CC Minutes - 02/28/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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the City would never have a say in the outcome. She agreed with Mr. Pryor that the issue was regional and the City should be part of making the region succeed. Mayor Piercy noted her support for the task force recommendations. Mr. Pap~ thanked the presenters for the report. He agreed that tourism was a regional issue. He highlighted the statement in the EcoNorthwest report included in the meeting packet that more data was needed. He said if the City participated in the interim working group, it should focus on getting the information needed to determine which capital projects were most economically feasible. Mr. Pap~ suggested that Eugene had good facilities but perhaps they were not Class A facilities. He asked Ms. Westlund for suggestions on how to get more modem and competitive rooms in the community. Ms. Westlund responded that the task force had learned of many different models, many of which were mixed- use with a conference, hotel, and sports component. Many included residential and retail components as well. Developers were increasingly looking to 24-hour-a-day build-outs that evened out business cycle trends within the individual components. She believed that there were many different forms of development that could get Eugene-Springfield where it wanted to be. Ms. Taylor said she became worried when she read about '~tourist-related infrastructure" because she assumed that meant a convention center. She thought the City should depend on private industry to provide more hotel space and more meeting rooms. If they were needed, someone would probably build them. Ms. Ortiz expressed concern about the discussion because of her mixed feelings on the topic. She believed it was good to have partners but often felt that Eugene was left "holding the bag" on projects. That was her concern with regard to the proposal before the council. She had not considered the approach being called for by the task force as part of the council's goal for the art and outdoors. Ms. Ortiz expressed appreciation for the conferences and conventions that came to Eugene as it brought more diversity into Eugene and gave a "different feeling" to the community. Mr. Poling said that tourism was important to the City and to the region. He pointed out a vote in support of the staff-prepared motions did not commit the City to anything other than the resources needed to start a multi-jurisdictional process. He wanted to be involved at the beginning of that process. Mr. Poling solicited a second round of council comments and questions. Mr. Kelly indicated support for the proposed motions, and encouraged the CVALCO representatives to take the cautionary comments of Ms. Taylor and Ms. Bettman to heart. He did not see the City getting into the convention industry, although there may be some specific opportunity for the City to provide some leverage in the future. He believed existing facilities were inadequate, but noted the statement in the EcoNorthwest report that improving what existed was likely to be more cost-effective than building new large facilities that required a lot of money. The report specifically mentioned the potential of the Hult Center and Hilton Hotel as a regional convention center, and that a second tower of rooms had been planned for the hotel when demand warranted. He would follow the progress of the interim working group carefully to ensure that such alternatives were studied. Mr. Kelly noted a statement in the EcoNorthwest report that read "The implication was that if a gap was MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 28, 2005 Page 10 Work Session