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Priscilla Gould, no address given, Executive Director of United Way, said the economy had a ~huge" bearing on people's ability to support basic needs. Those most in need were most affected when good jobs and benefits were lost. Families suffer, and those most frail paid the price as the service system was stretched %eyond the breaking point." Ms. Gould applauded the council for paying attention to the economy, pointing out a strong vibrant economy was important to all, not just a concern of business. Beth Gerot, 1270 River Road, supported the council's adoption of the report of the Mayor's Committee on Economic Development. She said the committee's recommendation for a commercial/industrial study was an important step to determining whether the community could meet its future growth needs. She noted her ownership of a local business, which depended on other businesses. Wise land use decisions were critical to determining how growth occurred, and to the community's quality of life. As a member of the 4J School Board member, Ms. Gerot was aware of the relationship between a strong economy and strong schools that could provide educational programs to help students fill the jobs of tomorrow. Healthy and prosperous families send healthy students to school. She commended the City on its renewed commitment to economic development, and urged the council to accept the committee's recommendations. Rick Duncan, 1850 Taylor Street, an appraiser and author of a previous lands study, urged the council to fund a new commercial/industrial lands study to provide the community with updated inventory information. He said many changes occurred since the last study was conducted, including the identification of wetlands and the removal of land from the inventory due to development. Mr. Duncan suggested the inventories were nothing more than data collection for the community's long-term planning processes. He called for other studies to help the community better understand its land inventory. Mr. Duncan said consensus was frequently difficult to reach in Eugene about such issues, and suggested a third-party approach would be useful. He submitted the State's proposed methodology for such studies for the council's background and suggested it be employed locally. Michelle Howard, 25371 Perkins Road, spoke in support of the establishment of a local enterprise zone. She shared the results of a study done by students in the Economics Department at the University of Oregon, which indicated such zones helped small companies to grow faster. She said the study was available online. Steve Dignam, 250 West Broadway, Suite 234, a member of the Lane County Planning Commission, shared information from a recent City staff presentation to the commission, at which City staff indicated it could not say if adoption of the Natural Resources Study would have an impact on the supply of commercial and industrial lands because it lacked factual data regarding that impact. He recommended that an inventory of those lands be done to assist in better land use planning. Milton Ohler, 111 7th Avenue, a commercial real estate broker, said he worked with companies that had trouble finding commercial and industrial sites, which suggested to him there was a lack of such sites. He suggested that some people were afraid of the results of such a study. He also advocated for a study of the community's industrial and commercial lands. Pat Hocken, President of the Lane Transit District (LTD) Board of Directors, expressed the board's support for the recommendations of the Mayor's Committee on Economic Development. She spoke of the benefits of transit to the local business community, noting that local payroll taxes supported the majority of district operations. In addition, self-employed businesses owners contributed to the tax. Ms. Hocken said the creation and relocation of businesses to the Eugene-Springfield area would increase district revenues, MINUTES--Eugene City Council August 9, 2004 Page 2 Regular Session