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

Home Browse Search

Regarding the planned location of the facility, Councilor Fart said that it was ideal. He cited the ease of transportation and the lower land cost as examples of that rating. Councilor Fart urged the council to rally behind the grant request. He said it was a huge issue that would affect the community for many years to come. Councilor Kelly commented that the Child Advocacy Center did extraordinarily valuable work. He expressed his pleasure that Lane County was also funding the center and that Eugene's funding was contingent on funds from the City of Springfield. Councilor Kelly raised concern that the request did not use the correct process. He was not comfortable with the idea of the City Council dictating to the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee. City Manager Johnson acknowledged that it was unusual for the City to ask the committee to hold aside that much funding for one request but noted that the amount of leverage on the facility was also very different (1/10 of the total cost). He acknowledged that the advisory committee usually had a larger role. Councilor Kelly stressed that the request was worthwhile but noted that there were other worthy projects that had gone through the standard process. He stressed the importance of grant requests going through the correct process. Councilor Kelly noted that nonprofit contingency requests were limited to $5,000. He said that other requests had been asked to cut down their requests to that amount. He acknowledged that it would be inappropriate to cut a $50,000 request to $5,000 so he suggested that the funding come out of the main contingency account from FY01-02. He commented that the $5,000 limit should not be "thrown out the window." Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to amend the motion so that the contingency money was taken from general council contingency, combined FY01-02, as necessary. Councilor Pap~ commented that the council was leaping over standards that it had set. He suggested that the contingency money be removed and that staff be challenged to find the money from the 2002 budget. He raised concern over the precedent set by the council violating its own processes. Councilor Pap~, moved to amend the amendment to stop the use of any contingency funds and request that the City Manager come back with a request that was worked into the budget process. Roll call vote; the vote on the amendment to the amendment was a tie. Mayor Torrey voted in opposition. The amendment to the amendment failed, 5:4, with councilors Pap~, Bettman, Meisner, and Rayor voting in favor. Speaking to the original amendment, Councilor Nathanson was willing to support the change if it moved the process forward. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 11, 2001 Page 4 Regular Meeting