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VII.ACTION: Approval of Library Financing Plan Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson noted that representatives of the Eugene Library Foundation and the New Library Advisory Committee (NLAC) were present to make some comments before the council. Tom Wiper, chair of the Capital Campaign Committee for the Eugene Public Library, reiterated that the week following the opening of the bids for the new library, his committee met and discussed what could be done to make sure that the citizens of Eugene got the library they wanted and needed. He said that they had come up with the idea of challenging the City of Eugene to find $1 million in funds to be dedicated to the library. He added that the Capital Campaign Committee would raise an additional $1 million so that the budget would be closer to being met. He assured the council that the committee would follow through on its word and find an additional million. Mr. Carlson noted that after the Capital Campaign Committee had made its suggestion, the City Manager had asked that the NLAC reconvene to make a recommendation to him on its own behalf. He introduced the chair of that committee, Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts. Ms. AspinwalI-Lamberts said that the NLAC supported the challenge to the City. She strongly recommended that the City take up the challenge; otherwise, she believed the resulting budget cuts to the new library would be disastrous. Mr. Carlson said that staff had examined the budget and the potential sources of revenue that could be used to meet the challenge if the council chose to respond to it. He said that there were two sources of funding that were dedicated to the library. The first was the Urban Renewal District and the other was the Library Local Operating Levy. He said that there was approximately $800,000 available in Urban Renewal funds, over the next three fiscal years, that was not previously budgeted. He also noted that the Local Operating Levy had resources that were not expected to be expended because of the slow start up in both the branch and main libraries. Councilor Meisner commented that he had heard nothing but supportive comments from the citizens he had talked to regarding the new library. He said that he had spoken to over 200 people and stressed that the response was 100 percent positive. He added that the City had promised the community a new library and that the promise was not a limited budget. He urged support for meeting the challenge of the Capital Campaign Committee. He related that he had been very discouraged by the construction bids that had come in. Councilor Taylor expressed her appreciation to all of the people on the Eugene Library Foundation and the NLAC. She said that she did not want to compromise the quality of the library but raised concern over the addition of the fourth floor and whether it had pushed up the cost. In response to a question from Councilor Taylor regarding an extra $200,000 in the Urban Renewal Fund on top of the proposed $800,000, City Manager Johnson said that the additional $200,000 would come from reserves that had been set aside to protect the City's general fund from having to make debt service payments on the new library bonds. He added that staff felt more comfortable with the last $200,000 of the challenge coming from the Local Option Levy. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 13, 2000 Page 17 Regular Meeting