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Councilor Papd supported reestablishment of the engine company for Station 9. Councilor Taylor concurred with the remarks of Councilor Papd. Regarding the request from the OFAM Board, Councilor Taylor asked if staff was working on the item. Additionally, she conveyed her hope that the City would work to protect the cultural asset to the community that the WOW Hall represented. She commented that such cultural assets were part of a good downtown. Councilor Taylor supported protection of the farmland outside of Santa Clara as it was important to the future of the community. Councilor Kelly thanked everyone for taking the time to speak to the council. Regarding the requests by OFAM and the WOW Hall, he said he was nervous that the City would be faced with the situation wherein one community good won out over another community good. As he had served on the Housing Policy Board (HPB), he recognized the need for low-income housing. He asked staff to look into ways to meet the needs of both the City's projects and the needs of the performing arts organizations. Councilor Kelly conveyed his distress that no funding alternatives had been found for Station 9. Continuing, Councilor Kelly requested copies of the ODOT report on the WEP. Councilor Solomon asked for more details on the OFAM issue. Regarding the WEP, Councilor Solomon noted that her ward, Ward 6, and the City had voted in support of the WEP twice. She asked opponents to respect that vote and redirect their energies to other issues in the City of which there was no shortage. Councilor Bettman thanked everyone for coming down and providing input. She opined that staff was working at cross-purposes regarding the WOW Hall. She had thought that the council had provided direction that the WOW Hall should not be impacted. Regarding the OFAM request, she thought another site should be found for courthouse parking. Councilor Bettman asked that copies of the WEP reevaluation report be provided prior to the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for December 9. Councilor Bettman agreed that Santa Clara needed a park, but opined that this goal could be met without the proposed land swap. She asserted that 30 percent of the job growth in the region had been attributed to agriculture. Mayor Torrey recommended to the City Manager that funding be found for the engine company at Station 9. Regarding comments about the EWEB site, Mayor Torrey clarified that EWEB paid no property taxes. He thought a hospital would pay taxes that would be used for transportation improvements that the hospital needed. He noted that using the EWEB site for a new City Hall would mean that the property would continue to pay no taxes. He remained convinced that the highest and best use of the property was not as EWEB's manufacturing or industrial site. He thought the building could be used for any number of reasons, MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 6, 2004 Page 4 Regular Session