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Mr. Dedrick commented that staff had not spent a great deal of time on what might be done after the ECLA report <br />had been accepted because the true and actual land needs of the City had not yet been established. He further <br />commented that staff was getting closer to definitively determining the City's land needs which would in turn help <br />determine how the City would adopt the ECLA findings in the future. <br />Ms. Piercy wanted to make sure Mr. Clark's motion would not presume in its language that the City would be <br />required to incorporate an expansion of the ECLA process. Mr. Clark confirmed that it would not. <br />Ms. Piercy called for a vote on Mr. Clark's previously stated motion. The motion passed, 5:4 <br />(Mr. Brown, Mr. Zelenka, Ms. Taylor and Ms. Ortiz voting in opposition). <br />Ms. Piercy called for a vote on Mr. Brown's previously stated motion as amended. The motion <br />passed, 6:2 (Ms. Taylor and Mr. Brown voting in opposition). <br />Mr. Brown, seconded by Ms. Taylor moved to direct the City Manager to engage one or more <br />independent, qualified people to review ECLA work to date, as well as comments from CAC <br />members and provide an assessment to the City Council. <br />Mr. Brown believed the concerns of the CAC members were serious enough to warrant further investigation and <br />hoped that any such investigation would be carried out sooner rather than later. <br />Ms. Ortiz asked Mr. Brown which outside agencies or individuals he would recommend to perform a review of <br />the ECLA work to date. Ms. Gardner stated that the EcoNorthwest consulting firm and its sub-consulting <br />partners currently involved in the ECLA process were considered eminently qualified, both regionally and <br />nationally, to conduct peer reviews in the manner indicated by Mr. Brown's motion. <br />Ms. Gardner stated there might also be other firms qualified to conduct such a review but suggested that it might <br />be premature to engage any such firms or individuals until the assessment report had been completed. <br />Mr. Dedrick commented that, with the assistance of the EcoNorthwest consulting firm, the ECLA process was <br />already subject to a peer review process by qualified experts. Mr. Dedrick further commented that the <br />EcoNorthwest consulting agreement included two additional sub-consulting firms to help ensure that the current <br />review process was as thorough and objective as possible. <br />Mr. Dedrick reminded the council that the ECLA process also included a review by the DLCD to help provide an <br />additional level of expert opinion with respect to both the assessment report and the implementation of policies <br />recommended therein. <br />Mr. Dedrick had a great deal of faith in the current ECLA review strategies and stated the manner in which the <br />consulting teams had been set up provided for "multiple arms" of expert reviews that could evaluate the ECLA <br />process both on its own merits and in relation to similar processes in other cities. <br />Mr. Dedrick commented that the CAC had been designed as a panel of local experts with stakeholders who could <br />bring a broad understanding of local land use issues to the work of that committee. He noted that the involvement <br />of the CAC had significantly improved the quality of the ECLA process and its products. He further noted that <br />the ECLA consultants had commented to staff that the level of rigor in the input provided to them by the CAC had <br />been "beyond anything that they had ever received in the community." <br />Mr. Dedrick noted that the CAC's input had "raised the bar" for the ECLA process well beyond what had been <br />called for by State statutes. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council September 28, 2009 Page 11 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />