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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/10/1983 Meeting .-. M I NUT E S Eugene City Council Council Chamber, City Hall January 10, 1983 7:30 p.m. COllNCILORS PRESENT: John Ball, Dick Hansen, Freeman Holmer, Mark Lindberg, Brian Obie, Emily Schue, Betty Smith, Cynthia Wooten. Regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller. I. RECOGNITION OF COUNCILOR HAMEL'S SERVICE TO THE COUNCIL Mayor Keller noted that Bill Hamel's term on the council had ended December 31, 1982. Mayor Keller commended Mr. Hamel for his eight years of dedicated service as City Councilor, expressed the thanks of the citizens of Eugene and of City staff for Mr. Hamel's work, and presented Mr. Hamel with a plaque in recognition of his service to the City. '~ Mayor Keller noted that Gretchen Miller, who had also completed a four-year term on the council in December 1982, was not present. He expressed the appreciation of the City for her service. II. RECOGNITION OF CITY EMPLOYEES RETIRING IN 1982 , Mayor Keller noted that 29 employees had retired from City service in 1982. \ He said their time of service to the City totalled 543 years. He expressed the appreciation of the council for the commitment of these professionals to City service and remarked especially on the 38 years' work for the City of Wilbur Buoy. Name Years of Service Department Lucille Barkovic Wilbur Buoy Otter Cammack Neal Cannady Hazel Cate Jack Cater Wi 11 i am Clark Fred Furchner 19 38 15 25 8 29 27 6 28 24 26 Library Public Works Public Works Fire Library Po 1 ice Fire Housing & Community Cons erv at i on Fire Pub 1 i c Work s Fire Bi 11 Hay Alton Hyland John Jens Jensen MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 1983 Page 1 '-- Carl Jones 31 Fire . Leo Keppers 26 Fire Patrick Larion 28 Police Edmond Lowery 21 Police Clifford Miller 27 Police Elbert Moreland 27 Police Art Morrow 9 Housing & Community Conservation Robert Murdock 28 Fire John Schubert 3 Public Works Cuma Smith 13 Parks and Recreation Willard Stevens 23 Fire Conrad Stewart 33 Fire Lloyd Storie 29 Fire Mayor Keller noted that five of these retirees, Alton Hyland, Patrick Larion, Clifford Miller, Elbert Moreland, and Lloyd Storie, were present. He presented each of them with a plaque expressing appreciation for many years of dedicated service to the City. Those present applauded the efforts of these retirees. II. ELECTION OF COUNCIL OFFICERS A. Council President Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Mr. Lindberg, to nominate Ms. Schue as council president. Roll call vote; motion carried unanimously. .- B. Council Vice-President Ms. Smith moved, seconded by Mr. Lindberg, to nominate Mr. Obie as council vice president. Roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. III. MAYOR'S STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS Mayor Keller noted that he was requested by City Charter to qive a State of the City Address each year. He delivered the following address [verbatim text]. First of all, we have two retirees to honor tonight. Gretchen Miller, who served on the council for four years, and Bill Hamel, who served for eight years, retired from their positions on the City Council last month. They attended countless meetings and devoted many, many hours to City business in the interest of making Eugene a better place for all of us to live. During her term on the council, Gretchen worked diligently to help craft the Metro Plan Update. And Bill, while often quiet during council discussions, could be counted on to reiterate his unwavering opinions on certain "special" issues, such as traffic diverters. We always knew where Bill stood on those issues! We wish them well in the future and know that they will continue to work toward the betterment of this community, and for that we are fortunate. e I welcome our two new City councilors, Dick Hansen and Freeman Holmer, to their positions. In your new roles, 11m sure you will find yourselves challenged and, at times, frustrated, as you try to find the best solutions for the entire MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 1983 Page 2 ~ --, community and to plan for Eugene's future. Unfortunately, 1983 does not promise to be a time of plenty, neither in Eugene nor across the nation. But the 80s are a time of opportunity, and I am confident that this new council will actively seek out those opportunities. We welcome the leadership that our new councilors will bring to these efforts, and we look forward to working with you in the years ahead. Economic development is the number one council goal for 1983. We all realize that economic diversification does not take place overnight, especially in the midst of a national recession. Rather, economic diversification takes place over many, many years. I am pleased that, over the last year, the City of. Eugene has taken some significant steps toward building a stronger, broader, economic base for our community. Our Six-Point Economic Diversification Program is our action plan. It makes clear the direction we are heading and involves other local agencies, including the University of Oregon, Lane Community College, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Lane Economic Foundation. Under this action plan, the City Council created the Business Assistance Team and the City Hall Information and Development Assistance Center, so that we now have a "will do" attitude at City Hall. We at City Hall want to help Eugene businesses become more stable economically. And we want to make it as easy as possible for new businesses to locate here. In the last 12 to 15 months, the City has directed much energy at reviewing our policies, ordinances, and processes and at finding ways to streamline them. ~ity staff members have also looked for more ways to assist the public in finding answers to their questions. . Our Business Assistance Team, which was created by the City and the Chamber of Commerce, assisted over 300 current or potential business owners during its first eight months of operation. Over 90 percent of these contacts were from the Eugene area, so it is clear that we are helping our own citizens to pursue their business goals here. For example, one local business our BATeam is now helping is the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics, which is internationally known for training world-class athletes. The Gymnastics Academy is also of particular local significance, because it draws approximately 12,000 people to watch or to compete in its activities each year. Visitors come from throughout the US. and other nations. It is also a local business that is trying to grow--and we're trying to help. The BATeam facilitated the Academy's move into Lincoln School, where it has been able to improve its highly recognized train- ing center. The BATeam also informed the Academy about the US Bancorp grant program for Oregon businesses and assisted the Academy in submitting a grant proposal, which is now under consideration. And we were also able to provide some public relations and marketing assistance to help the Gymnastics Academy grow, because their growth will in turn mean more visitors to Eugene, more customers for other Eugene businesses, and, ultimately, more jobs for Eugeneans. e The Business Assistance Team is also striving to enhance Eugene's business image and to recruit businesses to move here by us ing the theme "Eugene - Fit for Business" and by working in partnership with other public agencies and the private sector. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 1983 Page 3 e - e We are also hoping to expand our Sister City relationship with Kakegawa, Japan, into a trade relationship as well. 1982 marked the fifth year of our Sister City tie. We have made many contacts among these gracious, industrious people, and we are learning much about their customs. During our visit to Kakegawa in October, we talked with Japanese business leaders and learned the first steps we must take in establishing a trade relationship with Japanese companies. We hope to further our knowledge through our exchange visits in 1983. And, with Lane Economic Foundation in the lead role, I hope we can soon begin taking those first steps toward a business relationship that will benefit our community. Downtown Eugene, of course, continues to be a key part in our economic development plans. 1982 was an historic year for downtown with the opening of the Hilton Hotel in January, followed by the opening of the Eugene Conference Center in April and the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in September. Those were proud moments for Eugeneans--and rightly so. We now have an outstanding cultural center for our community, and it has been eagerly received. About 20,000 people attended our October open house at the Hult Center, and thousands have been entertained there since the opening night gala. The Conference Center and Performing Arts Center are also catalysts for economic development. Construction of the complex itself created a number of jobs in Euqene, but even more will be created as conference-goers and Hult Center guests visit our stores, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses while they are here. Despite current economic conditions, the Conference Center and the Hult Center are doing well financially for such a new enterprise. Conference business is increasing, and next year's conference bookings look even better. The ~rand opening weeks at the Hult Center were very successful. The 24 events which the center presented during the opening series earned a net income of $17,000. Any new business should be pleased with such results. I am confident that the year ahead will show that the Hilton, Eugene Conference Center, and the Hult Center for the Performing Arts are star attractions for Eugene and that not only our downtown area, but the entire city will benefit substantially. The formation of the Downtown Commission will, I think, also prove an important step for downtown Eugene. We now have a single advisory group to work on downtown issues. An important task before them this year is the development of a downtown plan that will consider the downtown's strengths and weaknesses and propose a course for the future. Clearly, 1983 will be an important year for downtown, and I think it will be a progressive one also. Our economic development efforts this year will also be fueled by the completion of the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan, which was acknowledged by LCDC in August. Development of the Metro Plan involved a great deal of work, including much public discussion and negotiation with Lane County and the City of Springfield. The result is a land use plan that clears the way for new industry to locate here because we can now aS$ure prospective firms that future growth will accommodate them. This fall, our acknowledged Metro Plan allowed us to begin aggressive annexation of industrial lands in West Eugene, so that we may stand ready to provide sites for new industry. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 1983 Page 4 . I know we are all eager to see the jobs that our economic diversification efforts will eventually bring. To reach that goal, we will have to continue our step-by-step progress in 1983. 1983 is also a year in which we face some tough financial decisions about Eugene's future. Over the past three years, the Eugene Plan has enabled us to finance local government without making service cuts that threatened the basic welfare of our community. It gave us some stability as we started the 1980s. But the Eugene Plan will be in its last year beginning July 1. We now need another innovative idea to carry Eugene through the remainder of the decade. We need a new financial plan that will allow us to provide the basic public services, such as police and fire protection and streets and sewers, that are essential not only to our citizens but to Eugene's ability to attract new business. We also need a plan that will preserve Eugene's livability--its parks, library, and other amenities that help make Eugene Eugene. Yet it must also be a plan that Eugeneans will support. e Our financial forecast shows that, to continue current City services, our revenues are roughly $3 million short each year for the remainder of this decade. And our Capital Improvement Program will also have to be dealt with in the future. To address this problem, the City Council last July formed the Financial Planning Committee to look at the City's long-range financial picture. The committee, and the entire council, will have some difficult decisions to make this year. It became obvious last fall, after the narrow defeat of Ballot Measure 3, the property tax limitation measure, that Oregonians believe property taxes are high enough. So our Financial Planning Committee, and also the Oregon Legislature, must find a way of financing public services that is acceptable to Oregonians. That is why the Eugene City' Council and the LeaguelDf Oregon Cities have asked the State Legislature to review the sales tax as a means of offsetting the property tax or income tax. And as the legislature considers how to adjust Oregon's tax system, we will play an active role. But regardless of what happens in Salem, we in Eugene must find a way to chart a steady financial course for the remainder of the 80s. There were some other achievements in 1982 that I would like to note tonight, if only briefly: We worked with EWEB, the City of Springfield, and Lane County on a number of projects. Together with Springfield, we operated an effective, efficient ambulance service. We worked with both Springfield and Lane County toward the completion of our new Metropolitan Wastewater Plant. And we also worked with EWEB to resolve the 8th and High property transfer, water main charges, and co-generated power revenues. I am pleased to report that preliminary figures show that major crimes decreased over 13 percent in 1982. This continues a trend that started in 1981, despite the fact that the City has trimmed Police resources as well as other services and that economic and unemployment problems continue to exist. The Police Department has been able to reinforce its crime prevention efforts by calling upon neighborhood resources to help reduce crime vulnerability and it will continue those efforts this year. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 1983 Page 5 e The City neared completion of its parkland acquisition program in Eugene's south ridgeline in 1982. Over 300 acres have now been acquired, and a ridgeline hiking trail through a portion of the property should be completed this spring. The Parks and Recreation Department also developed a Parks Master Plan to determine Eugene's future recreational needs and to identify unique natural areas that should be preserved as parks. The plan is now under review by the Planning Commission and will soon be forwarded to the council. In closing, 1982 was a lean year for the City of Eugene and for many of our citizens. Staff and resources were trimmed in all City departments. Fire stations were closed, and some stations were staffed on a reduced basis. We had to trim hours at the Library, and we had to reduce year-round operation of Jefferson Pool. Our Capital Improvement Program was shelved to allow us to continue as many services as our resources could provide. We know that some of our citizens are also suffering from the economic downturn that has affected our city and the entire nation. And we are concerned for them. That is why we are continuing to focus our energies on economic development, which means more jobs and a brighter future for our people. Last year, I said I would like the watchwords of the 80s to be "cooperation and hope". We saw both in 1982, and we also saw action. I think 1983 will be another year of progress toward accomplishing the council's number one goal of economic development. In 1983, we must also decide what services the City will provide in the 80s and how we will pay for them. Eugene, today, is benefiting from the financial foresight of the Eugene Plan. We now must provide a financial plan for the years ahead. And I am confident that we will once again find innovative 4It solutions, born of cooperation and commitment to this unique community. We, in Eugene, will do more than simply survive the challenging years of the 1980s. We will search for opportunity, and we will prosper from those efforts. At the conclusion of his address, Mayor Keller expressed the appreciation of the council for the efforts of City staff in assisting the council and for the work of citizens serving on the City's many advisory boards and commissions. The meeting was adjourned to January 12, 1983. Respectfully submitted, 7?(,~~ ' ''''''7. T Micheal D. Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Darcy Marentette) MDG:DCM:dcm/CM27b6 e MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 10, 1983 Page 6