CC Minutes - 06/20/07 Work Session

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Mr. Carlson said the City received appraisals for the butterfly lot and Rock ‘N Rodeo site and learned the approximate value of the properties was over $2 million. The County would only agree to provide the City access to the butterfly parking lot if it replaced the parking that would be lost, and the County estimated the cost of replacing the stalls that would be lost at $11.2 million. The deed restrictions related to the butterfly lot remained to be resolved, but he thought could be accomplished. Ms. Taylor said the owner of the Rock ‘N Rodeo property did not intend to sell her property. Ms. Taylor said she liked the current site if it was remodeled and expanded, but that option had been eliminated; however, the City owned other sites in downtown and she did not want to limit discussion to the current site. She asked the cost of relocating employees twice. Ms. Ing estimated the cost at $2.5 million. Ms. Bettman recalled it was previously estimated at $2.6 million. Mr. Penwell said that assumed moving off the existing site and every one moving back in; it did not assume a separate patrol function or Municipal Court in the federal building. Almost everybody had moved off the site already. Mr. Zelenka requested updated cost estimates for relocation. Ms. Taylor suggested the Sears site as a possibility and noted it was in the urban renewal district, so urban renewal funds could be used for a new city hall. Mr. Carlson agreed. Ms. Taylor did not want to eliminate the option. Ms. Teninty reminded the council that it had agreed to retain the option because it was the third option favored by the community and was already owned by the City. The council agreed the site was moving forward as part of another project, but if that fell through, it was a viable site. Mayor Piercy said unless the council changed course, it had voted to move forward with a project on the Sears site; locating City Hall on that site would represent a major shift. Ms. Ortiz asked if there was any way she could receive a different cost estimate for the police patrol building based her what she had described in regard to her expectations of what it would contain. She wanted an estimate for surface as opposed to structured parking. Mr. Cohen said the consultant team could provide a range of costs and perhaps even point to some examples of other facilities. He said consultant team recommended establishing parameters as it was now using general empirical data. Mr. Clark agreed with Mr. Pryor that the issues of leadership and governance were of concern to the voters, and he advocated for a degree of council consensus on what ever was decided that would allow the council to speak with a unanimous voice and garner more public support and greater trust. He suggested that solving some of the City’s other problems another way to garner trust and build support. He wanted the council to spend more time on the subject to reach that degree of consensus. Ms. Solomon thanked Mayor Piercy for her statement regarding the Sears site. She said that the council had already embarked on a process and taking the Sears building out of the process would undermine the public involvement that occurred and further harm the council’s credibility. Ms. Bettman said she kept hearing at the last meeting where the council discussed the issue that the public process had not yet begun. She said there had been no public hearings. She believed that given the council’s decision about the KWG development proposal, the Sears site was not off the table. If the process was open, it was up to the community to determine what the objectives were for the site. Ms. Bettman said many people had mentioned the Sears site to her. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 20, 2007 Page 9 Work Shop—City Hall Goal