CC Minutes - 02/16/00 Work Session

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the outcome of the election on the youth sports parks proposal and expressed appreciation to the board for helping the City to create areas that could function as neighborhood parks in places where no parks previously existed. She said that the approach gave both the City and district the "biggest bang for the buck." Mr. Kelly requested an executive summary of the Intergovernmental Agreement. Mr. Kelly asked how the City's interests were managed in the bid process if the district was the entity issuing the bids. Mr. Hirsh responded that there was a project management agreement between the City and district. The district was the lead on project management, but the lead project manager was a City staff person. That individual looked out for the City's concerns. Mr. Kelly noted a concern he had previously raised regarding advertising at the fields and said he continued to dislike the concept and was concerned about the image that signs would convey. He noted, however, that any signage would have to comply with the City's Sign Code. Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Kelly's concerns about signage, although he recognized the need for the revenues the signs would produce. Mr. Meisner said that his primary concern about the joint venture had to do with continued guaranteed access for non-students to facilities developed with the money of municipal taxpayers. He wanted the Intergovernmental Agreement to reflect that, and hoped the designs were consistent with the intention to guarantee access. Mr. Meisner said neighborhood parks should be usable, and it troubled him that it was a district decision to eliminate picnic shelters at one site, and include them as a bid alternate at another site. Mr. Johnson noted that City staff participated in that decision. Mayor Torrey said that the fence on the west side of the Sheldon site was to be closed only during football season on Friday nights to avoid event attendees from parking in residential areas. Regarding the picnic shelters, Ms. Riner said that both the district and the neighborhood had been concerned about the security issue. Therefore, those improvements had received a lower priority when bid alternates were identified. Mayor Torrey pointed out that the picnic tables were still in the plans, but the picnic shelter roofs were being eliminated. Mr. Pap~ commended the work done by the district and City staff and said he looked forward to the implementation of the vision embodied in the ballot measure. He said that the projects would result in much more play than was initially envisioned. At the request of Mr. Pap~, Ms. Riner discussed the collaborative effort that led to the designs being proposed and noted the input of sports fields advocates, neighborhood interests, skateboard advocates, and City and district staff. Mr. Pap8 asked for information on the district's review and disposal of surplus property. Mr. Smith responded that the district was in the middle of a long-term planning process, entitled Schools of the Future, which involved several hundred citizens. Part of that process included facility planning, and he anticipated the board would be developing policies on the retention of excess property. He said that the district currently had significant excess property and, given enrollment trends, expects to be able to dispose of some of it. He said the planning process would be completed within the year, and the policy development would probably occur in 2001. Mr. Pryor emphasized that athletic fields were not the only focus for the district in the project. The district was concerned with children, and they do more than play sports on fields. He said MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 16, 2000 Page 2 Joint Meeting with School District 4J School Board