CC Minutes - 04/10/00 Work Session

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Mr. Rayor said that the council had previously been moving toward adoption of the resolution and he believed its adoption had merit for the regulatory agencies as a clue to the City's plans and management policies. Mr. Lee explained to the mayor that there was no reason for the council to take action on a legal basis, but he believed the issue was complex, political, and important to the community. He thought the resolution clarified the City's intent, and that such clarity was needed. Mr. Lee moved, seconded by Ms. Taylor, to adopt the Attachment B version (page 37 of the council packet) of the resolution, declaring a response of the City of Eugene to the listing of the Upper Willamette Spring Chinook salmon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Ms. Nathanson said that the City was already being proactive regarding the listing in that the council had adopted Option C. She said that the City's lobbying package was largely focused on natural resource funding requests. She said that the staff report had been very helpful, and she found the information on City roles useful. Regarding the reference on the same page (page 34) to the council's ability to balance the individual program proposals, benefits, and alternatives against the costs of meeting the broad policy goal, she asked if costs referred to direct costs to the City organization only, or were "costs" more broadly defined. Ms. Andersen responded that, in her opinion, it was the latter, more broadly defined costs. Mr. Johnson concurred. Ms. Nathanson said that the council needed to balance a variety of issues and determine how the community could live in the land while leaving it a better place. She said that sometimes choices were not clear because an action one took in one area could have a consequence on another area, and the tradeoffs can be disturbing. However, many of the programs listed under Option C were already underway and had already been identified as worthwhile by the council. She supported the resolution. Mr. Meisner did not think it was possible for the City to do anything but adopt the resolution given the community's sentiment and the law. He also thought it important that the council explicitly take action through the resolution, which was more clear to the public than previously adopted Option C. He believed that the greatest challenge to the City would be not how to address commercial and industrial activities but changing the conduct of private individuals in their homes. He expressed the wish that Section 3 of the resolution was specific to City programs and activities but it was so minor a point he was not going to move to amend the motion. Mr. Pap8 questioned what specifically the City might be doing as a result of Section 3. Mr. Farmer said that the City was aware of the invasive vegetation along the banks of the Willamette, and that might result in a proposal to remove those nonnative species and plant native species. Ms. Andersen added that there were longer term issues as well; for example, the open waterways issue was related to the topic. Mr. Pap8 asked about the impact of the listing on the stormwater program. Ms. Andersen said that because of the City's obligations under its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, it had done much of the work needed to modify its practices. She said that the Stormwater Management Department Advisory Committee was working on the basin planning component of the stormwater program, and the council would see recommendations from that group soon. Those recommendations would include consideration of current City management practices the City may choose to adopt. Ms. Andersen MINUTES--Eugene City Council April 10, 2000 Page 7 Work Session