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<br />Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council at 8:30 p.m. and convened a meeting of the <br />Eugene Urban Renewal Agency. <br /> <br />5. PUBLIC HEARING and ACTION: <br /> <br />Resolution 1049 Adopting a Supplemental Budget; Making Appropriations for the Urban Renewal <br />Agency of the City of Eugene for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2008, and Ending June 30, <br />2009 <br /> <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. <br /> <br />Zachary Vishanoff <br />averred that the University of Oregon arena project had hidden urban renewal costs. He <br />felt that urban renewal was an unmitigated disaster. He suggested that the City have a “backlog clock” <br />located somewhere in the public’s view to track the mounting costs of the backlog of street repairs. He <br />added that he thought former Mayor Jim Torrey had done a good job of getting the word out about the <br />pothole issue during his recent campaign for mayor. Continuing, he asserted that the urban renewal budget <br />could be diverted into historic preservation. He believed that they would not have had the “political train <br />wreck” in the Fairmount neighborhood if there had been discussion of preserving the Joe Romania building. <br />He wanted to disarm the urban renewal process for the next couple of years and put the money into historic <br />preservation and potholes. He asked that form-based codes and the possibility of a future multi-lane <br />boulevard on Franklin Boulevard be put to a public hearing. <br /> <br />John Barofsky <br />, 2010 Hubbard Lane, supported adoption of the budget as proposed. He expressed concern <br />regarding the WG Development taking place in the Urban Renewal Agency (URA). He alleged that City <br />staff and URA funds for legal services were being used to find ways for a developer to avoid state law that <br />would require the developer to pay prevailing wages if a threshold of public/private partnership was met. <br />He said if the council felt this requirement was unnecessary, there should be a focus on changing the state <br />statute through the CCIGR rather than on finding ways to circumvent “the letter of the law.” He had heard <br />the Mayor and councilors advocating for a living wage but he felt that when it stood in the way of filling a <br />pit they would look the other way. He suggested that if this was the course they would take, they should let <br />WG Development pay the City the actual value of the property rather than letting the City subsidize it. He <br />averred that this would take the public/private partnership out of the mix. He noted that WG had indicated <br />that paying prevailing wage would increase costs by 30 percent. He thought paying the City the full price <br />would only increase costs by one to two percent. He thought if WG was having trouble gaining tenants the <br />City could be involved as a guaranteed tenant. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing. <br /> <br />Councilor Bettman agreed with Mr. Barofsky. She objected to urban renewal and indicated she would <br />oppose the motion. <br /> <br />Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to adopt Resolution 1049 adopt- <br />ing a Supplemental Budget; making appropriations for the Urban Renewal Agency of the <br />City of Eugene for the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30, 2009. <br /> <br />Councilor Taylor reiterated her opposition to urban renewal. <br /> <br />Roll call vote; the motion passed 5:2; councilors Taylor and Bettman voting in opposition. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy adjourned the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency at 8:38 p.m. and reconvened the Eugene City <br />Council. <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 8, 2008 Page 7 <br /> Regular Meeting <br />