CC Minutes - 02/25/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Pap~ raised concern over the number of levies that were already on the May ballot. He said he would support the motion but urged the council to think about everything it was asking the voters to approve in May. Councilor Nathanson expressed concern that council was asking for specific and technical work to be done in a 24-hour period. She also raised concern that the voters were being asked to approve too much on the May ballot. She commented that the proposed motion was only a temporary solution and stressed that the arrangement with Santa Clara was only a temporary measure. In response to a question from Councilor Taylor regarding whether there are layoffs scheduled in the proposal, Chief Tallon clarified that there were no layoffs planned. City Manager Johnson urged the council not get into a work session on the issue during its regular session. He suggested taking up the issue during the Wednesday work session. Councilor Meisner said he would not support a levy. He expressed his trust in Chief Tallon's recommendations. He noted that in any redeployment, staff would work to see that service was delivered to the City in the most efficient manner possible. In response to a question from Councilor Taylor regarding whether Police Department employees could come out of the basement if the downtown fire station moved out of City Hall, City Manager Johnson said it would be a waste of money to invest funds in City Hall. He said it would make more sense to construct a building that would take care of police needs for the immediate future. He stressed that staff was not suggesting to put any more money into the City Hall building for the next ten years. In response to a concern from Councilor Taylor that increasing response times would endanger the people in the Valley River area, City Manager Johnson said, if the issue were moved to a work session, Chief Tallon could explain that the time and distance studies had been done and shown that there would be a significant risk to the community. He noted that there were other areas in the City that did not have four-minute response times. Councilor Fart commented that the council was not managing its meeting time effectively. Councilor Fart offered a friendly amendment, that was accepted, to schedule a work session on the issue during the upcoming Wednesday meeting. Councilor Fart urged the council to make an early motion on the charter amendment agenda item that would help to postpone any lengthy debate to a future time. Mayor Torrey commented that most citizens would prioritize fire/police at the top of their list of community importance. He challenged the Budget Committee of the City of Eugene to find the funding to operate in the Santa Clara area and not rely on a levy that the citizens could vote down. He raised concern that there were too many levies on the May ballot. Councilor Kelly called for a comparison of fire response under the Chief's proposal, with continued staff at the Valley River station, and under the current system. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 25, 2002 Page 10 Regular Session