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MINUTES – Eugene City Council November 14, 2018 Page 1 <br />Work Session <br />M I N U T E S <br />Eugene City Council <br />Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br />November 14, 2018 <br />12:00 p.m. <br />Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Jennifer Yeh, Claire Syrett, Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark. Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor <br />Councilors Absent: Greg Evans Mayor Vinis opened the November 14, 2018, Work Session of the Eugene City Council. <br />1. WORK SESSION: Northwest Natural Gas FranchiseFinance Director Twylla Miller and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Ethan Nelsonpresented information about the franchise renewal process and timeline and its nexus with theClimate Action Plan.Council Discussion <br />•Questions asked about the Public Utilities Commission’s role and scope of authority in anyattempt to attach new conditions to the franchise agreement. <br />•Council should consider an option to immediately stop the provision of new natural gasservice, with some emergency exceptions. <br />•In order to meet climate recovery goals, everyone, including utility providers, needs toparticipate. City can be a leader in these efforts by providing incentives and consideringconditions on new franchise agreement. <br />•Request made for information about the implementation of a privilege tax. <br />•Council could consider dedicating the franchise fee to the City’s climate recovery efforts,and identify incentives to help residents move away from natural gas use. <br />•Partnership with internal and external stakeholders will be critical to the success of anyplan to change the franchise conditions. <br />2.WORK SESSION: Downtown UpdateFacility Management Division Manager Jeff Perry, Community Events Manager Colette Ramirez-Maddock, Police Sergeant Julie Smith, and Associate Planner Eric Brown presented informationabout downtown activities and initiatives, and plans to build on past efforts to continue themomentum of this work.Council Discussion <br />•Thanks to staff and community partners for incredible work. Appreciate the funding of anew Downtown Manager position to coordinate all of these efforts. <br />•Disagree with overall approach and tone of efforts; council represents very diverse opinionsand there are many in the community who are frustrated that bad behaviors downtown arenot being enforced. <br />•Improvements downtown are being seen; although things are moving in the right direction,there is more to be done. <br />•Increase efforts to target bad behavior occurring on public rights-of-way. <br />ATTACHMENT A <br />December 10, 2018, Meeting - Item 2A