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Mayor Piercy believed there were many elements to the transportation discussion and suggested the <br />council receive an update about the work the Oregon Department of Transportation was doing in regard to <br />flexible transportation planning. <br />Ms. Ortiz hoped staff was considering the redevelopment potential at the existing PeaceHealth campus <br />site. <br />Mr. Brown expressed concern about the level of consistency in the projections. He believed they were <br />inaccurate and largely represented guess work but the council would rely on them to determine how many <br />acres of land were needed to meet the demand for projected employment. He suggested that staff use <br />current employment rates and current job categories to serve as a baseline for the sake of consistency. <br />Assistant City Manager Medary acknowledged Mr. Brown's concerns and the fact that numbers had been <br />drawn from different sources. She said staff would attempt to tie that information together in a way that <br />made sense. <br />Mr. Farr emphasized the importance of intervention tools to offset the fact that construction was currently <br />not very attractive due to its cost and the relatively small return on investment. <br />Mayor Piercy suggested the market rather than the City would drive what development occurred in the <br />community. The City could put tools in place to facilitate private investment but ultimately business <br />owners would decide their properties' destiny. She acknowledged that the City's existing unused <br />industrial properties were too small and did not match the needs of companies. <br />Mayor Piercy reminded the council that much of what staff presented was embedded in the Joint Elected <br />Officials Regional Prosperity Plan, which the City had developed in conjunction with its jurisdictional <br />partners, and the employment information the council received was predicated on the region rather than <br />the metropolitan area. <br />Mr. Brown requested clarification about the figures being presented to the council. <br />Mr. Brown suggested that flat rental rates might not be good for developers but they were good for <br />retailers and small businesses as well as their customers. <br />Responding to a question from Ms. Ortiz about the impact of waiving systems development charges for a <br />business over 70,000 square feet, Assistant City Manager Medary said staff was looking into that and <br />would be prepared to talk about it soon with the council. <br />Mayor Piercy adjourned the meeting at 1:21 p.m. <br />Respectfully submitted, <br />Beth Forrest <br />City Recorder <br />(Recorded by Kimberly Young) <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council February 8, 2012 Page 3 <br />Work Session <br />