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<br />February ~ 2000 <br />Peter Sorenson, Chair <br />Lane County Board of Commissioners <br />125 East 8~' Avenue <br />Eugene, OR 97401 <br />Dear Commissioner Sorenson: <br />Public Works <br />City of Eugene <br />858 Pearl Street <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br />(547) 682-5262 <br />{541)682-6826 Fax <br />Your letter dated January 13, 2000 regazding the County/City Road Partnership agreement was <br />cause for considerable concern The road fund participation from Lane County to the urban <br />transportafion system is critical to the basic delivery of service in Eugene, but in addition'it is a <br />critical piece of a partnership agreement between the City of Eugene and Lane County that goes <br />back several years. <br />In 1985, the governing bodies of Eugene, Springfield. and Lane County created an Urban Services <br />Policy Committee to address the delivery of urban services within the unincorporatedpcrtions of <br />the metropolitan area and to facilitate the transition of these services from the County to the two <br />Cities_ The`service transfers included planning and building regulation, metropolitan and local <br />pazks, and the transfer or responsibility for streets within annexing azeas. <br />These agreements also addressed the mechanism for funding the Cities' acceptance of these <br />increased services. At the time, the County had limited County General Fund resources which <br />constrained the County's ability to provide an urban level of planning, building and park services <br />in the unincorporated area. At the same time, the two Cities were funding a portion. of their road <br />services with their own General Fund-resources, as road related revenues received from the State <br />were not adequate to support City road services. <br />The Road Fund was the only source of funding for this series of agreements the County had at <br />that time_ A mechanism had to be found that would enable the Cities to increase the level of <br />General Fund services they provided. In return for increased transfers of County Road Fund <br />resources, the Cities were able to discontinue funding of road activities with their own general <br />fund resources. This enabled the Cities to assume provision of the former County services <br />through the General Fund resources now not committed to road-related activities_ <br />The result of the 1987 and 1988 agreements on the City of Eugene was: the completed transfer of <br />planning and building services in the unincorporated area within the Urban Growth Boundary; <br />the transfer of Alton faker Park (110 acres), Cuthbert Amphitheater and the downtown Park <br />/" _ •Blocks to the City; and transfer of approximately 35 miles of County roads to the Ciry_ The City <br />~- <br />43 <br />