CC Minutes - 10/19/11 Work Session

Home Browse Search

MINUTES Eugene City Council McNutt Room —City Hall 777 Pearl Street — Eugene, Oregon October 19, 2011 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Betty Taylor, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, George Poling, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, Alan Zelenka, Pat Farr. In the absence of Her Honor Mayor Kitty Piercy, Council President Betty Taylor called the October 19, 2011, work session of the Eugene City Council to order. A. WORK SESSION: Sustainability Commission Work Plan The council was joined by Sustainability Liaison Babe O'Sullivan and Sustainability Commission Chair Josh Skov and Vice Chair Kathi Jaworski. Mr. Skov reviewed a statement from the commission. He said the commission planned to frame its input to the council in terms of its fidelity to a broader sustainability vision and planned to provide input more frequently in the future. It would emphasize the social equity and economic dimensions of policy issues. Mr. Skov said the commission's work plan reflected a renewed focus on past themes. The commission would focus on how major City transportation and land use initiatives such as the Transportation System Plan (TSP) update and EmX met the council's adopted sustainability goals. He also noted other planning initiatives of interest to the commission. He also anticipated the commission with partner with other groups such as the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and Planning Commission on issues of mutual interest. He referred the council to the work plan and highlighted some proposed activities. Mr. Skov said the commission had consistently elevated climate change and energy when providing input to the council, particularly as it tried to bring the Triple Bottom Line to transportation and land use decisions. He evaluated the commission's performance in those areas, suggesting that reports that 2010 tied 2005 as the hottest year on record validated the commission's efforts related to climate. Speaking to energy, he noted the commission's early work on energy security and the fact that gas costs had doubled since the commission's inception. He said the commission worked hard on those issues on the council's behalf and he believed it had success. Mr. Skov noted the council's past interest in hearing from the commission on how long -term concerns affected the short-term, and he suggested that in many ways, "the long run is here" and decisions regarding the TSP and EmX would matter to people in both the short- and long -term. He invited questions. Ms. Ortiz thanked the commission for its work. She asked how the commission planned to proceed on a food security plan if that item were funded by the council. Mr. Skov clarified that the item had been referred to staff and moved down in priority on the work plan due to the nature of other decisions the council was facing. He deferred to Sustainability Commissioner Shawn Boles for more information. Mr. Boles said the commission hoped to flesh out the scoping report. That would involve other parties such as the County and City of Springfield. He recommended an interjurisdictional approach to the issue. He also noted a relationship between the subject of food security and expansion of the urban growth MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 19, 2011 Page 1 Work Session