CC Minutes - 02/14/11 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Speaking to contentions that West Eugene EmX was unnecessary, Ms. Springall disagreed because she believed that the fixture system would draw more riders than the current system. She believed the proposed EmX extension was a worthwhile investment for both monetary and environmental reasons. Rachel Epperson, 1475 East 15` Avenue, a University of Oregon student, spoke in support of the West Eugene EmX extension because it was predicted by LTD to reduce carbon emissions, it would be extremely convenient, it would create new construction jobs, and it would be economically beneficial to Eugene. She said that the community needed to use the federal grant funding that would underwrite the costs of the route or it would be lost to other communities. She said that the extension would improve access to businesses in West Eugene and cost less annually than continuing the existing system. George Russell, 1270 Little John Lane, 4J School District Superintendent of Schools, and Colt Gill, 382 Dellwood Drive, Bethel School District Superintendent of Schools, noted the letter they had submitted to the council earlier. Superintendent Russell spoke of the difference between a May and November election date and said the issue was preventing harm. He anticipated his district would send layoff letters the next week to more than 100 teachers and would discuss furloughs of 10 to 13 days in 2011 -12. Class sizes would increase. A May measure would allow the districts to mitigate the impacts. Superintendent Gill referred the council to Attachment F in the packet, which identified what would happen under each scenario. Charles Moss, 4255 Berrywood Street, was opposed to the tax. He believed the tax was a form of class warfare. He noted that he would not have to pay the tax because he was retired. His neighbor would have to pay but the neighbor next to that person would not because they were not a Eugene resident, although both neighbors had children in the same Eugene school. Given current unemployment rates, Mr. Moss suggested that soon Eugene would not need an EmX system if it kept taxing people. He predicted that people would not build in the urbanizing area because they would have to annex into the city and pay the tax. He said that proponents for the tax stated it was fair but they also acknowledged that the final form the tax would take was not known. Mr. Moss questioned how the council could vote on a tax without more information. Mr. Moss suggested dialogue between the council and residents would be more helpful than the format established for the forum. Jay Namyet, 2770 Capital Drive, advocated for a City income tax for schools because local schools were facing a crisis of epic proportions and something must be done now. The school funding problem was nationwide and it would take years for change to come. He did not have that much time because his daughter was in school now so money was needed now. He supported a May ballot to get the funds into teachers' hands now. He asked the council to pay consideration to the details of the proposed tax, because he did not think the community would solve its problems with taxes directed only at higher paid individuals. Pauline Hutson, 1025 Taylor Street, questioned the suitability of West 11"' Avenue for the multi -story mixed -use development envisioned there. She believed that such construction would be a huge risk and bad investment and expressed concern about the impact of construction on wetlands and Amazon Creek. She said that redevelopment efforts such as Broadway Place had failed and she criticized the appearance of recent developments on West 11` Avenue. She advocated for creation of a design review board to avoid such development in the future. MINUTES — Eugene City Council February 14, 2010 Page 5 Regular Meeting