CC Minutes - 03/02/98 Work Session

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information at the public hearing. In response to a follow-up question from Mr. Farr, Ms. Andersen said the review of the permit would be conducted by an administrative staff person. Ms. Andersen pointed out that the program for urban forestry as it related to public property has not been changed, and staff continues to expand its Street Tree Program which will result in about 3,000 new street trees going in annually. III. WORK SESSION: ORDINANCE CONCERNING TOXIC REPORTING INSTRUCTIONS Glen Potter, Fire Marshal's Office, acknowledged the presence of the following members of the Toxics Board: Don Upson, Steve Morgan, Madronna Holden, and Mary O'Brien. He said the proposed ordinance would adopt the reporting instructions issued by the board. Mr. Potter said the Toxics Board intended to return to the council annually for similar action as the body of instructions is revised and improved. Mr. Tollenaar expressed concern that some of the proposed items appeared to be in conflict with some of the precise terms of the Charter Amendment. He noted that any citizen could appeal to the Toxics Board, and ultimately to the Court, for any failure to comply with any of the terms of the amendment; and this made the City vulnerable to lawsuits. He asked the City Attorney's Office to review the document and identify conflicts and those provisions that go beyond the Charter Amendment. Addressing a question from Mr. Lee, Mr. Potter said the board voted 6:1 in favor of recommending the proposed ordinance. The dissenting vote was cast by Mr. Morgan. In response to a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Potter said the actual number of affected businesses is unknown since businesses are not required to identify themselves as toxics users under the Charter Amendment until April of 1999. Mr. Farr said the council was obliged to carry out the voters' mandate; but urged efficiency in its implementation, adding that the council did not have a legal obligation to go beyond the "letter of the law." Addressing a question from Ms. Nathanson, Mr. Potter said two members of the Toxics Board are also members of the State Task Force on right-to-know issues. Referring to pages 26 and 27 of the item summary, Mr. Tollenaar questioned some of the items included in the instructions, e.g., enforcement issues. Addressing a question from Mr. Tollenaar, Mr. Potter defined the term "compositions" as referring to the percentages of the combination of chemicals contained in a substance, adding that the term "test" referred to actual testing of substances. Mr. Meisner expressed support for language that in essence said that "a good faith effort to comply" would not be penalized. Mr. Lidz said that the ordinance would not be a part of the Eugene Code and it was meant as a "handbook" for reporting businesses. He added that one model for this would be the council's adoption of the system development charges (SDC) methodology by ordinance. MINUTES--Eugene City Council March 2, 1998 Page 3 5:30 p.m.