CC Minutes - 06/01/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Nathanson said she favored not seeking an advisory vote on the use of urban renewal funds for construction of a library, but that she was concerned that submitting local option levies for both library operations and acquisition of parks and open space land would require that both be scaled back from their optimum levels. Ms. Swanson Gribskov pointed out that it appeared the council was coming to consensus to approve the "No Automatic Repeal" ordinance regarding the use of urban renewal revenue. She said decisions regarding library operations would be made after the council had received the recommendations of the Mayor's Library Improvement Committee. She said she believed a new library could be operated on a minimum scale without approval of a new local option levy, but that one should be proposed which would include development and operation of branches. Mr. Meisner said that he could support proposing a medium level maximum indebtedness for the library project because he believed future library expansion would likely result from involvement of Lane County residents and include funding from such a source. He said he believed creation of library branches would most likely be part of a recommendation from the Mayor's Library Improvement Committee. Ms. Taylor said that she supported a Iow level of maximum indebtedness for the library project because a future City Council could decide to fund future expansion to the library with alternate revenue sources. She said she supported creation of branch libraries. She said she believed a program to acquire park land needed the maximum possible resources and that such a program should make provision for every possible preference of land resource. In response to a question from Mr. Meisner, Ms. Nathanson said that the Parks and Open Space Committee had not yet made a decision regarding a recommendation for a funding source. She reminded councilors that when the committee had made its interim report, they had encouraged it to develop a proposal to meet the perceived needs of the community. She said she was concerned that if a Eugene local option levy for library operations, a Lane County local option levy to support public safety programs, and some sort of Eugene parks funding measure were all on the same ballot, they would not all be approved by voters. In response to questions from Mr. Tollenaar, Mr. Meisner stated that estimates on the cost to create and operate library branches would be available by mid-July and that the recommendation from the Mayor's Library Improvement Committee regarding branch libraries would likely include proposals for locations and levels of services to be included. In response to a question from Mr. Tollenaar, Mr. Johnson explained that choosing a medium level of maximum indebtedness for the library project would likely result in future councils having the ability to issue $10 million of bonds to support library expansions. Mr. Tollenaar stated that he would support a medium level of maximum indebtedness for the library project because it would be overly difficult to adequately explain to the public what the advantages of a higher level would be. In response to a question from Mr. Laue, City Attorney Glenn Klein explained that provisions of Measure 50 did not preclude issuing 20 year bonds, but that local option levies were limited to five years. He said that the concept of setting maximum indebtedness as required by Measure 50 was difficult to understand, but that such concerns were not an issue with local option levies. MINUTES--City Council June 1, 1998 Page 10 7:30 p.m.