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Laurel Hayles, 1264 Delores Court, a bus commuter, had concerns about the proposed West Eugene EmX route. She said the project would require cuts to LTD bus service but a feeder bus route system was needed to get people to the line. LTD already was cutting and merging routes and buses were running with standing room only. People in wheel chairs could not get on to the bus, and things would only get worse if EmX was implemented. She said if LTD could not afford the bus system now in place, she questioned how it could operate the EmX system in the long -term. Ms. Hayles believed that until that question was addressed, no feasible system could be evaluated or implemented. Until that occurred, she was very opposed to the project and wanted LTD to look at alternatives that worked with the existing system. She said an EmX route on West l l Avenue was not a viable option. She pointed out that if businesses along the road shut down it would affect LTD's payroll tax revenues. Kim Sawyer, 2170 Greenview Street, said he owned a business on West l l;h Avenue that would survive the construction of an EmX route but he was aware of other businesses that would not. He said that many of the project's opponents favored good public transportation, which they believed was in place now. He thought it was fiscally irresponsible for LTD to spend money on the project and questioned how LTD could operate an EmX vehicle six times an hour when it could not serve West l I Avenue four times an hour now. He asked the council to be fiscally responsible and reject the federal money available for the project so it could be applied to the national deficit instead. Roy Benson, 570 Fillmore Street, said he owned a business on West 6th Avenue. He was not anti - transit but supported the remarks of others speaking against the system. He said that hundreds of pieces of property were affected by the proposed route and he believed the extensive use of eminent domain that he envisioned necessary to realize the route to be an abuse of power. He asked the council to do the fiscally responsible thing and reject the route. Brent Woodrich, 2700 West l I Avenue, said that during his lifetime West 11 Avenue had been an industrial park that one went to for lumber and similar goods. He did not envision that anyone would use EmX to go to the grocery store or to pick up lumber. He felt the community was in a situation where everyone had to tighten their belts and pointed out that businesses had trouble making ends meet over the last five years. He suggested the City consider such a project in better economic times and not at a time when schools were having fund raisers. He understood that EmX was important and thought it was needed in other parts of town and should serve residential areas to get people to other parts of the community. Bob Machione, 288 West 6 th Avenue, thanked councilors Ortiz and Pryor for meeting with West Eugene businesses regarding their concerns about EmX. He expressed concern that LTD staff kept accusing West Eugene business owners of putting out misinformation. They were not, and he took exception to the accusation. He said that LTD was not explaining to business owners how it would operate the system if it were implemented. He said that LTD was facing budgetary shortfalls now and was cutting routes to implement EmX. The LTD Board of Directors did not appear to be aware the Gateway route would cost more than $1 million annually to operate. They insisted there was no increased cost from EmX, which Mr. Machione asserted was misinformation. Mr. Machione said the Transit Cooperative Research Program Report 90 listed 26 case studies for bus rapid transit (BRT) and all the communities listed had far more people than Eugene - Springfield. In many cases, the communities involved were major destinations. He asked who would run the system, and who would pay for it. No urban basis to support the system, which he termed it a pipe dream. He said that LTD did not have the funds to run the current bus service and would cut services again in the next year. He anticipated that with operating costs at $1 million per route, LTD would soon run out of money. MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 25, 2010 Page 2 Regular Meeting