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Mr. Braud, responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, stated that the City of Eugene currently leased <br />approximately 40,000 square feet of space in the downtown area. He noted that the most of the leases for <br />that space were expected to expire within the next five years. <br />Ms. Taylor believed that the City might transfer some of its offices from the currently leased spaces into <br />the building to be developed by BMC. <br />City Manager Ruiz, responding to Ms. Taylor's comments, noted that further discussions surrounding the <br />City's use of leased space in the downtown area, including the use of the 20,000 square feet of space in <br />the BMC development, would occur concurrent with the September discussions regarding the fate of the <br />Eugene City Hall facility. City Manager Ruiz further noted that information regarding what agencies the <br />City currently leased spaces from would also be provided. <br />Mr. Braud, responding to a question from Mr. Brown, stated that the downtown revitalization loan used to <br />purchase the property would be transferred from Beam Development over to BMC but that the final terms <br />of the transfer had not yet been finalized. <br />Mr. Braud, responding to a comment from Mr. Brown, stated that much of the administrative and legal <br />fees associated with BMC's use of the recovery zone facility bonds would be the responsibility of BMC. <br />Mr. Brown suggested it would be useful to have information regarding the allotments of square footage in <br />the current City Hall facility once the Eugene Police Department had relocated. <br />Mr. Pryor agreed with Ms. Taylor and Mr. Brown's comments indicating that additional information <br />regarding the current and future use of the City Hall facility would be useful in discussions of the City's <br />downtown development strategies. <br />Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to support the Bennett Management <br />Company proposal in concept, and direct the City Manager to bring back additional <br />project details for consideration including a) the transfer of ownership of the Vacant <br />Parcel from Beam to Bennett Management Company, along with the assignment of <br />development rights under Beam's Purchase and Sale Agreement; b) a resolution <br />designating a Recovery Zone which would provide Bennett Management Company the <br />opportunity to utilize Recovery Zone Facility bonds to finance the project; and c) a <br />resolution authorizing the City to issue Recovery Zone Facility Bonds in support of <br />Bennett Management Company's project financing. The motion passed unanimously, <br />8:0. <br />B. WORK SESSION - Downtown Parking <br />City Manager Ruiz introduced the item. He suggested that a primary value of providing free parking in <br />the downtown area was that it sent a strong message that the City was committed to a revitalization of <br />downtown Eugene. He noted his concerns regarding the use of General Fund dollars to fund free parking <br />strategies in the downtown area. <br />Parking Manager Jeff Petry provided an update on the City's parking program and noted that the program <br />supported both existing and new development. He briefly elaborated on a number of elements that had <br />contributed to the role of downtown parking in Eugene. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 11, 2010 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />