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storage, soil and water conservation, and species habitat.” She remarked that she “bristled” when she heard discussion of the costly nature of a land purchase at this time when there had been earlier such opportunities to do so for far less. She noted that money had been spent to restore Amazon Creek downstream from the properties. She believed that development on the Beverly/Green properties would undo this restoration work. She declared that if the council did not take action to protect these properties, the image of a sustainable Eugene would “be for naught.” She also asked the council to pass a resolution in opposition to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Western Oregon Plan revisions. She averred that the revisions threatened 2.5 million acres of forest and would accelerate old growth cutting without regard to needed riparian buffers or habitat connec- tivity. She added that she and several other people were working on a plan for Lane County to gain carbon credits. William Ivanoff , 1810 Harris Street, #336, commented that the grass seed burning was perhaps the way Eugene should be affected by urban sprawl. He asked where else did grass seed go but to large plots at the edge of cities. Continuing, he said safer streets would be a good idea. He related that traffic calming had been addressed in London by making streets smaller and able to be used by “not just the cars but also by people.” He believed that if all streets were narrowed, the amount of maintenance and the cost of installation would be reduced. He asked the City to consider reconstructing the streets to make them smaller. He also felt that traffic calming elements would reduce the amount of traffic on roads. Dennis Casady , PO Box 5028, opposed the eminent domain taking of private property, in this case with the “excuse of saving the Amazon headwaters.” He stated that the City had done nothing when Woodleaf Village had been constructed on Fox Hollow Road. He said a tributary of Amazon Creek ran through that development and had not been protected; still was not protected. He stressed that the Beverly property was zoned for residential development. He averred that if the owners would not willingly sell the property, the City should “just walk away.” th Bob Cassidy , 1401 East 27 Avenue, related that he had attended a City Club program on the problems that drinking around Autzen Stadium during home football games caused. He said in that discussion there had been much discussion of the overtime the police put in to handle traffic. He did not believe it was necessary for the police to do so. He thought volunteers could serve that function. Mr. Cassidy had heard concerns that Lane Community College needed to expand and might move out of the downtown area. He commented that he would like to see the downtown area become an education center rather than a retail area. He thought the Centre Court building would be perfect for classroom spaces. Mark Rabinowitz , Box 51222, remarked that the “obvious” solution to grass seed burning would be to convert to growing food instead. He quoted David Brower as having said we should thank the current president for calling himself an environmentalist and we should thank him again when he becomes one. He quoted Mahatma Gandhi as having said when asked what he thought of western civilization that he thought it was a good idea. He said the City of Eugene thought it was the World’s Greatest City of the Arts and Outdoors. He believed that there were “many more MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 5 Regular Meeting