CC Minutes - 08/13/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regarding maintenance, Mr. Kelly said that if there were major maintenance needs not within the center's budget authority, it would be incumbent on the EECA to raise funds to improve the facility. He urged that the EECA be given the chance to proceed. Speaking to Mr. Papa's remarks about the need for road funding, Mr. Kelly acknowledged the importance of that service, but pointed out that the money in question was very small in terms of that need, and it was one-time money. He did not want the council to get "hung up" on technical details that could preclude the real public good that could be generated by the proposal. Mr. Pap~ determined from Ms. Jones that the amount left in the Kaufman Trust Fund totaled about $67,000, and suggested that the money from the sale of the annex could be used to underwrite the costs of repairs to the main house. Mr. Pap~ liked Mr. Meisner's idea to earmark the proceeds from the sale of the annex, and suggested that the proceeds could be used to maintain the Kaufman Center. Responding to a question from Mr. Pap~, Mr. Svendsen said that the Kaufman Center had about 7 percent improvement needs in relationship to its value; the annex had about 34 percent of value needed in repairs. The repairs needed for the center would cost about $180,000. He clarified that $20,000 of the $67,000 left in the trust fund was committed to maintenance of the center. Speaking to the remarks of Ms. Bettman regarding the City's other partnerships, Mr. Pap~ said he preferred to view each situation on a risk/reward basis. He thought the annex had more value to the community if sold and the proceeds used to maintain the center. City Manager Taylor recommended passage of the staff recommendation, saying it could be implemented immediately. City Manager Taylor clarified that the staff had made the recommendation before the council because it did not want the proposal to be dependent on the EECA's use of the annex. The staff- recommended motion would allow staff to go to work right away to determine if the annex could be sold. If, over the course of the year, there were concrete proposals to improve the annex for use in another way, staff would have the opportunity to come back to the council and outline what would work. The amendment would put pressure on staff and the center to have programs operating in a structure that was questionable, and could exhaust the trust fund for the renovations for the sake of a modest revenue stream. He said that passage of the original motion would allow staff to work on a contract with the EECA that was consistent with the way the City contracted with other entities, and to review the agency's performance at the end of one year, and the council could still have an opportunity at the end of the first performance year to revisit some of these ideas without trying to guess what they might be. Ms. Nathanson wanted the EECA to have time to come up with another solution. She could not tell from the motion if its passage would allow for that. She wanted the center itself to remain viable for many years. She said that it appeared from the amendment that the entire trust fund could be consumed the first year for improvements. Ms. Jones said that was possible. Mayor Torrey observed that the issue raised the question of how the City paid to maintain the facilities that it accepted. He advocated for a timely decision. Mayor Torrey called for a second round of comments. MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 13, 2003 Page 8 Work Session