HomeMy WebLinkAbout150513.WS.SIREMINUTES – Eugene City Council May 13, 2015 Page 1
Work Session
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
May 13, 2015
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka, George Poling, Mike Clark, Greg Evans, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor Councilor Syrett opened the May 13, 2015, City Council work session, noting that Mayor Piercy was in Salem lobbying on behalf of the City.
Councilor Syrett adjourned the meeting of the Eugene City Council and convened the meeting of the
Eugene Urban Renewal Agency.
A.
WORK SESSION: Eugene Water & Electric Board Riverfront Redevelopment Project and
Riverfront Urban Renewal District Investments
City Engineer Mark Schoening, Community Development Manager Denny Braud, and Economic Development Planner Anne Fifield showed a PowerPoint presentation outlining the strategic investments and triple bottom line analysis of the EWEB riverfront redevelopment project. Council discussion:
• Concern expressed about closing railroad crossings without having the public weigh-in.
• A TBL analysis on this project is very important.
• Franklin Boulevard is in great shape focus should be on other areas.
• Investing a few million dollars of public money to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity is a good idea.
• Early and frequent opportunities for public engagement will be critical to this project’s success.
• Concern expressed about spending large amounts of public money without it going to a vote.
• A facility and environmental study of Franklin is required to apply for a TIGER grant.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Evans, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved to include the use of $140,000 of RURD funds for the design of the relocation of the 8th Avenue crossing in the June supplemental budget. PASSED 7:1, Councilor Taylor opposed.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Evans, seconded by Councilor Zelenka, moved to include the use of $100,000 of RURD funds for design of the Quiet Zone in the June supplemental budget.
PASSED 7:1, Councilor Taylor opposed.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Evans, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to approve the River Loans program guidelines. PASSED 7:1, Councilor Taylor opposed.
Councilor Syrett adjourned the meeting of the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency and reconvened the
meeting of the Eugene City Council.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Evans, seconded by Councilor Taylor, moved to approve the submittal of an STP-U funding appropriation request of $850,000 for the development of the Franklin Multi-Way Boulevard facility plan and environmental studies with the intention to use RURD funds of $95,000 for the grant match. PASSED 7:1, Councilor Brown opposed.