07/25/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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) / " . M I NUT E S EUGENE CITY COUNCIL July 25, 1977 The adjourned meeting from July 20, 1977, of the City Council of the City of Eugene, Oregon, was called to order by Council President Eric Haws at 7:30 p.m. on July 25, 1977, in the Council Chambers with the following Council members present: D. W. Hamel, Ray Bradley, Jack Delay, Scott Lieuallen, Tom Williams, and Betty Smith. Mayor Gus Keller and Councilor Brian Obie were absent. I-A-l President Haws welcomed the International Youth Association of Japan dele- gation. He recognized the advisors, Mr. Ryu Shinoya and Mr. Toshiki Kawamura. Mr. Kawamura expressed thanks for the warmhearted reception, noting this was the fourth visit of the group to the United States and Eugene. Most of the young people participating in the program had shown a great interest in visiting Eugene because of the fine hospitality. Hi s association was in the process of being recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Culture and Education, and he noted perhaps a similar program might be of interest to young people in America for visits to Japan in the future. He said a suggestion had been made to seek a suitable sister city in Japan e for Eugene, and he promised to pursue that. Mr. Haws then asked the ~roup to stand for recognition. He thanked the host families and the Mayor s International Cooperation Committee for the reception. I. Public Hearings I-A-2 A. Staff Analysis of IIGut Committeell Report. Assistant Manager said the June staff report was in response to the proposals from the Task Force looking at the Willamette Street IIgutll phenomenon. He said the recommendations had come from the Task Force to the City Council in March and staff had been looking at what might be accomplished in regard to the suggested 14 items to address the problem. He said staff's recommendations on the proposals had been submitted to Council in June and this public hearing was to take any additional testimony regarding the staff report. The staff report had attempted to reconcile the various problems which were occurring as a result of the gut dragging on South Willamette Street. Assistant Manager noted in a recent report from the Police Department comparing the current problem, to two years ago, the problem had been significantly reduced and there was more positive lawful conduct on the part of the young people in the dragging area. However, it continu~ to be an area of concern. The Police Department had reported a number of behavioral problems and the need for police patrol during the weekend evenings in the South Willamette Street area. Assistant Manager said staff was recommending four of the task force e recommendations as steps toward solution of the problem: 1) the gut be maintained on Willamette Street and confined to an area between 7/25/77--1 58/