08/24/1992 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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the district's commitment to an attractive, quality transit station. She e asked the council to reaffirm its support for the district's efforts in seeking a site downtown. Mr. Boles said that the council's position on the station had not changed. The location of the station was driven by physical and fiscal realities. He said that the issue was how and where to place it downtown. Mr. Boles agreed that LTD had set a standard for public buildings in the community. He said that he believed there was a need to solve more than one problem at a time; the station would serve as a downtown anchor and was a means for the City to address Goal 12 issues and implement the Central Area Transportation Study. Mr. Miller agreed that the council was supportive of the district's efforts. Ms. Ehrman said the council had been interested in the topic for some years. She expressed regret over the difficulty of bringing projects online at the same time, such as reopening Olive Street, building a library, and building the station at the McDonald Theater site. Ms. Ehrman said that from her perspective, the city needed a downtown station. She said the council welcomed LTD's presence downtown and regarded the station as a lynchpin in downtown. Mr. Billings pointed out that the district's ability to place the station at the McDonald Theater site depended on the City's willingness to sell the district the two lots. He asked if the council had discussed the possibility of accepting an option from the district for the property to give the district some assurance that the site would be available. Mr. Miller said that the e council had not addressed that issue, but was willing to do so. Mr. Nicholson said that he believed it had been a mistake to proceed with the Olive Street reopening in a "nonintegrated" fashion, and he opposed proceeding with the transit station or the Ferry Street Bridge outside the context of TransPlan. He questioned whether the City was generating the "most model shift for the money" under the current approach. Mr. Nicholson recommended that the council start from "scratch" and stop using traditional solutions that do not have a good record of success. Mr. Boles said that the council could examine a "right of first refusal" that would preclude the sale of the property to any other entity, although the City might not sell the property to lTD. He said that the council needed to review an analysis of parking before it would be able to give the district an option on the property. Mr. Billings pointed out that membership on boards and councils change. He said he would not want to put the public to the expense of more analysis and public hearings if a majority of the council was adverse to the sale of the lots. Mr. Billings said that the district is looking for some commitment within the time frame it is working under. Mr. Green suggested that the council could direct the City Manager to develop the terms of an agreement regarding the property between the district and City. e MINUTES--City Council Work Session August 24, 1992 Page 4 5:30 p.m.