Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Mr. Poling said the City of Coburg had received grant and loan funding for a new wastewater treatment plant and hoped to complete it in two years. He conveyed Mayor Judy Volta's thanks for United Front's support of the funding request. Ms. Solomon arrived at 5:40 p.m. Ms. Ortiz reported that the Human Rights Symposium at the University of Oregon was well-attended and she felt her participation was very worthwhile. She said the Police Commission would be forwarding a recommendation that the police department use crisis intervention training and have enough officers trained to provide 24-hour coverage. She said she would be attending a November 28 summit on the over- representation of minority youth in the prison system and would provide a report to the council. City Manager pro tem Angel Jones reported she would be presenting a status report on Eugene's preparation for the 2008 Olympic Trials to USA Track and Field officials. B. WORK SESSION: Joint Meeting with Lane Transit District Board of Directors Mayor Piercy welcomed members of the Lane Transit District (LTD) Board of Directors. LTD Board Chair Gerry Gaydos and board members Mike Eyster, Mike Dubick, Greg Evans, and General Manager Mark Pangborn introduced themselves. Mr. Pangborn indicated the board wished, time permitting, to discuss four items: West Eugene transporta- tion, the Franklin Boulevard project, transit ridership and service performance, and the Commuter Solutions program; the first two items were of greatest importance. Tom Schwetz of LTD provided an overview of the West Eugene transportation project, which would result in identification of the third EmX corridor. He said that bus rapid transit (BRT), or EmX, was designated as the region's choice for high-capacity transit in TransPlan and regional transportation plans. He reviewed the agenda packet materials, including the proposed purpose and need statement, proposed goals and objectives and preliminary process and timeline. He pointed out that well over 1,000 comments had been received on the proposed Purpose and Need Statement, Goals and Objectives and alternative alignments. He anticipated the scoping process would conclude in February 2008, and a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) would be issued in early 2009, with a final statement in 2010. He said service was projected to begin in the corridor in 2014 or 2015. He stressed that at this point in the process the intent was not to select an alignment, but rather to identify a set of viable alternatives to move into a more extensive analysis process. Mr. Schwetz used a series of aerial photographs to illustrate the potential West Eugene corridor options and the varying characteristics along the alternatives. He said there were a number of environmental concerns— both natural and built—that would warrant consideration and analysis. He said the scoping process would result in identification of proposed alignments for further study. He said the environmental study and alternatives analysis considered three elements of the alternatives: modal alternatives, alignment alternatives and link alternatives; those could be mixed and matched during the analysis process. He said along with build alternatives there were transportation system management (TSM) alternatives (scaled down EmX service) and a no-build alternative. He asked for feedback on whether all of the alignment considerations had been included. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 26, 2007 Page 2 Work Session