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Kulongoski regarding the aforementioned transit bill and made it clear to him that what was needed in any <br />such bill would be direct operational funding support rather than a capital funding mechanism. <br />Ms. Bettman felt that the LTD budget crisis was highly unfortunate since so many land use and <br />transportation issues hinged upon the ability of LTD to provide adequate mass transit service to the citizens <br />of Lane County. <br /> <br />C. WORK SESSION: Adoption of Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity <br />Act (SAFETEA-LU) Policy Recommendations <br /> <br />Intergovernmental Relations Manager Brenda Wilson presented the draft report and policy recommendations <br />regarding SAFETEA-LU as reflected in the materials submitted to the council. She noted that the federal <br />transportation bill was due to expire on September 30, 2009, and that there was no new transportation bill <br />scheduled to take its place at that time although there were expected to be continuations of the current bill to <br />provide interim funds in the event that SAFETEA-LU was not reauthorized. <br />Ms. Wilson said the new Federal Surface Transportation Bill (FSTB) represented an opportunity to make <br />policy changes, to change the structure and the requirements of long-standing programs, to introduce new <br />initiatives, and to add oversight requirements and responses. <br />Ms. Wilson commented that the draft report and policy recommendations were the result of collaboration <br />over the last several weeks between the staffs of LTD, the cities of Springfield and Eugene and Lane <br />County, who had come together to review the current bill and its goals of increased safety, program delivery <br />improvement, and the establishment of more efficient delivery systems. <br />Ms. Wilson noted that the draft report and recommendations before the council would be forwarded once <br />approved to Congressman Peter DeFazio. <br />Ms. Wilson briefed the council on the Current Challenges, Policy Recommendations and Regional Program <br />Priorities of the FSTB as listed in the draft report. She added that the Regional Program Priorities were not <br />actually projects but only priorities with which to assist in more specific policy recommendations related to <br />the FSTB. <br />Ms. Bettman felt that what was needed in the adoption of the FSTB was a shift in funding strategies rather <br />than the dominant paradigm. She added that the language in the draft report was so vague that it could <br />allow current transportation legislation to proceed with no measurable policy changes. She maintained that <br />any letter or report sent to Congressman DeFazio should contain specific operational requests for transit <br />funding, alternative modes, and operations and maintenance funding related to preservation of the current <br />transportation infrastructure. <br />Ms. Wilson, responding to a question from Ms. Bettman about how funds provided in any reauthorization of <br />SAFETEA-LU might trickle down to Eugene, noted that SAFETEA-LU funds were not typically allocated <br />in a formula-based manner and, as such, that any specific trickle down benefits would be difficult to <br />quantify. <br />th <br />Ms. Bettman advocated for the inclusion of access management and a boulevard treatment along West 11 <br />Avenue as issues to be included in the final recommendations to Congressman DeFazio. <br />Ms. Wilson, in response to a question from Mr. Clark, said that the federal priority partners referred to in <br />the Agenda Item Summary referred to the various intergovernmental relations managers from Eugene, <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 13, 2008 Page 6 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />