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additional lane on 13th Avenue and possibly along Alder Street. He said PeaceHealth hoped to propose <br />possible additions to the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project list to the City for which it could <br />seek County Road Fund dollars. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey solicited council comments and questions. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thanked PeaceHealth for its presentation. However, he expressed dismay at the lack of <br />information accompanying the Agenda Item Summary (ALS) He said it would have been useful to have <br />the presentation information ahead of time. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly noted his residence in the neighborhood in question and indicated his appreciation of Mr. <br />Farrington's remarks about the existing street system and ambulance access. He agreed it was a challenge <br />to drive in the area the closer one got to the University of Oregon. Mr. Kelly also expressed appreciation <br />that PeaceHealth planned to work with the surrounding property owners and businesses on changes to the <br />transportation system. He said those changes would affect all the surrounding properties. Mr. Kelly said <br />he would be looking for the neighborhood "buy-in" from the Northwest Christian College, University of <br />Oregon, residents, and the retail merchants in the area. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly asked for more information about the concept of altering the pedestrian flow in the area, saying <br />a more detailed diagram illustrating the current and proposed flow would help him to evaluate the <br />proposal. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly expressed concern about the potential use of County Road Funds for the project. He said it <br />would be very hard to argue for funding for new projects after arguing with the County for more funding <br />for road preservation and maintenance funding. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner also expressed appreciation for the presentation. He said it appeared PeaceHealth had looked <br />at what was needed to make the area workable. He agreed that Alder Street was substandard as currently <br />configured and the hospital's suggestions for improvements seemed workable. He said he had witnessed <br />the problems experienced by ambulances as they tried to leave the hospital, so that idea made sense to him <br />as well. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner said that regardless of whether County Road Funds were needed for maintenance and <br />operation, the County had not been forthcoming in providing them, and it seemed perhaps the obvious <br />place to go for funds for the improvements being proposed as several members of the Board of County <br />Commissioners had made clear their preference for funding discrete projects. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner asked about long-term plans for the Oregon Medical Laboratory (OML) building if that <br />building was vacated by the current use. Mr. Yordy said in the short-term, the building would be used for <br />administrative functions that were now housed in space that could be licensed and used for clinical needs. <br />In the long term, the fate of the building was still open. He said PeaceHealth wanted to come before the <br />council tonight to give it a clear picture of some of what was contemplated. The planning process would <br />start in earnest soon, and PeaceHealth wanted to ensure the council was aware of the implications to the <br />transportation infrastructure before that time. Mr. Yordy noted that the OML building was a stick-built <br />wooden structure with a limited useful life. The hospital was considering the building in terms of its <br />proximity to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stop located at 11~ Avenue and Hilyard Street and discussing <br />the potential of redevelopment as a small mixed-use area containing a variety of clinical and other uses. <br />He thought the comer would become more robust in terms of activity. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman agreed that circulation and access in the neighborhood was in need of improvement <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 11, 2004 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />