08/17/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Obie appreciated Mr. Williams' comments, but felt if the question were one of agreeing with the concept of a city civic-center complex, that called for another motion. e Ms. Smith supported the recommendation of the Civic Center Commission. She noted the Civic Center Commission had been appointed by the City Council and had been directed to do a job. Council had gone on record as supporting a civic center complex. The Commission had returned the unanimous decision to the City Council, regarding the consulting firm, and she felt the Council needed to look to the Commission for judgment and direction. Mr. Delay agreed with Mr. Williams' comments. He said he had seen suffi- cient questions raised to make him uncomfortable with the decision. He noted the end result of a civic center for Eugene would come out of the professional firm hired to lay the groundwork. He felt City Council should take a more active role in this major decision and suggested a willingness to spend money for oral presentations by bidding firms and the Council could base its evaluation on those presentations. Mr. Lieuallen understood the reservations expressed, but said his problem was that, no matter how many firms made a presentation before him, he wondered whether he would be in any better position to make a good judg- ment. He was willing to look into the matter further, but was unsure it would make that much difference. He cautioned Council to be careful about predetermining the end product according to which consulting firm was picked. e Mayor Keller noted the parameters put on the bidding firms by setting a stringent date deadline. He said the Commission had been established by City Council and had been charged with its duties, and had exercised good judgment in those responsibilities. He noted the consistency of areas of disagreement between the Council, and that perhaps it might be better to give the Commission different instructions so that the Council would be supportive of the Commission's decision. He continued that he hoped City Council would move ahead with the process. He felt if Council expected the Commission to finish its job, it should not hold the Commis- sion back. Mr. Delay noted he was not questioning the work of the Commission. He was questioning, on a major decision such as this one, whether keeping to a certain arbitrary time frame was the most important factor. He wanted to know how extensively the Commission was involved in reviewing the three bidding firms and how comfortable they were in its choice. Mr. Obie said it was important to remember there were 15 members of the Commission, each concerned with getting something built. He said it was their desire to do that with as much excellence and expediency as possible. He reviewed the many meetings that had been held to date and the amount of time given to the study. He cautioned Council the advice it receives will be what it pays for. Mr. Williams indicated he did not intend to make a motion for reconsider- ation, the reason being that he saw two possible choices: Jarvis and ERA. He felt the dollar difference between the possible outcomes was small. e 8/17/77--7 ~lb