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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/28/05 WS MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall February 28, 2005 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Poling, Jennifer Solomon, Betty Taylor, David Kelly, Gary Pap6, Bonny Bettman, Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor. Council President George Poling convened the meeting of the Eugene City Council. Mr. Pap6 and Mayor Kitty Piercy joined the meeting via speakerphone. A. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Mr. Poling announced that the council met on February 25-26 in a goal-setting session and had arrived at a set of goals that it would adopt officially on March 7, 2005. He said several of the goals were new and some represented reaffirmations of previous goals or efforts. Mr. Poling characterized the sessions as productive. Mr. Kelly agreed with Mr. Poling that the goal-setting session had been productive and collegial and a great deal of good work had been accomplished. Mr. Kelly called the council's attention the "Guest Viewpoint" column in the previous edition of The Register-Guard paper regarding the issue of racism in the community. He commended the authors, Mayor Piercy, Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken, and University of Oregon President David Frohnmeyer. He said the column reminded the community that ridding Eugene of racism was the responsibility of all. Mr. Kelly provided an update on the Region 2050 planning process, saying monthly meetings had resumed and considerable technical evaluation of three potential growth scenarios for the region was occurring. Those evaluations included transportation modeling, consideration of the impact of the scenarios on water supplies, etc. Mr. Kelly said the information from the evaluations would be used in a major public outreach process that would commence in spring or fall 2005. Ms. Taylor said bicycle theft was a growing problem at the Eugene Public Library and asked what could be done to stem that, giving that the City wished to encourage people to ride their bicycles to the library. Ms. Taylor asked if it was true that there would be no 24-hour medic unit at Fire Station 1. City Manager Dennis Taylor said no, and noted that information had been prepared in response to her questions that he would share with the full council. Mr. Pryor said he represented the council at the most recent meeting of the Lane Metro Partnership. The MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 1 Work Session partnership received a report that indicated a decrease in inquiries but an increase in business expansions. A discussion on how to restructure member contributions was planned. He said County Administrator Bill Van Vactor and the County commissioner in attendance at the meeting indicted that they may not support either Springfield's proposed Glenwood urban renewal district or Eugene's proposed enterprise zone due to their impact on tax revenues. He believed further discussion with the County was needed. Mr. Pryor said he had also attended a meeting of the McKenzie Watershed Council and heard an extensive and interesting presentation on invasive weeds in the watershed. The council would discuss the issue again in the future. Mr. Pryor reported on the most recent meeting of the Human Services Commission, saying the commission and Chuck Dalton of the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) discussed EWEB's program for low- income residents that attempts to avoid shutoffs before they occur. However, electricity was still shut off if the bill payer was unable to pay the City's stormwater charges, an element of the bill. Mr. Dalton was providing the commission with more information as to the scope of the issue, and it was possible the City's HSC representatives would return to the council requesting more discussion on the topic. Ms. Ortiz shared other councilors' pleasure in the recent goal-setting retreat. She expressed appreciation to Mr. Kelly for his remarks on racism. Ms. Ortiz said she attended the most recent meeting of the Santa Clara/River Road Task Force. The task force had requested official representation from the City Council. She indicated interest in participating on the task force, but deferred to the mayor in making that appointment. Ms. Bettman also believed the goal-setting session went well and had improved over previous years due to the different approach and process. She looked forward to both adopting and achieving the goals. Ms. Bettman said the Police Commission had broken down into subcommittees to process the civilian oversight issue, and the Adjudication and Oversight Subcommittee, of which she was a member, would meet on March 11 to discuss different models. She welcomed and encouraged people to attend those meetings and offer comments to the subcommittee. There was also the opportunity to enter into dialogue with subcommittee members. Ms. Solomon had no items. Mayor Piercy expressed her appreciation for the council's recent goal-setting session and looked forward to making progress on some of the goals. She reported that she and Mr. Pap~ were in Washington, DC, as part of the United Front effort, working to secure federal funding for important City priorities. Mr. Pap~ said he attended his first Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) Board of Directors meeting the previous week. He said that LCOG staff was working on several projects, including community sewer systems, street and road maintenance funding, and wireless internet access. City Manager Taylor thanked the council, mayor, and executive managers for their hard work on the council's goals. He said the work would be very help to staff in focusing its efforts. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 2 Work Session City Manager Taylor also thanked Mayor Piercy, President Frohnmeyer, and Mayor Leiken for the article in The Register-Guard. City Manager Taylor said that on March 3 at 8 a.m. at the Board of County Commissioners Conference Room, the chief executive officers of the cities of Springfield and Eugene, Lane County, Lane Community College, University of Oregon, the two Eugene school districts, Eugene Water & Electric Board, and Lane Transit District would meet to recommit to and re-sign the memorandum of agreement that guides those organizations' diversity efforts. The organizations would use the occasion to talk about where the community has been with regard to diversity as well as where it is going. City Manager Taylor took official note of the agreement between EWEB and Triad. He said that much work remained to be done. City Manager Taylor recalled the council's discussion on a possible moratorium on the construction of outdoor smoking facilities pending completion of its most recent review of the ordinance. City Attorney Jerome Lidz had prepared an ordinance that allowed the City to prohibit smoking in all outdoor smoking areas for which authorized construction did not begin before March 1, 2005. He asked the council to adopt that recommendation by motion so staff could present such an ordinance on April 11. He said the City could not achieve that goal through an administrative rule. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to direct the City Manager to bring back an ordinance that would prohibit smoking in all outdoor smoking areas for which authorized construction did not begin before March 1, 2005. Ms. Solomon asked what would happen if someone had a building permit but had not commenced construction by March 1, or if a permit was being processed but had not been approved. Mr. Lidz said neither situation would be protected under the contemplated ordinance. He said the council could choose to ban smoking virtually anywhere in the city regardless of whether someone had built a smoking area. He understood the purpose of the motion was to put people on notice that if they had not built such a facility yet, they might want to reconsider it because the council intended to prohibit smoking in such areas or planned to do so in the future. It was a "heads up" to the public so that they do not construct such an area, only to find later it is not allowed. Ms. Solomon said she was not opposed to the idea but preferred to allow those having made such an application make that decision on their own. Mr. Kelly asked if there were any such applications in the system. Keli Osborn, Planning and Development Department, was not aware of any such applications. Mr. Kelly pointed out that rather than prohibit such areas, there were other options under consideration. He supported the motion because it merely directed staff to return with such an ordinance. Mr. Pap~ concurred with the remarks of Mr. Kelly, reminding all councilors of the council's goal of protecting workers from secondhand smoke. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 3 Work Session Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation for the motion and the approach. Mr. Poling said he would support the motion because it put people on notice that the council was going to be reexamining the entire issue, and there may or may not be changes. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. B. WORK SESSION: Resolution 4826 Adopting Snow and Ice Removal Policies and Repealing Resolution 4278 Jeff Lankston of the Public Works Department's Maintenance Division joined the council for the item. Mr. Lankston recalled that the council adopted a resolution the previous year allowing the use of de-icers and anti-icers for a period of time to allow the City to experiment with their use. The council requested that staff continue to examine the environmental issues associated with the use of the deicers and anti-icers, and return with information on their trial use before April 2005. Mr. Lankston reviewed the City's use of de-icers and anti-icers, noting that de-icing products had been used five times on City transportation facilities since December 2004. He said the product being used, calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), worked very well. It was effective for a period of several days, which avoided the need for repeated daily sanding applications at one-sixth the cost. Mr. Lankston briefly reviewed the results of the City's research regarding the use of de-icers and anti-icers, noting that information was provided in the council packets and copies of the two reports were in the council office. In regard to CMA, the literature indicated a concern with biological oxygen demand (BAD) if placed in high quantities in a waterway. However, the literature indicated that the concentrations being used on roadways did not create problems with BaD, even with ditches adjacent to roadways. Mr. Lankston believed there were no environmental ramifications from the use of the product on City streets. Mr. Lankston spoke to the issue of vehicle corrosion, indicating that was not an issue in regard to the use of CMA. Mr. Lankston noted that the council approved the use of magnesium chloride but staff had not used that product on the streets. A Colorado study had examined the product's impact and concluded that the chloride in the material could damage vegetation close to the road in sufficient strong concentrations, and trace metals in the product should be restricted. However, the study also concluded the product was unlikely to cause or contribute to environmental damage greater than 20 yards beyond the roadway. The City of Boulder had been using the product for many years and extensive water testing indicated no significant impacts to water quality or aquatic life. He noted that most of Eugene's snow routes had curbs and gutters to limit the product's contact with the vegetation and it would be diluted to a level of 640:1 before it reached a catch basin and was further diluted. Mr. Lankston said staff proposed only to use products that met the strict standards set by the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters, which established specifications for products used in winter maintenance that emphasize safety, environmental preservation, infrastructure protection, cost-effectiveness, and perform- ance. He noted that the corrosion levels for magnesium chloride met the organization's specifications. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 4 Work Session Mr. Lankston reviewed the three options before the council: 1. Amend the City's Ice and Snow Removal Policy by repealing Resolution 4278 and replacing it with a proposed new resolution (see Attachment A). By adopting the proposed new resolution, anti-icing and de-icing chemicals will be permitted in quantities appropriate for ice and snow control on streets and staff will be able to move ahead with the purchase of application equip- ment. 2. Adopt the proposed new resolution but amend Section 3 to allow for the use of anti-icers and de- icers through April 1, 2006. Amending Section 3 would allow for the use of anti-icing and de- icing agents for an additional year. This option would result in operating inefficiencies as staff' will be unable to purchase equipment for liquid de-icer application and, further, would not realize the economy of scale in purchasing liquid de-icer due to limited storage capacity. Annual rental rates are approximately 15 percent of the cost of a new liquid applicator. With this option the City will have spent $3,500 on rental fees over the two-year trial period. 3. Allow Resolution 4784 to sunset, at which time Resolution No. 4278 will go back into effect. This resolution states that the City will not use anti-icing or de-icing chemicals in quantities required for ice and snow control on streets. De-icing chemicals with corrosion inhibitors may be used in quantities necessary to keep sand stockpiles and sanding equipment workable. With this option, maintenance staff is limited to using only plows and sanding rock for providing safe road condi- tions for the traveling public during winter storms. Mr. Poling called on the council for questions and comments. Ms. Taylor expressed concern about the potential impact of de-icers on the vegetation in the street frontage of a house. That did not sound like a negligible effect to her. Ms. Taylor determined from Mr. Lankston that staff anticipated using magnesium chloride. Mr. Lankston added that CMA was only effective to temperatures above 25 degrees. Magnesium chloride was effective to temperatures of zero degrees and was less expensive than CMA. Speaking to Ms. Taylor's concern about the impact of the products on vegetation, Mr. Lankston clarified that the Boulder study examined how far from the roadway it took magnesium chloride to get a dilution of 500:1, at which point the effects of the material became negligible. The City's dilution before the product reached the catch basin was about 640:1. Ms. Taylor was concerned about the cumulative effect of the products in question, and about the fact the studies being cited were "somewhat old"; for example, the Boulder study was done in 2002. She wanted to know if the studies considered cumulative effects. The Boulder study mentioned that chloride-free de-icers were not used due to their expense, but she did not think that should be a determining factor. She asked if the costs of chloride-free de-icers had dropped as predicted in the study. Mr. Lankston noted that CMA was a chloride-free de-icer and it was about three times more costly than magnesium chloride. Staff was looking at other chloride-free de-icers and would continue to do so. Several were used with magnesium chloride as an anti-corrosive additive. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 5 Work Session Ms. Taylor was not inclined to support the continued use of the chemicals in question. Mr. Kelly expressed appreciation for the thoroughness of the report and said that the Boulder study gave him some level of comfort given that community's strong environmental tradition. He said that Ms. Taylor had raised an interesting question in regard to the persistence of the chemicals in question, and suggested that be further researched. Mr. Lankston said that CMA breaks down into calcium and magnesium ions and acetate as soon as it encounters water. The acetate was biodegradable. The calcium and magnesium were not very mobile but were commonly found in both soil and water and were not really a problem. With regard to magnesium chloride, the chloride broke down fairly quickly in the environment, so there was not a persistence problem, particularly at the levels being used. Mr. Kelly said the resolution before the council appeared to lack a section included in the previous resolution that stipulated a de-cier would not be used unless it was approved by the City Manager, and only after the manager received information that the de-icer was safe and cost-effective. Mr. Lankston had no objection to including that section. Mr. Pryor said he was impressed with the report and the effort it represented. He recalled the traditional use of salt to combat icy conditions, which was also corrosive. He believed the de-icers in question were a great step forward in contrast to both that and sand and gravel. Mr. Pryor was pleased staff was making an effort to use the most effective products with the least impact on the environment and on City streets. He was inclined to support the resolution and wait to hear more in the future as the City had more experience with the chemicals in question. Ms. Bettman asked if staff was proposing to use both CMA and magnesium chloride. Mr. Lankston said yes, as different conditions warrant different treatments. CMA worked well as an anti-icer but was expensive to use as a de-icer, and it was not very effective below 25 degrees. Ms. Bettman said she had to balance the gain from the use of the products against the hazards they caused. She expressed concern that the magnesium chloride had residual elements of other heavy metals that were bio-cumulative, like lead and cadmium. Mr. Lankston said the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters set strict limitations on both lead (1 part per million) and cadmium (.2 parts per million), which was essentially the testable limit for those metals. The intent of the specifications was to keep such metals out of the product. Mr. Lankston said since the studies had been done, much progress had been made in eliminating those elements. Ms. Bettman asked if there was a product that did not contain heavy metals. Mr. Lankston reiterated that the intention of the specifications was to eliminate those metals. City Manager Taylor indicated the City would only buy products that met the specifications set by the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters. Ms. Bettman said that while a threshold had been established, the products still contained those heavy metals. Mr. Lankston repeated that the specifications were intended to eliminate those metals. Ms. Bettman did not believe she received a definitive answer to her question. Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman about monitoring for water quality and aquatic life, Mr. Lankston said the City monitors all stream corridors now and would continue to monitor them for impact. He said if it was found a product was harmful to the environment, the City would discontinue its use. Ms. Bettman asked if the City would retain its sanding equipment. Mr. Lankston said yes. He said the City MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 6 Work Session would continue to sand and plow snow. Ms. Bettman asked if the use of chemical de-icers required new equipment. Mr. Lankston said the spray units that City uses fit into its existing trucks and cost about $10,000. Ms. Solomon asked if the City had to store the materials or if staff filled the spray units on an as-needed basis. Mr. Lankston said the City filled up on CMA in Junction City as needed and did not store the materials on site. He had not yet secured a supplier for magnesium chloride and was unsure of the logistics of securing that chemical. Ms. Solomon commended the staff materials and indicated her support for the resolution. Mr. Pap6 determined from Mr. Lankston that that magnesium chloride was the less costly of the two products, and the application costs were similar for both. Sanding was the most expensive option because of the cost of sweeping and collecting the sand after it had been used. Mr. Poling said that the chemicals in question worked and it was a lot better than asking residents to attempt to drive through sand. He asked if the resolution precluded the City from looking at a new de-icing product. Mr. Lankston said no, adding that staff intended to continue to seek the best de-icers available. Mr. Poling solicited a second round of comments. Mr. Kelly suggested the products did not include heavy metals by design; rather, they were contaminants in the manufacturing product, and to the degree the products met the specifications, it indicated that to as low a concentration as could be tested for, they were not present. Mr. Lankston concurred. Ms. Bettman expressed appreciation for Mr. Kelly's clarification. Ms. Taylor was concerned about who made the decision to use the products in question. City Manager Taylor suggested that Mr. Kelly's suggestion to include a section from the previous resolution ensured he would make the decision. Ms. Taylor also expressed concern about the fact that magnesium chloride got slippery in warm conditions, which could occur after the product was applied. She questioned how long those conditions persisted. Mr. Lankston said slipperiness lasted until the product dried on the streets. He did not think the product would be used in warm conditions, although it might be placed during a day that was warmer than freezing in anticipation of freezing conditions later that night. Staff had not experienced any problems with slipperiness as long as it used the product at levels of 20 to 35 gallons per lane mile. Ms. Taylor asked if staff would have used sand in recent months if the resolution had not in force, pointing out the use of sand would still have made it possible for residents to drive. Mr. Lankston said yes, but sand also had environmental effects. It broke down and caused higher dust levels and if not removed, could be washed into the streams and add to silt problems. Ms. Taylor asked if staff would seek council permission to use the chemicals mentioned in the Boulder study if they became less expensive. Mr. Lankston said that staff intended to use the best product for the environment possible, balancing that against the cost of the product. He likened the products to a toolbox containing tools for use in specific conditions. Responding to a follow-up question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Lankston confirmed that the resolution before the council contained no sunset clause. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 7 Work Session Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the work that the department did, saying that she felt safe when she traveled on City streets in icy conditions to reach her place of employment. She commended the staff materials. Ms. Ortiz was happy to hear that the City attempted to save money when it could without specific direction from the council. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to adopt Resolution 4286, adopting ice and snow removal policies with the addition of Section 6 from Resolution 4784, and repealing Resolution 4278. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. C. LANE COUNTY TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE TASK FORCE UPDATE Mayor Piercy introduced the item, reminding the council of the regional tourism summit that occurred in January 2004. Since that time, the Lane County Tourism Infrastructure Task Force was formed and had met over the past year. Members were present tonight to share their findings. She encouraged the council to consider the presentation and moving forward with the recommendations. Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department Director Angel Jones introduced Bob Zagorin, chair of the task force, and Kari Westlund, chief executive officer of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Lane County (CVALCO). Mr. Zagorin thanked former Mayor James Torrey and Mayor Piercy for their work supporting the task force. Mr. Zagorin emphasized the importance of tourism to the region and suggested a logical link between tourism and Eugene's model of sustainability and local economic development. He said that the summit produced a consensus about the importance of tourism and led to the formation of the task force. He reviewed the findings of the task force, which confirmed that Lane County had a large and growing gap in terms of convention and meeting space and first-class hotel lodging. Mr. Zagorin said the task force was asking all of the communities in Lane County to commit to the goal of maintaining the County's place as the leading tourism destination in Oregon outside of Portland and to commit key staff to a technical working group to study the infrastructure gaps and problems. Mr. Zagorin reported that the task force developed a list of key tourism projects, although the list was not prioritized. He reviewed the list, which included a regional convention center with full-service hotel, an outdoor sports complex, and a visitor center. Mr. Zagorin said the task force did not endorse any project or convention center site as it believed a careful cost/benefit analysis was the first order of business for the new regional commission. He acknowledged the need for funding but emphasized that the task force offered no recommendations relating to taxing authority. He further emphasized the task force's commitment to public-private partnerships. Ms. Westlund provided a PowerPoint presentation entitled Tourism Infrastructure in Lane County. Copies of the presentation were made available to the council. She noted the adopted goals of the task force: 1) The City of Eugene will work with Lane County and other cities throughout the county to retain our collective position as the largest regional hub of tourism and convention activity in Oregon outside the Portland metro area; and 2) The City of Eugene will work with the Lane Board of County Commissioners MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 8 Work Session and other city partners to form an interim working group to assess and recommend a permanent interjurisdictional entity to assess, build, and operate tourism-related infrastructure. The presentation contained comparisons of existing and planned local hotel and motel space with that of other northwest cities, local economic indictors, data on current room tax revenues, and data on the economic impact of convention and conference centers. Ms. Westlund invited questions. Mr. Kelly thanked the presenters and the task force for all their work. He agreed with them on the significance of the tourism business to the local economy. He noted that at its recent goal-setting session, the council had adopted as a high-priority goal that Eugene establish itself as a city of the arts and outdoors. Mr. Kelly asked about the impact on City resources with regard to money and time from participating in an interim working group. City Manager Taylor anticipated the City would provide a technical staff person to assist in the process. He did not anticipate a heavy resource demand on the Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department or the Planning and Development Department. Mr. Kelly wanted to ensure that neither motion prepared by staff conferred any new budget authority for spending. City Manager Taylor indicated that they did not. Mr. Kelly asked if council approval would be required for the creation of a regional tourism commission, if one were recommended. Ms. Westlund and City Manager Taylor indicated yes. Mr. Pryor said that the issue of tourism was a regional issue and should be approached that way. He said two words came to him when considering the issue: "bold" and "high risk." Just as past ventures such as the Hult Center and Hilton Hotel were high-risk, the City may find itself needing to take similar action relatively soon. He believed that if the City tried to stay where it was and maintain the status quo, it would be moving backward in relation to other communities in Oregon. Tourism was a significant source of revenue and it was relatively clean and low-impact. He said the community needed to act sooner rather than later. Ms. Bettman thought the goal a laudable one for Lane County. She said the City Council had already established a goal related to the arts and outdoors. She believed that the task force was asking for much more than a conceptual sign-on given the desired outcome of building infrastructure and tourist facilities. She did not want to indicate now that at some future point there would be compliance on the part of the City, because she did not consider tourism a high priority for Eugene given its other needs. Ms. Bettman perceived the difference between a full-service hotel and limited-service hotels to be a public subsidy, and she could not make a case for such a subsidy at a time when she was receiving constituent calls complaining about the police response times and drug dealing in the parks. Ms. Bettman said that it was the role of municipal government to set the stage for tourism by providing excellent parks and public safety to create a good environment for tourism to happen. She did not want the City of Eugene to be in the convention and hotel industry. Ms. Solomon did not interpret the task force appeal as a request to become involved in the convention and hotel industry. She believed the request aligned with the council's goals discussion, and that the City needed to be at the table when the interim working group met. To do otherwise would be short-sighted as it meant MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 9 Work Session the City would never have a say in the outcome. She agreed with Mr. Pryor that the issue was regional and the City should be part of making the region succeed. Mayor Piercy noted her support for the task force recommendations. Mr. Pap~ thanked the presenters for the report. He agreed that tourism was a regional issue. He highlighted the statement in the EcoNorthwest report included in the meeting packet that more data was needed. He said if the City participated in the interim working group, it should focus on getting the information needed to determine which capital projects were most economically feasible. Mr. Pap~ suggested that Eugene had good facilities but perhaps they were not Class A facilities. He asked Ms. Westlund for suggestions on how to get more modem and competitive rooms in the community. Ms. Westlund responded that the task force had learned of many different models, many of which were mixed- use with a conference, hotel, and sports component. Many included residential and retail components as well. Developers were increasingly looking to 24-hour-a-day build-outs that evened out business cycle trends within the individual components. She believed that there were many different forms of development that could get Eugene-Springfield where it wanted to be. Ms. Taylor said she became worried when she read about '~tourist-related infrastructure" because she assumed that meant a convention center. She thought the City should depend on private industry to provide more hotel space and more meeting rooms. If they were needed, someone would probably build them. Ms. Ortiz expressed concern about the discussion because of her mixed feelings on the topic. She believed it was good to have partners but often felt that Eugene was left "holding the bag" on projects. That was her concern with regard to the proposal before the council. She had not considered the approach being called for by the task force as part of the council's goal for the art and outdoors. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the conferences and conventions that came to Eugene as it brought more diversity into Eugene and gave a "different feeling" to the community. Mr. Poling said that tourism was important to the City and to the region. He pointed out a vote in support of the staff-prepared motions did not commit the City to anything other than the resources needed to start a multi-jurisdictional process. He wanted to be involved at the beginning of that process. Mr. Poling solicited a second round of council comments and questions. Mr. Kelly indicated support for the proposed motions, and encouraged the CVALCO representatives to take the cautionary comments of Ms. Taylor and Ms. Bettman to heart. He did not see the City getting into the convention industry, although there may be some specific opportunity for the City to provide some leverage in the future. He believed existing facilities were inadequate, but noted the statement in the EcoNorthwest report that improving what existed was likely to be more cost-effective than building new large facilities that required a lot of money. The report specifically mentioned the potential of the Hult Center and Hilton Hotel as a regional convention center, and that a second tower of rooms had been planned for the hotel when demand warranted. He would follow the progress of the interim working group carefully to ensure that such alternatives were studied. Mr. Kelly noted a statement in the EcoNorthwest report that read "The implication was that if a gap was MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 10 Work Session identified the proper policy would be to fill the gap." The report suggested that might not necessarily be the right policy. The report contained several cautionary statements about the huge losses that civic convention centers could experience. Ms. Bettman said that the Hilton Hotel did not belong to the City and the company had plenty of assets if it wanted to expand. Ms. Bettman did not think that Eugene, as the largest community in the county, would necessarily benefit from increased tourism. Ms. Bettman expressed concern about the possibility a special district could be used as a funding mecha- nism. Ms. Bettman said that she supported the expansion of convention facilities. However, she did not think the City was being consistent in its approach. She heard people argue for privatization as being more cost- effective, but in this case the City was considering a public subsidy to private business. If it did so, it would be competing with existing private businesses. That did not make sense to her. Mr. Pap~ wanted to move forward with the interim working group. He agreed with Mr. Pryor about the need to do something bold, but he did not want to ~jump on a bandwagon" to compete with other communi- ties building convention facilities. He hoped the working group could be more strategic and focus on niches such as the arts and outdoors. Mr. Pryor said the discussion had been a good one, and he thought the council could take a first step without taking out its checkbook. He wanted to demonstrate the City's support for the initiative, and suggested the staff-prepared motions were the first step toward demonstrating that support. Ms. Taylor commended Mr. Pap6's remarks, saying that Eugene did not have to be like other communities. She said that Eugene should be the best it could be at what it was good at. She agreed with Mr. Kelly that the community should maintain and enhance what it had. Mayor Piercy said the motion merely called for the formation of a group to assess a structure; it did not commit the City to any project or plan. She believed it would be good to have a conversation about the issue in an organized way that resulted in a recommendation that addressed the public interest and fit Eugene. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to adopt a regional tourism goal to be ac- complished through multi-jurisdictional cooperation: ~The City of Eugene will work with Lane County and the City of Springfield to retain its collective position as the largest re- gional hub of tourism and convention activity in Oregon outside the Portland metro area." Ms. Taylor indicated her second was a formality in her role as the most senior council member. The motion passed, 5:3; Ms. Bettman, Ms. Taylor, and Ms. Ortiz voting no. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to form an interim group to assess a struc- ture for a permanent interjurisdictional entity to establish and maintain tourism facilities MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 11 Work Session and infrastructure in Lane County. Ms. Taylor indicated her opposition to the motion, saying it was ;;worse than the other one." Ms. Bettman agreed with Ms. Taylor. She said that the motion formalized the commitment mentioned in the first motion. She believed the proposal would result in a structure similar to that of the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC), which she maintained was a multi-jurisdictional body that had taken away decision- making authority from local elected governments. She further objected to the proposal that the members would be appointed rather than elected. Mr. Kelly said that if the motion ~felt like the son of MPC" he would oppose it. The motion did not call for the formation of a permanent body, but rather a working group to decide what a permanent body would look like. Before a permanent body could be formed, the council would have to approve Eugene's participation. The motion passed, 6:2; Ms. Bettman and Ms. Taylor voting no. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 12 Work Session