CC Minutes - 11/27/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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road maintenance money; in the meantime local control in the form of GO bonds for major capital reconstruction projects should be the approached along with doubling the current gas tax. He noted that Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) was opposed to collecting the fee for the City and it would be expensive for the City to create its own collection system. He hoped the council would consider a more progressive approach. th Drix, 307-½ East 14 Avenue, said Eugene was a great community and he encouraged all residents to connect and find ways to help enlighten themselves. He observed that there were two holes in the middle of town and suggested filling them with something the community needed. He was not certain what that might be but urged residents to offer suggestions. He announced that a 100-year-old tree in his neighborhood would be trimmed on December 2, and felt the community should thank it for its years of shade and service to the neighborhood by cutting it down and creating things from the wood and planting a new tree. The tree was named for Charlotte Lemon, an early community leader. Zachary Vishanoff, Patterson Street, urged the City not to sell the McNail-Riley House as the community was lacking in meeting spaces and the property should not be sold in retaliation against Jefferson-Westside Neighbors. He said the matter should be referred to a public hearing to avoid a precedent of selling things off quietly. He said the council should also encourage the 4J School District to hold a public hearing on the sale of Civic Stadium as there was strong community support for the facility. He remarked that purchase of the EWEB property by the City would have major ramifications and it would be better to have a non-profit manage development while the council focused on fixing the core of downtown first. He informed the council of a number of Internet sites with interesting information related to life sciences. th Paul Conte, 1461 West 10 Avenue, co-chair of the Jefferson-Westside Neighbors, shared additional positive developments on efforts to further the effective approaches to sensible compact growth. He said that Terri Harding, who had joined the Planning and Development Department to implement the council’s direction on infill compatibility standards and opportunity siting, recently joined the neighborhood association’s co-chairs for a walking tour of the neighborhood and a discussion of resident concerns and the potential for appropriate projects with the right locations and designs. He said an informal gathering of leaders from four neighborhoods experiencing some of the most severe impacts from poorly planned infill development would meet with the new interim Planning Director Lisa Gardner to share visions, concerns, and ideas for good solutions. He said the neighborhood association became aware of plans to sell the McNail-Riley House and would keep the council informed. He hoped the house would remain a community asset. th Paul Nicholson, 1855 East 18 Avenue, urged the council not to impose a residential property tax to fund road maintenance, as it was inconsistent with the council’s recent commitment to combating global warming. He noted that it would socialize the cost of driving and lower the bar encouraging single- occupancy vehicle transportation. He said there were better alternatives, such as a commuter tax on people who worked but did not live in Eugene or a gas tax, which was the preferred approach. He said imposing a property tax should include commercial and industrial destinations that did not pay any part of the gas tax incurred by employees and customers driving to those locations. He hoped the council would back away from an extremely unpopular proposal and adopt an approach consistent with the environmental principles many of the council supported. Mayor Piercy invited comments and questions from councilors. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 27, 2006 Page 2 Regular Meeting