CC Minutes - 11/17/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regarding the use of the Sears building Mr. Torrey said he was not prepared to ask the voters in May to build a new city hall. He noted the council's goal for a safe community and said the City had not done enough to provide resources to its Police Department. He said that police facilities had a higher priority. Mr. Torrey said the balance of services delivered out of City Hall could be done from the Sears building for a temporary period of time. He said that the community needed a quality city hall at some point, but first the council must deal with the public safety facilities. Mr. Torrey said that Mr. Rayor's comments about the potential for another large scale building on the 6th Avenue site were legitimate, but he did not think that the council could respond to all Mr. Rayor's suggested alternatives by December 6. Mr. Torrey thanked the committee members for their efforts. He said that the committee had compressed a year's work in one month. Addressing Mr. Meisner's concerns about the need for keeping the police station downtown, Ms. Nathanson said the current plan was to have a police station downtown, although its exact location was unknown. Referring to the North End Scoping Group final report, Ms. Nathanson said the report included direction to staff to address the issues of height restrictions or limitations in the district, work which would come to the council in the form of an ordinance. Ms. Nathanson said her suggestion to locate administrative offices in the library was to ensure that the council did not feel as though it had to make a decision about City Hall at the same time it made a decision about the police and fire facilities. She said that the point was to ensure that there was a place for every function as well as time to deliberate the site development issues related to City Hall. Ms. Nathanson agreed with Mr. Farr regarding the need to build a structure that matched the scale and size of Eugene, and said it was important that the permanent facilities built for police and fire met that expectation, and that the materials used were appropriate for the functions housed. Ms. Nathanson questioned whether it was worth fixing the current City Hall given that there would be no gain in space or functionality for the public. She pointed out that the structure lacked a front door, and it was as if the City was literally behind walls and above pedestrian level. She did not think City Hall was currently very pedestrian friendly. Ms. Nathanson liked the idea of creating a civic center and said that while the City might not be able to do that right away, it was one of her goals. Ms. Nathanson questioned whether the City would be able to secure as much money from a private party in four to five years as it would from the GSA right now. Mr. Kelly said that it was important to him that the courthouse not be located at the 6th Avenue site. The building would be inappropriate for the fabric of the area, which was one part of downtown that worked quite well. He said that the current City Hall had seismic problems and police facilities were inadequate, unsafe, and unfair. Mr. Kelly said it pained him to put millions of dollars into the facility, because it was throwing good money after bad. The money was better MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 17, 1999 Page 8 5:30 p.m.