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Ms. Taylor also expressed appreciation for the City’s purchase of the Green property and praised Mr. <br />Ruiz’s leadership. She congratulated Ms. Piercy for getting community organizations involved in downtown <br />th <br />safety issues. She mentioned that the Chevron gas station at 29 Avenue and Willamette Street had a policy <br />of not topping off gas tanks. She commended a female police officer for her helpfulness when patrolling the <br />downtown area. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman reported that the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) met to discuss <br />its preliminary assessment of the impact of the closure of Hynix on revenue. She said it was estimated that <br />MWMC revenue would decrease by $870,000 in the coming fiscal year, which would prevent the capital <br />improvement bond secured by revenue projections from moving forward. She said a public hearing on the <br />issue would be held in September. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark said he had heard that the assessment of the Hynix property could change and the large numbers <br />involved could have an adverse affect on the City. Mr. Ruiz said that staff was researching that issue. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to allocate $25,000 from the General <br />Fund contingency to provide support for the Eugene Celebration. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon commended the community-wide, welcoming nature of the Eugene Celebration. She said it <br />brought people downtown and the City’s support clarified its partnership with downtown businesses and its <br />interest in improving the downtown area. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz asked if the allocation was in lieu of or in addition to the City’s annual contribution to the <br />celebration for parking. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon said that the celebration typically asked for free parking at meters and in City-owned parking <br />facilities, which amounted to approximately $17,500. She said the allocation could encompass free parking. <br /> <br />Renee Grube, Library, Recreation and Cultural Services, explained that in past years the council had <br />authorized free parking for the celebration and the City allocated the cost. She said the allocation proposed <br />by Ms. Solomon could be designated for parking. City Attorney Glenn Klein said the motion did not specify <br />how the $25,000 would be used to support the celebration and one option would be to cover the cost of free <br />parking. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz noted the large number of volunteer hours the community donated to the celebration and was <br />willing to support the higher allocation as costs were likely higher each year. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Solomon said the organizers of the celebration had not <br />approached her for support; she had asked them what the City could do to help. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to amend the motion to allocate the <br />funds in part to cover the $17,000 for free parking. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark recommended defeating the amendment as staff had not had time to research the question of <br />parking costs and passing the main motion as put forward by Ms. Solomon. <br /> <br />In response to questions from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Ruiz said that the General Fund contingency contained <br />approximately $300,000. He said that about $100,000 was unexpended in last year’s contingency. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2008 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />