Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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appraisal that was part of the eminent domain proceedings. She would question a value that was excessively higher than the $600,000 that the Green property was offered in 2004. She was concerned that the tone of the discussion felt to her like people were focused on blaming each other for this difficult situation instead of thinking of what was best for the land. She found the provisions of the eminent domain proceedings “ridiculous” and did not believe the City should be responsible for attorneys’ fees. She asked everyone to work on finding a solution that involved considering the “unique value” of the land. She felt that preserving the land as an undeveloped park was not the same as creating a park in west Eugene or north Eugene. She asserted that parks in that area were most likely created out of land that had been farmed for at least 100 years. She acknowledged that when inventorying park land, south Eugene had more, but averred that it was a different kind of land; a different decision to preserve the land. She believed that the land had regional value and would “enhance the image of Eugene like Portland’s forested parks do.” Kathleen Leonard , 5020 Nectar Way, related that she had supported the 2006 Parks and Open Space bond measure because she believed some of the money would be used to purchase parcels of land with high natural resource value that were at risk of being developed and not land outside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). She declared that she would not have supported the bond had she known land outside of the UGB was in the parks plan. She felt Eugene had an obligation to preserve the last native areas within the UGB. She would now be “a lot more skeptical” when faced with future parks bonds because she had lost her trust in the City and its “process.” Benton Elliott , 1313 Lincoln Street, #605, spoke in support of acquiring the Amazon Creek headwaters properties. He wished to register his disagreement with an editorial piece in Sunday’s The Register Guard, which posited that there had not been an adequate opportunity for public comment. He had been pleased with the opportunity he had to share his views and believed that it had been an adequate public process that had lasted many months. He also felt the writer had made a “NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) claim,” in that the editorial piece had asserted that the driving force behind the movement to support eminent domain were the people who lived or owned property in that area. He underscored that he lived near the downtown area. He appreciated the property and used it for hiking because he lived in a condominium complex and did not have a yard. He added that the preservation of the property should be supported because the flora and fauna warranted protection. Ken Neubeck , 4915 West Hillside Drive, commented that his grandchildren came to his house to walk through the Beverly and Green properties. He recalled the book, An Inquiry into the Human Prospect, written by Robert Heilbroner in which Mr. Heilbroner had expressed concern about the impacts of human activities on the environment and that people did not seem to have a sense of the future. He related that Mr. Heilbroner had postulated that people make decisions that have negative implications for people they will never live to see. He believed the kinds of decisions that were being made with regard to the property around the Amazon Creek headwaters were difficult given that it involved money, different stakeholders, and different points of view. He underscored his belief that 100 years from now people would enjoy the property without any recollection of how it came to be preserved or they would wonder why that area was developed and changed. He urged the council to think about future generations. Carla Hervert , 2948 Dry Creek Road, explained that she was a nurse and an exercise physiologist who worked as a therapist in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation at Sacred Heart Hospital. She said they tried to improve the quality of life for people with heart and lung disease through an extensive exercise and education program. She stated that during the time of year in which field burning occurred she saw first hand how her clients were affected. She related that they often missed therapy sessions because they did not want to chance going outdoors and those who did come were on more oxygen and took more medication. She remarked that she had a few patients who used up to seven different inhalers. She noted that steroids MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 2 Regular Meeting