CC Minutes - 07/21/08 Public Hearing

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bonds to support the arena had been sold and the money was in the bank. He said a conservative economic multiplier indicated that the project would generate $300 million in the community over the next 20 months. The alley vacation was crucial to the arena project. He noted the UO owned the land around the project site and the alley in question had been out of public use for some time. He said a decision was needed soon so the carefully planned construction schedule was not disrupted. President Frohnmayer noted the other approvals that preceded the request. He noted the work the UO had done with the neighbors, and agreed with them that the funding from the vacations should be used to mitigate the impact of the arena. th Deborah Frisch , 3003 West 11 Avenue, expressed support for the proposals. She acknowledged her opposition to spending money on UO sports facilities and in particular the arena. She noted that the Mayor had responded to concerns expressed about the public process related to the arena expressed by Commissioner Faye Stewart with what Ms. Frisch considered an insulting form letter because of the predevelopment meeting held between City and University representatives regarding the UO’s arena application. She questioned the cost of that. Ms. Frisch noted that a minority of Oregon legislators had opposed the arena and speculated on how many residents opposed the arena or preferred that the UO do something else with the property it owned on Franklin Boulevard. She asserted that the UO and City had “thwarted public participation.” Genie Staton , 2216 Lakeview Drive, supported the UO proposal. She said the new arena would create local jobs and boost the local economy. She said her company, Staton Companies, was one of the first local companies to benefit from the project when it was hired to do environmental work on the site. She noted that 99.5 percent of the materials from the project site were recycled. She briefly described her company’s employee base, location, and type of customers served. She commended the arena as a great project. Ms. Staton said those in the local construction industry were concerned about the next few years given the completion of the RiverBend campus and fact the residential market was in shambles. Construction delays were costly because the cost of supplies was rising daily. She said the UO was ready to build. She hoped the council would schedule its vote soon and vote to support the project. Mike Schwartz , 2390 Lariat Drive, hoped the council scheduled a vote before break. He discussed the impact of a delay and its impact on the community. He said the UO was ready to build and if forced to delay it would increase the cost of materials and could increase the cost of ticket prices. The cost of delaying the project would be $10 million for one year. He recalled his service on the Lane County Auditorium Association, which led to the passage of the funding needed for the Hult Center; he further recalled that the cost of that structure went from $15 to $23 million in the seven years it took to bring the issue to the ballot. He asked the council to consider mixed opportunities from past years, when council delays caused projects such as McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, PeaceHealth, and Whole Foods to be dropped, and jobs to be lost. He noted the lost jobs in the community that had occurred recently, and called on the council to take advantage of the opportunity created by the proposal. John Barofsky , 2010 Hubbard Lane, believed that the arena was a good project that could be successfully mitigated. For that reason, he believed the alley vacation was in the public interest. He pointed out the council could approve the vacation with monetary conditions. He acknowledged that the money from the sale of the vacations was to be used for the good of all Eugene, and he knew there were many needs, but he implored the council to consider the impacts of the project on the Fairmount neighbors and use some of the money from the project to mitigate its impact. He suggested the money could be used to improve local streets which he speculated would be affected by the project. Mr. Barofsky also suggested the council consider the property removed from the City’s tax rolls as a result of the project and attempt to recover it through one of the conditions. Steve McBride , 3810 Colony Oaks Drive, Associate Athletic Director of the U of O, shared some information about the UO’s successes in regard to event transportation management at Mac Court, Autzen Stadium, and the 2008 Olympic Trials, which involved increased alternative mode use and very high levels of transit use. He committed to MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 21, 2008 Page 9 Public Hearing