CC Minutes - 10/10/01 Work Session

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Mr. Corey said that staff was recommending that the development of design standards proceed concurrently with the project design and ultimately be adopted as part of the Great Street Design Parameters. He noted that the general description of the design parameters were included in the meeting packet as Attachment D. He said the schedule was summarized in Attachment B. Mr. Corey said that preliminary estimates of costs for the project were $2.6 million. He noted that there was a pending request to Lane County, through the Capital Partnership Program, for $1.6 million dollars. He said that the remaining balance would be covered by the $625,000 remaining balance in the City's Commercial Revitalization Loan Fund and $375,000 in contributions from downtown merchants. He acknowledged that there was some consternation among the downtown merchants about this amount and said the project would be designed to fit within funding constraints that occurred. He said the council would have the opportunity to approve the final funding package. Mr. Corey asked for action approving the proposed work plan, to appropriate the balance of the Revitalization Loan Fund, and to acknowledge that the adoption of standards for all of the great streets identified in the Greater Downtown Vision would be part of a new downtown zoning district. Ms. Bettman expressed a desire to see design standards in place before beginning the reopening work. She said that this would allow better leverage in getting the desired development for a successful downtown street. In response to a question from Ms. Bettman regarding whether assessments and systems development charges had been ruled out as ways of funding the project, Mr. Corey said the formation of a local improvement district was an option but instead staff were showing a private sector contribution of $375,000 as an cash contribution in lieu of that process. City Manager Johnson added that systems development charges (SDCs) were limited to certain kinds of streets of which Broadway did not fit the definition. Dave Reinhard of Public Works Transportation commented that Broadway was classified as a local street and SDCs revenues were limited to expenditures on collector and arterial streets. Ms. Bettman questioned the classification of Broadway as a local street as inconsistent with nearby streets in the area. She suggested funding studies to include design standards with the $625,000 in the Commercial Revitalization Fund and looking to assessments and SDCs as a way of coming up with the remaining funding. City Manager Johnson said there was a timing issue. He noted that the reopening could not be completed in time for the 2002 Eugene Celebration if the project was delayed by waiting for design standards. Mr. Kelly said he could support the first recommended staff motion. He said that he could support a second look at SDCs but did not want to have assessments as an option. Mr. Kelly stressed that design standards were critical to the reopening. He suggested that Option B, as presented in the meeting packet, would allow design standards to be completed before beginning construction. He was against the idea of design standards being developed concurrently with the street design. He suggested bringing in a nationally recognized consultant to get some new design ideas. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 10, 2001 Page 6 Work Session