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Ms. Ortiz was glad that Mr. Kelly raised the point that the business in question was an outright use. She <br />was concerned about the City providing staff assistance to a particular business when there were other <br />smaller businesses that could also use City help. She had reservations about the City helping some, but not <br />all, businesses. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman did not think the council had adequate time for discussion and agreed that a second work <br />session was needed. She wanted to see a range of options rather than a single option. She was not <br />convinced the proposal was the best investment for the money. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman commended Whole Foods for including embedded parking within its infrastructure. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman concurred with the remarks of Ms. Ortiz, saying that the business in question could go through <br />the normal development process without City assistance. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman said there were several things she would like to see before she could support the project. The <br />first was financial participation from the County and the General Services Administration (GSA) for the <br />project. She did not want to use any City funds outside the district. She believed there were higher <br />priorities for the money; for example, the City could still purchase the riparian area if EWEB decided to <br />move, and the Library Debt Service Fund could be used to offset the library levy. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman wanted to see the parking consolidated and that there be no publicly funded commercial spaces <br />provided. She suggested that the remainder of the City-owned property at the site be sold and the money <br />used to fund the parking structure. Ms. Bettman said the City should share the cost of the utility upgrade <br />with the developer as being commensurate with the benefit offered to the developer. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman believed that if a public parking structure that met a public need was proposed, there should be <br />a competitive bidding process. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor agreed that the business could locate without City assistance and she did not see reason to assist <br />Whole Foods. She did not think there was a great need for a new source of organic foods as there was <br />abundance of such foods. She suggested that a local organic foods store could locate at the site. She <br />questioned the size of the grocery store being proposed, as it was rather large to serve downtown residents. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor was opposed to spending money on the project unless there was public need and desire for a <br />parking structure. She thought it was great that Whole Foods was providing its own parking but questioned <br />why the City had to suddenly decide it must build a parking structure. She suggested the City could <br />accommodate The Shedd’s desire to add a music school by exchanging City property in a separate <br />transaction. She also requested another work session as well as a public hearing. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor said even if she thought the proposal was wonderful she would want to wait and see what <br />happened with the Oregon Research Institute. She suggested the City put more thought into how it used that <br />space downtown and consider other uses. <br /> <br />Mr. Papé was excited about the project and its implications for downtown. He hoped the council did not <br />“blow it,” as it had a short window of opportunity to determine how downtown looked in the future. He <br />feared that if the council missed the window, conditions in the downtown would continue as they were. Mr. <br />Papé hoped the City moved forward with the project to the degree finances were available. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council February 8, 2006 Page 6 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />