11.18.19 City Council Work Session Minutes

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MINUTES Eugene City Council Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue Eugene, Oregon 97401 November 18, 2019 5:30 p.m. Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor, Greg Evans, Alan Zelenka Mayor Vinis opened the November 18, 2019, work session of the Eugene City Council. 1. WORK SESSION: Climate Action Plan 2.0 Document Review and Consideration of Additional Strategies Sustainability Manager Chelsea Clinton presented an overview of the Climate Action Plan 2.0. Discussion o Councilor Evans - asked about the financial implications of the plan. o Councilor Syrett - highlighted the need to build community support for taking these actions to guard against fractures in the community when it is time to invest; supported innovations to increase community capacity; wanted to engage large -leverage stakeholders to provide some of the financial capacity that would be necessary. o Councilor Yeh - asked about the Transportation System Plan and electric vehicle strategy timelines. o Councilor Clark - asked staff to return with a menu of options from which the council could choose in revising the TSP to meet climate recovery ordinance goals. o Councilor Zelenka - highlighted that the plan was community -based, consumption - based, and included already -committed funding; cautioned against only talking about the costs without also talking about the cost savings and benefits. o Councilor Pryor - thought there would be a need for an up -front investment that would result in great returns later and wanted to be mindful about the funding; asked for good research in order to make the best decision possible on the policy direction and funding. o Councilor Taylor - wanted to hear from more people on the topic; reported complaints about the City's use of leaf blowers and Lane Transit District's reduction in bus routes; supported efforts to lobby for increased Amtrak service and for the City to do more work to protect trees. o Councilor Zelenka - noted the plan only gets Eugene to 40 percent of its goal; wanted two implementation plans (one short-term and one long-term) with associated timeline, budget, and responsible party for each action item. o Councilor Syrett - wanted to see an outline of how much each action item would cost and how far each action gets the City to its goal; thought the resiliency work may need its own tracking strategy because it was not based on emissions; expressed interest in an urban forestry work session. o Councilor Semple - felt the plan made some changes, but not nearly enough; thought adapting to climate change would take radical action. o Councilor Evans - asked about the communication strategy for making every member of the community an active partner in the effort. MINUTES - Eugene City Council November 18, 2019 Page 1 Work Session