Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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cards for payment and observed that credit cards were used in 70 percent of the transactions and that revenue increased by 46 percent. Ms. Solomon asked the City Manager if the City would continue to ask the parking program to contribute in excess of $500,000 to the General Fund. Mr. Ruiz responded that generally speaking the program would continue to be asked to do so, as were all enterprise funds. He explained that those funds purchased services from the General Fund. He said they also charged enterprise funds the equivalent of an “in lieu of” fee or franchise fee. Mr. Zelenka asked if there was a contribution to the capital fund for rehabilitating parking structures. Mr. Petry responded that the parking program did not build any reserves for capital replacement. He said they looked for the highest priorities and tried to “put it in the budget and make it work.” Mr. Zelenka complimented Mr. Petry for a “well-run program.” He noted that he was not enamored with the idea of reducing the revenue from the parking program with a free program. Mr. Clark suggested there be a motion to extend the time for the topic. He related that he had originally thought the council could direct the City Manager to come back with suggestions for ordinances, but he said a subcommittee convened to come up with solutions would meet that need. He reiterated that his intention was to create a downtown that was a better draw for people who live in Eugene. He felt that if one asked people in general, most felt that parking meters were a deterrent. He averred that the City should be doing more to incentivize activities that brought people downtown, such as the Farmers’ Market. He added his feeling that a change from metered parking to non-metered parking would bring increased revenue from citations and would reduce capital costs which would nearly offset the loss of meter revenue in the downtown core. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to form a subcommittee to come back with spe- cific recommendations. The motion passed, 4:1; Mr. Zelenka voting in opposition. B. WORK SESSION: Adoption of the Legislative Policies Document Ms. Taylor advocated for approving the Legislative Policies Document. Mayor Piercy expressed concern that councilors might not be ready to vote on the document without discussing it. Mr. Clark thought the document was fairly substantial. He said the council should talk about what it contained. Mr. Zelenka commented that he thought the legislative policies were “fine.” Mr. Poling said he was ready to take action because he had participated in the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) meetings, though he was interested in listening to Mr. Clark and Ms. Solomon’s concerns. Ms. Taylor asked Intergovernmental Relations Manager, Brenda Wilson, to address the timeline. Ms. Wilson responded that she did not need the document “today” but wished to underscore that the 2009 legislative session was imminent. She said she wanted to be able to begin presenting the document to the legislative delegation in two weeks. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 29, 2008 Page 4 Work Session