CC Minutes - 07/08/02 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilor Farr suggested that the issue was one of credibility with the voters, ODOT, and the City's other partners in transportation planning. He called on the council to abide by the vote, which he also considered directive rather than advisory. He agreed with Mayor Torrey that future legal challenges would be addressed by other bodies. He found it ironic that those least impacted by the parkway were those who opposed it the most. Returning to the issue of credibility, Councilor Fart said that if the council did not follow the will of the voters in this instance, he did not advise those councilors in opposition to run for a citywide office. Councilor Rayor determined from City Manager Carlson that no environmental work had been done on any other projects in TransPlan. That work occurred when a project was authorized. Simply being on the projects list did not imply that environmental concerns did not exist. Councilor Rayor said his ward was split on the issue and he acknowledged it was located somewhat far from the project. He believed the TransPlan amendments were acceptable but the WEWP clear in its goals, and he was disappointed that the SEIS did not address hydrology in terms of connectivity or the water table. He remained convinced that the east end of the project was appropriately located, and if the parkway was connected to West 11th Avenue at Beltline it would be a "fantastic project." However, ©D©T had not supported that approach Councilor Kelly believed that credibility with the voters was important, which was why he gave the vote serious consideration, but he also thought it important to provide credibility for those who were opposed to the parkway. He believed it would be inappropriate to ignore the public testimony against the parkway because of the vote. Councilor Kelly said that as a result of the November 2001 vote he had been prepared to support the TransPlan amendment. However, he was persuaded by the Eugene Planning Commission's argument about the prioritization process that lay behind the TransPlan project list. To amend the plan at this point would be to discard that process. Regarding the partial parkway approach mentioned by Mayor Torrey and Councilor Rayor, Councilor Kelly believed that ODOT had chosen to ignore alternatives that did not support the full th parkway. He said that the SEIS indicated that the intersection at Beltline and West 11 Avenue, in 2015, would be at 96 percent capacity if the full parkway was constructed. Within the accuracy of the figures, he believed the intersection was at capacity. Councilor Bettman believed it was important to demonstrate leadership. She believed that if it was up to the planners and engineers, the City would have a nuclear power plant on Coburg Road. She thought the parkway was equally bad. Regarding the vote, she said the voters did not have the benefit of the testimony and findings the council had. She thought the testimony and findings demonstrated what a bad project the parkway was. She thought the council vote would reflect the division in the community. Councilor Bettman said that her constituents also deserved consideration, and pointed out that they had shown generous support in the past for investing in the City's infrastructure and other public services. They had also opposed the parkway overwhelmingly. She suggested that the council could not have it both ways: the parkway was either a regional project or it was a Eugene project. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Mayor Torrey thanked the council for the courtesy of its unanimous vote on first reading. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 8, 2002 Page 12 Regular Meeting