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Mayor Torrey solicited council comments. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said the ordinance seemed largely a housekeeping item. He confirmed with Mr. Medlin <br />that the section of the code that called for council approval of events that went past park hours <br />was unchanged. Ms. Bettman determined from City Attorney Glenn Klein that the ordinance did <br />not amend the subsection mentioned by Mr. Kelly. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked for an example of a situation where application of the revised ordinance could <br />create controversy. Mr. Medlin could think of none as the City did not authorize many after-hour <br />uses. The uses mentioned in the agenda item summary were incidentally related to allowed day- <br />time events, such as clean-up or take-down. Mr. Carlson noted that the council approved <br />homeless camping at Alton Baker Park, and that could potentially be affected by the ordinance. <br />Ms. Bettman also asked if the ordinance would increase City costs in terms of monitoring and <br />policing such activities in the parks after dark. Mr. Medlin responded that the Police Department <br />was consulted about the ordinance and he did not believe there would be additional costs from <br />the ordinance. Mr. Carlson added that staff was not seeking a way to get more people into the <br />parks at night, but rather to rectify an existing situation and make it legal. He said that the police <br />patrol the City's parks already at night. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner suggested that the reference in the ordinance to driving through the parks should be <br />struck; he pointed out that it was lawful to bicycle or jog through the parks on the bicycle paths <br />that go through the parks after park hours. Many people use the bicycle paths to commute to and <br />from work in the early morning and late evening hours. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart concurred with Mr. Meisner's remarks. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked why the parks could not be open all the time instead of closing. She thought that <br />midnight to 5 a.m. might be good hours of closure if the parks had to be closed at all. Mr. Carlson <br />said that one of the reasons was the prohibition on camping; if the parks were open all hours one <br />could have a difficult time proving that someone was camping. He said that public safety issues <br />were different in the parks after dark. <br /> <br /> Mr. Kelly, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to support the proposed <br /> ordinances granting the City Manager authority to authorize a person to be in <br /> a city park after hours and direct the City Manager to proceed with the <br /> scheduled public hearing regarding the ordinance. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Meisner, Mr. Carlson said that staff would follow-up on the <br />issue he raised for possible further changes to the ordinance. <br /> <br /> The motion passed unanimously, 7:0. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart said that Irwin Park would have its grand reopening the next day at 6:30 p.m., and he <br />invited the councilors to the event. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey noted that the council had been unable to agree on any further dates for the charter <br />review amendment recommendations forwarded to it by the Citizen Charter Review Committee <br />(CCRC). After discussion, the council agreed to postpone its discussion of parking in the <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 17, 2002 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />