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Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes
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Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes
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with what was going on currently, it was not “time to change the guard.” He added that he also liked Police <br />Captain Steve Swenson for the same reason. He asked that his packet of materials be forwarded to the <br />Civilian Review Board and the Human Rights Commission. <br /> <br />Bill Eddie <br />, 830 Crest Drive, Ward 2, stated that 86 citizens had signed the petition remonstrating the Crest <br />Drive project. He said the vast majority of the neighbors favored improving the road and understood the <br />need to pay for them, but they believed the existing assessment policy to be unfair and unaffordable. He <br />related that they were collectively asking the council to find a better way to fund the project and future <br />projects in Eugene. He felt that if it took six months and the construction was delayed until the 2010 <br />construction season, then the council should take the time to craft a more affordable policy. He said <br />everyone felt the $10,000 to $20,000 assessment was onerous “even in the best of times.” He averred that <br />no one should ever have to take a loan out on their house “to pay a tax.” He alleged that many of the people <br />in the area would not qualify for a bank loan and would be forced to take a loan from the City at eight <br />percent. He opined that this could be considered “predatory lending.” He believed that forcing someone into <br />an unwanted loan raised both moral and legal questions. He declared that a small assessment shared among <br />many made more sense than the current policy of “gouging the few to pay for the benefit of all.” He urged <br />the council to accept the challenge to create a better assessment policy for all of Eugene. <br /> <br />Marion Eddie <br />, 830 Crest Drive, Ward 2, encouraged the council to work together to rethink the current <br />means of assessment not only for the Crest Drive/Friendly Street/Storey Boulevard area but for all of <br />Eugene. She said the council had heard “many heart-felt stories” about why the present assessment policy <br />was alarming. She asked the council to please listen to the neighbors and citizens. She averred that if they <br />continued with the present policy, it would cause an undue and unfair financial burden. She had hope that <br />the council could come up with a more fair assessment and still complete the road repairs. <br /> <br />Sue Kelly <br />, 97405, recalled that when she had been a letter carrier in Springfield 27 years ago, some road <br />repairs had been done and the people she brought mail to had been assessed for them. She related that it had <br />caused terrible hardships and some people had lost their homes. She believed they could come up with <br />something better than the current mode of assessment. She had spent two days gathering signatures and <br />everyone she had spoken with liked the project and appreciated the work the City had done to arrive at a <br />design they approved of, but all of them were against the means of assessment. She agreed with Mr. Eddie; <br />this was a City and not a group of neighborhoods “loosely strung together.” She said if all of the street <br />projects were covered under one umbrella that everyone paid for, the City could have all of the streets that it <br />needed. She quoted comments by the Mayor, Councilor Taylor, Councilor Clark, City Engineer Mark <br />Schoening and Councilor Poling at the previous meeting that were in support of working on the assessment <br />policy or were against causing hardship for people. <br /> <br />Rick Robertson <br />, 839 Crest Drive, stated that he had purchased his home in the Crest Drive area one year <br />earlier. He had known that the assessments were coming up because the sellers had been forthright about it. <br />He felt that the assessment process was not entirely fair. He wanted the City to work to find a more <br />equitable way to pay for the improvements. <br /> <br />Marlene Varady <br />, 420 Crest Drive, Ward 2, agreed with everyone who spoke about the street assessments. <br />She believed the area residents were asking the council to take on a “daunting task;” it would be a lot of <br />work to change the law. She was sure several of the area residents would be glad to help with the process, if <br />they could. She said they had worked hard to get the amount of signatures necessary for the remonstrance. <br />She noted that the residents in the Elmira Road/Maple Street area had not “been so fortunate” and had not <br />been able to get the number of signatures needed. She related that she had been asked at a Crest Association <br />meeting whether she would be willing to pay for the Elmira Road area streets, too, and she had replied that <br />“of course” she would. She wondered if it would be possible to reverse the ruling regarding the Elmira Road <br />residents. She underscored that it was a difficult time to refinance or get <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 26, 2009 Page 3 <br /> Regular Meeting <br /> <br />
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