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

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spent on a new quality building rather than attempting to pull City Hall together with wire and bracing. However, Mr. Kelly said, the extra cost beyond the likely federal payment was very large and he was concerned about the voters' reaction. If the federal government was unwilling to pay more, the taxpayers would be left to make up the difference, and he feared that could be as much as 85 percent of the total cost of a new city hall. Mr. Kelly said he would like to approach the GSA and ask what could be done to make the split more equitable. Mr. Kelly said that he would like to ask the GSA to await the May election results before the City made a decision about the City Hall site. Mr. Pap8 concurred with Mr. Rayor and Mr. Meisner about the need for a work session on parking. Other councilors concurred. Mr. Pap8 said that the City had been woefully inadequate in getting the word out to the public about how draconian the police and fire facilities are. They were functional and employees were getting the job done, but he did not think the council could expect them to continue on and deliver the same level of public safety services as need for long into the future under those circumstances. Mr. Pap8 said that the City needed to follow the model established by the University in building new facilities, and have vision, plan, and take the needed risks. Mr. Rayor objected to rounding up square footage numbers and cost estimates, and he also objected to building for well beyond 2007. The projected square footage was more than 2-1/2 times the space the police currently had. He said that if there was a bond measure, it should be for $27.2 million rather than $28 million. Responding to a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Johnson said that the police indicated a preference for modular units to the basement quarters they were currently in. Mr. Farr believed it would be relatively easy to house the Municipal Court. He believed that the police required 2-1/2 times the space they currently had to perform their work. Mr. Farr suggested a "mix and match" approach to the elements that assumed the fallback positions for fire and Municipal Court while providing for a new police facility. Ms. Taylor did not object to putting something on the May ballot to let the voters decide, but she did object to putting a measure before the voters the council had already decided upon. She said that the services should be in separate measures so people can vote on what they wanted. She thought the council had made a good start in letting people know about the problems with the existing City Hall. Ms. Taylor said she would like the GSA to defer its decision until after the May election. She also agreed with Mr. Rayor about the need to ensure that regulations were in place to preclude construction of a large, out-of-scale building at the 6th Avenue site. Ms. Taylor did not want the courthouse at 5th Avenue or the City Hall site. Responding to a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Johnson said that staff had asked about a delay but had not received an encouraging answer. He said that staff could ask the question again, but said that GSA staff had not been hopeful because of concern over losing the earmarked appropriation. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 17, 1999 Page 9 5:30 p.m.