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<br />Mayor Piercy thanked McKenzie-Willamette Hospital for its interest in the site and expressed appreciation <br />to staff for its creative work. She acknowledged the challenges that lay ahead but thought the site, if <br />selected by the hospital, would be a great community asset. <br /> <br />Referring to the apartment buildings in the area, Mr. Clark asked why the City was willing to relocate <br />businesses but not residents. Ms. Muir said that the situation involved multiple tenants with multiple issues, <br />which would increase the time and complexity of the processes, adding uncertainty to the deal, and certainty <br />was very important to the hospital. She noted that there were fewer affected businesses than affected <br />residents. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark understood that the hospital had a list of preferred sites, which did not include this site. He asked <br />Ms. Muir to characterize the hospital’s response to the site. Ms. Muir said the City’s offer had gotten the <br />attention of the hospital representatives, who expressed interest in the site. She added she did not have a list <br />of the hospital’s priority sites but rather had provided the hospital with the City’s suggestions. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark recalled the council had last directed staff to pursue the Riverfront Research Park site. City <br />Manager Ruiz concurred with that recollection, but pointed out he had also heard from councilors of the <br />importance of a site on the south side of the river. The City attempted to work out a deal with the University <br />of Oregon but when it did not appear to be feasible, he looked to the council’s other direction. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark said he made a motion that the City should do what it could to help site the hospital to the degree <br />possible and he appreciated the leadership shown by staff in finding a site. He hoped the City kept all <br />options and all potential sites in mind to ensure that the hospital was sited in Eugene. City Manager Ruiz <br />did not think the hospital had taken any sites off the table and neither had staff. <br /> <br />City Attorney Klein confirmed the hospital had not taken sites off the table, but its representatives had <br />indicated to the City that, with respect to Eugene sites, the site in question was of higher interest than any <br />other Eugene site. The hospital was cautiously interested in the site and found it more interesting than other <br />sites in north Eugene. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling recalled that the council had discussed two priority sites in addition to the research park site. He <br />reminded the council of the motion he had offered that if the research park fell through, staff would work <br />with the hospital on the other two sites. However, he continued to believe that the hospital would decide <br />where to build its new facility, and that was why he thought the City needed a Plan B. He thought the City <br />needed to establish a threshold number with the hospital for either for the number of properties or property <br />owners. Once that threshold was reached, the site would be dropped. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling anticipated that if the City decided to get into the real estate business it would pay inflated prices <br />for the properties in question. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling suggested that staff prepare information about expanding the downtown renewal district <br />boundaries and the revenue return that would result. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor thought the site in question a great site and she believed the community supported it. People she <br />knew thought PeaceHealth should have moved there rather than to Springfield. She did not generally favor <br />expanding urban renewal but in this case felt a compelling reason such as this might be justification. She <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 28, 2008 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />