Item 8 - Ratif.IGR Comm.Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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The committee considered another bill held over from the previous meeting, SB 2083, related to streamlining of Water Resources Department (WRD) regulations. The bill would eliminate the requirement that the seller of a property with a water right notify the WRD of the sale. The seller would have to notify the buyer of the water rights, and the water rights would accompany the transaction of the land. Mr. Duckett indicated that after analysis, staff did not think the bill would have any affect on Eugene. He said the WRD did not have the resources to track the information it already had. Responding to a follow-up question from Mr. Pap6, Mr. Duckett said the bill would have no impact on the Eugene Water & Electric Board's water rights in the McKenzie River. Ms. Bettman asked if the bill could evolve into something different. Mr. Heuser did not know. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to change the status of the bill to Monitor. The motion passed, 3:0. The committee considered another bill held over from the previous meeting, HB 2155, which expanded the authority of the governor to assign fire fighting resources across jurisdictional boundaries in the case of a major conflagration. The bill expanded the type of situation where that could occur, and lowered the threshold for invoking the State Conflagration Act. Chief Obadahl said the department's position was somewhat mixed, as it saw both upsides and downsides to the bill. Generally Eugene was required to send resources rather than receive them, and while the City was reimbursed, in the meantime its resources, such as the availability of tenders, were diminished, often at the time of greatest need. She suggested that it was not in the best interest of Eugene to support the bill without amendments that allowed it to decline to send aid. Ms. Bettman, seconded by Mr. Pap6, moved to change the status of the bill to Oppose. Mr. Pap6 believed the City Council needed to focus on protecting Eugene first. Ms. Obadahl said the bill could work in Eugene's favor in the case of a south hills fire, but she pointed out that the City currently had mutual aid agreements with all other Lane County cities. Ms. Bettman pointed out the committee was only opposing the expansion of the State Conflagration Act, not the act itself, which still existed. The motion passed unanimously. The committee considered another bill held over from the previous meeting, HB 2234. Mr. Braud recommended that the committee drop the bill from further consideration. It established tax breaks for companies making certain types of telecommunications equipment already located in an enterprise zone. It was not connected to the expansion of such zones. Ms. Taylor, seconded by Ms. Bettman, moved to drop the bill from further consideration. The motion passed unanimously. Ms. Bettman referred to HB 2268, relating to eminent domain. Mr. Lidz indicated the bill addressed the process for exchanging appraisal information. It would have little impact on Eugene, but he continued to recommend that the bill be monitored given the breadth of the relating clause. MINUTES--Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations February 11, 2005 Page 4