Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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taken off the list. City Manager Ruiz suggested that the question came back to what the council priorities were. Mayor Piercy thought Mr. Poling’s remark about the General Fund was well-taken, and pointed out that a choice to use money from the General Fund would be a decision to reduce services in another area. Ms. Solomon determined from Ms. Muir that there would be $500,000 available for URA grants based on the current spending limit. Ms. Solomon asked how much Lane Community College (LCC) would ask from the City. Ms. Muir anticipated that LCC could request $8 million. She also clarified that the cost shifts to the URA previously mentioned as a funding option would require a plan amendment to increase the spending limit, and the council’s decision on the plan amendment could be referred to the voters. Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Ms. Muir did not anticipate that LCC would have all the project details in place by the time the council next discussed the topic. She noted that an LCC representative was present at the meeting to hear the council’s discussion. Mr. Brown referred to page 25 of the annual financial report of the URA, which indicated the district had $11 million in equity, accrued cash, and investments. Page 8 indicated the funding was available to be spent at the URA’s discretion, which indicated to him that the money could already be spent on Lane Community College. Ms. Cutsogeorge clarified the figure Mr. Brown referred to was for both urban renewal districts; funds from the Riverfront District could not be spent in the Downtown District. In addition, the Downtown District plan currently included a maximum indebtedness amount that allowed the City to spend no more than $500,000,the actual amount available had been reduced by the payment of the library debt. Mr. Clark referred to page 38 of Attachment H and clarified with Ms. Nobel Flannery the amounts associated with the costs of the proposed parking equipment and further determined from Parking Manager Jeff Petry that the number of metered spaces in the core was 427 meters, or about half the total in the Downtown Plan area, and the cost estimate for free parking was based on that number. Mr. Clark emphasized the importance of attracting the VA hospital to downtown and asked City Manager Ruiz what the City could do to address the negative perceptions that might exist in regard to Eugene. Ms. Muir said the council’s discussions had helped, and Peace Health had also assisted a great deal. The City had put out the message that staff was here to help, and was working with Peace Health on its submittal package. Staff was following up on the comments recently published in the newspaper that suggested Eugene was considered challenging to work with. Speaking to the meters on the Park Blocks mentioned by Ms. Taylor, Ms. Muir agreed they were too tall, and were being removed as a result. Mr. Pryor suggested the General Fund option, even if constrained, should be retained because it sent a message that the council was interested in change. He said the council should retain the option with the understanding it represented a tradeoff of some kind. Mr. Pryor thought the days of “unrestricted urban renewal growth” were gone and the debt limit could not be increased for unknown reasons or possible future development. However, he wanted to retain the urban renewal financing mechanism for a focused, specific opportunity. MINUTES—City Council January 11, 2010 Page 4 Work Session