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City had the experience in doing that and had the ultimate authority over approving or disapproving of the <br />plan. She thought that it was a better way to see that the public benefit was achieved. <br /> <br />Ms. Ortiz said that she thought that there was still work to be done in terms of having clear direction on <br />what EWEB wanted and what the City could do for EWEB. She encouraged the board to listen to its <br />constituents on what direction it should be taking. She agreed with Ms. Bettman’s comments about <br />achieving the maximum benefit for the public. She said that the river was priceless and that as much of the <br />adjoining property as possible should be kept for public access. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark cited a recent deal in which the City of Cottage Grove acquired a golf course. He said that in the <br />process, the City created a win/win for everyone involved. He noted that the two entities shared constituents <br />and he encouraged everyone to look for the way to serve the highest good for the citizens while at the same <br />time having the lowest impact on rate payers and tax payers. He said that he thought that there were some <br />goals that the City had that could be served by some creative and innovative thinking. He encouraged staff <br />to do that. He also suggested that no formal steps be taken at the meeting, but that an ongoing conversation <br />be continued in which something innovative and new could be created to serve people for a long time. He <br />encouraged the two bodies to work together. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor said that he thought that there could be a win/win in this situation. He said that, in particular, he <br />did not want the public to be a loser in this. He said that his sense was that EWEB did not have a lot of time <br />and that he was reluctant to begin a planning process for an infinite amount of time. He said that he was <br />exaggerating to make the point that the process needed to be completed in a reasonable amount of time. <br /> <br />Mr. Farmer said that while he thought that everyone on the EWEB Board believed that there were higher <br />and better uses for the property than its current use, that was not why EWEB was moving. He said that the <br />real reason for moving was for EWEB’s functional operational capacity. He said that the board was <br />committed to move; but if it could not make it work financially, it would not be able to move. He said that <br />when the projected costs of the project reached $98 million, the board asked the architects to find a way to <br />reduce the costs. Mr. Farmer said that part of the plan had always been to realize as much value out of the <br />property as possible in order to make the move work. He said that the greatest value would be for high- <br />density commercial or high-density residential and that the board’s ability to gain that value would determine <br />whether or not it would move. He said that if EWEB could not get that value, it might end up staying where <br />it was and using the property for EWEB use. He said that it was urgent to try and move forward. <br /> <br />Mr. Farmer said that, personally, when he thought of the downtown core, he believed strongly in high- <br />density commercial and high-density residential zoning when appropriate. He said that any great city core <br />had that. He said that did not mean that he did not value open space. He repeated that EWEB needed the <br />value of the property to be able to move. Mr. Farmer said that the City Council could look at it from a <br />different perspective and could place value on having open space. He again expressed that his main goal <br />was to realize the most financial value from the property, not what the City decided to do with the property <br />after it purchased it. He did acknowledge that he might even applaud the City if it made the land open <br />space. <br /> <br />Mr. Lanning said that this was not a new issue for EWEB and that he had been involved in these discussions <br />since 2000. He said that it had been his experience in working with complex groups, that the quickest way <br />to find a solution was to have a collaborative process that had everyone at the table at the same time. He <br />said that he was very excited that Strategy 1 brought everyone to the table. He said that he heard from <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 12, 2007 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />