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Mr. Torrey said that the governor's mansion in Anapolis, Maryland, had a wonderful collection of statues of little kids. He said that he would like to do something like that somewhere in Eugene. Mr. Torrey noted that he had also found the historical markers that he noticed on his trip back east very interesting. Mr. Torrey reported on his trip with Mr. Johnson to Washington, DC. with the following information and advice: · Market value would determine the site of the new courthouse in Eugene. · The federal government was willing to work with the City of Eugene, City Hall location if the price was close (within $1,000,000). · Be creative in making the City Hall site valuable for the courthouse site, by perhaps making more property available for parking. There will be 80 secure parking spaces and 80 additional parking spaces to be used for the courts. · Both Oregon senators and Congressman Peter DeFazio would be strongly supportive of whatever site the council decided was best. Mr. Torrey said that he thought that the City Council was as prepared as it could be now to answer any questions once the appraised value was released. Mr. Johnson said that the appraisal would be available in mid-November. Mr. Johnson reported that he and Mr. Torrey had a valuable meeting with Susan Britt, Chief Minority Staff for the Public Buildings Subcommittee of the Transportation Committee. Congressman DeFazio was a member of the Transportation Committee. He noted that Ms. Britt had given some good answers to what to do when and if appraisals were higher than the amount allocated for a new federal courthouse. In response to a question from Mr. PapS, Mr. Torrey noted that there was a ten percent "fudge factor" in the money allotted for the courthouse. He indicated that the ten percent was well protected, however, for several reasons, one of which was that the building might not be built within the next year or two and prices could increase. Ms. Taylor said that some citizens were asking her "Why do we want a courthouse here?" She added that she had not heard anyone say that they wanted to spend money for a new courthouse or a new city hall. Ms. Taylor said that she thought that there should be a way to find out what the community thought about a new city hall. She wondered about the cost of a new city hall. Mr. Torrey noted that the Council Committee on City Hall Alternatives would be giving a report next week and some of Ms. Taylor's questions would be answered. Mr. Rayor said that he thought that the idea of polling the community had merit. Mr. Pap8 said that he thought that it was an asset and a benefit to the community to have a federal courthouse here so that people involved in federal cases did not have to travel to Portland. Mr. Lee said that he could not imagine the second largest city in Oregon not having a federal courthouse. He said that he understood that constituents would be reluctant to say that they were willing to pay for a new city hall. He added that no councilor had run for office with a platform to MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 27, 1999 Page 3 5:30 p.m.