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from the other charter issues because EWEB requested it as one of four possible amendments, <br />and because both EWEB and City staff believed it was not a controversial amendment. He did <br />not believe it would complicate the passage of other charter-related amendments. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. PapS, Mr. Johnson concurred that the firewall between utilities <br />was provided in the last sentence of the charter amendment. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor agreed that the amendment was a housekeeping item that codified the separation <br />between utilities. He said that he was satisfied in that telecommunications utility was to be self- <br />supporting, or EWEB would not embark on it. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked if the charter amendment would be a stand-alone measure or grouped with <br />the City's housekeeping charter items. Mr. Johnson said that would be a council decision. Ms. <br />Bettman preferred a separate ballot measure. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey thanked the board for meeting with the council. Mr. Johnson encouraged the two <br />bodies to meet at least once annually to discuss issues of shared concern. <br /> <br />The council took a two-minute recess. <br /> <br />C.Work Session: Selection of Bus Rapid Transit Route for Further Study <br /> <br />The council was joined by Lane Transit District Board (LTD) President Pat Hocken, LTD General <br />Manager Ken Hamm, Planning Director Jan Childs, Senior Planner Kurt Yeiter of the Planning and <br />Development Department, Transportation Engineer Dave Reinhard, and LTD staff Stefano <br />Viggiano and Graham Carey. <br /> <br />Mr. Yeiter said that the first phase of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was being designed for <br />construction. The choice before the council was to select the first route of the second phase. <br />The two most probable routes appear to be toward the northwest along 6th/7th avenues and <br />Highway 99, or toward the northeast in the Coburg Road corridor. He characterized both routes <br />as desirable with many positive attributes. He said both appear to be feasible, and both would be <br />difficult to implement. Mr. Yeiter said that after much study, by a 6:1 vote, the Planning <br />Commission recommended the Coburg Road corridor as the first route for the second phase. The <br />commission also asked the council to join it in encouraging LTD to explore better bus service <br />improvements along the Highway 99 corridor to better serve northwest Eugene until BRT can be <br />extended in that direction. <br /> <br />Ms. Hocken provided a short presentation on the Coburg Corridor BRT route, emphasizing that <br />the corridor not selected would be constructed in the future. She reported that LTD's Bus Rapid <br />Transit Steering Committee had also endorsed the route recommended by the commission. The <br />LTD staff also supported the recommendation. The LTD board itself had not taken action, but was <br />supportive of the corridor because it provided an opportunity to link the route with the Pioneer <br />Parkway BRT corridor, creating more transit connections and enhancing ridership potential. The <br />linkage would create a system rather than separate routes, which LTD believed would appeal to <br />the Oregon Congressional delegation when it considered future funding requests. Ms. Hocken <br />said that another important consideration of the route was that it was under the sole jurisdiction of <br />Eugene and had more potential for an exclusive right-of-way. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 25, 2002 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />