CC Minutes - 11/24/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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neighborhood as long as rents came in. He said that a high rental neighborhood was appropriate for a City- initiated LID. He added that there were approximately 50 owner-occupied homes in the neighborhood, but was uncertain how many were on unimproved alleys, although that statistic would be interesting if available. Mr. Kelly remarked that Mr. Meisner's point about equity across the City was well-taken, and asked if it was reasonable to expect similar efforts in Whiteaker or another neighborhoods in following years if the West University project went forward and what obstacles might be encountered. Mr. Schoening replied that the primary issue was finding a funding source for the City's share of costs if the projects were processed as LIDs. Mr. Kelly asked if CDBG funds would be available in subsequent years for other neighborhoods. Mr. Taylor said that issue before the council was whether to proceed with the project as a council-initiated LID, proceed with changes to assessment strategies to make such projects easier, and recognize that the process was lengthy and involved conversations with the affected property owners. Mr. Kelly said it was important to him to not consider the West University neighborhood project the end result, but rather the beginning of a process that would result in similar projects in other neighborhoods in a year or two. Mr. Schoening said the Engineering Division had the capacity to do the work and the issue was competing with other capital needs for CDBG funds. Mr. Kelly said the proposal was generally good and the only way to improve the alleys, which would have a dramatic impact on public safety, livability, and neighborhood character. Mr. Pap~ said the points brought up by Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Meisner, and Mr. Kelly were well-taken. He asked for a memo from staff on the amount of CDBG funds that were available and how they were allocated. Mr. Schoening said the City received approximately $1.5 million in CDBG funds annually and those funds were allocated in six categories, with $170,000 to $250,000 going to City capital improvements, including parks and facility accessibility. He said the alley improvement projects would compete for the funding allocated to City capital improvements. Mr. Pap~ said the proposal was a good start, but he wanted to see it in the context of a citywide plan to improve alleys across the community. He said that considerable time was spent revising the City's assessment policy, but that did not include alleys. He said that perhaps the proposal could be used as a catalyst to develop a larger program. He commented that he did not object to initiating an LID for alley improvements, but it should not be used for other purposes and instead a new LID should be formed. He asked how an LID was "sunsetted" once the improvements were completed. Mr. Schoening responded that once the construction was completed and assessments levied, property owners either paid their assessments in full or financed them through the City. He said the LID ended once the last assessment was paid. City Attorney Glenn Klein clarified that the council formed an LID by resolution and specified the district and the project and could not add projects without going through another LID process. He said the LID was terminated when the project was completed and an ordinance came back to the council to levy the assess- ments based on the actual cost of the project. He said nothing further could happen with respect to the LID; new projects would require new LIDs. Mr. Pap~ said he was anxious to see the project started and the concept applied to the entire city. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 24, 2003 Page 9 Work Session