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Responding to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Klein said if the City offered the property owner <br />substantially less money than was under discussion, that figure must be approved by the bankruptcy court. <br />He did not think the naming issue was of concern to the bankruptcy courts. <br />In response to Ms. Taylor's remarks, Mr. Bjorklund said that natural areas also required maintenance, <br />although at a lower cost than required for developed parks. <br />Ms. Ortiz asked if the City had to purchase the land for use as a park or if it could purchase the property <br />and landbank it for another purpose. Mr. Klein said he believed the City could do so, but because the <br />property would be purchased with parks bond money, the City would have to reimburse the bond for the <br />cost. <br />Mr. Brown reiterated his suggestion that the property could be a good place for UGB expansion, <br />particularly given its proximity to infrastructure and services. Mr. Bjorklund said under State law, the <br />City must first look to exception lands, and there were several such areas around Eugene. They did not <br />include the property in question. Such lands generally had a level of existing development and infrastruc- <br />ture and were smaller in size than typical rural developments. <br />Mr. Brown advocated for dropping the 20 acres on the north side of the property because of the higher <br />cost. Parks and Open Space Manager Johnny Medlin explained that staff had negotiated the addition of <br />that acreage, which the City had attempted to purchase when it negotiated the initial ridgeline trail <br />acquisition with the property owners. <br />Mr. Brown noted that City Attorney Glenn Klein had concluded that the proposal was legal even though <br />the property was not mentioned in the bond measure, and suggested that under that reasoning, the City <br />could purchase Civic Stadium because the bond measure materials mentioned a park in south Eugene that <br />included soccer and baseball fields and a park and ride. <br />Mayor Piercy did not think that spending money for parkland and open space was the same as buying and <br />fixing buildings. <br />Mr. Clark suggested the City faced a "take it or leave it deal." He reminded the council that the City <br />missed an opportunity to save money on an earlier south Eugene parks acquisition. He asked how many <br />of the 13 new neighborhood parks mentioned by Mr. Bjorklund were to be located in north Eugene. Mr. <br />Bjorklund said many were in north Eugene. Mr. Medlin concurred with a statement by Mr. Clark that the <br />City was challenged in regard to its ability to maintain existing neighborhood parks, let alone new <br />neighborhood parks. <br />Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to: 1) purchase the approximately 315 acres <br />as shown on Attachment A and as detailed in the letter of intent included as Attachment <br />B, contingent upon the inclusion of $600,000 donation previously agreed to; 2) use the <br />proceeds from the 2006 Parks, Athletic Fields, and Preservation of Open Space bond <br />measure to purchase the property; and 3) initiate the public comment period on the pro- <br />posal to name the park after Suzanne R. Arlie such that there is sufficient time for a final <br />naming decision to allow the acquisition to close on or before December 31, 2010. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Klein confirmed that the $600,000 donation must be <br />used for parks purposes, and it could be dedicated to a new Santa Clara park if the council chose. <br />MINUTES - --City Council November 8, 2010 Page 6 <br />Work Session <br />