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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/27/1990 Meeting e M I NUT E S Eugene City Council McNutt Room--City Hall June 27, 1990 11:30 a.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Rob Bennett, Bobby Green, Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Shawn Boles, Roger Rutan. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Mayor Jeff Miller, Emily Schue, Debra Ehrman. The adjourned meeting of June 25, 1990, of the Eugene City Council was called to order by Councilor Rob Bennett. I. ITEMS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR, AND CITY MANAGER A. International Physicists' Conference Ms. Bascom informed the council that former University of Oregon Physics Department Chair Russ Donnelly will be bringing a proposal to the council at its July 25 meeting requesting a $10,000 donation to assist his efforts in e bringing the International Physicists' Conference to Eugene in 1993. The conference, scheduled for the summer of 1993, is expected to bring to Eugene a variety of people from other countries. The donation request is intended to cover boarding costs for those individuals who are unable to pay. Ms. Bascom pointed out that the planning presentation date was chosen to occur after the council's July 16 work session so that it will have had an opportunity to determine its policy for dealing with funding requests. B. Unsafe Right-of-Way in Ward 5 Mr. Holmer expressed concern for the safety hazard posed by a five-foot-wide strip of property which is located by Monroe Middle School and is used by many school children. Mr. Holmer noted that he will continue to work with the Public Works Department to find a resolution to this problem. C. Parking in Ward 4 Mr. Holmer brought to the council's attention a problem which has been raised by property owners regarding a parcel of land located at Elysium and Coburg Road. He noted that although the piece of property in question is not zoned to permit parking, the property owner has requested that property zoning be changed to allow for this intended use. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 1 e Mr. Holmer said that the City Manager is aware of this problem, but has indicated that a zone change would have particular problems associated with it. Mr. Holmer noted that a Joint Elected Officials meeting is scheduled for July 25 to revise the Metro Plan amendment process and suggested that a problem resolution might be possible as a result of this meeting. The council directed staff to explore means of resolving this problem through utilization of current guidelines, codes, and practices. D. Broadway Building Development Mr. Rutan said that he had an opportunity to represent the council at a recent announcement regarding development of the Broadway building downtown. This building, which has been vacant for some time, will house an exciting mixed-use retail and theater development. E. The Butte-to-Butte Road Race Mr. Rutan invited council members to take part in Eugene's annual Butte-to- Butte Road Race scheduled to take place July 4. Responding to a question from Ms. Bascom, Mr. Rutan said that this event will include several running courses of different distances as well as a walking course. F. Reopening the Commission on the Rights of Minorities Appointment Process e Mr. Green said that the Commission on the Rights of Minorities has experi- enced some recent difficulty achieving a quorum in its meetings because of several unfilled positions. He requested that staff reopen the application process for this commission. The council offered its support for Mr. Green's request. H. Discharging of Firearms Mr. Green noted that a recent incident involving the discharging of firearms in the area around Jessen Drive and Bean Street had raised neighborhood safety concerns. Several neighborhood residents have contacted the Depart- ment of Public Safety about this problem, but have expressed concern that the police have been unresponsive to their requests. Mr. Green requested assis- tance from staff in developing recommendations to these neighbors about how they might address the situation. H. The Bon Marche Mr. Boles expressed his disappointment with The Bon Marche's recent decision to close its store downtown. He said that he received about 100 copies of letters from community members concerned about the impact of this decision on the Downtown Mall. He noted that with the closing of this store, Eugene downtown faces quite a challenge. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 2 I I e I. NEDCO Mr. Bennett noted that he recently received a copy of a memo from NEDCO, a nonprofit neighborhood development corporation, which is attempting to dis- pose of a City-owned site to be replaced with a new, low-income family hous- I. ing unit. He highlighted the importance of timing in these negotiations and requested that this project move forward as quickly as possible. The council offered its general agreement that the information contained within the memo was sufficient and urged staff to proceed with this project. J. Countywide Serial Levy--Universal Library Card Assistant City Manager Dave Whitlow said that the Countywide serial levy failed with 54 percent of city voters voting in opposition. At the request of council, Mr. Whitlow agreed to provide the council with a report on the election results broken down by precinct and information on available supple- mental budget moneys. II. WORK S ESS ION: LIBRARY SITING DECISION Hillary Kittleson, Planning and Development Department, briefly reported on the library siting decision. She noted that this work session is a follow-up to the council's May 23 discussion at which time the council requested addi- tional analysis on the Sears building and possible financing means. e Since that time, additional analyses have been done on the Sears building, including floor x-rays and a preliminary examination of possible environmen- tal impacts. Ms. Kittleson noted that the engineer has indicated that the floors would require reinforcement, but that the cost of reinforcement will be substantially less than originally predicted. Ms. Kittleson pointed out that there was an error in the original cost formu- lations for the Sears building redevelopment that were provided in the staff notes and provided the council with a revision of cost figures. Ms. Kittleson indicated that the Eugene Public Library Board met on June 27, 1990, and drafted a resolution indicating its support for a March 1991 elec- tion date, encouraging the council to consider a minimum of 100,000 square feet for the new library building regardless of its location, and encouraging the council to consider how parking needs might be met at each site. Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Ms. Bascom, to proceed with the March time line as described in the staff notes. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 6:0. Mr. Holmer asked whether the soon-to-be-vacant Bon Marche building might be given consideration as a possible library siting location. In response, Ms. Kittleson noted that The Bon Marche building was given some very preliminary consideration by the City Council in 1988 as a potential library site. She e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 3 --- e noted that it is a four-story building which would require more staff to operate. Mr. Rutan voiced his opposition for giving The Bon Marche building further consideration as a potential library site because of the associated operating costs. Responding to a question from Mr. Rutan, Ms. Kittleson said that the council determined in an earlier discussion that a minimum of 100,000 square feet would be required for the library to handle long-term need. The counc il did agree, however, to consider a possible phased construction approach, reducing initial space needs to 75,000 square feet. The existing library building utilizes 38,000 square feet. Mr. Boles offered his support for the Eugene Public Library Board's recommen- dation that the council consider a minimum of 100,000 square feet for the proposed library. Mr. Rutan concurred. Mr. Bennett indicated the importance of raising enough money on the front-end of the project to pay for the entire library construction. Mr. Holmer expressed concern that the estimated costs associated with the Sears building site, because of its location in a Parking Exempt Zone, do not accurately reflect the true cost of parking. Mr. Rutan inquired about the extent to which this project could be paid for e by tax increment financing. Mr. Bowers responded that assuming the library site was located within the Urban Renewal District, both the Parking Reserve Fund and the Tax Allocation Fund would be possible financing sources. He cautioned the need to balance the use of the Tax Allocation Fund for this project with other potential draws on this fund. The Parking Reserve Fund, which is dedicated to the maintenance or creation of parking, could also be used to help defray costs. Mr. Rutan asked for a cost estimate of the value of the existing library building. In response, Mr. Bowers noted that the existing library building currently has environmental problems associated with it and guesstimated that the library building would be worth $75,000. Mr. Boles noted that an additional $600,000 in overhead and maintenance costs would be required to operate a larger library and indicated his interest in adding these associated costs to the total library cost estimates to be presented to the public. Giving consideration to possible ways of reducing library costs, Mr. Rutan suggested that the council consider constructing a mixed-use facility. Mr. Green expressed his support for considering ways to reduce the total library cost, but voiced concern that the added consideration of a mixed-use facility might complicate the discussion and delay the final decision. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 4 e Regarding Mr. Holmer's suggestion for considering The Bon Marche as a poten- tial library site, Mr. Bennett said that in his understanding, the prelimi- nary structural analysis of The Bon Marche demonstrated that it would need even more reinforcement than the Sears building. The general sense of the council was that it was not interested in giving further consideration to The Bon Marche as a potential library site. At Mr. Holmer's request, Mr. Bowers said that $5.5 million is the estimated cost of parking at the Broadway/Charnelton site. This cost includes a full level of parking underground and 185 spaces on top. Additionally, operating costs would be approximately $60,000 less because of the elimination of one service desk. Responding to a question from Mr. Boles, Mr. Bowers said that the Parking Reserve Fund has less than $1.8 million. Mr. Rutan voiced support for including an estimate of the true costs of parking required at the Sears site into total library cost estimates. Ms. Bascom inquired about the possibility of making the Broadway/Charnelton site a Parking Exempt Zone. In response, Mr. Bowers said the Broadway/ Charnel ton site could be zoned parking-exempt if the council chose to do so. He cautioned that changing the zone would remove the legal problems associat- ed with zoning-mandated parking, but would not remove the actual parking problem. e Mr. Holmer indicated that although he will make a motion on library siting according to what he feels is the majority position of the council, he be- lieves that the existing library site on 13th Avenue and Olive Street is the most preferable library siting alternative. Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to further consider the following site for a Eugene Public Library: the former Sears at 13th Avenue and Olive Street. Mr. Rutan noted that the council's ability to make a decision and recommenda- tion on library siting to Eugene citizens is a demonstration of its ability to take a much-needed leadership role within the community. Mr. Boles indicated that concurrent with the public information session on library siting, the City would also present a high-quality, representative diagram of design plans for the library at the Eugene Celebration. Mr. Rutan said that design alternatives which consider the development of possible leasable space on the site should also be included. He also re- quested information from staff on possible tax allocation funds which could be used to help finance library construction and a written appraisal of library value. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 5 -----~ e With the issue raised by Mr. Bennett, the council discussed how it should consider and pursue the possible public acquisition of the Sears building. The council agreed that if needed, the Sears building acquisition should be completed after the final decision on library siting has been made. Ms. Bascom said that although she supports the concept of finding ways to reduce final library cost, some members of the community continue to express reservations about public/private partnerships. She voiced concern that considering a mixed-use development on this site at this point might hinder the final decision. Mr. Bennett concurred. Mr. Boles said that he supports the concept of adding additional space to the proposed library building as a means of generating income. Mr. Holmer suggested that staff be allowed to review the possibility of some sort of mixed-use development for the library and report back to the council on its findings. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 6:0. Through consensus agreement, the council directed staff to explore possible ways of reducing the cost of library financing, including the possibility of a mixed-use development. Mr. Rutan asked whether staff has explored other revenues and grants to aid in library financing. Mr. Whitlow responded that after conducting such an e analysis, staff has determined that no major financial aid exists. Carol Hildebrand, Assistant City Librarian, indicated that the Library Foun- dation has been involved in small fund-raising activities to generate revenue for library financing and would be willing to assist further. The council asked for feedback from the Library Foundation and the Friends of the Library regarding what type of City assistance might be required for those groups to raise funds for the library. The council also requested their input on the public process being used for this project and opinions on library design. Mr. Boles suggested the possibility of instituting a Restaurant Tax as one possible means of generating revenue for library funding. Mr. Green voiced support for considering such a tax. Mr. Holmer moved, seconded by Mr. Boles, to authorize the City Manager to prepare public information about the library and possible site or sites prior to an election in March. Roll call vote; the motion carried unanimously, 6:0. The meeting of the Eugene City Council adjourned at 12:55 p.m. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 6 e Respectfully submitted, ~~ Mi eal Gleaso City Manager (Recorded by Traci Northman) mncc 062790-1130 e. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 27, 1990 Page 7 _. ~