03/18/1981 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Ms. Smith stated that they need to acknowledge EWEB's financial situation and not overlook it. The past relationship has been pretty good. The letter from EWEB President Tiffany is important and there are issues that need to be discussed. She supports pursuing the suggestion of having the council and EWEB representa- tives discuss property transactions for surplus property as well as numerous other issues. This should be done in a spirit of cooperation. There is little choice but to agree that Gillespie Butte should be disposed of by EWEB. Ms. Schue noted agreement with Mr. Obie and Ms~ Smith. She agrees that there are items that need to be discussed and an ordinance needs to be passed to bring the charter and the code into conformance. Regarding Mr. Tiffany's first letter suggesting the acquisition of the property by a bond issue, she said they are working on capital improvement projects now. It would be inappropriate to place one special project on the ballot now just because EWEB needs the money as this would destroy the purpose of the Capital Improvements Program process. The second suggestion in his letter is for the City to make a down payment and some in lieu of taxes payments to be used for the remainder of the payments. She sees many problems with this. EWEB says they need 'the money now. This seems impractical but she appreciates the thought of the board of trying to solve the City's space problem. She would like for EWEB and the City to jointly make Gillespie Butte a park~ but since EWEB needs the money and the City does not have it, she sees no way to save the property for a park. She would support having the City Manager authorized to sign off on disposition of City property. Ms. Wooten stated that she has some concerns and recognizes EWEB's financial difficulties but she does not feel it is the City's responsibiity to trade Gillespie Butte to EWEB due to EWEB's short-sighted planning. Gillespie Butte is not just another piece of property but something that should be held on to. There are legal complications regarding the City's signing off on property transfers. She would like a staff report brought back with a proposed ordinance from the City Attorney prior to the EWEB sale. Mr. Gleason stated that if the council wants to confer the deed to this property, they can instruct the City Manager to sign the deed and allow EWEB to sell the property. Mr. Obie moved, seconded by Ms. Smith, to instruct the City Attorney to bring back at the first April meeting, a resolution authorizing the City Manager to convey the Gillespie Butte property. Ms. Wooten stated she is upset. There are many issues that need to be coopera- tively handled. It is not fair to expect the City to bail EWES out of their $6 million problem. Mayor Keller stated that the City is willing and expecting to work with EWEB in the future. However, the only avenue left open is to authorize the City Manager to deed the property to EWEB for sale. Ms. Wooten stated that this is not a final action, only to have the City Attorney's Office bring back a resolution. Mr. Lindberg agrees that this is an unfortunate situation without many options. He hopes this will build understanding to prevent further similar situations. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 18, 1981 Page 14