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