CC Minutes - 01/20/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Fart determined through a straw ballot that three councilors favored Ms. Taylor and five councilors favored Ms. Nathanson to serve as Council Vice President and stated that the vote would be ratified at the meeting of the council to be held January 20, 1999. C. UPDATE ON NEW MAIN LIBRARY PROJECT Mr. Johnson stated that the council would be asked to make decisions on policy issues regarding the new main library project, and that the current report would be the first of many to be presented. Library Project Manager Carol Hildebrand stated that a great deal had happened since the last report was made to the council before passage of the levy supporting operation of the library system. She said the reactions of councilors regarding site design concepts under consideration, technical studies completed, and next steps to be taken would be valuable. Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that she was chair of the New Library Advisory Committee which was charged to work with library, City staff, and the architectural team on all phases of the design project. She said the committee was particularly focusing on the needs and interests of library patrons. She said the committee began its work in October and has held four meetings. She said that several of the members had made a tour of libraries in Oregon and Washington with library and architectural team members. She said a public work session had been held in November, 1998 and another was scheduled on January 26, 1999. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts reported that 150 persons attended the first public work session and that many electronic mail and survey form responses had been received. She said that strong themes identified in the public responses at the work session and from displays at the library included: · Build as big a library as possible · Build a high-quality library. · The library should be constructed of Iow-maintenance materials. · The design should be "long-lived." · Energy conservation measures should be considered. · Outdoor community space and community meeting rooms should be included in the building. Ms. Aspinwall-Lamberts stated that the committee had recommended to the architectural team that it focus on development of a 90,000-square-foot building design. She said the committee also supported incorporation of expansion/lease space in the building. Jim Robertson stated that he represented Robertson/Sherwood/Architects, which had been chosen to coordinate the design and construction of the new Eugene Public Library. He said the main goals of the conceptual design phase of the project were to establish the scope and budget for the new library. He said the architectural team had completed a basic library design with the library staff which would meet the current and future needs of the community. He reviewed funding sources available for the project. Mr. Robertson explained that the Land Use Code had a major impact on development of the library site. He said being located in the Transit Overlay District required that any building developed needed to be twice the size of its site. He said the new library site required a building MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 20, 1999 Page 5 11:30 a.m.