CC Minutes - 04/08/02 Work Session

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Mr. Rayor clarified the details of the project build-out with Mr. Svendsen. Mr. Rayor expressed concern about the trailer park and the potential loss of Iow-income housing. He asked about the potential for condemnation. Mr. Svendsen said that the City intended to work with willing sellers, and condemnation was not contemplated. Regarding the trailer court, Mr. Svendsen said that two years ago the owner had approached the City regarding the City's interest in purchasing the property, and had recently indicated he was still interested in such a transaction. Mr. Svendsen believed that the real issue of concern would be the relocation of the trailers and tenants on the property. He noted that the master plan indicated that over the 20-year planning period years the property in question would be acquired. Mr. Rayor determined from staff that the trailer park was legally served with water and sanitary sewer services. Mr. Rayor indicated he would prefer to wait to make a decision on the topic until after the election in May 2002. Mr. Meisner shared Mr. Rayor's concern about the trailer park. He said that finding a site that was comparable to the trailer court would be very difficult. While the property owner might be willing to sell the property, it did not help the community's housing situation to displace those Iow-income residents currently paying affordable rents. He continued to find the amount of money required for the new facility to be "staggering." Mr. Meisner asked how many cities maintained their own forensics functions. Chief Buchanan said that there were five cities with forensics units in Oregon, among them Portland, Eugene, and Salem. Eugene already coordinated with the Oregon State Police (asP) laboratory in Springfield because it does some analysis the City cannot, but all asP laboratories specialize, so much of what the City sent to the Springfield laboratory then got sent to another location in the state, and the City had to "wait in line." The Springfield department relies on the asP lab, but the cities that do so were generally smaller than Eugene. Mr. Meisner asked if staff had determined and compared what Springfield paid for asP's services against what it would cost that community to join Eugene in providing the service. Chief Buchanan clarified that asP did not charge for the service. Mr. Meisner questioned how much the City would save if it relied on the asP laboratory. Chief Buchanan said that the City would save the cost of four employees and the cost of the laboratory itself. Mr. Meisner asked for figures showing the amount that would be saved. Ms. Bettman endorsed Mr. Meisner's information request. She shared Mr. Rayor's concern about acting now, also preferring to wait for the results of the May 2002 election. She asked about the potential of using the property to the north now owned by Union Pacific to preserve the trailer park. The City could still purchase the park for future expansion, but it could wait to expand until the current residents were gone by attrition, and the City could save the costs of their relocation. Ms. Bettman determined from Mr. Carlson that 11 FTEs now worked in the basement of City Hall. She asked about contemplated uses for the space. Mr. Svendsen said the space would continue to be used by the police, only in a more transitory way, such as for an exercise facility and footlockers. Ms. Bettman said that it sounded as though the entire department would be using the facility at different times. Mr. Svendsen said that the exposure at any given time would be limited. Ms. Bettman questioned what the exposure actually would be, and whether the proposed change in use was an improvement in terms of having staff in the basement. Mr. Pap8 suggested the Police Commission be asked to review the staff proposal. Mr. Carlson did not believe that the commission was charged with reviewing the allocation of resources. Mr. Pap8 MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 8, 2002 Page 8 Work Session