CC Minutes - 07/10/06 Work Session

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Ms. Bettman asked if the July 12 meeting would be webcast. City Manager Taylor said the facility was not equipped for a live webcast but staff could look into the possibility of taping and rebroadcasting the meeting if that was the council’s wish. Ms. Piercy acknowledged the traffic concerns of those who worked and lived in west Eugene. She said she had made every effort to establish a collaborative process to address those issues and develop solutions. She felt that regional partners were willing to participate and expressed gratitude for that support but ODOT’s refusal to pursue a collaborative process eliminated that approach. She was prepared to support all other transportation projects and move the MTIP forward and work on traffic solutions for west Eugene. She did not agree with the LCOG board’s assertion that the MPC’s current process was not effective. Ms. Bettman urged that projects already identified to improve operational efficiency and safety in west Eugene be built as soon as possible. She said the WEP dispute had been a distraction from reducing congestion and increasing safety and traffic flow in that area. She asked if adoption of the MTIP with the WEP included would result in construction in about three years. Mr. Schoening said the schedule was based on an ODOT status report that indicated if a record of decision was submitted to FHWA in mid-December 2006 there would be two years of additional right-of-way acquisition and design, with construction as soon as three years. Ms. Bettman observed that ODOT was presupposing that the record of decision recommendation would be the preferred WEP alignment. She asked if another vote would need to be placed on the ballot if the alignment proposed by FHWA was selected. City Attorney Glenn Klein said a vote would only be necessary if an alternative alignment was too far away from the general alignment that voters approved in 1986. He did not feel the FHWA proposed alignment would require a new vote. Ms. Bettman stated that LCOG was composed of 26 different entities in Lane County and the MPO was the transportation management area of Eugene, Springfield and Lane County within the urban growth boundary. She questioned how those 26 entities could determine transportation priorities for the metropolitan area if MPO delegation was withdrawn from the MPC. Byron Vanderpool of LCOG replied that when the MPO was established in 1973, the governor appointed LCOG as the appropriate regional authority; the LCOG board delegated some MPO responsibilities to the MPC and subsequent to the 2000 census, the MPC added ODOT, Coburg, and Lane Transit District as members. He said the LCOG board continued to be of the opinion that the MPC was the correct body to carry out MPO responsibilities. Ms. Solomon stated that she continued to support the WEP and hoped that one of the two proposed routes would be selected as the solution to west Eugene transportation problems. She asked if the City would be financially liable for funds already spent on the project if the WEP was not built. Mr. Schoening said he did not believe the City would be responsible as the issue was between FHWA and ODOT. He said if the environmental process was not concluded federal regulations required reimbursement of federal funds; however, a no build decision would be a conclusion to the environmental process and not trigger the reimbursement requirement. Mr. Klein added that neither of the two contracts between the City and ODOT contained provisions for repayment of expenditures. Ms. Solomon asked if the funds reserved for the WEP would be allocated to projects elsewhere in the state if there was a no build decision. City Manager Taylor replied that the Oregon Transportation Commission would reprioritize the funds based on other pending projects that were ready to move forward. MINUTES—Eugene City Council July 10, 2006 Page 3 Work Session