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Ms. Ortiz averred that the current City Hall building was not a welcoming structure and wanted to see <br />plans and discussions towards moving into a new space continue. She further noted that she would support <br />Mr. Ruiz’s efforts to initiate a downtown streetcar project as long as the Bethel and Trainsong <br />neighborhoods were included in such a project. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown appreciated that Mr. Ruiz had postponed the action regarding the facility reserves and noted <br />that further council work sessions might be necessary to reach a consensus on the matter. <br /> <br />Jennifer Solomon joined the meeting at 12:37 p.m. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown could not offer strong support for any of the options presented by Mr. Ruiz and noted that <br />retrofitting the current City Hall facility to meet seismic life safety standards was the only strategy he could <br />support. He suggested that staff compile a comprehensive engineering report on all City-owned sites so <br />that the safety standards and potential future uses of those sites might be adequately considered. <br /> <br />Mr. Poling maintained that there were no available facilities in the downtown area that would be as cost- <br />effective for a new EPD facility as the Country Club Road building. He shared Ms. Piercy’s concerns <br />regarding not having a dedicated city hall facility for an extended period of time and expressed that he was <br />very glad that Mr. Ruiz’s presentation had addressed various business and cultural concerns in the <br />downtown area. He noted that any retrofitting of the current city hall facility to life safety standards might <br />not be wise as facilities for divisions such as the EPD would need to be placed in facilities that were up to <br />essential service standards. <br /> <br />Mr. Pryor appreciated the wide variety of options presented by Mr. Ruiz and noted that some combination <br />of those options might be the most efficient and cost-effective manner in which to proceed. He agreed with <br />Mr. Poling’s previous statement that the EPD would need to be based in a facility that was up to essential <br />service standards and not just life safety standards. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka noted that he did not support the utilization of a dedicated EPD facility without there also <br />being some provision made for a new or improved city hall facility. He further noted that, alternative to <br />using the facility reserves to fund a new EPD facility, he had suggested that the reserves instead be used to <br />hire more EPD officers. He averred that staff should continue its investigation into cost-effective ways to <br />make the current City Hall facility safer and also into the potential use of the federal building at 211 East <br />th <br />7 Avenue. <br /> <br />Ms. Piercy appreciated the variety of options that had been presented by staff and hoped that whatever <br />strategy was adopted would help enhance the arts and cultural footprint of the community. She stated that <br />she continued to have the highest level of concern for the safety and welfare of all City employees and that <br />she was not averse to the idea of having a downtown police substation. She hoped that there might also be <br />further opportunities for the public to weigh in on the various options being considered by staff. <br /> <br />Mr. Clark noted that the current City Hall facility, beyond the previous determinations that the building <br />was seismically unsound, was also very inefficient with respect to its power and utility needs. He further <br />noted that to improve the efficiencies of the building and make it more environmentally sustainable would <br />be highly expensive and that the costs associated with such improvements would only continue to rise. <br /> <br />Mr. Penwell, responding to a question from Mr. Clark, commented that it was currently unknown what it <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 22, 2009 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />