CC Minutes - 06/11/01 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regarding the concern raised by Councilor Pap~, Mr. Johnson said the people requesting the grant were not aware that the grant would be awarded in time to put the item in the City's budget process. He said that, even then, he would not have included the item since it deserved a special agenda item for consideration at a council meeting. He said a special grant, such as the one being discussed, did not fit in the normal budget process. He reiterated that he had no knowledge of the grant request during the budget process. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Kelly, moved that the City's Community Development Block Grant Department Advisory Committee be directed to award Lane County $100,000, over the next two grant years, from the pool of funds designated for nonprofit facility construction and remodeling and $50,000 from council contingency funds. The City of Eugene's contribution is conditioned on the City of Springfield's contribution of $75,000. In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding whether the last $50,000 would come from the council contingency nonprofit account, City Manager Johnson noted that there was about $70,000 left in the combined categories of council contingency. He noted that the nonprofit account had $51,500 left with the balance in the main contingency account. Councilor Nathanson expressed her desire to see the main account used for emergencies and unanticipated organizational issues. City Manager Johnson reiterated that the main account did not have $50,000 dollars remaining so the grant would have to come from the nonprofit side. He said that, as late in the fiscal year as the request came, it would not matter where the money came from. Councilor Meisner raised concern that the grant was written and submitted predicated on the idea of grants from the cities of Eugene and Springfield. He stressed that the council should have been notified of that. Councilor Meisner raised concern that County taxes were paid by citizens of Eugene and yet the citizens were being asked to pay an additional contribution to make a service available to them. He said that it was setting a bad precedent. Councilor Meisner said he would, reluctantly, not support the motion because of his concerns. He reiterated his concern over the grant being submitted predicated on the City's contribution and yet the city did not know about it. Councilor Rayor expressed his pleasure that the funding was predicated on the participation of the City of Springfield. He said he would support the motion with reservations. Councilor Rayor raised concern that the Human Services Commission would feel shortchanged since the question of funding the Child Advocacy Center was not brought through them. He expressed a desire to see more cooperation from the County on future issues. Council Fart commented that he could not think of a better use of contingency money than the Child Advocacy Center Grant. He noted that the fiscal year ended on June 30, and that there would be no other requests for contingency funds for the current fiscal year. Councilor Fart said the center was so important that he did not care what place its funding took in the budget cycle. He stressed the importance of viewing the center as a "target of opportunity" and added that the funding would not add additional stress to the City's budget. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 11, 2001 Page 3 Regular Meeting