CC Minutes - 12/13/00 Work Session

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Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Kelly, to direct the City Manager not to initiate amendments to the West Eugene Wetlands Plan and Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan, and to study a variety of strategies and mechanisms to improve safety and traffic flow in west Eugene, particularly in the West 11th Avenue area. Ms. Nathanson said that while she understood the federal government's interest in a comprehensive and coordinated approach to transportation planning, she objected to the fact the FHWA had imposed a new requirement at the very end of a process that had started years ago and been delayed many times, which she considered unfair. Ms. Nathanson shared the thoughts of Mayor Torrey, who was unable to attend the meeting. She said the mayor asked that the council initiate the amendments requested or, if it was not willing to do so, that it place the issue before the voters. Mr. Kelly agreed with Ms. Nathanson about the unfairness of the requirement that all phases of the project be included in TransPlan. He said that thousands of hours had been put into ranking the projects in TransPlan. Inclusion of all phases of the parkway in the plan would eliminate almost all other State projects in the plan, which seemed to him a precipitous action at the last minute. Regarding the 1986 vote referred to by Mr. Green, Mr. Kelly said that a vote was not forever; he said the vote was a "snapshot in time" of the conditions of the time, which did not include the West Eugene Wetlands Plan. He suggested the vote deserved respect but should not have veto power over the council. Mr. Kelly pointed out that the vote was on the whole parkway, and there was no funding for the whole parkway. Responding to a question from Mr. Kelly regarding whether construction of the parkway would affect the City's ability to secure future federal Land and Water Conservation Funds to underwrite acquisition in the wetlands plan area, Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson explained that lands purchased with those funds could not be transferred for another purpose. However, Bureau of Land Management could allow the land to be used for right-of-way. The waiver referred to in BLM correspondence was an allowance of use permit of right-of-way across the BLM property. There was no indication from the City's past discussions with BLM staff in Washington, DC, that the parkway would threaten the City's ability to obtain future Land and Water Conservation Funds. Mr. Kelly said he heard secondhand that David Beaver of BLM had indicated future such funds would be threatened by the parkway. Mr. Farr said it was ludicrous to suggest the vote of the citizens was no longer valid because it happened in 1986. He said that the vote was valid, and the 80/20 split in favor of the parkway was a mandate. He said that dismissing the vote was an insult to those who were in Eugene at the time and it demonstrated an arrogance people were coming to resent from government. Mr. Farr believed that the matter should be referred back to the voters if the council was really interested in what the people of Eugene wanted. He pointed out that there were councilors who wanted to hold public forums for decisions as small as a street vacation, but were willing to eliminate the parkway without input. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Kelly's analysis of the fiscal concerns. He did not think the 1986 election was invalid, but he agreed with Ms. Bettman and Mr. Kelly that conditions had changed. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 13, 2000 Page 2 Work Session