Mayor breaks tie on charity home.

Byline: Jack Moran The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Three members of the City Council proved Monday that they aren't extreme pushovers when it comes to annexing individual properties just outside the city limits.

Councilors Joe Pishioneri, Christine Lundberg and Anne Ballew all voted against allowing building permits to be issued for a new home that will be donated to a family facing a series of medical challenges.

But the trio's attempt to derail the project failed when Mayor Sid Leiken cast a rare tie-breaking vote in favor of the plan, which was initiated by the local Home Builders Association and modeled after the ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Councilors John Woodrow, Tammy Fitch and Dave Ralston all voted to allow construction of the house to proceed.

Leiken said it was just the fifth time in six years as mayor that he was forced to break a council deadlock.

The councilors who opposed the builders' request said they did so mainly because they disapprove of annexing properties into the city on a lot-by-lot basis.

"I think the project is noble - how can you think negatively of that?" Pishioneri said. "It just appears that we're doing a special favor for an organization. The (HBA is) a fine organization, but I want to be careful to not set a precedent."

Pishioneri and Lundberg both said they also questioned the urgency of the request. Monday's meeting, which was held specifically to consider the issue, fell during the volunteer council's summer recess. The break was supposed to last Aug. 1 through Sept. 10.

Local builders say they want to get started on the project before the rainy season begins. They hope to break ground on the new, 3,400-square-foot house in the Hayden Bridge area by early September, said Ed McMahon, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Lane County.

The property on Lomond Street where the Reynolds family's home will be built lies in a pocket of north Springfield located inside the urban growth boundary but outside the city limits. Several residences there now are served by on-site septic tanks, but state administrative rules require that any new home built within 300 feet of a public sewer system must be connected to that system. The Reynolds' house will be about 200 feet west of a city-owned sewer line, and must be annexed in order to receive public sewer service. An annexation application must still be approved by the Lane County Boundary Commission, but that is considered a formality.

Local businesses are donating most of the materials and labor required to complete the construction project.

The Reynolds family now lives in a small house in east Eugene. The home is filled with medical supplies for Alan and Gail Reynolds' 17-year-old son, Jason, who is fed through a tube in his stomach and requires round-the-clock care for a rare disorder called muscle-eye-brain disease, which is similar to muscular dystrophy.

Alan had open-heart surgery in late 2004, a few months before his wife underwent emergency back surgery. Gail's father, Jack Morton, lives in a trailer on the property. Morton, 82, needs oxygen to help him breathe and was hospitalized a year ago with near-fatal pneumonia.

McMahon said he was pleased to gain approval to build the Reynolds family a home that will include a "makeshift hospital" for Jason.

"We got the OK and we're ready to go," McMahon said. "But I'm disappointed that the mayor had to break a vote on a project like this."

Alan Reynolds also attended Monday's council meeting, and was all smiles afterward.

"I have no complaints," Reynolds said. "I'm delighted."

A donation fund for the project has been established at SELCO Community Credit Union. Tax-deductible contributions can be made at any SELCO branch.