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MINUTES <br />Eugene City Council <br />Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue <br />Eugene, Oregon 97401 <br />January 22, 2020 <br />12:00 p.m. <br />Councilors Present: Betty Taylor, Emily Semple, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Greg Evans <br />Councilors Absent: Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor <br />Mayor Vinis opened the January 22, 2020, meeting of the Eugene City Council. <br />1. Work Session: Eugene Water & Electric Board Water Storage and Transmission <br />Improvements Projects <br />City Manager Pro Tern Sarah Medary introduced EWEB General Manager Frank Lawson who <br />presented background information to supplement future bond authorization requests for EWEB <br />capital improvements. <br />Councilor Zelenka - said that EWEB water is the best tasting water on the West Coast; asked if <br />Hawkins Reservoir has the same issues as the College Hill Reservoir; asked about the timeline <br />for projects and the status of the plan for creating a second/back-up source of water; asked <br />about the 89 million gallons of water in storage and how may days of water that would provide; <br />talked about spreading out sides for emergency water; asked for an explanation of how many <br />gallons of water per person per day are recommended in an emergency; reported that Salem <br />had an outbreak in their water supply that forced people to not drink the water and asked if <br />Eugene was at risk for the same type of event. <br />Councilor Taylor - reminded the council to account for emergency water for dogs; asked about <br />the 40th Avenue site, including what is there, what will be there and whether it will still provide <br />open space for the public to use; asked if stored emergency water should be changed <br />periodically; said that her sisters in Illinois pay less for water than her, but the quality is poor; <br />asked how Eugene's prices compare to others; asked if she should leave the water running for a <br />few minutes before drinking; asked about the aesthetics and trees at the Potter and 36th street <br />location; said she's glad EWEB is looking at ways to get water closer to where people live during <br />emergencies. <br />Councilor Clark- said he'd like to the City Council and the EWEB Board to meet for a <br />conversation; talked about how this item was pulled form the Consent Calendar to get more <br />information and have further conversation about it; said most people don't think about the <br />jurisdiction of the City versus EWEB when it comes to serving them and asked to know what the <br />City can do to make their mutual plans work better together; reminded the council that EWEB <br />and the City serve the same folks; talked about grouping issues together during negotiations; <br />said as time goes on there will be more community questions and wanted to discuss the <br />importance of shared goals. <br />Councilor Evans - asked how EWEB handles issues related to people putting waste in the river <br />and how that affects the system; asked what agency enforces dumping along the river; asked <br />about EWEB's customer assistance program and if there are other measures being taken to <br />make sure costs are held down for people who don't have the resources to keep pace with their <br />bills; asked how EWEB works with the City around these issues; asked for an update about <br />smart meters and any information about the health of this technology. <br />MINUTES - Eugene City Council January 22, 2020 Page 1 <br />Work Session <br />