Laserfiche WebLink
road maintenance money; in the meantime local control in the form of GO bonds for major capital <br />reconstruction projects should be the approached along with doubling the current gas tax. He noted that <br />Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) was opposed to collecting the fee for the City and it would be <br />expensive for the City to create its own collection system. He hoped the council would consider a more <br />progressive approach. <br /> <br />th <br />Drix, <br />307-½ East 14 Avenue, said Eugene was a great community and he encouraged all residents to <br />connect and find ways to help enlighten themselves. He observed that there were two holes in the middle of <br />town and suggested filling them with something the community needed. He was not certain what that might <br />be but urged residents to offer suggestions. He announced that a 100-year-old tree in his neighborhood <br />would be trimmed on December 2, and felt the community should thank it for its years of shade and service <br />to the neighborhood by cutting it down and creating things from the wood and planting a new tree. The tree <br />was named for Charlotte Lemon, an early community leader. <br /> <br />Zachary Vishanoff, <br />Patterson Street, urged the City not to sell the McNail-Riley House as the community <br />was lacking in meeting spaces and the property should not be sold in retaliation against Jefferson-Westside <br />Neighbors. He said the matter should be referred to a public hearing to avoid a precedent of selling things <br />off quietly. He said the council should also encourage the 4J School District to hold a public hearing on the <br />sale of Civic Stadium as there was strong community support for the facility. He remarked that purchase of <br />the EWEB property by the City would have major ramifications and it would be better to have a non-profit <br />manage development while the council focused on fixing the core of downtown first. He informed the <br />council of a number of Internet sites with interesting information related to life sciences. <br /> <br />th <br />Paul Conte, <br />1461 West 10 Avenue, co-chair of the Jefferson-Westside Neighbors, shared additional <br />positive developments on efforts to further the effective approaches to sensible compact growth. He said <br />that Terri Harding, who had joined the Planning and Development Department to implement the council’s <br />direction on infill compatibility standards and opportunity siting, recently joined the neighborhood <br />association’s co-chairs for a walking tour of the neighborhood and a discussion of resident concerns and the <br />potential for appropriate projects with the right locations and designs. He said an informal gathering of <br />leaders from four neighborhoods experiencing some of the most severe impacts from poorly planned infill <br />development would meet with the new interim Planning Director Lisa Gardner to share visions, concerns, <br />and ideas for good solutions. He said the neighborhood association became aware of plans to sell the <br />McNail-Riley House and would keep the council informed. He hoped the house would remain a community <br />asset. <br /> <br />th <br />Paul Nicholson, <br />1855 East 18 Avenue, urged the council not to impose a residential property tax to fund <br />road maintenance, as it was inconsistent with the council’s recent commitment to combating global <br />warming. He noted that it would socialize the cost of driving and lower the bar encouraging single- <br />occupancy vehicle transportation. He said there were better alternatives, such as a commuter tax on people <br />who worked but did not live in Eugene or a gas tax, which was the preferred approach. He said imposing a <br />property tax should include commercial and industrial destinations that did not pay any part of the gas tax <br />incurred by employees and customers driving to those locations. He hoped the council would back away <br />from an extremely unpopular proposal and adopt an approach consistent with the environmental principles <br />many of the council supported. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy invited comments and questions from councilors. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 27, 2006 Page 2 <br /> Regular Meeting <br /> <br />