Item A: City of Coburg Request for Connection to Regional Wastewater Facilities

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in seeking timely resolution to the City’s wastewater treatment needs. The State has placed a high priority on addressing Coburg’s ground water quality problems, as well as supporting economic development and job creation opportunities. To this end, the State has promoted the option of connecting Coburg to the MWMC system. In June, 2004, officials from the City of Coburg appeared before the JEOs and requested that consideration be given to extending the MWMC regional wastewater treatment services to Coburg. The request was made appropriately before the three agencies’ governing bodies (Governing Bodies), because the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) establishing MWMC does not permit MWMC to grant such a request. Under the IGA, the MWMC is expressly limited to providing services to the Governing Bodies, and to areas within the Eugene-Springfield UGB. At its June 22, 2004 meeting, the JEOs requested staff to prepare a scoping report outlining the issues and estimated costs and time frames associated with pursuing further study and deliberation of Coburg’s request. Over the past year, SEL has guided Eugene and Springfield regional wastewater program staff in preparing this background report to the JEOs. The Eugene, Springfield, and Lane County Planning Directors and respective legal counsel also have been consulted on portions of this report. This report identifies key issues relevant to the JEOs’ anticipated deliberation on whether and how to move forward with further evaluation and/or a decision making process that could lead to extension of MWMC wastewater services to Coburg. The discussion below does not attempt to fully analyze or resolve these issues. Rather, it is intended to summarize the issues, present scenarios for discussion purposes, and estimate the timing and costs for additional work that would be needed to address or resolve the issues. The timing and cost estimates are provided in Attachment A. It is difficult to predict whether this report identifies the full range of issues that may emerge through the various public review processes that would ensue, given the unprecedented nature of this request in the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area. DISCUSSION OF KEY ISSUES CONTEXT FOR JEOs CONSIDERATION OF COBURG’S REQUEST Coburg’s Wastewater Facilities Plan and its request for services provide a partial context for the JEOs discussion. These are described in the “Background” section and Attachment B of this memo. This section addresses aspects of the broader context within which the JEOs may wish to consider Coburg’s request for wastewater services. The key issues addressed in this section include: ? Relationship of Coburg’s situation and request to long-range regional planning activities and other small (satellite) communities’ needs for wastewater treatment services in the future; ? Comparative environmental, public health, and safety issues associated with all aspects of Coburg’s wastewater treatment options; ? Impacts of connecting Coburg to the MWMC system on Eugene-Springfield area collection system and treatment facility capacity; and ? Cost equity among the MWMC customers and new customers outside the UGB. Page 2