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<br />Mayor Piercy called for council comments and questions. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling appreciated the emphasis being placed on police, fire, and EMS services, as well as public <br />works. He said radios for cultural services during events and for emergency preparedness may not sound <br />like much, but it was extremely important when staff needed to have the right equipment that worked. He <br />asked if the fund could be used to pay for the activation and deactivation of the Community Emergency <br />Notification System (CENS) system. Assistant City Manager Carlson said the fund was being used for that <br />purpose. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Poling, Ms. Berrian said the web cam footage for the cameras in parks <br />would only be reviewed by staff. The web cams will be permanently installed at three park sites. Assistant <br />City Manager Carlson noted that two other web cams were operating on the public Web portal - one at the <br />Owens Rose Garden and one at the west wetlands area. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé said he thought the City was doing a great job in this area and had persevered through many court <br />cases. He asked if the City’s legal fees could be recovered from those filing suit. Assistant City Manager <br />Carlson said no, not in this instance. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé noted the council’s goal related to neighborhoods and asked if there was anything else the City <br />could do in the next year. Assistant City Manager Carlson said that the “My Neighborhood” concept was a <br />staff-generated concept about how to provide residents with information about their neighborhood, but he <br />thought it would be useful for the City to go to the neighborhoods and seek information about what they <br />want in the way of services, such as a greater Web presence for neighborhood organizations. Mr. Papé <br />suggested cable coverage of neighborhood meetings to generate more interest and involvement. Assistant <br />City Manager Carlson noted that council meetings would soon be available on the Web. He added that the <br />new Web portal gave the City some tools it previously did not have to get additional information to interest <br />groups. That might be useful to the council’s neighborhood initiative. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé acknowledged Ms. Berrian’s work and said the City was lucky to have her on staff as she was a <br />known expert. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé called attention to pending federal legislation that could further erode the City’s ability to charge <br />the two percent telecommunications tax. Mayor Piercy said the League of Oregon Cities was working on <br />the issue and there may be an opportunity for the council to help. She noted that Senator Gordon Smith had <br />introduced legislation related to the topic and was willing to work with local communities on changes. <br /> <br />Responding to a question from Ms. Solomon about the federal legislation, Ms. Berrian said some of the bills <br />that had been introduced threatened the City’s right-of-way management authority. In the worst case, any <br />fees would be taken out of local hands, taxes would be prohibited, and disputes would be resolved at the <br />federal level. <br /> <br />City Manager Taylor said like other federal legislation, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was up for <br />review, and it created an opportunity for renewed discussion. Without the vigilance of communities like <br />Eugene, he thought the national discussion would be quite different. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thought the City’s ordinance forward-thinking. He saw no reason to make significant changes to <br />it. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 12, 2005 Page 8 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />