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City Manager Ruiz asked the members of the CRG to comment. Mr. Aspegren, chair of the CRG's <br />Economic Development Subcommittee, spoke of the challenge of determining future demand for <br />commercial and industrial land and said the subcommittee continued to discuss the available information. <br />Ms. Prichard underscored the importance of understanding what the inventory numbers meant and their <br />accuracy. She said a technical advisory committee formed by the CRG would examine the numbers <br />produced through the Eugene Comprehensive Lands Assessment (ECLA). <br />Ms. Potter emphasized the need for flexibility, particularly for industrial lands, where existing small <br />parcels might not be suitable for industrial use but could be suitable for commercial or residential use. <br />Mr. McMahon expressed appreciation for the process and had faith it would succeed. <br />Ms. Taylor referring to the strategies developed by the joint elected officials' committee and emphasized <br />the importance of the education system to strategies 3 (Invest in tomorrow's talent) and 5 (Identify as a <br />place to thrive). Mayor Piercy said that the issue of education was threaded throughout the committee's <br />discussions. <br />Mr. Clark referred to the goals of the joint elected officials committee and expressed hope it did not take <br />ten years to increase employment levels. He called for more focus on how to reduce unemployment on an <br />accelerated rate. <br />Mr. Clark recalled that early in his service as a councilor he had advocated for beginning a process to <br />rezone industrial acres that could not be developed because of wetlands. He wanted to ensure that the <br />impact of wetlands was accounted for so that those acres were not counted as developable when they were <br />not. He suggested the State might be willing to give the community the ability to add larger parcels to the <br />industrial inventory so the City could have more buildable acres in its mix. <br />Ms. Ortiz agreed with Mr. Clark about the importance of ensuring that land impacted by wetlands was not <br />counted as developable land. She expressed concern that the process did not speak to the importance of <br />encouraging blue collar work. She had talked to railroad executives who expressed their commitment to <br />bringing the railroad back to a higher function. She did not want to lose sight of that because the jobs <br />provided by the railroad were family -wage jobs that could be done by youth who were not college- bound. <br />Mr. Zelenka suggested the potential of a strategy whereby the City began to rezone some of the smaller <br />industrial parcels to commercial zoning. While he did not want to see the City embark on what he termed <br />the "Golden Ring" of trying to attract large industrial firms, he understood the need for larger industrial <br />parcels of 25 acres or more and asked if the CRG subcommittee had discussed that issue and how many <br />parcels were needed. <br />In response to Mr. Zelenka's remarks, City Manager Ruiz recalled that Rusty Rexius of Rexius Forest <br />Products had shared with the CRG that his company had sought to relocate its operation from the current <br />location to another site for some time, and he had found there was no land available of the needed size. <br />He said the question was not just one of attracting outside companies but of accommodating the growth of <br />local firms. <br />Ms. Potter indicated to Mr. Zelenka that the discussion of large industrial parcels in terms of their number, <br />size, and location was occurring. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council December 15, 2010 Page 3 <br />Work Session <br />