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<br />exposing itself to an unreasonable level of risk on this deal because if it did not go through everything was <br />required to revert back. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly appreciated Councilor Papé’s comments regarding getting a “like for like acreage.” <br />However, given that the City was receiving a multi-million dollar value in the education center site versus <br />the $28,000 investment the City had made in the Quarry Lane property, he was comfortable in “keeping it <br />simple.” He noted that the Quarry Lane property was outside of the UGB. He acknowledged that it was <br />going to take an act of Congress to transfer the land to the City and indicated he was happy to support the <br />motion in order to bring the transfer to closure in a timely fashion. <br /> <br />Councilor Taylor asked if there was urgency in this motion. Ms. Medary replied that there was. She <br />stressed that it was urgent that the bill get introduced in front of Congress before the end of the year. She <br />said much was riding on it, including the possible loss of funds from School District 4J. <br /> <br />Councilor Taylor said Mr. Matthews and Ms. Segel brought to her attention that more time to analyze the <br />site may be needed. She also thought more public input could be necessary. Ms. Medary underscored that <br />at this meeting no decisions about building the education center were being made. She stated that if the land <br />was actually critical habitat, all of the necessary steps would have to be taken and there would also be a <br />public hearing related to zoning changes needed to build the education center at all. <br /> <br />Intergovernmental Relations Manager Jason Heuser said the Oregon delegation staff had advised staff that <br />they had 10 months to get the bill through the “labyrinth that is congressional politics” and seek passage of <br />the bill. He stated that if it could not be done in 10 months, all of the bills in the hopper in November would <br />expire and a new session of congress would begin when everything went back to “point zero” to start over <br />again. He projected that this would delay the progress of the education center by one to two years. He <br />stressed that the delegation wanted to act quickly and was prepared to introduce legislation, possibly in <br />December. He hoped to get this issue resolved at this meeting in order to beat the 10-month window. <br /> <br />Councilor Papé commented that the motion did not seem to contain all of the “what ifs.” He asked if there <br />was sufficient language in the motion to ask for reversions in the document. Mr. Klein responded that the <br />motion was sufficient to authorize the City Manager to move forward in the process and should there be <br />reversions, there was the legislative history to back it up. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy averred that the center would be valuable to the community and acknowledged that many <br />people in the community had worked for it. She encouraged the council to support it. <br /> <br />Roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously, 8:0. <br /> <br />The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. <br /> <br />Respectfully submitted, <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Dennis M. Taylor <br />City Manager <br /> <br />(Recorded by Ruth Atcherson) <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 28, 2005 Page 11 <br /> Regular Session <br />