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Mr. Zelenka announced that the Fairmount Neighbors had prevailed in their appeal of the planning <br />director’s decision regarding a conditional use permit for the University of Oregon basketball arena. He was <br />not opposed to moving forward with the alley vacation, but asked that the council delay final action until it <br />was more synchronized with the rest of the arena planning process. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark said the Amazon Headwaters Acquisition Committee’s report would be completed this week and <br />thanked Mr. Zelenka for his work in finding compromises among committee members’ positions. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy commented that she had attended the We Are Bethel celebration and was amazed at the large <br />turnout. She said it was becoming an institution in the community. Ms. Ortiz said there were hundreds of <br />people in attendance and a large percentage were children. <br /> <br />th <br />Mr. Ruiz announced there would be a June 17 public meeting to review proposals in response to the 10 <br />Avenue and Charnelton Street Request for Proposals (RFP). The council would consider propels on July <br />th <br />16. He said that WestTown on 8 was being occupied by residents and a grand opening as scheduled for <br />August; there would be a June 10 ground breaking for the Prairie View affordable housing project in Bethel. <br /> <br />B. WORK SESSION: Downtown Public Safety Zone <br /> <br />Police Chief Bob Lehner introduced Sgt. Pete Kerns to present the topic. He also introduced that Dan <br />Barkovic from the city prosecutor’s office, Jerome Lidz and Lauren Sommers from the city attorney’s office <br />and Judge Edwin Allen, who were available to respond to questions. <br /> <br />Sgt. Kerns described the three options developed in response to the council’s direction. He said two options <br />were exclusion ordinances and the third was an enhanced penalty zone; however, discussions with the <br />Municipal Court indicated the enhanced penalty zone would probably not be effective. He said Option A <br />would impose a 90-day exclusion on an offender upon arrest or citation for one of the offenses listed in the <br />ordinance, with a one-year exclusion upon conviction. Option B would exclude persons for one year upon <br />conviction of the commission of certain offenses within the downtown boundaries. He said a judge would <br />impose the exclusion under both ordinances and there were provisions for appeal of the exclusion. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark favored Option A as a reflection of the council’s previous discussions. He preferred the term <br />“time out zone” instead of exclusion order. He asked how the geographic boundary of the exclusionary zone <br />was determined. Sgt. Kerns said the boundary was based on the area were most offenses occurred, based on <br />experience. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark suggested that the western boundary be moved one block further to the west to include businesses <br />that had experienced a significant number of problems. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon asked if the police department had the capacity to maintain a consistent police presence in the <br />exclusion zone. Sgt. Kerns replied that two officers were on one-year assignments in the downtown area and <br />the ordinance would be a tool for them to use. He said the department was not presently able to add a third <br />officer. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon noted that Option B based the exclusion on a conviction and asked how long it could take for a <br />conviction to occur. Mr. Barkovic replied that the length of time depended on a variety of factors. He said <br />the problem with waiting for a conviction was that there were many instances when someone failed to <br />appear in court on the charges and it could be six to nine months between arrest or citation and the trial. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 9, 2008 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />