CC Minutes - 02/08/99 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Nathanson said that she had requested a work session and information on the Sidewalk Improvement Program which was scheduled for February 17, 1999. She said she appreciated that it would be held before council action on the CIP was scheduled. Ms. Nathanson said she believed installing traffic calming devices needed to be considered more broadly than the cost of a single device in a specific location because of its impacts on the surrounding areas. She said she would be concerned if neighborhoods were required to contribute to the cost of traffic calming devices that only affluent areas would receive the benefit. Mr. Rayor expressed appreciation for the testimony in the public hearing. He said he was concerned that street construction costs for the Riverfront Research Park were included in the CIP. He said he supported the request that the council be provided information regarding how the funds could be spent. Mr. Rayor said that he supported expenditures for traffic calming devices because they were ways to mitigate the effects of population growth. He said he also supported expenditures for street lights because they contributed to safety. Mr. Rayor said he agreed with testimony provided about the need to think about future needs for land to mitigate stormwater issues. Mr. Pap8 asked if the funds included in the CIP for acquisition and restoration of the Eugene Railroad Station were provided by the federal government. Mr. Reinhard replied that $2 million in federal transportation program funds were designated for the project and that AMTRAK would provide $500,000 which could be used for matching funds. He said the project was complicated because the station was in private ownership. Mr. Pap8 asked if there was public benefit to having the City own the train station. Mr. Reinhard replied that public ownership of the station had long been considered to be part of the strategy to ensure that Eugene would be the southern terminus of the northwest high speed rail project. He said the project had been a priority of previous City Councils. In response to additional questions from Mr. PapS, Mayor Torrey explained that the Oregon Board of Higher Education owned the property in the Riverfront Research Park. Mr. Johnson added that the City did not own many parcels of land which could be considered for trade for the property in the park north of the railroad tracks. Mr. Pap8 said his enthusiasm for speed bumps and narrowing of streets as traffic calming devices had been tempered by information provided by the Fire Chief which showed that they tended to reduce the ability of department vehicles to get to emergencies. Ms. Taylor expressed appreciation for the testimony in the public hearing. She said her interest was especially raised by comments about paving--at the Airport and in the Riverfront Research Park. Ms. Taylor said that University of Oregon faculty and students had objected to development along the river for a long time, but that it had always been unsuccessful. She said she believed the least the council could do to prevent destruction of the river front was to stop contributing funds to the Riverfront Research Park. She suggested that recent street vacations could have been considered land swaps with the University for property in the park. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 8, 1999 Page 6 7:30 p.m.