CC Minutes - 05/14/08 Work Session

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M I N U T E S Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room – City Hall 777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon May 14, 2008 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Bonny Bettman, Andrea Ortiz, Mike Clark, Betty Taylor. COUNCILORS ABSENT: George Poling, Jennifer Solomon, Alan Zelenka. Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting of the Eugene City Council to order. City Manager Jon Ruiz distributed a news release from Arlie and Company regarding potential sites for the McKenzie-Willamette Hospital. He said staff was still pursuing the council’s direction to site a hospital south of the river. A. WORK SESSION: Water Quality Protected Waterways Therese Walch, Public Works, said the intent of the proposal was to protect, rather than enhance, water quality by filling gaps in a system of waterways identified as important to water quality. She said policy and regulatory drivers for the proposal were the Metro Plan, the Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan (CSWMP) and the Clean Water Act and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). She illustrated on a map Eugene’s position in the watershed and the waterways that DEQ had determined were not meeting water quality standards. She said Eugene was subject to a total maximum daily load (TMDL) and pollutant load reduction. Ms. Walch said the identification of waterways to protect was based on a watershed approach, beginning with the waterways identified by DEQ and adding waterways that directly drained into them and headwater streams because of their particularly sensitivity. She said those waterways were then compared to waterways that were already protected and protection gaps were identified; the proposed overlay zone would fill those gaps. She illustrated the overlay zone on a map and pointed out that the concrete-lined channel of Amazon Creek was not included because it did not meet the fundamental criteria of having a water quality function, meaning an earthen bottom and vegetative slide slopes. She said the proposal included two sets of tax lots outside City limits but inside the urban growth boundary (UGB); protection would apply upon annexation to the City. Ms. Walch explained that the basic elements of the proposal included a water quality management area comprised of the waterway channel plus a 25-foot setback from the top of the bank on either side for non- headwater streams and a 40-foot setback measured from the center of the channel for headwater streams. She said the widths were consistent with Goal 5 setbacks. She said the intent was to prevent future additional encroachment into the protected area, and to protect existing vegetation and minimize piping and other disturbance. She said Planning Commission members who voted in opposition to the proposal questioned its overall benefit and wanted to expand catch basin cleaning and restoration projects to achieve MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 14, 2008 Page 1 Work Session