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only way the City could develop the concept was to work collaboratively with the school districts. If the City attempted to develop bare ground in a similar manner, it would not be able to achieve the same blend of facilities and interaction between facilities possible under the plan. Ms. Andersen said that the individual site proposals were intended to soften the edges of each site, provide a more park-like feel, create an atmosphere in which the public felt invited to participate or merely be on the site, and supported each of the recreational activity opportunities with higher quality facilities that provided a longer playing season. She noted that several Oregon communities had selected artificial surface fields that could be used for multiple sports over a longer season because they did not have the same problems associated with heavy use of a turf field. Ms. Andersen said the intent of the suggested motion was to the give the staff a sense of the council's comfort level with the approaches proposed. That information would be communicated to the school district board. She said that the outcome of the issue was in part dependent on what the school district decided to do in terms of its multiple-field versus one-field issue. If the school district choose the one-field approach, the facility would be at the Churchill/Kennedy site; if the district choose the multiple-field approach, there would be a facility at each high school. Mr. Kelly was very interested in the concept of the youth sports complex. He said that youth needed places to recreate and hang out close to their homes. However, he said that the motion was so broadly worded he was unsure what an affirmative vote meant. He supported the complex concept but could not support the motion because it was too vague. Responding to a question from Mr. Rayor regarding the facilities at the involved high schools, Ms. Andersen said that North Eugene High School would have an artificial turf athletic field; because of the site's constraints, she anticipated that would be the only facility at that location. South Eugene High School would have an athletic field, but because the site was close to Amazon Community Center it would not be the site of a joint project. The Churchill and Sheldon high school sites were proposed for youth sports complexes. The school district had indicated that all four athletic fields would be available for multiple use by the public. Mr. Rayor did not see the Sheldon High School site on the map of projects. Ms. Andersen pointed out the location on the map in the tabloid. Mr. Rayor said that neither South Eugene High School or North Eugene High School were part of the original proposal, and asked if that meant another project would not happen. Ms. Andersen said no. The City had included funding youth sports complexes at two unidentified sites at a cost of $2 million each. Mr. Rayor wanted to ensure that the public received the best value for its dollar. He referred to an article in a recent edition of The Register-Guard about jocks at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, and said that everyone had a different experience in high school, and he speculated his was different than the mayor's, for example. Mr. Rayor said he wanted to ensure that there was as much public use on the sites as possible. Ms. Taylor did not think the public voted on the parks and open space measure to support proposals such as the one before the council. She interpreted the proposal as the City "putting the parks money into football fields." Ms. Taylor said people had asked her if the City was going to take such an action before the vote, and she had checked with someone and said no. She said that some people almost did not vote for the school measure because so much was dedicated to football, and there were many people who did not think football was a wonderful thing and did not MINUTES-Eugene City Council June 16, 1999 Page 5 5:30 p.m.