Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Joshua Keim , 55 West Broadway, discussed the issue of homelessness in the downtown core and the council’s failure to find a remedy. He reported that he had received a notice of civil penalty for the trash and debris that accumulated on his doorstep in the amount of $400 per day. He had to pay a $250 fee to appeal the penalty. Mr. Keim issued a “Notice of Failure” to the City Council. He said he had been sweeping his own and his neighbors’ sidewalk every ten for the last ten years and found it upsetting to have to do so. He encountered feces, spray painting, and vandalism in downtown. He said the bar scene downtown contributed to the overall chaos of the area. He asked the City to stop “passing the buck to local business owners” and to pick up the trash. th Charles Hibberd , 5555 West 11 Avenue, said that LTD indicated that it was building the EmX system to accommodate the 30,000 it expected to move to Eugene-Springfield in the next 30 years. He suggested that if ten percent of those people used the bus, LTD would have 3,000 more riders at a cost of $83,333 per rider. He questioned the population forecasts used by LTD. Mr. Hibberd commended the existing bus service and suggested that population growth would increase ridership on the existing system. Mayor Piercy closed the Public Forum. Mayor Piercy thanked Drix for his comments about Veterans Day and thanked the community’s veterans for their service to their country. She also thanked all those who spoke, in particular the University of Oregon students for offering a forum for community dialogue. Councilor Clark thanked all those who spoke for what he considered exceptionally productive testimony. He continued to be concerned about the proposed West Eugene EmX route and was leaning toward the “no build” option because of the route’s disproportionate impact on businesses. Councilor Clark was also troubled by the potential that an unelected body such as the LTD Board of Directors could authorize condemnation of private property, as well as by the lack of sustainable funding for system operations. thth Councilor Clark tended to prefer the 6/7 avenue option if the system was to be built because of Ms. Butler Boyson’s comments that one did not need to have a car to be a consumer. He understood that businesses on th West 11 Avenue needed consumers, but most were coming in cars and would be for some time. He suggested the value of such a system was to move employees rather than consumers. Councilor Clark said th that West 11 Avenue was currently configured as a retail corridor, and if the City was to build more areas for jobs, that should be part of its considerations. For those who spoke to the issue of zoning, Councilor Clark said that Eugene was planning transportation corridors that would be well-served by transit and dominated by three- and four-story buildings. He th suggested that the question to be answered was whether West 11 Avenue was an appropriate transit corridor. Councilor Poling thanked Drix for his service to his country. Councilor Poling was unsure what property Mr. Benson was referring to in his remarks. He clarified his earlier comments about rezoning, which was a response to whether the question of the route was a rezoning issue. That put a spin on the subject by suggesting the City was piggybacking on the project in a back door th manner to do major rezoning on West 11 Avenue. Councilor Poling said the question for him was whether the route would be built and where. He took things one issue at a time. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 8, 2010 Page 6 Regular Meeting