CC Minutes - 08/08/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Poling said there was an “urban legend” circulating that the City was trying to force the issue by directing the hospital to the EWEB site. To the contrary, they were the only “two players at the table talking.” He wanted the public to be aware that if the proposal did not come through, the council would continue its work to locate a hospital in the area identified by the council two years ago. Mr. Papé also thanked staff for its work. He noted that a hospital in central Eugene was the council’s only goal for 2004, which was not mentioned in the agenda materials. He was disappointed and frustrated by the lack of progress. However, he acknowledged the resolution to the issue was not completely within the City’s purview. Mr. Papé said if EWEB needed additional funds to finance its move, he believed it would be too much for McKenzie-Willamette to pay. He asked about the hospital’s reaction to the proposed cost of $67 million. City Manager Taylor clarified that was not the offer the hospital had made, and he did not think it was a price the hospital would be willing to pay. He also did not think that was the expectation of the EWEB commissioners with regard to the sale. With regard to the real estate transaction, the commissioners wanted to know how the utility could move in part or at once without affecting its ratepayers. The estimate of $67 million was above previous estimates. City Manager Taylor did not think there was an expectation the real estate transaction would cover all the costs of moving the utility at the prices that had been quoted. Mr. Papé asked if EWEB had come up with a financing plan. City Manager Taylor said he did not think so. The board was waiting for final numbers. While Mr. Papé agreed with Mr. Kelly that the EWEB site was the best one of all available, he wondered what it would take to assemble a site near the fairgrounds and suggested a staff team be formed to look into that potential. City Manager Taylor said because of McKenzie-Willamette’s focus on the EWEB site, that work had not been done. If the hospital looked to another site, the City would work with it on that. He said the hospital was not interested in the fairgrounds at this time. He thought it premature for the City to initiate such an effort without a signal from the hospital. Mr. Papé said that until there was more clear direction about what would occur in the future, he preferred staff to halt work on the EWEB site. Ms. Bettman agreed with Mr. Kelly and Mr. Papé that the EWEB site was the best available for the hospital. She acknowledged that some community members had other visions for the site, but if the hospital did not locate there, it did not mean those visions would be realized, given the constraints that existed on the property. Ms. Bettman noted that EWEB’s plans for relocation included expansion for future growth. She did not think the utility expected those costs to be captured by the sale price of the property. Those costs would be incurred and transferred to the ratepayers regardless of the location. She did not know how EWEB would “get around that.” Ms. Bettman asked why the EWEB commissioners were not taking any action beyond requesting engineer- ing studies. City Manager Taylor did not know. He did not think staff knew clearly why the commissioners acted as they had. He thought the commissioners believed they needed more time. The commissioners had been working on the EWEB Master Plan for many years and wanted to incorporate the decision into that MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2005 Page 5 Work Session