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Mayor Piercy said a significant benefit of Project Homeless Connect was the way it let the service providers <br />know how they interfaced, a benefit that endured past the event. She said there was more work to be done, <br />but she thought the council needed to acknowledge the effort that had been made. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy referred to page 9 of the AIS and the reference to the camping program, and suggested that <br />there were not many new camping spaces. Mr. Weinman agreed. He said that different churches and <br />businesses continued to provide spaces, but public spaces were being lost for a variety of reasons. It was <br />both critical and challenging to replace those spaces. He termed the spaces a community “safety valve.” <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz commended the membership of the blue ribbon committee. She was glad to hear the Project <br />Homeless Connect event would reoccur. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz spoke to the HRC request that the City consider establishing a non-religious shelter. She thought <br />that would be a nice thing to do but feared the cost would be prohibitive. She thought the City could attain <br />related goals through its partnerships with nonprofit providers. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor thanked Mr. Weinman and City staff for the hard work they had done. He emphasized the <br />importance of partnerships to the Human Services Commission, of which he was a member. He thought the <br />work being done by Mr. Weinman and Pearl Wolfe of Lane County was succeeding because of that <br />partnership and was pleased to see how well the two jurisdictions were working together. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor thought the one-night census of the homeless population was very valuable and suggested that the <br />City keep that up as an ongoing benchmark. It helped to keep a focus on the real issues. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Pryor, moved to adopt the homeless goal action plan, which in- <br />cludes Project Homeless Connect, assisting the “Blue Ribbon Committee to Finance Home- <br />lessness and Housing Programs” to develop recommendations, and continuing community <br />education related to housing and homelessness issues. The motion passed unanimously, <br />8:0. <br /> <br /> <br />3. WORK SESSION: <br />Enhancing Metro Area Fire and Emergency Medical Services <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor introduced Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Randy Groves, who was <br />present to discuss a concept that would enhance the community’s safety within existing resources. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy acknowledged the recent loss of nine fire fighters in Charleston, South Carolina, one of the <br />largest single-incident losses. She called for a moment of silence to honor their memory. <br /> <br />Chief Groves thanked Mayor Piercy for her remarks. <br /> <br />Chief Groves reviewed a staff proposal regarding the “3-Battalion Concept,” which he proposed to <br />implement in company with the Springfield Fire Department. The concept built upon the existing aid <br />relationship between the two cities by expanding automatic aid throughout the community. Beginning July <br />2, the two cities would respond to the same number of calls but with systems that were virtually identical. <br />He emphasized that the two departments would not be subsidizing one another. He recommended the <br />council approve the concept. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 25, 2007 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />