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build a new city hall. He added, however, that there was now a window of opportunity that no one <br />could foresee. He noted that the present City Hall was not safe and was deteriorating. He <br />thought that the council should move forward with this opportunity. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson noted that Ms. Taylor's point that the public had not been saying that the City <br />needed a new city hall was valid. She said that it was the job of councilors as leaders and staff as <br />professionals to communicate the state of the city to citizens. She said this had not been done <br />recently and it was time to get back on track with this via newsletters or annual reports. She <br />noted one of the aspects of the City's problems was that capital improvements had not been <br />adequately funded and, therefore, facilities were deteriorating. She said that council was aware of <br />this, but that the public was not aware due to a lack of communication from council. She <br />reiterated that it was the job of the council and the staff to explain the need for a new city hall to <br />citizens. Ms. Nathanson suggested that the financing for this project be taken to the broad-based <br />citizen Budget Committee. She said that it was one more avenue for public comment and <br />awareness. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner agreed with Ms. Nathanson's assessment that the council had not done a good job of <br />communicating the need to citizens. He added that he had received calls from people who used <br />City Hall and were appalled at its condition and wondered why all the City departments were not <br />housed at City Hall. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner noted that if a federal courthouse was not located in Eugene, he thought that it would <br />be highly unlikely that there would be no federal courts here. He said that much like the City, the <br />federal government had many offices and programs in leased space in Eugene and that the <br />federal government wanted to bring those into a new courthouse to save money by not having to <br />lease space. He added that the GSA and the courts had not done a good job of educating the <br />public about their needs. Mr. Meisner noted that the City had no control over where the new <br />federal courthouse would be located. <br /> <br /> B. Work Session: Eugene Airport Master Plan and Related Actions <br /> <br />Mr. Johnson introduced Airport Manager Mike Boggs to give a brief overview of the Eugene <br />Airport Master Plan and related actions. Mr. Boggs introduced Tom Schnetzer, from master <br />planning firm of Mead & Hunt, Philip Farrington, from Satre Associates, and Bob Noble, staff for <br />the Eugene Airport. Mr. Johnson used a slide of an aerial view of the airport to illustrate that the <br />cooperative planning done by the City of Eugene and Lane County had been very good and had <br />created an airport with lots of opportunities and one that was not causing lots of problems for its <br />community. He informed councilors that the Master Plan Update was done for the following <br />reasons: <br /> <br /> · To pick up where the 1990 Airport Plan ended and to add a new level of detail to the <br /> plan. <br /> · To add to the plan in a comprehensive way by linking the Airport Master Plan to the <br /> Metro Plan. <br /> <br />Mr. Boggs asked Mr. Farrington to address the land planning issues of the Master Airport Plan. <br />Mr. Farrington said that the Airport Master Plan existed as a refinement to the Metro Plan and also <br />as a critical component to the State's Aviation System Plan and the nationwide system as well. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 27, 1999 Page 4 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br /> <br />