CC Minutes - 12/11/06 Work Session

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Ms. Taylor said she also attended the NLC conference. Housing had been a major topic of the conference and Mr. Cisneros’ comments touched on how increasingly working people could not afford to live where they worked. She also attended a mobile workshop on housing for the homeless and viewed Reno’s Homeless Services Campus near downtown, which she found interesting and impressive. Another session was on the topic of gated housing. The presenters dissented on the consequences of gated communities but there was evidence that they were not always workable and liability issues could arise that placed a burden on the municipality in which they were located. There were some things cities could do to guard against those consequences, and Ms. Taylor indicated she would request a work session on the issue. Another conference theme was reuse. She went on a mobile tour of downtown Reno and saw casinos that had been converted to condominiums. Both Reno hospitals were expanding downtown and reusing their existing sites. Both hospitals were also building housing for their nurses. Mr. Kelly noted the recent federal courthouse dedication and thanked the General Services Administration and local federal court staff for the interesting dedication ceremony. He was glad to see an architecturally distinctive building added to Eugene’s downtown. Mr. Kelly noted the City’s one percent for arts ordinance for public buildings, and called the council and public’s attention to a new piece of art related to the train renovation project. He encouraged the council to view the piece, which was installed by artists Betsy Wolfson and David Thompson at the end of Willamette Street in front of the train station. Mr. Kelly thanked local artist Tim Boyden for a driftwood gift that included the saying “Normal is a setting on a washing machine.” Ms. Bettman said that the Eugene Public Library would host the Eugene Youth Ballet for two abbreviated performances of the Nutcracker on December 13 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. She said the performances high- lighted local, dedicated, talented students. Ms. Bettman reported that the Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations held a reception for the local legislative delegation on December 4. She thanked staff members Alex Cuyler, Jessica Cross, and Mary Walston for their assistance in arranging the event and thanked the councilors and legislators who attended. She noted that the City’s Legislative Policy document would be available soon. Ms. Bettman noted community resistance to the idea the west Eugene EmX corridor would move further to th the south than West 11 Avenue, and suggested that the route be designated as the northwest corridor to ththth indicate that 6 Avenue was under consideration as an alternative route, as opposed to 13 or 18 avenues. She understood from the Lane Transit District that those routes were “off the table.” She thought it should be clear what would be included in the study of the area. Mr. Pryor said he found the NLC conference useful and noted his attendance at a session on inclusive leadership and a session on collaborative visioning. He hoped to be able to implement some of the lessons learned from those sessions in Eugene. Mr. Pryor commented that the housing sessions were great and one that focused on downtown redevelopment reinforced to him the need for public-private partnerships and the importance of housing to the revitalization of downtown. He agreed with the quote “people judge the vitality of a community on the vitality of its downtown,” and suggested the council owed it to the community to try to make the community’s downtown as vibrant as it believed its community to be. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 11, 2006 Page 2 Work Session