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given an opportunity to comment on the time line, which he believed would elicit project-specific <br />input. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart agreed that there were things that worked downtown and some were very exciting. He <br />said that as a government the City must facilitate downtown working better. For him, the bottom <br />line was to give people a reason to come downtown. When he first arrived in Eugene downtown <br />had been a "cool" place to be, and he had spent time downtown. Downtown was characterized at <br />the time by the destruction of old buildings, and he had not understood why the buildings were <br />destroyed and not renovated. Mr. Fart felt it was important to share with the public why downtown <br />was the way it was, how it got there, and how it could be changed. Downtown needed more <br />people at more hours of the day for longer periods. Housing downtown was critical to realizing <br />that goal. <br /> <br />Mr. Fart thought the City's successes on Willamette and Olive streets could be translated to West <br />Broadway if the street were opened. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey wanted to make it convenient for the public to communicate with the council. He <br />though Ms. Nathanson's idea about public input was a good one. Some people did not feel <br />comfortable standing in front of an audience. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey wanted the council to come to a decision on the plan to give certainty to downtown <br />property owners. <br /> <br />Responding to Ms. Bettman's remarks regarding housing, Mayor Torrey believed there was money <br />available from federal programs to assist with housing rehabilitation. <br /> <br />Mr. Farmer summarized the council's input to public involvement plan. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman did not want to miss an opportunity to hear ideas not included in the plan. Even full <br />funding of the plan might not help the downtown if other critical issues, such as parking outside <br />the core, were ignored. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner suggested staff consider holding the forum outside the downtown. Mr. Fart agreed, <br />saying that people outside downtown should be asked why they do not come downtown. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey advocated for Mr. Farmer to appear on KUGN radio program to discuss the visioning <br />project. <br /> <br />The council discussed key themes in the plan. <br /> <br />Great Neighborhoods/Great Streets <br /> <br />Mr. Farmer briefly reviewed the committee's discussions related to the topic and noted its near <br />unanimous support for the reopening of West Broadway. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly was generally supportive of the first theme. He said that he had changed his position on <br />the street reopening, as he thought the overwhelming public perception about west Broadway was <br />so strong something must be done. He was comfortable with the concept and the process but the <br />financing strategy must be in place before the council asked the public to approve the reopening. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 22, 2001 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />