Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Mr. Braud, responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz, noted that the amounts for the expansion described under the urban renewal plan amendment proposal had not yet been finalized and further noted that the total increase to the spending limits would be subject to council approval. Ms. Muir, responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, noted that any expansions to the urban renewal plan amendment as described under the proposal would not, ultimately, need to go before the voters. Ms. Ortiz asked for further details regarding the potential Veterans’ Affairs (VA) hospital in the downtown area. Ms. Muir responded that the VA would most likely release an RFP for the project to proceed. Ms. Ortiz recognized that one of the main challenges in the implementation of the downtown VA hospital project was the cost associated with PeaceHealth’s move from their current medical office building and hoped that the City of Eugene might find a way to support the VA's efforts. Ms. Muir noted that the site for the potential VA hospital was outside the current urban renewal district boundary and the proposal for the urban renewal plan amendment provided for a discussion of expansion of the boundary to accommodate the VA hospital. Planning & Development Principal Planner Steven Nystrom, responding to a question from Mr. Brown regarding the land use code amendments proposal, noted that while an exhaustive study of stalled projects had not been conducted there were approximately 100 projects pending completion with 60 of those within one year of expiring. He noted that any projects whose permits expired would incur huge costs to both the developers and the City as the projects would basically need to start over from the beginning. Financial Analysis Manager Sue Cutsogeorge, responding to a question from Mr. Brown regarding the division of tax impact on overlapping tax jurisdictions as they pertained to the bonded debt division School District 4J, explained how urban renewal influenced the ability to pay down bonded debt. She noted that allowing urban renewal to expire would not allow bonded debts to be paid off sooner, but would only affect the amount of taxes paid by the residents of Eugene. Planning and Development Grants Manager Stephanie Jennings, responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, noted that the homelessness/housing assistance and business development funding assistance that had been acted on by the council on May 11 and May 26, respectively, had been funded with federal ARRA stimulus funding assistance, while the funding for the housing rehabilitation acted on by the council on April 27 had come from the regular federal CDBG funding allocation. Mr. Zelenka asked for clarification on how the proposal for the sale of surplus City property would relate to a previous budget committee motion. Ms. Medary responded that the proposal being discussed had originated before the budget committee's discussions and subsequent motion regarding the matter and that the disposition from any sale of surplus property would be discussed in much greater detail in subsequent council meetings. Ms. Muir, responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, commented that the economic development expected to be prompted by the sale of surplus property could come in a variety of ways including the jobs created and the value of services provided by the development of the property. Ms. Muir, responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, noted that the limited land use code amendments called primarily for extensions of time on development permits as well as other options that might be taken before the public at a later time. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 27, 2009 Page 3 Work Session