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Medical Services (EMS) personnel had to leave their vehicles and run on foot with heavy gear in order to reach the boys in trouble. She conveyed the neighborhood’s gratitude to Mr. Medlin for helping to move the construction of the access bridge to completion. She reiterated the group’s request for the City to undertake a feasibility study. She urged the City to put up signs advising of the danger and signs delineating the geography. She asked that the ponds be named and that an access bridge over the slough to the ponds be constructed, noting that the latter was forthcoming. She stressed the importance of providing EMS personnel with a key to the gate, as well as at neighboring houses, and personal flotation devices. Brenda Hansen , 979 Laurelhurst Drive, spoke as a member of the Friends of Golden Gardens Park and as a grieving family member. She related that she had gone to the ponds for the first time in the past week and she could now see why the area was so attractive to kids. She said looks could be deceiving as the ponds had been and continued to be very dangerous. She stated that the ponds were originally dug as gravel pits and claimed four young lives in 12 years. She said Lane County owned the ponds until 1974 at which time they were deeded to the City of Eugene; nothing had been done since then. She averred that the pits had been left for decades to fill with water and for nature to reclaim. She cited Eugene Code Chapter 6 Section 6.010, Item B(4), which defined an attractive nuisance as “an open pit, quarry, cistern, or other excavation without safeguards or barriers to prevent such places from being use by children.” She felt the ponds fit into that category and, as such, the City of Eugene was violating its own ordinance. She thought the park- like setting could become a park that the Bethel community could enjoy and be proud of. th Anthony Johnson Jr. , 1291 Delores Court, said he was an 8 grader at Prairie Mountain School. He related that one of his best friends drowned in the pond at Golden Gardens Park. He asked the City to do what it takes to make the area safe. He stated that the parks were currently filled with trash, high vegetation, and “nasty, disgusting water.” He felt it was important to make the area safe because days, months, and years were going by and more lives could and would ultimately be taken. He declared the ponds to be a threat to the community. Shauna Davis , 2350 North Terry Street, #11, shared the story of the loss of her son and nephew. She pleaded with the council to put an end to the range of safety hazards at Golden Gardens Park. She related that the kids originally went to the pond to go fishing and had decided to take a swim to cool off. The vegetation and debris in the water overtook the boys. She said their brothers had run to a nearby fisherman in hopes that he had a cell phone. The EMS personnel lacked the ability to reach the boys because of the failure of access into and around the park. She related that it took Lane County Search and Rescue nearly eight hours to recover the boys’ bodies from the murky water. She told the stories of the two boys who drowned in the ponds in 1994 and 2000. Their rescues were also hampered by access issues. She stressed that nothing had been done in the park after 12 years and the loss of four young lives. She asked the City to address the conditions there, fund the repairs needed, and make the park safe and accessible. She urged the council to make this a priority on the City’s agenda. She noted that the group sent emails with their request to councilors. Zachary Vishanoff , Patterson Street, objected to the two-minute limit placed on Public Forum testimony. He felt the Region 2050 group should hold a public hearing. He thought this was why the parking garage project was approved. He wanted to know more about the associated costs. Mr. Vishanoff expressed concern regarding nine trees that might be cut down. He thought there might be a legal need for a public hearing regarding the trees. He suggested that the new courthouse was having a negative impact on the area. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 10, 2006 Page 5 Regular Meeting