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th Rob McKenzie , 4998 West 44 Avenue, president of the Whitewater Club at South Eugene High School (SEHS), averred that river sports were a great interest for kids. He stated that the Riverhouse was offering kayaking lessons for young people. He related that the Whitewater Club collected 114 signatures in favor of the creation of a whitewater park and canal restoration. He presented the petition to the council. Scott Taylor , 1689 Charnelton Street, voiced his support for the acquisition of park lands. He wanted the Ridgeline Trail to be extended. He supported the development of a mountain bike skills park. He felt that most park needs were being met, but this one was not. He said the City was “missing the boat” on this issue. Mike Dials , 2395 Palmer Avenue, spoke in support of the acquisition of land for mountain bike trails. He noted BMX biking and skateboarding started with little public acceptance and now was widespread. He said mountain bikers should have their “place to play.” He underscored that they were a viable part of the community. Anthony Beck , 309 Clark Street, commented that British Columbia was the “Mecca” and birthplace of the Free Ride mountain bike movement. He said some of the school systems in the Vancouver area had mountain biking as part of their curriculum. He listed two areas in Oregon that offered the opportunity to participate in this type of sport. He averred that the creators of those areas modeled cooperation with land managers and worked to understand liability issues and how to build structures properly so that the work would result in trails that were environmentally sustainable. He related that he and others presented a proposal to do this type of work to the Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Division a week earlier. He reiterated that there were “plenty of mountain bikers” who were willing to help with the design and building of such a facility. He noted that two years earlier, a Free Ride competition had been held at the Lane County Fair and it drew over 100 riders representing a wide range of ages and abilities and from both the local area and other places, including Washington and California. Diane Shock , 5509 Barger Drive, thanked the City Council for acknowledging the need to make the Golden Gardens Park safe and for considering an allocation of money toward that end. She urged the council to include in the bond measure acquisition of additional land around the ponds to allow the ponds edges to be sloped. She said additional acreage needed to be secured while the surrounding land was undeveloped and still available. She asked that an emergency call box be installed there. She stressed the importance of moving the project to a Priority 1 and of fast-tracking the process. She added that the development of Golden Gardens Park would also offer a “delightful mix” of the high priority attributes that fit within the Rivers to Ridges study principles of recreation, education, habitat and wetlands, as well as matching the objectives of the PROS plan for the expansion of outdoor activities, the promotion of environmental awareness, and education and stewardship. She said it would encourage exercise as well. Julia Pommert , 2740 Almaden Street, supported adding more recreation into the PROS measure. She recognized that the original focus was on acquiring open space, but she felt in talking to people in the community they indicated concern that the space would be purchased and not developed. She averred that if people felt there was something in the bond measure for them, they were more likely to support it. David Hinkley , 1340 Lawrence Street, #1, supported development of the Jefferson Area Greenway south of the Amazon Canal into a park. He said thanks to the assistance and support of the Lane County Fairgrounds, the neighborhood, fairgrounds, and a number of other stakeholders had come up with a conceptual plan for the park. He related that the plan had been pitched to the City five years earlier but the City, minority property owner in that area, wanted to go through a prioritization process and had no MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 10, 2006 Page 17 Regular Meeting