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In response to Councilman Ruskin's questions regarding the impact of the loss of that detour on businesses on Jefferson and the downtown area, Mr. LaVelle said it was very difficult to tell. There would be an inconvenience of using Maple to Broadway to Jefferson. But it was too difficult to predict the economic impact. C. Next steps Engineer Lee described the community task force that had worked with the project and recommendations including Ken McCoy, Pat Dixon, Lisa Dondick, Guy Bennett, Dave Irmer, Dan Stratton, Nick Watry, Fen Acton, Mike Bursack, and GJ. Scove. Engineer Lee said that basically they were supportive and the biggest advocate was David Irmer of Sequoia Station who had concerns but was satisfied with the recommendations. He also described the increased signs and mailers regarding the detour. Councilwoman Howard and Councilman Ruskin expressed concerns regarding the impacts of the new detour on the small businesses on Jefferson and around the post office. Councilwoman Howard asked staff to let those businesses know that they are very important to the City, let them know what was being planned and listen to their suggestions. Councilman Ruskin stated his concerns regarding the lack of information on the economic impact on the businesses in that area and said he would find it difficult to vote on this issue without that data and without knowing how those businesses felt about this issue. Community Development Director Nelson reminded everyone that any detour would bring traffic inconveniences, and agreed with Councilwoman Howard that all downtown businesses needed to be involved in the promotion of the detour. Engineering Manager Patterson advised that the proposed deletion of the Wilson Street detour would actually provide more parking for customers of Jefferson businesses. Mayor Hartnett advised that eliminating the $600,000 Wilson detour still left the project short by about $900,000. In response to Council questions, Manager Patterson said there was no way to estimate the economic impact on businesses in that area, and in fact, it may help some businesses economically. Mayor Hartnett said the report indicates that the "detour plan is not now static." If the Wilson Street detour was eliminated there would be flexibility in developing other detours, and ways to highlight other routes to reach the downtown area. MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 Page No. 140 Special Council Meeting Minutes March 18, 1996 Page 3