Laserfiche WebLink
Mr. Clark noted how the work of the Sustainability Commission was at the leading edge of emerging municipal <br />policy discussions where sustainability was a primary concern. He further requested that the Sustainability <br />Commission provide concrete information and actual data on the real-world implications of the policy <br />discussions the commission ultimately participated in. <br />Mr. Brown asked if the Sustainability Commission had reviewed the sustainability policies of any other cities or <br />municipalities. Mr. Skov responded that the most readily available examples of sustainability policies applied to <br />cities and metro areas that were larger than the City of Eugene and could not easily be applied. <br />Mr. Brown assumed that members of the Sustainability Commission planned to participate in the upcoming <br />Envision Eugene initiative and noted that their input on that process would be tremendously helpful. <br />Mr. Brown referred to the Sustainability Commission’s Action Plan for Eugene that had been included in the <br />agenda item summary materials and asked Mr. Skov to elaborate upon the removal of physical and <br />psychological barriers pertaining to bicycle and pedestrian connectivity contained therein. Mr. Skov briefly <br />described how that passage had referred to the infrastructure issues and the cultural barriers that had historically <br />impeded the development of sustainable bicycle and pedestrian strategies in the community. <br />Ms. Piercy agreed that the Sustainability Commission’s involvement would be valuable to the City’s discussions <br />regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the ECLA process and hoped that the commission might also be able to <br />assist the councilors and City staff to use the triple-bottom line assessment tools more effectively. <br />Mr. Skov responded to Ms. Piercy’s statement and expressed that energy and climate issues might form a <br />significant portion of the details involved in various triple bottom line assessments regarding land use and <br />transportation planning processes in the community. <br />Ms. Piercy asked how the Sustainability Commission’s input might be used to resolve conflicting policy or <br />decision making processes for the council and City staff. <br />Ms. Piercy appreciated the Sustainability Commission’s outreach efforts involving the City’s Planning <br />Commission. <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if the Sustainability Commission could have specific efforts to develop processes and tools <br />relating to the City’s land use and transportation planning policies included in its work plan. Mr. Ruiz hoped <br />that additional conversations about how such processes would be developed by the commission would be <br />conducted before those processes were applied to any areas of the City’s organization. <br />Ms. Medary noted that staff planned to return to the council on May 10 to discuss ways in which the <br />Sustainability Commission’s input on land use and transportation issues might be applied to the City. <br />Mr. Skov mentioned that the Sustainability Commission planned to form a joint task force with the City’s <br />Planning Commission to review sustainability issues in the community. He further noted that the ultimate <br />charge of that joint task force had not yet been defined. <br />Mr. Skov referred to earlier comments made by Mr. Clark and hoped that the Sustainability Commission might <br />be given a regular and ongoing opportunity to consult with the council in a highly detailed manner. <br />Ms. Piercy commented that, as much as the council intended to listen to and rely on the Sustainability <br />Commission’s input, the council might ultimately disagree with the commission on certain issues. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 28, 2010 Page 5 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />