CC Minutes - 07/27/09 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall -777 Pearl Street Eugene, Oregon July 27, 2009 7:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Alan Zelenka, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, George Brown (via telephone), Andrea Ortiz, Betty Taylor, George Poling. COUNCILORS ABSENT: Jennifer Solomon. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. She noted that the meeting had been moved to the McNutt Room because of a lack of air conditioning in the Council Chamber. 1. PUBLIC FORUM Mayor Piercy reviewed procedures for providing comments. Paul Duchin, Highland Oaks Drive, Eugene, described a problem with water seeping into the daylight basement at his home. He said there was no leak on his side of the water meter and Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) took no responsibility for the water. He hired a contractor to install a drainage system that shielded his home from any additional water damage, regardless of the source, at a cost of $38,000, but even with the new system, water issues were still not resolved. In 2008, EWEB finally acknowledged that there was a leak for which they were responsible and repaired it, eliminating all water problems. He filed a claim with EWEB regarding the $38,000 cost of a new drainage system, but instead of making an offer to settle, EWEB was requiring him to go to court and the litigation would cost more than the drainage system. He was prevented by state statute from seeking legal fees or punitive damages. Appeals to the EWEB Board of Commissioners had been unsuccessful. He asked the council to intervene and urge EWEB to do the right thing. Riley West, Eugene, owner of Riley's Real Wood Furniture on West l P h Avenue, said he had only become aware of plans for an EmX route down West l P h Avenue two months ago. He said his business could not afford to lose parking spaces if the street was widened for transit lanes, which would render the building unusable. He relied on the building and business to support his retirement. He visited other businesses along West l P h Avenue to discuss EmX and now there were 100 businesses with petitions indicating they were opposed to using the street as a transit corridor. He distributed copies of a list of those businesses. Ilona Koleszar, West l P h Avenue, Eugene, founding member of Residents for Responsible Rapid Transit (3RT), spoke to the concept of a City- sponsored stakeholder group for the West Eugene EmX project. She said Lane Transit District (LTD) was planning a stakeholder group of two representatives each from the City Council, Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) and LTD to meet in the spring of 2010 to make a recommendation regarding the locally preferred alternative. She urged the council to establish a stakeholder group that included representation from businesses in West Eugene along all of the potential EmX routes. Lisa West, Eugene, owner of Riley's Real Wood Furniture, expressed her concerns about West l P h Avenue as a transit corridor including the cost, disruption and displacement of small businesses and siting of the MINUTES— Eugene City Council July 27, 2009 Page 1