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against all departments. She perceived the singling out of the Eugene Police Department (EPD) to be discriminatory. She predicted it would lead to lawsuits against the City. Russ Brink , 132 East Broadway Street, provided a brief update on some of the projects that Downtown Eugene, Incorporated (DEI) had done in partnership with the City of Eugene over the summer. He pointed to the 80 flower baskets hanging in the downtown area and noted that DEI had partnered with Planning and Development Department (PDD) and the Facilities Management Division. He said there were banners on all of the downtown area light poles, some that said “Surprise yourself, Eugene” and some that said “World’s greatest city of the arts and outdoors.” He thanked Facilities staff for maintaining the hanging flower baskets. He noted that DEI asked the downtown property owners to make a voluntary “fifth quarter” payment to help the downtown’s “Branding Program.” He felt confident they would participate. Mr. Brink reported that DEI had ECO-Northwest conduct an economic impact analysis on what siting a $200 million hospital in the downtown area would mean. He said the study was finished, though the question of siting such a facility there seemed to be fading, and he provided a summary of the study for the council. He added that the study confirmed the City’s position that situating the facility there would have a positive economic impact. Mr. Brink noted that, in looking forward, the council would be considering some significant downtown projects in the near future, such as the possible development of a Whole Foods Grocery store and both low- and middle-income housing. He averred that all of them would present the opportunity to change the face of downtown and all of them would need some level of public participation. He hoped the council would consider them favorably when the time came. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum and called for questions and comments from the council. Councilor Pryor recalled that when discussing the issue of electric scooters on the bicycle path there were a number of questions around alternative transportations for people that required them. He indicated he would support revisiting the issue. Councilor Bettman thanked everyone for their testimony. She remembered that the ordinance governing motorized scooters included some medical exemptions. City Manager Taylor affirmed that there were some medical exemptions, but none that were specific to the type of scooter that Mr. Sundberg referred to. Councilor Bettman was interested in revisiting the specific issue of how medical exemptions were processed and what kinds of vehicles would be considered. Councilor Kelly concurred with councilors Pryor and Bettman. Councilor Kelly acknowledged Ms. Jackson’s testimony. He guessed that the majority of the council would not be interested in having the external review fall under the purview of the City Manager because it would not provide the independence that the proposed charter change would. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 24, 2005 Page 3 Regular Session