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would bring, including placing Eugene “on the map” as an “international skate community destination,” providing a secure, dry and lit skate park that would accommodate both the northwest weather and the large population of student and working skaters who were not able to skate during the day, and creating a skate community “hub” to bring them together “under one roof.” She predicted that the skate park would shift the “darker energy” that exists under the bridge out of that area and would welcome in “a shining productive light that would transform the space forever.” She considered renovation of existing skate facilities to be “penny wise and pound foolish,” as the locations were not as good and expansion possibilities were limited. She also thought such renovations would disturb neighboring schools. She concluded by declaring this was the chance “to do it right.” She said this would provide benefits to a diverse community and “humbly” requested the council’s support for the proposal. th John Perry , 435 West 9 Street, Junction City, offered his endorsement of the skate park. He said there were also horseshoe courts in the Jefferson/Washington Park. He was there to promote horseshoes “more than anything else.” He had seen “large people who would be less large” if they would get out and practice the sport of horseshoes. He considered it to be an excellent sport for physical health. He invited anyone who wanted to come down and learn about pitching horseshoes to come by the park on Wednesdays between 3:00 p.m. and as late as 6:00 p.m. He said the horseshoe crowd was friendly, there was no profanity, and everyone had a good time. He added his hope that the skate park, when constructed, would not infringe on the space allowed for horseshoe pitching. th Dominic Ruscio , 360 West 27 Avenue, spoke in support of the resolution that would authorize the application for grant money for a skate park. He believed that the City needed a skate park. He acknowl- edged that some might feel that the City had enough skate parks. He commented that it was even difficult for him to remember the skate parks because some of them were “easily forgettable.” He averred that the city had “one okay park, a couple of mediocre parks, and the rest [were] quite frankly a joke as far as skate parks go.” He said they were forced to share the parks with bikers. He believed that the park presented a “golden opportunity.” He related that the most recent copy of Thrasher Magazine featured a Eugene native, Silas Baxter-Neal, on its cover. He assured everyone that Mr. Baxter-Neal had not achieved that level of success by staying in Eugene and skating in its parks. He said Mr. Baxter-Neal had gone to Portland, Colorado, and California, where there were “great skate parks.” He noted that the magazines were saying that Oregon was becoming a “skate mecca,” because of Mark Scott who he considered to be the “Picasso or DaVinci” of skate park design. He hoped that if Eugene decided to do the skate park, Mr. Scott would be hired to design it. He predicted that people would come from all around the world to “ride Mark Scott’s latest masterpiece” if the City built the park using his design. He believed the park would benefit skate- boarders and all of the City of Eugene. Jozef Siekiel-Zdzienicki , 1025 Taylor Street, addressed “segment B” of the future extension of the EmX bus line. He said there were currently three options, which he had outlined in a handout provided to the thth councilors, one that could go by Amazon Creek, one on West 11 Avenue, and one on West 7 Place. He predicted that putting the route next to the creek would cause “riots in this town.” He thought it would th present many land use issues and would be very expensive. He also believed that the potential West 11 Avenue route would involve a “massive taking of land.” He averred that the numbers would be “astronomi- th cal.” He opined that the 7 Place route would not involve as much taking of land and would provide the most direct route. th Ilona Kozeszar , 871 West 11 Avenue, Ward 1, stated that she was a member of Residents for Responsible Rapid Transit (3RT) and the West Eugene EmX Corridor Committee (WEEC). She said LTD had recently suggested an alternative plan intended to avoid pulling EmX buses in and out of the downtown station. She th asserted that LTD wanted to take the EmX down East 11 Avenue instead of turning right onto Mill Street th and left onto 10 Avenue. She predicted that, if that happened, the EmX station would be built across the MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 13, 2009 Page 5 Regular Meeting