Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Councilor Bettman asserted that what would need to be deleted was distinct. She said she would have preferred Attachment B. She noted that she had requested language earlier in the day to amend to change it so that it was a “type four” application with a hearing in front of the Planning Commission and subsequently appealable to the City Council. Ms. Jerome responded that this language was supplied to Councilor Bettman, though somewhat recently. Councilor Ortiz planned to support the motion as it stood. She believed it to be an important subject and merited more discussion in a work session. She was not willing to remove the language that referred to extraterritorial extensions at this point. Councilor Poling ascertained from Mr. Nystrom that sewer service could still be extended to properties outside of the city limit but inside of the urban growth boundary (UGB) with the current proposed ordinance language. Mr. Nystrom added that there were a number of provisions that went along with it that made it so that in practice it was difficult to gain such approvals because in most cases the jurisdiction wanted such a property to annex. Councilor Poling reiterated the concerns expressed regarding the development of additional septic systems just outside of the city limits. He recalled the controversy and expense that the River Road neighborhood had undergone when required to connect to sewer lines. Mr. Nystrom responded that the first question asked if an extraterritorial property requested a sewer hookup was whether the property could annex. Councilor Poling asked what would happen if the property could not annex. Mr. Nystrom replied that the next step would be a request for an extraterritorial extension. Councilor Solomon thought Ms. Jerome’s suggestion to approve the ordinance as presented at the current meeting and revisit it in January was prudent. Councilor Bettman called the ordinance a “sleeper.” She opined that it was an opening to develop private urban services outside the UGB. She felt the sections that someone who wanted an extraterritorial extension would have to comply with were “easy to comply with.” She asserted that if one could not annex, one was “already eligible” to an extension of the services beyond the UGB. She noted that one criterion was that land not be vacant and suspected that a person could put a trailer on a property to make it appear occupied. She averred that to say that the council would bring it back for discussion meant that the council would “never get rid of it.” She believed that there were “people out there salivating at the thought that we are going to pass this not realizing” that the ordinance was a “stealth weapon” to expand the UGB. She declared it to be an “invitation to sprawl.” City Attorney Klein reiterated that there was no legal prohibition to amending the ordinance; the attorneys were only reluctant to amend the ordinance “on the fly.” Councilor Bettman asserted that the attorneys did so “for other folks.” Ms. Jerome listed the amendments that she had determined to meet Councilor Bettman’s intent, which would be a motion to further amend Attachment A to delete the following: ? Section 6 and renumber sections accordingly; ? Delete references to Section 9.8115 and 9.8121 of the code in the title; ? Remove the reference to extraterritorial extensions from Table 9.7055 in Section 3 of the ordinance; ? Delete references to extraterritorial extensions from Section 8 of the ordinance which would be hereafter renumbered to Section 7 of the ordinance. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 15 Regular Meeting