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<br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />Work Session <br />McNutt Room – City Hall <br />777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon <br /> <br /> January 28, 2009 <br /> 12:00 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Mike Clark, George Poling, Betty Taylor Alan Zelenka, Jennifer <br />Solomon, George Brown <br /> <br />City Councilor Alan Zelenka called the work session meeting of the Eugene City Council to order at 12:00 p.m. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka commented that Mayor Kitty Piercy was lobbying on behalf of the Eugene City Council at the Mayors’ <br />Day Conference in Salem, Oregon. <br />A. WORK SESSION – Water Quality Protected Waterways <br />Water Resource Manager Therese Walch briefly noted the discussions and staff actions previously presented to the <br />council regarding the protection of certain waterways within the City of Eugene. Ms. Walch noted that she had <br />returned to the council to present staff’s findings regarding the possible purchase of conservation easements as <br />opposed to the application of regulatory protections. <br />Ms. Walch noted that the cost estimates for the proposed conservation easements had been included in their agenda <br />packets and would be discussed later in the meeting. <br />Ms. Walch proceeded to give a detailed presentation regarding the background of the local waterways that would be <br />affected by the proposed conservation easements as well as the activities which most directly affected the condition of <br />local waterways. <br />Ms. Walch briefly described elements of the Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan and the Federal Clean <br />Water Act and noted that they were the two primary policies currently governing the protection of local waterways. <br />She proceeded to give a brief summary of the geographic nature of the Upper Willamette Watershed and its <br />relationship to the City’s urban growth boundary. Ms. Walch referred to a map of several waterways within the <br />watershed areas to illustrate those significant waterways that were being targeted for protection. <br />Ms. Walch noted that the proposed regulatory protections regarding waterway protection would not necessarily <br />improve local water quality but would prevent it from deteriorating any further. <br />Ms. Walch directed the council to the agenda item summary and briefed them on the results of staff’s investigation <br />into the costs and procedures associated with conservation easements. She reported that the estimated acquisition <br />costs, which took into account both land acquisition and administrative fees, were between approximately $25 million <br />and $63 million. Ms. Walch added that the staff’s estimate assumed that any conservation easements would be <br />conducted within federal IRS guidelines. <br />Ms. Walch briefly described communications between staff and representatives of the McKenzie River Trust and The <br />Nature Conservancy organizations with regard to conservation easements and directed the council to a summary of <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 28, 2009 Page 1 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />