05/25/1988 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e agreed that the City needs a new senior nutrition site or more arts and crafts space. The council had discussed day care. However, it had not discussed what type of public-private mixed use would be acceptable at the Lincoln School site. Ms. Schue recommended that the council make some of these basic decisions before asking a group of well-intentioned citizens to go through a task force process. Mr. Holmer asked if it was too late to give the Lincoln School building back to the school district. Mr. Rutan said he agreed with Mayor Obie's remarks. He said the council is being a party to leading the public along by taking on this issue initially. He said it is time to re-evaluate the project. Mr. Rutan said he did not think the City should be spending its time and resources on the building. He said that some variation of Mr. Bennett's suggestion seemed appropriate to him. e Mr. Miller said there are community needs for day care. Many nonprofit groups serving the community are losing funding for needed programs, and much of that funding is concerned about where such groups are physically located. In the long-term, this site could'be a cost-effective, needed community asset. Mr. Milier said the issue to him is, is it worth taking a gamble and spending a few dollars with the possibility that the bUilding can be used for community purposes, knowing that private resources will be needed. Mr. Miller said the City spends money on other uncertain projects. He did not want to spend the public's money foolishly; however, the community has real needs for such proposed services. He asked why the handicapped accessibility to the mall play area has taken so long. Ms. Bohman said the department had worked with the architect from the Broadway project to develop plans, which had taken some time; in addition, much of Ms. Bohman's time was taken up with the Lincoln School issues. Ms. Bohman said the City had received an expression of interest from a devel- opment company regarding a project that included housing on the upper level and day care and other leaseable social service space on the ground floor. Ms. Wooten supported Mr. Miller's remarks regarding City investment in poten- tially feasible projects. The City has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the potential of other opportunities for private or private/public uses. She saw this as an opportunity for the City to invest in itself. Ms. Wooten said it is not a lot to ask to put faith in the combination of people proposed to come forward with a workable idea for the Lincoln School Build- ing. She said there are opportunities in the community that the council may be overlooking. Mr. Bennett moved, seconded by Mr. Rutan, to approve the expenditure of $20,400 now, as per recommendation 2, with a possible future expenditure of $10,050 annually, to secure and maintain the Lincoln School Building and provide interim maintenance pending a decision on redevelopment. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council May 25, 1988 Page 10