01/23/1989 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e e Mr. Boles expressed concern that the community has only a very small emergency contingency fund and no liquid reserves to address a disaster. He suggested modifying the fee schedule on hazardous materials licenses so that a reserve could be built. Mr. Holmer did not feel this was necessary. He said there are a number of funds from which the City could borrow in an emergency situation. Mr. Gleason agreed. Ms. Bascom stressed that this might also raise the City1s fees above a level that is comparable to other areas. Mr. Boles said the presence of chemicals in the community endangers the area and he felt businesses who present this type of hazard should be charged. He felt the City would be better off in the long run if businesses who are not willing to be financially responsible for the danger they pose decide to take their business elsewhere. Ms. Ehrman felt comfortable approving the ordinance in its current form, but thought the council should review it in a few years to assess the need for changes. Mr. Boles felt the fees were quite low in light of the expense of putting the hazardous materials program together. He felt the council should consider adjusting the fee schedule and increasing the initial application amount. Mr. Gleason said the fees suggested by staff are consistent with what the City has recovered from its fees in the past. He suggested that the council consider, in a separate policy workshop, what proportion of regulatory costs should be recovered through user fees. Mr. Gleason added that the problem with setting fees too high is that people try to get around them instead of paying them. He suggested that the council consider recovering costs by using a third-party recovery system similar to that used with the ambulances. Mr. Boles felt the one impetus for users at all levels of the state to obtain a hazardous materials license is that it should make it easier to obtain insurance at a reasonable rate. He felt the costs associated with insurance premiums would probably go down for businesses operating in a community that has a strong hazardous materials response plan and felt it would have been helpful to have input from an insurance representative at this meeting. Mr. Briggs pointed out that in many cases insurance companies are not aware that a company uses hazardous materials. II. WORK SESSION: AIR QUALITY ISSUES Don Arkell, Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA), made a presentation on air quality issues. He said this presentation was in response to a request by the City Council Legislative Committee to provide a brief overview of air quality program areas which affect the city. He said LRAPA considers the three most significant air quality issues in this area to be PM10 and wood stoves, field/slash burning, and automobile air pollution. MINUTES--Eugene City Council Work Session January 23, 1989 Page 4