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Work Session <br />February 16, 2010 <br />Page 6 <br /> <br /> <br />could consider it at a point in the future. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />General Discussion <br /> <br /> President Brown stated that they would not be able to discuss the master planning process because of the <br />ex parte contact issue. <br /> <br /> Mr. Clark had noted that for the present the administrative arm was planned to remain on the current site. <br /> He understood that this was the sentiment of a previous board and wondered if the current commissioners were in <br />agreement with this. Mr. Berggren responded that they were continuing the conversation and were still evaluating <br />what it might cost to build an administration building. He believed they would ultimately decide to collocate the <br />administrative arm and the operation center at some point in the future, but he was not certain if they would do so <br />in five years, ten years, or more. <br /> <br /> Mr. Clark asked if the Board had made any statement on it. President Brown replied that he had <br />challenged the Board to discuss this sooner rather than later and they planned to do so. <br /> <br /> Mr. Farmer noted that he had been the lone vote in favor of moving the administrative arm to the <br />Roosevelt Boulevard site several years earlier. <br /> <br /> Mr. Berggren stated that this would be included in the discussion planned for the Strategic Planning <br />Session scheduled for March 23. <br /> <br /> In response to Mr. Clark, President Brown clarified that if EWEB declared the property surplus, the City <br />would have a 30-day right-of-refusal and then, if the City wanted the property, it would have five years to decide <br />what to do with it. <br /> <br /> <br />Acknowledgement of the Planned Retirement of Randy Berggren <br /> <br /> <br />Mayor Piercy recalled that in 1994, Fortune Magazine had featured four transformational leaders and Mr. <br />Berggren had been one of those profiled. She said his management style had been lauded for helping to guide the <br />utility through a rough patch following the dismissal of his predecessor. She underscored that he had been the <br />longest serving General Manager in EWEB’s 99-year history. She shared that under Mr. Berggren’s guidance <br />and innovation, EWEB had approved the largest bond measure in the utility’s history to help fund renewable <br />energy and conservation projects and had done so with 75 percent voter approval, and the utility continued to lead <br />the nation in energy conservation programs leaving customers with more than 60 megawatts (mW) of power, <br />equal to 20 percent of Eugene’s entire energy use. She underscored that under his leadership EWEB had become <br />one of the first utilities to invest in wind energy, had created one of the most robust Low-Income Energy <br />Assistance Programs (LIEAP) in the nation, and had launched a major effort to upgrade the City’s water and <br />electric systems. She also applauded the Roosevelt Operations Center for being a Leading in Energy and <br />Environmental Design (LEED) certified Gold project. She commended him for his leadership through the West <br />Coast energy crisis and for rebuilding reserves since then. She congratulated Mr. Berggren, on behalf of the City <br />and all of EWEB’s customers, for his leadership, vision, and dedication to keeping lights on and clean water <br /> <br />