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Ms. Bettman asked why minor amendments to the Land Use Code were not an ongoing work program item. <br />Mr. Coyle acknowledged that it was good planning practice, but it was an unfunded work task. He <br />recommended that periodic updates to the code should occur. Ms. Bettman said ~ifthey're minor, they're <br />minor," and should not be raised to the level of a high priority. She reiterated her support for the amend- <br />ment as she believed there was an %asy fix" to be achieved and the impact on the division would be <br />minimal. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson said that if councilors continued to move their favorite priorities to the top of the priority <br />list, it would create havoc within the organization. Such additions were not without their impact on City <br />resources. While she appreciated the suggestion for a supplemental budget request, she considered the idea <br />of such funding out-of-context with other City funding priorities, such as public safety. She said that the <br />funding competed for resources as well as the council and public's time. Ms. Nathanson said that the <br />problem was not just cell towers, but other devices that were placed in the right-of-way such as telecommu- <br />nication devices. She questioned why cell towers were singled out. <br /> <br />Ms. Nathanson agreed with Ms. Bettman that the solution could be a quick fix. She asked Ms. Muir if the <br />solution was so simple it could be considered a minor amendment to the Land Use Code. Was it a matter of <br />changing setbacks, and what about the other protections neighborhoods need? Ms. Muir said that was part <br />of the difficulty in determining the resources required for each project on the list. Without more background <br />on each item, it was unclear to her what issues existed at this point, and taking the subject through the public <br />process helped identify the issues involved. She said staff could start by reviewing the ordinances of other <br />communities. Ms. Nathanson pointed out the City already had protections and setbacks in its current <br />ordinance and questioned whether such review was needed. She suggested that some minor adjustments <br />were required. <br /> <br />Ms. Solomon thought the council was attempting to micromanage the division. The Planning Division had <br />presented a reasonable plan into which all councilors had input. The division had recommended that, to be <br />strategic, the council remain flexible in prioritizing and balancing resources. She believed the work program <br />did so, and in addition it left room to address emerging issues. Ms. Solomon did not intend to support any <br />additions to the work program and suggested changes could be made in the future. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ suggested that the council could identify its top five priorities and then examine the remainder of <br />the list carefully to ensure the next priorities that came to the top of the list were appropriate. He believed <br />the council had fixed the first two priorities through the budget process and thought if any changes were to <br />be the funds involved should be reallocated. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap~ encouraged the City Manager to let the council know when staff could not accomplish all the <br />council wished it to. <br /> <br />Referring to the Agenda Item Summary, Mr. Meisner found it discouraging to be told that staff could not <br />provide cost estimates or identify funding sources unless the council made that a separate work item. Mr. <br />Meisner disagreed with the manager's statement that work on the other items would occur when time and <br />resources allowed, pointing out that many of the items on the list, such as the Region 2050 study and the <br />College Hill Modem Context Statement, were underway or ongoing. He asked if that meant work was being <br />done on those efforts rather than other high priorities. Ms. Muir said that staff was essentially working <br />without a priority list and was ~all over the list," trying to accomplish many things. Mr. Meisner questioned <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 9, 2004 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />