HomeMy WebLinkAbout150114.WSMINUTES
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
January 14, 2015
12@00 p.m.
Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka George Poling, Mike Clark, Greg Evans,
Claire Syrett (via phone), Chris Pryor
Mayor Piercy opened the January 14, 2015, City Council work session.
A. ELECTION OF 2015 COUNCIL OFFICERS
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to elect Claire Syrett
as President of the City Council for 2015. PASSED M
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Pryor, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to elect Greg Evans as
Vice President of the City Council for 2015. PASSED M
B. WORK SESSION: Library Local Option Levy
Library, Recreation and Cultural Services Executive Director Renee Grube and Library Services
Director Connie Bennett showed a PowerPoint presentation on the three potential levy options,
including costs and proposed service improvements for each option.
Council discussion:
• Priority should be given to social equity and access issues.
• Start off with a 3 year levy and accountability to be reviewed after.
• General support expressed for pursuing Option 1 as a modest first step.
• Financial forecast information will help inform plans for a November election.
• Library services are essential and have widespread support in community.
• Technology continues to be an important focus of library services.
• Levy should include an accountability component, in the form of a committee or detailed
report.
• Goal of council is to propose a plan that's reasonable, specific, and accountable.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Evans, seconded by Councilor Syrett, moved to direct staff to
prepare a comprehensive option to place afive- year library levy measure on the November ballot
with an additional work session to be determined for spring 2015. PASSED 8:0
MINUTES —Eugene City Council
Work Session
January 14, 2014
Page 1
C. WORK SESSION: Multi -Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) Program Revisions
Community Development Manager Denny Braud discussed the new revisions to the Multi -Unit
Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) ordinance and timelines, and went over a flow chart discussing the
MUPTE process from start to finish.
Council discussion:
• More involvement/input from neighborhood groups needed.
• Definition of "local" needed; include affordable housing waiver fee language.
• Ideas/improvements suggested during revision discussions have all been included;
substantial changes to MUPTE have occurred.
• Framework for revised MUPTE program now exists; need to be careful that
limitations/criteria don't render the program useless.
• Action on proposed MUPTE program revisions needed soon so that the tool is available for
potential new development projects.
MOTION: Councilor Syrett, seconded by Councilor Brown, moved to direct the city manager to
convene an ad -hoc committee to provide the council with recommendations for furthering the
goals of transparency regarding the financial review required for a MUPTE project while still
accommodating the developer's need for some level and assurance of confidentiality. This
committee should include members or the MUPTE Accountability Group as well as those
individuals who have been providing staff with technical assistance as well as two city councilors.
Council discussion:
• Terrible problems with transparency in this; monitor rate of return is needed.
• If you ask for public money you should have to show financials.
• Don't have broad support for this by community.
• Need to bring amendments and vote on them to get this moving forward.
• Creates better accountability with public.
• We need to work on extending the suspicion lst before we move on.
• Would like a response to the volume cap issue.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Clark, seconded by Councilor Poling, moved to postpone
Councilor Syrett' s motion to Tuesday at a 5:30 p.mm work session to continue the conversation
about the motion. PASSED 5:0, Councilors Brown and Taylor opposed.
The meeting adjourned at 1:31 p.m.
Respectfully submitted4 44
Chuck Crockett
Deputy City Recorder
NIII�IUTES —Eugene City Council
Work Session
January 14, 2015
Page 2