CC Minutes - 10/26/05 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Taylor disagreed that one could say this connection was in the public’s best interest. She recalled that half of the Eugene City Council had been unable to attend the meeting of the joint elected officials. She said no tape had been made of that meeting. Ms. Taylor expressed concern that allowing Coburg to connect to the facility would set a precedent and Eugene would have to allow connections for other communities. She opined that the council should not start something it was not willing to finish. In response to a question from Ms. Taylor, Mr. Corey stated that cost estimates included staff time. City Manager Taylor added that estimates included staff time for both the Planning and Development Department (PDD) staff and MWMC staff. Ms. Taylor felt that PDD staff would be doing this work in lieu of other work that was possibly more important. Mr. Papé observed that Eugene citizens were concerned about the water quality of the McKenzie River. He thought citizens would support the connection to the regional wastewater treatment facility in order to have only one outflow and to ensure that no outflow was put into the McKenzie. He suggested including in the IGA an amendment to remove the property that had been added to the Coburg UGB for purposes of building a treatment facility. City Attorney Glenn Klein responded that Coburg could not predict the outcome of the land use process it would take to remove the acreage without having gone through it. He said the IGA could be amended to include a request to engage in that land use process. Mr. Papé asked if the Region 2050 planning process had included discussion on effluent. Mr. Kelly observed that ten pages of the report were on waste in 2050 and that it predicted that some communities would have problems over time. Mr. Papé asked if the County would get cost recovery. Mr. Poling responded that the City of Coburg was expected to pay its own way. Mr. Papé commented that whether Coburg would be a partner with or a customer of the Lane Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility merited a full discussion. He felt the IGA was premature. City Manager Taylor responded that staff was recommending the process and not the particular IGA. He pointed out that the existing IGA had been developed through a lengthy process. Ms. Bettman thought it was very compromising to have an IGA before the council. She felt because of its conceptual nature, one would not know which parts were in and which were out and yet the council was still being asked to make a decision. She surmised that people were saying that it was somehow better to pollute the Willamette River than the McKenzie River. She alleged that the Willamette River was already at maximum capacity for effluent. Ms. Bettman repeated her concern that this comprised a policy issue and a larger conversation with the community was needed on whether the City of Eugene should even talk to the City of Coburg about this. She thought it premature to have the current discussion without having the larger one. Mr. Kelly averred that MWMC and Eugene PDD staff had too much work already and wondered if there MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 26, 2005 Page 5 Work Session