CC Minutes - 10/19/05 Workshop - Laserfiche WebLink

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that there was a strong interest in gaining public input on this issue. He noted that some people felt that City Hall should be open to the public and that some members of the public could find uniformed officers to be intimidating. He reiterated that the EPD facility would be required by law to be constructed to higher standards. He reviewed some consolidation models that could be considered. City Manager’s Office employee Jan Bohman was photographing the process in order to document it. Mr. Kelly objected to this, stating that he “had a problem with City staff spending energy on taking pictures.” No further pictures were taken. Mr. Hardy stated that the next step would be to gain public input and identify the police service delivery model that the community wanted to utilize. Ms. Taylor asked if the new substations had to meet the higher seismic standards. Mr. Hardy replied that anything new had to be built to those standards. Ms. Ortiz thought there was a difference between a precinct and a substation and that substations did not have to meet the higher standard. Ms. Bettman felt that before the next steps could be looked into, the City needed to consider what it could afford. She did not believe that the consolidation issue was germane to the discussion of the building issue. Mr. Kelly expressed appreciation for the models the council had been presented with. He did not believe he had sufficient material on which to base a decision at this point, however. Mr. Papé commented that he was uncertain as to what the cart was and what the horse was. He asked if the police chief was ready to get out in front of this. Police Chief Bob Lehner responded that there were more models to consider, one of which would locate police administration in City Hall and then deliver services from two precincts. He averred that the more patrols were housed in neighborhoods, the closer the City was to having a precinct model for policing. He stated that this was the most expensive model for policing. He pointed out, though, that the second most expensive model was to have all of the services in one location downtown. He added that locating everything together would also cost the most per square foot. He asked how much money the community would want to spend. He stressed that the discussion was primarily a financial one. He stated that the current model, one with a downtown station and public safety stations, was likely the most fiscally prudent. Mayor Piercy asked if the precinct models were required to be built to seismic standards. Chief Lehner responded that when speaking of a precinct, it was understood to be a place from which patrol cars were deployed. Because of this, the precincts would have to meet the higher seismic standards. He guessed that the Records Division, as an example, would not be required to be housed in a structure built to the higher standards. Ms. Cooper called this conflict a perfect example of some of the quandaries that would have to be addressed. She underscored that the public wants a high level of service and at the same time people want government to be financially conservative. Ms. Bettman asked how it had been determined that keeping the EPD in the downtown area would be the most expensive model. She commented that having two precincts might be a good idea, but she wanted the one on the south side of the river to be connected to City Hall. She wanted the police to be housed in the same area as the elected officials. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 19, 2005 Page 5 Workshop