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<br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />City Council <br />McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall <br />777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon <br /> <br /> September 30, 2009 <br /> Noon <br /> <br />PRESENT: Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark, Betty Taylor, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, <br />George Brown. <br /> <br />ABSENT: Chris Pryor. <br /> <br />Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy convened the Work Session of the Eugene City Council. She reviewed and <br />revised the order of the agenda. <br /> <br />A. WORK SESSION: <br />West Eugene EmX Extension Update <br /> <br />City Manager Jon Ruiz stated that City staff had spent much time with Lane Transit District (LTD) staff <br />working on this key project. He stressed that staff was committed to continue working with LTD as the <br />project moved forward. <br /> <br />LTD Board President, Mike Eyster, said the region had made a long-term commitment to quality by <br />reducing greenhouse gases and congestion, and ensuring that all residents had access to public transporta- <br />tion. He stated that part of this commitment had been “crystallized” through the Transportation Plan, which <br />had committed the region to a 62-mile build-out of a transportation spine. He recalled the City Council <br />th <br />motion, made in October, 2006, that asked LTD to make the West 11 Avenue area moving west of <br />downtown the next route for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The LTD Board had endorsed the City <br />Council action and had initiated the studies that were needed to consider that area for the next route for <br />EmX. He explained that the presentation sought to outline the public engagement process that had been <br />completed to date, noting that it had been “considerable,” and to seek direction on the public engagement for <br />the 60-day public comment period for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and to provide <br />direction on the Joint Locally Preferred Alternative Committee process. <br /> <br />LTD Director of Planning and Development, Tom Schwetz, gave a Powerpoint presentation on the West <br />Eugene EmX Extension Project, hard copies of which were provided to everyone present. He explained <br />that there had been an update in the schedule; the draft EIS would be delayed approximately five months and <br />would not be completed in January. He said the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) had requested more <br />data to support the Travel Demand Forecasting model. He related that they had met with FTA representa- <br />tives on September 25, and they had given the sign-off that the model was ready to use. He stated that the <br />FTA had also requested an extended draft EIS review time – four weeks instead of two. He projected that <br />the EIS would be released in mid-July. <br /> <br />Mr. Schwetz touched on the challenges they had faced with public engagement, which included the <br />difficulties inherent in trying to communicate the comprehensive nature of the environmental analysis and <br />the struggle the general public had in understanding complex federal requirements. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—City Council Work Session September 30, 2009 Page 1 <br /> <br />