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Jenny Ulum , 2493 Panorama Drive, a member of the Eugene Parks Foundation Board, agreed with the comments of Mr. Johnson. She said Eugene was proud of its parks but there were improvements that could be made to the system, such as a more equal geographic distribution of parks. Parks were a valuable resource for the entire community. She offered the foundation’s assistance in fundraising for new parks. She acknowledged competing needs but believed the public would support additional parks funding. Mary Otten , 1612 Lincoln Street, expressed her concern about the proposed conversion of the signal- th controlled intersection at 10 Avenue and Olive Street to a four-way stop. She asked the council to stop that from occurring because the bus station was located close to that intersection and the ambient noise from the buses would impede the blind from crossing because they would be unable to hear to safely navigate the intersection in question. She was not opposed to four-way stops in general but thought someone could get injured at the site in question. Ms. Otten said the Human Rights Commission’s Accessibility Committee (HRAC) was not informed about the conversion but only found out about it by accident after the decision was made, and she thought there was a gap in the process that allowed that to occur. She said the committee could not properly advise the City if it was not informed. Zachery Vishanoff , a resident of Patterson Street, noted his interest in having pre-Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) meetings for those who had difficulty crossing Franklin Boulevard. He said that would allow the Lane Transit District (LTD) to make informed decisions. Speaking to the issue of planning for a new city hall, he expressed concern about the discussion he heard at the council’s meeting on the topic, in particular the discussion of public information. He said that citizens would not get a chance for meaningful opportunities to participate if they were spoon-fed information about it. He did not think the input would be used. For example, if someone suggested the Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) steam plant could be a new city hall, that idea would not be considered. He advocated for firing the consultants hired for the process, who he averred would merely “mess it up.” Mr. Vishanoff said that citizens should be involved in a design contest for the courthouse neighborhood. He said such processes should be open to all. Becky Riley , 202 Hawthorne Avenue, advocated for the appointment of David Monk as a Eugene representative on the Board of Directors of the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA). She said her neighborhood was affected by the odors emitting from the J.H. Baxter Company and she attended many LRAPA board meetings in an attempt to get the situation remedied. Mr. Monk also attended those meetings and had been working to make LRAPA more responsive to the public. He had many ideas for improving LRAPA and its services. Ms. Riley believed his knowledge would be helpful to LRAPA. For those reasons, she encouraged his application to the board. Ms. Riley maintained that residents were frustrated with LRAPA and needed to know it would enforce the law and help improve air quality. Mr. Monk would help to address that issue. Jon West , 3525 High Street, director of the Lane Independent Living Alliance (LILA), called on the City to partner with its citizens on such things as the intersection signal conversion project planned at Olive Street th and 10 Avenue. He noted the decision was only recently made, and the members of the HRAC, LILA, and Commission for the Blind were only recently informed of the decision, and so had no opportunity to provide meaningful input. Mr. West hoped for a delay to the conversion, which was scheduled to happen the following day. Leslie McGuire , 420 Goodyear Street, also supported the appointment of David Monk to the LRAPA board. She noted her own attendance at LRAPA board meetings and said Mr. Monk had demonstrated excellent problem-solving skills that were much needed on the board. Mr. Monk’s background gave him MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 14, 2005 Page 2 Regular Meeting