Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Ms. Ortiz wanted to see the data to determine whether this ordinance should be maintained. She was not interested in extending the ordinance beyond the report from the Police Commission unless it was apparent it was effective. Mr. Zelenka said many things had happened in downtown that impacted public safety during the last two years, including having more officers downtown. He asked if the impacts of individual actions could be evaluated to determine their effectiveness. He wished to see data on who had been excluded based on the various offence classifications. Ms. Piercy asked Chief Kerns to explain why he had requested the extension of the ordinance. Chief Kerns explained coordinating the calendars of the City Council and Police Commission had made it difficult to process the ordinance as quickly as he had hoped. Mr. Clark thanked Chief Kerns for doing the ordinance work with an understaffed department. He had heard preliminary information related to the successes of the ordinance and the relatively few people who had gone through the court system had been excluded. He noted there had been no complaints lodged with the Police Auditor resulting from enforcement of the exclusion zone. He averred the ordinance helped to make downtown safer based on the information he had seen. Mr. Poling said before he could make a decision regarding extending the ordinance, he wanted to have all of the information available. He thought extension of the sunset was not a bad idea because the council did not yet have enough information to make a good decision. The ordinance had not been established to deny peoples’ civil rights, but to pinpoint criminal activity. 5. ACTION: ADOPTION OF Resolution 5012 Authorizing the Institution of Proceedings in Eminent Domain for the Acquisition of Property Interests for the West Bank Willamette River Pedestrian/Bicycle Extension Path Project. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to adopt Resolution 5012, authorizing the institution of proceedings in eminent domain for the acquisition of property interests (tax map 17-03-18-00 lot 699 and tax map 17-04-12-40 lot 800) for the bicycle pedestrian path extension. Mr. Poling felt inclusion of the bicycle path was beneficial for everyone, but he had a problem with using the heavy hammer before it was needed. The action was premature and he would not support the motion. Ms. Piercy asked Mr. Ruiz why eminent domain was being used at this time. City Engineer Mark Schoening said it was important to encumber construction funding available through the federal transportation enhancement program, with a target date of September 2, 2010. Ms. Solomon echoed Mr. Poling’s sentiments, and did not believe condemnation was appropriate. She did not believe the property owner, Delta Sand and Gravel, would jeopardize the project, and asserted the City should continue with the path of negotiation rather than condemnation. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 26, 2010 Page 7