CC Minutes - 11/24/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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locate in Roseburg rather than Eugene. He related that he had attended a State Board of Higher Education meeting in Portland. He suggested councilors attend the next meeting, scheduled for February 20, 2004. Julie Fischer, 778 Elm Drive, a member of the River Road Community Organization Board and a former member of the River Road/Santa Clara Urban Services Committee (USC), stated that she intended to provide an update on the project funded in the 2003 budget cycle, a fiscal analysis and planning study of River Road and Santa Clara. She asked for the council's support for public input on the two projects. She related that the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the fiscal analysis had been issued and two of the committee members had been asked to participate in the selection process. Ms. Fischer said, however, that the planning position did not have a scope of work at this point. A plan to only issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) had been formulated. She reported that she and other former committee members had been communicating with staff via e-mail and could not agree on a scope of work. She asserted that the City did not wish to involve residents, elected officials, or staff of other special districts in guiding this important study. Without continual community involvement, she opined the City was risking the alienation of the stakeholders. Ms. Fischer harkened back to the main points of the report from the USC: to build trust with the City; to create a voice in City government; to strive for equity in services; and to encourage collaboration with all of the stakeholders. She advocated for wise use of the $120,000 allocated from the Sewer Reserve Fund, stating she could not sit passively and watch the City create a scope of work for the planning position that did not reflect the values and goals of the USC. She asked the council for its input and thoughts on how to create an adequate process for public involvement. Mara Wile, 1347 Dalton Drive, also a member of the USC for the River Road/Santa Clara area, provided City Manager Dennis Taylor with a copy of the report the committee had written. Ms. Wile called it disconcerting that there was no process for public input in the planning. She opined that staff was ~writing the future" for the area. She requested the council step in and slow down the process in order to help the neighborhood be able to participate in the planning for the future of the area. Mayor Torrey closed the Public Forum and invited comments from councilors. Councilor Meisner said a more accurate way of describing Ms. Fischer and Ms. Wile's involvement with the River Road/Santa Clara planning process would be to state that they were members of a former committee, as the River Road/Santa Clara USC had fulfilled its charge and was no longer a committee. He related that the report called for hiring a consultant, which required an RFQ in order to hire someone with the right skill set, qualifications, and sympathies to carry out the study. He stated that the planning was not for land use only, but also for the entire community in northwest Eugene. He said the transition manager was charged with the responsibility of staffing, supervising, and developing the public involvement plan. He felt it premature to dictate who the committee should be comprised of prior to the hiring of this consultant. He was uncertain, at this point, who would be the staff supervisor. Councilor Papd agreed with Mr. Conte regarding the potential site for the hospital. He said he liked all three sites south of the Willamette River and he hoped to find the right and reasonable site for a hospital soon. Councilor Solomon arrived. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 24, 2003 Page 3 Regular Meeting