CC Minutes - 09/14/09 Regular Meeting

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“good work” and offered young people non-violent alternatives to resolving their conflicts. He related that they had taken a group of young people on a service trip to the Navajo Nation and they had, among other things, chopped wood for the elders. He felt they had done a lot of good work with the youth. He noted that their biggest contract was with NCS. He urged the council to consider the proposal to allow NCS to move into the Pearl Street building. He said NCS had outgrown 45 Broadway and the City had informed them that because of the size, the code would no longer allow them to be in that building. They had been looking for a year to find a building that would meet their needs and 858 Pearl Street would be an ideal location for them. th Sandra Bishop , 591 West 10 Avenue, Ward 7, understood that the councilors would be selecting a preferred alternative route for the West Eugene EmX corridor within the next nine or ten months. She believed that the final decision made by LTD on the EmX route through West Eugene’s historic neighborhoods would be one of the most significant decisions to be made. She declared that where the EmX was routed would have a profound effect on the livability and the long-term viability of the local neighborhoods. She asked the council to support the neighbors and business owners who oppose the development of EmX routes on residential streets and along the Amazon Canal. She asserted that at times the LTD staff had taken undesirable alternatives off the list only to have them “mysteriously reappear.” She asked that the council let LTD know that it was unacceptable to “destroy” close-in downtown th neighborhoods by routing EmX “inappropriately.” She asked the council to join her in opposing the use of West 13 th Avenue, the Amazon channel, and West 11 Avenue west of Garfield Street and to support the establishment of an thth EmX corridor on 6 and 7 Avenues. th Ilona Koleszar , 871 West 11 Avenue, stated that she was a member of 3RT and also sat on the West Eugene EmX Extension Corridor Committee (WEEECC). She alleged that there were detailed maps of proposed route corridors and the committee had looked at them. She wanted the council to request copies of the maps and review them. She thought the council would take away “the obvious conclusion” that the impacts of the Amazon Canal and West thth Garfield Street alternatives were “huge” compared to the impacts on 6 and 7 Avenues. She urged the council to take the time to read the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) when it was available. She also asked the council to think about the Multiple-Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) extension and what they were trying to thth accomplish with it. She believed that if they considered the MUPTE and the 6/7 Avenue alternative, they would th find them to be compatible. She asked the council to remember that 13 Avenue was “smack dab” in the middle of the neighborhood. She averred that they “kept hearing” from LTD that it was on the edge of the neighborhood. She urged them not to view it that way. Anand Keathley , 389 North Polk Street, Ward 7, noted that he represented the Whiteaker Community Council on the WEEECC. He related that Robert L. Hirsch had updated his report on peak oil in 2008 and had concluded that things could be much worse than he had initially believed. He said Mr. Hirsch thought this would be because of the tendency of nationalistic resource withholding which would cause oil prices to rise sooner than had initially been projected. He asserted that the Oregon Department of Energy Senior Energy Analyst Christopher Dymond had projected that oil peaking would occur between 2012 and 2015. He believed that with newer conclusions, it could happen more rapidly. He provided copies of both Hirsch reports on discs for the councilors. He averred that the route for the EmX needed to be chosen with both the future and present in mind. He conveyed the Whiteaker thth Community Council’s preference for the 6/7 Avenue corridor. Charles Rintalan , 391 La Casa Street, recalled past mayors of the City of Eugene and commented that there had been decisions made throughout the past that affected the well-being of Eugene residents and influenced Eugene in a thth good manner. He hoped that the council would consider the 6/7 Avenue corridor for a new EmX route. He th believed that routing it closer to the Amtrak and a dogleg closer to West 11 Avenue would be workable. He commented that he could remember the 1980s, a time when “trees were a sensitive subject.” He asserted that trains brought old growth logs through the City in the night and people were not aware of it. He averred that trees were one of the three things most important to Eugene. He alleged that the Parks Division was spraying Roundup around the bases of trees and it was killing them. MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 14, 2009 Page 3 Regular Meeting