“Tacoma City CouncilStudy SessionNoon, Tuesday January 18, 2000Room 16, Municipal Building North728 St. Helens AvenueTacomaThe topic for the study session was not available by deadline.Tacoma City CouncilCouncil Meeting5:00 p.m., Tuesday January 18, 2000Room 16, Municipal Building North728 St. Helens AvenueTacomaConvention Center Gap FinancingThe City would write a $22 million short-term IOU to continue planning and purchasing for the new convention center under a proposal up for a vote.Over the past seven months, the Council has approved $10 million in General Fund loans to cover pre-construction costs for the center, now estimated to cost $61 million.The $22 million Bond Anticipation Note before the Council would pay off the loans and add an additional $12 million to the finance pool for the construction project. It would also lay the groundwork for long-term financing, possibly through limited tax general obligation bonds. The note would be repaid through proceeds generated by the future long-term financing mechanism. That would be repaid in-turn by a combination of sources including hotel/motel taxes, sales tax credits, parking revenues and admission taxes.Group Care HomesThe Council will review and accept comment on proposed new siting rules that would allow future work release centers and juvenile rehabilitation facilities only in heavy industrial areas.The City froze all permits for these facilities – except those located in “M-1” light industrial zones – during the moratorium begun in February 1999.The Planning Commission has made recommendations that would only allow construction in areas of residentially buffered heavy industrial zones in the port area and only upon approval of new special permit conditions.The proposed ordinance includes size restrictions of 16 residents. If adopted the change would not affect current facilities. Mount Rainier ResortThe City may provide a proposed Mount Rainier Resort at Park Junction a formal vote of support under a resolution up for comment and a vote. This was continued from the January 11 meeting.In 1995, the City – in an attempt to restore passenger service to Mount Rainier National Park – bought the former Chehalis Western Railroad from the Weyerhaeuser Company and began the “Train to the Mountain” project. The City’s plans tie in with private-sector blueprints for the resort at Park Junction.Plans for the resort include a lodge and conference center, golf course, 150-room hotel, railroad station, steam train museum and interpretive center. Resort proponents now want to partner with the City to build a Train to the Mountain terminus at the resort.In January, the Pierce County Hearing Examiner will set a date for a formal appeal on the resort’s final environmental impact statement. Resort proponents have asked the City for a formal statement of support through the process.If the County approves the project, the resort will be constructed in five phases over 10 years.Community Block Grant FundsThe Council will vote on amending the 1998 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development to reallocate Community Development Block Grant funds to the Hazardous Sidewalk Program, in the amount of $125,000; to the Handicap Barrier Removal Program, in the amount of $225,000; and to street improvement in the lower Portland Avenue area, in the amount of $43,619.Dome Area SculptureThe Council will vote on executing an agreement with Kurt Kiefer, in the amount of $35,000, to propose a concept for a sculpture to be located at South 26th and C streets in the Dome District.Note: Tacoma City Council and Pierce County Council agenda news are being published today due to the holiday.”