CC Minutes - 04/28/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chris Habliston, North Eugene High School, age 15, grade 10, discussed solutions for providing adequate athletic fields at the schools. He said that the school district was $1 million to $2 million short of what was needed for athletic fields. Mr. Habliston said that the school district planned to model its facility after Delta Park in Portland, which has an artificial turf more suited for Eugene's weather. The fields could be used in all weather. He said that the school district has not decided if such facilities would be built at one school or at individual schools. Mr. Habliston said that locating a field at each school would promote school spirit. He believed the fields could be installed with existing funds by taking advantage of cost savings realized through the use of volunteer labor. Sponsorships for the fields could be secured to offset maintenance costs. Kyle Lamb, South Eugene High, age 18, grade 12, said that a community that youth felt a part of was valuable. If youth felt part of the community they would stay in the community and would be involved and have no desire to destroy or tag public property. He suggested that recent events at Littleton created a sense of community because people were brought together and bonded. Mr. Lamb said that the Thurston event had the same effect. He said that it was difficult to be a kid today because kids were concerned about fitting in. A community was a place where everyone could fit in. People get pushed out of society, and it should be society's goal to incorporate those people. Mr. Lamb said that youth in Eugene do not currently have activities or places to go where "kids could be kids." He said that kids wanted to hang out with each other in a place where they could play pool or listen to music, but there were no such places. He said that youth frequently expressed the need for such facilities to him. Nicole Mason, age 17, grade 11, New Roads, discussed the homeless youth in the metropolitan area. She said that the number of homeless youth far outnumbered the amount of beds available. She said that youth could not go to school and succeed under those circumstances. She said that local government was not doing anything about the situation, and youth under age 13 had no where at all to go. On behalf of the homeless, Ms. Mason thanked Mr. Lee for staying at the homeless shelter and challenged the other councilors to do the same, or to try to live on the amount of calories a homeless person does. Ms. Mason said that the homeless do not want to be that way but do not have options. Funding was needed for programs such as New Roads, which had helped her a great deal. She said a youth shelter was needed. Ms. Nathanson asked Mr. Lamb if he supported funding for more planned activities or events or for places where youth could hang out. Mr. Lamb suggested that both were needed, but a place for youth to go was most needed in the long-term He said that such a place needed to be safe for youth, and its location was important. Ms. Nathanson said that the council was excited about the potential of collaborating with the school districts on fields and programming to maximize both the district's and City's programming. Mr. Pap~ clarified that the money Mr. Lamb referred to was school district funding. He agreed with Ms. Nathanson's remarks but questioned whether the City would be able to make up the shortfall in funding. He believed that the City Council would attempt to do the best job it could to provide fields for youth sports. Ms. Taylor asked Ms. Mason and Mr. Lamb if a youth center downtown would bring different types of youth together. Mr. Lamb said yes, although different programming would be required since different youth sought different activities. Ms. Mason agreed. She said that if a place was created for youth to go to, they would use it. MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 28, 1999 Page 4 5:30 p.m.