Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Mayor Piercy noted that Item E would not only address the crisis at hand, but was in line with doing due diligence for following council goals. Roll call vote; Item E, approval of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program, was passed unanimously, 8:0. 3. ACTION: Ratification of Unanimous Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions and Discussion and Action on Non- unanimous Intergovernmental Relations Committee Actions on Legislative Policy from April 29 and May 6, 2009 Councilor Zelenka explained that Senate Bill (SB) 719 was a bill that would provide no-interest loans from a revolving loan fund it would establish to help finance eligible infrastructure projects in urban growth boundary areas. Councilor Zelenka, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to adopt the staff recommended position of Priority 2 Support for Senate Bill 719. Intergovernmental Relations Manager, Brenda Wilson, noted that two other bills had not received unanimous support by the Intergovernmental Relations Committee (CCIGR) but neither of them had made it past the dead bill deadline. She stated that the bill in question would establish the revolving fund, funding it from the issuance of lottery bonds from the State. She reported that the bill was moving and was currently in the Joint Ways and Means Committee. She said Councilor Taylor moved to change the position to Priority 2 Oppose and the motion had failed. Mayor Piercy recalled that the bill had to do with expansions that were already underway in the Portland area. Ms. Wilson confirmed this, noting that the money would also be available to other cities, should they choose to expand their Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs). Councilor Brown agreed with Councilor Taylor. He felt the bill was premature, given that there had been no discussion of an expansion of the UGB in Eugene, the population study had yet to be completed, and the buildable land survey was also not done. He also pointed out that the Infill Compatibility Standards and Opportunity Siting work was not yet completed. He likened it to sitting at a table for a feast that had yet to occur. Councilor Zelenka observed that the money would come from the Economic Development Department in the form of no-interest loans. He noted that the State was running a deficit budget and questioned whether the money would be there. He also asked what sort of eligible infrastructure projects the loans would pay for. Ms. Wilson replied that the fund would be set up and administered by the Economic Development Department, but the money for the fund would come from the sale of state lottery bonds. She said lottery bonds funded a wide variety of projects including transportation, infrastructure, and water projects. She stated that SB 719 was in committee; the economic forecast would be received on May 15 after which the Joint Ways and Means Committee would release its budget. She explained that this would be the benchmark they would use to determine whether any of the bonds before it would be funded. She said, at present, when a local government expanded its UGB, it would not have the funds to invest in beginning infrastructure because the fees that pay for those projects had not yet been paid. In response to a follow-up question from Councilor Zelenka, Ms. Wilson stated that other communities that had such projects planned included Gresham, several cities in Washington County, Wilsonville, and a couple of other central Oregon cities. Councilor Poling wished to point out that the bill did not speak to the expansion of a UGB, it only provided cities an additional tool in the event that an expansion of the UGB was necessary. He averred that the no-interest loan could be a viable tool for any community. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 11, 2009 Page 4 Regular Meeting