Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

behind Javentud FACETA: to create youth leadership, strong families, to promote social changes, a strong community, and maintain Latino cultures and traditions. She listed the values that the members brought to the group which included love, respect, honesty, friendship, among others. She said the group undertook various activities and had just undergone the Northwest Immigration Training. Danny Lemmon , 1687 Kelly Boulevard, vice president of the LEAD Board, indicated that he had been involved with LEAD for five years. He said working with teens was a great experience and allowed him to show them what it was like to be disabled. He taught the teens to be responsible and not to use drugs and/or alcohol. He supported the opening of the teen center because it would provide a safe environment for teens to have a great time and make friends. He felt LEAD helped teens learn to respect each other’s differences. Skye Rios , 882 Almaden Street, reiterated that a teen center would provide a safe place for teens to ground themselves and work through issues they might be having at school or in family life. He related that since joining LEAD, his grade point average jumped from 1.9 to 4.0. He said it was remarkable to him how rapidly young people who were used to putting other people down for fear of being put down themselves would transform when confronted by a group of peers who treat each other like family as LEAD members do. He stated that a teen center would provide a place for teens to play ping pong, pool, to gain access to a computer lab, to learn to cook, as well as to provide counseling services. He said it would also provide teen-to-teen and adult-to-teen mentoring and a place to escape negative peer pressure. He asked “on behalf of approximately 12,000 teens who lived in this city” for the opportunity to use the former fire station at City Hall as a teen center. He averred that this center could be maintained at little or no cost to taxpayers. He thought if approved this would put to use a public asset that would most likely not be used otherwise. Ruth Duemler , 1745 Fircrest Drive, supported maintaining the way the priorities were currently listed in the parks project list. She felt the land must be acquired now because it would not be available in ten years. Additionally, Ms. Duemler opined that a police auditor should be able to choose who would work under him or her. She underscored that the citizens voted to keep it separate from the City organization. Janet Marshall , 85 North Madison Street, reminded the council of her previous visits regarding the need for a quiet zone on the west side of Eugene. She reported that the Federal Railroad Administration recently increased the allowable volume of train whistles to 110 decibels. She noted that prior readings were 85 to 90 decibels. She said this presented area residents with issues of community livability and that documented research existed supporting health concerns associated with increased decibel levels. She wished to forward to the council a letter she wrote requesting that rail traffic consultants undertake a feasibility study. She felt such a study would “get this conversation off the floor and onto the table.” She added that the bid proposal was under $50,000 to initiate such a study. Ronald Bryant , 295 Maple Street, said the State of California installed call boxes for emergency uses along its freeways. He said he would like to see such boxes installed along the bicycle trails of Eugene. Mr. Bryant stated that he was a chess instructor at Emerald Park. He explained that tables with chess board insets were scattered along the bicycle trail and they could only be used two at a time because they wished to keep the chess-playing group together. He proposed a centralized cluster of tables with chess boards so that larger groups of people could meet and play. He further suggested that tables be placed in the Park Blocks or at Alton Baker Park. He noted that New York City had a large area with chess tables, as did a cabana on the Waikiki Beach. He declared that the city of Eugene was a “powerhouse” in the game of chess and many of the State champions at many different levels were local residents. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 10, 2006 Page 3 Regular Meeting