CC Minutes - 06/25/07 City Council Meeting

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Lotte Streisinger , 2075 Harris Street, supported saving the Amazon Headwaters. She said it was not a neighborhood issue for her as she did not live near it. She thanked the people who had worked hard to preserve it. She agreed that once the land was gone, it was gone forever. She reminded those present that Spencer’s Butte was intended to be logged in the 1930s but the City had managed to purchase that area. She felt thankful for this action. She averred that what they were trying to do was to preserve the land for the future. Lisa Warnes , 5020 Nectar Way, asserted that the analysis of park land in the South Hills area that indicated that the area had 21 percent of the population but 44 percent of the park land was not accurate because most of the parks were “regional facilities.” She opined that removing the “regional parks” from that inventory would indicate that actually the south hills had “hardly any” parks. She also disagreed with the assertion that the City would not be able to afford to maintain more park land. Susie Cousar , 2919 Crocker Road, supported preservation of the Amazon Headwaters. She related that she was a college teacher with a focus on ecology and human health. She was concerned about what was happening in the world, but she thought Eugene was touted as the sustainable city. She said it was very important that they not be “a status quo USA. anywhere.” She averred that in order to continue to maintain the sustainable community it was important to make the decision to preserve the Beverly/Green properties. She encouraged anyone who did not support doing so to “read up” about human health, ecology, and eco- systems. She added that the City could never have too many parks. She wished to stress that she was from Santa Clara and favored having parks all over the City. She declared that the real issue lay in saving the land. Donna O’Neil , 3525 High Street, said she walked the Amazon trail often. She commented that it was the one place she could go to hear something “besides crows.” She opined that walking in the woodland was spectacular. She shared her favorite bird call. She related that she had seen three pileated woodpeckers and it had “made” her week. She felt the developers were “stealing” the land from Eugeneans to build large homes on it. She averred that it would be a “tragedy” to let this happen. Mayor Piercy closed the public forum. She said she had been engaged in the formation and initial meeting of the West Broadway Advisory Committee. She hoped they could get everyone engaged in order to get the process going. She invited comments from the councilors. Councilor Bettman thanked everyone who testified. She wished to specifically thank those people who came out in support of the preservation of the Amazon Headwaters. Councilor Bettman commented that she kept hearing that a facilitator would be hired for the West Broadway Advisory Committee. She did not believe that the council motion had directed that a facilitator be hired. She recalled that it had directed the hiring of an urban planner and that the City should secure the services of a qualified consultant to provide the market analysis and financial feasibility studies. She believed that there were two different positions and neither of them was to serve as a facilitator. She did not think this precluded the committee from making a choice of facilitators. She asked if a legal opinion had been obtained in order to counter the idea that the West Broadway Advisory Committee should have a choice about the facilitator. City Manager Taylor explained that staff discussed the hiring with the City’s purchasing division and the City Attorney and based on oral conversations there was no legal opinion having to do with how service contracts were purchased. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 4 Regular Meeting