Item 2A - Minutes Approval - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Speaking to Ms. Taylor's comments, Mr. Kelly said with regard to an overlay, the City had a policy in place for years that it did not overlay unimproved streets. He did not want to set a precedent for a single street that other residents had requested for their streets and did not receive. Mr. Kelly said that he had come away from the fall meetings with the sense more was needed in regard to design before the street classifications were discussed. He was glad to know that the design would come first. Mr. Kelly expressed concern about the financing element and the design process. With regard to financing, he had been confused by the agenda materials because he could not recall any use of an LID as a design funding mechanism rather than an implementation method for construction. He recalled some controversial street improvement projects such as Garden Way and Ayers Road-Delta Highway where the council had directed the design be brought back before financing and construction occurred. While those processes were "messy," he felt that good, improved streets resulted from them. He asked why a similar process could not occur for the Crest Drive area. Mr. Schoening said the initiation of a LID would allow the City to tap into its assessment fund; the LID would not actually be formed until the project was bid and a public hearing was held. He clarified that the proposal was not an LID for the design alone, but for the whole process, with a break in the middle to address the classification issue. Mr. Kelly wanted to move forward with the street design process but also wanted to know how the City had funded the Garden Way, Ayres Road and Delta Highway design processes. He did not think discussion of an LID at this point "set the fight tone." Mr. Schoening pointed out that the three streets mentioned by Mr. Kelly were designated as collectors, and the City could employ transportation system development charges as a source for the project. That might have been the way the design process was funded. Mr. Kelly asked that staff check into that. Mr. Pap6 expressed appreciation to the councilors who attended the neighborhood meetings. Most of the Crest Drive residents who contacted him wanted nothing to be done, but he did not think that was an option. It would be unfair to other neighborhoods with collector and arterial streets that were also located on the periphery of the city. He had expressed his concerns about access and safety to those who contacted him. He personally used area streets to reach facilities such as Wayne Morse Ranch, for example, and wanted good access to the site. He thought the community shared that interest. Mr. Pap~ was generally pleased with the recommended process and the proposed funding mechanism. He suggested that the council might be embarking on something that allowed it to address other areas of the community with context-sensitive designs, but the City needed to be careful about the money it spent, as he questioned whether Eugene could afford context-sensitive design in other neighborhoods. Mr. Pap~ agreed with Mr. Kelly that the City could not single out the Crest Drive area for special treatment. He reiterated that doing nothing was not a viable option. With regard to sidewalks, Mr. Pap~ asked if sidewalks could meander off the street. Mr. Schoening said yes. He said that during the charette, residents expressed interest in that approach. Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz about the process, Mr. Schoening indicated the LID process included two public hearings. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 24, 2005 Page 5 Work Session