Item 3A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Mr. Clark felt that while he could agree with the broader regional program policies of preserving existing assets, enhancing public safety and supporting strategic economic investments, he could not support the entirety of the policy recommendations in the draft report. Mr. Clark asked for further clarification regarding the nature of the freight rail connections between Eugene- Springfield and the Coos Bay port as listed in the multi-modal transportation solution section of the Regional Program Priorities in the draft report. Ms. Wilson answered that she did not have any additional information but would research the matter and get back to him. Ms. Solomon thought that the draft report contained several good ideas and that of particular interest to her was the idea of moving freight transportation off of roads and back onto railways. Ms. Solomon and Ms. Wilson briefly discussed the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) relationship to the FSTB and SAFETEA-LU, with Ms. Wilson noting there had been some disagreement between ODOT and Congressman DeFazio about how federal funds might be allocated with regard to transportation projects. Ms. Taylor asked what changes might be seen as a result of the council’s support of the draft report and policy recommendations. Ms. Wilson confirmed that one of the key desired changes inherent in the policy recommendations was for the federal government to reconsider the manner in which money was distributed and prioritized. Ms. Taylor expressed that true funding flexibility as was described in the draft report would mean that local governments such as Eugene would have more authority to use federal money as they saw fit in addressing problems of air quality and traffic congestion. Mr. Zelenka noted that he supported the policy recommendations listed in the draft report and said that a lack of adequate funding was likely to stall important transportation initiatives for quite some time. Mr. Zelenka agreed with Ms. Bettman’s assessment that operational funding needed to be part of any final list of recommendations sent to Congressman DeFazio, much more so than vague references to a paradigm shift. Ms. Piercy asked if Ms. Wilson had had any conversations with the other IGR managers where a focus on operational funding directives was suggested in a more direct fashion than broad references to increased funding flexibility. Ms. Wilson indicated that there had been no such conversations. Ms. Piercy responded that it was necessary to be much more specific in communicating what was important to the community regarding transportation policies and projects. Mr. Clark, sensing a general sense of support from the council about the philosophies of the draft report in addition to a great deal of unease about its lack of specifics, asked if there might be an intermediary step between approving or denying the staff’s recommendation that might be helpful in making the report more productive. Ms. Wilson replied that she would investigate the matter with her colleagues to see if anything could be done to make the draft report more specific for the council. Ms. Taylor noted that it would be helpful to take the council’s input to the IGR committees in order to give the draft report more specificity. She felt there was ample time to do so before sending the report to Congressman DeFazio. Ms. Wilson, responding to a question from Ms. Bettman, noted that there was no specific project list related to the draft report and policy recommendations at this time, but that such a list might be drafted by the end of the year, certainly before March 2009. MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 13, 2008 Page 7 Work Session