Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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determined from Mr. Schwetz that the local match would be about 20 to 40 percent of that total, and indicated LTD intended to seek State funding for the match. Mr. Brown observed that the cost involved was a lot of money to save three minutes of travel time. th Mr. Brown agreed with the mayor and other councilors about the West 7 Place option, and suggested that the area might further develop if LTD ran an EmX route through the area. He acknowledged that the businesses and th jobs that people were trying to reach now, existed on West 11 Avenue. Mr. Brown noted the e-mail sent to the council by Ilona Kolezar of the West Eugene EmX Extension Steering Committee proposing that Pearl and Oak streets be added back to the options under consideration, and he supported the suggestion because of the potential loss of parking spaces on Lincoln and Charnelton streets. Ms. Solomon determined from Mr. Schwetz that the option costs included the costs of property acquisition. She further determined from Mr. Schwetz that even though it did not have an elected board of directors, LTD was allowed to condemn property. Ms. Solomon expressed concern that a non-elected board could initiate condemnation of private property. thth Mayor Piercy said while she wanted to retain the West 7 Place option, she thought that West 11 Avenue, was the option that reached the most businesses and jobs, and was closest to the existing neighborhoods. She said the farther a resident was from the route, the less easy it was to use the system. She reminded the council of the MAX system in Portland, which the community had initially resisted, but which she asserted had been “proven to be good to businesses and good for mobility.” Mayor Piercy hoped that at some future point the community had the capacity to consider the connection between the rail and bus systems. She said that the community needed to prepare for the needs of both today and tomorrow. Mr. Pryor wanted to avoid an artificial conflict between the benefit to business and the benefit to the public. He th urged a balanced approach as LTD moved forward. He encouraged LTD to consider a West 11 Avenue alternative, that did not require a lot of infrastructure. That possibility was creating considerable concern among thth West 11 Avenue business owners. He wanted to believe that LTD could provide the service along West 11 Avenue, without the need to construct infrastructure that disrupted business, and asked LTD to keep that in mind as it explored that corridor. Mr. Clark was also interested in hearing more about the no-build option in terms of its impact on people. Mr. Clark was not convinced that it was wise for LTD to make such a heavy capital investment when the organization was facing operational funding shortfalls. He acknowledged the funding streams involved were different. He welcomed more information about the concept that EmX would lead to smaller operational budgets, as Mr. Pryor’s remarks seemed to suggest. Mr. Clark asked if LTD had secured funding for the West Eugene EmX extension. Mr. Schwetz said that LTD had yet to begin the actual grant application process. It had to go through the locally preferred alternative process before the Federal Transit Administration would consider a grant application. Mr. Clark asked if LTD would expect the region to fund the system if that funding was not forthcoming. Mr. Eyster assured Mr. Clark that would not happen. Mr. Zelenka said LTD’s goal was that the system would be completely funded by the State and federal MINUTES—City Council April 14, 2010 Page 4