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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/09/1984 Meeting , ~.~ 1- _ \ ,~ e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council City Council Chamber January 9, 1984 7 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Emily Schue, John Ball, Dick Hansen, Freeman Holmer, Betty Smith, and Cynthia Wooten. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Brian Obie. The regul ar meeti ng of the Ci ty Council of the City of Eugene,Oregon, was call ed to order by His Honor Mayor Gus Keller. I. ELECTION OF COUNCIL OFFICERS Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, to nominate Brian.Obie as President and Cynthia Wooten as Vice-President of the Eugene City Council. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 6:0. II. MAYOR'S STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS Mayor Keller thanked Ms. Schue for her work as the council president and for those occasions when she filled in for the Mayor in his absence. The following is the text of Mayor Keller1s address: ,.. Welcome to this first meeting of the Eugene City Council in 1984. This is the occasion of the Mayor's annual State of the City address, as called for by City Charter. Thus far, the 1980s have been a time of financial strain for business, individ- uals, and State local government. As we begin 1984, we are, for the first time this decade, hearing some optimistic economic forecasts for the year ahead. . That is good news! But here in Eugene, we are still frustrated by the precarious financial footing on which this city and all of Oregon's municipal governments are balancing. When I began my first term as Mayor in 1977, I expressed great concern about local government's financial stability. We, in Eugene, were fortunate that voters approved the "Eugene Plan" which provided prudent increases in our tax levy over the last four years. Although cutbacks have been necessary, we have been spared the crisis that many other cities and school districts faced these past few years. But Oregon's taxpayers have said that property taxes are too high. Therefore, we need to rely less on the property tax as a means of financing schools and' local government, and find a new financing mechanism. This is a statewide problem, and it needs a statewide solution. We were encouraged that the legis- lature seemed at last determined to face the issue in 1983. The Council's MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 9, 1983 Page 1 . - ~ Financial Planning Committee, which spent the last year taking a close look at the City's long-term financial needs, delayed proposing a local solution. Unfortunately, we waited only to be disappointed by Salem. I am frustrated, as is the entire council, by the legislature's inability to deal with this major statewide issue. Lacking a statewide solution, the council has made financial planning one of our top goals in 1984. At our council goals session in October, we set a goal for next year's budget: to continue existing service levels within our current financial resources. But we are concerned with some of the service reductions which we have had to make over the past few years. I'm confident. that, sometime in the future, we will have an opportunity to restore those services. When that time comes, we should be prepared with a plan. Economic diversification is the other issue which heads our council's list in 1984. Economic development has been the council's number one goal for the last two years. I'm pleased to report that a lot has happened in Eugene since those words first appeared at the top of the list in 1981. To many citizens, our economic development achievements may not be all that obvious. We haven't enticed a big new firm to locate here--few communities have in the midst of a nationwide recession. But we have made significant progress. New businesses have located here and other-OUSinesses--such as Fred Meyer--have expanded. We know that over 1,000 jobs have been created here within the last year. Through our economic development programs, we've assisted small businesses as well as large. And, most importantly, we have built a strong foundation for long-term economic diversification. To recap some of our achievements: -- We are working more closely than ever before with the business community. The Chamber of Commerce and the City of Eugene have formed a strong cooperative link through our joint Business Assistance Team. The BATeam has made over 1000 contacts with local and outside businesses since its inception in May of 1982. In addition, the Council's annual round table discussion with business leaders has provided vital support and leadership for our economic diversification program. -- Helping local businesses has been an important part of our work. In addition to BATeam assistance, we've leveraged some of our community development block grant money with local banks in a new loan program that assists local businesses with their financing needs. Staff at City Hall have made a major effort over the last two years to streamline City regulations and speed processes where possible. Last month the Council approved a number of new land use procedures as part of this effort. Processing time for a zone change request, for example, will be cut by one-third. And we're continuing to make progress toward a one-stop permit counter. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 9, 1984 Page 2 ~ e e -- We've started marketing Eugene to the rest of the nation. We've developed good informational brochures and materials which we never had before. Through our Ambassador Program, Eugene residents are helping to make contacts throughout the country. Some of those contacts are bringing new businesses to Eugene and will continue to do so in the future. We've also joined forces with the City of Springfield and the Eugene and Springfield Chambers of Commerce in a metro marketing program so that we can better attract outside industry. And we've participated in the formation of the Southern Willamette Research Corridor--a partnership of 12 organizations including the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Lane and Linn-Benton Community Colleges, five cities, and three economic develop- ment organizations. Working together, we can attract new business and boost the economic vitality of this entire area. It is a long-range approach which promises long-range benefits. -- The Hult Center for the Performing Arts is proving itself to be a good economic investment for our community. A market study of the center's first 9 months of operations showed a direct spinoff of $2.5 million and an indirect economic impact of over $10 million. Each sellout performance at the Hult Center generates $30,000 for our local business coffers. The council still must address long term financing of the Hult Center opera- tions. The management study, which will be completed next month, should give us the information we need to make that decision and help us to capitalize on this fabulous community asset. In 1984, our economic development efforts will focus more on building tourism and making Eugene an even more attractive location for conferences and conven- tions. By increasing our local room tax by one percent, we were able to increase funding for tourism and convention marketing and promotion by $126,000 this year. Eugene is now experiencing the beginnings of a healthy conference business. The Eugene-Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau booked 137 conferences in 1983--nearly twice as many as in 1982. Those conferences now booked through 1986 will directly contribute over $9 million to this community. Our challenge in 1984 is to draw up a cultural and leisure plan that will coordinate community efforts and make the most of our resources. Downtown development received a lot of attention in 1983. This year, the Downtown Commission will complete work on an updated plan for our downtown. The Commission has worked extremely hard to address the downtown's problems and the Council is pleased with their work thus far. Airport expansion is also high on our economic development list. Over the past 5 years, the airport has undergone $8 million of improvements, prim~rily for runways. Securing Federal financing for terminal expansion is a prime concern of this council for 1984. The success of our economic development efforts in 1984 and beyond depends on teamwork between the public and private sector and a sound game plan. This community has taken great strides forward in both areas. We are now well positioned to take advantage of an improving economy. It is important to remember that our economic development programs are built around the Metro Plan and Eugene's other long-range plans which provide a MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 9, 1983 Page 3 - e e framework for orderly growth. For example, the Metro Plan clearly identifies land which is available for industrial development. The T-2000 Plan maps out a strong arterial street system to serve new development. Our timeline for construction of the West Eugene Sewer Trunk ensures that basic utilities will be available when needed. Our long range plans offer savings for taxpayers too by ensuring that needed public improvements will be provided in a timely and cost-efficient manner. That is why it is essential that we pursue the implemen- tation of our long-range plans in 1984, particularly the widening and extension of 6th and 7th avenues to serve the West Eugene area. Failure to put our long-range plans into action will weaken the structure of our economic develop- ment program and lead to a more costly and less efficient public service system for Eugene. This metropolitan area still has some important planning issues to resolve in the near future, particularly in Glenwood and River Road. The future of the Glenwood area has been in question for years. The cities of Eugene and Spring- field together with Lane County are undertaking a joint study to resolve that issue. We need to determine who is the most logical entity to provide urban services to Glenwood, so that development can proceed smoothly in the years ahead. River Road-Santa Clara is another area where urban services are now needed. How and when those services are provided and how much they will cost is now being addressed by an urban services plan under the guidance of a citizens advisory committee. We, in the City of Eugene, need to be sensitive to the situation of River Road-Santa Clara residents. We are willing to explore various solutions for phasing in urban services. And we need to share information, so that there are no questions about what is happening while these options are explored. Before I close, lid like to briefly run down some other achievements from 1983 which hold promise for 1984 as well: First, the Eugene Celebration--what a show! It was an event to be proud of, not only because thousands attended, but also because the people of this community made it happen. We especially thank Eugene businesses for generous support--we know it came at a time when the tills weren't full, but you came through for Eugene, and we thank you! 1983 marked the fifth year of our Sister City relationship with Kakegawa, Japan. The ties between our two communities grow stronger each year. We' look forward to the visit of the next delegation, which will be led by Mayor Shinmura, this summer. Our crime statistics for 1983 also reflect a positive trend. Serious crime incident reports decreased for the third consecutive year. Reported serious crime in Eugene has not been lower since 1979. Our emergency medical service--which is just two years old--was named the best in the state by the Oregon EMT Association. I would also like to state that in 1984 our entire public safety system will take a leap forward when we combine our communications centers for police, fire, and emergency medical services. We are continuing to plan for a 9-1-1 emergency phone service MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 9, 1983 Page 4 e in central Lane County in 1986. All of this ensures that Eugene will be served by an extremely effective, efficient public safety communications system in the foreseeable future. -- Labor agreements were of great significance to the city in 1983. We greatly appreciate the cooperation of the Police and Fire unions and of the exempt employees. Service cuts would have been much greater without their support. In 1983, Eugene once a~ain was named a finalist for the the All-American City award. I hope we 11 again be on the roster when winners are announced this spring. lid also like to recognize and thank our City staff for their work in 1983. Under the able leadership of City Manager Mike Gleason, our professional staff has continued to provide a high level of service despite restricted resources. We thank the staff for their outstanding energy in pursuing cost efficiencies. In a time when it's difficult to increase revenues, we, as a city, continue to provide much more than adequate services to our citizens. 1984 will be a time of change for Eugene. The Community Goals Conference, which began last week, will set the stage for some new directions. Anyone attending the Goals Conference couldn't help but be impressed by the positive energy and commitment of those 200 Eugeneans who were involved. On behalf of the council, I'd like to thank all those who participated--your involvement is certainly appreciated and Eugene will be a better place for it. e This summer will bring an especially exciting change to Eugene as we step into our new role as international host. Over 8,000 visitors from around the world will come to Eugene this summer. Just listen to this line-up: In June the NCAA Men's and Women's Track and Field Championships will draw 600 outstanding competitors and thousands of spectators. In July, weill host the Olympic Scientific Congress and the International Association of Music Educators. Those two conferences alone will bring somewhere between 6,000-8,000 delegates from dozens of nations. The Oregon Bach Festival will also draw a number of prestigious visitors to our community including talented artists from throughout the nation and abroad. In August, the American Mathematics Association will bring yet another 2,000 international delegates to Eugene. Just try to picture it, if you would, with me! Did you ever expect to walk down the street in Eugene and meet people from Russia, Britain, Germany, New Zealand and China? What an exciting opportunity for us all! It's our chance to showcase Eugene, Oregon to the world. Very few communities have such an opportunity--and for a community of just over 100,000 people, it's an astounding achievement. - MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 9, 1984 Page 5 e e . Clearly, our economic investments are beginning to payoff. That is why I look forward to a better year in 1984, both for our city and for our people. And the best news yet is, simply, it's only just beginning. Mayor Keller stated that he hoped that 1984 would prove to be even more exciting than he outlined in his address. The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m. to January 11, 1984. Respectfully submitted, .........(1 ..........., ?;;;;;::::'i';?;;;;:~/~;,;L::~,__-- ( -,,- /,/ ," Micheal D. Gleason City Manager TS:ded/CM7b12 MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 9, 1984 Page 6