Item B1: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Regarding open space, Mr. McLauchlan related that the committee overwhelming preferred a smaller plaza. He underscored that many considered large, deep sidewalks to be a form of open space. Mr. McLauchlan stated that the committee wanted high-quality sustainable buildings to be built that were esthetically attractive and that represented the historic buildings that were there when possible. He said the committee wanted development to achieve the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible. Continuing, Mr. McLauchlan indicated that the committee developed a proposal for the business transition plan that went beyond statutory requirements. He averred that some businesses would be able to relocate to new development and others could move to other areas of the downtown. He hoped businesses would prosper as a result of the project. Ms. Ortiz thanked the committee for their work. She had been impressed by the amount of energy that went into some of the public sessions. She looked forward to advancing the project. Mr. Poling noted his skepticism when the WBAC first convened. He said he now felt very pleased by the end product. He commented that he had never seen anything like the level of public involvement that had gone into the report. He thanked everyone for participating, both the committee members and the citizens. Ms. Bettman felt there were good recommendations in the report in terms of “rearticulating the new urbanist concepts.” She hoped the City could utilize the recommendations as a basis for a Request for Proposals (RFP) to redevelop vacant property “after the ballot measure fails.” She questioned why the council was having the discussion. She believed that if the recommendations were “tweaked” by the council and “sent off to the developer” there would be “obvious financial implications.” She predicted that developers would return to the council with a much higher project cost. She asked if the City would then bring back another spending increase for the Urban Renewal Agency and whether this would happen regardless of whether the ballot measure passed. Mayor Piercy underscored that the council was trying to respond to the specific recommendations from the committee. She said she discussed with City Attorney Glenn Klein prior to the meeting what elements of the conversation should not be brought up given the pending election and the legal parameters that governed it. Mr. Klein said the council was not, in the opinion of the City Attorney, at risk of violating elections law. He underscored that between the attorneys they had over 30 years of experience in advising state agencies and they had a great deal of familiarity with this. In regard to the specific question from Ms. Bettman, he stated that if the developers returned in March with a need for $35 million more it would be an issue with which the City Council or Urban Renewal Agency would have to deal. He stressed that this would not be a staff decision and also that it was unrelated to the ballot measure. Ms. Bettman averred that the ballot measure was “inexorably” tied to the recommendations because all of them would cost money. She felt the recommendations had not been factored into its financial implications. Mr. Clark thanked the committee for its work and also expressed appreciation for the high integrity of the work. He recalled that 70 to 80 percent of the people who participated in the first public forum indicated they wanted the council to act and move forward on downtown revitalization. He said he originally was skeptical of Mr. Zelenka’s motion to bring in more public input. He felt that sometimes too much public process slowed a larger process down. He had come to understand that the community placed a high value MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 19, 2007 Page 2 Work Session