CC Minutes - 05/12/08 Work Session

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been meeting with the neighborhood to resolve problems and had agreed to construct a building more in scale with the neighborhood and provide one parking space per living unit. Mr. Ruiz announced that it was Police Officer Memorial Week and May 15 was National Public Works Day. He said a work session on assessments was scheduled for June 23. He would hold his first community listening forum on May 15 and there would be a work session on Beam development on May 14, with a public hearing scheduled on May 19. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Solomon, moved to direct the city manager to work with McKenzie-Willamette Hospital to determine ways in which the City could as- sist in the development of a hospital on a site of McKenzie-Willamette’s choosing. Mr. Clark said he was concerned with comments from McKenzie-Willamette’s spokesperson in a recent newspaper article that indicated the hospital did not feel it had the level of support it needed from the City of Eugene. He said the Riverfront Research Park site was steadily becoming less feasible and he wanted to make a clear and unambiguous statement that the council was directing staff to give strong support to helping McKenzie-Willamette site a hospital in Eugene. He said an important aspect of locating the hospital in Eugene was the impact its property taxes could have on the City’s road maintenance deficit. Mr. Zelenka understood there were numerous discussions in progress about various sites and his concern was that the council would be weighing in at an inappropriate time. Mr. Zelenka, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to table the motion. The vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; Ms. Taylor, Ms. Bettman, Ms. Ortiz and Mr. Zelenka voting yes, and Ms. Solomon, Mr. Poling, Mr. Pryor and Mr. Clark voting no. The mayor cast a vote in support of the motion and it passed on a final vote of 5:4. Ms. Solomon stated she had concerns about the Amazon headwaters issue and the recent resignation of the chair of the acquisition committee provided an opportunity for the council to pause and submit the question to the voters for approval. She felt the acquisition of headwaters properties was becoming an increasingly contentious issue, particularly since the City’s grant application to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) had been declined and the City would need to find an additional $1.9 million to fund the purchase. She said people were concerned because the acquisition had “jumped the queue” ahead of other projects that were in the last two parks bonds and she preferred to let the voters decide if the properties had priority. She was viewing all expenditures at this time through the lens of transportation funding; the voters would be asked to help the City solve its transportation backlog and it was important to establish the council’s credibility. Ms. Solomon, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved to direct staff to prepare for the No- vember 2008 election a ballot measure to determine the voters’ support for the City’s purchase of the Green and Beverly properties. Mr. Clark hoped the motion would not be tabled as the people of Eugene deserved the chance to hear the council’s position on these issues prior to an election. He agreed it was important to work to preserve the properties and was participating on the acquisition committee in good faith, although disagreement among committee members had resulted in the chair’s resignation. He felt it was important to determine how citizens felt about the issue. Ms. Bettman stated that when the Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS) bond was on the ballot it included acquisition of natural resource properties, which generated public support. She said the Amazon headwaters was not an emergent issue and a task force was working on it. She did not want to preempt that