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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/17/1985 Meeting --. M I NUT E S e Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session McNutt Room--City Hall June 17, 1985 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Cynthia Wooten, Richard Hansen, Emily Schue, Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Debra Ehrman, Jeff Miller, Roger Ru tan. Mayor Brian B. Obie called the work session to order. I. PUBLIC INFORMATION/INPUT PROGRAM Barbara Bellamy, Public Information Director, distributed a list of ward meetings she has scheduled for councilors. She has scheduled speakers for 12 community meetings and is working on 10 others. Ms. Bellamy discussed the public information program. She suggested the program be divided into two parts. The Airport, Riverfront Park, Downtown e Revitalization, Improvements to the Transportation Systems, and Entrance Beautification will be titled "Eugene Agenda for Economic Development. II The expansion of the library, a new central area swimming pool, and improvements to exi sting streets, parks, and buil dings wi 11 be ti tl ed "Eugene Agenda for Livabil ity. II She emphasized the two parts are one package. Ms. Bellamy said the information program will include descriptions of the projects, financing proposals, and community comment. She stressed that people should be told one purpose of the program is to obtain comment from the community. The staff will provide councilors with a slide show, project descriptions, and a form for comments from the public. Councilor Holmer suggested a timing sequence for the projects be included with the descriptions. Counci lor Schue suggested the sequence be "Up front. II Discussing the agenda name, Councilor Ehrman questioned the advisability of dividing the agenda into two parts. Mayor Obie said the purpose of the public information program is to refine the agenda. He suggested it be called the "Proposed Agenda. . ." Other counci 1 ors suggested liThe Eugene Agenda for Economic Development and Livability" or "Eugenels Future." Ms. Bellamy suggested a task team be appointed to help get people out to the meetings. The members will tell others of the opportunity to shape the Eugene Agen da . She suggested the task team be composed of representatives of the e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 17, 1985 Page 1 City Council, Airport Commission, Downtown Commission, Planning Commission, e Library Board, Joint Parks Committee, Citizen Involvement Committee, Chamber of Commerce, University of Oregon, League of Women Voters, Eugene Action Forum, EWEB Board of Directors, and three cititzens at-large. Mr. Holmer and other councilors suggested representatives from the school boards, the neighborhood leaders, the AFL/CIO, Oregon Education Association, the Rotary and other service clubs, Rubican Society, and the Democratic Forum be appointed to the task team. Councilors discussed the purpose of the task team for some time. Councilor Wooten suggested it could be both an advisory and resource group. Ms. Schue did not think all the members would favor the Eugene Agenda. Councilor Rutan thought liaison-type contacts with the groups will be sufficient. Mayor Obie suggested the task team members will encourage participation. Mr. Holmer hoped the public information program will build a support group for the Agenda when it is submitted to the voters. A group that has helped shape the Agenda will probably support it, he said. Mr. Rutan noted the purpose of the public information program is not to sell the projects. The purpose is to get information from the public. Responding to a question from Mr. Hansen, Ms. Bellamy said the meetings will be publicized by direct mail notices to everyone in the city. Notification is expensive, but it is necessary. e Mr. Rutan said the proposed task force is too large. Mr. Hansen questioned the advisability of having government representatives, such as a planning commissioner, on the task team. He suggested the governmental bodies be asked to review the agenda. Ms. Wooten suggested that questionnaires about the program be sent to the non-government groups and that councilors offer to meet with the groups. She suggested meetings be scheduled with the organizations, a presentation be given, and reactions be requested. The reactions could be written or oral. She also suggested the organizations be presented with a schedule of the public meetings so they can inform their members. The council can then use the information gained in the final decision making, she said. Several councilors agreed with Ms. Wooten's suggestions. Several councilors pointed out that the council had not made a final decision about the Agenda. Ms. Schue said councilors must differentiate between getting input about the Agenda and getting support for the Agenda. Ms. Bascom suggested the leaders of the organizations be asked to a meeting so the information could be presented to them. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 17, 1985 Page 2 Summarizing, Ms. Bellamy said the councilors did not seem to want the informal e network she proposed. They seemed to want to present the information about the Agenda to the non-government groups and get input. Answering a question from Mr. Rutan, she said a network to get people out to the meetings is i mportan t. She will try to get the City boards and commissions to help. Ms. Ehrman and Ms. Bascom discussed reactions to presentations about the Agenda they had made at neighborhood meetings. No one commented on the presentation to Ms. Ehrman. She suggested a response form be sent with notices of the meetings. No one commented during Ms. Bascom1s presentation, but she got a lot of questions during the informal refreshment period. Mr. Holmer suggested the slide show script contain a paragraph explaining why existing revenues cannot fund the Eugene Agenda. Mr. Rutan initiated a discussion of ways to permit people to indicate priorities for projects in the Eugene Agenda. Reviewing a draft of the capital project descriptions, Mayor Obie said the Entrance Beautification project does not go far enough north on Highway 99. Mr. Gleason said the staff will find out how much landscaping the State Highway Department will do along Highway 99. Several councilors requested additional information be included in the project descriptions. Ms. Ehrman wanted to know about assessments to property owners for beautification along Highway 99 and other places. Mr. Miller wanted to e know how much new income the City will need for each project. Ms. Schue said people will want to know how the new income will affect their tax bill and what they will get for it. The councilors discussed different ways of financing the projects. Mr. Hansen said the big question is whether the projects will be funded together or separately. He suggested the council agree on the maximum cost of all the proj ec ts . Mr. Miller said the council should also consider what will be done with the new income after the Eugene Agenda projects are completed. Mr. Hansen and Mr. Rutan had met with Bob Shelby, Director of Aviation at Mahlon Sweet Field, about the financing of the airport expansion. Discussing the financing, Mr. Hansen said the cost estimate of $17.1 million is firm if the bid date is no later than June 1,1986. He said the cost will increase each day the bid date is delayed after June 1, 1986. He suggested the new income should be decreased if unanticipated Federal funds for the airport are received. Mr. Rutan said the estimate includes the full expansion of the terminal, jetways, a second floor, a business center, a covered walkway in front, and elevators. He emphasized the need for council action to authorize the design process in order to keep the total cost down to the estimate. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 17, 1985 Page 3 The councilors discussed the consequences of authorizing the design process e for the airport expansion before a new income stream is approved. Mayor Obie asked Mr. Gleason to schedule a discussion of the design process for the airport expansion on a council agenda soon. Mr. Gleason suggested councilors think about an appropriate ballot title in order to relate an election on new revenue to the public information program. Answering a question from Ms. Ehrman, Mr. Whitlow said the swimming pool project no longer includes a recreation center. It now includes only a pool and two meeting rooms. Ms. Schue said the question should be: What is the most effective swimming pool package to serve the central area? She did not want to promise the inner-city neighborhoods that they will design the swimming pool. II. ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS Mayor Obie said the Eugene Agenda and the Revenue Sharing/CIP projects will require an income of $6 million annually. Answering a question from Mayor Obie, Finance Director Warren Wong said a one percent adjusted gross income tax will generate about $12 million in annual income. One-half percent adjusted gross income tax will generate about $6 e million in annual income. Commenting on the income tax, Mr. Rutan asked what the cost for the Eugene Agenda will be if the Downtown Revitalization is deleted. Mr. Hansen said the councilors will get insight into whether the community is willing to tax itself from comments during the public information program. He sai d the concept is what should be presented to the public. The details can be worked out later. Ms. Ehrman and Ms. Schue said the presentation should state that a City income tax woul d be deductabl e from State and Federal taxes lIat the present time. II Ms. Wooten asked how the estimated annual income from an income tax will be affected if a $5,000 exemption from adjusted gross income for individuals and a $10,000 exemption from adjusted gross income for families is included. She wondered if the exemption should be just for people with low incomes or for everyone. Ms. Schue thought the new taxes will be received better if they are tied to specific projects. Mr. Holmer said the City will need additional revenue to maintain what it has and what will be built, although the new income will be used initially for the Eugene Agenda projects. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 17, 1985 Page 4 . Mr. Rutan sai d it is the Eugene Agenda projects that will "sell" the new taxes. Mr. Obie suggested the public be asked to comment on how long the new income should last. He also suggested that a one-quarter to three-quarter percent income tax be proposed. Responding to a comment from Mr. Miller, Mr. Rutan said two scenarios could be included in the presentation. One scenario would continue the income stream and another would end the income stream when the projects are constructed. Mr. Rutan moved, seconded by Ms. Schue, to present an income tax of one-quarter to three-quarters percent on adjusted gross income to fund the Eugene Agenda and Revenue Sharing/CIP projects. The proposal is subject to refinement by the council after it receives public comment. Ms. Wooten intended to tell people she will support an exemption of some kind. Ms. Ehrman said a corporate income tax as well as an individual income tax should be considered. The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. Ms. Bascom asked for an estimate of the cost of collecting an income tax. e Mr. Miller asked for an estimate of exemptions on adjusted gross income from $5,000 to $10,000. Mr. Holmer suggested the council consider using the Oregon taxable income for the new income stream. The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 p.m. ~~'- 10 Micheal Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Betty Lou Rarick) l785C e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 17, 1985 Page 5