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increased from 75 cents per hour to $1 and this was projected to increase revenue by approximately <br />$150,000. He noted that other ideas included looking at Boulder, Colorado and Portland, which had <br />invested in downtown signage with parking communication and had experienced increased usage of the <br />parking system. He stated that Portland also utilized multi-space meters which enabled people to use credit <br />cards and resulted in a 40-percent increase in revenue in one year. He said Boulder also began using credit <br />cards for payment and observed that credit cards were used in 70 percent of the transactions and that <br />revenue increased by 46 percent. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon asked the City Manager if the City would continue to ask the parking program to contribute in <br />excess of $500,000 to the General Fund. Mr. Ruiz responded that generally speaking the program would <br />continue to be asked to do so, as were all enterprise funds. He explained that those funds purchased services <br />from the General Fund. He said they also charged enterprise funds the equivalent of an “in lieu of” fee or <br />franchise fee. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if there was a contribution to the capital fund for rehabilitating parking structures. Mr. <br />Petry responded that the parking program did not build any reserves for capital replacement. He said they <br />looked for the highest priorities and tried to “put it in the budget and make it work.” <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka complimented Mr. Petry for a “well-run program.” He noted that he was not enamored with <br />the idea of reducing the revenue from the parking program with a free program. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark suggested there be a motion to extend the time for the topic. He related that he had originally <br />thought the council could direct the City Manager to come back with suggestions for ordinances, but he said <br />a subcommittee convened to come up with solutions would meet that need. He reiterated that his intention <br />was to create a downtown that was a better draw for people who live in Eugene. He felt that if one asked <br />people in general, most felt that parking meters were a deterrent. He averred that the City should be doing <br />more to incentivize activities that brought people downtown, such as the Farmers’ Market. He added his <br />feeling that a change from metered parking to non-metered parking would bring increased revenue from <br />citations and would reduce capital costs which would nearly offset the loss of meter revenue in the <br />downtown core. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to form a subcommittee to come back with spe- <br />cific recommendations. The motion passed, 4:1; Mr. Zelenka voting in opposition. <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: <br />Adoption of the Legislative Policies Document <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor advocated for approving the Legislative Policies Document. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy expressed concern that councilors might not be ready to vote on the document without <br />discussing it. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark thought the document was fairly substantial. He said the council should talk about what it <br />contained. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka commented that he thought the legislative policies were “fine.” <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 29, 2008 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />