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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/30/1990 Meeting e e e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall May 30, 1990 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Mayor Jeff Miller, Rob Bennett, Freeman Holmer, Bobby Green, Roger Rutan, Emily Schue, Ruth Bascom, Shawn Boles. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Debra Ehrman. The adjourned meeting of May 29, 1990, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by His Honor Mayor Jeff Miller. I. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. Committee Restructure In light of the council's recent decision to abolish the Council Committee on Economic Diversification (CCED), Mr. Holmer asked other councilors on this committee whether they feel it would be a good idea to schedule one final meeting to reach conclusion on any outstanding activities. Council representatives on CCED expressed support for this suggestion. In light of the council's decision to abolish council representation on the Southern Willamette Private Industry Council (SWPIC), Mr. Green asked whether it should also schedule a final meeting. Mr. Rutan pointed out that the council is required by an intergovernmental agreement to have representation on SWPIC. He felt that the council should continue to have representation on SWPIC until this agreement is terminated. Council members also agreed that a letter should be sent from the council to all impacted committees informing them of the reasons behind this decision and providing any additional information that might be required. B. United Nations Report on Global Warming Mr. Boles directed the council's attention to a recent report from the United Nations confirming the incidence of global warming as a pervasive problem. Mr. Boles encouraged councilors to consider what role municipalities should play in resolving ~his problem. MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 30, 1990 Page 1 e C. Park Block Curb Cuts Mr. Boles expressed appreciation to Eugene Parks and Recreation for complying with his request for installing curb cuts near the Park Blocks. He noted that members of the community have responded positively, as well. D. Noise Created by External Speakers . Mr. Boles indicated that he recently received another letter from a citizen concerned with the noise created by Shopko's external advertising speakers. He noted that he thought action had already been taken to resolve this problem, and requested staff verification. Staff agreed to verify that this problem has been alleviated. E. Leave of Absence Mr. Gleason announced that Jim Ellison has requested a three-month leave of absence from his position on the Planning Commission. Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Mr. Bennett, to grant Eugene Planning Commissioner Jim Ellison a three-month leave of absence. The motion carried unanimously, 7:0. II. SEARS BUILDING REDEVELOPMENT e Mr. Gleason stated that the council discussed the Sears redevelopment proposal at its May 9 meeting. Since that time, council has had several library siting discussions in which there appeared to be serious interest in considering the Sears building as a potential library site. The council requested that more information be prepared with respect to this site prior to making a decision. Mr. Gleason said that in order to allow sufficient time to gather additional information, staff recommends that the council postpone its decision on the Sears building redevelopment to the June 30 meeting. Rick Larsen, Sears building owner representative, said that although Club Wholesale has given consideration to the Sears building as a possible location for its retail business, it is willing to postpone its decision until the council's June 30 meeting. Responding to a question from Mr. Holmer, Mr. Larsen said that in the best possible scenario, the Sears building owner would like for this site not to remain vacant. The owner feels, however, that either potential use expressed so far would be acceptable for this site. Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Mr. Bennett, to postpone action on Sears building redevelopment to June 20, 1990. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 30, 1990 Page 2 . e III. DOWNTOWN REDESIGN PROCESS In March, the council reviewed the draft of a process for redesign of downtown public space and directed staff to return with some revisions. Jan Bohman, Planning and Development Department, briefly reviewed two possible time lines created by staff for council's consideration and provided the council with an analysis of the potential benefits and drawbacks of each. Ms. Bohman said that Time line A attempts to respond to the council's direction ~ith respect to shortening the entire downtown redesign process and allows the public to make a decision on a specific downtown design at a November election. She noted that a drawback of Time line A, however, is that it does restrict the public participation process to two months and requires that the draft Design Principles component be pulled out of the Retail Task Force's final report before the complete report has been approved. As differentiated from Time line A, Ms. Bohman stated that Time line B requires council action by the end of the year in preparation for a March election. Although Time line B prolongs the entire decision process, it does allow for a more extended public participation process. Ms. Bohman noted that one potential pitfall of Time line B is that it requires the expenditure of moneys on design development prior to the election raising the possibility of public criticism. Another issue of concern with Time line B is that construction of Phase I would take place through the summer which has been a concern of affected businesses in similar projects in the past. e Ms. Bohman said that upon consideration of both time lines, the Retail Task Force, the Downtown Commission, and the Citizen Involvement Committee have all recommended Time line B, particularly because it allows more time for public involvement. Staff also recommends the approval of Time line B. Ms. Bascom noted that in the past the council discussed the possibility of getting feedback on this project during the Eugene Celebration. In response, Ms. Bohman said that having a design review during the Eugene Celebration is still being considered as a component of this. In addition, this design review element would be easier to accommodate under Time Line B. Mr. Rutan noted that while he is disappointed with the idea of extending the . time required to make a decision on this project, he is supportive of the staff recommendation for Time line B because it allows for greater public participation. Mr. Green concurred. Mr. Holmer expressed concern that under Time line B, design development, construction, and bidding are all scheduled to begin before the' election. He added that he felt this would be in direct opposition to the concept of citizen-involved decision making. Acknowledging the possible tensions that this time line might create in the community, Mr. Boles explained that the intent of the phased-option process is to allow for minimal financial expenditure before the final decision is made. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 30, 1990 Page 3 e Mr. Holmer pointed out an error in the staff documentation of Time Line B which indicated incorrectly that design development phase two was scheduled to begin before the March election. Ms. Bohman confirmed that this was an error. Ms. Schue moved, seconded by Mr. Bennett, to direct staff to proceed with the Downtown Redesign process according to Time Line B. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 7:0. IV. COMMUNITY SURVEY QUESTIONS Barbara Bellamy, City Manager's Office, briefly reported on the possible survey questions. She noted that survey questions regarding the library operate under the assumption that the existing library facility is inadequate and that some public money will be required to pay for a new or expanded facility. In light of these assumptions, Ms. Bellamy suggested that survey questions might follow two broad categories including possible library site locations and citizen's willingness to pay. Ms. Bellamy pointed out that a public information program planned for June may generate different ideas in the community about what has been desired in the past in terms of a library facility. e Mr. Holmer expressed concern that the inclusion of any questions regarding the library is premature and felt that these types of questions should not be put before the public until more detailed information on library siting options is available. He suggested that a more broad category of downtown design might be a better venue for survey questions. Ms. Bascom commented that it is appropriate to ask questions about the library because it is one of the council's primary goals. She concurred with Mr. Holmer that it is premature to ask specific library siting questions. Mr. Boles suggested that the council provide an open-ended question exploring ways in which the City might fund the library. Several alternative means of funding for further exploration might include: a General Obligation (GO) bond, a GO bond with tax- increment financing, a restaurant tax, a local-option sales tax, property taxes, or user fees. Mr. Gleason felt that it was misleading to present questions on user fees as a possible means of library financing because it would be impossible for user fees to generate enough revenue to support required funding. Ms. Schue suggested asking questions about citizen commitment for the existing library site. Mr. Rutan offered his support for this suggestion. Mr. Bennett suggested the possibility of using the survey to elicit community feedback on a single council-generated recommendation regarding library siting and financing. He also expressed concern that the average citizen is e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 30, 1990 Page 4 e e e unaware of the current problems which exist with respect to the existing library site. Given council feedback, Ms. Bellamy summarized that the types of questions that should be asked on the survey include confirming that the present library site is inadequate, retesting support for other possible library locations, and exploring alternative options for library financing. At 12:35 p.m., Mayor Miller adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council. Respectfully submitted, . ,", .~ ...".,., ~ ' .{:-' ~~l,.' . /' "'1';'1,,' .\Y . ;i<~.",,~ }L(.#,,~~'" i' Micheal Gleason City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 053090-1130 i MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 30, 1990 Page 5