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MINUTES <br /> <br /> Eugene City Council <br /> McNutt Room--City Hall <br /> <br /> July 22, 1998 <br /> 5:30 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Farr, Tim Laue, Bobby Lee, Scott Meisner, Nancy Nathanson, <br /> Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Betty Taylor, Ken Tollenaar. <br /> <br /> I. CALL TO ORDER <br /> <br />The adjourned July 13, 1998, Eugene City Council meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m.; His <br />Honor Mayor James D. Torrey presiding. <br /> <br /> II. ACTION ITEMS <br /> <br /> A. Action: Approve Report from Mayor's Library Improvement Committee <br /> Report and Refer Library Local Option Levy to a Public Hearing on July 27, <br /> 1998 <br /> <br />City Manager introduced Committee Chair Julie AspinwalI-Lamberts to provide the report. Ms. <br />AspinwalI-Lamberts thanked the council for its support and expressed appreciation for the <br />committee's staff support, noting the short time line. She reviewed the committee's four <br />recommendations, which she said were an outgrowth of several public input sessions and <br />unanimously approved by the committee: 1) use urban renewal funds and private donations to <br />construct a new 100,000-square foot library on the area downtown known as the Rice N' Spice <br />lot; 2) put a levy on the November ballot for two storefront branches within the next two years, <br />the first located in the northwest section within a year and the second in the northeast section by <br />July 2000, with the levy also providing for improvements in current services; 3) continue a public <br />involvement program to help design the main library and help site branches; and 4) restore or <br />reinstate an ongoing advisory committee. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey thanked the committee for its work, given the truncated time schedule and the <br />many public input sessions held. Mr. Meisner added accolades, describing the committee's work <br />as astonishing. He added that the committee had yet more work to complete. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said the southwest part of town is sorely lacking in services and asked for an <br />explanation of planned library services for that area of town. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner explained he chaired the committee but did not vote because he believed it was <br />critical that the citizens make the decisions. He said the committee was surprised not to receive <br />a parochial response from the different sections of town. Transportation, demographics, and <br />growth patterns were other considerations in locating branch sites. Mr. Meisner said the <br />committee was looking at a 25-year plan, although it recommended a four-year serial levy plan as <br />a first step, adding that a third branch would likely be sited in the southwest. He indicated that <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 22, 1998 Page 1 <br />5:30 p.m. <br /> <br /> <br />