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10 (3) Approval of the settlement by the Bankruptcy Court. PUBLIC HEARING/APPROPRIATION : TRANSIT CENTER Mr. O'Connell said the Urba n Design Master Plan Steering Committee has been working on this project for over a year. He said one of their goals has been to create a world class plaza in front of City Hall. He said he believes that the Transit Center and plaza can be a catalyst for development. He said the cost estimates are within the amount of grant funds available. Mr. Bill Letteri, Facilities Manager, said the project components include undergrounding utilities, site grading, mall extension, transit facility, and the amphith eater. Mr. Letteri asked Council to appropriate the balance of the grant funds, to authorize WRT to proceed with design development, approve the lease with CIDA for the amphitheater, and authorize the Steering Committee to continue to oversee the design p rocess. The public hearing was opened. rd Ms. Joan Fenton, 105 3 Street, S.E., the Board of Architectural Review Committee representative on the Steering Committee, said the project has been responsive to community comments. She said she thinks it is a fantastic opportunity to help the east end of the mall, and she urged Council to approve it. She said the amphitheater is an important part of the project. She said she thinks the project has a huge amount of community support. Ms. Colette Hall, 101 R obertson Lane, said she does not think the majority of citizens th know that 7 Street will be closed and therefore she does not think the majority of the th community support the project. She asked what is going to happen with the 6 Street alley. She said she is worried that we will end up with empty retail space that will become a burden to citizens. She said she is opposed to a transit center in this location. She said she also has questions about handicapped accessibility. Mr. John Potter, 1208 Bland Circle, spoke in favor of the transit center. He said transportation is important and this will improve the experience for transit riders. He said one concern he has is that it seems to serve west bound traffic only and feels it should serve all directi ons. Mr. Bob Hodous, 1309 Lester Drive, said that this is a better concept than the previous one, but he still has substantial concerns that if we go ahead with retail the City will be competing with private development. He said he has a problem with th e location and feels it should be moved to a more central location such as the Ridge/McIntire area. He expressed th concern about cutting off access to 7 Street. He said he feels it is a misuse of funds to complete the mall with these grant funds. Mr. R obert Burke, 701 E. High Street, a member of the CHART Committee, asked how the routes will be combined with routes to Ash Lawn or Monticello and said it would be helpful to send the information to CHART. As there were no further speakers, the public hea ring was closed. Mr. David Toscano, 628 Evergreen Avenue, Chair of the Steering Committee, said the Committee has served as a liaison between Council and the public. He said several broad presentations were given and the project scaled down. He said th e design presented is a simple version and the actual design will need additional work. Mr. Caravati said that he assumes the recommendation to expand the Committee will add an architect, and Mr. O'Connell said yes. Responding to a question from Mr. C aravati, Mr. Toscano said the Committee wants to be involved in the design.