CC Minutes - 07/23/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Bettman expressed concern that the risk was not minimal, as the staff report had asserted. Ms. Cutsogeorge responded that the projects would be done only after it had been ascertained that the debt service had been met and the reserve was in place. Ms. Bettman supported an early pay off for the library as the City was facing such huge deficits. She asserted that urban renewal was a diversion of money from the General Fund and before it had a chance to be applied to school funding. She felt that, as such, it was exempt from the existing budget process scrutiny. She stressed that there was a multi-year financial strategic plan, in which the downtown vision and related projects ranked very low on the priority list. She stated that a police headquarters was high on the list, as well as a new City Hall. She commented that the only urban renewal allocations she would support would be the aforementioned buildings. Mayor Torrey called for a second round of questions and comments. Mr. Meisner advocated for an expansion of the boundary of the Riverfront District so that neighborhood- scale amenities could be made to East Broadway. He preferred to coordinate and connect the two districts so that urban renewal resources could be used for the improvements on that street. Mr. Kelly requested staff to clarify, in a memorandum, how the tax increment financing would affect the other tax districts and the school districts in particular. Mr. Pap~, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, moved to direct the Agency Director to implement a loan program for the Downtown Urban Renewal District and to include an appropriation on SB#1 in FY04 for the loan program. Mayor Torrey opened the floor for those who wished to speak to the motion. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to amend the motion to direct the City Manager to return to the council with a proposal to dedicate present and future urban renewal revenue to fund a new City Hall and police headquarters in downtown Eugene. Ms. Bettman reiterated her assertion that the police headquarters and the City Hall should be the City's priority. She felt that the revitalization of City services would substantially aid the process of downtown revitalization and reminded councilors that this was included on the strategic plan that had been adopted by the City Council. Mr. Kelly disagreed, stating that, in terms of the broad public, the public opposition would be stronger if all urban renewal dollars were allocated to a new City Hall than other projects. He added that the strategic plan had been proposed by staff, but had not been adopted by the council. Ms. Taylor opined that using urban renewal funding for a new police station would be a good choice. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 23, 2003 Page 9 Work Session