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magnitude estimates of those obligations. However, those costs were not built into the budget as an ongoing <br />expense or set-aside. It was flagged as an issue for the committee. Ms. Bettman recalled that Budget <br />Committee member Terry McDonald questioned how many of those costs were already being covered by <br />other employee programs and the discrete liability the City faced. She suggested that if the manager <br />proposed such an expenditure in the upcoming budget, the committee might want to consider redirecting <br />those funds. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy invited members of the public to support the work of the Library Foundation. <br /> <br /> The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. <br /> <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: Downtown Development Update—ORI (Sears Development Site) <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor reminded the council that the Board of Directors of the Oregon Research Institute <br />(ORI) had decided against moving forward with the purchase of the City-owned Sears site for a new <br />downtown headquarters. Denny Braud of Planning and Development joined the council for the item. He <br />emphasized the City’s strong support for ORI’s proposed downtown project. Despite the efforts of all <br />involved, the project was never able to get the financing needed for ORI to go forward. He thought it <br />important for the City to continue to assist ORI in locating downtown and said staff would work toward that <br />goal with ORI. <br /> <br />Mr. Braud recommended that the council move forward with another Request for Proposals (RFP) for the <br />Sears site. He believed there would be considerable interest in the site given other pending development <br />proposals in the downtown. Staff would return to the council with the responses to the RFP. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy called for council comments and questions. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor did not believe there was sufficient effort on the part of staff to follow the council’s direction to <br />do whatever was necessary to help ORI locate downtown. She thought the City should spend any excess <br />money it had to support ORI. If there was any possibility that could still occur, she wanted to follow up on <br />it. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said it was his understanding from council discussions and discussion with ORI representatives <br />that staff worked hard to assist ORI. He believed the City needed to do more than merely place a “for sale” <br />sign in front of the site, and thought the staff recommendation missed a step. He recalled that the Planning <br />Commission developed criteria for the previous property sale, but that happened in 1999 and it was likely <br />the criteria needed to be reviewed. While he did not think that commission review was necessarily required, <br />he wanted staff to draft a new RFP for council review. City Manager Taylor cautioned that would add time <br />to the process at a time when construction costs were rising, but he had no objection to such a course of <br />action. Mr. Kelly believed that the fact the site was a key site justified the additional time the process would <br />take. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé agreed that the criteria should be revisited. He supported a review by the Planning Commission. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé expressed disagreement with the remarks of Ms. Taylor, saying that staff put considerable effort <br />into the ORI proposal over the last three years. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 12, 2006 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />