CC Minutes - 02/22/10 Work Session

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MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room -- -City Hall 777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon February 22, 2010 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Mike Clark, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon, Chris Pryor, George Poling, George Brown, Alan Zelenka, Betty Taylor. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted that the meeting was a continuation of the council's February 10 work session on the City Manager's recommendations for downtown projects and funding options. She reviewed the council's actions on February 10, related to additional lighting, automated behavior crime reporting software and cameras, use of Springfield jail beds and funding for the downtown safety initiative. Regarding the remaining recommendations for downtown, City Manager Jon Ruiz drew the council's attention to a handout that contained revisions to some of the proposed motions. The revisions were based on the council's February 10 discussion and provided clarity, but did not change the content. A, WORD SESSION: Downtown Projects — Tools Mr. Poling offered the revised language provided by the City Manager as friendly amendments to the February 10, 2010, work session motions. Mr. Clark and Ms. Taylor accepted the amendment. Ms. Piercy explained that the February 10 motions still on the table would be considered separately and she would read each motion prior to the council's deliberation and action. Motion 1 _rl _ I move to present to the Urban Renewal Agency Board for its review a proposed amendment to the downtown urban renewal plan that would 1 ] restrict the use of tax increment funds and increase the spending limit to pay for (i) the Broadway Place Garage's debt, thereby freeing up funding for additional police officers for downtown public safety and property crime reduction, and (ii) not more than three other projects if their inclusion is approved by later motions spe ' ,.,., ^ +; % _ " � T . and 2) terminate the downtown urban renewal district as soon as the projects are paid for or sufficient funds are collected to fund those projects. In addition, present to the council, at the same time that the City Manager brings forward a draft amendment to the urban renewal plan, an analysis of both a local option levy and a general obligation bond, instead of tax increment financing, to fund the specified projects. Mr. Brown objected to a councilor calling the question at the February 10 work session and a majority of members concurring. He did not feel the urban renewal plan should be amended because the timeline was too short and several deadlines had already passed. He said it took 100 days to craft an urban renewal MINUTES Eugene City Council February 22, 2010 Page 1 Work Session