CC Minutes - 02/08/99 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES Eugene City Council Council Chamber--City Hall February 8, 1999 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Scott Meisner, Pat Farr, David Kelly, Bobby Lee, Nancy Nathanson, Gary PapS, Gary Rayor, Betty Taylor. Mayor James Torrey called the February 8, 1999, meeting of the Eugene City Council to order at 7:30 p.m. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Torrey reviewed guidelines for testimony in the Public Forum. David Hinkley, 1308 Jefferson Street, stated that traffic calming had been discussed at recent meetings of the Budget Committee, using the example of the effectiveness of small diverter projects placed in the Westside Neighborhood. He said such diverter projects would only be successful if the nature of the streets on which they were to be used was known. He said the Arterial and Collector Street Plan to be presented to the council was not the result of a logical planning process, but a "snapshot" of how streets were currently used. He suggested that such a classification process would eventually lead to all streets becoming arterials or collectors. He recommended that approval of diverter projects be postponed until a true street plan was prepared. James Silke, 2225 Shields Avenue, stated that he was owner of Silke Communications. He encouraged the council to study what had resulted from creation of the Eugene Telecommunications "sales tax." He said the ordinance had forced one paging business to close and another to move outside the City limits. He said he had been informed that equipment used for customer billing in his business had to be located outside the City to avoid paying the tax. He said the tax could not be passed on to his customers because it would make his rates non- competitive. He suggested that the ordinance was hostile to business. Mayor Torrey stated that it had recently been agreed that councilors would be permitted to make relevant comments following the Public Forum. Ms. Nathanson requested that staff provide information to the council about telecommunication businesses begun and continued to be located in Eugene since creation of the Telecommunications ordinance. She said nothing in the ordinance prohibited passing on of fees to customers and asked that its provisions be clarified for councilors. She also asked for information about other Oregon cities contemplating similar ordinances. Mayor Torrey closed the Public Forum. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 8, 1999 Page 1 7:30 p.m.