CC Minutes - 11/08/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Lee asked if there was anything the council could do to address the timing issues identified by Mr. Rayor. Mr. Johnson suggested that the council would have to agree to take a risk, and develop a back-up plan it was comfortable with in the case of failure. Mr. Torrey did not think the issue was an "all or nothing" gamble, adding that the committee could do additional work and identify fall-back positions related to police, fire, and administration in case the public rejected a bond measure. Mr. Lee stressed the importance of having a "Plan B." Ms. Taylor said if Eugene needed a new city hall it should involve long-term planning and it should not be done in a rush because an opportunity or a threat existed. She did not think the siting of the federal courthouse should drive the issue. The public should be involved in a longer discussion about a new city hall site. She believed the Sears site should be retained for the present and that opportunity kept open. Ms. Taylor did not think the voters would approve funding for a new city hall. Mr. Meisner said that if the council rejected federal interest in City Hall, it had to be prepared to accept the 6th Avenue site. He did not think that the site was workable for the community in the long- or short-term. He was concerned about the possibility of agreeing to sell the City Hall site without knowing where else City Hall would go. He agreed with Ms. Nathanson that the City would need to be creative if it chose to sell City Hall, and suggested the sale of other City properties to offset the cost of remodeling or construction. Mr. Meisner noted questions raised by councilors Pap8 and Rayor regarding the City-owned parking lots in downtown at the last committee meeting and called for a more comprehensive discussion of that issue soon. Mr. Meisner suggested the fire function was the first that could logically be moved from City Hall because it had the lowest price tag and smallest foot print. He asked if the City must retain a downtown fire station to maintain the water rescue function, or could it be moved to 2nd Avenue and Chambers Street. He was unpersuaded the police function should be moved out of downtown because of its relationships with other functions downtown, such as the courts and the jail. He agreed with Ms. Nathanson that consolidation did not mean all functions needed to be consolidated in one building. He said that clustering municipal services as described by Ms. Nathanson was interesting to him. He pointed out that the ceiling heights at Municipal Court were not as high as the basement ceiling height in the Sears building, and there was potential that the building could be upgraded to accommodate uses now in City Hall. Mr. Torrey thanked the committee and citizen advisors for the work that had been put into the issue. He wanted the committee to continue its efforts. He said that the City had an opportunity to take advantage of the funding from the court relocation, and he believed the current City Hall was the best site for the courthouse. Mr. Torrey thought the council could come up with a fallback scenario if the public was not prepared to support a funding package. He suggested that savings from current lease payments could be used to finance a new facility. He hoped the council would direct the committee to continue its work. Mr. Torrey believed that at the least the police function should be relocated. He called upon the council to lead even if it did not have all the facts or the research that indicated popular support, and said a decision must be made fairly quickly. Mr. Kelly agreed with Ms. Taylor that the process was not the optimum one. He said the federal government had created the situation, and the council must weigh its options and act in the best interest of the City. He noted that the committee would begin discussion of the back-up options available to the City the next day. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 8, 1999 Page 3 5:30 p.m.