CC Minutes - 07/23/08 Work Session

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room—Eugene City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon July 23, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the work session of the Eugene City Council to order. She apologized for having to leave the meeting early to attend a personal commitment. Mayor Piercy recognized Ms. Ortiz for a motion. Ms. Ortiz, seconded by Mr. Clark, moved that the final council action on the University of Oregon’s alley and street vacation requests be scheduled for August 13 instead of September 8. Ms. Ortiz recalled the council’s decision on July 21 to schedule final action for September 8. She had thought about the decision since then and realized she had been uncomfortable with her vote at the time it occurred. She was concerned about the impact of the September 8 date on the University of Oregon’s (UO) ability to move forward with the arena project. Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz about the possibility of including an emergency clause in the ordinance, City Attorney Glenn Klein said any ordinance would take effect in 30 days, and it would require six votes to include an emergency clause. He said the UO had indicated it wanted to start the project by September 30, and the ordinance would not be in effect on September 30. Ms. Ortiz said the UO wished to purchase a piece of land owned by the City but encompassed by UO property. Other issues became involved, bringing politics into the picture. However, that was not what she thought the council should be voting on. She suggested that cooperation between the major institutions in the community could be of mutual benefit and could lead to increased dialogue. She emphasized the importance of jobs for the community and for her constituents, and said she was not willing to threaten the family-wage jobs created by the arena project for even one day. She did not think the council could take the amount of money involved lightly. Ms. Ortiz acknowledged the other issues related to the conditional use permit (CUP). Ms. Bettman determined from City Attorney Klein that the Attorney General had not yet provided advice on the UO’s ability to proceed with site excavation without a building permit. Ms. Bettman concluded that even if the council ramped up the decision date, the UO might not be able to start the project when it wanted. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 23, 2008 Page 1 Work Session