CCMinutes - 10/25/04 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Kelly asked staff to respond to the following questions when the council next considered the item: 1) when could the City Council expect to see the context-sensitive street design standards to be added to the Arterial and Collector Street Plan; 2) how the streets under consideration scored against the matrix; 3) why Crest Drive and Storey Boulevard were being proposed for reclassification; and 4) a citation on why stop signs would not change driver behavior. Mr. Pap6 asked if traffic studies had been done for Garden Way following the improvements. Mr. Schoening said no, as the improvements were only recently completed. Staff usually waited for a couple of months to pass before doing such a study. Mr. Pap6 suggested that the City produce design standards for the neighborhood in question and then the council could address the trust issue by passing an ordinance specific to the area and referencing the neighborhood association. He questioned if that would have an effect on financing. Mr. Schoening questioned why the City would want to limit an ordinance to the area in question as there may other neighborhoods where such an approach may be appropriate. Mr. Pap6 said that perhaps it would be the start of a new paradigm for how the City addressed such issues. Mr. Pap6 said that trust was achieved through consistency. He believed the council needed to proceed with the caution. Although he did not think the council needed to amend the plan at this time, it needed to do so at some time because the rest of the community was following the issue. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor regarding the types of traffic calming that could be used on steep collector streets, Mr. McNeel said the City could use speed tables in the form of raised intersections or raised crosswalk and bulb-outs and chicanes to shift traffic horizontally. He said that the City would not be able to use all the options contained in the Arterial and Collector Street Plan, such as diverters and speed bumps, because it was unlikely they would be supported by the emergency services providers. Ms. Taylor suggested the council could shift the priority of any local street improvements in the area to ensure that improvements were done earlier than otherwise. Mr. Schoening concurred. Ms. Taylor indicated her concurrence with the remarks of Mayor Torrey. C. WORK SESSION: Information Technology Strategies and Issues Information Services Director Randy Kolb provided a presentation on key strategies and issues related to information technology at the City of Eugene. Among the key strategies that Mr. Kolb emphasized were the City's information technology partnerships with other agencies, its investments in e-government, its investments in automated business systems, document production and distribution services, the AIRS (Area Information Records System) public safety and justice record system, and various projects funded by the City's telecommunications tax. Mr. Kolb noted the challenges facing the division in the form of adequate funding, the AIRS conversion to newer technology, the expanded access to data but increased risk created by less secure wireless technologies, the potential of additional legal challenges to the City's telecommunica- tions tax, and the anticipated Congressional review of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Mayor Torrey solicited council comments and questions. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 25, 2004 Page 8 Work Session