Item 2A: Approval of City Council Minutes

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Mr. Zelenka thanked Mr. Skov and Mr. Bruce for their hard work leading the commission over the past year. Mr. Clark observed that one of the things he appreciated about the Mayor’s Sustainable Business Initiative was that it brought together professionals from different industries to talk about what sustainability meant to them on a daily basis. He said the commission’s work plan mentioned several partnerships with entities such as the Planning Commission, Human Rights Commission, and Solidarity Network, but lacked mention of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce or other organizations that might provide the commission with another point of view. He encouraged the commission to look to other groups and organizations to connect with and ensure that it covered all the concerns that might arise when it offered its recommendations. Mr. Skov expressed appreciation for the discussion. He said in the future, the commission had the goal of coming to the council with what he termed “smaller bits of guidance” that would provide more of an opportunity to engage in conversation. Mr. Skov expressed appreciation for Mr. Clark’s comments about the analysis and said he shared his dislike for VMT as a sole metric for the transportation system and agreed about the need to consider the overall effectiveness, including cost, as part of the commission’s discussions. Regarding the TBL as an analysis framework, Mr. Skov reported that the commission was working with City staff who had used the tool for some type of analysis. He anticipated that the council would see more examples of its use in the future. He said the commission was working with staff to make it feel safer in bringing such analyses out into the open, which Mr. Skov believed would lead to more of the analysis the council sought, saying it would not be exclusively long-term or environmental, but rather something much more holistic. Mr. Skov indicated the commission planned to engage with the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, the Joint Elected Officials, and Lane Metro Partnership during the coming year. Responding to a question from Ms. Solomon about the questions that staff was asked to answer before presenting options to the council, City Manager Ruiz said the council would see the list on September 29 when it discussed the TBL tool. City Attorney Emily Jerome reported that the City Code required any committee established by the commission to be identified in the annual work plan and approved by the council; the commission’s work plan included a description of the Coordinated Land Use and Transportation Action Committee, a joint committee of the Planning Commission and the Sustainability Commission. Ms. Jerome said the committee would review policy and investment recommendations coming before the council to provide guidance and ensure sustainability issues were being considered and prioritized by the council. She anticipated the committee would meet over the course of the fiscal year and would likely be included in the next work plan as well. Mayor Piercy suggested the commission might also have questions on Envision Eugene and was encouraged to refer these to the council at appropriate times. Mayor Piercy reminded the council that work on the issue of obesity was occurring in the community and around the state, and the decisions the council made in regard to transportation affected the health of the community’s children. She suggested the council had the opportunity to make progress on that goal within its planning framework. Mr. Clark, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to approve the Sustainability Commission Fiscal Year 2011 Work Plan. The motion passed unanimously. MINUTES—City Council Work Session August 9, 2010 Page 7