Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 01/14/08 Meeting M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Regular Meeting Council Chamber—Eugene City Hall January 14, 2008 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the regular meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. 1. CEREMONIAL MATTERS - Presentation of 2012 Olympic Trials Banner Mayor Piercy asked co-directors of the 2008 Olympic Trials, Vin Lannana, and Greg Irwin to come forward. Mr. Lannana thanked the Mayor and City Council on behalf of “hundreds of volunteers” representing the university, and government and private business, for its support in helping keep Eugene “Track Town USA.” He stated that for two years, 17 committees had been working on every aspect of the Olympic Trials in order to make the event “something special.” He felt confident the progress made by these committees had set Eugene up for unprecedented success with the trials. He commended City Manager pro tem Angel Jones and County Commissioner Bobby Green for their instrumental help with Eugene’s successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Trials. He said Ms. Jones had also bolstered Eugene’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Trials. He applauded the presentation she had made regarding Eugene’s bid, calling it “just outstanding.” He averred that without Ms. Jones’ support he was not certain Eugene would have been successful in its bid for either the 2008 or the 2012 trials. He reiterated his gratitude for the contributions of Ms. Jones and Mr. Green. Mr. Irwin echoed Mr. Lannana’s comments with regards to Ms. Jones and Mr. Green’s commitment and participation. He averred that their representation of the community had been outstanding. He presented the Mayor with the “temporary symbol” of the 2012 Olympic Trials. He said they were looking forward to the next four years of Track Town, noting that the economic implication of the next four years of track meets was estimated to be over $75 million. He felt that without the City of Eugene’s help none of this would have come to pass. Mayor Piercy conveyed her pride in the work of the City Manager pro tem for the work she had done to facilitate the Olympic Trials. Ms. Jones received a round of applause. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 1 Regular Meeting 2. ACTION: Election of City Council Officers Councilor Ortiz, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to elect Councilor Chris Pryor as President of the City Council for 2008. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Councilor Ortiz, seconded by Councilor Pryor, moved to elect Councilor Bonny Bettman as Vice President of the City Council for 2008. Roll call vote; the motion passed unani- mously, 8:0. 3. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed the rules of the Public Forum. th Deb Frisch , 3003 West 11 Avenue, thought an overpass should be constructed for people to travel safely from the downtown area to the Courthouse. She conveyed her opposition to the University of Oregon’s proposed basketball arena. She thought parking downtown should be free. She also reiterated her opposition to the exception granted to the parking lots around Autzen Stadium that allowed “tailgater” parties to happen there during home football games. She urged the council to expedite the hiring of a new City Manager. Drix , Ward 3, declared that “new is good.” He said the community had to find a way to fix roads and could not do it with forest revenue. He wanted to replace the economy with something new. He suggested that homeless people could be called “no-ads” because they did not have addresses. He also thought we could all call ourselves Eugene, instead of Eugenians. He said the holes in the downtown area represented opportu- nity as they were filled with nothing. He quipped that they were “air and space museums.” John Brown , 101 East Broadway, stated that he was speaking on his own behalf. He wished to make the th City aware of a potential real estate opportunity. He explained that 1650 West 13 Avenue was under City ownership and would soon be vacated. He said the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center had $800,000 budgeted to raze the building. He believed this would be a good reuse opportunity as the building was good and could be readapted to something else. He thought a group of non-profits could utilize the property for nothing. He suggested that the City approach the federal government and say for $600,000 it did not have to tear the building down. He hoped the council would think about this because there were many non-profit groups that could use the building. He wanted to maximize that asset. Joe Collins , 2233 Hawkins Lane, averred that one could not ignore the abuse of power. He believed the City Council only listened to one-third of the city population. He asked how many City employees would be fired in order for the City to pay for downtown redevelopment, buy condemned properties, and “build a trolley line” to connect Eugene and Springfield. He asked how the councilors were able to ignore the impending $40 million federal shortfall. He asked why the council could not hear the other two-thirds of the population. He asked why the councilors were not concerned about their fellow citizens that were losing their homes and had few places, if any, to turn. He wanted to see an infusion of compassion in the council’s deliberations and decisions and less concern for its present priorities. He said “trickle down economics is dead;” the City needed more heart and less development and redevelopment. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 2 Regular Meeting William Ivanoff , 1810 Harris Street, #336, averred that those in and around the downtown subsidized edge development by having less money for maintenance for their neighborhood streets because it went to maintain streets they were not intended to use. He thought this should stop. He also felt that downtown area residents had “all kinds of cars” driving at high speeds in front of older homes. He felt that people in the outlying areas had moved there for the peace and quiet without realizing that they contributed to the noise in the downtown area they tried to escape. He wanted the downtown area to be designed for the people who lived in the pre-world war Eugene and not for suburban drivers. Zachary Vishanoff , Ward 3, Patterson Street, provided a handout for the councilors. He hoped the media would begin to understand that the proposed basketball arena was “ground zero in a culture war.” He declared it was an “economic development conspiracy.” He accused Councilor Zelenka of demonstrating a lack of leadership. He disputed the assertion that the neighborhood supported the arena. He underscored his opposition to the University’s proposed arena project. He wanted City planners to explain to the neighbor- hood where people could appeal an alley vacation and where people could contract their own transportation study. He thought all of this should be done on videotape. Lisa Warnes , 5020 Nectar Way, understood that Joe Green had offered to sell his property for 10 percent below the value listed in the appraisal. She assumed the cost was somewhere between $4 million and $6 million. She agreed that this was a lot of money and that “some would say it was too much money.” She felt it was important to remember all of the personal time and money and all of the public dollars that had gone into the Amazon parcels through several planned unit development (PUD) proposals over the last decade. She averred this made it a unique situation. She believed the purchase of the Green property need not preclude the purchase of other parcels. She thought some grant moneys could be pursued and the committee to work on negotiations could work on these. She said if the council chose to accept Green’s offer she would work to find funding and to determine a win-win scenario. She stated that Santa Clara needed a park but the Green/Beverly properties needed to be protected. Kathleen Leonard , 5020 Nectar Way, Ward 2, stated that the people who were working to preserve the properties at the Amazon Creek headwaters did not want to take the opportunities from people in other areas of the City for parks. She wanted the City to be clear that all the neighbors needed was seed money so that they could approach the Forest Legacy Plan or the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and others for grant opportunities. She reiterated that the neighbors would not stop fighting until they saw the properties would be preserved. Mark Turner , 4875 Garnet Street, Ward 2, said his home bordered the Green property. He was grateful for the consideration of the issues. He was troubled by the current situation and wanted to stress that they were not “NIMBYs” (Not In My Back Yard). He averred that the property had never been good property to develop as it was steep and wet. He declared that the magnitude of cuts and fills that would be needed to stabilize the property for the intensity of the development was impractical. He thought the system was skewed to encourage development. He recalled the City’s unwillingness to purchase the property when it would have cost $600,000 and now less than four years later a new appraisal had indicated the property was now worth millions of dollars. He asked how he, as an affected citizen, was to accept this. He asserted that when it was in the interest of development to appraise the property low, it was low, and when it was in the interest of development to appraise it high, it was high. He questioned why the appraisal had not been made public. He urged the council to preserve the properties for the City’s environmental health and for the enjoyment of future generations. He asked the council to get a different appraisal if the appraisal had indeed been $4 to $6 million. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 3 Regular Meeting Kevin Matthews , PO Box 1588, felt the offer from Joe Green to sell his property for ten percent below the appraised value was an “incredible opportunity.” He averred that it was critical to have “the headwaters ecosystem protected.” He referred to a “White Paper” on the Amazon Creek headwaters he had written for the Southeast Neighbors, located at southeastneighbors.org and reiterated the nine “categories of reasons” for preserving the property. He recommended the City identify and encumber $2 million in funds and projected that grant moneys could be obtained to fund the rest of the acquisition. He urged the council to accept Mr. Green’s offer. Mayor Piercy closed the public forum and called on the council for questions and remarks. Councilor Clark agreed that parking should be free in the downtown area. He added his support for City Manager Pro Tem Angel Jones, stating that she was doing an excellent job of serving in that capacity while a new City Manager was being recruited. th Councilor Clark thanked Mr. Brown for the information he provided regarding the 13 Avenue property. Councilor Bettman thanked everyone for their testimony. Regarding funding sources for the Beverly/Green properties, she said applications for the Forest Legacy and the OWEB grants had been made for 2008. She understood that the appraisal that had been presented to the council was in report form and not finalized. Councilor Taylor thanked those who came to testify. She agreed that the City needed to do whatever was necessary to preserve the Green property. She added that she was very interested in the information that Mr. Brown had shared. Mayor Piercy thanked everyone for coming. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of City Council Minutes - October 15, 2007, Public Hearing - October 17, 2007, Work Session - October 22, 2007, Work Session - October 31, 2007, Work Session - November 13, 2007, Work Session B. Approval of Tentative Working Agenda C. Adoption of Resolution 4923 Concerning Protection of Mature and Old Growth Forests in the State of Oregon D. Adoption of Resolution 4924 Acknowledging Receipt of the City of Eugene, Oregon, Com- prehensive Annual financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2007 Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to approve the items on the Con- sent Calendar. Councilor Solomon pulled Item C. Councilor Bettman noted she had submitted minutes corrections. She also requested to pull Item D. Mayor Piercy deemed the minutes corrections, without objection, approved. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 4 Regular Meeting Roll call vote; the Consent Calendar with the exception of Items C and D passed unani- mously, 8:0. Councilor Solomon explained that Item C was a resolution concerning protection of old growth forest, which referred to the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), which was the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) preferred alternative. She supported the WOPR. She believed that currently the forests of Oregon were not being managed and that the State was being paid to not manage its forests. She felt the State could have healthy forests and healthy communities. She declared that paying a State not to manage its main resources was an abuse of taxpayers’ money. She also objected to taking up a resolution of this nature at the City Council, particularly with a one-week notice. Councilor Clark said this was a “purely ceremonial piece of work” at a time when more important things needed council attention, given that the deadline on the WOPR had passed. He felt that slipping the resolution through on the Consent Calendar was a disservice to the council’s process. He intended to oppose the resolution. Councilor Ortiz said it was not her intent to circumvent the process by placing the resolution in the Consent Calendar. She felt it was important to take a stand based on the community’s values when the opportunity arose. She supported the resolution. Mayor Piercy pointed out that the resolution said the council requested greater protection of mature and old growth forests on federal land in the State of Oregon. Councilor Pryor said this was not a simple resolution, it was something the City would do to say how it felt about a particular issue even though the deadline to do so had passed. He supported the resolution because he did not like the federal administration placing the City in a situation in which it had to make the difficult choice between the County’s revenue and trees. He stated that the County stood to lose a significant amount of money. He asserted that the federal government was saying to the County “we do not want to give you any money but if you want to cut down all your trees you can get the money that way.” He hated that the federal government put the local community in this position. Councilor Poling asked if the County had taken a position on the WOPR. Brenda Wilson, Intergovernmen- tal Relations Manager for the City, responded that she was not aware of the County having taken a position on it. She affirmed that the public comment period for the submission of comments had been midnight on January 11. Councilor Poling had agreed to move the resolution forward to the council because he knew that was the only way for council to discuss it. He disagreed with all of the alternatives proposed by the BLM. He said the resolution was ceremonial and that he would vote against it. He stressed that he was not opposing the resolution because he thought the WOPR was bad policy altogether. Councilor Bettman disputed criticism about the timing of the resolution. She said she had submitted an individual letter opposing the WOPR within the deadline but that the full council had been unable to consider action within the deadline due to the council break. She alleged that the WOPR would dramatically increase the amount of logging and the counties would only receive a negligible portion of the revenue after cost were deducted. She indicated she would support the resolution. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 5 Regular Meeting Councilor Taylor related that she planned to present another resolution at the next meeting opposing the WOPR with more specific language. She declared that logging was “destroying the future for human beings.” She said the council should undertake anything it could do that might have some influence on the BLM plan. Councilor Zelenka agreed it was regretful that the council could not pass its resolution prior to the BLM deadline for public comment. He felt the choice that pitted the environment against the economy was an effort to divide people locally. He thought it was very important to protect the forests. Mayor Piercy stated that she had sent a letter in opposition to the WOPR, as had Councilor Taylor, prior to the deadline for public comment. Councilor Clark concurred with Councilor Pryor. He did not like the choice the community was faced with. He disagreed that the federal government had placed the County in this position. He thought it was a combination of the courts and a number of other things. He resented that the council was being presented with a resolution that said councilors were either in favor of the resolution or they were in favor of clearcutting “vast swaths” of Lane County. He declared that the truth was a “much more nuanced position” that required more discussion. The motion to approve Resolution 4923, concerning protection of mature and old growth forests in the State of Oregon, passed 5:3; councilors Clark, Solomon, and Poling voting in opposition. Mayor Piercy called for discussion of Item D. Councilor Bettman congratulated the Finance staff for an “almost entirely clean” report. She asked for an explanation of the over-expenditure listed on page 156 of the report. Finn Cronin, Financial Reporting Manager for the Finance Division, explained that the first over- expenditure was in the Urban Renewal Agency. He explained that the budget had been made two years earlier and at that time staff had estimated that half of the staff time would be spent on the Riverfront District and half would be spent on the Downtown District. He reported that last April the council had ramped up the activity in the downtown area because of the Broadway Redevelopment proposal. He said the supplemental budget in May had estimated the budget could be exceeded by a minimal amount. He explained that rather than taking up staff and council time by bringing forward a small addendum to the supplemental budget, they decided to “live with” the over-expenditure. He stated that as the costs came in for the consultants to craft some of the options, related attorney fees, and staff time to support the newly formed the West Broadway Advisory Committee (WBAC), they had amounted to a $72,000 increase for the Fiscal Year (FY) 07 expenses. He underscored that a large portion of the increase had not been recognized until the end of July, when FY07 expenditure reconciliation was complete. Councilor Bettman thought the council had voted to appropriate $200,000 when it had voted to implement the WBAC. She asserted that the council had “generously funded” the activity. Community Development Division Manager, Mike Sullivan, clarified that the motion that directed the formation of the WBAC included no funding. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 6 Regular Meeting The motion to adopt Resolution 4924, a resolution to acknowledge receipt of the City of Eugene Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2007, passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council and convened a meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency at 8:34 p.m. 5. ACTION: Resolution 1046 Acknowledging Receipt of the Annual Financial Report of the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene, Oregon, for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2007 Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to adopt Resolution 1046 ac- knowledging receipt of the Annual Financial Report of the Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Eugene, Oregon, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency and reconvened the meeting of the Eugene City Council at 8:35 p.m. 6. PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Motor Vehicle Fuel Dealer’s Business License Tax and Repealing Section 3 of Ordinance No. 20337 Ms. Jones asked Director of the Public Works Department, Kurt Corey, to introduce the item. Mr. Corey explained that the hearing sought to solicit public input on whether or not to maintain the status quo with regard to the Eugene gas tax, presently set at 5 cents per gallon. He reviewed the timeline to present; the first 3 cent component of the gas tax was implemented in January, 2003, and an additional 2 cents was added in January, 2005, the latter planned to sunset after three years. He underscored that the backlog of street maintenance was now in excess of $170 million. He said after three years there were no additional state, county, or regional solutions at this point. He noted that the committee convened by the Mayor had confirmed that a gas tax was a fair and equitable component of a comprehensive package of funding solutions. He stated that action on this item was scheduled for January 28. He listed the potential actions the council could take, which ranged from reinstituting the gas tax to taking no action with the 2 cent component subsequently sunsetting. Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. William Ivanoff , 1810 Harris Street, #336, noted that fuel stations had indicated a move to rid the City of the tax. He believed the City should save legal and ballot costs by repealing the tax when it sunsets. He averred that automobiles were becoming more fuel-efficient while the wear and tear of the streets increased. He said every time the City annexed more lane miles for public use the maintenance costs for the City increased while funds did not increase commensurately. He asked if the City Council was willing to “starve” the rest of the City to insure that the people who lived on the edges of the City or outside of it could drive on smooth roads. He asserted that the only people who used roads on the outsides of the City were the MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 7 Regular Meeting people who lived there and their guests. He felt the streets that were closer to the core of the City were used by everyone. He suggested that the City allow the people who lived on the periphery of the City to maintain their own roads as private streets. He said if that was not an option, the City should tax each square foot of parking area and remove minimum parking standards. Zachary Vishanoff , Patterson Street, questioned whether there was truly a $170 million backlog. He wondered if a consultant was saying that because he or she wanted money and suggested that the City get a second opinion. He added that turning the cameras on for all City meetings would bring “light to all fiscal issues.” He thought the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations (CCIGR) had “all sorts of pork barrel spending that happens.” He felt that it was easy to turn the switch on for the cameras in the McNutt Room. He asserted that the reason the City had a backlog of street repairs was that it had “handed out premiums to developers.” He opined that selling off the parking garages would bring in income to counteract the backlog. He also thought the “nest egg” set aside for a future City Hall should be applied to the backlog. He said the taxpayers would then say “oh gee we’re not hiding money anymore” and they would be more likely to support a City Hall project in the future because they perceived that the government was “willing to be straight.” He added that if the backlog of projects was addressed as part of the regular City budget then the City would not “do the Olympics first and then the potholes.” He likened this to “eating dessert before having dinner.” Terry Connolly , 1401 Willamette Street, speaking on behalf of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, said given the likelihood that the 2 cent gas tax would be referred to voters and then repealed if the council chose to keep it, the decision before the council was whether it would be better off spending the next several months engaged in another debate about a gas tax or using the time to make the case to the public for a bond measure to pay for street repairs. He felt to do so without the gas tax competing with the message to the public would benefit the potential bond measure. He related the Chamber’s recommendation which was to choose the latter course of action. He believed that the energy to be spent on the gas tax would be better served in working with others who were focusing on a comprehensive funding package in the Oregon Legislature to be approved in the 2009 session. He stated that the Eugene Chamber and “virtually every” leading business organization and trade association in the State of Oregon was asking the legislature to approve a package that would provide the funding that was needed for the operation and maintenance of the transportation infrastructure throughout the state, counties, and cities. He understood why the City would not want to part with the $1.7 million that the 2 cent gas tax generated per year. He felt that choosing to let the 2 cent tax sunset for the time being would allow the council and the Budget Committee to identify other sources of existing revenue or a portion of the capital reserves to offset the reduction “at least for a couple of years.” He also thought this would be looked upon favorably by the voters. Ron Tyree , 4000 Spring Boulevard, Ward 2, stated that he operated a local distributorship. He supported the upgrade needed in transportation and fuel taxes as a source of revenue for those repairs. He did not support taxes that were different throughout different jurisdictions. He averred that this caused confusion and an unfair competitive advantage or disadvantage for local gasoline marketers. He said the price discrepancy was also causing people to shift their fuel purchases to other areas. He related that the volume for the area had dropped from 80 million gallons per year to 70 million gallons per year, a 12 percent drop in volume. He attributed this drop solely to the gas tax. He reiterated that there was a consolidated group that was working at the legislative level to improve the state gasoline tax. He believed there was a “real chance” that this could be positive and successful. He declared that Eugene stood to gain $4 million per year if the tax, as proposed, went through. This was equivalent to a 6 cent per gallon tax. He thought a local tax would cause people to oppose any tax at all. He recommended allowing the 2 cent tax to sunset. He said if the statewide effort failed in 2009 he would help support a countywide gas tax. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 8 Regular Meeting Paul Romain , 707 Southwest Washington Street, #927, representing the Oregon Petroleum Association (OPA), pledged that the OPA would work for a 12 to 14 cent increase in the state gasoline tax to be implemented immediately upon approval of the legislation. He said the part that would go to local government would be negotiated. He stressed the OPA opposition to local gas taxes. He implored the council to not “put [them] in the position of having to put the gas tax on the ballot.” John Anderson , 3340 King Edwards Court, Ward 4, voiced his opposition to the 2 cent gas tax. He felt the public had already voted on whether it wanted a gas tax by reducing the amount of fuel purchased locally. He said while people had not changed their driving habits, they had changed their purchasing habits. He averred that he would be the “first to step up” to help find a more local solution if the legislative session did not result in improved funding. Murphy McHugh , 1848 Russet Drive, echoed the comments of those in support of the sunset clause. He averred that the council had “penalized” him for being a gas station owner in the City of Eugene. He said if he sold gasoline five blocks away from his current location the fuel would be 5 cents cheaper. He related that his business was down and this had resulted in having to lay off people. He pointed out that one large chain store that sold gas would have people backed up eight cars deep just because the gas there was a few cents cheaper per gallon than in other places. He also felt that people in Florence who formerly went to Eugene to shop and purchase gas now stayed home because the gas was cheaper there. He noted that the State had decided to require that ethanol be combined with gasoline and this would result in a 30 percent reduction of emissions. He said this was good for the State. He believed that the State would choose to pursue a statewide remedy for transportation funding for the same reason. He underscored his belief that a local gas tax only hurt local dealers. Aaron Johnson , 2672 Canterbury Street, remarked that the City Council had an important decision before it: to vote with the electors or to vote against them with “blatant disregard to those who” elected them to office. He said it was up to the council to stand up and vote on behalf the people of the City. He averred that the people needed the council’s help to stop the “unfair tax burden.” He acknowledged that the roads were in a state of disrepair and that the 2 cent gas tax might sound like a good idea. He believed, however, that it would cause problems “on further issues.” He felt that a statewide fee would cause all Oregonians to shoulder the burden equally. He thought a local tax would continue to hurt the tax base. He questioned how the City could hope to repair the “decaying downtown” if people stopped coming to Eugene for the goods and services available there. He believed continuing “down this road” would hurt the people of Eugene. He predicted the coming recession would add to the strain. He related that he had 24 employees when the tax began and he now had 16. He added that several of the former employees were now on government assistance while they pursued other employment. He asserted that the City was forcing small station owners to sign long contracts with “big oil,” thus removing competition and causing prices to rise unchecked. He commented that one owner had closed his stations and “walked away.” th Howard Bonnett , 1835 East 28 Avenue, suggested an alternative political strategy: extend the tax for three more years in order to see if the State would pursue another mode of funding. He said in the mean time the gas tax would provide another $3 million more for the roads that need work. He invited anyone who drove elsewhere to buy cheaper gasoline to consider how much the drive to purchase it costs. Mayor Piercy closed the public hearing and opened the floor for councilor comments. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 9 Regular Meeting Councilor Ortiz commented that she did not look at the City of Eugene selling less gasoline as necessarily a bad thing. She would surmise that people were living within their footprint. She felt that spending money locally in one’s own community was a good thing. She had supported the gas tax in the past because she heard the frustration of staff regarding not being able to address deteriorating roads and she heard feedback from constituents regarding the roads. Councilor Pryor thought the vote in November was something the council should pay attention to. He was uncertain as to how he would vote on it at this point. He recalled that he had debated the last gas tax with Mr. Romain and he believed Mr. Romain was sincere when he said he would work to pass a statewide gas tax. He indicated his willingness to collaborate on such a tax. He shared his concern that a decision not to sunset the 2 cent tax would result in the tax being placed on the ballot and voted down, just as the proposed gas tax that had been placed on the November ballot failed. He also found it difficult to walk away from $1.4 million, which he believed was desperately needed. He wanted to have community support for the larger elements of the transportation package the committee had worked on. He was concerned that the gas tax could negatively impact a bond measure. He agreed that street repairs should not be a “sidebar issue” when talking about the budget. Councilor Bettman thanked everyone who testified. She said she did not “read” the election as the voters rescinding the existing gas tax. She acknowledged that some would disagree with an action to extend the gas tax and that those people would have a right to place it on the ballot. She appreciated hearing that people were willing to “step up to the plate” to help at the state level “if [the council] did what they wanted.” She commented that the bond would not provide enough money to fund the backlog of street repairs. She asked if it would be possible to modify the ordinance so that the sunset date could be postponed until it was triggered by a remedy implemented by the State or County that would satisfy the City’s funding need. City Attorney Jerry Lidz stated that the council could amend the ordinance but it could not make the sunset date contingent upon the action of another governmental body. He said the council could extend or repeal the sunset. He explained that it was a constitutional principle that a governmental body could not delegate its legislative authority to the legislature. Councilor Bettman requested ordinance language that would extend the tax by three years, indicating that this would be enough time to see if there were other remedies at the State and/or County level. Councilor Clark was pleased to hear Mr. Romain indicate he would be willing to work toward a statewide solution. He heard that the gas tax was not the right funding solution but that those in opposition to the tax were committed to finding the right one. He agreed that it was a larger issue than an individual revenue stream and that it was a larger core service issue. He believed that there was money in the City’s budget but it was not being spent as people expected it to be spent. He felt that people wanted the City to “deal with at least some of this problem” with the money that it had. He was somewhat concerned that repealing the sunset would cause there to be two political fights at the same time: one to keep the $1.4 million and the other to pass a bond which could potentially generate tens of millions of dollars. He was inclined to believe that it would be wiser for the City to seek short-term solutions with the money it already had. Councilor Zelenka stated that the gas tax could only be used on road maintenance by law. He felt that anyone who mistrusted the City government should “rest assured” that it would be illegal to spend it on other things. He acknowledged that the gas tax was tough for people on fixed and low incomes but this was not an increase, it was maintaining the status quo. In response to those who said the council should listen to the voters he wished to point out that the voters in Wards 1, 2, and 3 voted “overwhelmingly” in support of MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 10 Regular Meeting the gas tax increase. He thought it likely they would do the same in a vote to maintain the existing tax. He questioned whether the gas tax was truly the cause of all gas station owners’ woes. He noted that he sat on the Metropolitan Policy Committee and observed that Oregon Department of Transportation funds to every part of the state were being cut because the revenues from the gas tax had been declining. He attributed this to the increase in efficiency in cars. He stated that the 5 cent gas tax had already paid for $16.5 million in road maintenance over the past few years. He disputed any assertion that the backlog did not exist, adding that anyone who thought so should “just drive around.” He averred that the City had been “abandoned by the feds and abandoned by the State” and this was why the City had pursued a funding solution on the local level. He was skeptical that a “petroleum guy” would help promote a statewide increase in the gas tax. He asserted that half of the people who used the roads in the City of Eugene did not help to pay for the roads in property taxes. Councilor Poling believed the City needed a concentrated effort to get all of the cities on board in support of either a countywide gas tax or to submit something to the State. He believed that everyone needed to work in unison. He recalled that he and some other Budget Committee members had attempted to utilize some of the money that had been saved for the proposed City Hall complex to address the transportation infrastruc- ture issue. He related that it had not “gone over well.” He suggested that everyone who was opposed to a gas tax come and testify before the Budget Committee, asking that some of that money be utilized to make up for the money that the City would not be getting if the 2 cent tax was repealed. He noted that Councilor Taylor had often suggested the institution of a countywide vehicle registration fee. He thought the time might be right to look into that. Councilor Taylor expressed appreciation for the offers to help promote a funding solution at the legislative level. She reiterated her support for a vehicle registration fee. She agreed with Mr. Bonnett’s suggestion to extend the 2 cent tax for three more years. Councilor Bettman noted that the City Council was holding a public hearing on February 19 on the timing of ballots. She wished to alert those who might ultimately place the 2 cent tax on a ballot, should it not be sunsetted. The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Angel Jones City Manager pro tem (Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 11 Regular Meeting