Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

Home Browse Search

Ms. Taylor said the City owed the representatives a debt of gratitude. She did not think the City had done enough to foster the sister city relationships and instead had depended on volunteers to do so. She believed her experience in Katmandu demonstrated that Eugene’s sister cities appreciated their relationships with Eugene. She said the program enriched the community and was also its contribution to world peace. She thanked the sister city committee representatives. Ms. Ortiz said she had firsthand knowledge of the educational value of the program through her children’s experience with the Irkutsk Sister City Committee while students at Fairfield Elementary School, and she thanked the sister city committee representatives for their efforts. Mr. Zelenka also thanked the sister city committee representatives. He said such programs made the world a smaller place by bringing people together and bridging cultural divides. He shared in Mr. Pryor’s hope that the City could offer more financial support to the program in the future. Mr. Ramsey shared a proposal for local government officials to share their knowledge with their counter- parts in Katmandu. C. WORK SESSION: Ridgeline Acquisition Proposal from Arlie & Company The council was joined by Parks Planning Manager Neil Björklund, who provided a brief PowerPoint presentation highlighting the details of a proposal to acquire a property located along the ridgeline in south Eugene owned by Arlie & Company. Ms. Ortiz was not opposed to the purchase but was not convinced of its wisdom. She questioned if it would be better if the City waited for Arlie & Company to go through the bankruptcy process first. Mr. Björklund did not know. He said the only sure information the City had was the offer on the table. Ms. Ortiz asked if the property had been evaluated by a third party. Mr. Björklund said Arlie & Company provided a 2008 appraisal. Ms. Ortiz acknowledged the City had the money to purchase the site. However, she was concerned about the lack of parks in the Santa Clara area and the fact the City had made promises to Santa Clara residents it had been unable to keep. She was also concerned about the ongoing maintenance costs for a new park. Mr. Clark perceived the proposal as an opportunity to buy parkland that could benefit future generations at a very low price but he shared many of Ms. Ortiz’s concerns. He determined from Mr. Medlin that $1 million had been spent to acquire the first 20 acres of the Santa Clara Community Park. Mr. Clark said the City had been clear about its intent to purchase land for a community park when the council referred the 2006 Parks and Open Space (POS) measure to the voters. He did not want to threaten the credibility the City had built with the streets maintenance measure. Mr. Clark wanted to ensure the City held aside at least $1.25 million of the money from the POS bond to acquire the remaining 20 acres needed to complete the Santa Clara community park. Mr. Clark was opposed to using General Fund capital dollars for the purchase at a time when the economy was down. MINUTES—City Council November 8, 2010 Page 4 Work Session