CC Minutes - 06/29/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Manager Taylor related that on June 28, 2005, the State approved the West Eugene Enterprise Zone application jointly submitted by Lane County and the City of Eugene. He said staff met with the Lane Board of County Commissioners on the morning of June 29 and recommended adoption of the interim standards that the council adopted by Resolution 4832 on June 27. He said that following a lively discussion, the County commissioners adopted interim standards that included all of the elements in Resolution 4832 except the $30,000 job cap. He said the joint application required both parties to agree on interim standards and, if there was a disagreement on interim standards related to job quality, the zone would revert to State standards. He said that award of an enterprise zone by the State made it unlikely that one jurisdiction could unilaterally withdraw the application and additional research, as well as additional conversations with the County, would be necessary in order to block implementation of the zone on July 1, 2005. He introduced Denny Braud and Mike Sullivan of the Community Development Division to review the situation and respond to questions. Mr. Braud noted that the City and County were awarded enterprise zone designation, to take effect on July 1, 2005. He said a consistent goal had been for the City and County to have standards in place on July 1; although agreement on those standards had not yet been reached as of July 1, and the zone would be subject to State standards and criteria related to job creation and type of business even though there were no local standards and criteria. He said it would be necessary for the City and County to reach an agreement in order to have local standards in place by July 1. Mr. Kelly clarified that the cap of $30,000 maximum tax exemption per job created was not actually part of the interim standards; it was an amendment to the resolution to apply to the State for an enterprise zone. Mayor Piercy acknowledged the arrival of Lane County commissioners Bobby Green, Anna Morrison and Faye Stewart. Mayor Piercy solicited a first round of council questions and comments. Mr. Poling thanked the County commissioners for their discussion of interim standards and particularly Commissioner Dwyer for his motion to accept the 1997 interim standards with a 25-percent benefit while continuing to collaborate with the City Council to develop permanent standards. He said that Commissioner Dwyer was clear in his comments that a per-job cap should be part of the permanent standards discussion with the City. Mr. Poling indicated he wanted the council to take action to accept the action by the County commissioners to include the 1997 interim standards with the 25-percent benefit and immediately begin collaborative discussions about developing permanent standards to include a per job cap. He asked the City Attorney if that would bring the City and County into alignment. Mr. Lidz replied that it would be necessary to amend Resolution 4845, adopted June 27, 2005, to delete the section related to the per job cap if the goal was to bring the resolution into alignment with what the County had adopted. Mr. Poling, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to amend Resolution 4845 by deleting sub- section (c) of Section 1, related to the three-year tax exemption benefit limitation of $30,000 per new full-time job created. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 29, 2005 Page 2 Work Session