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MINUTES – Eugene City Council Work Session May 11, 2020 Page 1
MINUTES
Eugene City Council
Virtual Work Session
Eugene, Oregon 97401
May 11, 2020
5:30 p.m.
Councilors Present: Betty Taylor, Emily Semple, Alan Zelenka, Jennifer Yeh, Mike Clark, Claire Syrett, Chris Pryor, Greg Evans Mayor Vinis opened the May 11, 2020, work session of the Eugene City Council.
1. WORK SESSION: COVID-19 Update - Recovery City Manager Pro Tem Sarah Medary, Planning and Development Director Denny Braud, and Planning and Development staff Allison Camp and Amy Bradbury provided an update on the COVID-19 recovery situation, including longer-term community recovery roles, responsibilities, and planning process. Council Discussion:
• Mayor Vinis – thanked staff; spoke about the positive impacts of keeping the permitting office running for the benefit of construction.
• Councilor Clark – expressed appreciation to staff; asked about concerns about a second wave of infections; spoke about flattening the curve, the health care system, long-term consequences of the shutdown on the economy and other long-lasting impacts.
• Councilor Syrett – talked about the goals of the City prior to the pandemic and moving forward with those goals; spoke of creative permitting to accommodate business reopening; asked about mask wearing requirements and the authority of the City to require them.
• Councilor Clark – expressed appreciation to staff for their recovery efforts; talked about creating a framework to reopen businesses quickly in order to mitigate the long-term consequences; spoke about reopening based on facts and data rather than on fear of the unknown in order to lessen the impacts to the economy; talked about the lower risk of infection locally in comparison to other locations.
• Mayor Vinis – spoke about the anxiety and concerns of constituents.
• Councilor Zelenka- expressed concerns about a possible second round of COVID-19 and about people not abiding by social distancing rules after reopening; discussed the reopening phases; asked about face masks how enforcement could occur.
• Councilor Pryor – spoke about the issues associated with the enforcement of face mask regulations.
• Councilor Syrett – encouraged mask wearing in indoor locations but not mandating them; talked about untested, unreported, and asymptomatic cases of COVID19 in the area.
• Councilor Clark – spoke about the number of people tested and not tested; opposed extension of the emergency declaration and encouraged more testing capability.
MOTION AND VOTE: Councilor Semple, seconded by Councilor Yeh, moved to support the City Manager Pro Tem in extending the City’s Emergency Declaration by an additional two weeks. PASSED: 7:1, Councilor Clark opposed.