HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.18.19 City Council Work Session MinutesMINUTES
Eugene City Council
Harris Hall, 125 East 8th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
November 18, 2019
5:30 p.m.
Councilors Present: Emily Semple, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Claire Syrett, Chris
Pryor, Greg Evans, Alan Zelenka
Mayor Vinis opened the November 18, 2019, work session of the Eugene City Council.
1. WORK SESSION: Climate Action Plan 2.0 Document Review and Consideration of
Additional Strategies
Sustainability Manager Chelsea Clinton presented an overview of the Climate Action Plan 2.0.
Discussion
o Councilor Evans - asked about the financial implications of the plan.
o Councilor Syrett - highlighted the need to build community support for taking these
actions to guard against fractures in the community when it is time to invest; supported
innovations to increase community capacity; wanted to engage large -leverage
stakeholders to provide some of the financial capacity that would be necessary.
o Councilor Yeh - asked about the Transportation System Plan and electric vehicle
strategy timelines.
o Councilor Clark - asked staff to return with a menu of options from which the council
could choose in revising the TSP to meet climate recovery ordinance goals.
o Councilor Zelenka - highlighted that the plan was community -based, consumption -
based, and included already -committed funding; cautioned against only talking about
the costs without also talking about the cost savings and benefits.
o Councilor Pryor - thought there would be a need for an up -front investment that would
result in great returns later and wanted to be mindful about the funding; asked for good
research in order to make the best decision possible on the policy direction and funding.
o Councilor Taylor - wanted to hear from more people on the topic; reported complaints
about the City's use of leaf blowers and Lane Transit District's reduction in bus routes;
supported efforts to lobby for increased Amtrak service and for the City to do more
work to protect trees.
o Councilor Zelenka - noted the plan only gets Eugene to 40 percent of its goal; wanted
two implementation plans (one short-term and one long-term) with associated timeline,
budget, and responsible party for each action item.
o Councilor Syrett - wanted to see an outline of how much each action item would cost
and how far each action gets the City to its goal; thought the resiliency work may need
its own tracking strategy because it was not based on emissions; expressed interest in
an urban forestry work session.
o Councilor Semple - felt the plan made some changes, but not nearly enough; thought
adapting to climate change would take radical action.
o Councilor Evans - asked about the communication strategy for making every member of
the community an active partner in the effort.
MINUTES - Eugene City Council November 18, 2019 Page 1
Work Session
o Councilor Clark - wanted the community to have a website where the community could
go to see what actions they could take to help reach the goals.
o Councilor Zelenka - asked how many of the actions were City of Eugene actions
primarily and how many were other groups; wanted to know how the Equity Panel's
recommendations would be integrated into the plan; wanted to figure out how to
include the community to creatively address the challenge.
o Mayor Vinis - thought the work compelled Eugene to be a better community —to work
on equity, housing, the transportation system and more; wanted a timeline that
indicated which actions were easier and which were more difficult; wanted to celebrate
the community's successes annually.
The meeting adjourned at 6:28 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
.&A -L.,t
Beth Forrest
City Recorder
(Recorded by Cos Casados)
Link to the webcast of this City Council meeting here.
MINUTES - Eugene City Council November 18, 2019 Page 2
Work Session