CC Minutes - 09/28/98 Work Session

Home Browse Search

City Attorney Glenn Klein explained that when the council decides to expend public funds, it can only do so if there is a public purpose, which is much like defining "essential benefit." He said the City will not be second-guessed but it must articulate what the public purpose is. When the City hands over money to an agency, the City must get something in return. Mr. Klein said the request before the council can be looked at in two ways. First, the City will pay for the loss of revenue that "did not happen." If the council is going to do that, he said, someone needs to articulate what is the public purpose, given that the event has already happened. The other way to look at it is to say: "there was a debt, we think this is a worthwhile organization, we want to make sure the organization remains in existence and the payment of the debt will help the organization to remain in existence to provide benefits to the community that we think are important benefits." Mr. Laue said "contingency" was whatever the council wished it to be, and in this case "it was a reaching out to a continuing event that has an ethnic component to it that we think is important to foster in this community.., and we would like to see it continue and we believe this may help them to continue." The motion passed, 5:3; with councilors Meisner, Taylor, and Tollenaar opposed. C. Willamette Livability Forum Mr. Fart moved, seconded by Mr. Tollenaar, to authorize the expenditure of $500 from the contingency fund for survey expenses. Mr. Tollenaar noted that other communities and agencies including the Eugene Water & Electric Board and the City of Corvallis ($3,000) were supporting the survey. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Swanson Gribskov asked staff to include information for the October 21 work session on how other jurisdictions use their contingency funds. III. WORK SESSION: FACILITY CONDITION REPORT Vic Martin, Public Works, reviewed the report, highlighting the items staff believed were critical and saying that the goal was to reduce or eliminate the backlog of deferred maintenance and refine an investment strategy for the future. Mr. Martin said the report and work session were meant to create a model for making decisions and determine alternatives methods of managing the City's assets. The computer-based report, he noted, provides for reviewing and testing the information for specific projects. He emphasized that the report covered general fund facilities only, excluding parking garages, the airport, the waste treatment plant, and other facilities. He noted that the report does not address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) issues, which will be reported on separately. Mr. Martin indicated that the report is also the basis for the annual Capital Improvement Program (CIP). He said the average expenditure for maintenance has been slightly under one percent of the asset--the recommended amount is three to four percent and some organizations allow up to eight percent. Minutes--Eugene City Council September 28,1998 Page 5 5:30 p.m.