CC Minutes - 06/20/07 Work Session

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Mr. Cohen reminded the council of some recent events and new information that could inform its discussion, such as the demise of the Whole Foods project and the fact the parking lot adjacent to the site owned by the City was still available; the owner of the site of Rock ‘N Rodeo had indicated she had no interest in selling the site to the City; there was a difference of opinion about the effect of the deed restrictions for the County- owned butterfly parking lot; and the General Services Administration (GSA) had expressed interest in City occupation of part of the old federal building through a long-term lease. He recommended the council reconsider its original plans in response to those changes in reality and in response to the public input. Mr. Hacker presented consolidation strategies depicted on both the existing City Hall site and the site of the butterfly parking lot/Rock ‘N Rodeo. The consolidation options moved from the most consolidated (the “A” strategies) to least consolidated (the “D” strategy) and each degree of consolidation was depicted on both sites. All assumed the patrol function was not included. An estimated cost was shown for each strategy. Ms. Bettman acknowledged the impetus for looking at options to decrease the cost, but questioned at what point the consultants were directed to sacrifice consolidation of services, which was a major value expressed by the council and those surveyed. Mr. Hacker said the consultants heard from the polling that if the bond measure was above a certain dollar amount it was unlikely to pass and were seeking to reduce costs. Ms. Bettman asked if losing consolidation was the only way to decrease costs. Mr. Hacker said that consolida- tion and reuse of space were both good ways to reduce costs, and the consultant was trying to depict what it would take to reach the number favored by the public. Ms. Teninty recalled that the council had spoken of consolidating to the greatest extent possible. There were other ways of lowering costs, and acknowledged the design could hit a point where it would not win support because it was not sufficiently consolidated. She said the council would get to that discussion. Mr. Poling asked if the strategies that included the federal building included the costs of the lease. Mr. Cohen said no. Mr. Poling asked why the butterfly parking lot and Rock ‘N Rodeo site were still under discussion if they were not viable. Mr. Cohen said that the most recent direction the council had given the consultant team had been to plan for the site. The other strategies were intended to stimulate discussion. Mr. Poling agreed with Ms. Bettman. He said that consolidation of City services was a very high value for him and he would prefer not to sacrifice it. Ms. Taylor also questioned why the City Council was still discussing the butterfly parking lot and Rock ‘N Rodeo site when they were not available. Mayor Piercy deferred further discussion of that issue until after the presentation. Mr. Cohen reviewed a matrix that summarized potential costs for each strategy. He emphasized the escalation in construction costs that were occurring, which had increased the project costs. Mr. Cohen reviewed a project time line that assumed a bond measure would be presented to the voters in a general election in 2008. He indicated the consultant’s work would have to be done by May in time for a campaign committee to be formed. The council took a brief meeting break. Ms. Ortiz said she was not surprised by the results of the survey, which she believed reflected the polariza- tion on the council. She was concerned to see the escalation of costs for the patrol building as she favored moving forward with that project sooner rather than later. She clarified with Mr. Cohen that the building MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 20, 2007 Page 2 Work Shop—City Hall Goal