Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Eric Selker , 3765 University Street, explained that he was a biologist. He thought it was “crazy” to burn fields, especially given the extended conversation about global warming and the criticism given to countries like Indonesia and Brazil for burning forest land. He said the main reason he wanted to testify was to support maintaining the Amazon Creek headwaters properties in a natural state. He appreciated efforts made to do so. th Samantha Chirillo , 157 East 27 Avenue, Apt. 3, co-director of the Cascadia’s Ecosystem Advocates and a member of the Climate Crisis Working Group, recalled that Mayor Piercy had said at a July meeting that the council would do “whatever necessary” to protect the Amazon Creek headwaters forest. She said the council also looked into how it could apply eminent domain proceedings in that situation without being too costly to the City. She related that the two organizations she belonged to had not forgotten this meeting and had been taking people on hikes through the properties in question as they believed it was an important “educational microcosm of a mature forest ecosystem.” Ms. Chirillo conveyed the organizations’ request to apply eminent domain proceedings to the property for its “unique recreational value” and “ecosystem services” it provided, such as “carbon storage, soil and water conservation, and species habitat.” She remarked that she “bristled” when she heard discussion of the costly nature of a land purchase at this time when there had been earlier such opportunities to do so for far less. She noted that money had been spent to restore Amazon Creek downstream from the properties. She believed that development on the Beverly/Green properties would undo this restoration work. She declared that if the council did not take action to protect these properties, the image of a sustainable Eugene would “be for naught.” She also asked the council to pass a resolution in opposition to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Western Oregon Plan revisions. She averred that the revisions threatened 2.5 million acres of forest and would accelerate old growth cutting without regard to needed riparian buffers or habitat connectivity. She added that she and several other people were working on a plan for Lane County to gain carbon credits. William Ivanoff , 1810 Harris Street, #336, commented that the grass seed burning was perhaps the way Eugene should be affected by urban sprawl. He asked where else did grass seed go but to large plots at the edge of cities. Continuing, he said safer streets would be a good idea. He related that traffic calming had been addressed in London by making streets smaller and able to be used by “not just the cars but also by people.” He believed that if all streets were narrowed, the amount of maintenance and the cost of installa- tion would be reduced. He asked the City to consider reconstructing the streets to make them smaller. He also felt that traffic calming elements would reduce the amount of traffic on roads. Dennis Casady , PO Box 5028, opposed the eminent domain taking of private property, in this case with the “excuse of saving the Amazon headwaters.” He stated that the City had done nothing when Woodleaf Village had been constructed on Fox Hollow Road. He said a tributary of Amazon Creek ran through that development and had not been protected; still was not protected. He stressed that the Beverly property was zoned for residential development. He averred that if the owners would not willingly sell the property, the City should “just walk away.” th Bob Cassidy , 1401 East 27 Avenue, related that he had attended a City Club program on the problems that drinking around Autzen Stadium during home football games caused. He said in that discussion there had been much discussion of the overtime the police put in to handle traffic. He did not believe it was necessary for the police to do so. He thought volunteers could serve that function. MINUTES—Eugene City Council December 10, 2007 Page 4 Regular Meeting