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Mr. Fart left the meeting. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner said that he too wanted to keep the $17 million for local transportation projects. He <br />asked if there were other projects, approximately that large, which could be moved off the 20- <br />year list to the futures list. He asked that the information be provided later. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner said that over the last 14 to 15 years, (::)DOT has deprogrammed and defunded the <br />project more than once. He asked if (::)DOT will guarantee funding for the entire project if the City <br />Council puts the entire parkway in the fiscally constrained plan. Mr. Pirrie said that the OTC <br />would make the final determination. Mr. Meisner said that was not a guarantee. He said that he <br />did not see Phase 2 as viable and would like to find a solution or see additional studies. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said that she believed that the eastern phase, Beltline to Highway 99, would require <br />another NEPA process. She asked how long that process would take. Mr. Carlson said it has <br />taken 14 years to this point. He believed that the minimum time required would be a year. Ms. <br />Bettman asked how much time and resources would it cost the City to amend the WEWP and <br />Metro Plan. Ms. Childs said that it would take nine months to a year and cost $100,000 to go <br />through the amendment process. Ms. Bettman said that every option appeared to require more <br />study and time. Mr. Pirrie agreed. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman did not think the City had to hurry toward a decision. She suggested that the City <br />Council look at all the options on the table. In the meantime, she asked what keeping the $17.3 <br />million meant locally. She said she was in favor of studying the options that have been put <br />forward. She would also support moving forward with studies on West 11th Avenue and other <br />parts of the corridor. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap8 commented that the parkway project was proposed because of a projection of future <br />need. The project addressed the need for connectivity between State highway facilities. He said <br />that the City needed to keep something on track. He did not agree that Phase 2 was out of the <br />realm of possibilities. He said that, certainly, alternate modes of transportation were part of the <br />solution, but not the whole solution. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said that he disagreed with Mr. Pirrie's statement regarding the negative impacts of <br />Phase lA onto West 11th Avenue and Beltline. If traffic does not use lA, traffic will continue to <br />use West 11th Avenue and that there will be no net reductions in traffic. If Phase lA is built, then <br />the City will at least have used $17 million of State of Oregon funds which will take pressure off <br />of West 11th Avenue, even if the City of Eugene has to complete Phase 1B. Mayor Torrey said <br />there needs to be a discussion on what impact will be on the citizens of Eugene. If the State of <br />Oregon will not participate in projects east of Beltline and West 11th Avenue, that meant that the <br />citizens of Eugene will have to spend their own tax money to develop transportation <br />infrastructure in that area as congestion worsens. Mayor Torrey said he would like to ask the <br />council to place a measure to asked the citizens how the City should proceed on the May ballot. <br />He said that if the council was not willing to put such a measure forward, he would ask it to grant <br />permission to Mayor Torrey and any others who wish to go to Salem to address the Oregon <br />Legislature regarding the parkway. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said that if the City Council is going to kill the West Eugene Parkway, then the <br />council should tell the citizens that, with an explanation as to why and what the implications of <br />the decision will be. <br /> <br />MINUTES-Joint Meeting- Eugene City Council February 20, 2001 Page 11 <br /> Lane County Commissioners/Lane Transit District Board Members <br /> <br /> <br />