Item 4A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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The motion to amend passed, 5:2; Ms. Taylor and Ms. Bettman voting in opposition. The main motion, as amended, passed unanimously, 7:0. Mayor Piercy acknowledged that the first item of the agenda had run over its scheduled time. She recommended that the last topic, a Report on the Sister City Trip, be postponed. All were amenable to this change. B. WORK SESSION: City Council Priority Issue – Strengthen and Promote Community Arts and Outdoors Assets City Manager Taylor introduced Community Relations Manager Jan Bohman. Ms. Bohman stated that the council priority issue acknowledged that Eugene’s unique combination of cultural, recreational, and natural resources were the city’s greatest strength and that they provided a foundation for a sustainable economic development strategy. She reported that the City aspired to accomplish two major benefits: 1) that some sustainable economic activity would develop through increased tourism and commerce; and 2) that the community’s livability would improve through improvement to access to arts and outdoor activities. Ms. Bohman stressed that this was an interdepartmental effort. She noted that key projects included the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan (PROS), the resource assessment for both arts and outdoors th activities, the Cultural Policy Review (CPR), the major celebration of 100 years of parks, the upcoming 25 anniversary of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts (HCPA), preparation for the 2008 Olympic Trials, and several other projects. She opined that the outcome of the PROS levy was a good indication of how much Eugeneans valued outdoor resources and how much they were willing to support them. Ms. Bohman said one key activity that the staff team worked on was the marketing plan. She related that the City contracted with Funk/Levis and Associates to help staff work on the plan. They had invited approximately 50 stakeholders to provide input. They were now beginning to work on implementing the plan. She stated that the plan focused on the more organizational aspects of the effort. She said the next step would be to convene a steering committee. In the meantime, she related that they were continuing to find ways to incorporate ‘the world’s greatest city for the arts and outdoors’ into a number of the materials the City had to hand out and in publications. Laura Niles, LRCS Business/Communication Relations Manager, provided a report on the season at the Cuthbert Amphitheater. She averred that the City was successful in creating a concessionaire’s contract with local promoter Kit Kesey and David Leiken of Double Tee Productions. She lauded Mr. Kesey and Mr. Leiken for embracing the University of Oregon Folk Festival, a free event, as their opener. She reported that Cuthbert Amphitheater featured 13 event days in 2006, 4 in 2005, and 7 in 2004; paid attendance for 2006 was nearly 24,000, up from 3,400 in 2005, and 13,000 in 2004. She related that feedback from the community and from the promoters had been positive and the City looked forward to partnering with them in the future. Mr. Kelly shared his excitement in the Cultural Policy Review (CPR). He felt it was a way to take the “very rich art scene” and make it richer. He thought it would ultimately impact City government policies and practices as well as activities and relationships in the arts community. He stated that he had been a member of the Mayor’s Committee that was overseeing the process. He invited anyone with an interest to attend the MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 8, 2006 Page 9 Work Session