[4:57] I'm not
[11:07] everyone and welcome to the November
17th, 2025 Eugene City Council public
[11:13] hearing. Thank you for joining us in
this hybrid meeting format. Anyone
[11:16] wishing to access the meeting can do so
by watching the live stream available on
[11:20] our website, the broadcast on Comcast
channel 21, or by following the
[11:24] instructions listed for this meeting on
the public webcast and meetings
[11:27] materials page, the city of Eugene
website. There are two public hearings
[11:32] on tonight's agenda. Please note that
members of the public who sign up to
[11:36] testify may speak only to the topic that
is the subject of the stated public
[11:41] hearing. For those wishing to testify
during the public hearing, please out
[11:44] fill out a request to speak form
available on the city's public web pass
[11:48] and meetings materials page. These
request to speak forms will be used to
[11:52] generate the order of speakers and
correctly enter speakers names into the
[11:56] public record. and we will accept P
requests to speak forms until 5:35
[12:03] PM. As a reminder, council meeting rules
of contact apply to all attendees both
[12:08] in the chambers and in the lobby outside
and include no flags, signs, loud or
[12:13] disruptive language, noise, or conduct
that obstructs the business of the
[12:17] council. Please keep the room quiet and
respectful for all speakers. And you are
[12:21] welcome to wave your hands in silent
support. Additionally, we encourage all
[12:25] those who are ill or have had close
contact with others who are ill to join
[12:28] our meetings remotely rather than in
person. We also encourage attendees to
[12:32] spread out within the meeting space and
wear a mask if you would feel
[12:36] comfortable doing so. We also have some
available in the lobby if you need one.
[12:41] In case of a medical emergency, an
automated external defibrill and AED is
[12:45] located on the counter behind staff to
your left on the west side of this room.
[12:50] And in case of an emergency evacuation,
emergency exits are located through the
[12:53] double doors located at the back of the
room or through the double doors located
[12:57] near the front of the room. The doors to
the patio can also be used as needed.
[13:02] And with that, I call this meeting to
order.
[13:06] The first public hearing on tonight's
agenda is a public hearing on an
[13:10] ordinance extending the term of of
ordinance number 1 19775 and ordinance
[13:14] number 20397
granting to Comcast of Oregon 2
[13:18] incorporated a franchise for operation
of a cable telecommunications system.
[13:23] City manager, would you please introduce
the topic?
[13:25] » Yes, thank you mayor. This proposed
ordinance extends the Comcast cable
[13:30] television franchise agreement until
June 30th of 2027. The extension
[13:34] provides Comcast and the city additional
time to come to agreement on unresolved
[13:38] issues because of unanticipated delays,
including franchise consortium staff
[13:43] changes and scheduling issues impacting
progress. All parties, including
[13:47] Comcast, have agreed to an 18-month
extension with a commitment to conclude
[13:51] negotiations as soon as possible. This
proposed extension ordinance would only
[13:56] extend the term of the current
franchise. All other franchise terms and
[14:00] conditions remain the same, including
Comcast's obligation to pay franchise
[14:03] fees for use of the public rights way.
Thank you.
[14:08] Thank you. I now open the public
hearing. Staff, can you please share a
[14:12] list of speakers on the screen and
announce the first speakers?
[14:18] » Thank you, Mayor. We have one speaker
signed up, but give me just a moment to
[14:21] get that form in order.
[14:38] since it's one sign up. I'm not going to
put the names on the screen tonight. Um,
[14:48] you will have two and a half minutes to
speak. The timer will flash red when you
[14:52] have 15 seconds remaining to speak. Your
microphone will be muted at the two and
[14:56] a half minute mark. Please note that the
use of profanity is prohibited and any
[15:01] instances of profanity will result in
immediate termination of speaking
[15:05] privileges. Our first speaker for this
first item tonight is Tim Goodman.
[15:15] » Good evening uh mayor. My name is Tim
Goodman. I'm the uh senior director of
[15:20] government and regulatory affairs for
Comcast. haven't been here I think since
[15:25] co I recognize a couple of you but
anyway uh I'm the person that represents
[15:29] Comcast and man oversees our franchise
agreement with you all just wanted to to
[15:33] one introduce myself so you know who I
am and so hopefully I'll be back with in
[15:38] maybe five or six months and we'll have
this thing done uh I will apologize
[15:42] while I'll blame it on the city of
Portland because it took me about 400
[15:45] years of full time to get their
franchise done which we did last month
[15:49] so I can concentrate on this one and a
few others but anyway Anyway, uh just
[15:54] also wanted to say you have a great
staff with Jay and Hua are great to work
[15:58] with. I wanted to compliment you on uh
on your staff and uh looking forward to
[16:04] getting getting this thing done so we
don't have to come back for any more
[16:07] extensions. It's a pleasure to meet you.
>> Thank you, Tim. Mayor, that's our final
[16:13] speaker for that hearing.
>> I now close the public hearing. Are
[16:18] there any questions or comments from the
city council?
[16:27] Seeing none, we will move on to our
second public hearing this evening. The
[16:30] second public hearing on tonight's
agenda is a public hearing on the
[16:33] transient lodging tax code amendment.
City manager, would you please introduce
[16:37] the topic? Yes. In 2022, the city of
Eugene transferred the responsibility
[16:42] for collecting transient room tax to the
Oregon Department of Revenue. At that
[16:46] time, the city amended several sections
of the Eugene code to align with the
[16:50] Oregon Department of Revenue model
ordinance. However, one section that
[16:53] remained unchanged was was the
requirement for the city to issue
[16:57] certificates of authority to lodging
providers upon registration. Although
[17:01] the state now handles tax registrations
and collections, the city has continued
[17:05] to issue these certificates because it's
still a requirement in the code. The
[17:09] proposed ordinance before you tonight
would eliminate this requirement,
[17:12] streamlining the process for both the
lodging providers and city staff. Thank
[17:16] you.
>> Thank you, city manager. I now open the
[17:20] public hearing. Staff, can you please
share a list of the speakers on the
[17:23] screen or announce the first speakers?
>> Thank you, mayor. Uh there are no
[17:27] speakers for this hearing.
>> Thank you. Then I now close the public
[17:32] hearing. Are there any questions or
comments from city council here or on
[17:36] Zoom? Councelor
[17:41] Clerk.
>> Thank you, Mayor. City Manager,
[17:46] could you um
could you
[17:52] maybe provide a little more detail with
regard to the differential between the
[17:56] state statute and our authority that we
would be giving up with with this? Is
[18:02] what's the what's the day-to-day working
effect? We're not going to be we're not
[18:09] going to be requiring people to
register, but do we lose any local
[18:13] control in the process of
this change?
[18:20] » Thank you, Councelor Clark, for your
question. Neil Obringer, assistant
[18:23] finance director. Um to your question
around the day-to-day operational
[18:27] change, um if you were a lodging
provider, so thinking about it from that
[18:33] perspective, uh the day-to-day
experience um really wouldn't
[18:38] dramatically change. All of the tax
remittance um currently goes through the
[18:42] state of Oregon. So the process of
actually filing your tax remittance
[18:46] initiates your registration with the
state of Oregon. And so that's what
[18:50] provides um for basically the the setup
of the account or the registration with
[18:56] the state of Oregon. Right now the
certificate of occupancy doesn't provide
[19:02] any significant value at least from what
I can tell um for the lodging provider
[19:06] or for for the city. And so that's why
we're um choosing to to shift this
[19:11] section of the code.
>> And we're not giving up any regulatory
[19:14] authority of any kind?
>> No. the the regulatory authority, the
[19:18] the the requirement to remit tax and
when and the fact that the tax is due um
[19:25] that um effect is or that there's no
effect to that section of the code. It's
[19:29] really just around the certificate of
authority.
[19:32] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[19:40] » Thank you. Seeing no other questions or
comments from council, then thank you
[19:44] everyone for joining us this evening.
And that concludes our agenda for today.
[19:48] I now close the November 17th, 2025
public hearing and we are adjourned.