CC Minutes - 07/25/05 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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6. The Brookings Report; 7. The Portland Development Commission; 8. Eugene Renewal Agency; 9. The Broadway Place; and 10. The affordable housing program. Mr. Herbert felt this information would provide a factual basis for a council discussion on how to proceed. He submitted his testimony in writing. Randy Prince , PO Box 927, asked the council to reconsider its goal for having an acute care hospital built in the “low-lying areas of Eugene.” He cited recent geologic findings by Brian Atwater that explained why this area did not experience frequent earthquakes. Mr. Atwater, he said, determined that the area did not experience small earthquakes, but was prone to large seismic events at a frequency of 300 to 800 years, with the last one occurring in the year 1700. He noted the recent changes in public policy, such as more frequent earthquake drills in the schools and the requirement that new construction be subjected to careful survey and seismic standards. He pointed out that there was no requirement to force seismic retrofits of City Hall or Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) dams. He underscored that land use decisions made in the present, such as one to site a hospital along the river, would last more than the lifespan of such a building. He said it was clear, looking at the Multi-Hazard Plan, the dams the ACOE built were below the standards a seismic event of great magnitude would require. He felt the City was subject to inundations of 10 to 45 feet of water should such an event occur. Charles Biggs , 540 Antelope Way, commended the Public Works Department Transportation Division for its workshop on traffic calming for the Sorrel Way area. He felt staff had done an excellent job of fostering grassroots support and had not come to the workshop with a preconceived notion of what to design. He thought the workshop should be held up as an example for all departments. Mr. Biggs also complimented the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Division for its Movies in the Parks program. He said that he recently attended a movie shown in Washington Park and noted the high attendance. He suggested the division put on movies in every neighborhood the City could afford to. Daniel Ronyak , 290 Knapp Lane, announced that there would be a Eugene Film Festival. He said he was part of the group called Oregon Screenwriters that sought to sponsor the festival, along with the Bijou Cinemas, the McDonald Theater, and the University of Oregon. Mr. Ronyak also addressed the issue of train yard noise. He asked that the City of Eugene approach the problem with creativity, such as forming a team of retired scientists or perhaps university students. He thought such a team could study the problem with a “wide-open mind.” He compared the trains with the Space Shuttle as both conveyed cargo and weighed in excess of a billion pounds. He said the shuttle would dock with the space station in orbit and the docking procedure would produce no noise whatsoever. He wondered if more could not be done to abate train pollution from the rail yard that parallels the Northwest Expressway. He questioned the need for the trains to slam together at all hours of the night with the same noise that a large amount of TNT might generate. He did not believe no technology existed that could mitigate this noise issue. He pointed out that building a berm along side the rail yards would do much to reduce the noise and that type of technology utilized only dirt. He underscored that the train yard should not be using 1940s technology when 1990s technology was available. In conclusion, he related that a study was conducted on the use of speakers that would generate a train whistle noise and focus it only at intersections. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 25, 2005 Page 2 Regular Session