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Ms. Ortiz encouraged staff to do what it could to facilitate continued conversation with the GSA. She said <br />that a VA hospital would be an economic development tool and would provide needed access to health <br />care for local veterans, who currently had to travel out of town. <br />Mayor Piercy suggested the tools the City used to encourage the projects under consideration could take a <br />variety of forms based on the financing the City had available. <br />Mr. Pryor speculated that the council was probably in general agreement about the City's use of funds to <br />support the development of infrastructure, but disagreement would arise when the council discussed what <br />constituted infrastructure. He might consider certain aspects of public safety to be infrastructure, while <br />others would not. He asked if removing barriers was an infrastructure discussion, or if supporting the <br />construction of an actual building was an infrastructure discussion. Mr. Pryor suggested that those issues <br />needed to be worked out, and that it was difficult to talk about the funding mechanism when the council <br />lacked clarity about what the money would be used for. He suggested the council needed to focus on the <br />strategies for downtown and associated project list and determine where the City was appropriately <br />involved. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka about the status of the Farmers Market, Ms. Nobel Flannery <br />referred him to Attachment I and acknowledged that the cost of buying the butterfly parking lot from Lane <br />County was not included. She suggested the potential of non -cash alternatives, such as a land exchange. <br />Mr. Zelenka said that the Farmers Market had indicated that an impediment to its growth was a lack of <br />space. Ms. Nobel Flannery concurred. Mayor Piercy observed that the Farmers Market vendors had not <br />been of one mind on the topic, and the City had been working with them to attempt to get to a vision for <br />the future that could be supported by most. She suggested that the City attempt to put a timeline on that <br />process. Mr. Zelenka concurred. <br />Mr. Clark believed the City Council should leverage what already worked downtown, and it was clear that <br />the Farmers Market was working. He wanted to do what was possible in regard to the market. He <br />suggested that the City Council look into the potential of providing more room for the market by further <br />investigation of Professor Mark Gillam's idea for extending the Parks Blocks to the river. <br />Ms. Taylor determined from Mr. Petry that the City charged the Farmers Market for parking and indicated <br />her opposition to that. <br />Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 7:05 p.m. <br />Respectfully submitted, <br />Jon Ruiz <br />City Manager <br />(Recorded by Kimberly Young <br />MINUTES --City Council January 11, 2010 Page 7 <br />Work Session <br />