Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Bettman stated she would vote against the motion as she supported option 2 proposed by staff, which was Beam rehabilitating the Center Court and Washburn buildings and redeveloping the “Aster pit” site, including moving forward with the Kemper 106-unit housing project on the “Sears pit” site. She said that would have allowed citizen input on how best to redevelop the remainder of the downtown footprint. She did not think a range of options had been fully examined. Ms. Taylor said the Beam proposal was less expensive and could be done more quickly and then the City could determine if the housing at the Sears site, which could have been completed by now if the City had not halted the project, could stimulate other redevelopment that did not require City subsidies and cause less disruption to existing businesses. Mr. Poling said he initially favored KWG to be the sole developer of the project as he was not that impressed with the Beam proposal, but in the interests of moving West Broadway redevelopment forward he was willing to agree to both developers for the project. He supported the motion related to Beam and was not willing to scuttle the entire project just because it did not reflect his first choice. He wanted to move forward with redevelopment for the betterment of the City. Mr. Clark said he would support the motion. He was disappointed at the lack of a unified voice from the council. He said it was important to recognize that when the majority spoke it was the will of the body and that will was to move forward with both developers. He felt that the issues that were being revisited had already been decided. Mayor Piercy expressed her pleasure with the direction the City was moving and was supportive of both development proposals, which provided unique opportunities for a part of the community. Ms. Ortiz said that separating the MOUs was not negative and would allow more consideration of an immense commitment of public funds and assure that each step was thoughtfully deliberated. She was in favor of as much public involvement in the process as possible. Mr. Zelenka remarked that the number one issue on the recent City Hall survey was revitalization of downtown. He hoped the West Broadway redevelopment would help achieve that and understood and shared community concern about the cost and impact of the project, which was why it was important to proceed cautiously with a transparent process and public involvement. Ms. Bettman said she felt it was important to speak up when a mistake was being made and she regarded the project as a very large mistake because it had not been determined how the funds, which were intended to benefit low-income people, could be better spent. She felt the funds were being spent unwisely and would oppose it. She hoped the project would fall through and the council could return to option 2. Referring to Table 5 in Chapter 5 of the Urban Renewal Plan report, she said it was supposed to represent project activities and estimated costs. She formally requested that more details be provided for the project activities so she could understand what they meant and how they would be paid for. Ms. Cutsogeorge said the chart was staff's best estimate in March 2007 of the general nature of the development project and as yet no better information on the exact nature of the project was available. She emphasized that it was a plan and not a commitment to those specific activities and estimated costs. Ms. Taylor said she also hoped the project failed and thought the council would regret it if it went forward. She said that current businesses could be lost and possibly new ones would not succeed. She was opposed to destroying things that were doing well. She questioned whether public input to the West Broadway Advisory Committee would make a difference. Mr. Braud replied that it would be up to the committee and the urban design consultant to determine how it would receive and consider public input. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 18, 2007 Page 5 Work Session