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

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Mr. Pryor said it appeared that while the County was aware there were discussions of a cap, the specific amount of $30,000 was new information. He asked if the sticking point was the job cap, the amount of the job cap or the timing of when the information was presented to the County commissioners. Mr. Braud said it was timing and the County's desire to take more time to consider whether a cap was a good idea and jointly work on the concept instead of putting something on the table late in the process. Mr. Pryor asked how the dollar amount of the cap had been determined. Mr. Braud replied that Ms. Bettman suggested the idea of a cap and her initial proposal was for $30,000. He said that amount seemed to be one around which consensus could be built. Mr. Pryor asked if there was a sense that if the council aligned with the County on standards at this point, there was agreement to establish a job cap in an amount to be mutually agreed upon at a later point. He said the only outstanding issue seemed to be the cap and there should be some way for the City and the County to address a cap without withdrawing an application that had already been accepted. Mayor Piercy solicited a second round of comments on the motion. Mr. Kelly said he watched the commissioner's meeting that morning and the merits of a cap were not discussed. He stated that the cap was intrinsic to the original application and asked for support for the motion before the body. Ms. Taylor said she was opposed to enterprise zones and felt that in addition to time for discussions with the County there should be time for discussions with the community. She was sad to hear the application had been approved by the State and felt it was the wrong thing, as more standards were needed instead of fewer. She said most people did not know what an enterprise zone was and were not aware of the City's application for one. She said that an enterprise zone should focus on sustainability and living wage, which the standards did not address, as well as a variety of jobs instead of restricting jobs to manufacturing and a different type of designation instead of geographical. She said all of those things needed to be discussed and more time was needed for those discussions. She would support the substitute motion. Ms. Solomon said that there had been many discussions to date and reminded the council that a majority of the beneficiaries of the prior enterprise zone were small, locally owned businesses that were able to expand operations and hire more people who stayed in the community and helped the economy grow. Referring to a lack of trust between the partners, she suggested that a sunset for interim standards be adopted that would require negotiation between the City and County on new standards. Mayor Piercy expressed disappointment about the current situation as the council had labored hard to reach this point. She said the tipping point on reaching agreement was the job cap and understood why removing it jeopardized the council's support. She also understood why the County felt it was not included in the conversation about a cap, although commissioners were aware one was being discussed. She was concerned because the enterprise zone could be an innovative tool with community standards to target economic development priorities. City Manager Taylor noted that members of the Board of County Commissioners were present and suggested a caucus during a brief adjournment to determine if there was a solution to the impasse. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 29, 2005 Page 6 Work Session