CC Minutes - 06/16/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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see it as part of the parks measure. Ms. Taylor maintained that the proposal changed the measure's intent and the council should hold a public hearing on the proposal so the public could express its opinion. Ms. Nathanson, chair of the Mayor's Parks and Open Space Committee, responded to Ms. Taylor's statement by saying that nothing had changed from the committee's recommendation. The committee had discussed youth sports complexes as a major element of the package, which included neighborhood parks, open space, and playing fields. Ms. Nathanson said that youth sports complexes were more than just playing fields. She said that the proposal was not a proposal to give money to the school districts to construct stadiums. Ms. Nathanson asked how multiple use of the athletic fields would actually occur. Who would play on the fields, and how would they be scheduled? Mr. Johnson said that the school district had offered to establish a user committee that would include nonprofits that use the fields, the City, and the school district to help guide the use of the fields. The school district was considering giving up control of the sites so the user committee could establish policies for use of the fields. He said that the major advantage to the City from cooperation with the district was the community use of the artificial turf surfaces, which would multiply the number of teams that could be accommodated within the community. Ms. Nathanson asked if the fields would be available to adult teams. Mr. Johnson said yes. Ms. Andersen said that the City was not aware when it prepared the ballot measure that the school district would be looking at a four-field concept and have $3.5 million to work with. She believed the park-like settings of the youth sports complexes would encourage even more community use of school areas than currently occurred. Ms. Andersen said that during the neighborhood charette process, concerns were raised about the impact from more activities on the neighborhoods, and staff tried to address those concerns through the site designs. Further site development would require more public input. Mr. Farr liked the youth sports complex concept. He said that it was a way the City could leverage public money to get more than it could as a single entity. He suggested that the more available the complexes were to the public, the more acceptable they would be to the neighborhoods. Mr. Farr said that school-aged youth tend to fall into two groups: those that participate in athletics, and those who participate in more artistic forms of expressions. He said that the youth sports complexes appeared to be focused solely on the athletic youth. He suggested that the City needed to do what it could to appeal to all youth. Mr. Farr said that the steps at Petersen Barn are occasionally used as an amphitheater for impromptu performances and talent shows, and he would like to see such a concept incorporated into the proposed youth sports complexes to broaden their appeal to other youth and community theater groups. Mr. Farr said it was his experience as a soccer player that the community's sports fields are generally pretty degraded. He said that the artificial turf was an important part of the design. Mr. Meisner expressed the hope that the intergovernmental agreements entered into by the City and school districts include the guarantee of public access that the council expected from this type of investment for more than a one-year period. Mr. Meisner did not think that the proposed sports complexes were actually easy to walk to for a majority of community residents. He urged the City's continued support of developments that were MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 16, 1999 Page 6 5:30 p.m.