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changes in the law, and there was only so much organizational capacity. She suggested that staff keep the council apprised of what it was working on so the council did not add to the work load beyond what could be handled. Ms. Taylor asked about the difference between prevention and mitigation. She thought prevention was very important. She asked if the City was issuing building permits for construction on steep slopes without proper precautions. She believed there were buildings in south Eugene subject to slippage. Ms. Taylor said she continued to wonder why the City did not do a seismic upgrade to City Hall given that it would not be replaced anytime very soon and it was impossible to predict when an earthquake occurred. She suggested that something be done that saved lives at a minimum, even if the building itself could not be preserved. Mr. Pap~ also expressed appreciation that staff reached out to Springfield. He noted the disasters he had seen in the community and said the Thurston shooting was the most costly in terms of lives. Thinking of that made him wonder if the City was planning with its health providers for such situations. Mr. Solin said that after the meeting he would attend an exercise of the Lane County Emergency Preparedness Group, which included hospitals, and which in this instance was focused on how the community would respond to a pandemic flu epidemic. The City was working with the hospitals on a number of related issues. Mr. Pap~ asked if the FEMA program should be extended to encompass that effort. Mr. Solin said staff discussed the issue, but the plan did not generally reach to that level of specificity, although he acknowledged the plan got specific in terms of some of its actions, such as its mention of the leaf pick-up program and its relationship to flood control. Ms. Bettman requested a hard copy of the draft plan. She took note of the non-regulatory nature of the language in the plan and asked if the plan included any mitigation activities that would reduce damages and cost following an emergency event. Mr. Solin said the City was a member of the National Flood Insurance program and the City did not allow development in certain flood-prone areas unless the development met the program's standards. That was referenced in the plan as it was an example of a mitigation strategy. Ms. Bettman referred to the Earthquake Mitigation Project/City Hall and noted it was not included in the draft. She asked why, and if an analysis was available or would be available. Mr. Solin indicated the seismic benefit cost analysis for City Hall was an attachment to the plan. Ms. Bettman asked for informa- tion about what the analysis contained. Mr. Solin first noted the benefit cost-analysis was a FEMA requirement for funding; there was a complicated methodology one must go through to get the FEMA dollars. He said when the City did a benefit cost analysis on City Hall including the fire station, it did not rank high enough to get funding in Oregon. City Manager Taylor indicated the City had other facilities, such as fire stations, that ranked higher and that staff was likely to seek funding for. Ms. Bettman determined from Mr. Solin that the City had identified other key critical facilities such as fire stations that would rank better in the benefit cost analysis than City Hall because their purpose was to provide a direct emergency response. He said fire and medical response were considered more important than police response. The number of staff on site was also a consideration, and police staff did not get as many points for loss of life because they were frequently out of the building. Responding to a follow-up question from Ms. Bettman, Mr. Solin did not know if the benefit cost analysis was on line, but he would ensure that it was soon. MINUTES--Eugene City Council October 13, 2004 Page 6 Work Session