06/12/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e an area for future discussion. He asked that the first round of scenario development not preclude the potential for intergovernmental cooperation. Ms. Bellamy said that the assumptions are a way of focusing community discus- sion. It was not the committee's intent to preclude the opportunity to ex- plore intergovernmental cooperation. Mr. MacDonald voiced concern that financing and automation should not be excluded from a review of administrative services. He pointed out the impor- tance of demonstrating the efficiency of City administration in its entirety to the public. Mr. Nicholson agreed with Mr. MacDonald and said that a review of the effi- ciency of administrative services should be included as an integral part of the review. By consensus, the council directed staff to proceed with the preliminary strategy development for this phase of the Eugene Decisions process. III. WORK SESSION: ALTERNATIVES FOR CONTROLLING SEARS BUILDING SITE FOR THE LIBRARY Lew Bowers, Planning and Development Department, gave the staff presentation. He said that it is staff's recommendation that the council instruct the City Manager to continue the option for one year to purchase the Sears building. e Choosing this option would allow the council the greatest flexibility to decide when to acquire the building and would enable the council and citizens to make decisions on the library financing together. Mr. Bowers noted that in the event that the owners do not agree to an option extension, staff rec- ommends that the council proceed with option 3: to allow the option to ex- pire and then to acquire the building through condemnation, if and when the council chooses to proceed. Mr. Bowers highlighted an error in the staff notes and pointed out that building condemnation would not relieve the owner of any environmental lia- bil ity. The City is in the process of conducting a more extensive evaluation of water quality in the area; testing should be completed within the next six months. He assured the council that there is no reason to believe that there are any greater environmental problems on the site than already anticipated. Mr. Robinette inquired about the cost of the additional environmental assess- ments and asked whether the City or property owner would be expected to pay those costs. In response, Mr. Bowers said that the bids for the environmen- tal assessments ranged between $8,000 and $40,000. If and when the council decides to acquire the building, the environmental liabilities would either be rectified by the owner or would be discounted off the fair market price of the building. Fair market value would discount any known environmental clean-up costs. The cost of the environmental assessment would be borne by the City. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 12, 1991 Page 4