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

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Responding to Mr. Rayor's remarks, Mr. Torrey said that the five-year old children learning to play T- ball could not be called jocks. They would be using the facilities with their families. He expressed support for the proposal and hoped the council would move forward with it. Mr. Kelly said he wanted to reach closure on the issue of consistency with the ballot measure. He said that the council was talking about $4 million for two youth parks that included artificial turf fields. What the City was receiving from School District 4J was community access to fields it would not otherwise have access to, and semi-improved and serviced grounds that could be further improved at a lower cost than improvements on bare ground. Mr. Johnson also pointed to the disclaimer in the tabloid, which indicated that the fund allocations, land acquisitions, locations, and improvements could change based on a public review process. He said that the tabloid was a guideline. Mr. Kelly concurred. Ms. Nathanson noted that since the passage of the measure the council had received information about the sports fields that would be improved, upgraded, or installed. She suggested that helped to spread the pressure from the three sports complexes and ensured that there were accessible places for both structured and nonstructured play close to where people live. Mr. Meisner moved, seconded by Ms. Nathanson, to approve the concepts of joint development of youth-oriented facilities as described for Churchill, Sheldon, and Cai Young with Eugene School District 4J, and instruct the City Manager to develop an intergovernmental agreement to include a) community use of four artificial turf fields and other programmable sites, b) joint scheduling by establishment of a users committee, c) maintenance of facilities with council review of the terms of the intergovernmental prior to execution. Mr. Rayor referred to the 15 fields on school sites that the City was contributing to, and asked if there would be a usage charge. Ms. Andersen said no. She added that the proposal did not represent the first joint venture between the school district and City related to sports facilities. Mr. Rayor said that he wanted to ensure if the public put money into the fields, they were available to the public. Ms. Andersen agreed, adding that the majority of the usage could be attributed to Kids Sports. Mr. Rayor moved to amend the motion by adding discussion of the 15 schools and operating principles involved with that contribution as part of the agreement. Ms. Nathanson suggested that the issues were separate. Mr. Rayor's motion died for lack of a second. Mr. Meisner supported the partnership between the school district and City while noting his qualms about the wide range of facilities at each site and the potential confusion about access that might cause the public. He suggested that there may daytime access issues at some school locations, and hours might vary at the various fields, and it could be challenging to get the public to understand. The motion carried unanimously, 8:0. MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 16, 1999 Page 8 5:30 p.m.