Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Taylor supported Mr. Zelenka’s motion. She thought the council had enough information from Opus NWR Development but wanted to see more information from WG Development about the level of City subsidy needed. If the project was phased, which she did not object to, she wanted the City to retain ownership of the quarter-block involved. Ms. Taylor added she still hoped the site could be a quarter-block park. She assumed the first phase would be where the hole was. Mr. Sullivan said that staff could commit to a two-week time period but he would have to check with the developers. He did not know what the firms’ turnaround would be. Ms. Ortiz said that Mr. Poling’s comments about lost opportunities resonated with her, and she wanted the public to know that the council took the issue very seriously. She said the council would make a decision when it received the information, which she hoped was in two weeks. Ms. Ortiz emphasized the council would have to make some financial contribution to lift downtown. The difference between the two proposals in regard to the anticipated subsidy was ‘huge,’ and she believed the council would be putting itself out for WG Development if it selected that firm. She hoped the firm provided the information requested. Ms. Bettman pointed out that everything the council was trying to accomplish downtown involved getting more people downtown, and adding nearly 500 people to downtown would give it a big lift. Ms. Bettman suggested the council could discuss the item on July 30. Ms. Bettman said that students were part of the community and would have to live somewhere, whether it was downtown or elsewhere. She did not think the council was putting off a decision; rather, she thought it was practicing due diligence. She noted the WG Development subsidy request was still undefined, and she suggested the more the council required of the firm, the higher the request might be. The firm needed to determine what it was asking for so the council could make a decision. Ms. Bettman emphasized her support for local business. However, she thought in this situation support for a local firm was “just a feed-good” as once the council sold the property to the firm, it could sell it to anyone it wanted, and the council was not ensuring local ownership by selecting WG Development. Ms. Bettman favored the motion and thought the desired information could be provided quickly. She believed that Opus NWR Development had done due diligence but she wanted more certainty about what its design would look like. She emphasized the importance of housing and the provision of a range of housing opportunities to the success of downtown. Responding to a question from Mr. Clark, several councilors agreed they would rather get the information requested in writing rather than orally at this time. The motion passed, 5:3; Mr. Clark, Mr. Poling, and Ms. Solomon voting no. Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 6:57 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jon Ruiz City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 14, 2008 Page 8 Work Session