Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Mr. Clark commended the presentation. He confirmed with Mr. Wold that after three years the City would have no funding for operations and maintenance for its most recent acquisition and expressed concern about that. He was happy the City was able to leverage the purchase to such a degree, but was concerned that the addition of the asset would be used as justification for a new revenue stream. He preferred to make what he characterized as “hard decisions” instead. Mr. Clark recalled that $10.5 million was identified in the parks bond both for a community park in Santa Clara and for several neighborhood parks. He determined from Mr. Wold that those funds were still set aside. Mr. Medlin reported that one of the thirteen neighborhood parks identified in the bond measure had been completed. The acquisition of Suzanne Arlie Park reduced the amount of funding available. He said it was difficult to find flat in the areas identified for new parks. The City was considering the acquisition of developed properties with the intent of holding them to redevelop as parks. Mr. Clark asked if the City’s parks systems development charge was based on those planned neighborhood park acquisitions. Mr. Medlin said yes. Mr. Clark suggested that as the vision in Envision Eugene was implemented and the community grew denser, the need for neighborhood parks would be more pronounced and their acquisition would be harder and more expensive. He suggested the City consider how it might incentivize the acquisition process. He hoped the acquisition of neighborhood parks was the division’s next area of focus. Mr. Medlin said it was the division’s priority but the City’s requirement that the property sellers be willing made the task more challenging. He said the division continued to look at opportunities for grants to leverage other dollars. Mr. Zelenka asked when residents would be able to walk on the Ridgeline Trail from Lane Community College to Fern Ridge Reservoir. Mr. Wold said it was hard to predict given existing economic conditions but he believed the City had a framework in place to realize that vision. At the request of Mr. Zelenka, Mr. Medlin provided an update on the City’s attempt to acquire the Beverly property, reporting the acquisition was on hold because the City could not reach an agreement on price with the property owner. Because of other acquisitions and projects, the City lacked the money to buy the site and would have to develop a funding package to move forward. Mr. Zelenka suggested a funding approach similar to that used for the City’s newest acquisition in the system. Mr. Zelenka believed the council needed to act on the shortfall in funding for operations and maintenance before it became a crisis as well as capital for park development. He suggested the potential of a bond or a levy to address those issues. Mr. Pryor expressed appreciation for the mayor’s mention of the economic aspect of parks because he believed quality of life and quality of livelihood were connected concepts and mutually supportive. He agreed it was necessary to consider the operations and maintenance needs of City assets and acknowledged that the City felt less pressure to maintain its open spaces than it felt pressure for road maintenance. He did not want to turn away a potential asset because the City could not take care of it right now, but felt the City needed to cognizant of those obligations, particularly for neighborhood parks. Such facilities required more maintenance than some other types of parks. He believed the City was trying to strike the right balance, but that was not easy. Mayor Piercy observed that every additional City asset also had a public safety cost related to it. MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 11, 2011 Page 4 Work Session