CC Minutes - 12/10/07 Work Session

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Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to direct the City Manager to proceed with acquisition of the Diamond property and return to the council with draft Request for Pro- th posal (RFP) options for 10 and Charnelton that are within the financial constraints of the urban renewal district’s $33 million spending limit, with adequate time for exercising op- tions. City Attorney Klein said the Diamond option was both cashed and an exchange of property; he asked if the motion was specific to the value of the land. Ms. Bettman said yes. She did not want to see a proposal that increased the spending limit of the district. She added that there might be other financial resources outside the district the council employed. Mr. Poling moved to amend the motion to include the Roberts’ Taco Time property and Scan Design property. The motion failed for lack of a second. Speaking to Mr. Poling’s motion, Mr. Clark wanted more discussion of those properties and suggested there was adequate time to do so. He also recalled discussion in advance of the ballot measure about keeping the businesses downtown whole through the process, and he thought the motion could have a significant impact on Bradford’s by eliminating its parking. He welcomed suggestions. Ms. Solomon also was concerned about the impact of the motion on Bradford’s. She wanted to send out another RFP but if the council approved the motion it had more than two-thirds of the block and it seemed to her the council could go smaller or larger. She thought it the “wrong chunk of the block” to send out for an RFP. Mr. Zelenka suggested the next discussion was whether to buy the Shaw Med/Diva or Roberts building; the City did not have enough money to do both. He believed that the council should discuss whether it should focus on the intersection or control of the whole block, which he found an interesting tradeoff. Alternatively, the council could do nothing and use the money to assist Beam. Ms. Bettman reminded the council of the overwhelming defeat of the ballot measure, saying people did not want to go bigger; they wanted incremental and affordable and they wanted the two pits filled. The council attempted to use those pits as leverage to get the public to spend money, and now the council was left with the pits. The Sears Pit was there because the city manager tore the building down, and she thought the City needed to fix it. It was long overdue. The City had a small proposal for housing on the site and she thought it should continue on that track. She said if the ballot measure had passed it was likely the retail would have gotten built first, followed possibly by the housing but only if the developers deemed it favorable for the market, and it was likely that the developers would have sought code amendments to build surface parking. Ms. Bettman said she would entertain as a friendly amendment to the motion that the RFPs contain specific strategies for preserving Bradford’s as she agreed with those speaking in its support. Ms. Taylor had no objection. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for all the work done by staff on the project and for its due diligence. She did not think staff woke in the morning and thought about how to spend money needlessly. She supported the motion and said she would also support the addition of the Scan Design and Shaw Med/Diva properties. Ms. Ortiz said the City could not do it all so it should do it incrementally. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 11 Work Session