CC Minutes - 01/13/09 Joint Elected Officials

Home Browse Search

January 13, 2009 Joint Elected Officials Meeting City of Springfield City of Eugene Lane County Page 6 of 10 He believed each jurisdiction could establish Refinement Plans that could allow autonomy for each jurisdiction and that the Metro Plan could be amended or reduced to address the major common concerns. He felt the Metro Plan should be reduced. Commissioner Dwyer thanked everyone for attending. He discussed the different bills and plans he had witnessed during his years in this area. The Metro Plan reminded him of the United Nations Security Council: it was too easy to have one entity say no and stop the process. The MPC was not an effective mediation concept. There was a concept in the Metro Plan called developed and committed. When the UGB was expanded, everything within that boundary, regardless of whether it was prime farm land, was considered developed and committed. That made it impossible to protect prime farm land inside the UGB. He gave an example in Eugene. He discussed the issue in River Road of no taxation without representation and that those residents didn’t know who they should call. Cities could only grow at the County’s expense because as the County shrinks, resources diminished. The cities needed to remember that and consider how to keep it whole. He noted a man in the River Road area that was very interested in annexation in 1987 and the expense to the County when Eugene grew. Councilor Brown said it seemed no matter how imperfect, the Metro Plan was a useful vehicle for land use. Without it, Lane County could look like counties in California where all the productive farm land got used up. In the absence of a better plan, they needed to make the Metro Plan work. Cities could expand in responsible ways and that’s what they wanted to do in Eugene. Councilor Pryor said in order for him to be supportive of something, he needed to understand it, and this had become unclear. Why the Metro Plan was needed and the purpose of the plan were questions that needed answered. The question was whether or not this system, or whatever system they created, provided the services and met the need. He used an example of three people living together in an apartment without an agreement of how they would live and the chaos that could ensue. The group needed to decide what type of agreement worked now and how we could make that agreement work. Commissioner Sorenson said because the cities wanted to hear from the commissioners, he would have another round of input from the commissioners, and also hear from Councilor Ortiz, who did not speak the first time. He noted that the statement ‘we are in this together’ was important during the current economic conditions. They needed to work together not only with other public agencies, but also with the private sector, and they needed to have a Metropolitan Plan that respected that fact. There were things in the Metro Plan that weren’t pertinent anymore. He gave the example that cities were the logical providers of services within the City. There were, however, questions regarding what services the County would provide within cities, such as solid waste and law enforcement. He felt the County should be involved in establishing and modifying urban growth boundaries. He would like to see the support of the cities for the rural reserve concept. The LCBC hoped to have Clackamas County Commissioner Lynn Peterson, who got this through in Clackamas County, on the phone at the next LCBC meeting. The LCBC would like to keep the cities informed on the impact of that upon cities. He didn’t expect they would finish this discussion today. He suggested the Commissioners comment on where they should go from here. Councilor Ortiz thanked Commissioner Stewart for his summary of the LCBC thoughts on these issues. She did not care for the Metro Plan, but felt it was a necessary document that was well thought out when it was created. Something along those lines was needed. She didn’t feel they lived in a vacuum and she considered all of the constituents in Eugene and Springfield when making decisions. She was glad River