CC Minutes - 02/29/12 Work Session

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Mayor Piercy appreciated what the City had done to repair streets in the Harlow area as a result of public pressure but believed the City needed to be cognizant of the social equity of its expenditures. Ms. Taylor thanked staff for its work. She reported that she had received more compliments and thanks for the street repairs than anything else and those she spoke to had expressed support for another bond measure. Mr. Farr concurred with Mayor Piercy's remarks regarding North Seneca Street, saying it was one example of many throughout the community. He agreed the City should revisit its maintenance approach toward such facilities as alleys for the reasons mentioned by Mayor Piercy. He agreed with Ms. Taylor that citizen satisfaction regarding the bond measure results was high. Mr. Farr asked how much of the deterioration of West 11` and West 18` avenues could be attributed to the lack of the West Eugene Parkway, which would have accommodated some of the traffic that now went down those arterials. Mr. Corey said the City had not performed such an analysis. Generally, deterioration on asphalt streets was proportionate to time and load. Mr. Farr suggested the City was spending more to maintain those streets than it would have had the parkway been in place. Mr. Zelenka maintained that the West Eugene Parkway would never have been built because "the feds would have stopped it." He agreed with Ms. Taylor about constituent satisfaction and noted the local jobs that were created as a result of the bond. Mr. Zelenka said without further funding, the maintenance backlog would grow. The City must have $15 million to $18 million more to make progress. He recalled past discussion of a transportation system fee and suggested it had more of a nexus to road repair than a bond. In addition, he believed it was unfair for Eugene residents to pay full cost of the roads when 50 percent of those using them paid nothing. He maintained a transportation system fee "would get us there" and asked for further information about the status of that mechanism. Mr. Corey had nothing new to report. He suggested the issue was complicated by the current economy. He thought the City needed to continue to consider such a fee and reminded the council that the City had been limited in the past by its ability to collect the fee. City Manager Ruiz reminded Mr. Zelenka that the council had asked staff to return with information in the near -term to support future discussions about different taxing mechanisms. Mr. Brown thanked Public Works and the members of the panel. He also thanked the council for developing the bond measure, which he considered a great model for the future to address problems where there was wide agreement. Mr. Poling also thanked the panel, staff, and the voters. Speaking to the potential of renewing the bond, Mr. Poling acknowledged his concerns about passing such a bond in the current economic climate. Mr. Pryor thanked staff and the panel. He believed that with the support of the voters, the repair backlog had been brought under control to some degree. He also commended the council for taking action to address the backlog, but agreed with Mr. Zelenka that there was more work to be done. He wondered if there was a way to consolidate the council's discussions about taxes or approach them in a more unified way given there were only so many taxing mechanisms available. Mr. Pryor did not want the council to forget the operations and maintenance backlog and questioned how the City could approach that and what the community would be comfortable funding. Street repair was one of the most important expenditures the City was making and he anticipated it would continue to be an important topic. He did not want to lose the progress that had been made. MINUTES— Eugene City Council February 29, 2012 Page 2 Work Session