HomeMy WebLinkAbout191118 WSMINUTES – Eugene City Council November 18, 2019 Page 1
Work Session
M I N U T E S
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 StrategiesSustainability 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 theseactions to guard against fractures in the community when it is time to invest; supportedinnovations to increase community capacity; wanted to engage large-leveragestakeholders to provide some of the financial capacity that would be necessary.
o Councilor Yeh – asked about the Transportation System Plan and electric vehiclestrategy timelines.
o Councilor Clark – asked staff to return with a menu of options from which the councilcould 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 aboutthe 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 wouldresult in great returns later and wanted to be mindful about the funding; asked for goodresearch 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 complaintsabout 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 morework to protect trees.
o Councilor Zelenka – noted the plan only gets Eugene to 40 percent of its goal; wantedtwo 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 costand how far each action gets the City to its goal; thought the resiliency work may needits own tracking strategy because it was not based on emissions; expressed interest inan urban forestry work session.
o Councilor Semple – felt the plan made some changes, but not nearly enough; thoughtadapting to climate change would take radical action.
o Councilor Evans – asked about the communication strategy for making every member ofthe community an active partner in the effort.