CC Minutes - 11/28/05 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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wished to underscore that people would walk from one parcel to the next and not readily understand which government agency owned which parcel. Councilor Papé asked what it would take to partition the property and only give the BLM 12 acres. City Manager Taylor replied that he did not know what it would take but it would raise the cost and increase the timeline. He had thought the land transfer was a way to satisfy the O & C concerns and still hold the land in good stewardship. Councilor Papé asked if it would be possible for the BLM to give the City more than 12 acres in exchange for the 19 acre property. City Manager Taylor responded that this would just take longer and part of the reason this item was before the City Council at this meeting was so that the City could move forward with some of the work that was hoped to get accomplished as part of the United Lobbying Front in this next legislative cycle. Councilor Pryor remarked that this transfer might not be absolutely the most perfect deal, but he thought it was a good deal and supported it wholeheartedly. He recalled that he had been supportive of the education center when he had served on the School Board for School District 4J. He supported this motion because it brought the City and schools one step closer to getting the center “to happen.” He did not think the City was exposing itself to an unreasonable level of risk on this deal because if it did not go through everything was required to revert back. Councilor Kelly appreciated Councilor Papé’s comments regarding getting a “like for like acreage.” However, given that the City was receiving a multi-million dollar value in the education center site versus the $28,000 investment the City had made in the Quarry Lane property, he was comfortable in “keeping it simple.” He noted that the Quarry Lane property was outside of the UGB. He acknowledged that it was going to take an act of Congress to transfer the land to the City and indicated he was happy to support the motion in order to bring the transfer to closure in a timely fashion. Councilor Taylor asked if there was urgency in this motion. Ms. Medary replied that there was. She stressed that it was urgent that the bill get introduced in front of Congress before the end of the year. She said much was riding on it, including the possible loss of funds from School District 4J. Councilor Taylor said Mr. Matthews and Ms. Segel brought to her attention that more time to analyze the site may be needed. She also thought more public input could be necessary. Ms. Medary underscored that at this meeting no decisions about building the education center were being made. She stated that if the land was actually critical habitat, all of the necessary steps would have to be taken and there would also be a public hearing related to zoning changes needed to build the education center at all. Intergovernmental Relations Manager Jason Heuser said the Oregon delegation staff had advised staff that they had 10 months to get the bill through the “labyrinth that is congressional politics” and seek passage of the bill. He stated that if it could not be done in 10 months, all of the bills in the hopper in November would expire and a new session of congress would begin when everything went back to “point zero” to start over again. He projected that this would delay the progress of the education center by one to two years. He stressed that the delegation wanted to act quickly and was prepared to introduce legislation, possibly in December. He hoped to get this issue resolved at this meeting in order to beat the 10-month window. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 28, 2005 Page 11 Regular Session