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Ms. Cahill noted an amendment to the City’s Arterial and Collector Street Plan (ACSP) providing for <br />another exception that would be needed if the project were to go forward. <br /> <br />Ms. Cahill recommended the council accept the recommendations of the stakeholders group and direct the <br />City Manager to go forward with the initial implementation steps. She noted the council would see the <br />project again when staff returned to request approval to form a local improvement district (LID) for the <br />project. <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy called on the council for questions and comments. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon thanked Ms. Cahill for her hard work. She said she had gotten everyone to the table and they <br />produced a great plan that everyone could support. People might not have gotten everything they wanted, <br />but they had been able to reach agreement. She supported the recommendations before the council. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly echoed Ms. Solomon’s compliments to staff and also expressed appreciation to the stakeholders. <br />He thought a good compromise emerged and was supportive of most elements of it. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly asked what staff believed the phrase “bioswales are possible” actually meant. Ms. Cahill said <br />that bioswales could occur in the front of the wastewater treatment plant, at some locations in the west end <br />of the project. There were challenges to locating the bioswales in some areas, but staff would see where <br />there was space for such facilities and if more right-of-way would be needed to accommodate them. She <br />said the City believed it had the space to fulfill its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System <br />(NPDES) requirements. She anticipated a significant number of bioswales would be included in the project. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling asked what would happen if the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) shut down the <br />ramps at Beltline, and if any consideration had been given to what the City would do with the remaining <br />underpass to connect it back north of the Beltline. Ms. Cahill said ODOT indicated it would not disconnect <br />the ramps and that local connectivity was important to what it wanted to do. No firm plans were offered. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling asked how much time elapsed between the vote and the change of heart by the RRCO. Ms. <br />Cahill said the group acted on October 5 and by the end of October, staff was informed the votes were <br />rescinded. No additional meetings of the stakeholders group had occurred since October 5. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling asked about the additional cost of the street trees. Ms. Cahill said that more right-of-way would <br />be required to install street trees. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling also shared in the thanks to staff and the stakeholders. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé thought the stakeholder process, while it could be refined, had worked well in this instance. He <br />had been concerned after the initial meeting, but thought staff and the facilitator had done a good job in <br />working with the stakeholders. He also supported the recommendations before the council, noting that the <br />group had agreed that 8 of 10 votes would move a recommendation forward. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor wanted to employ bioswales as much as possible. He said after reviewing the minority report, he <br />believed the issue came down to the character of the street, and he asked that staff give consideration to that <br />issue. He wanted to continue the conversation with the public as the project proceeded, citing continued <br />conversation about the property owners regarding the trees as an example. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 12, 2005 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />