Item B - Econ.Dev.Comm. Recomm. - Laserfiche WebLink

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RECOMMENDATIONS IN SUPPORT OF EXISTING TOOLS The Committee found that the City of Eugene has policies in place that positively impact economic development. Rather than ignore the existing policies, the Committee decided to acknowledge that these tools matter, and to explicitly express support for the City's activities. 1. INFRASTRUCTURE An important role of government is to increase economic capacity by improving the quality and efficiency Of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, airport and cargo facilities, energy systems, and telecommunications. The Committee agreed that infrastructure is one of the most important things that a local government provides, and it is important to acknowledge that the City should continue to support its infrastructure systems. 2. URBAN RENEWAL The Committee discussed the impor, tance of Urban Renewal as an active redevelopment strategy. The Committee also generally discussed the potential uses of urban renewal to encourage redevelopment beyond the existing district. Urban Renewal Districts are a powerful tool for economic development. A subcommittee was formed to explore how this tool has been and could be used in Eugene, looking at boundaries, governance, models, and reinvestment strategies. Although the subcommittee produced no recommendations, the members agreed that these issues warrant further study. CONCLUDING COMMENTS The Committee was asked by the City Council to identify tools that would further economic development in Eugene. It was asked to do that in a relatively short amount of time, and was required to achieve at least 75% agreement on its recommendations. The recommendations above are a small subset of the potential economic development tools available to the City of Eugene. These recommendations cover the tools that the Committee had time to debate and agree on. There are additional options and issues associated with economic development that the City could address. It is likely that with more time and discussion the Committee could have come to agreement on additional recommendations. The Committee believes these recommendations are a good starting point. They are ones where this diverse Committee, after substantial debate and compromise, could find some agreement. If the Council sees fit to adopt these recommendations, and if they prove to be as successful as the Committee hopes, Mayor's Committee on Economic Development July 2004 Recommendations Page 13