CC Minutes - 01/14/08 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Roll call vote; the Consent Calendar with the exception of Items C and D passed unani- mously, 8:0. Councilor Solomon explained that Item C was a resolution concerning protection of old growth forest, which referred to the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), which was the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) preferred alternative. She supported the WOPR. She believed that currently the forests of Oregon were not being managed and that the State was being paid to not manage its forests. She felt the State could have healthy forests and healthy communities. She declared that paying a State not to manage its main resources was an abuse of taxpayers’ money. She also objected to taking up a resolution of this nature at the City Council, particularly with a one-week notice. Councilor Clark said this was a “purely ceremonial piece of work” at a time when more important things needed council attention, given that the deadline on the WOPR had passed. He felt that slipping the resolution through on the Consent Calendar was a disservice to the council’s process. He intended to oppose the resolution. Councilor Ortiz said it was not her intent to circumvent the process by placing the resolution in the Consent Calendar. She felt it was important to take a stand based on the community’s values when the opportunity arose. She supported the resolution. Mayor Piercy pointed out that the resolution said the council requested greater protection of mature and old growth forests on federal land in the State of Oregon. Councilor Pryor said this was not a simple resolution, it was something the City would do to say how it felt about a particular issue even though the deadline to do so had passed. He supported the resolution because he did not like the federal administration placing the City in a situation in which it had to make the difficult choice between the County’s revenue and trees. He stated that the County stood to lose a significant amount of money. He asserted that the federal government was saying to the County “we do not want to give you any money but if you want to cut down all your trees you can get the money that way.” He hated that the federal government put the local community in this position. Councilor Poling asked if the County had taken a position on the WOPR. Brenda Wilson, Intergovernmen- tal Relations Manager for the City, responded that she was not aware of the County having taken a position on it. She affirmed that the public comment period for the submission of comments had been midnight on January 11. Councilor Poling had agreed to move the resolution forward to the council because he knew that was the only way for council to discuss it. He disagreed with all of the alternatives proposed by the BLM. He said the resolution was ceremonial and that he would vote against it. He stressed that he was not opposing the resolution because he thought the WOPR was bad policy altogether. Councilor Bettman disputed criticism about the timing of the resolution. She said she had submitted an individual letter opposing the WOPR within the deadline but that the full council had been unable to consider action within the deadline due to the council break. She alleged that the WOPR would dramatically increase the amount of logging and the counties would only receive a negligible portion of the revenue after cost were deducted. She indicated she would support the resolution. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 14, 2008 Page 5 Regular Meeting