CC Minutes - 10/29/03 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regarding the issue of geographic distribution, Ms. Taylor asserted that there was a ~myth" being circulated that South Eugene had many parks. Ms. Riner indicated that was the case on a per capita basis. Ms. Taylor said that she requested a list of the parks in the area, and it appeared to her all the parks in question were little sections of the Ridgeline, which was a regional facility. She said that Tugman Park was the only neighborhood park with which she was familiar. Amazon Park was a community park, and Milton Park was not fully developed. Ms. Taylor recalled that when she was a renter, parks were very important to her. Once she purchased a house with a yard, her family hardly ever went to a park. Ms. Bettman asked how staff decided what projects to implement and how the projects were timed. She noted that the Capital Improvement Plan included an upgrade to Friendly Park that had been put off year after year. She suggested that future POS expenditures should be based on articulated criteria for selection and prioritization of projects. The priorities that staff identified when talking to the community could be used to create a priority list of projects. Ms. Bettman acknowledged there were many factors influencing the timing of projects, but it appeared to her that decisions were made by staff, without any vehicle for the community and elected officials to understand the decision- making process. She termed the process ~mysterious" and said that it would help if it was more open and accessible. Ms. Riner said the schedule for the bond measure was in place the day she began to work for the City, and staff had started to work on everything. It had taken about two years longer to implement the bond measure than staff thought due to the amount of training and work required. She noted that 80 percent of all parks constructed in the last 20 years had been constructed in the last two years. She said that the priorities had been retained even though the schedule had slipped. Ms. Riner noted that the youth sports parks were taken from the middle of the schedule and accelerated to take advantage of the City's partnerships with the schools. She offered to share a general project schedule with the council. Mr. Pap6 expressed appreciation to the committee for its work, and said he also appreciated the periodic updates. He complimented Ms. Riner and her staff on the work they had done. He believed that the council was supportive of parks and open space projects and he was proud of that. He concurred with the remarks of Mr. Meisner and Mr. Kelly. He wanted to ensure that the City maintained its parks facilities. Mr. Pap6 adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 29, 2003 Page 9 Work Session