CC Minutes - 03/07/05 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Misha Seymour, 1313 Lincoln Street, #307, called the City of Eugene "Enron 'r' Us." He sang a song about poor people not having enough money. He said the City should provide more money to support the arts. He noted that people were not allowed to sleep for more than 30 minutes at the Eugene Public Library and registered his objection to that rule. Scott Bartlett, 1445 East 21st Avenue, thanked the City Council for its continuing effort to keep a hospital in South Eugene. Mr. Bartlett supported the ordinance that would require rabies vaccination reporting. He said it would create an expanded database and bring in additional revenue. He reported that the Lane Board of County Commissioners allocated five percent of its licensing revenue for subsidized spay and neuter services for the pets of low-income people, pointing out that they often do not have the funds for such a procedure. Kathy Ging, 2878 Harris Street, stated her opposition to the mixed-use development planned to be built next to the WOW Hall. She thought it would concentrate too many people too close to the WOW Hall and the uses were bound to conflict. She alleged that a "prominent Eugene architect who was president-elect of the City Club" was quoted as saying she did not think the site was appropriate for low-income housing. She asserted that the City was intent on having a "really big project" and sought proposals with maximum density housing as a principle criterion. She related that she had, as an experiment, called seven WOW Hall members and asked them how they felt about this development and, according to her, they were all opposed. She said she was genuinely concerned about this development. She thought it would be more expensive to build the apartments on that site, that the apartments were not designed for families with children, and that the people who need the help would not get it. She found no other HUD housing projects that were built next to a music hall. She predicted the WOW Hall would remain subject to police action, even after noise attenuation measures were included in the building. Sharon Olson, 277 North Grand Street, supported the Santa Clara community park land swap proposal. She saw considerable benefits in the proposal, which she felt would provide a park that would be a "great asset" to the community while providing a link in the Ridgeline Trail in the Laurel Hill Valley. She recognized there were concerns that needed to be addressed regarding annexation and the potential increase in traffic. But she questioned whether there was a reasonable amount of park land within the UGB and whether there were other land owners willing to sell their land in Santa Clara. She also wondered if the City would lose the chance to buy the Laurel Hill site. She believed the City and the Santa Clara area could work together and continue to evaluate the costs and benefits of this option and others. Charles Peters, 2435 Potter Street, a member of the Community Center for the Performing Arts (CCPA, also known as the WOW Hall), wished to apologize for the alleged campaign of misinformation by two of the members, intended to derail the proposed low-income housing project. He recognized that the council had heard all of the arguments, both both for and against the proposal, and believed the council would make the right decision. He thought the process could have been enhanced by having a public hearing earlier in the process. Rob Handy, 455-½ River Road, speaking on behalf of the Railroad Pollution Coalition, advocated for a public planning process for the Union Pacific rail yards. He also wished to attain the best possible clean-up process for the pollution emanating from the rail yards. He hoped the City would support economic redevelopment that would be compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. He said the HOPES Conference, MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 7, 2005 Page 4 Regular Session