Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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businesses continued to provide spaces, but public spaces were being lost for a variety of reasons. It was both critical and challenging to replace those spaces. He termed the spaces a community “safety valve.” Ms. Ortiz commended the membership of the blue ribbon committee. She was glad to hear the Project Homeless Connect event would reoccur. Ms. Ortiz spoke to the HRC request that the City consider establishing a non-religious shelter. She thought that would be a nice thing to do but feared the cost would be prohibitive. She thought the City could attain related goals through its partnerships with nonprofit providers. Mr. Pryor thanked Mr. Weinman and City staff for the hard work they had done. He emphasized the importance of partnerships to the Human Services Commission, of which he was a member. He thought the work being done by Mr. Weinman and Pearl Wolfe of Lane County was succeeding because of that partnership and was pleased to see how well the two jurisdictions were working together. Mr. Pryor thought the one-night census of the homeless population was very valuable and suggested that the City keep that up as an ongoing benchmark. It helped to keep a focus on the real issues. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to adopt the homeless goal action plan, which in- cludes Project Homeless Connect, assisting the “Blue Ribbon Committee to Finance Home- lessness and Housing Programs” to develop recommendations, and continuing community education related to housing and homelessness issues. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. 3. WORK SESSION: Enhancing Metro Area Fire and Emergency Medical Services City Manager Taylor introduced Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Randy Groves, who was present to discuss a concept that would enhance the community’s safety within existing resources. Mayor Piercy acknowledged the recent loss of nine fire fighters in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the largest single-incident losses. She called for a moment of silence to honor their memory. Chief Groves thanked Mayor Piercy for her remarks. Chief Groves reviewed a staff proposal regarding the “3-Battalion Concept,” which he proposed to implement in company with the Springfield Fire Department. The concept built upon the existing aid relationship between the two cities by expanding automatic aid throughout the community. Beginning July 2, the two cities would respond to the same number of calls but with systems that were virtually identical. He emphasized that the two departments would not be subsidizing one another. He recommended the council approve the concept. Ms. Bettman believed that the agenda topic involved a merger of services and that issue was a council policy issue. She asked if the two departments spent similar amounts on equipment and capital investments. Chief Groves said each jurisdiction was invested in its own infrastructure; Eugene spent more because it was a larger agency. The department covered a service area of about 162,000 in population; Springfield’s department covered an area of between 50,000 and 60,000. MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 5 Work Session