CC Minutes - 01/21/09 Work Session

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Ms. Wilson, responding to a request for clarification from Mr. Brown, noted that the City’s congressional delegation would not be seeking funding for any projects from the Federal Priorities Project List and the Federal Transportation Reauthorization Project List from the federal stimulus or any other economic recovery plan but would rather be seeking funds as part of the normal fiscal year federal appropriations process. She added that the projects from the lists would all be considered earmarks and as such could be funded only through the normal appropriations process and not as part of the economic stimulus package. Mr. Ruiz suggested that certain individual projects from the lists might be funded through federal stimulus grants outside of the normal appropriations process. Ms. Wilson noted that City staff and the council would be kept apprised of any such initiatives. Mr. Brown said that he saw no immediate public benefit from the City’s Franklin Boulevard project and suggested that any funding for such a project might be better used to fund local homeless shelters. Ms. Piercy replied that the Franklin Boulevard project was something that the City of Eugene had been working on for a long time in association with the City of Springfield and was part of long-standing efforts to increase the economic viability of the area. Ms. Piercy noted indications that proposed federal stimulus funding for cities would be categorized for environmental restoration, wastewater upgrades, inter-modal transportation, watershed development, housing, homelessness, law enforcement and several other concerns. She maintained that the guidelines for requesting and receiving federal stimulus funds had not been finalized yet, but that the City should be ready to act immediately once such funding became available. Mr. Inerfeld, responding to a question from Mr. Clark, noted that it would not be possible to expedite the timeline for the Beltline Highway projects in order to take advantage of federal funding assistance. Ms. Wilson, responding to a question from Mr. Clark, noted that the Air Quality Monitoring Station project included on the Federal Project Priorities List was partially contingent upon funding commitments from the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) and that it was currently unknown if the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would fund the continued operation of such a project should LRAPA cease to exist. Mr. Clark was concerned that the City might be saddled with the responsibility of funding the operation of the project should the DEQ not step in. Mr. Clark restated that he would like the City to seriously consider using the EWEB administration building as a new city hall for Eugene once EWEB had relocated to its new administration building. He commented that the City should investigate the use of any available federal stimulus funds for such a purpose. Mr. Ruiz responded that the timing of such a project might be difficult to incorporate into any upcoming federal stimulus packages as it was his understanding that stimulus funds would be directed to more shovel-ready projects. Ms. Wilson suggested that it might be possible to add such a project to the City’s federal appropriations process for next year. Mr. Zelenka, responding to Mr. Brown’s previous comments regarding the Franklin Boulevard project, clarified the history of the project for Mr. Brown’s benefit, noting that as a joint enterprise between Eugene and Springfield it had been designed to address a variety of economic and community development concerns for the two cities. He added that there had been a significant amount of public input to the project. Mr. Zelenka asked Ms. Wilson to provide a brief written summary to the council regarding the funding situation surrounding the West Eugene Environmental Education Center project and WREN. Ms. Wilson answered that she would be happy to provide such information. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 21, 2009 Page 4 Work Session