CC Minutes - 12/08/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Torrey congratulated the library staff and all those involved in library fund raising. He said he had another fund raising opportunity; on Monday night the council would hold its holiday party, and councilors would have a karoke machine. He had asked his assistant to tape the event, and to offer it to the highest media bidder. Mr. Torrey reminded the council of the fire in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the subsequent loss of six fire fighters' lives. He had asked the Fire Department to draft a proclamation recognizing the efforts of those gallant individuals to be sent to that community. He read the proclamation, and indicated that, with the concurrence of councilors, he would add their names to the proclamation. The councilors concurred. C.Work Session and Action: Review of Responses to Request for Proposals Related to Sears Building, Existing Library, and Olive Street Lot Planning and Development Department Director Paul Farmer introduced the presentation. He provided background on the process, saying that staff had considered the City's ordinances, policies, and goals in developing the Request for Proposals (RFPs). Staff believed that the RFPs and responses were consistent with those ordinances, policies, and goals. Mr. Farmer said that the process was part of a city-building process, and revenues from the process would be directed toward construction of the library. Mr. Farmer said that there had been few responses from areas outside Eugene, but he attributed that to a healthy economy that kept outside firms more focused on their local areas. For that reason, the proposals were more limited in number and geographic scope than expected. Mr. Farmer said that staff also learned that it was probably necessary to create a dialogue phase to be more clear about expectations in the RFPs with the respondents to the RFPs. Mr. Farmer said that if the figures for the recommended responses were totaled, it represented 101 percent of the figure established for the library as the amount the City hoped to realize from the assets in question. If the Sears Building realized its full appraisal value, that percentage would go up to 108 percent. If the higher proposal for the Olive Street were accepted, the percentage would rise to 115. Mr. Farmer reported that staff had been told by people in the community that they would have responded to the RFP on the Sears site if the site had not been involved in the discussion about a new city hall. Denny Braud, Planning and Development Department, reviewed the responses received by the City to its RFPs for the Sears Building, existing Library, and Olive Street parking lot site, and described how the responses met the criteria established by the Planning Commission. He invited questions. Regarding the Sears Building, Mr. Meisner concurred with the recommendation to postpone review. He suggested that the RFP be reopened at a later time when confusion over the fate of the building and its use as a City office building was resolved. He liked the proposal for the existing library building. Regarding the proposal for the Olive Street lot, Mr. Meisner said that while his first reaction was that the offer was insufficient, he believed that the proposal for mixed MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 8, 1999 Page 4 5:30 p.m.