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Ms. Ortiz questioned if there was a way to allow residents to adopt a park and do minor maintenance of <br />the facility. Mr. Medlin said the City had an "adopt the park" program and was open to volunteer <br />maintenance as long as the City was notified and could coordinate the effort and ensure it met applicable <br />regulations and practices. <br />Mr. Pryor expressed appreciation for the presentation. He recalled that in 2006, Mr. Medlin proposed a <br />bond measure to the council for maintenance and acquisition. The council declined to place such a <br />measure before the voters, and instead decided the proceeds of the bond would be completely dedicated to <br />acquisition. He regretted the council's failure to accept Mr. Medlin's proposal. He said the existing <br />situation was not due to staff, which had been diligent in bringing forward its best recommendations. Mr. <br />Pryor acknowledged the budgetary constraints facing the City and the difficulty of funding parks <br />maintenance given other needs. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Mr. Medlin clarified that the 2006 bond did not include any <br />funds for renovation. He reviewed the projects that would be funded with the remaining money. Mr. <br />Brown asked if there were barriers to using some of that funding to acquire Civic Stadium. Mr. Medlin <br />suggested that was a legal question and the answer was dependent on whether one could define Civic <br />Stadium as a community park. Mr. Brown observed that the council had been scheduled to discuss the <br />issue of Civic Stadium in September but that discussion had not occurred. He suggested the possibility of <br />a land exchange to free up money from the bond to buy Civic Stadium. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Mr. Penwell clarified that $3.2 million was the current <br />replacement value for the buildings at Laurelwood Golf Course. Mr. Medlin estimated the land itself was <br />valued at approximately $250,000 /acre, and there were approximately 80 acres in question. <br />Mr. Clark asked how much money was set aside from the bond for acquiring land for Santa Clara <br />Community Park. Mr. Medlin estimated $1 million was available. He said staff continued to negotiate for <br />the last 16 acre parcel. At this time, the City had acquired less than 24 acres for the park. Mr. Clark asked <br />if the City had enough money to acquire the entire acreage desired for the park. Mr. Medlin said yes; at <br />this time, the barrier to completing the park acquisition was the lack of a willing seller. <br />Mr. Clark said that during a recent Santa Clara Community Organization meeting, attendees had discussed <br />vandalism in neighborhood parks and many had volunteered to clean up and had asked how they could <br />become involved. He thought many residents would volunteer for graffiti clean -up in their neighborhood <br />parks, which would increase their sense of ownership of such facilities and perhaps decrease City costs. <br />Mr. Clark agreed that parks and recreation were important to citizens' quality of life but the City would <br />face many budgetary challenges in the next few years. He said the council needed to consider both how to <br />bridge the funding gap while reducing the cost of providing the same level of services. Mr. Clark was also <br />interested in examining under -used park assets, such as the back nine at Laurelwood Golf Course, for <br />possible disposition. <br />Mr. Zelenka reminded the council that he had proposed the work session and said it was due to his <br />concern about the status of funding for parks O &M. He contrasted the higher cost of rehabilitation to the <br />lower cost of regular maintenance and suggested the council was being short- sighted in not adequately <br />funding O &M. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 11, 2010 Page 5 <br />Work Session <br />