As a Eugene financial adviser and a resident of north Eugene’s Santa Clara area, Scott Sanders knows money. For several months, Sanders has analyzed how the city has used a 2006 bond measure to acquire property for parkland and open spaces.

He’s not happy with what he has found. So far, most of the funds from the $27.5 million bond measure that were identified for land acquisition have been used to acquire land near or in south Eugene.

Since 2007, the city has used the property tax-supported bond to acquire about 1,100 acres for various types of parks. Of that, 215 acres are in west and north Eugene, and 885 acres are for natural area parks in the south hills.

The latter acquisitions bolstered the city’s already large inventory of public parkland in or near south Eugene. And the south Eugene acquisition trend could become more pronounced if the City Council uses the bond to buy Civic Stadium and parcels near the Amazon headwaters.

“My biggest concern is the equitable distribution of resources in the city,” Sanders said.

City officials say there are valid reasons why 80 percent of the land purchased by the bond is on the city’s southern edge. And they say the acquisitions comply with the broadly written goals of the bond measure.

The goals are guidelines, not mandates, said Craig Carnagey, Eugene’s parks and open space director.

“We match up pretty well with fulfilling the intent of the bond,” he said.

But city officials agree that progress has been slow on another goal of the bond measure — to acquire land for neighborhood parks in various parts of the city.

Now, the City Council may tap a considerable chunk of the bond measure’s remaining $8.7 million in funds to buy Civic Stadium and, possibly, 26 acres near the Amazon Creek headwaters.

If the council uses much of the remaining bond for those purposes, city officials say, it will be more difficult to acquire land for more neighborhood parks elsewhere in the city because the city won’t have much bond money left.

A Civic lesson

The city’s $4.5 million purchase of Civic Stadium is still uncertain. The council’s offer, tentatively selected last month by the Eugene School Board, requires at least $3 million in private funds to renovate and operate the stadium before the city can buy the land in about nine months.

Some Eugene parks supporters are upset the council may use the bond measure to acquire the 10-acre stadium site near South Eugene High School. They note the acquisition of the stadium was not mentioned during the 2006 bond campaign.

“Ask yourself the following question: Did (voters) intend that any of the funds be used to acquire Civic Stadium?” Art Farley wrote Mayor Kitty Piercy and the City Council.

Farley actively supported the 2006 measure. He is the president of the Eugene Parks Foundation, which has not taken a position on using the bond to acquire the stadium.

Farley declined to be interviewed for this article. But in his February email to the mayor and council, he said using the bond to buy the stadium would be a “misappropriation” of funds.

Such an action would make residents cynical about city government and less likely to support future parks related ballot proposals, he said.

“This makes governing difficult,” Farley said. “Don’t think the silent folks aren’t watching.”

City Councilor George Brown supports using bond funds for the stadium. The city’s legal experts told the council that buying the stadium that way is allowed, he said.

“It fits the description of the bond measure,” Brown said. Civic stadium would be “a metropolitan or regional sports park that would be used for recreation.”

“It’s a legal use of the money.”

Securing the Ridgeline

The 2006 parks bond came eight years after voters approved a $25.3 million parks bond to finance the development of community and neighborhood parks, upgrade Amazon Pool, expand the Ridgeline Trail and install synthetic turf at school sports fields.

The 2006 bond measure arose from a multiyear parks planning effort involving the public that led to the Eugene Parks, Recreation and Open Space plan. The plan had several goals, including providing neighborhood parks within a half-mile of most residents.

The bond’s emphasis on land acquisition was influenced by rapidly rising real estate prices during the middle of the last decade. Parks supporters were concerned about desirable land either being acquired for development or rising values putting the land out of the city’s financial reach.

In 2006, voters were told the new bond would be used to accomplish four main things: acquire land for parks and open spaces, install synthetic turf fields at seven Eugene and Bethel school district schools, expand and continue development of Golden Gardens Park in northwest Eugene, and develop a West Eugene wetland education center.

Voters approved the measure 58 percent to 42 percent. The bond, projected to cost the owner of a $200,000 home $30 a year, gave the city the authority to spend up to $27.5 million.

Since 2007, the city has spent $17.5 million, or 64 percent of the measure. With the bond, the city has expanded and improved Golden Gardens Park, acquired land for Santa Clara Community Park next to Madison Middle School and helped install the sports fields.

But the bond’s greatest success to date has been to acquire land for natural area parks along the Ridgeline Trail corridor.

City officials estimated how much land could be bought with the bond proceeds, but the acquisitions have “wildly exceeded” those projections, said Philip Richardson, a city landscape architect.

Most of the 10 deals involved land outside the city’s urban growth boundary, which cannot be developed as easily or as intensely as parcels within the city. That made the land considerably cheaper to buy than land in Eugene, Richardson said.

In most of these cases, the city bought the land from willing sellers who wanted it to be preserved in its natural state.

A large portion — more than 500 acres — of the natural area and community park purchases in south Eugene came in two transactions in 2008 and 2010 that weren’t on the city’s radar screen in 2006.

The late developers John Musumeci and his wife, Suzanne Arlie, sold the city the land south of Lane Community College for nearly $5 million. The land is to be used one day for a park named for Arlie.

Some plans still in doubt

Yet other items on the 2006 bond measure’s original wish list remain in doubt.

The bond was expected to contribute $1.75 million toward building a West Eugene Wetland Education Center. However, the project, which depends on the help of other governments and business contributions, stalled when the recession hit two years after the bond measure’s passage.

City officials want to acquire land along the Willamette River north of Randy Papé Beltline from Delta Sand and Gravel to extend the riverbank trail to Santa Clara. The city and gravel quarry owners have been unable to reach a deal, however.

The measure also was meant to buy land for an estimated 13 small neighborhood parks throughout the city. So far, the city only has used money from the bond to acquire property for three such parks: Wildwood in north-central Eugene, Ruby in Santa Clara and an unnamed park in southwest Eugene.

It’s hard to find parcels in the right locations for sale by willing sellers at reasonable prices, Richardson said. The city already had acquired several neighborhood park sites with the 1998 bond measure, he said.

“Most of the easy-to-acquire sites are gone.”

The city also must compete with developers for the mainly flat parcels that are ideal as parks.

“It’s not just us who are interested in these sites,” Richardson said.

But city officials continue to work on potential land deals to fulfill the bond measure’s goals. They are in various stages of discussions with property owners to buy other parcels, including a handful in the north and west areas of the city.

For example, the city is interested in buying land east of the Santa Clara Community Park, which would provide access to public riverfront property on the Willamette River.

Taken together, these potential deals would come to $3 million, according to a memo from city Public Works Director Kurt Corey.

While talks to acquire riverfront land to extend the bike path north of Beltline appear to be at an impasse, Richardson said, it’s too early to say a deal is unattainable. It can take years for land deals to be completed, he said.

The dwindling pot

Parks officials say that if the bond measure is tapped for Civic Stadium or another purpose, less money would be available to accomplish the original goals of the measure, including buying additional neighborhood park land.

About $8.7 million from the bond measures remains to be spent.

If the city spent the $3 million on the potential deals and $4.5 million on Civic Stadium, it would only have $1.1 million left from the bond to spend, according to Corey’s memo.

Such a relatively small amount would prevent the city from getting close to its goal of 13 new neighborhood park sites, Richardson said.

“If Civic Stadium was not purchased, we would try to acquire additional neighborhood parks in the north and west side of the city,” he said. “Conversely, if Civic Stadium was bought, we likely would not have the money to buy additional parks.”

In recent weeks, south Eugene residents lobbied the council to use the bond funds to buy 26 acres near the Amazon headwaters so the land won’t be developed with houses.

The property owners, Martin and Leslie Beverly, are asking $2.5 million for the hilly, forested land near West Amazon Drive and Martin Street.

The council in 2008 had complied with a similar, controversial request by many of the same residents. That year, it approved buying 40 nearby acres from a developer for $1.6 million so it wouldn’t be used for housing. About a third of the purchase price, $500,000, came from the measure.

Last month, the council delayed a decision on the residents’ latest request. Councilors want to see if neighbors can find other funds, including their own, to help with the purchase.

Meanwhile, Sanders, the financial adviser from Santa Clara, said the council’s interest in buying more open space in south Eugene ignores the need to protect natural areas in other parts of town.

For example, he said, Santa Clara has Willamette riverfront land, swales and other features that should be preserved.

“Unfortunately, I think City Council members are under the impression that the only environmentally sensitive lands are in south Eugene. I disagree with that premise.”

Brown, who represents south-central Eugene on the council, said other areas of the city, including Santa Clara, are getting their share of park and open space land.

The recent land acquisitions in the south hills are justified because that’s where the natural areas in need of preservation are located, he said.

“The natural areas exist where they are,” he said. “If they were in Santa Clara, I would support acquiring property there to protect the headwaters of the Amazon (Creek). But it just so happens the headwaters of the Amazon are up on Spencer Butte.”

Follow Ed on Twitter @edwardrusso. Email ed.russo@registerguard.com.