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Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes
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Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes
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<br />the community’s success. He urged the council to focus on the future and take advantage of projects that were <br />ready to move forward now and an immediately available funding source that did not raise taxes or detract <br />from public education. He fully supported the proposed urban renewal plan amendment. <br /> <br />William Kennedy <br />, Lincoln Street, Eugene, said he was a member of the Downtown Neighborhood <br />Association and lived, shopped and played in or near downtown Eugene with his family. He urged the council <br />to do whatever was necessary to assure that the LCC project and other proposed projects downtown became a <br />reality, including increasing the spending cap on the urban renewal district. He said little progress had been <br />made in addressing downtown problems without urban renewal. He said opponents of urban renewal wanted <br />the money spent on schools, public safety and public works, but schools were already being built, <br />improvements were being made to the Park Blocks and measures were under way to improve public safety. <br />He said Eugene’s least sustainable aspect was the job market for young professionals and families and its <br />struggling downtown. He had seen many peers move away for those reasons, but he chose to stay. He urged <br />support for the four projects as there might not be many more changes to revitalize downtown. <br /> <br />Dan Herbert <br />, Potter Street, Eugene, supported the ordinance amending the downtown urban renewal plan to <br />provide funding for four projects and then sunsetting the district. He said opponents’ plans to refer the issue to <br />the ballot and end the district in 2010 was a bad idea. He said opponents’ chief complaint was the diversion of <br />funds from the City’s General Fund, the schools and the County, but that was a weak argument because the <br />City’s General Fund could fare even worse if urban renewal funds could not be used to support the projects. <br />He noted that the 4J School District had confirmed that it would not suffer financially from urban renewal as <br />the State made up any shortfall in funds. He said the four projects would serve the entire County, not just <br />Eugene. He said if a referral to the ballot succeeded in rejecting urban renewal, alternative means for funding <br />the projects would cost an estimated $3 million more and an election would cost the City $25,000 and the <br />County $75,000. He said a referral would also cause delays in the LCC project, risking increased costs or <br />scuttling the entire project. He was concerned that an election would also result in a worsening of opponents’ <br />harsh rhetoric, with the effect of shutting down serious discussion of important issues. <br /> <br />Charles Biggs <br />, Antelope Way, Eugene, did not support the plan amendment as currently written. He liked the <br />LCC project, but it was not contingent on construction of housing. He said LCC already had a facility in <br />downtown the same size as the proposed project and the amendment should be modified to require housing as <br />part of the project. He did not see why the City should provide a “bailout” of $2.5 million in tax money to <br />persuade the VA to locate a clinic downtown when the current owner of the facility—PeaceHealth—was a <br />very wealthy organization. He said that information provided to the Planning Commission indicated there <br />would be a $650,000 loss to schools and questioned the source of the new figures cited by the City Manager. <br /> <br />th <br />Alexis Garrett <br />, West 18 Avenue, Eugene, Ward 1, had served as chair of the Eugene Redevelopment <br />Advisory Committee (ERAC) since 2004 and the committee had been given the task and privilege of reviewing <br />every viable project proposed to support downtown. She said the ERAC understood the unique costs and <br />construction and staging challenges of building in the downtown area and the importance of creating funding to <br />insure realistic projects moved from concept to completion. She said ERAC had sponsored and heard <br />community input on every level and had previously supported and recommended other projects it felt would <br />provide the foundation for desired development, living wage jobs, subsidized and market rate housing and <br />inviting venues for the arts. She said it would not have been possible to predict the current economic <br />challenges and perhaps in another time and economic cycle the plan amendment would have been a different <br />proposal. She said after a thorough evaluation of the proposed downtown plan amendment, the ERAC <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 19, 2010 Page 2 <br /> Public Hearing <br /> <br />
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