CC Minutes - 09/08/99 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Kelly said that it was a false dichotomy to pit the economy against the environment; sustainability over the long run was good for both, and he was pleased to see that recognized in the presentation and background materials. Mr. Kelly expressed appreciation for Mr. Farmer's remarks regarding recycling in the City organization. He said that he had received feedback from individuals associated with BRING recycling who pointed out that there was no recycling available to users of some City facilities, such as the airport, and had suggested that Eugene adopt a program similar to Portland, which required construction sites over a certain size to prepare recycling and salvage plans prior to receiving a building permit. Mr. Meisner termed the staff memorandum both clear and informative. He agreed with Ms. Taylor and Mr. Kelly regarding options 1 and 3. Mr. Meisner said that option 3 would mean staff would not only look at internal City practices, but also at City regulations and educational efforts, which might lead to ordinance changes. Mr. Meisner observed that in his own neighborhood, which had very environmentally aware residents, he had been unable to persuade people that washing their automobiles with soap on the street or in the driveway was not a good idea. He believed that the council would have to place significant effort into gaining community acceptance, which would require community education. Regarding the observation in item 1 on page 18 of the staff memorandum that some adopted policies were not being implemented, Ms. Nathanson suggested that staff in different departments may not be aware of some policies and questioned how that issue was being addressed. She was also interested in knowing where policies were in conflict with other policies or practices. Referring to page 5 of the staff memorandum, Ms. Nathanson said although she thought the United Nations definition might be the easiest to adopt and appeared to represent a sort of recognized standard, which she liked to use when possible, some of the concepts in the definition of sustainability attributed to William Ruckelhaus appealed to her. She cited specifically the statement that environmental protection and economic development are complementary rather than antagonistic processes. Ms. Nathanson requested examples of City practices that had been instituted because of council or staff concerns about sustainability and growth management, such as the use of bicycle couriers. She said it would be nice to see a "scorecard" of what had been done over the last five to ten years. Ms. Nathanson also requested a list of practices what staff planned to changed because of the work done on sustainability. She also asked if the City had ever done an overview of its printed materials. Ms. Nathanson said if there were to be indicators or benchmarks, she wanted them to be consistent with those adopted by the Oregon Progress Board for ease of comparison with the State and other cities. Mr. Lee was excited about the topic of sustainability and said it appeared that many councilors had similar thoughts. He believed that the concept was a complex one. Mr. Lee said that someone must take a leadership role on the issue and he believed the council should fill that role. He recommended that the council adopt a resolution regarding the definition of sustainability and ask other local governments units and the school districts to adopt it as well. Mr. Lee said that having a common definition that all agree upon was a first step. Public education about the need for the definition was another step. He hoped that the process led to something concrete like an urban watershed council for the metropolitan area. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 8, 1999 Page 4 5:30 p.m.