CCMinutes - 07/14/04 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Space. She conveyed the commitment of staff and the mayor's committee to complete a comprehensive and detailed Parks, Recreation, and Open Space plan. She said it would be ready by 2006, but would not be available prior to a bond measure in 2004. Mayor Torrey called for council comments and questions. Ms. Nathanson commented that, having attended the mayor's committee, there were interesting, big-scale ideas presented to the committee. She recommended that staff choose projects that would be undoubtedly included in a comprehensive plan should the council choose to pursue a bond measure in the fall. She expressed concern that existing parks needed improvement as they were showing signs of age and use. Some parks simply needed modernization. She advocated for working toward more equity as some neighborhoods were underserved, especially those in north and west Eugene, and suggested more program- ming diversity should be pursued due to the increase in mean age within the community. Ms. Nathanson opined that the needs of senior citizens were being generally ignored. Mr. Meisner thought a discussion on a fall bond measure for parks and open space without the parks master plan and how it fit with other pieces such as stream corridor acquisition or the Goal 5 inventory process was premature. He also opposed setting a bond measure into motion without a comprehensive solution for maintenance and operations. He commented that the City should not talk about building a new pool only one year after discussing the closure of an old one due to financial issues. Mr. Meisner noted that he had been lobbying the Parks and Open Space Division to replace benches in the park and a number of them had been replaced. He said part of the comprehensive planning should include such amenities. Ms. Taylor disagreed with the perception that there were more parks in south Eugene than in other neighborhoods of the city. She asserted that the City would not need to maintain open space, and this would reduce such costs. She thought the City should purchase open space and thereby preserve it. She supported sending the voters a fall bond measure to preserve land and also because she did not believe a bond measure for a new police building would be approved. Once approved, she advocated for bringing the public ;;in on the details" when planning. Mr. Kelly felt the work on a comprehensive plan was far enough along that a list of needs could be devised. He supported placing a bond measure on the ballot in the fall. He echoed Ms. Taylor's concern that there was not public support for a police measure. He said the parks bond measure had enjoyed 72 percent support in a recent survey. He added that land costs were rising and the amount of land available was disappearing. He circulated a %traw man" list that was a compilation of emails he had received from Art Farley, Steve Johnson, and Roxie Cuellar of the mayor's committee. Mr. Pap6 was undecided about what direction to take. He expressed his unequivocal support for parks in Eugene, calling it a service that serves more citizens than any other. He related that the council had, in the past, indicated it wanted to use the tax increment increase that came in every year to take care of the deficiency in operations and management. This had not been done. He said his support was conditioned on solving the operations and management problem. He stressed the importance of acknowledging the change in land inventory within the urban growth boundary (UGB) when land was acquired for parks purposes. MINUTES--Eugene City Council July 14, 2004 Page 6 Work Session