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71. 05/02/05 Pape Fire Station #1 Construction Project: Are we on schedule and on <br />budget? What lessons have we learned? Please provide a memo. <br />Please refer to the attached memorandum from Glen Svendsen. <br />PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT <br />54. 04/25/05 Ortiz Why are we choosing to continue the Weed/Seed staff position when the <br /> grant funding ends on October 1, 2005? <br />The last year of the grant goes through the end of September 2005. After speaking with other site coordinators, <br />we expect it will take until December to do all the fmal evaluation paperwork required by the Department of <br />Justice. The budget implies that the funding will last for a longer period. The request just carries the position for <br />three additional months following the grant expiration: <br />59. 04/25/05 Kelly In the URA budget, there is $300,000 for the Parks Blocks. What is <br /> the public process to discuss the improvements and will City <br /> Council approve since it is over the $250,000 threshold. <br />This information describes how public participation will be incorporated into the proposed FY06 Park Blocks <br />improvement project. <br />The FY06 project will fund physical improvements to the City's Park Blocks that were identified as the next <br />series of priorities by the Park Blocks Planning Committee, formed in 2004. The FY06 project is expected to <br />continue the kinds of pedestrian and accessibility improvements that were recommendations of the 2000 "Park <br />Blocks Placemaking" project sponsored by the Planning and Development Department. The principle goal of <br />these "near term" projects was to improve accessibility and attractiveness of the Park Blocks to create a more <br />welcoming public space and improve the functionality of the Park Blocks as a site for a wide variety of public <br />events. <br />Public participation in the FY06 projects will have two general components. One component is to continue the <br />involvement of the direct stakeholders in defining the specific improvements to be undertaken in the project. The <br />Park Blocks Planning Committee will be reconvened to provide input and direction on specific project elements. <br />The 16-member Park Blocks Planning Committee is a combination of representatives of user groups and <br />organizations with an interest in downtown development, and City of Eugene staff from a number of different. <br />departments with programmatic responsibilities related to the Park Blocks. User groups represented are the <br />Saturday Market, Farmer's Market, the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) on behalf <br />of Mercado Latino, the Downtown Initiative for,the Visual Arts (DIVA), Oregon Festival of American Music <br />(OFAM), the Downtown Neighborhood Association and Downtown Eugene, Inc. <br />The second level of public participation will involve the Eugene Redevelopment Advisory Committee (ERAC) in <br />obtaining feedback from the larger community. One of ERAC's roles is to review and recommend Downtown <br />Urban Renewal projects. In this capacity, the ERAC will serve as the public body to review the specific project <br />design, obtain public comment and provide recommendations on the Park Blocks committee's detailed work. <br />As Councilor Kelly noted, an Urban Renewal Agency expenditure of this size requires Council approval. <br />8 <br />