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Mark Gillem , 1799 Fairmount Boulevard, Ms. Dobbs’ professor, advocated for the proposal put forth by Ms. Dobbs, which met many of the City’s goals for downtown, including the connection for the waterfront and an increase in downtown parks space. He said the proposed parking structure would “stand in the way” of connecting the Parks Blocks to the river. The students had put much thought into how parking could be accommodated. He offered suggestions for underground parking at a cost of about $27,000 per space. Approximately 100 to 250 spaces could be accommodated. Mr. Gilham said there was a real need for an integrated parks system, which he believed the connection would help to create. Amanda Pecretu, 1157 Monroe Street, Apartment B, expressed support for Ms. Dobbs’ proposal, saying that people found parks and open space valuable to Eugene’s quality of life. The Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Comprehensive Plan identified the area downtown as statistically underserved by parks and advocated for planning for park needs prior to need. The plan also emphasized the importance of neighbor- hood parks to mixed-use areas. Her design studio was willing to work with the City on design alternatives that accommodated Whole Foods and the public good. Jen Evans , 1591 High Street, #1, shared examples of the type of parking the students were advocating for and asked the City to work with the design studio. Mayor Piercy noted that time for the Public Forum had expired. Councilor Taylor, seconded by Councilor Bettman, moved to hear the remainder of those who signed up to speak in the Public Forum and to extend time for the meeting if necessary. Roll call vote; the vote on the motion was a 4:4 tie; Mr. Papé, Councilor Poling, Councilor Solomon, and Councilor Pryor voting no, and Councilor Taylor, Councilor Kelly, Councilor Bettman, and Councilor Ortiz voting yes. The mayor cast a vote in favor of the motion and it passed on a final vote of 5:4. Ken Avery , 2648 Harris Street, also a member of the design studio, emphasized that there were alternatives to the parking design put forth by Whole Foods that accomplished the same goals. He suggested a mixed- use development that included housing was one such approach and would result in a better gateway to downtown than a parking structure. He believed such an approach could increase land values. th Laurie Segal , 1210 East 29 Place, brought the recent annexation of the River Ridge property into the City of Eugene to the council’s attention. She said she attempted to follow the process, which she characterized as “relatively fast,” given the staff report was issued January 3, 2006, and the commission hearing occurred a month later on February 2, 2006. Ms. Segal had asked the Lane County Local Government Boundary Commission to extend the time for public comment so more information could be submitted in the record, but the boundary commission declined to do so and approved the annexation. Ms. Segal said her research brought several documents to light that raised interesting questions. She hoped the council could respond and there might be some discussion about the issue. One document was an irrevocable petition for public improvements filed in March 1988 that stated it accompanied the land and was effective for 20 years. A determination of the need to execute an annexation agreement was filed in May 1988; that was pursuant to a zone change ordinance adopted by the County that required, pursuant to the zone change approval, annexation. Ms. Segal said in May 1988, a conditional use permit was approved by the City of Eugene for the site. She did not understand why the City took that action if the property was outside the city limits. Following that, another conditional use permit for a golf course application was MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 13, 2006 Page 6 Regular Meeting