06/24/1991 Meeting (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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e council bill number only, and that enactment be considered at this time. Mr. Boles moved, seconded by Mr. Green, to withdraw from the budget recommendation, the operations, maintenance, and capi- talization associated with the one-year operation of emergency services at Fire Station 6 and return them to the Ballot Mea- sure 5 reserve. Mr. Boles explained that consistent with the position he took at the Budget Committee meeting, he is asking that the funding of Fire Station 6 be removed from the budget for the following reasons: it is only for one year, the City has not indicated how it would fund the service in upcoming years, it ad- dresses emergency medical services only, it should be done in conjunction with the fire redeployment plan, and it does not address equally pressing needs in other areas of the community. Mr. MacDonald urged the council to oppose the amendment. He said that pro- viding adequate protection to its citizens is one of the most primary and fundamental responsibilities of the City. Citizens' need for adequate medi- cal care should override any obligation to defer the decision to the Eugene Decisions process. Reopening Fire Station 6 should be the first step in initiating fire redeployment. Ms. Ehrman concurred with Mr. Boles and said that it would be unfair to other citizens in the City who also need improved response times. This discussion e has been valuable in that it will prompt the council to look at the fire redeployment plan even more closely within the context of Eugene Decisions. Mr. Robinette said that each councilor recognizes the importance of this issue and indicated that he believes that life safety will come out as a high priority of Eugene Decisions. He expressed concern that pulling this deci- sion out of context might unfairly prejudice other important decisions to be made within the Eugene Decisions process. Mr. Green said that he supports the amendment for the reasons stated by Mr. Boles. He disagreed that the Eugene Decisions process would not be specific enough to address this issue and said that he would be supporting fire rede- ployment in the Eugene Decisions process. Mr. Nicholson said that the Willakenzie neighborhood has been receiving sub- standard service for a long time. The perceived importance of this within the community should be taken seriously. He said that the council should support the Willakenzie neighborhood's request to bring it up to the level of emergency services that other areas of the community are currently enjoying. Mr. Rutan said that he has been contacted by many citizens in the Churchill neighborhood who would be served by the now closed Fire Station 10. He said that it would be unfair to those citizens to support funding for Fire Station 6. Eugene residents need a comprehensive, citywidQ ~olution to f;~~ ~~d~- ploym~nt. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 24, 1991 Page 4