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about locating in Eugene. He thought the committee needed to talk about that issue, as well as <br />land use, transportation, and other related tissues. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey raised the issue of the urban growth boundary (UGB) and noted the new prison <br />would bring the UGB of Junction City within 1-1/2 miles of the UGB of Eugene. He suggested <br />the outcome of the prison siting process had the opposite impact of what UGBs were intended to <br />accomplish, which was to leave open spaces between communities. He also noted the issue of <br />the West Eugene Parkway and, while he acknowledged differences of opinions, suggested that <br />the community needed to discuss how to proceed with the parkway from this point forward. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said if the community could not find a way to address economic development <br />issues, it would continue to deal with such issues on an ad hoc basis, and he did not think that <br />represented the predictability needed by businesses. He said that in addition, the community's <br />neighboring cities needed to know what Eugene intended to do and plan accordingly. For <br />example, if Eugene intended never to expand its UGB, it should make that clear to those <br />communities so they could consider the ramifications of that in their planning. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey called upon the committee to forward a meaningful and specific recommendation <br />to the City Council for consideration in fall 2004. He emphasized the importance of jobs to the <br />community, and said he wanted the community's children to. be able to afford to live in the city. <br />He said that there were many competing interests the committee would have to balance. Mayor <br />Torrey wanted to see the development of a planning strategy that would allow Eugene residents <br />to agree on what businesses they wanted to see in the community. He asked the committee to <br />consider how economic development could be made to work better in Eugene, what steps were <br />needed to achieve improvement, and how the community could foster economic development <br />and still retain its quality of life. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly reviewed the council-adopted charge of the committee, which was to provide for <br />reviews of past economic development strategic plans, identification of elements that are <br />relevant today, and identification of gaps and areas of opportunity for improvement. He noted <br />the City Council's direction that the committee's recommendations be approved by a three- <br />quarter majority of members present. <br /> <br /> 3. Introduction of Staff <br /> <br />Staff and Mr. Moore of ECONorthwest, consultant for the committee process, were introduced. <br /> <br /> 4. Overview of the Process <br /> <br />Mr. Coyle observed that most municipal planning and development departments had core staff <br />committed to redevelopment and economic development. That was not the case in Eugene, <br />where there was no dedicated economic development staff and staff's involvement in economic <br /> <br />MINUTES--Mayor's Committee on Economic Development March 8, 2004 Page 2 <br /> <br /> <br />