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<br />Mr. Zelenka stated he attended a meeting of the Sustainability Commission and the Metropolitan Policy <br />Committee (MPC). He complimented the University of Oregon and the construction company building the new <br />arena for respecting agreements with the neighborhood and minimizing the impact of construction activities. He <br />said Lane County would receive approximately $6.5 million in federal economic stimulus funds and the MPC <br />had identified priority road projects to receive funding. He said the MPC also received a presentation from the <br />WEC, which was very interesting. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy commented that she joined Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken and Lane County Commissioner Pete <br />Sorenson in issuing a press advisory about the collaboration of all three jurisdictions on economic development. <br />She announced that the City of Eugene was recognized on Arbor Day for its urban forestry program. <br /> <br />City Manager Jon Ruiz thanked Urban Forester Mark Snyder for his dedication to maintaining the City’s trees. <br />He noted the WEC would make a presentation to the council on April 27 and the Budget Committee would meet <br />on April 15 to discuss the General Fund deficit and financial forecasts. He announced that $250,000 in urban <br />renewal loan funds for gap financing had enabled Kesey Enterprises to purchase the McDonald Theater <br />building. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Ms. Solomon, Mike Sullivan, Community Development Division, explained that <br />the gap financing came from the Downtown Revitalization Loan Program, which was funded as part of the <br />urban renewal program. <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: <br /> Local Economic Development Plan – Part 1 <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz said the City had a three-pronged approach for economic development: <br />? <br /> State and federal economic stimulus dollars <br />? <br /> A long-term view of the regional economy over the next 20 years <br />? <br /> City organization strategies for helping existing businesses and jobs <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz introduced Planning and Development Executive Director Susan Muir to discuss preliminary <br />economic development concepts. He said a second work session would focus on those items of interest <br />identified by the council and include recommendations for moving forward. <br /> <br />Ms. Muir stated that national, state and local economic conditions had affected issuance of residential building <br />permits, reducing the average number per month from 40 in 2006, to 14 in 2008. She said commercial and <br />industrial permits were somewhat lower, but the value of those applications was high. She said a number of <br />measures had been taken to alleviate the development process while preserving the council’s policies. Those <br />included deferring fee increases, reducing turnaround time for permit reviews, using stimulus funds for road <br />repair projects and making some services available on Saturdays. <br /> <br />Ms. Muir reviewed agenda item summary Attachment E, Possible Local Stimulus Actions and Attachment F, <br />Items for Council Discussion. She said symbols indicated whether the item had been implemented, was being <br />explored administratively or reflected a policy issue that required direction from the council. She noted that the <br />City would receive $370,000 in federal economic development funds and staff would present recommendations <br />for use at the next work session. She asked the council for feedback on the items in Attachment F. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy was pleased with the focus on local activities and urged that strategies include filters for wages, <br />benefits and sustainability to assure consistency with City goals and policies. She said the public should be <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 13, 2009 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />