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

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Councilor Pap~ said he would support the motion. He stressed the need for representation for the people in those neighborhoods. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously. VI.ACTION: A Resolution Calling for a City Election Regarding a Bond Measure for Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department Construction Projects Assistant City Manager Jim Carlson noted that staff had council direction to come back to the council with resolutions related to the bond measure. He said that since there had been no specific direction, staff had prepared a number of options. He called attention to council packet page 181 for a list of the options from which to choose. Mr. Carlson said staff was recommending Resolution E, which included a downtown fire station in addition to the highest priority training prop (burn building). In response to a question from Councilor Meisner regarding the reason why no Facilities Reserve funds were being applied to fire issues, City Manager Johnson said it was a policy decision as to how the Facility Reserve funds were spent. He said the professional staff opinion was that the highest priority was to move the personnel in the basement of City Hall out of that location. In response to a question from Councilor Nathanson regarding whether new training facilities would be used by other agencies and what those agencies would pay, Chief Tom Tallon said the prime reason for the training center was for the training of Eugene fire fighters. He acknowledged that there was capacity to expand training curriculums to include other fire fighters from the region. He said there were great business/intergovernmental opportunities for sharing the facility and recovering funds to pay for its ongoing maintenance. Councilor Kelly said the move toward providing services in Santa Clara had been thrust upon the City through no action of its own. He said he would rather see a Eugene fire station in Santa Clara in the near future, but noted that he had been assured that a temporary facility would serve for the time being. He expressed more concern over the redeployment of fire fighters from the Valley River station. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding whether there would be an actual change in response times due to the proposed redeployment to Santa Clara, Chief Tallon said a lot of time and research had been done on the issue. He acknowledged that there would be an increase in response times but stressed that there would be no risk to the safety of the community or to fire fighters. Councilor Kelly, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to direct the City Manager to return to the council with a serial levy for the May ballot to provide for the operations of the Valley River station for a two-year period. Councilor Bettman raised concern over a lack of staff to provide services. She said she would support the motion. Councilor Farr reiterated Councilor Bettman's concern. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 25, 2002 Page 9 Regular Session