CC Minutes - 05/24/10 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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1957. He had also observed that the buses were not full. He echoed concerns expressed that the buses would be obsolete before the system could be put into place. Robin Scott, 2365 Polk Street, Ward 1, related that she kept chickens. She had started the Friendly Neighbors Farmers Group, which now numbered 335 members. She estimated that a third of the members had backyard chickens and the majority of those were in violation of the two- chicken rule. She said one of their annual activities had been the Friendly Neighborhood Tour de Coop, a tour of backyard chicken coops. She noted that they had held the tour in April and more than 200 people had attended it. She believed the swell in interest in backyard chickens was due to the need for economic self - sufficiency; due to economic conditions and the recession many were stretching budgets by supplementing their pantries with backyard gardens and chickens. She said like many neighborhoods, the Friendly Area Neighbors face food security concerns. She related that approximately half of the public school attendees qualified for the free or reduced -cost lunch program. She cited 2009, Lane County Foods Assessment findings, which included that one in five families in Lane County relied on Food for Lane County for food assistance and almost one -third of Lane County's children had eaten from an emergency food box. She asked that the limit on backyard chickens be suspended until the council could consider recommendations from the new Eugene Food Security Scoping and Resource Plan. James Lewandoski, 1353 Arthur Street, wished to speak about the potential EmX route option along the Amazon Canal. He asked that they please not urbanize the bicycle path. He believed if this option went forward the City would later regret it. He said in order to get to the bike path, one had to ride through a neighborhood that was quiet and pedestrian- based. He lived in the area and noted that one neighbor had lived there for 34 years. He under- scored that the quiet, which would be destroyed by an EmX route, was the main reason people resided there. George F. Cole, 2760 West 11`" Avenue, Ward 8, noted that he was a lifelong resident of Eugene. He stated that Cole's Furniture had been a family business at the 11th Avenue location for over 45 years. He averred that the LTD buses caused a lot of damage to the roads and questioned who had to pay for the damages. He cited other streets that he believed were damaged by the buses. He was concerned about the potential extension of an EmX route to the west, both for the damage he believed it would cause his business and the damage to area residents. He asserted that his family and business had "already been gored" by LTD with the City's cooperation for $160,000, for a Park and Ride Station. He related that an LTD board member had commented at a meeting that the property could be resold if a Park and Ride Station was not successful. He did not think LTD should be in the business of property management and development. He noted that he had seen four cars at the Park and Ride Station earlier in the afternoon. Steve Mertz, 1761 Lawrence Street, said he was a city resident, outdoor enthusiast, and the owner of the Laughing Planet Cafe. He opposed the decision to block bicycles from the Ribbon Trail. He had formed an advocacy group to politically organize the mountain bike community of Eugene. He asked the members who were present to stand and they did. He had heard the opinion voiced from other mountain bikers that there needed to be more trails closer to town and trails that were more accessible to the younger generation of mountain bikers. He agreed with this. He believed that the Ribbon Trail was a place that would get youngsters excited about being out in the woods -- it did not have a lot of hills. He said it was also the only trail connection to the Ridgeline Trail system, which did allow mountain bikes. He related that it was their belief that the decision to ban bicycles had come down to 300 feet of gravel road and 300 feet of single -track trail in Hendricks Park, a park where no bicycles were allowed off -road. He explained that, to them, this was one - twentieth of the trail and unacceptable. He expressed their willingness to discuss this with anyone who was opposed to their efforts and to explain why opening the Ribbon Trail to them was a good idea. He conveyed their request for the City Council to bring changes to the Hendricks Park Master Plan to allow bicycle access to that one portion of the Ribbon Trail. They also requested that the council direct the Parks and Open Space Planning Manager to expedite the review of the Ribbon Trail as part of a system -wide trails review in order to promote more bicycle access to the Ridgeline Trail system. MINUTES— Eugene City Council May 24, 2010 Page 4 Regular Meeting