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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes - 02/18/98 Work Session MINUTES Joint Elected Officials Eugene City Council/Board of County Commissioners McNutt Room--City Hall February 18, 1998 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: Pat Fart, Ken Tollenaar, Nancy Nathanson, Tim Laue, Scott Meisner, Laurie Swanson Gribskov, Bobby Lee, Betty Taylor. COMISSlONERS PRESENT: Steve Cornacchia, Ellie Dumdi, Bobby Green, Cindy Weeldreyer, Peter Sorenson. I. WORK SESSION: WEST EUGENE WETLANDS PLAN AMENDMENTS Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting of the City Council to order at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Cornacchia called the meeting of the Board of County Commissioners to order at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Torrey suggested that, depending on the number of people offering testimony, he proposed to limit remarks to five minutes. If there were more than 36 people wishing to offer testimony, he proposed to limit remarks to three minutes. There was no objection. Jan Childs, Planning and Development Department, said that Steve Gordon of LCOG would explain the history of the plan and what the City and County were attempting to accomplish with the plan. Mr. Gordon provided background on the development of the West Eugene Wetlands Plan and a plan chronology. Ms. Dumdi arrived at 5:35 p.m. Mr. Gordon described the plan objectives and showed the elected officials a map of the plan area showing the different plan designations. Mr. Gordon discussed the acquisition program operated by BLM, a partner in the West Eugene Wetlands Plan. He discussed the acquisition process. Mr. Gordon pointed out the property owned by The Nature Conservancy, another of the plan partners. Mr. Gordon described the plan area, noting its urban character and identifying key urban features in the area and the last existing open developable spaces. MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 18, 1998 Page 1 5:30 p.m. Mr. Gordon reviewed a wetland designation overlay map and stressed the impact of wetlands on the industrial supply. Mr. Gordon noted ownership patterns in the plan area and pointed out the property owned by the BLM and the City's other partner in the program, The Nature Conservancy. He said that the remaining parcels the partnership wished to acquire were among the most expensive land in the plan area. Mr. Gordon discussed the wetlands mitigation bank program and reviewed projects completed by the bank. Mr. Gordon discussed the impact of the supplemental inventory required by the regulatory agencies on the plan amendments process. Mr. Gordon said that at the time the plan was adopted there were no wetlands identified in the Willow Creek area. Since that time, many wetlands had been adopted in the area, and the three remaining special light industrial sites left in West Eugene were all impacted by the inventory. Mr. Gordon concluded that, largely, the plan had been implemented in a calm and rationale manner. He said that the plan was working well and the partnership was unique to Eugene, with a significant investment in land. Staff had worked through two administrations and many different rule changes. Ms. Nathanson asked Mr. Gordon to explain the difference between the mitigation bank and assistance program such as the enterprise zone. Mr. Gordon explained the mitigation bank program, stressing their was no subsidy involved. The bank created restoration, received credits from the regulatory agencies, and sold those credits to developers at the cost of $30,000 per acre to satisfy their mitigation needs. The bank then monitors and maintains the mitigated area. Mr. Gordon said that the bank was working very well, and the restoration projects that had been done were very successful. The most pristine wetlands could be saved. The meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Warren Wong Acting City Manager Pro Tern (Recorded by Kimberly Young) MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 18, 1998 Page 2 5:30 p.m.