CC Minutes - 12/01/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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a car. She felt that every one of the cats would meet a more humane end by euthanization than by abandonment. Mary Blackburn, 3914 Shasta View, said she had been upset by the situation at the Saginaw Trailer Park and the impact it had created in the lives of private citizens. She also conveyed her unhappiness with the recent decision to upgrade the River House, slated to cost more than $100,000. She realized the project had been on a waiting list and asked when the cattery had ever been on such a waiting list. Ms. Blackburn stated that the cattery facility had finally been built and urged the City Council to vote to help provide funding for it. She discussed some of the history of LCARA and the Greenhill Humane Society. She noted that the nine-cage cattery that had been part of LCARA was housed in a former utility closet. She reiterated the willingness of cattery supporters to help with the problem. Diana Robertson, 871 River Road, executive director of Shelter Animal Resource Alliance (SARA), a 501 (c)(3) animal welfare organization with over 500 supporters, advocated for the City to work with the LCARA to develop a comprehensive cat program. She stressed the importance of having a place to bring stray cats to. She felt some of the crisis the Greenhill Humane Society had recently experienced was due to the unwillingness of the City Council to help fund the cattery. Ms. Robertson recommended applying more funding to low-cost spaying and neutering, as many low- income people could not afford to do so for their animals. She said this was a cost-effective resource. She urged the council to move the animal control program up to the level of consideration given to the other public safety programs, the Fire Department and the Eugene Police Department. Dave Hauser, 1401 Willamette Street, conveyed the support of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce for approval of the request for use of the air service development reserve funds to help the community bring Delta Air Service to the area. He noted the chamber had been involved in negotiations with Delta Air Lines since early 2002. He assured those present that the package being offered was competitive, adding that the earliest package the airlines had requested was much larger. He agreed it was a more competitive package than had been offered previously to other airlines, but times had changed since the tragic events of September 11,2001. He predicted that the package would ~unravel" should it not be approved and the City would lose the opportunity for this air service. He added that the chamber was committed to add a $400,000 travel bank to the incentive package. He called the revenue guarantee an ~important piece of community infra-structure for existing businesses and businesses that are growing here." Ann Jensen, 1642 North Danebo Avenue, called the closing of Greenhill Humane Society at the same time that the Saginaw Trailer Park closed ~very unfortunate," adding that it made cats ~homeless individuals." She noted that she had just paid her property taxes and asked the following questions: · What contribution did the City make to the funding of LCARA? · What percentage of the total budget of LCARA was provided by the City of Eugene? · What percentage of the total services of LCARA were returned to the City of Eugene? She requested a breakdown from LCARA on how funding was spent to determine how much was spent on housing animals and how much was spent on investigating complaints. She stated that the City Council should know all of these things in order to make an informed decision to provide additional funds for LCARA or whether to request that LCARA spend its funds more wisely. MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 1, 2003 Page 10 Regular Meeting