HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 05/01/02 Work Session MINUTES
Eugene City Council
Work Session
McNutt Room--Eugene City Hall
May 1, 2002
8:30 p.m.
COUNCILORS PRESENT: David Kelly, Gary Pap~, Pat Fart, Scott Meisner, Betty Taylor, Gary
Rayor, Bonny Bettman.
COUNCILORS ABSENT: Nancy Nathanson.
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order.
A. WORK SESSION: Airport General Obligation Bond Debt
Mr. Rayor joined the council via telephone hook-up.
City Manager pro tem Jim Carlson said that the purpose of the work session was to discuss
whether the City should pay the Airport General Obligation bond debt with airport revenues.
Mayor Torrey called on the council for comments.
Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Pap~, moved to direct the City Manager,
beginning in fiscal year 2003, to use airport revenues and reserves to pay the
Airport General Obligation bond debt annually, until it is completely paid, for
the purpose of eliminating any property tax levied for airport-related general
obligation bond debt.
Mr. Kelly agreed with those offering testimony to the Budget Committee as to the importance of
the airport and said if he thought the airport would suffer from the action he would not support it.
The information provided by staff had convinced him that the likely risk was that capital projects
would be postponed one or two years, or phased in, and in light of the current air market, he was
unsure that was a concern. He quoted from a recent editorial in The Register-Guard that was
supportive of the action before the council.
Ms. Bettman concurred with the remarks of Mr. Kelly. She acknowledged the comments of those
who offered testimony to the Budget Committee, but said that those people were airport
advocates, and those services must be balanced with other services. She believed that the projects
MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 1, 2002 Page 1
Work Session
could be re-prioritized. Ms. Bettman suggested the council request a work session to regionalize
the airport to ensure that City taxpayers did not foot the bill for what was a regional facility.
Mr. Pap~ concurred with the remarks of Mr. Kelly regarding the importance of the airport to the
City and region. He said that the effect of the action on the Capital Improvement Program was in
regard to the timing of the parallel runway project. The parallel runway was only intended to
support general aviation, and activity in that area had decreased. Another reason for the runway
was safety, but he had received no information about actual accidents or near misses related to the
cross runway. While he favored the plans that the council put in place, he did not want to spend
the funds until there was a need.
Mr. Farr did not agree with Mr. Kelly that the action before the council would not jeopardize any
projects. He did not support the motion. He did not like the process that brought the motion
before the council. He thought it took issues out of order.
Ms. Taylor supported the motion. She concurred with the remarks made in support of the
motion. She thought the action, taken before the election, was timely and would assure the
people that the council was considering their interests.
Mr. Meisner also agreed as to the importance of the airport. He said that there was an earlier
reference to regional partners; he wished there were regional partners. Like every service, the
airport needed to live within its revenues. He concurred with the editorial cited by Mr. Kelly.
Regarding the projects in question, he would not second-guess or presume what staff proposed
for elimination to ensure the airport continued to operate.
Mr. Rayor said that the airport was very important to the City and region. He concurred with the
remarks made by other councilors regarding the need to balance services. He supported the
motion because he believed it was the right thing to do.
The motion passed, 6:1; Mr. Farr voting no.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
James R. Carlson
City Manager pro tem
(Recorded by Kimberly Young)
MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 1, 2002 Page 2
Work Session