05/31/1978 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ e X. Approval of Minutes Mr. Bradley moved, seconded by Mr. Delay, to approve Council minutes May 24, 1978. Roll call vote. Motion carried unani- mously. XI. Port District Discussion--Memo distributed. e Manager noted Council's receipt of a letter from the Economic Development Commission stating approval of the application for the METROPORT for the Lane County area. It will be referred to Lane County and then to the various cities in the county. In the meantime, it was hoped that discus- sions would take place between those interested for exchanging information, but no Council action was required at this point. Regarding the process for Council, Mr. Porter said the legislation that authori~es dry land ports and special service districts are constructed differently, and it was not sure what the process would be. He noted the staff had been meeting with the Chamber of Commerce people interested in the port district to determine why they felt a port district is important for this area, and discussing their proposal. It will be September or later before the proposal is presented to Lane County, and he noted it may be in a different form than the one presented to the Economic Development Commission (EDC) at the state level. He did not know the exact process, but generally speaking, he said the City would have to agree to the formation of a port district but did not know what format that would be. At this point, the State Economic Development Commission has approved the concept of a METROPORT that could be submitted to Lane County this fall. He noted the staff has been against the formation of a port district, but could not discuss it further until more details were received. John Amundsen, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, said the EDC had given authority for the joint Eugene/Springfield Port Steering Committee to pursue the port district in the area. The maximum boundaries would be the school district boundaries. The process is covered by two state statutes: 1) The act in formation of ports, and 2) ORS 198 et al, referring to special districts. It would be necessary to collect a petition 'with 20,000 signatures and present it to Lane County, who would approve it or submit it for an election approval. The request to Eugene would be to allow that election to occur. He noted additional information was being gathered by contacting other port districts in Oregon to see what their working relationship is with the various jurisdictions. Betty Smith expressed gratitude that the Chamber of Commerce and Planning Department staffs were working together, and that the Joint Steering Committee is developing information from other port districts in the state. She had a paper regarding the port districts prepared by Pat Lynch, and would share with Council. Staff will keep Council apprised of further developments. - 5/31/78--11 '+/1