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research into additional grant opportunities that would lead to more things that did not produce as tangible <br />a benefit as he hoped for. He asked what concrete products that participation in the consortium would <br />provide for the City, outside of greater opportunities for cooperation. Mr. Clark also asked for <br />information about the consortium's place in the governance structure and its relationship to regional <br />decision - making organizations and the decision - making structures already in place. He determined from <br />Assistant City Manager Medary that the City's commitment of staff time was limited to eligible activities <br />that staff had already budgeted for and planned to do. Assistant City Manager Medary said the work Ms. <br />Jennings already was doing, for example, could be counted toward the match. <br />Mr. Farr determined from Assistant City Manager Medary that Eugene's share of the $1.45 million grant <br />was $52,000 and that LCOG would receive the majority of the grant funding as that agency was doing <br />most of the work involved. She said the amount being received by the City of Eugene was in line with <br />the funding to be received by Springfield. <br />Mr. Brown asked for clarification of Task 7.5, "Defining Our Region." Project Manager Andrea Riner of <br />LCOG noted the many regional boundaries that existed in Lane County, which added to the challenge of <br />determining what jurisdictions should be involved in various planning efforts. She anticipated that staff <br />would inventory those boundaries to determine if "there were efficiencies we could look at." Mr. Brown <br />asked if that information would be provided to HUD to clarify what region was involved. Ms. Riner <br />anticipated that the information would be shared with the participating agencies, which would meet <br />HUD's requirements. <br />Mr. Zelenka arrived. <br />Mayor Piercy pointed out that the draft MOU stated that the consortium members would ensure regional <br />discussions occurred within the current governance framework. She believed that the partnership was <br />being set up to respect and to employ the existing government framework. She further pointed out that the <br />MOU referred to the consortium as an advisory body intended to provide assistance to partner agencies as <br />and when requested. <br />Mr. Clark asked how the effort was different than the abandoned Region 2050 planning effort. Ms. <br />Gardner recalled that Region 2050 was a planning framework focused on identifying regional priorities. <br />The proposed partnership assumed that work had been done. She believed the partnership was an <br />opportunity to leverage existing planning efforts to the next level. Ms. Gardner also pointed out that the <br />federal funding approach had shifted to a new model that was no longer single- objective; instead, grant <br />opportunities were multi- objective, such as the TIGER grant and Sustainable Communities grant. She <br />believed that if Eugene could continue to be seen as an innovative city that gets things done it would be in <br />better position for future funding opportunities, which she envisioned would translate to large capital <br />projects. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Farr about the allocation of grant funds, Ms. Gardner pointed out <br />LCOG would be working on commonly identified objectives on behalf of all the partners. <br />Mayor Piercy observed that Oregon's two senators were watching the process closely because the <br />program was promoted as a way for smaller communities to get more federal resources. She believed <br />they were looking to Eugene to be successful and to be a model for other jurisdictions. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 20, 2011 Page 2 <br />Work Session <br />