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

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Environmental Quality (DEQ), and the consultants for Union-Pacific Railroad for their work on “getting some of the kinks out of this project” and moving it forward. Mr. Handy related that a recent River Road Community Organization meeting had a big turnout because of the potential for a Rasor Park Mixed-Use Center. He said residents were excited about what this could mean for the neighborhood and supported the recent application to the State for a Transportation Growth Management (TGM) grant. He averred that more protective infill standards were needed in order to protect the character and stability of neighborhoods. He thought neighborhood protection and higher density should be compatible goals. He conveyed his gratitude to the council for making the Neighborhood Initiative a priority. He suggested that one thing the City could do was to ensure the backload of street maintenance projects was prioritized, as well as create policies to fund and implement safe parks for families to gather. He recommended looking at Albany’s development ordinance, which encouraged developers to meet with neighborhoods before submittal of land use applications. Mr. Handy asked the council to look toward the Neighborhood Leadership Council (NLC) and what it could do to help with citizen involvement. In closing, Mr. Handy expressed discomfort with the stance the County commissioners took on the enterprise zone. He asserted that the commissioners undermined the intent of what the City Council sought to accomplish. He asked if “staff had missed the boat on this.” He wondered if the “publicly funded Metro partnership” was “involved in duplicity and the encouragement of contentiousness between the commissioners and council.” He thought the City of Eugene should look into an independent auditor for the City. Councilor Poling, seconded by Councilor Solomon, moved to extend the time by ten minutes. Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. Randy Prince , PO Box 927, Eugene, reiterated his concerns regarding earthquake preparedness. He said a recent geologic discovery indicated that “giant” earthquakes did not happen randomly in this area, but rather happened at regular intervals. He averred that the “next one was due” and expressed concern that not enough was being done. He felt the government’s role was to get information out to people, site critical facilities such as hospitals in the right places, identify facilities needing retrofitting such as dams, and ensure the Emergency Management System was working correctly. He remarked that the big problem was fear. He asserted that the City should take on its fear by preparing accordingly. Ruth Duemler , 1745 Fircrest Drive, opposed the enterprise zone. She said the large amount of poverty in Lane County and the Eugene area became apparent when one read the United Way study. She asserted that citizens would be expected to pay for those services that some businesses in the enterprise zone would be relieved of paying for. She alleged that schools and human service providers would lose money. She recalled that Hynix had come to town needing “cheap” labor and abundant water and said it did not need tax breaks. She thought tax breaks were a thing of the past and should be eliminated. She was saddened by the lack of public forum on this issue. She averred that voting on the enterprise zone during summer break sought to undermine public involvement. She wanted a more open democratic process in the community. While she thought an enterprise zone could help small business people at times, the City should find another way to support them without spending and giving money away. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called for questions and comments from the council. MINUTES—Eugene City Council August 8, 2005 Page 4 Regular Session