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<br />Ms. Taylor said she also attended the NLC conference. Housing had been a major topic of the conference <br />and Mr. Cisneros’ comments touched on how increasingly working people could not afford to live where <br />they worked. She also attended a mobile workshop on housing for the homeless and viewed Reno’s <br />Homeless Services Campus near downtown, which she found interesting and impressive. Another session <br />was on the topic of gated housing. The presenters dissented on the consequences of gated communities but <br />there was evidence that they were not always workable and liability issues could arise that placed a burden <br />on the municipality in which they were located. There were some things cities could do to guard against <br />those consequences, and Ms. Taylor indicated she would request a work session on the issue. Another <br />conference theme was reuse. She went on a mobile tour of downtown Reno and saw casinos that had been <br />converted to condominiums. Both Reno hospitals were expanding downtown and reusing their existing sites. <br />Both hospitals were also building housing for their nurses. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly noted the recent federal courthouse dedication and thanked the General Services Administration <br />and local federal court staff for the interesting dedication ceremony. He was glad to see an architecturally <br />distinctive building added to Eugene’s downtown. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly noted the City’s one percent for arts ordinance for public buildings, and called the council and <br />public’s attention to a new piece of art related to the train renovation project. He encouraged the council to <br />view the piece, which was installed by artists Betsy Wolfson and David Thompson at the end of Willamette <br />Street in front of the train station. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thanked local artist Tim Boyden for a driftwood gift that included the saying “Normal is a setting <br />on a washing machine.” <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said that the Eugene Public Library would host the Eugene Youth Ballet for two abbreviated <br />performances of the Nutcracker on December 13 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. She said the performances high- <br />lighted local, dedicated, talented students. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman reported that the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations held a reception for the <br />local legislative delegation on December 4. She thanked staff members Alex Cuyler, Jessica Cross, and <br />Mary Walston for their assistance in arranging the event and thanked the councilors and legislators who <br />attended. She noted that the City’s Legislative Policy document would be available soon. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman noted community resistance to the idea the west Eugene EmX corridor would move further to <br />th <br />the south than West 11 Avenue, and suggested that the route be designated as the northwest corridor to <br />ththth <br />indicate that 6 Avenue was under consideration as an alternative route, as opposed to 13 or 18 avenues. <br />She understood from the Lane Transit District that those routes were “off the table.” She thought it should <br />be clear what would be included in the study of the area. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor said he found the NLC conference useful and noted his attendance at a session on inclusive <br />leadership and a session on collaborative visioning. He hoped to be able to implement some of the lessons <br />learned from those sessions in Eugene. Mr. Pryor commented that the housing sessions were great and one <br />that focused on downtown redevelopment reinforced to him the need for public-private partnerships and the <br />importance of housing to the revitalization of downtown. He agreed with the quote “people judge the vitality <br />of a community on the vitality of its downtown,” and suggested the council owed it to the community to try <br />to make the community’s downtown as vibrant as it believed its community to be. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 11, 2006 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />