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Mr. Kelly said he supported a work session on transportation funding options and asked that information be available at the work session on the amount of revenue the various options were likely to produce. He asked the City Manager for a report on the issue of inadequate water pressure at fire hydrants in certain parts of the city. Mr. Pap6 joined Mr. Meisner in his congratulations on the selection of a finalist candidate for police chief and asked where the City was in the process of hiring a new chief. Mr. Taylor described the selection process and the professional/technical panel, community panel, and executive leadership panel, all of which agreed that the applicant pool consisted of highly qualified individuals. He said the panels were in agreement with their recommendations for the three top candidates. He said the finalist candidate was Robert Lehner, Assistant Chief with the Tucson Police Department. He briefly described Mr. Lehner's background, which he said was well-suited to Eugene's needs. Once the background check and psychologi- cal evaluation were completed, Mr. Taylor hoped Mr. Lehner would assume the responsibilities of Police Chief in early January. In response to a question from Mr. Pap6, Mr. Taylor said that based on several conversations, Mr. Lehner was prepared to accept the position. Mr. Pap~ commented that he had received a number of complaints about the poor condition of Pre's Trail. He asked for a report on the trail and suggested that a community work party could be organized to restore the trail. He noted that the trail was a major draw for runners. B. WORK SESSION: Eugene Downtown Plan Update and Related Code and Metro Plan Amend- ments Mr. Taylor introduced City Planners Kurt Yeiter and Nan Laurence to present the Downtown Plan Update and related code and Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Area General Plan (Metro Plan) amendments. Mr. Yeiter gave an overview of the collaborative interagency process used to update the plan, including supplementation of the Planning Commission with three councilors (Planning Commission +3) to develop the early framework of the plan. He said the process involved a significant amount of public review, with an opportunity for additional review prior to the public hearing scheduled for January 26, 2004. He said the Downtown Plan established a vision and tone to help guide City actions and public investments in the downtown area that built on existing strengths. He said the development of the plan was coordinated with the update of the Central Area Transportation Study (CATS), which represented a significant functional component of the plan. Mr. Yeiter said the actions requested by staff at the public hearing included adoption of the updated Downtown Plan as a refinement plan, a Metro Plan amendment to designate downtown as a nodal development area, and a Metro Plan Diagram amendment to designate the federal courthouse site and adjacent City-owned property as appropriate for commercial use, which would also permit mixed-use or residential development within the area, with the exact zone to be determine in a subsequent process. He said staff would also request that the Lane Use Code be amended to incorporate Downtown Plan policies so they could be used in future land use decisions. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 1, 2003 Page 2 Work Session