HomeMy WebLinkAbout160127.WS.SIREMINUTES – Eugene City Council January 27, 2016 Page 1
Work Session
M I N U T E S
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
January 27, 2016
12:00 p.m.
Councilors Present: George Brown, Betty Taylor, Alan Zelenka via phone, George Poling, Mike Clark,
Greg Evans, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor
Mayor Piercy opened the January 27, 2016, city council work session.
MOTION: Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Clark, moved to direct the City Manager to
prepare for council discussion a draft of an amendment to the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan.
The draft amendment should include as possible projects (1) high-speed fiber, (2) downtown
parks blocks/open spaces, and (3) year-round farmers’ market. Also, direct the City Manager to
bring wording back to place it on the November ballot.
MOTION TO POSTPONE AND VOTE: Councilor Poling, seconded by Council Evans, moved to
postpone until the February 8, 2106 meeting. PASSED 8:0
1. WORK SESSION: Downtown Solutions Forum Update
Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary, Community Development Manager Denny Braud, and
Communications Policy Analyst Laura Hammond gave a brief PowerPoint presentation discussing the
highlights and themes of the Downtown Solutions Forum.
Council discussion:
Forum was a success and was attended by a wide variety of people.
Forum provided an important opportunity to check-in.
Amenities such as restrooms, better lighting, benches and signage are needed downtown.
Community-wide focus groups are needed to hear from every corner of the city.
The relative value of information generated from this meeting should be considered.
Additional conversations about funding options are needed.
Consider DEI’s capacity to help with initiatives and restoring parking meters in downtown as
possible strategies to address funding needs.
3 WORK SESSION: Downtown Improvements – Continued
Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary and Community Development Manager Denny Braud led the
council in a discussion of downtown improvements.
Council discussion:
Identifying funding sources that are immediately available is a good idea.
If the urban renewal district ends, the tax money will go to the State for distribution.
Providing high-speed fiber only within a certain area of downtown may raise equity issues.
Eventual provision of high-speed fiber to entire city must begin with expansion of network
downtown.
Detailed list of the businesses that would get fiber downtown requested.
Several companies have reported that they will relocate if high-speed fiber isn’t available
downtown.