CC Minutes - 04/13/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Hornbuckle maintained that the library could have been built many years ago if the council had wished to defease the agency and direct the money toward a new library. He said that the options presented to the public were not all the options available, so the discussion was accordingly constrained. He said that other financing mechanisms, such as an income tax to increase the available General Funds for programs such as a library and recreation, had been rejected by the council and "killed the library." He said that the library would once against fail if it was attached to urban renewal. He said he would like to see a guarantee that the library would be the only project funded by urban renewal. Mr. Hornbuckle concluded by saying that an operating levy for the library based on property taxes was a bad idea. Mr. Torrey closed the public hearing. In preparation for the meeting regarding the topic on April 15, Ms. Swanson Gribskov requested information on the impact of precluding development north of the tracks. Ms. Nathanson asked staff to clarify the revenues that would be realized by the General Fund under either options E or F for the riverfront district if the district were terminated. Ms. Taylor asked if the City could guarantee that urban renewal would be used only for library construction and, if the library was not in the district, that the district would be terminated. City Attorney Glenn Klein indicated that the answer was yes; the ordinance adopting grandfathered option 1 to guarantee the funds would be used only to build a library and defease existing debt. Mr. Tollenaar asked if there was anything the council could do if it adopted the base option to influence the University to concentrate development south of the tracks. Specifically, would it be possible to amend the zoning district to provide greater assurance future development would be confined to that area. Mr. Torrey encouraged councilors to forward additional questions to staff. IV. ORDINANCE REGARDING REVISIONS OF TREE REMOVAL PERMIT PROGRAM Mr. Laue moved, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, to refer the item to the Budget Committee and ask the committee to look for funding options to continue enforcement of the tree ordinance during the upcoming budget process. Responding to a request for direction from Administrative Services Department Director Warren Wong, the council directed staff to prepare a contingency fund request to support the program for the remainder of fiscal year 1998. Mr. Laue said that he believed the council could find a way to make the program work, although perhaps not at the previous levels. Mr. Meisner indicated his support for the motion but said he hoped the council was not discussing maintaining the status quo. He said that the current ordinance had symbolic value but had not been particularly effective. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 13, 1998 Page 14 7:30 p.m.