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Lane County Board of Commissioners 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, OR 97401 Re: River Avenue Action of February 9, 2005 Dear Commissioners: My name is Gordon Howard and I along with my wife Connie Howard own property at 425 River Avenue and also at 65 Ross Lane, which is the solely accessed via River Avenue. I had no notice of the February 9, 2005 BOC meeting until after the fact. A reasonable person could assume that since both the BOC and the Eugene City Council voted unanimously to oppose the River Avenue Plan, that is was a dead issue. Set forth below, please find several other area's of concern for your consideration. After speaking with Teresa Wilson (County Counsel) on February 17, 2004 (the date I learned of the 2-9-05 BOC meeting) I decided to review the video of the actual heating. As you know, Commissioner Green framed the River Avenue key issue as being about "assessments" which I have to assume came from discussions with the Assistant City Manager, Public Works Director, and the City Engineer who were all in attendance. The City managers conveniently forgot to mention that 32 of 33 property owners signed remonstrance forms, that the property owners consider the road design as excessive(over-size sidewalks etc.), that staff has taken a rigid position and refuses to consider plan alterations to alleviate property owner concerns, that ODOT may terminate River Avenue in the not so distant future, and that nobody except staff went on record in support of this project. It is my understanding that this issue was revived after discussions between the Eugene Public Works Director Kurt Corey and Commissioner Green, which is curious since Commissioner Green was the only Commissioner who was absent from the August 4, 2004 hearing when public testimony was presented following which, the BOC voted unanimously (4-0) to oppose the city request. The other issue that jumped out at me after reviewing the February 9, 2005 meeting was when Commissioner Green said" I do not want it to be Lane Countys fault if this project does not go forward". No one at this meeting made that suggestion, so I can only assume that assertion was made to Commissioner Green by city staff prior to this public meeting. The fact that the Assistant City Manager, the Public Works Director, and the City Engineer did not immediately disclose to Commissioner Green and the rest of the Board of Commissioners that the City Council had already voted unanimously (8-0) against the River Avenue project is "incredible" and certainly doesn't do anything to bolster a trusting relationship between governmental bodies. The entire Board should be outraged at this type of behavior on the part of City Officials! River Avenue Exhibit C