CC Minutes - 09/21/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Poling said he was hesitant to see the City get involved in the necessary real estate transactions. While the motion allowed the council to demonstrate its seriousness about the site in question, he believed a for- profit hospital such as McKenzie-Willamette/Triad should be able to purchase the properties in question without the City's assistance. He said the City was doing a lot of the work for McKenzie-Willamette/Triad if the council adopted the motion on the table. Mr. Poling said someone was really going to have to convince him to persuade him the City should buy the properties. Ms. Bettman said a hospital at the Ith Avenue and Willamette Street site would be a $200 million investment in downtown and would also ensure the community had a full-service emergency room for residents living south and west of the Willamette River. She believed the City Council had created a precedent for the motion through its facilitation of the construction of the federal courthouse. Ms. Bettman pointed out the City lacked large sites in downtown for such a redevelopment, yet such a redevelopment was a key to the success of downtown. She said that to create such opportunities, the council must step in and show leadership in the same way as it did when it aggressively pursued the purchase of the courthouse site. The community now had a courthouse to show for that effort. Mayor Piercy supported the direction reflected in the motion as being in the best interests of the community. She thought it important that Eugene have a hospital where babies could be born and important that it be on the south side of the river. Health care was important on both sides of the river. The motion passed unanimously, 8:0. The meeting adjourned at 1 :55 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Dennis M. Taylor City Manager (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES-Eugene City Council Work Session September 21,2005 Page 10