Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

~v'lr. Poling said he was hesitant to see the elty get involved in the necessary real estate transactions. While the [(lotion a!lmved the council to demonstrate its seriousness about the site in question, he believed a for-profit hospital such as McKen.zic~Wil1amctteiTriad should be able to purchase the propcrti~~s in question without the ('ity's assistance. He said the City was doing a lot of the worK for J'vlcKenzie- \VmmnetteiTriad if the cO\lIlCil adopted the motion on the table, Mr. Poling said someone \.V<lS reany going to have to convinl.~e him tt1 persuade hitn the C1ty should buy the properties. fVk Bdtnlan said a hospital at the l2;;: Avenue and Willamette Street site 'vvould be a S200 million investment in downtown <lnd would also ensure the community had a full-service en::.crg,~lKY WC\Hl for residents lIving south and \vest of the WilJarnette River. She believed the City Couucil had created a precedent for the motion through its facilltdtlon of the c~)nstlllction of the federa1 courthouse. Ms. Bcttrnan pointed nut the elty lacked large sites in downtown l()f such a redevelopment. yet such a redevelopment ,vas a key to the success of downtown. She said that to create such opportunities_ the councIl rnust step in and SIKH^! leadership in the same way as it did when it aggre,~si\dy pursued the purchase of the courthouse site. The community no\v had a courthouse to show for that effort. Mayor Piercy supported the dirccti()n refleckd in the motion as being in the best interests of the community. She thought it important that Eugene have a hospital where babies could he born and irnpnnant that it be on the south side of the riwr. Health care 'vvas important on both sides of the river. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.rn. Respectfully submitted, Detmis 1',,1. Taylor City Nbnager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MiNUTES ~~Eugene City Council Work Session Septemher 21 , 2005 Page 9