Item 2A: Approval of Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Bettman left the meeting. 5. PUBLIC HEARING and ACTION: Resolution 1035 of the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene Adopting the Budget, Making Appropriations, and Declaring the Amount of Tax to be Received for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2005, and Ending June 30, 2006 City Manager Taylor stated that staff supported the Urban Renewal Agency budget as recommended by the Budget Committee. Council President Poling opened the public hearing. Zachary Vishanoff, Patterson Street, said he was critical of urban renewal. He alleged that he did not have access to the information about the budget and newspapers were not writing about urban renewal because it sounded "boring." He felt this was why it affected the community in such a negative way. He averred that urban renewal was tied to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) which, he said, would take out trees on Franklin Boulevard. He commented that air pollution was bad and that Franklin Boulevard already had aesthetic and pedestrian-access problems. He thought some of the urban renewal money could mitigate the project by "skipping" removal of the median and this could save lives. Mr. Vishanoff related that he had seen designs for a "sculptural" pedestrian overpass by the new courthouse. He thought putting expensive crossings near the courthouse hurt the rest of the community. He felt more crossings could be built if less money was spent on building an artistic-looking crossing at that location. He said this was why the discussions about urban renewal should be very public and in detail. He suggested that the City go directly to the public for input. He commented that the problem with urban renewal was that it was prone to "Goldschmidt-related maneuvering" and there had already been "funny sports-related funding" in the council meeting. Council President Poling closed the public hearing. Councilor Solomon, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to adopt Resolution 1035 of the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene adopting the Budget, making appropriations, and declaring the amount of tax to be received for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2005, and ending June 30, 2006. In response to a question from Councilor Pap6, Ms. Murdoch explained that funding for the Cultural Services Comprehensive Plan split between the Downtown Urban Renewal District and the Riverfront Urban Renewal District had not been even because it was felt that the downtown district would reap more of the benefits. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 7:0. Councilor Poling closed the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency at 9:35 p.m. and reconvened the meeting of the City Council. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 13, 2005 Page 16 Regular Session