Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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sometimes visited Civic Stadium and considered it to be his favorite stadium. He averred that one could not go anywhere in the league and find a more comfortable stadium than Civic. Dianne Fawbush , 2000 Scott Road, Springfield, related that she worked at the Blood Bank next to the stadium. She had heard many of the people who have recently given blood express concern about losing Civic Stadium and how this could be prevented. She underscored that tickets for Civic Stadium were reasonable for nearly everyone, unlike tickets to get into Autzen Stadium. She reiterated that the stadium was also within walking distance for many people. She remarked that she had become very attached to baseball since arriving in this country from Australia. She said she had started cooking for members of the Ems when there had been three Australians on the team and a tradition had begun. She felt that losing the Ems to a new baseball stadium would cause the Ems to lose their personal touch. She related that Civic Stadium was set up so that fans could interact with the players; other stadiums removed the fans from players and were more “sterile.” She underscored her love for Civic Stadium. Trey Imfeld , 1964 Villard Street, related that he had taken his son to his first ballgame at Civic Stadium when he was three or four. He said his son had such a good time that a Register Guard photographer had put a picture of him on the front page of the sports section the next day. He stated that his son was now 23 and had recently written a letter to the editor expressing how sad he would be if he was never able to take his son to Civic Stadium. He stressed that there were many reasons for Civic Stadium to be considered a historic resource; it was part of the history of the families of Eugene for generations. He emphasized that baseball and Civic Stadium were about tradition and history and urged the council not to “discard that casually.” He led the members of the public in the Council Chamber in a rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame. John Brown , 101 East Broadway, remarked that the people who supported saving Civic Stadium had a great idea. He stated that he was representing himself to make the council aware of the annual River Clean- up, scheduled for June 14. He underscored that being a steward of the rivers was his passion. He commended the City parks staff for the outstanding job they had done in working with the event. He noted that Willamalane Parks and Recreation District and the event’s corporate sponsor, REI, had also done great work to make the event happen. Mr. Brown cited a few examples of things that added to the pollution of the river, such as the cigarette butts on the street that were washed into the river through storm drains and transmission fluid that leaked from Lane Transit District (LTD). Regarding the former, he said there were hundreds of cigarette butts every morning on the zero to 100 block of West Broadway; City staff would then come with leaf blowers and blow them into the street. He suggested putting bio-bags before the storm drains to block these types of pollution. He also was concerned about the emergency flares that were left behind after an emergency situation. He stated that as soon as it rained the flares that were left went into the water harming sensitive habitat for pond turtles and other species. He suggested that volunteers be asked to collect flares after an incident. He acknowledged that emergency personnel were too busy to do so. Additionally, Mr. Brown wished to share an observation regarding the City’s clean-up services. He explained that the park blocks were cleaned every day, and after the Saturday Market closed, the market crew did a “wonderful job” of cleaning up the area. He noted that his office was in this area and that on Sunday morning parks staff would come and clean it again which he considered to be wasteful. Mr. Brown closed by thanking the City for allowing staff to help in the River Clean-Up. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 27, 2008 Page 5 Regular Meeting