000. In addition, it has a firm commitments from additional retailers and property owners totaling $103,000. This constitutes 46 percent of the $225,000 that DEI hopes to raise. Staff proposes that the City agree to provide its matching grant money when DEI has signed commitments of at least 75 percent of its budget. It has been given 30 days to meet that goal; DEI is comfortable with that timeline. Ms. Ehrman questioned whether the $70,000 in money provided by the City would be earmarked for marketing purposes only or could also be used by DEI to subsidize the validation program. In response, Mr. Boles said that the ulti- mate use of the $70,000 would be left to the discretion of DEI. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 17, 1991 Page 4