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MINUTES OF JOINT PUBLIC HEARING WITH EUGENE CITY COUNCIL, Page 8
<br />METROPOLITAN POLICY COMMITTEE, AND LANE TRANSIT DISTRICT
<br />BOARD OF DIRECTORS, FEBRUARY 8, 2011
<br />Marjorie Scott, West 6 Eugene, owns property at West 6th Avenue and Chambers Street. She
<br />opposes EmX because the plans and projections are flawed. The numbers are fluid and changing. A
<br />lot of money has been spent on educated guesses. Time is needed to match the timing of Envision
<br />Eugene. The mitigation process is a feel good process, with miles of right -of -way to be acquired.
<br />Property owners and small business owners had not had an opportunity to give their positions. She
<br />has only begun to fight.
<br />Serita Angulo, (address not given), is a Springfield resident who has been impacted by EmX. She is
<br />familiar with mass transit and supports it. In Springfield, residents and businesses lost trees, and the
<br />road is closer to fences. LTD is a spin doctor. On the drawings it looked like many trees would
<br />remain but they had been removed. The communication was presorted flyers sent to residents rather
<br />than the property owners. She would have been involved if she had been informed. Others in her
<br />neighborhood also felt that they had not been informed. She encouraged residents of West Eugene
<br />to scrutinize information received. The outcome will be the same; decisions were already made and
<br />would not change.
<br />Sue Scott, Grant Street, Eugene, lives and works in west Eugene. Six miles of trees will be cut
<br />down in the corridors, and the loss to wildlife habitat and food would be devastating. She said LTD
<br />mitigation plans should not be trusted. She does not think the loss of so many trees could be
<br />mitigated, and the threat of eminent domain will be used. The City and LTD will take the property for
<br />their plans. The West 11 Avenue option will impact all of the corridors to save six minutes on the
<br />bus. Another public hearing is needed. Eugene needed the right bus system with more, smaller
<br />buses everywhere. The lottery money should go to the schools.
<br />David Wade, Villard Street, Eugene, is a resident of Eugene who uses LTD and EmX daily. He
<br />supports EmX. He said if people thought disabled and poor people are entitled to fast, frequent,
<br />reliable transportation, they should vote for EmX. If people are willing to leave their cars at home to
<br />reduce carbon dioxide and save money on sewers, roads, and signs; and if they should get fast,
<br />frequent transportation, they should vote for it. He said we should not wait for perfection and should
<br />not study the project indefinitely. He said that if the impact on business is sufficient to defeat 30
<br />years of transportation planning, then there should also be no sanitary sewer. He thought there
<br />probably is not a viable alternative.
<br />David Kleger, Golden Garden Street, Eugene, said that he had been riding the bus for more than 30
<br />years. He rides on West 11 th Avenue daily, and there is hardly a day when there are empty seats.
<br />People bang into him because they are standing, there is not enough room, and people will not give
<br />up their seats. He regularly sees people using walkers and wheelchairs denied boarding because
<br />the bays are filled, and the situation is getting worse. There is no source of funding to pay drivers
<br />and travel times have doubled in 30 years. There are regular problems with connections, with longer
<br />wait times in the afternoons. No Build is anti - transit and anti - customers.
<br />Rich Inlove, West 4 th Avenue, Eugene, moved to Eugene from a place where rapid transit is an
<br />afterthought rather than a forethought. If EmX provides solutions to problems for the community,
<br />there will be complete streets for transit. Complete streets will facilitate multi -use, which means rapid
<br />transit, vehicular transit, and bicycle transit. This will facilitate more business, and people will be able
<br />to spend their saved money on products at local businesses.
<br />Edward Winter, Doane Road, Eugene, lives west of Eugene and takes the bus to the Fred Meyer
<br />Park & Ride. He would love to see EmX on West 11 Avenue. EmX is the perfect fix for Eugene's
<br />long -range plans. It will encourage infill development, support more multifamily housing, support
<br />economic development, bring jobs to the community, and reduce greenhouse gases. The community
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