Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/26/1989 Meeting e - - M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall April 26, 1989 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Rob Bennett, Shawn Boles, Debra Ehrman, Bobby Green, Freeman Holmer, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Ruth Bascom. The adjourned meeting of April 24, 1989, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Mayor Jeff Miller. I. ITEMS FROM THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, AND CITY MANAGER Grateful Dead Concert Ms. Ehrman said Circuit Court Judge Edwin Allen feels the Grateful Dead concert results in more trouble for the judicial system than it is worth. She requested a report from the Department of Public Safety on the enforcement costs associated with the concert and whether the City recovers its costs. II. CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR WORLD VETERANS I CHAMPIONSHIPS Ed Smith, Director of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services CPARCS) Department, gave the staff report. He said in April 1988, the council pledged $25,000 in support of the World Veteransl Championships and authorized an initial expenditure of $12,000. At that time, the council indicated its desire to authorize each additional expenditure as needed. Mr. Smith said the scale of the event continues to grow and additional support is required to ensure the success of the event. The organizing committee is requesting that the council authorize an additional expenditure of $27,906 to pay for police, ambulance, publiC works, and computer services needed for the event. Mr. Smith said the organizing committee is proposing that the additional revenue come from the Room Tax Reserve Fund. Mr. Rutan said the request is that the balance of the initial $25,000 commitment C$13,000) and an additional expenditure of $15,906 be allocated to the organizing committee at this time. Mr. Holmer asked whether it would be feasible to make the allocation as a loan. Tom Jordan, a member of the organizing committee, said the committee MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 26, 1989 Page 1 e could take a loan, but room tax revenues would be preferred. He pointed out that the hotels and motels in the area will be at a 100-percent occupancy rate during the event and will, therefore, be generating more room tax revenues than normal during this period. Mr. Jordan said the event will bring approximately $8 million to Eugene and the organizing committee feels an initial investment of $40,000 is not an unreasonable request. Answering a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Jordan said the Governor turned down a request for Strategic Reserve Funds for the event. State Representative David Dix has applied to the Legislature for money to make improvements to Hayward Field. This would be a tangential benefit to the event. Mr. Jordan said the County donated $5,000 to put together the initial bid for the event and is being approached for additional Lane County room tax revenues. Mr. Boles asked other councilors to comment on whether this additional request for funding comes as a surprise or was forecasted when the initial request was made. Mr. Rutan and Ms. Ehrman both said they had anticipated the request for additional funds. Ms. Ehrman said she likes the fact that the additional contribution will take the form of service provision. Mr. Rutan said the World Veterans' Championships is the largest single event the community has ever held. He said it is an event to be proud of and emphasized that it is being organized and managed very well. e Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to authorize a $27,906 expenditure from the Room Tax Reserve Fund toward defraying the essential operating expenses of the VIII World Veterans' Championships. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. III. APPOINTMENTS: CONSIDERATION OF COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEES' NOMINATIONS TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS Mr. Boles said he and Ms. Schue worked in conjunction with representatives of the human rights commissions to interview and nominate citizens for appointment to the various commissions. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to appoint the council subcommittee's nominations to the Commission on the Rights of the Aging, the Commission on the Rights of Minorities, and the Commission on the Rights of Youth as outlined. The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. IV. APPOINTMENTS: NOTIFICATION OF MAYOR'S APPOINTMENT TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Mayor Miller notified the council of his appointment of Tim Keeley as the Bethel School District representative on the Public Safety Advisory Committee. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 26, 1989 Page 2 e V. WORK SESSION: DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT REDESIGN Scott Luell, Planning, Development and Building staff, said the purpose of this item was to acquaint the council with the preliminary recommendations for redesign of the Downtown Development District (ODD) and to allow the council to prepare for a joint work session and public hearing with the Downtown Commission on May 8, 1989. Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts, Chair of the Downtown Commission, said the commission views the recommendations for redesign of the ODD as transitional. It is not the intent of the commission to leave the proposed program changes in place for another 15 years. The commission recognizes the fact that the downtown is going through a critical transitional period. Due to the likely development of the current free lots, and the expense of replacement parking, the commission acknowledges that paid parking will become the norm downtown. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts said because it is difficult to accurately predict future development, the commission is recommending that the program be reviewed within two years. She emphasized that the overall intent of these recommendations is to assist downtown through this transitional period and allow for enough flexibility to respond to future development. e Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts said the commission feels the recommendations will significantly improve the parking situation downtown. Specifically, it will reduce the abuse rate and will increase the turnover. She felt the recommendations will allow for a more efficient management of resources and will provide for a transition into the future. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts said she hopes to discuss broad issues surrounding parking in the downtown area and the future direction for transportation in the downtown area at the joint work session on May 8, 1989. Jerry Gill, Planning Development and Building staff, distributed maps depicting the DDD, Downtown Commission, Urban Renewal District, and parking-exempt zone boundaries. Mr. Gill said the ODD was formed in 1973 as Valley River Center was being completed, in large measure because downtown business people felt they needed a way to compete with Valley River Center. The DDD focused on three major points: marketing, management, and parking. It was paid for through an ad valorem tax, a gross receipts tax, and a professional tax. Mr. Gill said the professional tax was eliminated in 1985 at the request of the Eugene Downtown Association, because it was perceived as a disincentive to business growth in the downtown area. Mr. Gill said the gross receipts tax was increased in 1986. This was the only tax increased since creation of the ODD in 1973, even though costs have increased. As a result, the DDD budget has been balanced annually by program reductions, such as eliminating various parking lots, and using the fund's working capital. The reduction in free parking lots created design and tax e MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 26, 1989 Page 3 e equity issues for businesses that continued to pay the same amount of tax despite the elimination of services. Due in part to tax equity concerns, support for the free parking program has declined; businesses fail to pay their taxes on time and often do not ask their employees to abide by the rules of the free parking program. Mr. Gill said as a result of these problems, the Downtown Commission proposed the formation of the Downtown Development District Review Group (DDDRG). The DODRG was charged with reviewing these issues and recommending what the ODD should do and how to pay for its program. Mr. Luell reviewed the preliminary ODD redesign recommendations Csee memorandum to the council dated April 14, 1989). He also reviewed the financial impact that these recommendations would have on the budget if implemented. For the current budget year (FY89), the total expenses in the DDD budget equal $667,000 while the total revenues equal only $570,000. This results in a deficit of $107,000. In order to balance this budget by raising taxes, the ad valorem tax would have to be increased by 23 percent and the gross receipts tax would be increased by 21 percent. Mr. Luell said if the recommendations were implemented, total expenses of the ODD would equal $468,000 and the anticipated revenue would equal $528,000. This surplus of $60,000 could be eliminated by freezing the ad valorem tax and reducing the gross receipts tax by 20 percent. e Ms. Ehrman asked whether the DDDRG recommended that downtown business people who pay neither the ad valorem nor the gross receipts tax be included in the redesign. Mr. Luell said this is a difficult issue and the DODRG decided to address this issue later. Mr. Holmer emphasized that while the payment issue does not need to be addressed immediately, it should not be postponed until the two-year review period. Mr. Bennett asked how the decision to reduce only the gross receipts tax was made. Ms. Ehrman said the DODRG made a list of all the functions the DOD performs and noted which group gained the primary function from each of these functions. In the end, the group decided that free parking is most beneficial to retail owners, so the gross receipts tax ought to be reduced as the amount of free parking is reduced. Ms. Ehrman said there was strong consensus among members of the OODRG that this was equitable. Mr. Bennett said one theory is that the ad valorem tax eventually gets passed on to the retailer indirectly. He said this distorts the question of who can operate and merchandise effectively under a transition to a paid parking program. Mr. Boles voiced his support for the recommendations and emphasized the need to address forcefully the larger issue of the future of transportation in the downtown area. Mr. Rutan said he, too, ;s supportive of the redesign recommendations. He noted that although there are financial reasons for making changes to the free parking program at this time, the important question to consider is e MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 26, 1989 Page 4 e e e whether the downtown economy is strong enough to support this change. Mr. Rutan felt that it is. He stressed the need to continue to consider changes in the parking program from this perspective. Mr. Luell said the tentative time line for review of the recommendations calls for a joint commission/council work session and public hearing on May 8. It is anticipated that the commission can finalize their recommendations after the hearing, with the benefit of both council and public input, and forward them to the council for final approval in June or July. The goal is to implement as many of the recommendations as possible by July 1. Mr. Green asked whether enough revenue will be generated through the increased metering of spaces to cover the need for a greater amount of security in parking structures. Mr. Luell said the additional revenue will help cover the higher security costs associated with parking structures. He said ticket and cashier systems in the parking structures should also help allay fears about safety. Mr. Luell said, in addition, new maintenance/ security positions will be created in which security personnel will spend more time in the parking structures and will be responsible for maintenance work in the structure as well. Mr. Bennett said most business people who operate in the downtown recognize the need for a transition to consumer-paid parking and are basing their plans on this. He said the exception is the traditional retailer who must approach parking differently to be competitive. Mr. Bennett said a special study addressing parking concerns of the traditional retailer may need to be initiated. He added that a broader policy regarding whether traditional retailing should be encouraged in the downtown area should also be considered. The meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m. ReSp~CtfUl~ ?;; ~.~ Mich al Gleason City Manager CRecorded by Tanya Northman) MNCC 042689 MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 26, 1989 Page 5