CC Minutes - 01/14/08 Work Session

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon January 14, 2008 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Andrea Ortiz, Chris Pryor, Betty Taylor, Bonny Bettman, Jennifer Solomon, George Poling, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. A. COMMITTEE REPORTS AND ITEMS OF INTEREST FROM MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER Ms. Ortiz reminded the council and audience that there were many community celebrations planned for the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Ms. Taylor stated she was disappointed with a memorandum stating that acquisition of natural park areas could be encumbered by negotiations for land, which she felt was contrary to council direction. She questioned why an executive session was necessary. She referred to an article in the December 14, 2007, issue of The Register Guard indicating the buffers for waterways had been reduced and said that was not a council action. City Manager pro tem Angel Jones was not certain what that was referring to and said she would check into the matter. Ms. Taylor conveyed the request of a constituent to pass a "no soliciting" ordinance. She said another constituent was upset that her garbage company would only reduce her fee if she was gone for two weeks or longer; a reduction for one week was not offered. She said a constituent had reported being the subject of threats and curses when he walked downtown. She noted that a fee on the sale of studded tires was determined to be legal and would request a work session on the subject. She recommended listening to a telecast of City Club speakers on the topic of conserving old growth timber. Ms. Bettman commented that the proposed basketball arena would require either a $50 million parking structure or many acres of surface area parking and there was no provision for needed parking in the $200 million plan for the arena. She said the University of Oregon had externalized its parking requirements and the impacts onto the City when Autzen Stadium was rebuilt. She hoped to avoid that problem with the basketball arena and asked for a briefing on the parking needs and how the City would assure they were part of the University's plan and not externalized onto City taxpayers. Mr. Clark thanked City Manager pro tem Jones for her memorandum regarding discussions that were contrary to the council's existing policy. He announced he had attended his first Police Commission meeting and conveyed the commission's gratitude to Ms. Ortiz for her years of service. Mr. Zelenka agreed the basketball arena plan did not adequately address parking needs and that was an issue of great concern to the Fairmount neighbors. He hoped the City could work with the University to protect MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 1 Work Session