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Mr. Pap8 said that Eugene had a lot of undeveloped riverfront and he thought it possible to <br />develop attractively along the river as Portland had done in many places. Regarding the Millrace, <br />he said that an easement could be established and removed later if necessary. He also favored <br />trying to preserve the potential for an arena in the courthouse area. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said that the transportation component was predicated on a safe pedestrian crossing <br />at 8th Avenue and Mill Street. She said, according to numbers provided, the estimated traffic <br />count for the local streets at the pivotal intersection was now 46,000 cars daily and, with the <br />extension of 6th Avenue in place, the traffic volume would be only neglibly reduced to 38,000 cars. <br />Ms. Bettman said that staff indicated realigning 6th Avenue would still result in high traffic volumes <br />that were comparable to I-5 and 1-105 and the most congested parts of Coburg Road. She <br />contended that the council would be creating a huge costly project without solving the problems it <br />set out to solve. Instead, it would be multiplying the problems by enveloping the area with two <br />limited access State highways. Ms. Bettman thought crossing 8th Avenue and Mill Street would be <br />very dangerous. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said that with regard to a water feature, the City could work with a developer to <br />find something in the middle of the desires expressed by different individuals. With regard to <br />transportation planning, Ms. Nathanson suggested that the planning effort could be a good project <br />for Governor John Kitzhaber's Community Solutions Team. The project was not just a street or <br />road project, but a downtown development project. She hoped that ODOT would work toward <br />helping Eugene accomplish its community objectives, and not be concerned only with the <br />effectiveness of the street design. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor said that the concept plan included mention of extending urban renewal, and she <br />opposed such an extension without a vote of the people. She hoped that the reference in the plan <br />to riverside landscaping did not mean the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Ms. Taylor was also <br />concerned about going out for a Request for Proposals for the linear triangle in the near-future; <br />she thought more time was needed. Regarding the needed right-of-way the Millrace, she <br />suggested that if it was not used it could be retained until the City had the money to daylight the <br />Millrace. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor opposed a sports arena because it would bring a lot of people into the neighborhood <br />for brief periods and could contribute to deadening the area around it because it would be empty <br />so much of the time. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor was not supportive of approving the plan as it related to the area north of the tracks. <br />For one thing, it was owned by EWEB and there was disagreement about how it should be <br />developed in terms of impacts to the river. He preferred that the motion adopting the plan be <br />modified to strike that area from the plan. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey called for further council comments. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly suggested that the council use the date that had been reserved to complete discussion <br />of the item on July 31. He wanted to support the concept plan, but he had a couple of issues that <br />he wanted the council to work through. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said she perceived a pattern emerging where the council was pressured to make <br />decisions under artificial time constraints. She wanted to have another work session and was not <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 17, 2002 Page 6 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />